Sometimes the mood dictates careful, slow and complex cooking - but at other times, perhaps particularly when the sun is shining, we want something simple. This is soda bread (one of the few breads that can be made quickly - it will be familiar to anyone with any Irish connections!), and the blackcurrant jam you saw being made the other day. Simple doesn't have to equate with thoughtless rubbish though - mind you, bread does demand time and thought. There was a brilliant piece on BBC Radio 7 recently wondering about the person who had first looked at wheat and thought through the process of turning it into bread!

The day lilies are a picture of lush, vibrant rosiness at the moment. They're a fleeting pleasure though, as their name suggests. But as each one fades another takes over.
We've some of the bright yellow ones that have finished flowering now, but this one's a bit more spectacular. Pleased they're near the house so we can see them all the time.

This is when all those buttons come in useful. Decided to make a small bag for the hoiday - one that's flat and will fit easily into a suitcase. As we're going to France with the MG there's so little room for any luggage and the spare parts we carry in case the car breaks down are much more important ...that's what Les tells me, anyway.
So this bag should be OK and of course I needed a button for the fastening. Yet again the tin provided the ideal one.

Buttons - thousands of them! Of course we'll never use all of these and although I do sometimes cut buttons off old clothes, not this many.
There's a bit of a story behind these. We have a friend who's parents, having given up farming, took over a rural village post office and shop. When they retired I was given this tin full of buttons from out of the shop. I can only surmise that it was there as a real local customer service, to provide shoppers with a replacement button for their shirt or for a set for the baby's cardigan.
Sad to say, the post office has now gone the way of many and the building has become a private house. The button tin is still in much use though and generally provides what I need. There's a reason why I've been sifting through the buttons ... soon to be revealed.

It's a long time since mints were sold at 1 shilling and 4 pence a quarter - so this tin has been around for quite a while, certainly pre-decimalisation. But what does it contain? You can probably guess. And it's not sweets.

I finally got around to this bit of jam-making this afternoon - any later and there wouldn't have been any blackcurrants left - only tedious bit was the washing of the pan - that is why it is soaking by the sink - if I leave it for long enough, Brian might do it.

A visit to a local farmers' market this morning found the town really busy. How great to see people queueing up to buy local produce. A mooch around the charity shops turned up this really pretty old cake stand ... it proved irresistible, especially for £1.99. All it needed was a bit of metal polish to clean up the chrome stand.
Well, I just had to bake something in keeping ... hence the coconut and jam melting moments. Just what the cake stand was made for.

Daisies again ... and another glimpse of the sun.
Yellow is supposedly a happy colour and these anthemis are certainly providing a ray of sunshine in the top border. Don't they make you feel better?

We have had a little oasis of fine weather and thought we would try to capture a seasonal moment in the meadow. Brian tells me there are some undamaged blackcurrants in the garden. So the plan is now to get the preserving pan and sugar out, and perhaps make some Irish soda bread to go with it. This summer, more than ever you have to make the most of the moment -it will probably be raining later!

We need an antidote to the sense of gloom that hangs over us at the moment because of the awful rain. The little heart is no compensation really, but it'll have to do for now. At least it's full of summer scent from the lavender, and daisies are such a sun loving flower. I even love those in the lawn, especially when they have a really pink tinge to the edge of the petals.

There's another clematis in flower at the moment...Perle d'Azur. It's a delicate and translucent blue. I've just been reading that it's quite an old variety apparently, raised by Francisque Morel of Lyon in 1885.
As we were acually able to sit out late on one occasion we threaded some little round fairy lights through it - so it looks like it's growing white berries. Now we can't wait for a sultry night to sit out with a glass of rose wine watching the bats. We wish!

This was taken at almost 9pm on July 17th. But as you may have gathered from the hay and the sky - not this year. This year, because of all the rain there are problems even beyond those poor people who have been so directly affected. It is expected that grain, brocolli, potatoes and other vegetables will be scarce and expensive. Many farmers in our area are keeping their cows in (in July!) They are having to use winter feed. Very little, if any hay has been made. People with horses must be concerned. We are worried about straw to bed the cows in winter. Living in the countryside certainly emphasises our dependence on the weather. Contrary to our complacent assumption of abundance, perhaps we are more vulnerable than we realise.

Recently we paid a visit to a local gift shop. Full of beautiful items, it was feast for the eyes, and amongst all the gorgeous excess were lots of old embroidered linen tablecloths, crisp white cotton pillowcases, tray cloths etc.

Ha! Why not look in charity shops or at car boot sales?
Research in the monthly mags shows us that all these pretty things are coming back into fashion (hooray...we're a bit fed up with too much
minimalism) and they're all there with a bit of searching.

Two examples here. Don't you think the embroidery on the tray cloth is exquisite? Not sure what to do with it yet, whether to use it to embellish something else. Underneath you can just see a couple of flowers of a small tablecloth. I've placed it over the gingham one on our table - it looks really summery. We keep imagining who it was with the skill to sew something so beautiful.

Our local (pictured) Farmers' Market has been running successfully for about 12 months now. It brings business and shoppers into the centre of the town.

Thinking about this yesterday I recalled a small incident at the butcher's stall - before the advent of the Farmers' market. A couple were contemplating the buying of a chicken. The husband was considering whether to go for the organic, free-range one at about £7 - or the "ordinary" one at about £3. The wife was much more decisive "One is £7 the other is £3, you don't need its life story." If this had been a woman struggling for money (we've both been there in our time)you could understand. But this woman was extremely well dressed and had probably never been near a charity shop in her life. Just a matter of priorities, I suppose. But does etiquette require us not to question another's ethics when it comes to shopping?

Time for a bit of baking to counter the miserable weather. It's just taken Emily and Jamie twelve hours to travel to Cornwall for their hols due to all the flooding.
I decided on a lemon drizzle (appropriate or what?)cake as the lemons were there in the bowl waiting. And it meant I could use a jar of home-made lemon curd bought from the cheese stall in the local market as a lemony filling and frosting.

No, this wasn't taken today. Just thinking though how a splash of colour can brighten up any wet day, or lighten up even our old buildings - Slight change of subject here! To make the bread you need 1lb, 450g strong white flour; half oz. fresh yeast, 1 teaspoon salt, 1oz, 20g butter and 300 ml warm milk. Blend the yeast in a little of the milk. Leave for 10 minnutes. Mix that and the rest of the milk into the flour and salt. Knead for 10 minutes (that's the nice bit). The dough should be smooth & silky. Cover the bowl and leave in a warm place for an hour. It should have doubled in size. Knead again for 3 minutes (if you like add chopped olives/sun-dried tomatoes/basil/cheese here - experiment!) Shape into a round. Leave to rise for about another 30 minutes. Bake at Gas Mark 6/400/200 for about 30 minutes.

Sometimes lunch on the farm when Brian is on his own is very very basic. This bread is pretty fail-safe to make (will put recipe in next time) and tastes good when fresh or even toasted. Making it is fun - honestly. You can vary it by adding mature cheddar/olives/basil/sun-dried tomatoes (or a combination) when you do the second mixing. This is really nice with pasta.

I asked my friend about the gluten-free flour. She has also been disappointed with the flour she has bought. She now gets, on prescription, something called Juvela - which she says is like a self-raising flour; she says you cannot taste any difference when you bake cakes; but the pastry is very slightly sweet.

We keep going on ad nauseum about the benefits of being creative, rather than spending money on something mass produced. It does take time (and that's always in short supply) but is so rewarding. Time spent in a productive way is time well spent in our view.
Don't you think as well it's good to have something pleasant to distract us from general everyday problems...a kind of simple therapy, even?

Of course, saving money is a worthwhile by-product of this. As you can see, we've not exactly spent a fortune on equipment (that's an understatement!) ... but it's amazing what you can make with an old, and very noisy sewing machine, a bit of pretty fabric and a little practice.

Despite the rain these do not look too bad - but isn't so much of the garden looking so bedraggled - but then when you think of so many people in so much of the world who are often desperate for rain...
To the person who asked about the gluten-free recipes...we will do a bit of research. One of us has a friend who is coeliac

May we introduce Maisie, our rather elderly Westie, exhibiting one of her usual relaxed poses. No, not strictly true - it's quite unusual in that she's actually awake for once - she's generally fast asleep. At nearly 15 though, I suppose it's to be expected.
Just occasionally she will interrupt her day long siesta...guaranteed if there's a waft of food emanating from the kitchen. Sunday lunch will always find her close to the oven...wonder why?
She loves the door open and a clear view of the approach...nothing gets past her - in the waking moments, that is.

Today we had lunch with Margaret & Les and went for a very water-logged muddy walk across the fields. We saw about 5 lapwings and several hares (no deer today). We saw some harebells (known as the Scottish bluebell, I believe) and some ragged robin. But the abiding image of today is the fires we lit in the sitting and dining rooms - and it really was the kind of day when a fire was probably the most welcome sight of all.

We have been asked for the recipe for the biscuits: With your wooden spoon beat 8oz, 225g butter until soft. Add 4oz, 110g of caster sugar and mix well. Beat in the yolks of 2 eggs. Add 10oz, 275g plain flour and a half a teaspoon of salt. Fold in. Add a quarter of a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and the same of almond extract. Mix. Put into an icing bag. Make your shapes onto a buttered baking tray. Bake at 190/375/Gas Mark 5 for about 15 minutes until golden brown.

Did this bread today. Listening to the radio,kneading the bread and waiting for it to rise is - serious relaxation - and it tastes perfect with butter and some local cheese. Doesn't the simplest of food often taste the best?

Sewing patchwork, by its very nature, is not the quickest way to make a cushion - but it may be one of the most rewarding. Sewing together small pieces of material to create something larger takes time - slow sewing, then.

Our supposition though, is that it's extremely resouceful - embracing a concept of waste not want not that was second nature to our grandparents. And so, as a craft, it translates from a less consumerist society of previous generations into the present day. Now, when there are many advocates of accepting personal responsibility for environmental damage and too much demanded of dwindling resources, reusing second hand materials to create different items has to be A GOOD THING (especially when the end result gives pleasure).

Enough! This is a patchwork cushion made from material left over from other projects or old garments (but not shirts this time!) I've become addicted to reduced price rails in charity shops, searching for old and unlovely clothes that are made from lovely fabric...a sad but utimately creative obsession. That's my excuse anyway.

These are simple to make - take about 15 minutes to bake and taste of butter, almond and vanilla. Sometimes, when you are feeling anxious or "got at" - perhaps at work - doing something like this restores calm. Maybe it is the process of mixing the ingredients - maybe it is because you are in control. It may be the delicious smell that fills the house - or it may be the simple pleasure in going to the tin...rather than to a packet. Anyway, it's a cheap way of stress-relief!

Yes, unbelievable as it may seem, a short interlude occurred when the sun appeared, albeit briefly. There was opportunity to enjoy what is the most lush period for summer flowers. It's a time of year when I can just stand (or sit) for ages and try to take in everything in bloom.
It's such a joyous feeling...a culmination of, and reward for, earlier weeding, hoeing, digging, weeding, hoeing...you get the picture, and needs to be savoured. What slowing down and smelling the flowers is all about. Slow food, slow flowers, and sheer pleasure.

hspace="5" />
Ah! shopping - few things have changed so much in the past 3 - 4 decades. Well, we've had enough of being dictated to by the all-powerful supermarkets and have (almost) given them up. An article in the Times the other day discussed the premise that the ridiculous amount of choice we have on even the simplest of purchases leads to a sort of paralysis of the spirit. We could not agree more. The whole concept of convenience also seems deeply flawed. If we are all saved so much time, then what exactly are we doing with this saved time? I think it was the looks of barely contained irritation and the fed-up scowls on the faces of most of the people in the queue of our local (actually not very big) supermarket that got to me the most. Shopping used to be a sociable outing for our parents - what have we done?! Anyway we both made a pact a while ago to maximise what we could grow ourselves and buy from local shops and markets. And guess what...it's great. Oh, in case you are wondering the relevance of the rabbit. No, we are not going to eat him!! The person in the market stall often says..."here, have some of this for your rabbit." Nice.

This looks fresh and summery, we think. It cost next to nothing; the bowl came from the charity shop, and we chose lavender and flowers that were easy to dry. We added a few drops of lavender essential oil. Isn't there something about blue and summer?

I've been trying out some different ways of using old fabrics and found an old dressing table set that's rather sweet but not being used anymore...lace is not really my thing, a bit too twee. But would it make a pretty lavender bag? Well I think so, and it was easy to do with a plain cotton lining to back the lace.
Recognise the gingham? Yes, that old shirt fabric is still being used and this is one of the lavender bags.
As well as having a collection of bags to use or give as presents, another unexpected bonus is the way the workroom (ie spare bedroom)is scented with lavender because of the amount that's been spilled on the floor...gorgeous.

Some more attempts at lavender bags. It's fun to try different designs especially with the gingham shirt material. Nothing too taxing or complicated...that's why cross stitch fits the bill. And some simple embroidery, done while watching TV because it's still raining!