Winter trees like these at the end of the allotment are one of my favourite things to photograph. 

I have finally made a start on sorting out the allotment for the coming season. It felt great to be out in the cold and doing something constructive!!!

I tidied up the piles of rubbish I have left in various places over the winter, took down the wigwam you can see in the picture... 

... and cut down the beans from the frame with scissors just as planned when building the frame! 

This was the 'usual view' before I made a start. (Note the astonishing transformation in the previous photos) (lol)

The last of the pears need a bit of sorting and bits cutting out but they are delicious. 

We used this for a curry at tea-time. 

I tried the Allotment Lady's (see link on right) Banana Chocolate Cake today and it really is superb!!!
(We had it with custard.) It is a magical transformation. I started with this...melting it..

...to this... 

...add a bit of this.....and after another couple of stages, lo and behold, it metamorphosises...

...into this....delicious!!!

It was a lovely afternoon in Lytham this afternoon - we finally got out for a walk about 3.30 after a gruelling biology revision session with Lisa! It must have been the best part of the day though.

Yesterday was pumpkin chutney day. Sadly it cooked away to nothing (and burnt) and from loads of pumpkin etc that should have made 5lb I got one large and one small jar! Luckily it tastes fantastic but I will have to look out for another recipe to try in the hope I get a bit more from it.

I roasted the rest of the pumpkin.... 

...and got nearly 5lb of pulp from it to go in the freezer. 

I hope this tastes as good as it looks! 

It's that time of year again - Seville Oranges in the shops and marmalade bubbling away on the stove top.

What a lot of chopping! Well worth it though.

I liked the picture of a ramshackle shed on the Allotment Lady's blog so much I knicked it and twiddled it a bit. She was gracious enough to allow me to post it on my blog. You can see the original here. Is it right to completely change the atmosphere of a picture like this?

Pumpkin & Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients
5oz Red Lentils
3 leftover slices roasted chunky pumpkin
Flesh from a leftover baked potato
2 cloves of allotment garlic (roughly sliced)
2 dried bay leaves (or 4 fresh)
Veg. stock or water + cube
Small amount orange /apple juice (optional)
Few twists Fiddes Payne organic red hot chilli blend or similar
Salt & loads of freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cubed mature cheddar or other cheese to serve

Method
Cover lentils with cold water, bring to boil, skim & boil hard for 10 minutes. Lower heat & simmer a further 15 minutes. (or prepare as per instructions on packet)

Add a stock cube, flesh from pumpkin & potato, garlic, herbs & spices, more water if necessary, juice if using and anything else you think would improve things.

Simmer for 20 minutes or so, blend in the pan and serve with toast & butter (see bread recipe November 2005) and cheese cubes to sprinkle.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! And what better way to begin than with the 'usual view'? 

Cora (see below) completely forgot to remind me of the urgency of sorting out this area....
 

....and doing something useful with these paving stones.... 

....and sorting out this area....