Antique Hunting in Rural England | Late Summer Village Day & Sourdough at the Cottage

I just want to go out and walk with you Baby, you know I just like to talk with you You don't have to tell me anything that's new I just want to go out and walk with you I just want to see your shadow next to mine Sailing over pavement with our two weapons I like to see the shape you're in from time to time I just want to see your shadow next to mine I just want to see the same things you can see Understand the meaning on a new degree Maybe that could happen when you're next to me I just want to see the same things you can see I just want to go out and walk with you Could be twenty minutes or an hour or two Baby, you know I just like to talk with you I just want to go out and walk with you That doesn't look good I cannot tell you how many times I have tried to film this segment of the video and just not had capacity, time, I've not been well enough I've been a little bit poorly over the last few days just with kind of flu-y like stuff Children have needed me, home demands, pregnancy, just having me lay flat for hours on end so many times, so excuse the kind of craziness into which I'm entering into it I have about ten minutes and that's all I've got and so I thought, right, this is my opportunity, I'm going to get it done My hair is not done, I am in kind of scruffy clothes but we're going to do it anyway, we're just going to get it done because I've been wanting to share some of these pieces with you that I've been collecting over the charity shops I've been visiting antique centres, things like that over the past couple of weeks and we visited some lovely ones and some lovely villages and things like that and I've just bought a few things that I thought would be really fun to share So the first one I will show you is far away, not being very organised With all of the hospitality that we normally do, not quite in this season of our lives but a few months ago we were in the throes of hospitality and I've been wanting some more serving dishes and I found this, just kind of very beautiful, simple white piece that's even got a little ladle slot Now I did get it reduced because of that, because it didn't come with a ladle So I got this for £6 instead of £10 I think and it's from, oh I think I'm going to drop it It's from Maxwell Williams Designer Homewares, just their white basics and it is just kind of a very simple, beautiful and practical thing that I've been using a lot, serving our family meals up in here in this dish, next to everything else that goes on the table and things Just a useful thing that I haven't had, especially with a lid because it keeps it warm So that's a very useful thing I have to excuse my breathlessness because, woo, 36 weeks pregnant and feeling that 36 weeks pregnant, 37 by the time this goes up I don't know, something around there OK, the next thing that I thought was really cute is this little case here Now this isn't any ordinary case, see if you can guess what's inside Could be for pencils and things like that but I've got it for a set of knitting needles Now I already have a bunch of knitting needles so I didn't necessarily need the needles that came inside but I thought they were quite nice actually They're kind of bamboo, woo, bamboo wooden knitting needles that I can also fit my other collections Where are we? Nope, not having, there we go that I can also fit my other collection of knitting needles inside as well and my crochet hooks I'm more of a crochet kind of girl at this point but I would like to start knitting and sewing and all those beautiful crafts and projects I have lots of projects in my mind that I'm like, yes I will just make that I will upholster that chair I will just make those curtains and I will sew that dress and it's a lovely thing to invest in but I haven't quite put enough time into it but it's kind of this sort of Cath Kidson vibe here which is quite sweet and then it's got quite a cute tie on it as well so I thought that was quite a nice thing to keep them together not least because my boys get into my knitting needles and use them as drumming sticks and so if I had them contained and slightly out of the way a bit more I think that might be wise on my part as a parent yes and maybe we wouldn't have so many drumming incidents if you know what I mean so that's one, excuse my cold today is the only day I've really had a voice to be able to film or talk even or sing so it's been quite a challenging few days the next thing is along a sort of similar line and it's super random it cost me £3 but I thought it was really cute and it's this, well, cow bag and it's got this beautiful it did say in the shop it had a label on it that said it was handmade and it does look handmade, it's super cute but it's got a cow on it with a nice button detail there at the front and a cute little pocket and it's just nice to have I have this extra in our nappy bag because I always end up going places and coming back with more or feeling like everything's a bit unorganised and so I throw maybe water bottles in here or spare nappies or something in here separate to the nappy bag it all gets a bit chaotic sometimes when we're out so I quite like having this on hand I've also been using it as a little handbag for myself as well because it's cute look, it reminds me of the lovely countryside wholesome cows my sister-in-law would like this, she really likes cows but I'm going to keep it for myself we're going to give it to her no, I don't think she'd use it I'll use it and it's got kind of a velcro top just a lovely kind of canvas tote bag random, but cute okay, the next thing I got I need to gather from over here is this sewing box again, along the lines of crafts and handmade things from Scratch Living this is a sewing box that I thought was really cute I got this for £10 which to be honest I felt like that was a little bit too much but, actually no yes, no this was £10 but I'm happy with it, I think it's a good thing to have I've recently just been using a big old plastic box for kind of sewing needles and ribbon and all those buttons and things but this has kind of been a really nice thing to keep out and about so I actually pick up the sewing projects that I have a little bit more, even just kind of stitching up holes and things recently it's been two floors away in a spare cupboard in our upstairs which is just too far away, especially so pregnant it's really far I mean, it's quite a small house so it's not that far but it takes me a while to get up there being this pregnant, and so I don't do those little things that kind of need doing here and there or sewing up a hole and things, so having this around because it's beautiful is definitely a bonus, and I'll take some nice shots of showing you the inside of that because to open this up would be a bit awkward that was the next thing that I got, ok another thing that you haven't seen is the basket that is by my door, ok I have not found the perfect place for this to live yet, it is quite large, but it currently lives we currently put our shoes in here as you walk in, in this one down there and then I've been keeping kind of nappy bags and also shopping bags in there to take to the shops when we go, so it's been a really nice addition to this space, however I do think it's a little bit oversized, I got this for £15 I was going to use it as toy storage which I might do in the future in a different space maybe, but for now it lives here it's quite large and fits lots of things whoops, some random bits in the nappy bag and all those lipsticks, random and it's got quite a good amount of storage inside, it is also lined on the side here which makes it quite useful for toys and things that might make it a bit dirty and you can just wipe that down, so that's been an addition that we've made here next addition is these shelves now I picked these up from the charity shop just a couple days ago and I saw it and thought ooh, this would be lovely right here in our kitchen just sort of above our grain mill here and it came with some lovely hooks so I hooked those on and I've been keeping our copper pans and butter paddles and things like that on top of the grain mill here, which has just been a really nice addition by the time we got back from the village and our time of fun the afternoon had well and truly settled in and that lovely golden kind of late summer afternoon where all you want to do is sort of potter around, that was me today and it was perfectly timed actually because the sourdough starter I'd fed earlier in the morning was sitting on the counter looking absolutely ready to go, so village day is done, bags dropped, kettle on and it's time to make bagels so although we bake a lot of sourdough here, I still do make absolute fails of loaves, this is super dense, almost inedible and also burnt because I was feeling a bit poorly last night and so didn't get to the oven in time and the children were in their bedtime routines and so Josh wasn't around either so I just let it go, I just let it be so this feels like it weighs a ton, it's like a brick so don't be discouraged by your failed loaves, this was a freshly milled, spelt sourdough loaf, and it did fail you feel it, it's heavy huh? yeah, it helps so I just encourage you with that with my discouraged feelings about loaves that go wrong I encourage you because things go wrong and it's absolutely okay, what I will do with this is I'm going to tear it up basically I don't think I'm able I'm going to cut it up into kind of chunks lay it out on a baking sheet and put it in the oven for at about 90 degrees post lunch once I've cooked our lunch for about an hour or two until it completely dries out and then blitz it into breadcrumbs which is going to Percy would like to show you, you've got to lift it high it doesn't look too bad but it is it's like a weight it's like a brick there we go, it's like a brick the highest compliments, I'm going to tear it up and put it in the oven for a little while until it dries out entirely because I think it's quite dense on the inside blitz it into breadcrumbs so it will last about 2-3 weeks in a jar and then maybe 3-6 months actually in the freezer that's why I'm going to keep mine in the freezer okay so the recipe I was working from is one I have made before for the bagels, a long fermented sourdough bagel and I do love it when it works it usually does but the plan was kind of simple enough but half way through I ran out of plain flour plain white flour when I was mixing it and rather than stopping because honestly who stops I just swapped in half freshly milled spelt flour which is completely illogical and it felt logical at the time but I will be up front with you these were not my finest bagels they came out a little flat, a little chewy a little blob like is how I would sort of describe them but the spelt didn't behave the same way in the dough and I don't think my starter was quite at peak either or something in that process wasn't quite right so it was a double whammy really two small things that individually might have been fine but together just meant the rise wasn't quite there they were edible and we did eat them over a few days and we enjoyed them with nice yummy toppings but they were not beautiful pillowy golden bagels that I had in my head and I think it's really important to show you that as well because this is just what life looks like sometimes I think about this a lot actually the learning as you go part I'm a fairly young homemaker I think I can say I'm young I think I am and in a lot of ways I'm the first in my family for a good while to be really learning leaning into these kind of skills that I sort of share on here and it's not that I have mastered these skills, I absolutely have not, but I do really enjoy them and I learn from lots of people around me lots of people online but kind of the bread baking, sourdough milling flour, I so didn't grow up watching someone do this and that's okay that was the life I was given which is absolutely, I'm so grateful for how I grew up but it does mean that as I'm doing it today I'm definitely figuring it out as I go batch by batch, fail by fail which you have seen in this video failed sourdough bread and almost failed sourdough bagels so it doesn't make me appreciate you guys still watching even when I fail but I do hope that that is sort of an encouragement to you if you are in kind of a similar place, you don't have many people around you doing these types of things or interested even or helping you or older ladies helping or grandmas helping you know my hope is that one day I will be that kind of grandmother teaching my children how to shape a bagel and to get there I've got to be willing now to make those flat chewy ones first okay so before I go I did want to just have a little chat with you because we're getting close now if you've been here for a little while you know that I'm expecting our fourth child and I'm very much in that final stretch where the days feel both very long and somehow they also fly by really fast so I'm trying to be intentional over the next few weeks about really slowing down which on a channel like this I appreciate sounds slightly redundant but there's slow and then there's actually listening to your body and resting slow and I'm trying to do this second one less planning less filming more just kind of being at home and pottering and doing the gentle things I am sort of trying to figure out getting ahead of schedule so I can have a little bit of a maternity leave as it were but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make it honestly guys so I did just want to say if there's a week or maybe two where you don't hear from me please don't worry it just means something rather wonderful is happening and I'm a little bit busy as we all know labour has a way of not quite checking our schedule first but I'll come back when I'm ready and in hopefully not too long at all I mean I have a video planned for all of the weeks ahead so it's only going to be labour that will hinder that slightly but hopefully I see you next week but when I do take a little break if I end up doing that and it works out that way there'll obviously be quite a lot to share after but in the meantime I just wanted you to know because you're a part of this community of mine and it felt right to tell you so there's something quite fitting about this season actually late summer everything ripening things coming to their natural end before something new begins and I've been thinking about that quite a lot actually so home feels full in the best possible way and I feel that despite all the kind of flat bagels and the tired legs genuinely quietly content which is such a lovely feeling so anyways thank you for being here thank you for watching these ordinary days with me I'm so blessed to have you join I love hearing from you in the comments I read all of your comments and I'd love to hear from you I can't always reply but I do read every single one but I'll be back before long I might even be back next Tuesday let's be honest I really don't know when I'm going to give birth but things will look a little different once I have and I can't wait to share it with you so take care of yourselves and I'll see you on the other side if you do want me to share more about kind of pregnancy and birth and things like that I'm not really sure how to share it on this channel but if you'd like to know a little bit more maybe you can leave ideas in the comments or I'll work it into a video somehow and give you a little update but for now that's all from me and I will hopefully see you next week God bless