Early Flowers & a Few Finds

The garden is starting to be awakened here at the cottage, the earth no longer seems asleep & young shoots are pushing their way through the hard ground. Winter has been kind to us so far & the first flowers are starting to bloom. Tiny little delicate flowers, white & pure like snow. 

All along our garden hedge next to the church the snowdrops hang their pure little heads, daring the damp, cold, wintery weather. They bring such joy to watch them flower in the cold days of late Winter. This little flower is the first sign that Spring will soon be upon us & it will not be long before we hear the birds singing & the garden will be an abundance of tulips, hyacinths, daffodils & crocus's.

I love watching the garden come back to life after it's long sleep with the promise of all the good things our Mother earth gives to us.

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A close up of the Early Snowflakes.

I do love these delicate little flowers, they always look like fairy skirts to me.

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We found this lovely set of antique copper pans in a antique centre not far away. They need a polish & then I think I will add more hooks to the scullery shelves to hang them.

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A Georgian miniature I bought with some Christmas money from my parent's.

I saw her before Christmas & fell in love with her painted blue bonnet, so we popped back to the Antique Centre near us after Christmas.

Mary thinks she needs a husband so we are on the hunt for one for her.

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Snowdrops appearing in the garden.

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The rhubarb is popping up it's head,

I can't wait to pick the first stems of the year.

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Snow is in the air.

The old Walnut tree stands stark against the wintery sky.

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Butterfly cakes with home made apple & blackcurrant jam for Saturday tea.

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& chocolate cake.

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I love to collect vintage recipe booklet & have a whole drawer full of them.

Kitty & I chose a cherry cake recipe from a 1930's Brown & Polson recipe booklet & spent Sunday afternoon baking.

The recipe called for an ingredient called raisley powder which I have never heard of before & would love to hear if anyone has heard of it.

At the back of the book there is an advert for Raisley that calls it a raising powder so I used baking powder.

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All ready for Sunday tea & it was very nice, very similar to a Madeira Cake.

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Olde Fashioned Pumpkin Preserves.

I had a small pumpkin stored away in our pantry so when Faye from The Blessed Hearth made some pumpkin preserves I thought that is what the little pumpkin was waiting for.

I replaced the ginger with cinnamon & halved the recipe as the pumpkin was only little. Next year I will make a big batch.

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We found these DVDs in a charity shop in our small town.

We loved the early River Cottage programmes when they were all filmed in the small cottage in Dorset.

I think my eldest Son might be borrowing these.

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This is where you will find sweet George when I am knitting.

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A visit to the wool shop.

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Some finds from our lovely second hand book shop.

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The cottage book is full of inspiration with old cottages all over England.

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So many idea's

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Just settling down now for an evening of knitting & a cuddle from George.

Thank you my dear readers for all your kind words, they all are read & appreciated.

Fondly Michelle

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Early Flowers at the Cottage

Quiet January Days

How I love the quiet January days, the frost tipped trees & having time to sit & knit after the business of Christmas time.

The weather has been kind to us in this part of England, yes it is cold but the sun is shinning & we have had some beautiful January days.

You can see glimpses of Spring all around us with daffodils popping up through the hard ground. Forsythia & Spring Snowflakes are flowering so very early in the year in the garden.

As I sit & write the birds are in full chorus, they have been enjoying the strings of cranberries left over from Christmas.

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I have started a wonderfully simple 1930's Bow Scarf pattern that came in the post the other day.

This one is for myself  then I will make two smaller ones for the twins.

I can see this pattern being used again & again.

I love the feminine style of it.

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There was a little mincemeat left over from Christmas so I added some diced cooking apple & made sweet pinwheels for Saturday tea.

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A sprinkling of icing sugar over the top.

They tasted like danish pastries.

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I love books & found this lovely book Crafts of the Countryside in a charity shop in our nearby market town. It is full of things to do, the girls & I would like to make some corn dollies in the Autumn, they have a step to step guide inside to make them.

I finished Cranford & really enjoyed it, the characters are wonderful.

 I am now reading A Country Calender by Flora Thompson. The book starts out with a life story about Flora written by Margaret Lane. 

Once again I am transported back by Flora, she has a special gentle way of writing & describing all the countryside around her in such detail.

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Kitty playing with her sewing boards which George finds such fun.

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Warm fruit pudding with custard.

My parents brought over a large amount of blackcurrants last year which I froze.

They had such an abundance last year, too much for them to use.

Along with some of our raspberries from the freezer & two cooking apples I made a fruit pudding for Sunday dinner.

The blackcurrants gave such a wonderful flavour, I will be making this again.

I use the same sponge recipe for most things, fairy cakes, sponge cakes, tray bakes & so much more.

Just spread it over the fruit & sugar & bake for around 50 minutes.

2 ozs Margarine

2 ozs Sugar

Beat together

2 ozs Self Raising flour

1 egg

a little milk

Beat all these together & use as wished.

I trebled the recipe for the fruit pudding.

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All bubbly & ready to be served.

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After our Sunday dinner we went for a lovely walk over the fields.

It was a truly beautiful day.

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Early snowflakes flowering.

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The field waiting for the sheep in the Spring.

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Finding bare beauty in the trees.

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Little Mary.

I love the way little ones find such happiness in so many things.

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A patched up field gate, we have so many interesting gates & hedgerows around us.

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Looking for Peter Rabbit.

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A pretty little stream that flows in to a river in our nearby town.

I love the way the ivy blankets this old tree this time of year.

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Thank you my dear readers for all your kind words & your New Year wishes.

May 2015 be a happy & healthy one for us all.

Fondly Michelle

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Christmas Days around the Cottage

Life has been very busy this past week, we have had a wonderful Christmas with all of our family & have made many memories.

This was the scene out of one of the side windows on Boxing Day night, it was a lovely surprise to the twins once they woke in the morning.

 Boxing Day is called so as in years gone by the church left boxes out during the approach to Christmas to be filled. The contents of which were distributed to the poor on the 26th of December ~ Boxing Day.

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George keeping warm.

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Making Mince Pies.

I make the same recipe every year, my Mother's.

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The topping is whisked egg white sprinkled with sugar.

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All ready for my Grandmother Betty's tin, every year they get placed in her tin.

I feel with many of her things around me she is with us, the twins never met her but they feel like they knew her & they are always talking about her.

 They would have had such fun together.

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The twins & Sidney decorating some Christmas biscuits.

I use a Empire biscuit recipe for all my cutter biscuits now which I will share with you soon.

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All finished, Mary is not a sweetie lover so we did some with just icing.

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Starting the cranberry sauce for our Christmas dinner.

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The Christmas cake ready to be cut.

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My husband gave me my first Tasha Tudor Christmas card.

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Getting ready for Father Christmas on Christmas Eve.

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Christmas Morning.

Yes he came.

Harry & Kate wanted to see the little one's opening their gifts in their stockings. They were so good & waited until 8 0'clock especially considering Mary woke at 5.

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The younger one's opening their stockings.

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All the children opening their gifts from us, I love to sit back & watch their faces.

Mary was so happy to receive this book from us as before Christmas we watched the Tasha Tudor Christmas dvd together & she said we do not have that book do we.

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Christmas Day lunch.

A bit of a squeeze but we all got in.

This year I decided to use the kitchen table for the food with limited table space in the hall, it all worked wonderfully & it mean't that you could go back for second's or third's.

I was so happy to see everyone enjoying their food.

For those who wanted to know what was inside the crackers this year I did jewel hair clips, lip balms & hot chocolate sachets.

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 Early morning on the 27th with a light snow fall.

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Standing opposite our cottage.

The road looks so peaceful.

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We are back to a more slower pace once more with the animals as I write sleeping in front of the hearth.

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My sweet husband gave me this beautiful Victorian copper mold for Christmas.

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Enjoying a lovely game of Snakes & Ladders.

Kitty has not taken her flower headband off since she received it for Christmas for her dressing up box.

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We had a very special Christmas one I will treasure.

Thank you all my dear readers for all your kind comments & support during my first year of blogging. I have really enjoyed sharing a small part of our daily lives.

May I wish you all a happy & healthy new year.

Fondly Michelle

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