THE PROMISE IS THERE!

After going out for coffee this morning at Jack’s, we called into Morrison’s to collect some food donated by their customers for the Community Fridge and also to go in the Bags of Hope - so we now have a bootful and half a car full, which will be taken to the Church on Sunday morning.  Thankfully, there is always someone around to help decant it from the car - usually Meg - so it’s not too onerous a task for Mr. HCB.

Once home, we had some lovely soup I made last night for our lunch - and Mr. HCB enjoyed some delicious olive bread with it, purchased whilst at Morrison’s.  Home-made soup is so filling and delicious and also a good cheap meal - and even cheaper when the carrots and parsnips are grown in your own garden!  I will put today’s recipe at the bottom if anyone is interested.

After lunch, I decided to have a wander around the garden, to see if there were any flowers about - but the garden is looking decidedly bare at the moment.  However, the promise is there of wonderful flowers and fruit to come!  There were some plump little clematis buds, some rose buds and the fruit trees transplanted by Mr. HCB last year had lots of buds too, so I was spoilt for choice - so decided to give them all their 15 minutes of fame on Blip.  I found one tiny flower on our Hellebore, but couldn’t find any others, so we may need to buy a couple more plants the next time we visit the Garden Centre.  

So, did you think that these were boring and uninteresting shots, or did you, like me, think that in the next few months, we will be looking at wonderful flowers and fruit?  Both Mr. HCB and I are often in awe of how plants survive our very cold winters and then reward us with flowers in the summer - what a bonus!

Mr. HCB hasn’t left his chrysanthemum plants in the ground all winter long before now, so decided he would try it this year, and of course, when he put the white fleece over them to protect them from the frost, the Silly Saturday Gang thought it had been snowing!  Yesterday, he took the fleece off and they are looking quite good - so I have put a shot in as an extra - but the bonus is that I have also taken a photograph of one his raised beds and underneath the covering of this beautiful, dark brown farmyard manure are Mr. HCB’s rhubarb crowns!  I knew you would be interested in that fact and we can’t wait to have our first rhubarb crumble - complete with custard and we won't even remember that the rhubarb was under farmyard manure for most of its young life!

Mr. HCB tells me that he has been through his D.T. Brown Seed Catalogue and has noted down the various seeds he would like to buy ready for planting in February/March.  This is when I move down the list from Number 1 to Number 2 and then, of course, once the cricket season starts in April, I move even further down to Number 3!  But, it keeps him out of mischief and we both benefit from the beautiful flowers and vegetables he grows every year, so I’m not complaining.

Hope you all have a great weekend.  Take care, stay safe and keep warm.  M xx 

HONEYCOMBEBEACH SOUP
400g Carrots
400g Parsnips 
2 onions
100g of red lentils.  
2 Knorr chicken stock cubes, plus 
1 teaspoon of coriander, 
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika and 
1½ teaspoons of Chinese Five Spice powder. 
Chop vegetables and put into soup maker for 21 minutes or boil in saucepan until cooked 
Blend and serve - delicious!