quiet December

It is a quiet time of year here. The time between autumn and Christmas. Today I wrote my Christmas cards and raked up leaves in the garden so perhaps I have both autumn and Christmas.

Christmas is quiet also. We are a small family so very little shopping and present buying. We decorate the house very simply with holly and ivy and then the Christmas tree will be brought into the house on the weekend before Christmas. Sometimes I feel I miss out on the hustle and bustle of Christmas but on lovely quiet days like today, I'm glad we keep things simple.

pause

I think of the winter solstice as a pause. The days have been getting shorter since June and from Friday onwards they will be lengthening again. For a few weeks around the solstice the differences in day length are small, no rapid changes, a slowing down, mirroring the slowing down in the natural world around us, a pause.

The photograph below is my front garden. Where you can see bare soil there will be celandines, daffodils, fritillaries and tulips in the spring, followed by foxgloves, verbena, a hollyhock in summer and in autumn Japanese anemones. The plum tree will blossom and hopefully bear fruit and the hedge will grow and need regular clipping. All that potential is in the small patch of earth but at the moment it is quiet and still, a pause.

There is so much going on in our busy hectic world at the moment, so much to think about and absorb that it is easy to feel overwhelmed by all the news, the problems and the fast pace of life. Like the natural world, perhaps we need to slow down, reflect and recharge, pause, before moving on again.

Vegan for a month

This month I am taking part in the  "30 Day Vegan" workshop run by Heather from "beauty that moves".  It is described as a cleansing wholefood workshop - a month of clean living and clear thinking, which seems just perfect for this time of year.

I have been interested in eating a mainly plant based diet for a while particularly since reading The China Study and this is a good opportunity to give it a try with lots of information, encouragement and some brilliant recipes.

My family have decided not to join me in this so I am cooking two different meals each evening but it does mean that I can choose to eat exactly what I want! My husband and sons like a meat based diet and I rarely eat meat so usually I cook a meal that they will like and then I just eat the vegetables with some cheese or houmous.  For the next month I am going to try to cook myself balanced vegan meals and from the recipes that I've tried so far I think its going to be a good month!

Conkers

I love collecting conkers. There are horse chestnut trees planted in our local station car park and this afternoon while waiting to meet the train I enjoyed rummaging in the undergrowth finding a few conkers.

I like prising open the shell and seeing a fresh shiny conker or two. I collected a couple of handfuls to admire for a few days. When they lose their sheen and start to dry out I will be using them as moth deterrents replacing last years conkers with these fresh new ones.

Opinions are divided as to whether they really work as a deterrent or if its just a nice tradition but has no real effect. I don't mind really, I've been putting conkers in amongst my woollen jumpers and cardigans for years now and even if it has no benefit at all, it can't do any harm can it.

Autumn colours

The autumn colours are just starting to appear in the garden. The leaves on the grape vine are always some of the first to turn. The grapes are darkening but they are still sour, a few more days of sunshine needed. I will know when they are sweeter because the birds will start to eat them!

Less flowers in bloom now but the nasturtiums and geraniums are still going strong

and coordinate nicely with the tomatoes. These have been slow to ripen this year and there will be plenty of green ones for chutney.

The crab apples are ripe and I've picked most of them, about three washing up bowls full! The crab apple tree was one of the first things I bought for this garden when we moved in eighteen years ago. It is still quite a small tree but over those eighteen years I must have picked many pounds of fruit.

The apples have been stewed and are now in the jelly bag, by tomorrow morning there will be a lovely jug full of pink-orange juice. I make jam adding a pound of sugar to a pint of juice. I always use the traditional pound to a pint ratio when working out how much sugar to use, its easy to remember and its nice to think that generations of jam makers have done the same. I wonder if it will survive when the next generation uses metric measurements, 454g of sugar to 0.568 litres doesn't have quite the same ring to it!

Tomorrows jam will be blackberry and apple jelly. I picked blackberries after work tonight. It was a perfect way to wind down after a busy couple of days. Tomorrow I will cook them and filter the juice to add to the crab apple juice. Its a very easy jam to make, the crab apples have loads of pectin so setting is not a problem.

I love jam and chutney making, preserving some of the autumn colours through the winter.

Summer harvest

This has been a good year in the allotment and garden which is reassuring after some of my failures last year. Last year I hardly got any courgettes as the young plants suffered so much slug damage many gave up altogether. This year courgettes have done really well, the photograph above was taken when I returned from holiday and I had loads of marrows to pick.

My runner beans also thrived while I was away. I squeezed a small wigwam of canes into the garden and the plants have outgrown that and are now scrambling all over the adjacent shrub producing loads of flower and beans.

My dwarf apple tree is also doing well, its only 5 feet tall and this year has about 30 apples. The variety is Discovery which has always been a favourite of mine, its one of the earliest apples and I like the way the flesh is tinged with pink under the red skin.

The harvest is getting underway outside the garden as well. We'll have to wait just a bit longer for the elderberries which are only just starting to turn

but there are blackberries everywhere. It looks like being a very good year for them as well.

Lots of lovely sized berries. I have been picking blackberries in the lanes around here for years now and I've got to know where to go for the earliest ones and which bushes don't ripen until into September.

I've always picked blackberries. When I was growing up everybody did and we would be disappointed if we got to a favourite spot and found that someone had been there before us and there were very few left.

When I was picking when the children were small, I rarely saw any evidence that anyone else was picking at all. There were always loads of berries and no tell tale trampled grass that showed someone had been there first.

Things are changing back again now though and over the last few years more people are picking again. It seems to be fashionable to "forage for wild foods" now. I wonder if this will be short lived or whether we are returning to the way we have always lived?

At least there is plenty of fruit this years so lots of us will be able to enjoy traditional blackberry and apple.

Waking up

Everywhere I look in the countryside it seems as if the world is waking up after snoozing through the winter. As well as lots of spring bulbs, the hedges are starting to green up and the trees to come into leaf. The early blossom has arrived (the photo is of blackthorn taken on Sunday) and the fruit trees will soon follow. On Sunday I saw the first butterfly of the summer, a yellow brimstone and the birds are all singing their hearts out.

Back in October I wrote that I felt that as all the animals and plants slowed down for the winter perhaps humans should follow suit. Back then I certainly felt like a spell of hibernation. Now that the days are lighter and brighter I feel ready to wake up again! I know I am not the only one who feels as if I have much more energy now than in the darker months and once again I wonder if we should follow the example of the wild birds and animals (and my chickens!) and sleep less and be more active in the summer and then slow down for the winter months.

I go to a yoga class once a week and we are often told to "listen to our bodies and to do as much or as little as feels right for each of us on that particular day". This seems to be very sensible advice as from day to day our energy levels and our motivation to achieve varies greatly. Our modern time-tabled, over scheduled lifestyles don't really allow us to "listen to how we feel" and work, play or rest at times that would be optimum for us.

Maybe in the future as we run out of fossil fuels and can no longer afford to run a 24 hour society throughout the year, we will once again return to a lifestyle that is more in tune with the passing of the seasons.

As for me now, I will take advantage of my raised energy levels to continue planting at the allotment and then maybe some spring cleaning!

Simple Cooking

Its been a while since I last posted. I was away at the start of the week visiting my parents. Arriving home part way through the week completely threw my routine. It feels as if I have spent all my time just trying to catch up.

I was glad that we didn't have anything planned this weekend and I could spend time pottering in the house. It seemed the right sort of day for some slow cooking.

Using my slow cooker (crock pot) I cooked a small piece of gammon ham with some potatoes and a few cloves for eight hours, adding a tin of butter beans about half-way through. All day long it smelt lovely and then at dinner time all I had to do was cook some fresh vegetables and serve.

Adding the beans bulked it out a bit and I managed to save some of the meat for tomorrow. I've decided on a pie, ham in white sauce topped with flaky pastry. In this case, slowing down has actually saved me time - can't be bad!

Bushcraft

On Saturday evening we went to see Ray Mears. He is touring the UK at the moment with his show called "In front of and behind the lens". He talked about the places he has visited and the television programmes he has made during the last 15 years. It was fascinating. He talked for over two and a half hours and the time passed so quickly.

He has made programmes throughout the world and gathered a lot of knowledge about the hunter gatherer way of life and the skills used. In almost every community he visited, the traditional way of life was dying out and it was only by talking to the older people that he was able to build up a picture of the way they had lived for generations and generations.

What struck me most as he talked about all the different tribes and groups he had met was how in each case they were all very "in tune" with their surroundings. Whether it was tracking animals in Africa or knowing where to find fish in a frozen lake they all seemed to know their surroundings in a way that most of us will never be able to do. There was also a great respect for their environment, for the animals that they hunted and plants that they gathered. These seem to be societies where there is very little waste, when an animal is killed for food every part is used, just enough of a plant is harvested for building, for medicines or for making fire. Traditionally the communities were almost totally self sufficient, as they often lived in remote areas all their needs had to be supplied from the local area.

While we in "developed" countries are trying to eat local foods, reduce dependence on fossil fuels and consume less of the world's resources perhaps we can gain inspiration from these traditional hunter gatherer communities.

Simple Living

I was wondering what to write as I sat down at the computer - I haven't really been doing anything exciting to share.

We tend to judge our lives by the big events, experiences, purchases, etc, but simple living isn't really about the exciting things, its about enjoying the small everyday things.

Its a change of mindset that I think we will all have to make as resources to fuel the exciting activities become fewer and fewer. When we are unable to travel long distances easily, we will have to be content with exploring the area close to home. When travel takes place at a slower pace then there will be time to notice the details.

When it becomes impossible to ship/fly exotic or out of season fruit to our shops, we will have to be content with our local foods and gain pleasure from cooking them well.

When there are fewer mass produced goods in the shops, we will spend more time making things for ourselves. Making and mending are not thought to be exciting but they can be enjoyable, satisfying activities.

So during the last week I haven't done anything exciting but I have enjoyed some simple activities around my home.

Today we had these carrots with our roast chicken lunch. They were on a corner of my allotment and I'd forgotten about them. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that they'd done so well.

I also found just a handful of late autumn raspberries in the garden. There were only a few so I stewed them with some local cooking apples so that we could all share them. They turned the apple a really rich colour.

Finally a few photographs taken on a gentle Sunday afternoon walk just a couple of miles from home - not exciting but a lovely way to spend a very warm October afternoon.

Autumn Days

Its been pouring with rain absolutely non-stop. Today is not a working day for me so apart from taking and picking up from school I've stayed in the house. Normally I hate being stuck indoors, I like to spend my time outside whenever I can but somehow today I didn't seem to mind. I think it must be the time of year, with all living things slowing down for winter, with the cooler and shorter days it seems right to stay in and concentrate on the home.

Living in a modern centrally heated home, the changing seasons do not impact directly on my life. I don't have to think about getting fuel for the cold weather, all I can do is hope that there is no disruption to the gas supply. Likewise in todays world, food habits needn't change with the time of year. It is possible to get whatever we want whenever we want it from the supermarket. Most people are very removed from the natural cycles of the year.

Even so there are small changes of routine that take place at this time of year and I like to do these tasks that mark the passing of the seasons.

Yesterday I fetched the winter weight duvet from the loft and also sorted away some summer clothes and brought out my thicker woollen jumpers.

I have been taking cuttings of geraniums which I will keep on a windowsill so that I have plants for next year.

Yesterday when it was dry I brought these back from the allotment.

These are the seedheads from last winters leeks. I left a couple of plants to go to seed at the end of last winter and these are the seeds that I will plant next year. They are the last of my saved seeds for this year, I have already saved lettuce and parsnip. I meant to save broad beans but I forgot and ate them all and of course no marrows or squash this year as mine didn't grow well at all.

The colder weather also changes the foods we like to eat and I am starting to cook hot-pots and stews in the slow cooker. Its the time of year to make soups, butternut squash being one of my favourites even if I had to buy them this year.

Another thing I look forward to in the winter is longer evenings for knitting and spinning. As there is less to do outside at this time I can finish all my household chores during the day and then fit in a couple of hours knitting in the evening, a perfect end to a day spent at home.

Conkers and Moths

One of the high points of Autumn for any child is collecting conkers. My boys loved them when they were younger although they never played conkers as much as I did when I was at school.

They don't go out looking for them anymore but I still do.

I will keep these in the bowl for a few days just to enjoy them and then when I am sure they are quite dry they will be put amongst woollen jumpers to repel moths. I've been doing this for years but haven't been able to find any scientific reason why it should work. Maybe it doesn't work and I've just been lucky to avoid moths.


In a few days I will be replacing last years conkers with the new ones and cleaning out the chests of drawers. Apparently moth infestation is happening more frequently these days mainly because a greater proportion of our clothing is made from natural fibres than a few years ago.

I've always used conkers but lavender and Cedar oil are also thought to help. I have some dried lavender so perhaps I'll add that as well to be sure.

Finished

At last, just in time for the cooler autumn evenings, I've finally finished my shawl. It is knitted from handspun shetland. I have already knitted a cardigan from this fleece and wanted a project that would make use of some finer spun yarn. This weekend I finally got round to sewing in all the ends and blocking it.

The pattern (Birch from Rowan Magazine 34) used Kidsilk Haze and 5mm needles. I used smaller needles and spun the yarn thicker than Kidsilk so that I ended up with a less lacy shawl.

I am really pleased with the result. Handspun pure shetland yarn is always very soft and light. The flock that the fleece came from was not registered organic but the sheep were kept under organic conditions, I washed the fleece in Ecover washing liquid and obviously spun and knitted it by hand so I think that its environmental impact was pretty small. Added to that, as it took just under a quarter of the original fleece which including postage I paid £12 for, then the shawl has cost me just under £3 - a bargain!

Quiet

The morning started very quietly today, there was very little wind and everything seemed still.

This is the first full week of the autumn term and so we are all settling back into our school-time routines. The quietness of the morning seemed to emphasise the return to a more structured time-table.

I took a detour on the way home from dropping off at school to pick a few blackberries. Just half a mile outside the village there was little sound, apart from the cawing of some birds pecking for grain amongst the stubble of the harvested fields and in the distance, across the fields, the sound of the children at the primary school that my children used to go to, playing outside before the start of school.

It was misty and slightly damp, it seemed as if I could almost feel the countryside beginning to slow down in preparation for winter.

I like quiet. When I am driving or when I am in the house by myself, I rarely listen to music or to the radio preferring to lose myself in my thoughts in silence.

As we have become more aware of our energy use and have not replaced appliances as they have worn out, I find that there are more moments when there is complete quiet in the house. No longer any whirring of a dishwasher or breadmaker, often the only thing switched on in the house is the fridge.

Until recently this must have been the level of noise in most homes. A couple of generations ago there may not have been a fridge.

Electricity came to our village in 1936. According to a local history booklet,

"The Wessex Electricity Company installed three lights and one 15 amp 3 pin plug free for each new customer."

-not much scope for a lot of electrical appliances then.

I wonder if the continual background noise we are subjected to, aircraft, traffic, etc, apart from the noise we generate ourselves, contributes to the general level of busy-ness and stress that many complain of today.

Perhaps in the future as we are forced to cut back on our energy use, amongst the many disadvantages will be the benefit of a quieter,calmer environment.

The photographs were taken during my blackberry picking walk this morning.

A rainy Sunday

It has been raining all day today. It has been gentle steady rain, not so hard that it runs straight off the land but the sort of rain that seems to be really soaking into the ground.

A rainy Sunday is a perfect excuse for a leisurely day. It was too wet to garden, I couldn't do any laundry as obviously it wouldn't dry and I didn't feel like going out. I stayed in the warm and dry at home. Bread was baked, cakes were made (and quickly eaten) and there was time for some sewing and spinning.

I know the British are famous for grumbling about the weather but this has been one wet day I've really enjoyed.

Thinking Slowly

Trying to live more slowly is proving difficult for me as not rushing means doing less and then getting stressed over things left undone - not the calm situation I was hoping for.

I've been reading a bit about yoga, meditation, mindfulness and think I perhaps need to change my mental attitude to rushing. I am an enthusiastic list maker and those lists that don't get written down are always whirring around inside my head and stopping me concentrating on what I'm actually doing. So while I will still try to physically slow down a little, I am now trying to give a bit more attention to what I'm actually doing in any given moment instead of mentally organising the future.

Today I had to drive my husband into town for a business meeting at 7:30am. Our youngest son came with me and we took a short detour to a local nature reserve on the way back.



This lake is really near the motorway and there was a constant roar of traffic but in the midst of that it was still very peaceful. So this is what I'm aiming for, moments of calm within the rushing and busy-ness.

A Spring Walk

I heard on the news that during the Easter weekend which is the busiest UK travel weekend, 2.5 million people will be flying abroad. Out of a population of 60 million that just seems a huge number - just imagine the number of flights, the number of aircraft that must exist to carry all those people over the space of just a few days. Anyway we stayed at home ( we haven't even used the car for the past two days) and have enjoyed very warm sunny spring weather.

This morning we walked on local footpaths to the nearby village of Silchester which was an important Roman Settlement. Most of the roman town walls and the amphitheatre are still standing. The modern day village stands outside the old walls but the village church is within them.

The amphitheatre - built approx 50-75 AD.

Roman town walls

Also a couple of "non-roman" photos from our walk.

A very cute alpaca

Some larch cones just because I like their colour!