Hillier's

Although the weather didn't look very promising, we decided to take a chance and go to Hillier's. It was great! We took two of my grandsons, put on their wellies and made our way through all the wet grass - trouser legs becoming very wet, but no-one cared. The trees have all taken on their autumn foliage and, where many of them have already dropped them, the boys enjoyed kicking up clouds of the crunchy leaves as they ran around.

The sun came out as we enjoyed all the pieces of 'art in the garden', from grassy sheep to chicken-wire dragon.

There were baskets of berries and fruit in the pavillion and they looked fantastic - gorgeous shiny reds, yellows, oranges, purples, black, white and greens. In fact they didn't look real. There were some medlars too - fruits which my father used to forage from the countryside. Not heard of much nowadays.

Unfortunately, the machine for making hot chocolate had broken down so the older grandson was disappointed. It's usually one of the highlights of coming to Hillier's! Never mind. They had fizzy Fantas instead. A great time was had by all!

My hairdryer ......

Yesterday my husband read what I had written about the hairdryer now only working on slow speed and he decided to see if he could fix it. The result is that everything was taken out of the casing and, after measuring all sorts of things, he found that the rectifier (shown as the black spider-looking thing in the foreground with 4 legs of wire) has shorted out causing the faster speed to be unavailable.

He found a new rectifier and fitted it and - hey presto! It now works perfectly. Wow! Just like new. And there I was thinking that I'd have to buy a new one.

Went for a short walk this afternoon alongside the River Test. The sun was shining and the air was calm. In the clear water of the river we could see the trout just resting facing upstream, gently swaying with the current. It was really lovely. The gravel on the river bed looked golden in the sunlight. Some of the houses have the river running through their gardens. How lovely to be able to enjoy it at any time.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness ...

What fantastic weather we've been having over the last few days! Really frosty, windscreen-scraping mornings and warm, clear, sunny afternoons.

I have been out in the garden cutting back and pruning the plants and shrubs which have enjoyed their best ever weather this year! They have grown extraordinarily large - all thanks to the rainfall this summer. What we didn't appreciate, they loved.

I went to the 'Walled Garden' last weekend and expected to see lots of homespun crafts on sale, but the only things I could see which could possibly come into that category were honey, and jam. Rather disappointing. However, we did listen to a rather nice jazz band - sitting in amongst the fruit and veg beds we enjoyed a pleasant 20 minutes or so.

There were plants on sale too, and I rather fancied the intense blue gentian which is shown in the picture above. I haven't planted it yet - will have to cut back something else to squeeze it in! And so far the snails and slugs have left it alone - a miracle!

The grasses have seeded and look so light and fairy-like in the autumn sunshine that I just had to take some photos.

The colours are super at the moment.

I must just add something which surprised me somewhat this week. At the table when two of my grandsons were having a meal with us, the older one, (nearly nine years), asked, 'Do you know what reverse psychology is Nana?' I nearly choked on my food. Then he proceded to tell me what it is!! I just wonder what is going on in his head?

An update on the kettle: The lid works fine with the new knob but I have to use both hands to open it as you have to press in a button on the handle to release it at the same time as pulling the knob back.

Now my hair dryer has given up working on the faster speed and the lovely bread making machine has decided to play up. The dough I made the other evening just hadn't risen when the bleeper went off to tell me it was ready to made into rolls. I had to decant it into a bowl and leave it in the airing cupboard for another 30 minutes or so. It seems that the heating part of the programme is playing up.

Lovely husband has looked at both appliances and it now seems that the fault with the bread machine is intermittant but the hairdryer will now only work on slow speed. Ah well ...

A great baking day!

Two of my grandsons arrived in time to help with baking today. The dough was shaped, pulled and poked into hedgehogs and pizza bases and then left to rise (in the airing cupboard again).

They each made a great pizza which was eagerly eaten for lunch. These are the results



They also made hedgehogs which looked and smelt delicious. I am so so glad that I didn't get rid of the baking machine! Wonderful smells of baking bread waft through the rooms. Can you imagine anything better.

This is one



and this is the other. Don't they look good?

Early autumn and Harvest Festival

It's a beautiful sunny day now after a very foggy beginning! The lovely acer which stands in a pot on my patio has turned a vibrant shade of red and will be losing its leaves quite soon.

This morning I went with my daughter in law to school to see my grandson's Harvest Festival celebration. He has been in this school for just 6 weeks and we were hoping that all would be well and that he would actually enjoy taking part. It was crowded with parents and grandparents of the 50 pupils and we all listened to a speaker who had come from the Salvation Army with the aid of her hand puppet to explain the pleasure of sharing. As time went on my grandson started to relax and eventually he appeared to enjoy singing with the rest. It was lovely to see.

Whilst waiting for the tile fitter to come and inspect the tiles which are not quite firmly stuck down, I have started another batch of dough which I shall make into rolls. This time it is Doves' organic white flour, which I know isn't as nutritious as wholemeal! I hope not to surprise my husband this time by forgetting that they are rising in the airing cupboard!

My kettle has been difficult to use recently as the spring in the lid has broken. My husband had already installed a new spring some time ago but, since the lid has become difficult again, today was time for drastic action. The offending spring has now been removed and a small knob has been added to help lift the lid. I have included a picture of it. We'll see how this arrangement pans out over the next few boilings!!!

The day after I started my blog!

I spent a long time this morning with my daughter putting up photos of her beautiful hand-made glass beads onto Etsy. She only started this particular strand of artwork earlier on this year and I think some of her results are quite stunning. (You can see them if you click on the link to dizzydesigns on Etsy.) During the past couple of weeks we have spent literally hours trying out different lighting and backgrounds to find a way of getting the best picture and I now appreciate how difficult it is to get everything just right.

We managed only 5!! But they are eye-catching I think. I really must organize the whole procedure more carefully. Hats off to all those millions of people who have managed it successfully and effortlessly!!!

Last week we had new carpet laid on the stairs and on the landing. It's very pale in colour and I'm hoping it won't show the dirt too quickly. It was such a contrast to the old, green carpet that, when he first saw it, my grandson number 4 aged nearly 6, said, 'Wow! It looks like it's been snowing on the stairs!' A good description I thought.

We also had Karndean flooring put in the kitchen, the study and in the cloakroom. What a chaotic mess! All furniture had to be stacked in the lounge, the garage and in the bedrooms. The floors had to be screeded and left to dry overnight. The smell was awful and, although I had bought some 'ready meals', we couldn't get to the fridge or the cooker, so it was a good excuse to go out for a meal.

The limestone tiles were put down over the next two days and they look really good. However, ever since we have been finding that the edges and corners have lifted slightly. The experts at the shop have told us to put 'something heavy' on the areas since pressure will stick them back down. So there have been all sorts of heavy objects scattered around the floor since last Thursday and the furniture remains in the lounge etc. Some of the tiles have stuck themselves down but some have been very stubborn and so the very nice man from the shop is coming back on Thursday to have a look. I'm hoping that he'll put it right. I don't know of anyone else who has this stuff on their floor so I have no idea if this is normal ...

This picture shows the tiles

Hello!

I have just re-discovered my bread baking machine and now I have found the best use for it ever.

I remembered why I had put it to one side when I tried it out again last week after months of retirement. The loaf rose fantastically well, in fact too well but it ended up stuck to the glass window lid and then sank into the biggest crater you can imagine! All the loaves I have made in the past finished with a soggy crater which made slicing the loaf well nigh impossible.

With my new organic buckwheat flour I decided I would try making rolls. The machine could do the hard work and I could just finish it off.

However, last night my husband was completely shocked when he opened the airing cupboard door to put in some newly washed towels only to find a tray of rising rolls in front of his eyes! It was late - after midnight and I had forgotten them. So the oven was switched on and they were baked. The results are shown in the picture and today they tasted delicious. Quite the best bread I have ever made.