Cornflower

Friday flowers

    I'm still picking sweet peas, although they are slowing down noticeably now. My seeds - Charlie's Angel, Starry Night, Jilly, Beaujolais, Mammoth, and Winston Churchill - came from Benjamin at Higgledy Garden, and you can find the matching tissue paper at Sarah Raven.

On my desk today

    A very good novel.

    An unusual variety of apple - Irish Peach (it has a peachy scent and a good flavour) - from a friend's garden.

    All scoffed now, Blueberry Crumbles, recipe from The Secret Herb Garden:

NB I used approximately half and half wholemeal flour and plain, perhaps 100g less sugar than specified, and twice the amount of cinnamon.

Ingredients

• 375g Plain Flour
• 200g Caster Sugar
• 1tsp Baking Powder
• 200g Butter
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 Egg
• 600g Blueberries (or any berries)
• 100g Sugar
• 1tbsp Cornflour

Method - 20 minutes preparation, 45 minutes Cooking

• Mix Plain Flour, Caster Sugar, Baking Powder & Cinnamon together with a hand-held whisk.
• Add butter and work in with your hands until you obtain fine crumbs. Then add egg & mix thoroughly.
• In another bowl, mix the blueberries, the sugar and the cornflour.
• Line your tray with parchment and place half of the crumble dough at the bottom, pressing it down.
• Place the blueberries, sugar and cornflour evenly.
• Top with the rest of the crumbs and bake @ 190°C for approx. 45 minutes

Pretty pinks

    Buttercup Socks by Ellie Jones of Craft House Magic made in 'Jumble Berry Pie' from Antler & Acorn with heels and toes in 'Wild Raspberry' Hayton 4ply from Eden Cottage Yarns.

The small things

   

    "[Lucilla] tried very hard to teach her grandchildren how to extract the last drop of beauty out of all the small things of life, words and scents and sounds. Many little joys, weighed against the few heavy griefs of existence, could give some sort of balance to the scales and preserve the sanity of life."

    There is more on Lucilla here.