Recent Reading
Thomas de Cantilupe is another brilliant book from Logaston Press - particularly enjoyable for me because of the Herefordshire connection. I've added this book to the book shelf at the caravan.
The next Ruth Galloway book finally came down in price for the Kindle - I could not put this book down!!!
As always I enjoyed this Joanna Piercy novel but I seem sadly to have reached the last in the series - will there be more? I do hope so.
It may be my imagination but the release date for the next Merrily Watkins book seems to keep being delayed so I decided to re-read the series again - I had forgotten how scary they were. But these books are so good and Merrily is such a brilliant person.
Garden Wildlife
To say I am thrilled to discover Fly Agaric in the garden is a slight understatement! Its my favourite species of fungi and we have them appearing in about 3 places on the lawn. I wonder if they have appeared due to the large amount of Silver Birches we have in the garden as Fly Agaric often form mycorrhizal associations with birches.
Please note this toadstool is highly toxic!
Two other species spotted in the garden which I am still trying to identify for certain. I think the first may be Bitter Knight (Tricholoma acerbum) due to the distinctive crimped edges and the second Common Funnel???? I've put the photos on twitter in the hope someone may be able to help. Edit - Thanks so much to @mushroomdiary on twitter I now have id's! The first one is Brown Roll Rim and the second one is more likely to be Tawny Funnel than Common Funnel.
The Nuthatch is a daily visitor to the feeders.
Harvest Moon
The garden photos were all taken by D with the Canon SX50HS bridge camera.
Baking
I found the recipe I used to use to make Fairlings and they were as delicious as I remembered.
D and E made some biscuits from another GBBO Baking Box. They were quite time consuming but the effort was worth it - they were super.
Pumpkins waiting to be eaten!
I have recently developed a fascination (possibly an obsession with post boxes)! It started at Queenswood Arboretum when I noticed an unusual one and then I drove past a rare Victorian pillar box in Shirley when I was giving D a lift. Around the same time I read an article in "Countryman" magazine about a lady who during lockdown walked round her village to see how many postboxes she could find from the different reigns of monarchs. I then ended up ordering second hand a Shire Book on Post boxes!
Postbox at Queenswood Arboretum
A rare Victorian fluted pillar box with a flattened conical top. Initially it had a vertical slot to post mail but in 1857 the posting aperture was made horizontal. Only four of these fluted pillar boxes are still in use - three in Malvern and this one in Shirley. Thanks to Rose who alerted me some years ago about this post box.
A post box from the reign of Elizabeth II seen in Hatfield, Herefordshire.
A post box from the reign of King George V spotted near my mother's house.
A few of the 110 postboxes painted gold to commemorate Olympic gold medal winners.
From Stratford upon Avon
Skipton
Leek
Expect to see the occasional post box in future posts - I have discovered there are some "goodies" in Ludlow when I brave the town again!
I hope everyone is staying safe and well
Apart from garden photos rest of photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera - note some of the post box photos were taken some years ago with the Olympus dslr.
12 comments:
Love to see the Nuthatch, great excitement for you and a lovely photo. Lucky you! I love fungi, of all types, but Fly Agaric are so colourful. Again, lucky you! The biscuits look delicious, as you say maybe a bit faffy but worth it for an occasional treat. How is the box subscription working out? Super collection of post boxes too. Are they touching up the gold ones to keep the golden colour?
Rustic Pumpkin - Thanks so much - I am SO thrilled with the nuthatch and Fly Agaric :) I think the box thing tbh is a bit over priced but the kids get a lot of fun out of them. I think they are coming to an end now - it was something they started in lockdown and it doesn't look as though they will continue much longer. I think I read somewhere the gold ones are here to stay so I assume they will have to touch them up.
Lots of lovely things in your post. The biscuits look wonderful. Super to have the nuthatch visit and to find the Fly Agaric in your garden too. Great to see the post boxes, they are fascinating, there is an old one in Buxton that I think I have photographed once or twice and I've passed the one in Leek quite a few times when we've been shopping there. Talking of Leek and bringing in the Joanna Piercy novels was it just me or did you too find Joanna's husband's attitude at the end of Blood on the Rocks rather sinister and controlling? I wonder if there will be anymore stories? I hope so. Loved the Nighthawks. I have her latest Brighton series book from the library at the moment and am enjoying that too. Take care:)
Rosie - Thanks so much. The post box in Buxton sounds interesting :)
Yes I agree re: Joanna's husband also the way he had a name prepared of his choice. Also his parents seem controlling too and I can see problems ahead should there be another book! I hope so too re: another in the series.
I didn't realise there was a new Brighton series book out - must check that out. Take care too :)
Good to see the Nuthatch are still around. Brilliant fungi, the Fly Agaric is superb! You kind of take post boxes for granted don't you, although I must admit I did photos of the local gold ones after the olympics!
Pam - Thanks so much. Really chuffed with Nuthatch still visiting and the Fly Agaric? Yes I agree about post boxes you just tend to walk past them! I will look out for more gold ones - I suspect I have missed some on my travels!
Merrily is so good eh ;)
TheQuacks of Life - Thanks Pete and yes the books are brilliant. My son gave up after the first 3 or 4 saying they were repetitive but I loved them!
You need to visit the postbox in Winchester :-)
I have a fun one from Durham which I will post soon...
CherryPie - Thank you - look forward to your Durham postbox.
Wow!!! to the Fly Agaric! You lucky thing! They are amazing. Great that you managed to get IDs for the other ones, they are the kind that are a lot harder to ID!
You must tell us what Fairling biscuits are - they look yummy! Well I suppose I could google, duh!
Another duh, I hadn't realised that mailboxes had the reign of the king or queen marked on them. I'm sure I've seen my fair share of different kinds in my life in England but never thought about them. Now you have piqued my interest, but I am in the wrong country to look, lol! As far as I know here in France, they tend to be slots in the wall, or just boring yellow boxes outside of post offices.
I've now (sort of) caught up with your posts, haha! :-)
Millymollymandy - thanks so much. I am still so chuffed re: Fly Agaric I really am. Got help from others on twitter as I am useless at fungi id. The one may have a different id though really should edit post.
Fairlings a bit like a ginger biscuit. I think its the bicarb that makes them go crinkly??? Let me know if you want the recipe - an old one. I did try Mary Berry's once but they failed to crinkle! Must have done something wrong as usually her recipes never fail!
Yes easy not to take in details on postboxes!!! It was just a chain of events that set me off looking at them more closely. Always good to have a new obsession in such horrid times.
Well done on catching up :) Blogging more atm due to Hereford trips really.
Post a Comment