Click below

White pear blossom

and pink apple blossom

Click below

Smile please……Group Photograph

Jeremy has brought the sheep, lambs and ram into the barn. Later today Farmer Rob will spray them against blow flies and ear tag the lambs. Soon it will be time to shear them and shed their winter woollies.

Just two bags of frozen blackcurrants remain in the freezer. I decided to make some cakes using the smaller bag of blackcurrants and rejigging a recipe that cousin Sandra sent me…….for rhubarb cake. My eggs are bigger than the standard and one in particular was not only enormous but also a double yolker. I used some ground almonds as well as self raising flour. Butter creamed with golden caster sugar, two eggs (three yolks), flour and ground almonds and then three large handfuls of frozen blackcurrants. I am annoyed that I forgot to add a pinch of salt (IMO a pinch or two of salt enhances baking, even though my family know I don’t really add salt to much of my cooked savoury food. They can add it themselves afterwards – and they do!). When the cakes were done I used a mixture of lemon juice and golden caster sugar to cover the top and dry to a crispy, lemony crunch.

The sun shines on the frosty ground and one of the regular tanker drivers (unusually, still, a woman) delivers litres of oil that fire the boiler and allow us to stay warm when the night temperatures plummet. Will this delivery be the last until autumn? Maybe.

Click below if, like me, you like mechanical toys.