Weeds I can live with...

In between the rain I've been trying to keep on top of the weeds, only some are too pretty to part with...


I don't know it's name but this beautiful purple flower has self seeded all along my borders. It looks so kapow! against the Euphorbia that right now it's my favourite colour combination in the garden...



I'm hoping this year it will self seed more and more and more..


And it's a good excuse not to go wild with the weeding!

Do you have any weeds you can't live without? Or is it just me!!!


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Huevos heaven - Yorkshire style...

Okay so its not a typical Yorkshire Breakfast, but it is my favourite, and the only one guaranteed to get me on my feet after a late night....

Huevos Rancheros - Yorkshire style...

The onions (from our garden) are sauteed in Yorkshire Rape Seed oil from our local producer Gold from the Wold

 then they get a good sprinkling of smoked paprika - my concession to non yorkshire produce! I get mine from gardengirls shop in Finchley, London - 'Tony's continental'. They're on facebook, check them out if you're ever near, they do the best stuff, often hand packaged by gardengirl herself and at the best prices...

 but enough of the advertising...back to the Huevos...once the onions are soft and smoky I tip in a good portion of chopped tomatoes - if Im being very good they're frozen ones from last years greenhouse haul...if i'm being honest they're usually from a tin1 But I do add some chopped chillis which are usually from the freerange windowsill and then season good and proper ...

 Then in go the eggs...fresh from the hen...

 these go in the oven and bake until they're ready...just perfect!

and then there's only one thing left to do...scoff the lot...delicious!!!

So they might not be true Huevos Rancheros - but they work for us....

All sold out...

So sale day came, and we sold...and sold....and sold. I fully intended to take lots of pictures as more and more plants arrived and we filled the hall - but there were people coming in an hour before we officially opened and that was it - we never stopped until there was very little left, like these sad lonely onions!

 I had great helpers thank goodness, citygirl, Kgirl my oldest bud (not literally old that is!), BH, Freerangenan and the marvellous ladies from All Saints church amongst others made sure everything went to plan. Even ponygirl got in on the act...
                                                

We took over £300 in 2 and half hours. Not bad going when you consider most plants were under £1. There were flowers, veg, herbs and cake - what was not to love??? We had some amazing donations, compost bins, pots, even a mini green house! It was great fun selling and talking about plants and if i'm honest i'm already planning next years event...

by the end of it we were pretty tired...I caught these usual suspects napping on the lawn!

There was a glass of two of fizz to be had after all was tidied up...and a very very good nights sleep...

It's sale day!!!

Despite my worries that we wouldn't have enough stuff...it's started to arrive...


Geraniums,salvias,mints, montbretia, sprouts, bleeding hearts, pots and compost bins and the rest...now all we need are customers! Fingers crossed...



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There's something in the woodshed...

Look closely and you might just see our newest visitor...




A broody blackbird has chosen our woodshed to make her nest and now we daren't touch the logs in case we disturb her! I think BH is secretly thrilled, mostly as it stops me lighting a fire every time the wind changes!



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Digging and planting...and a plant sale to prepare!!!

Its been a big weekend in the Freerange household. Been as it was bank holiday we couldn't resist the urge to hire heavy equipment and do a spot of digging...

Believe it or not this was a pile of bricks and rubble on Friday, and while it may not look so pretty just yet, to me it looks fabulous - fabulously rubble free...hooray!

 And by Monday it looked like this...

                                       

Ahhhh....happiness is a full skip! Blimey we really need to get out more!

On the planting front its been all hands to the deck. Im holding a plant sale in our village this Saturday to raise funds for our village church. It sounded like a great idea when I suggested it last year but now I'm panicking ...the green house is only half full...

 Ive only got 3 more days to take cuttings and get potting - yikes!

On the plus side, the cuttings I took last weekend are already taking well. This is the Eau de Cologne mint I grew last year...it smells amazing...

and my phone is starting to fill up with messages to say that friends and neighbours have been taking cuttings too...phew! fingers crossed we'll have stuff to sell after all...

Now I just need people to come...I sense sleepless nights ahead...

Flash floods!

Just a quick pic of my journey yesterday...



On the way to Wetherby, the rivers burst their banks and this happened! You'll notice the cars aren't moving either, not for ages. So much for the hosepipe ban!

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Midnight cupcakes...

What were you doing at midnight? On second thoughts maybe don't answer that! I was icing cupcakes for a school fundraiser - the joys of being a working mother! I'm quite pleased with them though, they started out quite cute but transformed into more gothy blood red vampire butterflies - much cooler! These ones are red velvet with a White chocolate buttercream and finished with a Hershey's cookies and cream sweetie ( now I know I've been watching cupcake wars too much!)

Here's a sample of the others...




Some are vanilla, some are lemon - I've just got to get them to school in one piece... And explain away our blue tongues...

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The boy done good!

Up until not so long ago we had a staircase that looked like this...




And that was after lots of knocking down and dust creation!

But now I'm pleased to say it looks like this...



I know, I know ... It's not finished but i couldnt wait to show you! BH did this all by himself this weekend - didn't he do well?!!

We still have to decorate it and put down new flooring and carpet - but hey, we have light! And a hallway that no longer scares the minis! So even though its now Sunday night and I'm wondering where the weekend went, I could slide down a bannister with joy!




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Just keep sowing...

Has spring really sprung? The signs in the garden all suggest so, I still have hellebores flowering...



And Muscari popping out all over the place...



The muddy brown palette of the past months has begun to be replaced by the acid greens that should shout springtime...




But if like me you were gardening today in hail and snow - yes snow! Then you'd understand why I'm a little confused. Its still so cold here in East Yorkshire that I'm way behind on all my usual garden jobs, so today it was an early start to get things done...

I dug and weeded beds...




And then I sowed,



And sowed,



And sowed!



I also sowed snowball turnips, oriental salad leaves, squashes, coriander, dill, radishes, little bear squashes,calendula, lisanthus and chinese lanterns...phew!

The Marys and the Mitfords were desperate to get amongst the seeds,



But Arthur had other plans and whilst my back was turned tried a little digging of his own...



The monkey!

Of course now Im finished for the day the weather has cheered up and the sun is shining. But as the next task is to clear up the main greenhouse ( a chore i'm dreading - note the poor bird that knocked itself out in there)




then I'll call it a day! Back to work tomorrow...


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Soft shell crabs at Automat

We had an amazing trip to a gorgeous diner called Automat while we were away - our food was so good that i just had to take a picture...




I had a soft shell crab 'po boy' which if you could hear my rubbish impersonation of a New Orleans accent, translates as a 'poor boy'. Trust me there was nothing poor about it in the slightest! I've always wanted to try one after reading recipes with them in, and now I have and it was very well worth it!

Now I just need to find more of them and to start walking back to Yorkshire to burn off all the calories that are in them!


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