New Garden, New Beginning

I am cooking tonight, I know, I do it every night but I am the cook. It comes from the days I farmed, respected the food and cooked it properly, giving the vegetables and animals their due.

Tonight was one of those nights I was in a cooking zone, do the powers that be have a cooking zone? Anyway, I was there and it was chicken breasts, butterflied, seasoned with Italian Seasoning. Yep, Claudia, this is for you. To accompany this highly valued protein, I made an Italian salad, yep, there you go again Claudia. 

Seriously we do not have this just for Christmas, this is a Tuesday night meal, experimenting and enjoying what nature bounty has to offer.

Chips and an Italian salad to accompany this simple Italian dish. No, I am not going to say it, what the hell, Claudia you are mentioned again. I did start experimenting and I thought I would try frying onions and garlic with a tin of Italian chopped tomatoes, yep, you there again. I dropped some fresh basil and fresh oregano in and it turns out that is what those very clean, lovely people in Italy do. Yep, Matilda, please do not feel left out, no dirty Italians were hurt in the making of this dinner.

A new dish I have found.

Puff Pastry strudel with Ham and Cheese. Let me know if you want this recipe, super quick and easy, a winner on Burger Nights.

Let us not obsess

Dee, good friend of Matilda Swift, I know, Matilda has got friends in England, who would have thought? There is Dee (British), Sade(New Zealand), Chris (I think Chris is a guy, origin unknown) and not forgetting a rumour of another friend (American). Is someone heterosexual? Good question, you are what you want to be but when I am told to get over my obsession with something, I realise I have maybe gone too far. It was just a jest, a story in the making, a light-hearted topic. Life does get in the way and we lose our way, sometimes it is not about the subject but the honesty. My feeling is never to put something down when there is just a fable in the way. 

I have a humane mice/rat catcher, caught one today and Jenson has just tried to make friends with the rat. I blame it on the way he was brought up. I only knew about the trap working when he was barking in the garden, there the little fellow was, wetting itself while Jenson danced around the cage and barked. I set the rat free into the woods, far away from our garden. I do have great expectations from the rat catcher, I hope it does not let me down.

Before King Charles arrives at Westminster Palace, the Yeoman of the Guard will go down to the cellar and make sure there is no dynamite there. This is an old tradition dating back to the Guy Folkestone era when our arch-rival wanted to blow up parliament. Today it was given the all clear but you can never be too careful. Think of Trump, pity the guy was not a better shot.

(Image of Yeomen)

The original Hovis 'Boy on the bike' returns to the scene of the iconic television advert 50 years ago.

Carl Barlow was 13 when he starred in the advert, pushing a bike with a basket of bread up Gold Hill in Shaftesbury. The advert was voted the most iconic of all time. Susan and Alex walked down Gold Hill and I have captured this moment in time, hopefully someday Alex will take his children down the same road.

Your grandmother wore really 'mini' mini skirts, tight hot pants, long go-go boots, bell bottoms and no bra. She listened to Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Janis Joplin and the Rolling Stones. She drove a mini car, rode fast on motorcycles and scooters. She smoked thin cigarettes and fat joints She drank G&Ts and Whiskey Shots, walked in at 4:00 am - and still went to work the next day..... So however you think you are, you'll never be as cool as your grandma.

Sometimes you get so comfortable with the little world that you created, it is hard to see beyond it, until someone comes bye and opens the possibilities.

To See a world in a grain of sand and heaven on a wildflower.

Where has the time gone?  It is now almost a month later, and I still have not finished this blog. To be fair, I have been doing loads of content writing, for my clients. I know this is not an excuse, but in all fairness to myself, you do get a little bit tired of writing at the end of the day when you’ve been doing it all day.

Let’s move on. Robert’s Birthday weekend started on Friday night, burger night, this time the weather was very kind to us and we had a glorious, barbecue, which Daniel San was bold enough to cook, encouraged by Michael and Gary. Robert had come down from Nottingham with Lauren and all the Middle Smiths were here. 

Gary has a painful shoulder, no, not the bike accident one, the other one. Being a true Middle Smith, he took himself off to A&E, more for some peace and quiet before his camping trip to Longthorns Farm, deep in the Purbeck mountains. Turns out there is nothing that they could find wrong with the said shoulder that a few painkillers would not fix in time, more like a pulled muscle or trapped nerve, so nothing serious. He did enjoy a relaxing 2 hours watching the goings on at the hospital. He did send a few photos of him and Alex visiting one of the numerous country inns enjoying a Ploughman’s and the compulsory pint, seem they had fun.

Just thinking about the weekend ahead, exhausts me. I believe Michael, Robert and Lauren are doing a 100 km bike ride through the Purbecks, on Saturday. 

Then on Sunday, it is a 21 km run over the fells and then there is an hour of paddle ball. I will do my daily walk and swim and there are a few things to be getting on with in the garden. Also with all the energy spent, they have to be fuelled, so I will devote some time in the kitchen. 

Talking of pills, Lauren did not sleep well her first night here so Susan visited someone, somewhere and acquired a few pills of dubious origin and told Lauren they would help her sleep, gave her one before bed. That girl was out like a light, 9 and a half hours deep sleep and woke to her bubbly self, ready to conquer the day. I did wonder about her cheerfulness but decided not to ask too many questions.

Our newly landscaped garden is flourishing, the paving looks grand and the plants are exactly six inches apart, in two rows, short plants in the front and taller in the rear. Other than that it is all slightly uneven grass with a few dead patches, where Jenson wees. Hanging baskets cascade with fresh, brightly coloured flowers, and gentle swaying in the breeze has given the whole area a manicured, clinical beauty. This is pleasing to the eye and restful to the soul. No more birds, no more rats, just a garden.

Old Garden

Breaking news. Just an update from down under, slang for Australia.

Angela Dickens will be known as Master Angela Dickens, Master Ang to her friends. Congratulations Master Angela on your Masters of Education Degree. There are very few people who understand children but Master Angela now is our go-to expert. Now we just need someone who can understand what she means when she says we know nothing about bringing up children. My advice is to feed them, make sure they are clean and dressed properly and then let nature take its course. The odd smack on the bum is a reminder, that the world is not all a box of chocolates. Sadly, in our nanny society, that is frowned upon. 

Master Angela is writing a book on education, which should be a best-seller, not sure if anyone has tackled that difficult task before, easier to send someone to the moon.

Lastly, we remember Granny June and Mark on their birthday, 18th June, still with us but in a different way. Birthdays and what we are presumed to want, do, be, allow and expect. This is that time of the year again. Matilda Swift, 12th July, formally from Australia, now Matilda of Dorset and let us not forget the most recent, Robert Bruce Smith, 12th August. Happy Birthday.