juliachalkley

Jelly Roll Julia

Last year, I managed to get 1.5 kilogrammes of fruit from our John Downie crabapple tree, and made one jar of crabapple jelly from it. It looked like molten rubies and tasted sharp and sweet together. I said then that I would make sure of gathering the fruit from that tree earlier next year, ofContinue reading “Jelly Roll Julia”

Putting the tin lid on it

We’ve been spending time over the last year designing and constructing a woodshed for ourselves. We started by looking at other people’s woodsheds, but they didn’t answer what we needed – all were fairly small, designed to keep out of the way against a wall or fence and house a shipment of seasoned wood droppedContinue reading “Putting the tin lid on it”

Dot Dot Dot

The treat we chose for the last day of August was a day at Sudbury Quay theatre for Dot Production’s adaptation of ‘Jane Eyre’. We saw their version of ‘Sense and Sensibility’ in 2019, and we’re still raving about it to friends. With only five actors, we assumed they’d cut the part of Margaret theContinue reading “Dot Dot Dot”

All the way to the end

This year’s Essex Book Festival was partly online, partly on site, and wholly excellent. I was in the Zoom for the first event on June 3rd, and again for the Festival ‘opener’ on June 6th (‘We Need To Talk About Essex Girls’), and today I was at the grand closing event at Cressing Temple Barns.Continue reading “All the way to the end”

A Grand Day Out

Return to Cressing Temple Barns today, taking my husband with me for a more leisurely visit, rather than the guided tour with the Essex Book Festival. It was good to wander around with no group, no purpose, though the guide last time was a real asset. This time, we had a long walk through bothContinue reading “A Grand Day Out”

Rain, at last

Last week, we had a prediction of hot and sunny over the weekend followed by cooler, cloudier weather from Monday. What actually happened was hot and sunny Saturday, really hot Sunday (for Britain, that is – Australians would laugh their socks off at me calling 29 degrees C ‘hot’) and then a hot and clammyContinue reading “Rain, at last”

Metal

Another good day with the Essex Book Festival. Today, a hotdesk at Chalkwell Hall, the Essex site of Metal – they describe themselves as setting up cultural community hubs. Sneer and jeer until you get here, it is a fabulous place in a lovely setting. Anybody can book a hotdesk – there are two, rightContinue reading “Metal”

Be more Cat

So, we had a pair of catloving friends over to stay recently. They were looking forward to meeting Max, and we wanted Max to become used to having new people in the house. They arrived and greeted him. He took to them. Boy did he take to them… We lost him there, for a while.Continue reading “Be more Cat”

Cressing Temple Barns

A good day out, and an amazing place. Cressing Temple Barns dates back to 1137, with the barns themselves built in the 13th century. The Tudor Knot garden is a reconstruction of a typical Tudor pleasure garden, and a real joy to walk in. We were given the tour by a volunteer guide and spentContinue reading “Cressing Temple Barns”

Essex, yeah

In all the excitement, I haven’t said much about what’s taking up my time at the moment. It’s the Essex Book Festival. This doesn’t feature much in the list of literary festivals, and I suspect there’s an element of snobbery involved. I mean, Essex – not exactly Hay on Wye, is it? Luckily, no, itContinue reading “Essex, yeah”