Hello Friends, How are you all? The last few months have been a bustle of activity, of generous moments with family and friends and of heralding in some change; I feel I’m only just catching my breath. On the home front we (mainly I!) have harvested and preserved a respectable amount of fruit and veg.… Continue reading Issachar Eyes – October 2025
Category: self sufficiency
Shifting seasons and my ‘girl years’ – June 2025
Hello Friends, How are you all? As I write our green and pleasant land is looking somewhat brown and dry, but the clear blue skies and sunshine are very welcome, reminding me of those long hot summers days of my childhood. We began the month with a girls’ trip to the New Forest with my… Continue reading Shifting seasons and my ‘girl years’ – June 2025
Tea time and travels – April and May 2025
A writer does need to have a tremendous curiosity about everything and everyone…but this must go along with an honest commitment to and involvement in human nature… Madeleine L’Engle, A Circle of Quiet Hello friends How are you? Life has been fairly full over in our little corner of rural England and I’m needing to… Continue reading Tea time and travels – April and May 2025
Lent lilies and seed sowing – March 2025
I’m everyone’s darling: the blackbird and the starling Are shouting about me from blossoming boughs; For I, the Lent Lily, the Daffy -down- dilly, Have heard through the country the call to arouse” Cicley Mary Barker, Flower Fairies of the Spring Hello Friends, Greetings from a warm and sunny south west of England! The weather… Continue reading Lent lilies and seed sowing – March 2025
Snowdrops, soup and sourdough – February 2025
It will be quite different here, there will be people for me to help and people who will help me; there will be interesting people, dull people, crazy people - all individuals, all real and worthwhile. In town you spend your leisure rushing around doing things; in the country you stay put and live. Kate… Continue reading Snowdrops, soup and sourdough – February 2025
Fresh resolves under grey skies – January 2025
We aren’t the first people to live through trying times, and we can learn from what St Benedict….along with several other historic figures…did to preserve culture and faith in the midst of a chaotic time….each became an island of virtue, a refuge for culture and hope. Habits of a Sacred Home, Jennifer Pepito Hello friends… Continue reading Fresh resolves under grey skies – January 2025
Anticipating Advent – November 2024
He came the first time in weakness, a tender infant born of a poor woman in the manger at Bethlehem, unnoticed, unhonoured and scarcely known. He shall come again the second time in royal dignity, with the armies of heaven around Him, to be known, recognised and feared by all the people ofthe earth. JCRyle,… Continue reading Anticipating Advent – November 2024
Misty mornings and golden evenings- October 2024
The autumn, to a person in need of warmth, ties and affection proved a very heartening time. Because soon bleak winds would make the downside cold, villagers turned their eyes to home amusements…So as old man’s beard whitened the hedges and the scarlet of berries shone through the grey of misty mornings, committees…met again, and… Continue reading Misty mornings and golden evenings- October 2024
A colourful harvest and ancient manuscripts – September 2024
Miss Clare’s larder is one of the pleasantest places. I know….it has a red brick floor and whitewashed walls. The wooden shelves have been scrubbed so often and so well that the grain stands out in fine ribs. From the ceiling hang ropes of bronze onions, dried herbs in muslin bags, and a ham…Bottles of… Continue reading A colourful harvest and ancient manuscripts – September 2024
Rest and reflection – August 2024
His childhood had been happy; his mother was a real homemaker and his home was a jolly place, full of warmth and cosiness, lacking in fuss. Love in a Mist, Susan Scarlett Hello Friends, I trust this finds you well and that August has been kind to you; that you have been able to carve… Continue reading Rest and reflection – August 2024
Mothering through the seasons 