A present from Queenie (and the promise of one later)

This poor wee stiffened thing was left carefully placed on the carpet between my bedroom door and the loo. There doesn't seem to be a mark on it...perhaps it died of shock. The pygmy shrew is Britains smallest mammal and loses a great deal of energy from body heat so constantly needs to search for food - it dies of starvation if it fails to eat for more than 2 hours. I don't think starvation was this issue here given it's frozen "run for it" pose. Shame - such a beautiful little thing...I had never seen one before.

 

In other news, I noticed today that Queenies nipples are now all sticky-outy and pinked up...I think her (repeated) dalliance with one of the tuxedo twins on the back door step on Easter Sunday has been fruitful. I wonder how good she'll be at hunting as she gets fatter over the next few weeks?  And does this mean I'm going to be a Nana? LOL. Either way...I'm really looking forward to kittens (beginning of June I calculate) as I haven't watched kittens being born since I was about 6 and I am lucky enough to be in the position to support some extra cats (and now 50 so multiple cats are of course mandatory!)

Wild Garlic Pesto

 

Hello my preshlings....let me give you my usual uber-precise recipe for wild garlic pesto (LOL - let me hear you say "yes Mama!")

 

Put some pinenuts in the blender

 

Grate some parmesan in there...take a photo and then double or triple it... (the parmesan, not the photo)

 

Stuff in as many wild garlic leave as will fit

 

 

and a good glug of olive oil

 

whizz it up

repeat steps 3, 4, 5 several times :-)

Taste it! Put some salt and pepper in, and taste it again.....repeat as necessary..then

 stick it in a jar and exclude any air with a layer of olive oil...sorted 

 

Shove the rest in little tubs to go in the freezer...and LABEL IT...'cos if you mix this up with the green curry paste you made it's going to make a really boring curry, and frozen they look the same

 

Tadah!!!!

It's quite "gentle" so you could add a clove of garlic to the mix if you wanted to pep it up a bit.

Llamas and wild garlic

No it's not a recipe...I haven't changed my mind and decided to eat meat...I just want to share with you what I've found on my walk.....
The rain wasn't really being serious about it so it seemed like a good opportunity to get out for a walk...but where to go? I shuffled through my little pack of village walks and realised that I'd never "done" the Piggs Hill route in it's entirety (just bits of it incorporated into other walks)
The info on my charming little sheet reads as follows: The Walk climbs steadily from the start on the bridleway towards baydon. The hilltop provides grand views over Aldbournes and to Piggs hill , with  rolling cornfields.Preston: An old man who was born in the Toll House said that it used to be told that if the water flowed in the Whitton Ditch which is a Winterbourne (  old English word 'winter-burna' meaning 'winter stream' - dry through the summer months - Winterbourne streams are mostly fed by ground water held in the chalk rather than surface water. The water bubbles up in springs which feed the streams. As the water table drops during the summer, the springs dry up and the streams gradually stop flowing. Only when winter rainfall recharges the groundwater supplies will the streams flow again - which is why they are known as “winterbournes”. Because the water has been filtered through the chalk, it is crystal clear and stays at a fairly constant temperature, making it an ideal home for wildlife) by the 5th of January, (Christmas Day on the old calendar) you can expect a wet summer. (I'll confirm for you now that the Whitton Ditch has been proper soggy since about November I think...you heard it here first folks!)

I started out at the little toll house

 

and the geese made sure everyone knew someone was walking along the track

 

The Whittonditch as you can see is certainly flowing...crystal clear now - was very muddy when we had the heavy rains.

 

I love the fact that I can go off walking for a couple of hours and see absolutely no one  - I guess I'm just anti - social :o)

 

 

Only a few signs of spring so far....lots of this yellow blossom

 

 

I took a close up so that I could identify it when I got home...my trusty Collins little gem (1980) tells me that it is cornelian cherry...it flowers in February and March it adds...errrm try 14th April!

 

 

 Not a great photo...it was really windy up on the hills..what I was trying to capture was that finally the buds were starting to fatten so we should have leave soon (please!)

 

 

Not a soul around though..

 

Not even a dog walker...if these photos had sound you'd hear the wind , and lots of birdsong coming from every hedge and tree

 

Not from this little chap though...wonder what happened there then?  Poor Maggs!

 

Then a wafting smell....finally - wild garlic!! Hurrah! early days...see - not a single flower yet. I always have a sandwich bag stashed in my pack so I crammed it full of wild garlic leaves and continued on my way with softly garlicky aroma hands (wild garlic recipe to follow later in the week)

 

still not a soul around though :o)

Yellow is the only floral colour it seems...still some primroses around (love these...they self seed all around my garden)

and here is the first cowslip I have seen....just coming into flower...I'd love some of these in the garden too

 

and bright buttery celandines..

 

what's this? sheep?

elegant long necked sheep?

 

No...llamas methinks...or alpacas

 

 

lots of them...

little specs in the distance

 

This is my view down the track once I had climbed Piggs Hill...sound effects here are puffing noises!

 

You can really see we are on chalk where the badgers dig it up (if the crystal water and the plants hadn't given it away beforehand)

ahhh...the gentle amble downhill....I'm quite good at these bits :o)

  still not a soul around (yaay)

more gentle downhilly bits...

 

 nearly there

 and back down to the Whittonditch again :-)

 

2 and 1/2 hours and not a soul was seen - I love it when for a little while it's mine, all mine!!

Rainy Saturday...I'll just potter in the kitchen then

I had hoped for a dry(-ish) day so that I could go out walking on Saturday but the bright 6:30 am sunshine soon disappeared to be replaced by drizzle and rain. Nevermind, once my chores were done it seemed a good opportunity to cook up some bits that I don't have time for in the week.

First was a ginger cake (nothing flash...was a mix from AP)

 

 

I also made a big pot of soup...it was a kind of variation on leek and potato...carrot, celery, leeks, potato, celeriac and a bendy parsnip soup...probably about 8 or 10 servings so I've frozen some for later

 

 

I also made a loaf of bread...for the first time in about 18 years. I used to make bread every week when the boys were small..and even made little "hedgehog" rolls for their packed lunches LOL. The yeast I had in the cupboard was a year out of date but seemed to work OK ( I use bog standard dried yeast when I'm making wine hence it being in the cupboard) As usual, I ramped up the temperature on the Rayburn to whatever and cooked it for a while...think I should have left it in for another 10 minutes as it was a smidge underbaked. hey Ho...not bad for my first attempt after so long though, and I can still do a pretty even plait....I feel a Paul Hollywood style 8 strand coming on next....

 

 

So that was nosh for the day (and a significant number of meals in the coming week) sorted...soup and bread straight from the oven...

 

 

and a cup of tea and a slice of cake, or should I say...

 

 

and a cup of tea and a thlice of cake ( Aunt Thally)

 

 

 

National Trust FREE Weekend

Frugal Mum of 3 kindly posted this on her BLOG....sharing with you lovelies in case you haven't seen it :o)
I quite fancy going to Lacock Abbey meself...think it's only about 50 mins / an hour away from me :o)

The National Trust are offering a free weekend on the 20th and 21st April to over 200 places
if you go to HERE you can print off a voucher ( please check the terms and conditions)

Just you sit there lil chicky!

(stunt double - Yolko not in a posing mood!)

Well I think Yolko is definately broody...she's been sat on one of her eggs that I left her with, and 2 wooden eggs for a week now. She steps off once a day to get a drink, something to eat and hurries back so today I've bought her a little present....some Silkie, Orpington and Welsummer Bantam hatching eggs.

I've stuck 'em under her bum and now we'll just have to wait and see if she can stay put for 3 weeks.....wish me luck! (and Yolko of course)