Friday 3 October 2014

Before the rain

I've spent the day washing bed linen and watching it dry in the growing breeze.  Rain is coming after a long dry spell and I wanted to take advantage of being able to hang things outside while I could.  The beds are made now, little people are snuggled into fresh sheets.  Windows will be closed soon, squashes have been stored in the garage and outside things have been put away.

It's been a good week, almost like summer during the day.  It started with the mini football tournament that was the littlest boy's first official match.  How big he looks now.  He scored a goal from a free kick and did a world class slide tackle, so he was jolly happy.


Down at the plot things are still blooming, bees are still buzzing and there are still optimistic buds.



I'm making the most of the last of the salad crops.  Cucumbers and tomatoes will end soon.  Lettuce will go on a while longer, but the end is nigh.


Thursday was harvest festival at the church.  I remember harvest festival when I was little, there were always baskets of fruit and vegetables from the garden and homemade jams and chutneys.  Now they like to have tins from Tesco.  It just doesn't look the same displayed up the front.


When the service ended there was half an hour before school pick-up time so I went for a short walk with the other half, down past the castle and off across the fields.



Just as we turned to come back the farmer let a whole field of cows across the track.



There were dozens of them, moving quite quickly, obviously in a hurry to be somewhere, and quite, shall we say, muddy.  But time was pressing, so in the end we dodged in between them.  Probably not good farm etiquette, the ones that we walked in front of stopped dead.  I muttered, "As you were ladies" as we shot off up the track before we were rumbled by the farmer as impatient townsfolk.  We made it back in the nick of time, happily untrampled.

There was a bit of a birthday that day as well, but no need to dwell on it.  Nice slice of carrot cake, happy handmade cards, lots of hugs, nuff said.

I'm almost looking forward to a little autumn weather.  My pjs are on, I'm curled up in the sofa, I'm knitting a scarf, I'm ready.  Wishing you a good weekend.  CJ xx

32 comments:

  1. Probably just as well you got the washing out today, not a good forecast for the next few days is it? Hope it's a good weekend for you too.

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  2. Your birthday? A belated happy one..
    I'm sure I heard rain on the window earlier. It might be back to PJs for me too tomorrow. Good weekend CJ.

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  3. Your birthday pal????????? Happy Happy to you sweet lady! Don't you just love clean sheets on your kids' beds!?!? Oh your post just made me want to give autumn a big hug! So perfect and how gorgeous are your photos from your walk around! I have told you before but I am serious...you live in such an amazing place and I can always count on your posts to absolutely transport me! Lovely fall weekend to you friend....only going to be 40 degrees here tomorrow so the cold is knocking!!! Cheers! And here is to a wonderful new year to you....wishing you many new happy adventures!!! Nicole xoxo

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  4. *H*A*P*P*Y* * *B*I*R*T*H*D*A*Y*!*!*!* to you? LOL! Who made the cake? I am impressed that you and your OH made your way through the "muddy" cows.. you're brave! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  5. Happy birthday all be it a bit late.Love the photos as always.

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  6. Belated birthday wishes! Lovely post as always and gosh you were brave to dodge in between a herd of cows! Like you I love this time of year when what's not done can be left till next year and there's time to snuggle up with some knitting in the evenings. Like you I also think tins of goods don't have the same feel as baskets of home grown produce but I guess it's more practical!

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  7. Gosh you're brave weaving a path through those cows - on the other hand, you can't keep the kids waiting at the school gates. What a dilemma! I agree that harvest festival is all wrong when presented as tins of food. It should be about giving thanks for what we've grown. Surely your church could rustle up a few pumpkins, courgettes and apples? I'm hoping to get to the RHS Harvest show this week in London, the veg sizes are just amazing, especially the giant pumpkins! (and, ssshhh, happy birthday - I assume it was yours?)

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  8. Happy Birthday! Carrot cake - yum! I really need to sort the garden before winter but stupidly left it til this weekend when it's raining. Oh well, will have to crochet instead!
    Jillxo

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  9. Why do you think farmers walk behind their cattle?

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  10. happy birthday, simple celebrations with cake are the best. enjoy the weekend, it's pouring down here, I feel very cosy inside.

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  11. Happy belated birthday to you! What a very pretty walk you went on, the scenery is gorgeous.

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  12. Well done the littlest boy. I like the sunflower, and you're still doing well harvesting as you are. Dodging cows sounds a bit dodgy!
    Happy, if belated, birthday. Thanks, and you too. Flighty xx

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  13. You WALKED through the cows?! Probably walking quickly on their way to be milked - wow, you are a brave city girl! :)
    Hope you continue to have a quiet, warm and dry weekend - happy knitting. And hope your birthday was a happy one.

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  14. That's brave squeezing between the cows - I know someone who had the side of his caravan crumpled by a group heading down the raid in the opposite direction to him.

    Even back when I was teaching harvest festival displays had become more like a grocers - encouraged by the church who said that the fresh fruit went off too quickly due to church heating, before the food could be distributed. I think some tins were back of the cupboard remnants too, In the smae way swiss rolls replaced home baking at Christmas parties,

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  15. Happy belated birthday! I'm glad it was a good one. I'm glad the cows let you squeeze by. It's funny to picture them ruling the road like that. I'm kind of sad to know that the church harvest festival wants packaged food from the store. I know it's going to help the church to buy it from them, but it kind of makes me feel like you might as well just buy it from the store yourself to begin with. The whole point seems lost. I'm sure there's a lot to do with food safety, allergies, etc. nowadays, but still. It's like when my children were in preschool, we could only bring in a birthday treat for the class from a pre-approved list of packaged goods and they had to be sealed. I had looked forward for years to baking cupcakes to bring in and was sad when I was told I could only bring a box of Oreos. I hope you have a good weekend and that the rain doesn't confine you all too much. I changed all the beds during the week and hung our pillows outside to air, it was so nice to sleep on such fresh pillows that night.

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  16. It's definitely chilly now, isn't it? I've taken to layering up.
    Hope you're having a cosy weekend.
    S x

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  17. Happy Birthday! Mine soon. I'm imagining fewer cows, and hopefully chocolate cake ;)

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  18. Happy belated birthday. Well done to the Littlest Boy, that'll be more time you're stood around football pitches now on a weekend. I love harvest festival time, I remember We Plough The Fields And Scatter from my younger days, and Cauliflowers Fluffy and Cabbages Green from the kid's school services.

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  19. Hey CJ,
    Many happy returns to you. Your little one did well, I'm not surprised he was over the moon. We had rain last night, but today it has been gorgeous again.
    Leanne x

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  20. Well Happy Birthday my friend, homemade cards are the best.
    Love the cow pictures and you little man must be thrilled with his goal.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  21. Happy Birthday! The 'As you were ladies' comment made me laugh. I agree about Harvest |Festivals not being the same - we get a letter from our school about 'unwanted' items such as pumpkins, marrows etc. before the event. It comes across as a tad ungrateful and a pile of tins, however practical, just doesn't shout harvest to me. Congratulations to your boy for a super game. x

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  22. Happy birthday! You were brave I distinctly remember being chased by cows when I was younger & in one of fields by where I now live. We ran across the stream to get away & we ran down the field at the back of my house to get to the lane! Well done to your little boy & as for harvest festival now, pah! Tins of food & money donations to the food bank, no where to donate marrows not even for a display. I want to know what happened to the bread that looked like a sheath of corn. I think I shall offer to knit some veg for church next year! Have a good week.

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  23. Your birthday I am guessing!! Happy Birthday!! xx

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  24. Ooh sneaky! Fancy not letting on that's it's your birthday - hope you had a great day. I love dipping into your blog and I've read lots of your kind comments on other favourite bloggers. Antonia x

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  25. Happy, happy birthday! Carrot cake sounds wonderful.

    Glad you and the ladies came to an understanding about who had the right of way.

    Happy knitting!

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  26. You are naughty, being all coy about your birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CJ!! See how big and loud I did that? I'm glad you had a happy day. Cake and hugs are always good. Autumn (and the rain) arrived here today. I've even put the heating on. xx

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  27. Your birthday, then? Well we are all sending you happy birthday wishes, no doubt. I loved the post. Thanks for taking us a long with you with your great photos. I wish I was on the couch knitting with you. All the best.

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  28. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I'm a little late, sorry... but I'm never around much on the internet on weekends! I hope you had a lovely day. Handmade cards, hugs, and carrot cake sounds like pretty much the best way to spend it. Those cows are hilarious haha Cows are pretty much my favorite animal for whatever random reason so I would have loved to witness that craziness!

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  29. That sounds like a lovely birthday CJ. You are a person very deserving of a nice day of celebration. Fall around your area sounds so cozy, relaxing and intimate. Thanks for taking me there for a moment with your words. xx, Devon

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  30. Well, Happy Birthday to whomever was celebrating. ;)

    "Down past the castle". You say it so casually, but do you know what a thrill those words give to a castle-less Yank? This is one of the reasons I love England.

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  31. Belated Happy birthday! I agree with you the harvest festivals of days gone by were so much better. The smell of all the produce was fantastic and you could marvel at all the produce around you. Having said that we used to take all the food to the cottage hospital at school and I often wondered whether they managed to use it all before it started to decay! Sarah x

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  32. Hope you had a lovely birthday. Yum carrot cake! :-)

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