26 Saturday May 2012
Posted in The Garden
The sun is shining.
The tadpoles are taddling.
Kitties are snoozing…
… and I suddenly realised how useful chives are in the garden.
Not only do they provide a great addition to potato salads but…
they look beautiful too.
Dual Purpose Plants!
I. love. it.
22 Tuesday May 2012
Posted in Animals
Tags
macrophotography, nature, photography, ponds, tadpoles, wildlife
It’s me! Hurrah!
I’m back from my impromptu holiday. Sorry if you thought I had dropped off the planet!
I’ve got so much to catch you up on.
I’ll start by sharing the above photo of the tadders eating their favourite snack of cat biscuits. They have come along way since this post. They’re doing very well and I think I can just about start to see leg sprouts.
Yay for leg sprouts!
Missed you lots…
29 Sunday Apr 2012
Posted in Home
So another trial was conducted today…
Granola and White Chocolate Cookies
The recipe was again from The Primrose Bakery book…
…(it’s my current favourite).
In the book, it said that the dough would make 24 cookies, but I halved the amounts of all the ingredients and I still ended up with 20, which is masses!
…and as a bonus… it was all quite easy, with the minimum of mess!
Verdict:
‘Very nutty and they feel wholesome, but then you get a bit of chocolate as a treat.’
and
‘Why don’t they have raisins?’
Interesting thoughts from the family then… as always!
If anyone has any other tryout suggestions, please leave a comment with a link to the recipe and I’ll give it a whirl! If you’re interested to see my other baking attempts check out Nutella Cupcakes, Chocolate and Mint Biscuits and Lemon Cupcakes.
24 Tuesday Apr 2012
Posted in The Garden
I followed all the instructions.
I got advice from the guru of gardening {my mother}.
I sowed the seeds early and kept them in optimum conditions.
I pinched them out at 6 inches tall.
So why, oh why, do they not look like the picture above
{again, my mother’s plants}…
…but instead look like this…
It’s a disaster.
I am hoping that there will be some spare ones {of the healthy variety} on offer, for me to replace sick ones.
…because let’s be honest… I don’t think these are going to be doing much!
I hope you haven’t had similar plant meltdowns… x
22 Sunday Apr 2012
Posted in Projects
Tags
clothing, crafts, knitting, macrophotography, photography, wool
The rain has been coming down in sheets on and off all day long.
The garden has been well-watered, the painting has had to wait and the chickens are sitting under their canopy wondering why there are water droplets dripping off their beaks!
I settled down in front of a good film and did a bit of therapeutic knitting!
All that knitting and pearling was wonderful relaxation…
If you are into knitting for tinsies, have a look at:
Adorable Knits for Tiny Tots by Zoe Mellor
or
Special Knits by Debbie Bliss
So sweet!
(I promise I’m not getting commission for mentioning the books… I just love them).
My favourite to knit with is Organic Soya Cotton (so soft and gorgeous)…
…no itchy jumpers here!
17 Tuesday Apr 2012
Posted in Projects, The Garden
Custom-made presents for all your friends!
Gosh we’ve been a bit organised here at the Dorset Finca.
I know, I can hear gasps of amazement… but there’s a secret {it didn’t take that much effort and the results are brilliant}.
Towards the end of the flowering season last year, we did a bit of seed harvesting. The seeds were subsequently planted and then potted on into individual pots. We also potted up any little baby plants and seedlings that appeared in the beds {hellebores are especially good at making little babies}.
We now have a bank of little plants ready to be grown on in a new place.
Instead of keeping them for ourselves, we plan to give them as presents to people throughout the year {unless they really aren’t plant-people, in which case… ummm… maybe an iTunes voucher is in order}!!!
To make the gifts extra special, I put the plastic seedling pots into more traditional ceramic pots and decorated them with lovely ribbon. I thought that the ribbon colour could be tailored towards the personality of the person {I have a particularly gorgeous burgundy and blue striped ribbon, which is a very boy colour scheme}!
If you like the idea… start looking for those seedlings in your beds or…
…you could cheat a bit, buy some seeds and get planting!
15 Sunday Apr 2012
Posted in The Garden
{beautiful in their blue-ness}
I am sure that every year I post a picture of these beauties! Last year it was the water forget-me-not in our miniature pond {here} that got me so excited.
This time, the land variety has decided to make our little wall {from this post} its home.
It has softened up the look of the wall and made it look… friendly!
A friendly wall. I love it!
Where is the little plant going to pop up next?
Oh… and I’m just organising my next post… perfect if anyone is struggling to think up an unusual present for an upcoming birthday. It’ll be right up your street… promise!
12 Thursday Apr 2012
Posted in Home
I know what you’re thinking…
…’what’s with all this baking at the Dorset Finca?’
I know, I agree… I usually get my cooking fix from reading Chica Andaluza or Frugal Feeding.
Well, I’ll explain. Spring and Summer is typically the time for village fetes and my contribution to ours is always – cakes.
This year I thought that I would be a bit more experimental instead of producing my usual lemon drizzle. {I love lemon drizzle cake, its clean zesty flavour makes you believe it is somehow exceedingly good for you}.
The purpose of these tryouts are for me to see whether I can physically make the various cakes and biscuits without too much disaster and to test them out on my family for suitable responses.
The main pressure is that I need to make sure that I bake things that will sell well. {There’s nothing more humiliating than being handed back your prized contributions at the end of the day and being told ‘maybe you’d like to take these back home for tea’}.
Back to the cupcakes in question:
Nutella Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate and Nutella Icing
recipe from The Primrose Bakery Book
the recipe made 12 large muffins
Verdict:
‘I like the Nutella in the cake sponge.’ and ‘They’re quite big aren’t they?’ and ‘I’d like another one but I might be sick.’
If anyone has any other tryout suggestions, please leave a comment with a link to the recipe and I’ll give it a whirl! If you’re interested to see my other baking attempts check out Chocolate and Mint Biscuits and Lemon Cupcakes.
11 Wednesday Apr 2012
Posted in The Garden
Just look what bargainacious things I found at the market today…
Aubretia plants going for a song!
So… to celebrate, I have planted them all the way along this wall.
As I have been driving through the wiggly lanes, I have been spying at other people’s gardens. I found that some of the most impact-ful gardens are those with a mass of Aubretia plants tumbling over walls or bordering beds.
It’s something to do with all that purple!
Well, now I have a piece of the action too… *cue evil-villain laugh*
10 Tuesday Apr 2012
Posted in The Garden
{look at this speedy little grower}
Last Autumn, we gave the various honeysuckles a real haircut…
…like to the ground!
Although it was a little dramatic, the plants look extremely healthy and we’ve now got numerous shoots appearing everywhere.
So while dodging the raindrops, I have been scurrying around with bits of twine and rubber ties, trying to encourage the new shoots to grow in the correct directions.
I’m sure that they will escape from their ties and do their own thing… but at least I will have attempted to bring some order!
My hope is that they will start to grow amongst the virginia creepers, clematis and other climbing plants to give extra colour in the summer.
I hope you’re all either having better weather or, if not, you have something nice to look forward to today… like hot toast! x
