Magical

Good Autumn Morning from Far sawrey.....What a magical morning it is....as I drove to work today the low lying mist floating in and around the autumn colours looked absolutely stunning...I keep forgetting my digi camera! It really did look like something out of a film. Now that the mist is lifting I think we are in for a lush blue sky day, the kind of day that makes you appreciate everything...
The pumpkins have arrived this morning, they look very lush...Here at the shop we are having a scary pumpkin competition on halloween...scary pumpkins will be judged at 4.30pm and winners will receive a scary suprise...Parkin and hot drinks will be seved...
Someone brought a little pug dog for a walk to the shop today, she had a little pink leather diamonte collar! Go girl!
Having some ready brek for breakfast, its that cold I may get have an orange glow around me!
Cannot wait to look at lake district cam today, http://www.lakelandcam.co.uk/ I am sure the photographer will have snapped some fab piccys this morning... yesterdays pictire of the horse chestnut tree looked great
The young girl next door is about to commence her piano practice, its nice to listen to her play when she leaves the door open, she is very good!

Hope you all enjoy this lush day! :-)

Half term

Well it does not feel like a monday today, mondays are usually much quieter after the weekend but today because its half term it been busy all day...
The 88lb prize winning marrow is still attracting lots of attention outside of the shop, its nearly time to open it up and dry the seeds ready for next years competition..so if you want some seeds from a giant marrow you know where to come!!!
Had a visit from a couple of dozen cow's this afternoon, the local farmers were moving them to a new home, they all ran past the shop pretty fast however the aroma that comes with them stayed around for much longer I have to say!
Ice creams are selling a treat, what is it about ice creams and children regardless of the weather? but hey, if they want them, we will sell them!
I have done lots of ordering today, the SUMA organic produce that we sell, the pies and bacon that we sell, the cheese that we sell (sold lots of Kendal crumbly and creamy this week!) and vegetables. Think I will also have to pop along to the cash and carry this week also....

Happy half term to you all!

Soggy Sunday

Good Morning from Far Sawrey....as I write there is a break in the rain...boy oh boy there was no such let up first thing this morning when I was putting all of the sunday inserts into the papers...My thoughts go out to the nations paper boys and girls!
Its been a very busy morning....lots of customers arriving in the village last night for the half term week...infact a family who came up earlier in the year and were indeed the shops first customers have returned for a break, its nice to see people who came earlier in the year.
As I drove to work this morning the road was absolutely covered in leaves all of the way, it was an interesting drive as the fresh bread was steaming up the windows all of the way..
Here at the shop we run a bonus ball competition to raise money for the refurbishment of the Village hall...Its £1 a go and if your number is the bonus ball in the saturday nights lottery you win £25 and the rest goes to to the hall fund......This week it was a rollover...a customer from Near Sawrey has won, he has yet to come in and find out, nice suprise for him hey!
The newspapers are full of stories about the McCartney split, with all thats is going on in the world its a shame such news keeps making headlines day after day...Also in the papers are lots of receipes for pumpkins as halloween is approaching

A little pumpkin history...."much like mince pies, pumpkins only come to people’s minds once a year as eerie, sinister-looking lanterns, synonymous with that most mischievous of festivities, Halloween.
Originally an ancient festival rooted in Celtic lore, Halloween was first celebrated by the British and Irish who lit bonfires and carved ghoulish faces out of turnips to scare off the malevolent spirits that were said to be roaming on 31 October. When the Irish emigrated to America in the mid-1800s, pumpkins, which are native to the New World, were more readily available, so the Irish took to carving these extraordinary species instead. The Americans made the Jack O’Lantern an essential part of the Halloween season we now look forward to - or dread - each year".

Little healthy pumpkin seed snack idea...

Ingredients100g/3½oz pumpkin seeds
¼ tsp celery salt
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp paprika
1 tsp vegetable oil.

Method1. Simplicity itself. Heat a frying pan.2. Brush with a very small amount of oil, then add the pumpkin seeds. They will expand and brown fairly quickly, and when this is done, place them in a bowl and add the salt, celery salt, freshly ground black pepper and paprika. This is delicious if the pumpkin seeds are reasonably fresh.

Saturday Ramblings

Greetings from Far Sawrey....Apologies for my absence, mother forgot how to log on to the blog page.....Well I sit here with a smile on my face..........a couple of blogs ago I sent out a blog into the void wondering about cumbrian honey and blog readers have relpied with information on sourcing some! A GREAT BIG THANKYOU! You know who you are...its real nice to know there are people out there reading my mumblings!...
In my absence mother has done what mothers do and had a bit of a sort out in the shop, I must admit it does look good, although I have not got a clue where things are for the moment, all good fun!
It was dark when I got up for work today, thats what happens with a few days off! Pleased to report all of the pommegranates have gone and now its time for the sprouts! YUM YUM, I guess you either do or yuo don't with sprouts, I must say I DO, especially with some of the sweet chestnuts I received last week :-)
Some good friends of mine who own a shop in Ambleside called Budget Walker have dropped some leaflets off regarding some free Nordic Walking sessions, I bought my poles earlier this year and with the great instrustion I received can wholeheartidly recommend Nordic Walking, not that I do enough....Anyway the FREE sessions are running today, next monday, wednesday and friday starting at 10am from Budget Walker, poles are even provided
In my limited experience, with a little bit of Nordic Walking practice you'll find that even though your heart, lungs and body are working harder Nordic Walking can feel easier and less tiring than normal walking! Give it a go if your free its well worth it...

Happy Saturday :-)

PS

I was just looking at an interesting website and thought I would share it with blog readers, its
http://www.lamrt.org.uk/. It is the local mountain rescue web page, click on the recent incidents section, its very interesting to see what kind of rescues are required of the mountain rescue volunteers...They do a fantastic job and I am going to write to them and ask them to drop off a fund raising box here in the shop...Hope you find it as interesting as I do

thoughts for sunday...

Good morning from far sawrey........Its a lovely autumn day up here today, in fact it has been all weekend, there are lots of people out walking this weekend, lots of children out too, its scottish half term I have been reliabley informed, hence lots of scottish notes in the till! Its all money....

The Moet and Chandon taxi is still being covered in lights I hear, My source tells me its 2000 individual lights!! It is for the BAFTA award ceremony...

This weeks best sellers include Green and Blacks Chocolate, we sell the pocket sized ones so lots of people are buying them for a snack on their walks...I prefer their hot chocolate, it truly is like a big hug in a mug...

As I am here for the day I have decided to treat myself to sunday lunch from the Sawrey Hotel, they are very good and deliver it to me over here in the shop! Thats what you call service hey!!!

I am browsing the web today trying to source more cumbrian produce for the shop, struggling to find some cumbrian honey, if anyone knows where I could purchase some please let me know... Lakeland speciality foods are always very popular with customers...

Goodness gracious me...lunch has arriced and it smells divine!

Happy Sunday to you all :-)

Spelt

Good Morning from far Sawrey....Slightly distracted as I write the blog today, I notice in my absence mother has bought some Spelt??? its on the shelf looking back at me and I have absolutely no idea what it is........it says its a stoneground flour made from an ancient wheat recipe....Hmmmm well you learn something new everyday....Apologies for the absence yesterday, I spent the day tucked up with some lemsip willing the pea soup head I had to go back to where it came from, it seems to have worked, I feel much better today.........and what a glorious day it is today....a misty morning has turned into a blue sky day which is perfect for some hill walking! Sold lots of cups of tea today so there are people around and about...
This has been a week of receiving surprises....on monday a customer came in with a huge bag of sweet chesnuts that he collected from down by the lake, I roasted them and they were delicious...the next day I was brought in some walnuts which had fallen from a tree near by the shop, then today someone gave me a flower when paying for his paper....Happy!

On monday night I believe there is an award ceremony in London which is sponsered by Moet and Chandon, Look out for someone famous stepping out of a London taxi artistically designed to look like a bottle of champagne.......As I type that taxi is been designed and fitted out by a local business man who has been commissioned to cover it in lights resembling lots of bubbles...according to my source it will look amazing, I have been promised some pictures for the blog and will post them as soon as they arrive.....

Sending get well wishes to all the people in the village who I hear are tucked up in bed with the cold that has found its way to our village........ :-)

Raining and pouring

Good morning from far sawrey! The heavens have certainly opened this morning! The rain is gushing down the lane outside, if it carries on customers will be sailing to the shop for their daily papers!! All good fun tho!!....The Jacob's Join at braithwaite hall on Monday night was good fun , people brought lots of yummy food to share and of course lots of heavenly cream cakes! I spent much of the evening sat talking to a man who has lived in the village all 87years of his life and infact went to school at the Hall some 80years ago! He shared lots of stories including how he could flick his ink from the well from the back of the room and hit the wall at the front! very naughty! anyway a good night was had by all...
Today is bread day but the freak weather conditions have cut the electricity supply to Hawkshead and parts of Ambleside, which in turn has broken the proving machine at the bakery! Bet thats difficult! Needless to say we have only been supplied with Bath buns! OH DEAR! he he he!
I have been reliabley informed that the ferry is closed for servicing this morning, I sense a quiet day!
The first Satsuma's of the season have been delivered this morning and they look lush, sensory overload with the fresh bath bun smell in here today...
The postcard man has sent some very apt postcards today, one is a picture of the lake with two hats floating in it and it reads "walking in the lake district"...

Well, thats about all for now folks... :-)

PS

If you get the opportunity I recomend you take a peek at lakeland cam today, the pictures were taken near my home and it was such an amazing sunrise this morning, the photographer captured the morning perfectly!

Harvest festival

Good sunday morning from far sawrey...its harvest festival in the village today.. I bet the church looks great! Its fresh bread day again and the 2 dozen bath buns have all gone already and its not even lunch time!
The bonus ball competition that we run to raise money for braithwaite Hall was a rollover this week and it was won by a local chef, he was over the moon and it was his first day off of the season, combined with his football team winning yesterday he left the shop a happy bunny I have to say...
Benny the dog and mum have gone for a walk today then off to the garden centre to get some bulbs to make the outside of the shop look lush next year. I am off monday tuesday this week so I am not sure if mum will update the blog before I return, I have shown her how to but the shop was full at the time...
Just sold the last loaf of wholemeal bread! As the days get cooler the more bread we seem to be selling, good bread is a great comfort food tho! One of the residents of the village who is in his nineties still makes his daily bread! Key to a long life maybe!
Hope you all have a peacful relaxing sunday

Saturday is paper day

Good morning, its a fresh start to the day today here in Far sawrey, distinctly cooler than other mornings this week, driving to work this morning there was a beautiful rainbow over esthwaite water, of all the commutes I have ever done to work I have to say this one is the best by far, feel very priviledged to live up here in the lakes... I also noticed en route that there was a photographer taking pictures of the sunrise over the lakes, perfect picture postcard morning....Saturday is mad paper day in the shop, LOTS of inserts to put in the papers, one has to feel sorry for the paper boys who deliver on a weekend!!!
The morning has been eased along by the hard work of Alan Hilton, a young boy who lives in the village who came up and helped set up the shop before buying his sweets for the day. Alan told us a joke today "why did the animals not go into the ark in an apple? Because they went in in pairs!" Very good Alan!
Its holiday cottage changeover day today, I imagine those who arrive this afternoon will be in to stock up on Kindling and wood for their open fires, its a lovely smell in the village when everyone lights there fires!
Have a great day :-)

Local people

As I surf the net I notice that lots of the hard work done by the owners of hotels in the sawrey are remarked upon on the net by customers world wide...
The sawrey hotel had an article written about it in the telegraph
http://www.sawrey-hotel.co.uk/?Claife_Crier_Bar:Pint_to_Pint...

Esthwaite How which is owned by Liz and Jimmy Mallet was mentioned on the lake district cam page
http://www.lakelandcam.co.uk/

West Vale, a hotel just a few yards from the shop was in the news recently as its owner Owner Dee Pennington was nominated by the AA from some 4000 nominees to the short list of the final 20 hard working proprietors who were invited to the "Landlady Of The Year Award Ceremony"
http://www.westvalecountryhouse.co.uk/

Sunshine on a rainy day

Greetings....a damp start to the day but now its bright and dry..just had a look at the lake district weatherline forcast for tomorrow and it reads...."Dry with some sunny spells, but still quite windy"so hopefully a few people will venture out and up onto the claife heights and then pop into the shop....
Our thoughts are with the family of Mike Brass today, his sudden death sent shock waves through the village, his funeral is taking place today.
Well, the pomegranates are still selling well!!! As are the cartons of juice called "pomegreat", there has however been lots of publicity about the health benefits of pomegranats recently tho, one of those articles read "an effective and natural way to fight free radicals, combat wrinkles and help slow the ageing process"....... I think the same should be said of a good walk up to claife heights followed by a visit to the shop for a chat and some laughter :-)
Headline on the Westmoreland gazette today is to do with the hospital cuts and how the estimate of a journey to lancaster or barrow can be done in 42minutes is wrong....I should say!!! perhaps the people who timed the journey need to do it peak season, or a day when the ferry is off....That time certainly doesnt also take into account the time it takes an ambulance takes to get to Far Sawrey....Testing times ahead I feel, it does seem however that the local MP is on the ball and doing all he can....
Village residents are looking forward to the Jacobs Join at Braithwaite Hall on Monday evening, I will post some pictures from the get together next week...
Guess who dropped a packet of Mung beans all over the floor this morning???!!! Hmmmmmm yes me!! Better get back to clearing them up

Rain rain go away

Its a very wet thursday up here in far sawrey! No sign of the rain going away I have to say....if the rain wasnt enough to show the summer has passed then todays delivery of lush pomegranate's and cox's apples are certainly a sign that the season has well and truly changed. Despite that I am here today in flip flops!!! Well it wasnt raining when I got up! I am sure they will some in useful for wading through the puddles later

A Little info about the pomegranate, it is native from Iran to the Himalayas in northern India and was cultivated and naturalized over the whole Mediterranean region since ancient times. It is widely cultivated throughout India and the drier parts of southeast Asia, Malaya, the East Indies and tropical Africa. The tree was introduced into California by Spanish settlers in 1769

Pomegrante receipe-Pork in Orange and Pomegranate Sauce

3lb boneless pork loin
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Salt and freshly milled pepper
3 tablespoons oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup slivered blanched almonds
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Rub meat with cinnamon. In heavy pan, heat oil. Brown meat on all sides.
Remove meat, lower heat, put in onion and garlic and cook until onion is softened.
Return meat to pan. Pour in both juices and the water. (Additional water may be necessary during cooking.)
Cover and cook about 1 1/2 hours or until meat is tender.
Remove meat and garlic. Add more juices if necessary to make 1 cup liquid. Stir in raising and cook in juice to plump.
When ready to serve, spoon some sauce over meat and sprinkle with almonds and pomegranate seeds. Reserve some sauce to put in a boat on the side.
Serves: 6 - 8

Happy Pomegranate eating