A touch of creativity

I am not...not...not a flower arranger but every year we have a flower festival in our local village church and I have learned that actually everyone is a bit creative.


This year I raced from Summer School and stood in dismay in front of the space I was supposed to fill. I was "doing" Ireland armed with flowers (I didn't even know the names of some), a bodhran, race programmes, binoculars and a few other bits and pieces. About an hour in, the church quiet, cool and filled with the scents of flowers, I realised that I was enjoying myself - in a really calm mood. It worked a spell!

Hot Air

 

Noreen and I enjoyed the Hot Air literary festival this weekend and found Emma Bridgewater's talk inspirational.  The place was buzzing...just what Stoke needs!

 

If you get chance to visit the factory in Hanley there's a shop full of goodies, a cafe, and loads of events going on this summer.

 

There's just one word for it!

 

 

Orange and ginger cake

This was a very simple cake to make because all you have to do is beat all the ingredients together and put in a loaf tin. Bake for about 40 minutes in a moderate oven (test with a skewer to check that it's cooked). Allow to cool and turn out onto a wire tray. I made a little icing with icing sugar and some left over squeezed orange juice - but of course this is optional
10oz (275g) self-raising flour
I teaspoon baking powder
6oz (175g) soft brown sugar
8oz (225g) butter
3 eggs
Juice of 2 oranges
4 teaspoons ground ginger.

Enjoy!

Growth spurt

We've been enjoying the salad leaves for a few weeks now...they're so reliable to grow and I love being able to pick fresh leaves.  It might even be salad weather this weekend!

But everything's going wild in the garden, including weeds.  The French beans and runner beans are planted out now.

 And the sweet peas and sugar snap are through as well.

Gosh...these photos in our little veg patch aren't very exciting are they?  All so green, but less green than they were before I grubbed up the chickweed.  Didn't show you that, did I?

Porter cake

16oz, 450g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
half teaspoon each of mixed spice, nutmeg and cinnamon
16oz of mixed fruit (currants, raisins, sultanas & mixed peel, if you like)
About 350ml of Guinness or other stout
8oz, 225g butter
8oz, 225 brown sugar
2 large eggs.

Sieve the flour, baking powder and spices. Rub in the butter.
Mix in the sugar
In a jug or bowl mix the stout and the beaten eggs.
Add the liquid mix to the flour etc.
Mix well.
You need a dropping consistency.

Put into a greased 8" tin and bake at Gas Mark 4, 350/180 for about 2 hours until a skewer comes out cleanly.

Store for a day or two before eating

In the spirit of Chelsea

I always enjoy watching the coverage of Chelsea and the gorgeous plants on display there, so I thought I'd record some of the flowers that have just come into bloom.  All the sunny weather has made such a difference...only a couple of weeks ago the garden was mainly just green but all of a sudden there's colour.   These alliums are a favourite of mine.

And this clematis has just opened in the last couple of days.

Has anyone else noticed that the flowers of the Welsh poppies appear larger than normal this year?  Wonder why that is.  They can be a nuisance seeding everywhere but I still like them.

Another favourite is this rock rose.  I think it's probably helianthemum 'Fire Dragon'.

This bright pink rock rose against the path opens in bright sunshine.  Beautiful May!

Mx

Cushions 2

Another cushion using hand embroidery in one of the squares...this from an old traycloth.

And these two have appliqued bunting.  I've realised at last just how useful bondaweb is, and the design potential it provides.  It's fab stuff! x