Country Dog Girl's blog

In the early morning

Taking the air this (early) morning and peering into the pond. It looks clearer today after an extended effort last night with the fishing net. Every sweep of the net brought out the light-blocking weed and Newts galore. The fully developed ones are a bit gung-ho, living life on the edge and trying to leap from the net instead of waiting patiently for my assistance!!

Another country cushion

Here is another cushion with an embroidered front panel.

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A country gathering

Here's one of the cushions. An embroidered panel of three chickens with a small checked gingham fabric for the cover. I really enjoyed this stitching and now have to make sure CountryDog doesn't get to chew on it!

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I'm back!!!!!!!!!

Well they say time flies when you have fun so that's my excuse. I've been doing all sorts of creative things and been so involved in them that this little blog had been sorely neglected. But I'm back and will post some photos so you can see what I've been so immersed in, more later...

There's a bit of a bubble going on

One week on and it all looks very lovely. But will it ever be drinkable?! I chose the hottest day of the year for this sticky job - straining, filtering and bottling the Elderflower Champagne. I think I was rather over- generous with the Elderflowers at the start as the concoction is very richly coloured and not the pale and transparent delight that I expected. However, it is bubbling away merrily and I have the thick glass, stoppered bottles that you can see. Will there be explosions? Watch this space!

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Stitching quietly

I was enjoying a little piece of quiet in the garden, stitching to hand, and CountryDog's cat has come to disturb me. She's Ginger and oh so feisty and definitely not to be ignored. She's already swiped at me a few times so my best (and safest) option is to stopwhat I'mdoing and pay her some attention. If she stays still long enough I'll capture a photo and post it...

CountryDog goes swimming

Saturday and it's a hot summer's day. We are about 10 minutes drive from the river but today had some business in the south of the County and so decided to take CountryDog for a new walk by the river there.
We parked in a shady spot and after a short walk down a lane found ourselves in an old-fashioned meadow. Scabious,Mallow and Ox-Eye Daisies amidst lush grasses and then the occasional orchid. Overhead two Red Kites were soaring and calling. We reached the river bank and headed south. CD was eager to leap in and we were relieved to find a beachy area where he could paddle and swim. Thus we avoided having to get in for a rescue exercise at the steeply banked areas.
Yellow Water Lillies are just in flower and we saw ayriad of other plants and flowers, along with swooping Swallows. A truly lovely walk that we all enjoyed - one very wet CD was able to stay cool and refreshed throughout. More summer please!

How to start the day

After supper in the garden last night - again, I know I'm pushing it- I took breakfast out there too!

The sun was starting to creep over the trees (it was only 6am) and the birds were deafening. Pigeons close by were almost shouting each other down, whilst the Doves were gently purring in the background. Very soothing. A short and sweet interlude.

Supper in the garden

It was such a beautiful day here yesterday. We were able to grant ourselves the wish that is always on our list - to have supper in the garden. There is something special about making several trips up and down the garden, transporting the cutlery and dishes and then the best part of all - something delicious to eat.
There was further cause for excitement as we pulled the first carrots and picked the first peas from the vegetable patch. CountryDog was hugely interested as he adores peas and pea pods and last week was caught in the act of helping himself from the garden. Last year he stole more peas than we ate and we kept finding leaves and stems strewn across the rest of the garden!!
We sat in the evening sun with our supper and didn't go indoors until the sun had set. Let's hope today is the same!

Elderflower Champagne

Here is CountryDog's recipe for Elderflower Champagne. Dissolve 1kg of sugar in 2 litres of hot water. I used a sterilised bucket. Add the zest and juice from 4 fat, juicy lemons. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add 2 tablespoons of wine vinegar. Top up to 6 litres with cold water. Add about 50 open Elderflower heads. I stripped most of the florets from the stalks but didn't worry too much if some got through. Then, a really good old stir, a couple of pinches of dried yeast just in case the natural yeasts are feeling a tad lazy, and cover over and put in a cool spot for a few days. Then - we'll think about the next steps!