Just Another Day in Nowhere

This dismal summer is trundling along.  Everything that needs to be done  gets done, eventually.  Often in pouring rain.  The rain causes its own problems.  Drainage problems, of all kinds.  Something I never gave thought to when I was a town or city dweller.  This summer, drainage has been an everyday problem.

Holes and inspection pits have had to be dug as problems with soakaways have been an ever present headache.

Here George and Jonny are captured in a rare moment of inactivity.

The large pits are about three feet deep, so they have shifted a lot of smelly, wet, very heavy clay soil to get down there.  They have worked in sunshine and in heavy rain.

Late yesterday the job was finally declared finished, the pits were closed.


We shall see when the next monsoon rains fall.

I am happy to dig, empty wheelbarrows, etc.  but my role this time was to make coffees and hand out biscuits.


I took Toby to the fish ponds and was delighted to see that the water lilies are in bloom - the water may look murky, but the lilies are beautiful.

Toby seemed eager to go on, leg problems forgotten - so we went through the fields to Claythorpe.  

I had just climbed a stile and was watching the sheep when I felt something touch my hand - it was a sheep.



Here she is.  I spent a moment petting her and remembering the two lambs which I was fortunate to have bottle fed, many years ago in the Western Isles.

I also pondered over whether this could be the same sheep which my friend The Viking encountered on his recent walk.

This was the view from your cottage, Meggie.


It was oh so peaceful.

We walked home slowly as Toby was getting a bit tired.  He slept contentedly for the rest of the afternoon, chasing rabbits and dreaming of juicy marrowbones no doubt.


This pretty poppy was gifted to me several years ago.  It was a gift from the blue tits who took over the electric meter box one summer.

I kept them safe and protected from meter readers and in return they left me a single poppy.   I saved the seeds and now have them growing around the place.  I always think of them as my thank-you gift.

This beautiful rose grows up the cottage wall.  I don't know what it is called, but the blooms are large and the perfume is wonderful.

It was finally time for me to come back down to earth and get the kettle on, make sandwiches and check on the workers.

Recipes & Kitchen Hints from Long Ago

The rain is falling, again.  Time to browse my bookshelves before I have to do the evening meal.

It is far too long since I last opened my very old recipe books - they are packed with outdated and old-fashioned recipes, but I love reading them.  


Cookery was very different then.  I don't just mean that our attitude to food has changed, I mean that ovens didn't come with temperature gauges and electric mixers, food processors, etc were a long way off.

Image borrowed from cookingwithmavis

Caledonian Cream

Mix 2ozs of each, raspberry jam, redcurrant jelly and castor sugar with the whites of 2 eggs stiffly whipped.  OK so far?   Beat for 3/4 hour.  Serve piled in custard glasses.  
Can you imagine standing there beating the mixture for 45 minutes?





How to Select Flour: 
In selecting flour first look to the colour.  If it is white, with a yellowish, straw-coloured tint, buy it.  If it is white, with a blueish cast, or with black specks in it refuse it.  Next examine its adhesiveness.  Wet and knead a little of it between the fingers.  If it works soft and sticky it is poor.  Then throw a little lump of dried flour against a smooth surface.  If it falls like powder it is bad.  It is perfectly safe to buy flour that will stand all these tests.
I wonder how well this would go down in the supermarket!



Use for Old Curtains - Old curtains well washed make excellent poultice cloths, also for tying cauliflowers and asparagus in when cooking.  It prevents them breaking, and is easy to try if done.  I wonder how long they were being boiled for...

Image by Delicious Magazine

Talking of Vegetables...


"Young carrots take about an hour to boil, those which are older from an hour and a half to two hours..."


It makes me wonder whether, perhaps, the varieties of carrot which they used to have were more fibrous than modern ones.


I searched for the method of cooking Brussels Sprouts, expecting to be told to boil them for three hours, but was pleasantly surprised to find the recommended time was 13 minutes.


A  1796   recipe for Parsnips Fried to Look Like Trout
Why would you want to, was my first thought.  Then I wondered whether they could look like trout, seeing this image makes me think that perhaps it would be possible...if you squint and look through one eye... perhaps?  Or do they look like baby stingrays?

Image borrowed from offthespork.com

Take a middling sort of parnsips, not over thick, and boil them as soft as you would do for eating; peel, and cut them, in two the long way.  You must only fry the small ends, not the thick ones.  Beat two or three eggs, put to them a tablespoonful of flour, dip in your parsnips, and fry them a light brown in the butter.  Have for your sauce a little vinegar and butter.


...and finally... a 'fish' recipe.


Mackerel Bones Grilled


Sprinkle the bones with pepper and salt.  Broil over a clear fire, but don't burn.  Serve on hot buttered fingers of toast.


Bon appetit!

The Leaning Tower of Sollerby

The bell tower of All Saints' Church, in  Saltfleetby (pronounced "Sollerby" by locals) seemed to have tilted just a little more since my last visit.

Externally it may not be the prettiest church building, but it is my favourite.

Unheated and ancient, this place is surprisingly comfortable, even on a bitterly cold day.

The porch dates from the 1400's with later supports to try to keep it in place.  It  has the armorial shields of the Grantham family set into it.

Nearby Saltfleet used to be a bustling and prosperous port on the mouth of the Withern Eau, but when it silted up the population dwindled.


The bell tower has a definite tilt to the west, even though it is supported by extremely large Victorian buttresses.

Looking to the front of the church (south side)

Step through the porch and the massive church doors and this is what you will see.



A very plain and simple interior.

Looking to the rear of the church (south side)

Can you see that tiny staircase just beyond the font?  It leads to the leaning bell tower, the wobbly line which runs up the wall is a very large crack, it has been 'repaired' many times, but each time the tower slips a little more it opens up again.  Sometimes it is wide enough to insert your hand, should you be so daring.

This is the south chapel.  

The reredos  - the stone decoration on the altar wall - is quite rare and I am told that this is a fine medieval example.

There is a 'double' arcade of arches - the old and the "new" sit side by side, as though they couldn't quite wipe out all that history, or perhaps even back then they knew it needed extra support and kept them both.

The arches from the south chapel

The 11th century Norman arches(with scalloped detail)  butt up to the 14th century single arch.  I love quirky things like this.  Almost an architectural traffic-jam.

The painted wooden screening is later.

The arches viewed from the chancel, on the other side

Walls are out of line, the roof lines are a bit wonky the style is very simple,  incredibly beautiful.

It is possible to walk in and be amazed by the quirks, enjoy the architecture, or to simply soak up the atmosphere of a simple, well-loved, although redundant, country church.

I enjoy it for all of those reasons, and more.

A glimpse of the Chancel from the south chapel

The whole church is a patchwork quilt of styles dating from the early 1100's church with  many alterations and additions through the centuries.

People have long cared about this building, it has been well used, well loved.

 Quite unlike poor old Skidbrooke Church, just a couple of miles away, and reputedly the most haunted church in Britain, although similar in style.

This is the view from the far side, the main body of the church.

Can you see the mellow light in the chancel?

The ancient roof timbers were installed over 600 years ago.

While we are talking about roofing I had better show you the scariest part of the visit...when I look up and check to see if the tower has shifted again, or whether it is simply my fertile imagination playing tricks again.  This is the junction of the bell tower to the main body of the church...and yes, that is daylight showing through.

If you enlarge the photograph you will see how far the tower has slipped away from where the beams originally joined the wall.

This is the view towards the bell tower.

The wooden screening is 15th century.  

Beautiful windows.





Mellow light comes through the old panes of glass.






Many apologies for showing so many photographs, I feel rather like those people who invite you round for dinner and then subject you to viewing hundreds of their holiday snaps.

The main reason I love this old church is for the way it reaches out and enfolds me in the most wonderfully comforting embrace.  You may think this is fanciful, spooky, even, but that is okay.  I don't mind.

I would rather visit this church than any other - and I visit a lot of old church buildings.  It is an interest of mine.   All Saints' may have been declared redundant in 1973, but  it still retains the essence of goodness, and I am not talking about religion.

I always leave there feeling refreshed, tranquil, comforted...although concerned about the way it continues to slip and slide on the marshy ground.