A Tale of a Little Oak Tree...

Once there was a lovely couple - they worked their allotment together for many, many years . They grew sweetpeas and sold them to pay for an annual holiday and they were always happy to stop and chat. They also grew an little Oak tree, they pruned it to keep it little  - like a bonsai oak 'lollipop'!.

Time passed and many years went by ... but eventually and within a few months of one another... they too passed... and went on to garden in the 'undiscovered country' ....

The little tree stayed on the allotment but it's future was uncertain ... so it came to live with us.

It settled in well and coped with it's move but last summer had to move again .... it didn't like this 2nd move and it looked as if it's time too had passed....

BUT.... you never can tell... let's see what happens next Spring we said.

This time the leaves came and looked stronger but it was clear that lots of it's little branches and twigs had died. I had to be brave and cut out all the dead wood ( ... life is like that sometimes....).

While it's shape has changed radically ,  I hope it's original custodians will approve of our attempts to keep it going , but in my mind it will always be their little Oak Lollipop tree :)

Our entries ( and some success! ) at out Local Horticultural Show

As usual we entered some crafts, baking and photos in our local Horticultural Show. 

Lots of beautiful exhibits and lovely things to see !

My eldest  won the bread section ( 2nd year running) with this bread rolls ....

  I won the 3 items of craft section ....

and we loved the veg animals made by some local kids .

I also got 1st in a number of the Art section and OH and youngest each had 2nds in various photo categories.

Our successful day was nicely rounded off as I won a hip flask ( YAY!) and a roast dinner voucher at a local hotel.

It was a lovely day, well organised by our local Stratton and Baunton Horticultural Society and I hope that then Macmillan charity raised lots of money from all the super events and stalls on the school playing field!

.. and when I'm not sewing.... gardening and cooking !

So when I'm not sewing I'm gardening and cooking.

These are my outdoor Cucumbers

 ... and my courgettes ( zuchinni ...)

It looks like there will be a be a bumper crop of cucumbers and courgettes this year so I guess a few people might like this recipe. I use it every year and my Mum in particular is addicted to it .

1.5 KG of diced cucumber and/or marrow and/or courgettes
1.5 KG of diced cooking apples
225g of finely chopped onion
100g of Sultana, 100g raisins, 100g dried apricots, 100g finely chopped ginger, 50g almond flakes
1.5 kg of sugar
900 ml malt vinegar
60 ml Whsiky - optional 

Spices  4 teaspns Mustard seeds, 1 teaspn chilli powder ,  1 teaspn salt , 1/3 teaspn ground cloves, 1/3 teaspn nutmeg

Bung it all in a BIG pan and cook for 2 hours . Bottle / Jar up into CLEAN STERILISED jars. As with all pickles whilst you may use straight away it is MUCH better if left for a couple of months.Great Christmas pressie too ....

ENJOY!

Bank Holiday ! local Horti Show, some family successes!

We had a good day at our local Horticultural show in spite of terrible weather. As a family we put in lots of entries and came away with a bunch of 1sts/2nd/3rds etc !

This joint entry of 3 items of craft by Mum and myself came 1st.


Son won 1st with this super loaf of bread.



I got Firsts in for a Watercolor, a sketch and for this collage


( please don't be too impressed - some categories don't have many entries - however the standard is really high and it's super to see how much talent is bursting out in our area!)