greent's mfw journey

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How wonderful that you decide to decorate on Monday and then actually get on and do it! Sounds like it will be lovely

greent

Well he decorating IS progressing - slowly!

Wallpaper has been stripped and 2 new radiators have been fitted (cue a very worrying few hours when the boiler wouldn't function - seems ok now though!) Mr g-t has sanded down the fireplace and I've put two-three coats of sealant on it - I think I'll do another one, too. Wall lights have been removed and one found to be damaged, so we need some new ones (these were v cheap ones bought in B&Q when we moved in) Small bookcase has been re-homed to a friend Curtains are down. One pair may get re-hung in the family room as they are thicker and better quality than the ones currently in there. The other pair will go to charity shop (unless cashforclothes also take curtains) DH is feeling rough today so nothing is being done in there today. Tomorrow he is finishing filling holes from the mirror, lights etc and then sanding down gloss work. Monday = painting ceiling and glossing (hopefully) Then painting walls and then papering and then all the other bits like hanging things on walls and the new lights - maybe another week - or even two at the rate we decorate!

Did town with DH and DD today. DD has work experience at her old primary next week (where DS2 and DS3 currently go) and really needed another piece of suitable footwear. Found some gorgeous boots and we went halves (she still had gift cards from that shop left from Xmas, so that seemed reasonable!) Also checked with our favourite framing shop if hey do gift vouchers - they do - it's DH's birthday next month so my mum and his mum can get some vouchers and he can frame the 2 prints I bought him for Xmas last year - that way he gets something he actually wants and the pictures finally go up! A win-win Also picked up some free dictionaries and moshi monsters in WHSmith courtesy of O2 moments. I'll keep the Moshis for presents for school friends but the dictionaries can go to be sold at the nearly new sale in Nov - money for nothing - every little helps and all that!

Hit A5da on the way home - I hate our A with a vengeance but they sell big bags of spices cheaply - I got 400g of cumin for £2.50ish. Did most of our shopping there whilst we were there too - picked up a new sheet for DS1 as he ruined one with Sharpies and it's a really unusual colour. I also got a mouse for my laptop as DS3 poured juice on it and now my thumbpad click doesn't work

Beautiful sunny day here - 1st load of washing has dried and second load is out Just need to iron it all now!

Ebay has a FLW on again - yeay!!! have some things to list on there, which I shall attempt to do tomorrow. Bids on items currently listed are now £85+ - woohoo!! They all end tomorrow, though (at least I can then relist any unsold ones for free, too - yeay!!)

Neighbour brought round a large bag of eating apples from their tree earlier - scrummy! I sent him back with a bag of pears form ours in exchange! Am debating taking a walk along the canal path tomorrow for some sloes, elderberries, rosehips and more blackberries and making hedgerow jelly....

muddywhitechicken

Hi greent

I have a very good recipe for spicy pear pickle if you are looking for ways to use pears - absolutely delicious particularly with blue stilton at Christmas!

I can't find it online so, if you're interested, I can type it up

MWCx

greent

Thanks MWC - that'd be great

I've poached eight pears in red wine/ spices/ orange juice today (forgetting that I had a cheap bottle of ready made mulled wine in the garage that someone gave me last Xmas which I was planning on using - oh well, that's for using next week then! ) I've also chopped 4 windfall pears into a crumble with some windfall eating apples from our tree (not nice to eat until later in the year) and a few blackberries. Hopefully next door neighbours are helping themselves, too - I keep telling them to!

Ebay raised £130 in the end (assuming they all pay, of course - have had 2 non payers recently ) And some more stuff is going on today Whilst some of the stuff was BN and didn't quite make what I'd paid for it it has been sat unused in my cupboard for 18 months - so 80- 90% return is better than it going unused

Dinner is cooking - huge reduced corn fed chicken, reduced king Edward potatoes roasting, parsnips (reduced and then parboiled, tossed in oil and frozen earlier in the year), RTC stuffing mix added to saut!ed leeks from freezer and some sausage meat and garlic, red cabbage (previously made and frozen), savoy cabbage, roasted butternut squash, carrots, peas and Yorkshire puds and gravy Pud = a choice of either poached pears (with double cream whipped up with vanilla) or the crumble and custard Shall strip carcass and make stock later tonight and hopefully fit in playing a game or two with the children - a nice & chilled way to end the weekend together

muddywhitechicken

3 tbsp sunflower oil

4 tbsp yellow mustard seeds

2 tbsp crushed black peppercorns

1 tbsp fenugreek seeds, crushed to a powder or ground fenugreek (much easier!)

1 tbsp ground cumin

2 tbsp ground turmeric

4 cardamom pods, seeds removed and ground

4 red chillis, de-seeded and finely sliced

½ bulb garlic, cloves finely chopped

A large thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 large red onions, finely chopped

2 kg pears, peeled, cored and chopped

1 kg cooking apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped

500 g dark muscovado sugar

500 mL cider vinegar

Sea salt



Put a very large pan on a medium heat to get nice and hot. Add the oil and mustard seeds and,once they start to pop, add peppercorns, fenugreek, cumin, turmeric, cardamom and 1 tbsp sea salt. Stir well and cook for 2 minutes until smelling fantastic!



Add chilli, garlic, ginger and onions, adding a splash more oil if necessary. Cook gently over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until softened.



Add pears, apples, sugar, vinegar and 100 mL water. Bring it all to a simmer over a high heat, then turn down to a low heat and leave to cook for 3-4 hours with the lid on,stirring occasionally. Towards the end,when it gets lovely and sticky, remove the lid and stir frequently for 20-30 minutes, until the vinegar has evaporated and you have a beautiful jammy pickle.



While the pickle is cooking, sterilise your jars and lids.



Once cooked, carefully spoon the pickle into your warm sterilised jars. Leave with the lid off until it has cooled right down, then cover, label and store in a cool place until ready to use. It should keep unopened for a few months. Once opened, store refrigerated and use within 1-2 weeks.

greent

muddywhitechicken wrote: »

you have a beautiful jammy pickle.

.

Thanks MWC! :T

greent

Well the dinner on Sunday was lovely and we had a game of Cluedo afterwards - which DS2 (7) won and was thrilled about! Lots of lovely chicken left over, too - the crumbs from the carcass went into bubble and squeak with leftover veggies (I deliberately cooked too many!) and DD is having a pile of breast slices tonight and the rest is still in the freezer, portioned up

ops made of £185 this week - £150 from ebay, £5 cashback (from TCB so was converted to Tesco CC points) and £30 from my mortgage piggy bank. SLow going at the mo.

DH didn't get the Saudi job - which is both good and bad. They do, however, really want him out there for a short term project :T- but have no funding:( So they're having a meeting with the CEO to see if they can jiggle the budgets

Decorating in the lounge still continuing - the new radiators are in place and all holes have been filled and rubbed down. Glosswork has been done and DH is currently doing the ceiling and dentil coving - nightmare stuff:eek: We have some lovely new lights for the walls which arrived yesterday

I've been sorting my wardrobe - moving summer and winter things around. I've also found a worn-once pair of shoes to ebay and an unworn bikini and tankini with tags to ebay. A pair of trousers and a summery skirt went into the cash4clothes bag. Small progress on decluttering, but it IS progress

A little decluttering has also taken place when stripping the lounge - we've been using some of the old colourscheme candles to burn to help with the paint smells :D

DD is doing work experience this week at her old primary school and seems to be having a good time - although she has deliberately chosen not to help out in either of her brothers' classes DS3 has his first full length day there tomorrow - eek!!:eek:

greent

Yeay! It's the weekend!!:j:j:j

DD finished her work exp - she seemed to enjoy it - as far as I can tell. Since she's been in Y11 someone seems to have stolen my chatty, lovely daughter and replaced her with a lookalike with attitude who constantly rolls her eyes at me She took in a large tub of Celebrations to the staff room as a thank you (good deal at £4 in Tesco last week) - thankfully the usual 'Friday fast' which they apparently normally have (lots are doing the 5:2 diet) was changed this week!:D

DS3 had his first full-length day at school today - he is so overtired it's almost unbelievable (although if you mention this in earshot he screams at full volume 'I AM NOT TIRED!!!!!!!':D:D:D I popped him in the bath at 4pm, as I'm fairly sure he'll crash out straight after dinner (he's been known to do it during dinner - we have some photos of him with his head in his plate!!) and he's off to the barbers in the morning - so at least now his hair will be clean for that

Defrosted garage freezer today (teeny tiny one) and repacked it full of bags of fruit (apples, pears, strawberries, blackberries) and blocks of chicken stock!! I STILL have 4 carrier bags of apples to deal with - and my mother is threatening to bring me more on Tuesday!!! And my pear tree is still half full (gave more pears away today too)

No more OPs made - more of just a regular diary at the mo rather than a MFW diary :p;)

greent

Afternoon all

DH has taken DS1 & DS2 to Horrible Science at the local theatre this afternoon - tickets booked ages ago. Have taken sweets from Tesco on special offer in with them to avoid the horrendously priced kiosk! Both boys are really looking forward to it. I had planned to go to A5da to swap a mouse we bought last week, but I can't quite get motivated (our local A5da is hell on earth) and have to go to a 5yo birthday party with DS3 for 3.30, anyway

DS1 and DS3 went to the barbers this morning - primarily because DS2 and DS3 have school photos on Monday and DS3 had a poor cut in the holidays. DS2's was great - hence why he didn't need to go along as well DS1 was looking a bit fluffy

Bought some stocking fillers for DD from ebay just - all on a zebra print theme Am struggling with DS1 (13 1/2) - have got some books, but no idea what else to get him DS2 is done for Xmas and birthday I think (yeay!!!) and DS3 has a few things bought

I really should get a move on and do something productive instead of being in here - perhaps I'll get a cuppa and then do something!! (Procrastinator? Me????:rotfl:)

greent

It has been an absolutely GORGEOUS day here - warm enough to be out in tshirt and flipflops DH has been painting like a trouper and we only have the feature wall to paper now - starting tomorrow. We won't rush that, though and will probably take 2-3 days to do it (some fiddly bits, including the first sheet) Then I need to give the UPVC window and patio door frames a GOOD clean, DH needs to hang the 3 wall lights and one more curtain pole and the mirror above the fireplace and then I can hang my new curtains

Had an opticians apt today (free @ Tesco) - as I thought, my sight has deteriorated slightly since last time (2 years ago) so I need new reading glasses (My distance vision is good enough that she could roll the screen down and I could read smaller lines than those normally showing on the screen! ) I shall browse for those this week (DH has an apt Weds lunchtime)

I hit A5da big style today - I needed to return a mouse I bought last week and change it for a different one. I managed to spend over £100 on food..... our fridge, freezers and cupboards were basically full beforehand..... I resolve here and now to do better in Oct and am setting a limit of £400 for the month for the 6 of us! And I'd like to spend less than that

USed up the last of my yellow split peas tonight (yeay!!) in a split pea/ green lentil/ mushroom/ spinach dahl/ curry thing which I had for dinner and there are 3 portions left. I did YS pork loins for most of the others, except DS who had pasta with some gorgeous lo pasta sauce from the other night. Dessert = yet more poached pears/ pear and plum crumble as appropriate (I say crumble - the topping was a couple of large squidgy flapjacks crumbled over!!! ) (DD had bday cake from party yesterday - was given a lump to bring home) Strange Sunday dinner but I didn't want to do a full roast with decorating and cleaning going on. MAde a gorgeous loaf yesterday with the dregs of two bags of seeded/ grainy flours (both out of date) - remains frozen and will be dragged out for lunch tomorrow with the tomato and courgette soup I shall be making in the morning

Just did an hour of ironing whilst watching some police thing on BBC1 - quite good Off to bed in a mo now xx