1. Reading
I've not long since finished reading a lovely book by Gill Hornby.
I've not long since finished reading a lovely book by Gill Hornby.
Miss Austen covers a visit to Kintbury Vicarage in Berkshire in 1840 by Jane Austen's sister Cassandra. For Cassandra it is a poignant visit as it was the home of her fiance Tom Fowle who died at sea in 1797. Cassandra, now an elderly lady, is seeking out old family letters sent by herself and by Jane to their friend Eliza who married Tom's brother Fulwar, the last of the Fowle family to be incumbent at Kintbury church. As Cassandra reads the old letters the story drifts back in time to when Jane was alive and past and present are brought together as Cassandra remembers the past but deals with the present and future too and comes to terms with her losses over the years.
2. In and From the Garden
2. In and From the Garden
I hope some of them survive to be picked and eaten.
The first potatoes and below lettuce from the caged raised beds.
3. Cooking and Baking
3. Cooking and Baking
Mixed vegetables like peppers, courgettes, beans, potatoes and sweet potatoes cooked in a pan and served with crusty bread.
Banana bread. It is supposed to cook for one and a quarter hours at 180°c. Knowing that our oven can burn at that temperature I timed it for fifty five minutes at 170°c but it still caught on top. It is just right inside though and tastes delicious.
4. Detecting
Bats. I sent for a bat detector from the RSPB ready for Paul's birthday at the end of the month. As he knew about it we decided to try it out. The frequencies we picked up from the bats we saw swooping over the garden about 10.30p.m. in the evening indicated that we have long eared bats flying over the garden, following the line of the hedge. According to what we have read they will be brown long eared bats as the grey ones are only seen along the south coast.
5. Spotted in the garden
Bullfinch
Grey Squirrel
Pink Rose
Pip
Pumpkin
It was Ladies Day in the garden today as all the cats that visited were female ones. I couldn't catch them all on camera though. Pip and Pumpkin obliged but Dolly and Mabel didn't, perhaps I'll catch them next time they visit.
I enjoyed Miss Austen too, it’s a lovely book. Great to see a bullfinch. Non in our garden but I saw one in a garden only a few metres away. I wonder what the best bird food would be to attract them. Great news about the bats. Have a lovely weekend. B x
ReplyDeleteThank you Barbara, yes the book was wonderful. The bullfinch visits once or twice a day, He seems to like the sunflower hearts and stays ages picking at them and throwing bits down to the floor same as the chaffinches and goldfinches do. The female is seen less regularly than the male:)
DeleteA lovely post Rosie - produce from the garden looks good :) I treated myself to the Jane Austen book recently on the kindle as I spotted it on your recently read column to the right of the blog. I am looking forward to reading it :) Baking looks inviting. I have problems too with my oven over-browning the top especially of fruit loaves. Now I tend to cover the top with foil about half way through cooking time which helps a bit. The bat detector looks great and what a super present :) I'd love one!!! Have used them on bat nights in the past and they are superb :) Have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteThank you RR. It's nice to get produce from he garden, strawberries are doing well at the moment but for some reason the courgettes, which we can normally grow well, haven't taken this year. As soon as all this is over we must go out and get a new oven, it's one of those fitted ones so we need to look rather than just order as we could if it was a stand alone one. We've enjoyed the bat detector it's lovely being out in the garden when it is warm late at night:)
DeleteYou have an interesting assortment of wildlife in the garden. I wouldn't encourage the Bullfinches too much as they enjoy nothing better than eating the blossom from fruit trees - nice to see the occasional one though.
ReplyDeleteThank you John. We are lucky to see lots of birds in the garden. There seems to be just one pair of bullfinches and mostly the male visits morning and evening. We have two plum trees so must watch out for those in Spring:)
DeleteDelicious homegrown crops, the pan of veggies looks delicious as does the cake.
ReplyDeleteSweet kittys that visit with you.
The bullfinch is stunning.
Have a lovely weekend
Thank you Julie, that meal was deliciousand so easy to do. Cake was - still is as there is a bit left - tasty. Nearly every house around here has a cat or two and they all drift into our garden. Some of them we know by name others are a mystery:)
DeleteYou've had a good crop of potatoes. We've grown a few potatoes this year, but haven't lifted any yet. We've been enjoying mixed lettuce leaves cut and come again and have sown some more for later in the Summer. Your book sounds interesting. I don't have ebook facilities and I'm missing my visits to the local library. The library is more than just a place to get books on loan for me, but somewhere to see other people and enjoy a walk to get there. I hope you have a lovely weekend.
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda. The potatoes are doing well some in the ground and some in old plastic carrier bags. They were lovely with salad too. It is a lovely book and I really enjoyed it. I'm lucky to have a kindle and also an old ipad that a friend gave me when he had a new one. The ipad has a library app on it so I can borrow books from my own library service. Unfortunately it means everything is screen based at the moment. Your library has a lovely garden close by which makes your visits extra special, you must miss them:)
DeleteI like the sound of Miss Austen. Your garden produce looks very tasty, such a good crop already and it's good to see your garden is putting on a great show with all the wildlife visiting. When we've lost all the rain, it'll be really nice to sit outside again with a cup of tea and a slice of your banana cake. 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you Karen, Miss Austen is a lovely book. It was good to have an early crop of potatoes. We still have a slice or two of banana cake left, perhaps that will disappear today:)
DeleteCassandra actually did destroy things, which she deemed not-to-be-made-public, did she not? Which is very sad, as aspects of the author's true self, were lost to history. Personally, I'd rather know the real person, than what an elderly sister, deemed correct. -sigh-
ReplyDeleteOh that veggie dinner!
Never knew there were bat detectors! More fun, to add to the wild life night cam!!! You are a wealth of ideas, on how to truly enjoy Home!
And no, I am not blogging. My blog is asleep. And I wonder when I will be able to reopen it. *For fear* of slipping in some, *not-allowed-viewpoint*... Which I have been advised, is dangerous, at this time. -sigh- Never thought, in my 83 years, that I would see life, come to this.
Gentle hugs...
🌸💛🌷💛🌸
Thank you WoW, yes Cassandra did destroy letters that seemed to her too personal when she realised how popular her sister's books had become. I don't think she even imagined how popular they would be centuries in the future and how thoughts and ideas of what is acceptable would change so much. I suppose everyone acts in the framework they know. We are having fun with the bat detector. I'm sorry you are having blogging problems, even though we are poles apart politically I hope we can still enjoy each others visits and comments on everyday things:)
DeleteHi Rosi, I love the fives! The cat is very charming too. I cannot comment using my cell phone and my computer is fixed now.
ReplyDeleteSandra xXx
Thank you Sandra, I'm glad your computer is working again:)
DeleteLovely Rosie & your garden is certainly supplying you with food. I also baked with bananas yesterday, though it was a Caramel Banana Cake. Take care, stay safe & huggles.
ReplyDeleteThank you Susan, caramel banana cake sounds delicious. You too take care:)
DeleteThe garden produce is always a delight and the pan of veg looks amazing. What a great meal. The bat detector sounds like fun.
ReplyDeleteThank you MM, the vegetable curry was lovely and we've really enjoyed using the bat detector over the last few evenings:)
DeleteThe veg looks yummy! Very nice to have the Long Eared Bats, we have Pipistrelles over the garden, lovely to watch!
ReplyDeleteThank you Pam. It's good to step into the garden to find things to eat for tea. I think Paul said he had a different frequency a coupe of nights ago which may have been a Pipistrelle, but mostly it seems to be the long eared bats:)
DeleteWonderful fresh garden produce! They look so good in the pan Rosie! How fascinating to have a bat detector. I had a chance to go on a nighttime bat hunt years ago but never did. I wish I had now. The cats are so pretty. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Simone it's good to have some produce in the garden, I hope it all surves this strange weather. We see the bats swooping over the garden but so much in wet weather, perhaps we will see more agin next week when it is going to be warmer. those cats are cute, we have some lovely ones visit the garden:)
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