Apples on an Autumn Day

So, this is how to spend a very enjoyable, very tiring, Sunday afternoon.


Take some good friends, with a few sacks of apples....



and one Scratter, ready to go.....



Place the apples in a barrel of water, a mix of varieties is always best....



Constantly feed said apples through the Scratter....



Buckets (and buckets and buckets!) of apple pulp result......



This then gets put through the Press, a little muscle power here helps.....


Phew! Now what is needed is more friends with more apples and another press



Oh and more friends with more apples!!!!!



The resulting apple juice (lots of it!) now ready for cider making, wine making (my choice) and for freezing to be savoured through the winter months.


Of course lovely food, good company, a lovely autumn day and lots of glasses of refreshing apple juice make for a perfect combination.

Bits & Pieces

There has been much talk in blogland about homemade cleaning products. Some talk of being 'greener' and with some it is a cost issue. At the same time though I have read a few bloggers comment that they could not use homemade washing products because they cannot believe it cleans as well as bought box powders, or that they like a fragrance. Well this is what I have used for ages, it's cheaper, convenient - and it works!

The M27 rootstock apple I planted earlier this year has given me 7 apples this year which I am very pleased with, hopefully it will go bananas next year (not literally!) It is 'James Grieves' and a very nice apple to pick of the tree as I walk past.

Last night tea was delayed as I caught a glimpse of a balloon coming very close to the house. We get them all summer but this one was close. The photos are taken after they have skimmed over our house - over the hills and far away.

The Birds and The Bees (Butterflies too!)

Today has been one of those glorious September days, you know the sort I mean, one that is even more precious because the days will soon be short and cold and there is a certain expectation in the air of change to come. I was so pleased to see bees in the garden today, they have been a rare sight this summer.

My buddleia was a busy place today. Unfortunately it has got to go - to make way for more dwarf apple trees. I will be planting another one on the front garden though.

I did title this The Birds and The Bees, so here are Gucci, Chanel and Dior enjoying an afternoon on the lawn, while we took opportunity of the weather to dismantle, clean and overhaul their house.

Tomorrow is forecast to be another fine day so I am going to try and get up to the top of the village where I have spied a Crab Apple tree which is dripping in little golden apples. I look forward to making Crab Apple Jelly, Mint and Apple Jelly and anything else I can think of!

At last a couple of days of warm (even hot!) sunshine. I took my cup of tea out into the garden this morning and spent a couple of hours weeding and cutting back. I am slowly clearing a bed so that I can put in some dwarf apple trees and David Austen roses.



When it got too hot I came in bringing these beauties with me.

I have over the years accumulated a few things that were starting to clutter my kitchen, so I have recently bought a cupboard which fits perfectly behind the back door in the utility room and all my 'stuff' is organised on it. The two recent additions are a new-to-me Kenwood, the previous one blew up trying to knead bread dough! and a Kenwood slicer, I love this! I can bake 4 loaves, slice and bag them and put them in the freezer, or slow cook a ham, slice and freeze for sandwiches, hash or ham with parsley sauce.




Efficient but not pretty! So here is a picture of one of my favourite things. This little dairy cow sat on my mums butter dish until it got smashed.

I decided to have a blogging break and it lasted a little longer than I had anticipated.



Life carried on, children to see to ~(even though teenagers now they still need parents in so many ways) GCSEs and broken hearts. 86 year old mum to ferry to and from hospital and do things for. Paid work to endure (!) and the endless tasks that go with trying to live a simple life.



Such as:-



Growing flowers - beautiful and productive










Knitting - several things, including trying out the extreme variety

Home entertainment - my beloved Jericho, bought for me by my daughter, using money I had given her to go shopping to treat herself.

More photos of bales!!! Taken by husband just over the road from our house. Spending time in our local environment more as petrol costs rise.

Looking after the tomatoes in the greenhouse, polytunnel, veg patch and dotted in and amongst the flower beds. I have never seen so many flowers on my tomato plants before. I am feeding them with Black Jack which is a labour of love as the smell is foul!

Picking fruit, fruit and more fruit. I labelled my jam this morning and have so far made 28lbs this year. It is stored away in a spare coolbox at the back of the pantry, for judicious use over the coming year.

Strawberry jam - my favourite.

Learning to make sausages, this being our first attempt. Plain pork are these but the next will be spiced. This was soooo much fun too, a very good, fun and cheap evening entertainment.

Getting my Warrens, they were bought 4 weeks ago as POLs and this morning one of them laid an egg! They are much smaller than my Marans were and are VERY tame. They have the run of the garden some of each day but spend most of that time trying to get into the house whenever the door is left open.

I have also spent alot of time researching on the internet and reading of text books. I do not like the way that the economic situation is playing out one little bit. I know there have always been economic downturns and cycles but this time it feels different. I read somewhere that this is not the end of the world, but the end of a world. This feels true to me so I am endeavouring to learn and hone my skills so as to be prepared for what life throws our way.

A thank you from me

I was so touched that so many of you took the time comment on my last post and I do apologise for sounding quite sorry for myself! Anyway as I said I have already given myself a good talking to and those teddies will soon be finished! Thank you so much for your support.

To give myself a project I have signed up to Pay It Forward Exchange. Anna had said she was going to do it so I jumped at the chance of getting a present from her, she is a lovely lady and I love everything she makes. So here it is:-

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don't know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week... LOL... but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.


One of my favourite bloggers is Sue over at vintagetovictorian I have just bought some of the Perle Cotons she has available. I asked for 10 colours I could use for embroidering roses and look what she sent me! I was so pleased - they are perfect for what I had in mind. Thank you Sue! Here they are together with a couple of very pretty plates I got yesterday.

I had a bit of a scary time today, as I have said my daughter goes to school in Tenbury Wells and after more torrential rain at midday there was a flash flood. There was literally a river raging down one side road into the main street where there was about 3ft of water. I managed to park up and walk all the way round to get her, but there were fire engines rescuing people and police everywhere. The amazing thing was that in the 45 minutes it took me to get her the whole thing had receded, just leaving people standing in shock and bewilderment. I feel so dreadfully sorry for the shopkeepers who were flooded out a couple of weeks ago and were just getting back on their feet. I've just seen it on the 10 o'clock news.

When I got home the rain had stopped so I went into the garden for a breather and snapped my Lucifer which is in full bloom, my black Geum and my greengages growing bigger - just look at that sky!

A Small Confession or two - and Poppies

#1 - I do not like my windows, would much prefer diamond panes to look out onto the world through. They are much too big and modern. I have therefore let my virginia creeper drape itself down over them, but should I cut it back a bit? - or am I just too lazy?

#2 - I was going to do this hexagon blanket to single bed size - but I have got tired of it, and anyway the colours are much more suitable for a baby blanket, don't you think? that is how I justified doing a small border around it and saying 'enough'. It shall be washed and stored away for when a grandchild comes along

#3 - Ian got up early on Sunday and went photographing things - like barley fields and poppies. My confession here is that I did not want him to because we were having company for lunch and I was busy and needed some help. When I saw the photos though I could understand his point. They may have been nicer with blue skies but this was early with the mistiness just burning off. Don't you just love poppies? With more set-a-side and fallow around here they are becoming a familiar sight once again - along with the White Campion in the second photo. Enjoy:-

Blogosphere is missing something

Smell! If only I could show you how good these smell. Old old roses from years ago, planted by the first owner of this house. Every year I think I will replace them - they are in the way and quite ugly much of the year - but come June and I remember why I don't. The scent is pure heaven.

On the other hand though, as far as smelli-blogs go, I would not inflict the smell of my comfrey tea on anyone! I keep chopping them down and they keep growing, just to make an evil brew which the tomatoes love

Pooo - what a whiff!

I was up early taking photos of the garden this morning, it is all so blowsy, the rain has produced abundant growth but has also spoilt many of the blooms. As well as smell I would like blogi-sound also, the hum of the bees in this bed was quite mezmerising this morning.

I posted some time ago that I was going to give up the struggle with the vegetable beds, well I am going to go more 'natural' , like my woodlandy bit at the bottom. However, I spy a nettle in the middle of this which is a little too natural methinks! I have quite enough of those at the back of my compost bins thank you very much! The fairy in quiet repose was one of a few given to me by my 'gang' on my 40th, I like to keep moving them around so they don't get bored!

I do not know if Ian is completely comfortable with the whole 'natural' look though, he came face to toe with one of the residents yesterday and got a slight shock. I think the Slow Worm was possibly less scared and slithered off discretely into a woodland geranium.

http://www.naturephoto-cz.com