Deblyn

Feeding my ever-voracious reading appetite!!

A Pound of Paper - memoirs of a book dealer by John Baxter - very good, but very "English" in its style and content, lots of name dropping of famous people!

A book on practical spirituality which I have jsut started.

You are, therefore I am - Satish Kumar; a book about co-dependence in the real world; a lovely deeply satisfying read

Living off Nature by Judy Urquhart - all sorts of things for doing yourself using natures bounty

Just about to start:

A Life Drawing by illustrator Shirley Hughes

and Bravemouth - a book about Billy connelly by Pamela Stephenson.

What are you all reading at he moment?

This is plan B: I thought it was Wednesday, and had to change the subject line!!

Wet today again, but that just means I will stay inside instead of going out apart from the Post Office. We have had only one lot of snow - a half hour blizzard and thunderstorm combined. Being us, the car broke down in the middle of it on the way back from town; visualise me pushing the car up a road in the middle of all that snow and howling gale - not the best fun I've had............. luckily a couple of women (note, women............!) stopped and helped, and I was able to use their phone to get a friend to come out and he managed to give us a jump start and we got home; luckilu only 4 1/2 miles away. Then on sunday night had torrential rain; our house is up on its own wee hill off the road, so we were OK, but the landlady from the pub came over to say the pub was under 6 inches of water and could we help? On with the boots, and a fairly entertaining evening was had with some of Dorset;s finest fireman baling out the pub! Free beer, too. They will need all new carpets in three weeks time when the floor underneath is dried out.

Today I am going to make some Seville orange curd and Bethany will help probably; I have loads more books to list on e-bay, and am feeling very pleased with myself at having got a seller's account up and running, and have made my first sales!! The money is getting put away towards the five year plan for buying my cottage in the Highlands - but don't tell Mr Lowie, he doesn't know.........................

Helo all, just popped in to see what's going on here. Hope everyone is well, I'm looking forward to geoing through and reading the posts. I may even reply to some of them.............

Everything is fine here, just a few minor headaches about weather, people and the world in general. Plus ca change and all that!

How about now?

Just to let you all know that I will not be posting at Mrs Survival after Sunday. I feel it is time to move on , and my life is heading off in other directions.

I have already informed the people who need to know.

Thankyou to everyone for their friendship during the time I've been here. I may be back in the future, I don't know.

All best wishes

Sarah (Lowlander)

I wanted something fresh and green for lunch yesterday, so I made a pot of sorrel soup.

1 large onion, finely diced

1oz butter

large handful of sorrel

about 1 - 1 1/2 pts of stock

cream or milk

Melt the butter and saute the onion until soft. Add the sorrel and put on the lid; cook for about 5 minutes until wilted. Add the stock, replace the lid and simmer for 30 minutes. Let the soup cool a little, then pass through a sieve or put through the blender. Add cream or milk, season to taste and re-heat without boiling.

This freezes well before the adition of the cream or milk.

Very cold here this morning - as I found out when I rushed out in my slippers (and the rest of my clothes!) to put out the recycling just as the lorry turned the corner!

A hard frost last night, ponds frozen. We are going up to the woods today just foir walk, we'll take the dog and the cameras. We may spot some deer and rabbits about. Not much happening at home; Bethany made some wonderful calendars on the computer, so they have to be put together, we may do that. And make a big pot of soup for lunch!

Hope everyone has a good day.

In Britain (and other countries around the world) the days around the winter solstice have been celebrated for many thousands of years by peoples of all sorts of faith and belief. It is believed by many that when the British Isles were converted to Christianity that the Christian church moved the Solstice celebrations forward by a few days and made that their Christian festival. This is believed to be how most of the current Christian festivals in this country originated.

The Winter Solstice was/is the turning of the year, and was celebrated for the returning of the light.

For me, that is how the seasonal celebrations for this time of year began.

I live in a very small viallage in a rural/agricultural are in arguably the most beautiful county in England. Although we have a road that runs throught the centre of the village, when you turn down the lanes, it's as if you have stepped back in time. The hedgerows at the sides of the lanes and the trees and dykes and ditches have been there for hundreds of years. I often wonder at the people who have trodden the same paths before me (albeit withouth the tarmac!). One of the best features of the British countryside is its timelessness.

No hurry - take it easy! Who is Murphy? Or am I missing something?

We bought and installed a surge protector after our modem got fried this summer. Do we leave it and the computer plugged in all the time , or unplug it when there is a storm? If we unplugged it, would the phone line still be protected? I said we should leave it plugged in, but hubby wasn't sure. Thanks.

All I know about spaniels, including Cockers, is that they are smelly at both ends, so I have been told!!!!!!! Hope this helps....................!!!

(Sorry I can't be more use!)

Whoops, sorry! My usual trick - I was so excited about this site I forgot again, didn't I? No matter , here it is:

www.retreattapestry.com

It is based in Scotland and has some very innovative designs. They are on the pricey side, but are only done in limited numbers, and the money made goes to finance the retreat they are starting up. I might be cheeky and adapt some of the designs myself and do my own. They are lovely ideas, though, and very evocative of Scotland.

It was cold but sunny on Sunday afternoon, so I was out in the garden. It was fine once I actually got out there! I planted out spinach, Swiss chard(the pretty one with the multi coloured stems in red, orange, pink, green and white, also some Rhubarb chard), purple sprouting broccoli and broad beans. I also mulched the rhubarb and did some more weeding and tidying. All helped along by several cups of tea!

I also planted out 18 raspberry canes in one bed; I hope they take this time, as it is the third time I have tried to establish raspberries in this garden! I got them a t a really good price from the agricultural merchants in Yeovil, so that was a bargain (if they grow!)

My fruit trees (except the cherry which should follow shortly) arrived yesterday, so that was quite exciting. I'm very impressed with the quality of the trees - they are all about 4 1/2 ft tall - quince, medlar, crab apple and grrengage. I also got some yellow raspberries that fruit late in the summer, after the summer ones, but before the autumn ones. They are supposed to have a very good flavour. So it looks like tree planting this week and weekend!

I just came across the address for this site in a magazine, and think it may be worth a look if you interested in tapestry.

Hello from deepest darkest Dorset in England too!

We all love stir fries; I make one big panful, and add meat to half of it for the carnivores, and B and I have the other half. The children love it, and it's very good for them.

Hahahaha - never mind, at least you remembered eventually! Oh, yes, congratulations too!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to your sister.

Sometimes I wish I was that organised! I am actually very organised with my cooking, but being a stay at home mother I have plenty of time to cook every day, so do it that way; the children also join in too. I do like to keep some meals ready in the freezer for over Christmas so there is something there if I don't feel like cooking. One revelation to me has been bottling (canning). I made up some courgette curry and bottled it and it is wonderful - home-made convenience food, except you know what is in it! I cook rice and portion it out for the freezer too, so I can use that if I do get rushed. Also crumbles and fruit pies for puddings. Bulk cooking is one of my resolutions for next year, I think.

I like the sound of the Mocha mix.

Wwell done, Ginger. I have no idea how many I have posted, will have to check............

Sounds good and warming to me. I've never made soup with cabbage as the main ingredient, but quite often add left over to vegetable soups and to Italian bean soup.

Sounds good - if you do find it, could you post it here for us too? Thanks...............

So sorry, Di.