A Morning in the Kitchen

These are the results of my morning spent baking (for the freezer as well as supper tonight):

1 cheesy loaf
2 pizzas
Ratatouille topping for pizza and freezer
Pan vegetable soup
1 blackberry and apple Crumble
2 apple crumbles
1 pear crumble

It makes more sense to have the oven on to cook half a dozen things than just one . . .

Spot the Dipper!

Click on photo to enlarge


I am bread making and pizza making today, and taking photos as I do so, and hopefully there will be a record of this on here later on.

Meanwhile, spring is very reluctantly showing a brave face - trees greening up, bluebells starting to flower, but it still feels more like March than nearly May! The Swallows and Housemartins have finally arrived, and our little Collared Dove has arrived in the garden, but minus his/her mate. I don't know if they mate for life, but the remaining one looks so forlorn.

When I was down by the river the other evening, I was watching our pair of Dippers, who are in residence all year round. The hen Dipper was making overtures towards the male, who kept flying past her. She was dipping up and down on a rock, waggling her tail and the minute he got close, frantically flapping her wings in a "Look at ME" gesture. He had spotted me on the lane, and was more bothered about staying alive than getting a mate, and she was getting progressively more frantic! In the end I had to walk on and leave them in peace for their nuptuals!