Fried Apples

We've had some very wet and windy days here. Look at what our poor eucalyptus tree had to try and stand up to!

Anyway, remember I told you about picking the cooking apples? They weren't the only apples we had this year. I picked lots of eating apples as well. When I couldn't store any more I left apples on the trees. So for the first time we now have some apple trees with apples and no leaves!

 I love how it looks! Kind of festive and getting ready for Christmas.

The birds have eaten the odd apple but, surprisingly, very few.

I picked some of the apples today so I can use them in my chicken and apple cheese bake when I next make it.

First, wash and core the apples; they have to be eating apples rather than cookers. Heat about an ounce of butter in a large frying pan until hot.

Slice the apples in rings about a quarter of an inch thick. Put the apples in the pan in a single layer and fry for about five minutes - until golden/brown.

Now turn the apple slices and fry the other side. You're aiming for colour and softening but not apple mush. The slices should still hold their shape.

I then left the apple slices to cool and packed them in a box to store in the freezer until needed. It takes about six small apples for each bake. When I next make the chicken and apple cheese bake I'll take photos and then show you how to do it.

Thanks for all your comments about the Christmas pudding. I hope some of you will give it a go some time. Bye for now!

Apple Picking Time

The time had come to pick the cooking apples. We grow them espalier-fashion between the posts of the pergola.

The apples were big; some of them were very big.

 I have rather large hands but still I could hardly hold these monster apples.

Here is the apple compared to a £1 coin. According to the Royal Mint, a pound coin has a diameter of 22.5 mm. I weighed the apple too . It weighed a pound!

It only took two apples to make a delicious tart.

I've made three tarts so far and also used some apples in making my Christmas puddings. Actually, I must do a post about making Christmas puddings as the recipe is a good one.

Thanks for your lovely comments about my crochet projects.

Collecting the Honey

Last weekend we robbed the bees of their honey. About a month ago the husband could see that there was a lot of honey to be harvested but the weather wasn't good in July so the bees ate quite a bit of the honey themselves. So we didn't get as much as we thought we were going to but, nevertheless, it's just great having our own honey.

Here are some of the frames before the honey was extracted.

The beeswax will also be used. We don't waste anything!

The honey has to be strained through two very fine sieves to remove any little bits of wax and any little bits of bee.

This year we bottled some of the honey in these hexagonal jars. They hold about three quarters of a pound. The other jars that we use hold a full pound.

You can look back at last year's post about harvesting honey to get some more information.

The weather has improved slightly this month over July. We get some nice sunny, even warm, days but also so much rain. Everywhere is starting to feel and look autumnal. A couple of weeks ago I took these pictures of our holly; berries already. Lots of the trees have their berries too. Some of the leaves are turning colour and starting to fall. It's been a very strange summer!

There's our wee dog hiding in the hedge!

Remember I told you about the field next to us being used as a 'maternity' field? Well, there ended up being three calves and their mothers. Here they are all together.

This one is a beautiful colour.

These two are very alike. You'd almost think they are twins but they're not.

Look at that wee face! Love the eye patches.

They've all been moved to another field now, a bit further away. Some day the calves will be separated from their mothers and we'll have to listen to them lamenting over their loss. It's so pitiful.

Thank you all for your lovely comments about the sea glass shawl. My big blanket is finished too but I still need to block it. The thing is, I don't really know how I'm going to manage it; the blanket is enormous! Maybe this evening. 

Anyway, all the best for now. Bye!

Aren't Giveaways Just Great?

In October last year I won Jo's giveaway of a packet of Mini Munch cucumber seeds. Jo writes The Good Life blog where she has recently shown us the start of her mini munch cucumber harvest. We planted our seeds in the greenhouse and are now starting to harvest the cucumbers. Thanks again Jo for having the giveaway.

Yesterday I received a lovely parcel of goodies from Una. I was the winner of Una's recent birthday giveaway on her Great Balls of Wool blog; something I never expected! There's a 50g ball of Jaeger Spiral-spun pure wool in a gorgeous heather shade, a Cath Kidston notebook, buttons covered with Fair Trade fabric, a cute owl keyring from Oxfam (supporting independent artisans in India) and a very useful button tin. It came in this lovely cotton bag, too. I can think of lots of ways to use it! Thank you very much Una and I hope you have (or possibly already have had) a great 60th birthday.

I should think about having another giveaway, I suppose. Just not sure what to offer as a prize! Here's a picture of one of the flower beds that I snapped very quickly at the weekend. Even though we haven't had good weather this summer, it's still possible to tell that the season is moving on and heading, eventually, into Autumn.

Bye for now.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Welcome back and a special welcome to some new followers. It's been a bit of a hectic week. Problems with broadband and problems with drains. All sorted now, thankfully.

I forgot to show you my second dishcloth that I made recently (pattern here). Here it is with our new, very miniature, rose. More about roses later.


Our neighbour does a bit of farming and for the past few weeks the field beside us has become the 'maternity field'. This was the first calf to be born. The picture was taken the day after it was born.

Mummy cow kept a close watch on her new baby.

In another field close by is the boy I would be pretty sure is the daddy!

Anyway, back to the garden now. The husband made this willow construction months ago (see here) for growing sweet pea. We've had such awful weather this summer with so much wind and rain. In fact, it is now official that we've had the coldest July in twenty years. The result is a slightly skewed willow frame and sweet peas that haven't quite reached their full potential. But they're not bad!

This is inside the frame where there are poppies growing as well.

This rose was planted last year and isn't doing too badly. A lot of the roses in the garden haven't done well at all this year.

This rose seems to do very well every year.

The first of the tomatoes this year. There is going to be a really big crop but that's because they're in the greenhouse. They are very slow to ripen so I pick them as soon as they show signs of starting to ripen and bring them into the house. For some reason they then ripen almost overnight.

Some of the blackcurrants that have been picked. I have washed and frozen over twenty two pounds so far and there's more to come! Later in the year I'll make blackcurrant cordial and probably some jelly too.

The strawberries weren't as good as we'd hoped because of the bad weather. We managed to get plenty to eat with ice-cream but not enough to freeze any.

I've finished crocheting the king sized blanket and have started sewing in the ends. It's therapeutic!

Did any of you spot my deliberate mistake in my last post about the sea glass shawl? I said the shawl is made up of three rows of motifs but it is actually constructed using four rows. The first has ten motifs, then nine, eight and finally seven, making a total of thirty four motifs. Also, I mentioned in the comments that I am using a 3.5 mm hook. Well, yes, I am. When I checked the pattern again (after having made fourteen motifs) I discovered that I should have been using a 3.25 mm hook. To be honest, I think the 3.5 mm hook is perfect so I'm glad I made that mistake! I've now finished the first two rows and am really loving it. Thanks for your lovely comments about the shawl, by the way.

Well, that's it for now. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. I have some news about giveaways that I've won but that will wait for another time.

The Garden

I've been taking some pictures in the garden over the past month. Some of the flowers are already past now; like this laburnum.

There has been great growth on the holly with it flowering really well. Hopefully this means there will be lots of berries later in the year.

This rhododendron flowers quite late in the year.

The baby birch trees are still coming on well. Remember the husband built this stone edifice? For some reason it collapsed but has been rebuilt.

I love to see broom flowering.

We had a great display of alliums this year; this is just a few of them.

The black elder had just started flowering in this picture. I'm hoping to pick the flowers very soon to make pink elderflower cordial, like last year.

Lots of purple flowers.

A few new plants for the front doorstep.

The husband made this wind chime!

These shells were collected while we were on holiday.

Very rustic!

The wild flower bed just started to bloom.

Lots of the herbs have flowered too.

Gorgeous irises this year.

And we're still having another great display of poppies.

The fruit and vegetables are progressing nicely. Here's just one picture of some of the potatoes flowering. We've started eating the potatoes already. Just scrubbed and boiled in their skins. Delicious! As are the strawberries.

That was a very quick overview of the garden over the past few weeks. Of course, it is constantly changing.

All the best for now. Hope to be back soon with more crochet; thanks for all your lovely comments about the crocheted shawl.