Spring Days at the Cottage & Mothering Sunday

This has been a beautiful week at the cottage, a week full of sunshine & all those jobs that need doing after the Winter. 
The tree's although leafless are full with buds just waiting to open. Our magnolia tree is full of large buds, how pretty that looks when it is in full bloom. Hedges around the village are springing to life & the cow parsley is coming back on the sides of the lanes around us. 
March carries all the hope for the year ahead with a lovely fresh smell of all things new in the air.

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Some more sweet delicate flowers found popping up near the old pear tree.

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A little baking for the weekend.

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Hearty soup made with the Sunday chicken bones, we quite often have soup on Mondays. This one is a favourite with vegetables, rice & pasta.

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Banana & Chocolate Chip Muffins.

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I sometimes make these smaller as they last a little longer & the larger size is a little too much for the twins sometimes.

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10 ozs self raising flour

1 tsp baking soda

3 large banana's

4 ozs sugar

1 egg

3 flozs oil

2 flozs milk

Add flour to bowl with baking soda & mix with a fork.

In another bowl mash banana's & add sugar.

Mix oil, egg & milk together then add it to the banana's & sugar.

Pour wet into dry mix & stir gently until combined, do not beat.

Pour in to muffin cases & bake for around 20 minutes at 200 c / 375 f.

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We have wonderfully happy hens, these are a few of them.

There are so many eggs at the moment that we are giving a lot away.

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The mother sheep are in the field just waiting for the babies to be born.

Lambing is due to start on around the 1st of April at the farm over the road.

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Amish Spiced Honey Cookies for the Mothering Sunday church service.

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This is one of our favourite cookie recipes, the children love them.

I have all the Amish Cook recipe books & love them, every recipe I have tried has turned out beautiful.

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George loves Geraniums & sunshine.

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The girls love to bake, on Saturday they made some plain cupcakes from a Mennonite cookbook we have.

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Choosing the one they would like.

These are a lovely soft plain cake & great to fill a tin.

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Diary of an Edwardian Lady.

After our studies in the morning the girls choose what they would like to do in the afternoon.

Painting is one of their favourite things to choose & also crafting.

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I have not picked up an artist brush for fifteen years, there has been plenty of other sorts of paint brushes though. I used to love to paint & did so much of it when I was at art college.

Seeing as I was sitting with the girls I thought I would do a little painting too.

I had such fun painting with them & Kitty even gave me a few flicks of paint to add to my work.

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We had a special service at our little church for Mothering Sunday.

During the service all the children went to the back of the church to make cards & little bunches of flowers for their Mother's.

I put my bunches all in an old jug & have them in the parlour, they are full of Spring.

I received some beautiful handmade cards from the children. more memories for my keepsake chest upstairs.

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I was really spoilt on Mother's Day & received some special gifts.

My wonderful husband gave me a beautiful old miniature of an old gentleman, now my lady is not on her own.

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I hope all the English Mother's that follow me had a beautiful Mothering Sunday. We celebrate it at a different time of the year to the rest of the world, it is always in between Shrove Tuesday & Easter Sunday.

Thank you all for your lovely comments, I love hearing & learning from you all.

Fondly Michelle

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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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A Week of Special Days

Spring has been showing its pretty face here in our small English village.

Little green shoots are popping up all over the garden bringing hopes of warm days full of sunshine.

All the fields around us are either filled with wheat or ploughed ready for this years sowing. 

Soon the two grass meadows next to our garden will be busy with Spring lambs & their mothers.

Our hazel trees are so pretty with their catkins all golden in the first real sunshine of the year.

Hazel nuts are said to be the nuts of knowledge, wisdom & inspiration.

This I read in The Country Calender by Flora Thompson.

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The sacred hazel's bloom is shed,

The nuts of knowledge harvested.

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A Country Calender & other writings was a lovely book about the changing seasons which included the book Heatherly about Flora's {Laura's'} life after she left Candleford.

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This past week has been filled with some special celebrations, knitting, baking, reading & special family times. Soon those days inside will become days outside, filled with planting & digging.

The book I am reading now is Betty's Wartime Diary 1939 ~ 1945.

The name Betty drew me to this book as it was my grandmother's name, she was such a special lady who has inspired my life so much.

Betty lived in Norfolk & had a wonderful cat called Albert that she adored.

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Wartime Chocolate Pudding.

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We watched the Wartime Kitchen Garden last week after Melanie from Cosy Living told me it was available again.

After watching Ruth Mott making this wartime pudding I thought I would make it, we do love a good old fashioned steamed pudding.

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This recipe is low in sugar, the carrot replaces some of the sweetness.

Recipe from my Wartime Kitchen Garden book.

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The finished pudding with custard.

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I was a little nervous at how it would go down with the children, I should not have been.

It all went, with calls for can you make it again Mum please.

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I made the seed cake again this time with lemon zest in the cake mixture.

Then I drizzled it with a glaze made with lemon juice.

We preferred it with the glaze.

Thank you Deborah from A garden in the Shire for your lovely memory of seed cake & telling me about the icing. I didn't have any orange water in like Deborah remembered but had some lemons left from Pancake Day.

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A few treats for a family Valentines Day.

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The twins made small heart shaped chocolates with fudge inside.

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A little Valentines Day tea.

The girls made little decorated hearts for a lovely table decoration.

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Mary's tea cosy.

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Bless her she was so excited when this one was finished, it makes a cheery note to the kitchen table.

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Wholemeal Cherry Cake.

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I had the last of the beautiful ground flour from our trip to Lode Mill to use by the end of this month so made a cherry cake.

I always use white flour for this cake but after using wholemeal flour this is the way I will always make it.

It was so moist with a lovely flavour.

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Another church family fun day, this one was for Shrove Tuesday.

Daisy & Mary decorating pancakes.

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The children made their own pancake batter.

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Kitty loves pancakes.

She enjoyed orange juice & sugar on hers.

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Making some pretty masks using ribbons, glitter & jewels.

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Kitty wearing the mask Daisy made.

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A fun pancake game.

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It is just around the corner, Spring time & warm sunshine.

We popped to our little garden centre & got a few supplies for the garden.

It is such fun to choose with the children what we will grow in the garden this year.

We still need to get some beetroot & tomato seeds & when it is warmer strawberry plants for our new bed.

I can't wait to get outside.

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Thank you dear readers for all your lovely comments & kind words.

Fondly Michelle

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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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