One shake of a snow globe is all it takes to sweep me up, sprinkled with tiny snowflakes to the miniature world of perpetual Christmas. Two shakes and I am stepping into the snow white perfection of forever winter in the magical world of Narnia. I can even feel the silky soft fur against my … Continue reading
I love old cookery books. Especially those written in the late 1930’s to the 1950’s. These fragile, fusty books evoke a time where vegetable seed sowing charts cosied up beside tips for ‘How to use up the meat on a ham bone when it gets dry and uninteresting’. I might look like a high maintenance … Continue reading
My best friend Janet and I walked together for miles as children; we walked to buy fireworks and sparklers in November and in the Summer we would make the long walk over the allotments to creep up and listen to the homing pigeons coo-cooing in their lofts. Janet’s Dad was the Winder at the Pit … Continue reading
The satisfying sound of acorns crunching under foot jump-starts my senses as I pull on my sou’wester and head off down the garden path to pick carrots. Sensory deprivation is a big issue for me in the dormant months of the gardening year and what helps me through this is keeping my Winter root vegetable … Continue reading
It’s 7 a.m and I am on Dartmoor, getting my morning hit of cool, peat scented air and tramping over a slippery mosaic of wind swept leaves and debris. The storm has passed, leaving the soil wet and cold in my Kitchen Garden and yet, despite high winds and days of rain, the salad crops … Continue reading
A big storm brewing over the South West of England sends me into a spin about getting in supplies. I drive across Dartmoor and get blown into the store where cans and cans of tinned wild salmon are half price! Memories of my weekly Sunday tea with my great aunt and the visiting preacher from … Continue reading
I think we need to get a few things out in the open. I am not a great gardener. I have entered my produce in local shows and I have literally wilted at the sight of the splendour and quality of the competition. But I did once win 1st prize for my ‘Fat Lazy Blonde’ … Continue reading
Cooking for comfort and for friends on a wet Sunday morning…what could be better? The Squash and Pumpkins are all ‘curing’ (toughening their skins) inside in the warm and I am ready to make some great sharing food as the driving rain powers across Dartmoor. Folk are arriving as the yellow butter starts to melt … Continue reading
Dartmoor Flower Shed 