Our traditional village fête

What a hectic weekend! Worked yesterday morning, then rushed back home to walk the dog and ice some cupcakes for the village fête, which was starting at 2pm. Knowing I would be short of time on Friday and Saturday morning, I had baked the cakes on Thursday evening, and they turned out really well. Mind you, what a palaver - I can only make 6 cakes at a time and only have 2 tins, so when one tin comes out, I have to run it under cold water until it is cold, before drying and refilling it. I did this 5 times!

The reason for the limited capacity is because my Rayburn caught fire on Easter Sunday, and needs servicing. They couldn't come until June, and I was going to put it out anyway this year June-ish, to try to save a bit of money on oil. So I thought I would wait until September (mind you - didn't bargain on the weather being so awful!) Anyway, as I have  no other cooker, I have to cook them in my combi microwave, which has proved absolutely invaluable.

So back to the icing - all went well and I used up a few bits left over from the Jubilee tea.

It was a bit of a rush but got to the fête just on time, took the cakes to the food stall and when I opened the tin, they looked so delicious, I had to buy one. Ha ha ha - I'm sure that wasn't the idea!

There was lots going on aside from the cake stall, there was a plant stall, bric a brac, book stall, charity stall, raffle, tombola, cream teas, bat the rat, a golf game, apple bobbing, balloon modelling, puppet show, golfing game and one where you have to throw a £1 at a bottle of champagne, and the nearest person, wins it. Sadly, I didn't even get mine on the 4ft square board that the bottle was standing on!

Such a very British thing, the village fête. Ours has changed very little since I first attended 35 years ago. One of the nicest things about it is the maypole dancing. This year there was a display which went brilliantly. The dancers all hold a ribbon and weave in and out of each other, creating a lovely pattern of criss crossed ribbon down the pole. Then, it's all change in the other direction, and amazingly, the ribbons were back to their starting position. Last year they got terribly muddled up, and everyone had to let go of the ribbons so they could be untangled!

As you can see, everyone had a fun afternoon, and luckily, the weather managed to stay dry all the way through. So many people put such a lot of work into it so hopefully a lot of money will have been raised.

Last of the summer wine...and beer....

A few of us went up onto the hill to celebrate the summer solstice last night - 5 of us in fact this year. Wandering down the lane carrying coats and quite heavy bags containing everything except the kitchen sink in the warm early evening sunshine, it occurred to me we looked just like a scene out of  'Last of the summer wine'. Coming to think of it, it was only a couple of weeks ago that a friend described my home as like 'Auntie Wainwright's' - I can see a common theme developing here!

We walked through the farm and started up the hill, before we stopped to wait for a latecomer who we could see in the distance. I think everyone was grateful for the rest, as there was certainly a lot of huffing and puffing going on!

We all got going again and proceeded to climb the hill, which was steep in places, collecting a little kindling on the way. When we found a suitable place, we spread out our various blankets, lit the BBQ and enjoyed a balmy evening watching the sun go down, and enjoying the most fabulous views, with food, wine, beer and friends. Oh yes, and glowworms!

I had never seen a glowworm before and was completely entranced by them. Apparently, they go out when they have found a mate. Actually, having just written that, in the cold light of day I am not sure how true that is, although it seemed perfectly plausible last night after half a bottle of wine!

11.09pm was the exact time we had been waiting for, after which we packed everything up and proceeded back down the hill in the pitch black. We did have torches though, but it still wasn't easy. At least I didn't fall into a bush like I did last year!

Got home to bed tired, but happy.

The nights are now drawing in . It will soon be Christmas. EEEEEK!

Numpty Dumpty!

Had a bit of an accident prone few days really!

Firstly, a friend took me out for a drink and a meal at the pub where my son works. It was an absolutely glorious day and a stunning setting, so we sat in the garden . The chef wasn't due in for an hour and a half, so we were quite happy, sitting in the warm sunshine, chatting and sipping!

Well, when it was time to order, we decided to go and look at the 'specials' board inside, and as I got up I managed to trip over a small wall, scraping and grazing my leg and shin! Duh....how embarrassing, having first aid in the bar (good job my son had gone home by then!!!). I hadn't even had much to drink either!

Then the next morning, was out for a walk with Bailey and a tree had blown down across the path we take. I did my usual 'grab a large handful of ivy to pull myself over with' routine, but it snapped, and I fell backwards over the tree, scraping and grazing the back of my other leg! At least I now know what Bailey would do if I had a serious fall while out walking her. She would jump all over me. Hahahahahahaha!

So today went to work with the front of one leg and the back of the other grazed! Not a good look really.

Then this afternoon picked my little grandaughter up from school and took her to her ballet class. As we turned into the lane, we were behind another car, which  reversed into the entrance of the dance school car park. As I continued down the road to park, BANG! Her car rolled forward into the side of my car! She wasn't thrilled as her bumper was smashed. Luckily, my car seems fine.

So that's three things. According to the rules, that's it then now, isn't it?

Eggy update

I popped the eggs and the 'eggs for sale' boards out again on Saturday before I went to work, but when I returned home, nothing. When I returned from taking Bailey out....nothing again. I was really beginning to wonder what I was doing wrong.

Then, a couple of hours later, I was looking out of the bedroom window....was it.?....had they??? YES!!! they had ALL gone!! Yippeeeeeeee! I know it is only a small thing, but it was £3 towards chicken food and bedding. Also I had sold a dozen to my lovely neighbour, so another £2, although, if I am totally honest, 'sold' is rather a misnomer, more like 'insisted'! Ha ha ha!

I still had a few surplus eggs, so decided to have a really good search for the egg boxes which I was sure I had secreted somewhere. Rummaging under the stairs I felt cardboard. Yes! Cardboard with egg holes! So I tugged, but the egg boxes tore in half, leaving the lids behind.

So, still on a high from the morning's success, I put another 2 lidless boxes (called 'trays' in the trade!) out for sale on the road.

An hour or so later, a friend was due to arrive to take me out for the afternoon as a belated birthday treat. I was convinced she wouldn't see my eggs and just drive into them, so moved them slightly for safety. She arrived and off we went for a brilliant afternoon out.

On our return home, one of the boxes was empty on the floor, no eggs anywhere. The other one had 3 broken eggs and 3 whole eggs left in it. Arrrghhh - very frustrating!!!  I have been trying to convince myself that as they were in only egg trays rather than covered boxes, it must have been crows, possibly as it is less upsetting than the idea of some idiots stealing and breaking my eggs. They take such a lot of both my chooks and my own efforts and I only ask £1 for 6 eggs, which is so reasonable anyway.

I had such a lovely time out with my friend, that I completely refuse to let this upset me too much or put me off selling eggs at the gate again when I have a surplus. Onwards and upwards!!

An eggy dilemma!

Isn't that typical? When the egg rack fell off the nail it is balanced on a few months back and smashed 2 dozen eggs, within minutes, someone had popped round wanting eggs!

Well, as absolutely no-one in the universe seems to want eggs at the moment, my chickens have gone into laying hyperdrive! I am getting 4-5 eggs a day from my coop of 6, mainly elderly chickens, which include  2 ex battery ladies, Wallace and Grommit, and 2 ex free range - Purple Myrtle and Nora. The other two - Jake and Ellwood, are skyline hybrids named after the blues brothers, as when I got them, they had an 80% chance of laying a blue/green egg. As it happens, I was very lucky as one laid olive and one sky blue eggs. Sadly the blue eggs keep getting broken at the moment as the shells are very thin due to their age.

Anyway, back on topic - the bottom line is that I have loads of eggs. So I decided to pop some by the road to sell like I did last year. Well, this led to several slight problems.

1) Where are the egg boxes?

2) Where are the 'Eggs for sale' signs?

3) Where is the egg money jam jar?

4) Where is the crate I used to put the eggs for sale in?

It has taken a couple of weeks of vague looking/thinking/deciding.....but today I really did all three. I thought I had too many eggs, then decided that 4 dozen eggs was really excessive for just me (I use perhaps 1 doz a month!), so I decided to properly look for all the missing items.

I found a broken blackboard, but am not convinced this is what I used last year. Anyway, I used a  black permanent marker on the back to say 'Fresh eggs' - that will do nicely!

What is more impressive was that I found the crate thing that I used for selling eggs last year, under the bed. Not only did I find that, but inside it was also the money jar and the 12 or so glasses with chickens on, which I mislaid months ago and have hunted for on several occasions. Yippeeee!!!

Although I only had 3 scrounged egg boxes to use, I popped them out at the roadside. The end result was that I was reasonably pleased with my little sales area but sadly, nothing sold today.

I am hoping the weekend will see some sales although I wish I could ask them to buy the eggs but leave the egg boxes!!!!

A wonderful walk on the South Downs with Bailey!

Summer has arrived at last! I am always thankful that I live in such a beautiful place, but today.....aaaaaahhh....today.......

I took Bailey, my very bouncy springer spaniel, out for her daily walk this morning. For several months now the mud has been horrendous and really dangerous, and I have had to restrict my walks somewhat, but today, for the first time in ages, I was able to walk right through the woods and over the top of the hill. This has to be the most breathtaking view in the universe - as I emerged over the ridge, to see miles along the South Downs and the little villages which nestle at the base.

In case you were wondering, I am certainly not the most fanatical of walkers or at all exercise orientated, but my goodness, what a fantastic morning I had! Bailey is always inspirational as she is so enthusiastic about everything.

Meet Bailey!

It was lovely to bring her home fairly clean for a change, and the weather looks settled for the rest of the week - hooray!!! 

Herman

A couple of weeks ago the dog bell went and Herman arrived. In case you are wondering, he is a sourdough starter for a German apple cake - a friendship cake. It was quite lovely to be given something in friendship, and I duly took him (and the instructions) into the kitchen and started the 10 day nurturing process!


Actually, it was quite easy, he is left on the worktop in a large bowl and just covered with a tea towel. Every day for 10 days he needs a good stir, and on day five I had to add some sugar and flour. Around day seven I noticed Herman was definitely trying to make a bid for freedom, although he was diminished somewhat again after a good stir.


If I am truthful, the last thing I felt like doing at the end of the ten days was baking the cake, but I did, adding apples, raisins, cinnamon, flour, baking powder, eggs, butter and sugar. It looked absolutely disgusting when I put it into the tin and took much longer to cook than I expected.  I used a 9½" tin and produced enough cake to feed an army! It didn't fit in my cake tin so I had to cut it in half and put it in two tins.


My goodness, it may look a bit rough and ready here but how delicious! Yummmmmm!

Now the reason it is called a friendship cake is because before you make the cake, you divide Herman into four portions and give three of them to friends. Great way to poison an entire nation actually! 


I offered him to my daughter, feeling certain she would love him, but sadly it seems she had already baked him once and didn't have the time to do it again at the moment. Luckily, I had an unsuspecting friend coming for the evening, so she went away clutching one portion. The second one, I was going to give to my neighbour - I was going to put Herman on his doorstep, ring the bell and run away! Ha ha ha! As it turned out, he wasn't in, so I just left Herman on his doorstep. At least he couldn't refuse!


The third one is still sitting on my worktop waiting for the next visitor!