Trugs'n'Mugs

I've got a confession to make to you?  Last week I picked Elderflowers, and  irreverently chucked them into a purple recycling kerbside bag, and took them into The Funny Farm Kitchen, hugely proud of my harvest.  Not having previously warmed to the scent of the umbels, I had no proper respect for the beauty of my harvest.  So now, I stand before you, like one would in front of Simon Mayo of an evening on Radio Two, and beg forgiveness.

And I openly castigate myself on your behalf, in order that you also become aware that when you cut an elderflower umbel at its' base, you should cup it in your hand, and not let the delicate pollen spill out before you, and then tenderly lay it in the pot of boiled water in order to capture every bit of its' essence.

And one more thing,  because my lovely new friend Emma told me this week that, just like coffee, if you tip boiled water over, it scalds, and ruins the flavour?.  So, boys'n'girls, that's the lesson here today, because for every tip you pass on to someone else, they pass another lovely one onto you. 

With today's first Strawb harvest at 1lb. plus, enough to make the Strawb & Goosegog Jam from my friend Gloria's 'Fruits of the Earth' book (ISBN 978-1-906525-26-2), and have enough left over for a Trousers and Wellie Funny Five Minutes pudding with a goodly dollop of clotted cream, there's a tremendous bounty of to begin to look forward to in the months ahead..
Trousers has a keen eye for spotting a Mangetout that's ready to pick at a thousand paces, but with a beautiful stripey young courgette, and a few young and tender broadies to add to the pan for tonight's dinner, with some summer-sprouting broccoli, we're in for a very lush and fresh dinner this evening.

 I've finally managed to stop 'chasing my tail' watering stuff in pots, and actually get the majority of my homegrown tomato seedlings planted into the ground now. PHEW!!!!

 And where would I be without my adorable garden birds, eh?  You Tweeters'n'Twitterers have absolutely no idea how beautiful it is here, and to NOT be in touch with a mobile phone, an I-Wotsit or whatever you have glued to you right now.  Honestly, each to their own, but I love the calm and beauty that surrounds me far more than pressing keys or buttons in the beauty of this welsh border countryside.

I'm very sadly, the Mrs. Poppins that gives you my mobile number, and I cut you off when you've rung me by pressing the wrong frigging button?!

And just as sadly, I missed the birth of these two very late babies by absolute seconds yesterday afternoon.

Having alerted our favourite 'Sheep Whisperer' to the newness of The Twins, there wasn't an App in sight.  Just two blokes, two mugs of tea, a gardening cat, and what better than a lovely chat over the garden fence?

May I 'big up' our two new blog members here this Sunday evening, and just to say Thank You for joining us, and that for whatever reasons you've joined in the fun, I hope I'll continue to entertain you for as long as you wish to stay.X