Good bye October, Hello November!

When it came to blog posting, October was pretty much taken up with the posts from our holiday on Dartmoor. We just loved the place so much and saw so many new things I just wanted to capture it all, both to share with you guys and to capture the memories for posterity for us. 

Looking back at the list of what I wanted to get done in October we didn't do too bad at all. 

The front gate is fitted, with just a small bit of finishing off needed. There's a new radiator fitted in the bedroom, so it's now nice and cosy at bedtime. We've also made a start on the Autumn garden tidy up and when it comes to de-cluttering, the DVD cupboard has had a serious sort out with lots now on eBay to see what luck I have. 

I'm still keen on the idea of having a go at mosaics and have started to look into this more. There could also be another potential new hobby on the horizon. You'll be able to read more about this soon. 

I had a lovely day out with my good friend Jackie and her daughter Rachel (who is also my God daughter). We had a real girlie day out with shopping and Rachel treated Jackie and I to a very nice lunch, where cocktails were drunk. We had a great time and all agreed we should try and do it more often. 

I've also had a couple of days back at school on Chair of Governor duties, for a number of different things, including the opening of the new school library, which is actually based on a narrow boat on the school grounds. It was a great day and the culmination of a real school and community effort that has been ongoing since November 2013. You can read more about the project on the school's narrowboat project blog.

November started with a day out with our good friends Jackie and Phil, with Rachel and her boyfriend Tom. We went over to see Rachel and Tom's apartment in the Jewelry Quarter in Birmingham and you will be able to see and read more about what we got up to very soon. 

November is a big birthday month for me. I've no idea how it's happened but I will be 50. I must admit when I was younger I hated the thought of reaching 40, never mind 50, but now I'm here I actually feel quite excited. I feel like I'm in a really good place in my life and it's really the first time in my life I've really been able to do whatever I want. How cool is that? 

I've been working on a list of 50 things I want to do before I'm 60. So far I've got to about 35, so I need to get my ass in gear and finish this off so I can share it with you all. 

Though my birthday isn't till later in the month, I am starting celebrating early, with a posh afternoon tea with my friend Jo this week and meals out with other friends throughout the month. We've then got a week away booked with the rest of the family in Norfolk so I'm hoping I'll have lots of adventures to share with you over the course of November.

In the Garden - October

There really have been some gorgeous colours on show in the garden during October.  Autumn is here in all her glory.
Whilst there's not been that much activity in the garden, we have managed to have a couple of days out there in the Autumn sunshine.


The first of our efforts involved Martin and I having a bit of a clear up in the back.  We finally said good bye to the very last of the tomato plants and cleaned and packed away the pots and support paraphernalia.

We then took down the three temporary greenhouses and cleaned and dried off all the poles, connectors and covers, before packing away until next Spring.










We've eaten our first baby butternut squash this month and very nice it was too.  We do have another tiny one hanging in there, but I'm not sure whether it will come to anything.  We'll give it a bit longer to see what happens before deciding whether it will end up in the compost bin!  I'm not sure we'll be trying these again next year as we've been really disappointed with how they've done.



We also had a really good tidy up of the patio pots and given the potted daisies another good deadhead.  They are still going strong and we have really had a good run for our money with these. The empty pots have been planted with a stack of wallflowers to give a bit of colour come the Spring. 
When Martin first moved in, about 9 years ago, I told him never to let me buy wallflowers.  It was the in joke in our family that I always bought them, but never got round to planting them, so they just ended up going to waste.

This year, having a bit more time, is the first time that I've actually planted wallflowers in the Garden at Number 27, and I've lived here over 20 years, so I'm looking forward to enjoying the fruits of our labour in 2015.

Our second effort saw the front gate finally be fitted out with ironmongery and hung.  Martin had been very wary of attempting this as he knew it would be a bit tricky to get it right.  I think, in all honesty, that's why it's taken us so long to finally get it fitted.

In the end Google came up trumps though and a site called 'Woodworkers UK' really came in handy. This was definitely a Martin effort, rather than me, with a little bit of support from dad and a very friendly Oliver, who was very happy to have his uninterrupted walk back. I did provide the sausage sandwiches though and I do think he's done a great job.

As this has been such a marathon project, I felt it worthy of a very comprehensive set of photos!
Apologies now if you're not really a gate fan.

We still have a bit of finishing to do, before we can totally tick the job off the list, but at least we have a little bit of privacy and security back.  We've both felt very bare without the gate and are really glad to have it up and running.  Hopefully next month I will have some pictures of it completely finished, with the front bolts fitted and the base supports removed.

There is still absolutely loads to do before we can say that we have finished for the year and some of the things I hope to tackle in November are:

The fir cone is closed up for the Winter!

• Massive leaf clearance!
• Trimming of the ivy round the back
• Final tidy up of the borders
• Trimming of the privet, again (that will be the third time this year!!) round the front
• Another big tidy up round the front to get rid of weeds and perennials that have done for the year and
• If we feel up to it, a trim of the Leylandii, though I have read that these shouldn't be pruned after August, or it may be too cold for them to grow back next year.  I swear I haven't just made that up so I don't have to prune them!

Hopefully I will be able to rope mum in for a morning or an afternoon, which will be a great help, but it looks like I'll still have more to report next month, so please, keep reading.

Caching on Cannock Chase

In the Geocaching World, 13th October 2014 was International Earth Cache Day.

What this means to the caching fraternity is that if you complete an Earth cache on this day you are awarded a virtual souvenir (or badge)!!

Well we're always up for a badge, virtual or otherwise, so we set out from Tamworth, mid-morning, in thick fog.  We picked up mum and dad and headed over to The Chase.

The Earthcache we were heading for was at Castle Ring Iron Age Hill Fort on Cannock Chase. What we had to do to be able to claim the cache was to complete three tasks:

1. We had to walk around the ramparts and estimate how long it would take a watchman to complete a circuit. 
2. We then had to estimate how far we could see from the viewpoint on the Northern ramparts. 
3. Then we needed to take a photograph of ourselves at the viewpoint. 

We did wonder how we would manage estimating how far you could see today, as the fog was pretty heavy, but as we approached the Ring the skies suddenly cleared and we knew we would be afforded a good view from the required spot.

We parked up and agreed who was going to be responsible for what.  I was on photo duty, mum was on writing duty (that proved to be a mistake!), dad was on timekeeping and Martin was on the GPS.

We headed off in brilliant crisp Autumn sunshine and made one circuit of the Ring, stopping a couple of times to look at the views and to pick up another cache nearby. 

Getting back to the car it soon became evident that the writing of the timings had gone, to put it lightly, somewhat awry. After a mince pie and a few minutes of discussion and blame laying, Martin decided the only thing to do was to re-walk the Ring. A swift agreement by all and we were soon on our way round again this time with the GPS stopwatch in operation for the first time ever. 

Our second set of timings seemed a lot more likely and we managed to get what we needed, so we headed for home to claim our souvenir.  

It's the little things!!

Quince & Rosemary Jelly

Quince & Rosemary Jelly is the last preserve of the year that we make with produce from the Garden at Number 27.

We are always inundated with quince and, as they are so hard and don't taste so good raw, there are a very limited number of uses for the abundance of fruit.

This jelly can be used in place of redcurrant jelly in stews or as an accompaniment for meat dishes. Since making this jelly I haven't bought any redcurrant jelly at all!

Makes - about 900g/2lb

Preparation Time - 20 Minutes

Cooking Time - 40 Minutes

Straining Time - Approximately 3 hours

Ingredients

900g quinces, cut into small pieces, with bruised parts removed

900ml-1.2 litres water

Lemon Juice

4 large sprigs fresh rosemary

900g preserving sugar

Put the chopped quinces in a pan with the water, using the smaller volume of water if they are ripe, and more - plus a little lemon juice - if they are hard.  Reserve a few sprigs of rosemary, adding the rest to the pan.  Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently until the fruit becomes pulpy.  

Remove and discard the rosemary sprigs. Pour into a sterilised jelly bag suspended over a bowl. Leave for 3 hours, or until the juices stop dripping. Do not squeeze the bag. If you do this your jelly will not be clear.

Measure the drained juice into a pan, adding 450g sugar for every 600ml of juice. Heat gently over a low heat, until the sugar has dissolved completely. Bring to the boil, then boil rapidly for about 10 minutes until the jelly reaches setting point (105 degrees).

Remove from the heat. Skim off any scum, then cool for a few minutes until a thin skin forms on the surface. Place a sprig of fresh rosemary in each warmed sterilised jar, then pour in the jelly. Cover and seal. Store in a cool dark place and use within 1 year.