Last minute projects

Just finished a little contribution to our village cook book.  All a bit last minute before we depart for our summer place in Hungary.  It was great fun to do these drawings, far less pressure than normal and much more thanks than you get from big store buyers!  But my ampersands gave me so much trouble.

Mid summer's day

Out for a swift hike this afternoon to clear the cobwebs and fried brain feeling at the end of a full on week.  Had to trail blaze a route along our normal path as the undergrowth had shot up and stood well over my head in places.  Not recommended for hay fever suffers as clouds of pollen released around us as we pushed through the rich mix of herbage.  Here and there hog weed's purple stems punctuated the softer grasses.

The Hunter-gather returns...

 

OK, so maybe I hadn't just bagged a woolly mammoth, but even more delectable, wild garlic or Medve Hagyma, bear onions in Hungarian.  In desperation, having forgotten to buy spinach I went out foraging for the last of this season's crop growing wild in the corner of a field in my village, fed by the brook.  

  The stems are both crunchy and sweet with a heat which becomes mild when wilted in a little butter.  Definitely worth the odd nettle sting.