Hello Friday, you gorgeous thing you. As I look out the window, it’s raining and what a welcome sight that is. It was actually the first time in ages that I walked Bella and needed my Barbour for the entire walk, as it was 11 degrees!
Cooking
Our neighbours grow rhubarb and they literally have it coming out of their ears, so this weekend the Handsome One and I are going to make the most of it and make some jam. Well we will do, once he has been up in the loft and got my jam pan and funnel as a lot of our belonging are still up there. I’m thinking of making rhubarb and ginger, or rhubarb and orange? Either sound pretty good to me, so I’ll be sure to share the recipe.
I’m also really craving a roast and it’s supposed to be raining on Sunday rather than be 30 degrees and sunny, so perfect weather for a roast. Roast potatoes, get in my belly!
Weather
Am I even British if I don’t mention the weather?? We really are having the most incredible summer, but I am loving the dip in temperature at the moment. I’ve also noticed that the leaves seem to be changing, the elderberries and blackerries are ripening, which makes if feels like there is the slightest hint of autumn in the air.
Unfortunately the fluctuation in the weather isn’t having the best effect on the chickens as it’s making them broody. Just as we thought the girls had recovered from their broodiness, I picked up Matilda and realised she plucked her feathers out, ready for her imaginary chick. Bless her cottons.
Vegetables
Everything is doing so well! Seeing as this is my first ever attempt at a proper vegetable patch, I’m feeling pretty proud of myself. One thing that really surprised me was how big courgette leaves get – they’re bloody huge! I got a bit excited and now have four plants, so I’m thinking that might be a bit much for two of us, but I can get creative in the kitchen and make some courgette chutney.
The tomatoes are just absolutely gorgeous! The HO loves the black opal and I’ve got a weakness for the yellow pear toms, but they are just all gorgeous. The beef tomatoes are still very green, but I can’t wait to try these. Although, I do need to brush up on my tomato maintenance skills – I’ve had some serious side shoots, but I’ve given them a prune so fingers crossed they’ll keep producing plenty of fruit.
Great Wolford
So our little village called Great Wolford that most people haven’t heard of was on the news this week! We used to have a pub called The Fox and Hound, but it was closed down and the owners are trying applying to the council to turn it into two dwelling so they can sell it as two properties. As you can imagine, this is not what anyone in the village wants, so we are all appealing against this and to raise money we have regular pop-up pubs on The Green.
This was picked up by BBC News and one evening I arrived home to see the camera crew setup opposite the pub and interviewing some of the locals! Hopefully this will help in getting the pub re-opened, as a small village like ours needs a pub to bring everyone together.
Walks
We walk Bella every single day, come sun, rain or snow but usually walk one of two routes as at 6.30 in the morning you’re mostly just thinking about putting one foot in front of the other. However, the other evening we deviated from our normal walk and explored the village further and it was brilliant! We had incredible views and the sky looked like it was on fire. I think it’s so good to take the time to explore where you live whether you live in a town, in the city or in the countryside – I bet you’ll be surprised on what you stumble upon.
Have a good weekend!
A x
Abi in the Garden 