lately

My bbc weather app informs me that, each day, sunrise and sunset are 2 minutes earlier and later respectively than the previous day.
And so, a quick calculation shows that as each week passes we gain nearly half an hour of extra daylight!
The lengthening days have not only lightened our spirits chez fenland lottie, but are also the means of stirring nature into life again.

That's not to say that we haven't had some very cold days recently in this neck of the woods.
The ducks that appear to be walking on water in the photo below are in fact skating on ice!

But when the sun does come out, there is a definite warmth to it and last Monday was a glorious day with a hint that spring is on its way.

Down on the allotment, there are promising buds on the fruit bushes and the onion sets which I planted last autumn are poking through.
The rhubarb is springing into life too; bright pink mounds pushing through the earth.

But for all the talk of spring, winter is still here and a big bowl of soup is still one of the things I most love to eat at this time of year.
This is a roasted root vegetable soup.
An obliging recipe, since the vegetables can be varied according to what's in the fridge.
This particular batch was made with:
1 red onion
1 carrot
1 parsnip and
1 sweet potato
Chop and mix with 1 tablespoon of red thai curry paste,1 crushed clove of garlic, 2 teaspoons of honey and oil to coat before roasting in a very hot oven until nicely browned.
Reserve some of the vegetables for garnish,then puree the rest with vegetable stock- about 600 ml should be about right.
Check the seasoning and serve with a dollop of plain yoghurt.

And talking of new life, tiny girlie, our newest arrival to the family will be 16 weeks old tomorrow.
How time flies!
She melts our hearts with her big beaming smiles and earlier this week, delighted herself and us all by mastering the art of rolling from her back to her tummy!

Happy weekend everyone!