December Days & a Visit to Gunby Hall

The beautiful colours of Autumn have now vanished out of sight leaving behind a carpet of glistening leaves.

The wet earth now sleeps waiting for new growth in the Spring.

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Here at the cottage we have been busy with Christmas preparations.

The decorations are now up, the last thing was to hang a bunch of Holly from our own bushes on the front door to welcome Christmas visitors.

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How I love the kitchen so this time of year, with smells of dried fruit, spices and gingerbread.

All the children have their own favourites so the mixing bowl and wooden spoon has been kept busy.

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I found this wonderful old 1940's WI recipe book the other week & made these little Ginger buns from it.

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Mix 1 lb of flour with 1 teaspoon of ginger & 1 teaspoon of soda.

Then melt 1\2 lb of butter with 1\2 lb of sugar & 1\2 lb of treacle.

Pour over the butter mixture 4 beaten eggs then add the flour.

Bake in a moderate oven until done.

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We all loved them & they made so many, so I froze some of them for Christmas.

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The cottage is looking very festive.

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We have a new 1950's fairy for our sitting room tree.

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The hall dresser gets a little festive touch.

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Filling the cake tins for the children.

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Our Georgian oak canopy cupboard is decorated with fairy lights & my Grandparents Sherry glasses come out.

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I love this vintage 1950's Christmas fruit cake tin.

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Mittens in the kitchen.

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Looking through to the sitting room from the kitchen.

This cottage gives me such a warm cosy feeling.

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Our sitting all ready for Christmas.

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The twins dressed up 50's style for a Christmas disco.

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On Sunday we drove to Gunby Hall a beautiful National Trust house near us.

Each year they decorate the house for Christmas with activities for the children.

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The Christmas tree in the music room at Gunby hall.

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Another photo of the beautiful music room.

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The mantle decorated for Christmas.

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Listening to sweet music in the dining room.

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Below stairs.

I love these wonderful old jars in the scullery.

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Empire biscuits baked & ready for the freezer for Christmas.

I will sandwich these together with some lovely festive jam.

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I would like to wish all my dear readers a very merry Christmas & happy New Year.

Thank you all of you for your lovely comments & for following me for another year.

Fondly Michelle

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Winter's Here

Autumn has now lost her bright colours,

bare boughs stand tall against the clear blue November skies.

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This time of year is spent inside the cottage where books, knitting and fires are so tempting.

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The quiet beauty of December awaits us, along with the joy and business of Christmas.

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This is becoming a family favourite.

Ruth Motts boiled fruit cake.

I really recommend her Recipe Book which you can find second hand on line.

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The twins have two new 1930's bow scarves.

I love this vintage pattern and it is quick & easy so I might be making a few more over the Winter months.

They chose the colours to match their Winter coats.

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Mary & Kitty concentrating.

They love doing crafts, here they are making a wind chime & trinket box.

There were some sticky fingers & many beads on the floor.

I love having them at the table with me while I bake.

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Last Sunday afternoon we took a walk over the village farm fields.

The sun was glorious.

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Beautiful sunlight through the trees that line the farm lane.

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The young wheat seedlings have been planted.

The fields look beautiful with a glow of fresh green.

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Getting Sunday tea ready.

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It's lovely what you find antiquing.

Mary has a new puzzle that is full of snow!!

She has been having lots of help from the family & is nearly finished.

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Rocks Cakes.

This is a old recipe that we have used since we were married.

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Put 8 ozs of self raising flour & 3 ozs of white sugar into a bowl.

Then rub in 3 ozs of butter.

To this add 3 ozs of currants or raisins & mixed spice if you wish.

Mix to a very stiff dough with one beaten egg & a drop of milk.

Place heaps of the mixture on to a grease baking tray & bake for 20 minutes at 425of.

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Serve spread with butter & a cup of tea.

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I finally finished the 1930's cardigan I was knitting.

It did take a while especially as I had to redo the sleeves.

I would like to make a bright felt 1940's flower brooch to go on it, I have some lovely patterns to do these.

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Things are starting to look a little Christmasy.

There is always a lot to wrap.

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The twins advent calender's for this December.

I have had these since Easter and was so pleased to find the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady calendar.

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Thank you dear readers for all your kind comments.

I just love this time of year with all the excitement & joy it brings.

Keep warm

Fondly Michelle

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Autumn Mellows into Winter

We have quietly slipped in to November, the misty magical mornings are upon us and beautiful low sunrises and sunsets surround the countryside.

All around the village the fields have fallen silent, leaving freshly ploughed fields with some having their tiny wheat seedlings planted. 

There is a quietness in the thickets and the tall spinney at the end of the garden.  Birds have flown leaving a stillness in the garden.

The grand old Oak tree's in the village are the last to see their leaves fall. While most have lost theirs, the oak stands tall with their covering of deep green. I watch them when I hang the laundry out waiting for signs that they will fall. Once that happens Winter will be truly upon us. The pheasants are back with their high sharp cry a true sign of the year coming to an end.

Life has been busy at the cottage with preserving as much as we can from the garden. The freezer is full with pies and crumbles, dessert cakes made from apples and pears. The pantry shelves are laden now, beauty is all around us.

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Apples have been going in too many different things, all my cook books have been well used finding new idea's.

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Getting ready for Christmas.

I have just finished this Christmas tea cosy, it was a fun knit and brightens the kitchen up on these dark days.

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We have had two birthdays lately, our two eldest Sons.

This is a Cherry and Almond cake baked for Dene's birthday.

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Fresh bread to go with homemade soup.

You can't beat it on these chilly days.

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It has become a tradition to read Pumpkin Moonshine every Halloween.

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Some of the books the postman has brought this month.

They will be well used.

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More ways of using apples.

Our trees have been truly abundant.

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The twins wearing their poppies to remember.

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The chickens have just got a new home.

It is lovely to watch them from the cottage walking up the little ladder.

The are happy hens.

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This is another new recipe given to me from a lady on Instagram.

Cherry and Oat Slice.

We have made it many times since.

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Changing colours in our village.

I love this time of year.

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The last of the gardens produce has been going in to chutney.

Green tomatoes, pears, apples and beetroot.

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Fruit Chutney Recipe.

2 to 3 onions.

3lb of mixed fruit.

1 teaspoon of salt.

1 teaspoon of dry mustard.

1lb of brown sugar.

1 pint of malt vinegar.

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Chop up onion small, then chop fruit. Peel and core the apples or pears and take stones out of plums.

Add everything to a jam pan and boil until mixture goes thick.

Boil roughly for an hour.

When you drag a wooden spoon over bottom of the pan and it separates it is done.

I idea is to boil of the vinegar.

Bottle up and don't eat for about 6 weeks.

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This is the recipe I use every year and it uses up so much fruit, I put green tomatoes in too.

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Cold Tea Cake is one of my favourite cakes.

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I started a new blanket for George, he does love to be cosy.

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This is an upside down pear cake that went in the freezer for Christmas.

The freezer is well stocked mostly with apple goodies.

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Pear Jam.

This is the first year I have made jam with pears and thought it was a nice way of preserving our pears.

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George is always somewhere cosy this time of year.

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Our hens are still laying wonderfully despite the misty mornings and shorter days.

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Beautiful berries on the holly bushes surrounding our cottage.

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Homemade Christmas Puddings.

The twins made their wish when stirring them.

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The colours are stunning this time of year.

Its lovely to walk through the countryside around our village.

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Chocolate Cake made for Harry's birthday.

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These are apple and mincemeat pies that were bound for the freezer for Christmas.

I put a layer of mincemeat in the bottom then layered cinnamon sugared apples over the top and then covered with a crumble mix with pastry stars to finish.

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Christmas is creeping up on us so we had a trip to an antique centre to hunt for vintage items for the twins, they love the out of print Enid Blyton stories.

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One of the pretty stalls at the antique centre.

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This is a pretty thatched cottage on our way to a lovely market town we go to quite often.

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I hope everyone is enjoying these beautiful Autumn colours.

This time of year is so beautiful.

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Fondly Michelle 

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