I spent eight hours in the kitchen today – five hours preparing lunch and three hours sitting around a table surrounded by some of my favourite people in the world. It wasn’t a quiet affair. It was a noisy gathering and laughter was the order of the day. That’s what happens when you are a fairly large family – … Continue reading
Armed with baskets and bags, Ruth and I took off to a neighbour’s farm (with their permission) the other evening. We returned laden with blackberries, cooking apples and damsons. We left behind the rosehips and sloes for now until the first frost has arrived, and the quince are not quite ripe yet either (haws are … Continue reading
Dear Readers Back in July I was delighted to have “Fiona Dillon Writes” nominated in the 2014 Irish Blog Awards and of course I was even more delighted to be then shortlisted in four categories in August. Imagine how I feel today to discover that I am now a finalist in all four categories! The four … Continue reading
We are incredibly proud of our little apiary here at Hunters Lodge. Our bees are tended to with great love and care. In turn, they reward us with the most delicious honey. Now I say we, but in truth, it’s Eamonn who puts in all the work with the bees. If he is too busy … Continue reading
You may recall back in June I announced my collaboration with the South East branch of Slow Food Ireland when we launched a competition for national schools in the SouthEast, with the winners receiving a chicken coop, chickens and all the bits and bobs required to get them set up as poultry keepers. Well since then the … Continue reading
Think what you may, but autumn fruiting raspberries fill me with happiness. Truly it doesn’t take much to make me happy I know! But as the nights close in and temperatures drop, those little jewels burst into splendour and provide welcome colour in the garden, not to mention their immense flavour. I will be picking … Continue reading
