Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Upsidedown_Bear

Greying_Pilgrim wrote: »

Working in a garden, in the sunshine was actually no hardship. The wildlife was wonderful to watch/listen too. I called DP over to watch the antics of a hoverfly (according to my bee identifier, I think it was a bumble bee hoverfly - who knew bees, wasps and flies had mimics??). I have to tell you, whatever hoverflies have as the equivalent of 'hips' - those folk meddling about with GM in plants and creating pink sheep just want to stop and get the genetics of a hoverfly 'hip' shoved into a human hip joint. I mean it was cleaning itself with it's legs. Tell me dear reader, can you clean your 'backbone' and arms (including bingo wings) by rotating your leg around and 'wiping' down with said leg??? I'd like to see a yoga zen master even attempt it! I cannot describe how interesting it was to watch Both the hoverfly and a ladybird were resting on the leaves of a pear tree in the last of the afternoon sunshine - quite warm, but not scorching.

Zen Master Bear says "I can do" :D

beanielou

OOOh I just love love love beetroot.
Nothing to beat a beetroot mayo sarnie :drool:

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

ooooo, Upsidedown Bear, I'm so tempted to say........:D Mind you, spending the day upside down is feat enough - it'd give me nosebleeds, I'm sure

Beanie - thanks for popping in. You're giving me ideas for my lunch bap fillings now.........:D

Well, up bright and early with the blackbirds and larks...... We've already been spending £ - so under no circumstances let me forget and try to claim a NSD will you?

We'll have some brekkie in a mo, and then decide whether to head out for our walk this morning and have our picnic or do some chores first...... I know where my vote lies Lunch may even feature beetroot, although not the freshly picked ones from yesterday, as I've not had time to process them yet - although it depends on when we head out I guess, mmm, that might actually be an idea :think:

Dinner this evening 'says' curries and rice on the planner. mmm, good choice, but I think i'll have a quick check over the fridge and the cupboards to ensure that there isn't something that needs using up etc.

Hopefully our purses and wallets will remain shut for the rest of the day - may not be a nsd, but no need to go crazy, eh? The weather looks ok, so no reason not to seize the day and have a swell time.

Thanks for dropping by, reading and joining in. I appreciate it. Greatly.

See y'all later.

Greying

brizzledfw

Hi Greying:hello:

Have seen you on Piq's thread..but never gotten around to popping in! Love the diary...am on page 5! so some way to go..but it's great.

Have just subscribed and am here to cheer you on your way alongside all these other lovely MSE folks! :T

Brizzle

Shovel_Lad

Upsidedown_Bear wrote: »

Zen Master Bear says "I can do" :D

Zen Master SL say "I can't do. Must practice more I must" :p:D

Upsidedown_Bear

Today was not a NSD <<< subtle reminder to Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

Brizzledfw - welcome, and thank you for your extraordinarily nice comment. I just checked - page 5 was where all the hilarity over butter bowls and Buddha bowls kicked off - thanks to the wonderfully humorous contributions of Shovel lad, Upsidedown Bear and others that see the funny side of life. I hope you stay and join us

Shovel Lad - :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:(again )

Upsidedown Bear - Thank you :D

Well, whilst today was a spend day, we did only actually spend money on an item in the budget. We didn't spend any money whilst out on our walk - primarily because we didn't need anything, but also because there was a distinct absence of shops.....:rotfl: But my total NSD for October remains at 3 However, today is another AF day, so that can go on the total

Ah, so our walk. It was supposed to be a 7.3 mile circular walk. I guess we did a bit more than that because we got lost.... twice. The first time I missed a waymarker sign - I was looking in the right place and was following the map (such as the map was - not OS ), but just missed it. DP claims to of seen it, but didn't realise that it was a waymarker :doh: The second time, we lost our bearings after going through a field of cattle. We were concentrating on not attracting their attention too much - they'd not been de-horned and there were calves (biggish, but still calves) with their mothers. Still, we got on the right track eventually It was contrasting scenery and very pleasant. In fact, due to a chance remark to someone that we met, they asked us if we had explored a place off the course of this particular walk and explained that it too was a circular walk. Therefore, I think we have found ourselves a better and more interesting walk in this area for the future. The most difficult part of this walk today (where we got lost both times) ironically was the least interesting part of the walk.

We took a picnic lunch with us. I was going to photograph a 'nice spread' but DP insisted on stopping for a coffee and scone break, so that ruined my 'C0untry L1ving' centre-fold spread for y'all.............:p Sorry about that The scones would not of scored a single point for 'looks' or 'technique' if placed in front of a WI judge, but they did taste nice. I can't remember the last time I had a fruit scone. The taste took me back to 'chapel teas' of my youth - which is about as giddy as the social calendar gets in the countryside

Lunch was a little late, because of our *ahem* detour, but we had a bap each (sliced into 4, so it made 2 sandwiches). I *stole* Beanie's idea and we had grated cheese, beetroot and mayo. All out of stores, but the beetroot was vac pack, not fresh. Plus we had some lovely T4yto cheese & onion crisps, my favourite brand.

Unfortunately, the house that had in a previous year put out apples and pears 'free' to good homes, had nothing on offer this year. We didn't pass last year, perhaps the house has changed hands - perhaps they had given away their spares already..... We did also pass a farmhouse that had a paddock, full of apple trees, pear, plum, nuts....... all still on the tree, the sheep were nibbling at the fallen apples. I wonder if the householder used any of it? The house was quite old, I expect in times past it made the homestead quite self-sufficient.

All that fresh air, we came back tired, but happy. We've seen some wonderful sights today - no 1 was a pair of nuthatches, seemingly bickering over food 'rights' in a tree.

Dinner this evening had to be something simple, as I wasn't up to making curry and the accompaniments. So I used the sweetcorn the gardening parental had donated yesterday. I don't have a recipe as such, but onion, celery and garlic fried in a little oil. Add 2/3rds your quantity of sweetcorn (2 small cobs in my case) with 2 small potatoes (chopped) cover with stock/water and simmer until the potato is cooked. Blitz then add in the remainder of your sweetcorn. Add in 1 small grated carrot and a little chopped bell pepper (optional as it's for colour as much as anything) and simmer until sweetcorn is lightly cooked. Add salt, pepper and herbs (pref fresh parsley, but I didn't have any, so used dried oregano). Serve.

A photo - with a drizzle of oil and a dash of smoked paprika...



So, today I am grateful for these 3 things;

input - from other people, whether it is ingredient combinations for sandwiches, gentle reminders (:p), or suggested walks, I've listened, digested (!), acted and will act, on input from other people - today and in the future. Thank you

For distance - geographically we were only a 'few' miles from home today, but by absorbing our surrounds, we were transported to another 'place' entirely. It was great to get 'away' for a few hours.........

for sunny autumn days - it made walking a pleasure, our picnic outdoors tasted so much better (a passerby made a comment as such - they were right!) and made the countryside look ablaze with colour.

Today has been a great day. I've uploaded and archived the photos (no 'fab' shots today, just reminders...) and it'll get stored in our memory banks for a long time.

Thank you so much for popping by, reading and commenting on this diary. When you are not having me in stiches, or making me blush with your kindness you should know that you are supporting me. For that I remain grateful.

See y'all later.

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Anybody dislike that the mornings are getting longer to brighten up? Difficult to get up in the dark isn't it?

Still, we're up and underway. Snap boxes are filled up and packed. Flasks made.

I will be aiming for a NSD today. There is nothing that we need.

Dinner this evening would ordinarily be soup, due to convening a meeting of the household membership. However, with having soup last night, I think I'll try to come up with something quick and light instead. Watch this space - coz I've no clue either

Better get 'up and at 'em'.

Thank you for popping in, reading and commenting. I appreciate it.

See y'all later.

Greying

Piquant_2

Have a good day dearest greying Looking forward to seeing what you have for dinner. Funny that I look forward to your dinners more than my own... What I don't understand is why I am putting on the weight equivalent of eating your dinner and mine - a mystery

beanielou

A quick wee pasta dish?
Im going to try pasta with cauliflower & broccoli & a white sauce.
We shall see :rotfl: