Frances Hallam

This is Tinker, he's our second pony, after losing my first to very old age, the heartache his loss caused, I swore I'd never go through it all again, but the utter trust in those big brown eyes just makes you fall in love all over again.

I decided when the morello cherry tree was in flower this spring that, this year I'd try to beat the blackbirds to the fruit, today was the day, an hour later I had a pan full, the softer side of me did leave the whole top of the tree's fruit for the blackbird who sat on top of the cart shed watching me. I even threw a few to Betty the hen, she gobbled them down like pigs eat strawberries !

Anyway I filled the Rumtopf half full with stones cherries, added brown sugar and small bottle of Captain Morgan and a bottle of Rose wine and sometime in late autumn we are going to have a nice warming Cherry Rose Rum, with the additional bonus of some fairly lethal cherries, they'd be nice as the base to an adult trifle.

There was enough cherries to make the filling for a cherry pie for tomorrow, pictures to follow.

I also managed to conjure up a delicious cherry syrup for a pancake dessert.

Well after wresting with bolts and getting rust particals in my eye (should wear goggles really) the paint job was going really well until a black cloud came over and it started to rain, so had to move the whole job under cover.

I enjoy restoring things that other people think only suitable for the tip or scrap yard. I've been lucky enough to find this old French Pot Bellied stove, it's been broken along the front and lost its front legs, so no longer stands up. It has spent the last few years of it's life in someones garden as an urn holding a plant.

Yesterday I wandered a large car boot sale at Torksey, hoping to spot something suitable, to fasten on as cast iron legs and found a little fire fender with detatchable legs, only cost a fiver, so with help from my Dad and his metal cutter (I'm told this is too dangerous for girls, I'll go with that !) the two legs were cut to size.