From debt to freedom...

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Cherryfudge.

Yesterday was mainly a garden day - I do love having the time to spend in the garden now that term has finished 😀. DS3 helped me, as we sowed the pumpkin seeds ( nice bit of counting practice thrown in ) , the primula vialli, kale, sweet williams and the echinacea. I have made sure the echinacea seed tray has a propagator lid on top to thwart those pesky molluscs! The primula vialli, Sweet Williams and echinacea will flower next year so my aim is to get them to be sturdy plants to get in the ground in the Autumn.

Part of my day was taking DD1 to work and collecting her in the evening.   She can’t get direct public transport to her place of work and last year took a boat to work and I dropped her off at the slipway. This year not only does her finish time not coordinate with the boat timetable, I’m not convinced that it is physically possible to socially distance on the boat so I’ve been driving her there. As I walked through the town to her place of work yesterday, ( I haven’t really walked anywhere other than fields and lanes), I was shocked by the amount of tourists who had absolutely no sense of social distancing. We were having to walk in the road to keep that distance. I even had a couple of people barge past as close as pre Covid days. I’m wondering if the mask rule has had the effect of  giving  some people a false sense of security so they are not socially distancing as carefully as before 🤷‍♀️.

Today looks to be more gardening 🥳😄 but at the allotment . DS2 wants a birthday bbq at the allotment and in a specific area, so much chopping back is required. I’m intending to take pots with us so that the younger DDs can pick any blackberries they might see.  I need to get the next birthday cake done as well. I did watch a YouTube clip on how to do the Doritos packet design in cake form, so will experiment today!

Have a good day everyone!

Honeysucklelou2

Got to the allotment yesterday. DS2 and I each had a pair of shears and chopped solidly for an hour or two. The younger DDs were raking what we had chopped while DS3 “supervised” from the shade of the tree while looking after the elderly lurcher. Well not sure who was looking after whom  but they looked quite companionable sitting under one of the hazel trees! We managed to clear a rectangle of ground about 4m by about 15m. Every now and again we stopped to pick the blackberries before we chopped back the brambles and managed to pick about a pound which I thought was good considering it is only July. I went to Mr T’s at 7 this morning to get the meat for the bbq so it’s all ready to go tonight.  I might see if I can buy some cintronella candles locally as I did get bitten by grey flies a lot yesterday.

The birthday cake is in layers waiting to be sandwiched together with butter icing and sculpted into shape before fondant icing is put on.  

It was just lovely to have time to enjoy  not having to rush around. It was hot yesterday so I dug out this plastic water tray/ paddling pool  for DS3 to play in. I had to go crouching under the camellia bush to find the outside tap and turned it on ( with the hose attached), ready to grab the hose and fill the water tray. Unfortunately DS3 saw the water start and grabbed it, except he turned the hose on me rather than filling the tray! For one so young he was remarkably adept at lifting the hose so that the arc of the water fell on me wherever I was in the garden. He was chortling with laughter . Goodness knows what the neighbours thought as I was trying to get him to point the hose in the right direction!  Eventually I managed to wrest control of it again but not before I was totally saturated! 🤣

Today is pay day so in between birthday preparations and celebrations I need to allocate monies and finalise budgets for August.

janb5

Fabulous description - the allotment sounds wonderful.  It`s my son`s b day too so have made him a very rich chocolate cake.  Will post recipe later.

Devilish Chocolate cake

500g/ 1lb 2oz  good quality chocolate finely chopped
50g/20z golden syrup or liquid glucose
50 ml/2 fluid oz amaretto - optional
100g/3.5. oz brandy snaps crushed
600 ml double cream
75g/3oz icing sugar
200g/7 oz raspberries
Put the chocolate + golden syrup/glucose into a heatproof bowl with the amaretto. Set over a pan of gently simmering water making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water.Leave to melt, resisting the urge to stir ( unless you want ruined chocolate because  it seizes!)
Set bowl aside and leave to cool when chocolate is at room temperature but still melted.

Meanwhile line the base and sides of 8"/20 cm springform cake tin with baking parchment or use ` magic carpet` which is what I did.  Crush brandy snaps over the base.
In a large bowl whip cream until it holds its shape   use a large metal spoon to fold half the cooled chocolate mixture into the cream.
Repeat with remaining chocolate.
Spoon half the mixture into the tin and level the surface.  Sprinkle over the raspberries, then cover over the remaining chocolate  mixture and smooth the top.
The texture becomes firmer the longer you leave it.  I made mine two days before.  You can use frozen raspberries but blot the excess liquid.

P.S L*keland sell magic carpet or T*fal sell a similar product.  Really useful cut to size in cake time and then reusable.

thriftyish

I would love a pig or two! Sadly my allotment site wouldn't allow it, they have a long list of things they don't allow! - I would love to hear if you do decide to go ahead. My FIL keeps joking I should get a goat and that would do the same (They had a goat when my DH was a boy, so maybe he isn't joking!) I have spare echinacea seedlings, I wish I could share. I hope the slugs aren't hungry this time around! Sounds like a lot of happy things happening at your house, the cake sounds amazing

lucielle

Gosh you've been so busy.  Enjoy your time off
L

magicgal

Good luck with the budgets this month. You sound like you are doing really well and I hope your efforts yield some fantastic rewards.  Enjoy the time with the children  hope the weather holds and allows you to do all you want xx

savingholmes

Your writing makes everything sound magical. Enjoy the birthday.

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Janb5, thriftyish, Lucielle, Magicgal & SH.

Jan - the recipe sounds delicious...sounds like you get a range of textures with using brandysnaps. Will have to try it!

The pig debate continues... I did wonder if it would be possible to build a pig shelter using materials I already have rather than the cheapest commercially sold pig ark which was about £400 last time I looked. I’m mulling over ideas...

The birthday celebrations went well and DS was pleased with his gift which was a relief.

I don’t feel that I have got that much done besides many loads of washing a day! Pay day was last Friday so all direct debits went out on Monday. I am thankful that they are all covered but know I need to be very careful. Another £30 has hit the EF meaning it is now back up to £100 and a further £60 paid off the debt figure.

I’m trying to think of fun things to do with the younger children ( older ones are working at the moment) but am finding it quite tricky. Normally I would take them to the beach, but there are lots of tourists here at the moment so am leaving beach trips to evening rather than daytime. Today I took them strawberry picking which they all seemed to enjoy 😀. I still have NT membership so must look into booking a day out at local sites. I could quite happily lose myself at the allotment for hours but I realise that although  my children will pitch in, they aren’t quite as keen as me!

janb5

Hi HSL...the recipe will make either a mousse style cake or a firmer cake if left in frig .Very rich cake but has been very popular!

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Janb5 - will show the recipe to DD2 as she is always keen to try out new desserts/ cakes!

Today has been quite productive. My lovely mum has stayed for the last couple of days. She brought her sewing machine with her, so we got into a face mask production line today! My dad had sent a basic pattern that he had seen online, so armed with material and scissors, we got started. I had a single sheet that had got a large rip in the middle,  so that was commandeered  and cut into 10 x 6 “ rectangles. These made the layer (s) closest to the face. For the outward layer, I used material that I had left over from past patchwork  projects. After a while we had made 10 cloth face masks, all different, quirky and machine washable and the  best bit was that they hadn’t cost anything as we’d used material that was already at home 😀.

A few weeks ago, I bought some upholstery grade foam to make some new seats for a sofa. I also bought some material with which to cover the foam. Although I haven’t quite got as far as the covering, I’ve been able to cut / saw the foam to size. It will make a difference to the living room with the sofa re cushioned and covered.