Our Favourite Walk

At this time of year, the land isn't used and so we love to walk the dog around the perimeter whilst wrapped up - hats, scarves, salopettes - the big field is the centre point of Islandmagee but also one of the highest places...from the top you can see both Scotland and the Glens of Antrim so the wind is a permanent feature. It's pretty remote and we have seen mainly hares but also badgers, stoats & foxes.

According to some true beaneaters (we're only blow ins, having been here since only 1978) there was a fete held in the big field at the time of the Queen's coronation. I would loved to have been there - Islandmagee was certainly more of a community then - the pub hadn't been demolished, there was no power station (no pylons), no electricity interconnector to Scotland (the size of six football pitches at this end & although we fought it and "THEY" won, it cost £70 million to construct plus £30 million for recent repairs with current faults not fixed and therefore working to only half capacity see here if you really want to make your blood boil), no gas pipeline running through the middle of the peninsula and no underground gas storage  which is the next treat in store for us Islandmagee residents - it will cost £400 million to set up the huge underground caverns before one iota of gas is purchased - how much gas could you buy for £400 million and what will be dumped in these caverns when the gas runs out - we humans in the western world seem incapable of looking beyond the next fifty years - enough enough - this wasn't meant to be no sad post, we've heard enough of that before. PB

 

 To the southwest & Larne Lough

 To the Southeast

 To the Northwest overlooking Larne and the Glens in poor visibility!

 

My favourite - in the snow!

 

Racing Ahead

I have so much to blog re Christmas, I don't know where to start, but I was looking through photos from the summer and getting really excited about new planting plans for the garden, garden visits, workshops etc etc. I'm also trying to go throught the thousands of photos taken and delete all the poor ones - a tiresome job!

Here are a few pics to remind us of midsummer!

I would post more on the festivities of the last week but I can't get off the sofa to go and get the camera card....for tea I had half a duck with pancakes & plum sauce, Jamie's chinese chicken parcels, a bag of prawn crackers and homemade special fried rice, followed by half a box of roses (only stopped cos I'm starting to get toothache). My hubbie's just brought me a wee Baileys - that should help wash it all down :)

One Horse Sleigh

That's me - I'm a one horse sleigh. I knew that I was taking this on as a one man band and I do love it....but I'm exhausted. As I'm drifting off to sleep in the wee small hours, I'm mentally chopping foliage - rosemary, eucalyptus, viburnum, ivy, etc etc. I haven't left the barn all week......except to go into the garden for more foliage. When the weather's good, it's lovely and bright as the windows in the barn face mainly south. On wet and windy days it's pretty dark and depressing......the shortest day of the year and all that.

Tomorrow is to be wet and windy which is a bummer as it's the last workshop of the year - I have been so lucky - since the first workshop at the beginning of June, every single workshop date has been sunny and bright.

It's been so hectic all week that I forgot to bring my camera so must take lots of pics tomorrow.
In the meantime, here are some photos of last week's lovely ladies and their creations.

Busy, busy, busy

making wreaths, wreaths & more wreaths.....promise better posts & pics to come soon. My workshops are fully booked & my hands are like one of those horrendous photos you see when you google strange skin conditions - working with holly and wire all day - the glamorous life of a florist.

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

 

On Monday, we bought our Christmas tree and I can't believe how expensive they are now - the Noble Fir were £60! For the first time, I opted for a cheaper Lodgepole Pine at only £40, which is the bottle brush one....but because it had been pruned, it has a lovely full shape and fills the room with a lovely pine scent. I recently ordered lots of different conifers, bare root, to come from Co Cork so I think I will choose a nice one and keep it in a pot to bring in at Christmas - our house is so cold it should be fine. (I am sitting writing this with my salopettes on - is that sad?)

 

We are going to buy a wood burning stove in the new year - that's for another post - it is so complicated - we have spent months researching the best ones as we want a boiler one that will heat the house and I know it will take an awful lot of wood but if the wood is well seasoned and the right type (ash, hawthorn, oak) it should be fine. Sorry....I digress.

 

We also finally put up the decorations on Monday  - I love it...it just makes the house feel so cosy - I hate taking them down, everything seems so bare and stark.

Catch Up

I know it's a cliche but time really does fly when you're busy (and having fun!). I spent all week finshing the barn for Christmas workshops - painted the metal cladding, wrapped the entire barn to keep the wind out. On Friday night, last minute as usual, I moved into the barn so to speak - for the first time in four years, all of my floral paraphernalia (and there was a lot) moved out of my house and garage and into the barn. The house is still a mess - only half tidied but I feel like I'm almost sorted.

My first Christmas Workshop was yesterday and we had a blast - really good fun, Christmassy music, mulled wine, home baked treats from my kind mum and the sun shone into the barn the whole time so it wasn't too cold. It's amazing how the girls all produced such different wreaths - so creative and really talented - I was so impressed!

 

Of course I still haven't got the deccies up...they're out of storage and causing an obstruction in the hall - just to remind me that I'm the world's greatest procrastinator :(

Street Fair

Had a wonderful day yesterday at the Whitehead Victorian Street Fair, such an lovely atmosphere with the townfolk, stall holders and retailers in their finest Victorian garb. The crowds arrived in their hundreds and the hustle and bustle of the activities, including fire eaters, penny farthing cyclist and a hog roast were spectacular.

This was the fourth year of the Fair and I have had a stall at all of them but never before managed to sneak out and wander around - the atmosphere was amazing - the day finished with a carol service, switching on of the tree lights and last but not least fireworks at the seafront. Just wonderful - now it really feels like Christmas!

 

On a grubbier note (bear with me), now that I'm in a Christmassey mood, I decided to decorate the house earlier this year, rather tacky I know....not the done thing dahling.... but I am looking for inspiration for my wreaths and garlands, so I forced myself to go under the eaves, banged my head a few times and trailed out all of the boxes. That's as far as I've got - do you know why? - this happens every year - I realise that I should really clean the house first - garlands mingling with cobwebs not such a good look - I don't spring clean in Spring - in fact, I don't clean normally but, for some reason, I tend to come over all house proud at Christmas....I suppose it's because I know we will have visitors although that's the good thing about having the oldies to stay - the older they get, the less they can see. Even so I really have to clean/dust/scrub first and I'm just putting it off - I would rather be out in the garden - give me a few days and hopefully I'll get my act together.

The Aga Can

When we bought our house about 20 years ago, there was a red Aga in the kitchen. I hated it...I didn't like the colour red, I wasn't a great cook and didn't have a clue about how to use it. The flue was in the wrong position so when it was windy (always up here on The Gobbins!) it would blow out - one Christmas Day, we had to take the turkey out and drive to my parents' to cook it in their oven...disaster. We never gave in tho - we moved the flue and have never looked back. Yes it uses more oil than I would like but we have no electric oven, hob, kettle, toaster, microwave, dishwasher or immersion heater. It provides all of our hot water, you can iron your clothes on top and the kettle is always ready to boil as it sits at the back keeping warm. It also backs onto our bathroom - the entire wall stays warm and the large mirrors on the wall never mist because of the heat - the benefits really are endless.

 

The heat is instant - as soon as you put your saucepan on the plate, it starts to simmer and the oven cooks quicker than the time taken to order takeaway (which is impossible in Islandmagee!) I love it, I love it! At this time of year, nothing beats it for drying fruit slices and opening pine cones - I haven't had to clean an oven in 20 years - it self cleans - the constant heat just burns any spills to dust - I'm starting to sound very smug - I could ramble on forever......perfect pizza, instant toasties.......  

 

 

I wish, I wish

I wish, I wish....don't we all, but I wish I could be one of those people who calmly works through their chores, concentrating on completing one task before starting another, not getting distracted. I do try, I make a list and try to stick to it but I always get waylaid, another idea comes into my head or I see something in one of my old Country Living magazines (I have 12 years worth and each month, I bring out all of the past 12 years' issues for that month - any wonder I get distracted) and I just go off on a tangent. At the end of the day, I have all of these bits and bobs started, scattered all over the house. I suppose I get it all done in the end but I don't make it easy for myself.....or the rest of the family who have to trip over everything.

 

 

What did I do today? Went over to the barn - had finally gotten around to painting the corrugated metal wall and the interior timber so I had to put back my big flowery panels. I also ordered recycled polythene to keep the wind out but had the wrong staples for the staple gun - that's now sorted. I have managed to get hold of some more second hand double glazed windows to let more light in. It seems to be never ending but once done, it's done. Can't wait to have it finished and blinged up for Christmas - haven't yet thought how.

 

 

 

 

This afternoon, I washed and dried more pine cones over the Aga, harvested some pussy willow and dogwood and made some more willow hearts. I love fresh pussy willow - it smells beautiful, and when you force off the pussy covers, it is so white and silky smooth although it puffs out pretty quickly.

 

Am hoping tomorrow for a more productive day. Fingers crossed! x 

 

Yuletide Gatherings

Have been harvesting more bits and pieces from the garden, the weather's been quite settled so the seedheads are hanging on nicely. I've been gathering birch branches, crocosmia, libertia, angelica. The alliums, nigella, eryngium and honesty had already been cut and dried and the pussy willow I'll leave for another week.

 

While I have to make the most of what I've got, I'm loathe to slip towards the look of dried flower arrangements that gathered dust in the 1980s so I'll be keeping things simple - birch branches sprayed white with pussy willow. Bunches of seedheads, catkins and mini cones wired to door wreaths and swags. 

Luckily our mild maritime climate means that we can chop away at our greenery all winter, including rosemary, senecio & eucalyptus, as we rarely get frost.

 

 

Sometimes the simplest arrangements work best, just gather some cones & seedheads, sprinkle with orange and clove essence and place in bowls or jam jars around the house.

Good Game, Good Game

What with winter closing in, we're battening down the hatches and thinking of heartier fayre on the food front...any excuse for some good old Co Antrim stodge - a few pounds on the hips  means we can turn the thermostat down on the ancient oil guzzling boiler (we're in the process of choosing a wood burning stove but that's for another day)  so we're really just doing our bit for the environment.

Tonight's dinner - mixed game casserole - our local Sainsbury are now selling packs of mixed game pieces, (last night we had venison steaks with root veg) so I looked for a tasty recipe and found a lovely one with red wine and beef stock - you can find it here. Of course I couldn't quite stick to the recipe so I added our own home grown root veg before sticking it in the oven (potato, carrot, parsnip, turnip, beetroot) also a few tablespoonfuls of my recently made Blackberry Oxymel from James Wong Grow Your Own Drugs - Throughout The Year   what a fab book!

Anyways - needless to say I now can't move...had to have seconds and then there was so little left, it wasn't worth keeping for another day so polished off thirds...am forcing myself to down a few glasses of red wine just to help with the digestion of course.

Saturday night is foodie night - we're watching back to back 2 episodes of Great British Food Revival followed by this morning's Saturday Kitchen - that's what happens when you grow your own - you become food obsessed (or is it just us????)

Sorry the photos are so bad but I have no patience and the kitchen light not good.

Willow Hearts

I love willow - it's the easiest, most vigorous crop you can grow and it has so many uses. It supports the greatest range of wildlife of any single crop grown in the UK...hundreds of invertebrates and dozens of birds.

 

Enjoying my usual Sunday morning lie in, last week, I opened my December edition of Country Living and found an inspiring article about Common Farm Flowers - run by a talented couple who make the most beautiful coloured wreaths for Christmas. I have already in the garden Salix viminalis, eleagnus, lanata and my favourite, daphnoides. Daphnoides has beautiful purple stems which take on  a white bloom with age and the pussies come early, about now which is great for my Christmas crafts....it smells delicious too although you can't chop at it as vigorously as others - just every other stem or it can die back.

 

I'm quite excited as I have just ordered 5 other varieties from the wonderful Future Forests I would love to be able to create more than just a few simple hearts and basic wreaths....if I ever get the time I must go on a willow craft workshop!

Small Beginnings

Today's Tasks
Dried orange slices:
Slice thinly (too thick and they never dry properly but too thin and they fall apart - practice makes perfect!) blot on paper towels or place on a clean dry tea towel and fold over to gently press and remove excess moisture.
Place on cooling racks and set on top of the stove, or over a radiator, or in the hotpress - the secret is to dry them slowly. Turn them every half hour for the first hour or so to prevent them sticking or marking and be patient - 48 hours should do the job.

Ribbon Sets:

 

Cutting ribbon to place in my wreath making kits...enough to make a bow with bling.

Hoping my productivity will improve....the fiddly things seem to take the longest.

Tis The Season

....and all that. I now feel a mixture of excitement and panic at this time of year. I have always loved Christmas but was one of those people who refused to buy a present or write a card until I could pour a quadruple Baileys and play my beloved Best of Christmas Songs CD....sometime in December, never before. The deccies go up two weeks before and the tree just one week. What's the point in trying to do it all so ahead of time when there's no real atmosphere of Yuletide?

 

But now, what with my change in career, I should have been thinking of Christmas long ago. I did go to the wholesalers and spend a fortune on nice ribbon, I harvested seedheads and stems to use in my natural arrangments, I even potted my bulbs to force for my Christmas market stall. That's as far as I've got - I've made a "to do" list on the laptop, spent ages changing to an arty font and nice colour and lining it all up etc.......once again I have flaffed and flicked through my Christmas books and now I need to knuckle down - will keep you informed of my progress!

 

By the way, the dates for my Christmas courses are now on the website here.

Broaden your Borders (The Lazy Way)

Our autumn border needs expanding - as always - we are inclined to overplant and are always looking for somewhere to squeeze a few new plants in. Last year we made it longer - it's a snakey S shape, but this year we decided it's too narrow in places so we have expanded the lazy, no dig way.

 

You can either leave the exising turf as is, or slice off with a spade and turn over - the less you disturb the soil, the better. See here for some wonderful advice and information on no dig gardening as pioneered by Charles Dowding.

We then simply cover the ground with cardboard, then grit (our soil is heavy), then grass cuttings, then our own compost. Leave over the winter to break down and plant into in the spring, although I am inclined to not break through the card layer by only planting my own annual plugs in the first year, to prevent any grass, still trying to grow, from coming through.

 Will post an update in the spring - promise!

Winter's Closing In

The calm before the cold spell. I'm making the most of these last few days of truly autumnal weather before the forecasted artic blast sets in. Have wikipediaed Autumn leaf colour - quite fascinating.