Life goes on....

We are always on a journey, maybe not always heading in the direction we thought we wanted to go but still moving along. It feels like our journey at the moment consists of warding off people wanting money while trying to figure out what we really want to be doing in the long term!! Meanwhile we just get on with life...

This blog was originally set up as a kind of record of how we are learning to be greener while heading towards our dream of a small holding. This will still be put in here as we discover new things but it is also evolving into a record of what we get up to in our everyday lives as well so I hope you'll keep reading along..... 

It's official...

We are now very proud 'Review Bloggers' for the Forestry Commission, specifically promoting our local forest of Grizedale, which is one of our favourite places to go! So you will all be seeing quite a bit of this lovely bit of the Lake District via blog posts in the coming year, a great excuse to take loads of pictures....not that I need one!!

Funnily enough we had decided that we would try and get around most of the trails in Grizedale this year when this opportunity came up so it was perfect timing. So to get you all in the mood until we get back there.....

Adventure playgound - good even in the wet!

The huge woodsman..

  

Grizedale on a sunny Sunday

After all that exercise in the Forest of Dean, we figured it was time to get out & about in our local forest too. So with all the bikes loaded on the best Sunday afternoon in ages it was off to Grizedale for a ride with the family!!
It's only when you as out of touch with exercise as we are that you get to realise why they are called "push" bikes!!

Starting at Moor Top (ominously named) it didn't take long for us to realise that every run down hill had a price, that would be the uphill following it!
all the puffing & panting aside it was a fantastic place to spend an afternoon!

The trees are just at that point of turning where some of the them are still green & holding on to what summer we did have whilst others are golden & dropping all around you. The odd whiffle of wind would create a wonderful flurry of leaves falling more like snow or a strange gathering of butterflies dancing around you, amazing to experience!!

Along with all of that were the amazing scenes & the natural wonders of the forest, with water being an ever present feature in our lakeland vistas this year it was nice to see some that didn't have you running for cover!!

Of course one of the best bits of Grizedale is the visitors centre with it's hot drinks (for the adults) & ice cream's (for the kids!!) whilst not forgetting the playground which entertains the kids & gives the adults some peace & quiet!!

It was great to bump into old friends we haven't seen in years there too, never know who will have the same idea do you!

Yes, we did have a fantastic day!!! Shouldn't leave it so long before going again!! :)

Back again!

I know, I know it's been ages. Just felt a bit underwhelmed by everything for a while but hey it happens to the best of us....(doesn't it??!!)

We've just got back from a few days down in the lovely Forest of Dean staying in one of the Forest Lodges, courtesy of my Mum and Dad. There really is something magical and calming about woods even when it's wet and soggy under foot! The kids had the freedom of cycling around freely without too much worry about cars and we enjoyed far too much coffee and cake!

Two weeks ago we had decided to cut right down on the amount of wheat we ate and had both felt so much better for it, and whilst we thoroughly enjoyed pigging out on holiday, we feel yucky and bloated now so we'll be getting back to low or even no wheat diet this weekend. If anyone has any good recipes to use, the areas we struggle with are breakfasts, bread and something sweet for evenings.....!

Magical Butter!!

 In our quest to get rid of horrible nasties from our diet, one of Dave's stumbling points was his beloved margerine....he has always insisted he hated butter and would never touch the stuff until I kindly pointed out all the rubbish that goes into marg....only thinking of his health!! We tried Olive oil in the freezer....didn't really work and so he bravely tried some different shop bought butters and found that he could get used to Goats butter and maybe actually quite like it....

Going a step further and doing a little bit of kitchen science with the kids as well, we then decided to have a go at making our own butter to see how that would taste.......well... it's like a little miracle all of it's own (I'm easily impressed obviously!!) There's must be some kind of wizardry that turns a carton of double cream into some very delicious butter...surely? No, actually it's just a bit of effort and maybe ending up with arms like Popeye!

Your own homemade butter in a few easy steps...

1. Half / Three quarter fill a jar or tub with double cream (must be heavy or double to work) making sure it has a tight fitting lid.
2. Shake, shake, shake while doing a little jig around your kitchen...sharing the shaking is a great idea!
3. The magic happens in stages....first the cream goes thick, then gets to the point that it feels like it's not moving at all...keep shaking..
4. Next it starts to loosen a bit and if you open the lid to have a peak it looks a bit like curdled cream or scrambled eggs..put the lid back on and keep shaking..
5. Suddenly you hear liquid noise again and you know that the process is nearly done, this is the cream splitting into buttermilk and butter. You can now stop shaking...hurrah!
6. Pour out the buttermilk to use in baking or drink. B loves this on his cereal.
7. Take out your lovely lump of butter in your hand and just rinse under a cold tap giving it a gentle squeeze to get any more buttermilk out.
8. Pop it in a bowl and add salt to taste.
9. Pile it onto a thick slice of homemade bread.......heaven!!

I know this is probably no cheaper than buying butter but there is something special about making your own....and we can safely say that not many people will beat you at an arm wrestle if you do this every few days!!  

Strawberries and Cream time....

We just happened to be driving around the other day and suddenly a shout went up from behind me ...'Mum, Mum the Pick Your Own is open, can we, can we??' Of course this means strawberries...I have to admit to never being a big fan of strawberries or soft fruit in general but there is something deeply satisfying about being able to go and pick fruit and then either eat it or make something truly scrumptious from it straight away. The weather up here has been pretty awful in the last couple of weeks so I was keen to get some before the crops were ruined by all the rain! 

The kids merrily picked two punnets full and then spent the walk back to get them weighed concocting some recipes to make when they got home. After a quick diversion to pick up supplies from the supermarket, I was banished from the kitchen and the chefs got to work.....well I was impressed!! E went for the understated strawberry and cream option, nicely sliced with added icing sugar to make the cream thick and sweet....delicious! B went for a more sophisticated shortbread, with strawberry puree and cream expertly drizzled over the top....delicious again!  For someone who claims not to like strawberries very much these were very yummy!! Maybe my tastes are just changing.....

Very proud chef!

The next day we had one punnet left so this was made into 'Quickest Strawberry Jam', a great recipe from the lovely Jamie Oliver. Ours didn't turn out like normal jam, a lot runnier but with the whole fresh strawberry taste still there rather than just a sugary one....delish. On homemade bread, with homemade butter (yes we did make it ourselves, I'll do a blog post on this next!!) it felt really great and tasted even better!!

Maybe strawberries aren't that bad after all!!

It's a long journey....

Feeling a bit despondent at the moment, the dream of having our own small-holding seems soooo very far away and I know there's lots of people who would laugh if they knew where we wanted to be from where we are now......then I read this.....

Just got to keep remembering...ANYTHING can be....