Staying for the summer mainly here in Newport News,Virginia,USA I have not been able to do gardening away from my very much missed Sir Bear and Garden in Wales, UK. To help my sad mind, I made a little herb garden in three pots..Biggest pot on bottom, Next pot a little smaller and Then a small pot on top..All stacked to one side to make it easier to plant. It has done surprisingly well and I have been so glad to have it for fresh herbs. In the middle photo, I have just given it a trim and I have the herbs on paper towels to dry for a little bit before tying them up for drying fully. Bottom photo is of my pots with its just trimmed look..
 I intend to package my little ..Herbs de Provence and take them home to Wales with me to use in my kitchen there this fall.
In my Herbs de Provence I will have ...Sage, (small amount as it can over power), lavender..(I will want more lavender I am sure), Thyme, Savory and Rosemary. There is a bit of Mint in the photo.I am not sure will include it in the mix. 

Needle Felted Gardener

Here I am in Virginia USA..Yes I am! Since April 28 2012...

Homesick for gardening and my Darling Sir Bear..I found I needed to play in the dirt a bit. I made up an Herb Garden in 3 pots, terracing them one on top of the other. I made my little Garden Girl earlier during some rainy days, with my wool roving and needles. She has been waiting for her Garden to be ready...

Finally here they both are all done up. Garden Girl has been busy as a bee keeping the Herbs and Marigolds tended ever since.

Curried Parsnip, Apple and Fig Soup

Here is another recipe from my "Tyn Y Coed Kitchen"..Tyn Y Coed translation.."House in the Woods".. 

I first tasted this lovely soup at a little cafe..(pronounced caffee)..in the town I live in, in North Wales.

It was Autumn when I first tasted this soup. I have to think Autumn is the perfect time to serve it!

HOWEVER....it is perfect for anytime.... so light and flavorful.. I am sharing it now.

To start I chop..Onions, Parsnips, Celery and Apples, tossing them into my Biggest Pot as I chop.. I pour chicken stock along with extra water to cover and toss in dried chopped figs...I love curry ...yumm along with  the nice hot bite Graham Marsala gives to a dish..salt and you have it..
Boil, covered until the veggies are nice and soft. Al-dente is not a good plan with this dish, the softer the better..I DO NOT peel the Apples..vitamins..vitamins tucked into those skins...I do not peel the Parsnips either.,.
After everything is nicely soft and smelling like heaven. Shut the heat off , take the lid off and let it cool to just warm.

Now get your blender out of where ever you have it hidden.

Pour enough of the boiled veggies to bring  your blender vessel to half full..leave out as much broth as possible, I use a colander to strain the broth off . Save the broth and pour back into your pot to reheat..

                                                                             

I need to purée TWO batches.

Now  Pour the veggie purée back into the pot along with the reserved Broth..

 

Reheat. Season with salt or pepper etc..to taste..and you have it!

I DO have the recipe I have conjured up here for you! :o)

Into my Biggest Pot..I put

4 Good size Parsnips

3 medium Apples

6 Whole dried Figs..chopped or clipped with my kitchen sheers..

1 Cup chopped Celery

1 medium to large whole Yellow Onion or Sweet Onion

1 1/2 pint Chicken Broth 

2 Cups water to just cover

Spices

11/2 Tablespoon Curry Powder

1/4 tsp Graham Marsala

1 tsp or less salt

Let come to a boil..then simmer on a Low Boil until tender and nicely soft.. cool and blend without too much Broth...remember to  Reserve broth ..return to kettle stir broth and veggie purée together..reheat and serve.. 

'via Blog this'

A Thought! :o)

I have come to a place in my life where I know clearly, "I am NOT a victim" . I can survive anything, good or bad..and YES...sometimes surviving the "good" that happens to you can be just as hard as surviving the bad that happens to you.

'via Blog this'

A Heron's roost

We had a lovely visitor yesterday afternoon. This heron flew into our Larch tree in our lower garden. He/She did not stay long, long enough to check to make sure that there were no goldfish to have from one of our ponds and then off he/she flew again. 

Winter into Spring

I found this site to be a fun spot to look at what I find comfy to wear and maybe find a few more things that I would like to add to my wardrobe.  :o)

Find me on Polyvore

My Christmas Mousse thing for my children..

I made this every Christmas for so many years..  :o)  My children have asked me over and over again for the recipe..I lost the recipe ages ago..and have always made it so many different ways from memory. Finally I ran across the recipe ..so here it is!  Yay!

This rich, creamy and chocolaty dessert definitely isn’t for the weak. A little bit of the buttery cookie crust topped with vanilla-chocolate pudding and whipped cream goes a long way.

Ingredients

• Bottom Layer
• 1 cup unsifted flour
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts
• Middle Layer
• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 1/2 ounces homemade whipped cream
• Top Layer
• 1 large package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 large package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 3 cups cold milk
• Garnish layer
• Roughly 4 1/2 ounces homemade whipped cream
• Chocolate shavings

Instructions

Bottom Layer

1. Mix together the flour, butter and chopped nuts until the dough is crumble-like.
2. Press the mixture into a greased 9×13-inch pan.
3. Bake the cookie crust at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly golden.
4. Let the cookie crust cool.

Middle Layer

1. Beat the sugar into the cream cheese until it is smooth.
2. Fold in the whipped cream.
3. Spread the mixture over the cooled crust.

Top Layer

1. Beat the milk into the pudding mixes until the mixture is smooth and thickened.
2. Spread the pudding over the middle layer.

Garnish Layer

1. Spread whipped cream over the top.
2. Sprinkle the the dessert with grated chocolate candy bar, such as Baker’s Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Shavings.
3. Cover the layered dessert and refrigerate it until you are ready to serve it.