Every now and again I look at the Little Toller Books website and recently discovered they were reprinting this book first published in 1958.
It's a book I've been wanting to read for years but it's always been too expensive. At various times her other books..... Herbal Handbook for Cats and Dogs; Herbal Handbook for Horses and Herbal Handbook for Everyone, have been reprinted and I'd seen them and sold them when we were selling second-hand smallholding and country books but this much earlier book about her time living with two small children in the New Forest in the 1950s has never been reprinted.
I decided to treat myself to a copy for Mothers Day for myself (that's my excuse anyway!)We've never been a family that celebrate anniversaries, birthdays etc in a big way and now I'd rather my lot spent their money on their own families - and their homes. The way prices are going up for mortgages, child care and food is frightening for them. I was pleased to hear that Youngest's Daughter's contract as a Project Officer for part of the early work going on at the Sizewell C Power Station has been extended for another 6 months. It was a big worry when she was made redundant from the Opticians in the spring of last year.
This little coaster gift that came through the post from Eldest Daughter in Surrey.
There were 2 eggs that needed using so Day 13 of the Value Range Experiment was a 2 egg omelette with some parsley chopped in, some fried mini plum tomatoes and a slice of bread half toasted and half fried. ( I've found that a whole round of fried bread - which I could happily eat, is a bit too much fat!)
Running total so far £49.22
What a great coaster! I can't manage a full slice of fried bread either. Looking forward to the book review
ReplyDeleteI had a friend at school whose breakfast was fried bread with marmalade!
DeleteHappy Mother's Day Sue. I could eat a whole slice of fried bread but don't.
ReplyDeleteThink upsets caused by fatty foods must get worse as a person gets older!
DeleteI still have my original copy of that book and know some of the area where she lived and wandered. I can remember her treating her very sick dog and it was touch and go (I think I would have gone to the vet tbh but she was a herbalist, so obviously didn't) and her never having cooked food, which seemed a bit odd. She was very friendly with the local gypsies and totally in tune with nature. You will enjoy revisiting it. Amazed at a price tag of £69.99 for a copy on Ebay though!
ReplyDeleteI've not read it so will enjoy and that's the price on Amazon - too much for me
DeleteThe coaster is just lovely and buying yourself a gift is great. It will give you much pleasure, I'm sure. xx
ReplyDeleteI don't need many excuses to buy myself a book nowadays!
DeleteI have the paperback herbal handbook. It's excellent.
ReplyDeleteI've seen that but not owned a copy
DeleteWhat a lovely gift from your family. Enjoy reading your book. Catriona
ReplyDeleteHad lovely cards from family too
DeleteThe book looks very interesting (and we haven’t got it in the bookshop!). I enjoyed reading Megan McCubbin’s introduction which is on the Little Toller website. My old village had a settled Gypsy population and I got to know some of the families quite well who were such generous family-minded folk. I think we are all Nomads at heart. It is only the very rich and powerful who settle anywhere for long and even then they travel between their many properties. It is has been so interesting cycling around the lanes between hamlets lately and seeing all the drawn curtains and realising that most of the beautiful houses are second homes and empty most of the time. I am so happy I live on the edge of a thriving village, I really would not want to live in a picture perfect Downland hamlet devoid of life. Changing the subject, may I ask how you clean your greenhouse glass? I’m guessing you had a lot of glass when you had the smallholding. A gardening friend recommended Jeyes Fluid so I bought a small bottle of that yesterday and I see it is By Royal Appointment! Sarah in Sussex
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah - I used to use Jeyes Fluid for cleaning stable floors! So you'll be alright if you get a pony or two!
DeleteAt the smallholding we had 3 polytunnels - difficult to clean. Jeyes is OK for lots of things
DeleteThe coaster is beautiful! I've never seen one like it anywhere.
ReplyDeleteHappy Mother's Day, Sue, enjoy your book :)
It's so pretty - love it. Eldest daughter must have found a website
DeleteDitto with the omelets, Mine look like a dogs dinner, lol Briony
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I can't cope with runny uncooked egg so always try and turn them over - messy
DeleteSome great tasting food isn't very photogenic. I find that good looking omelettes are a bit tough, and the, shall we say more freeform, ones are tenderer and better.
ReplyDeleteMy omelettes are never going to feature in a cookery book!
DeleteHappy Mother's Day! Your new book sounds terrific. The author has produced some interesting books. My omelets look just like yours; happily, the taste is always good. The coaster from your daughter is lovely. I agree, due to high costs, young families have tight budgets and must be careful with expenses. A 6 month extension for work is impressive; her employer must be very happy with her.
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased that daughter has work for another 6 months - hopefully it might carry on for longer after that
DeleteHappy mother's day to you. Ours is in May here in the US. Love the coaster!
ReplyDeleteOh, you must not give up hope. Look at how Sue has progressed. You too can be a flipper! I have every confidence. BTW: Tossing chopped onions, peppers, and tomatoes into eggs is called a western omelet here.
ReplyDeleteMy omelettes always look like they have been made in kit form without any instructions.
ReplyDeleteColin used to like cheese in his - he made his own as I didn't like the smell of fried cheese!
DeleteMy omelettes always looked more like scrambled eggs, but now I don't eat eggs at all.
ReplyDeleteHappy Mother's Day. I am sure the omelet was yummy which is all I would care about.
ReplyDeleteIrene Soper wrote about Juliette de Bairacli's cottage in her book My New Forest Home. Find out more on my blog https://farmsonmybookshelf.blogspot.com/2021/06/my-new-forest-home-by-irene-soper-1996.html Sue, I hope you don't mind me putting a link here?
ReplyDeleteI bet your omelette still tasted delicious even though you flopped it on the plate. I'm pleased to say I'm a master flipper now and mine have been turning out great just recently .... probably famous last words!!
ReplyDeleteI'll be very interested to hear what you think of 'Wanderers in the New Forest'. I've been fascinated by Juliet Levy's life for a long time now and when her obituary was published on Susun Weed's website, I started doing more research. I couldn't understand why she was so feted as the grandmother of herbal medicine in the US, yet the UK herbalists knew nothing or very little about her. At one point she rented a cottage on a farm very near to Weaver of Grass, while she was writing up one of her books. She was forty when she met her husband in Spanish Morocco. He was 19 and a journalist. I think she was pregnant by the time she returned to England, he had been called up to do his national service, so she took herself off to a tiny island to give birth, then came back to England again. They wrote to each other in French as she spoke no Spanish and he spoke no English. They met up once a year and she was pregnant again with her daughter when she was commissioned to write about Spanish gypsies. He begged her to stay and have the child with him, but she was her own master and refused. She caught typhoid soon after delivery and nearly died, and only gave his name to the authorities after they insisted. Otherwise they were going to be left looking after two orphans. She and her daughter recovered, thanks to anti-biotics, and when she returned to England and set herself up in the New Forest for three years, he came over and married her. They drifted apart but never divorced. He went on to marry twice further in Morocco, telling his bride to be he had left a son in England but never mentioned his daughter. She took the children to the US the year he re-married. I never met her but have all her herbal and most of her travel books. I did talk to Rosemary Gladstar, who was responsible for introducing her to the US herbal community and to another US herbalist last year, who met her who works with Susan Weed. Juliet's pen name, de bairacli, actually came from her grandfather. It was given to him by the Sultan of Turkey in thanks for building a lift in Smyrna which still works today.
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