Kitchen Gadget 6 - Pasta machine

In our house pasta is often a quick meal done on a night we are busy. Occasionally we decide to make it more than that and make the pasta from scratch. In order to roll it out thinly we have a pasta machine - two metal rollers that can be adjusted to different thickness's. I have also used it to cheat when making filo pastry - it just about goes thin enough to get away without lots of rolling and...

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Photo Friday - Cannop Ponds

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March in the Chicken Coop

This month in the chicken coop... ... they've not been in the coop. Well they have, but after a winter of using it as a shelter from all the wind and rain they've rediscovered their love of the garden. This has it's ups and downs. It's so much fun seeing them explore again, and they're following us round more. Last weekend Joe was trying to plant out a day-lily we'd bought out of season last year...

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How To... Re pot an orchid

We got an orchid as a thank you present many months ago. As it had gone to the effort of putting up another flower spike I decided we should re pot it. It's really easy so I thought I would show you just how simple it is. So, unlike my usual instructions, how to re pot an orchid in 4 pictures and less than 50 words: Soak, then rinse / pick off the existing compost. Pour in orchid compost...

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Photo Friday - Duck!

Sunny outing to Slimbridge for my little sister's birthday. Lots of interesting birds so I take a photo of a common du...

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Tartan A-line Skirt

So here's the deal. For many years I had worn jeans, jeans and nothing but jeans. They were comfy, they were safe, they went with all my tops and jumpers making wardrobe choices easy. Then last summer, feeling a little guilty for the small collection of skirts gathering dust in my wardrobe I decided to give them an airing. To my greatest surprise I discovered I now love wearing skirts (quite a change...

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Photo Friday - Muddy Boots

Drying in the sink We have been trying to get out walking lots at weekends so that we are more in practice when we go travelling. Given the damp winter our boots have occasionally needed a bit of a clean....

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The Great Swift Bake Off: 2. Biscuits

It's the time of the month that seems to get the most buzz in the office. The expert judge seems to come out of everyone and no two people have the same tasting methodology. It is, all said and done, most excellent! This round we had a slight change in line up, a few new competitors and a couple not competing this time. The end result - seven plates laden with a multitude of biscuits. For my entry...

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And he puffed and he huffed...

and he put the fence up! Three weeks later and we're all back to normal. We've dug in two new posts Cut notches in them to accommodate the cross pieces of the fence panels (that was hard work!) Added some bracing to a rotten patch And finally put the fence panels back in place. (and hooray for the sunshine - we were outside in tshirts all day, brilliant!) p.s. The next challenge...

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Photo Friday - Daffodils

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Life's a Game 3. Chronology

This year we're sharing with you our game of the month. These are all favourites from our collection, or ones we play with our friends. March's game is Chronology Another charity shop find, this months game takes a little more thinking about - though it is set out in such a way that even those with only a slight knowledge of history can take part and enjoy it.  Unlike some of the games...

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Planting 'em up

Last weekend we sat down with our box of seeds for a big sort out. We've thrown out quite a few unfinished packs that were several years old (one of the reasons we think for our poor runner bean harvest last year), and this is what we were left with: Lots of sweet peas. Anyone who followed our harvest updates last year will know we had great success with these, and had bunches through the house...

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