Springtime is Nearly Here.

New life is shooting up all around us here in the English Countryside this time of year.

It's beautiful to see all those little strong bulbs pushing through the frosty earth wanting to put on their show of colour to welcome in the Spring. 
I always know when the warmer weather is on it's way as the Rooks return to the rookery in the spindly pines at the end of our garden. They are busy building their nest's, I have never seen a more busier bird at the task of nest building.

The villages hedgerow are filled with an abundance of things if you take a while & look closely. The girl's have been doing a weekly nature journal which is not only teaching them but me too. 

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Mary studying the Lesser Colendine which we discovered on one of our nature walk's.

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Birds have come back to the cottage garden to sing their sweet morning song, warm day's do not seem that far away. These day's hold many thought's of flower's & our vegetable garden. The girl's have their own idea's of what they would like to do & grow in the garden, I love to watch them blossom with their imagination & thought's.

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Cottage days are filled with nature walk's, baking, gardening & learning.
Each day holds a new experience.
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Kitty on one of our weekly nature walks, that week was looking for signs of nesting bird's.
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We follow Lynn Seddon's Exploring Nature with Children.
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www.raisinglittleshoots.com
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It's a perfect balance between outside work & written work.
The girl's are doing their journal's in the style of Edith Holden.
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Sidney turned fourteen at the end of February.

He chose Chocolate Cake with as many treat's as I could get on the cake, he always chooses Chocolate Cake.

I rarely get a photo of these two boy's, Danny will be 16 in May I can't believe how the time has flown.

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I finished another 1930's Bow Scarf for the twin's beautiful pen friend in America.

This little girl love the 1930's.

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Custard Pie & two Apple Crumb Pie's.

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Now that the hen's are starting to lay more egg's Custard Pie is ideal to use them up in.

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Recipe for the Custard Pie I make.

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Combine 1/2 cup of sugar

3 egg's

2 cups of milk

Mix these ingredient's with a hand whisk for a few minute's.

Then pour in to a pie case.

Sprinkle top with nutmeg & bake for around 40 minutes at 350 o

I find this recipe quick to mix up.

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I helped the twins make themselves a skirt each out of an old skirt of mine.

They are so happy with the end result & they love practicing their sewing skills.

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Spring flowers are popping up all around our village.

These were blooming on our nature walk last week.

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Apricot cake for tea & one for the freezer.

I like to have a few cakes in the freezer in case of emergencies.

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Hand crocheted dishcloths.

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Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Brownies.

I used The Amish Cook's recipe from The Amish Cook's Baking Book.

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My love of antique linen's.

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An empty farm worker's cottage on one of our walks around our village.

I love to look inside & see glimpses of the former occupant's.

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It has the same window's as our cottage.

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Beautiful fireplace.

Each room has a faded glory to it.

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Old coat hooks in the round porch.

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Entrance way.

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Another old fireplace with Art Deco tiles.

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Beauty found in old age.

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The front of the cottage with round porch.

Around the property are beautiful old apple tree's.

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I love to make pie's from the many Amish cook book's I have.

One of our favourite's is Lemon Sponge Pie from The Amish Cook Baking Book. This is one of my favourite cook book's.

The twin's made some little jam tart's with the left over pastry.

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Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Cookies.

These were very healthy, the children loved them so we will be making them again.

The recipe is from Thy Hand has Provided Cook Book.

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http://www.thyhandhathprovided.com/

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Barm Cakes.

These are a very soft roll popular in the North of England.

We ate them with homemade Leek & Potato Soup.

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The girl's love to bake & quite often take over from me.

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I hope you all have a beautiful early Spring.

Thank you dear reader's for all kind comment's, I feel so blessed to have you all following me.

Fondly Michelle

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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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