Having moved to just around the corner(-ish!), Sarah and I have become friends of the Watercress Wildlife Association.

This little oasis of calm is nestled not far from London Road in St Albans next to a disused railway line and the River Ver.  There’s a mere for the birds, a butterfly meadow and an orchard and a lot more besides.  We finally made it down to have a look last weekend:

Well worth a trip if you’re after somewhere quiet to go.  And in the meantime, why not have a look at their sightings blog?

OK, so some of our friends think we’re just a little cat crazy.  But Phoebe is an important member of the family and has done sterling work comforting Sarah after her Mum died.  So, you’re just going to have to put up with a few more photos!

She seems to like the new house a lot, sitting in the garden with us:

Oh, and the bay in the living room:

Yesterday we took ourselves off in the morning to Hawkswick Lodge Farm just on the outskirts of St Albans. Yes, it’s pick-your-own season, and we came back having picked lots of strawberries, a fair few redcurrants and a small box of gooseberries. Recommended for a trip out – reasonable prices, delicious fruit, adequate car park, friendly staff and acres of fruit. The strawberries are even grown at waist height so you don’t need to bend down to collect them all.
Now, what to do with all of that fruit…

Fruits of our labours	Double, double…
The finished article	Jam packed

Recipe: 900g strawberries, 900g redcurrants, 2kg jam sugar, 3tbsp lemon juice. Put fruit and lemon juice in pan; add sugar. Heat and stir gently to draw out juice and dissolve sugar, then boil quickly until setting point reached. Pour into jars, cover and seal. Takes about 30 mins to prepare fruit then 45mins to heat.

Moo business cards.  That is all.

	Box of delights
Let’s meet!
	Laying my cards on the table

(Get them here)