Christmas in England…..
SOOTHED by the stillness of frosty, sun-sparkly days in-between the magic of Christmas and the excitement of a new year, these deep blue Hyacinths, the colour of sky and sea, make me yearn for Spring.
Monthly Archives: December 2014
Baked with Love at Christmas….
Luxuriant with butter, laden with toasted nuts and rum-soaked fruits and cushioned with a moist layer of crème d’amande, this unashamedly rich Stollen is a heavenly Christmas treat. A labour of love to make; a slow, rhythmic exercise of sifting, blending, creaming and rising where every step is an investment of devotion and tenderness as … Continue reading
Vort Limpa; the perfect Christmas Bread
Mysteriously dark, fragrantly flavoured with beer, orange peel and fennel and sticky with molasses, Vort Limpa is my favourite Christmas bread. This spicy Scandinavian rye loaf is named after the Vort or Wort which is the liquid that results from the mashing process in the making of beer, before fermentation begins. The story goes that … Continue reading
“A Shock of Summer Colour”
A shock of summer colour in hot, electric pink and sharp chartreuse; jazzy with garden Geraniums and Nicotiana langsdorffi and nearly as bright as a neon sign.
The Memory of Touch…..
Early morning sees me scrambling up into a thick Devon hedge opposite my house to pick Honesty seed heads. Honesty; that fickle, wayward and gregarious flower which seems happier tangled amongst the Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Hazel than where it started its life, cosseted in my Cottage Garden. Back indoors, something extraordinary happens as soon as … Continue reading
Dartmoor Flower Shed 