December Days & a Visit to Gunby Hall

The beautiful colours of Autumn have now vanished out of sight leaving behind a carpet of glistening leaves.

The wet earth now sleeps waiting for new growth in the Spring.

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Here at the cottage we have been busy with Christmas preparations.

The decorations are now up, the last thing was to hang a bunch of Holly from our own bushes on the front door to welcome Christmas visitors.

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How I love the kitchen so this time of year, with smells of dried fruit, spices and gingerbread.

All the children have their own favourites so the mixing bowl and wooden spoon has been kept busy.

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I found this wonderful old 1940's WI recipe book the other week & made these little Ginger buns from it.

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Mix 1 lb of flour with 1 teaspoon of ginger & 1 teaspoon of soda.

Then melt 1\2 lb of butter with 1\2 lb of sugar & 1\2 lb of treacle.

Pour over the butter mixture 4 beaten eggs then add the flour.

Bake in a moderate oven until done.

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We all loved them & they made so many, so I froze some of them for Christmas.

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The cottage is looking very festive.

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We have a new 1950's fairy for our sitting room tree.

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The hall dresser gets a little festive touch.

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Filling the cake tins for the children.

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Our Georgian oak canopy cupboard is decorated with fairy lights & my Grandparents Sherry glasses come out.

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I love this vintage 1950's Christmas fruit cake tin.

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Mittens in the kitchen.

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Looking through to the sitting room from the kitchen.

This cottage gives me such a warm cosy feeling.

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Our sitting all ready for Christmas.

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The twins dressed up 50's style for a Christmas disco.

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On Sunday we drove to Gunby Hall a beautiful National Trust house near us.

Each year they decorate the house for Christmas with activities for the children.

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The Christmas tree in the music room at Gunby hall.

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Another photo of the beautiful music room.

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The mantle decorated for Christmas.

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Listening to sweet music in the dining room.

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Below stairs.

I love these wonderful old jars in the scullery.

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Empire biscuits baked & ready for the freezer for Christmas.

I will sandwich these together with some lovely festive jam.

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I would like to wish all my dear readers a very merry Christmas & happy New Year.

Thank you all of you for your lovely comments & for following me for another year.

Fondly Michelle

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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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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