I love cooking

Cherries from the garden

What foods would you like to make?

The answer would be cherry pie!

I’m a reasonable cook and food is fun to make. I can make a good trifle, roast chicken dinner, pizza, curry, paella, and many other things including cakes and bread. But I’ve never made a homemade cherry pie.

I could probably make the pastry, I’ve made apple pies and tarts before. But I don’t know what to do with the cherries? Do you de-stone them then put them in raw? Or do you cook them first with sweetner and a dash of alcohol like cherry brandy?

We only got a few cherries this year as the majority blew off our tree in a gale. They were pecked by the birds so I left them on the ground for our hedgehogs too.

So does anyone have a recipe they can share please? I will have to get fresh cherries from the shop. I don’t want to use a tin of pie filling which would be full of sugar. So if you can help I would appreciate it. Thanks x

Little poppy

I had a lovely afternoon out so I gave my friend this small painting to say thank you. It’s only about three inches square. We had gone to a garden center so I felt it would be nice to give her something floral. Poppies are my favourite flower, vibrant and silken looking. This is a simple painting in acrylic. Drops of dew or rain sit on the petals and shimmer in the light. A bud ready to burst sits next to the flower with it’s promise of further beauty.

Washing and hanging baskets

It’s a struggle to dry my washing in the back yard at the moment. The washing line snapped and I’ve tied it back up but it’s a bit saggy. It is also surrounded with hanging baskets which are a riot of colour and lovely scents which I hope will infuse into the drying clothes (although it’s already rained this morning!). I can’t fit a dryer in the kitchen even if I could afford one, or afford to run it. Just hoping the day stays dry now.

Global warming

What are you most worried about for the future?

The heat is on..

The world is melting

Tides are rising

It’s happened in my lifetime

Sea water is hotter

Glaciers are drying up

No water to drink

Once it’s gone.

Drought hits crops

Why not be concerned?

Just because I might be gone

I still need to worry

For the ones that come after.

Do my best to restore things

To how they were?

Not much effect maybe?

But one fingernail holds me

Stuck on a cliff

Of hope to change things

We cannot turn back time

But we may make a difference

If we all try?

Chomped cherries!

Pecked at!

We just gathered some cherries off the ground because the rain and wind has knocked a lot off the tree. This is about a third of them that were too bruised, damaged or pecked. The rest have just been washed thoroughly in salty water and I’ve put them in the fridge to eat tomorrow. I will thoroughly rinse them again first.

The plan is to get a broom or a stick to try and pull some more down and collect them in an upturned umbrella. I hope the weather doesn’t intervene in the meantime! Praying the wind doesn’t whip up and blow them off. There’s still plenty left for the birds…

A quiet bench…

Bench at Westport lake last year. It was taken on a drizzly day like today. It’s good to see the weeping willow tree a bit further round the lake sweeping like a curtain across the side of the waters edge. It brings back memories of another one I knew….

I used to hide under a weeping willow when I was a child. It stood on its own in a park and I would sit with my back against it and imagine I was in a green tent or hiding behind a green waterfall. I had many adventurous thoughts sitting there in peace and quiet.

Relaxing on a bench is good when you have a view like this at Westport. After you have walked half a mile it’s nice to stop for a chat. Or a sandwich and a cup of tea. Refreshed and calm you can carry on with your walk. By the way there is a bench appreciation society page on Facebook for those that are interested….

Flower head

Pottery head I made over twenty years ago. It’s planted up with straggly snapdragons this year but this photo from two years ago looks better. I really need to get out in the garden but I don’t seem to have the strength to sort things out at the moment. I’m fed up and I know gardening would help but the heat over the lost few days has made me really weary. It’s been close to 30°C. At least my hubby has been watering plants. Today? We are expecting heavy rain showers, so the plants will get a little water.