Country Days in May

I always think May is the loveliest of all months.

Here at the cottage all those beautiful May flowers are in full bloom with all their perfume, the beautiful Lilac scents the garden.

We have many bushes of white & lilac.

Butterflies have gathered & this time of year are laying their eggs.

There is much to do outside, the sunflowers, marrow & bean seeds that the twins have planted are now popping their little heads out of the soil in the greenhouse.

Sweetcorn is ready to be planted & the tomatoes are growing well.

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The cottage garden is an abundance of blue's at the moment.

Bluebells & sweet Forget me Nots.

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A light fruit cake from a wartime leaflet.

This recipe used very little sugar.

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Coconut Buns for Saturday tea.

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We had a lovely few days when Andy's parents visited from Scotland.

I made a wartime dinner of potato & cheese pie.

This was found in a new wartime leaflet that I found a month ago.

We were given a huge bag of potatoes by the local farmer so this was an ideal recipe to try. lots of mash potato.

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Mash some potatoes, mix grated cheese, salt & pepper in to it.

Then layer potato, slices of tomato, potato again then top with more grated cheese.

I did use more cheese than the recipe called for with it being a wartime recipe.

It was very tasty, Kitty who is not a great meat eater loved it so I will be making it again.

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Planting cress .

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They chose some antique tea cups to sow them in.

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The girls cress in egg sandwiches for Saturday tea.

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I received some lovely old magazine's from the 1930's & 1940's in the post, also a new knitting book.

The knitting book is full of vintage patterns & some useful information on using vintage patterns.

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More rhubarb & more jam.

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Another batch ready for the pantry.

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Another tea cosy, this time I chose Spring colours from some left over wool.

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A quick chocolate cake for tea.

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An afternoon spent making pretty dresses.

They love cutting & glueing.

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A little early morning visitor in the rhubarb patch.

The baby rabbits are so sweet but they do like the beetroot seedlings, so Andy has been making arches from chicken wire to protect them.

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Danny turned fourteen on the 12th of May.

He chose a chocolate cake with butter icing & sweets on top.

We had a lovely evening celebrating with family.

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Trying out different ways of using my basic bread dough.

I used cinnamon, sugar & butter to make a cinnamon swirl loaf, we toasted it for Sunday tea.

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Freshly cut Lilac from the garden.

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Wellington Cake.

This is a cake I have never baked before, it is an old 1950's recipe.

It was as light as a feather, I will make it many times as Mary loved it.

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Recipe for Wellington Cake.

8 ozs self raising flour.

pinch of salt.

4 ozs margarine.

8 ozs sugar.

1/4 pint of milk.

2 eggs.

Cream the margarine & sugar together. Then gradually beat in the beaten eggs. Fold in the flour & salt & then add milk to give a soft dropping consistency.

Bake for 30 ~ 35 minutes in two lined 8 inch cake tins at 375 degrees F

Sandwich together when cooled with jam or other filling.

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More experimenting with my basic bread dough.

This time I added sultana's, cinnamon & honey.

The girls do not like mixed peel so this recipe worked out well for them.

They made a lovely breakfast treat.

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Learning to crochet.

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I made a couple of dish cloths, I am hooked & find it so much quicker than knitting especially for things like dish cloths. I have bought the girls some crocheting hooks & they can't wait to get started on some more dish cloths.

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Thank you my dear readers for all your lovely comments, I do love to hear from you.

Enjoy this beautiful Springtime day.

Fondly Michelle

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I joined The Charm of Home Link Party

Cottage Days in the Garden & some Knitting.

The days are lengthening & we are spending beautiful days outside working in our garden.

The old fashioned perennials Delphinium, Foxglove & Hollyhocks are popping up all over the cottage garden & the joyous sound of bird song is all around us.

Forget me nots are in full bloom in the cottage beds & the beloved Bluebell is coming in to flower once again.

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Precious Bluebells.

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Spring flowers in the garden.

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Beautiful Aubrieta, this plant always reminds me of my grandfather, he had lots in his front garden.

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The Magnolia in full bloom.

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An old apple picking ladder in the garden.

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We have been looking for an Easiwork cabinet from the 1920's for a long time, it is the final piece we were after for the scullery & has wonderful storage which we really need.

Andy drove two hours away to pick this one up from Yorkshire & the following day we used a lot of elbow grease to clean her up.

She is wonderful, it is like a kitchen in a cupboard & is ideal for bread making & pastry.

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A wartime Gingerbread recipe using one egg.

We bake & cook from scratch & make the most out of our food budget. It is very pleasing to make frugal meals & realise how much you save.

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George & Bobby in their favourite spot, bless them they do sleep a lot.

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The twins helping with the enlargement of the vegetable garden.

They were picking up the last of the old tree root.

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Bobby enjoying the sunshine.

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Our vegetable garden.

We have been making the vegetable garden a lot bigger this past week.

There has been old tree roots to move & grass to take up. It is great to finally have it the size we want, we have just been here two years & everything takes time.

We would love a wooden greenhouse, maybe in a few years.

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I finished my first long sleeved jumper from a 1940's pattern.

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I used some vintage back buttons to finish it off & now it is tucked away for next Winter.

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A visit to the wool shop in a nearby town.

I bought some lovely 1940's green wool for a new jumper.

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Almond Loaf Cake.

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The two miniature's together in the hall.

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Cheese puffs from Ruth Mott's cookbook & a light fruit cake for Saturday tea.

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This Sunday I used three bags of fruit from the freezer, gooseberries, blackberries & tayberries to make a sponge pudding.

It was lovely warm served with cream.

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We found some vintage Laura Ashley curtains at a local antique shop for a bargain £12.50.

I have taken them up for our bedroom & the remainder I will use to cover two green 1930's Lloyd Loom chairs. This Summer we hope to decorate our bedroom as before moving in we just sanded the floor boards & fixed the walls ready for decorating.

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Ellie turned 21 last weekend, we celebrated with a lovely lunch with her family on Sunday.

Now Ellie & Dene are spending a lovely week in the Lake District, it will be their first visit to Hill Top.

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Thank you dear readers for your lovely comments.

Enjoy this beautiful Spring day.

Fondly Michelle

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I joined The Charm of Home Home Sweet Link Party

Early March at the Cottage

Spring has really sprung here in our small village, the sun has been shining & now the work begins in the garden. How good it feels to be outside working & getting close to nature after the Winter.

The snowdrops are covering the ground all around the village, a beautiful green & white carpet, so graceful & delicate. They grow like they have done for many centuries a pure tender little flower bringing joy to all of us.

New life is everywhere, buds are bursting in the hedgerows, daffodils are nearly in flower & the grass is springing back to life.

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We had strong winds one day last week & one of the huge Rooks nests came down, such a large pile of twigs on the lawn. I felt so sorry for the birds & was hoping it was an old nest no longer used, there was no sign of eggs.
The rooks home at the end of the garden.

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Spring has come to the garden.

We have spent a couple of days clearing & cutting all the dead plants back.

The children love to be outside, it is wonderful to hear them playing in the garden.

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Little flowers tucked under all the dead leaves which we have been clearing.
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The rhubarb is really sprouting now.

The last few days sun has made so much come on in the garden.

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Flowering under the Rose of Sharon.
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Such a bright colour for this time of year & so wonderful to see it.

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Last week we had a day out at Hemswell Antique Centre, it is the largest place for antiques in Europe.

I found a few treasures.

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Cinnamon Flop.

This is an Old Amish recipe I have been making for many years since our first trip to Lancaster County.

Our children love it, it is a favourite birthday breakfast dish.

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All baked & warm ready for Sunday tea.

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My wonderful old Singer sewing machine with knee switch.

Sewing up the girls little knitting bags for Easter.

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I bought a Child's Wartime Cook Book a few weeks ago, Sidney chose to make the Bacon & Leek Macaroni from it.

This is a wonderfully easy recipe & very tasty.

We have Andy's parents coming in a couple of weeks so Sidney is going to make this for his Grandparent's.

We enjoyed it with cabbage.

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Sidney turned twelve last week, he chose a chocolate marble cake for tea.

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My first long sleeved jumper.

I have only knitted one jumper before, so every pattern is a learning curve for me.

I do love the vintage patterns, this one is a simple double rib design.

Daisy chose the deep red wool, I could not make my mind up.

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Our new house keepers cupboard.

We found this cupboard in an antique shop in our small town, we had been after a cupboard for books since moving here & this one was perfect.

The shelves are not perfect inside, they are very old which makes me love it all the more.

I have so many books, some from my child hood that have been read by our children.

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Some of my many books in there new home.

My old Famous Five books are in a back row as the girls are not old enough for them yet, the younger Enid Blyton books are near the front.

It is wonderful to have so many of my books all in one place.

We still need to make more shelves though, we do love books.

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One of my Grandma Betty's paintings.

This one is of the Norfolk Broads.

Since moving it did not have a home as we have very little wall space, this new cupboard has made that possible.

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There is even more business at our cottage as the the twins have their sixth birthday in a couple of weeks.

We like to give each of our children one large party so there is lots of  work to be done for the girls party on the 21st of March in the village hall.

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Thank you my dear readers for all your lovely comments, I love hearing from you.

Happy Spring to everyone.

Fondly Michelle

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