Getting Ready for Spring

A succession of bright, crisp, sunny days has brought everything on in the garden and turned my thoughts to the coming summer (let's hope we get a decent one this year). Down here in Devon our economy relies heavily upon our summer visitors and we know this, even when we mutter rude things as we reverse into a distant passing space and wait for a clumsy camper van to lumber past. Most visitors are very pleasant though, and wave enthusiastically and gratefully as they pass you - though there are a few .......

Anyway, I've been sorting and planning ready for the Craft Fairs I've booked to attend this summer. I've turned out the workroom, put all the cards, aprons and other stock in order and generally had a good spring-clean. The dogs are of course quite disgusted by all this human activity which is taking place in a part of the house to which they are forbidden access. They have taken revenge by bringing maximum quantities of mud, sand and dead leaves into the house, liberally mixed with huge volumes of black fluff and lubricated with the contents of the water bowl slung across the floor yet again. Thank goodness for slate floors I say!

I've also been working on some new pictures, including the one at the top of this blog - which imagines how it might be if my tatty collection of Devon Bears were to somehow gatecrash the swanky Dartmouth Regatta! No comments on the rigging please - some nautical friends came for Sunday lunch and this of course was what they noticed. Oh yes, Sunday lunch ... one of my hero Hugh's recipes - for shoulder of pork with the bone in - rind scored and rubbed with a spice mix, sizzled for 30 mins, then left in the Aga Simmering oven for 24 hours. Didn't need a carving knife - just scooped out the lovely tender meat -yum.