Reflection of Polperro

Last week I read a lovely post about the Cornish fishing village of Polperro posted by Sarah from Down by the Sea which you can read here. This evoked many memories for me as that is where we spent our honeymoon in 1970. Excuse the photo - no digital in those days.

Polperro has a wealth of art galleries and potteries and I still have a few pieces that we treated ourselves to. These two have been sculling around the house for years and I never knew where to put them - normally at the back of a cupboard somewhere as they went out of fashion many moons ago but I could never bring myself to throw them out. So glad I kept them.

Having found these two pieces I rummaged around in my sideboard to discover these two sixties vases made by Whitefriars - they were popular at the time because they had the fashionable 'Tree Bark' finish to them. They were wedding presents and I do still use them from time to time.

But my 'piece de resistance' was in the loft (needless to say hubby wasn't best too pleased to have to go up and search for them!). Does anyone remember or seen this coffee set on their travels? - made by J & G Meakin back in the 1960s. Again another wedding present and oh this has got me thinking now about more hidden treasures that may be lurking in the loft!!

When my daughter E saw them she was amazed and wondered whether I'd been watching Kirstie's Vintage Home on the tv. Apparently just the kind of things she searches for when designing people's homes. Methinks hubby has another loft trawl coming soon!

Do you have any old  vintage style pieces that you'd forgotten you had?

 

 

Welcome to my new follower Tangled Sweetpea - it's lovely to have you on board.

 See you soon and have a good week

Fishing around the freezer

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments recently and apologise for not replying at this time. I love getting them, they make my day.

I always buy fresh meat, poultry and fish and then freeze for another day. Vegetables are normally fresh but occasionally buy frozen peas or runner beans when they're not in season. Well today I've been having a tidy-up in my freezer as I like to leave some space for the run up to Christmas, mindful of the fact that some of this food will have to be eaten by its use-by date. Anyway I found a few packs of fish where only one or two odd pieces were remaining so decided to make a fish pie using Cod, Haddock and Salmon which I sliced and diced.

 

Made some parsely sauce (packet)  and added to the mix

Topped it with freshly mashed potato and

 

Tah-dah - here it is waiting to go in the oven (for about 30 minutes)

I just wish I'd had some parsley for the top!

Sometimes the simplest of ingredients make the best of meals -

and all from the odds and ends floating around my freezer.

 

Do you have a favourite quickie meal?

 



Woody Sunday walk

As Sunday was such a gorgeous sunny day we took the opportunity of taking a walk in our local woods whilst the Sunday roast was in the oven. The jobs could wait, the weather wouldn't.

I love this time of year when the leaves are changing colour and the sun throws

a dappled light through the almost bare branches.

 

Then there's that damp woody smell of down-trodden leaves which is so

synonymous with the Autumn.

 

 

So peaceful and not a breath of  wind -

just the sound of the woodpeckers and the foraging squirrels

and perhaps a distant cuckoo?

 

As well as the gentle clippety clop of these chappies out for

their morning exercise



 

Got to make the most of these lovely days before winter hits us
and the days get even shorter

 



 

Tempting though it was to walk further, it was the call of our lunch that took us home.

 

(and oh it did smell good when we walked in)

 

Bye for now

Time for comfort food...

Well it's that time of the year again when the old stews and casseroles come to the fore and in these days (mine anyway) of rushing around - school runs, food shopping, coffee with friends and blogging as well as spending 15/20 hours a week studying, there's not a lot of time left for anything else.

So my trusty Slow Cooker comes to the rescue. I use it regularly, at least twice every week and it comes into its own with the casseroles. 

I don't really stick to a particular recipe but generally make my beef casseroles with the following:


500 g stewing steak - diced
A few carrots, sliced
Turnip, chopped
Some chopped swede
4/5 mushrooms sliced
Large onion, sliced
Bay Leaf
Mixed Herbs
Dash of Worcester sauce
Beef Stock Pot
Enough water to cover the meat and veg
Squeeze of tomato puree
Salt and pepper
Gravy granules to thicken at the end of cooking

Sometimes I squeeze in some HP Brown Sauce with Guinness - very tasty

I don't fry off the meat first but I throw it all in and add the boiling stock over the meat and this just browns it quickly. I normally switch on about 20 minutes beforehand and then turn up to High and there it stays for four or five hours - or more.  If I'm going to be out all day, then I leave it on Low. This recipe made enough for two good servings and then I froze the rest.

I bought these Soup/Stew freezer bags from Lakeland and they are excellent for fitting into a freezer if you haven't much room for a plastic or china dish. You just take them out to thaw and then re-heat in the microwave or tip into a saucepan.

Today we had Beef and vegetable pies for our dinner using bought puff pastry and the de-frosted casserole mix, served with mashed potato and Brussels sprouts and a touch of English mustard on the side..

A big welcome to my new followers Greenthumb, Macha, Karen and Tammy - it's lovely to have you on board.

Have a good weekend

 



Remembering...

 

Remembering with pride...

 

Our thoughts go out on this Remembrance weekend to all those who served their country in times of war and for those who paid the ultimate price and did not return. In my family alone, special thoughts to a few brave men whom I did not know but 'found' them whilst tracing my family history.

 

Horace Bones - Flanders 1916

Morris Bones - Flanders 1917

Charles Bones - Salonika 1918

John Kimber Curtice - Flanders 1917 -

 

 

and not forgetting

Great Uncle Fred Dean aged 22 who died on the beach at Salerno in 1943

 

 

Age shall not weary them

nor the years condemn

At the going down of the sun

and in the morning

We will remember them

 

For your tomorrow

we gave our today....

Messing about on the river

We're back from our few days on The Norfolk Broads. Although the days were much shorter than a summer stay, the weather couldn't have been better and we enjoyed some lovely cruising and yummy lunches at the many riverside pubs on offer along the way. My daughter E and the gang were on their hired boat for the week and us landlubbers joined them for a few days.

Their mooring alongside our hotel in Wroxham was perfect

Before we arrived however, I was told that this cheeky little chappie - grandson L had fallen overboard whilst they were moored up! Fortunately they weren't cruising along at the time. They managed to hook him up pretty darn quickly, and thank goodness he had his life jacket on! He didn't seem too phased about it and survived the ordeal. Me on the other hand - well my heart was in my mouth from the time we arrived I can tell you!

Some of these riverside cottages were absolutely divine and they all had

places for mooring their boats

And some had their own resident Herons - they were everywhere

Eldest grandson H was more than content just idly fishing, whether
from the back of the boat or at one of our lunch stops.

He was more than pleased with this little catch

  

The swans didn't go hungry either

  

The end of a day on our lovely Autumn break

See you soon