Flowers in November

Yes, that’s a clematis and I took the photo earlier today! Despite the raging wind and lashing rain of recent days, this strand of clematis that has strayed in from my neighbour’s garden flowers on, bringing a bit of cheer to the dullest part of my garden. For some reason it’s always trying to escape from the south facing side of the fence to the north – lucky for me, but not so nice for my neighbour who nurtures it. I get an even better display in the proper season, but these few hardy (or confused) blossoms are a special treat this late in the year.

Peanut biscuits and a thank you

A big big THANK YOU to my friend B who came over and did some housework for me yesterday, so today I’ve actually had the energy to bake, blog AND plant bulbs. Not that I really needed to bake because lovely generous B also brought me lemon drizzle cake (and bulbs and gorgeous photos – am I a lucky woman or what?!), but I’ve been meaning to share this recipe for ages and I needed to test it before writing it down. I tend to cook as I go and sometimes it’s hard to remember exactly what went into a batch of biscuits or a cake…

8oz gluten free flour
half a teaspoon of gluten-free baking powder
2 tablespoons Demerara sugar
2oz butter
4oz roasted salted peanuts (I actually use a 100g bag, but a few more nuts wouldn’t hurt)
1 egg, lightly beaten
water to bind

Mix dry ingredients together, rub in butter, add peanuts (can be lightly crushed first), stir in egg and enough water to make the mixture just hold together.

Use your hands to squish the mixture into a greased shallow baking tray (mine is 11.5in x 7.5in, slightly bigger might be better). When it is fairly evenly spread use a fork or the back of a spoon to smooth it out. Mark into squares or fingers before baking. Alternatively shape into balls and flatten them onto a greased baking sheet.

Bake at about 180deg C for 20-25 minutes. Check halfway through and adjust timing if necessary. Cook until the bars are browning a little at the edges and shrinking – the idea is to get them as dry as possible. Cool on a rack.

Should work with any flour, but cooking time may vary. I use 1oz ground almonds, 3oz buckwheat, 4oz brown rice flour.

This recipe makes fairly plain biscuits, I suspect most people would prefer more sugar, so adjust to your own taste, especially if using wheat flour.

It occurred to me when it was too late that it might be nice to mix in half or two thirds of the peanuts and press the rest into the top of the mixture, so they get nice and toasty when cooked. Next time!

Autumn collage

Earlier this month a friend and I met at my house to “do something creative”. R brought with her a bagful of things gathered from another friend’s garden – seed heads, sweetcorn outers, leaves and berries. She intended trying to create something with the painting Farm at Watendlath by Dora Carrington in mind (there’s a print of it on my spare bedroom wall).

I can’t remember what I had planned to do and in the event we were both too tired to summon up any creative juices. So instead we spent the time eating, chatting and resting (people with ME have strange social gatherings – lying down in different rooms for a rest when we get weary doesn’t seem odd to us at all!). R decided to leave her bag of bits with me to bung in the compost bin, but I got to thinking and fiddling and arranging and sticking, and this is the result…

As well as the Dora Carrington painting, I had in my mind another picture I love – View West by Michael Whittlesea, which is available as a greetings card from Woodmansterne. It’s unusual for me to be able to show the source of my inspiration with any coherence, so perhaps I’m beginning to turn into a proper Art Student at last!

I’m quite pleased with the result which looks better in real life than in the wonky and slightly over-exposed photograph. There are things I’d do differently if I could do it again, unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately!), once you have used “found materials” you can’t use them again… A bit of a metaphor for life maybe?

Blog stats

I had a look at my detailed blog stats today and discovered that Open Houseboats is the most visited post by far (apart from About). Furthermore, it seems to get viewed almost every day. Curious! Unfortunately I can’t tell where the hits come from or whether it’s the same person visiting so often. So, unless someone enlightens me, I guess it will remain one of life’s little mysteries why that particular post seems so popular…

Small pleasures

I made a late sowing of radishes a few weeks ago and they have done really well, growing slowly into large tasty morsels of spiciness. Something to remember for next autumn…

I’m really struggling with the ME/CFS at the moment which is extremely frustrating, because there’s so much I want (and need) to do. Most of which has to be put aside while I regroup a little. So small pleasures like a few fresh radishes, seeing a robin in the garden for the first time in months, happy memories of another warm and sunny October 12th, a bunch of golden chrysanthemums and the arrival of Country Living magazine in the post take on a special intensity.

Appreciating such blessings doesn’t need much energy .

Runner bean revival

I haven’t had any runner beans for several weeks. I’m not sure why they paused production, though I suspect the prolonged dry weather may have had something to do with it. I thought for a while that that was it, and like the courgettes, the bean season was a short one this year. Then I noticed the flowers – masses of them! So I hauled out the hosepipe and gave them a good soaking.

Baby beans formed, but despite the warm weather, they grew very slowly. On Monday I gave them another dowsing and now they are going bonkers – I picked enough for two meals this morning and I reckon I’m on my way to a small glut. Perhaps I’ll have to freeze some after all…

September sun

I love this time of year. September seems to have been much warmer and sunnier than either July or August. I’ve been getting out and about as much as possible to get maximum benefit from the sunshine. On Monday I had a picnic lunch with a friend on the beach at Shoreham. It was utter bliss sitting on the warm pebbles with the sun sparking on the sea and a pure blue sky overhead.

The lack of rain has left the grass looking brown and parched, but many trees are still looking surprisingly green, with just a few hints of red, bronze and gold to remind us that autumn is on it’s way. The trees garlanded with glowing Virginia creeper in today’s picture overhang the car park at my doctor’s surgery. The suburbs have their beauties too!

Home grown meal

Except for the cheese and breadcrumb topping, today’s lunch of courgette, shallot and tomato bake with runner beans was all home-grown by yours truly! And very tasty it was too.

I’m nowhere near self-sufficient in vegetables, nor do I aspire to be, but I enjoy gardening and it’s very rewarding to have even a small amount of fresh fruit and vegetables that I’ve produced myself to supplement my purchases.

When you garden on a small scale it’s hard to know whether you really are saving money by growing your own – the costs of seeds, compost, fertiliser, plant supports, pots etc all add up. And it does require a certain amount of time and effort to grow food instead of weeds…

This year I have kept track of my spending on things for the garden in an attempt to do a bit of a cost-benefit analysis. Unfortunately I haven’t really kept track of what I’ve harvested, so I’m going to have to do some serious guesstimating when I come to do my annual review – oops!

Never mind, I’ll do better next year, at least I’ve made a start. The raspberry harvest probably covers my modest outlay this year and you really can’t put a price on the pleasure of wandering down the garden and eating pudding straight off the plants can you?

Country lanes

I’m lucky to live close to the beautiful Sussex Downland. This morning I drove out of town with a friend to explore some quiet country lanes just off the A24. You know you are getting old when you really enjoy having a cup of tea from a flask, whilst sitting in the car in a field gateway.

We did do a bit of walking too, ate blackberries, picked hazelnuts (which sadly turned out to be all shell and no nut) and wandered around the overgrown hazel coppice in the picture. It was good to see that efforts are being made to rescue the coppice, but I fear that the grown-out laid hedge which surrounds it is too far gone for restoration.

The weather was bright and we were snug in the car, but the wind had a sharp edge to it – autumn is on it’s way.

Easy pickings

On the way back from the local shops this morning I picked just over a pound of lovely juicy blackberries. Searching the hedge beside a quiet twitten for glossy black jewels was a very pleasant task in the hot sunshine. And they will be infinitely more delicious than the chilly pre-packed and under-ripe fruit you have to pay for in the supermarket!

I’m lucky to have a few scruffy spots near to home where I can forage for blackberries – I’m still searching for a place to acquire free apples though…