Save Our Forests

I've never added anything like this to my blog before but I do feel that the proposed sale of our national forests, particularly the ancient woodlands, is very wrong indeed. The thought of these beautiful places getting into the hands of people who are just interested in making a profit from them makes my blood run cold. If the Government no longer wants to maintain them then they should be signed over to organizations like The Woodland Trust or the local Wildlife Trusts. There is a mounting feeling against this proposal and the stronger and more numerous the opposition is the more likely it is that we will be able to stop it. There is an online petition which is available here and I do urge all English readers of my blog to consider signing it.

Save Our Trees Petition

Selling off the forests may well produce a large sum of money for the Government but the idea is both short-term (you can only sell them once) and short-sighted.

Gardening in January

I don't think I can ever remember being able to work in my garden in January before but the last week has been almost springlike in my part of the country and I haven't been able to resist the temptation. Of course when I say working in my garden I really mean that I've started clearing the debris from last year. Normally I would be able to garden well into December but the snow and freezing temperatures put paid to that last year. There are plenty of signs of life around already the most noticeable being the lovely yellow stars of the winter jasmine.

There are all kinds of gardens, people have rose gardens, herb gardens, Japanese gardens and so on. In my case I have a particularly fine example of a dead stick garden.

In many areas the dead sticks are greatly enhanced by the artistically arranged heaps of dead leaves!

The piece de resistance - a magnificent white plastic football takes pride of place in this border:)

Removing dead leaves revealed crocus' pushing through even though the earth was still frozen earlier in the week. The new green leaves of the cowslips are appearing too.

I decided to begin by giving the woodland area at the bottom of the garden a much needed sorting out, it hasn't been touched for two or three years and was badly in need of attention. There were what appeared to be three or four little groups of snowdrops poking their noses above all the dead leaves by the beech hedge. As I raked and cleared it turned out to be a positive swathe of them which will be lovely in a few weeks. You can see how deep the leaves were as many of the snowdrops spears are yellow from the lack of light, hopefully they will turn green now. There are some daffodils in here as well and it's also where my comfrey grows though there are few signs of it at the moment.

The snowberries are especially ambitious if left to their own devices for too long and the long whippy branches bend over and root in the surrounding soil. I have raked and pruned and filled bag after bag with offerings to go to the local rubbish dump. I have filled my own capacious leaf container to the brim and the local council composts all the green waste so I don't feel too guilty about. Yet another jewel lay under all the mess, a plant I'd forgotten was there - the beautiful bud of the winter flowering cyclamen coum. I shall pay a visit to a local nursery and buy some more of these to add a little glowing colour to the winter days. I've so enjoyed being outside and hopefully shall get a few more hours in before the forecast 'light snow' appears on Thursday. It will give me a head start on spring which will be especially useful this year as I'll be in South Africa in early March.

Special thanks go to my little companion and helper who has been cheering me on enthusiastically as I revealed more and more nice soft earth full of fat, juicy worms:)

A Winter Walk

B Baggins and I went down Shorts Lane and onto Blackamoor this morning, there were grey skies and a cold wind blowing. I saw the farmer ploughing this field in the autumn and now it has a new crop growing - barley I suspect if it's the same as last year.

I don't think the farmer will be very pleased to see these little heaps of soil! Moldy Warp the Mole has been busy by the looks of it. Does anyone else love the Little Grey Rabbit books by Alison Uttley - Moldy Warp is one of the characters from these delightful stories. I have only ever seen one mole and that was a dead one kindly deposited on the back porch by my wonderful old cat Raffles - now long gone across the Rainbow Bridge. It was totally undamaged and must have died of shock I think. It was a lovely little creature with the most beautiful fur. I was very sad about it's death and after I'd told him off Raffles was very sad too! I apologize for the poor quality of the photograph, I tried several times and this is the best of a very bad lot.

These old moss covered dry stone walls give me pleasure every time I walk past them. It's sad that so many of them are poorly maintained these days. Dry stone walling as a country craft is definitely reviving but it's very expensive to employ someone to repair walls. In the old days the farm labourers would have had the skill to do such jobs in the winter months. My dad had this skill along with several others including being able to use a sickle. Judging by the rabbits that came home in his capacious pockets I suspect he had some skill as a poacher too!

B Baggins investigating the various scents in the grass verge, apart from other dogs there are horses,foxes,rabbits and badgers around here. There's a large badger sett close by and in the early summer I'm going to go at dusk without B Baggins and see if I can watch them for a while.

Even in the depths of winter, when everything looks lifeless at first glance, there are signs of life if you look for them, these are fresh young nettle leaves emerging in a sheltered spot protected by a high bank from the icy winds that come whistling down off the moors.

After the snow melt and a couple of nights of heavy rain Blacka Dyke is looking pretty lively, it sounded as though it was having fun as it raced merrily along.

This stone plaque has appeared very recently and will weather nicely into its surroundings I think. Although we have Alderman Graves to thank for giving Blackamoor to the people of Sheffield he hadn't actually owned it for very long. It was bought from the Duke of Rutland in 1927 when the Longshaw Estate was sold.

Thick stems of ivy twisting round the branch of this tree. This doesn't, contrary to common belief, strangle the tree. Ivy has its own root system and simply uses trees for support in the same way that a climbing rose does. I speak with the authority of the Royal Horticultural Society behind me:) Ivy has great value for wildlife. As ground cover in woodland it greatly lessens the effect of frost, enabling birds and woodland creatures to forage in leaf litter during bitter spells. Growing on trees, it provides hiding, roosting, hibernating and nesting places for various animals, birds and insects (including butterflies), especially during the winter months and in areas where there are few other evergreens.

Even in this wintry landscape there is some colour, the reddish brown of the dead bracken fronds adds some warmth to the scene and the green of the moss cheers things up too.

This is where I often cross over Blacka Dyke via the stepping stones and climb up to Lenny Hill, from there you can take several routes depending on how far you want to walk. Today though I stayed on this side of the river and walked further up into the woodland area. No photos though as this is also where my camera instructed me to 'Change Batteries' and I hadn't brought any spares!

Catkins

This is a not very good photograph of one of two hazel trees that grow at the bottom of my garden. As I walked down to the compost bin a few days ago in the snow I gazed hopefully at the one near the bin as I have done in the early part of every one of the last few years. When I say 'hopefully' I suppose I really mean 'longingly' because I didn't really expect to see what I was looking for and it was more of a casual glance as I passed by.

I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw these at the end of a twig, I searched and there were a few more to be seen as well!

I dashed across to the other hazel and sure enough there were a few catkins on that one too. 'She's getting rather over excited about a few hazel catkins' I can hear you all saying and it's true that there are many country hedgerows to be seen with hazel trees covered in catkins at the moment. These are rather special ones though because.....

......I grew both of these trees from little cobnuts sent to me by a friend in Hampshire. I planted them about 10 years ago and they grew and flourished but this is the very first time they have ever had any catkins on them and as the spring comes they will lengthen and fluff up and I shall have some little lamb's tails blowing in the wind. I am thrilled to little pieces:)

A New Year

Janus am I; oldest of potentates;
Forward I look, and backward, and below
I count, as god of avenues and gates,
The years that through my portals come and go.
I block the roads, and drift the fields with snow;
I chase the wild-fowl from the frozen fen;
My frosts congeal the rivers in their flow,
My fires light up the hearths and hearts of men.

from The Poet's Calendar by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


Janus is the god of gates and doorways, beginnings, endings and time and it is for him that the month of January is named.  I like the idea of looking both forwards and backwards. In the past lie the experiences both good and bad that have enriched and shaped our lives. We learn from all of them. In the past also lie our memories of friends and family many of them now dead and gone - how empty our lives would be without the ability to recall all the happy times shared with those who have been most important to us. As for looking forwards - a whole new year lies ahead full of possibilities and opportunities. I intend to make the most of it and I hope you all do too.

A very Happy, Healthy and Adventurous 2011 to you all from B Baggins and I!

Merry Christmas!

As with the previous post I don't think I can improve on my Christmas post from last year so here it is again:)

The Night Before Christmas was always my children's bedtime story on Christmas Eve.
So for all of us who still feel the magic of this night......

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.




More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.



As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night."




May I wish all of you a very Happy Christmas!

Winter Solstice

"

So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive,
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - Listen!!
All the long echoes sing the same delight,
This shortest day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!!"

- Susan Cooper, The Shortest Day

I know that I used this poem as part of my Winter Solstice post last year but it is so perfect for the occasion that I make no apology for using it again this year.

Today is the Winter Solstice, for a short time the sun pauses and then gradually, gradually the days begin to lengthen again. There are many long cold days ahead for 'as the days lengthen the cold strengthens' but one day we shall feel the warmth of the sun on our faces again and it will be Spring once more. From today the Oak King begins his reign and we start the long slow journey back to the Earth's reawakening. Happy Winter Solstice!

NB The beautiful image of the Holly King is by Angela Jayne Barnett. The photograph of the sun is taken from the web but I don't know who to give the credit too unfortunately.

Recipes for Gracie and Mrs Nesbitt

Gracie asked for the recipe for cheese and onion tarts, it comes from a little book called Teatime Favourites which I bought from Sainsburys in the early 1980s.

250gm (8oz) shortcrust pastry
150gm (5oz) onion, chopped small
6 tablespoons milk
salt & pepper
275gm (9oz) Lancashire cheese, grated
1 small egg, beaten

I often use mature Cheddar cheese rather than Lancashire - though Lancashire is best if you can get it, it's a wonderful cooking cheese.

Roll out the pastry and use it to line about 20 tartlet tins.
Put the onion in a saucepan, add the milk and season to taste. Bring it to the boil then simmer for 1 minute. Take off the heat and stir in the egg and cheese - I always put the cheese in first so that the hot mixture doesn't start cooking the egg. Leave the mixture until it is cold then spoon into the pastry cases.
Bake in a pre-heated oven 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6 for about 15 minutes until they are golden brown. They are equally good served warm or cold and freeze well.


For Mrs Nesbitt we have Delia Smith's Truffle Torte.

5 tablespoons liquid glucose
5 tablespoons rum
1lb (45-gm) plain dessert chocolate. This needs to be good quality not just cooking chocolate.
1 pint (570ml) double cream
3oz (75gm) Amaretti biscuits crushed finely

I use a 9in loose bottomed cake tin to make this. Brush bottom and sides lightly with oil (Delia says groundnut oil, I'm afraid I use ordinary vegetable oil) and line the base with a circle of silicone paper. Sprinkle the crushed Amaretti biscuits evenly over the base of the tin.
Break the chocolate into sections and put them in a heatproof bowl along with the rum and liquid glucose. Fit the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and leave the chocolate to melt stirring occasionally to help things along. When all the chocolate is melted give it a final stir, take it off the heat and leave it to cool for 5 minutes or so until it is just warm.
Now in another bowl whip the cream until it is slightly thickened. It's hard to describe the right consistency, it's something you learn from experience. A rule of thumb is to run a fork through it, if there is resistence and you can feel that it has thickened then it's about right. What you do NOT want is whipped cream! On the other hand you don't want it too thin either. Anyway, when you think it's about right fold half of it into the chocolate mixture and then fold this mixture into the rest of the cream until it is smoothly blended - no streaks of cream should be left in it. Spoon or pour it into the prepared tin and tap the tin gently to even the mixture out. Actually I use a broad bladed knife to make sure it's reasonably even. It doesn't matter if it leaves a few marks or swirls as the top will be the bottom when you serve it:) At this point I freeze it still in the tin. Delia's instructions are to cover it with clingfilm and chill overnight in the fridge. You do need to make it the day before you want to use it if you aren't freezing it.
Just before serving run a palette knife round the edge to loosen the torte, put a serving plate on top of the tin (having defrosted it if it's frozen of course)and turn it upside down so that it comes out with the Amareti biscuits on top. Gently remove the silicone paper then serve it with chilled single cream - and serve small portions, it's very,very rich! Those with large appetites and a sweet tooth can always have seconds:) My elder DIL's two brothers absolutely love this and appear to be able to consume unbelievable amounts of it!

Any US readers who want to try either recipe please remember that I am using Imperial measures and US tablespoons are not the same as British ones nor are US pints the same as British pints. Enjoy!

Here We Go Again!

Took this photo of the garden this afternoon covered in a fresh fall of snow. Happily I refilled all the birdfeeders this morning, they'll need it - the temperature now at 10.30pm is 21F and apparently it's going to drop even further during the night. DH says the roads are like a skating rink.

I was hoping for a light dusting of snow on the sledge piled with holly but this isn't quite what I had in mind. The poor red ribbon looks very disconsolate. Shall have to try a spot of first aid in the morning!

This is what I spent most of this afternoon making and I'm quite pleased with it. I've done a simpler one for the back door too but it was too dark to take a photograph by the time I finished it.

Today's other achievement was a chocolate truffle torte which is now in the freezer. This is not for those who are counting calories! It consists of chocolate, cream, rum and liquid glucose, you turn it out of the tin so that the base of crushed amaretti biscuits becomes the top. Heaven on a plate:)

I did summon sufficient energy to make the cheese and onion tarts mentioned in the previous post and here they are. I tested one and they're good!

My favourite little mouse is waiting in his stocking.......

......and the Christmas Goose is in his place. We're nearly there!

The Frozen North

You will need to click on the photos to enlarge them to see them properly. The river looked amazing this morning. The outdoor thermometer was registering 11.4F when B Baggins and I went out so I thought it might be worth taking the camera. In the 33 years I've lived here I've never seen Old Hay Brook frozen over to this extent. There have been icy borders at the edges once or twice in the past but nothing like this. It was even more frozen when we went this afternoon but I didn't take the camera thinking there would be less ice not more!

Each of the little weirs looked like a scene from The Snow Queen, there were tiny areas where the water was still flowing over but most of it must have been getting through underneath the ice.

This is a close up of the previous photo, you can see the blocks of ice and the small frozen waterfall with frozen foam at the base. I know this is a common sight in Canada and other countries in the northern latitudes but it isn't very common here I can assure you!

While the weather has been so cold I've been busy indoors. I made the Christmas cake two weeks ago and here I've unwrapped itso I can give it two more tablespoons of sherry. It's now back on top of the cupboard and will sit there until around the 16th December when I shall make the marzipan and put it on. Then that has to dry out for a few days before the final layer of fondant icing goes on. It's beautifully moist and smells wonderful!

I've started knitting again, this is the first thing I've made since I broke my wrist. It will be going in the post for George tomorrow. I'm now knitting a second rabbit also for George.

Some of you may remember seeing this one that I made for him earlier this year. He apparently loves it so much that Cesca can't get it off him to wash it so she's asked me to make another one in the hope that he'll accept the substitute on a temporary basis. Personally I wouldn't count on it:)

..

It will be a quiet Christmas for us this year so I'm not doing quite as much baking and cooking as usual. However this morning I did a batch of tiny cheese scones.....

......and a fruit scone round which have joined the Yule Log and the Lemon Cream pies that are already in the freezer. Now I'm going to go and make a big pan of leek and potato soup and maybe a batch of cheese and onion tarts - the soup is for my meal this evening but the tarts are destined for the freezer - if I get round to making them anyway:)

All's Well That Ends Well

Here is my personal entry for the Idiot of the Year contest! (Not B Baggins, that's just his 'this woman is absolutely nothing to do with me' look !)
It's Friday evening, cleaning week has been brought to a succcessful conclusion and the house is like a new pin. 8.30pm and it's time for B Baggins and I to go for our short evening constitutional before I relax in a contented and virtous glow of achievement. I gear up, this takes a good five minutes then off we go, half an hour later we are back and we go into the garage to disrobe - yak traks, boots, waterproof trousers, hat,coat, gloves and, in B Baggins' case, his lead. Then disaster strikes! I can't find my keys! Extensive searching reveals nothing so on goes all the gear again and leaving B Baggins shut in the garage I retrace my steps. Nothing {:(
As I get back neighbour out with his own dogs enquires if I'm OK so I tell my sad tale. He puts his dogs in the house and says he'll walk round again with me. Still nothing{:(
Not to worry says neighbour, he can break in for me and then make all secure for the night. By this time it's 10.30pm so we go into the garage to reassure B Baggins that he hasn't been abandoned before starting on the breaking and entering bit. 'What are these?' enquires neighbour picking up a bunch of keys from the table. He got a very big hug and while I get the award for Idiot of the Year Paul gets my award for World's Most Brilliant Neighbour.