Our rainy Sunday

So, what to do on a rainy day? Being inspired by our holiday visits to galleries, and also yesterday seeing BB's Godfather, Keith Pettit, exhibiting his wonderful wood engravings at The Hive in Lewes, the boys got their heads down to do a spot of 'arting'.

Meanwhile the rain did pour and pour....

For BB art is far from his strongest interest, and although he can be encouraged to draw, he isn't very enthusiastic, believing that he is rather 'rubbish' at it! Hopefully he will be able to gain more confidence at his new secondary school. In the meantime, Sam decided that he'd try the next level on Angry Birds!

Whilst in Lewes I spotted a few classic records in the charity shop, so as the rain continued to pour, we listened to the oldies but goldies, which seemed appropriate on the retro record player... Bali, hi...

Lunch for Steve and myself consisted of sprouted spelt bread, with humus and black olives, alfalfa and radish sprouts, cucumber and pumpkin seeds -  no dairy, no wheat and importantly no pesticides! Even the boys with their rice pasta and pesto escaped the dreaded highly cultivated wheat.

With the sun coming out in the morning, Zaf and I had managed to collect quite a haul of juicy blackberries on his walk (despite Zaf's best efforts to eat as many berries as he could directly from the prickly bushes). BB and I decided to make apple and blackberry crumble for pudding, and even Sam helped by peeling the apples.

No sugar, just a dribble of agave syrup

The crumble top was made with oats, cashew and pecan nuts, chia seeds, dates and a lovely dollop of thyme honey. For dinner I rustled up a lemon and spinach risotto, with roasted (sweet and tasty straight from our green house!) tomatoes, sprinkled with a helping of pine nuts and a smidgin of Parmesan!

An unexpected highlight of the day was a particularly lovely bunch of jewel-coloured dahlias. They were given in exchange for two pieces of glass panels which Steve had put on Freecycle.

 There wasn't much the two furry chaps could do, other than kip in their own loveable way!

But the good thing about rain is that it makes rainbows, and we had the pleasure of two of these lovely apparitions.

Hope you had a great weekend too!

 

Our new edible hedge

The last section of our old Lonicera hedge really needed to be replaced as it had become old, woody and rather broad. Every time the snow lay thick the hedge would tilt at an alarming angle. The other section facing the road was replaced two years ago with a native hedge and is coming along nicely. Once a decision to do something has been made in this house, it generally gets done pronto. I am not one to procrastinate - life's just too short, and besides now is a good time to be planting trees and hedges. We purchased a new hedge from the nice man at HabitatAid, Nick Mann, and I excitedly waited for the arrival of a new edible hedge to replace the old one. Sounds a tad sad to be thrilled and whooping when it finally turned up on the doorstep, but that's the kind of gal I am!

Looked a little like a body bag had been delivered!

Opening up the goody bag :)

We had asked a neighbour, who is a contract landscaper, to remove the old Lonicera hedge, so that we could concentrate on getting the new one in as quick as possible. Steve made a rustic fence just to give the border an edge and the hedge something to grow against.

After a good drench in a bucket of water, Steve got the whips in, and although BB was supposed to be helping his Dad, he wasn't too impressed with the bitter wind, so watched on for a bit, before disappearing back inside! A final layer of mulch completed the task, and the job was done!

Today after a refreshing (!) walk with Zaf, we headed down to the local garden centre and picked up a dozen heritage (posh word for native) primroses and a couple of pots of Scilla siberica. Not only are the flowers of this bulb a lovely blue, but my honey bees enjoy the nectar and pale blue pollen it provides. Hopefully these and the primroses will naturalise and produce many more plants in years to come.

In case you were wondering what's in my new edible hedge, here is the species list:

Prunus cerasifera (Cherry Plum)
Prunus domestica (Bullace)
Pyrus pyraster (Wild Pear)
Malus sylvestris (Crab Apple)
Corylus avellana (Hazel)
Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn - produces sloes)

But if you fancy a walk past our hedge in Autumn, I'm afraid you might have to wait a couple of years or five before any scrumping is likely...

Prunus cerasifera - Cherry Plum

Have a really good (and hopefully warmer) week ahead!