Stir Up Sunday in front of the fire

We are sat in front of our fire on a wet damp Sunday afternoon, watching the fire flicker and feeling my knees warm up gradually.  I'm loving having a fire, it instantly warms up the room and makes it feel so cosy.

In the kitchen our Christmas pudding is gently bubbling and steaming away, its been on the hob for three and a half hours and will steam for another four and a half.  Today is stir up Sunday, the traditional day for making the Christmas pudding.

 

Yesterday I mixed up all the ingredients in a large bowl and left it overnight and so today it was packed into a pudding basin and covered

 

 

Later on tonight at evensong, the collect or prayer for the day will be this one from the Book of Common Prayer:

 

Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people;

that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works,

may of thee be plenteously rewarded;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

A Sunday afternoon in November

The weather outside is frightful and its not snowing, its just raining incessantly.  We are making the most of this horrid weather by getting some jobs done inside the house.  I'm starting to plan Christmas as we have eight of us for Christmas lunch this year.  Next weekend will see me making the Christmas pudding, but this weekend I am checking the larder supplies...

We have a jar of Pickled shallots which will hopefully be ready for Christmas and a lot of chutney and pickle, of varying ages, some of which will be donated to the local church fete.  Most importantly I still have a large jar and a half of mincemeat.

Whilst I was fussing around the larder, Mr C was busy upholstering our dining room chairs.  We have been looking for some nice material for ages, and everything we liked was extremely expensive.  Then a few weeks ago we found some really good quality curtains in a charity shop...

So we cut up the material and Mr C got to work...

This material has reupholsted six chairs and we still have a lot left over.  And all for the princely sum of £6!

We now have our dining room chairs looking wonderful for Christmas.  We also found some lovely smaller wine glasses which will take pride of place on our Christmas table.

We will remember them

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

A strangely warm All Hallow's Eve

Today is the eve of All Hallows, or halloween, the night when traditionally the ghouls and ghosts stalk the land before the Christian feast of All Hallows (or All Saints) tomorrow.  We usually get a number of small children trick or treating so we always have sweets available.  Luckily there isn't any 'tricking' that goes on near us anyway, just small children with parents being very polite!

The weather doesn't feel right for the end of October.  It's very warm and we've had quite a lot of rain lately.  This does mean however that the funghi are having a field day at the moment.

Our lawn the other day, complete with funghi and aquilegia seedings

On the walk into work.  Possibly shaggy ink caps?

These three months of autumn into winter is my favourite time of the year.  As it gets darker and eventually cooler, I love wearing boots and layering up each day.  From October onwards, there is often a rush towards the bright spangle and glimmer of Christmas, but there are other festivals and celebrations and commemorations in the meantime to mark.  Halloween, Bonfire Night, Remembrance Day, Stir Up Sunday, and Advent are all part of our traditions and need to be marked. 

Talking of Remembrance, I made a poppy the other day which I'm rather proud of.  It wont stop me buying a poppy from the Royal British Legion, but it shall have pride of place in our home.

A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest

There is something rather special about a Sunday afternoon.  The house seems quieter, and there is something almost reassuring about cooking a roast dinner.

 

I know a lot of people who say that a roast dinner is too much bother or is too difficult, but I enjoy cooking a roast, as long as I can just be left to get on with it, and can listen to Radio 4 at the same time, I'm really very happy.

 

Home grown produce is always a fabulous addition to a dinner.

 

The whilst I'm waiting for things to cook, I can sit down and have a cup of tea and relax

Sundays have changed somewhat since I was a child.  Then very few shops were allowed to open, and there wasn't much traffic on the roads.  Most people stayed at home, some went to church, the rest washed cars or gardened.  Most people now rush into shopping malls and spend the whole day there.  I couldn't cope with that, I would much rather spend Sundays in a quieter manner.  Plus I'm not a great fan of shopping malls.  Or crowds of shoppers..

I'm already quite a home body, as this blog probably makes very clear.  I love pottering, spending time in the garden, watching old films, listening to old music, baking cakes, being at home.  Sundays seem even more a reason to stay at home to me and I always want to keep Sunday somehow different and special.

Home, the spot of earth supremely blest,

A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest.

All roads lead to Autumn

I'm sorry we've been so terrible at posting on the blog.  Life and work has somewhat overtaken us.  I will be back properly very soon.  In the meantime, some photographs showing something of what we've been up to since we last posted.  The last time we posted it was still summer really, and now we are most definitely into Autumn, my favourite time of the year...

Finally finished my patchwork picture!

Watching the leaves change

 

A much needed holiday in beautiful Cornwall

Bought a new (old) vase

Helped with the church Harvest festival flowers

Made even more green tomato chutney

Harvested a pumpkin, some hazels and a glut of runner beans and tomatoes from the garden

Made amaretti biscuits

Walked through the mist

Lit our wood burner for the first time!

It is such  a wonderful time of year, the leaves change colour, mornings are often misty and are getting cooler each day.  Although the outside world is often frantic and busy, autumn is the time for being at home as much as possible and enjoying the change in season. 

 

The Danish have a wonderful word 'hygge' which basically means cosiness but sums up how I feel about Autumn.  It is tough to translate, hygge means creating a nice, warm atmosphere, being comfortable and cosy.  Lighting a fire, burning candles, eating and drinking with friends and family, contentedly are all part of hygge.

Another sloe day

We have wanted to make sloe gin for a while now, having tasted how lovely it is when other people make it.  We found a great source of sloes the other week and froze several pounds.    So this weekend we defrosted a pound of sloes...

We added gin...

 And sugar.....

And it created a strange brew that will sit in our larder for three months before we then strain it and bottle it....

We hope to test our brew at Christmas time.  It seems very odd to be talking about Christmas already, although it is September and Autumn is on its way.    I would love to hear if anyone else has made sloe gin and lived to tell the tale!