Monday 31 August 2015

Settling In

Well, we have finally moved in and unpacked. The kitchen is built (thank you, Hall of Pine!) and the garden is yielding its surprises and delights. Loganberries, red currants and Bramley apples - all needing quite a bit of sweetening to be palatable but delicious with other fruit in crumbles and pies. The Bramley apple is notoriously acidic but cooks to a very smooth pulp and is good in cakes and savoury dishes. The first tree is said to have been cultivated by Mary Ann Brailsford who planted it in her garden in Southwell in 1809. We also have pears and damsons. A perhaps less delightful find was the bees' nest in the ground underneath a large buddleia. They made themselves known by stinging my mother in law in return for her valiant efforts to tame the ivy covering large parts of the ground, walls and shrubs. We've seen many different sorts of butterfly and moth including some splendid Black Admirals and Peacocks and we've also spotted a hedgehog and three rabbits playing on the lawn. 



A short walk in almost any direction takes you out along the edge of fields and woodlands. As it's light until about ten o'clock, I've been doing my exploring just before sunset and enjoying the light across the golden pre-harvest fields. Nottinghamshire is a county of contrasting colours -  the yellows and browns of the crops, the dark and mid greens of forest and woodland and the large open skies with their impressive cloud formations.

The whole area is peppered with Saxon associations and remains and I look forward to discovering more of its history. The village church (St Peter and St Paul) is a Saxon foundation with several artefacts that are probably Saxon and a Norman chancel arch and doorway; much of the church and tower date from the fourteenth century. There are many reminders of the Sherbrooke family (Lords of the Manor for over 400 years) and a rather touching memorial to Robert Scothorn, a Quaker from the village, who left Oxton to join William Penn in Pennsylvania in 1684. Lots going on at the church and at the Village Hall.


The village has two pubs and a shop and we are very conscious of the farms all around, so busy at this time of year. Kind neighbours have given us eggs, rhubarb, beans and coleuses.  And we have neighbours of the feathered kind - a cockerel and some tawny owls who all make their presence felt vocally at various times of the day. We think the cockerel likes company as he seems to join in whenever we hold a conversation in the front garden which is within ear shot of his allotment!



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