BAKING WITH MY GRANDDAUGHTERS!

On a Wednesday while my daughter in law goes to work I try to entertain my two little visitors. Quite often, when Charlotte comes out of school in the afternoon I take them swimming, but this week I thought it would be nice for them to come back here and bake a cake together. It's the first time I've let Jessica who's nearly 2 get that involved and she did very well. They both looked the part in their aprons, Charlotte's is the orange one, Jessica's the yellow. Jessica beat the eggs together with great gusto while Charlotte tackled the rest of the ingredients. After it was baked the cake unfortunately split, but I think that was due to the over zealous actions of my two little cooks whilst spreading the strawberry jam over the two sponges. However when it was sandwiched together with cream and strawberries in between and once they'd both doused it with a generous amount of icing sugar it looked good.
I understand it tasted very good too!
No, I didn't get to try it, they took it home to have after their tea!

The peonies are from my mum and dad's garden. You can just see the flowering plants out in the garden through the window but unfortunately these on the kitchen windowsill were blown down by the crazy wind that we've had this week. Peonies do not seem to like growing in my garden, in fact I've given up trying. Yet every year my mum gets such a wonderful display without fail. The large flower heads are stunning!

A RIGHT OLD FLAP!

I've certainly got myself in a "bit of a flap" this week.

It all started off on Monday when my flask of blackberry and nettle tea spilt in my bag and over my iphone. The phone gave out, so in desperation I popped it in the airing cupboard to dry out and it did! However, although the phone now works, the battery isn't doing as well as it could.

So, the moral of this story is - don't put your iphone in the airing cupboard to dry out and more importantly don't spill your drink over it in the first place!

Then came Tuesday. This was when I looked out into the garden and watched as the birds tugged at the linings of my hanging baskets and flew off with beaks full of the stuff for their nests.

I went outside to investigate further and to see if I could minimise the damage. Some, are worse than others but hopefully when the plants grow they will cover up the gaps. On looking at them I also realised that I had completely forgotten to plant any  fuchsias  in them. I  had been so pleased last weekend when I'd spent so little time in the nursery buying the plants. Obviously with no list to remind me either, things were forgotten. Thankfully Michael remedied the situation. He went back to the nursery yesterday and bought all of the fuchsias, so this afternoon my job is - rearranging the hanging baskets!!

On Thursday, I experienced a flap of a different kind. Why is it that when you are destined for a disaster it occurs somewhere where you wished it hadn't? and why at that very moment?

Funnily enough I can't say I was horrified, mortified or even embarrassed. 

There I was striding out of Tesco Express carrying my shopping back to the car when I felt this cold feeling on the back of my leg. On investigation I found that the leg of my trousers had split from the waistband, right down the back to just above my knee. The torn material was flapping around my leg so I threw the shopping in and I bundled myself back into the car in what I'd like to think was a split second (probably wasn't!). Then I just laughed!

Mind you if it had happened a few hours earlier I was invigilating a GCSE exam on my own, which could have been a little more tricky.

Anyway to finish my blog today, I thought I'd leave you with a photo of an azalea in my garden. It's looking absolutely beautiful today.

A WEEKEND OF GARDENING, KNITTING AND BOAT BUILDING!

Despite the fact that it's been a little chillier this weekend, we've managed to get jobs done in the garden and the garage. Those of you that read my blog this time last year will remember I had a difficult time  trying to get small plants through even smaller holes in the sides of my hanging baskets.

Today, I was much better organised and my plants were planted without a hitch!

Not all of the basket are for me, 2 are for my Mum, it's her birthday next weekend and 3 are for Kate.

The garage is still tidy, though Michael did manage to drop a piece of wood on his toes yesterday.
( I have been forbidden to put the photo of his toes on my blog. This I took, not because I have a fetish for mens' feet but because the bruising was so bad that I wanted to compare the photo with how the toes looked this morning. Thankfully another visit to A&E was not required, although they do look pretty gruesome!)

This afternoon, while I was planting, Michael suspended the boat in the garage to turn it over so he can work on the keel. It really now seems to be coming on at a pace, still not sure when it will be totally finished but I think it's looking good.

I'm now looking forward to a quiet evening and hopefully I'll put my feet up and get some knitting done. I'm still making the little teddy bear all in one suit but it now has 2 legs, all of the body and 1 sleeve completed. I'm getting there slowly!

HOW TIDY IS OUR GARAGE?

Yet another holiday weekend, this one starting of in style with the beautiful wedding of Prince William & Kate Middleton. Glorious!

So why you may question have I added a very bizarre picture to highlight my weekend and not one of the royal couple. Well, this is our garage, actually the sign on the door says"Michael's Boat shed"

Generally, I only venture in there when I need to get my washing line out or get the odd bottle of wine.

This is Michael's domain. Whether things are hanging from the ceiling, the walls, hidden propped up behind something else or even left lying amongst the saw dust, he knows exactly where everything is. Or does he?

Kate exclaimed on Saturday that it was a right old mess and no wonder he'd fallen over in there and dislocated his little finger.The finger, on his left hand was actually pointing to the left. Nasty!

So, after enjoying such a lovely day on Friday, we spent 4hrs on Saturday at A&E.

At least he hadn't broken his arm which we first thought was a possibility.  

On Sunday despite being one handed Michael did this amazing job of clearing out the garage, while I did the garden, planting even more vegetables.

 How long it'll stay like it, I cannot say.

Monday was Kate's birthday and we'd booked a trip down the river to Osea Island and back for our family. It was so, so, windy! Thankfully the sun was shining for  most of the way, so it wasn't too cold but it was mighty difficult trying to eat our picnic that we'd taken with us.

We were on board the barge Hydrogen and it was great fun. The children loved it, especially Charlotte who was looking out for birds and whales through her binoculars. Even my mum and dad enjoyed it. 

Afterwards everyone came back here for tea and cake.

It was a really nice ending to our bank holiday weekend.

EASTER

On Thursday Jo & Robert finally got the keys to their new home. Over Easter they've been busy getting the house ready, all four of them are very excited and actually moved in proper, yesterday.

We had already made plans to spend our Easter holiday on the Dorset/East Devon coast so we drove down to stay just outside Lyme Regis on Good Friday.

On Saturday we visited the gardens at RHS Rosemore, quite a journey from where we were staying but well worth it.

What a beautiful place?
I hope my photos do it justice!

On Saturday night we went for "an Evening at River Cottage"

The farm is set in beautiful countryside and from the moment we arrived the event team did everything to ensure we had a brilliant time.

I don't often recommend things but this is a must. If you have a chance to go I hope you enjoy it us much as we did.

On Easter Sunday we walked along the coastal path joining it at Rousdon and making the 3.5 miles on the undercliff path to Lyme Regis. Our hosts from our B&B Christine and Grayson warned us that the pathway was somewhat rickety, uneven and steep in parts but just after 2hours later we descended down into Lyme. So pleased that we made the walk, beautiful views, quite spectacular in parts and for most of the way there were wildflowers, bluebells and an abundance of wild garlic.

Now, if we had done the walk before our evening at River Cottage we wouldn't have known what wild garlic looked like. However, our second course was steamed pollock in a wild garlic broth and the chef explained that the garlic is currently being sold in London's Borough market for quite a price. He reckoned the black sackful that he'd collected himself from his own garden was probably worth in the region of £400! The little flowers made an added prettiness to the plate and edible.

The whole dish was delicious!

On Easter Monday after yet another hearty breakfast, (checkout http://www.westhouserousdon.co.uk/ if you're ever in need of an excellent place to stay in this area), and in glorious sunshine we spent the morning in Beer and then drove on down to Branscombe Bay where we walked up through a meadow of buttercups to take in the breathtaking view. I'm not trying to be funny there! I may well have been out of breath walking up the steep hill but the view was actually well worth it and breathtaking.

We were so lucky to have had gorgeous weather for our long weekend away. Now back home, well rested, we can prepare ourselves for our next bank holiday. Only a few days to go!

THURSDAY HYDE HALL, FRIDAY?

It was so lovely to be at Hyde Hall on Thursday in the sunshine, so I really counted myself lucky to be enjoying the sunshine yet again on Friday at Burnham.

There was hardly a ripple on the water as we watched this yacht arrive, possibly its first time out this year.

Yesterday I spent all my time in the garden planting our vegetable plot, peas, shallots, chard and potatoes to start with. I'm just hoping my little guests will watch them grow rather than evict them from the soil

Today I'm cooking a lovely dinner from a recipe I've seen on Heldasland's blog. From the picture it looks delicious!

DEBBIE BLISS SUMMER TOP

I have finally finished, having just given it a light press, the Debbie Bliss summer top. I love the colour and hopefully will wear it soon as we're now experiencing some nicer weather.

Next to knit is another Debbie Bliss garment. This time, I'm knitting for my friend Maureen's baby grandson due to be born in the summer. It's an all in one suit with teddy bear ears. Maureen and her daughter will love it, they're both full of fun and excellent humour.

So watch this space, I'm hopefully going to start it tonight after dinner when I've got my feet up, little distractions permitting.

I've spent the earlier part of today at RHS Hyde Hall.

These lovebirds caught my eye!

Rather expensive as you would imagine, not something I'll be able to enjoy in my own garden.

A lovely place to meet up with friends and to enjoy the spring sunshine. In fact we had a lazy time there, just a little walking and lots of talking over coffee, lunch and more coffee.