One of the joys of lockdown has been our daily walk. I love this time of year, when the hedgerows are bursting to life with cow parsley, cowslips, bluebells, wild garlic and the birds are in full song.

I think it’s easy to slip into a down mood during these weird days of lockdown, but finding the joy in small things definitely helps with staying positive.

I do feel very blessed to live in the countryside, in a small but sprawling village made of several hamlets, roughly strung together along a Cotswold limestone ridge. We have views down steep-sided valleys, footpaths meandering through wild garlic filled woods and little ginnels that criss-cross the village.

While we’ve been wandering the lanes I’ve really noticed the little things, like honeysuckle spilling over a wall, the myriad of shades of wisteria, the lovely lines of the vineyard on the opposite side of the valley, as it slowly comes to life again and birdsong with the volume turned up. (I keep wondering if the birdsong volume is related to the decrease in traffic?)

Little vignettes, like those above are inspiring me daily and I am adding lots of entries to my little lockdown journal. Just sketches, notes, recipes and even the odd shopping list but it has really made me observe what’s around me in a totally different and closer way. As you can see not really anything super artistic but its nice to spend a moment doodling!

Fondly known as ‘Daddy biscuits’ in our house, these biscuits are filled with nostalgic memories for our family. My husband’s mother always had a tin of them on the go, on family camping holidays; a tradition all 4 siblings in his family have continued. Whenever we all go camping to the West Country you can guarantee there is a tin of these hidden away to be eaten on windswept beaches or on a walk.

I think they are probably some form of Anzac biscuit; they certainly have oats, coconut and syrup in them, like an Anzac biscuit. They are a bit like a thin and ‘less worthy’ flapjack.

They were one of the first things my daughter learned to cook, standing aged 3 on a stool in the kitchen with her granny. When she was learning to write, she carefully wrote out the recipe and it’s that recipe that we all still work from 12 years on. It’s a bit splattered, but aren’t all the best recipes!

These are a super easy bake for kids and can be adapted to endless variations. I sometimes put in sultanas or cranberries, or chopped dried apricots. The children if they are making them without me often scatter some chocolate chips on top as soon as they are out of the oven. We sometimes half dip them in melted chocolate for an indulgent treat.

To save you trying to decipher the recipe here it is. I am afraid with it being from Granny, it's in old money measurements.

INGREDIENTS

4oz plain flour

3 oz rolled oats (not jumbo)

1 oz desiccated coconut

4oz golden caster sugar

1tsp bicarbonate of soda dissolved in 1tbs hot water

Optional: a handful of raisins, sultanas, chopped apricots, dried cranberries, choc chips.

METHOD

Mix the oats, flour and coconut together in a bowl.

Melt the butter, sugar and syrup together and then mix in the oat mixture and the bicarb and water. Thoroughly mix together, then dollop dessert spoon size blobs onto a lined baking sheet. Spread them out well as they spread quite a lot when baking. Granny and Bella would say roll into walnut-sized balls but I just usually dob dessert spoon fulls!

Bake at about 180 degrees C, till golden. Leave for a couple of minutes in the tin to cool and set a little, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.