Wols Riverbank Tales Pt 4: Restitution & Renaissance

Buffythedebtslayer

Wol- I have a 120 cm Ferplast indoor cage you are welcome too? I just don't how to get it to you!It does haveone damaged corner but I will never use it I can't lift the bloody thing!

But seriously you can have it. I could courier it ?

Buffythedebtslayer

Just realised that's probably not massively helpful since you have bought yours - sorry about the timing! but a spare might be good?

Wol2

Karmacat wrote: »

Seeing the detail of what we were talking about, Wol, it looks great. And you'd so often have to bring the piggies into the house last year, it makes sense not to heat the Palace.... there's a lot of lateral thinking going on there - I especially like your batch cooking scenario - you've seen the size of my oven, if I heat that just for one thing I'll go bankrupt so I must, absolutely must, learn to batch cook. Any tips? What kind of thing do you do?

Hi KC
I really enjoyed our time together yesterday and am thrilled to see you are getting your new house all homely and snug ready for the winter! You;ve made fantastic prorgess since I saw you last :T:T
Talking things through yesterday really helped focus my mind on the most important things I need to do/address and order of priority - thank you Hun :A

Reference the batch cooking - well mine seems to be rather courgette-orientated atm :rotfl::rotfl:

Like you I am gluten free - but I am not veggie - however you can use pulses, mushrooms, quorn etc etc instead of the meat

Essentially I took the food left over from the Rave and made it into different dishes with either a tomato base or a creamy base - e.g. vegetable chilli, ratatouille, meat chilli, salmon and asparagus, chicken stews..various soups....

Onions and celery are the basics in every dish (also use potatoes intead of wheat flour for thickening if required). Leeks, carrots and courgettes are the other main veggies

For the tomato base I use basics chopped toms and add a jar of pasta sauce (often puttanesca or arrabiatta). For the creamy base i add milk, leftover cream or (more commonly) creme fraiche - and on re-heating a bit of boursin to give it that bit of pazzazz

The flavourings/spices that go in the batch range from curry, italian, mexican (chilli), cajun, smokey BBQ (I use HP BBQ sauce), ghoulash (Paprika) honey and mustard, piri-piri, chowder (potatoes and sweetcorn with creme fraiche and herbs) depending upon what I am cooking and fancy at the time...

Recently I use whatever leftovers are in the fridge at the time to concoct new dishes. It's all a bit trial and error because it involves using what's in the fridge to make something that works rather than deciding on cooking a particular dish and then having to go and buy the ingredients (although obviously in Jan I will have to source chicken tuna etc to make the next "Big Batch")

So for example when the Parents came down they brought me a load of apples from their garden so I went out and picked a load of blackberries and stewed them together and froze portions. The remains of the roast lamb we had for sunday lunch were combined with some carrots, onions and some cooked pearl barley already in the fridge (it had been used to make barley water for the piggies cystitis) and voila lamb stew


All is frozen in individual portions in plastic freezer bags ( I sit them in one of those plastic vegetable packing trays like you get mushrooms in - you can get aprox 4 protions in one tray) and are defrosted/reheated in the microwave and popped on top of a jacket potato or rice.

Not too big on desserts but have a Mrs Cribles gluten free ginger cake that needs to be turned into something so am thinking about using the frozen pineapple and trying to turn it into some type of trifle base that can be frozen and then fresh custard topping added as and when i am ready to eat it :cool:

Oops look at the time - off to Chelmsford for the second "zapping" of my hand - will update on that when I get back

xxx

Wol2

Buffythedebtslayer wrote: »

Just realised that's probably not massively helpful since you have bought yours - sorry about the timing! but a spare might be good?

Hi Buffy

Oooh thank you thank you. I would love a spare cage please ..I am making fortnightly trips north of the Dartford crossing atm so perhaps could arrange to drop in and pick up when it suits you? Would be great to meet up and maybe we can pop off to the pub or something?

xxxx

bast

Wol You are great honestly..... The guilt you feel is only your guilt when we have animals and they die it is only the guilt we feel when anyone dies be they human or animals.... Let me share with you I had a cat before my two I have now... He was a pedigree cat that should never have been allowed to leave the garden... But because he loved life I allowed him to explore the outside world... Unfortunately he was run over, the guilt is I should never allowed him out and that stays with you.... My two piggies which I told you about when Ginge died I left Scruff alone and I worried because they are so gregarious they need constant inter-action I didnt feel I gave her enough, hence the guilt.... You have given everything to the animals you love and respect and you must never fear you dont do your best........ You have...Take solace in the fact that the people of this forum admire you and ring you, they do that because you are a nice caring person ...:) Anyone that loves animals will treat any living thing with respect I truly believe that....

Wol2

Nargleblast wrote: »

Hope you're feeling a bit brighter, Wol, I am sure it does us all good to have a good old howling session once in a while, in order to unload all the emotional baggage we carry arround with us. Glad to hear you are organising finances and planning to make savings, I think all of us will be having to do that before too long. And well done on cutting the vino - save it for special occasions, it becomes more of a treat then!

Thanx Nargle -

Another horrendous day on the (yet again) closed M25 - a max 90 minute journey took over 3 hours and I didn;t get back from Chelmsford until 7.30 tonight :mad:. Still thankfully I got the piggie fleeces from Ikea on my way up :beer:
I am now struggling to put together the very big cage (it's BIG :eek:) I ordered for Maple and Willow - Having read some webby reviews tonight every single one says the instructions are appalling :eek:...and they are right.

It looks like the bolts to secure the cage stand and frame need nuts - which aren;t in the package - so i fired off an email to customer ervices requesting some....and also finding out that they have reduced the price by a further £20 in less than a week :mad::mad::mad:..another email about that tomorrow then methinks....

Then i found a blog for a similar (but not identical cage) cage that gave step by step instructions and said - you don;t need nuts even though you think you do

So I have decided not to give up. There is only one way i can tackle this constructively without getting myself into a self-destructive tizzy ...I mustn't "expect" to have it sorted within an hour (most of the reviews I've now found say it takes two hours and two people!). I shall take as much time as it takes..and not worry.....the boys have to go into their new cage (on a stand) tonight as the rain is due tomorrow (and i want them off the floor just in case )..

So I might consider awarding myself a Baileys and Tia Maria nightcap (I very very rarely touch spirits) when I (finally) succeed...but then again I might just settle for hot chocolate

Do the chickies lay less as the weather gets colder?

xxx

taxi73

good luck with that hun xxxx and fingers crossed re the rain

Wol2

elantan wrote: »

Wol I am loving this honesty ... Really loving this honesty

Yes and i think there's more to come El.

I am still trying to get my head together over all of this...one of the things I've started to understand is something called emotional resonance - basically I keep beating myself up over why i just can;t deal with things in the way I used to (ie just shrug them off and plough on with another 50 tasks to take my mind off things)

I;ve come through a part of my life where I;ve gone from one pole (always busy and never any time for me personally or my feelings) to the complete opposite (wallowing and unable to motivate myself to do anything). This is obviously as a result of the breakdown following the flood...however because everything still just "keeps on coming at me" with no respite it appears that each new event sets off the trauma/resonance of the previous ones and therefore it's effect on my emotional wellbeing is magnified.

Guess the best way to describe it is a see-saw ...or even newtons cradle- which is still rocking to and fro albeit not too far but then sometimes a rock drops on one end and sets it rocking too far each way again. I just have to wait until the equilibrium is reached.....whatever/wherever that is

Hope you are doing Ok my dear...come to think of it haven;t seen you during my lurking recently ....will have a scout around over the next few days and see what you;re up to

xxx

Wol2

taxi73 wrote: »

good luck with that hun xxxx and fingers crossed re the rain

Hi Hun - how are you doing? - need to pop back in to your diary methinks....not long til November Hun and hopefully no more loopy juice...you;re doing grand :grouphug::grouphug:
xxx

Karmacat

Wol, thank you, thank you for the description of the batch cooking! So basically, its lots of base veggies, some with one form of protein, some with another, and also varying the spices and herbs? That sounds doable. So for me, the base would be onions, tomatoes, carrots and something else - turnip or something - with a bit of soy also in the base cos its so healthy. Then the protein could be quorn, a mix of pulses, lentils or nuts and seeds. I think I might freeze the veggies and protein separately .... and then just whuff up the carbs - potato, rice, barley, whatever. Excellent!

The cage you're trying to put together - it takes as long as it takes! Please, please don't beat yourself up and start on el vino again, not when you've been doing so well. Hot choccie is definitely called for, tho I do understand how different spirits are from your normal tipple. I can't get on with spirits either - even fortified wine can make my eyes cross I know you'll take mucho care of the piggies, but remember if its two hours for two people, that doesn't mean four hours for one person - it means, five, six, seven hours, cos like we said, things are always quicker with two people. Take care of yourself as well as the piggies.