Using gifted windfall apples

 

I used to bring back windfall apples from the family home in Dorset to use over the winter. An apple cake is especially good for using up apples & Olive used to make the most delicious Dorset apple cake for a treat. 

I sometimes add apples to my standard Victorian sponge recipe to use as a quick pudding, or have made an applesauce cake too from this recipe with windfall apples. 

While in Dorset, Ms M offered some fallen apples & I selected some that were not bruised or already enjoyed by the birds. 

Once home, I peeled & diced some. With the better ones, I peeled, carefully cored then cut them in to rings. These were briefly brought to the boil with a cinnamon stick, removed with a slotted spoon & open frozen on wax paper in the freezer. They are stored ready for a cake in winter when rings look good on the top. 

The diced ones were lightly cooked with a cinnamon stick & a little sugar, then frozen in 4 foil containers to use in cakes or as apple sauce with pork over the winter.

A good way to save gifted apples to use later on. 

How do you use up apples? Any good recipes to share please? 

Thanks for stopping by, it is always appreciated

Dee 🍎🍏🧃

Falling for an Enchanted Tree ...

 

While browsing the market stalls in Dorset, I always look out for interesting china items. 

I spied this set from across the path & had to head over. 

It is a set I have looked at online, Portmeirion's Enchanted Tree pattern with its cute forest animals & delicate woodland pattern. 

The deer, rabbit & birds are set around a tree of life motif which is very pretty. 

I bought the 2 plates, salad & cereal bowls he had & have decided they will become my everyday set I use at home instead of the white ones we use.  

There are no extras on the Portmeirion website so it is a set that was a limited production & it is no longer produced. 

However, I am not pleased that it is made abroad (China) instead of in our own potteries at Stoke on Trent. 

I imagine it is a financial decision as production is cheaper abroad which really puts our pottery industry at a disadvantage.  

I will use & enjoy them daily - much nicer than a plain set. 

Do you have a specific pattern you use & enjoy? Tell all ... 

Thank you for stopping by, please visit again soon,

Dee 

Taming the house plant jungle

An abundance of greenery makes a house feel comfortable & homely. Many of our larger plants used to live in our inglenook fireplace but had to move when we installed a wood burner some years back. The smaller plants live happily on either side of the fireplace in raised stands. However, our conservatory has been home to the very large ones; they are usually on the console table but because of their size & height, they regularly tip over & the mess is unwelcome. 

My myriad of large houseplants have spent the summer outdoors, partially shaded by a large laurel bush & a fatsia japonica. It is an annual thing, easier to maintain but also easier to wash down their leaves properly & give them air. 

With a busy fortnight ahead, I thought it time to bring them in. However, because some have grown rather large, they are prone to tipping over on the conservatory console table so a solution was needed.

While out at the local garden centre, I had a thought - perhaps they need to be grouped en masse in a trough. At first the idea was for a trough on the console table but there were none that was suitable and the reality was if one tipped, they would all fall over in a domino effect. 

A black Elho trough caught my eye - quite substantial with built in wheels. The trough could sit on the floor where it can be wheeled away for cleaning yet the plants would be more stable at ground level. It was nice enough to be an indoor planter too. 

I measured it, checked back home & then returned to buy it. My 3 outdoor raised planters with the clear lids are ehlo & I love their quality.

I filled the bottom of the new trough with some of our lovely leaf mould (made with our leaves that are raked under the corner hedge to break down) and then added a generous layer of fresh compost. 

With the new trough in the conservatory door, it was good working height & I could gather the plants that have spent the summer on the outdoor patio. I started with the biggest ones & gently potted them in to the trough, moving them around to fit in, then put the smaller ones in between & gently filled all the spaces with additional compost. A variegated spider plant and an arrow head plant had grown rather prolifically over the summer so it was added for interest too. 

A messy job as compost flicked about on the leaves but once I was happy that all the plants were in one place, it was time to test out the inbuilt wheels. They really surprised me by gliding smoothly & the trough could be wheeled in to place quite easily. That is a massive bonus for cleaning.

I tidied up the plants by adding supports & some twine to keep the branches where I wanted, then under planted with coloured tradescantia's. A pleasing change that will be easier to manage. 

How do you deal with all your houseplants? Are you temped to mass them together or do you prefer them dotted about? Tell all. Thank you for stopping by, it is appreciated, 

Dee 🪴🪏🏡👩‍🌾

Successful summer plant propagation ...

 I love the challenge of growing some things every summer. We do salad leaves in the planters & 5-6 tomato plants in a grow bag along the sheltered side of the conservatory. 

The tomatoes have loved the hot sunny weather & we have had a reasonable crop this year - red  & so tasty, a big change from the largely tasteless supermarket ones. 

You really appreciate the flavour & effort when you grow them yourself. 

I always cut some herbs for the conservatory vase in summer - it highlights the fact that herbs are flowers too & you get the delicate scent when at the table. 

The bonus is always that some of them grow while in water which is a welcome bonus to add to the herb planters. 

I cut thyme (did not root in water), mint (of course it did), sage (a success) and my favourite lemon verbena that I have NOT had success with in the past. 

I am amazed that all 4 lemon verbena cuttings rooted & I am delighted to have 4 new plants. 

I have planted the herbs in 3 pots that will stay indoors in the cool conservatory over winter to establish themselves. 

I also took cuttings of  my pink mophead hydrangea. They have not had a happy summer because it has been hot & dry & at times have looked very down cast with their heads & leaves drooping. 

The cuttings were in water for ages & have developed leaves along the stem where I cleared the leaves from, a sign there is life. 

They have been potted up in soil, the mophead flower alongside them so I remember which cuttings are which.

I took cuttings from daughters hydrangea up north. It is a prolific bloomer with gorgeous white heads. 

The first cuttings taken more than a month ago did not look well so I recut them a few weeks ago & kept them in water. 

One has now rooted in a line along the stem - not at the nodule. That has been transferred to a pot with soil & will be carefully tended indoors over winter. 

Some of the other cuttings from that white hydrangea show signs of rooting & they will stay in water a little longer. Fingers crossed for a few more successful cuttings. 

It is a personal challenge to get these things right & it is one I enjoy. Who else likes a gardening challenge? Tell all please. 

Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate all the visits & the comments even more.

Dee 🪴🤞💐🌺

St Milburga's well

St Milburga is the patron saint of Shropshire. She was the daughter of the Anglo Saxon King Merewalh, ruler of Shropshire & Herefordshire. Milburga /  was born in the 600's and died 27 February 727 at  Wenlock Priory. We are told this about the family 

Milburga’s father was Merewalh (d. c.685), king of the Magonsaete. His domain, a sub-kingdom of Mercia – the Anglo-Saxon kingdom that covered much of the midlands – encompassed the modern counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire. Merewalh converted to Christianity in 660, marrying Domne Eafe (d. c.700), a Kentish princess. Her lineage included King Ethelbert (or Æthelberht; d.616), who had welcomed St Augustine on his mission from Rome to convert the English in 597.

Milburga’s family was distinguished by its piety and sanctity. Her mother, and sisters Mildred (or Mildrith; d. c.700) and Mildgyth, all became abbesses and were destined to be venerated as saints, while Ethelred and Ethelbricht (d. c.670), her maternal uncles, were regarded as martyrs. Her father was a founder of monasteries, including Wenlock, Shropshire, in about 670–80.

They were a pious family  that had converted to Christianity in 660AD, establishing several monasteries & abbeys in their jurisdiction. Milburga & her two sisters all became devote Abbesses.

 In modern day Much Wenlock, a stones throw from the Priory ruins is a well dedicated to St Milburga. 

Its water was considered sacred & had healing powers in times past. 

We strolled the streets of the pretty town & stopped by the well on a visit last week, no water runs from it now but the spot is marked. 

There are mentions of her in the nearby Priory where she was Abbess that I often take visitors to. 

A timely reminder that history is all about us & you find something new every time you visit a place, even if it is a local one that you stop by regularly. 

I hope you have found this interesting, do stop by again. 
Dee 🔔⛲️👑