Blogtober 2021 : Day 3
Happy Sunday!
Well, the weather never picked up yesterday so I didn’t go outside to finish off the border. Even though it did stop raining for a bit, it was so wet that I would have just be clumping about in mud and that’s not ideal so I decided to leave it.
Today’s Winwick weather is …. very similar, actually, although there was short sunny spell early this morning so I did manage to scoot out and get the plants into the ground. It was lovely to also take a minute to smell the damp earth and look at what was still flowering.
Crocosmia – these are in a pot and they were later in flowering than the ones in the border. It’s nice to still see them – and even nicer to know that as they’re in a pot, those pesky corms are contained!
The leaves of the witch hazel (Hamamelis) are starting to turn. These plants are grown for their Autumn colour; we’ve got two in our garden and they never disappoint.
This is the Liriope muscari that I mentioned yesterday. The flowers haven’t quite opened yet; it’s a little bit like a grape hyacinth to look at right now but the flowers are slightly different when they open.
This rose bush – The Fairy – didn’t do much earlier in the year when the rest of the roses were blooming but has really gone for it now! I’ve had such a good display from our roses this year; they’ve all bloomed twice and the second flowering has been even better than the first. Have you found the same thing?
I didn’t find these in the flower borders but in the greenhouse! It had all got a bit overgrown in there (story of my gardening life this last month or so) and here are the last of our miniature plum tomatoes (not as many of these made it into the house as they should have done as I was eating them by the handful in the greenhouse!), some larger plum tomatoes which were intended to become pizza sauce but I think are going to get eaten just as they are, and a beefsteak variety that I’ve never grown before. The cucumbers didn’t work out so well – we like the mini cucumber varieties but the ones I planted this year were, I think, more intended to become gherkins and they weren’t quite as nice.
Oh, and here’s the border with the plants in. It doesn’t look a lot different to yesterday’s photo, to be honest, except that there aren’t any plant pots, the sink is a bit more full because of all the rain we’ve had and I found a bag of shredded cuttings which I’ve used as extra mulch. I could do with a bit more on there but I’m going to be doing some more Autumn pruning over the next few weeks so I’ll add it when I do that.
In knitting news, the pink Carousel sock has been put back into the project bag until I am less cross with it. How dare it need to be completely unravelled when I was trying to be clever and fix it?! I will go back to it – I love both the yarn and the pattern but I wasn’t friends with either of them yesterday! 🙂
Instead, I sat with my knitting belt shawl and did some more of that whilst watching an old Scooby Doo movie with not so small daughter. It’s really quite awkward to take a photo of the knitting belt when it’s around your waist with a needle stuck into it! I seem to have acquired an extra furry paw as well. That paw means “I have forgotten where my food is” (being a single cat now hasn’t affected his appetite at all) so I got to practice walking around with my knitting too 🙂
I don’t know if you can make this out but the belt is around my waist and then you stick one end of the DPN into one of the holes. I’ve been experimenting with angles as I found that my left arm started to ache a bit and I think I might have had the needles a bit high. Because the pad is stuffed with horsehair, it’s quite easy to change the angle and the needle is still held firmly. I’m really enjoying using it because it’s something a bit different. I haven’t knitted a shawl for quite a while and that’s a novelty too so I think this was a very good project to choose for this month!
I’m also enjoying taking a look around at other people’s Blogtober posts. Lucy is writing them over at Attic24 as you may well know if you read her blog as well, and Lynne whose blog is at The Woolnest has decided to join in as well. I’m following Lucy’s lead of winging it in terms of what I’m going to write about, whereas Lynne has a schedule that she’s going to follow and it looks really interesting. If you’d like to find more blogs to read over the month, typing “Blogtober” into a search engine will give you plenty of options – I must admit that I had thought that fewer people were writing blogs like mine these days as they were all about “5 fun things to do with dental floss” or something like that, but I’ve been having a lovely time following links and reading words from people all over the world.
As it’s Sunday, it’s a roast dinner for us today. Both my husband and I come from families where the roast is a Sunday tradition and we have stuck with it – if nothing else, it’s an easy meal to plan each week, but even after all the years that I’ve been eating it and then cooking it for myself, I have never got tired of roast potatoes on a Sunday evening! Ooh, I really love roast potatoes! Nobody else seems that keen so big daughter and I keep them all to ourselves and leave the mash to everyone else 🙂
How about you? I know that Sunday dinner is a very British thing to do but nowadays it’s not something that everyone does any more even if they live in this part of the world. Have you got a weekly meal that you share with your family? (You do know that now you’ve got me every day this month I’m going to ask you lots of questions, don’t you?!)
And on that happy note, I’m off until tomorrow. See you then! xx
Loving your daily visits, Christine! We also have Sunday dinner, but we have small boiled potatoes, not roasties. I make a batch of Yorkshire puddings in a deep bun (cupcake) tin and freeze them so those who want them can have however many they want and it’s less work on the day.
I’ve seen Scottish ladies and fishermen’s wives using a knitting belt but I’ve never tried it myself. I’m from the Northeast and learned to knit with needles tucked under my armpits, but nowadays prefer short circulars.
I’ve spoken to so many people who wanted to knit socks on circulars but found it difficult because they had learnt to knit with a needle under their arm. It will be the same intention to hold the needle steady but it’s like a local dialect and the way everyone does it is slightly different! We love Yorkshire puddings, it’s such a good idea to freeze them. I am definitely going to make some for next Sunday! xx
Can I make a suggestion for next year’s mini cucumbers? Try a variety called Socrates. They have a thin skin and grow to about 6-8″ and are delicious.
Oh I’ll look out for that one, thank you! I usually buy “Mini Munch” but was given this year’s seeds so I thought I’d try them out for a change. I won’t bother again next year! xx
Yes, I grew socrates too this year in addition to hopeline and mini munch from seeds bought last year. Socrates have been very good. Still got a couple on the plant. Greenhouse grown in Warrington.
Thanks for your Blog and the inspiration to knit socks on a small circular needle. I’m just starting my 6th pair.
I’ll definitely add Socrates to my seed list if that’s another shout out for it, thank you! I’m glad that your sock drawer is filling up nicely too 🙂 Warrington weather hasn’t been so good this week, has it? xx
It’s certainly been a lot colder than I like so thank goodness for a nice warm pair of socks!
Thanks for the mention Christine – we have Sunday roast but. It every week and usually on a Saturday – but it’s definitely a firm favourite in this house. I’m learning a lot about about flowers thank you xx
It has always seemed really important to me that we have at least one meal in the week where we know that we’ll be able to sit down together – I’m glad your Saturday roasts mean you can do that too! xx
I’m so enjoying your daily blog! It inspires me to all of walking, knitting and gardening although here it’s tulips and planting season. I’m starting some socks anyway. Thank you for all you share with us!
Oh good, I’m glad I’ve not bored you already! 🙂 You must be on the other side of the world if you’ve got tulips, they will be lovely to see after your Winter! xx
We had a Sunday roast pretty much every week for years. It has been more erratic for a while as husband has been working weekend shifts and we now only have smallest daughter still at home, but a Sunday roast is still very much a family tradition. The two adult daughters have busy lives, but often one or other of them plus partner(s) will turn up if there is a roast on offer. We all think roast potatoes are the best bit, and in the hungry teenage years the girls would eat them in ridiculous quantities. The quality has gone up over the years, as middle daughter is an excellent cook and some of her skills have rubbed off on me.
You really can’t beat a good roast potato, can you? I’ve experimented with the oil I cook them in a few times (we’ve got veggies in the house so no meat fats) and there can be quite a difference. I think it’s lovely that your family still come over to eat with you xx
It makes me very happy :). It also makes me happy when they invite us over and feed us! Middle daughter thinks goose fat is best (no good for you, obviously), but mostly we just use rapeseed oil. Daughter’s method is to parboil the potatoes for a few minutes, shake them to fluff them up, then drizzle with oil and season with plenty of salt, black pepper and dried rosemary. Sometimes she also chucks in whole garlic cloves.
I love fluffy roast potatoes! The despair at the thought of another pan to wash generally outweighs the desire for parboiling though, I have to say! We use rapeseed oil as well, but I will have to try rosemary and garlic, they sound fab! xx
It’s amazing what you learn from reading blogs! I didn’t know that roast dinners were a British thing! We had them every Sunday when I lived at home with my parents but have gotten away from it now, many years later. I alway cooked roast chicken dinners on Sunday evenings when my daughter was at home. Now it’s just the two of us and we don’t stick to the roast dinner tradition. I love reading your blog, Christine, and thank you for sharing it with us.
Yes, it’s a British and Irish thing to have Sunday dinners … I think that’s where the slang name for us of “rosbeef” comes from 🙂 I can imagine it is harder to stick to it when there’s just two of you as there are a lot of pans! xx
Sunday dinner together is a Italian American Tradition except it’s meatballs and spegetty or lasagna With tomato Sause or it could be called gravy . I use olive oil for roasted potatoes with onions and orangano parsley ,enjoying your everyday post
Oh yes, I would certainly expect Italian families to eat together! Your roast potatoes sound really good, I must try that too! I’m really glad you’re enjoying the posts 🙂 xx
We always have a roast on Sunday with all the trimmings. I was told about Rice bran oil for the potatoes and have never had a failure with them. I also always parboil them first and drain them well then pour the oil over them before putting them in the oven.
I’ve never heard of rice bran oil, I’ll have to investigate, thank you! I might also have to start parboiling as I do love potatoes with crispy edges and that’s the best way to get them, isn’t it? 🙂 xx
“5 fun things to do with dental floss” lol. I love reading what’s going on in your life. I’m a sporatic blogger (got into the game late). And I make a ‘pot roast’ (my mom’s style) in a large cast iron type pan with vegetables, lots of carrot, potato, onion and celery chunks. I’m not crazy about eating the celery, but I figure they flavor the rest. I’ll fight anyone for the other vegetables.
Love it! I’m not a fan of celery either but it’s not so bad when it’s cooked and I can chew it up with everything else 🙂 xx