Simply Seasonal ..... The Beast from the East

Hello Lovelies,

 welcome to an especially chilly edition of my Simply Seasonal posts. This past week the U.K. has endured exceptionally low temperatures (for us) and high winds, which made it feel even colder. The weather people...or was it the newspapers.... labelled it The Beast from the East, as cold air was dragged in from the continent.

 I do love the changing seasons and I can honestly say I didn't moan about the cold...even when our heating packed up. It seems our  super duper, energy efficient, condensing boiler cannot cope with extreme cold...what !? That's not me moaning...just saying....again :0)

Anyway, despite all that there has been plenty to smile about.

1. Snow. I do love a bit of the white stuff. We don't get that much here in the midlands so it's always a novelty. And it does look pretty.

The cold weather started on Monday but the first day I was able to get out for a walk was Wednesday. Eldest's  College was closed, so we walked together.

I had been worrying about my Robin in the bitter cold and the sight of him looking so bedraggled was a nasty shock. All we could do was leave him lots of food and hope for the best.

2 ♥ Winter in the Park. Wednesday afternoon brought some sunshine, but don't let that fool you into thinking it had warmed up at all. I dashed about in the freezing temperatures to snap these pictures.
The water on the pond was frozen.

and the bedding plants were frozen in time

There was not much colour so the bright orange stems of the Dogwood were simply stunning with a white backdrop.

3♥ More Snow. On Thursday morning we woke to lots more snow. All the family was at home as the schools were closed and it was too cold for hubby to work outdoors.

after breakfast, when  I said I was going for a walk, suddenly I had lots of offers of company.

It was great to see the members of the family who usually avoid local walks at all costs out enjoying the freshly fallen snow.



Youngest couldn't resist running around in it. At fifteen he's still a big kid.

The churchyard looked so pretty

and we left extra rations out for Robin...though I did not get a good view of him as he was shy with all of us there.

Aahhh, my favourite church in the snow. Perfect.

The views were bleak but beautiful.

Good to see somebody is well dressed for this weather :0)

4 ♥ Baking By Thursday the house was cold so as well as baking THESE I extended my warm kitchen time by making  two of THESE.

Thank goodness we have this electric stove and a couple of other fan heaters.

 5 ♥ Seasonal Crochet I bought a couple of extra hot water bottles this week as the unheated bedrooms were feeling decidedly chilly. Not a problem for hubby and myself...but not great when you sleep alone. The cold areas of the house were somewhat nostalgic to me and I recalled crocheting a cover for my hot water bottle as a teenager. Actually I used to have two when it was really cold. I remembered a woolly cover meant waking up to a still  warm bottle instead of cold rubber next to your feet.  So far I have made one cover for the boys. What do you think?

I was totally inspired by Heather's gorgeous creations 

 I think it turned out pretty well for a first attempt. I love the double "polo neck" that Heather does so that was a must :0)

Here is the back...less time consuming but still nice I think.

6 ♥ The Thaw. Today the snow is almost gone and the snowdrops are once again visible...though they do look a little the worse for wear.

But best of all....my Robin survived the beast.....phew :0)

Now that the harsh weather has retreated and brother in Law has fixed the heating, I must admit I am looking forward to wearing a few fewer layers next week :0)

Jacquie x

Easy Baking ♥ Coconut and Oat Biscuits

Hello Lovelies,

 It seems March is certainly coming in like a lion across most of the UK this year.

Typically on the night we had our coldest temperatures for ages our central heating packed up.

 What to do? 1. Book a repair man (there's a big queue so he will be here next week) 2. sort out alternative heating (thankfully we have electric fan heaters)  3. Bake (any excuse to turn the oven on and potter in a warm kitchen )

I started with a very easy recipe that was a childhood favourite of mine....Coconut and Oat Biscuits....you can see in my recipe folder they are called Coconut and Quaker Oat biscuits....but any rolled "porridge" type oats will do.  I imagine the recipe originally came from the back of a box of those branded oats.

I started by weighing out 4 ounces of plain flour and 3 ounces of Oats into a large bowl.

To which I added 2 ounces of Desiccated Coconut.

 Next in a second bowl I melted 5 ounces of butter (or similar), 4 ounces of sugar (granulated would be fine) and 1 tablespoon of golden syrup. I popped mine in the microwave for a little over a minute, but you could do this in a pan on the hob.

Give the mixture a stir and tip it into the dry ingredients.



Then mix one teaspoon of Bicarbonate of soda mixed with one tablespoon of hot water,  add that to the bowl too.

Mix it all up. It's quite a sticky mixture

then put small blobs well spaced on a baking tray. I like to use baking parchment to avoid the biscuits sticking, but if you don't have any just well grease your tray

Pop them in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. The time and temperature will depend on your oven. I set my electric fan oven at 160 degrees Celsius and check them after 8 minutes as it's quiet a fast oven.

You can see they spread a lot and these possibly look a little over cooked but that is the colour you are aiming for.

My mixture made 20 biscuits.  When everybody is at home due to the weather they won't last long.


They are crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle...and very moreish.

Here's the recipe in written form for you to print if you like.

Coconut and Oat Cookies...from Bunny Mummy Blog

Turn on your oven to 160 degrees Celcius (electric Fan)...gas mark 3-4
Line two baking tray with non stick parchment...or grease well.

Into a roomy bowl mix together  4oz (100 g) Plain Flour, 3oz (75g) Porridge Oats
and 2oz (50g) Dessicated coconut.

In a separate bowl mix 5oz (125g) Butter/ spread, 4oz (100g) sugar, 1 tablespoon of Golden syrup. Microwave for 1 minute.

Tip melted mixture into dry ingredients and mix well.

Add 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon of hot water. Mix again.

Place small balls of mixture well spaced out on a baking tray.

Cook for 10-15 mins till a deep golden colour. Check after 8 mins.

Leave to cool on the tray for 2 minutes, then transfer to a rack.

They are especially delicious when still warm but keep well in an airtight container.

Enjoy :0)

Simply Seasonal........ 25th of February

Hello Lovelies,

Oh dear, I seem to have run out of time to my planned post of seasonal things from my week. I hope you don't mind if  I simply share a seasonal delight from today instead.

 This afternnon we enjoyed visit to Holme Pierrepont Hall, a historic family home in Nottinghamshire. 

I do hope you enjoy the pictures.

We came to see the gardens and walk through the snowdrop woods. I will let the pictures do the talking...but try and label any  plants that I am familiar with.

 

 

 Snowdrops ...good start :0)

 Witch Hazel

  Daphne...the scent of this was so strong and beautiful.

 Beautiful delicate Blossom tree...I'm not sure what sort though.

 

  Hellebores

 Green Hellebore

 

 Shoots of Wild Tulips emerging

 

 Sunlit Hellebores

 

 

 I loved the amount of colour there was for so early in the year. The topiary and the mature trees are beautiful too.
 Many of the snowdrops were of an extra large variety that certainly had impact. They were still at their best and I felt happy that we got a sunny day to see then....though it was bitterly cold.

I'd love to come back in a month or so when the Wild Tulips are in bloom.

Jacquie x