Slow Living in Rural England | Milling Our Own Flour, Sourdough & a Summer Day at the Cottage

Daylight on the horizon shining back at me Makes me think of my baby Down the riverside flowing, no end She's still there, I can't see where she's going But I hope it's here, life ain't what it seems There's still a part of me that's trying She's still there, I can't see where she's going But I hope it's here, life ain't what it seems There's still a part of me that's trying She's still there, I can't see where she's going But I hope it's here, life ain't what it seems There's still a part of me that's trying But I hope it's here, life ain't what it seems There's still a part of me that's trying She's still there, I can't see where she's going But I hope it's here, life ain't what it seems There's still a part of me that's trying She's still there, I can't see where she's going But I hope it's here, life ain't what it seems There's still a part of me that's trying She's still there, I can't see where she's going But I hope it's here, life ain't what it seems There's still a part of me that's trying She's still there, I can't see where she's going But I hope it's here, life ain't what it seems She's still there, I can't see where she's going But I hope it's here, life ain't what it seems There's still a part of me that's trying She's still there, I can't see where she's going But I hope it's here, life ain't what it seems She's still there, I can't see where she's going But I hope it's here, life ain't what it seems There's still a part of me that's trying She's still there, I can't see where she's going But I hope it's here, life ain't what it seems That one's going to stay on the floor But I bought some grain from buywholefoodsonline.co.uk And I think it was about the same rice as the other one that I bought from What was that one called? I can't remember It's in some of my other videos so I'll talk about that one another time But it was the same price, I just needed it in express delivery Because we only have this much left and that is not enough for a loaf of bread So I ordered a quick order and I got a few things Cleaning tin foil But they have loads on the website actually so do check it out Again, not sponsored at all But I got some kamut grain because that's really nice to add to bread I also like that with pancakes and things like that And then I also got some apple cider vinegar Forgot about that, not quite a grain but again they do other things And then as one of my lovely subscribers told me That in the UK for soft berries we should be using spelt grain Which makes perfect sense and I'm very glad to have received that information So this is my kind of soft white wheat grain I'm going to try using spelt this time around Also really nice in pancakes, also really good for you And those are the organic spelt grain And then in my big one I have a 25kg bag of hard wheat berries So let's fill up our jars and then we're going to get into some fun baking I was actually just going to print some off using my label maker here Some labels off but I'm out of the stickers for the inside So I'm just going to cut this out and stick it on with sticky with sellotape It's a good old fashioned way, well not old fashioned but What I love about these jars is that they're a 3 litre capacity And this is a 2.5kg bag and that just fits perfectly in there It means that I don't have to have a half open bag for a little while It just all goes in there And I'm going to transfer my hard wheat into this jar And keep my kamut in here because obviously I have a lot less of the kamut And keep hard white in here and then fill up my large grain bucket with the rest First let's label that so we don't forget So something I get asked about a lot is why we mill our own flour Once you understand what happens to the grain after it's been milled It's quite hard to go back When wheat is ground fresh everything is intact The germ, the bran, the oils and the vitamins And wheat germ is extraordinarily rich in vitamin E And in B minerals and in minerals like magnesium and zinc But those oils are volatile So they begin to oxidise almost immediately after milling And within days much of that nutritional value has degraded Which is why commercial flour has that germ removed entirely Not because it's bad for you but quite the opposite actually Because it goes rancid quickly and flour needs to last months on a shelf So when we mill our grain fresh at home we use the whole kernel Everything is there, the fibre, the fat soluble vitamins, the minerals And then when we bake with it the same day or within a day or two Nothing is lost so we're getting all of those benefits Right, I'm actually going to wait until my husband gets home To do the big bag of flour, of wheat grain Because it's too hot, it's too heavy I feel too hot and heavy so I'm not going to do that right now But anyway I'm making blueberry muffins with freshly milled flour And I'm going to try it with this spelt grain as a soft wheat alternative anyway So I don't need much of my hard wheat So let's make some, what did I say, brownies? I meant muffins I'm not sure if I said brownies or not but I meant muffins So to my flour, do you want to fill that in for me sweetheart? This? Yeah, pour it in that bowl To my flour I'm going to add just a little bit of wheat gluten That is just to make it a little bit softer of a crumb But you don't have to use this at all This is purely because I want to try using this, not because you need it I just have it on hand so I'd like to see if it makes a difference at all to my freshly milled baking So we're going to add about, I think it's a tablespoon or so to this Into our flour I'm also going to do two and a half teaspoons of baking powder Just because in the recipe I normally do two eggs but I only have one left So I'm going to throw that in with a bit of extra baking powder Stir that together Just a second honey, let's get some butter These are going to be worth it They are worth having the oven on at this temperature You guys that live in hot countries must think I'm such a wimp It is really hot here right now, like 35 degrees Celsius Which I think is really hot OK, I would love to add lemon zest into this, that would be perfect But I'm just going to do a little bit of lemon juice Because I don't have any lemons A bit of lemon juice, a bit of vanilla extract Mix it all together This summer has looked quite different for me so far We are expecting a baby at the end of summer, so early September And between that and the heat waves we've been having here in England I've just had to slow down considerably And honestly it's been good I think I used to feel like I needed to set aside a proper chunk of time to clean and tidy You know, like a real dedicated session Otherwise it didn't count You know, I wasn't cleaning, I wasn't doing anything But when you're tired and it's hot And you have young children And also a garden My garden feels like it's out of control at the moment And a full life Those big sessions just don't always happen And then you can feel like you've sort of failed somehow Which is a bit ridiculous But what I've settled into instead is something small and sustainable And it is this I try to never leave a room empty handed And it sounds almost too simple And I've spoken about it before But whenever I get up to move from one room to another I try and pick up something Something that belongs elsewhere A cup to bring back to the kitchen Something to put away Clothes that need to go upstairs when I'm heading up to the bathroom And I'm not setting out to clean I'm just moving through my home with a bit more of an intention to tidy up And over the course of the day it does actually add up And the house is almost never in chaos Complete chaos anyway Because things are slowly and constantly being returned to where they belong And I still have to do those pick ups But it just means that I'm on top of it Just a little bit more in this busier season of my life And it almost asks nothing else of me Which is quite nice And it fits around everything else Even on the days when I have very little to give And I've also had to let go this season of the idea of the house being perfect It never really was Definitely not And we have children And a very lived in, quite small home But I used to hold it to a standard that I could never always meet You know, they see these beautiful houses online But it's just a standard that I could never really meet And that's okay And setting that down has felt like a relief A home that is loved and lived in is totally enough And a home with a bit of dust on the windowsill And flowers on the table And bread proving in the kitchen Is exactly what I want to live in Where the manger is clean The bible says the oxen are few So if your house is full of people Which I love that ours is And will continue to be as we grow as a family Then our manger won't be always clean And that's okay I'd rather that So if you're in a season where a big clean feels out of reach Whether you're pregnant Or you have small children as well Or just a busy summer I'd offer you that one thing Try and never leave a room empty handed I shall go and enjoy this The children are in quiet time right now And it's definitely a moment of peace So if you go and enjoy this, it's a nice book So we visited the most wonderful reclamation yard Not long ago in Worcestershire And I've always loved these types of places They have a quality that is just so hard to explain And something between kind of a museum and a market It's just wonderful And everything has a history Everything has been somewhere and belonged to someone And we came home with a few little treasures from this reclamation yard Nothing excessive But we have a pile of old books Because my husband can never resist an old book There's something beautiful in the weight of them The smell of the paper The fonts It's just wonderful And also a beautiful antique mug But I loved seeing some of the beautiful old plates And I spent a long time looking at the pine furniture Antique pine has such character You can see the grain and the age and the wear of it And it tells you it's been used and loved over many years And that feels entirely right for a home like ours And this is actually how we try to build our home And I think is the right way to do it when you want an old look in the house It has to be done slowly, over time and piece by piece Definitely not filling it all at once with new things But waiting for the right objects to find their way to us As we visit charity shops, as we visit reclamation yards Facebook marketplace, all of those things Things with history Things that feel as though they belong in an English cottage Because they've already spent 100 years in one And there's no rush to it And that's what I love most A home built slowly and with intention And it also becomes a home that feels entirely your own So if you've enjoyed spending a little of your day here with us Please do subscribe We'd love to have you There is always something simple happening in this corner of England And I'd love for you to be a part of it