Getting To The Good Things, Shirley Cooklin

Today’s page is a little more practical, celebrating the beginning of spring and, amid difficult and uncertain times, some tips on home gardening to bring a little bit of delicious joy into the days. We picked up Getting To The Good Things on a trip to Golspie, a village on the east coast of Sutherland. Upon entering the charity shop the counter assistant said ‘Oh, we’re closing in five minutes!’, and so we flitted our eyes over the bookshelves and grabbed this for 50p. It’s moves through the seasons providing ideas of how to celebrate each one. It’s a bit of everything, stating in its introduction:

”Is this a recipe book? A gardening guide? Or a craft manual? Though there are recipes, hints for your garden, and things to make in the book, it is not just one of these alone. Think of it as a journey throughout the year, with new and exciting things to do, new adventures in living.”

Written by Shirley Cooklin, the book was produced for Blue Band margerine by Queen Anne Press in 1974.

If you’re particularly green fingered or would like to spend some of your extended time at home learning how to be, let us know and we’d be happy to send more pages! Home gardening tips are very much encouraged and appreciated, we’ll share your advice and ideas and hopefully we’ll all have tarragon sprigs as bookmarks by the end of the summer — the French variety, of course.