Autumn Productivity

I've had very busy morning and i think it has to do with the Autumn Equinox giving off loads of energy and the fact that the Moon is waxing which always makes me want to be creative . So this morning I was creative in the kitchen . I made 24 , 1 pound ,jars of piccallili and 12 , 1pound ,jars of pickles . Not all for us I hasten to add , my darling children will be round on Sunday to see what's on offer :0) .
Then as I still had some yeast left from my bake the other week i made 9 pounds of flour into bread . These bread rolls are destined for a coffee morning in aid of the Macmillan Cancer Nurses at my friend Christian's . We are going to knit squares for comfort blankets .

Fresh loaves in their swanky new breathable bags from Lakeland Ltd .

I've got enough bread to last a few weeks now , and when that's gone we are going to indulge and get a breadmaker .

Now a little bit of Gin progress . I now have the gin in these fantastic jars I got from our local Matalan . They were only £3 each and are perfick as they have a seal on so no evaporation . I have made 4 litres of Sloe and 1 litre of Damson.
This week I have also spun 200grms of fibre into yarn . Plyed another 400grms and I'm half way up a sweater knit in the round for myself .

Hmm I'm quite out of breath now and I'm going to have a sit down and brew.

Autumn Equinox / Mabon

Mabon Greetings to one and all . Well Autumn officially starts today . There has been a nip in the air in the mornings for the past week or so and you could really smell Autumn creeping up .

As usual I have decorated my hearth to reflect another turn of the wheel . Oranges and golds to symbol the turning of the leaves from green .
A hearth full of cones and nuts , natures bounty.

And the bower is filled with berries from the Rowan and the Rose with oranges and Cinnamon sticks to finish it off . It all gives a nice warm glow of an evening when we settle down to our crafts.

Talking of natures bounty . We went a walk on Sunday and collected a load of Sloes to add to my already bulging stock of fruits . These were not destined for jam but Sloe Gin .

This is how you make it .

Take one pound of Sloes and prick them all over with a needle or cocktail stick . If you have them get the children to do this they'll love it .

One litre of Gin . It doesn't have to be expensive . I just get the cheap stuff .

Eight ounces of caster sugar .

Put the whole lot into a Rumtoft or a glass container big enough to take everything , then give it a good stir. Stir it every day for a week until the sugar dissolves . Then seal your container and put it somewhere dark and leave it for at least three months . The longer the better . After that strain the liquid off and bottle it . Very nice on a cold Winters night. You can do the same with Damsons and at the end make a pie with the fruit . Delicious with ice cream .

The next few weeks will see me making all my jams and pickles and storing them for the year ahead . I've probably said this before ,I love this time of year . I've got a freezer full of fruit and

I've been out today collecting all the ingredients together to make pickles and piccalilli . I'm just awaiting a delivery of jam jars then i can get cracking :0)

Jam , Jerusalem and a Sunny September Sunday walk .

This Blog is going to be two days worth . A sort of B.O.G.O.F.

I had intended blogging last night but by the time I'd finished for the day I was a wee bit tired.We had a long walk on Friday and went to our favourite blackberrying spot and manage to pick three pounds of fruit . Which wasn't to bad considering the way the weather had been .At one time we could pick ten or twelve ponds at the same place. I heard on the radio recently that blackberrying is dying out and that people don't bother anymore to go out and pick this free fruit from Mother Natures larder. When i was young we couldn't wait till this time of year to spend the day along the canal bank with a picnic and come home laden with fruit. Anyway what we picked made this lot . Then I got bit by the preserving bug and spent Saturday having a whale of a time.
I peeled 10lbs of onions and bottled them in spiced vinegar . They have been put away and will be ready for Christmas . That's if I can keep DH away from them for that long

Next I made Lemon Cheese . I was well chuffed with this as I've never made it before . I think it was a little runny but it tastes delicious. We had some on hot croissants for breakfast this morning.

Marmalade . I must admit I cheated with this one ,I used a tin of prepared stuff .

Finally Piccalilli . Or Pickled Lily , as my children used to call it . DH won't have to wait as long for this as it can be eaten within a month.

I really enjoyed myself making all this . It's a long time since I had the time to do it .Things are very slack Craft Show wise at the moment and yesterday has got me wondering if I want to carry on at the rate I was doing withe the shows . Working all week making stuff then going out at the weekend selling it . Then starting again Monday morning. I am going to take a big step back and re-evaluate what I want from life. I don't want to pack up altogether but I think it's time for a change. ( I think I'm repeating myself . )
After all this pickling and what have you ,as I said I was a wee bit tired . But not to tired to watch The Last Night Of the Proms
I've watched for as long as I can remember . When I was young I used to sit on a cushion in front of my Dad's chair and watch Sir Malcolm Sergeant conducting the orchestra and singing Jerusalem . It always brings a lump to my throat.

Sunday's blog.

As it was a gorgeous day we decided to do our long walk . It's about an 8 mile circular. Of course we took a bag and got another couple of ponds of blackberries . There was also a wayside stall on the way round selling Bramley apples . 3 lbs for £1 so i got a bag and will put them with the blackberries either for jam or pies. Haven't made my mind up yet .

Could this be one of the last roses of Summer . It was the last on the whole bush anyway. There were plenty of insects feeding on it anyway.

These poor cows didn't look to happy about having to be brought inside a full month earlier than they should be . The weather has been so bad that there isn't any grass for them . It's going to cost the farmers a pretty penny this Winter, feeding livestock indoors so soon. It will certainly put the price of beef up to cover the extra costs but the supermarkets will screw the farmers into the ground to get a cheap price.

Our walk takes us past my sister's so we called in for a much needed brew. This is Meg meeting Mrs Jones , my sister's cat . Meg was quite intrigued by her and just wanted to play but Mrs Jines had other ideas like sleeping. Luckily both cat and Dog are quite laid back so no blood was spilt. Well thats about it . Hope you haven't fallen asleep reading this long blog but you have got two days worth . :-))))