Enjoying Summer Days

The Summer days here are full & we are all as busy as bee's.
The vegetable patch is doing so very well apart from an abundance of little visitors which we have had to pop up a temporary fence for this Summer & will surround it with a picket fence hopefully over the Winter months. The rabbits are beautiful to watch playing in the garden but not watching them eating the leaves of your lovely vegetables.
I am a little late doing a new post, Summer is such a busy time & there is not a lot of time for writing.
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To celebrate Father's Day this year we took a picnic to Tattershall Castle, a National Trust property.

This is a lovely 15th century red brick castle set  in the Lincolnshire Countryside.

The castle was built between 1434 & 1447, you can picnic inside the moat where they have lawn toys for the children to enjoy.

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This is the end of a row of cottages as you walk up to the castle.

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One of the fireplaces in the castle.

This one is on the ground floor.

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While the boys climbed the stairs up to the top of the castle {it has 6 floors of stone steps}, the girls stayed on the ground floor & did some spinning.

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The lady was so good with them & they brought a piece of wool that they spun home.

She taught them how to card their wool too.

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Walking out of the castle over the moat to the gate house were they have a small shop.

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Kitty in her pearls making some fairy cakes for Father's Day tea.

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The first Tomatoes of the year.
They tasted beautiful in a fresh Couscous salad.

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The rhubarb is coming to an end now in the garden, we shall miss it but then enjoy the first of next year.

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The girls working in the scrap books, they are writing about their day at Tattershall Castle.

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Daisy all ready to go to her Prom.

She had a lovely evening with her friends.

She turned sweet 16 last week, it does not seem that long ago since she was a toddler, busy & in to everything.

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Mary had an appointment to see the eye doctor at our local hospital. She needs glasses & here are the pretty red one's she chose. She is getting on with them so well, Kitty would have liked some too.

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Cherry & Chocolate Brownies for our Edwardian picnic on Saturday.

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We went to an Edwardian Fayre at Belton House.

They used to hold fayre's during the first world war to raise funds for the troops.

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Soldiers on horseback dressed in first world war uniforms.

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Mary & Kitty enjoying the fun & sunshine.

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Games on the green in front of the house.

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The more cottagey back of Belton House.

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The Lavender has now bloomed since our visit two weeks ago.

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There was a stall selling plants & flowers.

We bought these little Alpine Strawberries for 50p each.

They give little strawberries that are strong in flavour.

The plants will be a  sweet addition to our Strawberry bed.

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Mary skipping on the green.

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Kitty really enjoyed the entertainment.

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Before we left we went to the second hand bookshop run by The National Trust & came home with a bag full of 50p & £1 books.

More recipes & reading.

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I wish everyone a wonderful Summer, I love to read your comments & hear what you have been doing.

Fondly Michelle

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Linked with http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.co.uk/

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A Sunny Day at Belton House

It was set to be a wonderfully sunny day last Thursday so we decided to take a picnic to Belton House a National Trust property.

Belton is about a fifty minute drive from us, such a pretty drive through the Lincolnshire countryside. All along the road sides & in fields were bright red poppies in full bloom & so many pretty farms & cottages along the way.

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This is part of the courtyard at Belton House where the old stables were.

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Sitting down for our picnic on the green at the back of the house next to the Orangery & Italian garden's.

The girls were excited as this was the first outing for their ladybird chairs in a bag.

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We had a guest for our picnic & such a gentle well behaved & mild mannered lady too.

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No pecking, she just waited nicely.

I was a little worried when I saw her walking our way but she made our lunch so special.

The Orangery is in the background.

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Saying good bye.

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This is beautiful little garden near the church in the grounds.

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This area with the roses and Sweet Pea's was my favourite garden.

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Inside the Orangery.

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Walking to the beautiful Italian garden, there were more ducks enjoying the cool water at the fountain.

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The path leading to the gardens from the back of the house.

This is a very formal part of the gardens.

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Daisy, Kitty & Mary on the back steps.

With it being a Thursday the grounds & house were quite quiet.

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This is the front of the house.

They play cricket on the front lawn sometimes & there are deer running around but today they were under the trees in the distance.

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On our way towards the lake.

There was some wonderful old tree's to enjoy.

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Mary blowing bubbles.

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An abundance of Buttercups.

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The beautiful lake with geese, the lake of shining water came in to my mind on such a sunny day.

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Back to the courtyard area of the house.

We just had time for a quick look around the house before travelling home to our animals.

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One of the many beautiful bedrooms.

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A gentle sitting room with such pretty fabric on the sofa & chairs.

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The dining room with hunting picture's hung all over the wall's.

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The study, the had old time music playing in here.

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I hope you all enjoy seeing our visit to Belton House, we had such a special day & a well needed break.

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At the gift shop I bought this lovely book with some birthday money, it was on special offer.

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Thank you all for your kind caring comments on my last post.

Fondly Michelle 

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Linked up with

The Art of Homemaking Mondays

Roses of Inspiration Link Up

Cozy February Days & A Day in Lincoln.

With snow on the ground we have just enjoyed being at home this past week. 
There has been a lot of baking, knitting & reading going on.
We have been discussing all that we are going to plant this year in the vegetable garden, a strawberry bed is something we would love to add.
Flowers are popping their little heads up all over the garden, you can see the garden coming back to life.
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Sweet Snowdrops from the garden.
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The postman brought me a couple of lovely parcels, one with three 1940's Woman's Weekly magazines.

They are full of knitting, stories & baking, so many ideas & inspiration.

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The second parcel was a huge batch of early 1950's Stitchcraft magazines.

So many lovely cardigans to knit & some pretty things for the twins too plus a few recipes.

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Seed Cake ~ Miss Marple's favourite cake.

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I have been wanting to bake seed cake for quite a while, so at the weekend I made one for Saturday tea.

It was a simple cake to bake, it turned out very soft with a mild caraway flavour.

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Seed Cake Recipe.

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Cream together 4 ozs of margarine with 4 ozs of sugar.

Add two beaten eggs a little bit at a time beating all the time.

Stir in 6 ozs of self raising flour, 1 full teaspoon of caraway seeds, 1 oz of mixed peel & one tablespoon of tepid water.

Spoon into a lined 7 inch cake tin, sprinkle sugar on top & bake for one hour.

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Boiled fruit cake made using dates & prunes. 

This is a cake out of Ruth Mott's cook book that I have changed slightly from sultanas to dates & prunes. I still make it the same as Ruth did but it is nice with the different dried fruit for a change.

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My first vintage tea cosy.

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 I have only crocheted granny squares before so I bought a little book on crocheting & worked out how to make leaves & flowers using the pattern.

Kitty chose the flower tea cosy pattern, now I am on a cherry one that Mary has chosen, they are both from 1940's patterns.

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It has been nice to make some smaller items & fun for the girls to look through the vintage patterns we have.

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Stone ground bread rising.

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All ready for tea.

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Dene & Ellie came to visit us on Sunday & spent the night. So on Monday we all took the girls to The Museum of Lincolnshire Life in Lincoln.

It was cold at first then the sun came out & it was a beautiful day.

It was lovely to be outside after a cold week inside.

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The museum takes you through many era's of life in Lincolnshire which is a farming county.

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Lovely old shelves in the Victorian kitchen next to the range.

The girls found it fun to find so many items that we have at home.

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Beautiful sunlight.

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I love these old  wagons used for harvesting wheat.

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The old co op shop.

Old packaging has such pretty muted colours.

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The view at the top of Steep Hill in Lincoln.

This is called the cathedral quarter.

All the shops and tea rooms are so pretty.

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Half way down Steep Hill, it is very steep.

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Time for afternoon tea at Bunty's Tearooms.

They use vintage china & pretty old tablecloths.

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Can you see how steep the pavement is outside the tearoom.

We all had a lovely day, it was so nice to get out with the sun shining.

After our afternoon tea we went to a few vintage shops, I found a sweet old knitting bag with wooden handles & Ellie found a beautiful vintage pearl necklace.

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It is back to being cold & damp now in our small part of the world, we were truly blessed on Monday with the weather.

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Thank you dear readers for all your kind words,

 I love hearing from you all & about your lives.

Fondly Michelle

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