Shadow Day Dreamin

I've come to the conclusion that the reason I don't get things done is the fact that I am easily distracted. Are you organised ......I wish Yesterday I was on a bean picking mission down at the Mill. We've actually had runner beans to eat (out of the poly tunnel) since the end of May and then sowed a late row down the Mill about the middle of June. After that much needed shower of rain one night last week, they have come on leaps and bounds. Hence the Friday freezer pick mission. Wasn't it a fantastic day weather wise . Of course, I had to stop in the middle of it like I do and watch in awe, a bumble bee doing his rounds. I don't know why but these fantastic little insects fascinate me. They never stop do they.

Runner beans all picked and a bit of a meander down to edge of the field. Lean on the gate and watch the world stand still. I couldn't help but  think that this is what I want of my life and the best bit of all is now.

A walk back along the edge of the stream then take my haul back home.

'What shall we have for dinner tonight?'
'How about some runner beans for a change.'
'Oh please no!'
Have a good weekend

Treasure Huntin'

Over At Olive's  I've just been reading about a gorgeous vase she found at a church sale for just four dollars. I found a vase I really liked at a village car boot a bit back and I wanted to show Olive the picture of it.

This is a turquoise colour too although the finish is matt rather than glazed.

It has the words 'Harford Made in England' stamped on the base.

 I've looked it up on Google but haven't found out very much about it. So was just wondering if anybody else could give me any information. I think I paid about £3 at the time (last of the big spenders, me)  but it's something I've always liked.
'Whatever floats your boat.' as they say!

Herbs

Do you like herbs? I love them. I'd like to say that I've got a dedicated herb garden but not so.  My herb plants are a bit 'please yourself' and grow wherever they have a mind to. The above picture depicts a clump of chive seed heads growing along the outside of the poly tunnel. The sun has been playing a game of hide and seek today. I just managed to capture the brief shadows against the plastic so this is to be my effort for Shadow Shot Sunday. Note to self - must remember to collect the seeds before they fall.

The next one is Borage. I don't know how these arrived in my garden but I suspect they cadged a lift in a packet of 'Cottage Garden Mixture' seeds. This one has made its home in a sandstone trough outside the back door.

There's one growing between the concrete slabs below the trough. Look how it's stretched it's shadow.

Then I've got a clump of parsley growing  amongst the parsnips and marrows in the top tunnel.

And sage at the edge of the path.

There's a little bed of mint just outside the door of the other poly.

And apple mint that's growing anywhere and everywhere.

We have a  gnarled old bay tree in the garden that's stayed put for many a long year.

This is my latest addition - a pot of Basil I bought a few weeks ago for pence from the local supermarket. I potted it up into a bigger pot today. Wonderful for adding to all those tomato recipes. One of these days I WILL have a proper herb garden but in the meantime have a brilliant weekend and a Happy Shadow Shot Sunday xx

Where did I come from?

Our friend Tom  has posted some great blog posts in recent days on some of his childhood memories. Our childhoods are all different but they have this habit of staying with us regardless. 
I had a really weird dream the other night. Do you dream?  It's not usual for me to dream at all or at least I don't remember anything about it. Anyway, this other night I met up with this funny little girl.  She looked a bit unkempt and mucky just on her own with seemingly no-one else around. We got talking and I asked her who she was with.

'I'm with you.'

' You can't be.'

'Where do you live?'

'I live in Llanidloes.'

'Come on I'll take you home'.

'But I want to stay with you.'

I gently persuaded her to sit beside me in my Focus. I turned the ignition key. Wouldn't start and I just couldn't get that car to start.
And then it all dawned on me. She WAS me, my own little inner child from way back. I was the one who had pushed her out of the way and ignored her. But she didn't want to go away.
How strange was that! Yes of course I let her stay with me, well she had to. She was part of my life, just as  everybody has a little inner child claiming part of their lives too.

In my early years I lived on a small farm known locally as the Coppy House. My dad used to have a milk round around Four Crosses where he used to collect all the neighbouring farms' milk in 17 gallon churns and deliver it in an old Commer lorry to the creamery at Four Crosses. We had a neighbour called John from The Maerdy who often used to help dad out with the farm work. During the school summer holidays all my cousins would descend on the Coppy House and stay for the whole six weeks to give their mams a rest. I remember this one day we decided to play hide & seek. I had a super brilliant idea of hiding in an old 17 gallon milk churn in the lorry shed. It was a blooming good  hiding place because nobody did find me - got fed up and all went for their tea. When I'd had enough I made a move to haul myself out but found my bottom firmly wedged against one side of the churn and my knees jammed solid against the other. I was absolutely welded. I couldn't move and yelled my head off. Eventually discovered, I was transported in the churn out into the open air. It was getting mighty hot and stuffy by then. The adults stood around, pondering and peering in, offering opinions on the best course of action. Calling the fire brigade was one of the options on the agenda. Luckily, Old John, bless him, was the one who managed to get me out. I don't know how he did it but I didn't try that again I can tell you! My beloved dad passed away twenty four years ago but one of the things he gave me was the actual 17 gallon milk churn. I've still got it  but there would be no chance of climbing into it now - even if I wanted to.
Do you have a memory, light or dark - would love to hear it.

Farm Sale

Today, lovely, I've had the whole day to myself. Every three months the local auctioneers hold a not-to-be-missed sale of antiquated and otherwise, auction of farm implements, tools, machinery, you name it, on a field just outside Welshpool. We called in yesterday just to have look. Himself spotted a handy bucket that would probably fit the loader on his International so 7.30 am this morning, I waved him off with his flask and his butties and settled down to enjoy the day.

Tractors

....... and Fergies

 As the sale progressed Other Half got talking to a thirty-something young woman with her little daughter. (Not the one in the picture)  Thirty-something was debating whether to bid or not on a Stihl chainsaw. She asked O/H if he would start it for her. He apologetically declined owing to a bit of a delicate state of health but a couple of robust young farmers stepped in to help. She said that her husband lopped the occasional tree trunk and left it by the door for her to cut bits off it as needed. She decided that the saw was a bit heavy after all and then took off to bid on a sheep cratch ( her hubs was too busy at home). And there was me thinking that I was hard done by!

Other Half didn't manage to buy the bucket he wanted (too dear), but looking on the bright side, he didn't buy this environmentally friendly dryer either. It sold for £30 - somebody's wife will be over the moon! He did come home with a van load of bargains though.  Don't think I want to look!



Linking together with  Shadow Shot Sunday in quiet remembrance on this day of 9/11

Where's it all going ?

It seems that no sooner does the weekend start and then its Monday again. Is it just me or do you find that too?

Seems like yesterday it was this ......

And this ......

The days accelerated, then it was this .........

Harvest over and gone

And now it's this. Where's it all going to?

Here's to another Shadow Shot Sunday - hope it's a good one.

Indian Summer

The weather has been fantastic here all day today. And what have we been up to? Just the day for picking potatoes for our enjoyment and I've got an aching back to prove it.

We grew a type called 'Desiree' this year. Normally it's a battle to keep potato blight at bay which can create havoc and destroy a whole crop in a matter of days. Because of the dry, cloudy summer, thankfully it didn't happen this year. We did cut the top foliage off as a precaution two or three weeks ago. What happens is that the foliage yellows. Brown speckles appear on the leaves. They then go slushy and the potatoes rot in the ground. So hopefully we have enough spuds now to keep us going (and a few to give away as well), until the new potatoes come again the end of next May.

We planted a row of swedes next to the hedge. I tried something new this year by starting them off in plugs last April -

As in this sort of thing - (although the veggies in this picture are actually carrots (Ronda), same idea. Good really. What you do is sow the seed in the individual cells, tweak out any extra seedlings and then when you've got a good root ball, plant them out in prepared ground - no thinning - easy to weed.

Lifted the onions at the same time. They look a bit small but I didn't plant them until May which is a bit late as they should have been in the ground in March, but the local garden centre had the sets on offer for 10p per net just to shift them, so not a bad return for my money. (Too cheap to leave there). I shall probably use the smaller ones for pickling.

And if this wasn't enough, I've been up the apple tree, picking apples. This variety is called 'James Grieve', They are not much of a keeper, but just right to eat now, if you can beat the wasps.

I hate that horrible musty taste you sometimes get on supermarket bought apples. Nothing like that on these. A bit marked and odd shapes they may be, but to me this is how food should really taste. What do you think?