Enjoying the sunshine

When friends came visiting one glorious day a few weekends ago, we decided to go for a walk, after a lovely picnic in the back garden.

It was so good to see all the buds opening up (by now the flowers are coming through, how quickly things more this time of year!).

The walk started off being a bit of a farmyard safari!

It was great for the two littlies, our nearly toddler and our friend's 'just a bit too big to be called a' toddler. 

More banks full of wild garlic and bluebells, just starting to flower.

 The day was just stunning. 

 Whole hedgerows fluffy and white with blackthorn blossom.

 An odd mix of winter brown trees and the bright fresh greens of spring.

Such a delightful walk: the sun was wonderfully warm, smells of fresh new growth, the wonderful colours of spring, lambs baa-ing, the stream gurgling and sparkling. It lifted my spirits to be out in it all.

A while

Yep, it has been rather a while since my last post. That's down to a rather busy few weeks, so hopefully I've got some interesting things to share! First up is what originally distracted me from blogging: a vast swathe of wild garlic that was just asking to be used.

I've only just noticed the ivy leaf in there! I did sort through the leaves, so I'm pretty sure I removed it! It's a huge amount of leaves, and my mum took away a similar amount. It was a drop in the ocean compared to what was there.

Some I used to make some garlic bread, but the majority got turned into pesto.

I loosely based it on this recipe from the brilliant Emma Bradshaw. I skipped the Parmesan so that P could eat it, and so I could easily divide it up and freeze it in little batches. It's extremely strong, and extremely yummy, and I've been enjoying it for many a lunchtime.

A walk

Sunday was lovely: warm and hazy sunshine, so we decided that this weekends activity would be a walk. We went from out house, up onto the landmark hill of the town, through the woods to the Tyndale monument and back.

* Scots pine planted in 1887 * damage from the awful winter - there must have been at least 50 down) * carpeted in wood anemones * the Tyndale monument * view from the top of the 121 steps * carrying the map and refusing to let go * wild garlic, a perfect moment for foraging * hopefully we'll all sleep well tonight *