Dehydrated

My kitchen is imbued with the sweet aroma of plums and apples cooking.  

this afternoon's picking from the garden

 

The garden has produced another bumper crop of apples and plums, far more than we can ever eat. Last year we made wine but this year we decided to do something different and bought ourselves a dehydrator. You can of course dry fruit and vegetables in the oven but this machine is especially designed for the purpose and can accommodate several racks at the same time. 

 

Right now we have apples, plums and tomatoes drying, yesterday we experimented with courgette and beetroot crisps. They make a delightful snack, something I can eat without feeling guilty about the number of calories! (Paul has been in charge of slicing the apples and courgettes, I have now been banned from using the mandoline after taking the tip of my finger off. “Go careful with that, it’s very sharp – oops, too late!”)

apple crisps, dried tomatoes and plum slices

The apple crisps are delicious, lightly seasoned with cinnamon and the dried plums are slightly chewy with an intense flavour. If we get the drying process right the produce should last for up to six months. So no apple or plum wine this year but we do have a bucket of elderberry juice fermenting away. 

 

 

I'm Still Here

 

 

my trusty steed

I’m still here! I am reading everyone's blogs but not always finding time to comment. 

Not too sure about lazy days of summer, the days just seem to fly by. If the weather is fine we try to get out on our bicycles in the morning. By the time we get back and shower, have coffee and do a few chores it is lunch time and half the day has gone. Now that the loft gym is up and running there is no excuse for missing our daily exercise if it’s raining. The upshot of all this cycling is that we have lost weight and got a lot fitter over the last few weeks.

With the gym loft completed we are on to our next project. At the moment our sitting room is very English traditional with a deep pile cream carpet and fake coal fireplace. Cream carpets are just not a practical choice when it comes to dogs with muddy paws and humans who like to throw their wine around. We have decided therefore to replace the carpet with a wooden floor. We intend to remove the fireplace and surround and have a more contemporary look with a ‘hole in the wall’ log effect fire. Quite a radical change to the room really. 

A Lincolnshire Garden

 Do you remember when we put this fence up earlier in the year to hide Paul's compost...

... and now

next year the climbing rose and honeysuckle should cover the archway

Elsewhere in the garden:-

 

Hebe flowering beneath the Tamarisk tree

Agapanthus just coming into bloom - I love the colour

Phlox

Honeysuckle

Jasmine

bedding dahlias add a splash of colour in the border

grass is nice and green after the recent rainfall

Tour de Scarecrow

On Sunday morning Paul and I took advantage of the early sunshine and cycled south towards the village of Spridlington before turning east through Hackthorn, across the A15, uphill past Scampton airfield and then north along the ridge. I always enjoy cycling the ridge, it’s one of the highest points in the area and the views are amazing. 

 

It’s nice to have a distraction when you’re cycling. These scarecrows made me giggle as we rode through the villages of Normanby and Omwby. They were just three out of twenty four exhibits for a Scarecrow Trail.

 

 

Room Makeover

 

 

 

Another project completed.  The attic room has been transformed into the loft gym!

I’m delighted with the result, it has gone from being a dusty, storage room to a stylish exercise studio.

 

before

after

Later in the year it will be fitted out with a Zwift cycling trainer.  The television will be linked to the trainer but if I don’t feel like cycling I can just pretend and sit back and watch Escape to the Country!

 

Where there's a will there's a way

 

The carpet for the loft room arrived this morning.  I looked at the 4 metre long roll (that is over 13 feet!) and wondered how on earth we were going to man handle it up through the narrow hatch into the attic.  Paul told me not to worry, we would manage it somehow or other.

To get it inside the bungalow it had to come straight through the front door and into our bedroom.  Then reversed out and persuaded to bend round at a 90 degree angle into the hallway.  There wasn’t enough clearance at the top of the loft ladder so we had to approach the hatchway from the angle of the bathroom.  To get it into the bathroom we had to go straight into the kitchen, swing it round and head into the sitting room, swing it round again and head straight through the inner hallway and into the bathroom.  Are you still with me?

 

We finally managed to get it pointed in the right direction and with Paul pulling from above and me at the bottom pushing upwards we finally managed to get the carpet into the loft room.

final push

Phew!  Paul has spent most of the day laying it and cutting it to size.  Meanwhile I have been recovering and researching spiral staircases.

 

 

A Busy Week

 

Work on the loft gym is progressing well.  The room has been emptied and the shelves removed.  The walls were in a poor state but we didn’t really want to go to the expense of having them re-plastered or skimmed.  Instead we opted for some brick effect wallpaper!  I think it’s worked really well.  I’ve also bought three inexpensive full length mirrors to go along one wall and a powerful fan so that we can feel the wind in our hair when we’re cycling!

 

Decorating had to be put on pause as we drove down to Sussex on Wednesday to visit my dad.  It had been three years since I had seen him, I was a bit sad to see how frail and forgetful he has become.  Not surprising really since he’s 92 years old.  He and his partner, Rita, were delighted to see us.  My dad can’t walk very far but that didn’t stop him getting onto his mobility bike and zipping off to the local chippy to get us all fish and chips for supper.

On Thursday I took Paul and Rick for a long walk around the village where I spent the first twelve years of my life.  The fields where I used to play are now housing estates and it took me a while to orientate myself and find the old lane leading to the High Woods and Broadbridge Farm.  I hardly recognised the renovated and modernised farmhouse and all the old barns have been converted into posh houses.  Needless to say it is no longer a working farm. There is still a right of way through the farmyard and the millpond looked very smart with lilies and rushes.  The High Woods were relatively unchanged although it was hard to find the pathway through the overgrown brambles. Rick had a wonderful time with plenty of interesting things to sniff.

Sussex countryside with Broadbridge Farm in the distance

On Friday we returned to Lincolnshire.  It was a long journey – five hours including a break halfway.  Driving is no longer a pleasure when the roads are so congested with traffic.  It was such a relief to get back home to our quiet and peaceful village.