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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A Traditional Cottage Christmas

We have been busy preparing for the Christmas season here at our cottage.

The garden is very quiet this time of year & I have been out collecting Holly & Ivy for decorating the cottage. As I look out of the window it seems I was just in time as now the berries are mostly gone, we will have some very full little robins with big bellies.

The squirrels are still busy burying their nuts & giving great amusement to George who watches them from the window.

All the gifts are now wrapped & cards & presents delivered so all we have to do is to stay at home & enjoy the season together.

The children have some Christmas crafts to do & I have much to bake. It is nice to be at home & not be out in the modern rush of Christmas.

Times gone by are so much more appealing to us especially at Christmas time.

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The front of our cottage, under the tiles we have a lovely thatched roof.

The tall black box next to the middle window is a Georgian water pump.

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Making Gingerbread for Christmas Eve tea.

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We always make this recipe for Christmas, it is a family favourite & it freezes so well.

The recipe comes from an old 1930's Bero flour booklet.

The twins practising their handwriting while I bake.

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Once it defrosts I drizzle icing on top & cut it in to Squares.

We will have this for Christmas Eve tea with all the family.

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The girls made some Christmas hats for Christmas Day lunch.

I couldn't find hats to go inside the crackers this year so they decided to make their own.

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Cawthorpe Christmas Tree Farm.

We love to go to the farm & get a fresh tree, the smell is wonderful.

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On Tuesday evening we had a carol service at our little church.

The girls made holly baskets to decorate the font, it was so nice to see all the childrens decorations.

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The girls decorating the church tree ready for the carol service.

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Brownies for the carol service.

We had a beautiful service, it is wonderful to get together to celebrate Christmas with the other villagers.

Everyone brings a plate of treats to enjoy after the service.

The children did a little play, it was so lovely to see them all telling the Christmas story.

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I got a beautiful surprise in the post last week.

My dear friend Maggie who lives in Ireland sent me a lovely Father Christmas she made for me for Christmas.

She is so very talented, I will treasure him.

Doesn't he look wonderful standing there on the little green stool.

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Simple Christmas decorations.

Holly & Ivy from the garden.

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The parlour.

This year I put some Holly & Ivy in some of my Georgian tea cups using oasis, they turned out just the right size for the mantle.

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Antique pewter on the kitchen dresser.

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Andy's Great Grandfather's piano has a special place.

Above the piano are portraits of my Great Great Grandparent's on my Grandmother's side.

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Our Christmas tree from the farm.

The parlour just smells of Christmas now the tree is up.

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Our Antique glass baubles & Victorian tree candle holders.

Each year I find another bauble for our collection.

The children find such joy in taking the tissue paper off each bauble & remembering them, the father Christmas & little bird are among their favourites.

I mix these with orange slices, popcorn & cranberry garlands.

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Cranberry muffins for Christmas Day breakfast.

The cranberries always look so pretty this time of year.

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All ready for the freezer.

They will be a nice & easy treat for Christmas morning.

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I made a Holly & Ivy ball this year & hung it from the main beam in the hall.

I saw it on the BBC Cranford production & thought I would try to make one especially as we have an abundance of evergreens.

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Grandad's dresser.

We are so lucky to have the original brick floors throughout most of the cottage.

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The Christmas cake all done just waiting for it's red ribbon to go around it.

I always use royal icing to go over the marzipan.

We like to eat ours with a slice of strong chedder cheese, this is a Yorkshire tradition. My Dad & his family were all from Yorkshire.

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To my dear readers I wish you a Merry Christmas & a happy & healthy New Year.

May you all have a special time with friends & family celebrating the birth of Jesus.

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Seasons Greetings.

Fondly Michelle