Slindon Pumpkin Festival

For over 20 years, The Slindon Pumpkin Festival  has drawn people from all round the counties. The Upton family decided that their meagre pumpkins needed to be dressed up and marketed differently, so Mr Upton came up with the idea to use the vegetables to create pictures and displays.

Every year the family design and work hard at using the various coloured gourds and pumpkins to create a picture. The displays started out being on he roof of one of the barns, but soon a special display stand was made to house it.

Cleverly, they have a market stall to sell their pumpkins and all things related to pumpkins. 

This year the theme looks at the Battle of Britain.

Previously the display has depicted scenes from Star Wars, Venice and Cinderella.

Located on Top Road in the beautiful National Trust village of Slindon, other homes have also cashed in on the pumpkin festival offering pumpkin related goods to visitors.

We bought bought pumpkins to carve for halloween.

The local church hall offers a good range of refreshments and there is a nearby community-owned shop and café, Slindon Forge on Reynolds Lane.

We visited the local potter too, busy making pumpkin related things. We to sucked into buying some miniature pumpkins and some christmas tree decorations.   I don't actually mind buying locally made crafts. They always bring great memories of travel. 

Downe House.. Charles Darwins home

We haven't done alot in science lately, so when I discovered that Charles Darwin's house was only 'up the road' from our latest housesitting job, it went straight to the top of must sees.

The top of the family home is set up as a museum and learning centre, tracing Darwins life and discoveries.  Its a shame we as a society remembers him as a crusty old man. By all accounts, he was an extremely hospitable, jovial man, who loved a good laugh and ( unusually for Victorian times) was a loving , demonstrative father. 

Some of the things I liked to see pointed out was that he was an undistinguished scholar, despite that, his curiosity and love of collecting and classifying things, drove him to go exploring for five years around the world. 

He was fascinated by the hummingbird - and has dozens and dozens of them ( stuffed) in glass cases.

I also didn't realise that he kept his book "Origin of the Species" back 20 years before publishing it. He knew it would cause such a stir, that he may be burnt as a witch and heretic.  An incredible fact is that the book has never been out of print.. far out.

The garden is neatly kept, but nothing out of the ordinary. The house is understated and comfortable. His rooms were kept as they were when he was alive - and really looks like he has popped out for a moment.

I hope the kids got some valuable information as we explored the hands on activities. There were alot of missing bits of information which were tied up as I wandered around, so I'm glad I took the time to explore and read the displays.

Twinning Tea shop in London

Thomas Twinning bought this little shop in the early 1700s. It makes me smile to think it used to be a coffee shop!

This historical gorgeous little shop is always packed with tourists, all breathing in the smoky aromas of the teas Twinnings is famous for. 

It has survived for 300 years - its sad to see it dwarfed amongst the steel and glass monstrosities of the modern world. 

Carrot cake

One of the nice things about being in a place for a little time, is being able to cook treats.

One of Morgans favourite sweet dishes is carrot cake. So.. today we made some carrot cake and muffins. To make them extra moist and yummy, my little tip is to cut down the milk and add in stewed apples ( all moosheup with no skin of course) I lke lots of fresh grated carrots - enough to see it in the finished cake.

Both kids helped out as they love to cook ( and eat the results)

I don't mind it being a little browner ( caramelised!) as it adds to the delicious taste. 

Walk in the Forest

We discovered beside the Niederwald Temple overlooking Rudesheim, there is a forest park, with a series of walks.

I have to admit, I am missing the Camino now... now that the exhaustion, pain of lengthy days and cold showers are distant memories.

Once we started walking, the kids were so excited, all of us commenting how much we missed our long walks and talks - and that we missed the feeling of our backpacks on and sticks in our hands.

It was only about 4 Km - a very cruisy hours walk on calm and level paths. We had to stop ourselves from greeting other walkers in Spanish or to shout a Bien Camino.

Niederwald and the view

Overlooking the Rhein, is one of the most picturesque modern temples you might find, without slugging it up hills in Greece.

Built in 1790 by Graf von Ostein it became the source of inspiration for many great intellectuals during the Romantic era (the 19th Century) with visitors including Beethoven and Goethe. Standing in the middle of the rotunda and looking out, its easy to see why its such a place of inspiration. 

Sadly, bombs destroyed the temple in November 1944 ( like so much of Germany), but it was fully reconstructed about 10 years ago - which is why it looks so beautiful I guess now.

The main attraction for people here is the huge  Niederwald Monument. It was built  between 1877 and 1883 and stands an impressive 38 metres tall.

You can see it all along hte Rhein from the boats and from the roads for miles. It was erected to symbolise the re-establishment of the German Empire following the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.  The main figure symbolises Germania who thrusts the German Imperial Crown up into the sky whilst resting the left on the Imperial word.

Bus loads of people are here all day, every day.

This is the view from the vantage point below the monument - overlooking the vineyards.

Rudesheim Am Rhein

Rudesheim is one of those chocolate box, straight out of Grimms Fairytale style villages along the Rhein.

Usually teaming with tourists at every season, the main shopping street - the Drosselgasse was deserted today. It was miserable and wet; the first really wintery day we have had here in Germany. 

The Drosselgasse is lined with wine gardens, restaurants which normally boasts oompa pa bands and traditional German music and one would normally have to jostle their way through the bus loads of tourists who are all desperate to buy their souvenirs and get on the next boat cruise up the river. 

We plan on coming back at Christmas time to attempt to buy 'proper' Christmas hand crated gifts - such as the beautiful lacework window placemats or the nutcrackers.  I know cookcoo clocks are a bit touristy and daggy - but after going into one of the showrooms, I kinda want one. Starting at a mere ( cough cough) 120 pounds ( and going up over 1000), I think they are safe from my purchasing powers.

It was really nice just to wander around the town, peep in the shop window fronts and munch on a bratwurst bought from a street vendor. 

Its only 45 mins drive from where we are staying, so with a few more things to see here, I think we will be back. There is a good music museum filled with unusual musical instruments and plenty of interesting tudor style homes to look at. 

Rhein River Cruise

Our housesitting role in Germany is in the Rhein region - full of vineyards, trailing along the beautiful Rhein, which is populated by cute little villages and crumbling castles. 

We have been focusing on the homeschooling and gap filling of concepts, so haven't ventured much out over the past few weeks.  Additionally, our very tight budget doesn't really allow us to go very many places. We have visited most of the interesting spots within an hour and half drive in previous trips to this part of Germany and the kids are a little sick of cathedrals and museums. Having the information and tours in German makes it a little harder for me to 'sell it to them".

However cabin fever has set in, so we ventured out on this cloudy, chilly day to take a river cruise to look at some of the castles.

We were blessed with some clear sky and were able to sit on the front for a little while, but the driving rain forced us inside pretty quickly. We had planned on getting off at one of the castles and going inside, but the teaming rain wouldn't allow the boat to dock, so it turned around and went back to our starting point up the river. We aren't too put out about this, as its an easy hours drive from our housesitting spot, so we may venture out on a different day and take a picnic with us. 

Its little wonder that the Rhein is so famous. Its wide stretches of water, deep river banks and rich soil has attracted tourists, invaders and merchants for centuries. 

Below are a few of our shots along the way. 

Kartoffel Knodel

I love discovering new foods in the places we visit. 

Kartoffel Knodel is a potato dumpling traditionally served with slabs of meat and gravy. We have ours with a gravy and lots of veges.

Its super easy to make as well, and can see that it will join our favourite family mesls. 

Once you cook and mash potatoes, you mix in a little flour and a whisked egg, you form small balls with the mixture.

Ive read you can put semilina in - instead if flour, so perhsps I'll try that next time

They then get dropped into gently boiling warer for about 15 mins.  They puff ip snd become deliciously fluffy mouthfulls of.. YUM

I think traditionally they are triple the size I made mine. 

Our first "from scratch" pretzels

Its no secret that I am a little obsessed with pretzels at the moment. Not the crunchy salty pieces of cardboard in a packet, but the large, crisp skinned ones with soft sweet inners.

I have made bread a few times, so was delighted to see that the recipe was s very simple yeast bread; with the addition that the formed pretzel is dipped for 10 seconds into a baking soda boiling broth before laid onto a tray to be baked. 

Below are some photos I took of us making the pretzels. The kids enjoyed kneading it and were amazed at the proving process. 

I like the recipe too, for its simplicity. Flour, yeast, salt and milk. 

Oh there is something quite magical about the smell of fresh bread.. and in the kneading of it.  

The apartment was soon filled with the delicious sweet scent of fresh bread. Our first attempt needs alittle more adjusting, as they turned out like big fat fluffy weird shaped bread rolls, but boy howdy! they were super delicious. 

Suffice to say that the 9 pretzels we made did not survive the evening, and that we must make more soon!! Oh - and that the kids want to make our own bread rolls and pretzels when we get back to Australia. I'm more than happy to put one of them in charge of t hat job and allow them to have the responsibility each week of making our bread - and snacks!