One of the few disadvantages to living by a churchyard is the annual slick of red goo that accumulates outside the back door from fallen yew berries. Any attempt to sweep them up just results in more mess as they disintegrate so I leave them for the birds and, worryingly, Ollie. I can only assume he hoovers them up whole, with no chewing, because they are extremely poisonous. No sooner was that colourful carpet dispatched when the first of the snow arrived.....and now there's another 4" of the white stuff out there. And it's only the middle of December! The weather has played havoc with the markets and hence my income. So if anyone can battle their way to my door, I still have a large selection of seasonal offerings!

Today should have been a simple case of jam-making using the Black Cherries my cousin bought down last month. I've never had any problem cooking damsons, Morello cherries or wild plums from frozen; it's just a matter of skimming off the stones as they rise to the surface of the bubbling mixture...perhaps an extra hour's work ( no wonder you never see those jams made commercially!). Anyway, these black cherry stones were tenacious little blighters who didn't want to leave the lush cocoon of the mother fruit. Four hours it took me, of mashing and sieving to end up with what I can only call 'jam' and not 'conserve' ( that's jam with big lumps of fruit in). Oh, and another half hour to clean up all the mess I'd made.

Moral of the story....de-stone before freezing!

The wonderful aerial displays by the swifts are over, now that they've headed south for the sun. Instead, today I was treated to a fascinating stand-off as a lone crow ( or possibly jackdaw) attempted to mob a buzzard. I suppose if he was a hooded crow you could call it a 'mugging'. Anyway, I just loved the way that with an almost contemptuous flick of his wing tips, the larger bird would lazily change direction; as if to say "Go away little fella, I've got important business to do". Perhaps its a game of 'dare' and the crow was being egged on by his mates in the wings (sorry!).
Back in the kitchen; the autumn harvest is slowly being transformed into market produce. It's such a shame that the massive beefsteak tomatoes produce so few jars, but the concentrated tomatoey taste is worth it.

The new freezer is over half full, there are boxes of pears and apples in the garage and the fairies regularly leave me bags of fruit and veg by the front door. Mind you, they'd have to be pretty muscular little things with a penchant for shopping in Tescos, so perhaps it's some of the locals from the village.
Next for the cooking pot tomorrow are some really cross plums, otherwise known as Bullaces or wild plums. There are still loads of blackberries around but they haven't had much flavour for the last couple of weeks and besides, you don't pick them after Sept 29th because the devil does unspeakable things to them!

It's the last big market of the summer for me on Sunday in Tonyrefail ...... the Classic Car and County Show; and the cauldron has been bubbling almost daily. The shelves are filling up with a whole variety of chutneys; Beetroot & Ginger, Piccalilli, Apricot, Bramble, Chilli Apple and Autumn Glutney to name just a few. Ollie has his canine cousins staying again and I think the pungent smells have knocked them for six....my sinuses are certainly a lot clearer!

Summer has returned...whoop-di-doo!! Despite having 101 things to do in the house and garden, I decided to adopt the prone position, soak up the rays and boost my vitamin D levels. It is the bank holiday after all, and even we part-time workers deserve our day in the sun; and no queuing in a 25-mile tail-back to the beach....Bliss.

There was enough of a break in the weather today to cut back the rest of the spent raspberry canes (and cripple my back further!). The autumn fruiting canes, Joan J, are raring to go despite having cropped once already (bless their little cotton socks)....10/10 for effort. I'm not so enamoured with Glen Moy; rust has been a problem for the last 2 years and I don't know whether to cut my losses or give them one last chance. Whereas Tulameen on the other hand, seems determined to take over the garden....shoots are coming up everywhere and the fruits are enormous. Hopefully, those I've frozen will see me through the winter.

The blackberries are plumping up nicely on the hills behind the village (see pic). It was wonderfully peaceful up there today, as always, with just the sound of the bleating (almost bronchitic-sounding) sheep and the plaintive cry of the lone buzzard circling. I picked about 5lbs of fruit; Ollie tends to help himself....now if he had opposable thumbs, he'd be really useful. Hopefully the crop will be better than the blackcurrants this year; usually it takes 5 of us several hours to strip the bushes in a remote garden near Coedely (thanks Alan), but this year we barely broke sweat.
Anyway, I now have a bowl wedged between the legs of an upside-down milking stool, with a piece of muslin pinned to the feet and a mass of stewed blackberries draining overnight, ready to make Bramble Jelly.....just like my Mum used to do. No hi-tech gadgetry here!

On Sunday it was finally dry enough to disturb the peace and fire up the lawn-mower. Luckily Ollie no longer regards the machine as a challenge to his alpha-maleness and attempt to silence it by barking vociferously. However, I do have to put a lot of the grass cuttings out for recycling as my compost heaps (yes, plural) can't cope with volume.
I also potted up a sweet little dwarf Pomegranate (or should that be 'pomegranate of restricted growth' in these days of political correctness??). It's replacing a scented-leaf geranium that looks like she's curled up her toes, but I'm always loath to throw out plants so I'll move her somewhere closer to the back door and apply a little extra TLC.

Market day in Llantrisant...and it rained, an all too frequent occurrence these days. But we were warm and dry in the old church hall, and while customers may have been a bit thin on the ground; the chatter certainly flowed.

As I write this now, the smell of bubbling apples (in preparation for Apple & Mint Jelly) is wafting through the house and mingling with the slightly less agreeable whiff of 3 wet dogs...very autumnal, and it's only August!