July goings on.

July has been a busy month so far. 


Inspired by this book:

I thought I'd have a go at bottling (or 'canning' in America) gooseberries. I bought some from a PYO farm I came across to eke out the ones I grew myself.

I used my new preserving pan to sterilise the jars and lids, with a tea towel folded at the bottom as instructed. 

Topping and tailing the gooseberries was rather tedious, but necessary. Miss Read, in her Fairacre series of books, says she uses a pair of nail scissors but I prefer my knife.

I packed each jar with fruit then added hot syrup (Just sugar and water). I screwed on the lids and slightly loosened them, then lowered them into the hot water and brought the water to 88 degrees Celsius for the amount of time it said (20 mins I think - it varies, depending on the fruit used).

The finished result. Now that the fruit has softened there is loads of room left in the jars!

 I was amazed at how the jar lids dimpled down, indicating a vacuum has formed. When you think about it this is just the same process as tinned fruit that you buy in the shop. 


I'm very excited about all this! I love seeing the pictures of Amish cupboards filled with jars of produce, and I love the thought of preserving food without needing a freezer. I've bought some smaller Kilner jars to preserve rhubarb, chopped peaches and chopped pears. I would like to preserve vegetables, soups and stews this way too but, due to low acid content and the danger of botulism therefore, I would need to get a special canning pressure cooker for these.


This month in the veggie garden, after weeks of rain:


First potatoes dug up.

Courgettes (zucchini) are forming. Had to pick these a bit smaller than usual due to slugs nibbling the skins off!

My one remaining Pumpkin plant is now flowering. It always amazes me just how big Squash flowers are! I caught this one in the morning; by midday it had curled up again.

The mint plants, which grow wherever the mower can't reach, are also coming into flower. The bees LOVE them!

And finally my 3 'helpers'....


Bramble,

Luna,

and Flopsy.

What have you been up to this month?

Veggies, water and washing

Some piccies from my garden today...

Busy washing day! Boil washed my un-paper towels, then hot washed towels, hand washed 3 things and ordinary washed the rest - 3 linen lines worth. I love to see washing blowing in the wind. It connects me with all the women all over the world, all through the past, who have cared for their families by washing their clothes.

I have two water butts but they have yet to be connected to the drain pipes. Still, I leave the lids off to collect what they can and......

.... I leave all this out to collect more rain then pour them into the water butts. This has really transformed my attitude to rainy days from gloom to excitement. I love harvesting the rain God sends!

The St. John's Wort is living up to its name by blooming in time for St. John's day. (June 24th) Picture is slightly blurry, sorry.

Mint grows wherever the lawnmower can't reach.

The potatoes are flourishing - looking forward to the first dig!

By contrast the beans are really struggling. This is the second sowing, 24 bean seeds each time, and only 3 have made it. 

The strawberries are beginning to ripen, a few at a time; not enough for a bowlful yet.

Apples are swelling on my new Jonagold tree.

The onions are coming along nicely - apart from the one I accidentally chopped with the hoe. Oops!

The courgettes have survived the slug attack....

..... but this is the only one of 3 pumpkin plants to survive the chomping molluscs.

The gooseberries are almost ready to pick!




And finally, two nosey pets who just had to come and have a look....

Luna, our little girl cat....

...and Flopsy, peeking coyly over his shoulder.


Hope you've had a good day too!  x x

Some Piccies for May

After weeks of almost constant rain we've finally had some sunny times - between showers. Took the camera out yesterday in the back garden and thought I'd share the piccies with you.

Bluebells - the very epitome of England in May.

The gooseberry bush is showing signs of the beginnings of berries forming - an amazing feat since Bramble (my cat) keeps catching the Bumble bees that visit here.

Solomon's Seal. Look how the raindrops stay on the leaves, making little beads. I am always astonished at how fast this plant grows each year! Some years it gets completely eaten by grey caterpillars from an insect which only feeds on Solomon's Seal.

Jack-by-the-hedge (or Jack-by-the-compost-bin!), a wild flower which has decided to make it's home here.

Beautiful, beautiful apple blossom from the Jonagold tree I planted this year. Will they make apples this first time? No idea - we'll have to wait and see. The label said it 'probably' doesn't need another tree nearby to pollinate - probably??!!

The onion sets have shot up this last week.

The 'darling buds of May'. Hopefully they'll open out this week, as the nearby hedgerow ones have.

White dead nettles and stinging nettles. I allow some to grow for the butterflies but have to be careful not to let them overtake the garden.

Unfurling fiddle heads of Ferns - now there's poetic!

And finally some pics of the beautiful animals whose lives I am privileged to share. This is Bramble, probably looking for more Bumble bees to catch!

Luna, Bramble's sister, investigates the pond.

Can you see who's hiding here?

Yes, it's Flopsy the bunny!

Hope you enjoyed my May photo album! Blessings  x x

True forgiveness

Most of us, even if we are not Christians, are aware of Jesus' words in Matthew 5:43-44
'You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.'
 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,'
but we are seldom in a situation of real emnity to put this into practise. Yes, of course, we have our petty situations, such as work colleagues 'backstabbing' their way to promotion but, praise God, most of us in the West are not being actually persecuted.

I was perusing the Norwich cathedral website, with a view to taking a visit this week, when I came across this page showing the Chapel of Holy Innocents. Here, it says, 'prayers are said for victims of cruelty, persecution, and intolerance.' But just look at the prayer found at Ravensbruck concentration camp during the second world war:

O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the suffering they have inflicted upon us; remember the fruits we have bought, thanks to this suffering, our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, the courage, the generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of this; and when they come to judgement, let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness. Amen.’

Wow! Now that's what I call forgiveness!!! What a saint! But it made me think....I've been through some awful times these last few years due to my husband's descent into alcoholism (though not even on the same scale as the suffering of concentration camp detainees, of course) and I can certainly see positive things, 'fruits', in myself that have come from it, such as greater self-confidence and the boldness and daring to do things instead of shrinking from them. I don't know that I'm quite ready yet to say 'do not remember all the suffering they inflicted upon us', I still need to deal with the remnants of anger and resentment, but I can certainly thank God for the good that has come from it, and for the wonderful people in Al-Anon that He has used to bring this about. Forgiveness will come...