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Simnel Cake ...

Using my trusty Mary Berry recipe.

Whisk up soft margarine together with soft brown sugar, eggs and self-raising flour.

Adding flame raisins, glace cherries, peel and mixed spice, left to steep for a hour or so (or overnight) in a small amount of water.

Prepare the tin.

Oh dear, lining cake tins has never been my forte!

A bit of a botch up job, but will do the trick?

Add half the mixture.

Now for a layer of marzipan, and a good tip is to not use the shop bought stuff.

Make up a batch of almond paste - it's really easy, and a good idea is to prepare earlier, wrap in clingfilm and leave to firm in the fridge.

Use a third, and then top with the remainder of the cake mixture.

Bake, and leave to cool.

The next day ...

Brush the cake with apricot jam before topping, and place eleven apostles on the top, and not ten!

Like I forgot!

Happy Easter weekend everyone!

o

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lamb chops 'n mint sauce ...

Amazing weather again, and it's still only April?

It's been a a productive day mostly spent outside, interuppted midday by an impromptu trip into Shoreham-by-Sea for fish 'n chips.

Late afternoon I picked the first rhubarb from the garden, and mixed with strawberries from Morrisons, made a crumble.

Before supper, early evening we go visit lambs, for the third time this year!

These three little 'uns were having fun, hop, skipping and a jumping in their very own lamb gang!

See how cute they look in detail by clicking on the photos to enlarge.

Lambs at Play by Christina Rossetti

On the grassy banks, lambkins at their pranks;
Woolly sisters, woolly brothers, jumping off their feet;
While their woolly mothers, watch by them and bleat.

These size small woolly jumpers are on fields at Botolphs, east of the River Adur.

The nearby farm at Coombes is open to the public for a month or so every year for lambing time.

There's only a week to go!

Hundreds of teasels line the pathway.



The area looking especially beautiful as the light fades.



Aah look at the sweet chops, and sticky-out ears on that little lamb below!

It looks lost, but will soon be back with mum as it's getting late.



As for lamb chops 'n mint sauce - they're definitely off the menu for the time being, if not for good?

o

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flowers for Mum ...

We took flowers for Mum up to the crematorium yesterday - a lovely small Spring bouquet with narcissi, tulips, iris and gerbera.

I usually like to take a pot of bulbs as they last longer, but nothing suitable to pick up Saturday after work.

As we were walking up the hill to her plot, we expected this pheasant to fly away.

But instead it started to walk towards us, and started pecking around right in front of our feet!

It was so funny to watch, and so tame?

Maybe someone is feeding him up for Christmas!

Then thinking I wonder if the resident cat's around, looking to my left there it is walking over towards us.

It's a lovely black 'n white cat, who I get to see on most visits.

I know he's being (well) fed, as I've seen a cat loving couple giving him cat crunchies!

We always come up early, to take photos and have a little look around.

At this time of year there are thousands of daffodils in bloom, and many trees in blossom.

The weather was misty first thing with sunshine eventually breaking through.

The cat was liking the sunshine too, and lots of attention!

o

MotoGP mention ...

Nicky Hayden - Third on podium for Ducati today at Jerez.

Let it rain!
O