Free Cake at the Castle

 English Heritage kept sending emails to remind me that as a 'Senior Member' I could get a free cake (but only from a choice of three - they aren't That generous!) with any drink on Wednesdays, anytime this summer.

So last week I thought a visit to Framlingham castle - without Grandchildren - would be a plan. The last two times I've been I've had small people's company who aren't interested in the museum bit .

There was much confusion actually getting into the castle at 10am, with the lady at the gate saying a wristband (and paying for non members) had to be done at the ticket office in the car park while a sign at the ticket office said to pay in the castle at the shop! There was definitely no-one in the ticket office even though the lady at the gate said she had seen the ticket office person going in. Eventually gate lady came and shouted through the keyhole of ticket office! - By this time there were about 20 people waiting, all very amused at the confusion...someone did suggest we "storm the castle walls!". Then finally she rang up someone else and found that the sign at the ticket office was correct and everyone needed to show membership at gate and get wrist band at the shop. By then it was well after 10am and I decided to have my coffee before looking round! 

From a distance it's the remaining towers and their chimneys that are noticeable. The first  photo is over the gates on the way in.

The wall walk was only open for a short way as major repair work was going on part way round.

From up the top of the wall this is the view down to the buildings, one of which was the Framlingham workhouse

I took a few photos in the museum but the light wasn't good. 

It's been a very long time since a visit by train to Framlingham by train was possible

Below is a then and now photo of the Methodist/ United Free Church. It was the place where the Country Markets organisation sold produce every week. I used to take some cakes and cards. The market stopped several years ago when there weren't enough bakers or buyers.

I had no idea the building started as a steam built mill in 1853.

There are several paintings, drawings and etchings of the castle from history. Not good for photos though.

HERE are photos from my 2021 visit, I didn't take any photos last year when I went with EGD and joined English Heritage  for the year.

And HERE is the English Heritage page if you want to see more.

Thank you to everyone comments yesterday. The new header is the Black Elder that grows at the corner of the bungalow just outside the patio doors. The flowers have a lovely pink tinge but never set many berries. It was here when I came and is much bigger than any I tried to grow at the smallholding. Probably it was just too dry there for them to last long.

Here, I have to cut it back to stop it getting tangled with the washing on the whirly washing line and on the other side to stop it knocking on the living room window in windy weather!

Back Soon

Wild Fruit Syrup

Several years ago I made Elderberry Rob, so good for winter colds.

 I doubt there would have been a better opportunity to snip the Elderberries from a tree on the bank opposite the bungalow than the week the road was closed. There wasn't really enough Elderberries so went on a bike ride around the back lanes to see if there was anything else to add in.

I ended up with just around a pound and a quarter of a mix of elderberries, some blackberries and a few yellow cherry-plums from a tree overhanging the road and the only 2 red cherry-plums that weren't squashed on the road.

 

 I popped them in the freezer and later found a few more elderberries and blackberries until I had about 2lb in total. This is the recipe I used in 2018 and 2019

This time I remembered to add a cinnamon stick to the boiling fruit - cinnamon is good for colds too.

 

After straining

 

and adding an equal amount of sugar and boiling gently for 5 minutes, then into sterilized bottles it made 4 and a bit kilner bottles.

I tried a little in some hot water and it's just as good as I remember.

I'm pleased to have this tucked away for winter and two for the Christmas Hamper gifts too.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

 

Saturday 12th October

A quiet week.
*

Bacton WI 100th birthday meal
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Chimney swept and cracked firebricks in the wood-burner replaced
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Lots of rain = no boot sales.

*
Visited Florence on her 3rd Birthday.

*

Cycling, just up and down the road but a bit further each time.
*

And I pulled the elderberries - picked last month -  out of the freezer and turned them into 5 and a bit bottles of elderberry syrup. This will be more than I need so another thing for the hampers.

Today is Suffolk Libraries day and a book by a local author is going to travel to all libraries in one day, different companies or groups are taking or sponsoring the journeys including bits where the book is carried by boat, rickshaw, hearse, tractor, penny farthing, runners and........a  unicorn?!


there are events happening in libraries all over Suffolk- although at the libraries nearest me the events are not very exciting so I shall go to a coffee morning at Chapel and then have a look at this which sounds interesting and very topical

 This week I'm grateful for

• Opportunities for outings
• A soft sheepskin cover for my bike seat
• Some new followers - welcome - hello - hello and thank you. 
• Picking the right days to get the washing dry

Hope you have interesting things to do this weekend

Back Monday

Sue

 

Elder (again)

I'm hoping a few of the Elder flowers on the tree across the lane turn into berries and the pigeons leave some for me to make syrup. With the removal of the big tree down the track this is the only large Elder left close to the house and it will be many years before the saplings I bought will flower.
There is smaller tree in the back hedge - another one where the berries are stolen far to quickly. No Elders at all around the meadow which is a shame.

Close up they are not all white as they seem from a distance.

I wrote a whole post about the folklore of Elder Trees HERE back in September last year. I didn't have the Flower Fairies book then so here's the illustration painted so many years ago

by Cicely Mary Barker back in the 1920's and reprinted many times since then.

And the poem that accompanies the picture

Years ago at the smallholding, where we had many Elders all around the 4 acre meadow,  I used to make a bottle of  Elderflower Cordial- which is delicious, but after the syrup worked so well to keep colds away last winter that's what I want to do again..


Back Tomorrow
Sue

The Elder Tree

 English summer begins with elder flowers and ends with elder berries

Autumn is definitely here, and except for the ones I turned into syrup all the Elder berries have been stripped by the pigeons. I researched this post a few weeks ago and it's time it was published.

The Elder page from the Readers Digest Book of Trees

Elder takes up 4 pages in the little book "Discovering The Folklore of Plants" by Margaret Baker. With so many sayings and superstitions attached it's an important tree in the countryside.
The book says
"The ambivalent character of Elder makes it at once beneficent and malevolent; kindly and spiteful"

These are just a few of  the Elders effects that have been recorded around Europe.............

• It is thought the Elder is inhabited by Lady Elder or the Elder Mother and her permission must be asked before the tree was touched.
• To burn elder wood brought death and disaster and if elder was added by mistake to a fire already burning the fire would promptly go out.
• Elder growing near a well taints the water.
• Elder used in a cradle would make the child pine away
• Elder used as a meat skewer would make the meat bitter
• Whipping an animal with an elder wand stunted its growth
• The scent of elder flowers will poison anyone who falls asleep under the tree.
• Adders are attracted to the tree roots of the elder
• Food cooked over an elder wood fire would not be fit to eat
• A pregnant woman who stepped on elder leaves might suffer a miscarriage
• Witches conjured rough weather by stirring a bucket of water with an elder twig

Enough to put off anyone who had any thought of using Elder!

But on the other hand there were counter charms that could be used to evoke the  Elders positive character

• Elders planted around a property would keep witches away
• Drying clothes on an elder bush would bring good luck to the wearer 
• A twig of elder in a riders pocket would save him from saddle-sores
• Elder leaves picked on the last day of April could heal wounds

The folklore book quotes from a much earlier book "Adam in Eden"  by William Coles published in 1656

There is hardly a disease from the head to foot but it cures. For headaches, for ravings and wakings, hypocondriack and mellancholly, the falling-sicknesse,catarrhes,deafnesse, faintnesse and feacours.

 My sources

 
Back Tomorrow
Sue

Elderberry Syrup

A couple of weeks ago, from my chair in the living room I watched the pigeons sitting in the elder trees pinching all the berries. So when dc at Frugal in Norfolk mentioned picking elderberries for making syrup I commented that the birds get them all far too quickly. Then I was carrying my re-cycling bag down the lane for the bin-men to collect and noticed a tree further down the lane was loaded with elderberries which the pigeons obviously hadn't found. Back I went with my colander and scissors

 Then searched for the recipe and found it in a favourite book

  Soon had them stripped from the stalk and measured - 1¼ pints- and into a saucepan. Covered with water and tight lid and simmered for 45 minutes, squished with a potato masher.  Left to cool, strained, measured and tipped into clean saucepan. Same volume of sugar added, boiled and stirred to dissolve sugar then simmered and stirred for 5 minutes and into hot bottles. I bought these Kilner bottles from a charity shop a couple of years ago and nearly took them to the car boot sale - good thing I didn't.

Autumn bottled! ready to protect me from colds............a spoonful a day in warm water should do it.

Thank you for comments yesterday.

Back Tomorrow
Sue