No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

I'm very interested in all this talk of preserving. I think I may have to do some unplanned chutney making. I have literally hundreds of tomatoes in my greenhouse and they are the most beautiful shiny green but they simply won't ripen. I'm at a loss to know where I'm going wrong but I'm getting to the stage of thinking I need to find another use for them as I don't want to waste any.


We've had quite a lot of apples falling from the trees over the weekend due to the shocking winds so it's apple crumble, apple tart, eves pudding etc etc in this house (and my mothers and my brother in law's!)


I need some input from you all - I have lots of what I call flat (square sliced) sausage in my freezer. I usually make stovies with it however was wondering if I could defrost it and "reshape" the sausage meat to make a sort of sausage plait, rolling it up in puff pastry. What could I add to the meat to bulk it out a bit and make it a bit more interesting? Windfall apples and green tomatoes came to mind!


I'm looking out of the kitchen window and the neighbouring farm have been harvesting wholecrop today. They are close to finishing however its now pitch black and all I can see is a semi circle of lights on top of the chopping machine. It's bizarre seeing it in the dark, looks like the aliens have landed I also can't believe how quickly it is becoming dark in the evenings. I'm going to have to start off my list of "autumn" chores.
Hubby has a huge workshop so I'm hoping I can get in there during winter evenings and tackle some small things which need painted and sanding and refinishing the garden furniture.
I suggested buying him a whiteboard for his workshop so he could have a list of jobs on it - he was less than enthusiastic. He doesn't share my obsession of lists and plans for everything!


I had a spot of doggy sitting yesterday for my mothers two terriers. Took them for a walk in one of the huge silage fields behind the farm. All was going well until they spied a cat. The cat was mid way between a tree and a telegraph pole. Sadly it chose to run to the pole and scaled it at top speed followed by 2 yapping terriers clawing at the bottom. Unfortunately the pole was fairly smooth and I was horrified to see the cat slowly sliding back down despite desperate efforts to climb up again. The dogs were so close to getting it when I got there and somehow I ended up in a heap with them climbing over me and the cat hissing somewhere overhead. Thankfully it managed to escaped relatively unharmed. There was a little bit of fur floating around mid air but it could have been so much worse. The walk was brought to a swift conclusion after that and we retreated back to the safety of the garden to play with their frisbees and balls.


I'm heading south on business tomorrow so off to check the weather forecast and plan what to wear. There is quite often a wide difference in temperature and I always worry about looking like I've arrived from the frozen north - even if I have!


Speak soon.