Pot Pourri

This is just a little of this and a little of that - hence the title of pot pourri.
I don't have long as it's the AGM of my WI tonight but I thought I'd put up something a touch more cheerful than the weekend post. My friend L and I went to London on Saturday on our annual visit to Country Living Christmas Fair. We've been going there together for years and always make a real day out of it - travelling 1st class and having breakfast on the train. I have to say that these are not the most flattering of photos of either of us but there you go. They are all that's available:)












The picture at the top is of St Pancras Station which is a fantastic example of Victorian Gothic Architecture. Even though the interior is being moderniized the shell of the original station is retained as it is now a listed building. This is another view showing the Underground entrance and the steps leading up to what will be the main entrance to the station when the alterations are finished. At the moment it's a shambles and getting from St Pancras to King's Cross Underground- normally a couple of minutes - is now practically a five mile hike!



We only have to go one stop on the Underground to the Angel at Islington as the Christmas Fair is at the Business Design Centre. We had to queue to go in even though we already had tickets and while we waited I saw this wall of, I think, Russian vine which looked wonderful and slightly incongruous among all the hoardings and chimney pots.



As I said, we've been going to the Fair for years but this is the first time I've ever noticed the lovely stained glass panel inside the entrance hall nor did I realise that it had originally been the site of The Royal Agricultural Hall where Crufts dog show and the Motor Show were originally held.


These are some of the things I couldn't resist buying, first is a cinnamon scented
decoration which is destined for the kitchen at Yule.


I bought three of these mugs, this one is for me and there are two with different but similar pictures on which will be presents for Matt and Jules.


This is my new Christmas apron.


The throw was woven on the Isle of Mull in the natural colours of the fleeces and is destined for Neil and Cesca.


I love this pretty tealight holder


Last of all a cute little hat for Kaitlyn




I'm back from my WI meeting and guess who is now on the committee? And playing Snow White in a sketch for next month's Christmas do? Hmm, I wonder how I get myself into these things? I'm really quite a loner and not at all the stuff of which committee members are made and yet somehow I'm now on three!

Remembrance

1918 - the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month when the guns finally fell silent ending the carnage that was World War 1.
Remembering all those who have given their lives for their country.





1914-1918

Harry Hindley Simpson 1879-1916
Ist Bn Lancashire Fusiliers



Great Uncle Harry
Fatally wounded in the hell that was The Somme. Died 20 August 1916

Double click on photo to read.



1939-1945

Harold Harrison 1911-1942
Royal Air Force



Uncle Harold
Died in the Far East and buried in the Jakarta War Cemetery, Indonesia - so far from home.


They shall not grow old
As we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them
Nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun
And in the morning
We shall remember them

Bilbo Baggins - Explorer!

This is just a quick post,I have Kaitlyn here for the day and she is asleep now so I have a chance to do something. You forget how time consuming babies are! I uploaded the photographs last week after Bilbo and I had tried a new walk. There may be more from yesterday as well - depends on Kaitlyn!




This is the path up through the wood which is predominantly beech, It isn't much further from where I live than where I usually go so I can't think why we've never been here before. It was a glorious afternoon, warm and sunny - typical of this autumn.





It has been a particularly good year for fungus and this one caught my eye as we walked along.








This my name tree with the sun streaming through it highlighting the berries which are still thick on the branches even though the leaves are almost gone. She is Rowan - the Lady of the Mountains.






Almost at the top - this is one of the many little moorland streams with a bit of typical Derbyshire(and Yorkshire and Cheshire) dry stone wall. The whole scene was so pretty and fairy like that I couldn't resist photographing it.







When I got right to the top this is the sky that greeted me and I thought 'oh,oh!' All was well however and the clouds passed safely over.









This is from pretty much the same spot yesterday.








All the odd shaped balls of twigs on the silver birch which look like rather untidy bird's nests are witches' brooms - these are made by a parasitic fungus called Tephrina betulina.








One of my favourite sights in winter - the outline of bare treees against the skyline. Even better when seen against a vivid winter sunset.









Spot the dog!










I think this photo is really lovely - though I say it perhaps as shouldn't:)











Bilbo Baggins hopes that you enjoyed the walk as much as he did.

A Frosty Morning

This morning was the first real frost we've had and everywhere looked so pretty. There's one point in our woodland walk where you can come out of the wood and loop round through a very rough meadow which isn't cultivated or cared for in any way. This is where I took the frost photographs because in the wood itself the frost hadn't penetrated through the leaf canopy which is still quite substantial.


I've never tried to take this kind of photo before and I haven't quite got the knack of showing the clearcut rime around the edges of the leaves.


This one is a bit better, it would be easier on leaves that have turned colour but everything is still green in the meadow.


This seedhead looked lovely but again the photo doesn'r really do it justice.


I really liked this willow branch because already you can see quite clearly the tightly furled buds of next spring's new leaves.


Back in the wood again it's a completely different picture, although it's only about 8am the sun is shining through the trees onto the warm brown carpet of leaves, it was still very cold though but with the blue skies and the crisp feel in the air it was a pleasure to be out. I did bring out my warm winter jacket today though. It's been a beautiful day from start to finish and hopefully tomorrow will be the same.


It seemed a good day to make an apple pie so here it is ready to go into the oven.


I did something I never normally do and brushed it with milk before baking it, I shan't do it again as it looks uneven and slightly burnt even though it wasn't. Normally they come out a nice golden brown. Lesson learned - stop trying to get fancy:)


There was leftover pastry so I got out a jar of last year's mincemeat which I need to use up - it's full of alcohol and actually improves with keeping so it isn't as horrendous as it sounds! So this is the first batch of mince pies which are for Steve and Hannah (of the broken wrist)- Steve has always loved them and they've been eating bought ones for at least 3 weeks so they might as well have some proper ones. Many years ago the teenage Steve quietly removed a jar of my homemade mincemeat and stashed it in one of his drawers along with a spoon and ate his way through it. I didn't know he'd done it until he told me about it a year or two back.:)
I'm away for the next couple of days staying with friends in Cheshire, we're going to see my god-daughter(their daughter)performing in HMS Pinafore. I've never seen any Gilbert and Sullivan before so I'm not sure whether I shall like it or not inside - outside I shall enjoy it immensely and applaud like mad.

The Christmas Cake Part Two

What have two dogs got to do with a Christmas cake you ask? Well, nothing actually, it's just that first of all I thought I'd add these photos from our walk on the moors that wouldn't upload before. At the top are Bilbo and Martha enjoying the stream.


The foreground here is heather which looks wonderful in September when the moors are a great sheet of purple. This photo will definitely benefit from a double click to enlarge it so that the sunshine on the hills in the distance is more visible..


The autumn colours have been very poor here so far but I thought these trees with the sun shining on them looked rather good.


I'm always entranced by the small streams that are everywhere on the moors, they always seem magical to me especially when they tumble over mossy stones like this.There just have to be elves hiding somewhere nearby.


There were a lot of these scarlet fly caps as we dropped lower into the birch trees, they are a typical fungus of birch woods and rather beautiful. Also rather poisonous so best left well alone. Except that something obviously hadn't been leaving them alone, every single one had been eaten to some degree!


Now on to the main event,these are the remainder of the ingredients for the Christmas cake which I made yesterday.


Ready to go in the oven.


Four hours later.


Cooled overnight in the tin and wrapped in double clingfilm ready to go into a storage tin on top of the kitchen cupboard. It will come down twice between now and December 7th to have more sherry drizzled into it - 2 tablespoons each time. Then around the 14th I'll make the marzipan for it.

The parcel for America is also on its way now, I posted it this afternoon so I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself this week. It's been a beautiful day too, a slight frost this morning so for the first time this autumn I could hear the leaves underfoot rustling and crackling as I walked. They aren't deep enough yet for kicking through but when they are the 0 comes off my age, 60 becomes 6 and I have a thoroughly good time! The sky has been blue and the sun has shone - it's been a perfect November day and tonight there'll be another frost, it's already very cold and the sky is clear with a brilliant moon even though it isn't full yet. Life is very good. Though not for poor Kaitlyn's mum who fell and broke her wrist very badly on Monday so I shall have to go over tomorrow with offerings of meals - I'll take them a casserole, Somerset chicken and the big cinnamon apple crumble that I made on Tuesday so that will do them for a couple of days.

A Little Domesticity and a Walk on the Moors

On Monday I had one of those pleasant domestic mornings doing all sorts of things from the "I really must" category. A large basket of apples from the garden has been waiting for attention so I peeled a panful of them to cook.


While I waited I finally got the buttons sewn onto the cardigan which I've knitted for Kaitlyn. This is the first of the winter ones in 6-12 month size.




Next on the list was to finish wrapping the parcels to be packed into a box ready to send to my friends in New Hampshire. We've been doing this for over 30 years now, originally there were 4 or 5 packages for each family member but with the emphasis on the children. Mine had all kinds of toys and games years before they were available in the UK. Now it's just the four adults but even so it's the most exciting part of the lead up to Christmas when 'the American parcel' arrives.



In the afternoon J and I took the dogs up onto the moors, it was very windy but otherwise a very pleasant day for walking. There may or may not be more photos of this but so far Blogger has been refusing to upload them. This is Bilbo Baggins (brown) and Martha (black and white) along with most of J.



On Monday evening I sat and watched the football(soccer to my US readers!)and picked over all the dried fruit for the Christmas cake. The packs all come marked washed and cleaned but the amount of stalks and pits that are still in there is considerable. Then I chopped the cherries and prunes, cut up the candied peel, then added the rind of an orange and a lemon. This all goes in the pan with the juice of the orange and lemon and 4 fluid oz of sherry. I heat it gently until it's steaming then it is covered and left to cool and absorb all the liquid. It can be left up to 4 or 5 days at this stage.

I'm going to post this now and try and add more photos later Blogger permitting. I've tried on Firefox too and still nothing. Oh,well:(