Having a dog means we get to take more time out to have lovely country walks. Such a shame that our 2 favorite places to walk are no dogs! I love a good walk around Hanningfield reservoir but it’s a nature reserve and no dogs. I also like to see the Hyde Hall gardens at different times of year but again it’s no dogs.
We did go to Hyde Hall on Sunday though as James and I needed to visit our scarecrow which we made earlier in the year, Haymond. We had already been to see him once but it was freezing cold up on the hill and lashing with rain so it was a positive pleasure to walk up and introduce Mark to him on Sunday morning. Already plans are afoot for next years one – Mark came up with an interesting idea. Lots of people do themed scarecrows, this year there was The Stig, a couple of builders, a ghostbuster and various other ones. We plan next year to build an actual scare crow – yes a bird! The scarecrow building is a January activity and you pay seven pounds per scarecrow to go and build it using your clothes and their materials – it’s a great family event with three generations from some families working on their scarecrow.
We also took the time to look at the veggie gardens and see what this years plans are then we came across the lower pond and the bed in front of us looked splendid! I showed this picture to some of my students today and they said it looked just like a picture! LOL. I’m going to get some more colourful reds and oranges into my garden for next spring although those plants were pretty pricey at Hyde Hall, the Spring Garden show is on soon so hopefully I’ll be able to pick up something more suited to my purse.
Of course we managed to do nothing in our own garden – really must get cracking on that soon.
I did make some chutney though – Fiery Bengal Chutney, Mark likes it hot! It will take 2 months to mature though but it reminded me just how happy I am standing over the jam pan and that I really should get cracking emptying all that fruit I have stored in the freezer. Will be ramping up the sales of jams, chutneys and cakes this year. 
Having Mark around has given me far more excuses to cook and I'm loving it! I've just got a ravioli maker for my birthday and I made a lovely goats chees and caramalised onion ravioli for my dinner the other night, served on a bed of grilled portobello mushrooms with roasted tomatoes and topped with truffle oil and fresh parmisan. It turned out pretty well for my first attempt – next time I will keep the pasta rolled out a little thicker as it was breaking out a little. I love the concept of fresh pasta – such a simple thing to make and so many people buying that nasty dried stuff in the supermarkets!
