A good day

So happy to finally get a bit of sunshine between the clouds and be well enough to get out and enjoy it this morning with a simple blueberry breakfast and some frivolous silvery toenail painting - got to reflect every last drop of sunshine now that we have some. It's my way of pretending I've had a summer holiday. I'm not a pink cardigan sort of person, but i never say no to free cashmere hand-me-downs!

Still got some blueberries ripening on the bushes...



The Clematis/Hops is finally old enough to reach along the fence and then cross over onto the shed, creating a nice floral bower over the secret path between the sheds - which has become even more secret after this years rain made the bamboo grow like crazy...





The Clematis even creeps round in the other direction onto the back side of the shed (yes, in a 3rd shade of bluey green). I hope next year I will have some energy for gardening and can train it properly across the shed wall, I just had it tangled over a small nail this year so it was a bit bedraggled...




I just adore that clematis and grow have it growing on the East fence paired with Goldenrod, Evening Primrose and Eupatorium/Eutrochium...




Finally after 2 years without we got hold of some organic corn. The garden is in shade by late afternoon but I was determined to eat it outside anyway since there was still a lovely warm breeze. Who needs sun when you have a freshly boiled cob on your plate...

Soaking breakfast overnight

Glass after 2hrs soaking in water (hard to see but the water is in there).

Another food photo for Liz (better late than never) I typically soak my seeds/nuts/grain mixtures overnight (at cool room temp or in the fridge if it's too hot) and top up with water as needed. Next day enjoy as raw porridge, as lightly cooked porridge (lovely with fresh fruit added), added to smoothies or drained of any water and used in salads. Full of goodness, particularly if you don't heat it. And packed with protein, for those who think you can't get protein without eating meat.

Food (for Liz)

Hi Liz, it's all very well offering to make you food but you might want to see it first so here a a couple of pics of yesterday's food and ingredients. Most things tend not to get photographed because I'm too busy scoffing, or have made too much mess, but I'll try and document more when I can.

The granola is the only way I can get Mr P to be keen on oats and the refried beans and rice is a great base for then adding raw shredded veg to in the last minute so it gets a little bit limp but doesn't lose any flavour or nutrients. As you can see I only had a wee bit of Rainbow Chard, Tenderstem Broccoli and Spring Onions left, but it was very tasty. It's all organic, of course, and the rice is brown basmati, boiled the day before with saffron, cardamom and a bay leaf. The cannelini beans were slow cooked the day before in my hot box.

Cactus Beetroot Cranberry

The flowers are nearly finished on the Christmas Cactus, they always brings such a great splash of neon pink over Christmas and this year they were especially abundant (having been scant after major pruning 2yrs earlier).

Another intense pink that lasts all through winter is of course beetroot. All that colour hints at it's high beta carotene content. When eaten regularly it's liver cleansing abilities are ideal for those of you who had more than the occasional tipple during the party season. My usual Summer salad of beetroot, pear and feta got a seasonal boost with fresh cranberries. Also good for your liver and packed with phytonutrients and antioxidants.

Not that my liver has suffered in any way, I barely drink at all, but I do like to dribble Tawny Port onto things around Christmas time so I can pretend they are trifle so I'm sure my liver is happy to have a pink boost to help cleanse it. Hopefully by next year my Cranberry plant will have settled in enough to produce an edible harvest so I won't need to depend on shops at all.

Cally Creates - Cushion/Pillow covers

Seaweed Fronds Cushion Covers - €19.99

Sketch <9090> retro Cushion Covers - €19.99,

I've been so busy trying to get Christmas presents sorted that I forgot to list some new cushion covers in my Envelop shop. Bit daft of me because they won't be shipping new orders until 7th January.

I really need to go to bed but I have to stay up because my belly has still not managed to comprehend, never mind digest, all that I have eaten since this afternoon. I was planning to just make a simple Jerusalem artichoke soup, a great Winter favourite of mine. But one thing led to another and I found myself steaming carrots, cauliflower and beetroot on top of the soup. Surely that should be enough, but I got impatient waiting and decided to make a salad to tide me over - but it turned out HUGE filled with Beetroot, Pomegranate, Cranberries, Pears, Jerusalem Artichokes, Feta. It was so tasty I ate the whole thing. Problem was, the soup turned out just as tasty and I couldn't stop eating it either and I loved every tasty mouthful.

My Halloween - food, face, flowers - 2011

Much belated, a few snippets from my Halloween Dinner party:
1. Autumn Squash and a lovely Black Bear brooch from Adadine (guilt gift from Mr P).
2. Facepaint always makes me happy.
3. Oxalis plant in a ceramic raku fired bowl I made in the early 90's.
4. Japanese snacks in a small ceramic tealight holder.

Eszter Burghardt - Edible Vistas & Wooly Sagas

Eszter Burghardt - Edible Vistas

These amazing macro photographs are by Canadian-Hungarian artist Eszter Burghardt who sculpts these incredible miniature landscapes to reflect the isolated atmospheric beauty of Iceland where she has completed several artist residencies. Working from memory she uses Icelandic wool for Wooly Sagas and kitchen ingredients for Edible Vistas.

I love them. When I first saw 'Edible Vistas' I thought they were real photo's of Iceland, when in reality they were made from things like chocolate cake, cocoa powder and milk. I love the use of poppy seeds to capture the feeling and texture of dense grey-black volcanic rubble. With Wooly Sagas it is easier to see that they are made from wool, but this doesn't detract from the way she has captured the scenes, and in particular the feeling of intense heat from Volcanic activity.




Eszter Burghardt - Wooly Sagas

They make my tilt shift garden photo's look utterly amateur but rather than be put off I'll strive to do better because they are always great fun to work on. It's another one of those activities that takes me back to childhood, being under the covers in bed and using the folds of the fabric to imagine snowy landscapes, mountains, caves and other worlds. Eszter's landscapes inspire me to keep playing.

Jung Jung's Knitted Vegetables

Intricate and detailed Cloch Lace knitted vegetables by Jung Jung.

Finally a good use for old drained batteries - power an Energy Seed Lamp.

Summer foods change to Autumn foods

Nothing says summer like wild tomatoes on toast. But already the Summer veg is showing hints of Autumn. The raspberries are almost done and being replaced by brambles, though they are mostly not ready just yet, another week or two of warm sun needed.

No more Elderflower, Hibiscus and Lemon cordial (below). I can probably start picking rose hips soon so perhaps something along that line for days when I want rose coloured liquids and a boost of Vitamin C to ward off those colds that so often catch you when the seasons change.




The Rowan berries have been fully red for a week, a sure sign of the Summer winding down. It feels like we never really had a Summer, so much rain and wind, but then I look at my garden pictures and there was so much happening, I can enjoy what I snapped over a few days for the rest of the year. Not that the garden has stopped giving, there are lots more flowers to enjoy as well as edibles. Still picking what the wind left of the Blueberries and the Aronia 'Viking' is so abundant it's more than made up for the missing Blue B's.

Yesterday I pulled my first carrot, A beautiful Organic Early Nantes variety, so tasty and one of the few vegetables not bothered by pests this year and the Rainbow Chard seems to be perking up a bit and has the loveliest stems of bright yellow, red and raspberry. The Alpine Strawberries seem to be going on forever, they've clearly loved the wet weather.

Berry coloured kitchen

Sorry for multiple reposts, Blogger is doing horrible things with my text, images and alignment, still trying to fix it so I'm fiddling with posts to monitor changes.

The Berry colours aren't just happening in the garden, they are in the kitchen too with raspberries and beetroot being the main glorious culprits in the making of smoothies, hummus, and all manner of finger staining delights. This particular one (above) was long, dark and quite woody, not juicy like the big round ones I use in salads (shown below), so I was blending into things where the other ingredients would stand out more, like elderflower, aronia and raspberry frosted smoothie, and raspberry ginger pear and coconut milk ice cream (not shown, I ate it too quickly).

A slice of July

The most beautiful way a pest could destroy your multicoloured Kale, and other photo's from the garden last month...





Because I've not been well enough to garden much I like to grab a bit of everything when I can to bring inside. Below is the result of a 30 minute haul towards the end of July. There were plenty of things missed but that was OK because there wasn't barely room for so many flowers in the house. My bettery ran out befoer getting photo's of the most sculptural jar of eucalyptus, allium christophii, heuchera and pink seed podded honesty. The honesty has been amazing this year changing from green, to deepest purple and now to shades of pink, shown here in this photo from one of the plants outside on top right of this montage of July flowers...


The leaves of Brunnera 'Jack Frost' are turning from white to a metallic silver and really set of the purples and plums of the Sangiusorba, Clematis, Astilbe, Berberis and Heuchera.

Also enjoyed this week lovely colours and themes in Daphne's posts Frill and Vroom Vroom.