Five things that have kept me smiling this week
1. Home made bread - Paul makes all our bread, this was quite a large batch most of which has been frozen for future use. We ate one of the white batons with some home made ratatouille followed by.........
2. Home grown strawberries - they took ages to get going this year but now we have loads. I feel a summer pudding might be made soon.
3. Peak Wildlife Park - we visited a local wildlife park on Monday, it rained quite a bit but it was very interesting to see the animals and birds up close. I fed and stroked a wallaby and had lemurs running around my feet.
4. From the garden - the Pinks are in flower and I cut them for the house - this seems to encourage more growth too and they always look so pretty.
5. In the garden - we have had a few times when we could sit out in the garden this week even though it has been quite windy - we had to take the gazebo down as it was in danger of blowing away. In the photos some of the flowers blooming at the moment. White Cosmos, red poppies, sweet peas, the verbena bonariensis we grew from seed and two types of hypericum Rose of Sharon and a hybrid which self seeded a few years ago and will take over the garden if we let it. I think it is similar to St John's Wort. Cats, of course, love the garden at this time of year, especially if they can pinch our chairs.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
Lovely five on a Friday Rosie. Paul could open an artisan bakery with all that tasty looking bread! Glad you got some strawberries in the end. Mine have gone over now and the 'bed' smells like strawberry jam where the strawberries have baked in the sunshine! The flowers look lovely and I bet the pinks smell delicious. x
ReplyDeleteThe pinks do have a lovely scent. I've made a summer pudding with the strawberries. We put hardly any salt in our bread so although it suits us it may not suit everyone as people do seem to like a lot of salt in their food - it always looks lovely to see a batch of bread or homeade cakes on the cooling trays:)
DeleteThis Five has made me smile too, Rosie, but the bread looks AMAZING. Clever man. x
ReplyDeleteHe's been baking bread for a number of years now so is quite good at it. Glad to have made you smile too:)
DeleteI have the exact same hare from photo 4 sitting in my hearth! He was a present and I love him. How good to see him in your home too.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes - he is lovely and like your hare was a present from friends - I think they found him in a garden shop on Derby Road in Nottingham:)
DeleteNice post Rosie, great five on Friday.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the post, Ian:)
DeleteIt sounds like it's been a good week. Love those lemurs :)
ReplyDeleteYes, it has been a lovely week - the lemurs were wonderful - the park have three types of lemur all living together:)
DeleteThe bread looks fantastic. It's raining here and I feel like baking. Perhaps I'll try making bread - healthier than all the sugary based stuff.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't know about the Peak Wildlife park on our recent trip to the Peak District. A place to bear in mind if we return to the area, thanks!
Yes, homemade bread is healthier and we put less salt in too. The Peak wildlife Park is near Leek and has been created on the old Blackbrook World of Birds site. It is lovely and you can interact with the animals and all the staff are very enthusiastic and helpful. Cafe better than it was but very expensive:)
DeleteAll that delicious bread! Scrummy!!! Your garden looks beautiful, so many lovely plants, and how great that you have enough pinks to pick them for indoors, they look so lovely in a vase don't they. Meeting the wallabies and lemurs sounds like fun! Good to get up close and personal with them! Thank you so much as always for joining in. I hope that you have a great weekend! xx
ReplyDeleteThanks, Amy and thanks for continuing to organise us all into Five on Friday. The pinks seem to thrive on being cut and have spread over the years from the couple of plants I originally stuck in the garden just hoping that they would survive:)
DeleteThe bread looks wonderful, so crusty. The pinks are so pretty, I can almost smell them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Janet - the bread is always very tasty:)
DeleteYour bread looks amazing and I'm sure it is so tasty, too! You have a lovely garden. Enjoy your weekend.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I hope you have a lovely weekend too:)
DeleteHi Rosie, the pictures are gorgeous! The strawberry are so taste! The flowers amazing! The bread scrumptious! I loved to know the name of the bread, baton!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a nice weekend!
Sandra xx
Thank you, I hope you ahve a lovely weekend too. I think it is a baton rather than a french stick:)
DeleteA lovely collection this week! Hope you enjoyed the wildlife park - did you think it's already a huge improvement on Blackbrook too?!
ReplyDeleteYes, much improved - cafe very expensive though. It was lovely to see the demise of those awful dark and gloomy 'cages' where the owls used to sit way back - I used to find those quite spooky:)
DeleteThat bread has me drooling! The strawberries look great too! Pinks are great at this time of year too, your are especially pretty. Have a great weekend xx
ReplyDeleteThe pinks seem to flower for ages each year and the strawberries are ripening quickly now after a slow start:)
DeleteThe food looks delicious! Especially the bread!!! :-) The garden is lovely and I especially loved seeing those pretty pinks. What a nice visit, too, to the wildlife park! A great week!
ReplyDeleteThanks, glad you enjoyed my post. Hope you too have a great week:)
DeleteSome lovely photos Rosie. All that delicious home baked bread how wonderful x
ReplyDeleteThanks, I'm very lucky to have home-made bread:)
DeleteA lovely post for Five on Friday, Rosie. The bread and the strawberries look delicious. I like the sound of the wildlife park where you can get close to small animals and birds. Glad you're enjoying your garden and the pinks are lovely. I've just brought a bunch of sweet peas into the house. The pinks and the sweet peas have such a beautiful perfume.
ReplyDeleteMy sweetpeas are in flower so I must cut some for the house as I think it encourages growth in them too, just like the pinks. It is raining at the moment so I'm just enjoying looking at them through the kitchen window:)
DeleteThe breads all look amazing and totally professional! Wow.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
Thanks, Amalia - I'll let the baker know how everyone likes to look of his bread:)
DeleteI had no idea that there is a Peak Wildlife Park, must keep it in mind for my grandchildren. The bread and strawberries look delicious, lucky you to have a live in baker:):)
ReplyDeleteYes, I am lucky having a bread maker in the house, I make cakes, he makes bread - we both need to master biscuits now. The Wildlife park is near Leek on the site of an old one that went into administration - the children I saw there were loving being close to the animals, apparently Meercats will be next for the walking amongst treatment:)
DeleteA lovely five, but the bread was a real delight. I am afraid I cheat and use a bread making machine, still it is better than supermarket bread.
ReplyDeleteBreadmakers are great especially for people who find the kneading bit difficult. When we do buy bread from the supermarket - and we do occasionally - or sandwiches for lunch on a day out it is always very salty and in some cases you can taste the bleach they use in the flour:)
DeleteAmazing , lovely photos. thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Portugal.
Hello and welcome - glad you enjoyed the post:)
DeleteThat bread is wonderful! I can imagine the scent in the house as it baked. There's nothing like fresh homemade bread. Lovely photos all around.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lorrie - there is nothing like the scent of homemade bread:)
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