Late summer eatings

We went to an artisan food fair in Knutsford today - I'll share some pictures later this week. But the whole weekend has had a seasonal feel in terms of food and flowers. Like these broad beans. Our crop was very disappointing - so we bought some extra and ate them with a light mustard dressing, Parma ham, parsley and toasted sourdough bread.

I always have a recipe or two snipped from a magazine and stuck on the side of the fridge. I filed the baked cheesecake one that's been up for a while and replaced it with Claudia Roden's Orange and Almond Cake. I also baked the cake. It has no butter or flour in it but can be a little bit sharp (you boil 3 oranges and blend them, peel included, into the mixture). So it's nice with a little bit of syrup drizzled on top - and maybe a dollop of Greek yogurt on the side.

I've mentioned before that our gooseberries haven't made an appearance this year. And now the bushes are being devoured by caterpillars (that's the last time we have nasturtiums - they're irresistible to cabbage whites and they lay eggs everywhere).

So yesterday we picked up a punnet from Ramsbottom market. Compote or crumble - yet to decide.

These are the teasels I collected last week with Joe. Still drying out in the kitchen and a bit lethal-looking. They remind me of the Autumn Fair we used to have each year at my primary school. I loved it - the whole being in school at night time, the corn dollies we used to make, the cake stalls and bric-a-brac... maybe that's when I started loving autumn so much.

Jay went to the shops with Joe and brought me back some huge sunflowers wrapped in brown paper. They're now on the mantelpiece brightening up the living room.

It's cooled down a bit over the weekend too. The temperatures are definitely more bearable (but I'm still sleeping on top of the bed covers).

Home and away

Yesterday Joe and I went to the Craft Barn. It's just up the road from where we live and surrounded by fields, so once I'd bought a few balls of yarn we went for a walk. There's a little lane with a few houses dotted along it, and they each have very well-tended gardens and vegetable patches.

Summer's getting on now - apples on the tress and crocosmia flowering away.

Those tidy beds put ours to shame...

The colours of the season seem to be flame-coloured: oranges, reds, golds. Not in an autumnal sense though. More fiery (to match the weather).

We didn't get much further into the field as you can only do so much with a pushchair. And Joe's way too heavy to carry any distance.

The combine harvesters will be out soon and the fields will be stubbly and brown and full of birds pecking at the remnants...

We made our way to the Linear Park next. It used to be an old branch line but is now a footpath. (Ironically, the proposed HS2 railway is going to plough right through it so there are some very unhappy locals). I thought maybe heading for the shade of the trees would give us some respite from the heat but it didn't make much of a difference to be honest.

We walked past some sweet little houses with cute names, like September Cottage and Damson Cottage.

Then we came home and enjoyed the cool of the kitchen whilst sharing a cheese spread sandwich. Joe has simple tastes (although he tolerated a bit of hummus the other day so there's hope).

Jay's dad and stepmum had sent us a postcard .They're currently away in Switzerland. The fresh Alpine air must be so nice right now.

Things are supposed to cool down a bit here over the weekend. I hope so - Joe's top teeth are starting to come through and he's been suffering. The heat doesn't help. I keep opening all the windows in an attempt to get a bit of a draught going. When it works it's lovely. Oh, to live by the sea...

Reflection... and resolve

I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front lately. The truth is, I've had a few sleepless nights and a lot on my mind - including whether to share or not. But I think I will.

I've written before about being homesick and feeling a bit lost out here, but then things started to come together - night classes, making new friends, finding things to enjoy. But there has been a bit of an issue recently. It seems that not everyone takes kindly to a newcomer joining their social group. 

It started with being pointedly excluded from a recent birthday party to which everyone else had been invited. To be fair, a few of my other friends seemed surprised at this and I took it graciously, said nothing and carried on as usual. Then another person (previously someone I saw a lot of) cut off contact too. No texts, calls, plans - nothing.

Yes, I'm aware this is straying dangerously close to schoolyard territory but bear with me. Because the whole thing has made me think a lot. I spoke to my mum (naturally) and she warned me of the perils of being involved in a group of women ('There's always one'). She suggested a bit of jealousy. But I've been part of a group before and there was no nastiness. At work, when a new girl started we always took her out to lunch and gave her the heads-up on everyone. I don't like women being mean to one another. We have enough to deal with as it is.

I'm no saint - at school it was always someone's turn to be the outcast and we all had a turn at being unpleasant. But that was a long, long time ago.

I've grown up a lot since then. And even though my first instinct was to question what I'd done or said to cause offence (conclusion: nothing at all) I quickly decided that, as I've got older and a little bit wiser, I don't care half as much about what people may or may not think of me. In this case I have nothing to apologise for. And I'm not the one with the problem. So I took the very modern step of taking this person off my Facebook account. I don't actually use it that often, but I wanted to make a stand: I won't be treated like that and I won't try to appease someone who clearly dislikes me for whatever strange reason they have.

The best thing to come out of this little situation: it has actually strengthened my resolve to love my life, enjoy what I do and be myself.

Here's what I've learned:

Be careful about who you become friends with - be choosy and make sure you have things in common

Sometimes people are odd and it's not your fault

Don't say bad things about people and stir up a hornet's nest

Take the high road

Be optimistic - real friends appear in your life when you least expect them to.

Best of all, here's what I've done:

Bought myself a bright, bright red lipstick (and worn it)

Started wearing my big statement necklaces again without feeling self-conscious

Found a whole new list of baby groups I can try with Joe (thanks to Jay for looking them up)

Taken Joe swimming on a different day - on our own - and enjoyed focusing on him

Worked hard on preparing for the craft and vintage fair 

De-summered the kitchen in preparation for my favourite time of year: autumn

Felt grateful for what I have.

The ultimate therapy for me is going out for a walk. So today I pulled on my wellies and took Joe for a little wander (between rain showers). We snipped some prickly stems of teasel to dry out in the kitchen for an everlasting display, and I noticed the blackberries and rosehips starting to colour. Autumn's definitely on the way. The garden - especially the parts where the annuals are growing - is starting to look tired and tatty.

If you've read this very long post, thank you for your patience. It's been quite cathartic.

The usual type of posts will appear in a day or two :)

Down on the farm

We're still wilting in the heat but this morning set out on a little visit to Kenyon Hall Farm. It was en route to do some food shopping, but I wanted to check out the craft and vintage fair as it's the one I've booked a table for in late September (gulp).

It was held in one of the barns. Luckily it wasn't in the polytunnels like I'd previously thought - everyone would have been melting by 10am.

Joe's a bit small for a donkey ride but that didn't stop me from going over and making a fuss of them. Their names were Gavin and Stacey.

Astrantia growing wild in a hedge (one of my favourite flowers).

Joe had a sit on an old tractor in the play area. I think he'd like one for his first birthday next month. 

People were out in the fields picking punnets of strawberries, gooseberries, blackcurrants, raspberries, tayberries...

And everywhere was a-flutter with butterflies.

I have two months to build up the stock for my stall. And then it will be autumn. I love that time of year - the soft fruits will have been replaced by pumpkins and hopefully people will want to buy my wares. 

Little rays of sunshine

One thing I'm well aware of: I'm one of life's worriers. And I've had a few things on my mind lately (the kind that keep you awake in the early hours but really aren't that important). 

But there are things which make me realise life's not really bad. Obviously, Jay and Joe, and the fact that we have a nice house and no real worries. And the smaller little details which cheer me up on a daily basis. Today they included these sunset-coloured echinacea (just opening, above).

This dinky 1970s coffee pot (it has a little matching milk jug) - a charity shop find.

The new issue of a magazine I subscribe to dropping through the letterbox this morning.

The weather cooling down just enough to make me want to drink tea again.

Knitting wristwarmers in preparation for autumn with this yarn, which reminds me for some reason of the seaside and beachcombing. They're for the stall I've booked at the vintage and craft fair in September. But like much of the selection of spoils I'm stockpiling, it will be hard to let them go.

Sundays

A couple of months ago we resolved to try and keep one day free each weekend. And then along came lots of commitments, invitations and other things which has meant we've been busy from Saturday morning to Sunday evening. Before we know it, Friday teatime becomes Sunday bedtime in the blink of an eye and we feel a bit stunned and not very rested.

I've been interested in 'slow' living for a while now and yesterday read up on the 'Keep Sunday Special' initiative. And although I'm not particularly religious or against shops opening on Sundays, I do think that keeping Sunday for relaxation is a good thing.

So the plan is to avoid (unless absolutely necessary) plans. On a Sunday. No food shopping, no driving about visiting, no dealing with finances... Let's call them Slow Sundays. Staying local if possible, eating, relaxing, walking, being creative, watching a film, reading. Pottering about in the garden. Whatever we feel like doing.

This Sunday just gone we stayed home. Not having plans is a bit of a luxury. I'm one of those people who struggles to switch off and do nothing. So I did clean my car inside and out (it was pretty grimy). It was a hot, dirty job but a rewarding one. I'm taking this Slow Sundays thing one step at a time... maybe next week I'll get through the day without undertaking any chores at all.

The trick is in the planning: food shopping done in advance, ditto housework. Being a big list maker I actually enjoy this part.

In other news, the forecast is for rain (and maybe thunderstorms) this week. When I was little my mum, my brother and me used to stand in the front doorway and watch the lightning and rain coming down. I love a good storm - fingers crossed one comes soon.

Billy Buttons

This week's Nature in the Home theme: 'round'. I opted for some stems of Billy Buttons (or Craspedia) I grew last year. They dry out well... Two plants - bought online - yielded two flowers. I might try again next year. I like the shape and colour.

The vase was a lucky charity shop find: £2.50. I spotted it and knew it was mid-century, so when I brought it home and did a bit of research on the 'Beswick' stamp underneath I found out it's from the mid 1950s. The zebra stripe range was designed by someone called Albert Hallam and is apparently looked down on by 'design snobs' for being derivative.

Conclusion: I'm not a design snob...

In other news, it's cooled down enough to pull up potatoes. Not a huge harvest but enough.

Oh, and apologies to those of you who send your lovely comments to me. I was 'spammed' a couple of days ago so have had to take security measures against it. Thanks for dropping by and leaving your comments, I enjoy reading them!