Get In The Dinosaur

I guess it’ll cascade whenever the stem bends.

Hey there buddy, guess I start reading even more on orchids now.

The Moss is still alive, well, still green.

It’s finished, whatever it is, I’m calling it Dinosaur Land currently.

Not cutting roses back for a while yet.

Using the last of the jam sugar and some lemon and orange juice. Tangy and sweet.

Yo, Dear Reader I have a mass of Other Recipes to upload, I’ve been baking a lot the last few days and have more to do, a fair chunk will be made with a Gluten Free Flour Blend and I’ll share those too. I’m doing too much, but I’ve always wanted to just bake a whole load of different cakes and breads to see how well I’d fare and I’m doing pretty well, I really wish I had a double oven or a few ovens, I’m baking multiple cakes at once, but I would like to do more faster. That’s life, right, Dear Reader? The grass is always greener in the other oven…that might’ve gotten away from me, anyway, I’ll share whenever I have them ready to type up. When I’m done I’m done for the year, I won’t be doing much beyond my usual baking and cooking.

Tradescantia grow far too easily from cuttings.

Still growing.

The garden is slowing down, very little do do, bar wandering around it disconsolately, I have to watch the composters at this time of year as they won’t be as active and can tend to turn too heavy and stodgy. Very little you can really do with them, I may try wrapping them in bubble wrap if the weather gets really cold, but they too have their cycle, Dear Reader, and you can’t fight against it. I have finish my air plant stand as you can see, I did get a laugh when I opened the large box, removed a large chunk of Styrofoam containing a miniature skull, I read the measurements of the box and assumed and, well, it fit. It’s been fun trying different ways of arranging them, seeing the idea of the dinosaur holders, the inserts keep the plants safe from any harm, and going out trying to make my own knock-off version was a welcome distraction. Not much today, Dear Reader, but as I say I’ll be back with recipes of some sort at the least. Until later, stay safe and take care.

The small skull came in a big box with so much Styrofoam…so much packing for that.

You just died back, get back in there.

I really think it’s a flower spike. I’ve never seen a new one before.

Other Recipes: Soaked Treacle Bread

They all look similar, Dear Reader, so, so very similar.

Yo, Dear Reader, there are many of these alternative recipes to work through, but I’m trying to hit the highlights that’ll feature in the Christmas market. This is the non-traditional version of a treacle bread, based on tradition methods for baking fruit cakes like these, also based on the written version of a traditional treacle recipe. Confusing, huh, Dear Reader? Luckily you get the recipe and only Dearest Darling Jack gets the headaches. This recipe has fruit soaked overnight and if you’ve never tried that it’s a real game changer, it gives a moistness without making the bread soggy, even the driest of breads will completely change with this addition. You can us any tea naturally, a black tea pairs well with the treacle, but light and fruity teas are also a great option. The biggest challenge with this is preventing it from burning, treacle can be extremely tricky to bake with, but once you cover ahead of the cake darkening you shouldn’t have any issues. Not much I can add, I’ll upload the unsoaked version to, handy to have as there’s o need to prepare anything before hand. That’s it for today, Dear Reader, I’ll be back again soon, until then stay safe and  take care.

Takes a while to get these photos together because they’re scattered throughout the years.

Ingredients

250g Self Raising Flour
150g Sultanas or Raisins
100g Treacle
120ml Cold Tea
1 Large Egg (70g-75g in Shell)
50g Marg, Softened
25g Caster Sugar

Method

1. Soak Fruit in Tea overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 175c (No Fan). Grease, with Butter, and line a 6×3 inch loaf pan.
3. In a bowl add the Soaked Fruit, Marg, Sugar and Treacle and beat together until combined. Add the Flour to the mixture and stir until completely combined. Then beat an Egg in a jug and add to the mixture. Mix it all together, add Water as necessary, until a thick Batter has been formed.
4. Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes, turning halfway if needed, until dark brown and a skewer comes out clean. Cover with greaseproof paper after half an hour to prevent the top from burning.
5. Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Upstairs Upcycling

Do I want to talk about the state of the world? No.

Far too many recipes recently, what is this a recipe blo…oh.

I fought the temptation to buy more…so far.

Bird of Paradise seeds.

Yo, Dear Reader, things haven’t been good so I’ve been focusing on my upstairs garden, I finally bought two things I’ve wanted for years, a heated propagator and a grow light. Do I need either? No, but they are fun and I haven’t much else outside of plants to focus on right now so here I am. No matter the space I will ever cram too much in there, Dear Reader, if you gave me a huge house I would spend my days filling it with the cheapest plants. So, strange story time. I was looking up air plants, an urge that affects us all at time…just me, huh, and sadly they seem to be a rarity these days, at least for me, I can’t pay five times what I paid for my original group, but in passing I saw a combination of two things I love dearly: Dinosaurs and air plants, there were these very well made upcycled dinosaur air plant holders, but they cost a lot, Dear Reader, a lot, in the description they mentioned they were upcycled and my curiosity was peaked. I went searching and found plastic dinosaur holders cheap online, but they still cost a lot of money, I then found he same dinosaurs sans holes in the toy section and off my brain went. A trip to the local discount story and a high power drill with holesaw and I started. They aren’t as elegant as the original, but they’re neat. I’ll add a little moss and a cup inside to protect the plants, I need to let them dry fully and arrange them on the base. I have often said my brain loves to solve problems, this was more of a mystery, what did they use to make them and could I make a shoddier version for cheaper? Yes, it worked out that I got six knock-offs for half the price of one. I could used a vastly more expensive paint, my three sprays cans, varnish and paint, were six Euro, the really shiny metal paint runs twenty a can. The dinosaurs with holes were a tenner each. Half the fun was just making them but cheaper. I’m not very good with delicate work, which I’ve accepted and I really enjoyed just drilling, stabbing and sanding these down, even cutting a little rough plastic with a wire cutters, just screwing around for myself is refreshing. They’ll be fun when everything comes together.

Soaking coffee seeds.

Don’t tell me how you made something or I’ll make a shoddier cheaper version.

Varnished and stinky.

Lots of new roots forming on RTC.

The market is next week so I’ll try to have a few more of the recipes up, I almost made a huge blunder and it was pure chance I thought of it, but, Dear Reader, Guinness isn’t gluten free and a cake made it with it wouldn’t be. I don’t drink so I didn’t think right away, no harm, no foul. I’ll make a treacle bread instead, the cider cake would be fine though, but I’m not buying any more than I already have. I have it mostly planned out, but I need to pace myself, I tend to do everything and at once, I do it well so I end up getting more put on me, this is all for me, mostly anyway, so I’m okay this time. For now, Dear Reader, I’ll look at my warmed seeds, one of which takes three months to sprout if it does the other doesn’t bloom inside and only every seven years outside in tropical weather and well, I’m learning, Dear Reader. Until later, stay safe and take care.

Finished them up, now they hang around until the smell from the varnish fades.

I need to rearrange my air plants…again.

Other Recipes: Tea Brack

I really don’t joke when I say these recipes all look nearly identical.

Yo, Dear Reader, this is honestly the most recipes I’ve posted in a while, I know they’re not going to be useful for most of my readership with adaptation or at all in some cases, but with the market coming up I may have people looking for these and as I won’t be doing anything aside from that to do with Christmas, a personal choice, Dear Reader, I’ll let this be my good work of the year. This is one of the more time consuming recipes, it’s in no way difficult, but it takes a lot of preparing and resting. The texture of brack is really different as you can see there’s no fat added which gives the brack it’s characteristic texture. For those who’ve never eaten it, well, it’s like an elastic sponge, firm and in no way crumbly, not quite a bread, but not a cake as they usually are. It’s unique to say the least. Been a long time since I’ve eaten any. I’m going to be making this exact recipe and an adapted one, still over a week yet, I have shopping to get and then I’ll be getting ready, three days worth of baking, should be a fun distraction. As I say the recipe is easy, just follow it exactly and you’ll be fine. This is again served with tea, notice a pattern in these yet, Dear Reader? They were made for tea times in Ireland, when people put on the kettle they took out food like this that’ll last a week or more after baking. Either with butter or without, it’s fruity but more on the savoury side than the extremely sweet cakey side. That’s it for this one, Dear Reader, until next time, stay safe and take care.

Ingredients

225g Self Raising Flour or 225g Plain Flour and 1 & 3/4 Tsp Baking Powder
375g Mixed Fruit or:
160g Sultanas
160g Raisins
50g Glaze Cherries, Halved
Zest of 1 Lemon and 1 Orange
300ml Cold Tea
125g Caster Sugar
1 Egg, Beaten
Pinch of Mixed Spice

Method

1. Place Mixed Fruit in a bowl and add Tea then mix well. Let soak over night in the fridge. Take out a while before starting to let it reach room temperature.
2. Add Sugar, Egg, Flour and Mixed Spice and mix with a wooden spoon until everything has combined.
3. Transfer to a greased and lined tin and baked in a pre-heated oven at 175c (No Fan) for 50-60 minutes or until firm to the touch and cooked through.
4. Let cool in tin for half and hour then transfer to a wire-rack to cool completely. Once fully cool wrap in greaseproof paper and rest for two days before cutting.

Other Recipes: Porter Cake

You have no idea how many identical looking photos of breads/cakes/bracks I had to go through to find this.

Okay, back again poking around the archives, I’ll be making this, possible in a gluten free flour blend version too, recipe will be posted naturally, in a short while, but I may as well share he recipe now. Fair warning this a huge loaf, you’d be better splitting it in two 1lb loaf tins, it’ll also sink slightly after baking so if you can get a tall narrow tin that’d be best ascetically, which is silly as this is a really traditional, rough and ready recipe. The taste isn’t as strong as you’d imagine, from what I can remember that is, Dear Reader, but it’s a really Irish recipe. It’s dense, packed with fruit and made for serving with big mugs of milky tea, probably with a slathering of butter. This would be what people coming home from work or after a long day would sit down to, there’s no ceremony in this kind of baking, it’s made for sharing, for talking and laughing over. It’s really simple, but be careful of it burning. I’ve updated the end of the recipe, but as I say two tins works best, takes about an hour then. Lots of these recipes are something I make maybe once a year and don’t eat, but I know them inside out. The recipes were recorded long before the blog and haven’t always been updated, but if you need help, Dear Reader, you have only to ask. As I say I’ll be making two of these likely, I also have a Guinness brack planned so keep an eye out in the coming weeks for that. I’d say this should be fine for making gluten free with a strong free from flour blend, which is what I’ll be using, I’ll update this when I try it out. Until then, Dear Reader, stay safe and take care.

Ingredients

450g Plain Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tbsp Mixed Spice
225g Butter
225g Sugar
550g Sultanas
300ml Guinness (Porter)
2 Eggs (Beaten)

Method

1. Preheat oven 180°C (No Fan)
2. Sieve the Flour, Baking Powder and Mixed Spice into a bowl and add the Sugar.
3. Rub in the Butter and add the Fruit and mix.
4. Beat Eggs and Porter and add to Fruit Mixture. Mix well.
5. Transfer to the prepared tin and bake for about 2 hours. Cover with greaseproof about halfway or at first signs of it beginning to burn. Remove for over and let cool for 10 minutes before turning out, let cool completely on a wire -rack.

Other Recipes: Meringue Topped, Lemon Curd Filled Vanilla Cupcakes

I’m rooting through albums from nearly nine years back.

Yo, Dear Reader, I was talking to a very kind friend and I realised I should post this recipe, it’s over nine years since I made them, but the recipe is mostly fine, I made the habit of typing them as if I’d never heard of them and was learning them for the first time, that way whenever I came back I never had much issue following along. Naturally that’s evolved, but even in my earlier days they’re still pretty easy to follow. I’m not going to apologise for the quality of the photos or the lack of information, this is just me sharing a little more of what I have, same as always you take what you need and I do whatever I feel is needed and no more. In saying that it is nice to give these a new lease on life, baking has been something I’ve done for, I guess over two decades now, I’ve been cooking even longer, but it hasn’t always been the happiest. So, in taking these recipes and shaking out any bad associations I can gain something, you, Dear Reader, gain some new ideas if nothing else. Lemon Curd filled anything is going to be rich and these were really absurd, but really amazing to, fluffy sweet meringue atop light sponge filled with thick curd. My curd recipe now includes a yolk version, which might work better here. These are all that difficult if I recall, just time consuming. To hollow them out I used to use a sharp knife and cut a cone out of them so they wouldn’t leak, then I’d cut the top off the cone and seal them up. I have quite a few cupcake variations, but I’ll space them out as I go. That’s al I can say about them, Dear Reader, until later, stay safe and take care.

I’m amazed at how much I used to bake before I had to start all over. It stands to me.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

125g of Plain Flour
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
2 Eggs
100g of Caster Sugar
30ml Milk
100g Butter (Melted and slightly cooled)
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Optional: 1/4 Tsp Ground Cardamom

Lemon Curd

3 Eggs
150g Caster Sugar
80ml Lemon Juice (2-3 lemons)
4 tablespoons Butter (Room Temperature)
Zest of One Lemon

Meringue Topping

2 Egg Whites
1/4 Tsp Vanilla
1/4 Tsp Cream of Tartar
120g Caster Sugar

Method

Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 160C (No Fan)
2. Measure Flour and leave aside.
3. In another bowl whisk together Sugar, Milk, Egg, Vanilla and Butter.
4. Sieve Flour and Baking Powder into the centre of the egg mixture and fold together with a metal spoon. Don’t over mix, if lumpy thats ok. Mixture show be slighty thick, but should still run off the spoon. Add more flour if too runny, more Milk if too thick.
5. Spoon mixture into bun cases, about 3/4 full, and put in oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown Remove and let cool in tin for 5 minutes.

Lemon Curd

1. Put Eggs, Lemon juice, Zest and Sugar in a metal bowl.
2. Place over pot with simmering water and whisk together.
3. Stir constantly until mixture becomes thick, takes about 10 minutes.
4. Sieve into bowl and whisk in Butter. Then leave to cool and cover.

Meringue Topping

1. With an electric mixer, beat Egg Whites, Vanilla and Cream of Tartar in glass bowl till soft peaks form.
2. Slowly add in the Sugar while still beating. Keep mixing until stiff peaks form.
3. Bake in over at 170c (No Fan) until golden brown.

Other Recipes: Cupcakes

A heads up: These recipes will be old recipes made with wheat flour, I’ll list them in the Other Category, a more detailed explanation is found there, I’ll add this disclaimer to the first post only to save headaches. There are no tags, bar one, because I don’t want them causing issues. Thanks for your understanding, Dear Reader.

I can’t even begin to count how many I’ve baked over the years.

More variations will be incoming in time.

I have made more cupcakes, eaten more to, than I can remember, it’s been a longtime since I had any, better part of a decade, but I can tell you without an conceit, Dear Reader that I was great at baking them, I made this recipe after so many tests and trials and it has never failed me. I have added everything to it and it has consistently shined. Chocolate, coffee, marzipan, peanut butter you name it I threw it at them. The goal in making it was to achieve a light, airy sponge that was firm and not hole ridden. To get a rise without shrinkage after cooling. They started life as a terrible muffin recipe from the back of a packet of cornflour and after many failures they came to where they are now. They have never failed me, but you need to follow the recipe to the letter, Dear Reader, if you skip a step, take a shortcut they’ll never be the same. They may be acceptable, but they won’t be these. In saying that they’re really simple, all the hard work was in the figuring ratios and ingredients. I’m passing them on now, whomever needs them, whomever can rework them to suit their own diet, whomever can take them and make them their own, well, they’re welcome to the recipe. If there was ever a wheaten days recipe that defined Jack this is it, Dear Reader, they are beloved by many and I hope if you try them you’ll enjoy them too.

Countless are possible.

Seriously be careful, they’re addictive.

Ingredients

125g of Plain Flour
1/4 Tsp Baking Powder
2 Eggs
100g of Caster Sugar
30ml Milk
100g Butter (Melted and slightly cooled)
2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

200g Icing Sugar and 50g Butter make perfect amount of Buttercream.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C (No Fan)
2. Measure Flour and leave aside.
3. In another bowl whisk together Sugar, Milk, Egg, Vanilla and Butter.
4. Sieve Flour and Baking Powder into the centre of the Egg mixture and fold together with a metal spoon. Don’t over mix, if lumpy thats ok. Mixture show be slighty thick, but should still run off the spoon. Add more flour if too runny, more milk if too thick.
5. Spoon mixture into bun cases, about 3/4 full, and put in oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown Remove and let cool in tin for 5 minutes.

I’ve Gathered You All Here Today

The rose is starting to grow again. The others aren’t doing much, but I’m leaving them for Spring before I do anything with them.

Every year I’m sure it’s dead and every year the garlic proves me happily wrong.

This has been needed for a while, lotta cleaning that’ll hardly show when I’m done.

Yo, Dear Reader, I have something in the works, I told you, or I meant to tell you, that I’ll be baking for a Cristmas Market, things have escalated and I’ll be baking with a Gluten Free Flour Blend, also Wheat recipes without sugar and general festive and traditional breads and cakes, now naturally I can’t eat any of this, but I’m thinking about setting up a section on the site for, well, unsuitable recipes, but ones that could be adapted easily, I have a new recipe for sugar free chocolate cupcakes that use wheat flour but would work with a 1:1 blend, it’d give the recipe side of the site a kick in the pants and I’d like to see them getting some use. I have a lot of my own recipes from the wheaten days just sitting here. I’m not sure how I’ll go about it yet, but I’m thinking of a section and a special tag to separate them, I’d rather not start another site, Dear Reader, certainty not for a bulk upload that might not see any additions for months if ever. Let me know if there’s any interest, as I say you’ll have to work at them, but having a really well tested and tried recipe isn’t a bad foundation to build upon.

All amended with a half bucket of compost and the ones on the path have been planted with Onions and Garlic.

The saved garlic is slower to start.

The Chinese Magnolia should be gorgeous come Spring…should.

As I finally emptied the compost bin, they become bottomless, Dear Reader, a never ending sludge of Winter compost, all gone into the above trugs all ready for Spring, I decided that as the day was fine I’d get out and move the pots from one side to the other, never has such a short distance been so long, Dear Reader, but somehow I got them over, then I threw washing powder at the stones, it helps a lot, washed them down and disinfected them, never hurts. A quick sweep and relevelling, the pots have been dragged so much that the stones, added in bits and pieces, have moved to either side, and then I had to bring everything back. All the while the robin was flying around everywhere I was, just happily searching and questing and generally making itself known. It’s a really cheerful sight in these bland Winter days. I can’t do much else, whenever he next bin is ready it’ll go into the beds, I’ll need to empty a drawer or two in the wormery so I’ll likely add them to the vegetable bed as well, live or die they enrich the soil. I’m still waiting on the salsify to die back and I’ll see if it even grew enough to eat. Other than that I just bumble around waiting for foliage to die back, I did discover a rose I left near the huge dahlias is alive and green, thankfully protected by a bit of  arch I cut from the honeysuckle, also live and well. Always work to be done, Dear Reader, I’ll keep you updated about the recipes too, until later, stay safe and take care.

RTC has been growing and blooming for over a year already and isn’t going dormant. Orchids are great.

And it hardly looks any different, but it’s cleaner and more even…really, I mean it.

Christmas Cactus is starting to bloom.

I waited for that new vine to appear just to pose that.

Bread Knife Life

Getting ready for a market. This is a mix of so many fruits.

Mother’s Day Rose is growing again.

Three types of currants, two raspberry varieties, strawberries, gooseberries, apples.

Testing out tins, three small cakes from this Buckwheat Flour Recipe.

The buckwheat is stronger than wheat flours, but still fluffy and sweet.

Yo, Dear Reader, I do remember that this is a recipe blog, not much I can do with no new ingredients, hard to get what I’m getting at times, but as I have a recipe or two to talk about I may as well share what I know, how useful it’ll be varies, but you never know, Dear Reader, it may help someone. So the jam is a hodgepodge of what I had in my freezer, a friend left in apples so I sieved the fruit after boil, then steamed the apple and sieved that in too. I added a little lemon zest to the boiling apple as well, from what I tasted it has that tart sweet balance that currants bring so beautifully to jams and jellies. I’d rather use lids and let them vacuum seal themselves, but people buying them want them like this, they’re safe, don’t mistake me, but I’d rather a lid personally. Make sure to sterilize your jars well, I wash them in soapy water, rinse and then microwave them while wet, my Uncle always did it this way and his jam lasted years. I never let the jam cool, but make sure the jars are hot too when pouring or you’ll risk them cracking. Whole lotta heat to kill everything, be weary of boiling sugar, Dear Reader, it’s a vicious burn, much worse than hot water and all it takes is a sudden splatter. I’ve since tied on plastic tags so they look well. Hopefully they sell. The white cake is explained on the linked page, it’s super simple, but a really reliable recipe, forged from many crumbly cakes and bad recipes. I’ll be baking both wheat and gluten breads, cakes  and cookies and I’ll probably type up a post including recipes for both. Keep an eye out early next month for that.

The handle snapped on the pot so I finally decided I’d repot that clematis.

Started as a bit of root from a neighbour. Two years ago or so.

Winter ugly as I think of it, but it’ll be a lush green again…someday.

My daily helper, might be one of two, it seems way more friendly today, just flying right up to me.

This is staying inside for the Winter, too much work went into it. Still in bloom too, long lasting flowers.

Naturally there isn’t much to do outside, it’s been near nonstop rain here, but I needed to get out. I have a compost bin nearly empty, a lot of pots have been amended and are resting, unlike Jack, Dear Reader, I can’t rest and I might as well garden. I somehow cut a handle of one of the trugs and it finally came off so I decided that the clematis, taken as a little root section from a neighbour, just a few inches, amazing how they regrow, needed repotting and rearranging. I had a loose arch made out of bits and pieces, but it didn’t grow the right way so instead I’m using the planter that has fused with the wall, the screw heads are worn smooth by my attempts to remove it, flowers were always bone dry there and the neighbours weeds kept seeding in it anyway, so I poked a pole through forcing it to weave between the ribs and as soon as I moved away up popped the robin. It didn’t seem to care that I was moving things beside it, it had a job to do and that was that. It’s been helping me these last few weeks, searching for insects where I am and somethings just saying hello and goodbye. I still have compost to dredge out, it’s a little wet still, but it’ll break down in the pits for months, but I need the bin, Winter slows everything down. The hotbin is still warm so I’m stirring that a little, against advice, but they also said it could be removed easily and I found out that isn’t true, I’ll try myself instead, Dear Reader. I’m at the Winter Ugly stage as I think of it, all work won’t show any effect until next year, but so it goes, Dear Reader, I’ll plod onwards. See you again, until then stay safe and take care.

P.S I did it again, Dear Reader, used a dumb title and forgot to explain. I’m consistent at least. I’ve had a bread knife outdoors for as long as I can remember and it has been a multi-tool, I used it to remove the plastic pot the clematis was in saving me for having to move it out and maybe damage the top, just popped it into the trug with soil and sliced away neatly. Really the best tool any gardener could ask for.

Method To Modular Madness

Well, despite being eaten by caterpillars it’s budding. Some kind of willow…probably.

It’s changed again, it’s forever changing, usually for the better thankfully.

I’m thinking Cypress, I might get some freebies, and heuchera for year round colour.

Yo, Dear Reader, every Winter I swear the front garden is fine, but ever year I change something, it went from a patch of grass with shrubs to this, all done by my own hands all with an idea of being able to adjust. I raised the sunken planters near the wall by pulling them up, while I was doing that I was also sifting the terribly stony soil, filling under the indentation a little and sinking them back down. The matting reaches just to them, the ones at the back are from the salad tent as I will forever call the plastic cold-frame, hard to get and I managed to get them really cheap. They’ll be filled with whatever colourful evergreens I can get my hands on. The sunken bottomless, a theme, I know Dear Reader, it works amazingly though, pots house the four tree lilies, thought one had died, I swear the cheapest ones grow the best, but nope, so I put them in new marker pots, easy to find them thanks to the pots. They should be huge next year. I’m skipping the sweetpeas, I’ve done them, every year and they always topple, the soil is shallow in spots, near the wall where the planters are has a big chunk of foundation for the wall which stops things growing there creating a gap and you can tell this has been bugging me for years. Well, I have a solution now.

I’ve been winging it all along, why stop now?

The wrong Wisteria arrived, but I’ll make it work…probably.

I filled the red planter with tulips.

Welcome home, sorry it took literal years and another rose dying, but you’re here now.

The rose is actually the first I ever grew from cutting, but sadly it isn’t the most vigorous, even the original, a stunning pink and white, has taken much longer to establish itself. I have hope it’ll do well and thanks to the bottomless buckets, this is the origin, Dear Reader, I could easily drop it through the other roses and plant it quickly. The empty spot had a rose that went wild, the graft must’ve died and the stock took over. Things get shuffled around a lot, a neighbour gifted me a Red Robin shrub that went splayed, so I cut it down and will retrain it. I don’t kid when I say my garden is at least half rescued flowers and plats, so many mistreat, neglected and unwanted plants came to me and I brought them back, beautifully if I may say so myself, Dear Reader. I have some ideas for the front section, but I just want a little Winter colour near the wall, I’ll scout around and see what I can get, as I say heuchera have proved themselves again and again and they come in so many colours that they’d really pop there all year round. All things in time, Dear Reader, for now I let the bark rest and rot and thanks to the worms I put in last year the soil is more than ready to be planted next year. Lots of work to do, but I’m glad this has reached a good place. I’ll be back again, Dear Reader, until later, stay safe and take care.