Riverside Riches

Last Saturday the weather was so gorgeous that we were tempted down to the River Wear for a walk, where it skirts the north of Bishop Auckland. Autumn colours have been glorious this year. The viaduct in the background of this picture once carried the railway northwards. The line now stops at Bishop Auckland Station, about a mile further south. Fortunately, someone came up with the idea of putting a new road on top of the "Eleven Arches" before it got demolished. Much of the old railway and mining fabric of the north has been demolished or obliterated. There is no doubt that the countryside is now very attractive and eyesores were removed but the big D-for-demolition stamp was used frequently in the offices of the town planners in the 1960s and 1970s and some great treasures were lost in the haste to modernise.

The copse of trees lit up by the sun on the hill across the river to the north, hides the old site and remains of the Roman Cavalry Fort of Binchester. One of the forts on the Roman road from York to Hadrians Wall.The Gaunless (olde englishe for useless) River flows through Auckland Park and the grounds of the Bishop's Palace and then into the River Wear over this weir. The grand old trees of the park provide shelter for flora and fauna from deer to fungi. Deer are shy and move fast but fungi are a photographer's dream.

The weather has now turned and we expect snow on the hills soon. The driftwood and sea-coal look more attractive by the day.

Keep warm wherever you are.

Cheers Gillian

Christmas Cake Craziness

I decided to make the christmas cake. Yes! I know it's a bit soon but there's a lot on between now and xmas chez nous. I got the fruit etc measured out and left it to soak in brandy overnight. Then I went to the cupboard to get the rest of the ingredients that Delia had listed as suitable for the cake tin size that I had.
I had quite an array of flour bags but Delia said I needed plain, plain flour. Not the strong bread flour, nor the bread mix. Not even the self raising flour suitable for cakes or the sack of Wessex Mill scone mix. So in the middle of everything, I had to go out for some flour. We have seven supermarkets within a mile or so. I had already been to Sainsbury's earlier for some milk etc and come home with three new tops as well, so I went to Lidl, the closest and top-less, and bought some flour. Oops! I came home with a bag of Self Raising!!!
After peals of laughter and much amusement at my silliness, I went out again. This time, I tried Aldi......and came home with a bag of Self Raising!!! I even got as far as weighing it out, sifting it and adding mixed spice and grated nutmeg. Then DJ kindly pointed it out to me.
My sense of humour evaporated, and DJ disappeared to the top floor. This time I decided to try Tesco but the car ended up back at Sainsbury's. Getting frazzled, I ignored the 25%-off sign pointing to the clothes and came home with some plain flour. I bought a small bag because I was worried about where to store all these new supplies.

The cake got made and came out of the oven looking OK. It is now bathing in a sprinkling of Southern Comfort, mainly because neither of us drinks it and there was some in the cupboard. This will be liberally applied weekly and the cake will be wrapped in foil until I get the urge to ice and decorate it.

More news later as long as I don't repeat my serial shopping too often and get carted off to a home for a "nice rest" before xmas.

We went coal and driftwood gathering again today and are looking forward to a great fire in the kitchen range grate on xmas day.

Cheers Gillian

SEA COAL......FREE COAL!

Today was DJ's birthday and he eschewed the proffered lunch at the Morritt Arms, at Greta Bridge and opted for a trip to the seaside. The Morritt does a stunning three course "Credit Crunch Lunch", at £10 and it is available in the Dickens Bar where the walls are painted in grand Dickensian style by Jack Gilroy and the gardens are stunning too, if you are there in good weather. The link has a great slide show.
DJ chose a visit to Seaton Carew. The day was windy but the skies were blue. This is our nearest and favourite seaside, just to the south of Hartlepool and to the north of Teesside.
The tide was on its way out and we faced the wind to walk south towards the dunes. We followed the high tide line because I love to search for treasures. Coloured or shiny bits glinting in their recent wetness. A woman in front had a dog and a bag of stuff she kept gleaning from the berm ahead of us. I asked her what she was scavenging. "Sea coal" she said, and showed us how to identify the lumps and distinguish them from the black pebbles by their lighter weight and glimmer even when dry. She said she might as well gather a bagful while she walked her Scottie.

So guess what we did. It wasn't a great harvest because we only had DJ's hat to carry it in. But we shall return. We have seven fire-places and chimneys. We only use two and one has a wood/multifuel burner and the other is part of the kitchen range.

This shovelful is it! "Oh Yeah", you might say. "So what!"

Four miles and an hour and a half of walking! But it was such fun and free...like the fruits of the footpaths.

Seaton Carew has a grand sea-front and a lovely stretch of Victorian buildings and hotels shown on this link. http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/gazettelive2/jul2010/9/4/seaton-carew-878858304.jpg Its a grand walk along the front at low tide and then we enjoyed a "Ploughman's Lunch" at the Staincliffe Hotel overlooking the sea and watched an ocean-going tug bringing in an oil-drilling rig.

These are the treasures I garnered today. Blue was the dominant colour, but the green stone at the bottom right stood out too.

Tesco's and Sainsbury's have both opened around the corner. The Tesco is a regular big one and the Sainsbury is the largest I have seen, although a friend says she has seen a bigger one at Fosse Park near Leicester.

We went with same friends to a "Mamma Mia Mystery Night" at the Ramside Hall in Durham and I was going to blog about it. But I won't. Next time they visit we shall make our own costumes out of old curtains, paint on make-up and put wigs on our heads. We shall screech at them all night and make them eat some mediocre food as quickly as they can so that we can all go home to bed early and the disco can play loud music for them on automatic. We might get away with charging £20 too!!!

Cheers Gillian

CORFU CAPERS

We took the opportunity of having a week in Corfu. The rest of the year will be busy and so some sunshine and new pastures fitted the bill perfectly. We chose an hotel close to but not in, Corfu Town and were able to access the town easily for 90 cents on the bus. We climbed to the top of the Old Fort, shown here. Later we climbed to the top of the Venetian Fort as well. The place was well fortified over the centuries!The views from the top were grand. The clouds passed by for one day. The stormy weather stayed for another but the rest of the time was hot and sunny with brilliant blue sea and skies. The best coffee I have had since leaving Melbourne was to be had at the "Europe Cafe" in Eleftherias with the old cricket pitch in the park beside it. This grand old street is paved with marble and specialises in cafes.

We trod the streets all over town. Many parts must date back centuries and there has been a tradition of patching up and building a bit more on so that many areas are a pastiche of eras, styles and uses.

This could be one of the oldest basketball courts in the world, or it could have been put up yesterday on an empty space.

The sea is in the background of everything. We stayed at an hotel with its own beach as well as all the rest and watched three or four cruise ships arrive and leave the port a kilometre away each day. This one is catching the setting sun as it sails past the hotel gardens. It is blocking your view of Albania. Day trips to Albania can be got for a mere 60 euros but are titled "Albanian Adventure" so that you don't expect too much comfort. Talking about comfort... if we return we shall try the Corfu Palace Hotel in town. We snuck in for a sticky beak and were mightily awed.

The epic building of supermarkets around the corner from us continued while we were away. The new Bishop Auckland Football Club is nearly ready for its first match and a giant Sainsbury's and a Tesco Extra are competing to see which will open first. They are across the road from one another, will offer all the same things and petrol and have caused havoc to the traffic for weeks while roundabouts and new roads are emplaced. The bus routes will be changed and teams of builders, electricians, plumbers, gas workers and JCB drivers are working around the clock to be the first store to open. Vast quantities of material have to be removed from the site while new utilities are put in place and then all the material will have to be returned to fill in the gaping holes and landscape them. All I want is some decent bread within walking distance.
Cheers Gillian

FURTHER FORAGING FORAYS

We recently returned from a walk around Forcett with a carrier bag full of potatoes. This was the loot from a trudge across a recently harvested potato field . False and unfair are the accusations heaped upon us by RH, of potato rustling on a major scale in the north and blaming us for shortages in the south and so causing the near starvation of thousands of children!!! Let them eat chips, we say!)
Unfortunately the potatoes only taste good because they were free and have lashings of butter on them. That's a shame for us but a bigger one for you because you are probably going to be paying for their big brothers in a supermarket near you all winter.
The blackberries and elderberries are now dealt with for this year and our fingers are returning to their normal colour.
So we took ourselves off to Saltburn on the train. A grand day out for £6.30 each return. Some fish and chips and a ride on the cliff lift. Yes and no. The lift is closed until Easter so we walked down and up again.

The tide was well out and there was a lot of weed washed up, so the coalmen had to scrape it aside to forage the seacoal which they shovel up into sacks. This couple happily filled a few carriers as well. Our foraging nature has led us to enquire how it can be used at home. Can we make our own "Saltburn Nuts"? When we were young the coalman delivered "Welsh Nuts" to our home to keep the hot water boiler burning, because London in living required the smokeless fuel of the anthracite coal from south Wales.

We have seen this seacoal gathered commercially to be used in the furnaces in the steel works on Teesside but how can it be used domestically?

The weather is starting to change and cooler temperatures are here. Such a supply of fuel could be very welcome.

Cheers Gillian

HEDGEROW HARVEST

A quick and easy bike ride for us, is along the bridle path, a short way up Brusselton Hill. There is the remains of a derelict garden beside the path and although it is very overgrown, raspberries, blackberries and apples are to be found. Also, not far from us near the village of Gainford, the footpaths are lined with blackberry bushes and near Headlam Hall, "unclaimed" apple trees can easily be accessed.
So to work! A blackberry and apple crumble was made for that day. Blackberries were washed and dried and frozen. Then raspberries from the freezer, fresh blackberries and scrumped apples were boiled till good and mushy and then strained through muslin.

Then the juice was boiled up with sugar to make Hedgerow Jelly.

The apples were then peeled and cut up into two batches of chutney. One with green tomatoes and one with spices and chillies.

DJ made some smart labels and now all the jars are looking for homes. We shall use plenty ourselves, but this xmas will provide an opportunity for emptying the cupboard a bit.

The elderberries were just ripening and looked so pretty in the sunshine that I'm tempted to harvest some of them and make stuff....but what? Any ideas or recipes?

Cheers Gillian

The Tale of Two Brollies

We have just come back from a week in Brittany. Fabulous food, plentiful drink, beautiful scenery and great company. The weather was gorgeous too. One day my sister went out on the boat with her charming, red parasol.
She showed me it later and said that she didn't know where it had come from but she thought it might be mine. We visit one another and have been known to leave belongings behind.
"Oh Yes!" I cried, "it is mine. In fact it is the red umbrella which is the picture I use on my Blog Title". DJ was not so sure. He couldn't work out how it could have travelled so far without us remembering. He was sure he had seen mine very recently at home.
My sister handed it over and we returned to England with it. DJ accepted a £5 wager with me, that it was indeed mine. It was so distinctive and rare, it could only be my precious red umbrella.
The first thinjg I did on returning home was check the umbrella hook......

I am now £5 poorer but have two identical red umbrellas. My sister is happy that one day she will get the other one back. But it isn't hers. She admits she doesn't know where it came from. Mine is the one on the right but how can I tell?

Has anyone out there lost a red umbrella? Can you explain how it got into my sister's house in Dorset? Why do both of us have the same favourite umbrella? Has anyone else got one just like this?
Cheers Gillian