Flower Power

This is my third post for the 14 Days of Love Valentine's party. As I mentioned yesterday, I missed the 1st week, but I am thoroughly enjoying myself posting for this second week.

Today's theme is Flower Power, and one of the suggestions for a post were flower arrangements. Well, I don't host formal dinner parties anymore, and therefore haven't done a formal flower arrangements for the dinner table in years. I occasionally buy a bunch of flowers, but they are usually just fairly carelessly arranged in a vase.

But, I do love wildflowers and bunches of them in informal containers. So I thought I post some photos of little wildflower arrangements from last autumn in France.

This little window is at the front of the house, next to the entrance door.

A tiny bunch of wildflowers picked from the bottom field is displayed in a little amber glass milk jug with teeny flowers edged into the glass

I like changing the little display regularly, here I had picked daisies from the lane and one rose from the garden. I only have three (struggling ) rose bushes there, so I tend to leave the roses alone. I also added a couple of other flowers from a little bunch I had bought at the market.

I always have a bunch of wildflowers on the table in the garden. It usually starts like this - I have a womble down the lanes with the doggies and pick a basketful -

and then sit down at the table with a smile on my face and a cup of tea next to me, and arrange them

I have a sweet little jug indoors which I often use to fill with flowers, again, mostly wildflowers from the lanes and our fields

And of course we have to have some flowers on the kitchen window sill as well -

And just because I love the colour so much, here is a photo of one of the little roses in our garden, well, its more of a field than a garden, lol -

Tomorrow's subject is going to be The Perfect Gift. Ooooooooh, can I get my list out? My long list? Only one gift? Perhaps ONE basket with a few gifts? Hmm, this will require careful thinking in case DH is going to have a look at the blog.

xx

Now what have I done, lol

A really lovely lady called Liz ( what else, tehehehe, such a good name ) talked me into joining this rather fun Valentine's party, 14 Days of Love. I missed the first week, but just made it in time for the start of the second week. You can read all about it here. Today's topic is Sweets for the Sweet, all about luscious sweet recipes for your favourite cakes, biscuits, beverages, sweets, whatever. SO NOT FAIR! I have been craving cake all day long, lol! Just have a look at the luscious yummy recipes that the various people have posted, it'll get you drooling, definitely.

Now, I got a bit of a problem here. My alltime favourite dessert is trifle. My DH's whisky trifle. I love it above all other desserts. And I get somewhat possessive about it, nobody is allowed seconds, because I need leftover trifle for the next day. Have to have another trifle fix then. I would love to show you a lovingly prepared trifle, but I don't have any photos, I am sorry. So there is not much point in sharing the recipe with you either. Bummer. Maybe I can talk him into making a trifle tomorrow and I'll take pics then and add them to this post.

Then I thought I would share the recipes and photos of a few other favourite desserts from a couple of our cookery books. And remembered that since I changed computers a couple of weeks ago to one with Vista, my Canon scanner won't work anymore ( oh, and Canon don't do new drivers for mine, grrrr ). So, no pictures of Jamie Oliver's Sheila's pudding either, sigh.

But, despair not, I have a recipe to share with you, my friend JJ is helping me out. She makes the most fabulous muffins, which just melt in the mouth, and are incredibly morish. And best of all, they are full of healthy stuff.

Here goes, a very delicious, healthy, unpretentious everday dollop of yumminess -


Blueberry & Oat muffins Makes 12

105g wholemeal flour

115g plain flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

90g rolled oats

1 medium egg

2 medium egg whites

125ml maple syrup (I used honey & it worked fine)

180ml buttermilk (or semi-skimmed milk/soya milk soured with lemon juice)

3 tablespoons rapeseed oil (I used vegetable oil)

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

1 tablespoon orange juice

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

225g fresh blueberries, rinsed & patted dry

1 Preheat oven to 200C/Gas 6. Lightly grease a 12-hole muffin tin or insert paper cups

2 In a large bowl, whisk together the wholemeal flour, plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt & cinnamon. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the oats and stir the rest into the mixture

3 In a medium bowl, whisk the egg and egg whites with the maple syrup until smooth. Add the buttermilk, oil, orange zest and juice, and vanilla extract. Whisk until blended. Add to the flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula until the dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in the blueberries. Spoon the mixture into the tray filling the cups almost to the top. Sprinkle the reserved oats on top

4 Bake for 18-22 minutes or until lightly browned and the tops spring back when touched lightly. Transfer to a wire rack to cook slightly before scoffing.

Ta daa, and here they are, courtesy of my friend JJ -

The second recipe I would like to share with you is a very simple but utterly delicious recipe for a drink, chili chocolate cocoa. This is really lovely on a winter evening, my husband and I often have it when we settle down to watch a film. It was given to me by a dear American friend now living in Scotland. I am sure she won't mind if I pass this on to you.

You will need ( for two people )

cocoa powder - 2 heaped soup spoons
butter - good sized knob ( about a heaped tea spoon )
milk - enough for two large mugs, I use the actual mugs to measure out the milk
pinch of salt
brown sugar - to taste, I use 2 teaspoons per large mug
pinch of chili powder - again, to taste, we like it quite spicy

Firstly, gently melt the butter in a milk pan. When the butter is melted, take off the heat, and add the cocoa powder slowly, constantly whisking it into the butter. Add the sugar and the little pinch of salt ( unless you are using salted butter, then you don't need it ), keep whisking. Slowly add the milk, whisking all the time, making sure that you get all the cocoa and butter mix from the bottom. Return to the stove and gently heat whilst stirring. Add chili powder to taste. Thats it, ever so simple, but it tastes so much better than prefab hot chocolate from a packet! If you feel really wicked, add a good glug of cream or top with whipped cream.

Drooling now, lol, will definitely have to make that tonight.

Right, enough of that, I need some kind of sweet fix now, lol. Let's hope I can add the trifle pics tomorrow, toodlepip for now! xxx

Aahh, winter in France

The photos from our week in the cottage in France on the last post showed our hill top all misty and grey, and the world around us gone, lost in the sea of clouds below us.

A couple of days later though, it all changed quite dramatically. The dogs got me up quite early. It was still dark outside, but by the time I had almost woken up, gotten dressed and bundled myself up in winter gear, there was a hint of sunrise showing on the other side of the valley. And the sky was clear above us, hurrah, even though the valley below us was filled with a sea of clouds!


When we stepped out of the house and onto our little lane, I saw that the full moon was still high in the sky and incredibly bright

( not entirely sure how I ended up with a second moon, lol, but it appeals to my sci-fi loving mind )

It was incredibly peaceful and serene and quite magical walking down the lane in this half light, crisp morning. In the next photo, you can just about see our our cottage on the left hand side


Ahhh, the views at this time of the morning, you don't know whether to shout with joy or just admire it all in quiet reverie


It was the start of a beautiful day with bright blue skies, and glittering snow. The next pic is looking from our garden across the dip to one of our neighbours -


The valley below us was remarkably snow free and looked quite green -


This is the view on the other side of the hill


And this little strip of tarmac is the main road going past one end of our lane


We had quite a dramatic sunset that evening, not quite what you would expect, it wasn't all orange and red and purple, it was just black and white, quite strange really


Yep, thats the sun. I got really disorientated for a second when I saw this, I thought, hang on, whats the moon doing there?? Quite a weird moment. It was definitely the sun though, lol.

Next morning, same story, the dogs were raring to go just before sunrise. It was so worth getting up early, I tell ya, look what was happening across the dip, on the little hill next to us -



Was't long before we had beautiful blue skies again, I loved walking in the crisp snow -



Sigh, it was so beautiful, and what did I get today? Here in England? First rain, then sleet, then a few snowflakes, then sleet, then rain again...........

To finish off, just a silly little picture of the cottage roof, but I liked it, the slight, hazy covering of frost, a bit of snow and these rows of icicles -



See you tomorrow! xx

A White Week in France

It was glorious. I know we had snow at home here in England not so long ago, and that was lovely, too, but how long does it stay pristine in a town? It gets so depressingly yucky so very quickly. Where we live in France, frost, snow and ice stay looking gorgeous for so long, because apart from the occasional tractor going down our lane and a few animals leaving their tracks, the beautiful countryside stays untouched.

When we arrived, it was really frosty and misty. There wasn't much in the way of snow, but everything was covered in a thick layer of sparkly frost and looked so pretty, even in the thick mist -


After spending some time sniffing about and enjoying all the yummy country smells, the doggies made off down the lane to one of their favourite spots, a big tree under which they often find a lovely, deliciously flavourful muddy puddle


The puddle was of course frozen solid, but they went at it for a few minutes and managed to break off some big pieces. Boy, do they love their ice lollies! Hector especially goes absolutely nuts for chunks of ice, just look at that enormous piece he is chewing on -


Then it started snowing in earnest. We usually have such wonderful views all around us, being at the top of a hill, but when the weather closes in, the rest of the world just disappears -


DH and DS did take the doggies for a long walk despite the heavy snow, they looked such a sight when they got back! Thankfully, the fire was roaring, and everybody snuggled down for a cosy evening.

I tell ya, sometimes I wish I was a dog, what a life, eh, just look at this pics -

After spending ages frolicking about in the snow, investigating, running like crazy, playing.....

they just conk out on the settee. Aww, butter wouldn't melt in their mouths, my sweet little bookends -

They really do make me laugh sometimes. I was happily crocheting away sitting by the fireplace, and occasionally glancing over at the sleeping doggies. Usually they are curled up together just as in the above photo. Occasionally though they change position. One minute I was confronted with Poppy being a right old tart with her legs up in the air -

Next time I looked over, Hector was displaying his all to the world, lolol, I had to do a double take, huh, wasn't it Poppy a minute ago?

Mind you, they don't always want to be next to each other, sometimes one just has to be comfy on one's own -

in DH's favourite chair of course

But, if somebody dares to occupy the chair, they make do with snuggling with/on/under/around us -

Don't you sometimes wish you were your pet?

I'll leave you with one snowy picture taken a few days later, when the mist had cleared away and we had a gorgeous day with golden sunshine, blue sky and crackling snow


More in the next post. xx

Yoohooo, I am back!

We got back from France last night. We REALLY didn't want to come back, even the doggies were very reluctant. All week we had been living in winter wonderland. I know you are all sick of snow and snow pics, but you'd better prepare yourself, because tomorrow I'll just have to show you some ( you can always just not look, lolol ). Because out there we live in the middle of nowhere with very few people living in the area, the beautiful countryside just stays pristinely white forever, well until the snow or frost melts away that is. But I'll tell you more about all that tomorrow, and the day after, and probably the day after that as well, lol.

Today I'll just ease you gently into the holiday, with some crochet pics. Because I have been asked about the progress on my wrap/ lap blanket ( still not entirely sure but veering towards a lovely big wrap ). I am so glad I took my Manos del Uruguay yarn with me. I managed to get quite a few squares done sitting by the fire, yes Sarah, in my comfy slippers, baggy joggers and big jumper, with Hector by my feet and a happy grin on my face.

See? I now have 4 stacks of 18 squares, total of 72, which should be plenty for a nice large wrap or even a small lap lankie -


The biggest problem now is finding enough floor space to lay out the squares and arrange them properly. Hmmm. Rather difficult when you are a terrible hoarder like me and have stuff absolutely everywhere. And trying to keep the dogs away. Hmmm. At least I can put them in their indoor kennel for a bit. Bribing them with scoobiesnacks usually works quite well. I'll have to try and get that sorted tomorrow, I really want to crack on with this, make a final decision on what its going to be, and start sewing the squares together. And then crocheting round the the whole lot. So I can actually use it whilst it is still cold enough to use it.

There you go, that was nice and short wasn't it? Told ya I would go easy today, tehehehe. Well, I had to keep it short really, because after dinner I have to start catching up on a week's worth of blogs. Should be finished round about 4am ;-).

Toodlepip, xx