Unbought Delicacies: 30/03/2014

Friday, 4 April 2014

Busy busy

Sorry for lack of posts this week, is a bit manic here! Wedding date is looming ever closer - 19th is the day; I have a head full of flowers and colours, cake bits and horses, lists and caterers' requirements lol All going fine so far and on course, have even managed to find a company to come in and clean the hall afterwards on the Sunday - am not interested in doing that at all!!

We're suffering a bit from the pollution from Europe down here in The Vale - there's a thick foggy smoggy haze, resulting in an odd smell hanging in the air and a sore throat and watery eyes for me. Has been a wee bit better o far today, so maybe it's on its way out I hope.

Spring flowers are everywhere, the garden is full of blossom and scent, birdsong and new growth. I need to get out among it and dig up load of plants; I have a lot of stuff I want to take with me, may need a separate van or the garden stuff when the time comes!

Had a lovely day out yesterday with a friend, down to west Dorset; ended up in Abbotsbury sub-tropical gardens for a cream tea, then discovered a lovely little crystal and healing shop/business in the village, with a priceless view to St Catherine's chapel from the Peace Garden. Lovely :)

So - everything seems to be on track at the moment, will try to post more regularly. Am toying with the idea of starting a whole new blog when I do move - new brooms and all that. Wold be along the same lines and themes as Unbought Delicacies, but from a new home and garden. What do you think?

Oh, and a big hello to my new followers - hope you enjoy my blog and find something to inspire you, you are all very welcome :)

This is me finding time for a quiet five minutes in the garden the other day lol

Monday, 31 March 2014

Tulip time

There are some very beautiful tulips, and top of my list at the moment is orange tulips. I bought these on Friday, British grown, two bunches for £5 - great value as they last about 10 days on the kitchen windowsill. I just love the contrast between the fresh zingy green and citrusy orange.

Sunday, 30 March 2014

Wild garlic dumplings

4oz flour
2 oz suet
1/2 tsp salt
large handful wild garlic leaves, chopped

Combine everything in a bowl, and mix to a stiff past with cold water. Shape into dumplings with floured hands, and cook in a simmering stew for about 20 minutes.

This is supper tonight, on a lamb casserole, with sprouts and buttered parsnips.

I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my window sill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things- old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

~ Grace Noll Crowell

Ideas for handmade gifts

Small knitteds - gloves, scarves, hot water bottle covers, hats, tea cosies, phone covers, little toys,,cushion covers, bags. Some of these can be felted/fulled for extra interest.
Edibles - chutneys and jams, pickles, nice teas in a vintage/retro tin, sweeties, toffees, mustard, home made wine and liqueurs, home dried fruits, ketchups.
For the home - trimmed tea towels, handknitted dishcloths, quilted wallhangings, small samplers, restored picture frames, pot pourri, lavender bags, covered coathangers, little scented bags for hanging on handles, framed photos of family,etc you've taken yourself, pincushion,needle book, scissor keeper, book of promises (eg babysitting, 1 hour's housework, the ironing, etc)
Bathtime - homemade soap, bath oils, bath salts, knitted washcloths, herbal bags for the bath, hand sewn toilet bags, trimmed hand towels, homemade lotions and potions packed in pretty jars and bottles.
For the garden - home saved seed in handmade decorated packets; homemade handcream, exfoliating soap, wheat bag for those digger's aches and pains!

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.
Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;
he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.

Harlan Hubbard, Shantyboat: A River Way of Life