Our annual Kingswood village Christmas dinner was again hosted by Ian and Julie. How they manage to quietly cater for 30 plus of us with no signs of stress is beyond me. It was a lovely evening out with the various friends in the village. The weather was cold walking there and back, but dry. Snow forecast for tonight.
Category Archives: home
Kingswood Firework Party
Our usual Kingswood firework display at George and Annie’s, with firework maestro, Ian. BBQ food cooked by Keith and Duncan & served by Karin & Charlotte. It was a lovely evening, no rain again, with a glimpse of the moon. Bonfire made from pallets and garden waste.
Christmas for Red Kites
We treated ourselves to a Lidl Spanish Serrano Jamon for Christmas. I had always wanted one! The day came and I carved a thin slice. It was disgusting. So the Red Kites, Magpies, Crows & Jackdaws had an early Christmas present. The leg tended to move around the field overnight, badgers or foxes would gnaw at it. There now is a white bone in the field. It has taken from before the 20th December to now (January 10th) to reach that state.
Some pictures of the Red Kite on the Jamon, and a few after the juvenile kite flew off.
Curd Dinner
We had John and Carol Curd over for dinner. Main course served was the pan fried marinaded salmon on a bed of green beans.
Many bottles of wine consumed on this hot evening.
Starling being fed in old Rayburn solid fuel cooker
Picture of a Starling chick being fed in an old, disused Rayburn solid fuel cooker which a pair of Starlings were using as a nest. This was the second time Starlings have done this, the previous time being two years ago. I managed to grab a few pictures of the chick being fed. The next day it had fledged and gone. The pictures were taken through an open window on a Canon EOS7D Mk2. The lens was a 100 – 400 Canon.
Both parents were feeding one chick. At least, I believe there was only one chick. This was the same as the previous nesting two years before.
Bird feeding time
Summer is over, though the last few weeks have been sunny and hot. Why do I declare summer over? The bird feeders have been erected, 50 kilos of sunflower hearts, 25 kilos of peanuts and 25 kilos of Niger seed have to be eaten this winter. Start eating, birds, I need the space back.
Christmas Day 2014
Some pictures from Christmas. First there was the evening party around Kingswood with the progressive supper, starting at Lin and Laurie, progressing to Julie and Ian, and finishing at Karin and Duncan. Christmas was a family day at home.
Herb Garden now completed after several years
Raised bed herb garden
The raised bed herb garden has now been constructed on the site of the ex Willow tree. It is made of 6 railway sleepers and 30 barrow loads of earth and compost. The project has been on my to-do list for several years. The earth / compost was from several years of composting garden refuse. It has been planted with Chives, Rosemary, Marjoram, Thyme and Bay. Not sure the rabbits have yet appreciated this project, their home under and in the compost heap has been dug into. They though may come to appreciate the tasty leaves as the herb project matures.
Larder Envy
Several months ago, Rosemary had a serious case of larder envy (seems to affect ladies of a certain age) after seeing a friend’s. She came home and sighed at her larder shelves built of fronts of old wardrobes, bits of tongue and grooved, brick supports and even spare end pieces from new kitchen. She wrote a to-do list item and began her search.
She was triumphant and now has the larder of her dreams complete with three roll-out wooden boxes, one of which is a snazzy two drawer vegetable rack. The larder is under the kitchen stairs and the shelves have been designed so you can stand right inside and hence see everything and reach into the full depth.
Designer and maker, in oiled ash, was Mark Williamson of Mark Williamson Furniture.
She’s crossed the “larder shelves” item off her to-do list.
But shelves are an addiction…….
Oh I wish it could be Christmas every day
Christmas is over, with the real Boxing Day nearing the end. Family has left and Rosemary and I are left alone to eat our turkey and bread sauce sandwiches. This Christmas has been a white one with snow on the fields, and -10C frosts and hot wood burners toasting our toes. Friends in the pub to share a pint or two, Selina and Phil to share a turkey with. Alas did not manage to persuade Selina to run to the village shop. Yes, an evil plan hatched by her parents, the shop does not open on Boxing Day.
Here are a few pictures for you, I have even take a departure from the norm and condescended to include some people in one or two shots.
