Table loom returns.............

I was pleased to get over to pick up my table loom yesterday, now it's back with me. It was one extended sort of loan to a good friend, who took it when I said I wanted to sell it as I'd never use it. Guess what? I changed my mind, and here we are four years later and it's back in my kitchen. It needs a clean and polish, and a bit of research on my part to get it going, then I'll be off. I'm so chuffed! :)

It's the most beautiful day here today; I'm only inside until my cakes are out of the oven - it's Fair Trade cafe at the village hall this afternoon, and I'm officiating LOL - then I'm off outside for a couple of hours. All livestock fed and watered, washing hung. I got a bit more done on the dye garden project yesterday - more plants moved, and the first of the dye plant seeds sown. MrL attempting to rig up something to keep teh chickens where they should be, so I can get on with the veg beds soon - lots to go in now the weather has warmed up a bit. I've held back lionger than usual because of the cold winter, but it's all go in April. A few showers overnight will have made the soil more workable. I need to salt and water the asparagus beds and take the covers off them too.
Hope everyone else has sunshine!

How to make cream cheese

You'll never buy Philadelphia "cream cheese" again!

2 pints full cream milk
1 /4 pint double cream
rennet
salt

Put the milk on to heat to blood heat, then add about 6 - 7 drops of rennet; I use Vegeren, which is a vegetarian rennet. Whisk into milk, and leave for the curds to set.




When set, it will look like this:




Drain the curd from the whey into scalded muslin, and leave hanging, to drip overnight, to leave the curd dryish:





Next, beat in the cream with a fork or whisk, adding salt to taste. At this stage, you can also add in flavourings if liked - black pepper, garlic, etc. For this one, I used wild garlic in the form of tri-cornered leek, which is at its peak in the garden just now.
This cheese is wonderful - the fresh taste is miles from anything you can buy - give it a try!

April

April already, the year is flying by! Lots happening outside in the garden, the hedgerows and fields, nature just getting quietly on with it, a lot of folks oblivious to the wonder of it all! The daffodils ahve been especially good this year, probably because of the decntly cold winter we had; wild primroses have been everywhere, blooming in profusion on the banks and verges, under the hedgerows, very pretty, and always look best in the wild, although I do have some in the garden. Ramsons well on their way, won;t be long until that pungent smell hits the nostrils LOL Looking forward to that,a realy seasonal delight :)

Oh, to be in England
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England - now!

Robert Browning


Looking forward to April showers, chocolate eggs, newborn animals, longer daylight hours, sunshine and flowers.

March giveaway - the winner!

The winner of the March giveaway is ************thesnailgarden**************

Well done to you, prize on its way shortly!

Please look out for my April giveaway in teh next couple of days, and thanks for reading the blog, it's appreciated.

Traumatic morning here..............

Full story here:

http://creativeliving.10.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=5940

Very scary.

Posh.......................

Not really - I got them at the tip! I do love them, though. The forks are silver, and are the same as the ones my granny always had, and they're just lovely to hold and use. Teh big serving spoons are "Venetain Silver", it problaims on the back; I seem to think this is some sort of nickel silver, though, (anyone enlighten me on this?)so not the "best" silver, but I love them for it. One has a crest, and the other a monogram - that's the poshest bit, I suppose LOL The one on the left has really been well used - you can see how the edge of the bowl has been worn. To compensate for bringing more stuff in, I aim to declutter and sort out the end drawer of the dresser today, and shift some more. Aren't I good? :) That's the theory, then; whether it actually comes to pass is another matter entirely.......

Mornings

I like mornings. I'm a morning person, jump out of bed and get on with it all. I do flag in the afternoon, between 3 - 4pm, but then have another spurt in the evening,sometimes staying up quite late. Mornings are my favourite time, though. Once OH and Bean are out and gone, it's very quiet here until EJ surfaces; I come on teh computer, read a bit, have breakfast, sort out the day in my head, knit a bit....A bit of peace and clam helps me a lot in the mornings, but with OH here at the weekends, it's a different start to the day.

I found this lovely, lovely book on Posy's blog (http://posy.typepad.com/); when I say found, I actually mean noseying in the top of one her bags that was open, in a photo on her blog LOL It's called "A Year of Mornings", and ia a photographic collaboration by Maria Alexandra Vettesse and Stpehanie Congdon Barnes. What a lovely book; I don't normally spend that much on a book of photos/pictures, but this was an exception. Pairs of photos taken by the two women each morning for a year and put on their blog. Amazing how similar some of the pairs were, which I find fascinating. Gorgeous photos, obviously selctive, but none the worse for that. A lovely book to dip in and out of often.