Blue skies and Yellow happiness...

It was the last official day of the summer hols today. Oh I know we've still got the weekend, but that doesn't really count - today was our last freebie, before we have to start thinking about uniforms and getting up on time and brushing hair (oops maybe thats just us!) We'd got stuck into boring old chores today when BH put his foot down and said enough was enough - we were off to the beach before the hols were over! It does help that its just up the road!





Its easy to forget the pleasures of an afternoon on the sands - but every time we go down the beach I do feel so lucky to have this on our doorstep. No more trips to the Early Learning Centre to replenish the sandpit - we just sit and play on the beach instead!





I dont know if it was the sunshine or the blue skies that brought out this little Freerangers crazy side but something definitely had a positive effect on him - even his sister couldn't stay 'oh so serious' for too long!



So after all those blue skies and sunshine our dish of the day had to be the Yellow Happiness soup from Nigellas Summer book...



It is so easy, really unbelievably easy considering the taste it packs in.

All I had to do was chop two large yellow courgettes and cook them in a little olive oil with some lemon zest, then add a good dollop of turmeric, 1 litre of stock ( I used chicken), the juice of the lemon I zested and a cup of rice and cook for about 20 mins...and that was it!

I have lots more yellow courgettes to come so this could well become a freeranger staple! I love it, it's light enough to feel virtuous but tasty enough to feel like a treat...perfect!

Must start thinking about tomorrow and day 4 of the the courgette challenge! Dom at Bellau Kitchen shared his courgette lasagne so it would be rude not give it a go really! (maybe I'll call it zucchini just to confuse the kids)

When is a courgette not a courgette...

When its a stuffed marrow of course! Tonight was round 2 in our 7 days of courgette cuisine and after a day back at work I was starving hungry so it had to be substantial... and it certainly was that!



I sauted some garlic, red onions and mushrooms, scooped out the centres and stuffed 'em good and proper. I thought that looked a bit too healthy so I wedged plenty of feta and tomato on top and gave them a good glugging with the olive oil (drizzlings for wimps!). They took a while to bake but we really moist and tasty - the feta definitely did the business adding a salty kick. So far so good!

Tomorrow is officially the last day of the summer hols. Although i've been in at work most days this week, this still marks the end of another summer for me and any other teachers out there - so Friday calls for Nigellas Happiness soup to raise the spirits (thanks Mrs Nesbitt and Brownieville Girl for the tip off!)

Buildings a Go Go...

First of all thankyou for sticking with me whilst I disappeared from blogland for the last week. Citygirl treated us all to a very much appreciated break and we packed up the the tribe and headed for the hills.



Our minifreerangers couldnt have been happier - at last a chance to release their inner princess and pirate without mum and dad moping on about cement mixers!

Bless that Citygirl! She certainly knows whats needed and when! Waiting for planning approval had us both at the end of our tether - I'd convinced myself that it wasnt going to happen, we would have to move and start again and my veg patch would belong to someone else - boo hoo! But Citygirl knows better than to give into amateur dramatics and shoved us on bikes for the week to take our mind off things ( she also knows just when a mojito is called for!) so Mojitos, bikes and lots of rest were prescribed and we certainly feel all the better for it.


Especially because...our building plans have been approved!!!! Hoorah!!!


We got the call a couple of days early and it took us completely by surprise, but now its full steam ahead. Bricks are being laid at last!



Secondly - can I thank everybody who posted suggestions for what to do with my courgettes - in the culinary sense that is! Bionic Grandpa kept watering while we were away and they just kept producing more and more. So in honour of you all I am going to try and cook a different courgette dish from your suggestions every night this week (also Ive run out room in the freezer!)

Tonights was nice and easy - Spicy Vegetable Soup. Onions, Courgettes, tomatoes, Peppers, more courgettes, an anonymous chilli, some basil, more courgettes and plenty of seasoning.



Its very simple but very yum! Its also very low calorie to compensate for all the lovely food citygirl plied us with, but theres no compromise on the taste. Im going to try freezing some as a lunchtime standby...



Im already planning tomorrows creation...

Good Foundations...

The day of concretion has come at last! The concrete mixer arrived very early (much earlier than we expected!) and we shot out of bed and straight into our wellies to get shovelling. BH was on barrow duty and I was literally up to my wellytops in conc until the Bionic Grandpa arrived with his rake in hand to rescue me. Id love to say that I finished the job off and was responsible for the end product - but I didnt want to get in their way (handy that!) and I retreated to teamaking duty!

After much moving and smoothing we have our first base down and we couldnt be prouder - sad I know - but i cant wait for it to dry so I can put the patio chairs out on it and imagine what it will be like!



Elsewhere, Im glad to say that we have more late colour popping up...



and these are still busting out all over - I wasnt sure at first as the leaves have looked scabby all summer but weve had about 20 courgettes off it and its still going strong - and they taste lovely - much less bitter than the green ones can be.



BH dug up his first potatoes. He's very proud - i think he may end up framing these! I only planted maincroppers this year and Ive been too nervous to dig em up in case they were too small but so far so good...




and at last - the toms are making it from the green house to the table. As usual they'll all come at once. Thank goodness for Tomato salads....and soup...and pasta sauce...and ratatouille (speaking of which has any got a good recipe for this one that will freeze - Ive got to do something with all these courgettes!!!

Birthday blooms...

Well its finally been and gone - the birthday that is. We had a lovely meal with friends and family and a good time was had by all, until I realised that I was actually getting older and my midlife crisis was looming. Fortunately my little ones had been baking with Freerangenana and surprised me with this - if crisis looms call for cake!



The jug and cushion were my presents too - The freerangekiddlys know mums taste very well!

I took the opportunity of having so many helpers on hand to get a spot of weeding and planting done. Gardengirl was here and she bravely donned the nettle armor and fought back the onslaught of weeds we call our Long Border! We managed to liberate the beans which had been hiding in 'Nettle Hole and this Salvia 'Hotlips' - i'm so proud of this plant as I bought it at the start of the summer with just three reedy prongs coming up from it - hasn't it done well!



We had a birthday trip to Reighton Nurseries. This is not far from us and is amongst my favourite nurseries ever - if there are any Reightonites reading this they'll know why! It's a plant persons paradise - no coffee shop, just fields of plants of every variety under the sun and so cheap. This was Gardengirls first trip and her face was a picture! I think she's coming back with a trailer next time.

I couldnt resist getting a bit more late summer colour...

and a bit more still...

Thankfully I had Gardengirl on hand to tell me what would grow into what and where to stick it (which she did very politely i might add!) - she even planted them out for me (i'm not sure she trusted me to do it right!)

So I blew out my candles, stocked up on anti ageing cream and made my wish...and guess what, it came true...

They've finally gone red!!!

Our Yorkshire Getaway...

Now I wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong impression and think we're always off gallivanting, but this week is a very busy one for me, my wedding anniversary (8 years1)and birthday (too many years!) fall within 6 days of each other - and if that's not an excuse for a bit of gallivanting, I don't know what is!

We took up the lovely FreerangeGrandparents offer of a sleepover for the Wee Ones and snuck off to Crab Manor over in North Yorkshire. I cant believe I didnt photograph if from the front as its quite a beautiful building, but you can check it out at www.crabandlobster.co.uk Its a Manor House hotel attached to a restaurant, but it's so much more! Every room is themed around a famous hotel around the world and styled accordingly. Even though we'd read the brochure we still didnt really know what to expect, but I can definitely say it was out of this world!

This was the view from our window - I wish my lawn looked that green!



These gardens surrounded the path to the restaurant...





I do love a claw foot bath - I could have stayed in there all weekend...



This was our room 'The Ritz' - well we had to go for a London hotel didnt we!



The restaurant has to be seen to be believed. No photo could really do it justice and I didnt have a flash on me, but it is packed to the rafters with truly eclectic paraphernalia, everything from an antique wicker bathchair to racing paddock passes hang from the ceiling and your eyes are drawn to new wonders wherever you look. We are thinking about going back and sneaking our own memento onto the shelves to see if anyone notices!



There were surprises to be found all over the Manor - a 12 foot stuffed Yeti (described as the 'night porter'!)and gorgeous vintage furniture - but BHs favourite was this little note that awaited him in our room...



Needless to say it was a very successful treasure hunt!

All that Jazz...

When we left London our friends were all very supportive and oohed and ahhed in all the right places when we showed them pictures of where we were heading, but the one thing they couldnt really get their heads round was 'what would we do here'. Once we'd fed chickens and dug potatoes and walked dogs and built sandcastles - what would we do? How could we leave the theatres and concerts and comedy clubs and galleries all behind us? Fortunately we knew that there is life beyond the M25 and what people so often didn't realise was that although all that was on offer in London, when you've got two small children and are paying a London sized mortgage, you dont go out anyway!


I am very glad to say that is all remedied now. We've just enjoyed a fantastic weekend of culture and all just up the road from us at Burton Agnes Hall.



I love the Hall, its a real hidden gem as so many just dont know what's on offer there. It has the most amazing art collection which has really shocked some of our city friends when they've visited, but also amazing grounds including a walled garden.



I often find my way there - sometimes just to retreat after a hectic week at work. This time I sent my teenage goddaughter into it to explore on her own and find her own treasures. She came back wowed after her own 'secret garden' exploration!









Obviously a garden this size takes some looking after - they take all the help they can get!




This weekend was the fourth annual Jazz Festival. We got tickets as a joint birthday treat between myself and my old girly friend H, she'd had her birthday, mines coming up and we spent Saturday camped out on the lawns. It was a real treat for the Mums - very chilled out, enjoying great music, a great picnic and even greater dancing from our big brood of Jazz Babies!



We had a great view of everything from Big Band Swing to Dennis Rollins - Jazz trombonist (He blew us away - excusing the pun! He may even have converted BH to jazz!)



But a birthday picnic is nothing without a cake, so my own Jazz Girl was very busy the day before making sure we had extra special picnic treats!





So in answer to to my City Friends - its okay - we're finding plenty to do!

Its Showtime...

I do love a Country Show, I love everything about them , the live stock, the Fur and Feather, the craft stalls, the things you buy that you never knew you needed and above all the chance to imagine i'm a farmer for the day! After our busy schedule over the past few weeks my Better Half said 'enough was enough' and packed us all off to the Thornton le Dale Show in North Yorkshire. We have a great show just up the road from us, the Driffield show, but its often in term time so I can never go. We also have the Great Yorkshire Show which I hear is fantastic, but again its in term time so I only get to read the reviews. But God Bless the organisers of the Thornton Le Dale spectacular - they know that teachers love a good show too!


My mum - FreeRangeNan! and me spent ages eyeing up these Rams as likely winners in their beauty contest




Who could resist this cheeky fella!



They all had star appeal (I think those sideburns should have got a rosette myself!)


But eventually the winner was one from a completely different pen so we never got to see him!

I think we weren't the only ones disappointed...




We soon found consolation however in the form of the tastiest cupcakes I've ever tried ( and i've tried a few as my losing battle to get into my skinny jeans has shown!) I thought I was totally over cupcakes. You know once there in Greggs then maybe the best has already been and gone and I was fed up by being disappointed by sickly sweet creations that were all style over substance; see I said I'd tried a few in my time. But when I found the mama doreens stand I decided to have one last fling with the buttercream!



This cupcake business ( www.mamadoreenscupcakes.co.uk ) is based in Harrogate in Yorkshire and all their cakes are made using locally sourced ingredients wherever possible. I found from their website that they deliver so guess what my relatives are getting for their birthdays! This is Jessica who selected four gorgeous concoctions for me and was doing a great job dealing with the crowds they were attracting.



We had a 'grand day out', the horses, the sheep, the fancy bantams, the tractors, the cupcakes - whats not to love! Ive only ever helped with oragnising school fetes and knowing what a minefield they can be, I certainly appreciate the work that must go on putting on an event like this - its certainly worth it! I felt proud to be a countrygal, proud of my Yorkshire roots and even at times a little bit like a farmer ( im working on my sideburns as we speak!)

We got home shattered, but not too tired for these...



I think I may have found my perfect cupcake - who needs skinny jeans anyway...

All dug out...

I never want to see another foundation trench in my life - not ever, never, ever! We have dug and dug and dug some more - actually BH did most of the digging with a little help from his friends, but all the same, I do feel that we should strike oil or breakthrough to Oz or something at this rate!

After supplying enough tea to fill the trench I was allowed some time off for good behaviour so instead of lying down in a darkened room , which now sound really good, I got some weeding done at last. I swear my nettles are on magic hormone growth stimulant. they're taking over! I cleared an area of the border which was completely tangled with weeds and managed to get some of the plants which have been sitting waiting in the greenhouse into the ground - I know its late in the year but better than never as they say...

This was my first feelgood spot of the day. I love the blue of this Veronica...




but then I got the Hydrangea Lanarth White into the ground and that became my fave of the day, I cant wait till it fills out more, i've really developed a crush on white hydrangeas...




but then I managed to finish one of the knitting projects thats been sitting in my basket for ages. On their own these wrist warmers are pretty so so, but once my daughter got her hands on them they took on a life of their own and the feelgood factor was decided!



I've been promised a day off tomorrow, we'll see...