Being at Home

Just a few things I have been up to in the past couple of days.

My husband & two of my boys have been out blackberry picking, so many bags have gone in to the freezer & I made blackberry & apple jam. My son bought me some Cath Kidston jam labels, so the jars are sitting pretty now on the pantry shelves. This is a recipe I use every year, it has such a strong flavour & everyone loves it.


Empty Kilner jars waiting for the beetroot to ready for pickling.

A new jumper for me from a 1940's pattern.

 

I started a new 1940's jumper, I found the pattern thanks to Forties Knitter, who purchased the pattern from etsy. It is called bows bows bows & I have chosen a nice camel colour with a navy bow. I found some vintage navy buttons from an antique shop in our local town Horncastle.

Here is what I am reading at the moment, I read the first book & I couldn't put it down. I am halfway through Nella Lasts Peace & really enjoying it, I have Nella Last in the 1950's sitting there waiting. I love Housewife 49 & am finding the books so enjoyable & full of idea's too.

 A little bit of baking.

I bake almost everyday, we have five hungry children here & three that have grown & flown the nest. So as you can imagine the baking doesn't last long. Brownies are a favourite & I bake bread at least five times a week. We try to not buy processed food & cook from scratch as much as we can.









This is the basic white bread I do, I also do a half wholemeal & half white one too. I love old vintage kitchenalia & use it all the time, it cooks bread & cakes wonderfully.

Vegetable Garden & Hens.

We have been in this cottage since Spring last year & with work inside & out we only managed a small vegetable patch this year. We have so many plans for next Spring & hope to make the vegetable patch twice the size.
I took a photo of our eight hens this morning as I noticed the sheep were out in the back field.
The twins planted the sunflowers & beetroot, I can't wait to pickle that.

Sweetcorn, Beetroot, Currant bushes, Rhubarb, Gooseberry bushes, Raspberries & Sunflowers.

Cleft gates we bought at Beamish Georgian Fair, they are handmade out of ash.

 

Welcome

Hello.

This is my first post & I am learning as I go along. I have been wanting to start for a long time & have finally got some time to do it.

I live in Lincolnshire in a thatched cottage built in 1741, I love baking, growing flowers & vegetables, knitting especially vintage 30's & 40's patterns, canning & preserving, sewing, rug hooking, history & much much more. This is what I will be blogging about & of course my wonderful family & our days out & goings on.

Here are some photos of what we have been up to this year, hope you enjoy them.

Fondly Michelle

                                                      Beamish in a very cold January.
                                                          Our twin girls Kitty & Mary.

 

Pockley Old Hall at Beamish Museum.

 

 

 

                                                               Coal Miners Cottage.

 

                                              Twins watching Danny & Sidney ice skating.

 

Pockley Old Hall

                           Easter weekend spent at The Lake District.

 

 

                                                                 Lake Windermere.

 

 

Hilltop Beatrix Potters home.

                             

 

 

Girls outside Hilltop, they love Beatrix Potter & so do I.

 

 

     My birthday weekend spent at The Georgian Fair at Beamish.

 

Mary on a tractor at Home Farm.

Home Farm is set in wartime, I love that era.

 

Pantry at Home Farm.

 

 

                                                            Cottage at Home Farm.

 

 

                                                                      Mary & Me

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                   Writing with ink.

 

Washing Up.

 

 

 

Cottage in the town at Beamish.

 

                                                                   Georgian Fair.

 

Kitty at School.

 

Home Farm Kitchen.

I love the 1940's, we could have stayed here all day.

 

 

June

 

The twins Christening with their godparents.

They were christening in the church right next door in West Ashby.

We had a garden party & the sun shone wonderfully.

I made the girls dresses.

 

Our eldest son got engaged to a very special girl.

This is them on the day of the Christening.

Such a special day.