Corners of my Mind

Time for Summer Pudding

2009-07-10T12:31:00.001+01:00

One of my favourite puddings is Summer Pudding, I try to make one every year. We bought some strawberries and raspberries yesterday so those, plus some cherries we already had and some blackcurrants from our garden have gone into the pudding. Try as I may I can never quite get my puddings to look like the one from my recipe book below but they always taste wonderful.

You need about 11/2 (one and a half) pounds of mixed summer fruit - try to have more red fruit than blue or black as it keeps the lovely berry red colour

Hull the strawberries and raspberries, trim the blackcurrants and stone the cherries and place them in a pan with 4oz caster sugar, the sugar will disolve and the fruit juices run; bring to the boil and keep boiling for about 3 minutes

Meanwhile take about 8 slices of bread and line a 1 1/2 pint pudding basin with the bread pieces

Make sure you overlap and fill in all the gaps. Then, reserving about 4 tablespoons of juice, place the fruit and the rest of the juice in the basin, cover the top with more bread. Place a plate on top so that it fits inside the rim of the basin and weight it down so that the juice soaks into the bread. When cool place in the fridge and leave overnight. If you find some areas of bread haven't soaked through then use the reserved juice to soak into those areas.

Serve with cream, ice cream, creme fraiche or greek yoghurt - Summer on a plate.
Delicious!

A Borrowed Tag Questionaire

2009-07-08T13:00:00.003+01:00

I've borrowed this tag from Rowan's blog Circle of the Year as it seemed like an interesting one to do, so here goes:-

What is your current obsession?

I don’t have obsessions as such but I can get involved to the exclusion of everything else when I’m on the trail of an ancestor.

What is your weirdest obsession?

How can you define weird? The word has altered meaning in the last few years, now, to some people, things that seem ordinary, acceptable or just different to me are labelled 'weird'. So perhaps some people would find delving into the past (as above) weird to others it might mean following ‘Dr Who’, keeping snakes or bog snorkling - so I can’t really answer this.

What are you wearing today?

Long black denim skirt, cream stripy top and soft cream suede shoes.

What’s for dinner?
Three bean, tuna and black olive salad with crusty French bread

What would you eat for your last meal?

If I knew it was my last meal I probably wouldn’t be able to eat it!

What’s the last thing you bought?

A pretty little bag from a museum craft stall for £1 - I've carried it nearly every day since I bought it!

What are you listening to right now?.
Nothing much everything is silent except for the occasional sound of birdsong through the open window - I heard a cat sneeze earlier!

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?

Near the sea

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?

There are so many places I long to see and many I long to return to but for just an hour I’d like to be walking along a beach somewhere, anywhere!

Where is your favourite holiday destination?

Cornwall

Which language do you want to learn?

It would be nice to be able to read a bit of Latin to transcribe old documents more easily. We did Latin at school for the first two years I was there then it was dropped in favour of Spanish or German - French was compulsory at that time. All I can remember is 'amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant' and the school motto 'Ab honesto virum bonum nihil deterret' - which means something like 'nothing deters an honest man from doing what is right'.

What’s your favourite quote (for now)?

‘By shallow rivers to whose falls melodious birds sing madrigals’

I read this earlier this year on a tin glazed earthenware pot by Lawrence McGowan at the Potteries Museum in Hanley – I liked it so much I wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget it.

What is your favourite colour?

Blue

What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?

An old black jacket I bought in 1996 at a Richards shop in Wilmslow

What is your dream job?.

I’d love to own a bookshop with a small coffee shop attached.

Describe your personal style?
Hmm – hard one – I do like everything to match but not be too formal for example a classic jacket with jeans and boots or a long wool coat with boots - in the summer I live in longish skirts, t shirts and sandals.

What’s your favourite tree?
Horse Chestnut because they look so gorgeous in Spring and early Summer with their spectacular huge flowers and in Autumn they give us shiny brown conkers.

What are you going to do after this?

Start to prepare the dinner – see above

What’s your favourite fruit?

Ripe Victoria plums - straight off the tree

What inspires you?

Wonderful writing and beautiful places!

Your favourite books?

Loads but these ones are always on my list - The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim , A Month in the Country by J L Carr, Mrs Dalloway by Virginnia Woolf, North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell

What are you currently reading?
Grey Souls by Philippe Claudel - a murder mystery with a twist - set in France during WW1 and The Wonderful Weekend Book by Elspeth Thompson - I've gleaned some wonderful ideas from this book including the recipe for tonights meal (see above). I’ve just finished Stratton’s War by Laura Wilson a murder mystery set in London during the second world war. Next on my TBR pile is 'The Unbearable Lightness of Scones' by Alexander McCall Smith.

Go to your bookshelf, take down the first book with a red spine you see, turn to page 26 and type out the first line:

‘Swish, Swish, Swish went her long skirt over the grass verges, but every time they crossed the road she would relinquish Laura’s hand to gather it up from the dust , thus revealing to the child’s delighted gaze a frilly purple petticoat.’

From The Illustrated Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson

What delighted you the most today?

The booking of a holiday in the New Forest later this year we are going with my sister and brother-in-law.

What is your earliest childhood memory?

Sitting in my cot, looking through the bars at my mother running towards me along the landing, the light over the stairs behind her head. This was in our house in Leicester – my first home – demolished years ago to build the hospital car park.

'What is your all time favourite film?

To echo my choice of books – Enchanted April and A Month in the Country but also Amelie – I just love it.

I’m adding – what are you going to do tomorrow?
We are going into town to the building society to pay off our mortgage. We've tried for nearly two years to sell our house and downsize to get rid of it but couldn’t in this financial climate. We’ve really struggled over the last couple of years to pay the bills since Paul gave up his teaching job but now his lump sum from his teacher’s pension has come through, that, plus most of our remaining savings will pay it off – we’ll be broke but more secure – I hope!

The rules:
1. Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own.
2. Tag eight other people.

I'm supposed to tag eight others but like Rowan am going to leave it up to you if you want to do it, if so feel free to take it with you.

Much Wenlock

2009-07-04T15:30:00.000+01:00

As promised I'm taking you back to the 'Morville' visit and to the journey home. So, following on from Journey to Morville (parts 1 and 2) and At Morville (parts 1 and 2) here is The Journey Home.

With the wall painting poem about bell-ringing fines still in our minds we left the church and returned to our car and leaving the gardens and church behind, we set out towards Much Wenlock. It was a warm afternoon and children were wandering home from school along the narrow streets as we parked and walked down the high street. We'd been here before - a few years ago - to visit the Priory. This time we had a good look around the little museum in the old market hall which had been closed the last time we were there. It was an interesting museum of local history and geology with displays dedicted to Dr William Penny Brooks whose life long interest in heath and physical education led him, in 1850, to start the Wenlock Olympian Games and they are still held every year - this year from 10th -13th July.

Here are some photos taken along the High Street and Wilmore Street

Above is Reynalds Mansion - the 17th century frontage was added in 1682 - behind it is a medieval hall - I'd love to see inside.

The 16th century Guildhall was built as a court house in 1540 after the dissolution of the Priory. A council chamber was added above it in 1577

Holy Trinity Church

One of the lovely cottages on the Bull Ring - the lane which leads down to the Priory ruins

A wall with the flower I now know is Valerian growing on it

I've put together a collage of photos we took when we visited the Priory in May 2003 so you can see what the ruins are like; they are maintained by English Heritage.

It was time to think about going home so we headed out of Much Wenlock on the Ironbridge road passing through the village giving us a quick glimpse of one of my favourite sights - the iron bridge - and then towards Telford, Market Drayton and home.

Below is a photo I took of the bridge in July 2007.

Food from the Garden

2009-07-04T13:34:00.012+01:00

Beans, Beetroot, Cauliflower, courgettes, cucumber, gooseberries, mint, onion and strawberries plus natsurtium flowers from the edible contents of the hanging basket

There are some still left for us after we got rid of loads of caterpillars - this hanging basket was full of them - the other, which has exactly the same contents, had none!

Lazy Yellow Days

2009-07-02T06:47:00.024+01:00

The garden is going through it's second 'yellow' phase at the moment mainly due to the Hypericum plants we have dotted around.

This one is hypericum androsaemum or Orange Flair - it just appeared in the garden quite a few years ago now and it took ages to find out what it was until a visitor said that it might be St John's Wort and we were able to identify it from this comment. We moved it earlier this year and it has done well but we must have left part of the plant behind in its original place as we now have two of them.

This one is hypericum calycinum or Rose of Sharon - we have two quite large bushes of this at either side of the garden both inherited when we moved here.

This is another plant that appeared one year it's Yellow Loosestrife and can be an absolute pain because it spreads very quickly and you have to be quite ruthless in pulling it up - but still it survives - I leave this clump here because it is quite pretty.

The courgettes are coming at last - we had a glut of them last year but this year they seem to be struggling. We have had a couple of cauliflowers, which is a bonus, as they too looked as if they weren't doing very well - I love cauliflower cheese and we make a huge one as a main meal with pasta, tomatoes and sometimes sliced mushrooms in it too - a sort of cauliflower/macaroni cheese with added extras. It is very tasty.

There are loads of plums on the plum tree and the blackcurrants are ripening too - as are the gooseberries - in fact I made another crumble last night.

This is Caspar - he isn't our cat but visits us often - yesterday he got in through an open window and ate Max and Chloe's food - he is a gorgeous cat though and I couldn't resist taking this photo of him.

Wandering around Cambridge

2009-06-28T11:25:00.007+01:00

The next day we were up and off early towards Cambridge and by 9a.m. were at the hotel. I had great plans for my day in Cambridge not least was a visit to the Botanical Gardens but the heat was so intense I decided not to walk that far out of the centre so spent my day just pottering around along the river, in the museums and looking at all the lovely clothes, shoes and perfumes I couldn't afford to buy - but perfume you can try so I did that, too. I went in three or four book shops and spent ages wandering around before choosing Heffers to sit and drink coffee and gaze at passers by and the wonderful array of books on offer. About 11.30a.m. I decided that I'd better swap my window shopping hat for my tourist hat and so I made my way to the nearest Museum.

The Cambridge Folk Museum is housed in an old Inn and is a fascinating place. The building itself dates from around 1600 and for 300 years was The White Horse Inn.

The courtyard of the Museum

As you walk in from the reception area the first rooms are the bar and snug from the old public house and then through to the kitchen.

Up stairs in the guest bedroom was a small walk-in cupboard at the side of the fireplace; this was used for powdering wigs. In the 18th century lots of people wore wigs and they would need to be stored on a stand overnight and powdered before wearing, the little room had a shelf - presumably for the wig stand - and a window to the outside through which to shake off the excess powder.

I loved these old houses - this was the view across the road from the top floor where there were displays on Fenland crafts and working life - things like eel catching and wildfowling - and a childhood room. From here I wandered up to Kettles Yard and looked around the gallery although the house wasn't open until later in the day.

It was time to wander back to the bridge and take a walk along the River Cam before it got too warm and I wanted to see punts, below the river on Quayside near Jesus Green.

At 2p.m. it felt like lunch time so I popped into M&S for sandwiches and a drink and sat in St Mary's churchyard - like many other people - in a shaded corner to eat my lunch.

I had a couple of hours before I had to return to the Gonville Hotel so I wandered up towards the Fitzwilliam Museum where it was cool and fairly quiet - here are a few of the photos I took along the way.

The Corpus Clock outside the Taylor Library of Corpus Christi College. It was designed by John Taylor - who explains about it here

Bicycles on the wall of Corpus Christi College

Window box in the quad of Peterhouse College

Don't know what this building is but I liked it

At the Fitzwilliam museum I looked at the Darwin exhibition and then - you've guessed - back to the rabbits again! As you can see from my little souvenirs from the shop - but I'll tell you more about 'The Macclesfield Psalter' in a later post.

Marking Time

2009-06-26T21:00:00.003+01:00

It's exam time and therefore it's marking time so earlier this week we went to Cambridge, as we did this time last year, for Paul's OCR examiner's meeting at the Gonville Hotel which is just by Parker's Piece. We actually set out the day before to visit friends in Spalding, where we used to live, and had a lovely lunch with them at the Swan Hotel in Moulton and then a visit to the Owl Centre at Weston. Here are some photos of our day.

The Market Place, Spalding - unfortunately it wasn't Market Day

The new footbridge over the River Welland in the centre of Spalding

The Mill at Moulton which is opposite the Swan Hotel

Walking by the Mill

Our next stop was The Owl Centre which is within the Baytree Garden Centre at nearby Weston. Paul took loads of photos - here

One of the owls at the centre - a Ural Owl called Titch

No, this isn't an owl - this is Chester and he is a Giant French Pappillion - well I did promise rabbits!

We were staying at the Travelodge at Alwalton just south of Peterborough and close to the East of England Showground. Our room was overlooking the fields of the showground and they were absolutely full of rabbits - they were enchanting to watch as we sat sipping a welcoming cup of tea.

More rabbits - wild ones this time.

The village itself is so pretty and we had an evening stroll around the centre with its thatched cottages and down to the river which was so still and peaceful in the evening air; we stood and watched the dragonflies skimming across the surface of the water. Henry Royce co-founder of the Rolls Royce Motor Car Company was born here and is buried at the church of St Andrews in the village.

The Cuckoo Hotel

Beautiful thatched cottages

Down by the River Nene

It was time to wander back as we had a long and busy time ahead of us the next day.

Catching Up

2009-06-24T14:00:00.020+01:00

We've been away for a few days into South Lincolnshire and also to Cambridge, I'll report on our visit in a later post; this morning it was time to catch up with gardening - even after only a day or two things have changed.

First I cut the grass which took a lot of effort as it hadn't been done for ages because of the rain.

A job well done, I think. After a coffee break I picked some of the gooseberries which seemed to have doubled in size overnight.

It wasn't until I'd finished picking that I noticed Max asleep under the gooseberry bushes - the cats love it there as it is so shady.

So later I'll be making a crumble or two. One of my friends has passed on some Lady and Saga magazines, hmm .... what is she trying to tell me!

Not only have the gooseberries doubled in size - the tomatoes have too.

So have the beans.

I'll be back later with tales of Cambridge, owls and a rabbit or two, or three or four or........

Midsummer Roses

2009-06-20T16:11:00.003+01:00

Roses have a special connection to midsummer. The legend is that any rose picked on midsummer's eve or midsummer's day will stay fresh until Christmas. I may try - although I expect I would be better served by pressing a flower between the leaves of a book. This always brings to mind the wonderful book A Month in the Country by J L Carr - set in the period just after WWI and one of my favourite books. The vicar's wife, the beautiful Alice Keach gives Birkin, the artist who has come to restore the wall paintings in Osgodby church, a rose - a pink, single rose called Sara van Fleet. Years later he writes 'I have it still. Pressed in a book. My Bannister-Fletcher, as a matter of fact. Someday, after a sale, a stranger will find it there and wonder why.' It is the end of the film of the book that has me reaching for a box of tissues when Birkin, now an old man, returns to the church and in the churchyard opens his book and there, between the pages, is the pressed rose, a symbol of what might have been.

Roses are seen as the flower of love. Another custom for Midsummer's eve was that young girls would scatter rose petals before them and say the words:-

'Rose leaves, rose leaves, rose leaves I strew, He that will love me come after me now.'

Then, according to legend, the next day, Midsummer's day, their true love will visit.

I wonder if this ever happened? In Act 1 Scene1 of William Shakespeare's play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' Lysander enquires of Hermia

'How, now my love? Why is your cheek so pale? How chance the roses there do fade so fast?'

Hermia replies 'Belike for want of rain, which I could well beteem them from the tempest of my eyes'

Lysander follows with 'Ay me! For aught that I could ever read, could ever hear by tale or history, the course of true love never did run smooth.'

Indeed!

Roses are much used in perfumes and also for healing purposes.

How to make rose water:-

Gather the roses from your garden just before they drop from the plant. Place in a heat-resistant bowl and cover with boiling water and leave them for about half an hour. Strain the mixture through muslin or cheesecloth into a jar and discard the petals. This mixture will last about 10 days if kept in the fridge, a tablespoon of vodka will act as a preservative if you want to store it for longer. Place in a spray bottle as a refreshing spray for warm summer days. You can also combine the rose water with glycerine to make a soothing moisturiser:-

3 tablespoons of glycerine to 3 tablespoons of rose water. Combine in a clean bottle, fasten the lid and shake the mixture. You need to shake before each use.

The rose above is called The Herbalist.

After I'd written this post and set it ready to publish later today we went for a walk around Trentham where we decided to have an ice cream from Cadwallader's ice cream parlour. Well, you've probably guessed - the flavour I chose was Rose Petal it was a pretty pale pink colour but this doesn't show very well on the photo which was taken with the phone camera; it was delicious - such a soft delicate flavour.

Another bit of the Monsal Trail

2009-06-18T11:00:00.004+01:00

I thought we'd have a little break from the Morville adventure and keep Much Wenlock for a later post. Last week we went into Derbyshire to walk another stretch of the Monsal Trail - this time we parked at Monsal Head and walked from the viaduct towards Cressbrook Mill as far as the Rubicon wall and Water-cum-Jolly and back with a slight diversion along the way.

We parked in the large long-stay car park behind the Monsal Head Hotel and made our way past Hobb's cafe and craft shop to the path which leads down to the viaduct where the trail started.

This is where we were headed - down through the trees towards the viaduct built in 1863 to carry the trains from Bakewell to Buxton, just to the left of the path down at the end of the viaduct is another closed tunnel.

A view from the start of the path near the car park

Down through the trees

A view of the hills from the viaduct

Cressbrook Mill

Steps down to the river Wye

The waterfall near Cressbrook Mill

The Rubicon Wall at Water-cum-Jolly we crossed the bridge and walked along the other side of the water until we reached the corner - it was very muddy underfoot here - we turned back to retrace our steps to the viaduct.

We walked under the viaduct and out into the buttercup meadow

It was so peaceful and magical amongst the buttercups down by the river

I could have stayed here for ages just taking in the atmosphere listening to the insects buzzing and the coots on the river calling to each other; I just wanted to sit amongst the buttercups and dream the day away and for a while time and place were suspended. There was a certain timelessness about the place that is hard to describe.

Eventually we wandered further along the river to find the weir we could hear roaring in the distance

Then we returned along the buttercup meadow, up the path towards the viaduct passing wild orchids as we walked and back up to the car park.

We sat and had our picnic lunch on a seat overlooking this view just a stones throw away people were sitting in the garden of the Monsal Head Hotel eating pub lunches and back in the short stay car park the local ice cream van, Bradwells, was doing great trade with the passing ramblers.

I shared my sandwich with this little chaffinch - I think he enjoyed Paul's home made bread as he ate all the crumbs we put down for him and ignored the other bread left there by the last inhabitants of our seat.

At Morville - Part Two - The Church

2009-06-15T16:19:00.022+01:00

After we left the Dower House garden we walked back towards the church where we had parked the car - we went to see if the church was open and were pleased to find that it was.

The drive from the main road which leads to the Hall and Church at Morville

St Gregory's Church was built in 1118 by the monks of Shrewsbury Abbey - it became a Priory dependant on the Abbey and it is thought it stood where the Hall is now

The chancel arch, although restored in the 19th century, is predominantly Norman

Whilst the font is thought to be of Saxon origin

From here on the photos aren't so great so I apologise but thought I would show them as you can still get some idea of what else was in the church from them.

The carvings over the vestry door

There are four carvings above the pillars in the nave which represent the evangelists - the one above is St Luke with an Ox.

On the wall of the tower is a wall paiting of bellringing fines - I've typed it out for you to read

When to ring you doe come here
you must ring well with hand and ear
for if this law you break indeed
your forfeit must be paid with speed
he that a bell doth overthrow
must pay his groat before he goe
he that suddenly checks a bell
two pence must pay all men can tell
amd he tht rings with spir or hatt
two pence is there to pay for that
these laws are olde they are not new
therefore kind debtor pay they due

It was time to head towards home which we did via Much Wenlock and Ironbridge. To be continued.....

At Morville - Part One

2009-06-13T09:00:00.003+01:00

"I came here to make a garden. In the red earth I find fragments of blue-and-white willow-pattern china, white marble floor- tiles, rusted iron nails. A litter of broken clay pipes in the flower-beds, their air holes stopped with soil. Opaque slivers of medieval glass, blue as snowmelt. Flat wedges of earthenware dishes with notched rims and looping patterns of cream and brown. Who drank from that cup, who smoked that pipe, who looked through that window? Did they stand as I stand now, watching the clouds on the hillside?"

It was this sentence from Katherine Swift's book 'The Morville Hours' that made me want to read it; once I'd read it I wanted, of course, to visit the garden. It isn't that far away from where we live, it wasn't out of reach - a visit would be possible, easy in fact, and so it turned out to be.

A sharp turn from the main road and an avenue of trees brings you to the grounds of the hall and the church with the wonderful rolling, wooded hills behind. It was hard to take a photo that captured the atmosphere of the vastness of the skies and the beauty of the hills. The one below shows a little of it behind one of the two lodges either side of the main hall.

You are guided to park in the churchyard and I'll return to this lovely church later

We walked towards the hall, but of course, the place we were headed to was The Dower House, the small building behind the wall immediately right of the main hall in the photo below.

The Dower House at Morville - just as I'd imagined it. The entrance hall, where tickets were available, as well as other goodies, was lined with books from floor to ceiling. We bought our tickets from a gentleman who informed us that scones and tea would be available from 3p.m. onwards in the little courtyard at the side of the house and that the author of the book, Katherine Swift, was at present in the kitchen baking them; he also asked where we had heard about the garden and told us about the BBC's book at bedtime recording the transmissions in the garden. We felt very welcome.

The garden at The Dower House was designed to tell the history of the Hall and the people who have lived on the site over the years.

Here are a selection of photos of the garden...

The Cloister Garden which reflects the fact that Benedictine monks came from Shrewsbury Abbey in the 12th century and built the church here.

The Tudor Knot Garden

The Canal Garden

The Victorian Rose Border

We sat for a while on these chairs at the end of the Pear Tunnel just listening to the birds singing, the bees humming and the happy voices of visitors discovering new things at each corner they turned. Nearby a water colour artist was painting the Alium flowers in the Fruit and Vegetable Garden.

The Turf Maze is the symbol of the past meeting the present and the central hub of all the other gardens

In the Ivy garden visitors were gathering for the promised scones at 3p.m.

First in line was this elderly chap in his favourite place outside the kitchen door - the last, we were told, of the three cats often mentioned in the book.

A Journey to Morville - Part Two

2009-06-10T07:45:00.002+01:00

I suppose you could say that Bridgnorth is a town of two halves. There is High Town set on top of the sandstone cliffs and Low Town below the cliffs, the whole split by the River Severn. To get from the high town to the low town and vice-versa you can either use this.....

or this.

We parked in the high town as we only had about an hour and set out to have a wander about and see if we could spot the little town house B&B we had stayed in over twenty years ago before we ever dreamed we would move from the East to the West Midlands. We had booked a B&B with the Tourist Information Centre but when we arrived the owner said they had double booked us but had found us a room with a friend up in the high town. When we arrived there it was the most amazing place, really old with oak staircases and steps down into the bedrooms which had iron bedsteads and everywhere was crammed from floor to ceiling with nick- knacks and shop dummies in vintage clothes, hat boxes, fairy lights and flashing tulip lights on the breakfast table - the owner was quite a character. We enjoyed staying there but couldn't spot the place this time around. I expect she is no longer there.

This is the view down to the bridge over the river Severn from the walkway just beyond the Castle Hill Railway, from high town to low town.

Here are some scenes from the High Town.

Waterloo Terrace, I think!

The Shakespeare Inn

The Castle Tea Rooms

High Street and the Town Hall

Northgate and the Northgate Arch, there is a small museum in the rooms above the arch

It was time to move on to find the garden we had come to see, the one I had read about in Katherine Swift's wonderful book 'The Morville Hours' - tantalisingly just 3 miles away - but this wondrous place deserves a post of its own.

A Journey to Morville - Part One

2009-06-07T09:15:00.004+01:00

Paul is on holiday this week and we've been pottering in the garden quite a bit but on Wednesday we decided to have a day out to visit a garden I'd been wanting to see for ages at Morville in Shropshire - much more of this magical place in a later post. We set out in the morning heading down the A34 towards Eccleshall and taking the Newport road through Woodseaves (I always think of Kester Woodseaves hero of Mary Webb's 'Precious Bane' when we pass through this village which is quite apt as we are heading into Shropshire later) and out towards Albrighton, after the A34 these are mostly peaceful country roads and it is a familiar drive for us because every year we visit the RAF Museum at Cosford. We stopped here first for a coffee and a look around to see what was changed and what was new - I'll let Paul tell you all about it on his blog. After a good walk around we drove back into the village of Albrighton and made our way to our next port of call - David Austin Roses.

There were some gorgeous roses both in the sales area and in the gardens which are free to wander around. The rose below was growing by the entrance - it is called 'Gertrude Jekyll'.

Below are a few more photos taken around the gardens.

Thanks to Paul and his camera for the close ups of the roses.

This fine fellow was certainly making his presence felt - well heard - all around the garden.

I'd never seen blue roses before - they were stunning and called 'Rhapsody in Blue'.

After wandering around to the call of the peacock, the buzzing of the bees and the wonderful scents from the roses it was time to move on. We drove along country lanes through yellowing fields rippling with red poppies towards the town of Bridgnorth. I'll tell you all about this in part two of the journey.

Jolly Boating Weather

2009-06-04T07:32:00.000+01:00

On Sunday morning I managed to tear myself away from my chair in the shade and my lovely book (see my last post) for a couple of hours to visit the local Canal Festival which was based at the Etruria Industrial Museum (formerly the Jesse Shirley bone and flint mill) where the Caldon and Trent and Mersey canals meet - an ideal place for a canal festival deep in the industrial heartland of the potteries. We decided to park at Hanley Park and walk along the Caldon canal towpath towards the museum.

We walked past Stoke College and the student accommodation by the first lock and under the road bridge as we headed towards our destination.

There were loads of these pink flowers along the canal banks I feel I should know what they are but I can't place it - has anyone any ideas?

Below are a few scenes from the Festival. It was warm and sunny and people were strolling around eating ice-cream and thoroughly enjoying the weather, the atmosphere, the noise and colour.

As well as narrow boats there were vintage vehicles and steam engines, all being polished and displayed with pride by their owners.

These boats were on the Caldon Canal, the one below was on the Trent and Mersey Canal.

On the festival field there were many other activities like a fishing competition and archery, too.

Many of the canal trusts and waterways organisations had stalls and there was a music tent where local bands would be entertaining throughout the day.

It was just the ticket to rouse the spirits and a good way to spend a couple of hours on a warm Sunday morning and the last day of May.

More 'Channel Island' Potatoes

2009-06-01T09:27:00.002+01:00

Whilst I've been lazing in the garden over the weekend, sitting in the shade during the hot afternoons and studiously ignoring the ever growing pile of ironing which sits accusingly in its overflowing basket, I've been reading a most wonderful book.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer is written in the form of letters to and from a writer, Juliet Ashton, who has become popular during the early 1940s writing a newspaper column called 'Izzy Bickerstaff goes to War.'

It is 1946, Juliet's flat has been destroyed by bombs and she is struggling to find material for a new book with which to shake off her rather frivolous 'Izzy Bickerstaff' image. The book starts with letters to her friend and publisher Sidney Stark and his sister Sophie in Scotland. Then one day a letter arrives from a farmer in Guernsey called Dawsey Adams who has found her address in a second hand copy of a book written by the 19th century writer Charles Lamb. He wants her help in tracking down more works by Charles Lamb. The letter eventually finds her and intrigues her and so begins her idea for the subject of her new book. She replies immediately and starts a correspondence with, and receives letters from, not only Dawsey Adams but also other wonderful characters like Eben Ramsey, Isola Pribby and Amelia Maugery all members of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Their letters tell of their time during the German occupation of the island and underneath the good humour and cheerfulness lie the personal stories of the hardships and tragedy they endured. The second part of the book consists of Juliet's letters back to London and Scotland from Guernsey where she has gone to meet her new friends and to research her book. The characters are endearing and Juliet is a wonderful central character; the book is heartwarming and yet at times unbearably sad, suffice to say though that the ending is everything you would want it to be. I'll leave it with you to read the book to find out the reasons for the foundation of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Seasonal Pleasures

2009-05-30T18:31:00.006+01:00

Strawberries, lettuce from the greenhouse, asparagus and Jersey Royal potatoes - just a few of the delicious delights in season now; so what will we be eating this evening? Asparagus quiche with new potatoes and salad followed by strawberries with a dollop of Yeo Valley fat free strawberry yoghurt.

Mushroom and Asparagus Flan from a recipe in 'Vegetarian Meals' my other cook book by Rosamond Richardson.

In the garden, of course.

Staying Local

2009-05-25T11:24:00.007+01:00

On Saturday morning we decided to walk just a few miles away from home at Dimmings Dale. This is a great place to walk and it was such a lovely morning; so pleasant after all the rain of the last week.

We followed the waymarked path from the side of the well known Rambler's Retreat. I'll tell you more about this wonderful place later in the post.

We left the path above just beyond the wall and took a narrow path which lead to another one on the opposite side of the lake.

On the lake geese were making their loud 'honking' noise and the ducks were chasing one another whilst Mum and Dad Coot were protective of their little offspring.

The rhododendrons on the side of the lake looked a stunning colour against the shimmering water in the early morning light.

We left the main path and followed a smaller one down into the woods - the light effects under the trees were beautiful.

As were the reflections of the trees in the stream which we later crossed via a small bridge and then climbed higher and higher into the woods.

At the end of the woodland path was a gate into a meadow which as an ancient hill pasture had been designated a site of special scientific interest by the Forestry Commission; it was full of wildflowers, mosses and grasses and was buzzing with insects.

We sat for a while on a seat by this lovely stone wall. Looking across the meadow and out over the trees we could see the towers of the house at Alton which was formerly the residence of the Earls of Shrewsbury.

Better known now as the theme park Alton Towers. You can see one of the rides - I think it may be 'Oblivion' or 'Air' but I'm not really sure as I've only ever been in there once when we first came to live in this area, we rode in on the the mono rail from the car park and then out again - as we were looking for Alton Castle on a heritage weekend - a long story but we did find it eventually and see the lovely Pugin designed building and the wonderful wall paintings inside! Thanks once again to Paul and his camera for this close up view.

We walked along the meadow and joined another footpath through the woods which lead back down to the main footpath on which we had started our walk - it was time for coffee and delicious, freshly baked scones at the Ramblers Retreat.

We sat in the garden which was full of covered seating areas and gazebos surrounded by wonderful flowers. The owner came to speak to us and showed us his herb garden and raised vegetable beds and inside the main restaurant and told us a little about the history of the house. When they bought the house it was nearly derelict and most of it was rebuilt, just the front of the early 19th century, Italian style house remains. It was built as a lodge with a lake on what was known as the Earl's Drive leading to the main house at Alton. He told us that his grandmother remembered standing on the corner waving a flag to welcome the new King Edward VII on a visit to the house in 1901.

I can't find the words to say how magical the gardens were, how peaceful at that time in the morning; bees were buzzing around the flowers and the birds were flitting about. Before we left we visited the bird hide and watched various woodland birds feeding. We didn't see the woodpeckers though; the owner told us that they visit much later in the day.

Scenes from a Wet Garden

2009-05-20T11:35:00.035+01:00

It's been well over a week since we've been able to do anything in the garden. The lawns need cutting but they are squelching under foot. The laurel hedge at the front needs trimming but it is too wet. The areas around the raised beds are full of puddles and the pond is ready to overflow. I love rain but not this much. In an ideal world we would have two days of rain out of seven or soft rain through the night and dry days, but of course, we don't, so whilst I wait to get on with some gardening here are some photos of our rain drenched garden.

Yes, that is a cat's tail you can see - they always move just as you click the shutter!

I love to see the raindrops on the Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla Mollis).

The pond water is very close to the top. Happy frogs and newts!

Hmm! If you don't turn off this rain I'm going to get very wet and muddy and come in and dry myself on your lap.

The Solomon's Seal is sheltered by next door's leylandii tree.

The peony looks gorgeous regardless of the weather.

And so does Madam Chloe!

The three water butts we installed after one very hot, dry summer haven't been needed for the last couple of years. How I hope we need to use them this coming summer.

We do have a badger in the neighbourhood; as you know from a previous post one of my neighbours thought she saw it earlier this year and we had frog spawn taken out of the pond and more recently huge holes have been dug in our raised beds - far too large for a cat. Two nights ago another neighbour was woken by her fence rattling and banging and thought an intruder was coming over into her garden but when she looked out of the window she saw quite a large badger coming through the fence and running up her lawn towards our garden. I long to see it myself so I think we are going to have to organise a badger watch over the weekend. Last but not least, I've finally cracked how to put photos on here that you can enlarge by clicking on them - takes a long time for the penny to drop sometimes!

A Special Lunch

2009-05-17T12:26:00.012+01:00

On Friday, twelve of us gathered around a table, in our own private room, eating wonderful food served by attentive and friendly staff. Some of us knew each other of old, some had met more recently and some didn't know each other at all but were aware of each other from conversations with the mutual friend who had gathered us all together in a wonderful gesture to join with him in celebrating his special birthday. As I sat at the table where people were chatting and laughing and eating and relaxing I gazed towards the end of the room where the arched windows overlooked the old church and thought what a wonderful setting it was in which to celebrate such a special occasion.

Langar Country Hotel and Restaurant is in the village of Langar and close to Cropwell Bishop in the Vale of Belvoir. The house itself was built in 1837 to replace the original 18th century house, owned by Admiral Howe, which was destroyed by fire. You will see the setting of the house more clearly from the photo on the welcome page of the hotel's website (link above) I was standing as far back as I dare to take the photo above, one inch further backwards and I would have disappeared, probably rather inelegantly, into the Ha-Ha which was just behind me.

The church of St Andrew stands at the side of the house and the grounds too, are lovely.

These are statues of either ostrich or emu, not sure which.

Views across the fields from the car park area, the hotel grows and rears a lot of its own produce as you can see from their blog

A gorgeous laburnum tree.

Cottages on the lane around to the church which we visited after lunch.

The flowers displays were very pretty and natural with flowers from the kitchen garden and verges - using plants like aliums, cow parsley, aquilegias and ceanothus.

Inside the church was simple and plain with just the minimum of decoration.

The photo below is courtesy of Paul whose camera takes better close ups than mine - it is taken from one of the illustrations on the pulpit.

The churchyard was quiet and peaceful, a typical country churchyard - with cowslips growing in profusion amongst the grass.

The heavy rain of the morning had dissipated as we sat around the lunch table and the first few rays of sun glinted through the windows of the dining room, just right for a stroll around the grounds and the church afterwards.

The lunch was long, entertaining and satisfying. I passed on a starter and had a beautifully presented portion of stuffed aubergine with a hummus quenelle with a butter bean and chick pea coulis, follwed by a summer berry Eton mess with stawberries and blueberries - my first strawberry of the season. The most popular dishes amongst our party seemed to be crab cakes, steak and ale pie and spring lamb, just two others as well as me chosing the vegetarian option. It was all delicious.

A Useful Flower

2009-05-14T09:15:00.025+01:00

At the moment the bees are busy buzzing around the perennial cornflowers (centaurea montana) in our garden. Apparently these are wildflowers, originally from the mountain regions of France and Germany, but we have always had loads of them in our garden; they spread so easily and sometimes, when the first flowers are over, they will return later with more. I think they are really pretty and encourage them. They are early blooming this year, when we first came here thirteen years ago they didn't start to flower until mid June now they appear in mid-May.

As well as attracting bees and butterflies the flower has other uses too, I've never tried it but apparently you can (as with nasturtium flowers - which I have eaten) put them into salads. You can also (see links) make tea with them and they are supposed to have soothing and astringent qualities that can be used for natural medicines. This seems to apply to both types of cornflower. What a very useful plant to have in the garden.

An added bonus is that there are so many of them that you don't feel guilty taking one or two from the bees to put indoors.

Happy Cats and Sneaky Snails

2009-05-09T14:13:00.015+01:00

For most of this week it seems to have been a constant battle with the wind. I keep having to rescue plant pots and plastic chairs from strange places.

It is another constant battle trying to keep these sneaky snails -

away from the lupins and sweet peas. I keep finding them tucked up under the rims of the plant pots where they think I can't find them!

There are plenty of on going projects in and around the garden - a work in progress you might say.

At least the cats are happy with their lot! The wind though, makes them very skittish

as they roll around and then dash, hither and thither, disappearing under bushes, behind the shed and up the trees!

It's Lilac Time!

2009-05-06T09:16:00.006+01:00

All of a sudden the lilac seems to be out; is it a little earlier this year, I wonder? I love lilac, both the lilac and the white varieties, as it reminds me of my childhood. We used to have a huge lilac tree in our front garden when I was a child and I loved its colour and fragrance. The flowers though, don't seem to last for very long but oh how gorgeous they are for a few magic days. We don't have a tree in our garden, the one in the photo above was taken at the Dorothy Clive garden last year. The one below I spotted in the gardens at Bridgemere Garden World on Sunday. There were many others but the sun was always too bright to take any decent photographs.

I took one or two other photos around the gardens as well - I though this hand sculpture was interesting.

This was called the Red Avenue, again the sun is at the wrong angle but the colours were stunning.

There was also a Vintage Vehicle display. I'm not an avid car lover, but I did like this one,

very Inspector Maigret I thought whereas the one below is probably more Miss Marple.

I have another childhood memory involving lilac - it is of my mother singing this song:-

We'll gather lilacs in the spring again,
And walk together down an endless lane,
Until our hearts have learned to sing again,
When you come home once more.
And in the evening by the firelight glow,
You'll hold me close and never let me go,
Your eyes will tell me all I want to know,
When you come home once more.

It's from the show 'Perchance to Dream' written by Ivor Novello in 1945, the words always bring a lump to my throat and a prickle to my eyes because some of them didn't come home, and for those that did life was never quite the same again.

A Favourite View

2009-05-01T11:41:00.001+01:00

I think this is one of my favourite views on one of my favourite walks. Holy Cross church at Ilam nestles in the Ilam estate grounds surrounded by the most beautiful countryside. An added bonus is that as I stand and take this photo just behind me are the delights of a National Trust cafe and shop.

We set off along the path passing the grotto on the way. It is said that here was the place that dramatist William Congreve sat and wrote his play 'The Old Bachelor.' He visited Ilam Hall with his friends Dr Samuel Johnson and James Boswell.

Taking care down the steps as we go down towards the path.

Passing fields of dandelions, banks of wild garlic, pink campions and bluebells.

Grazing sheep with their lambs

Across the meadow, over the river and up through the woods; as we walk the church bells are ringing, calling people to the Sunday morning service. The birds are singing and moorhen chicks squeak to their mother on the edge of the water.

Back down towards the river and over the bridge

Which leads us back to Ilam Hall (now a Youth Hostel) which was used for the exterior of Lowood School in Jane Eyre televised by the BBC a couple of years ago.

Nice view? Yes, indeed and lovely walk too.

The Play's the Thing

2009-04-29T11:55:00.019+01:00

It was pouring with rain as we drove into the car park at the New Vic, a warm, steamy kind of rain that had people dashing quickly into the dry welcome of the theatre foyer. We'd booked a table for a meal before the performance mainly because, as Paul works close by, it was easier to park early than for him to come all the way home and then to struggle to find parking later on, so I met him there. I was looking forward to this production, having seen quite a few by Northern Broadsides over the last few years I knew we would be captivated once more. As we found our table and joined the queue to order our food several of the cast members were in front of us ordering theirs, including the director Barry Rutter and Othello himself - Lenny Henry.

When I heard that comedian Lenny Henry was to play Othello for Northern Broadsides I wasn't sure what to expect but my faith in his abilities to pull it off were not in vain. He was a tremendous Othello. He has a huge presence on the bare, almost propless stage, just occasionally speaking his words a little quickly but oh, the gamut of emotions he went through as Othello spirals from strong, happy, dynamic soldier through tormented jealousy and rage to remorseful defeat was absolutely riveting.

My star of the evening, though, was Conrad Phillips who, as Iago, was the malevolent lynch pin of the whole production; on stage for almost all of the three hours of the production, he plotted and whispered and cajoled leading all the characters into his web of cruel deceit.

It wouldn't be a Northern Broadsides production without a bit of music and a bit of comedy and this was supplied by the actors themselves playing the instruments, with music written especially for the production by Conrad Phillips. The 'drinking' song used in order to get Cassio, played by actor Richard Standing, drunk was very funny and received a huge ovation at its end.

I always have trouble with Desdemona as a character and she was superbly portrayed by Jessica Harris and but for me, it was Maeve Larkin as Iago's wife Emilia who stood out giving a fine, measured performance. Not surprising then that the cast received a standing ovation as they took their bows at the end.

All in all a wonderful evening, I would say catch it if you can but unfortunately - well not for the theatre or the company of course - the run at the New Vic is completely sold out.

Edit30/4/09 - I forgot to mention that the New Vic is a 'theatre in the round' not a 'proscenium arch' theatre so the action all took place on a central, empty stage with props being brought in and out by the actors and some of the action taking place on the steps between the banks of seats. As we were on row B - second from the front we were almost involved in the action, in fact the lady front left of me ducked when Othello sent his dagger flying straight into his map board placed next to where she was sitting and I must admit that when a trumpet blew out, to herald that the battle was won, from the steps behind us I nearly hit the ceiling!