May Colour

 I noticed the variety of pink and red last night and zoomed in onto the tops of the trees on one side of my garden from a bedroom window 

The countryside is amassed with cow Parsley

and Horse Chestnut 

and May Blossom

and this picture that I found on Facebook is typical

Just a little aside before I sort some pictures from a lovely garden we visited today. If you like Wystera then you will love it

The Old and the New with a Walk thrown in.

These photos were taken in September 2011 and have been waiting on the 'back burner' to be posted

Regular followers of my blog will know that I have posted on Leigh-on-Sea many times,

the reason being, that our closest and most long standing friends lived there and we stayed there over many years when they were away. It is also only 40 minutes from home

Summer 2011

This is the home that they rented for many years but had to leave when the owner died

The property originally consisted of 2 semi-detached homes which were eventually turned into 4 apartments, our friends living in the ground floor on the left

Summer 2012

As there were no children the property was left to 2 nephews and the above photo shows the two new houses that they built for themselves after demolishing the original property

Very modern and with great views over the estuary

I do miss the old one though as it was like a second home

Having parked the car we begin with a coffee

over looking the Thames estuary

We leave the restaurant and take a walk into the town from the parade where our friends lived

before returning to the top of the cliffs

and make our way down into the old town over the bridge on the left which crosses the railway line

It is high tide so the fishing boats are in

A restaurant selling freshly caught fish

and then we come to several outlets that sell all kinds of seafood

and beer and drinks

looking back

and here a tea room and ice cream parlour

next to a quaint cottage

and now the HQ of the local Sea Scouts

till we reach the beach 

in re-tracing our steps we take you down this corridor

onto the deck of a restaurant

where many people are enjoying drinks

The restaurant which is on the right is quite upmarket so a dress code essential but lounging out on the deck is casual

Hope you enjoyed yet another walk around Leigh-on-Sea

My Garden in 2004

I came across some garden photos from 2004 this week which give a very different view to how my garden looks today
I used to grow a lot of flowers but in recent years have reverted to less beds and only shrubs and roses
Quality of photos not so good as they have been scanned and from the days when my camera did not have as many pixels as now

Yes the potted lilies are taller than me

My local park is full of Cow Parsley and May Blossom this week

a taste of late Spring

Lemony Lemon Brownies and Views from the kitchen.

If you like lemon then these are seriously lemony and delicious

I got the recipe off Facebook but I have changed the glaze to

2 teaspoons of lemon juice and not 2 tablespoons for as you can see here the glaze was too runny

Recipe at end of post

How do you think my teapot got out there?

Reflecting through the window!

Early evening sun after dull and wet days

Love looking out of the kitchen window this time of year

Lemony Lemon Brownies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup flour
2 eggs, large
2 tbsps lemon zest
2 tsps lemon juice
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

For the tart lemon glaze:
4 tsps lemon juice
8 tsps lemon zest
1 cup icing sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease an 8×8 inch baking dish with butter and set aside.
3. Zest and juice two lemons and set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, sugar, salt, and softened butter until combined.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice until combined.
6. Pour it into the flour mixture and beat for 2 mins at medium speed until smooth and creamy.
7. Pour into baking dish and bake for 23-25 mins, should turn golden around the edges.
8. Allow to cool completely before glazing. Do not over bake, or the bars will dry.
9. Filter the powdered sugar and whisk with lemon zest and juice.
10. Spread the glaze over the brownies with a rubber spatula and let glaze set.
11. Cut into bars and serve.