Doing my bit

I heard on the news yesterday, that more trees need to be planted to help air quality.
A few weeks ago it was announced that the country needs more hedges planted, both for air quality and for wildlife.

Well I am happy to say that since moving into this house I have planted 8 fruiting trees that are all doing well. I have also planted a new hedge, albeit small, of blackthorn this has edible fruits known as Sloes.

There are 2 honeyberries which the birds are enjoying though they are too sour for my taste.

I leave all the dropped fruit for the creatures that want them and my  resident hedgehog dines well on some of the visitors. Nature is cruel but well balanced.

I am currently looking for a place to plant a crab apple, a John Downie, of course I will want some of the fruit but there will be enough to share.

There are some spindly hawthorns and an elder tree at the very back of the garden, these were festooned with Ivy, that has been removed to give the trees a boost. I do have some of the fruit but the birds have a good feast from the high branches.

I see gardens  around with manicured lawns and regimented flower borders, no wildlife welcome there. On the whole though most of the gardens have a wild area, some shrubs are left to grow up and out providing shelter and possibly food. 

The council have the verges cut but leave swathes to grow and allow wild plants to flower and set seed.

I am more than happy to be contributing, even though it is in a small way.

Now for the knitty pretty bit.

The beginning of my Reyna Shawl, a free pattern on Ravelry by Noora Laivola. I love the colours in the Sugar Loaf yarn from Stylecrafts Head over Heels collection and this pattern was written specifically for yarn dyed  in this way.

I have stretched this section out slightly to show the mesh section, once finished and blocked it will look amazing.

I am already planning to make another using 2 complimentary skeins and making it larger for cool weather wear.

I will knit on this tonight and then will go back to my cardigan over the weekend. The fronts should not take too long as it is a deep v neck and cropped to waist level. I want this to wear with dresses when it gets cooler and as I generally wear a scarf will not need a round neck, it would make me far too warm.

The new meal arrangement worked very well, eating that hour later meant that I did not feel peckish in the evening. 

The rice salad was glorious, just adding the garlic, ginger and spices lifted it to another level. I will be doing this again, possibly as a hot dish and maybe with pasta as well.

I sweated off the garlic and ginger with  finely sliced leek and red onion in a little coconut oil, then added 1 tsp each of ground cumin and turmeric, stirred them through and cooked for another few minutes. I added them to the rice when cold and then stirred in diced orange and red peppers, celery, cucumber and some baby plum tomatoes just quartered lengthwise. A grinding of salt and pepper and a rinsed and drained can of mixed bean salad and dinner was done. No cooking, minimal washing up and a very tasty dinner. Winner Winner no Chicken Dinner.

Now it is time for me to have a coffee and then get the days chores done.

Have a great weekend, whatever the weather brings.

                 TTFN                                                  Pam