Be prepared for the unexpected!

I know the big wide world is out there, and I've even been to some parts of it. At the moment I am trying to semi-hibernating - spend as much time indoors as possible. This is almost impossible with animals & birds to care for! Sat indoors, watching the rain or out walking dog in a familiar landscape it is easy to forget what different places feel like. This was suddenly brought home to me one morning when I read a short piece sent to my in-box. I read the short piece and thought - wow - I have no idea how I would feel in that landscape it. In that one moment, with that one thought, my whole world expanded. I was catapulted out of the familiar into the fresh & new. All that from these few lines of text....

I live near Kilauea - a very active volcano. The other night we went to the end of the road and sat at the edge of the lava field.The only light for miles was created by the glow of molten lava.There was a crescent moon and millions of stars. The scene was magical.

Every so often the vent would send up an intense orange shower of light. Then many miles away the lava would light up the sky as it flowed into the ocean. The moon set directly over the vent to and it looked like Kilauea had swallowed the moon.

The wind was incessant, constantly changing direction while simultaneously feeling balmy, restless and at ease. We sat for along time and I was deeply moved by the incredible power of creation.

Last night the land moved. There were two earthquakes a short time apart. The mantel of the earth shifted as the undersea volcano Loihi expanded.

Mother Earth is doing just fine. She's busy expanding and twirling and living with passion. We can learn much from her if we simply take the time to observe, listen and get in alignment with her power and beauty. We live as guest of Mother Earth. Enjoy your sojourn on this magnificent planet.--

With love and aloha,

Susan

Dr Susan Gregg LLC po Box 1006kurtistown, Hawaii96760US

photo from http://www.glosmorrismen.org/

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Wintery Reflections

I'm not sure if it is to do with having lived in the Herefordshire-stix for a while, where there is no or minimal street lighting, but this year I've really appreciated outdoor Christmas lights. Walking home, up the dark hill, catching a glimpse of a tall, fully-lit conifer has lifted my spirits enormously. Resources permitting, we have plans to string lights around the 3oo year old yew we have in our church yard, what a wonderfully up-lifting sight that will be. One of our neighbours has a small globular shrub covered in blinking blue lights that I admire as I walk the dog late at night. Through some neighbour's windows, fairy lights glimmer & trees sparkle in a homely, domestic & comforting way. Up in the sky, between the clouds, shines the moon & constellations of stars. Without all these points of light, long dark winter days & darker winter nights could easily make me believe that the sun, & it's comforting light & warmth are gone forever. The warm summer days trapped in the memory, are never to come again. Indoors I have strung fairy lights around the sitting room. Over the Christmas & New Year period they stay on all night. Their soft light & reflections off baubles & tinsel creates a warming, cheering, comfortable space it's a pleasure to walk-into early in the morning, even before the heating kicks in.

For a number of years I've disconnected from celebrations on the 25th December. I don't think this was a conscious thing but a year or so ago I noticed that I had no emotional links left to Christmas at all. It's great that 50% of the world stops to celebrate the 25th, or at least do something different on that day. The specialness starts on the 24th, late in the afternoon - the traffic sounds fade away & then pauses and eventually stops - for me that is Christmas -a special stillness & quietness. I think a final parts of the "Christmas effect" ended when I came face-to-face with the awfulness this day presents for some. I can see those children's eyes as they tried to hide themselves from our innocent questions about Christmas dinners & presents. For them these things didn't exist, they stayed out of the home for as long as possible, becoming as invisible as possible. If I'd have realized in advance, I could perhaps have given them a different day....

I had a truly up-lifting mid-winter's day. Nothing exceptional happened, I walked the dogs, tended the horse & chickens, did all the usual domestic things. For whatever reason it was a day I spent particularly connected to the turning of the seasons, more "at-one" with nature than usual. At peace even though chaos was swirling all around. I quietly opened my Christmas presents & drank-in the next phase of the year.

Signs of the year's next phase are clear to see, the buds on the trees & the shoots from the spring bulbs. I'm so looking forward to the hundreds of snowdrops that we've inherited at our church site. I've planted several hundred bulbs myself, they were an unlabelled bargin batch at an auction so it's going to be a real surprise to see what comes up.

Happy New Year

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Geese and other birds I know

Imagine this - I'm sat quietly, half-watching Morse on the TV, the rest of my attention on typing at the PC. The fire's on & bread is rising under a tea-towel - it's just a few moments away from going into the oven. Then the dogs leap up & erupt into barking & snarling - it's in response to the tap-tap-tapping of the resident site goose at the door - he's demanding food! I cautiously peer-out through the door glass to check, Mr PoppyM has heard spectral-music at the church site & friend's have recently taken photos with ghostly apparitions in them - but there is just the goose on the top step, looking at me through the glass with his blue eye. I throw him a few handfuls of oats, he eats & wanders off.

Earlier today I saw the same goose on the pond, which is his home, swimming about with a group of young Canada Geese. I think they are some of the grown youngsters that hatched there earlier in the year. It was good to see him in a group, a single goose is a sad sight. He was originally part of a small mixed flock of domestic geese. Last year the Chinese geese were re-homed after pecking & knocking over someone. That left 3 white farm geese & one buff goose. The two females built two big nests side by side & laid about 20 eggs in them. A few days before they were due to hatch two men smashed all the eggs. The geese were obviously distressed, the RSPCA's view on the incident indifferent. A few weeks later the two white geese were found dead, Shortly afterwards the buff goose vanished without trace. There was much concern that the remaining goose would not survive but it has. I had hoped that the young Canada geese would spend the nights on the pond with our domestic goose but they don't. This evening as dusk fell, I saw them rise up over the trees around the pond, honking. He doesn't seem to spend nights on the pond, even though there are two mallards, youngsters from this years hatchings, and several moor hens who do. He prefers to walk about the site peeking at friendly doors for food & "roosting" next to a car.

It has been a bird sort of day today. As I was walking up the hill this morning a buzzard passed a few meters in front of me at head height. It was a mixed-up range of browns & buffs - scruffy looking. Later in the day I think I caught sight of the same bird swooping across a field, disturbed again by my approach, this time with a large dog. A bold male robin landed on the field gate as I fastened it behind my horse. There are one or two bold robins at our church-site who appear unperturbed by our presence - watching close by as we dig, or burn twigs, eat our lunch and generally potter about. And at home a male robins sits on the bird table dominating it like a lord, or picking-up left overs from the duck & goose food.

I took the large dog with me to feed the hens today & was delighted to see that the one small Black Rock, who has remained tatty & bald in patches for ages, has finally grown a new set of feathers. She's the last to "feather-up" after the moult. For months the flock has looked tatty. I have consoled myself with the realization that at least these hens have lived long-enough for a moult - they really do look magnificent with their new clothes on. Alfie the cockerel must be feeling as good as he looks as I've heard him crowing again - he has been a bit subdued while his feathers have been coming-through. We are still getting about 5 eggs a day from the girls, which we are very pleased with & put down to good feeding & a comfortable home. I think of brussel sprouts as "the devil's vegetable" & refuse to eat them. I grew quite a few this year and much to my extreme pleasure hardly any have made it into our home! We agreed to leave the plants in the ground for the hens to peck at. Over about a month the plants have been reduced by the hens to stalks with leaf ribs! I hear-by up-grade brussel sprouts from "devils' food" to a "hen friendly" vegetable.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cariboub/

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A Christmas verse of dubious merit!

Christmas is coming & I'm wearing my hat

Put out some peanuts to keep the birds fat

If you haven't any peanuts, breadcrumbs will do,

If you've no breadcrumbs, may Santa bless you.

Merry Christmas To You All.

Great photo from Flickr http://www.simbird.com/

Mud & Orchards

Today has been one of low grey clouds, a total absence of the sun,with rain. It has made for a totally miserable day - even the afternoon walk with the dog failed to raise my spirits. And more mud has been created through- out the day. I feel engaged in a battle with mud - mud on the dogs paws, on the kitchen floor, on all our coats, on the chicken's feet, mud mud everywhere. It brings to mind Jacqueline Winspear's books that talk of life in WW1 trenches & on battle fields - I find it utterly astonishing that anyone survived anytime at all in those trenches http://www.jacquelinewinspear.com/maisie_dobbs_world.htm. Mud saps my life-force even at a"once remove"- it is out-doors & off my skin. Perhaps it is to do with an excess of earthiness - an attempt by some hostile force to subdue by envelopment - like a mammoth in tar or a wild pig in quick sand.

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In contrast this evening's walk with the dog was uplifting - i found even the puddles on the road reflecting street light pretty. I walked with the dog in a small orchard, braving the mud, looking up at the stars - meeting up again with friends. It seems ages since I have felt inclined to stand still & look up at the stars. For too long it has been a case of hat on, head-down & keep moving - get the walk done as quickly as possible, get back inside by the fire. Small ponies wander amongst the apple trees, they move quietly - a warm, solid presence. I've noticed that in the dark a horse's muzzle feels softer, more velvety than by daylight - ultra-sensitive, like cat's whiskers. Tonight the trees are awake - perhaps it is the twinkling starlight. Last night I saw a partial moon, a huge silvery shape hanging in the darkness surrounded by grey shifting clouds - no moon tonight. Some days & nights the orchard is just an orchard, a small stand of trees that grow blossom, leaves & fruit. On other occasions, the air is thicker amongst the trees, sounds muffled, the night darker. Then I feel no inclination to linger or make my presence know - I act as a respectful visitor just passing through. It's a few weeks away from the longest night, the winter equinox, & a little further from Wassailing time, perhaps the seasonal spirits are gathering in readiness for celebrations. C. S. Lewis created a memorable "heavy" atmosphere in the "wood between worlds" that always comes to mind when I walk through orchards: never when a in wood though, these are never heavy or sleepy. The "The Magicians Nephew" is one of my favourites in the Narnia series.

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Image from http://narnia.wikia.com/wiki/Wood_between_the_Worlds)

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Rained off - dreams of a shed

Mr PoppyM woke me up with a cup of tea and a suggestion for the morning - tree & bulb planting at our ruined-church site. The sun shone & our part of the world stayed dry as we completed the morning's duties & then set off to the church. Perhaps predictably it started to rain & sleet, so we changed our plans - to top-up the bird feeder & save the planting for a better day.
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With the feeder re-filled with peanuts & seed we sat and watch the birds. We have 2 old chairs kept stashed behind a piece of hedge & we sat on these with our backs to one of the crumbling chancel walls under an umbrella drinking flask-tea. We talked of our plans for a work-shop with a stove & comfy old chairs. It's "in production" so who knows, maybe it will there in time for Christmas - now that would be a great present.
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Now that a majority of the leaves have fallen from the tall hazel hedge the landscape behind is on view - sloping fields, a strip of oak wood, a barn conversion & sheep. It's quiet today, this first real winter Sunday, just the dripping of the rain from the ivy & trees and the chirruping of the small birds on the feeder.
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It's wet underfoot, in places the ground sinks. A reminder of decades of accumulated leaf mould laying on a more solid surface feet below, and below that, the dead of the 12th century. But there's no flooding here at the church despite it's proximity to the Frome. There is a deep ditch around part of the site & in places this is holding water. The Frome has risen several meters in a few days and is flowing fast, what will it leave when the level drops? I saw on the TV today a Cumbrian farmer standing in a recently flooded cereal field. As the flood waters had drawn back into the river it left behind a covering of cobbles, pebbles, gravel & boulders, all dropped in a few days but how long will it take to remove them? Last time the Frome rose & fell it left behind a body, we don't need anymore of those, our grave yard is closed - full, complete, at peace.

photo from www.flickr.com/photos/stefan-szczelkun/3254245930/

Bird Songs

Mr PoppyM is a real countryman and a treasure-trove of information obtained first hand though-out his life - from boyhood through to adult-hood. It must be rubbing off on me as I have just begun to realize that I can identify quite a large number of birds just from their calls. Before I came to live here in the Welsh Marches I could probably identify a blackbird, crow, robin, seagull (I come from the seaside) & an "owl" - non-specific! Now, a few years of being with Mr Poppy M, I can proudly boast that I know all of the crow family by call, several owl species, quite a few tits, some thrushes, woodpeckers & the ever present buzzard. And by sight I can identify even more. At first this additional knowledge seems a simple thing of little consequence, a pleasant collection of information to use in family competitions & of no direct effect to the quality of my life. However,I have noticed a curious thing - as I become familiar with a bird's call, it becomes part of my sound-scape & the call stands out as a familiar human voice does. Not only that, other bird calls, that I was previously unaware of, stand out as "unknown" - like a new voice in a room of familiar people. All bird's voices seem to become differentiated, no longer a background blend, almost as if the invisible becomes visible. The changes do not stop there, the voices then become part of my world and in this manner my world has expanded. This is of course not new, part of the "to know is to love" experience - but for me this is no longer just a phrase but a physical reality.



The RSPB has a great web site with information about individual birds including calls & videos- it's well worth a visit http://www.rspb.org.uk/.
My favourite call - a raven,
The most surprising calls - the jay - I always think of parrots when I hear them & the green woodpecker - it makes me think of a kookaburra. Odd how until recently I was more familiar with exotic birds than out native ones - TV nature documentaries perhaps?
The happiest - redwings
The most unnerving - barn owl


The following site has some good sound bites of British birds http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/home.shtml (the Jay feather at the top of the page is from this site).

The Goshawk

From Flickr CrazyM's photostream



There's something about a goshawk - a proud energy quite unlike that of buzzard. I hadn't quite realized the difference until today when, for a few seconds, I caught sight of a large bird of prey gliding low across an alder-lined brook into an apple orchard. There was a tight grace that shouted goshawk.

The Goshawk

An exercise modelled on Mary Oliver’s “The Hawk”

This morning
The goshawk
Rose up
Out of the stubble field

And swung through blueness -
It settled
On the tarry crest
Of a telephone pole.

Captivating as a queen,
In silhouette, arrogant.
Her ermine breast
Etched with stripes,

And I said: remember
This is not just something
Of the cool air, this is
God’s earthly agent

Of control & deliverance.
And the goshawk
Turned in grace,
To re-focus the stare,

To see further
Across the hedgerows,
Along the tree-margins
And I said: remember,

All live to die,
Experiments in perfection.
And that’s when she lifted in purity
Her miraculous wings and floated

Into the wind, eyes first,
And cruised along the tree-line,
All the time eyes clasped
Tighter than need on some

Whispered disturbance in the
Trees & litter & then
It swerved & moulded into the air
Becoming a perfectly loosed arrow.

Poppy Morgan

Pears - drops of sunshine

Real autumnal weather has finally arrive on a bluster of wind & rain. The clocks have changed & the days feel significantly shorter. The horse is brought in from the field as light falls. I can feel my winter-pace setting in - lovely long evenings to make plans for future & reflect on the past.

I'm still busy "locking away the summer" by poaching wind-fall pears & making preserves. This is only my second season at jam-making & I've just finished a batch of mint jelly (apple jelly base with fresh mint leaves & a hint of lemon rind) of which I'm immensely proud. There's a pot of onion chutney hidden in the fridge for Christmas. As Mr PoppyM is diabetic I've promised to have a go at making some pickles including piccalilli - what an odd word.

In the local town is a whole food shop that stocks a large range of herbs & spices - sold loose. Even better than that, you can select whatever quantity you wish - no minimums. I spent a happy few minutes selecting & bagging up my Christmas list of herbs & spices. I brought 7 items and the total came to under £4! I love the smell of spices & couldn't imagine a life without them. In complete contrast my husband was indifferent to the experience which I find perplexing as he is the real food-lover. Perhaps it is due to his lack of success in the kitchen? Whereas I'd almost rather create the food then eat it & without a palate of these small essence how reduced my options would be? If I were on Dessert Island discs my luxury item would be a casket of herbs & spices.

Back to pears. Until I moved to one of the orchard counties of England, pears were "just another fruit". There are 2 particularly beautiful pear trees growing here that I have now watched through all the seasons & this experience has changed how I view the fruit. These tall shapely trees are pleasing through the winter as bare skeletons. As winter moves into spring they grow green & soften in outline. Blossom appears - often briefly & modestly, surprisingly so for a member of the rose family. Then the fruits appear - golden drops hung like ornaments amongst the leaves. They swell & become more defined & then the waiting begins, a waiting for the first ones to fall. Those first golden fruits to leave the tree are semi-ripe but I gather these anyway & ripen them at home. Then as whole clusters ripen they fall & the real gathering begins. I gather the perfect ones in a small cloth bag, usually accompanied by a dog & return homes with them full of glee. I place these trophies on a large dish in the window & admire them as I walk past. They are trophies as I "compete" with the birds & insects for them & other gatherers - especially those who "cheat" & put ladders to pluck them directly from the branches. And then when all the fruit has fallen & all the perfect or nearly perfect fruit has been gathered, those left on the ground lay there. Some rot away, feeding the soil. Some are eaten by late insects & rodents. And still some are left for the winter when flocks of redwings & fieldfares visit for a sweet winter feed. And in the mid-winter I eat my pears & think back to summers past & imagines those to come.

(images from Flickr)

October - so far

Goodness time flies unless you are a yew tree.

So far my prediction for a wet & gloomy October has been totally WRONG. To date it has been beautiful & there is the autumn colour to prove it. I have witnessed some spectacular sunsets - masterpieces in pink & blue. I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning as it may well be the first real frost of the season.

I've gathered in the tomatoes - a both happy & sad event. Happy, as it provides a moment to revel in the abundance that a small number of seedlings have provided. Happy as the green tomatoes sit & ripen. Happy as I eat the red fruits remembering that trapped inside them is summer sunshine. Sad as each individual plant's life comes to an end. I'm not as good at endings as startings!

The late turnips & carrots are growing really well & the hens are thoroughly enjoying the thinnings & luscious leaves. I've started to develop a taste for turnips - provided that they are grated raw. I've always found the idea of turnip soup totally hilarious - probably something to do with the childhood tale about the giant turnip!

Much work has been accomplished on our "little piece of paradise" & it is almost ready to receive the tree surgeon's team. Again I am faced with endings. A number of saplings have established themselves in the stone work of the church ruins so have to be removed. One substantial ash is knocking against the tower & causing significant damage. One poor tree is a lightening strike & unsafe. All these, and a few others, are scheduled for felling or canopy reduction. I'll probably stay at home while the felling takes place - it will be upsetting to see them fall. The church site will be a totally different place with them gone. It is hoped that we'll use at least some of the timber in the church's restoration so their lives will be remembered in the building.

The next phase is the relocation of the damaged grave-markers. This is a delicate process & we are awaiting direction from relevant organisations on how best to achieve this. Cutting back the nettles & brambles we've uncovered a grave-marker for a man who died in action during WW1 - I wonder if this needs reporting to the War Graves Commission?

I'm looking forward to designing & creating for real gardens for the graveyard area - it's a bit intimidating to- a responsibility to remember with dignity those who have ended their days there.

Finally there is a large yew tree on the site, by no means ancient, but a beautiful specimen. The tree is now on the data-base of the Ancient Yew Society - trees of 500 years old plus are featured in their gazetteer. Mr PoppyM & myself visited the oldest one in the county -1000 years old - how amazing is that- and it was still a beautiful, vibrant tree wearing the years lightly. (Stanford Bishop, picture from Ancient Yew Group http://www.ancient-yew.org/home.shtml ).

It's well & truly AUTUMN.

Generally I love this season but this year I feel that it will not be one of the most colourful or abundant ones. I am anticipating a lovely sunny spell followed by wet & cold weather with fog & penetrating dampness right up until Christmas. Gloomy but I'd rather be prepared.

A review of the veggie garden has lead me to declare it a success. Admittedly the brassicas have been hammered by the slugs & caterpillars but most are still growing well & I've harvested some greyhound cabbages & a cauliflower - the 1st I've ever grown. The brussel sprouts are coming along well. The purple sprouting has been left to seed - the hens can have those greens. The pak choi were brilliant but the lesson for next year is grow early & start of in pots - they are such a delicious plant every free-roaming creature in the universe seems to love them. The tomatoes are still ripening - the trusses are not very abundant but the toms on them are a good size & taste great. I expect the abundance has more to do with my less than diligent feeding than any vagaries of the weather.

I still find it amazing putting a seed in the ground & hey prestso a whole plant with flowers/fruit - a miracle indeed. I've been collecting seeds for a while now & I still get a thrill from it - today I collected my first sunflowers seeds from plants I've grown this year. When I first looked I thought there were no seeds but I poked a bout a bit & they started to fall out - I was expecting the striped ones available in pet food but these are tiny little black ones. Only one way to find out if they are fertile - plant them!

Today (10th sept) has been glorious - clear-blue sky, bright sunshine & a bit of breeze. I took the small dog with me as I did my jobs - collected windfall apples & took them down to the horse-yard, walked through the fields on the way to the chickens looking for interesting things. Found lots of sloes but didn't pick them as haven't planned out a use for them & don't want to waste them. Spent a while under the huge coppiced hazel tree looking for nuts - as usual the squirrels had beaten me to it - the ground was littered with opened & discarded shells. I've brought a few home & started to open them - so far only 2 have a kernel suitable for planting.

Next to the chicken pen is the veggie patch - optimistically, a few days a ago I planted some rows of turnips & radishes with a few other odds & ends - they are sprouting - hurrah. It's so dry (nice to say that in September) so I've just watered them. I have high hope of a good crop now they've germinated well - I just hope the hens will enjoy the turnips/tops as I'm not a great fan!

Blackberries don't seem to be very abundant this year but on this outing I've managed to find enough for tonight - a real autumn treat.

Recently I've added some newsletters to my in basket & I'm really enjoying them so in case anyone out there in blog land hasn't found these - here they are:

Barefoot Doctor (welcome@barefootdoctorworld.com)

semi-dailyquote@aweber.com on behalf of Susan Gregg (susan@susangregg.com)

Horse Hero (noreply@horsehero.com) - great videos on horse matters

Umhh - I can smell the brioche so it must be nearly baked - that will go really well with the blackberry & apples & yoghurt - cant wait til tea-time!

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boots

One of my favourite poems is about socks. Inspired by this poem (by Pablo Neruda) I have written my own version about a pair of boots . I mention is now as a week or so ago I ceremoniously burnt the boots - a moment of sadness & great gratitude.

Ode to a Pair of Boots

A friend gave me
A pair of boots
That she had brought for herself
But were not hers.
Two comfortable boots.
I slipped my feet into them
As if they were two cases
Made with pieces of adventure & fortitude.
Audacious boots,
My feet were two birds made of hide,
Two giant eagles
Cliff brown, shot through
With golden laces.
Two immense turtles,
Two wolves.
My feet were honoured in this way
By these heavenly boots.
They were so handsome,
For the first time
My feet seemed to me as unacceptable
Like two decrepit toads
Not worthy of the magical hide
Of those peerless boots.
Nevertheless, I resisted the temptation
To save them somewhere as schoolboys
Keep fireflies,
As learned men collect
Sacred texts,

I resisted the mad impulse to put them
In a gilded cage & each day give them
Finest nuggets & armfuls of fresh greens.
Like explorers in the forest
Who hand over the impossible unicorn
To scientists who coldly sacrifice it,
I stretched out my feet & pulled on
Thick socks & then the magnificent boots.

A shameless modification of Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to a Pair of Socks”.

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My news boots (pictured above - Shires Stroud riding boot) are wonderfully comfortable & water-proof but they are new & it will take a while for them to become part of me like the old pair!

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A mellow moment

I'm having one of those lovely mellow pauses in the day:

I've just taken both dogs for their main walk - short ones today because of the horrible weather. On route checked the hens & feed them great armfuls of goose grass & veggie. The dogs have been feed & are now lying in their beds washing their paws getting ready for along snooze. (This is a tip I got from a Cesar Milan book - feed directly after a good walk & the dogs fall into a deep sleep - yes it works every time). http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/

I'm listening to some chilling snippets of music sent to my in-box via dailyom.com - today it is Guitar Meditations, Volume IISoulfood, featuring Billy McLaughlin 2005.

Sat here with sleeping dogs & Mr Poppy M out drilling a hole in some thing, I'm reflecting on the fascinating things that have occurred over the last few days..

* While I was hacking my way to the brook to get some water for the horse I saw a kingfisher - a piece of brilliant blue travelling at an incredible speed along the water's surface. My first siting at this location. (picture from Flickr Rosa Gambóias)

* Mr PoppyM came back from tending the hens with a great tale. He drew-up to the pen & noticed 3 rooks in the veggie patch adjacent to the hen pen. He watched them for a bit to see what they were doing - they are normally trying to steal grain from the hens. They were picking caterpillars from the cabbages!! Those crows can stay as long a they like if they'll keep on doing that!

* As I walked along the margin's of an un-cut hay field I disturbed lots of butterflies - dusky brown ones. I stood still to see if I could identify what they were feeding on - it was the grasses. Now that sight will remind me that grasses have flowers to - it's odd how I'd forgotten that as I'm a hay-fever suffer (tho tree-pollen & moulds are my big problems)!

* Buddleia- the butterfly bush - I don't think I've ever seen so many or such large flower heads as I've seen this year. Their very strong, sweet honey-scent has made my evening walks to the horse a real pleasure. And during the day, the bushes have been covered with butterflies - including Red Admirals - one of my favourites. And outside my home - the little cuttings I planted out this year are looking really healthy & the ailing bushes from last year are just about to flower - success!! (picture from Flickr doc.holiday41's photostream).

* The pumpkin & courgette plants have outgrown their bed are are now making their way across the grass! I knew they'd get big - but I didn't expect them to be this monstrous & it's only mid-July -opps.

Right - that's the mellow moment over. It's wet & windy out there, still, so time to think of something nice & warm for tea - yes it is the middle of an English summer!

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A coffee morning

Earlier this week I had a morning out with a friend. Nothing odd in that you may think - I didn't think so either until I realized that this is something I have not done for nearly 2 years! I've had plenty of "outings" & plenty of cake & coffee but not WITHOUT Mr PoppyM.

We visited Hereford Museum & the Cathedral. The Museum is well worth a visit - right in the centre of the shopping area & free. It's a wonderful old "black & white" building that was moved to it's present location on rollers - a process Mr PoppyM had a hand-in. One of the exhibits was of particular interest - a huge iron-banded box that used to reside in the ruined church that we have just brought.When the church was closed one of it's medieval bells was sent to a church in London - it's name is Gabriel. According to "The Bell"by Iris Murdock this is a traditional name for a bell, as a bell is the voice of God!

And onto another series of links - we also visited the Cathedral (of St Mary the Virgin & Ethelbert the King) - what a magnificent building. For me the high-light of the visit was the Audley chapel housing the new stained glass windows by Tom Denny. It is a series of 4 windows dedicated to the 17th century poet Thomas Traherne. (Picture above from RJE Foster - Flickr). It's a while since I have looked at a piece of art & just known that the creator was truly inspired & totally at one with his subject. I was speechless for quite a while - go see them for yourself. The link is ...when my grandmother died my aunt, who is a Deacon, had commissioned a stained glass window. And of course, our ruined church had one - how wonderful it would be to replace it.... And for the next visit - there's the Mappa Mundi & the chained library, and the secret gardens.
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This week seems to have been about change. What you take for granted now as normal, fixed or even boring may be rare, fleeting & exceptional in the future. So live very much " in the now" & appreciate as much as possible! I must be getting old & mellow!

Our normal English summer is back!

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Good news - for a number of years a solitary Pyramidal Orchid has grown on a grassy verge - this year there are three! According to a local, the original plant has been growing there for about 7 years. From a bit of research, I gather that 7 years is not a particularly long maturing time, the Common Twaybane can take 15 years to set seed! The Pyramidal Orchid is such a pleasing plant - an elegant over-all shape, a rich even pink colour & intriguing individual flowers. What a beauty!

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The Pyramidal Orchid is pollinated by moths & butterflies & I was thinking that this year I have seen lots of butterflies - brown ones in particular. I've checked a few web-sites & I think that they are Ringlets, Meadow Browns , Tortoiseshells & Gatekeepers. In lesser numbers I've seen Orange Tips, Peacocks, Painted Ladies & Brimstones. A few days ago Mr PoppyM saw a Red Admiral. I've noticed that a nearby allotment has been visited by the Cabbage Whites - lovely big plants full of holes. I'm on "butterfly alert" - they are not getting my plants this year! (Visit this web-site for some great photos & info http://www.britishbutterflies.co.uk/index.asp ).

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Moles - until this year I've not really given them much thought. I've seen the occasional dead one & read Duncton Wood - but that's it. Well that's all going to change! My garden & vegetable plot have become a home to a mole or moles - new hills every morning, hills everywhere. As I walk across the grass between the beds my feet sink - the other day I planted out some brassicas & hit a tunnel a few inches below the surface, & I've had to prop-up a big container as it is about to subside. Little blighters. The beautiful straight rows of seeds now have great empty patches where moles have thrown-up hills & we have smoothed them out. I've re=planted those with radishes. There must be some humane way of encouraging them to move elsewhere!! More in this in a later post.

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It's pouring with rain on & off with thunder threatening & the plants are so happy - some of the leaves on my pumpkins have reached 2' across. I have high hopes for bumpers crops!!

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Gosh isn't it hot!!

Yesterday I took the small dog out for a short walk (too hot for a long one) - down to a little pond. It was beautiful:

*pristine white lilies & glossy deep-green lily pads,

* a small "flock" of the tiniest blue damselflies - "flying sewing needles"

* & in stark contrast, a whopper of a dragonfly - I can see why the big ones are called hawkers - just like a Hawker Sidley plane!

At home the leeks I have let go to seed are looking magnificent - one of them has burst open & the pom-pom is getting ready to come into full flower. I helped it along a little by removing the papery cap - it is the 1st time I've seen a leek do this & I am struck by how like a pixie cap the covering is! Is this where the pixie & fairy artists artists got there inspiration from? (picture from the flower fairy website http://www.flowerfairiesprints.com/)

Onto more prosaic matters - the time has come to "deep-clean" the kitchen & give it a lick of paint. Groan - it has to be done & I know we'll all feel much better walking into a sparking clean the kitchen. The "comfortable chair" & sofa need to go to - it must be the "solstice effect" - that or the fact that bright sunshine shows up all that's lain hidden in the relative-gloom of the rest of the year!

Happy Mid-Summer's Day

Gosh, hasn't time flown - half way through the year already.

It's been a busy few day between the summer solstice & mid-summer's day - the utterly improbable has actually happened. We now own our "little piece of England". It's taken about 18 months but it's ours!!! It's a long term project so I'm thinking about setting up a separate blog to chart the changes - from overgrown ruin to restored building/s with lovely gardens.

The hens are laying well but we are regularly selling out of eggs. So after much debate an order has been placed for 6 more pullets - all being well, they will be available at the end of July. In the mean-time our properly broody hen has been sitting for just over two weeks. I cant quite remember why, but she only has two eggs. Luck may be with us & we'll have 2 hens but to be honest I'd be glad if one healthy cockerel arrived!

Still on the theme of time passing - my little grey mare is soon to be 10 years old. I remember her as a spindly-legged bay filly - ahh. The poor girl has developed summer mud-fever again but it's well under control so should be gone in the next few days. The irony is we got through the whole winter without a hint of mud-fever - well I suppose it was a very dry one.

Plants, plants, plants every where!! The beans have made it to the tops of the poles, the sweet peas are in full magnificent bloom, the squashes are in flower & the pineapple lily has a very promising bud. The veggie patch is planted up & as the new potatoes (just being harvested) come out there is a waiting list of plants to go in! I'm experimenting with sweetcorn this year as I'm sure we are in for a long HOT HOT HOT summer. A combination of growing seeds in pots & being given some trays of plants means we have nearly a 100 brassica plants growing - not bad for someone who dislike a vast majority of the brassica family! But the hens love them as does Mr PoppyM - I'm way too soft.

The No Space Garden

Proving that for gardeners "where there is a will there is a way" !!

Late Spring Bank Holiday

It's that rare thing - a sunny hot Bank Holiday weekend! And nature is celebrating to.

* This morning I walked across a field full of buttercups. Buttercups as far as the eye could see (a bit of poetic license). Boots coated with bright yellow pollen. From the top of the hill - a shimmering haze of gold.
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* Through the buttercups - dragonflies darting. I think they were Brown Hawkers (see picture above). I checked on the British Dragonfly society page - well worth a visit - it has great photos & descriptions (http://www.dragonflysoc.org.uk/aegra.html).
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* Me & Mr PoppyM spent the morning digging over a patch we have been loaned. It is/was covered in nettles & couch grass so requires a fair bit of work to change it into a veggie patch. The soil is really good quality tho - the early potatoes we put in a while back are looking brilliant. A row - perfectly straight as "he who must be obeyed in digging matters" insisted - of early carrots.

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* I've found a great place to buy our veggie seeds - the old fashioned way - by weight (http://www.molesseeds.co.uk/index.html). So it's just a matter of choosing the varieties & getting them planted in the lovely new plots.

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* The hens - one in particular - really enjoyed scratching out almost everything we put in the wheelbarrow. She was joined by a few friends & we didn't have the heart to stop them - such simple pleasures..

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* Many hens spent the post-laying part of the morning sun-bathing & dust-bathing. Even Alfie the "I'm very important" cockerel sun-bathed for a bit. And the broody hen popped out from her nest to partake of the rays for a few moments. Great contentment in the hen-pen.

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* Mr PoppyM & me are divided on how to increase our flock. I want to give a home to a dozen hens that are due to be culled from a commercial, free-range flock not far from here (12 for £5.00 - what a heart-breakingly small sum for hard-working hens). Mr PoppyM would rather buy day-old chicks & raise them. There are pro & cons for both routes...time will tell which path we take. And of course in the mean-time out broody hen may raise a few her self.

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* Back home - the "Heath Robinson" cold frames I have "constructed"from old sheets of plastic roofing, string, bits of wood & plastic sheeting are holding together surprisingly well: no nails involved. The veggies growing in them seem to be appreciating them & look great - the 1st lettuces will be ready any day now. I have high hopes for pumpkins, squashes & courgettes & a bumper crop of tomatoes.

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* Yesterday the California poppies burst into flower giving the pots & containers a much needed boost. The spring bulbs are almost over & I can barely wait to get the summer bedding flowers etc that I have GROWN FROM SEED (very proud I am to) into the pots. Mini-sunflowers, asters, black-eyed suzies, lupins, nasturtiums, evening primrose.......

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Lovely wallflowers

In praise of WALLFLOWERS

The early ones will soon be over - just rustling sticks with seed pods. What pleasure they have given - green shoots & leaves through the winter months, abundant scented-flowers in arange of soft bright colours through the spring and now, lots of lovely seeds for the next flowering season.

Last autumn I sowed wallflowers seeds, they are now in full leaf, so I have another batch to look forward to.

Go out & buy a packet today!!!

Summer has arrived at last

It's SUMMER

* Yesterday I heard the first cuckoo of the year - a lot later than last year.

* Today I saw the first dragonfly of the year

* And the first swan family to - cob, penn & 5 cygnets.

• I passed another apple orchard - lots of blossom so that's a good sign for the grower
  
• The hops are well on their way up the poles and
  
• The OAK is definitely out before the ASH - it confirms my feeling that we are in for a hot dry summer.

* At last our injured chicken is out in her new pen with a nice quiet companion

* The dog has her pen back

* And the horse is finally living out 24/7 0 hurrah - no more mucking out till the Autumn.

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Happy May Day.

Hello Blog Land- doesn't time fly.

It's now the start of May & nature is approaching one of it's best displays of the year.

Yesterday I took the small dog for a walk along country lanes- a very traditional thing to do on a sunny Bank Holiday Sunday. I passed a pretty little church that had dedicated one part of the church yard to wild flowers. Against a back drop of the old brick church with stained glass windows all around, a wisteria just coming into flower, was a small "meadow" of buttery yellow cowslips. The bench in the church yard looked very inviting in the sunshine but it was cold & the small dog impatient so I carried on with the walk. In the hedgerows I found another yellow flower (I think of April & May as the "yellow flower" time of year) - Mr PoppyM had talked of this plant a lot, but not coming from around here I wasn't quite sure I knew what the plant looked like. Well I do now, a nettle-type plant with hooded yellow flowers that produce seed pods that rattle - which gives it it's common name "rattle". Later on it the walk we came to one of the main reasons for picking that route - an apple orchard. It wasn't in full blossom but still quite a sight & scent - epecially so as it contrasted vividly with a flourescent yellow field of oil seed.

There is a little wood near here that is a delight. At the moment it is sporting a display of bluebells - they are not yet at their best - I reckon they will be in a day or two- then I shall visit it at dusk to look for that unique, etheral bluebell haze. It is a wood that for me sums up much of what is England - a small wood (less than an acre) with abundant wild flowers - snowdrops, primroses, cowslips, lesser celandine & now bluebells (the English ones). Up above is a noisy rookery. And in true idiosyncratic fashion, come summer there will be Long Horn cattle sheltering from the sun - they are quite a sight - huge animals peering over the fence with handbar horns!

Onto things traditional - once again I didn't manage to see the May Day Morris Dancers...one day...

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A fine late winter's day

Today's weather was memorable - a bit misty & cold until midday with just a promise of sun, and then the sun came out in all it's glory. Through the misty sun I walked with the large dog & looked for patches of blue violets & buttery primroses under the trees. Patches of white violets have been in flowers for about a week as they all seem to be growing on sunny banks & verges. The blue violets are less abundant perhaps because they grow in the fields & get trampled by the horses. Down by the brook that runs along the bottom of the field I spotted some coltsfoot - how apt for a field with about 25 horses & ponies in it. I heard a woodpecker in a stand of old trees that grow by one of the deep pools along the brook.

The mild bright weather & lengthening days are suiting the hens. They are laying well, which is very good as today there are no fresh eggs left to sell as we have sold the lot! Word spreads about a good egg! As it is now light quite early (around 6:50am) we are leaving the pop-hole open & the electric fencing on. The fencing has served us & the hens well for about 6 months now so I guess it's time to trust it at night to. Even so Mr PoppyM has gone to sleep tonight dreaming up schemes to keep the hen's safe.

Talking of keeping things safe, one of the 4 geese on this site has been killed. Today we found the geese's nest - 2 of the girls seem to be laying in the nest - there are 20 eggs. All 3 geese came hot legging it over to us when we were checking the nest - it is in fairly safe place & well camouflaged & it good to see them so alert. It's a sad fact that there is very little we can do to keep the eggs & any goslings safe, the geese will have to do it all themselves even in this very human environment.

Caring for young things seems to be a feature at the moment - the place is over-flowing with pots & tray of seeds in varying stages of germination & growth. When they are ready I'll be moving some to the outdoor plastic mini-greenhouse & set another lot of seeds. Mr PoppyM, aided by the hens has prepared a bed for the early potatoes. If the weather holds up tomorrow, I plan to plant out the sweet peas I sowed in the autumn - they are healthy vigorous plants now that need more space. I have just the situation for them, right outside the kitchen window. I'll be able to check that the peacocks don't get to them & more importantly, I'll be able to see & smell them for most of the day. I have grown a mix of varieties for flower colour & shape & scent & one just for it's name "Gwendoline"! I'm really looking forward to having bunches of sweet peas in the house throughout the summer.
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Amazing seeds

I've started my seed planting in earnest. A few days ago I planted some Morning Glory, put them above the fire with a cover & like magic they have sprouted & are already substantial shoots.

Last year I squirreled away lots of seeds from the Butternut Squashes I brought. I was unsure if they would be viable so I put 2 batches on some wet kitchen towel, covered them with a plastic bag & put them somewhere warm. Hey presto, 3 days later they have lovely long shoots just calling out to be planted - how amazing is that. I have many batches & don't really need hundreds of plants so I'll grow on a few from each batch & give the remainder to the hens - no waste & all seeds appreciated.

It was a mildish sunny day today so I was pottering outside tiding-up pots & straggly over-winterers. While I was planting out the larkspur & pulling up some dead stuff I noticed some nasturtium shoots. It was down to -9C this winter for days on end, those seedlings have come from last years plants -I decided to let the seeds fall where they would. So here are some tender plants that have survived the rigors of a British winter- incredible.

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Earlier in the week I spent a happy few hours in a garden centre selecting seeds - my belated birthday present. This was followed by frothy cappuccino & cake - what a blissful few hours. And of course the pleasure continues with all the planting, the growing, the admiring, the harvesting & more collecting - perfect.

All images from Flickr

Surprising Things Come in Orange

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Well I never thought I'd say it - but I actually like swedes - and all because of a recipe from VegBox Give it a go. http://www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk/recipes/recipes-index.php

Swede Soup
Ingredients
Serves 6
1 swede
2 parsnips
2-3 medium carrots
1 litre vegetable stock
1 onion

Method
Peel the swede with a potato peeler. Chop it into 1/2 in cubes.
Scrub the carrots and chop.
Peel the onion and chop.
Scrub the parsnip and chop.
Bring the stock to the boil and add the vegetables. Simmer for 20 minutes until the swede chunks are soft.
Add any herbs and spices of your choice.
Liquidise (if desired) and serve with crusty bread.

For a more filling version, top each bowl with about 30g grated hard cheese (such as Cheddar) and some toasted seeds and nuts.

And I've tried for the first time - Pumpkin Pie (actually Butternut Squash) - so give it a try .

Pumpkin Pie
ingredients

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin (or butternut squash)
1 cup brown sugar (I used 1 tablespoon as there is a diabetic in the house)
2 beaten eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp each of ginger, ground cloves and nutmeg
1 1/2 cups cream (I used milk)
1 8 inch pre-prepared pastry case or 250g shortcrust pastry lining an 8 inch pie tin

Method
Cook the pumpkin
Cut the pumpkin into quarters
Remove the seeds
Cut the flesh from the skin
Cut the flesh into chunks
Steam (or boil in a little water in a covered pan) for about 10 minutes until soft
Allow to cool slightly
Mash the pumpkin and mix together pumpkin, sugar, eggs, salt and spices.
Gradually stir in milk or cream.
Pour into prepared pie shell.
Bake in preheated 210 C oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 190 C and continue baking for about 40 minutes.
Serve warm or cold with cream/yoghurt


And in a bright orange book I've rediscovered a very very funny poem by Wendy Cope;

Strugnel's Haiku- here's the 1st haiku of the 3:


The cherry blossom
In my neighbour's garden - Oh!
It looks really nice.


Go get the book out of the library or buy a copy & read all her wonderful poems: "Making Cocoa For Kingsley Amis" Faber & Faber ISBN 0-571-13747-4

Non-Orange things

It's wild & blowy out there - a real March Day. Finally the daffodils are opening & I've seen lambs in the field - bleating & gamboling - aah.

Spring Cleaning must be "in the air". In the last 10 days the chicken house has been scrubbed & disinfected. The horse's stable has been completely emptied of bedding & disinfected. The kitchen has been blitzed twice - due to a blockage - fixed this morning. And because it has been too cold to work out doors for long spells, today Mr PoppyM "mucked-out" the sitting room, hoovered it AND washed the kitchen floor. He has retired to bed early complaining of feeling ill - let that be a warning -too much cleaning is bad for you!

It's been a busy few days with the chickens. We now have our own egg-boxes - sourced from a great place selling all manner of things for a small-holding. I have designed & printed off labels for the boxes. Mr PoppyM has made a "Eggs for Sale" sign - which has already generated a sale. The hens are laying really well considering it is a cold March & Alfie has settled in & is being a cockerel! The aim is to sell our surplus eggs to cover the cost of feed etc - the hens are our pets who happen to generate a few pounds a week. It would be lovely to have chicks but we are not set-up for them & don't have a broody hen - but who knows what the future will bring!

Today is the 1st day of my planting season - hurrah!

Have a Laugh

This made me laugh! It's from the excellent blog of illustrator/artist/writer Keri Smith. Go visit the site & be entertained & inspired - apparently there are 10,000 people who do!

March has ARRIVED. Following the wind & rain yesterday, all the plants & flowers look washed & refreshed. I have a long tub (actually an old horse storage box) filled with approx 100 small crocuses in 2 colours & a gnome buried in the middle. A majority of the simple white crocuses are open &, looking down on them, they look like tiny lilies.

Walking up the hill I stopped to watch as a flock of rooks & jackdaws rose together up out of a stubble field. As I watched I saw why- a very large bird of prey was flying through the flock. There are several resident large birds here, buzzards & I am 95% sure 1 or more goshawk. The rookery is in occupation now, and I see numerous birds with twigs in their bills. I guess there are eggs in the nests & eggs will soon mean chicks & chicks mean food for raptors.

The bird table is being well visited, there was a surprise visitor yesterday, a jackdaw.

Still on a bird theme, we have finally collected the Light Sussex cockerel. What a magnificent specimen he is & very nice natured. We have named him Alfred - Alfie. It's taken a few days for him to settle but he now has the measure of the place & yesterday managed to "bags" for hi self a big piece of boiled potato - those hens are no respecter of status!

I've finished reading "The Little White Horse", a book of such simplicity & innocence - a world that I don't think ever really existed & certainly does not exist now. In total contrast I read straight afterward the last in the Malorie Blackman Noughts & Crosses series "Double Cross". What a fabulous book & sadly a much truer depiction of life today for children & young adults. There are common themes i both books - the redemptive power of love & kindness, choice of good & bad, the young being a match for the older. I love children's books, they are frequently full of a vigour, creativity & clarity that sometimes gets lost in the "cleverness" that adult authors sometimes strive for.

The week the sun came out

What a busy & wonderfully clement week

The Hens
At long last the weather has allowed us to move the hens to their new site. They have an upgraded hen-house & a big run with lots of greenery. It wont be long before they have scratched-up & eaten everything possible within the run but NO PROBLEM. We have masses of expansion room now - bliss!
Ages ago we were offered a Light Sussex cockerel - he is still available but Mr PoppyM is wavering about having him. We have now also been offered 2 Guinea Fowl from the same source. Of course I want the cockerel & the GF - I love GF. I wonder how this will all turn out - tune in & see!

Spring

• The snowdrops are open & it is quite clear that they are not all the same variety.
• In my troughs & pots are hosts of exciting shoot: the 3 rhubarb seedlings I grew last year have fiery red, tough-looking shoots that gave me a huge thrill when I found them quite unexpectedly: the delphiniums have frondy green shoot - I saw the roving peacocks eyeing them up; and there are shoots & shoots of bulbs I had forgotten planting - so many pleasant surprises waiting to reveal themselves.
• Talking of peacocks - the local long-standing pair are still together & the tail, along with the rattling, was on display yesterday.
• In the hedgerows I have seen a few early celandines open - little bursts of sunshine laying on the ground.
• So many birds busy & singing & pairing-up. Spring is well & truly on it's way.

BOOKS
It was my birthday this week & I have had some great presents from friends. One I am particulary enjoying reading is a children's book that has somehow escaped me. Go out & buy it now ..... "The Little White Horse" by Elizabeth Goudge - such an innocent magical story.

It's nearly Spring!!

A few days ago my first crocuses opened.

And today I saw my first catkins in the hedgerows.

I have been eagerly awaiting the opening of snowdrops. There is a little wood near here with a floor of snowdrops & clumps & clumps of them under a sweet chestnuts & stand of beautiful beech trees. Then I found an on-line article by Monty Don (in the Mail) that indicates we haven't had a warm enough day yet. The weather forecast for the next few days looks promising so perhaps they'll be open for my birthday!
(http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/home/gardening/article-1118062/All-things-white-beautiful-Why-climate-change-good-thing-case-snowdrop.html#

A snowy week

What to do when you get snowed in!



Read a good book or two.
The image above is from a fantastic book "Birds Britannica" by Mark Cocker & Richard Mabey.

It is full of amazing facts & pictures -in Tudor times "the London population of kites was protected by statues for its valuable refuse-disposal services.." and "together with penguins and owls, puffins are the birds most often found in the baby's cot"-toy ones that is!!

Or ....

I've opened it at random to give a flavour -"Herefordshire Orchards" & "Strid Woods" (in Yorkshire) & in the chapter about Formby Point (a man-made landscape to stablise a dune system) "From the beginning of the twentieth century, there were around 200 acres of ground among the dunes, divided up into small "pieces", where local growers cultivated splendid crops of asparagus"!

I've just baked a brilliant chocolate cake...can't wait to try it with custard. It's a really dark colour & very moist.

CHOCOLATE BEETROOT CAKE

Serves 6 (in your dreams!!!)
Prep: 20 min Cook: 50 min

75g cocoa powder or powdered drinking chocolate
180g plain flour
2tsp baking powder
250g caster sugar (I used 200g)
250g cooked beetroot
3 large eggs
200ml corn oil
1tsp vanilla extract (I replaced this with ginger)
Icing sugar for dusting

METHOD
Heat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 and lightly butter a 20cm (8in) round or square cake tin.
Sift the cocoa powder, flour and baking powder into a bowl. Mix in the sugar, and set these dry ingredients aside. Purée the beetroot in a food processor. Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and oil, and whiz until it is smooth. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add the beetroot mixture and mix it all lightly. Pour into the prepared cake tin. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean (cover with a loose sheet of foil if it starts to brown at about 30 minutes). This cake will not rise a great deal, and the top will crack. After removing from the oven, leave it for 15 minutes before taking it out of the the pan. Cool on a wiore rack and dust with icing sugar before serving.

Jill.dupleix@thetimes.co.uk Very Simple Food by Jill Dupleix is published by Quadrille at £20. Order from Times Books First for £16, plus £2.25 p&p. 0870-160 8080

Some more serious stuff

The above cake is apparently an Australian favourite. My heart & healing thoughts go out to those who have suffered as a result of the bush fires. Especially those who have had to watch others suffer & die &, those who are being treated for burns & related injuries. Truely horrific.

An old work colleague sent me an e-mail that caused me some thought. In this age & back through the ages, in every country & amongst every race, so many families have been unwillingly seperated. The pain this causes is carried through the generations -so remember this little girl - she must be somewhere & someone must know something - Madeleine McCann http://www.findmadeleine.com/2008/

Imbole & Poetry Day

2nd February - poetry day

Here's my own contribution:

Naughty chocolate
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Forbidden chocolates.

Such melting, sweet delights

Are worth regrets!

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And here's a great poem by Mary Oliver:

Why I Wake early

Hello, sun in my face.

Hello , you who makethe morning

and spread it over the fields

and into the faces of the tulips

and the nodding morning glories,

and into the window of, even, the

miserable and the crotchety -

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best preacher that ever was,

dear star, that just happens

to be where you are in the universe

to keep us from ever-darkness,

to ease us with warm touching,

to hold us in the great hands of light -

good morning, good morning, good morning.

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Watch, now, how I start the day

in happiness, in happiness.

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Happy Imbolc to everyone.

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New Shoots & Buds

• I thought today might be "the day" when I saw the first spring buds open into flowers - not so - they just need a few rays of encouragement from the sun. Today was grey, gloomy with a biting wind - nothing soft to tempt them there. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to celebrate the start of a new growing cycle along with the snowdrops & crocuses.
• 
  
• In a number of my tubs are dense masses of vibrant stocks that have developed from the undistinguished plantlets I planted out in late autumn. Through great temperature changes, heavy frost, winds & limited sunlight they have continued to grow. Yesterday I noticed that they were producing buds - how amazing is that. I just hope the peacocks don't get them - I found a full grown male, complete with long tail, sitting on my window box pecking at the pansys & the following day he was perched on our rather delicate bird table stealing the peanuts!
• 
  
• In the human world I see "new shoots" to - we have moved our hen-house to a new site, one friend has started a course in tarot another has her own radio show. I have restarted my own writing projects with fresh vigor & direction & I have experimented with dying & decorating eggs. Even in at this gloomy part of the year amid depressing world news confidence, optimism & defiance are thriving.
• 
  
• So if winter is giving you the blues tune into Boundary sound (Saturday 31st 10am-noon UK time) & listen to "Girls on Top". Watch "Lark Rise to Candleford" on the TV Sunday, bake a cake, go out looking for buds & flowers, then get warm & comfortable & read a good book!
  
• .http://www.boundarysound.co.uk/shows/
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/larkrise/
• http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/saturday-carrot-cake,874,RC.html
• http://www.alexandermccallsmith.co.uk/lda/MiracleAtSpeedy.aspx

Poetry Day 2nd Feb

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Invitation to The Fourth Annual Brigid in the Blogosphere Poetry Slam

Feel free to copy the following to your blog and spread the word. Let poetry bless the blogosphere once again!

WHAT: A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading

WHEN: Anytime February 2, 2009

WHERE: Your blog

WHY: To celebrate the Feast of Brigid, aka Groundhog Day

HOW: Select a poem you like - by a favorite poet or one of your own - to post February 2nd.

RSVP: If you plan to publish, feel free to leave a comment and link on this post. Last year when the call went out there was more poetry in cyberspace than I could keep track of. So, link to whoever you hear about this from and a mighty web of poetry will be spun. Feel free to pass this invitation on to any and all bloggers.Thank you, Reya, for beginning what is now an annual event.
Posted by d. oak at 8:02 P