The Rayburn is lit and burning hot enough for me to use the hob to cook on...
...just a simple meal of hot potato salad, with slices of pork fried with onions and green peppers, which are all home grown. The sweetcorn is from a tin.
And decorating the Rayburn are some items of washing needing to be dried, even on the Lazy Susan.
Bread is cooling on the table. It is a 'no knead' bread so is not lofty, but it will have an open, non chewy, texture which we like. It is also quick to make providing I remember to start it the night before.
We haven't opened the shutters on the window today...
... so with no daylight, and only half the lights on the ceiling working (something to do with the flow of electricity when the computers are on), the kitchen is quite dark, but it adds to the feeling of being tucked up in a cosy den, with food cooking, bread on the table, washing drying, and the world kept away by the closed shutters.
When we lived in the UK we had a house which had lots of big windows in every room, which was alright when the weather was bright and cheerful, but not so good on days when the weather is mucky which only made me feel colder even if the house was warm.
Here we have smaller windows, which we prefer.
And the reason why we are all cozied up and not outside doing farm jobs...
.... it's wet!
But even though we are coming up to the middle of November, the leaves have not as yet fallen from the trees, which makes us feel that winter has not quite arrived.
And in the Half Barn...... here is the supply of wood for today, brought in from the wood pile just beyond the Courtyard gates and sharing the tarpaulin with the recent harvest of butternut squash.
You can see by the photo that there is more light in the Half Barn, and this is because of the velux windows in the ceiling, but it still has a cosy feeling because of the exposed stone walls.
The last of the pepper harvest, brought in just before we had the first frost of the year. It was a huge crop this year. ......and the last of the courgettes now in storage, and some of the spaghetti squash, the rest of the squash are in the back kitchen.
The carrying case of my piano keyboard waiting for its next trip out, which is on Sunday, which is Remembrance Day. Along with the hymns, (played with the organ setting on my keyboard), I shall be playing The Last Post using the trumpet tone on the keyboard. It echoes wonderfully well in the silence of the church. Any wrong notes will be quite clearly heard.....
..... and Maz, sitting on her mat infront of the computer desks and beside the stored courgettes, waiting for me to stop messing about with the camera, which I am now going to do...
So bye for now,
Vx
9 comments:
I like those cozy feeling days, too. Will you be selling the squash, or storing them for your own use? It looks like a good harvest. -Jenn
What a magnificent crop of butternut squash. And the peppers and courgettes aren't too bad either! You're going to have some healthy winter meals.
Bread looks very tasty.
Lovely seeing your cosy kitchen. I'm just about to light our fire. was a sunny day but very chilly once the sun goes down. We'll have a cosy home soon too
Cheers!
There's no better or cosier place than home. Food can heal or kill, but if it's homemade it adds infinite pleasure to those who prepare and eat it.
As for windows, I prefer the standard window size in all rooms. I've got only one tiny window and one oversize window, but they serve a purpose and I seem reluctant to replace them.
JENN, we are going to use the squash for our own use, and some will be going out to the chickens. It was a good harvest, and last year's butternuts stored from September to May this year!
LOCAL ALIEN, we used to light the Rayburn in late afternoon but now that Lester is working full time on his computer at home we now light the fire after breakfast each day, and this really makes the house warm and cosy all day, apart from our bedroom which does not have any heating so is freezing cold!
DUTA, homemade food is best, that is what we have learnt since we have grown all our own produce. The windows here in France tend to be on the smaller size, probably because of the hot sun we have in the summer and the very cold night temperatures during the winter. They all have shutters as well, which keep out the heat and the cold as well.
That bread looks amazing Vera. Any chance of doing a post on making it?
Think this year must have been an extra good one for butternuts every one seemed to have a good crop. I noticed last nigh one one of ours had a soft spot on it so butternut soup is the next thing I will cook. They usually last for ages so don't know why this one is doomed. Yes it is very wet and grey!! Enjoy the weekend Diane
NORTHSIDER DAVE, have made a note on my 'To Do' list.
DIANE, hope you have a nice weekend too. I must start using our butternuts up otherwise they will still be waiting for my attention when Spring comes round again!
Ooh we have a wood burning Rayburn and I LOVE it. Your photo of it all going on is just like me. My best days are when I cook breakfast, heat all the water for my drinks, bake bread and a cake and have tea ready for all my men. I warm their hats and scarves on it, too. Eeek I love it! Your squash look amazing!
LOUISE, nice to know someone else who loves their Rayburn! Not much cooking done on it at the moment though, because the weather is not cold enough to get it up to a high enough temperature for it to bake, but we do use the top of it, and it heats three large rooms! Would love to run it all year but it gets too hot to do so here.
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