Chagford Hill Pony Sales

A week of clouds lying low around us, fog on the high moor, and mist and perpetual dampness on the low moors signalled the begining of October, and the pony drift.
Today dawned cold and clear, and as always, I walked down the road to watch this year's crop of foals auctioned.

There were at least as many coloured cob foals as true Dartmoor ponies, with the larger ponies in much greater demand. It's a poor year, recession hangs over everyone's heads, and the prices were lower than usual, with several unsold. I always leave my wallet at home - it's so hard not to feel tempted to bring home the unwanted colts!

This fellow though, is one I would have stood and bid for had I been in a position to do so.
A 14hh , 7 year old piebald stallion. I didn't stay to watch him go through the sales ring, but I'm sure he was snapped up!

berries, berries, berries!

My father came to visit, so I dragged him out in the rain to help me pick berries! We picked rowan berries and sloes, both destined for a couple of nights in the freezer to simulate a frost, before being made into jellies. The crab apples will go in with the berries too, while the haws are cooking at this moment on the stove, in an attempt to make Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's 'Haw-sin sauce'. I'll let you know how it goes!

## UPDATE## I made the Haw - sin sauce and tasted it when it was newly made. I then added a lot more ground black pepper than the recipe said, and thought it would have been improved by adding a whole chilli while cooking ( and fishing it out before bottling) to give the whole thing a bit of a kick. At this stage, I was not entirely sure about it - it tasted rather bitter, and a bit harsh. Nevertheless we bottled it up and put it away. Three weeks later I opened it to try, and WOW! It has matured beautifully, and there is no trace of the bitterness - it actually tastes very fruity and almost floral. The children LOVE it, and think it tastes of raspberries. So, a definite success!

A packet of stripey socks

Two weeks of tiresome snuffles and sneezes, and general ill humour on my part ( I HATE being ill, and not being able to get on with stuff!) came to a welcome end when this long awaited parcel of socks arrived! I have searched high and low for earthy coloured striped socks in this country, but seen nothing. At the same time, I discovered these at sock dreams, and have been coveting them for the best part of a year. They are very reasonably priced, but I was concerned about shipping and customs charges adding a huge chunk to the cost. In the end, I bit the bullet and ordered four pairs. Thankfully, there was no customs charge, and they are absolutely delightful - I am so pleased with them!

The harvest from the garden, which fell behind while I was ill, is now on frantic catchup. The weather is finally turning, becoming wet and with frost threatened soon. Sunday evening was spent in front of the fire shelling these beautiful beans. They are Cherokee Trail of Tears, a variety I mentioned that I was disappointed with earlier in the year. Their eating qualities as whole beans were poor, but left to ripen, and eaten at this stage, they were delicious!

And finally, the miracle from our garden this year - black grapes! The grape vine has never had a worth while crop before. Lots of small green clusters, but they never swell and ripen properly. This year, probably due to the hot, dry September, we had a bumper crop!The grapes are not as large as shop - bought grapes, but they are sweet and delicious.
Some day soon I hope to get my sketchbook out again, but for now I must finish picking and preserving.

Anyone for exploding cucumbers?

This is an Acocha, otherwise known as an exploding cucumber. I bought seeds a couple of years ago, from the Real Seed company, but planted them out a little early last year, and every last plant was caught by the cold and died. This year, with the few remaining seeds, I planted them out later, and this interesting fruit has been the success story of our summer. We even got a second prize at the local agricultural show with them!

Perhaps they are too succesful - the vines are currently rampaging over my fence and into the neighbour's garden, and have almost smothered my ornamantal cherry tree! I am assuming that the first frost will lay waste to them and I don't have to worry about them becoming invasive. In the meantime we are picking masses of fruit daily - more than we can eat. They are scrambling vines, similar to squashes and melons, and the fruits, which grow to about 2 inches long, and are covered in soft spines, are hollow inside. We split them in half, scrape out the seeds, and then use them in cooking in the same sort of way that I would use a green pepper.

So, if anyone lives near me and would like a bowl full, do call in, as we cannot eat nearly this many!

Also, ripening beautifully for the first year ever is this black grape. They may be small, but they are super sweet!

Globe artichokes too ( in fact, just one head - we will have to share!)

Chillies of many varieties, and tumbling tomatoes are ripening in the greenhouse ( no sign of the dreaded blight yet this year - I am crossing my fingers)

And these are the delicious spirits, to warm us up on cold winter nights! Raspberry gin (beautifully delicate flavour, goes down like a fruit cordial!), blackberry rum ( tastes a bit medicinal, this one!), and elderberry gin to ward off the coughs and sniffles.

I may just have to go and sample the raspberry gin right now!

Black Birds and Black Berries

'Gluttony'

ACEO ( 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches)
(that is smaller than shown in the picture here!)

I took time out of jam - making today to work on this little miniature painting (couldn't resist painting fruit though!). I LOVE my new paints, the colour is beautifully saturated, and flows perfectly. I got rather bogged down in the detail on this, but it was lovely to be working again!
I fancy working on a set depicting the seven deadly sins, and there is a matching cat picture at the sketch stage. This one has just been put on sale here.

Oh, and I keep 'losing' blogs that I follow. Is this happening to anyone else?