That work-life balance - Thursday, 30th January 2014

I got it right today, that balance between work and life, thank goodness!
.
I worked all morning and relaxed all afternoon and this evening, well I guess a little bit of both!

Working my computer to learn more about this blogging lark, the nuts and bolts of it.  I always jump into the deep end, just to see if I can cope and, when I seems to be managing this, I begin to start casting about for ways and means of utilising the site I'm inhabiting, finding out what is meant by such and such a term, learning how to use certain tools and ideas for self-promotion and generally endeavouring to get beneath the skin of what I'm doing.

So while doing this, I've been watching some interesting TV, talking to Alice the dog and having supper. Mmm! a small jacket potato with butter and my tuna onion soured cream filling plus dried mixed herbs and sliced pickled walnuts.  These are a Christmas treat which, generally, we do not have after Christmas for there's never any left - we both love them so much!!!  So supper tonight was a real treat and we only ate when we were actually hungry, as opposed to eating because it's the eating time-slot!  I'm a creature of habit and meal times fall into definite time-frame, unless I'm so frantically busy, when I "graze", which is not in fact, considered to be a good plan. You eat too much and often the food is not savoured or even tasted - it's just fodder to keep you going and, well occasionally, that's OK.

So if I don't eat, don't actually make a break with work, sit down and do something different while eating, like relaxing, reading a newspaper or watching TV, then I'm not really enjoying my food.  Plus, if I don't stop, sit down and eat, I find myself "picking" or "grazing" all afternoon long,, which isn't any good at all!

So I think I've got it right today and that's great!  I wonder how I'll get on tomorrow?

Byeeee for now

Daisy

Life Thoughts!

"Communication is a passion - by people, for people, of people.  No communication, no connection, no life...Communicate or fade away....."

"A cheery hello brings out the sunshine - so, how much more warmth from ... a conversation, a video, a blog, a telephone call, a letter, an article, even a book....whatever.  We were meant to connect so communicate....make your life bright, warm, amusing and meaningful, and love your life...."

My recent thinking...!

I've only just realised how long it's been since last I wrote to you!  It's a staggering  twenty days and the tragic reason for this long absence of words has been me and my state of being!!!

I'm something of a workaholic who loves to get things done.  It's just in my nature and a facet which has been nourished for years now, by me.  It's a long-standing family joke that I keep myself busy to avoid thought.  You know, that sort of thought which can bug you, morning 'til night time; the kind of thinking and thought that's just lodged in your head, which swirls about, keeping your subconscious busy, even when you're asleep.

It's there the moment you wake up, eats breakfast, coffee, lunch, tea and dinner with you, and often ruins your every waking moment.  So, the busyness has a purpose!  

Of course, busyness also comes from the realisation of the actuality of work.  The chores, tasks and needs which must be taken care of, in every walk of life and situation.  They seem to come with the territory you personally own or dwell in.  The responsibilities which come from being a human being.

Of course, you can look the other way, thinking to let a chore become somebody else's responsibility.  This works perfectly well for some and, for others, it's like a red rag to a bull. However, it's futile being cross, mostly, for generally speaking, crossness or anger, at another's neglect or carelessness, is normally felt by the holder and not the recipient, unless that same holder patiently or angrily conveys that emotion to the intended personality.  Yes, you can blow your top at another, wring your hands, lament ingratitude or indolence and, sometimes, it is indeed, a very good thing to do, to clear the air and reach across the chasm of your feelings and reveal to another the depth of bad feelings you harbour because of that person's lack of perception.  Sometimes it even works and both they, and you, emerge from the whole experience with a happier and more positive sense of self.

On the other hand, busyness often just stems the flow of bad feelings and remembrances of an earlier day or time from your own past, when making yourself actively busy could lead to a temporary termination of the turmoil within your own self.  And, at times it works.  Oh boy, do I know, and I do like to appreciate an experience before attempting to write about a thing.

The other aspect of perpetual busyness is the connection between living to work or working to live or,  the work-life balance ratio question, which fills many a magazine or newspaper article.  Mankind often does and, quite frequently, is made to work far too many long hours beyond what is considered reasonable and practicable. Overtime work may seem the key to a higher earning capacity, the better wage packet, the light at the end of a very long work-tunnel; even tunnel vision, viewed inadvisedly!

So, I've just been doing too many hours at my computer.  Too many long daylight hours awake.  Too many late nights and early morning rises, to get back to the job in hand.  The end result of which has been two weeks of almost non-writing ability and a draining away of that tender human aspect, confidence.

Plus, of course, aches and headaches, and almost the beginnings of a cold - thank goodness - avoided like the plague eventually.

So two weeks lying low plus this last week, trying to sort out the muddle of inactivity and self-inflicted apathy, and here I am, catching up with myself and you too, dear reader.

It is the winter season, of course, and aren't we all still recovering from the over-eat / over-spend awful deliciousness of that mid-winter festival of Christmas!  Being a working cook, the Christmas season has always prompted and produced ill-health and colds and 'flu, and I guess I'm still as prone to that as anybody, working or otherwise, because of course, we all expect too much of ourselves for this period of jollity and good seasoning, we all indulge in!!!

However, we shall all soon be feeling much more confident, for we've had the worst day of the year ie Monday, 20th January, so adjudged for its penetrating doom.  The nights are drawing out and, although we still have the month of February to work thru' and, we could still have snow or, more snow, if you dear reader, live somewhere where snowfall is a regular winter hazard (and perhaps delight), thoughts of springtime are surely, somewhere just around the corner, and holiday company's are selling us golden beaches, wide-open blue skies and sunny climes, elsewhere, aren't they?

You see, we're already, all of us, feeling better already, aren't you?  Hey!

And so am I, and work, well the condition of work and its availability, is always there and I guess the problem of over-working is just something - a problem - which all of us must constantly be on our guard against.  And....for when constant activity and work-indulgence brings great financial reward, personal achievement and feelings of self-contentment.....I guess that's one of the highs of life we all enjoy at times.

Ah ha, I hear myself think.  It's all a matter of balance which, as I'm often thinking and talking about, is probably one of the hardest human conditions to achieve, maintain and retain.  Now that really is an activity we may all pursue to our utmost for, ultimately, it is for our betterment and feelings of self-worth which must, surely, be of good use to all mankind, and to each and everyone of us.

Happy balancing everybody!

Daisy

IMG 4286 Hi this is ME....on Today, 8th January 2014

Hi this is ME .....on making gluten-free pastry

How's your New Year going? - Tuesday, 7th January 2014

For Christmas, my sister gave me a pot of Gourmet Quince Paste, made by Emily Foods of Spain - www.emilyfoods.com and now it's all gone.

This is a great pity, for it's a delicious addition to many foods and subliminal on hot buttered toast, gluten-free or gluten-rich.  I've tried both so do know what I'm talking about!

I've even made quince paste myself, and spiced quinces flavoured with coriander.  This same sister also, once had a beautiful old quince tree in one of her gardens and one year, because she had such a large crop of fruit, she kindly gave me a bagful of this most precious fruit, which I excitedly took home and turned into Membrillo and fruit leather!

Now, from experience, I must say I was very disappointed with the Spanish quinces I used once.  Perhaps they were just old stock, or simply dry but, the cut-thru' fruit presented a totally dry and cotton-wool "fluffy-papery look" which did not cook well at all.  I have not used Spanish quinces again so perhaps this was just a one-off bad experience.  I hope my remarks don't give offence to any one - they are not meant to - but I must speak out as I find!

The quince is close to an apple and in-between a pear and an apple.  It's quite a solid fruit, with a yellow-y coloured skin with, sometimes, a soft-down, and in appearance may look lumpy.  A softening quince, left overnight in a closed room, will sweetly scent that room, rather like a Hyacinth plant does; it's a joy to have in the kitchen.

An ancient fruit, most probably known to mankind before the apple and could very likely be the "golden apple" of history, for its decidedly golden-yellow colour.

The quince is a great boon to the preserve maker, for the fruit has a very high pectin content, which produces an easy set to the preserve and is thus useful for use with other fruits which contain less pectin; used with unknown apples or pears (as opposed to a good "cooker" fruit), as from old or "wilding" apples, for an excellent preserve for eating with savoury dishes or roast meats and on hot buttered crumpets or toast.  With dry water or cheese biscuits, and cheese, quince paste or a spiced quince, presents a delicious finish to a meal, also making a very good lunch-time dish, for the hungry appetite.

A quince paste may also be cooked "down further" to produce a mix that when dried on flat trays or dishes, cut into small squares and rolled in caster sugar (aka powdered sugar, American-style), gives a most delightful sweetmeat to devour with good coffee as a finale to an excellent dinner.  We would still call this a "paste" but our American cousins style this sweetmeat a "fruit leather" which does sound rather more romantic, don't you think?

Membrillo is the Argentinian name for a quince preserve from the Portuguese "marmelo, 'quince'".  I was terribly excited when first cooking this wonderful fruit and even more so when visiting cousins, who'd lived in the Argentine with their parents, spoke enthusiastically of this, to them, very well-known
food item.

Our modern word "marmalade" comes from the Portuguese word "marmelo" meaning "quince" which is, of course, a well-reduced preserve.  In Medieval England, grand-high-table feasts always included towering displays of shaped quince paste, to complement the richness of the display.  BTW - also displayed at such feasts, shapes of damson, eaten with the same gusto and enthusiasm as the quince.

The quince is made into confectionery, liqueurs, jams and preserves and is highly rated in many parts of the world, is a native fruit of South-West Asia and apparently was known as the "pear of Cydonia" according to my Concise Larousse Gastronomique P. 103l - ISBN 0-600-60009-2.

I love the quince for so many reasons - its historic connection, the scent and feel of its knobbly exterior and for all the wonderful preserves that may be prepared with this ancient and wonderful fruit.
I have written from the heart, because I hold this fruit in such high esteem, but I have checked out a few pointers with the following books in my kitchen library, namely -

the Concise Larousse Gastronomique ISBN 0-66-60009-2; Elizabeth David's Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen - English Cooking, Ancient and Modern - ISBN 0 14 046.163 9 ;
Mike Darton's A Potted History of Fruit - ISBN 978-1-907332-52-4 and to two Wikipedia Pages on Quinces;for Wikipedia's pages, I have made a donation, of a very small sum, to assist them with their work, for which I am very grateful.

Now I can't wait for next autumn's much hoped for generous harvest of quince fruit and a generous gardener to give me a few of his precious crop!!!...!


Happy eating and a fruitful year to all

Daisy

Quince Paste by Emily Foods of Spain - delicious!

Well, it's happened and here we are - Thursday, 2nd January, 2014 - it's life as it happens....

The fireworks, the toasting, the New Year resolutions and the past-party recovery day, when the skies above us were black and threatening, and tea and buttered toast were required, have gone by/

Of course, the day progressed, Alice took me for a walk and by lunch time, the world was looking very much better, albeit still very windy.

Wasn't it good, spending time with friends and loved ones, neighbours and acquaintances?  Watching the fireworks explode into the night sky, over the River Thames, hearing the oohs and ahs of those actually there, and we at home.

Well, now we're here, on the 2nd day of January, the day got off to a good start, with bright sunlight flooding the morning, and no rain. This time is the tail end of the period of calm between Christmas Day and New Year's Day, when some of us are still at home, enjoying that close-knit feeling of being with kith and kin, when the house is still full of food and we're still excited about our received Christmas presents.

For many, the working world is up and running again with work issues to contend with, co-workers to get-a-long with and hours to juggle.

We're being warned of the possibility of worse weekend weather, of storms, wind and rain and I'm currently pleased snow has not been forecast.  Very hopefully, the weather forecasts will not prove to be absolutely correct and folks will not suffer, as before and just recently.

Also,that  emergency services are ready and primed to assist and support affected areas.

I've never experienced storm or water damage, and can only imagine how truly dreadful it must be, to have your home deluged by rain, raging torrents of overflowing rivers, mud and debris.

I do wish the best of luck to everybody caught up with the anticipated and forecasted foul weather. if and when it happens, as foretold by newscaster, weather-forecasters and meteorologists today.

Let's hope it all just doesn't happen quite as suggested...

Bad luck is one thing...but it becomes very personal when it happens to you, and you have to cope with the fall-out!

Alice and I have just been out for a first walk.  I was trying to find something bright and cheerful to photo-snap but was not successful.  So here instead, my Christmas greenery to brighten up the morning -

Daisy

Have you heard the news....its almost year's ending - Monday, 30th December, 2013.

Another year almost gone by.  Can't quite believe it really, can you?  A whole year, gone by, in a flash hey, well that's how it seems to me.  But, of course, not really.  I mean, really, not really!

Things have happened each day, each day has happened, and each day has been part of a week, just like each week has been part of each  month, and each month part of each quarter.  Two quarters make one half and....two halves make one whole.  Thus, we have one whole year made up of small, tiny, almost insignificant parts by themselves yet, as an insignificant raindrop doesn't amount to a thunderous rain storm; and it is, of course, perfectly beautiful just by itself, so, as one tiny, insignificant minute, hour, week, month, quarter perhaps, also doesn't amount to a lot (think about that for a moment)...yet the combination of each of those tiny, seemingly insignificant separate portions do, and can, actually, amount to a very great deal indeed, without any doubt at all.

So there we have it. A year is a whole huge part of our individual lives and we must view each year as a valuable, wonderful section of our lives, and treasure and remember it for each and every single moment of our own particular year.  Cherish it, burnish it and keep its highs and lows safe and secure. Whatever has occurred to us through each year is ours and ours alone.  We may never tread its way again .  We may never get to the end of a particular train of thought or action or happening which we instigated thru' that year.  We may never have an answer to a problem sought or have any answers really worth holding on to, or working on for a better explanation.  It doesn't really matter in the long run.  What's important is that we tried to work things out for ourselves, by ourselves, or even with friends or co-workers.  The thing is we tried,  Failure doesn't really matter, in the long run.  Failure leads to further trials and explorations and that's the important thing to hold on to.  Failure is only a problem if it leads you to give up and go away without an answer or solution, or even a good workable answer.

So this year, this one that's almost gone, how's it been for you.  Really, I mean?  Good.  Bad. Indifferent???

It's up to you to decide and, I must say, I really hope you do know how you feel about your year, hey!

My year, this one that's almost gone by, and is vanishing fast,  well.......my year has been absolutely BRILLIANT - from start to finish, and it's not finished yet, thank goodness.

Not perfect or without its problems.  Not straightforward but twisting and turning, this way, then that way, 'til sometimes, I hardly knew which way I was going, or going to end up.  And I still don't know.  But, my goodness, it's been fun, and productive, exciting, challenging, hard work plus a few lows thrown in for good measure.  You have to, really, don't you?

It doesn't matter because its been my year, my way, my decisions and my highs and lows and I wouldn't have missed it for anything.  In fact, its been great, a great ride and, please, may I have another go, at another year, next year, please...just to see  if I can do it all over again.

Now, wouldn't that be good, hey????

Daisy

PS should love to hear about your year....any time !!!

Hi there it's ME.....wasn't Christmas wonderful, hey? Friday, 27th December, 2013.

Three days of glorious Christmas madness and now it's the end of Christmas week.  Next week, we'll be celebrating New Year, so exciting, beginning a new year with fireworks, parties and champagne. New Year resolutions will be made and promised, some lasting, some not, but they are well-meant and we do strive to keep them, which is brilliant.

Christmas builds up slowly, comes to us, suddenly, in a great rush, and is gone, while we teeter on the brink of ecstasy or, are cast down by missing loved ones, their presence not guaranteed for the festive season.  It's a bitter-sweet season. We take the highs with the lows. regain lost balance, celebrate the coming year with both tears and smiles, for that which has gone, all that which is to come.

Christmas is such a wonderful time.  Thank goodness for Christmas.  I hope you, like me, have enjoyed every single moment and are, already, looking forward to Christmas 2014.

Presence and presents, food and festivity, love, joy and happy kith and kin - just brilliant...


Happy days

Christmas plants

Christmas greenery

Christmas wreath

Daisy

IMG 4076 Hi this is ME.....on Christmas, 26th December 2013

Here we are again - Christmas Eve - Tuesday, 24th December 2013

Everyone's been agreeing with me, how quickly this time has come round again.

It's the same each year yet, this year, it seems even more relevant to the times, ah well.

I'm quite sure we all will manage to be ready for Christmas Day, have all our parcels wrapped up, all decorations in place, and the turkey ready for roasting.

Did you get the goose fat, did you remember to buy a present for all your loved ones....I'm sure you did and, equally sure, everyone will have a Very Merry Christmas!

So - this is ME wishing you a Very Merry Christmas......


Happy Christmasing!


Daisy

Hi here we are....on the shortest day of the year - Saturday, 21st December, 2013.

And this is me talking to you.....

Well, I really wish things were otherwise, not as they are, you understand.  As usual, I've given myself so much to do, a lot of which I've not done or completed, and the unfinished chores are ganging up on me.  I really want to get all these unfinished things done, organised and neatly filed away.  There's a sense of chaos about my desk and, no matter how hard I try to keep things in check, and make progress, I'm not able to.  At times it feels as if I'm trudging thru' thick fudge and matters are just too sticky for words!

Ah well, it's Christmas time very soon now and things and chores can, and should, stop for a while and then, when I return, these plaguey things getting at me, won't seem so worrisome, phew, thank goodness for Christmas, don't you agree?

Skyping with my son this evening, I mentioned the Christingle, and the Christingle church services for children, which we attended, thru' their church school of St. Mary's, when they were at junior school in West Sussex.  The Christingle, is used as a symbolic representation of the world, with the orange as the world, and a small white candle inserted into the middle to represent Christ as the light of the world; a red ribbon, tied around the middle, as a representation of the blood of Christ.  A later addition to the Christingle, was the ribbon tied from top to bottom, thus dividing the fruit into four sections, denoting the four seasons of the year and cocktail sticks speared with dried fruit to represent the fruits of the world.

The idea of the Christingle came about from a perceived need for a simple method of explaining Christ's love for the world to children of the Moravian Church in 1747, when Bishop Johannes de Watteville, thought up his idea of using an orange as a representation of the world.

So, from my lovely Skype with my son, I have rediscovered our family memories, re-introduced them to both of us, and opened up a whole world of discovery and research, and given me a fascinating subject to share via my blog post, which to my way of thinking is just so cool, so Christmas and thus eternal.

I wonder what fond family memories and traditions you have which you might like to share with me....I should really love to hear from you.

I must acknowledge my thanks to Wikipedia for the useful information on the history and background to the Christingle and....to the pomander, made using a clove studded orange, tied with a ribbon, giving four sections to decorate or fill with whole cloves, for a fragrant and delicious Christmas decoration.  We also made these at home when....ah but that's another story and and another blog post.....

Happy days, happy memories of family days and activities.

Daisy

PS do you like my new post image?

Still missing my computer....! Wednesday, 18th December, 2013.

My computer's still ailing, thus still using the dear SO's computer - very carefully and cautiously...can't afford to mess about with his working model!

Only a week to go to Christmas Day and I've still not made up my own gluten-free mince pies but I have the ingredients and will make them soon - promise!

I just adore eating mince pies.  They symbolise Christmas for me and have done so, since my two children were tiny babies.  Short of money, as you often are when the kids are small, I found I could still afford to eat and make these delicious Christmas delights.  And still very much intrigued by the very process of making mince meat.  Always fascinated by the very idea of mincemeat, made first of all with meat, "ox (beef) tongue, chicken, eggs, sugar, raisins, lemon peel and spices" and used to fill "a large covered tart"  - this from my copy of the Concise Larousse Gastronomique Page 810.

Then gradually, the large tart gave way to small, individual tarts, with the mixture bereft of its meat content, yet still containing beef suet, apple, dried fruit, spices and brandy or rum!  So yummy!

So we have always eaten mince pies.  Eventually, I devised the idea of really tiny, tiny mince pies, enabling me to pop one whole pie into my mouth, in one delicious munch, for which I used a soft French sugared pastry for, with a minute piece of pastry for the pie's lid.  Utterly delicious, very more-ish and entirely want-able!!!

Well, I'm determined now to get baking just as soon as possible and make us a batch of yummy mince pies for the Christmas festivities!

Have you got yours ready yet?

Daisy

MY computer's down - Monday, 16th December 2013

Hi there,  just before going out to my eats evening "do" my computer showed a most unusual message which prompted the dear SO to surmise that my machine needed urgent medical attention and that it might be out of action for a little while!!

So, I'm off to seek a new computer expert to get said computer mended.  So wish me good luck and I'll keep you posted!

Bye for now,

Daisy

IMG 3975 Hi this is ME...how to make perfect Potato Mash on Sunday, 15th...

Ah....Christmas - A Reflection - Saturday, 14th December, 2013.

Christmas - the very word conjures a whole host of thoughts, memories, excitements and meanings, delicately  nuanced and personal.

From the very first mince pie to that last delicious slice of Christmas cake, the roasting of bird and beast, the gathering of sauces and chutneys, the oranges for their Christmas stockings, the walnuts and Brazil nuts, the chocolates and Turkish Delight....and the Christmas Pudding with silver charms or small coins wrapped in silver foil, to be found by excited children and adult alike, of yesterday's memory and custom.  Even with today's enticing array of commercial and artisan puddings readily available, it is still a custom to make your own favoured family recipe, to dig deep into family archives for Aunt Margaret's old Christmas book, to view the creations of yesterday, possibly adapting an ancient recipe, a contemporary creation to evoke new memories for tomorrow, linking past to present to future generations for their memories, still to crystallise and ferment.

We personally keep a very simple Christmas season, joining in with other family celebrations for the big day, while kith and kin reach out to other connections, other gatherings we are not privy too.  This is not the sadness it appears to be, for we have hosted our own family gatherations and parties, slaved away in our own kitchens, produced annual repasts of splendid proportions and enjoyed the ritual of remembered activities such as mince pies and carrots for Rudolf and his reindeer friends, a glass of liquid refreshment for Father Christmas......  Putting up the Christmas stockings, piling up the parcels beneath a brightly decorated tree, with the family fairy on its highest bough.

It's perfectly pleasant to return to ones own fireside, to read, watch an old TV movie, a DVD and luxuriate in the peace and serenity of "loved ones far away" and family duty done.  There are so many quiet things to do, walking Alice, family history research on your computer, visiting or Skyping with family far away and, n o matter how simple your own seasonal feasting, there's always more than enough food available to nibble on, knowingly rueful of the after-feasting pitfall.  Ah well, we all say, its Christmas time,  that once-a-year festival of over-indulgence, jollity and feasting - which we all love, every single  minute!!!

So there it is - Christmas - that wonderful season for family, feasting, presents and world-wide goodwill....

Enjoy!

Daisy

IMG 3932 Hi th is is ME on Wattpad....Mid-Winter from A Christmas Stocki...

Skyping Australia, for family conversations - Sunday, 8th December, 2013.

We talk of many things, news and detail, Christmas things, of course, and progress with work and play....then we get on to gardening.

My family have recently taken on a lovely new home for their increasing family and, what more besides, a lovely large garden, just longing to be trimmed and cleared, cultivated, possessed and given a whole new sense of direction...!

Lavenders and rosemary, culinary herbs, potatoes, plants and trees.  Apple trees to be precise. Lemon and lime trees were gathered in first.  A quince is to be added, a gooseberry too, if the right seedling bush can be found and added, next year.

There's a new garden shed.  Leaf-mould's in the making, a composter is planned and the neighbours are helpful for historical notes.

Their part of Victoria was known for its orchards and still, one local of long standing, of Petty's remains, where the family have delighted to purchase their trees, discussing their needs with its new owner's staff, Parks Victoria, who purchased the orchard back when in 1981.  Now the Heritage Fruits Society care for the 200 or so old and rare apples of Petty's Orchard, along the Yarra River in Templestowe.  Its organic orchard a green oasis of lush hills, happily adjacent to farmers' markets and chic food stores, beloved of townsfolk.

The Petty family farm came in to existence in 1853, with the arrival of Mr. Thomas Petty from England, who acquired land in Doncaster and Templestowe.  His grandson, Thomas Henry, purchased the site in Homestead Road, which became the home of the Homestead Road Orchard, Thomas Henry, being the first of three generations to work the land, until Parks Victoria, took over its control and running.

My family promise a visit to Petty's whenever I reach them next year.  Visits to gardens, home-gardening delights, volunteering at Petty's and so much more....I can hardly wait!!!

Thank goodness for family, for Skyping, for gardens and gardening.  I don't wish time to fly away with me, but goodness how much I'm longing to view this new garden and home of my young family, Down Under, in Victoria, visit once more that far away place, where my son celebrates Christmas in July, in the sunshine in amazing Australia.

Cheerio,

Daisy x

Hi there, long time no see!!!

And now it's December....and I've been distracted by various matters!

However, silliness apart....I wanted to begin on a sad note, as an act of remembrance, for the sad death of Mr. Nelson Mandela last night.....

I've talked recently about remembrance - how it affects all of us, in one way or another, at various times of our lives.   And, also, of the one big question we've been asked by the media....."where were you when......!

And where was I when the news came through about Nelson Mandela's?  I was at my local W.I. Christmas Party at The Institute at a small village in Oxfordshire.  We were all having rather a good time, enjoying a last get-together before the Christmas festivities begin.

I arrived home to hear the dear SO telling me of the death of Nelson Mandela which, of course, took the edge off the evening.

Of course, it must have been anticipated by his family and people and we, in the world, had certainly followed all the media coverage of his last illness, but death always takes you unaware, catches you off-guard.

Nelson Mandela was a great man, nationally and internationally, and I'm quite perfectly sure, he will be remembered as an amazing human being, everywhere and by all human beings, throughout the world.

Setting aside politicking, religion, beliefs and creeds - I think we may all agree about Nelson Mandela, don't you?

So, where we you when you heard of the death of Nelson Mandela?

Daisy

A Blissful last Gardening day of summer - mid-November 2013.....

 Last week, I gathered my gardening bag, a nice capacious game bag, in fact, and drove out with the dear SO to a village in Northamptonshire, to tidy up a friend's garden.

He was going to  help remove an ancient fire place but had promised to mow the lawn, once he'd finished in the house, which was just as well, for the grass was about one foot high, thick and extremely soggy.

We drove through the most beautiful open countryside, up hill and down dale, our road winding through fields and hamlets, with birds swooping in the clear blue sky above.  Totally blissful!

We enjoyed coffee and nibbles as soon as we arrived and then....put on boots, gloves and thick layers of various overcoats....for it was, very cold outside.  In fact, the following morning, there was a light sprinkling on snow everywhere so, thank goodness, we were there the day before.

The well-established garden, full of large plants, trees, bushes, with clumps of oregano, lavender, rosemary and dill clustered near the garden door.  I do so love the pruning of herbs for, with the very first cut, a mingled sweet aroma assails the air with the plants, sighing out their delicious scents.  My first experience of this was now many years ago, in a small herb garden I'd created in West Sussex and a visiting friend offered to help with my pruning.  Becoming a rather harassed gardener
with my young babies to care for, the lavender bushes had slowly grown very woody and unwieldy.  They just cried out for a decent cut-back and my friend, gleefully picking up my spare secateurs, set to work on them.  With the first cut, my plants released their scent, exhaling their agony into the autumn air.  It was a delicious moment to be savoured, as I knew my plants would recover their glory by the following summer.

So our friend's garden was trimmed and tidied.  Great armfuls of greenery and leaves were collected and tossed into their garden bin, which was soon completely filled.

We stopped for a lunch of bacon baps and coffee, lingering over our mugs, with me slowly warming up after a cold morning's work.

Then we tackled the wet lawn with the mower becoming completely clogged up with great bunches of soggy grass.  I hurried to cut back overhanging branches and stems of wayward plants, their scents mixing with that of damp grass to produce a heady essence of garden smells.  A low-hung sun shone palely on the fading garden greenness, while sparrows and one indignant robin, stood sentry duty on "their" garden, keeping watch on our progress.  We must have disturbed quite a few snoozing insects into the air to feed the waiting birds.

And with the fading daylight, we hurriedly cleared away the mower and tools and went inside to enjoy a hot mug of tea before driving home.  As we returned to the open fields and winding roads, the sun was gently setting and we were entertained  to a sublime sunset, all peachy-gold-pink with deep violet-grey clouds, waiting for the sun's disappearance, to spread out over the entirety of the sky, as the night hour fell once more on the sleeping earth.

It was an utterly brilliant performance - I do so love sunsets, don't you?

And then we were home, time for a late shop and supper to cook before collapsing onto our sofa to catch a spot of television before the end of the day.

It had been a very good day - I do love to spend time in the garden - it's so therapeutic!!!

Daisy

A Pruning day at Brogdale - Friday, 22nd November, 2013

Off to Faversham in Kent, for a day of winter pruning of apple trees, to learn about buds, both vegetative and fruiting, spurs and growth years.

It was a cold, windy wet day.  After coffee, our tutor began his teachings and we all listened with the greatest of interest.  Questions were expressly encouraged and soon a flood of them broke out and we all learnt from these sharings.  Later on, photographs came out as well, and these were also instructive.

Soon there was enough break in the rain for all of us to hurry out to the orchard of the National Fruit Collection.  This consists of rows of two trees of each named variety, neatly lined up in an orderly fashion, all mostly of a bush stature, with a tier of framework branches and more growth above.  They are beautifully pruned to maintain shape, vigour and fruitfulness, giving the orchard a most pleasing and attractive quality.  Fallen fruit gathered about the trunks, the bright green of the grass muddied and sticky by the rain and the grey skies lowering, if we had not been  such a gathering.  We soon hurried to the warmth of the classroom.

We scribbled furiously away, as our tutor spoke at great length on the knowledge stored, and  so easily presented.  A quiet, pleasing presentation which carried us forward to a communal lunch time, in Brogdale's Courtyard restaurant, crowded with lively visitors.

The rain continued to drizzle its way through the  lunch hour  but showed promise of abatement as the afternoon began.  We prepared  ourselves for the cold and soon we were out, beyond the National Fruit Collection, and inspecting another orchard of thickly-leaved trees which, the students of the previous week's course, had been unable to work on, for the mass of greenery.

Luckily, after our tutor's pruning demonstration, we were able to have a go ourselves, embarrassingly ruminating on past pruning endeavours, but trying hard now not to do as done before!!!  Then our tutor wandered back down past "our" trees to inspect our handiwork and confirm our agitated selves - had we got it right???  And, yes, we could lop off a low-swung branch belonging to us, which would be absolutely the right thing to do.  But what of our neighbours tree? Why hadn't they done the same with their similar branch, hey???

We quickly sauntered back to the warmth of our classroom and hot drinks and I got in a few quick questions about plum trees and we might have looked at Brogdale's cherry trees but the others were all ready gathered, and we couldn't delay.

The last thirty-minutes went by so quickly, with all of us putting our last queries and pet theories to the test; and then we were on our way out, either dashing for taxis to trains, or popping in to the nice few shops at Brogdale.  I popped into Chic Unique to review their collection of painted and pine furniture and want-able small items.  It's one of my favourite shopping places!

It was becoming quite dark by the time my little Mazda curled it's way from Brogdale and back on to the motorway for London.  Traffic was heavy coming away from London, with a wide and steady blaze of headlights, lighting up the darkening sky.

I knew it would be necessary to stop for a break and food and I needed too, earlier than imagined, for my gaze was definitely stuck into a forwards position and, going slowly somehow seemed to make tiredness more of a problem.  Once I was back up to full  seventy mph speed, concentration was  easier and more fluid.

I came off at Cobham and settled for my favourite travel-food, McDonalds griddled chicken and bacon salad, McDonalds gluten-free potato wedges, with dip, plus Latte, which was simply smashing.

Finally getting home about 9o'clock, I endeavoured to type up my notes but, my computer was having none of it, so I switched it off and watched TV for a while, before collapsing into bed with book club choice, Lady Chatterley's Lover, which I'm discussing on Monday, it being my own decision to read and review it!

Have you read it and did you enjoy the experience?

Happy reading,

Daisy