Stocking fillers?

Evening! Well it feels like it! I got up at 4.15 this morning to say goodbye to Jase. The sun was starting to come up, so i thought I would crack on with stuff.

Drove to Marlborough and was there by 9am. Visited the market and bought mixed corn for the Girls and bits for me. Resisted the plant stall and consoled myself with a cup of tea and croissant. Went into my favourite shop, The Cat's Whiskers, which is stacked to the roof with odds and sods. Lots of gorgeous things with heavy price tags. Ideal present hunting ground, but have to resist for a little while longer. Front door to buy *dull*

Came out with 2 vintage terracotta plant pots and ideas for Christmas presents. Is it wrong to use my camera phone to take pictures of things I could easily make?? I don't think so. Cheeky, but not wrong.

Came home via Pewsey and some stunning villages. Chocolate boxes cottages lined the narrow lanes. Missed a few pheasants and a tractor.

Decided to make elderflower cordial this afternoon.

Elderflower Cordial

1kg caster sugar
850ml boiling water
45g citric acid
15 large elderflower heads, flowers pulled from stems
2 lemons, sliced

Dissolve the sugar and citric acid in the water, add the lemons and elder flowers, stir and leave.

Cover bowl and stir every day for 5 days, drain through muslin and pour into sterile bottles.

Serve diluted with sparkling water.

According to my source *wink*, it keeps for a year in the fridge!

The entire utility room and lounge is heavy with the smell of elder flowers at the moment. Will pop out tomorrow and get sugar and lemons so I can make some more.



No, it isn't a bowl of vomit! It's the elderflower cordial! *rolls eyes*









Picked my first bunch of sweet peas today. Well, I say 'bunch', more like a 'sniff of sweet peas'. They do smell great though. Have 3 tepees worth planted in the garden. I might be cursing them later in the summer when I run out of vases. Who am I kidding??? I will never run out of vases.






The Girls are fine and Elsbeth, Winifred and Pru are laying well. Won't comment on Laverne and Shirley! They were all due for a course of wormer, so started that today. Mixed with their food for 7 days, it will make them feel better. Not pleasant seeing dead little worms in the droppings tray, but better out than in.

Must dash, River Cottage Spring is on in 10 minutes.

C x x x