Sunday, September 09, 2007

Ed's Shelf

Ed made a shelf above the kitchen window, to store preserves and bottles of sloe gin etc. He did a great job, as always, and the end result is practical and really attractive. Every time I look at it I admire his handiwork, and mine, and get that wonderful smug feeling that comes from having lots of home-made preserves.

From left to right - blackberry vodka, lemon gin, 4 jars of chutney, 2 jars of cherry jam, 1 jar of mincemeat, 2 bottles of damson gin, 1 bottle of lime rum, 7 jars of damson jam and a really dreadful teapot in the shape of a bride and groom, which was a wedding present from an uncle with a mischievous sense of humour.

5 comments:

welsh girls allotment said...

As good as your produce looks ( and the shelf its on !) my eye is instantly drawn to the view out of your window - you lucky thing - is there any chance of you renting/ buying the field to expand you self sufficiency operation ??

Birdie said...

Hello Melanie,
I've been watching your blog for awhile now and wanted to stop by and come out of hiding.
The new shelf looks great. That's a fabulous use of space.
I too make wine and think that you are so lucky to get the free hedgerow fruit!
I enjoy your blog and the smart ideas you speak of.
Cheers

Joanna said...

Great shelf, great produce, great view. Tell me, the mincemeat ... this year's ALREADY? Or some left over from last year?

;) Joanna
joannasfood.blogspot.com

Melanie Rimmer said...

Welsh Girl - yes, that would be marvellous wouldn't it?

Birdie - Thanks for de-lurking to leave a comment, I hope you'll do it again. Don't you have anywhere you can gather blackberries, at least?

Joanna - it's last year's leftover mincemeat. I'll start planning this year's Christmas food in a month or two.

Nik said...

How wonderful to see all your hard work displayed so proudly. And I've just realised really "why" many older homes have high shelves which I saw as a real inconvenience and unused (obvioulsy I knew what they were for but never thought about it) - well of course they wouldn't have been unused 50 years ago!
Oh, and cheers about the comment about soaps - yes, I was thinking that I'm thinking about presents early, but not really when it means making them all and giving things time to get the final product right.