No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

candlelight_2013

Hello all it is very quiet here at the moment.

Well it has been a busy week here, caught up with all the washing and ironing after the holiday.

Took DD into town and also shopping.

Our friends came on Wednesday and brought lots of goodies from their allotment. We have been podding peas and broad beans, hulling raspberries and topping and tailing gooseberries.

We also had some beautiful potatoes and some cabbages and onions, and lots of rhubarb..

I have made several pots of jam, but I had to put the rest of the fruit in the freezer for later jam making. It was so hot in the kitchen I thought I might expire:)

Thursday I went for a bone density scan just to make sure I haven't got osteoporosis. I knew I had shrunk in height, I thought 2 inches, but when she measured me it was only an inch and a half, so I am 5ft 6 and half inches, whereas in my younger days I was 5ft 8.

Friday we took DD shopping again and came back and did some washing, which luckily was all dry before the rains came.

Today went to the hairdressers and to see DD.

Tomorrow is the British GP so Himself will have a lovely afternoon watching that.

Next week should be quieter.

I hope you are all well and trying to keep up with the gardening because between the rain and the sun everything is growing at a pace.

Look after yourselves

Much love
Candlelightx

[Deleted User]

Hi CANDLELIGHT it's probably quiet due to pressure of outside jobs that need to be done and then inside jobs putting it all into preservation or the freezer. I'm constantly finding things tht need picking and sorting out in the garden. Plus it's difficult to sleep at night in this heat and I'm jaded in the day.

Docky dog now has his medication settled and is leaving his nosey alone but had gone off his food a bit, I guess he's hot too and not much hungry in the heat. DD1 gearing up to the Zambia trip next weekend and dashing around finalising bits and pieces, I'll be glad when it's over and shes back home again then I'll go and stay for a week and MAKE her take a break and do the looking after and cooking, she works too hard and is always tired out and never gets a full holiday due to taking kids on trips.

I made a minestrone soup at lunchtime almost entirely from home grown veg, very satisfying feeling!!!

Hope all of you are well and just busy, Lyn xxx.

candlelight_2013

Hi Lyn,

Glad you have Docky sorted. The heat is a bit overwhelming isn't it, poor boy, our old golden retriever used to suffer in the summer.

I don't know how you cope with all the home grown produce. As lovely as it is, it is also very time consuming preparing and freezing, and I think you dehydrate produce as well don't you?

You are a good Mum DD will really love being spoilt after her trip abroad. Home she has a good journey, and more cards for Iris and Fern as well?:)

Candlelightx

hoglet121

Here's the prawn masala recipe, at long last,

Vegetable oil
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tin chopped toms
100 ml tamarind liquid
3 chillies
1 tsp white wine vinegar (I used cider vinegar tho)
1/2 tsp salt
500g prawns
Coriander leaves to garnish

First of all I'll say that I recognise that this is a long list of ingredients which a lot of people won't have in. I make a lot of curries so I do have a well stocked spice cupboard but I buy them from Indian shops and I have saved an absolute fortune - I pay approximately 10% of supermarket prices and I keep them in washed out jam jars.

Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds, frying them until they pop. Add the onion & cook for 10 mins, then add the garlic before adding the dry spices. Then add the chopped tomatoes, tamarind liquid, chillies, vinegar and salt, then the prawns and a splash of water. Cook for 5 mins and garnish with the coriander (or parsley if you're me cos my slugs eat the coriander but not the parsley.... )

Happy cooking :-)

[Deleted User]

Hi CANDLELIGHTit's our main occupation in the warmer months and early autumn, I preserve and use as much as I can of what we grow by whatever method is appropriate so I jam pickle,chutney,freeze,dehydrate and this year will be bottling fruit too along with the making of cider as well as putting apples into paper for cool storage, plaiting strings of garlic and onions and laying up squashes and pumpkins in boxes and leaving some crops in situ to stand until we need them. It's hard work sometimes, when it's baking hot and I'm making jam and there are days when I think I'll scream if I ever get another bag of apples from a friend but it keeps us in goodies for food, it gives me lots of gifts to give at christmas, it feeds us well and stretches our income and it keeps He Who Knows in cider for most of the year, oh, and we have a very healthy set of compost heaps too so it's well worth doing!!!

DD1 will keep sending the cards to the TOTS and has recruited her large aquaintance into sending a card with a local stamp on from wherever they go for trips this summer, she's getting them sent to her address and forwarding them in batches as they arrive, good eh?

I always try to get her a pamper pack to come home to after an expidition things like face masks, really good hair conditioner, foot treatments, skin moisturisers, new undies, a new pair of pyjamas, new socks make her feel human again after 3 weeks trekking in heat and with very limited resources for cleanliness, she needs to take some time out afterwards, she works too hard in general and I will MAKE her take a week to recharge her batteries, it's been a gruelling year even before the Zambia trip!!! Lyn xxx.

Ariadne1

Hi all,

I am new here and as some of you may have seen from my previous post I am going from 2 salaries to none next month:eek:

I am poking my head round the door here so to speak and wondered if I can join the thread as there seems to be tons of great information and for me at the moment more importantly support.

We are the original saddos with no friends or family left. All of our family gas either passed away iron are cousins who live far away and we really gave lost track of. With regards to friends, we worked abroad fir a number of years and moved back to where I had been brought up as a child but knew no one. We bought a lovely flat and sunk all our savings into it only to discover 4 years ago we had the family from hell move in and that led to part of the building deteriorating into a slum, other people sold up and had to accept much lower prices due to this family and a chain reaction was pot into place.

Our corner of the building is lively, fab neighbours, and the building is kept beautifully. If we could just saw off the dreadful Varner life would be great.

sorry for boring everyone , not sure why I blurted all that out.

Anyway, can it come in please. I will be good, promise

candlelight_2013

Ariadne, you are more than welcome, we love new friends to play with. If you have read some of the thread you will see just a few of us post, but I know more MSErs read along.

I am sorry for your circumstances, but please look on us as your "family". We are a friendly bunch and if you have a problem please come here. If one of us doesn't know the answer you can be sure another will. I think between us we have a wealth of experience, so just post and within 24 hours you should have a suggestion.

We are retired (Himself and me) so have to be a bit careful, but to be honest I enjoy cooking from scratch and making the pennies spin out. You have probably read I am up to my eyes in jam making at the moment, and MLW all things edible. FTM has an allotment and large garden, and SM makes wonderful cakes:)

WELCOME AND ENJOY

Candlelightx

[Deleted User]

Hello ARIADNE don't just put your head round the door pet, open it and come on in and join us, we like new friends.

It sounds like you've been through the mill a bit but have got yourselves out the other side and through it now but will need strategies and thrifty ideas to cope when you lose the salary, this we can help with as we've all been in the doldrums ourselves. So join in and post whenever you can and we'll try to give you a hand with any problems, Oh, and we'll only expect you to be good when we are, don't hold your breath honey, it's never going to happen!!! Lyn xxx.

candlelight_2013

Hi Lyn,

Yes I thought I would make small hampers up for Christmas with the jams, I might make pickle, and nearer the time H/M shortbread, and in P*land last week I found some small cake tins (to bake in) so thought I would make light Christmas cakes as well. I will look round for some cheap baskets or such like and line them with shredded tissue paper Sorry to mention the C word, but one has to be prepared:)

Must go, just making raspberry jelly jam.

Candlelightx

[Deleted User]

I like christmas, and I like making all the things to go into hampers too and folks generally like getting them as presents, win win situation M'dear, Lyn xxx.