Vintage home!!

 We decided to have an outing on what was forecast to be the last day of the wonderful Indian Summer we have been enjoying.  We decided to go to Dorchester as Mr M is still not up for any long distance outings yet though making gradual progress I am glad to say.

 This is County Hall in Dorchester - a modern building behind which lies a well kept secret which we wanted to see! 

Underneath these glass walled structures lies a building over 2000 years old!

It is a Roman Town House which was uncovered in 1937- along with several other Roman houses.  The mosaics date back to 350 AD.  Sadly the vending machine which would have supplied a booklet with more details on the site was out of order and the Tourist Information Office which would also sell the books was closed on Sundays!  As was the Museum which should have more artifacts found on the site.

I thought the mosaics were fabulous and thought they would lend themselves to some sort of interpretation in cross stitch, knitting or some other craft - don't hold your breath for any inspiration which might result in some creative endeavour on my part though!

This one had green mould on it and looked in need of a good scrub! 

This one was in a room which would have been a study or an office and was in excellent condition - maybe not much work got done to wear it out?!

Underfloor heating system to keep the Roman family's toes warm.

If you click on this you can read how the heating worked.

These are the remains of other buildings - I am guessing no mosaics were discovered in these as they were not covered as there was nothing to protect.  I am no historian and found all those dates and battles etc really dull at school but I am fascinated by domestic history and like to imagine how the families would have lived in times gone by so this was a most interesting visit for me and next time I am in Dorchester I intend to get the book and to find out more about it all.  I can't help wondering if County Hall will prove as interesting to our decendants in 2000 years time or whether it will be just a pile of rubble!

Now for something rather newer!  This little cute little hand knitted bunny egg cosy along with the Union Jack egg cup was a giveaway prize which I received from Annie at Knitsofacto earlier this week.  (Annie has a lovely blog so do pop over and see her by clicking on the link.)  Isn't it adorable?  I can't wait to have a boiled egg now.

Thank you so much Annie - I love it!

Field of Dreams Harvest

Have just read in my local paper that the the Field of Dreams will be having its Harvest on 13th October and for £5 you can visit and gather 2 large bags of seeds - one for Barcroft Hall and one for yourself plus any flowers you want.  Check out the link if you are interested. and live near enough.

Many thanks for all your kind comments on the Field of Dreams post and for your entries in the Giveaway.

Field of Dreams + A Giveaway

On Saturday we went to see the Field of Dreams - it has been open to the public since the end of June and Sunday was to be the last day so we'd left it a bit late!  I'd read about it in the local paper and intended to visit but... well you know how it is I'm sure?  Do click on the link to find out more about the idea behind it all.

Several of you commented on the raised bed filled with a little flower meadow when I posted about a visit to  Castle Garden Centre in Sherborne - well if you liked that you'd have really loved this...

 Many of the blooms were beginning to go over by now but it was still beauiful and I can imagine just how amazing it must have been back in July!  (If you click on any of the photos you will see more clearly what is growing there)

 An area planted with sunflowers reminding me of the fields of tournesols we used to see in France.  The flowers were for sale at £1 a stem and the money was to go to a charity in Japan see here

 Lots of bees buzzing busily which was lovely.

 Several bee hives set in the field for the bees.

Pathways meandered through the flowers - there were a few other people there too but the overall impression was of absolute peace and quiet which was of course the intention!

 Sun was shining from a blue sky with fluffy white clouds...

Absolute Bliss!

Entry was free but donations to local charities were requested and there were also some little packets of seeds for sale too so I bought a couple and thought I'd offer one as a Giveaway.  If you'd like to be in with a chance of getting a pack of seeds just let me know by leaving a comment and I will make the draw on 30th September - I imagine you will not need to sow them till next spring.  For those blogging friends not in the UK I am happy to post anywhere in the world as long as there are no rules about foreign wildflower seeds being sent by mail etc!

 
There won't be enough in a packet to sow a field I don't think but you might get some of the above seeds and maybe enough for a dolls' house sized field!!  I hope that if you click on the above photo it will enlarge sufficiently for you to read the names of the 56 different flowers which were in the Field of Dreams this year.

Finally, and nothing to do with the flowers, does anybody know what this is?  I came across this fearsome looking caterpillar near the compost bin this morning - he's about as big as my little finger and has scary markings that look like eyes (click on photo to see more clearly) which would frighten any predator I should think!

What a difference a day makes!

 After yesterday's torrential rain today has been a bright and sunny day albeit after a dull start.  The sky has been blue all afternoon and the sun has been shining.  One advantage of all that rain is that although the weeds are shooting up everywhere they are at least a bit easier to pull up and I have been out trying to rid the front garden of dandelions this afternoon.

 However there is a definite feeling that summer is coming to an end as the rosehips indicate and there was a chilly breeze along with the sunshine.

 I did however manage a short while after lunch sitting on the bench to finish this book.  It is a sequel to a book called The Secret River which I read some years ago although you could read it without having read the first one.  Quite different to the Snow Child this one tells the story of a young girl and her life in Australia in the 1820s.  The descriptions are excellent and you really get the feeling of being there and  what it might have been like.  I can recommend this book.  Yet another recommendation is After River by Donna Milner which I returned to the library yesterday so no photo I'm afraid!  Set in Canada near the border with America at the time of the Vietnam war it tells of how a single action by the 15 year old protagonist brings tragic results to her family.  Again do let me know if you read either of these and if so what you think of them and if you have any books you can recommend I'd be glad to hear about those too.

Thank you for all your kind comments on my last post - seems I am not alone in feeling frustrated at the new word verification.  

Singing in the rain and other things

I decided to walk into town this morning.  I could have got ready sooner and gone with Mr marigold who had an appointment at the doctor's in town or I could have got the bus but I wanted the exercise and also to test the weather resistance of my recently purchased pack away mac.

 You've seen this walk many times before but today I had it all to myself - wonder why?!  I did wish I had a camera, or maybe it is the photographic skills I lack, to take a photo of the patterns made by the raindrops in the puddles - the ever extending circles which ran into each other and were embellished by bubbles!  Made me think of a design for fabric perhaps.

This little culvert alongside the path is usually a silent trickle at the bottom of the ditch but today the sound of rushing water was alongside me and the churned up muddy water was very high as you can see.

Nobody on the swings today - no mothers chatting on the seats watching their little darlings on the slides.  The puddle in front of the gate was like a minature boating pond - any child would have loved it!  The ducks didn't mind the rain of course and seemed happy to be left in peace today!  I could also hear a bird busily singing in the trees above me although I didn't see him. 

I don't mind the rain providing I am not going to have to stay wet all day or even worse to be camping and be wet all night too (incidentally sister-in-law didn't get washed away at Weymouth over the weekend as they didn't get the same torrential rain as we did just 30 miles up the road so were able to take the walks they planned and to enjoy the scenery if not in full sunshine at least in the dry!).  If I didn't have somewhere warm and dry to come back to I might feel differently but as it is I love walking in the rain - and in the sun too of course.

I am pleased to say my mac did what it said on the label and was weather resistant, my feet in my walking boots (changed into those at the last minute and am I glad I did) remained dry, my mother's old brolly (better than my fold up one for this sort of rain) kept my hair dry and the only thing that got wet was my jeans - not a good idea to wear jeans walking in the wet as they just wick up the water from all the puddles. I met my husband at the library and we enjoyed a coffee in town and did a bit of shopping before coming home to change into dry clothes. 

For those of you who might be interested I have posted the recipe for nettle soup on a separate page top right of the blog and called recipes (as it would be wouldn't it?)!

I found the Snow Child on Book Depository for only £3.99 with free P+P anywhere in the world - I ordered a copy for the wanderer as she started it but didn't finish it whilst she was here and being a library book she couldn't take it with her.  So if you are interested in reading it but haven't come across it anywhere yet I can recommend The book Depository as I used it a lot when we lived in France. PS see Joanna's comment as apparently this isn't the best price!  I have a couple of other books to recommend too although I won't be reading out on the blue bench in the sunshine this afternoon I fear!  I'll post about them next time.

I am beginning to think perhaps I am a robot as the blogs which require the new style verification are driving me mad - sometimes I just give up after  the fourth attempt to read the letters and numbers.  Is it only me, am I a robot or do others of you find it really annoying?

I have been awarded a Leibster award by Rose at Second Hand Rose for which many thanks Rose.  I am supposed to pass it on to 11 other bloggers and also to tell you 11 things you might not know about me.  Apologies Rose but I will pass on this as I can't think of anything you might want to know about me that you don't already know nor can I pick 11 blogs above all others that I feel worthy of such an award.  I don't want to be a spoilsport - sorry!

Nettles and recipe books

I've finished over the fence!  Now I wait for it to grow over a little so it doesn't look quite so bare and I have visions of neat rows of young stinging nettles along my path and plenty of lovely blackberries - I know it won't actually be like that of course but I can dream.

Why would I want stinging nettles at all I hear you ask?  Well so that I can make soup with them - naturally!  I read about nettle soup in two library books I had earlier this year and I decided to try making some.  I picked a carrier bag of nettles - just the tips and not from anywhere I though any dogs might have been and wearing rubber gloves to do so - and this was my harvest picked over and washed ready for use.

The soup was delicious - even the wanderer who was still with us at the time enjoyed it and asked for seconds. 

All of this brings me to my recipe file - I was inspired to post about this having read of Helen's recipe books On her blog Helsie's Happenings (can't do a link to it for some reason it keeps telling me that a script in it will make my computer unresponsive and I then have to log off) and thought how professional hers looked.  This is mine.  Just an ordinary A4 ring binder with a clip art design on the front and spine.

My recipes are a motley collection including clippings from old newspapers - now yellowed with age,

Some recipes from magazines....

Some handwritten ones...

Some recipes in my Mum's handwriting - it is wonderful to have something which a loved one actually wrote,  the paper she physically touched - as she died nearly 11 years ago there won't be any more of these.  And notice what this recipe is for - nettle beer so more uses for the nettles on my path!!  I haven't actually made this but if I get a crop of nettles I might give it a try next year.

Some of my recipes are written in French - this one my neighbour gave me.  She told me that a clafouti is made with cherries and if you make the same thing with apples it is a flognarde - this recipe was for flognarde.

And here's another French one.

So nothing professional about my recipe book but a collection of recipes from all sorts of places many of which bring back happy memories of the friends who kindly passed their recipes on and of the times when I enjoyed them.  My pages are often splattered with marks and put together in a somewhat scruffy way but it works for me!!  Do you have a recipe collection and if so how do you organise yours?

The wanderer is on her way to spend a couple of days with us - we haven't seen her since she left at the beginning of June and I have been making her favourite biscuits from one of my recipes in the folder along with granola which we made when she was here and she enjoyed.  Shan't be able to make any nettle soup this time though as you really need young green nettles not the 10 foot tall ones I have been pulling up!!

Many thanks for all your kind comments on my last post - I noticed I had suddenly had 2 more followers again and now one's gone so as you all say it's best not to worry about it!  Hope you all have a good weekend - for those in UK hope your Bank Holiday weekend is not a complete washout.  My sister-in-law is camping near Weymouth with her walking group - I wouldn't be too surprised to see her at the door asking for a dry bed as it's been raining cats and dogs all day here!!

PS Many thanks too for all your good wishes for Mr M - glad to say he is on the mend now - must be that Metatone I bought for him!!

Garden update!

 I thought you might like to see some more attractive garden photos than in my previous post!  I have almost finished my clearing over the fence and thought a little break might be nice so today I went with a friend to the Castle Garden Centre in Sherborne for lunch.

 This lovely area was what greeted us in the car park - isn't it beautiful?  If you click on any of my photos you will get them in larger format and be able to see the flowers here in more detail.

 It struck me that this could be seen as what can be achieved when the world pulls together - a sort of metaphor for world peace perhaps.

 

 This vertical wall of begonias is stunning isn't it?

 Pretty buildings slumbering in the sunshine complete with beautiful hanging baskets.

 My hanging baskets never looked like these and in fact this year I didn't plant any as at the time for planting we were having a drought and I thought it pointless now I wish I had had a little more faith!!

 Aren't they stunning?    We enjoyed a sandwich and a coffee sitting in the sunshine here.  Tomorrow I will don my heavy gloves and get over the fence and finsih off that job but just for today I was enjoying these beauties.

I notice that my followers seem to be growing fewer in number - I wonder why and whether it matters?  Do I need to have loads of followers - does having lots of followers make me a better blogger or is it like belonging to the popular gang at school?  I know that there are some loyal friends who visit me regularly and I always appreciate your comments - you know who you are.  The others probably come and go and although I know one cannot please all the people all the time I can't help feeling slightly sad that my writing isn't holding their attention as it once did - how do other bloggers deal with falling followers or shouldn't I mind?!!