A rich tapestry

September 14, 2018

A season full of goodness



It's been a good season for home grown produce.
These were the first few figs and we've had a steady crop
over the Summer.




Making fig jam. Now we have a supply of jams in our store cupboard



Daughter D's fig and blackberry jams


a gift of honey


the veg plot and the covered yard 



We're still gathering tomatoes, cooking with them and bottling some.


We've enjoyed broccoli, beans and lettuces and a few other
home grown vegetable produce.  We could have done with a bigger
 supply of vegetables, but a little is better than none at all. 


We had quite a few more nectarines this year on the young tree although
we lost a few during a day of high winds.  They were small
and very sweet. In the end I made a fruit crumble with them
and added some bought peaches as some were split, a little wrinkly
and not so nice to eat fresh unlike the figs.
We haven't gathered the apples yet and we only have one pear that
has survived due to the extremely cold weather conditions earlier in the year. 



table grapes and 'strawberry' grapes in our local daughter's garden
..................................
'strawberry' grapes smell and taste like strawberries so good to eat, but are 
small, have pips and stain your lips and tongue purple! All the grapes growing
here in our family gardens in the UK are still not ripe and
 will probably stay on the vines for the birds.



grapes growing along our front garden wall


Lastly, this is not home grown fruit and veg, but
I decided to include the Joie De Vivre rose bush which is still
producing masses of roses.  It was meant for Riitta's
Floral Bliss linkup which ended this week and I missed
the opportunity to join in.
Good news - Riitta's Floral Bliss will now change to Friday Bliss!
You can read more about this link on Riitta's recent blog post here
I shall be linking up when the link opens today, Friday, 4pm Helsinki time.



September 11, 2018

A drive across the moors to Bamford


Recently we took a drive down to Ladybower Reservoir going over our local moor so that we could see the heather which is in flower at the moment. 




a view across the village of Bamford roof tops to the hills
 overlooking Hope Valley


We had planned to go further into the Peak District National Park, but instead decided to return home for lunch.  However, we did stop off in the village of Bamford and had a coffee in what has become to be known as the Angler's Rest Community Hub.  This former pub was another one of the amenities in this village threatened with closure. Then a group of villagers had the idea of buying it from the company that owned it for use as a community facility. After much negotiation this happened in 2013 and with further improvements to the building the venture proved to be so successful that there is now The Rest CafĂ©, The Rest Bistro and a post office. The usual stationery items can be bought there and it's also an outlet for local artisans' work. Once a month a farmers' market is held in the car park. 







a seating area in front of The Angler's Rest Hub


The Methodist Church, one of three churches in the village,
 the others being Anglican and Roman Catholic.


Bamford is one of the highest villages in the Upper River Derwent Valley. The surrounding area is  popular with walkers and climbers as it's located on the slopes of the gritstone escarpment of Bamford Edge.