Preparing for Winter V

Jellytotts

Greenbee, having seen the damage wasps can do to rafters and beams in a house in order to build their nest, I'd not have given them houseroom.  We did have a small nest this year and got "the man" in straight away to deal with it.  Happy for them to nest outside but not in my loft and not munching on my roof supports to mulch down into building materials.

I felt the change in the season early last week and got all the winter clothes out ready to wash and sort.  DH scoffed and said it's too early but he was eating humble pie last night when he wanted his winter dressing gown on.

My "withcy brain" as DH calls it, that inner voice that manages to predict what's about to happen that I think a lot of women have, is screaming at me to stock up more than normal. I won't ignore it, even if it's wrong, it just means a decent store cupboard to work through until spring. To that end I've been jamming/preserving and brewing, there's tubs of roasted veg, bags of home made sauces and soups and lots of fruit for yogurt/porridge topping and baking, all stashed away.  

I've read a few articles now about rolling power cuts, so the wind up radio is home from the allotment, the power pack chargers have been charged and put in the drawer (and will be charged regularly) and I've started buying a few pillar candles a week to stock up.  Again, nothing that won't get used anyway.

greenbee

@Jellytotts - the wasps were very late to appear this year, and it was clearly a big colony by the time we spotted it as their movements aren’t so obvious when they are high up. They usually nest in old mole runs or trees, or the old kids’ playhouse. The bonus of them arriving is that the greenfly etc all disappeared pretty quickly! They’re taking material from the fence posts and pergola and log stores. Pest control have pretty strict rules about when they can and can’t get rid of wasps nests, and this one will be difficult if they have to try as I’m very close to water (just over 10m thankfully) and I have bats in the roof. If the wasps go in their own life will be a lot easier than doing all the paperwork and proving no harm to the watercourse or bats.

Nargleblast

Starting to prep for winter now. The heavier duvets went on the beds last night, and I have noticed elderberries starting to ripen. From today I will collect elderberries whilst out with the dog, and put them in the freezer, ready to make elderberry syrup for winter. They make lovely elderberry liqueurs as well, for that festival in December which will not be spoken of until well into autumn. I want to celebrate the last days of summer!

Primrose

I always find the approach of autumn a rather emotional time with the sad reflection that a summer has always passed too quickly - (and this one has certainly been the most surreal and bizarre one most of us have experienced because of Coronavirus restrictions) and the mist fullness of autumn.  There,s always a sense that we must grab the last rays of sun and fruitfulness before winter finally hems us in.
And those of us who grow our own and freeze and preserve can look at our storecupboards with a certain sense of satisfaction.
Our winter duvet is still tucked up in the airing cupboard.  I will really be accepting the inevitable when thwt comes out.  I think the woolly bed socks may make an appearance first,

My one HATE of winter is dull grey skies.  They send my emotional mood diving through the basement floor.  I can accept the cold if a little sunshine is peeping through.  Must remember to start taking my Vitamin D again now I,m no longer outdoors so much. 

Laura_Elsewhere

Nargleblast said:

Starting to prep for winter now. The heavier duvets went on the beds last night, and I have noticed elderberries starting to ripen. From today I will collect elderberries whilst out with the dog, and put them in the freezer, ready to make elderberry syrup for winter. They make lovely elderberry liqueurs as well, for that festival in December which will not be spoken of until well into autumn. I want to celebrate the last days of summer!

We spent last year with My Chap visiting a horrifically-injured relative daily, for weeks in ICU, then months in various hospitals, finally for months at their home, doing most of the personal care, nursing, etc.; this year, My Chap has had his own incredibly serious health problems, treatment now happened, delayed months by the pandemic.... yes, I am planning to get the GP to give me an MOT in a month or two, in case it's "my turn next"!  

But all of this was helped, in my firm opinion, by daily tablespoons of homemade elderberry syrup. None of us had the number of colds we normally would (of course My Chap wasn't allowed into ICU if he was sniffling at all so a surprising lack of colds was very welcome!). 

I had made a few bottles for years, given one or two to elderly friends, used ours only once symptoms appeared. One elderly friend had terminal illness and lost almost all sense of taste, poor chap, a real 'foodie' lifelong and suddenly food held no interest for him. He was told that even a bad cold might finish him off so I posted elderberry and rosehip syrups to him, and to his delight he discovered he could actually taste the elderberry! So I made gallons of the stuff and had a steady supply system going, mostly handing it over to someone who passed it to someone to pass on to someone, to cover the 3-400 miles and avoid posting it. The last bottle reached him in March, not long before lockdown, and when he finally, gratefully, went, the last thing he had other than sips of water was when he asked for his "elder for elders"... I feel a bit sad looking at the ripening elderberries now, after 3 years of making so much to keep him supplied with about 5 litres a year, as well as us. 

It's special stuff, elderberry syrup.  

-taff

Any chance of a preferred recipe for that? I went to pick blackberries again yesterday and spied quite a few trees that I could reach...

MingVase

Primrose I'm the same. I hate autumn with a vengeance, always have. I hate dull days when the clouds are on my roof. I don't mind winter, love the short days and cosy dark nights - just can't stand autumn.

greenbee

I'm starting to tidy up the garden. While there is still some veg growing (tomatoes, a few beans, last of the courgettes, chard of which I MUST sow more, and some radishes germinating) I'm concentrating on deadheading/cutting back/weeding the ornamentals and hopefully getting the grass and hedges under control. I don't leave the garden too tidy, but I do want to get climbers tied in to the post and wires that have gone in over the past 3 years as they're finally making it to the top. And to keep what I've already done under control as I make a start on the bits of the garden that haven't really been tackled properly yet. 

I've still got the summer duvet on, but did have a blanket last night, and a small hot water bottle. The house is still relatively warm, so I'm hoping not to have to put the heating on for a bit. I'll probably start gradually, with the odd fire, then UFH in the bathrooms, UFH in the kitchen and central heating when the whole house starts to feel cool. 

Laura_Elsewhere

-taff said:

Any chance of a preferred recipe for that? I went to pick blackberries again yesterday and spied quite a few trees that I could reach...

@-taff, what for elderberry syrup? 

First off, it's true what the internet says about raw elderberries being toxic - friend's neighbour was hospitalised two years ago... I had been merrily nibbling handfuls all my life but have stopped doing that now. I miss them, but it's not worth the risk. Seemingly sometimes they're fine, sometimes they're not, no way of telling when or how you'd be affected. 

I freeze the elderberries in bags as the lazy way of getting them off the stems - like many UK berries (rowans, haws) the stems have quite a bit of tannins in 'em, so will add a nasty astringent back-taste. It's worth spending time getting as many off as possible. 
Add only enough water to cover the berries and bring to a boil; turn it down and simmer for 5 mins. Leave til completely cool and then sieve. You will have a bowl of murky black ink with lots of bits in. Add more water to the pan to only just cover the berries again and repeat the process. Now you have twice the amount of ink with bits in. Put that through a few layers of muslin, a jelly-bag or a coffee-filter - if you use cloth, stick it in cold water immediately you finish using it and wash as much of the berry dye out as possible, but you may never get it back from being greyish, be warned! I keep old muslin specially for it, and don't even try to get it unstained, just get it clean and leave the staining in. 

For each pint of juice I use a pound of sugar, same as for making jelly, but you want to get rid of water *without* triggering a setting point. So boil it up for about five minutes and then let it just simmer below a boil for a while. Periodically take out a few tablespoons into a little bowl or something, let it cool and then tilt it around and spoon it up to see if it is syrupy in texture. You want something runnier than Golden Syrup, but gloopier than the average drinks-cordial. I find it thickens a little in the couple of days after bottling. Pour it into bottles you've previously had in an oven staying nice and clean and hot. Put lids on asap. 

You can always re-boil it, of course, if after bottling it is too runny. If it has too much water still in it then it will go mouldy. We put it into 500ml bottles (Ikea's cordial bottles are perfect, as well as looking really nice but jings, it's a battle royal getting those ruddy labels off. You'll be wanting knives and brillo-pads). The unopened bottles live in the sitting-room, against a north wall under the window, and the opened bottle in use lives in the fridge. 

Loads of recipes online but they all seem to work on the principle that you *must* add something else to 'disguise' the elderberry flavour - hence cinnamon or ginger or whatever. I just make elderberry syrup, and we both love the flavour. 

Same method, btw, for making rosehip syrup, or blackberry syrup (fab over ice-cream - oh and I also make blackberry ice cream) - or ginger and lemon syrup for a DIY throat soother, with honey added *after* the main heating stage which does mean a bit of juggling quantities and ratios. I only make very small amounts of that one and always keep it in the fridge as frankly if you are starting with "I have a sore throat" then he last thing you want to add is any chance of lurking pathogens! I use any of the syrups on sore throats, tbh. I have a very small deep glass dish, only 1.5" across, and put that by my bedside with a tiny salt spoon and just keep ladling the syrup in, letting it just coat the back of my throat. Any time i cough or drink water, I have another few tiny spoons of syrup to re-coat the tissues. It definitely helps me... 

-taff

Thank you!

I don't worry about my muslin stuff, I did a first aid training course quite a few years ago and they chuck out the stuff the students use, so I came away with a handful of triangular fabric bandages, I sewed two of them together and I'm still using it now, along with the blackberry stains