~More mid-week treasures~

On my day off today I managed to squeeze in a quick trip to (one of) my favourite charity shops in a nearby small town, which never disappoints.  Real vintage gems of bric-a-brac, fabric, table linens and glassware are to be found; and it's all I can do to be ruthless and strict with myself.  Todays gems amongst 3 bags full of linen, fabric, a blanket and vintage scarves, is this rose picture, in a lovely mount and frame for £3 - already on my bedroom wall

 and a huge pair of unlined curtains in this vintage cotton sateen fabric, which was Made in England (hurrah!)again for £3

These will be squirrelled away in my 'Caravan Bottom-Drawer' inspired by the pretty curtains in Curlew Country's gorgeous caravan (see here), where they will wait patiently for my dream to come to fruition!

~Garlic harvest and alien alliums~

It is so hot here today! I've been pottering in the garden and I decided to dig up my garlic as all the tops had turned yellow and flopped over. I got a decent crop bearing in mind they were grown in a raised bed and not in full sun. I planted them late October, and I was frugal and used shop-bought garlic instead of expensive seed garlic as a trial just to see how it went. Gardening books advise against this and say the crop is likely to be inferior and more prone to disease, but I am impressed with the results. It's drying out in the sun now, and I'll keep some to sow again in autumn.

I've kept the scapes (the twisty garlic flower stalks that hard-necked varieties produce) and I'm going to make garlic scape pesto for the first time. My leeks have also bolted, but I'm loving the flower heads, just like alliums, and I have some unopened ones in a vase in the kitchen just becuse they're so weird and

alien-looking. The bees love them too!

Yes, I think I love the allium family... This is one of my favourite pictures - I bought this limited edition linocut print by Selby-based artist Helen Roddie at an art show a few years ago - it's called 'Onion Watch' .

~Jamtastic~

I also bought some jam and chutney labels at the Good Food Show from a company called http://www.jamjarshop.com/.  They had many label designs available; I chose the green and red polka dots...

...and they had  polka dot lids and all kinds of other preserving paraphernalia, that can be hard to come by. I've put them to good use already labelling my chutney to add to the storecupboard.