Tales from The Shire

Fortune_Smiles · 29 August 2019 at 9:23PM

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Crikey, what an eventful weekend! Poor DIL, hope she has a far less eventful week. And I can understand driving past to show someone a holiday cottage you've stayed in - if it's on a main road! Otherwise, how very intrusive! Good grief.

I confess I would have eaten my lunch anywhere, whether they wanted any or not :rotfl:

I know! I do wonder what she'd have done if we'd been out. I think you're right about the lunch intruders. In hindsight, if I'd just carried on cooking they might have taken the hint earlier.

beanielou wrote: »

Enjoy your day.
Hope it is uneventful!

Thank you Beanie. I've had quite enough drama for the time being :rotfl:

teapot2 wrote: »

Goodness poor DIL, glad she has recovered, horsefly [we call them 'clegs' here] bites are very painful and can cause problems for ages after. Is DiL a bit of an insect magnet?

Sorry, had to smile at your catalogue of lingering and unexpected visitors, hope its a quieter day today

I think she is Teapot :rotfl: I really do like visitors - it was just bad timing

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles · 29 August 2019 at 11:03PM

I gave myself a couple of days off to make up for my busy and drama filled week :rotfl: Back to the norm today though.

Gate Man arrived to fix the gate... again. He can fix all the superficial, cosmetic stuff but not the structural important stuff :mad: He couldn't fix all the superficial, cosmetic stuff today though as he'd bought the wrong replacement fence pickets with him. So he's got to come back... again. I've properly lost the will to live with it all now so have negotiated a five year guarantee and £500 refund. We're just going to cut our losses.

As Gate Man was leaving, the grocery shop arrived. I was quite a lot under budget this week as the fridge is still relatively full. So I added a little to the Tittervating Pot and spent the rest on Brexit supplies :eek: Is it necessary? I'm not sure. But it can't hurt to have a few extras in just in case.

Then, as the grocery van was leaving, some unexpected visitors turned up :eek: It was Builder Man coming to make the final repairs to the patio. He never lets me down

I have invested in my health today and signed up for an on-line diet tool. I've used it before and it worked really well for me. I feel I need a more structured approach to losing the pounds.

Mr F has been away all week so meals have been planned around bits and pieces that need using up. Tonight though I cooked the first of the marrows - Marrow, Potato & Sage Soup. The recipe makes quite a thin soup so I might put more potato in next time. It has a delicate flavour and I really enjoyed it. Good job as it makes loads and I've no room left in the freezer. We'll be eating it for lunch now until it's gone.

Friday tomorrow... already! Bank Holiday weeks fly by. We haven't any guests in the Annex this weekend so we can please ourselves. I think more gardening will be on the cards though.

Have a great evening all.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles · 30 August 2019 at 6:20PM

It was pay day yesterday so I spent this morning shuffling money and sorting out the budget for September and October. There are sums set aside for mortgage OPs and savings and my Tittervating Pot is coming along nicely. So far so good.

After lunch (leftover Marrow, Potato & Sage Soup) I set off for the South Town to pick up a freezer. I got it off a friend who is having a clear out in exchange for an electric strimmer we no longer use and £25. About 15 minutes into the journey the tyre pressure loss warning came on in the car :mad: So I had to turn around and head home so Mr F could put some air in for me. I called the garage and they have booked me in for Monday. This will be my third visit to the garage for this particular problem :mad: However, it is a good excuse to meet up with a friend for brunch. It has become a tradition with us to have a vegetarian cooked breakfast in the cafe close to the garage each time I have to take a car in. So far, I've spent more time with vegetarian cooked breakfasts than I have with Mr F this year :rotfl:

Then... unexpected visitors arrived :rotfl: It was Builder Man and team come to give me a quote for getting our windows repaired. It's not going to cost as much as I thought and they are happy to do a few at a time so we can spread the pain.

Anyhoo, I did manage to pick up the freezer without any further delay and it's now in the barn having a rest before being switched on

I'm amazed that Mr F has given me any of his precious floor space in there but I think the prospect of losing our hard won veg patch produce persuaded him.

I went shopping in the veg patch when I got back and harvested the last of the broad beans and plums plus 3 courgettes (so that makes six grown this year) and a marrow. I noticed a single, tiny fruit developing on the butternut squash plant but I doubt it will come to anything this late in the year. It looks like we will have plenty of apples though.

Tonight's supper will be Salmon with Greens & Creme Fraiche with broad beans and potatoes from the garden.

I've been using the on-line diet tool for a couple of days and have already noticed that the portion sizes and fat content of our meals has crept up. Easy enough to remedy though.

Writing about food is making me hungry so I think I'll go and start supper now :rotfl:

Have a great weekend folks!

Fortune x

Cheery_Daff · 31 August 2019 at 5:16PM

:rotfl: at you spending more time with vegetarian breakfasts than with Mr F :rotfl: I spend a lot of time at the garage too, and have offered to rent their back room to work in - that way one car or the other would be there every day and they could just tinker with it as necessary :rotfl: :rotfl:

Good work on the healthy eating :j I dropped in to slimming world this morning - still paying but it's been months since I actually paid any proper attention...

Not exactly MSE! :eek:

Hope you don't get any more unexpected visitors!

Fortune_Smiles · 31 August 2019 at 7:03PM

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

:rotfl: at you spending more time with vegetarian breakfasts than with Mr F :rotfl: I spend a lot of time at the garage too, and have offered to rent their back room to work in - that way one car or the other would be there every day and they could just tinker with it as necessary :rotfl: :rotfl:

Good work on the healthy eating :j I dropped in to slimming world this morning - still paying but it's been months since I actually paid any proper attention... Not exactly MSE! :eek:

Hope you don't get any more unexpected visitors!

Hi Cheery

they do a very good vegetarian sausage at the Caf

I am beginning to regret selling my old car

I know it wasn't very practical but it never let me down.

No unexpected visitors today.. so far.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles · 31 August 2019 at 7:28PM

We decided we'd stay home this weekend and get some stuff done.

As it rained this morning we concentrated on inside chores, mainly rearranging my vacuum collection :rotfl: The new, adored stick vacuum has been put up in the utility area. The old, stick vacuum has had a thorough clean and been transferred to the Annex. The cheap and useless vacuum from the Annex has been put up for sale on FB. Mr F also moved my ironing board holder to somewhere more practical. He's definitely sung for his supper today

It brightened up this afternoon so we went blackberry picking in the bottom field. I cannot tell you how joyful it makes me to have a little of my own hedgerow. Back in Kent I had to jostle with the other local ladies for any hedgerow fruit and it was often slim pickings. Whilst in the field I noticed that the Damsons are ripe and there are a lot of them this year. I picked a couple to test and... no plum moth :j So Damson gin is on the menu again

I popped up to the veg patch to find that some of the cherry tomatoes have ripened at last :T This makes me very happy.

With all this promising produce in mind I thought I'd better sort the new freezer out. So it's had a wash and brush up and is purring away merrily getting up (down?) to temperature.

It was Marrow, Potato & Sage soup again for lunch :rotfl: It's like having a magic porridge pot for soup :rotfl: Mr F ate two portions just to use it up. Supper will be Creamy Courgette Risotto made from the courgettes I picked yesterday. It's going to be a little late because Mr F has just decided to get out on the mower.

Tomorrow we are intending to garden. There's a lot to do now everything is dying off. Autumn is on its way. In fact, it's going to be here tomorrow :eek: Depending on which calendar you work to. Feeling a little bit sad about that. I'm not ready to say goodbye to the summer.

Still, there's always Damson Gin to look forward to

Bye, bye August.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles · 1 September 2019 at 7:27PM

As planned, we've spent the day tidying the garden. Lots has been accomplished but we've only really scratched the surface. Mr F is away on business for most of September so I can see I'm going to be very busy pruning :rotfl:

We harvested the remaining main crop potatoes and the onions. Also picked a couple more cherry tomatoes, a courgette and a marrow.

Lunch was salad made with lettuce and tomatoes from the veg patch. Chicken & Avocado for Mr F, Prawn & Avocado for me. Supper was Spanish Stuffed Marrow with Rice. We didn't have the Courgette Risotto for supper last night after all. I was half way through preparing it when I realised I had run out of risotto rice :eek: Thankfully G00gl£ came to the rescue and I found an alternative recipe to use up the courgette I had already grated - Baked Courgette with Parmesan. I threw in an onion too as I'd already chopped one and we had it with baked tomatoes.

Someone has contacted me about the useless Annex vacuum and is due to collect tomorrow. If they turn up, I'll have £20 more of the finest pounds to add to my Titivating Pot

I am pooped now and expect to sleep very well tonight. Garage tomorrow and a vegetarian breakfast to look forward to

Hope you've all had a good weekend

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles · 2 September 2019 at 7:35PM

Took the car to the garage this morning and met with my friend at the cafe for our vegetarian breakfast. She had some chores to do in town after so we had a little wander. I paid for parking and coffees as a thank you for keeping me company. Also bought a card for our new neighbours who have actually moved in now. They have been renovating a cottage a little way down our lane since January.

When I got back to the garage they had fixed the tyre (time will tell on that one) and also the brake shields which I'd noticed were still rattling on the journey there. I questioned them further about the brake shields as we'd noticed they hadn't replaced them on my previous visit despite them being very corroded and cracked. This was to the point where the bolt holes had become too big for the bolts and the shield was slipping over them. Apparently they had fixed this by adding a washer to the bolts but the corrosion on one of the shields was so bad that the hole was slipping over the washer as well as the bolt. Hence the continued rattling. Mr F says this is the sort of temporary repair you do to get you home - not a proper garage fix :eek: They've now agreed to replace one brake shield, however, Mr F took the wheels off when I got home to have a good look and the other front shield is just as bad. Also the wheel nuts hadn't been tightened up enough :eek: We are going to be having a long conversation with the workshop manager tomorrow (it was his day off today).

Then I got home to find the vacuum buyer had cried off because his car had broken down - bah.

There is good news though

I've since been contacted by someone else who's interested in the vacuum.

I didn't have to cook tonight as we had leftover Spanish Stuffed Marrow.

Today is weigh in day and I've lost 3.4 lbs since Thursday :j The .4 is very important :rotfl: I'd lost a couple of lbs before signing up for the diet app so probably 5 lbs in total. Already my clothes seem to be a bit more comfortable. I have about a stone and a half to lose and, although I'm not massively overweight, I've noticed some health issues appearing. So I'm primarily dieting for health reasons but also so that I can wear more of my clothes. Some have been got at by those tiny creatures called calories that live in your wardrobe and sew your clothes a little bit tighter every night :rotfl:

Mr F has gone off to the barn for the evening so I'm intending to catch up on S@ndit0n. Hope the second episode is as suprising as the first

Have a good evening all.

Fortune x