Brand New Nesting Box Seeking Suitable Tenant

The current excitement in our world if not yet  in the birds’ world, is a brand new nesting box, complete with wi-fi camera, recently bought from the RSPB shop at Carsington. We’ve been promising ourselves one ever since we had so much interest and enjoyment last year watching the blue tits in our (camera-less) nesting box under under the plum tree.We’re a bit late in the season, as the first batch are all happily nesting already but we are hoping that perhaps we may catch the attention of a second lot although deep down we know it will probably not be until next year at the earliest.

Whilst we know this, there is still the wild hope that one day soon  we will turn on the  television and find we are looking at a nest; at present we stare into a bright and horribly pristine wooden box. with absolutely nothing in it at all. The new box is up on the shed wall opposite the house and visible from both barns.  Only a few feet away from the brand new box a pair of blue tits is very happily nesting in a hole in the wall,  which is probably far cosier and certainly more private. John captured some shots of them yesterday, three of which are here.  You can see these and many more on our Photo Gallery.

Tom’s & Douglas’s Barn Favourite Recipes

‘Cakes to Die For’ or ‘Heaven on a Plate’…

Neither of these descriptions are mine and modesty almost prevents me repeating them but we get so many complimentary remarks about the cakes that our guests seem to enjoy, and so many rather shy requests for the recipe, that we have decided I should start a kind of recipe corner.

Just how we’ll do it most effectively still remains to be worked out but just to get the ball rolling John and I felt we needed to start otherwise it might just remain a good idea bubbling away under the surface. Being keen on photography, John is going to try his hand at food photography, but as he has heard that to get the best effect the food needs to be cold and preferably smeared with washing up liquid for a nice appetizing sheen, maybe he won’t be very successful because we are far too greedy to spoil good food! But to start with, I am using one of the photos Jeremy Brough took for our website. (He certainly doesn’t use washing up liquid.)

So here goes… The recipe I was last asked for was for one of own family favourites, and what we call the ‘fake Bakewell’ (you will soon see why). I really am giving away secrets but having already happily shared it with so many of our guests I am quite happy to show it to some more.

I will give you the ‘recipe’ I use. It is just in my head and as you will see it is not very scientific. And you will notice that being older than some I still think and cook in pounds and ounces. If you think of the basic recipe as being for every egg 4 oz of everything else you can make the size you want. I always make this in a large Aga baking tray so I use the basic recipe times four. For normal family use one would probably do half, i.e. 2 eggs etc.

Recipe:

• 1lb butter ideally, for a better taste but soft margarine is fine
• I lb sugar
• *1/2lb ground rice
• *1/2lb ground almonds
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• Almond extract
• Flaked almonds
• Short crust pastry (either a bought block or made with 1lb flour)
• About half jar jam (preferably home made and sharpish like raspberry, blackcurrant or homemade plum)

Method:

Roll out the pastry and line the tin you are using. Ideally put it into the fridge but I can’t say I always do.

Melt the butter/marge and sugar in a saucepan on a lowish heat, stirring occasionally to ensure the sugar completely dissolves into the melted butter. Add the ground rice/almonds and leaving it on the heat, stir for a minute or two until it is all well mixed and smooth.  Take off the heat, and while it is cooling briefly spread the jam over the base of the pastry.

Then stir into the mixture the beaten eggs and a generous teaspoon and a bit (to size and taste) of almond extract.

Pour the mixture onto the pastry. Sprinkle generously with flaked almonds and pop it into the oven. In the Aga (2-door) I put it on the bottom grid of the top oven with the cold plain sheet over, for about 25-30 minutes+.  I can’t help with gas or electric temperatures but I would have thought whatever you’d normally use for something similar.

*It is perfectly delicious – and I rather think better – made with just ground rice and no ground almonds at all, but I often do half and half. I’ve never (yet) done it with all ground almonds.

The Heron and the Fish That Didn’t Get Away

It’s not exactly in Parwich, but we do urge you when you are next in London with a few hours to kill, to consider visiting the London Wetlands Trust site in Barnes.

For a start you wouldn’t believe you were in London at all; it kept reminding us rather of the Norfolk Broads. Daughter Ruthie took us there for the day last Sunday – a wonderfully warm, sunny day, just perfect for strolling through the different areas and watching all the birds. As you can imagine, John was in his element, with his interest in birds and photography: his camera was almost red hot  and even I got somewhat carried away with my little mobile phone camera…

The highlight of a lovely day was half an hour spent watching a heron as he eventually speared a fish. We were very close, but the heron was concentrating so intently he did not seem to notice, or mind. The scene was so gripping I completely forgot my camera, but fortunately John did not. He took a series of photographs over the thirty or so minutes we watched and waited, almost as patiently as the heron itself. Do have a look at the ‘Fish That Didn’t get Away’ in our Photo Gallery.

You will see how the heron ‘stalked’ the fish – the only movement being an almost imperceptible tautening of his long neck, until startlingly suddenly, he struck. Up he came out of the water with this largish fish, flapping and wriggling, speared between his clamped beaks. The heron then very patiently, without letting the fish wriggle away, managed to manoeuvre it round until it was lengthways on, headfirst.

With an enormous gulp he swallowed it, and it was a struggle to get the thing down. We watched as the outline of the large shape gradually went down his throat as the heron kept scooping gulps of water up in his beak, and swallowing as one might with a large pill that wouldn’t go down.

What a sight! We felt so privileged to have seen it, and what is more in such a wonderful peaceful, watery setting just minutes from all the bustle and urban noise that is London.

Trying to catch up with spring

Trying to catch up generally… We have been away for a few days and have let things stand still a bit too long for comfort on the blog front (I hasten to say everything else has pretty well gone on as normal thanks to Janet and the well-oiled Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns machinery!). Thanks to our online booking system, emails and Janet, it is very much easier to go away these days but certain things do get neglected such as keeping the blog up to date.

Now I have an iPhone, with time and experience, I should be able to carry on with everything as if we were sitting at home. Sadly, so far it is not quite like that. Technology is all very well, but so often silly glitches prevent things working as they should, if at all, and to date we can now receive emails on the iPhone but not send them (If anyone knows the solution, we shall be eternally grateful!).

Meanwhile, the whole point of this post was to point you in the direction of the latest bunch of garden photos John has taken, last Friday morning before we left for a long weekend in London (more of which later). Of course now, 5 days later it all looks far less advanced in these snaps than it actually does today. However, everything is looking wonderfully lush and sporing like. Everywhere is covered in white, with the blackthorn blossom all over the countryside, and in the garden the magnolia, the damson and plum blossom, and a beautiful osmanthus. Dotted everywhere are the vibrant colours now of the pansies and tulips and the last daffodils.

Parwich Duck Race

Today dawned grey but improved steadily and by the time the duck race was due to start it felt positively summery. People walked  from Parwich across the fields, others biked and some drove. The children played happily in or near the water and the adults basked in the warm sunshine.

At 2pm this afternoon three hundred plastic ducks were launched just above the ford; the journey was not straightforward as most seemed to head straight for the banks and had to be encouraged back into the flow; the fastest seemed to be those that keeled over and floated on their sides (there might even be a moral there).

The three winners were the first to reach the second of two nets stretched across the stream below the ford crossing, where Carl stood in his wellies waiting patiently to identify the first three through. They didn’t just have to get there, they had also to float through a hole in the first net to be caught by the second.

Strangely the second duck to make it through happened to belong to the organiser, Mick, but as he was nowhere near the finishing line there could be no question of foul play. Strangely too, I didn’t win a prize. Normally I seem to but maybe 2011 will not be my year. Each duck cost £1, and the whole idea was to raise money to finance the St George’s Day parade later in the month. So, £300 raised and a lot of fun enjoyed into the bargain…

A Very Special Visit

When we were children my brother sister and I were always told that April 1st jokes stopped at noon. Was that just our parents feeling they couldn’t cope with more than half a dayful of what we children thought were hilariously convincing jokes or is that idea widely held? Anyway, assuming it’s well after noon we’ll be spoilsport enough to let cats out of bags…

We were very amused by a wonderful April 1st spoof on the Parwich blog entitled a Very Special Visit which can’t have taken in too many people but has entertained a lot.  We had absolutely nothing to do with the article although we weren’t surprised to see it as the blog team had very courteously checked beforehand that we  wouldn’t mind if it were published.

And, no, of course we didn’t mind and no, sadly, Tom’s Barn is not the favoured Royal honeymoon destination. It would be tempting but not quite truthful to say the couple tried too late and been turned away – April and May have been booked for ages but crucially they didn’t even try unless they were already disguising their identity by using an alibi! We have turned couples away literally by the score.

I am sure it would have been a happy choice and that Prince William and Catherine would  love Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns – would love the privacy and comfort, peace and quiet and would love Parwich but I am equally sure that to their loss they very possibly haven’t even heard of us; between us we’ve slipped up there! No doubt throughout the years ahead there will be many occasions when they would just love to be able to escape totally, away from all the pressure and demands and publicity that will face them.

Meanwhile, coming back to weddings, and Royal ones at that, there is a great programme for the royal wedding celebrations arranged here for the day (Friday 29th April). I will write more about that here soon, but meanwhile, you can check out the details on our electronic village notice board otherwise known as the Parwich blog.

Haddon Hall – Special Offers for Guests of Peak District Premier Cottages

You may remember hearing that Peak District Premier Cottages, the regional group of Premier Cottages owners, of which we are proud to be members, have been nominated by Haddon Hall as their holiday accommodation providers of choice.

Obviously this is something we are all delighted about; but it isn’t just a question of feeling flattered and privileged (which we do) – it also means that we and our guests will all benefit from preferential special offers and I think advance warnings of special dates and special events.

We will put more details up on our website in the next few days, but meanwhile, let me just mention the excellent Haddon Hall restaurant. This is on site but you don’t have to be visiting the hall to go to the restaurant so it would be an excellent place to have a lovely lunch or afternoon tea after a day in Bakewell; you’d be on your way home, it is such a beautiful setting in the shadow of the hall, the food by all accounts is excellent (we had a delicious lunch there last week) and parking should be OK although you do have to cross the A6 to get to the drive from the official car park.

Where do our guests come from?

At last, thanks to our wonderful web guru, Jeremy, we can show you a postcode map of where all the guests who have booked this year (Jan 1 until March 17 2011) come from. Funnily enough, although we are more or less full until the end of the year, we have only had 36 bookings actually this year.

First of all, there is no set pattern that we can identify. Normally we would have expected to see more from Scotland on the map (maybe they just all made sure to book before the end of last year …). However, we always expect and enjoy the fact that our guests come from all over the country, with what used to surprise us, a significant number of fairly local guests from Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire and even Derbyshire. However, they explain that although the journey is minimal (an attraction) once they get here they feel a million miles away from home; on the other hand if pressing work or family concerns mean it is more relaxing to be nearby -think young children or elderly parents, or a critical work situation – that is another bonus.

We always get a lot from London and the home counties, and East Anglia, Kent and Essex. This year. so far, the biggest contingent 5.56% each hail from Cheshire and Cumbria. I suspect London might be the overall winner but because it is a map based on postcodes, there is London /all points of the compass. I could sit down and do the sums but haven’t.

Just to round up, one set pattern that does emerge, year after year… this is the huge number of guests who say they have frequently travelled through Derbyshire and the Peak District without thinking, en route to the Lake District or Scotland, or even Yorkshire and Northumberland. Then suddenly the thought of the Peak District has popped into their mind, and they are unanimously thrilled that it has done so.

We are that much nearer if you come from the southern half of the country, and so surprisingly beautiful and unspoilt. Why surprising? Perhaps the area isn’t so good at the PR, or perhaps it’s all those history lessons about mills and factories in the cradle of the Industrial Revolution.

Anyway, the truth is a delightful secret we’re privileged to share with our guests!

Tom’s & Douglas’s Barn guests help support Mary’s Meals

As many of you know, we strongly urge all our guests to take out holiday cancellation insurance, just in case something untoward should happen that prevents them taking up the holiday at the last minute. With so many of you booking so far in advance it is even more possible that an unforeseen problem might arise that one really couldn’t have anticipated at the time.

Anyway, we recommend taking out insurance and have to be very careful not to push one product rather than another (not that we have a great deal of personal experience). Many people already have their own favourite provider but if anyone needs guidance, we suggest they look at the Pavey Insurance scheme, which is a special scheme for Premier Cottages guests and therefore apparently rather good value. So far so good.

Anyway, the potential embarrassment creeps in when at the end of each year (well, it was March really this year) we get sent a small cheque, which is our commission. There is no way we would feel happy about accepting this ourselves so we have pledged to give it to Mary’s Meals, a wonderful charity that provides meals for children in school in poverty-stricken parts of the world. The idea is that parents encourage their children to go to school, the child thrives because it has at least one good meal a day, and hopefully will be able to escape the poverty trap by being able to get a good job afterwards.

It costs £9.40 to feed a child for a year, so our modest £15.70 represents roughly the cost of providing a nourishing meal for one child for a year and a half. It’s shaming, but wonderful that so modest a sum can mean so much.

So, thank you all!

The Gentle Face of Nature?

John has one or two quite amusing photos showing a less sentimental view of birds and Boots than perhaps we might prefer.

We all know cats, even sweet-natured ones like Boots, catch mice and birds and must strike fear in the hearts of these smaller creatures, although no doubt to their relief, with advancing age Boots is more inclined to watch and glower, sweeping her tail with more menace than action. This view of Boots shows a side we’d prefer not to dwell on.

Then there are the pheasants: so gleamingly beautiful from afar; they strut about the garden looking mightily haughty and full of their own glamorous good looks but seen close to perhaps not quite so nice.

Glossing over squirrels completely – tree rats our neighbour calls them – we have been surprised watching the goldfinches at close quarters. So strikingly beautiful, they are pretty belligerent little creatures really, and not keen at all on sharing the niger seed with any of their brethren.