{ Mu'Mu }

Back At the Farm

Another trip to the farm, this time for plums. Plums, plums and more plums. As well as a stash of good old fashioned organic vege for the table.

Some really late raspberries and blackberries are also still available, and I know there will have to be a few more trips to the farm before pumpkin-picking season. Sweetcorn ready for picking will be a couple weeks away, and I have a lot more jam I need to make first.

Oh and that crazy dog. What trip to the farm would be complete without that silly mutt and her doggy friend joining in the fun? She thinks she's human you know.

Forest Foraging

Well, I'm glad to say that summer has made a welcomed reappearance again in these here parts. It was getting decidedly autumnal at one point, so having some late summer days to play in is a really welcomed treat.

And better late than never! Berry picking time, a whole month after schedule, in one of our favourite forests. Wild blackberries, although smaller than their commercially grown cousins, are a lot tastier. They also happen to be abundant and free. Elderberries were also foraged and destined to become Mama's much anticpated Wild Berry and Apple Jam.

It's definitely canning season, people.

Last Child in the Wood ..... is a rotten egg!

Forest. Fungus. Fresh Air. Fun. Foliage.

Honestly, what more could anyone want??

At the Beach. Again.

There all the important stuff gets done :: babes have sand, rocks, sealife and sea to play with. And Mama gets a cup of joe and some knitting time all to herself. Bliss, really.

(And in case you are wondering? Yes, that is Scotland over the sea!)

Some Roadtrip Abstracts

Or "Why is the crazy lady taking pictures of crap?"

Some forgotten corners out there in the world. I love the stories they imply.

A nice change of pace

 

We're enjoying the change of pace here: we've swapped constant traffic noise and sirens and go go go, for absolute quiet, interrupted only by the urgent calls of birds and their newly fledged babes.

Another nice change is being near so much water - shore and lakeside. There is something so very relaxing about being near water, and the babes are visibly happy here too.

Soon we'll be heading home, back to noise, and grit and city life. We'll try and soak as much of this pace of life up as much as possible.

Picnics by the river

 

Am I boring you with all these roadtrip pictures?

Indulge me a while, would you?

Picnics by the river is something we're enjoying right now too.

Some Scenes From the Woods

At the end of the road

 

 

 

They say there is gold at the end of the rainbow, but at the end of the road, about as far West as you can go, you find something better - a little bit of heaven.

At the Farm

Gather ye rosebuds whilst ye may... fruit picking time, people! How long have we waited to go back to our favourite farm? A looooong time!

Enjoying the weather and glut of fruit, there is simply no better place to be at this time of year.

And the bonus - you get a farm dog to play with after all that hard work!

Weekending :: quietly celebrating

Summer Mealtimes

Last week it was so hot here that many of us went off food. It literally was too hot for a meal.

And given that summer is gone all too soon we opted instead for fresh fruit salad and icecream. And iced fruits drinks, iced tea and iced coffee. You get the idea - it involved a lot of cold stuff.

It's amazing how food tastes so much better eaten outdoors.

Pretty soon after these pictures were taken I was KO'd by a bought of flu and throat infection and life has been a miserable living waking hell, hence my absense (nearly wrote abscess, hmm) here. And although the pain has gone somewhat I'm still wobbly, so if I don't post then don't flounce off and leave me.

Hopefully too I will announcing my new shop and  blog here next week. Are you intrigued?? Are ya? Are ya? Yeah well too bad, I'm going to be telling you all about it when everything is finished.

Stay tuned!

xx

When Plans Fail...

When your best plan fails, when life sends you an unexpected bolt out of the clear blue, when somewhere you had hoped to spend the day is just SHUT, then resort to Plan B.

Find somewhere outside, preferably near water and play equipment, kick off your shoes, sit back and watch the show. And to make Plan B seem better than Plan A a treat never went amiss.

No harm was ever done to a day by adding a big slab of cake.

A Lazy Weekend

A lazy weekend with lots of sun, lots of outdoor play, lots of gardening, investigating and whole load of nothing after nothing.

Uh, as well as load after load of washing.

Lazy weekends in early spring. All weekends should be like this.

The shop has been updated too.

Season Opener :: First Picnic of the Year!

Oh we have waited a long, cold winter for this moment. We have endured Crazyville Central to get to this sweet spot. The first picnic of the year. The first crazy warm day eating outdoors. It just doesn't get better than that in my book.

The picnic blanket I made years ago had been washed in advance of the coming season, and stands at the ready at the back door for more adventures insha'allah; and what better way to kick off the season than down at the allotment after a roasting morning's hard work?

Bliss.

Enjoying the Garden

This year is the first time ever that I have bothered about the garden; previous years have been left to DHs pottering ways and good luck.

Despite having a rather long garden there isn't really anywhere to plant flowers except a narrow strip of mud along the edge of the path, which lends itself only to straight lines of boring flower arrangements. So to try to get the garden looking more like an Eden and less like a slag heap  I have decided to try a container garden along with hanging arrangements nailed up along the fence. The idea being I can generate height and illusion of depth.

Last autumn for the first time ever I took the time to plant bulbs of various traditional spring flowers. The slow-burning firework display so far has been breath-taking - first the crocus, then the daffodils, the hyacinth and the tulips following on. It's been a lovely spring-like garden this year, which I'm chuffed with.

Now summer flowers have been placed lovingly in their seed trays waiting for the magic to happen, and I can't wait to see what the summer show will be like. Watch this space insha'allah...

My Little Take-along Friend

Lots of outdoor play means ::

Lots of oudoor knitting!!

On the benches, watching my babes use all that energy, I steal five little minutes all for myself and melt into a little pool of calm.

"MUM!! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO TAKE PICTURES OF US NOT YOUR KNITTING!!"

Uh, yeah. Maybe next time...

Game on!

A whole lotta outdoor fun. The boys are enjoying having the space to spread their wings a bit more, I'm enjoying fresh air and garden weather, and the ducks - well they get some free food. It's a win-win situation.

Hoping for more good times this weekend -

have a good one!

x

Why, Hello There! We've Been Waiting For You...

March! Hello! Oh, how we have awaited your arrival! And how you blessed us with a glorious spring-like day on your very first day! Giddy with oxygen from all day outdoor play, here are a number of 'firsts' to couple the First of March! :: the first daffodil in the garden, the first and only spring flower in the garden. We thought it deserved a break so we brought it inside for a while.

The first uncurling leaf from our first apple tree.

Surprisingly, the first of the Winter Jasmine (had no show this year til now).

The first outdoor play for a looooooong while. The first time outdoors without jackets for several months.

The first warm day since Autumn. The first blue sky that wasn't followed by snow.

The first bit of silly garden whatnot - patiently looking on from the kitchen sill.

.

The first, we hope of many, many glorious days of sun. Hello, March - Oh how welcome you are!

A Very Autumnal Nature Walk

Fallow deer. The Red Deer rut has ended, but the fallow deer are just gearing up for theirs, which usually gets going in November.

My new house - I've extended a bit.... OK OK not my house; I admit it - I'm not Landed Gentry. I know. Shocking.

Even tough Stags need a mid-morning snack....

Do not be fooled by these brown doe-eyes... er, I mean, stag eyes - he may look like a pussy cat, but that's only if you happen a bag of apples and conkers and not an antler in sight.

Observe his true colours - he's on the left:

See - testosterone on legs with horns sticking out.

Unless you have apples. Of course.

Weekending :: Fun of the (Agricultural) Fair

Masha'allah this little family has had quite a full weekend, culminating very nicely on Sunday with the Autumn Fair.

Lovely weather and great company (albeit briefly!) made the day really enjoyable as we witnessed all that farm life has to offer.

Many, many showings to watch; many rosettes to see, so MANY different breeds of everything. It quite made the head spin - chucks, geese, waterfowl, ducks, sheep, goats, cattle, pigs - piegeons for heavens sake!

We enjoyed a lot, we learned a bit (did you know the UK has the biggest variety of sheep breed in the world?)

The pygmy goats were just adorable. I can envisage a couple of those in our future insha'allah. They are like cheeky, impish children; I had to be dragged away from these pens. Oh and the turkey? Stalked endlessly by my two - a very firm favourite - it eventually took refuge in its owner - the love got too much for him. I think I see a turkey in our future too insha'allah!

Spinning and weaving and yarn, oh my! Had a good natter with this spinner and hope to see her again very soon!

All in all a great weekend. Mama got to dream a little about the smallholding she hopes to have in the future (pick your own? That would be nice), talk to like-minded people, find kindred spirits, get advice on growing food and best of all, to see two people she really loves grin from ear to ear as they rode the carousel. Many times.

Yup. I love Autumn.

Weekending :: Forest Fun, Fungus, Foliage

Nature where you find it

A couple weeks back the littlest and I had to make a semi-emergency trip to the hospital. Thankfully there was nothing broken and we were discharged with lightening speed.

Finding ourselves with a little time on our hands we sat in the car park to take in the view of, um the cars, and the general hubbub of everyday nee-nor life of a hospital. Until I spied apples in trees over-hanging the car park.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, "I see fruit - want to go apple-picking today?"

"Yesh"

So we did. We shook the trees and there they fell, plop! plop! plop! at our feet. There were other goodies too and so, in the middle of the ghetto that I call 'home', the babe and I sat in a car park having an impromtu picnic on free food.

And it was tastey!

We got more apples than we could carry, poured them into my poncho, made a sack and threw them over our shoulders and went home, to core, slice and freeze our little harvest ready for more pies.

And I suppose it was mini-lesson in life :: you can either plan, and plot and schedule your life and get nowhere, or you can take the blessing out of every opportunity, this very second and grab the sweetest moments and happiest memories with both hands right now, for in reality Right Now is all we ever have in life.

And if you could manage not to fracture your finger falling down the stairs landing on the vacuum cleaner? That would be good too.

Just sayin'

Rich Pickings

The Pick Your Own season is winding down; we are at the tail end of the fruiting year and what little fruit left there is (raspberries, plums) is really only suitable for jamming, which is fine by me.

The strawberries are long gone; the blackberries ransacked; the raspberries few and far between. We get what we can while the going is good.

Now we are in a new season - sweetcorn, pumpkins, squash - a reminder of the winter ahead.

Hopefully a few more runs to the farm for some freshly picked sweetcorn and gourds before the gates close behind us until next summer. And some good company along the way? Well that would make the pickings truly rich.

Weekending

Leaf Peepers

If there is one season that gets me a little excited it would have to be Autumn; there is something just so satisfying about slowing down, returning to the hearth and home, and after a full summer of road trips and outside play, recentring oneself in the home.

I look forward to the cooling of the air, the crispness of the days, the bright sun and cold shadows and that call of the wild, the need to hibernate, collect and harvest food and plan for good old, fashioned snuggles on the sofa with books, warm drinks and excuses for rice pudding!

But more than that? The colour - the colour of Autumn can literally take my breathe away - I am awed by the show that nature puts on; I marvel at each tree, each leaf, each copse - dazzled and thrilled at the stunning contrasts within each branch, from the lime greens, through to yellows, oranges and pure reds. Each canopy looking like a slow fire burning, smoldering from one side to the other.

I love the conkers! I love the seeds! I love the nature trails it all inspires, the animals and bugs we find nestling - and when the fire is all burned out, I love the carpet of leaves that buries our shoes which gives us new games to play - new sounds to hear.

I love autumn, I really do. I love it all. If you do too, then please join me over at Leaf Peepers Flickr group that I set up last fall and add your own images of this amazing transformation.

Last of the (non-alcoholic) Summer Wine

Last week we were given a welcomed treat :: for a few sweet days Summer returned, game on, and we didn't need to be asked twice to join the fun.

It's been a heavy week full of allotment, picnics, park, pool-side and garden play. And now it has returned to normal September weather, I can't but secretly hope that we can eek out a few more days of Summer before the Autumn.

A few more fun filled outdoor adventures??  A few more picnics? A bit more fruit picking? A little more poolside play?? Oh yes please!

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.

Seize the moment, people.

From Forest to Table :: Food for Free

Bramble and Apple Jam - without question a BIG hit in this little house, and a very fine result of a forest walk, like a little hunter-gatherer prize.

Hot scones, butter and tea was the perfect way to enjoy it masha'allah. 

For anyone new to jam making I totally recommend this book for all the information you need. And for some useful equipment,  for UK residents LakeLand Ltd really can't be beat on price for jars and it also has this really useful canning set which I've never seen anywhere else in the UK, as well as all the other bits and bobs you'll find useful for canning.

We've got plans for more blackberry picking insha'allah, and perhaps one last trip to the farm for strawberries before the season is over? That would be good.

Ramadan 12th :: Go Outside - Run Around - Feel the Changes in the air

Weekend Snapshots

1:: Making

2 :: Baking

3 :: Bonding

4 :: Chillin'

5 :: Knitting

6 :: Sitting

What was your weekend like?