No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

scottishminnie

Hi all. Another flying visit:o - sometime soon I will get back to post a proper update.

Dad's recovery continues well(along with his frustrations at not being able to do more though) which is great news. His appetite is back and he is sleeping better which can only help overall.

Mum, hubby and I are frazzled - but in a good way. Just goes to show what can be achieved when we need to.

Mrs LM - my parents have 2 small hounds who were horribly upset when dad was in hospital so mum allowed them to sleep in the bedroom. She awoke in the morning to find she was pretty much pinned to the bed as one was on the pillow (and on her hair) and the other was across her feet. Her and dad are in seperate bedrooms at the moment until he is a bit better and the hounds have taken to sleeping mid way along the hall - they obviously have divided loyalties!

FTM - glad Fern continues to get better. Although we girls love our mums, Mrs LM is spot on- we are all daddy's girls at heart. Doesn't matter what age we are!

Kittie - I have a huge upright freezer - thanks for the tip on how to organise. It's so logical I can't believe I hadn't thought of it - that's a "this weekend" task for sure.

Rosetta - you can bet dad is planning lots of tasks for us. He wouldn't want us to be bored any time soon!

Well, I'm off to put some laundry away. I had a day off from paid work today so got my washing out and it was really windy so it's beautifully dried and not a crease in sight. At least that means no ironing:)

[Deleted User]

Morning SM - It was a very long night, Docky just kept wandering and wandering always ending up at the kitchen door so I thought he was feeling sick or needing to go out. Whenever I opened the door I got soaked as the wind was in a funny direction and it was raining a hoolie!, spent about 3 hours in my waterproofs standing with the door open, all to no avail Puppies Eh! I finally gave up and went to bed at 3.30 am and he came to find me half an hour later but was awake again by 6.30 this morning so I got up and made tea. Will walk him in a minute as we have dry at the moment. Glad your Dad is progressing well and still think he's lucky to have such a good support team as his family. Have a good one Cheers Lyn x.

[Deleted User]

:eek:
next week, lots more very horrible weather after a short interlude. Yikes. Very nasty, drowning plants scenario

[Deleted User]

KITTIE - Looking at the apple trees we are in for a very sparse crop this year and we are currently having a horrid blustery but warm wind and it is drying up and battering all the leaves. The fig has 1 fig on, and the damson trees are looking very sad indeed. I think it will be a very difficult season if we don't have a respite from this bad weather soon. My strawberries are still dormant, green and hard think if they do ripen they may not be edible. I think I might put in some 'futures' in tinned food in the near future as I don't know what the winter will bring. Best to prepare I think!

[Deleted User]

absolutely right mrsLW. No damsons appearing at all on dozens of bushes by the allotment. Hardly any apples either. My strawberries are producing dozens of fruits but they are being ruined daily. Squashes and courgettes are showing buds but that is all.

I am digging potatoes as quick as we can eat them as blight will be in the air next month, I`ll start to dehydrate them next month when they are bigger and before the slugs have them. Beans are very very slow. I have started digging my shallots up and am open freezing them, Garlic next week and dehydrating as they are full of rust

Growing veg commercially must be absolutely dire for farmers. I think I will also get some tinned food in to add to my pasta and tomato stash

Kaz2904

Hi all! Flying visit . I've been MIA as I'm desperately trying to get a blanket knitted and it's 5ft square :eek:.
My pear tree has no fruit despite a promising amount showing from the blossom. The plum has lots on it (first year for fruit) and I have nearly 10 peaches. The strawberries are doing naff all. There are about 10 of them and they are all still green. I was actually dreaming about polytunnelling over the whole garden the other night!
FTM well done on the new job for DH. Hope Fern is feeling a bit better now? Glad you and Iris are pootling around happily. How's Heather? Any sign of Bubs yet?
Scottishminnie, bet you must be pooped, well done on the slinkies under the boiler suit. I highly approve!
Lyn, the house sounds beautiful. What a find eh? Definitely a money saver getting a full structural survey done though.

Sorry if I've missed anyone out, I'd not realised quite how long I've been away from MSE

[Deleted User]

more home preserving to be done today. more shallots as they are freezing so well, I am really worried about getting any dry spell so I am taking no chances, anyway I want to get something else into the ground, maybe phacelia as it is a very easy green manure crop that I can turn over and cover for winter.

I have been chopping and freezing herbs, so far mint, dill and sage, using baby food freezer boxes as they are a perfect size. Have got the dehydrator organised today and will cut and dry oregano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzqVcknUgms

and thyme tomorrow, done low at 95 to preserve the oils. I actually bought dried thyme this year as it is such a good herbal `medicinal` drink for coughs and colds but I have lots to dry now as I am growing loads. They were the tiniest seeds I ever grew

Have ordered 12 border supports as even roses took a battering yesterday and some are bending too much. I already had 3 supports and they are doing an amazing job plus you cannot see them any more

Made boston beans in sc yesterday and forgot to add water, Yuk and I didn`t open the lid all day, what a waste but the middle bit was nice. Coincidence or what, got bad indigestion in the evening like I did after lentils so am admitting it to myself. Pulses and I do not get on internally so I am getting stored packets out for the village salvation army box. I am aiming to always have a freezer drawer full of meat ( all organic) and one of fish. I only cook meat like this sparingly anyway. It has taken me long enough to admit to myself that my digestion is far better if I stay away from pulses and wheat. Also watching for hidden sugar even more after watching that tv programme, oh how easily we got sucked in. Am trying stevia and it`s nice

[Deleted User]

Morning all, KITTIE - I am finding that after being paleo for a while, if I do have even a small amount of wheat based products I get galloping indigestion and a sore tum for a few days. Nell, my eldest DD and I had a week in Sweden last summer and only had Rye products, no problems at all. You can get really good crispbreads over here, FINNCRISP being the one we like best and most places are making an acceptable Rye Bread even M&S if you have one with an instore bakery in the food hall, might be worth a try but we keep quantities small just in case. I'll second the stevia as a really good product, Nell got me some a few years ago when she visited some friends in the USA, before it was mainstream knowledge here, it came from Ithica and I've been using for a while. I too have lots of thyme in the garden, its a mainstay and can be used as a disinfectant if made as a strong infusion. We have lots of Rosemary too as I find that it can stop a migraine in its tracks, I make a strong infusion of half an ounce of dried rosemary in half a pint of boiling water, It tastes vile but, for me, really works. I am going to make some rhubarb chutney today as we are still cropping well on the allotment. KAZ - nice to hear from you hope your DD with the poor sorely wing is mended, or very nearly by now and much more comfortable. Hope the blanket is going well. Have a really good day all of you Cheers Lyn xxx.

mardatha

Agree re thyme, I used it to make a great cough mix for the kids when they were wee.

[Deleted User]

dehydrator is on. Oregano was so easy to pick and strip and easily filled two trays so I have been under the prickly roses and cut lots of thyme, enough to fill 7 trays, so all in at once. Must sow more coriander today as it freezes well. Last sowings of seeds coming up soon gasp, season is turning so quickly

Made ice cream yesterday and accidentally used plain normal (not low fat) yeo yoghurt, double cream, 2 tbs icing sugar and added vanilla powder. Absolutely scrummy, was planning to use rachels coconut but such a nice accidental surprise. So very quick and easy and I`m glad I got my maker out of a cupboard. Should make lovely ices from just yoghurt

I can`t be without my herbs Mardatha and mrsLW. I have herb infusers hanging up and a cupboard full of disposable tea bag papers. We made lemon balm tea yesterday and it lifted our spirits, without thinking about it. Was such a gloomy nasty day too. I keep the herb confined in a big low planter and it only cost a few seeds, years ago

lol, I made normal tea in the same pot and not realised that the used lemon balm leaves were still in. Tea was just lovely, a real afternoon type tea