Nature and Nurture

With all our busy lives we do forget how wonderful Nature can be.

As a child my parents brought me up to savour every moment in our lives and Nature played a big part of it.

I would watch an learn as my mother would tend to her allotment, embracing the seasons as it changed.

And now I find myself doing the same with my children.

They may not enjoy coming up the allotment on a cold grey February day but I can not let them miss the changes happening up there.

As I pruned the tree at the top of the allotment I could not waste the branches in my hand.

Bringing them home and forcing them to flower in the home allows them to see that spring is just around the corner, waiting to burst with her beauty.

Cooking is another way of enjoying the seasons.

On these cold winter days when you've made a homely soup bread is a must!

Ive rediscovered my breadmachine but in a slightly different way.

Once again my mother brought me up on homemade bread. Being one of six children it was part of life watching my mother make 4 loaves from a packet of flour.

No bread machines in those days, just the trusty strength of a hardworking womans hands.

The smells that wafted as we would walk through the door after a day at school was home to me. 4 Loaves soon became 3 after lashings of butter would drip from the warm slices that would greet us!

So, I have now decided that rather than making and cooking the bread in the machine I will cook in the oven using the machine just to make the dough.

Frocaccia has been the most popular loaf so far, scattered with olives and aromatic rosemary from the garden!

I can now smell the next loaf nicely proving in its bowl........

So its good to let nature nurture you, wafting her smells, tantalising you with her new growth.

Let her draw you in, inspire you and connect you with the here and now.