Deblyn

Seldiesgirl, when I said I can't follow that one, I didn't mean follow as in understand. I have known Debbielee long enough to well understand her post! What I meant was that I couldn't think of any post to follow her post that would have quite the same impact as hers............

I can't follow that one...................

I think it would be better in the New Year - I get easily confused! I would hate to lose track of what I have to send where, and want to get it right; I'm involved in a couple of other exchanges as well. It would also give us time to get the fabrics together, not to mention saving up for the postage!! I would be more than happy to take part in January, as it was such a success. Have a break , Snowmom, put your feet up!

I think it will be a bit like spaghetti squash. I grew them because I once saw a picture of them and thought how nice they looked. I didn't realise how big they would grow. That is a large hen's egg in front of the larger one to give some idea of the size! Angel hair wine sounds a much better proposition - I'm on the job this afternoon.....................!!! What a good idea!

You are such a tease.................!!

We can always rely on Deb, can't we?!!! Cock = short for cockerel = any old poor chicken that had died of old age (or possibly something else) and was not to be wasted so they put it in the soup. Not in my house they don't............... A long time ago they used to put dead chickens into barrels of fermenting beer to add "body" to it, and they used to put rats into Somerset cider to do the same. And people wonder why I brew my own!!! The prunes just give extra flavour, yes, slightly sweet. I think they were cheap and plentiful and easily obtained, and it was an extra way of getting fruit into bodies without the expense of buying the fresh fruit in the winter months. They swell up with cooking in the liquid, and add extra colour too.

It's a jam made out of this particular type of gourd; the flesh is cooked several times over (takes 3 - 4 days to make) and goes like strands of hair. I've never tried it and I think it will be very very sweet. I'll probably give it a go as I don't know what else to do with them - they are HUGE!!!!! Angel hair jam by the bucketful, anyone? Please?!

I grew these in one of the greenhouses over the summer; they can be used to make Angel Hair jam - but how much Angel Hair jam does one woman need?!

This is a very old traditional Scottish soup, and great for warming you up in the winter. I don't eat it with the chicken, but like the rest of it! Make leek and potato soup, and add prunes and shredded or diced chicken towards the end of the cooking time. It's very nourishing and filling; my granny used to live on it for days at a time!

This is how I make mine; as usual, no exact recipe and precise quantities! Put some oil and a dod of butter into a large pan; add one medium onion, chopped finely and one small clove of garlic, chopped finely too. Take about three large leeks, wash well to remove any grit and shred, but not too finely; add to pan. Take about five medium sized potatoes, peel and cut into chunks; add to pan. Add stock of your choice and simmer until vegetables are tender. You can put it through a blender if you like, but I prefer it as it is. Cream and black pepper are nice added when serving. The soup freezes very successfully.

I like the gardening/cooking ones too. One of the best in recent years is Fork to Fork by Monty and Sarah Don; lovely photos, great recipes, all out of their garden. Another good one of this ilk is by Christopher Lloyd, whose garden is at Great Dixter. His book is called Gardener Cook and is more upper crust than Monty's book. It is a good read, though, and I find his writing very good. The River Cottage series is good, too; Hugh Fearnely Whittingstall took on a gamekeepr's cottage for a year (not far from me, here in Dorset) and turned it into a small holding - grew veg and fruit and kept livestock. He's a great cook, passionate about local and "real" food. He has his own website at www.rivercottage.com which is very good. If you go there, you will probably see my name in the forums! I met him too - he's a lovley bloke. I went to a lecture on sausage making at the lcoal agricultural college; he was selling his latest book at a discount rate, so he signed my copy, which is lovely!

Thanks for the explanation - I though it sounded like the title of a particularly bad science fiction film!! Leeks will stand a lot of frost and are completely hardy, so you should have no problems. I usually sow them from seed as it is much cheaper. This year I bought some seedlings from a speaker who came to the garden club; he had some spare ones going quite cheap, so I got a couple of pots of those and lined them out. Another advantage growing them from seed is you get to choose the variety. A lot of the commercial ones are F1 hybrids, which I try to avoid in the garden. I like growing heritage varieties. One of the nicest ones I grew was a very old French variety; when the weather got cold enough the leaves went from green to a dark shade of purple - they looked lovely, especially in the frost. If the ground freezes hard, you won't be able to dig the leeks; what you can do, though, is dig up say a dozen or so every couple of weeks and heel them into looser soil, so you can get at them. The soil keeps them fresh and you can still get them more easily.

The mobile didn't have The Handmaid's Tale, but I did find The Red Tent! So I will read that one first, and go in tomorrow to the terrestrial (!) library and get the Handmaid. The Red Tent sounds completely different to anything I would normally choose to read, so that should be interesting!

The postal workers were balloted and have narrowly voted in favour of NOT coming out on 8 one day strikes between now and Christmas. So, I should be alright to get the christmas ornaments off on time!!

Yes, I like goats and am trying to find a place to fit them in our garden somewhere, but hopefully it will be nxt spring. I would rather have more children, though. They are better at washing up and putting out the dustbin......................

This is similar to the post Dee put up in the Sunporch about word perception. Did you find something like it at the same time? btw, Mr Lowie says my mind is a strange thing, but I wouldn't know, I don't go there much - too scary.

This reminded me of the phrase "random acts of kindness" - pity more people don't practise this, isn't it?

Talking of open windows - one of my favourite things in the autumn is to have a hot bath early in the morning with the bathroom window wide open. I love the combination of hot steam and very cold snappy air coming in to met it. Really sets you up for the day as my granny used to say!

Right, me next............... I need just over 700 I think.............

The first frost is threatened for next week, according to tonight's weather forecast. Not down in the very south where we are, though; we should have a few weeks left before the groundforst comes first. Yes, leeks grow throughout the winter and do well for me usually. Nothing like a big plate of leek and potato soup in the winter; we like them as a cooked veg with a strong cheese sauce too. They are planted out in August, and are still going usually in February/March, so they are really useful. I always leave one or two to flower as well - the bees love them when the come back out in the spring. What on earth is termination dust? Do I want to know? It sounds awful!

Nope, got the cheerio straight away! We will have to compare notes on hubbies' reactions I think!!

My favourite colour (at the moment, but it changes occasionally, much to Mr Lowies' consternation when it comes to decorating) is a very precise shade of duck egg blue with a hint of green in it; it is a very calming colour, light, peaceful and will look wonderful in our bedroom when we finally get around to painting it (no I haven't told him yet, but it WILL be that colour!). Luckily I have a little china pot in the exact colour I want, so I can take that along when we go to buy the paint.

We live only about 8 miles from the "real thing" and see him regularly; I saw hime a few times before we moved up to this part of the county, but as I had absolutely no trouble whatsoever in conceiving, I didn't need to sit on him. Mr Lowie now thinks that two children are just the right amount, so I am definitely not allowed even in the same field as that giant! I would like another four children, but don't suppose that will happen now. Mr Lowie tries to placate me by saying I can get a couple of goats, but it's not quite the same, somehow.........................

Too clever for me - I couldn't think of any to add!

Isn't that amazing! You never can tell how your actions (or inactions) will affect other people.