Love The Space You're In....X

 Don't ever be tempted to purchase a two-wheelie wheelbarrow, because they're less use to a serious gardener than a chocolate teapot.  And they don't remotely go round corners when you want them to.  Other than that, a wheelbarrow of any description can transport a tremendous amount of Goosegog branches from The Funny Farm Orchard to the safety of the conservatory in order to harvest in the comfort of your own kitchen, which is why I did it, because torrential rain was forecast, and therefore I could still make hay, even though the sun was refusing to shine.  The Gogs were teeny weeny, green and acidic, and absolutely so perfect for teaming with my ripe Strawbs to 'spin out' a low-pectin fruit for a jolly good jam set.

And only just yesterday, Trousers and I held 'A Very Village Tea Party', opening The Funny Farm Gardens to locals to raise money for the village hall/village show kind of thing - hence the existence of bunting, and I have to admit, I've not had that much fun, nor met as many hugely lovely and interesting peeps in a long, long time, so my thanks goes out to each and every one of you for bothering to turn up, and making our day so extremely special.X.

Incidentally, apologies going back to the really weeny gogs, and Trousers is dispairing of me flitting from one thing to another, but life's too short to waste time topping'n'tailing them, so I tend to cook them down and strain their pectin-richness for the future, freezing or bottling to preserve.


And having fallen for the charms of my man yet again, I pandered to his every wish of making fresh scones, ultimately for himself, but also for our lovely friends Pippy and Lyn, with homemade jam, fresh strawberries, and clotted cream.  But if you can't spoil the ones you love to be with, what indeedy is the point, eh?

 On a beautiful summer day in your own kitchen garden, there's nothing more mouthwatering than having a bit of a wander round with your gardening cat (she seems to be permanently super-glued to me these days....... which was nice.....), and deciding what mostly to harvest today

 I'll let you into a little secret now, because up until our Very Village Tea Party, I momentarily stopped harvesting produce so that my friend Gloria could have some photographic opportunities on the day, and so that visitors had some produce to look at.  And it goes against my very nature to not harvest stuff when it's ready..... so I'm pleased to say that normality rules now once again thankfully, and we're in certain danger of overdosing on  freshness in our kitchen, pantry and freezer for the rest of the summer ....!

 With our Village Produce Show taking place this coming Saturday, and certainly everything being at least 3 weeks early round here, I've harvested all of my Red and Whitecurrants, and the majority of the Blackcurrants, Chokerberries, and Worcesterberries prollly tomorrow if no showers. 
Having devised the Show Schedule, with classes such as 3 strings of Redcurrants/Blackcurrant etc.  it's going to be a lick your finger, stick it in the air, see which way the wind is blowing, and has a single solitary villager got any sodding fruit left to enter?!  I'm dead chilled about it myself because I made an executive decision not to enter the show this year, so that I'm beyond reproach, but whatever happens on the day will be a complete disaster, or a huge success for those that are hoping to beat their rivals once again... .  Either way, I am so beautifully looking forward to The Show that I've treated myself to getting my hair washed and blow-dried on the morning whilst Trousers is making sandwiches for The Judges' Lunches. 

I confess that I begged Trousers to take this photograph the other morning, because everything was just so gorgeous, and it's rare to capture a rapture such as this that you feel. And anyways, the cat was in one of her 'my mum is the coolest mum on the planet' moments.  And to be perfectly honest, when you've got bare feet on dewy-wet morning grass, the birds are singing, the sheep are bleeting, the cows are moo-ing, and everything is wonderful   (There's a Noddy joke that goes something similar, but you probably know it already?!) it would be a tragedy in my book not to be able to look back on that special moment during the depths of the winter when you feel that you want to.

Now then.....I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't nervous about standing up there in front of everyone in the village hall this Saturday introducing the lovely Pat to open the show, and then announcing the winners for her to present them with their trophies, but ultimately, and hugely personally, I'm very proud of myself, not only for taking over her responsibilities, but introducing a new award to the show:...The Patricia Beattie Best In Show Shield, where she judges, in her opinion, the best, and most outstanding entry in the entire show.

A proper Village Show is a huge thing to cherish as far as I'm concerned, and thankfully, it is still very close to these people's hearts, as it is to my own.

And I hope that, at the end of the day, if any of them ever read this blog, that they will appreciate my sincerity.