Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

fuddle

Thanks for the info re: basil. My herb garden is a Belfast sink that was left here by the tenants before and is in a sunny spot in my garden so the herbs can take advantage of the heat. The kitchen window sill only gets the sun late evening so I thought it would do better outside. Any problems and i'll bring it in but thank you, I know what to look for now.

silvasava

your Belfast sink is a great idea Fuddle for herbs. Usually the most aromatic prefer poor soil, dry & hot but there are a few exceptions! Mint being one as it seems to do better in a dampish place (in a bucket or something 'cos its a thug!) Havn't bought any Basil yet this year but its on my list!

fuddle

It isn't all glam in that auld sink as the children people have a sunflower each in there too. :cool: I've got parsely to go in too. I had the herbs on top of the hutch (indoors) to give for treats for our rabbit but they just weren't growing.

MMM consists of carrying the plastic chair from the allotment plot. It's in the garden and will be spray painted. Colour I'm yet to decide but I want to have fun It will go on the new plot when we get one but until then it's destined for summer at number 3.

I have been tidying up the garden and given DH a BBQ area. I used the top half of a pallet as a base for the BBQ and have cut in to the other part. I'm thinking of making some sort of bar area next to the BBQ but will need to talk through it with DH as he has better woodwork skills than I do. He was talking about is about beginning my arbour but we are having day trips this weekend so it's still on the back burner. It will be simple and cheap construction wise. I'm wondering is it possible to get evergreen clematis? That way there will be something there all year round. Any ideas?

I'm trying to get rid of the red meat so I will wrap sausages in pastry soon, serve with salad and corn cob. I will have boiled eggs. I also will open a tin of peaches and make a cobbler.

I managed to harvest nearly half a bowl of strawbs from the plot.

vhalla1478

Hello everyone,

The internet is still playing up and this is the third time I've tried to post today.

Just to say the reason I suggested a Meet at my house was that there appears to be quite a few ladies in my neck of the woods who post here. Of course, it goes without saying that the invitation is open to anyone who posts regularly on this thread wherever they may live; that was why I mentioned that I and my son (lives 250 yds away) could accommodate two or three people overnight.

Just a quick mention of a book I've been lent, which is so informative even though I have a large garden rather than an allotment. 'The Allotment Book' by Andy Clevely.

I'll try later to post recipe but am getting a little bored of re-writing it continually.

Viv x

nursemaggie

No need to keep writing out a recipe vhalla Just write it out in notebook and copy and paste when you can post. You can save the recipe to your desktop temporarilyuntil you can post.

vhalla1478

Thank you for the advice re recipes, nursemaggie, but you might as well have told me in Chinese - that's way too advanced for me - I've only just sorted out smiles and invariably I put them in the wrong place. Note to self, ask DS or DDil for lesson to save time!:j.

Viv xx

nursemaggie

vhalla click on note book in the start menu. Write out your recipe, there is no spell check in note book so you will need to check after you copy and paste. Save, it will ask you where to save, click on desktop and it will save it on you screen with an icon like a little letter or document.

When you can post again open your saved recipe, highlight it, right click, click on copy, click in the box to post, right click, click paste and it will copy what you have highlighted into the reply box.

I save recipes, knitting patterns all sorts of things in notebook they are easy to save on your desktop as ling as you give them a title. Just put them in trash to get rid of them when you finish.

pinknfluffy28

nursemaggie - glad I'm not the only one obsessed with the notebook function, mine is in almost daily use for something or another!

Had a fairly busy day today at work, not managed to get much done at home.

Total spend for today £1 for dd2's brownies meeting.
Make do - corned beef hash for dinner, used up a few of the tins from cupboard, meaning shopping can wait until Monday.
Mend - sewn up a couple more holes in some of dh's tshirts
Minimise - another box of "junk" (that we obviously felt we needed at some point long, long ago) packed up and ready to take to cs.

Have a great weekend everyone, it is the first in many months that dh and I both have off together, so got lots of family walks, board games, and baking sessions planned. Very mm&m!

vhalla1478

Hi again everyone,

Here we go with the recipe for Courgette Bread

Small, firm courgette, 115g approx., 400g plain flour, plus extra to sprinkle, 2 tsp bicarbonate soda, tsp salt, tbsp. light muscovado sugar, plump garlic clove, finely chopped, tbsp. sunflower oil, 400ml buttermilk, or as needed.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees/gas6. Coarsely grate the courgette, including the skin and press between several sheets of kitchen paper to absorb the excess moisture.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the sugar and garlic, then stir in the grated courgette. drizzle in the oil and gently stir in with the buttermilk. stir until the mixture is combined into a soft dough (overmixing will make the bread tough). Gather the dough together and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead very briefly until smooth. With floured hands, very gently make a round ball. Lift the loaf onto a greased baking sheet and sprinkle over a little extra flour. Make a deep cross with a sharp knife.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until risen or brown. transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool slightly before slicing. Best eaten freshly baked but can be kept for up to 2 days.

Many thanks for the instructions, nursemaggie, will absorb them later, hopefully.

Viv x

silvasava

Fuddle - yes there are evergreen clematis. I think Vhalla was after one and its in earlier posts - but you can google evergreen clematis & lots will come up. There's also a few sites that make things out of pallets and they've some super ideas - can't remember the site names but google that too. I do remeber seeing a bar/barbecue made with pallets and using paving slabs as a top - looked really good!