Hedgerow Harvest ... Tastes of Autumn

Hello Ladies.

Lots of pictures today, so I'll keep my waffling brief...

Recent Hedgerow Harvests

(two trips down the lane)

Blackberries (destine for Bramble jelly)

and

Rosehips (soon to be Rosehip Jelly)

Blackberries for "Bramble and Apple Jamming"

Beautiful beginnings, Bramble Jelly.

Smooth and Glossy, Bramble Jelly.

"Chuck it all in", Rosehip Jelly

Plenty of jars, in "jewel like" colours.

... What does one do with 14 jars of jam?!?!

Homemade Bakewell.

Dainty Jam Tarts.

And Gingerbread.

Gingerbread?!?!? I hear you cry!

Yes, Gingerbread was on the cards, but alas no Golden syrup!

That's when that cupboard FULL of Rosehip Jelly comes in handy!

Worked well. Tasted yummy.

And last but not least ...

Did you notice my teaspoons?

Charity shop of course.

Blooming cute.

Thanks for being here.

Lots of Love

Katie

xxx

Milly-Molly-Mandy's Things to Make and Do

I promised in an earlier post to tell you more about a new book of mine.

Milly-Molly-Mandy's Things to Make and Do.

First of all... It looks cute doesn't it?!?

It was the cute front cover that had drawn me in.

If you ever come across a copy, do pick it up and have a flick through the lovely pages full of cute illustrations and wonderful ideas for things to make and do!

Among others you will find things to make and do ... outdoors, in the kitchen, in the spring, summer, autumn and winter. Plus games for sunny and rainy days too.

Being the greedy guts I am. I went straight for the "in the kitchen" pages,

where I found simple recipes for coconut ice and "no-cook fudge".

They were so simple that I thought I had to try them out for myself.

The coconut ice was delicious and even won over my sceptical husband!

The fudge however was nice, but very very sweet (not a problem for me of course)!

Next time i think I'll try the Sugar Mice recipe! Yum yum.

All in all a very sweet book. Perfect for little girls (and big ones too!!)

Thanks for reading.

Love Katie

xxx

A few thrifty buys ...

Good Afternoon Ladies.

I just wanted to share with you a few of my favourite thrifty finds.

Flowery doves, Liberty oven mitt, Rosey coasters and pomander...

Sweet tapestries - Quiet as a mouse and Busy as a bee,

Birdie pomander, rosey bedspread, some pretty hearts from a craft fair and a few more books for my collection.

I want to tell you more about the books another time and you may have noticed my little pile of hexies propped up again my Bee tapestry. I'll also come back to these soon. 

Short and sweet...

Have a lovely week.

Love Katie

xxx

Lavender - ing ....

Last Sunday I spend most of the day soaking up the sunshine in the garden.

Exactly that's very rare for me indeed as the sun and I are lifelong enemies. But for one day we called a truce, he would not burn me and I would not shake my fist with rage at him.

I was desperate to get in the garden and "harvest" my Lavender.

All year I wait for the sweet scent wafting in the window and as soon as I smell it I get out there and snip it all off! (leaving some for the bees of course.)

Usually after each harvest I bunch it up and hang it all over the house to dry, but this year I had other plans.

I had pinched a book from my Mum, Garlands, Circles and Decorative Wreaths.

Such a wonderful book with lots of lovely ideas for decorations to make with goodies from the garden.

She had already bookmarked the lavender pages and I was drawn to the pretty Lavender wreaths.

So last Sunday this is what I did. I sat outside (slathered in factor 50) by my Lavender bush, trimming off the stems as I needed them. The book called for dried lavender, but to me that sounded too messy and I wanted the stems to curve around the wreath and I went. So I figured the fresher the better.

The lavender could dry once "wreathed" and I would be spared the job of cleaning up all the dropped flowers.

I survived the sun, made one large wreath that now hangs in my bathroom and two small one to dot elsewhere around the house. When the lavender is "passed best" next year I will take it off and wide some fresh stems on.

I felt very content "wreathing" my lavender in the garden.

What do you do with yours?

Happy weekend Ladies!

Love Katie

xxx

Queen of Tarts

A couple of years ago, my Husband brought me this book, that accompanied the Great British Bake-off series on BBC.

I really love it and have tried alot of the recipes like, Jumbles and lots of other biccies , Carrot Cake, Treacle Tart, Cupcakes and now ...

Bakewell tart.

I had never made them before (although I've always been good at eating them!) purely because I thought it would be too difficult. How wrong I was!

With the help of my good friend "ready to roll" pastry, this was a breeze and really scrummy too.

(if I do say so myself!)

Happy Monday all!

Love Katie xx