FIRE AND SNOWDROPS

Bonfires, bonfires - lit it yesterday and it is still burning (with a little help.) Picked today as no wind as not too antisocial with regard to neighbours. In my own doghouse as wore my favourite fleece and burned a hole in the right sleeve. 

R did more brambly stuff and I raked the banking down and put the debris on the fire. Then more sticks collected etc.

On the banking either side of the stream there are big clumps of wood melick and R has decided these must go. Too lumpy to mow and digging out a nightmare so I have had to resort to spraying them. This is not ideal but I do not have an army of gardeners as they used to do in the old days.

The garden is not the only place with fire - the dawn sky yesterday was very dramatic.

In contrast the cool snowdrops are doing well on the banking and appearing all over the place - the problem being that we cannot remember where we put them when we divided them last year - I Know! We should have used labels but too lazy - and anyway get nice surprises in the winter when they flower.

I am listening to Elbow singing Lippy Kids - he does have a voice rather like my son R (or the other way around.)

Every morning that bird is by or in the pond looking for breakfast. So this presents a dilemma - we like the bird but feel for the frogs. There are no fish in the pond. 

It is so dry I could have mowed the lawn but the mowers are not back from their service. What a shame!

To ze recipe - 

This is called Apple Goody (you must remember some of these emerged at a time of rationing.)

1 pound thinly sliced cooking apples

2 medium oranges

4 level tablesp brown sugar

2 cups fresh white breadcrumbs (UK cups)

2 oz butter

Mix apple with juice and grated rind of 1 orange and 3 tablesp of brown sugar in a greased fireproof dish. Melt butter in a pan and stir in breadcrumbs with remaining tablesp sugar. Place over apple mix. Cook in moderate oven for 50 minutes.

Use last orange sliced as decoration. (If you want - not compulsory.)

I am going to have a - no not tea - I am going to have a small beer.

(I would have a big one but only have small tins.) This will slake the thirst (good word slake) caused by the fire.

And then there is morning - sun, a little warmth, not a breath of wind, the heron waiting for breakfast, birds singing everywhere.

It is good to be alive. We sat out before lunch in the sun (chilly) and had a cuppa and a crossword.

In the afternoon I dug out a new course for the stream where it was disappearing into the septic tank soakaway and rebuilt the various plank crossing points.

We think the lawn the house side of the white birches should be daffodilled but this will have to wait of the autumn now.