An extra hour!

It was five o'clock when we came in from the garden this afternoon.  Still light enough to finish planting the raspberries  that had been imprisioned in the greenhouse since their Christmas Eve delivery. (More on this and other growing type things on the gardening blog). Today there is a whole extra hour of daylight here.  What are you dong with yours?

Winter table.

Now that Christmas has been cleared away, the seasonal display looks a little bit empty. That is just as it should be though, as outside is stark and bare. A simple soft snowy white cloth, some beeswax candles to represent the light and warmth that we crave right now, and an old, much thumbed Ladybird book about winter.  In the centre is a white cyclamen - a plant that blooms in Wintertime and, for me, is symbolic of light and growth in the darkness.

 

The pine cones from the seasonal table have been used to make suet and seed feeders for the birds.  Our garden robin was an early visitor.

So, not much can be done in this freezing cold weather except stay by the fire and work our way through some of our Christmas books.

 

Luckily on my last charity shopping trip I managed to pick up a couple of old fashioned thick woollen blankets, along with some linen napkins (my current obsession).  So, for the time being we can snuggle up cosily, and I can read my elder son's Christmas gift to me and dream of what I can do with all those vintage textiles. 

Fire shadows

It's almost midwinter here in Scotland. Long dark nights by the fire - dancing shadows in the flames.

 What pictures do you see?

 

Visit Tracy for midsummer in Australia and Shadow Shot Sunday

Book Sharing Monday (xvii)

Today I want to share one of my favourite books - The Country Child by Alison Uttley. It is a fictional tale, but one very much based on the author's life growing up on a remote farm in Derbyshire, England at the turn of the 19th/20th Century. Susan Garland is seven years old in this story and we spend a year with her sharing her life on the farm and in the surrounding countryside.  From Susan's perspective we experience: moonlight, the dark woods, seasonal celebrations, animal and birdlife, storms, local characters - like the oatcake  man and the haymakers. A magical story, and even now,as I look for a passage to share with you, I lose myself in the enchanting descriptive prose, and already the chapter about Christmas Day has been re-read and wondered at.

Susan awoke in the dark on Christmas morning.  A weight lay on her feet, and she moved her toes up and down.  She sat up and rubbed her eyes.  It was Christmas Day.  She stretched out her hands and found the knobbly little stocking, which she brought into bed with her and clasped tightly in her arms as she fell asleep again.

She awoke later and lay holding her happiness, enjoying the moment.  The light was dim, but the heavy mass of the chest of drawers stood out against the pale walls, all blue like the snow shadows outside.  She drew her curtains and looked out at the starry sky.  She listened for the bells of the sleigh, but no sound came through the stillness except the screech owl's call.

Please visit Alex at Canadian Home Learning for more loved books on Book sharing Monday.

Friday evening in November

It seemed so warm and cosy this evening, as I looked around the house. I felt very contented just being there.

A few last minute chocolate chip cookies (quite well done) cooling beside my Autumn candle, lit for dinner.



James playing a game in front of the fire. Robbie the dog sneaking in hoping to find a space on the hearth rug.


One of my favourite views - the conservatory and kitchen all bright, glowing and inviting. Picture taken on the way back from shutting the hens up for the night.
I love November :)

Ur ye haudin Hallow e'en?

Hallow e'en has always been a big event in our family. Not least because it was my Grandfather's birthday, and my Gran always made a Clootie Dumpling for the occasion. A clootie dumpling is a sweet fruit, spice and suet pudding, mixed up and tied in a floured and sugared cloth then steamed for several hours. The smell of the boiling cotton mixed with spices is one of my abiding childhood olfactory memories, along with the aroma of charred turnip wafting from the carved lanterns. Both can transport me instantly back to frosty dark nights going round the neighbours' houses 'guising'.

Guising (or going in disguise) goes back at least to medieval times, and probably longer. Originally it was a Hogmanay custom for adults who disguised themselves and there are reports of groups of 'Guisards' going around from house to house offering some entertainment in return for some hospitality. Of course Hallow e'en was originally the Celtic New Year's Eve, so there may be some connection there. In any case, as children we would go to houses where we knew there would be a welcome, and performed our poems, songs or joke telling in return for a tangerine and some nuts. As we called at each house in our homemade costumes, we would ask "Ur ye haudin Hallowe'en?" none of this "Trick or Treat" that we get now. And - we were expected to sing for our hallow e'en. On the rare occasion we are visited by guisers, I always invite them in to do their turn. Usually now it is some mumbled joke that we have heard several years in a row, but now and again there is the odd gem.

So, Hallow e'en for us this year meant introducing James to the customs. It is such good fun seeing these things through a child's eyes again. After breakfast he asked me if we could go now.
"Go where?" I asked
"To Halleen!" he replied impatiently.
As I put out peanuts( or monkey nuts as we call them) in a bowl I showed him how to crack them open, revealing the dark red nuts inside. He loved them, and soon the place was littered with shells.

Then I made some toffee apples

and James decided to make his own Hallow e'en concoction - chopped pork, 2 eggs (and the shells) some goats milk, a handful of suet, two apples and half a lemon. Yummmmm! He wanted to bake it and do you know? It smelt quite nice when it came out of the oven! I didn't try it though, and he had lost interest by then and moved on to something else :)


Later he put on his Bumble Bee outfit and we went to visit Gran, who is having a week of respite care in a Nursing Home. She enjoyed seeing him, and he enjoyed bouncing on her bed!



Back at home it is now my role to make the Hallow e'en dumpling. An onerous responsibility, especially when there are lots of expectant and hungry faces watching the great unwrapping. The hallmark of a really great dumpling, however, is the skin which is formed first of all by the flouring and sugaring of the cloot, and then careful drying in front of the fire. What's the verdict?



It's strange to think that my Grandfather was born 111 years ago tonight, in a coal miner's cottage just a few hundred yards from where I am sitting now. He died when I was 14, but we had such good times as I was growing up. I loved to help him in his garden and had my own plot outside his greenhouse. I learned so much even as a small child, that I still remember today, as I tend my own garden. He also had a love of Scottish history and legends, and told me stories and taught me songs that fired my imagination. he was such a great influence on my life, so Here's to you on your birthday Papa.

Here is my Gran's recipe for Clootie Dumpling - although I have adapted it a bit.

1lb plain flour
8oz currants
8 oz sultanas
8 oz raisins
8 oz suet
1 cup sugar (as this is an old recipe I assume the cup to be a teacup and not a cup measure)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp treacle (molasses) - warm it to make it easier to mix in
milk to mix to a soft but not runny mixture (about 7 fl oz,)

Mix all ingredients together (get your hands in about it)

Prepare your cloth - I use a muslin square, but any cotton will do - an old pillow case was my Gran's pudding cloth.
Scald the cloth in boiling water and wring out when you can handle it. I lift it out with a pair of tongs and let it drip until it is cool enough to touch.
Lay out flat and dredge with an even layer of flour and then sugar. (Very important step this!)

Tip your dumpling mixture on to the cloth and then tie up into a bundle with string.

Put a plate into the bottom of your big pan and put the pudding on top.
Almost cover the dumpling with boiling water and boil hard for 30 minutes
Continue simmering for 3 - 3.5 hours.

Lift out and put on a plate or I use a colander to let the excess water drain out. Open up and invert the dumpling on to a heatproof plate.
Carefully remove the cloth and you should see a nice white sheen on the surface of your beautiful dumpling That is the skin - the best bit!
Dry in front of the fire, turning occasionally for half and hour or so - or put in a low oven.

Serve with custard, or cream, or whatever you fancy.
Leftovers are great eaten cold the next day - or fried in butter even.

I was very pleased with this one. A bit wet at the top as I cut the string, but it dried out nicely and the skin was almost perfect. I may add a bit more spice next time, as I did feel it could have done with a bit more pep, but otherwise it was just delicious.

Skywatch - Autumn seedheads

Delicate cow parsley seedheads and a pale blue autumn sky taken today in Almondell Country park just outside Livingston.
Check out Skywatch Friday for more sky views.

Autumn nature table

This is our nature table for autumn. We really enjoy this ongoing project and everyone likes to find something to put on the table - golden coloured leaves, nuts, berries and interesting shaped twigs and pieces of wood currently adorn the autumn cloth. A couple of apples and a corn cob sit underneath a Cretan windmill brought back from a long ago holiday. A wonderful poster of fungi is pinned on the wall and the cider jug is filled with seedheads, rosehips and an ear of wheat. We made a leaf mobile from coloured paper and it hangs in front of a favourite sunflower picture. Our walks will bring in more treasures as October turns the trees into glorious deep colours, and later, the orange and black of Halloween decorations will have their place.
Each season is special, and I love to celebrate the turning wheel of the year. I do have a soft spot for autumn though - for us it is full of brisk walks, cosy fires, warming food, birthdays and other family celebrations, and then thoughts turning towards Christmas and New Year. It is a wonderful time.

Season Table and toys

This is our Summer seasonal table - still has that big old sun there and a couple of gorgeous fans I found in the fair trade shop in Linlithgow for £2 each! They have been used quite a bit already, as the conservatory gets really warm during the day. Wooden bowl full of shells, flower heads, seed pods etc, a couple of bug and butterfly spotter guides for easy access, James's gardening gloves and his watering can which he allowed me to use as a vase - containing some roses, hydrangea and lavender from the garden. Hanging above is a bee mobile with willow hives and paper flowers. The bees are made from pine cones with yellow wool wrapped around them and greaseproof paper wings. I first saw this idea on Mama4's blog - A Smile a Day. Mama's were much better than these, because she had used alder cones, which are more bee-like. Mine are far more blowsy.

I am going to be changing the location of our table soon, as this space is right by the side door - the family and friends door. As a consequence, my seasonal display often feature items such as car keys, the dog's lead, handbags, soft drink cans, and once (shock) a fag packet :0. Just to make the point - here is a picture I took yesterday just after the organic box was delivered. James immediately made for the punnet of raspberries, and i couldn't resist snapping the moment. Later on when I downloaded the days shots I noticed my 'seasonal display' lol. I have a space in mind, but it needs a lot of decluttering and some shelf building.

Now shelf building is not a problem for my clever husband. He has just constructed this masterpiece to hold James's toys and books. These were previously stored in various boxes and in different places around the house. This did not work as chucking everything into one box means that the toys at the bottom are rarely played with,and play can be limited. I felt it was important that his toys were in the family living space, as that is where we spend our time. I don't like the idea of him having to go to his room to play - he doesn't have a room anyway as we co-sleep and his older brother and sister have the other bedrooms. This is a really small house - a bit like the Tardis in reverse, it looks like a sizeable bungalow from the outside, but inside it is a typical 1930s design. Of course we didn't really expect to have such a wonderful addition to our family when we first moved here!

Anyway, I am really pleased - no - thrilled with how this has turned out. All the toys are now accessible and together; cars in one basket, blocks in another, dressing up clothes - you get the idea. James has already played such imaginative games with toys he had forgotten about, and his creativity seems to have taken a huge leap. Happy, happy happy me!

Relentless

I sat under the cherry tree for a few minutes tonight with my barleycup and my attention was attracted by a swarm of tiny insects flying around in a mad dance. As I watched them cavorting around I realised that I have been living at that pace for a few weeks now. The garden and greenhouse are claiming a lot of attention just now. K is sitting his Highers, hoping to get the grades he needs for university, James has been potty training, I have been attending the beekeeping classes twice a week, some work was being done to the driveway, and other family commitments are increasing. The gorgeous weather has also meant we are spending most of the day outside, but somehow the house seems more untidy - sand, dust and grass are carried in on bare feet, and household chores seem to mount up of their own accord, to be tackled quickly when small boys are eventually persuaded to have a bath and go to bed.
This hectic pace will calm down again - exams and beekeeping classes both finish this week, but other things will come in to replace them fairly soon. The insect's life is very short - just a few weeks, so they must dance while they can. I am grateful that I have time to take a few moments to reflect, before plunging back into the reel again.

Our Seasonal Table - late spring

Gina, who writes the beautiful and thoughtful blog, Our Unschooled Family, asked to see pictures of Seasonal Tables. Here is ours. Still one or two rabbit and hen figures remain from Eostre but several things added: a sprig of apple blossom and posy of bluebells from the garden. Their honey scent drifts up to meet us as we walk past. A small wooden bowl filled with fallen petals, leaves and rosemary; some seed packets; a bright yellow sun, painted in watercolour by James, and cut out by myself; and, what a friend refers to as our Totem Pole:) This is a lovely tactile piece of wood carving, by a local craftsman, given to us as a housewarming present 10 years ago. It somehow seemed just the right addition for Beltane. I must draw attention to our flowered table cover, which is a family heirloom. This was embroidered by my Grandmother just after the war. My Dad remembers her sitting in the evenings sewing away, and how it took such a long time to complete. I love to use it, and it has pride of place from now until the end of summer (with a few careful washes). Seasonal tables are such a good way to celebrate the year.

Jam today ... and tomorrow ... and yesterday!

The first of this year's jam - Rhubarb and Ginger is now all potted up and arranged on the cool cupboard shelf. I am so pleased with this, because we are just finishing the last of the plum jam from 2008. We have been self-sufficient in home-grown, homemade jam for a whole year!!!. We give pots away as presents and being Scots, we eat lots of pieces on jam (jam sandwiches), so to have made it through the year without buying any is quite an acheivement, even if I say so myself. Rhubarb is the first of the year - I will make 2 or 3 batches before the end of June (yes, we have a big rhubarb patch :) . Blackurrant and strawberry will be next, followed by raspberry and plum.
Molly Weir, in her wonderful biography of growing up in Glasgow between the wars, describes her delight at finding anold forgotten fruit garden in an empty property next to the office where she worked. She and her mother and brother returned later and filled bags and every container they could carry with rasps and blackcurrants to make their jam. Molly's mother scorned manufactured jam "She's the kind o' wummin that would have shop bought jam oan her table!"was how she dismisively described a woman who had a different view of homemaking from herself :)
James enjoys the skimmings on a crumpet - appropriately still wearing his jammies