Now Wearing Purple

GARDEN GOODIES AND FUN TIMES It makes me so happy to have this little tin of blooms on my garden table.  Sweet peas, ox eye daisies, candy tuft, wild geranium with a couple of sprigs of oregano and dill. Our roses have started to bloom, a little later than most people's I fancy.  This one's Arthur Bell and has a lovely subtle scent. I tried a little soft focus and I think it suits him. This pretty little climber, Piroutte, is also slightly scented. Heavily scented Teasing Georgia. I love this rose, but it's not happy in it's corner of the garden, so come autumn time, we plan to move it to the front garden.   The garden is looking so summery at last. I can't say I'm loving the level of heat though, as about 20 celsius is my perfect temperature and we've been a wee bit higher, 32 as I type this.  This has meant weeding and watering the allotment has to be done after 6 pm.  Mr. sometimes goes there earlier, to do mowing or rotovat...

JAM, CORDIAL AND GREAT COMPANY! My kitchen this morning is full of jammy aromas.  We've been a bit overrun with strawberries in the last few days, so I thought I'd make some jam. Now I'm not always very successful in this endeavour - blackcurrant 'tar' being a spectacular disaster.  Having anxieties over the jam setting sees me pinging back and forth to the freezer to retrieve yet another chilled saucer to test it. My recipe said to cook the fruit with the lemon juice for 5 - 10 minutes until the fruit was soft. Then bring to the boil and when it reached a rolling boil, cook for 15 mins or until it reached setting point.  Well, this took nearly AN HOUR!  . I ended up watching Mary Berry on YouTube, who's jam took a fraction of the time. It must be me,  but thankfully, I got there in the end. The one vital bit of information provided by Mary, was to let your jam sit in the pan for about 10 minutes, then stir to see if the fruit has become ...

Decided to visit the market at Wells at the weekend. If you've ever seen the film 'Hot Fuzz' you will be familiar with Wells, as they filmed it here. They have a great vegetable grower who sells there.  We bought curly kale, celeriac and jalapenos plants, and were sorely tempted by some great looking grapevines (out of shot) but really don't have anywhere to grow them. Of course, we had to have our favourite food from here I asked if I could take her picture, she's so lovely and incredibly pretty, but no, she squealed with laughter and hid her face and begged me not to, so I snapped this shot, she's only just in the frame. Mmm..chicken panang, massaman curry and homemade hot spring rolls with chilli sauce. I've tried to replicate these dishes at home, but they always disappoint...her flavours are always absolutely stunning. I love the fact that Wells still employs a town crier and he always arrives around lunch time to ma...