Autumn Mellows into Winter

We have quietly slipped in to November, the misty magical mornings are upon us and beautiful low sunrises and sunsets surround the countryside.

All around the village the fields have fallen silent, leaving freshly ploughed fields with some having their tiny wheat seedlings planted. 

There is a quietness in the thickets and the tall spinney at the end of the garden.  Birds have flown leaving a stillness in the garden.

The grand old Oak tree's in the village are the last to see their leaves fall. While most have lost theirs, the oak stands tall with their covering of deep green. I watch them when I hang the laundry out waiting for signs that they will fall. Once that happens Winter will be truly upon us. The pheasants are back with their high sharp cry a true sign of the year coming to an end.

Life has been busy at the cottage with preserving as much as we can from the garden. The freezer is full with pies and crumbles, dessert cakes made from apples and pears. The pantry shelves are laden now, beauty is all around us.

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Apples have been going in too many different things, all my cook books have been well used finding new idea's.

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Getting ready for Christmas.

I have just finished this Christmas tea cosy, it was a fun knit and brightens the kitchen up on these dark days.

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We have had two birthdays lately, our two eldest Sons.

This is a Cherry and Almond cake baked for Dene's birthday.

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Fresh bread to go with homemade soup.

You can't beat it on these chilly days.

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It has become a tradition to read Pumpkin Moonshine every Halloween.

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Some of the books the postman has brought this month.

They will be well used.

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More ways of using apples.

Our trees have been truly abundant.

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The twins wearing their poppies to remember.

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The chickens have just got a new home.

It is lovely to watch them from the cottage walking up the little ladder.

The are happy hens.

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This is another new recipe given to me from a lady on Instagram.

Cherry and Oat Slice.

We have made it many times since.

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Changing colours in our village.

I love this time of year.

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The last of the gardens produce has been going in to chutney.

Green tomatoes, pears, apples and beetroot.

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Fruit Chutney Recipe.

2 to 3 onions.

3lb of mixed fruit.

1 teaspoon of salt.

1 teaspoon of dry mustard.

1lb of brown sugar.

1 pint of malt vinegar.

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Chop up onion small, then chop fruit. Peel and core the apples or pears and take stones out of plums.

Add everything to a jam pan and boil until mixture goes thick.

Boil roughly for an hour.

When you drag a wooden spoon over bottom of the pan and it separates it is done.

I idea is to boil of the vinegar.

Bottle up and don't eat for about 6 weeks.

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This is the recipe I use every year and it uses up so much fruit, I put green tomatoes in too.

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Cold Tea Cake is one of my favourite cakes.

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I started a new blanket for George, he does love to be cosy.

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This is an upside down pear cake that went in the freezer for Christmas.

The freezer is well stocked mostly with apple goodies.

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Pear Jam.

This is the first year I have made jam with pears and thought it was a nice way of preserving our pears.

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George is always somewhere cosy this time of year.

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Our hens are still laying wonderfully despite the misty mornings and shorter days.

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Beautiful berries on the holly bushes surrounding our cottage.

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Homemade Christmas Puddings.

The twins made their wish when stirring them.

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The colours are stunning this time of year.

Its lovely to walk through the countryside around our village.

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Chocolate Cake made for Harry's birthday.

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These are apple and mincemeat pies that were bound for the freezer for Christmas.

I put a layer of mincemeat in the bottom then layered cinnamon sugared apples over the top and then covered with a crumble mix with pastry stars to finish.

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Christmas is creeping up on us so we had a trip to an antique centre to hunt for vintage items for the twins, they love the out of print Enid Blyton stories.

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One of the pretty stalls at the antique centre.

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This is a pretty thatched cottage on our way to a lovely market town we go to quite often.

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I hope everyone is enjoying these beautiful Autumn colours.

This time of year is so beautiful.

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Fondly Michelle 

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Early Autumn Days

We have been enjoying some beautiful sunny days here in the Lincolnshire countryside.

Autumn has come upon us with warm days and gentle turning leaves.

Our garden is still giving us such delights to place upon our table, it has been an abundant year.

Apples are ripening into a beautiful deep red and I have been busy putting them in to crumbles for the freezer. Chutneys are next with apples, pears and green tomatoes.

Our garden has blessed us once again.

This is such a busy time of year with preserving what we have grown and tidying the garden ready for the Winter.

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I made this boiled fruit cake, it is becoming a family favourite.

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We have been using our old 1930's car quite a lot, taking it to a few nearby towns. It is such a fun car to travel in and brings a smile to folks on the way.

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We have apples in abundance so many different types of apple puddings have been made.

This is a sponge pudding with apples and some gifted Victoria Plums.

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4oz's of margarine beaten with 4 oz's of white sugar, then add 4 oz's of wholemeal self raising flour, 2 eggs and a drop of almond essence. Beat well with a little milk and pour batter over fruit that has sugar on. Bake for around 40 minutes in a moderate oven.

We enjoy this with cream.

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We took our old car to a classic car show in our village. The day was glorious and the girls enjoyed it down by the lake, it was a lovely event with some wonderful old cars and a lovely cake stall.

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The twins love the suitcase shelf in the car.

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We had a beautiful day in Lincoln and had a very English afternoon tea up on Steep Hill.

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While putting in a new fence on one side of our garden we found a few treasures. We hired a mini digger for a couple of days as so much land needed levelling. We found the old rubbish dump, whole bottles kept coming out of the earth, it was amazing.

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We also found this old metal sign buried, it took quite a bit of work getting it out whole, we could not believe what we had found.

After a little research we found the shop it had come from 5 miles away.

I love this old photo.

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Some of the many bottles and pots we found all washed up.

They have now found homes all around the cottage.

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A marble cake for Saturday tea with a chocolate topping.

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The beetroot has done so well once again.

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Scones for Sunday tea.

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We purchased a new dresser a few months ago.

The back boards are so wide, it is an early Georgian one.

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The girls helping to make lemon drizzle cake.

They love to bake.

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It was delicious.

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This is a recipe we were given years ago, it makes such a soft cake.

Cream together 5ozs margarine, 6 ozs sugar and grated rind of a lemon.

Add 8 ozs self raising flour, 2 eggs and 2 floz of whole milk.

Bake in a round cake tin for 45 minutes at 160.

Squeeze lemon juice over cake whilst still hot then sprinkle with three tablespoons of sugar over the top.

Leave to cool before removing it from the tin.

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I found these beautiful early 1930's Good Housekeeping magazines the other day.

They are full of beautiful fashions and baking.

I love the old adverts.

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A mountain of apples.

The weather has been glorious these last few weeks.

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I found Delia's Book of Cakes in a charity shop, I was so pleased as I had been looking for it for a while.

I decided to bake the wholemeal Madeira cake with lemon icing.

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All ready for Saturday tea.

It was so beautiful and soft.

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Kitty enjoying this beautiful weather we have been having all dressed up in her flower fairy costume in the garden.

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Apples picked for some crumbles to put in the freezer.

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Harvest Festival in our little church.

The twins made these little decorations to put around the font for the service.

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On the day before the service we went to decorate the church.

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Home picked produce for the Harvest Festival.

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Every year we have a Harvest Meal after the service in the village hall.

I made Eve's pudding to bring.

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My husband bought me these lovely old Miss Read books, some are first editions. 

I am really enjoying reading the Miss Read books and can't wait for my evening read and to get back in to Miss Read's world. Along with H E Bates and Nella Last these are my favourites.

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Sweet George loves to sit on these old flour buckets.

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A fresh bloomer loaf for tea.

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The leaves are starting to turn all around us.

This is the first tree to change colour in our garden, it is such a pretty colour.

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A little hooked pumpkin mat I hooked a few years ago comes out for another year.

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I am on the last section of this 1930's cardigan finally. It has been a long pattern to do, maybe something smaller next.

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Thank you dear reader's for your lovely comment's and welcome to my new followers that have found me through Instagram.

Happy Autumn to everyone.

Fondly Michelle

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