Friday 31 October 2014

N4 - The Gardens


Hello me dears welcome to a new regular monthly post.
Since we moved we have been stuck by variety of gardens and plants in our new area. 
The area is called the gardens because every street is named something - Gardens.

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not a good month to start but hey, its a start.

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This tradescantia was the plant that sparked the idea.
It is just growing in a crack in the pavement by the road.

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Roses are very much a feature in 'the gardens' this lovely peachy yellow just glowed in the evening sun.

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Not all is sweetness and light though this a gigantic Japanese Knot weed. the very same thug as we have done battle with in ours.
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Its October and a bumper crop of sorbus berries.

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or what ever they are, the birds love them.

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A horrid fatsia japonica trying to look exotic.

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and some lovely pot plants.

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This mirabilis jalapa is a fave of mine.

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along with the many fuchsias in the area.

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The dahlias are still putting on a fab show.

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As is this passion flower.

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You never know what's around the corner, grape vines, olive trees, figs or indeed melons.

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I pass these sun flowers on my way to the bus stop to work. They always cheer me up.

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pyracantha to remind us that we are now in Autumn.

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and indeed Haloween


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Food Heroes - Rose Elliot

Hello me dears.
Here is another in a random series on my food heroes
Today is Rose Elliots turn




I have been a great fan of hers since the early 80s when I bought her ' The Bean Book, Fontana 1979 ' 
It has been my bible for any thing to do with pulses ever since. It is one of the books I simply never would be with out. Her simple and open style combined with every detail of the ingredients you could ever wish to know makes it a good read as well as being instructive.





Her first book, Simply Delicious, was published in 1967. Her latest cookery book, The Best Of Rose Elliot: The Ultimate Vegetarian Collection was published by Mitchell Beazley this year (2014).

I have just added another of her books to join my battered but loved copy of the bean book on the shelf.



We love charity shops here at 'Delargo Towers' and at £2.25 a bargain.

Rose Elliot became vegetarian at the age of 3, grew up in a spiritualist family and started cooking for the guests at a spiritualist retreat when she left school. Encouraged to write her recipes down  she was given rave reviews in the times after her little vegetarian booklet was published by the organization that ran the retreat.

She is a Fellow of The Association of Professional Astrologers International, is a member of  MENSA and was awarded the MBE for services to vegetarian cookery in 1999


Bibliography from wikipedia

Chronological list of books by Rose Elliot (Incomplete)
  • Simply Delicious The White Eagle Publishing Trust 1967
  • Not Just a Load of Old Lentils The White Eagle Publishing Trust 1972,
  • Thrifty Fifty, 50 Low Cost Recipes, Hampshire: White Eagle Publishing Trust, 1973
  • The Oxfam Vegetable Cookbook, Oxfam 1975
  • The Bean Book, Fontana 1979
  • The Festive Vegetarian: Recipes and Menus for Every Occasion, New York, U.S.A.: Pantheon Books, 1983
  • Rose Elliot's Book of Fruits, Fontana Paperbacks, 1983
  • Book of Savoury Flans and Pies, Fontana. 1984.
  • Beanfeast; a beginner's guide to wholefood cooking, Fontana 1985
  • The New Vegetarian Cookbook, London: Octopus Books, 1986
  • Vegetarian Mother and Baby Book, Pantheon Books, 1986
  • Cooking with Beans and Pulses : With foreword and star recipes by Rose Elliot, Holland & Barrett / Thorsons Publishers. 1986.
  • Vegetarian Dishes of the World, HarperCollins Publishers, 1988
  • The Zodiac Cookbook, Pyramid, 1989
  • Vegetarian Four Seasons, New York, NY, U.S.A.: Random House, 1994
  • Life Cycles, The Influence of Planetary Cycles on Our Lives, Macmillan, 1993, and Pan, 1995.
  • Rose Elliot's Oxfam Vegetarian Cooking For Children, Vermilion, 1995
  • Rose Elliot's Vegetarian Fast Food : HarperCollinsPublishers, 1996.
  • Gourmet Vegetarian Cooking, Thorsons, Wellingborough 1996
  • Quick and Easy Vegetarian Meals for Students, Martin Books, 1997
  • Vegetarian Meals for Students, HarperCollins, 1997
  • Mother, Baby & Toddler Book, London: Harper Collins, 1997
  • Vegetarian Express, Phoenix, 2001
  • New Vegetarian Cooking: 120 Fast, Fresh, and Fabulous Recipes, Simon & Schuster, 2004
  • Book Of Pasta ISBN 0-00-636703-8
  • The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook
  • Rose Elliot's Vegetarian Cookery
  • Rose Elliot's Vegetarian Christmas
  • Best Of Rose Elliot, Mitchell Beazley, 2014

All in all she is a bloody good egg

Three cheers for Rose Elliot I say !.


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Thursday 30 October 2014

The 'Delargo Towers' Garden - October 2014


October is Over and with it comes the last Rose of Summer.


Both the pink rose and this fab red rose have been lovely. They look like they have been here for a good many years and have been a little neglected. With a little TLC we are hoping  for a fabulous display next year.



The dahlias are looking rather ropey and have been removed out to the back. Some window boxes are still giving colour - until they are replaced with the winter pansies.


The front bed has been dug and planted with wallflowers, Nicotiana and bulbs.

While out back the apple trees are getting ready for winter;
we have under-planted them with crocus and native bluebells. 



And we have a new border !





Finally, all the refugees from our last garden have a home.



The winter window boxes are planted and growing on nicely.


The Asarina is still in flower and we have a new baby growing in with the lilies,


Our new Martagon lily - 'Nicotine' - has been potted up and put with the other bulbs awaiting the Spring.


And, as I hoped in the last post, Doncaster Donny has made a reappearance in the garden

Just before I go - here is our other acquisition from the RHS Autumn Show: another Streptocarpus ('Bethan') from gold medal winners Dibleys Nurseries





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Monday 13 October 2014

Lest We Forget:

The Tower of London Remembers

I was so moved by my visit, with my sister to see this.
I just had to blog it to make sure I remember the deep effect it had on me. 
If you don't know about it Find Out Here.   

It would have been nice to start with a photo of my paternal grandfather, unfortunately I do not have one to show you.   Nor in fact do I know much about him other than he was blinded by mustard gas and was a bloody nice chap.

In his stead I start with private William Cecil Tickle.


He  was from Tottenham only 15 when he volunteered and served with the 9th Essex Regiment.



Hard to describe in pictures (and especially hard with the billions of tourists that inhabit it's environs) but I shall have a go none the less. We start the circle of the moat by traitors gate.



My sister and I felt that the raised poppies represented the young men going over the the top of the trenches.


Joining many others and filling the moat with their blood.














As we reached the apposite corner the poppies poured from the tower like a fatal haemorrhage flooding the moat.






Every poppy a person


every boy had a mother.


So many they all become a blur.


So many


Real people, every one a personal tragedy.


We should remember, politics is politics - nothing was worth that ! 
They were Lions led by donkeys.





Life is precious
Every poppy was a life.




Post script -
I saw this in the first week of October there is still another month of planting poppies to go before the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month


Every poppy is a hero.


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