How to make a Lavender bag

Capture the smell of lovely English lavender now

Now is the time to harvest the lavender that is probably growing in your garden.  If not your garden then someone else’s close by!  Let’s make a traditional, English lavender bag together.

Snipping lavender spikes in the garden

Granddaughter Evie came to stay and so she was put to work with the scissors in the garden.  A good bunch of lavender spikes later makes a lovely display as they dry out for a couple of days – without water.

Fresh lavender without water

Ready to create an English lavender bag

OK so now we have our lavender spikes.  Here’s what else we needed:

What you need
  • A meter of netting (cost £1.50 from the local market)
  • A meter of ribbon (cost .75p from the local market)
  • Scissors
  • And of course… lavender spikes

And here’s what we did with the lavender

  • After leaving the lavender spikes for a couple of days to dry out pull off the flowers into a pile onto some paper
Lavender bag
  • Cut x2  9”/23cm squares of net, lay one on top of the other for double thickness
  • With the net partially placed under the paper, push a quantity of lavender onto the net as shown
Transferring the lavender onto the net
  • Draw up the corners and sides of the net without letting the lavender escape
  • My able assistant then tied a length of ribbon around the enclosed lavender – very tightly.  Learning to tie a knot in the process.
Tying securely

A souvenir of a lovely summer

We made enough lavender bags to give to Mummy to make her drawers smell nice and even one for Daddy for the car.  The smell in the kitchen was just divine.  When we learned that the smell is ‘soporific’ and relaxing grandson Jack said that he would like one for his bedroom ‘Because sometimes it’s just too hard to get to sleep!’

 

 

These are the shoes

These are the shoes

These are the shoes that have pounded the canal tow-path for the last eight weeks.  Three times each week.  And here I stand at the foot of week 9.  It is the holy grail of Couch-to-5K, graduation week! It is time to consider the awful thought of replacing these shoes with new, running shoes.

Couch to 5K

Couch to 5K has taught me how to run for a period of almost half an hour.  It must be stressed that I do not run well.  Neither I do not run fast, in fact my speed is extremely slow.  However, I do run and that is the important thing.  Yes, I have noticed small changes.  I’m not a ‘weigher’ so don’t know if any weight has been lost but there is a little less wobbliness.

I sort of look forward to the morning-run with a strange (almost morbid) anticipation.  Whilst I am running for that almost-half-an-hour, I scream inside my head.  I pray that it will very soon be over BUT then comes the best bit… it does all come to a stop!  As soon as I have finished the run I feel euphoric and fit ALL day.  So, surely it’s got to be worth 30 minutes of ‘push’?  The pay-off is so good and it lasts for so long?  

Parkrun is not ready for me yet!

I admit that I am not quite ready for ‘Parkrun’ yet.  Parkrun is the place where Cto5Kers go when they have graduated.  Although I am ready to keep up with the 30 minutes ‘push’ three times a week for as long as it takes.

As you will have noticed, the weather is beginning to change as we hurtle towards autumn.  These shoes will not stand up to the wet grass and mud that comes with the change in season.  This afternoon I am off in search of some advice and perhaps even some new shoes for trail running at https://upandrunning.co.uk

Well who would have thought it.  Keep you posted!

The Book Club

The original Barrister’s Book Chamber

A new book shop opened in town just before Christmas last year ‘The Barrister’s Bookchamber’ https://barristersbookchamber.com/   This shop has a very interesting, unique and Dickensian style.  It sells all kinds of books: antique, vintage, used, old, secondhand, paperbacks, hardbacks, fact and fiction in fact you name it and they probably have a copy of it… yes, even ‘Fly Fishing’ by J R Hartley.

The shop is Angela Rowntree’s baby, a barrister herself, who wanted to recreate the feel of a genuine Victorian barrister’s chamber just like her own used to be.  

The opening of the new establishment was a Dickensian affair too with Ebenezer Scrooge ‘greeting’ the constant stream of intrigued townsfolk.  All books very reasonably priced so a purchase had to be made.  I knew my son would love the very old and battered copy of ‘A Christmas Carol’.

Ebenezer Scrooge at the opening of the original book shop

The look of the shop has been very thoughtfully put together and the atmosphere is cosy, warm and inviting – particularly as it has a tea room which sells the most amazing cakes.  The urge to sit a while to stay and read is irresistible.

A search on Facebook found their page and very quickly the Bookchamber was posting about writing and poetry workshops, children’s book-themed parties, as well as guest author events and eventually the announcement that the Barrister’s Bookchamber was to start its own Book Club.  First meeting to be held early in the New Year. Was I interested? Yes, I was.

An all-female group (although a man has subsequently joined us) turned up from diverse backgrounds and with varied tastes in literature.  Introductions over, the first book was chosen ‘The Collector’ by John Fowles.  I think it would be safe to say that the following month, the group was fairly evenly split on their appraisal of the book, it was a bit – Marmite!  We have just had our August meeting to discuss ‘1984’ by George Orwell – it turned into a lively, political debate with some incredible insights and comparisons.  In between we have read Oscar Wilde, Gail Honeyman, Clare Douglas, Fiona Barton and Marian Keyes – an eclectic selection.  I think the only book we have unanimously enjoyed together is ‘Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine’ by Gail Honeyman, which seems to be every book club’s read of the moment.

It was as we discussed the latter that I came clean and confessed that I had not actually read the book but that I  had listened to it on ‘Audible’ https://www.audible.co.uk/ Audible is a guilty pleasure of mine, it means I can ‘get lost’ without having to sit down or go to bed!  I can walk for miles, do the ironing, clean the bathroom, cook, bake – enjoy two pleasures at the same time!  I had expected hands to be thrown up in horror but they weren’t, in fact it was no big deal.  Don’t misunderstand me, I do love ‘actual books’ and I do read ‘actual books’ but ever since childhood, I have loved being read to and enjoy just… listening.

The Book Club has introduced me to new people, new books, new views and even new friends… and a shop full of amazing books, which I can either listen to or read.

All is safely gathered in. (Winter is coming!)

 

Harvesting in the dark

Update: Harvesting in the dark

On the way home from a night out – the farmers are still harvesting.

The hubster and I went out for out for a wander yesterday afternoon.  We could hear the distant hum of the combine harvester.

You may have seen a couple of images on Twitter @SavourtheMomen1 and Instagram @Sharon28.sr. Here they are again:

Clouds of dust heading our way

Townies!

We are relatively new to this area.   It is still an absolute delight and a wonder to see the continual change in the fields around us.  This incredible summer has provided the most amazing fields of gold.  Our neighbours might well take this for granted as they have always lived in this environment – but they are far more in tune with the change in the seasons than we are.

Combine harvester up close and loud

Harvest dust gets everywhere

Our bird’s eye view was from the nearby canal towpath.  Several vehicles: combines, grain collectors and even bigger grain collectors, followed by bailers, all work together like partners in a dance.  The huge expanse of barley (yes I can recognise it now) was ‘done’ in little under an hour.  Great clouds of light-brown dust billowed up and made its way across the canal.  It left its tell-tale film on the water, to be absorbed overnight to sink to the bottom.  We took shelter behind a hawthorn hedge.  Even so everything, yes everything, inside and outside the house… and the car, has a light covering of beige dust.  I suppose it goes with the territory!

Harvesting barley

A different way of life

The machine operators certainly know what they’re doing and understand the crops, the land and the weather.  At this time of year and in this area, there is no such thing as an eight-hour working day.  The headlights of the vehicles in the fields can be seen as they work into the night.  At a guess I would say it is probably three solid weeks of working 18/20 hour days.  I could be wrong, it might be more.

Then comes the tractor.  They pull huge trailers of hay stacked so high they barely make it under the bridges.  They shower the roads and paths with yellow confetti. 

The harvest is almost finished now and the moon will soon shine on the freshly harvested fields to turn the gold into silver.

Almost done

It will always continue to fascinate.  It really is a spectacle to see.  I recommend that you take the time to go and look for yourself, before it is too late.

Hats off to the farmers.

Making Very Easy Flatbreads with the Boys

Josh, the sous chef, prepping for flatbread-making

’The boys’ came to stay with us last night and so as part of a full programme of activities, making flatbreads was top of the agenda this morning.

And this is how you do it:

Preparation time 5 minutes, cook time 10 mins

The dough for this recipe is so easy to make with only a couple of minutes of kneading required. The bread is good for using as a wrap.

Ingredients
  • 10oz / 300g plain flour 
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 1/2 tbsp / 50g butter (1.75 oz)
  • 3/4 cup / 185 ml milk
  • 1/2 tbsp oil (for cooking)
Measuring the old-fashioned way
Carefully pouring in the warm milk and melted butter

Instructions

  1. Combine butter and milk and heat until butter is just melted – on stove or in microwave.
  2. Combine flour, salt, butter and milk.
  3. Sprinkle work surface with flour then knead for a few minutes until it is smooth – it doesn’t need much kneading. Add extra flour if the dough is too sticky.
  4. Wrap with cling film and leave to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes
  5. Dust countertop with flour, cut dough into 4 pieces, roll into balls, then roll out into about 1/8″ / 0.3cm thick – they don’t have to be round!
  6. Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a non stick pan over medium heat
  7. Place one flatbread in the pan, cook for around 90 seconds on each side it should bubble up – then turn. and cook the other side.  There should be a small, golden/dark brown spots on both sides.
  8. Pile up the cooked bread and keep wrapped with a tea towel – the steam helps soften the bread
Finished flatbreads

Cooked breads keep well in the freezer or in a sealed bag or container for a couple of days.  Sprinkle grated cheese on top when they are still hot and perhaps a shake or two of garlic salt as a variation.

This was a very savoury moment!

A Snapshot in Time

This image keeps popping back into my head even though I took it well over a year ago.

We were on a camping trip with my son, Luke and his family to Clapton-on-the-Hill, Gloucestershire.  The campsite, owned and run by an elderly lady, was dominated along one side by a big, old, dark brown barn.  Some of the slats were slipping,  leaving just enough space for an iPhone to take aim.  It was late evening, the sun was sinking and a blackbird sang.  It was as though each object in the barn had been specifically placed in order to create this composition. 

A look through a peephole into an old barn

I can tell you know more, it is just a snapshot in time.  Another moment to savour, it reminded me of:

Adlestrop  by Edward Thomas (about a Gloucestershire village station):

Yes. I remember Adlestrop

The name, because one afternoon

Of heat, the express-train drew up there

Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.

No one left and no one came

On the bare platform. What I saw

Was Adlestrop—only the name

And willows, willow-herb, and grass,

And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,

No whit less still and lonely fair

Than the high cloudlets in the sky.

And for that minute a blackbird sang

Close by, and round him, mistier,

Farther and farther, all the birds

Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

 

GONE FISHING!

I think I may have mentioned this before but I live very near to the Chesterfield Canal http://www.chesterfield-canal-trust.org.uk/ and that I have started a new regime of jogging along the tow path.  Well, this lovely waterway is attractive in other ways too…

During the long school summer break, my four grandchildren (aged between five and nine) come to stay either in twos or altogether – like yesterday, when we spent some time making our own fishing nets.  All each of them needed was: 

Make your own fishing net
All you need to make a simple fishing net
  • A 5 ft garden cane
  • A wire coat hanger
  • A piece of netting
  • A needle and thread

There was much amusement as they put their sewing skills to the test plus a bit of help from Grommar and Poppar of course. In the end all four of them finished with a very respectable fishing net.  Naturally, they were all desperate to put them to the test so plans were made that Evie and Jack could go fishing the next day, as they were staying here with us and Josh and Harry could go the following week, when they would be staying with us.

Evie and Jack fishing
Homemade fishing nets in action

It was a golden couple of hours as Evie and Jack searched along the canal bank for the perfect spot, looking for tiddlers along the way.  Neither had ever ‘fished’ before so they soon learned that splashing around in the water and making grand swooping gestures with the net was not going to catch them any fish.  After a demonstration by Poppar they soon got the hang of it and it wasn’t long before each of them had a jar with a couple of tiddlers, some other creatures and some bits of weed.

Evie and Jack try out their fishing nets
Learning to fish

We had taken a picnic lunch with us and as we ate lunch, we saw a kestrel, heard a yellow-hammer, a buzzard, swans with signets, pondskaters, water boatmen and blackberries almost ready for picking – probably a task for next week.  It was a couple of hours very well spent and could be replicated anywhere there is a body of water – just make sure you take every safety precaution and notice of any safety warnings – or else you will have to answer to your kids!

Fishing takes patience
Fishing on the Chesterfield Canal

This is also one of the things to do on the https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/documents/50-things-activity-list.pdf

Trust me, it was a day to treasure.