A RAINY, COSY SEPTEMBER WEEK IN MY LONDON GARDEN / EMMA'S SUNDAY DIARIES

Good morning everyone, oh my gosh look how I'm appearing on camera. Tell me two years ago that I would have appeared on YouTube like this, I think it's just got to the point where I make these so much that when I feel like I want to talk to you I just talk to you. I didn't sleep that well last night, hence the fact that I've got massive puffy eyes, so I've got these little eye masks on in the hope that they kind of take the puffiness down and make me look like I actually did sleep. I'm also about to go and get a coffee out, it's raining, it's absolutely pouring, I tell you what this morning when I woke up, it's Tuesday today, and when I woke up and saw it was absolutely pouring I was actually so happy and excited because it has forced me to take this day off. This is the day that I am officially taking off, other than just picking up the camera and showing you what I'm doing, which doesn't really feel like work. I quite enjoy doing this, so I really just enjoy making these, so it doesn't really feel like work. But remember, well I don't know, if you saw last week's vlog I said I need to start taking a day in the week for me, and this day because it's pouring I can't go to the allotment, so it's almost just like it's chosen for me, the weather has chosen for me. So going to take the day off, going to start with an autumny rainy walk, go and get myself a coffee, and then we'll see what we need to do today. Right, let's get these off, see if my eyes are any less puffy, no not at all, not a good advert for them. Okay, I think, do you know what though, I don't think they're made for when you haven't slept, I think they're just made for when your eyes are a bit puffy, not like, I think they like expect you to sleep. So let's go on that coffee walk and let's set the day off right with a nice rainy walk, and let's see if I can also find an umbrella. Got some strawberry tops, do you want them, do you want them, yeah, you want them? Oh stop, oh my gosh, you could not be any cuter. We're going to do it, we're going to light the candle. Right, I got absolutely soaked on that coffee walk, but I tell you what, it was so fantastic to walk in the rain, I just, at one point I just wanted to take my hood off and start dancing, it just feels so nice to feel like water coming from the sky, and it's so gloomy and dark out there, so I've lit the candle, Pippin's sleeping under the coffee table, and I'm going to watch something on YouTube. I've been watching this hotel thing, I actually don't know what it's called, but it's on YouTube, I think it used to be on Channel 4 or something, but I never saw it, and it is so hilarious. So there's this hotel in Torquay, and there's a manager called Mark, and it's just about the day-to-day running of the hotel, but it is just so funny, and so addictive, and I can't stop watching it. I've only found it on YouTube, I'm sure it's on, it must have been on Channel 4 at some point, it feels like a Channel 4 programme, but I'm finding like a lot of really old TV stuff on YouTube at the moment, and I'm just loving it, so that's what I'm going to sit here and watch. It has been raining non-stop since I woke up this morning, probably through the night as well, and it has just literally not stopped. I haven't done very much, but I have done a bit of tidying and cleaning, so I don't feel like totally unproductive, but this is definitely turning into a proper rest day, which I really need. It's lunchtime, and I'm going to make some soup. I'm actually going to make one of the easiest, quickest, most delicious soups, which is leek and potato. Honestly, it could not be simpler, and it shouldn't take me too long. I just went down to M&S and got some sourdough bread. Last year, I tried so hard to make a sourdough starter, and it just did not work for me. I'm going to try again this year, over the autumn time, and also, I was making my own bread, and my own bread rolls and stuff a lot last year. I think I'm going to get back into that over the autumn time. I think in autumn, I just have more time to make things from scratch, like bread, so I will get back into my bread making, because I was doing pretty well with it, before I suddenly stopped. So, let's go and start on the soup. Okay, so I've sort of halved the recipe, because it's only going to be for me. So, I'm going to use half an onion, then we're doing two potatoes, just going to leave the skins on, and then I've got one leek as well. I am growing leeks at the allotment plot, but they are not anywhere near ready yet, so I can't use them. I'm going to use pretty much the whole leek. Okay, big old pan, and then we want a little bit, a little bit of oil. Oh my gosh, do I not have any oil? Now, we're just going to whack everything in, everything in. Come on, in you go, in you go. So, I'm just going to make up some vegetable stock. I'm going to do about a pint of it, I think. Okay, now that has softened, we'll throw in the stock. That made it go quiet, didn't it? Right. Okay, so then we'll just pop the lid on, and we'll let it simmer until everything is nice and soft. Okay, where are we with our soupy friend? Oh, looking fantastical. Yes, yes. Definitely soft. It took about 10 minutes, so now we're going to whiz it all up with our little whiz-a-friend. Where's my whiz-a-friend gone? Whizadora. No, not that. Little whiz-a-friend, whiz it all up, and add a little bit of double cream to it. Right, just putting the heat on a little bit, and I'm going to use a bit of double cream. You could also use creme fraiche. I always just use double cream. I don't know why. Swirl that in. That's probably enough for me for two days, actually. I tried my best to make enough for one person, but actually, I think that's quite difficult to do with soup. If you haven't already seasoned it, season it now. A little bit of salt and pepper goes a long way. I suppose if you really wanted to, you could melt some cheese into this now to make it extra luxurious. I actually hate cheese. There's not many cheeses that I actually like. I like mozzarella and a little bit of mild cheddar, and that's about it. This is the bread we've got. Just some crafted sourdough. Crafted sourdough from good old M&S. M&S to the rescue with the sourdough. That looks so amazing. So I just have a couple of slices. Do you know what I still don't have? A ladle for getting soup out. I still don't have it, and I make so much soup. This has actually got a pouring thing on one end, so I'm actually just going to pour it in. Look at me making it all neat. I'm going to get a photo for my Instagram because that is something else, and hopefully this will go into the allotment planner as well. If I don't already have this recipe, I don't think I do, but this will go into the allotment planner, but look at this. It smells incredible, and it's so easy to do. You saw it took me about 25 minutes to make this fresh soup for lunch. Perfect. Look, the rain has gone, and the blue sky and the sun is back out. How lovely. My camera can't even pick up the blue sky because it doesn't recognise it anymore. I can't get this thing down. I left my poor chrysanthemums under the parasol, so they are the only things... Parasol? What did I just call it? Parasol? Parasol. So they're the only things in the garden that have not experienced a good rain, which is such a shame. I feel quite sorry for them. I'm wondering if maybe a pot or a watering can is filled with rainwater, because I really want them to experience rain. I don't feel like they've ever experienced it, guys. I've got some onion seeds to sow. I was supposed to do it a few days ago, and I forgot. They are onion tuff ball, and I've got 150 seeds here, so I'm going to scatter them in a tray and sow them here at home. I've never had much luck sowing onions from seed, but then again, I've never had much luck sowing them from onion sets either. So, there's not really much to lose at this point. Okay, I was going to wear a glove, but I don't think I'm going to bother. So I'm just going to sprinkle some fresh compost over the top, because this already had compost in it. I don't know what the compost was for. Something that I've managed to kill. The onion seeds can just grow over whatever it was. Onion tuff ball. I mean, they're going to have to be tough to withstand my gardening efforts, but here we go. So I will grow them until they're kind of, well, growing, you know, with a little green stalk. And as soon as they get a bit bigger, and I feel like I can kind of handle them, I'll prick them out and put them into their own little modules. That's far too many. I've just done the whole thing. I always sow too thickly, but I always just assume that they're not going to grow. Oh, this watering can's filled with a little bit of rainwater, so let's give a little bit to these guys. They won't need much, because that compost is wet. And then, look, Chrysanthemums, look what I've got for you. So exciting. I don't know if I've ever experienced rainwater before, but here it is, guys. Oh my gosh, get excited. That'd be the best drink you've ever had. Oh, just noticed my radish seeds. Do you remember I sowed radish seeds in my last Sunday vlog? Well, that was only about three days ago for me. I haven't traveled through time or anything, it's just that's when I filmed it. And look, they've all come up. Rows of radishes have already come up, I can't believe it. Look how big that courgette is as well. Oh, wow. Oh my gosh, look at the size of you. That's so fantastic. Literally, this has been like two, three days, and it's just like tripled in size. It must have been that rain that we had. Oh, I can't wait to pick it. Do I look like I've escaped from prison? I feel like I'm wearing a prisoner's outfit. It must be the grey jumper, I don't know. I'm going to make dinner now. I've actually made it, I think, a couple of vlogs ago, so I'm not going to show it in too much detail. But basically, I managed to pick some tomatoes from the allotment and safely carried them back home in a plastic bag. Hallelujah. So I've got some Roma tomatoes, some of the orange ones, and then some of the cherry reds. And I'm going to do that kind of where you roast it all. So I'm going to put in the tomatoes, some red onion, some garlic, some red pepper, some herbs, maybe sage and thyme, a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, whack it into the oven and just roast it. And then I'm going to whiz it up with my little whizzer thing and have it with some pasta tonight, I think. So that's going to be my dinner. And I think I did show it before, but I'll show it a little bit this time as well. And that's going to be my dinner. And I'm very hungry, so let's get going. Hello again, guys, from the next day. It is the next day, basically. I'm in my garden. It is blue skies and sunny today. It's absolutely gorgeous, but it's not that hot. It's kind of a really nice temperature. It's kind of the temperature I wish it had been throughout this spring-summer, because this would have been perfect. So I showed you all that rain that we had. The garden is absolutely thriving after that rain. It's so happy with it. Everything's shot up. A lot of my dahlias have started flowering. I didn't think I would get any dahlia flowers this year at all, and finally they've started flowering. So I'm hoping that means they're going to last a bit longer. I know that dahlias can flower right into the end of November, sometimes December. That would be so amazing, just to have a late flowering and for them to continue to flower, because I love them. I've got one, two, three. The one at the front of the garden has just started growing, and I'm hoping for flowers on that one. But these two here are just gorgeous. Let me show you them quickly. This one is absolutely gorgeous, isn't it? Look how open these flowers are. Beautiful. The bees are loving them, look. The bees literally cannot get enough of these dahlias. I'm so glad they've flowered and given the bees some food. And then I've got these. I think these are more sort of a pom-pom variety, but they are still quite open for the bees. They've got lots more petals, and it's like a really soft butter yellow. Just so gorgeous. But look how healthy the plant is looking. It just... I'm so happy. I've got lots more buds on this one, so hopefully we'll have lots more dahlias. The autumn pots that I planted are looking fantastic. They've just been so happy. All that rain really helped them out, helped them to settle into their new pots. And I really love these pots as well. I love the shape of them. I just think they're so nice. I've got one here, and then I've got one here too. And they just look lovely. And these should give me colour right into the autumn. I've got another little pom-pom dahlia here. How utterly gorgeous. Their chillies are starting to change colour now. Look how gorgeous that is. These are the lemon drops. They look so fantastic. I can't wait to pick them. And then over here, this is the tangerine dream. I've got one that's changed colour, and then look how many I've got. Look how big that one is. Absolute whopper. My little vegetable area here is looking so healthy and happy now. Look at these courgettes. They've gone crazy. And then this bed looks great. We've got all the radishes, and the leeks are getting bigger. Oh, look at the lettuces. I have to pick those soon. And even my little jack-o-littles have started to grow. And throw out more of a vine. Isn't that fantastic? I really thought that these weren't going to amount to anything this year, because they've just been sitting there for so long. Kind of dormant. I'm really tempted to stick an archway in. What is it with me and pumpkins and archways? Seriously. I mean, that would be the dream, wouldn't it? That would be the dream. If I was staying in this house, I think I would do that. But unfortunately we're moving, so I don't want to do anything too permanent. I'm a little bit worried about these, because I think their pot is too shallow, and I think too many of them have been stuffed into the pot. I think it's sort of for display purposes, to try and make you buy them. I think what I might do is take them out, split them up into their separate colours, and then plant them into some of the pots down here. Hang on. I've got a better idea of where they can go. Because I don't think they're going to survive much longer in this little pot. It's such a shame. I think I might stick them in here. Because as beautiful as they all are together in this pot, they're just not going to survive. So, I'd sort of rather they survive. Yeah, look how dry they are. I might actually end up killing a few, but I just think in the pot, they're just definitely going to die. So at least, at least they've got a bit of a chance. I don't think the roots are big enough to hold them. Oh no. OK, well they look good right now. They actually look really, really pretty. And it makes this plant look so gorgeous. I just don't know if they're going to survive, because I don't think I've got enough of their roots out. But we'll see. I'll keep them watered, and I'll just let you know how gorgeous is this Aster. One of my favourite flowers. Isn't it so pretty? You've got an itch behind your ear. Do you need some help? OK. I've come inside. I thought some of you might like me to go through some of my favourite autumnal, or not really autumnal, but like cosy season favourite books. As you know, I'm a big reader. I love reading. At the moment, I'm reading Frieda McFadden The Divorce. I'm about three quarters of the way through. It's more of kind of like a thriller book. Frieda McFadden's books are fantastic page-turner books. So if you can't find a book to read, and you're like me, you feel lost without a book to read, pick up a Frieda McFadden one, and at least you'll be reading something. Then there's something to read, and it's a page-turner, and it's absolutely ridiculous, but so addictive. But if you want something a little bit more, something that's going to kind of stay with you, these are some of my favourite cosy kind of books that I think you could really get into. Firstly, Wayward. This is actually very autumnal. It's very Halloween-y, sort of based on witches, and three characters. So one in the present day, one in 1942, and one in 1619. They're all kind of from the same family line. And it's just a really good read. It's really, really good. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Enjoyed all three characters and all three of their stories. So definitely, definitely, if you haven't read Wayward, please go and get it. This isn't my favourite cover of Wayward, by the way. I couldn't find the other one, but there is a more aesthetically appealing cover, but I was so desperate to read the book. I might read this again, actually. The other one is something that I read this year, actually. Was it this year, or was it late last year? That's Hamnet. I know there's a film on this now. I haven't seen it yet. The problem is that I know what happens in this book, so it's just like, it's... I just don't know if I can watch the film. I think I'll just be crying the whole way through it, but it's an absolutely fantastic book. It is beautifully written. I could read this a hundred times. I will definitely read this again soon. It's just a fantastic book. So Hamnet, I would thoroughly recommend. Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. This book had its heyday a few years ago and everybody who was anybody read it. It is a brilliant book. The character, Eleanor, is so fascinating and so beautifully written that I feel like I literally know her. All of her quirks are just so relatable, so interesting. The whole book is character-led. It's all about Eleanor Oliphant. And it is just... Tons and tons happens, I think. It's mainly about the character as such. Stuff does happen, obviously. But for me, it was just Eleanor that stuck with me. And it's just a really, really good read. I mean, you will read this very quickly if you pick this up. I know it's a longer book, but honestly you will finish this so quickly. Then there's a book, I think I've never spoken about this before. It's called The Upstairs Room, Kate Murray Brown. The Upstairs Room. This is a scary book. I don't read many sort of creepy books, but basically it's about a woman who a woman and her husband who buy a new house in London and it's essentially haunted. There is an upstairs room which is locked and strange things happen. This is an incredible book. No one I know has ever spoken about this book or mentioned it. I really feel like it's something I've just sort of read and nobody else has read. So I'd really love you to go and find this book on Amazon. I think you'll only find it on Amazon because I've never seen it in a bookshop. The Upstairs Room. Very creepy. Very beautifully written. Almost like, I feel like you're watching a movie when you read this book. Not too creepy. It's not going to absolutely creep you out. It's not going to scare you or anything. It's just a little bit eerie and also one of those books that you really want to find out the ending. I want to know what happens next. Very Moorish. Like I said, never heard anyone talk about it. Please go and buy this book. The Upstairs Room. Kate really good. It's a really good creepy October Halloweeny read. And then I also thought I would mention if you're looking for something very cosy but you don't have much time or you want something you can get through quite quickly pick up any of Claire Keegan's books. They are fantastic. They're very very short. They're just short stories but the amount that she puts in to such a short story is incredible. These are two of my favourites. So we've got Small Things Like These which I have seen. It's on Netflix and it is fantastic. It's brilliant on Netflix. They've really captured it. This is set at Christmas time as well. It's very cosy. There's a lot of references to the cosiness and the cold air and stuff like that. So it's definitely a cosy read. The storyline is a little bit heavy but beautifully written and that's one of my favourites of hers. And then also I really liked this one So Late in the Day. Again, just so much information in such a short storyline I felt so sorry for the main character in this one. I genuinely did. Not too sorry but I definitely felt sorry for him. He's obviously going through a lot but this was one of my favourite ones. This took me about half an hour to read but stayed with me. It's literally not left my mind. I can still see everything that happened in this book happening in my mind. It's amazing how she writes in such a short amount. Even literally on the pages, it's such a short amount that she's actually writing. The sentences can be quite short. Just so much richness, so much depth to her books. So yeah, any of Claire Keegan as well. So those are the books that I'd recommend. If you are looking for a really cosy autumnal read, you just want to snuggle up on the sofa with a blanket, light a candle and really get stuck into something, those are the books I would recommend. But yeah, let me know your book recommendations for autumn time. I'm really, really looking just for cosy reads. It doesn't have to be specifically about autumn or winter but what I mean by cosy is any book that kind of stays with you and has depth to it and meaning and is beautifully written and really takes you to another place. Those are kind of my, that's my definition of cosy, a cosy read. Thought I would share those with you. And Pippin, I've sent Pippin to sleep. Was that enough for you? Was that a bit boring if I sent you to sleep? You need another groom. I'm going to have to brush all your fur out again tonight. He's actually molting again. So they need grooming every day. They need like brushing these mini lops. But when he goes through a molting session which he does about four times a year he just loses like so much fur in one go and it's so hard to keep on top of. This is cheville curled which is a herb which can basically, you can substitute parsley for cheville and I really like parsley and stuff and so does Pippin. I wonder if Pippin would like this as well. I'm sure it must be safe for rabbits but I'm going to sow it from a seed into one of my compartments here in my herb planter because I don't have anything growing in it. So I haven't actually sown anything from a seed in this before. I just tend to sort of plant the plant in here but here we go. We'll see how it does. I actually do end up using most of these herbs in my cooking. I think it's really useful just to have fresh herbs right outside your kitchen because sometimes when I'm cooking I'll just literally come out and just pick some herbs, just some random herbs and stick them together and just put them in whatever I'm cooking. I just think it's just so, so useful. You don't have to have like a planter like this. You can just have a few pots. You could have a hanging basket just for or you could just have one pot. Whatever you've got space for but it is really useful having herbs. Some of these herbs though I don't use as much as others. You can tell the ones that I use because they've been sort of picked and they look a little bit better because the more you pick the healthier they kind of grow. These ones for example and this. I can't even remember what these are but I don't really use them so I think if I can find some other herbs that I will use I'm just going to replace them. I'm just going to be quite ruthless because I think there's no point growing something if you're not actually going to use it. This was all from like a little bundle herb plug plants that I bought from B&Q. Not from B&Q, yeah from B&Q I think and then these two came with it and I'm not sure what they are. I feel like this might be some kind of oregano. Yeah that could be oregano and this is some kind of mint but it's not normal mint I think it's like peppermint or spearmint or something. But just something I'm just not using that's why it's flowering. That's why both of these are flowering and none of the other herbs are flowering because I'm always picking them. I've got my chives, rosemary, thyme sage yeah and I'm just not using them so I'll have to think of some other herbs to get. Do you reckon that looks like rain or do you think I'll get away with hanging some bits outside? I don't know. I've run out of room on the washing line so I've just had to put them over the trellis. To be fair it's only bath mats so hopefully they'll be okay if it doesn't rain. It does look really really miserable out today. Actually I have to say we've gone from pouring with rain really autumnal to really nice and blue skies and sunny to looking just really dark and miserable again. So welcome to September in the UK. You never know what each day is going to bring. Anyway I do hope you've enjoyed this Sunday's vlog. I will be back again at the allotment plot on Monday or back here in my home garden next Sunday and I'd love for you to hit the subscribe button if you haven't already follow me along. I'm also on Instagram and TikTok if you haven't discovered me there yet and yeah I look forward to seeing you again. We're going to be doing more baking, more cooking more gardening more trips out and about and I can't wait to share it all with you. So I will see you when I see you. Thank you so much for watching.