Driving back from West Wales today, through the long and winding country lanes, reminded me of my school day rambles.

     The sudden burst of flowers, with colours to send an artist running for his brushes, vied for the suns attention and its warmth.

      Wild fennel and parsley mixed in with the dog daisies and foxgloves, honeysuckle and elderflower, sent a heady mix of aromas through my car window. I slowed the pace right down, wanting the moment to last; wanting to remember the images of my childhood once again.

       My father called the hedges mini nature reserves, which they are, in their own right. This vibrant ecosystem is home to insects, field mice, butterflies and birds. Slowworms hide in the tall grass and hedgehogs hibernate there when there is nowhere else to go.

       Birds nest in the brambles, embroidered around the dead wood which is home to invertebrates and food for the bats. The great crested newts scurry through the stems upon which you will find the stag beetle and the scorpion fly.  

       As a child I imagined fairies living in the granny’s bonnets and could never understand how some people say they resemble an eagle’s claw. And the bees that buzz up inside them, a perfect setting for a child’s imagination. It’s no wonder I grew up the way I did.

       And let us not forget the road on which I travelled, the same road that was once a dirt track winding its way between these hedgerows and used by our ancestors down through the years.

       Oh if only hedges could talk! But then again they don’t need too; it is all there for everyone to see, hear, feel, taste, and touch. It is a world within a world, a commune of creatures and plants all depending on this natural habitat in order to survive. Long live the hedges!

 After sitting with an elderly lady today, it left me wondering if indeed, it was the home economics that won the Second World War.

      It all began when I was telling her about our home for waifs and strays and how we do our best to grow and preserve our own food. I explained how my father taught me how to survive on wild plants that grow in our hedgerows but I did admit to being lazy on times. She told me that she too had been taught the benefits of herbs for cooking and medicinal use during the war years.  

       So we talked about the war and the rationing of food and how they were educated in cooking frugal but nutritious meals for the family.

     ‘Marguerite Patten gave a cookery demonstration in Harrods,’ she laughed as she remembered those far away days. ‘And quite often you’d go to the cinema to see cooking movies.’ She wiped a tear from her eye and looking away while I left to make her a cup of sweet tea.

     ‘Tut, tut, tut,’ she said smiling when she tasted the tea. ‘You wouldn’t have had your sweet tea in those days!’ But she drank it anyway and it was clear that she quite enjoyed it.

      ‘It was all over the radio too,’ she said with enthusiasm and held out her cup for more tea. ‘Marguerite Patten would give talks on cooking which they called the Kitchen Front!’

      I listened as she talked about Lord Woolton turning Kensington Gardens into allotments for city people. She giggled as she recited an old saying...

‘Those who have the will to win, 
Cook potatoes in their skin,
Knowing that the sight of peelings,
Deeply hurts Lord Woolton's feelings..’

      When we eventually parted, I thought about the things we talked about and came to the decision that the emergence of a healthier nation was largely due to Lord Woolton and the rationing process.

I have listed below, a few War-Time recipes..... 

Onion and cheese Pudding

1 Large sliced onion

1 oz fat

1 oz

 Fry onion. Move to one side and fry flour. Add 1 ½  pints water, seasoning, and simmer till onion is tender. Sprinkle strips of bread with grated cheese. Place in layers in greased pie-dish, pour the soup over, bake until brown.

Haricot Bean Stew 

1 lb cooked beans

1 oz chopped onion

Put 1 oz. Fat in saucepan and fry onion, then put beans on top and a little chopped parsley.Cover with stock or water, add pepper and salt and 1 teaspoonful vinegar and simmer until tender,thicken, boil and serve. An excellent dish made with beans, peas, lentils or macaroni.

 Apple Pancakes

Stew 1 lb apples to a soft pulp without sugar. Beat two tablespoonfuls of syrup into the apple. Make batter pancakes in the ordinary way, and serve with a large spoonful of the apple mixture folded into the centre of each.

Many of you would have read the story I wrote about The Fish & Chip Shop Babies in Africa. Babies born into such poverty,  are sent home from hospital, wrapped in newspapers. Well here is a continuation called The Pillow Case Dresses.

     After seeing the tattered dresses on precious children in Mawawi, a small group of women began to make dresses from pillowcases. Why pillowcases? Well these are readily available and in all colours. Seeing as the hem is already in the material, a novice seamstess can easily whip up a dress in no time, well, in your own time anyway! Check the site below for a full pattern. These were then taken out and distributed around the orphanges and to African villages where little girls live in hope. These simply made dresses are also sent to other countries in crisis.

      Because of the Aids problem in Africa, little girls are often left to become the primary carer for their siblings. Often, along with the dresses, volunteers reach out to give help where help is desperatley needed.

      So if you’re feeling like a challenge, try making a dress from a pillowcase and add buttons, lace or anything you chose, or just keep it simple. The choice is yours!

      So where can you send these dresses? See below.

      mailto:laura_cameron@live.co.uk

      Or check out the site in America, Little Dresses for Africa. Goodluck.

      Print downloadable instructions as shown below can be printed from this link: LDFA dress instructions Teresa 2012

It’s always lovely to get up early, especially when there’s a promise of sunshine.

       At our home for waifs and strays, there is never a dull moment and so much work to do before we can even contemplate doing anything else. So I welcome these light mornings which enable me to stretch the day as far as I possibly can.

       Today began at 6am in the garden. The hedge was already alive with bird song, all singing for their breakfast. It was a wee bit early to let the hens out so after feeding the birds I entered the greenhouse to that earthy smell from the tomato plants. For those of you who are interested, it’s the glandular trichomes that are responsible for secreting a yellow substance that gives you that all too familiar ‘tomato plant’ smell. Well moving on, I took the time to pinch out the tomato suckers, just as my father taught me as a child then watered them before the sun was fully awake.

         After checking the rest of the crops I visited the herb garden which looked amazingly green and probably the best I’ve ever seen it. A short while later, I carried a bundle of thyme, sage, oregano, mint and coriander, into the kitchen and hung some up to dry and placed the rest in jars of water on the windowsill.

        Feeling rather pleased with myself I sat down by the pond with a cup of sweet tea and a head full of thoughts. There was still a lot of work to be done, the list was endless, but there was nothing on it I didn’t want to do, and nothing that couldn’t wait a wee bit longer. Again I thought of my father and a poem he used to recite which was written by William Henry Davies. It went like this.....

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

And so I continued to stare into the quiet pond and think!

Emerging through the gate of our home for waifs and strays, after being away for a week, we could easily be forgiven for thinking we had entered a wilderness. Our garden for waifs and strays had suddenly come alive and was growing at a fast speed.

       Opening the old arched gate, we were greeted by the soft aroma of the jasmine that poured itself over a wall on both sides. Its delicate white flowers are enough to make anyone smile.

        And as we walked up the winding path, we could see the transformation in such a short time. A sign 'stick to the path’ wouldn’t have gone amiss. As we strolled beneath the pergola, where the lilac flowers of the wisteria hung, the heady smells filled our senses. We were home!

         Down by the pond we saw amazing changes. It was covered with a thin speckled carpet called duck weed. We smiled and pointed to the lily pads which forced their way through with the lily flowers tucked in amongst them. Any day now, they will greet us in their full glory and transform the pond to something an artist would be proud to paint. We noticed the overhanging rambling rose, not quite open but hundreds of tiny pink buds were just patiently waiting. Then the glorious tall nettles, which were grown to attract the butterflies soon to arrive at our home for waifs and strays.

         Across an overgrown lawn, we could see the compost bins, all crying out to be turned. And the fruit trees stood proudly, showing off the beginnings of pears, apples, cherries and plums. There would be plenty of preserves this year, I thought. And plenty of work too. But not as much work as the allotment! That came next.

         Strolling further up the path, we came to the allotment. It looked so different, so alive! Beans curled around the wigwams poles like green snakes and peas (my favourite) were just about reaching the old rope fishing net we rescued off the beach. The Greek blue rope would soon be shaded by the sweet tasting peas in their pods.

         The potatoes had been covered and recovered and now the leaves refused to be covered again, with the promise of wonderful new potatoes to have with the beans. The greenhouse door was open and we could see the tomatoes and the lettuce, the cucumbers and the peppers. We imagined the scents oozing from them.

         We stopped at the kitchen door and looked around. There was so much more to see and that was before we went to visit the hens. Oh it was great to go away, to take some time out, but it was even greater to come home to our home for waifs and strays.