New and Old Scarves - Serendipity

 I cherish and use the lovely white raw silk scarf on the right hand side, it is as if I have the kind thoughts of my sister giving me a hug.  I don't know how long I have had it: I must ask her.  It is one of two she brought back from Nepal, the other one was a pale green.  I shall ask her about how long it is since her visit to India and Nepal.  I use it Summer and Winter, anytime I need to keep the chill off my neck or even protect it from the sun.  Each time I carefully hand wash it, I wonder whether it will be the last wash.  It washes up fairly crisp but after a little handling it softens and drapes beautifully.

Earlier this month we stayed in Dartington and walked  into Totnes along the river, and made for the market on our way to explore the town.  There was one stall which particularly caught my attention, as it was very attractively set out with merchandise of beautiful natural fabrics and yarns.  I used to buy many of my 'casual clothes' back in those days from a Company called Bishopston Trading, and found the soft Indian fabrics to my liking.  I was the only company I was aware of  selling organic cotton clothes with this 'provenance' direct from the makers.  I still have some of the cloth bags they put larger purchases in, yes years before the 'bags for life', I had my cloth bags, and lined reversable skirts, checked trousers etc.  I still have and wear and find the best for gardening now it is old, my heavy cotton Cornish Smock type top.

From Totnes, I remembered touching the scarf, still folded, admiring its quality and craftmanship.  I didn't get it at the time, but it came into my mind several times floating in and out, and the memory of the beautiful textile, if one can call hand knitting a textile, consigned to the category of 'what a beautiful thing I had seen, I did not get it at the time, but it had been created, and skilfully made, and  still as a beautiful thing which was maybe being cherished by someone somewhere.' I have a few of these...

On Wednesday, market day in Wells, we decided to sally forth together, partly just for a little 'outing' and also to view a temporary exhibition, of which more perhaps in another post. The exhibition was on the other side of Market Square and therefore we walked up one side of the market, and having seen the exhibition, walked down the other side just because it which was less crowded.   

I don't really 'browse', I'm not much of a shopper really, I see only what I want, so I usually just make straight for my usual food stalls. However I was stopped in my tracts I had a strange sense and looked to my right, and there was what looked like a very similar stall to the one in Totnes.  A moment of serendipity there was the scarf/stole.....I found out that this was the Vendor's first visit to Wells Market, and it may be the only one.

The scarf is made from Giant Himalayan Nettle  in Nepal, which is where my sister bought the raw silk scarf. To think in Nepal this plant grows to around 3 metres in one season before being harvested.

I asked my Sister about the scarf, and she had completely forgotten about it, as it is years and years since her great expedition.

Of Spoons and Arm and Wrist Warmers

One of my two talented nephews took up wood carving recently as a hobby and has found his niche in hand carving spoons.  These are just a few of his recent  ones.

From selection of the wood to the final spoon, everything is considered and everything using only hand tools from start to finish.  These are works of art and it has been enjoyable following his increasing knowledge, and the large variety of shapes and woods that he is using to create unique spoons.

I was absolutely delighted to received a little spoon early in the new year, and have just had it on my corner shelf in the kitchen admiring its beauty. It is the first spoon that he has made in Olive Wood.  

Mr S normally does the butlering duties, but with one thing and another I was doing it, filling up both sets of salt and pepper grinders: oh yes, he had hurt his wrist!

The spoon may remain on display, or it may sit on the pepper  corns.  I'm not sure that sitting on damp sea salt crystals will do it any harm, but this is a precious present that is to be cherished, and I think it safer cradled on dry pepper corns.

I was delighted to have something hand made. Having contacted Nephew Stasher No 1, to thank him, I wondered whether he would like to have something handmade from me, and straight away he wondered whether he could have some arm/wrist warmers just like the ones I made for his mother last year.  

These were in green Alpaca wool from my stash.  Having been given his range of colours, I went to my stash, pulled out a couple of balls of Pure Wool and then had to go in hunt for needles, but needed to order some fixed circulars.  Everything seemed to take time, from selecting the stiches I would use, to designing mittens, given a totally different yarn, and of course to suit and fit a man.  I came across a stitch pattern called Aran Rib 1 in The Knitter's Bible, and having got out the calculator to assess the number of stitches to cast on, I was away.  But the progress was slow, sometimes you get a mental block!  Each mitten is a mirror image with the cable reversed, but it doesn't matter which hand you put them on.  

I had Mr S on hand to keep trying them on, and of course measurements sent.  I asked Nephew Stasher 1 if they were to be used whilst spoon carving, but surprisingly I heard that they were for wearing when he is carrying out his work which is something to do with working on the graphics for computer games. Ha!  I don't know anything about computer games, but I do know your hands can get cold working on computers.  Mr S has ordered a pair such as these that almost reaches one's elbows.  I too want a pair, fortunate therefore that I have all summer to make them.

In a Vase on Monday - Posting Birthday Flowers

 It was my 'baby' sister's birthday on Saturday...no longer a baby, actually something like five years younger than me.  We three 'girls' live continents apart, and birthdays these days consist of thinking, loving, and sending kind thoughts.  I usually make a special arrangement, and have often used them later as IAVOM posts later.

This Saturday is was too wet to venture out and the blooms were just washed out in any case.  On my birthday wishes, I posted an arrangement from three years ago.  I was slightly unhappy, but the situation took on a rather humorous turn when Mr S thought that I had wanted to post: in a box with stamps etc, but I explained that post meant putting up a picture and message!  He really doesn't do social media...

This morning it has stopped raining, but I have never seen the garden quite so wet.  We are on a slope, well up, so don't get any flooding, but a friend told me of a car being washed down the road in nearby Crosscombe, with water no longer contained by the River Sheppey. Storm Angus battered us all weekend.

The main star is Alstromeria Indian Summer, which I bought at the recent Special Plants fair at the Bishop's Palace. Everything else has already made an appearance this year: Hakornechloa macra 'Aureola', Dianthus, Persicaria Red Dragon, Gaillardia, and the lovely winter green Fern Polypodium cambricum Richard Kayse, which has just started to send up its new leaves. Granted it is acting a little shy here, but what else could it do since Indian Summer is taking centre stage.

The Vase is a blue cloisonne which I presume my mother bought on her trip to China many years ago.  It is one of a pair, and Jenny whose birthday it is, had them, and gave me one, so that even though we are far apart, we can think of each other.  It was the perfect choice for her belated birthday flower bouquet.

Cathy has some lovely autumnal hues in her post this week, together with apples and a pear.

We were there, together after eight months

 We met up just before Christmas......

The next time we were to  have met up, we postponed our visit as I was unwell, probably with Covid19, but who knows? And the following day Mr S was not well enough to drive.

Finally it was to time for a mid-way socially distanced get together, missing out a big hugs, but enjoying a lovely walk found by Veronica. Schools are just about to start back, so we thought this is just about the optimum time.  Who knows when we shall meet again?

A hill with a good view is always interesting

Unlike the Uffington White Horse, this horse on the hill side is concreted over.  The steep hillside grass land is showing clear signs of 'creep' formed by the thin soil very slowly slipping down the underlying chalk, which is probably further enhanced by sheep and cattle walking along the parallel ridges in the turf.

As we walked towards Bratton, the north easterly views of the chalk land escarpment were magnificent too.

Along the way, it felt quite autumnal even though it was still August, with remains of knapweed seedheads.

Skirting the very edge of the Village, close to the Church of St James, we came across a 'contraption with paddles spraying water in a pond'. It certainly held our attention and by googling several words have indeed come across such machines which increase water aeration.

Mr S spotted a beautiful blue butterfly, which flitted away far too quickly, but this bee, a ginger bumblebee and most probably a Brown-banded carder bee (Bombus humilis), spent some time on this Devil's-bit-scabious.

How strange to meet up with nearest and dearest and not be able to have a hug!  

In a Vase on Monday - Full of Grace

Today is an Auspicious Date in our family calendar......

So I have held back this year, until now, to post a vase of roses the colour of which is beguiling.  

It is Rose Grace, which I had in my previous garden and have written about many times, 

and then missed so much I ordered a couple for my conservatory border, less than a year ago.  They are in full bloom, and are looking wonderful with their bright green foliage.  The blooms have stood the downpours without damage, which is a great attribute.

To balance out the roses, which are around 10cm across I have added some Persicaria Red Dragon, the big leaf being 17cm long, the original plant coming from Cathy, and a few stems of Phalaris arundinacea with its barcoded leaves, a recent gift from a gardening friend.  I love this plant despite a reputation of being rampant.  It adds a slender vertical element in the garden, and I recall growing it in several previous gardens, except the last one.

The vase is a lovely cloisonne vase collected by my mother's on her travels around China nearly forty years ago....

I shall go over to Cathy's blog, link into hers, and see what other friends have posted today...Cathy has posted roses too, with a great story under the theme of forgiving....

In a Vase on Monday - Shapes and shadows

On Saturday, I was getting rather excited preparing for the visit of two IAVOM friends the following day, and felt a little gardening would calm me down.  I wanted to start the preparations for planting out new snowdrops and later I attacked an old potentilla shrub that miraculously survived builders as the conservatory was under construction last year.

Here we are Alison C and Sandra D and myself...very cold but enjoying good company, winter gardens, and snowdrops.

Sadly the the lovely angel sculpture within the Palace has been moved....but here it is from when I posted about a visit in 2017 .  I have a thing for angels in the same way that Sandra has a thing for pineapples.  I am sure she will be writing about her Pineapple experiences in Wells!

At first I didn't particularly like this shrub, and would have had it out, except that Mr S liked it.  It would therefore seem quite disingenuous of me to dig the Potentilla out whilst he was away running model layouts at the weekend with friends!  Besides which, I felt it had earned a little reprieve having flowered its little socks off almost until Christmas.  Usually if I like a shrub or plant I carefully research and prepare for the best way to reduce or transplant it...if I don't, I usually just go for it.  I have since read that from time to time Potentillas do need a seeing to and will bounce back from even the harshest of prunnings....so it will recover, but maybe not flower until 2019.

I got busy with the secateurs and quite soon what was once a shrub a metre high and across became much reduced.  As I worked through the bush I became to appreciate the shape and curves of the woody stems, and saw the first sign of spring growth.  I chose some stems and 'pushed' them into a lovely  studio vase which my father brought back from Japan in the 1960s.

The shadows on the wall too added to the interest, but I have neither the skill nor the patience today to show this to advantage and have just added one of those tones available on the photo storage system I have.  The black elephant again is pottery from my Husband's family home, and the two little keys rings, skillfully made from wire and small beads,  were brought as souvenirs by my sister after her holiday in South Africa. 

The stems reminded me of the thin leaved scrubby trees we used to drive through, in one of the drier regions in Mauritius near Black River, where,  as children we would imagine we were driving through African grass lands with  acacia trees with rhinoceroses and elephants.  We had no television in those days, but we had large books with black and white pictures of landscapes from around the World, which I often had my nose in.  We would even see Lions in the clouds. 

I am sure you would like colour and for that you will be enchanted by a flower originally from the same continent as the rhino, so head off to Cathy's post this week.  Cathy is the creator of IAVOM....and without this post I would not have had such a special day with two new friends.

Summer Visitors

Even though we are a long way from being 'straight' after our move, have still our best china in boxes, and have umpteen projects in the pipeline to bring this home to what we would like it to be...our best friends and family are happy to come and take us as we are...and we are overjoyed to have them visit and show off our new County.

Last weekend my cousin visited and we attended an open day at the Wells Almhouses...They have some attractive courtyard gardens

From their chapel I give you the Angel of the Day:  St Matthew as found in some floor tiles

To one side are seats with a stone canopy...they made for a charming place for sitting and watching the world go past.

We went on to visit the Bishop's Palace and this week there were some interesting performers from unusual 'hot house specimens'

To the large Indian Bean tree in full flower....

and a spot of posing for Angel of the Day

As well as walks up Ebbor Gorge, with visits to the Cathedral and Vicar's Close, the market etc and many opportunities for dog training...Pat and Breeze had a great visit...

Clive Mellum's Sweet Shortcrust Pastry is a winner as a case for Lemon Meringue Pie

It has become a family tradition that I bake a lemon meringue pie when my sister visits.  Its one of our favourites too, but since it is really at its best on the day of making,a Lemon Meringue pie needs to be made when it will be appreciated by several mouths.

This morning I mixed up a batch of pastry using a technique that I had never tried: one mixes the butter, sugar, and egg till they are emulsified, then the flour is added and rubbed in till a ball is formed. I found it very easy.

The finished pastry sat in the fridge, and when we came back from our little tour of Dinder and Crosscombe, it was rolling pins at the ready, zesters, lemon juicer, bowls, whisks, baking tins, came out of the cupboard, oven preheated, paper and baking beans were used.

Yesterday we had been out for a steak night out, and this morning everyone felt a little sluggish.  We had a great plate of salad, followed by fruit, and this evening a light supper of home made soup and pesto rolls followed by Lemon Meringue Pie.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and I must agree that this is the best pastry I have made.  Even with the home made fresh lemon filling, there was no soggy bottom.  It was short and tasty, but strong enough to hold the thick layer of lemon and meringue topping.

Neighbours Val and Kay helped by having a piece each: a well earnt gardener's pudding following their afternoon out on their front gardens.  There is just a smallish piece left which I shall have shortly....I only had one piece earlier on!

In a Vase at Christmas

Mr S & I spent a lovely day with our nearest and dearest. In a Vase at Christmas was on Izzi's list of decorations for the big day.  

Decorated cake, gingerbread house, tree laden with interesting decorations, crackers filled with windup father Christmases and reindeer, which we then raced with much fun and excitement...non went in straight lines!

and to top the Christmas Tree a hand made fairy....

We enjoyed a lovely meal cooked by Matthew, with contributions of peeled veggies from Somerset at lunch time.  In the afternoon, a walk, a few rounds of the board game Labyrinth  which everyone had turns to join in. Then a little ballet concert given by Izzi...but I also just had to join in, the music was too enticing.  Its so lovely to think that all the steps were the same as I had learnt when I was little.

In a Vase on Monday - Birthday Posy

With the few remaining flowers in the garden, I managed to make up this small arrangement.  It is dedicated to my sister, whose birthday it is today.  Just three types of material...three sisters, arranged in my mother's favourite little vase brought back from Japan by my father.  The darker bronze foliage tipped by small white flowers is the Persicaria Red Dragon, a present from Cathy, the little roses are Ghislaine de Feligonde, and white Michaelmas Daisy.  

The Persicaria has now yielded at least five new plants, and all going to members of my gardening club, to raise funds for getting some great speakers for the new year!

The Michaelmas Daisy is magnificent.  I bought it as a small flowering plant, in a pot, the sort you get at the greengrocers for about £1, but it must have been sprayed with dwarfing compound as it was flowering then at about 20cm high.  This year still at the front of the border where I thought it belonged, it has grown to about a meter and is covered with lovely blooms, must appreciated by the bees and other flying insects at this late time of the year.  The stems are strong and there is no sign of flop at all, most probably the best white daisy I have seen!  It very nearly got grazed completely to the ground by the hoards of slugs and snails we had earlier in the year.

The little dish I bought at the airport in Spain returning from my visit to the birthday girl many years ago.

This afternoon we had a walk to the birthday girl's favourite woods, which earlier in the year are bathed with dapple light and bluebells.  Now there is the the 'straw' from the leaves and stems, but on a long fallen silver birch tree were were beautiful fungi...as since this is one of the reasons we walked out there, to see if there were any fungi..I was pleased to see this one.

Cathy is also thinking of Autumn, but her arrangement full of colour is an echo is the glorious weather we are having at the moment.  Do go and and have a peep!

Lincolnshire Plum Buns

Lincolnshire Plum Buns are the newest bake, set for mid June from Jane Mason's The Book of Buns, on our facebook page.  I could imagine that this recipe was specially set in the book for me...but I did not know Jane when this book was first published!

The pancheon that sits on my work top was made a very long time ago, and has been handed down the generations.  Since my Grandma and her ancestors came from Lincolnshire, I imagine there were many a Lincolnshire Plum Loaf  mixed in this one.  I can also imagine Grandma making Plum Loaf into buns, as her children and grandchildren, living nearby,  seemed to know when she was baking, and she loved making buns because each person would have their own very own little 'loaf'.  Recently at my Aunty Prue's 'wake', we had sliced Lincolnshire Plum Loaf, and I thought how delicious it was then.

Found on page 95 of The Book of Buns, this recipe asks for 300g of dried fruit....in days of yore, any allusion to plums in cakes referred to 'dried vine fruits', but I wonder if people dried bits of locally grown plums to store during the winter and used that in boiled puddings?

The fruit is soaked overnight in tea, which makes them lovely and plump.  I used organic raisins, and the drained liquid was then put into the batch of wholemeal and rye bread made up the same day.  Waste not want not?

During the morning on Friday, Keith came over for a chat and coffee, and watched me shape the buns...but sadly they were rising rather slowly, and had not been baked as I had expected, before it was time for him to leave.  Must remind Keith to come in the afternoon next time!  He even helped with the washing up before he left.  Do you think I should take him a couple round when I see him for the open gardens this afternoon?  I did take some for Roy when I took round his loaf later in the day.

These buns are really delicious...the next bun to be sliced had so much fruit in, it made this one look like a 'Skinny Lincolnshire Plum Bun'.  Mr S was impressed by the Friday Buns and we were able to sit outside on the patio to enjoy our Friday Meriender when he got home from work.

In a Vase on Monday ..New Vases

The apprentice is now on her own journey.

Yesterday I received this on facebook....

Izabelle enjoyed your 'in a vase on Monday' so much she started her own 'on Sunday' one. Here's her first vase (bought today in a charity shop) with garden flowers...    

To be correct the first one bought by Izzi, maybe the first one was the one given by Grandma last week?

The composition is lovely, and I wonder whether she took on board some of the tips I passed on, or is it a question of DNA?

During an afternoon spent pottering in the garden yesterday, mainly replanting some over congested sempervivums, using my new lovely wooden dibber, my eye was caught by two pale pink blooms.  As I thought they would be spoilt by a probable overnight frost I cut them and brought them into the house.

The colour of Izzi's vase had been on my mind, and I was searching the 'dark recesses' of my mind, over the washing up this morning, when my eye fell on the very large jam pot, which stands as an ornament on a Kitchen shelf.

Yes that would be the one I would use for many reasons: it was blue and white, and there was a link between this pot, Izzi and I, a very tenuous link, but a link non the less.

When I first moved to Kenilworth, with very few friends, a lovely real 'lady' from the WI became good friends with D and I.  She has a lovely little dog Dudley, and they both come over from time to time, for jam and scones and tea etc.  In addition to the famous scone recipe which was given to me by Jean, and which has won me many prizes, Jean gave me this lovely Jam Jar.  I am in the habit of passing small jars of jam to her,  and she had seen my bowl and mug in the same design.  One day when I took over some jars of jam for her, she gave me the jam pot.  The potter is Laurence McGowan who has his studio in Wiltshire.

The connection between Jean and Izzi is that Jean gave Izzi her first soft rabbit as a Newborn's present.  Now Izzi has an extended family of rabbits!  I think I should take the dahlias round to Jean this afternoon.

For myself I picked a few blooms from the climbing Shropshire Lad.  Close up the blooms show the soft and peachy petals.

Supporting the blooms is some Pittosporum Tom Thumb, which is the dark purple one, and the two tone green and cream with a few pink 'freckles' is the Garnettii.  The vase is a simple, very well loved, and useful vase brought back from Japan by my father many years ago.

Cathy who is hosting this has a lovely collection of Dahlias this week, so do go along an see her entry, and others.                                                                        

In a Vase on Monday - Apprentice Pieces

Just in time to get this posted on Monday...and that is the only true attribute about this entry.  Cathy is quite liberal about the rules...she just wants us to keep going, and even if we don't post, the regulars love to go any time of the week, to see what other have been posting.  So do start with Cathy's memories of her Grannie.

The 'Vase' is a tankard...A very lovely one, hand painted but by an 'apprentice' so a bit wobbly in places.  This was given to me by my little sister Jenny, on her return from France.  For her year 'in the field' for her degree in French, she taught in a School in Rouen, and felt her finances then, could not attain the heights of a master's piece.

Jenny loved the Dahlias at the local shows, and I have been keeping the best for this vase.  I love this tankard, and it sits on my desk usually full of knitting needles.

The arrangement was not made on Monday but Saturday.  I have made one today with similar flowers, but for the one I am posting here, I had my 'apprentice flower arranger'.  Izzi loves the garden, and flowers, and as soon they arrived, I had Izzi in the garden choosing flowers, and having cut them, I handed them to her to put straight in the bucket.  We talked about putting different flowers together, and also using foliage.  We chose some green and some lovely leaves from an Acer which was just begining to turn.  The secateurs were a little too large, but with scissors she looked for some for her posy.

The other reason I wanted Izzi to help is that I wanted to share with her my tradition of making arrangements for people's birthdays...and Saturday was 'Great Aunt Jenny', the giver of the tankard's birthday.  As she is abroad we took the pictures, and posted on facebook.  I then explained to Izzi that we then need to think of someone to give the flowers to, and we decided they would go to her Mum.

Here is Izzi, with her very own first 'In a Vase on Monday'.

We found a lovely little very heavy cut glass vase in my cabinet, and now Izzi has that to use in her bedroom for little flowers.  We also picked some nasturtium seeds for her to grow next year.  You can see that I am taking Grandma and 'Teacher' of In a Vase on Monday, and flower grower seriously

Tootmanik s Gotovo Testo

This a Bulgarian yeasted bake made with a milk and butter dough, which is then layered with lovely white crumbled feta cheese, with egg to bind, and a sprinkling of fresh herbs and topped with paprika.  These days I am favouring Sainsbury's  oak barrel aged feta cheese, bought loose from the deli counter.

This was the bake from 1 August from The Book of Buns Facebook group, but since it would need more than just two people to do it justice, I was saving baking this for a visit from the Wastells today....Veronica has some friends from Bulgaria visiting this coming week, so it will interesting to hear back as to how close this is to the buns enjoyed out there.

As I wanted this to be baked and out of the oven, warm for lunch, I knew I would have problems, but with starting the first part: kneading and rising overnight, I had plenty of time for the rolling out of the layers, filling and allowing to rise.  I feel that there may be an errata in my book, and I shall consult with others and then post here.  The initial shaping involves preparing 9 small squares, then interleaving with butter, but then rolling to the shape of the tin...and with a tin of 12cm x 12cm, the dough amount would have risen many inches.

I used my Brownie tin with a clever pull out section.  I put the dough on the flat tray then slipped into into place.  I bought this some time ago from Bakery Bits, and for this bake it works beautifully.  It is 9 inches by 9 inches, 23cm by 23cm.

The two cheese layers were topped with freshly chopped sage and thyme from the garden.  Within about a hour, the bun was well risen.  I brushed the top with butter, but decided to wait till it was out of the oven to sprinkle the paprika, as I did not want it to burn on the top.  I used some lovely smoked paprika and topped with some more fresh herbs.

It was really easy to remove it from the pan, by sliding the base out then sliding the the bun off the parchment onto the cooling rack.  The bun was the 'centre piece' of our lunch with lots of salad, cold chicken, smoked salmon, prawns, and lots of salady things.  The bread was really delicious, really soft tender, light and tasty.

When Matthew realised there were the Chelsea Buns for tea...he wanted one with a cup of tea for 'pudding'...well you have to indulge your son from time to time!

What did we all end up enjoying?  Izzi had brought a lovely white chocolate baked in her own smaller cake tins about 4 inches I would say, layered with chocolate butter icing, topped with with glace icing, and caramac buttons and other glitter stuff...all made completely on her own, (with a big mess which Veronica cleared up)...aged 5 1/2, in class 1, about to take her first ballet exam, in the choir, etc etc...so pleased to catch up with all her news.  I'm buying Book of Buns for Veronica and Izzi now.

Loosing Aunty Prue

I had a call minutes of each other last week from cousins Timmy and Jane telling me that Aunty Prue had died.  When I was young I came to stay in England and Aunty Prue took me in.  For eighteen months or so she was as a mother to me, and Timmy and Jane brother and sister.  Sadly I only visited a few times in recent years, but each month or so we would have a long call.  Aunt Prue had a wonderful sense of humour, and I could not put the phone down but think that all was well with the world.  She never spoke of anything which was worrying her, was there anything?  Always positive and finding fun things to talk about.

In the past years she was as active as ever.  Going out with her group of friends was one of her favourite things to do, she 'managed' the local bus drivers, and even got picked up and dropped off outside her house.  She also, like granny, loved walking, the local birds and flowers.  She kept her home spick and span, and loved her life, in the village where she grew up in.  She enjoyed her garden and her long front garden was full of summer  flowers brightening up the approach to the village.

Having moved away, been a WRAF, worked for the famous Chocolate Company Rowntrees in York,  where Tim was born, then lived in Manchester  where Jane were born, she returned to her home village.

I remember Aunty Prue telling me stories of how she was the best chocolate catcher:  throwing up chocolates and catching them with her mouth. Rowntrees used to send her to boxing and wrestling matches, with ring side seats so that during the intervals the television cameras would focus on her with her box of chocolates in her lap, and have free advertising.  Back in her village she worked as a Dinner Lady at the Primary School, so was known and loved by all the children in the village.  She even had 'her own walnut tree' near the school, where she foraged for nuts each autumn.  After that she worked at a hard job assembling windows and doors in the large local manufacturers Howarth's alongside 'the men', until retirement.  Aunty Prue knew a lot about the history of the family and the Village, and even came out with a great book for Mr S about the railways in the New Holland.

Aunty Prue really cherished her collections of china:  pride and joy being her Royal Albert Old Country Roses China.  She had cups and saucers, plates, tea pot, jugs, plates etc which she had built up over very many years.  So it is in her memory that I post these roses which I picked the day she passed away.  Just incidentally they are almost the same as on the China.

Another collection was that of ceramic and glass hens the ones which split in half.  I think they were popular for keeping eggs in.  Over the years Aunty Prue had been offered perhaps one or two a year as special prizes at the Village Shows, so the collection was being reduced.  A few years back she offered one to me, and I chose a lovely small one which is on my window sill and in which I keep a bulb of garlic, so each time I stand at the kitchen sink, I have a memory of my Aunty Prue.

Like very many people, I am so sad that I no longer have this lovely lady in my life.  She was looked after wonderfully during her last few weeks by Jane and Timmy, and hospital and nurses.  Thanks to a stent was able return home and as it turned out, for just a few days, and was able to drink and eat just a little.  She passed away in her own home on her own terms, no drugs, no painkillers.

Goodbye to Uncle Colin

Whilst we were on Holiday, my dear Uncle Colin passed away.  Just shy of his 90th birthday, he had  been very poorly for the previous few weeks, and was looked after very well at home.  So my home coming was subdued, and I have been thinking about him since then.  Today I went into the garden, thinking of him and Aunty Doreen, and saw that the Lilly of the Valley was ready for picking.  I came back from their home a few years ago with a variety of plants, and this one has grown very well.  So this is the time to pay a small tribute to him.  Thank you for all you love.

Uncle Colin lived in Lincolnshire all his life, which was full and interesting, and very happy.  Well as far as I know, I shall correct this if not, maybe he went overseas for his military service.  When I was young and living in Mauritius, I started up a pen friendship with his daughter: my cousin Christine.  I guess now we would be friends on Facebook or such like, but in those days, letters were the standard and that took longer.  I remember a little brooch I received one year, made of hazelnuts into a little red squirrel as a Christmas Present.

When visiting their home on family visits to the UK, and later when I was at school here, and also in more recent years, I was always made most welcome.  Uncle Colin had the characteristic traits of the Greenfield boys/men:  tall, handsome, hard working, loyal, good gardeners, and also with a great sense of fun.  He loved the country, wildlife and country walks.  He always was a good listener  and last time I visited and stayed  I was so impressed with the way he was coping.  He had patiently taught birds to come and feed from his hand, taking out raisins each morning after breakfast.  He even made us all salmon sandwiches, just the way they like them there: brown bread, tinned salmon, vinegar etc..delicious.

I also remember now the time we bumped into each other in Lincoln in 2009.  No more chances of this now, but I shall always remember him when I see or smell Lilly of the Valley.