No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

robsmum_2

I finally managed to catch up and thank you all for all the useful tips.

My 1st lot of chillie,leeks and flower seeds are all pricked out and now in greenhouse. 2nd lot now need pricking out which hopehully I will get done tommorow after work.

De-cluttering is work in progress, conservatory and our bedroom done and made a start on the living room. Got 2 lovely cream lampshades from CS a week or so ago, they were exactly what I was looking for for the conservatory. Last week found again in CS the nice thick lined curtains I wanted for our room -£9 for 3 big curtains:j
The first 4 blocks are done for my first ever quilt and have now finally worked out how to do it. 1 of 2 pegbags made and my neighbour reckons I should sell things I make - not sure how but am pondering the idea.
Off to finish weekly housework blitz.

jackel

I note that some of you send for seeds and wondered if you always get them through the post ok.The year before last our orderfrom Real Seeds went missing and this year our Tuckers did the same. I hasten to add both companies replaiced the missing items(we have dealt with these two excellent firms for a considerable time). I just wondered if it was just bad luck or(worse still) a usual thing ? jac x

scottishminnie

Just catching up on the posts - it was too late to look last night when I got home, I was exhausted. Was a little bumpy flight home, bit rollercoasterlike and the very stern and proper looking gentleman next to me suddenly let rip with some language I wouldn't have believed he knew:)

I can't believe the whole drought situation. As my problem is usually too much water I can't even begin to think how bad it must be to be in that situation. If I could send you some I certainly would. I should start practising some witchcraft to divert the raindrops your way. I remember once when we were on holiday in the US we heard a weather forecast where they mentioned that there may be some "sprinkles" later that day. It's become a standing joke with hubby and I, especially when it's chucking it down he will often say "oh look, it's sprinkling hard today".

Robsmum - I'm envous of your quilting, I really must get my behind in gear and watch the tutorials.

Kittie- glad you are enjoying your Kmix - I have a much loved Kitchenaid so I know exactly how you feel - even hubby admits it's an impressive bit of equipment.

[Deleted User]

arghh, we were supposed to get RAIN and we have only had a bare sprinkle, I am seriously concerned now. I have been wondering why our water is harder lately but I`ve had a very good read about how wessex water manages its water and the supply to us gets shifted when levels drop and it then comes from chalky areas. Water management is very interesting and imo water is very cheap at the price and is a precious commodity

I have been getting nostalgic because of browsing a readers digest farmhouse cookery book that I haven`t opened for a while. First printed in 1980 and such a huge variety of interesting information with small pictures and lots of writing. I used to love using that book and will be using it again on a regular basis. I just ordered one for dd and another couple of nostalgic cookery books that I used to own in the 70s and 80s, those are for me. I just love reading and handling the old hardbacks

[Deleted User]

There is a very interesting article on a bbc news page, about sleep patterns and about how the supposed `8 hours a night` is a relatively new thing. Some of us are programmed to wake every night and then fall back to sleep, I am one of those. The article made a lot of sense and now I`ll stop being concerned about waking every night

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783

I sent for a few ingredients for hm sausages and I`ll just add to some sausagemeat that I have in the freezer, should be fun and something nice to do with the children when they stay with us

scottishminnie

That's an interesting article Kittie - kind of explains why I sleep better sometimes for a couple of hours after being up really early to see hubby off to work than I do when I first go to bed.
Like you I think it's time to stop worrying about not sleeping.

I picked up a coat - very like this - from the drycleaners yesterday. It was really grubby when I put it in - no stains or specific marks, just general grubbiness. Got it back and it's not much cleaner so I gave Boden a ring to see what else I could do as the instructions state "dry clean only". Was a bit stunned to be advised that as I've had it almost 2 years I should be buying a replacement now. I don't wear it very often and I'm not impressed that they think it's at the end of it's lifecycle. Any suggestions on how to get it clean without ruining the showerproof nature of the coat? Mine has a light background and giant circles so it probably shows dirt easier than darker ones.

I'm hoping for a dry weekend - I would like to get my duvet cover out on the line rather than in the dryer (or should I say on my mum's line as I have a small whirly which can't handle a 7 ft duvet!) I also need to wash my windows before we get to the stage where we can't see out.

On the water subject - I can't understand why we can't move some from North to South. I'm deadly serious - surely someone can come up with plan to divert rivers via canals etc to get to the drought areas. Seems ironic that we can put men on the moon but can't move water a couple of hundred miles.

[Deleted User]

veg gardening stuff today. The soil is warm where I live so veg growing will be different to last year and I am glad I did a planting plan or I would soon be a headless chicken. Warm soil = earlier outdoor seed sowing (always with fleece at the ready) it is such a fine balancing act. My last 3 whopping tundra cabbages will be picked today and will keep nicely for a few days in a cool place, in the meantime I will empty and prepare the crock for more sauerktaut which we will enjoy all summer. That wasn`t the plan but whitefly and other bugs will be multiplying (on the cabbages) and I want to get the planting bed ready and rested for the next crop. It looks as though outdoor seed sowing will be earlier this year

Strillo tomatoes are up in only 5 days and that bodes well for vigour. they are now out of the propagator and in front of a window. I doubled up in 2 modules, with a view to getting rid of spares but I have 2 spaces in my chilli root trainer tray so they`ll go in there, 10 trial seeds for 50p . They look promising so I won`t waste them. Chillis and peppers went out sunbathing yesterday and I may well put them and strillo out later today

so far:
potatoes chilltting well, will plant out in march
basil germinated in 5 days, still keeping warm but light
chillis growing on
peppers growing on
tomatoes sown
broad bean witkiem planted outside in trainers
heat treated onion sets planted out today in root trainers
leek seeds sown indoors thickly in a tall plant pot
Next will be early pea oskar, planted in situ outside

I made an order with the local food group as I haven`t bought for 7 months due to home grown being so productive. I felt guilty as I want to support local county producers so have bought unhomogenised milk etc and fruit like apples and pears and ale, so dh will get a nice surprise

rachbc

think I'll sow some herbs with dd this weekend - I have thai and italian basil. Whenever I have tried flat leaf parsley its failed - any tips?

Though are the soft erbs i use most as i have most others that I like in pots in the yard

flowertotmum

Hi all...been awol ..both girls very poorly and so is half the school..chicken pox and a virus are raging through it at the moment..so i have done very little for the past few days..apart from sitting with girls and making sure they are ok..plus lack of sleeping..lol..i think i function better on a few hours sleep rather than a full night to be honest..when iris was smaller i only got 2-3 hours a night and even though i was tired i got on better..very strange..

I have had washing out for the last 2 days,windows open upstairs getting fresh air through..lovely.

My bathroom is finally finished..i bought some bathroom transfers..under the sea ones..and spent 30 minutes wrestling to get them out the tube..but got them up and they just make it look funky..

Hubby has booked some holidays so he can get spuds planted..he has serviced the lawn mower today..he is currently saving for a rotivator..good price on fleabay..it will help him a lot with his bad hips.

Have gone halves with my dd on some fabric appliques for littlies tops and jeans..so will look forward to doing them...i treated myself to a book off the book people with my book points..its called "Sewing in no time" by Emma Hardy..absolutely lovely with step by step instructions so even a newbie sewer like me can do it..

All i can say is thank goodness my freezer has been full of HM meals this week...i haven't had time to do much..makes me laugh..i am in bath and tots want me not dad who is with them but me..have spent 2 nights sleeping on blankets with a pillow next to their beds..surprisingly comfy though but i can sleep standing up so thats not saying much.
Hope your all ok and enjoying the nice weather..
take care
ftm

[Deleted User]

Ahhh, I hope the little ones get better soon ftm. my dgd has chickenpox too, nice to get it over with. You are a busy bee as always ftm and a jolly good mum

I made sausages this morning using 400g of good sausagemeat that I had over from christmas. It didn`t take many extras and was very easy, I used lincolnshire spice mix but will make my own next time. I now have 8 sausages `maturing` in the fridge and will cook them all tonight. 5 minutes to mix and the kmix did the rest. I used all the leftover meat for 2 sausage patties for breakfast, beautiful. Tangmaster is ace for ingredients

Another good site is the sensitive skin co, I bought a chlorine filter for the shower, which also softens the water and it worked. No smell of chlorine and the shower felt like silk. Brilliant service from them

I found a fantastic free app for my ipod. Riverford recipes. There are hundreds and all well written and easy to read. It was in utilities but I`ll check later

Allotment later (only 8 x 100 usable) to do some gentle weeding and cabbage heaving