Tuesday 28 June 2016

Half and half meals

Half from the garden
Plus a hand full of newly dug potatoes and a couple of bowls of strawberries picked the day before.


Half from the shops  = 400g  best chicken breast, a handful of cooking bacon and a large mushroom.


Menu was saute chicken with red onion, smoked bacon and mushrooms with herbs. With new potatoes and steamed purple sprouting and broad beans.  Strawberries and vanilla ice cream.  All prepared and cooked from scratch in less than 20 mins.



Monday 27 June 2016

Filling the house with smells

Crawled around the strawberry bed outside last week and gathered 4 lbs of strawberries. A bit dirty from the rain splashes but a couple of washes soon sorted that out.  The house filled with a lovely hot strawberry smell.



I think I will keep some of this jam for presents in the family later in the year as they are not here to share the fresh crop.  There's another 4 lbs in the fridge to deal with now so there will be plenty for us.

After this exercise I went through the red onion crop which had gone wild and had flower spikes.  I followed all the recommendation and snapped these off as soon as possible but the bulbs still formed hard cores and some were starting to rot. I pulled them up and worked hard on them to find a couple of pounds of chopped onions suitable to make some caramelized red onion chutney.  The smell of making that was not quite as nice as the strawberries.  Apparently I have to wait a month for this to mature and try.



Sunday 26 June 2016

Garden progress

Thought I'd join with other bloggers and give you some photos of our garden.

Sophie Raworth rather Poo-pood orange flowers at this year's  Chelsea flower show but I like the bright colour  just outside the back door.

I have been lucky to rescue the lillies from red lily beetles. For about a week when they were in bud I had to check them twice a day, remove the little devils and squash 'em. The marigolds are a bit leggy but are worth the 75p investment in seeds.

18 months ago my husband had given up on this standard fuschia. He had nursed it from a "whip" to make a standard for about 2 years, It had blown over and snapped and was not doing well. Loath to throw it out I stunk it in the back of the green house and it enjoyed the mid winter and it re-sprouted.  It got re potted to a more substantial decorative tub to avoid any more accidents, pruned and fed  and it is now doing really well.

The raised bed I wrote about some weeks when we installed it has now filled out with flowers. We spent a bit extra on good seed for snap dragons and they are having delightful dual coloured flowers.



We planted some shelter hedging along the exposed side of our field area and the Escallonia has rewarded out care of it with loads of flowers this year.

Not every thing is going well. This is my miserable pea crop. Two packets of seeds and I have a few stunted plants. Weather mostly. Its a good job frozen peas are so cheap!


Runner beans are having flowers and making their way up the sticks.

If this is a jolly post its because I am watching Jeff Lyne ELO at Glastonbury very loudly and it is fab!  Can't believe he has never played that before.

Craft cabin progress


We managed to get two coats of preservative on the new log cabin building last week and now I am hiding from showers inside and putting a coat of water based preservative. Misty blue. One wall (the only big full wall) took an hour and a half - which was lucky as Radio 4 Extra has a "Smiley"(John Le Carre) series on Saturday afternoons. 

As you can see floor covered with stripy plastic, a chair, table and digital radio alongside the paint.  A great drama "Call for the Dead" with a good cast. Perfect. 

Wonder what else I can book painting time against?



Tuesday 21 June 2016

Lovely when the NHS works!

After 3 weeks of feeling a bit off, unable to get going most mornings and suffering from a pain from the groin down to the left knee I stumped down the lane, in the rain, to the Health Centre and saw the doctor.

Five minutes later reassured I had not got a hernia and had just torn some tendons in the groin, armed with a prescription filled there and then, I splashed my way back and took two pills.  Feeling much better and was up early doing the washing, mopping and hoovering before 9 am because at last the sun is shining and I can appreciate it!

Thanks Doc!

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Saturday 18 June 2016

My craft cabin has arrived!

After weeks of prep and finding the money from savings my log cabin is built! I have been promised this as a sewing and painting leisure area - the first time in my long life that I have had my own space!

It has been dreadfully stressful and this will be the last big thing we do here. After this it is maintenance and small improvements done bit by bit.   The stress started with making a choice, which was restricted by the wish to put it on the footprint of the old (asbestos) garage we had removed. we had not realised that so many designs needed 6 inches more!  My husband dealt with the negotiations of supply and finding some people to build it.  All was in place for early the 15th or at least by lunch time.

Then it was 2 pm, then 4 pm, then 5.20 and could we pay before 5 anyway?  Meanwhile the build team were phoning every hour to see if they should set off yet?  Finally, 5.30 the lorry arrives(with more rain).
Despite being smaller than most lorries we have had down the drive this bloke could not do it. Finally unloaded next door in a yard designed for 30 ft lorries neighbour used to drive, even then he ran over the verges.  All of which meant the build team had to unpack it and carry all the bits (the top black bundle on the lorry) across two gardens.

They started at 5.30, and worked till 10 pm like the clappers! They were 4 young men, Latvian or Romanian or something which we could not quite catch. Two of the team came back at 8 am and worked non stop till 8 pm the next day. They were extremely neat and tidy and the job was superbly done.

It is our task to treat the wood inside and out. We are using an oil based clear preservative on the outside, which is a pain as you can't see where you have got to, so you have to concentrate!  Inside has to be water based - so no smell. Then I can plan benches and things! The top triangle is for a clock - it will have to be solar powered as my husband hates heights and will not want to climb up there to change batteries.


It sits really well in the garden and I am planning some flower beds or tubs round it.

Silly I know, but it is really exciting! My space!

BUT not as exciting as being told today I am going to be a granny again early next year! 

Wednesday 15 June 2016

Shelf art


I am still looking for the best storage containers for my shelves over the washing machine as I am not really happy with the plastic baskets.  I found an old box the right height the other day for the washing liquid etc.


And then I found an old gift bag that had a split side which I had kept as I liked the design.

Some cutting and glueing later I had covered the box and positioned the handles on the sides.

Now the bottles and sprays can jump from the basket to the box and be out of sight. It might only last a few months until I can find just the thing I want!

I had  scout round some cupboards and have found some other gift bags and wraps I might utilize.  Amazing the stuff you tuck away!






Tuesday 14 June 2016

Messing about waiting



Funny week we have been tackling a lot of small jobs as we can't get stuck into anything mentally. Our big purchase of a log cabin (which will be our craft space) will be here later this week. It is sort of exciting and stressful at the same time.  They are bringing a big crane and a build team.  We have made sure the drive is clear of rubbish, the base is ready and arranged for our car to be parked next door out of the way.  We even cut a bit of the tree at the top of the drive so it would get by without branches getting in the way.

Running out of jobs now and it is hot and windless. So my husband is checking the sails and rigging on his Drascombe lugger in the garden.  I have completed a dress for my grand daughter's 2nd birthday.

The pattern said 2 to 4 years - but she is a sturdy little thing and very tall. I have already made the neck larger by changing the round neck to a square and making the back opening twice the recommended size.  



Courtyard pots


A bit of an odd collection of pots and plants I have marshaled into the courtyard bit in front of my kitchen window. spent two years looking at odds and ends in a mess there so I was determined to look at colour this summer. I saw some wood logs arranged around pots in a garden centre which stopped the sun over heating the plastic pots and disguised the worn out ones; we have some old pine logs but that does not really work so I will look for some more interesting logs or some other form of decoration.

Have you got odd corners you are cheering up?



Friday 10 June 2016

Window cleaning?

I was in the front garden earlier in the week replanting the flower bed when the neighbour's window cleaner was working. There was little water used and a lot of squeaking sounds but it looked OK. Obvious reaction was to look at ours and make a note to do inside and out this week - which I have duly done taking about 2 hours in all including the conservatory.

I was then reflecting that I cannot remember paying someone to clean our windows. I was brought up to consider that window cleaning was a normal, get on with it, do it yourself task. In fact, to earn my pocket money I remember it was one of my Saturday morning tasks from the age of 10 till I left home.

Why would I want to spend £200 a year plus for window cleaning while I have two hands and simple supplies like a sponge, cotton rags and hot water to hand?

Is it frugality or just plan meanness?


My lupins have been staked and tied up and recovered from last weeks winds. Just look at all the buds and flowers!

Wednesday 8 June 2016

Road safety

Had to cycle to the village hairdressers at school time this week. As my bike has developed a puncture (despite the so called self sealing tyre) I borrowed my husband's cycle.  He lowered the seat and tried to make it the same as mine so I could cope and I wore my most stretchy jeans so that I could get past the middle  bar. I also wore a floaty purple top, lots of beads and pink sandals  - hoping people would think it was just an eccentric granny!

Image result for bicycle clipart black and white


So I felt I had taken care to be safe but I then had to run the gauntlet of  people who had cars and presumably driving licences but had obviously not ever read the highway code. Everyone of the cars collecting from the two schools was desperate to get home apparently.  Perhaps, if we leave the EU, our  government could use the (mythical) savings to  improve road safety by issuing everyone driving in the UK with a copy of the UK Highway Code!
Image result for uk highway code
When did overtaking a row of parked cars when something is coming towards you become acceptable?  Perhaps I am invisible after all?



Tuesday 7 June 2016

Rhubarb and custard tart

Decided yesterday to forgo strawberries for a day to allow more to ripen and went up the plot to get some rhubarb. You are suppose to keep picking to encourage growth.

We have had a lot of rhubarb crumble lately so I looked up some new ideas on Good Food site. I adapted the receipes to what I had in hand and made a fairly nice flan/open tart.

Lined shallow round flan dish with ready made puff pastry - just had some to hand. I think shortcrust would be better.  Part baked.
Gently stewed the rhubarb with some golden caster sugar.  Put in case
Mixed 3 oz of soft cheese (no cream but this is usually hanging around in the fridge and is a good substitute in cooking) with a tablespoon of white caster sugar, egg and grated rind of half a lemon.
Baked till firm.  Served hot.

It was like an egg custard. And yes the bottom was soggy (sorry Paul Hollywood). Needed more sugar in the fruit or perhaps honey? It made a nice pud that lasted two meals.

I will experiment a bit more with this idea.

Meanwhile the strawberries berries have ripened and I picked one pound in weight this evening.
About 45% were clean and well shaped.
The others were a bit marked and mis shaped so I will do some sauce with these.  This is just a little balsamic vinegar, brown sugar heated and then chopped strawberries cooked gently. Some people add pepper. It sounds strange but it is lovely drizzled over strawbs and ice cream.


Sunday 5 June 2016

Strawberry season has started

Picked the first bowl full of strawberries today (in the poly tunnel from the older and more established plants). Have had the odd one or two over the last week but this was a proper amount each for tea with ice cream.

There are lots more to come which lead me to start a search for SIMPLE strawberry puddings. I have done some research and decided too many recipes are complex and need lots of ingredients. I have found two things to try which seem quite simple.

Strawberry mini marshmallow mouse  http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/11799/strawberry-marshmallow-mousse
Strawberry marshmallow mousse

250g of strawberries
25 g caster sugar
100 ml water
200ml cream

Strawberry milk lollipops http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2256637/strawberry-milk-pops
400g ripe strawberries
200ml semi skim milk
400g light condensed milk
Strawberry milk pops
I am just going to alter my shopping list to make sure I have enough store cupboard supplies to deal with the harvest in the next few weeks - I think we may be over run if the weather warms up here!