Saturday
What can you do when it feels like autumn and pours with rain all day, but bake!
Ginger Biscuits from the recipe book that came with my cooker and yummy, light shortbread from my DS's
Cook with Jamie.
Sunday
Gloriously sunny and warm! Ideal for taking a few pics out in the garden.
(The cottage garden border has filled out nicely)
The subject of Tales from a Stone Cottage in Country Living this month is bartering in the countryside, albeit with a comical twist. According to Aly, there are 3 stages of bartering that go something like this:
1 Bartering home grown produce;
2 Bartering items made with home grown produce i.e. jams and chutneys; and finally
3 Bartering services i.e. lawn mowing, pet watching.
This sounds about right to me although, perhaps, not in quite so structured a manner where you have to achieve one stage before you can qualify for the next!
(I love the colour of this holyhock which is growing tall and strong. Must be well over 6ft.)
Thinking about bartering while wandering around the garden, I was at first dissapointed to think we didn't do it much. Then as more and more instances came back to me I realised we did it more than I thought. It's just that it's such an integral part of life that we don't think of it as bartering. And we don't ususally, as the article suggests, expect anything in return (but it's a welcome surprise).
(The one and only apple on young tree No 1)
I then thought further and it occured to me that bartering must go on in some form in every country of the world. (Not that it's a very original thought - I just hadn't considered it before). I expect the experience is very similar throughout the Western World but it would be interesting to know what happens in places like India, Africa and The Arctic.
(The one and only apple on young tree No 2)
Here are my examples:
-Runner beans we gave to a passing friend who later left a jar of raspberry jam on the doorstep.
-Rhubarb, beetroot and cooking apples we give to my auntie up the road who leaves apple pies, custard slices and millionaires shortbread on our garden bench. :-)
-My OH cutting an overgrown hedge for a friend who will spray OH's tractor panels in return.
-Church members bringing produce and leaving it in the porch for the congregation to help themselves.
-The Vicar announcing in chuch that she has raspberries or blackberries ready in her garden for picking
Plus lots of general lending and borrowing of tools, baking ingredients and skills too many to mention (and many forgotton).
(The knarled old Bramley groaning with apples)
On the stiching front, I have cut out the curtains for my shed at last, from the charity shop sheet (a tongue-twister if ever I heard one) I bought especially. Results hopefully before too long!
Bye for now
Teresa x
There was a BBQ area in front of the cottage, although we didn't get the chance to use it,....
.........and a conservatory at the back that was huge.
The Tall Ships in the harbour reflect the fact that TV programmes such as Poldark and The Onedin Line were filmed there.
Below is the harbour at Padstow which is a lovely town with narrow streets and quaint little shops.
We couldn't leave Padstow without sampling Rick Stein's fish and chips! The chips were lovely but I was a bit disappointed by the warehouse apprearance of the shop and the conveyor belt/take-a-number approach to service.
There was a public footpath running from the back of our cottage for about a mile and a half to this beach. It was a brisk, windy day which created a dramatically rough sea but it was still warm and the dogs enjoyed running in and out of the water.
Our special meal out and a surprise from me was at Jamie Olivers Fifteen restaurant in Watergate Bay. The view from the window was worth the trip if nothing else.
But the whole experience was definitely worth it too!! We had a relaxing evening with a delicious meal and very friendly, efficient service.
Dessert is always the highlight for me!!!!
Visiting the fascinating Lost Gardens of Heligan was the activity for our last day.
I had to get a photo next to the famous 'Mud Maid'! 
My OH went into the garden the other day to tidy up and pulled this cardboard box of bubblewrap out of the shed. He discovered that a swarm of bees had decided to use it as a nest (as well as other creeping and scuttling things that had used it as a toilet)!
I risked life and limb to get a closer look.
Click on the photo to see more detail if you want to. It's quite amazing what bees can construct without architects, plans or building regs. You can't see any bees here but they were there believe me - and quite a few were buzzing around in the shed wondering where their home had disappeared to.
Lemon biscuits. There are over 40 here and they're now in the freezer ready to take away on holiday. Do you think they'll be enough for 5 (maybe 6) people for a week!! Oh, and I musn't forget the little vase (bottle) of sweet peas my OH picked from the garden.
Some Strawberry Jam made in the microwave with the last of the strawberries from the garden this year. I got the recipe from a blog but can't remember which one (Note to self: Must write name of blog on any info I print off). The recipe didn't ask for preserving sugar, just 'sugar' so I didn't use it even though I was wary of the outcome. I don't think I'll make it like this again - it could be a bit thicker and I would prefer the fruit to break up a bit. Whole strawberries make sandwiches a bit lumpy :-)
Here's the mini-quilt top finished. I'm quite pleased with how neat it looks. I hope I don't ruin it when adding the quilting and binding! I've cut out wadding (batting) and backing fabric now so it's ready to go.
Now, onto Saturday's activities.
This is my DD's stall at the Animal Sanctuary Open Day. Her Pet Business is on the left and Body Shop Business on the right. It was a lovely day - not too hot, with lots of adults, children and dogs in attendance. Lots of people stopped to chat and took information away so hopefully some business will be generated in the future from it. DD almost had a booking on the day too but we're away on holiday for the dates they wanted. 
Three sweet little girls having a rummage in the lucky dip. They took ages to find anything because they were having such fun running the sawdust through their hands!
I stop ordering an organic box delivery at this time of year because we get quite a lot of produce from our garden, given to us by friends and relatives, and growing wild in the countryside. I could order items from the delivery scheme separately but it works out a lot more expensive so I try to buy organic at the supermarket instead. 
This little bag from Onya contains 5 net drawstring veg/fruit bags and I bought them especially to use instead of using the plastic ones provided (I've had only favourable comments at the checkout when I have used them). The only problem is that most organic produce comes already wrapped - I suppose that's so it doesn't get mixed up with the regular produce. It's a little annoying as not all shops use recylable packaging for organic produce.
On a more general note, I've been recording my spending for over a year and can now start to compare similar months. In comparing June 2009 and June 2010, Total spending is £340 down and grocery shopping is £5.33 per week down on average, which doesn't seem much but when price rises are taken into account, is probably quite a bit more. I'm unlikely to be able to reduce this much more while I'm still working and the 20% VAT coming in next year is going to make an impact.