There is Nothing New! and then there is!!

New Spectacles

The latest fashion - just arrived the day before my appointment with my Optician!

Think not

Below I'm wearing similar in 1969

on our son Peter's first birthday

Now this might make you smile

A Spider repeller

Uses ultrasonic and electro magnetic technology to repel spiders and this size covers a 4 bed roomed house

Will let you know next year

I have managed to keep spiders at bay in recent times with Horse Chestnuts scattered in corners but our Horse Chestnut trees are suffering badly from a disease so no fruit this year

I did buy a spray containing horse chestnut oil but began to wonder if it would make a mess when I spied this unit

Cookies & Cookies

It's a long time since I have posted on baking. I still bake regularly but don't get around to taking photos
I did this time

Oat biscuits with Cranberries

These are out of this world delicious

The recipe came from Joanna Trollope a popular author. It was her contribution to a recipe book being sold to support breast cancer

They are melt in the mouth crumbly

Stem Ginger Biscuits

Recipe from Sunday Mail 'You' Magazine

These are melt in the mouth crumbly too

 with a real kick of ginger

Recipes as follows

Oat Biscuits with Cranberries  (Joanna Trollope’s)

6 oz self-raising flour                    2 ¾ oz Porridge oats                     5 ½ oz granulated sugar

1tsp bicarbonate of soda            1 tspn baking powder                  6 oz butter

2 tbsp golden syrup                      3 oz dried cranberries (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.  Grease two large baking trays.

Put the self-raising flour, oats, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a bowl.

Place the butter and golden syrup in a pan and melt slowly over a low heat.

When completely melted pour into the dry ingredients and stir thoroughly. At this stage can also add the dried cranberries.

With a teaspoon scoop out small spoonfuls, roll them into a ball and place (not too close together) on the baking trays. Flatten slightly with teaspoon. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes until golden brown. Transfer carefully with a fish slice to a wire rack and cool before serving.

Stem Ginger Biscuits

4 ½ oz butter, softened                3 ¼ oz golden caster sugar          1 tsp vanilla essence

2 balls of stem ginger very finely chopped          

5 oz self-raising flour     2 tbsp ground ginger

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/4 gas and line 2 baking sheets with greasproof paper.

Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla essence until pale and fluffy (about 5 mins. using an electric hand whisk)

Fold in the chopped stem ginger. Bring together to form a dough.

Using a tspn scoop out the dough and form into balls (about the size of a walnut). Place on prepared baking sheets about 5cm apart and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.

Place in oven and bake 12 – 15 minutes until biscuits are golden and firm. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool completely. If wished dust with icing sugar to serve. 

Repairing the Garden

So much extra work in the garden this Spring

Here we are re-turfing the area where we dug out one of the rose beds and repairing damage done by lots of flooding  

The other rose bed we dug out has not faired so well in the constant wet either

One can hardly see the rose shrubs we planted  in the Autumn

They are so far behind and I'm hoping they will recover as the garden dries and warms up a little

This is just one week later and and already the grass is blending in

and there is a little colour

and my latest acquisition to my quirky corner 

The garden is going to look a little sparse this year as I have dug out so many damaged shrubs and cut others back drastically

I came across this recently - it was left by a friend staying from Texas and just in case you are viewing on a small screen and cannot read it,  it says:

God put me on earth

to accomplish

a certain number of things

Right now,

I am so far behind,

I will never die.

Say no more!

Green Island Gardens. Part 2.

I guess I should have included this info. from website in previous post, but better late than never.

Quite inspiring

Green Island is a 20 acre triangular piece of land with the house set in the middle of woodland planted just after 1900. The house was designed by Raymond Erith and built in 1958, along with Nightingales, 'the cottage' and two timber chalets. Much of the woodland was destroyed in the 1987 storm with many mature oaks being lost.

In 1996 Fiona Edmond and her husband bought the house and moved to Green Island with their children. Fiona was seriously ill with M.E and over the next few years used the project of redesigning the garden as her 'therapy'. In 1999 the garden was opened to the public along with a plant nursery.

Materials found on the site have been used throughout the garden, which has been carefully designed as a series of areas with different themes, but all in keeping with the natural surroundings.
If you missed part 1 do take a look at the previous post

There is something special about visiting private gardens 

where the owner lives

Well it was lunch at Beth Chatto's and now afternoon tea here 

As you will see above there is a cottage and 2 chalets on the property which are rented out and visitors are welcome to wander these small cottage gardens too

and past the back of the main house

Front of house

Fiona - owner and designer of garden

Passing a goose farm on the way home

Green Island Gardens. Part 1

We are back in August now and having spent the morning at Beth Chatto's garden we ate lunch there before coming straight over to this garden which is only about 15 minutes away.

Two very different gardens and each with their own flavour. 

For me this garden was maybe not as colourful and pretty but it certainly was interesting and enjoyable with it's very varied shapes, textures, styles, shadows. A mixture of island beds and woodland and more which I will show you over 3 posts 

The kind of place where one wanders without knowing what is round the corner

Continuing to explore

Hope you enjoyed