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Showing posts with label Butterbump Splash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Butterbump Splash. Show all posts

Monday, 9 May 2016

Tea and Cakes in Little Bunting

Little Bunting is a tiny village, deep in the heart of Lincolnshire.

The village school, the blacksmith, grocery shop, butcher's shop and draper's have long since gone, as has the post office.




We have a friendly village pub and a tiny village hall, so there is still some sense of community.


On special occasions Little Bunting has even been known to 'get out the bunting' as everyone gathers on the village green to catch up with friends, eat, drink and play silly games, but these times are rare.


It is such a sleepy kind of place that when the nearby watermill peacocks go walkabout, a phone call results in their keeper coming along on his scooter to round them up - and they obediently stroll along the road and back to where they belong.


Tiny cottages and this beautiful dovecot are just two of the places which I see on my daily walks.




Butterbump Splash is where the lovely historic watermill may be found, and Dovecot Dell is home to this wonderful old dovecot.  

These three very small villages are separated by just a couple of meadows, so gatherings generally include people from all of them, and even then numbers are low.


A couple of weeks ago a piece of paper was placed in our mailbox, it read: Tea and Cakes, Village Hall, Monday 9th May  2pm.

That was it.

I had no idea who had sent it, who was baking the cakes, doing the organising, or whether anyone would attend.


This photograph pretty much shows the whole of our village hall - I did say it is tiny - this was one of our village shows.  Of course the bunting came out then too.

No bunting today, though.
But as I approached the village hall I could hear the murmur of several voices, which was encouraging.     I went inside to find a dozen people, including a couple of men, sipping tea, munching on delicious cakes.



Village elder, Joan, had made them, a wonderful fruit loaf, a chocolate cake and a fabulous Victoria Sponge Sandwich.     It was a shame that the utilitarian cups and saucers had been selected, it would have been so much nicer to drink from the best ones and the cake certainly merited such company.

Still, given that I ended up doing the washing-up perhaps it was just as well!

It was good to catch up with old friends and to meet some of the new people.

So Little Bunting's Village Hall is back in business again, for now.

Sunday, 27 December 2015

Preparing for the next Round

Today has been spent doing normal things, a small oasis of calm before our next lovely guests arrive.



Dobson was having an off day and refused to walk along the lane with me.   I tried persuading him, but he dug he heels in.   I wasn't prepared to drag him along on a walk, so I took him back to the garden and went off by myself.


Through Butterbump Splash and along the lane to Dovecote Dell.

I took a small detour to the church yard, then down through the farmyard - a very muddy farmyard, just as well I was wearing Wellies.   The air was mild, the sun was shining.   It was wonderful.

Back home, I baked a sponge cake and a load of chocolate brownies, then used the sponge to make an enormous trifle.   Beth and James are staying with us for a few days, so they will make short work of it.   I also made a vast potato salad and a big pot curry.    I plan to do relaxed entertaining and easy meals.

Max has been busy in the garden - shredding the mini mountain of sticks which have blown down through the year.      They were soon shredded and scattered along the pathways around the vegetable garden, forming a nice dry surface.    

We always enjoy this job - it tidies up the woodland and it provides us with free mulch.  Win-win...and fresh air, to boot.



Poppy, Miles, I'll post photographs and more news tomorrow.    The internet has been dropping in and out today, sorely trying my patience.

XXX