On The Flight Path

 

We had a lot of rain in the two weeks when I was off work and I spent a fair amount of time watching the birds bathing in a pond which formed in our flooded garden.  They were certainly entertaining to watch and didn't seem to mind that the water was not pristine.

When the weather improved and the pond dried up, we thought that it would be nice to have a bird bath in the garden and were fortunate enough to find one in a sale last Saturday.  We had it assembled and in place within minutes of arriving home, so you can imagine our disappointment that no birds are using it.  We even found a little rock for the smaller birds to stand on if the water is a bit too deep for them.  As it is placed adjacent to where the pond formed, we thought that the birds would be keen to take advantage of this new water feature.

I was out in the garden a few minutes ago and stuck my finger in the water. which is a beautiful temperature.  If it were a little bigger, I'd be tempted to have a paddle myself!

In The Kitchen

There's been a bit of baking lately.  I made breadsticks ~ two varieties ~ one black pepper and the other sea salt, both of which disappeared very quickly!

Honey and Oatmeal biscuits are also popular, especially when made with delicious clover honey (my favourite).  A visitor stopped by and almost demolished a plate full!

 

I was given a lot of rhubarb and decided to make Rhubarb and Strawberry jam, as local strawberries have just appeared in the shops.  I made this last year and it was delicious.

I tried baking raspberry scones once before and they were not successful.  I decided to have another attempt and baked these yesterday and they turned out great.  They were best eaten warm straight out of the oven with a little butter and a cup of tea ~ perfection!

I found a recipe which I adapted by adding an egg (I like a richer scone) and mixed the raspberries into the dough mixture before I added the liquid.  The first recipe that I tried had the raspberries added afterwards in a layer, but I prefer my method.  It is a pity that I've finished the raspberries, as I'd like to bake another batch of these ~ maybe tomorrow.