Tales from The Shire

themadvix

Well done Fortune, very envious of your win , but very well deserved! I think the group is great for support and inspiration - so many delicious recipes! 

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, lovely prize Fortune, I'm sure you'll make excellent use of it! And well deserved too, your pumpkin was brilliant!

South_coast

Well done on the win, very well deserved 😀 And I'm loving the idea of the red wine coping strategy 🤣!

VintageHistorian

Well done on the well deserved pumpkin win Fortune! Hope you get some lovely inspiration from your new cookery book!

Fortune_Smiles

ruby_eskimo said:

Well done on winning the pumpkin carving contest!  Sounds like you definitely have some good ideas for lockdown number 2 and I especially like the idea of a self-care thread as I could really do with some ideas.

Thank you @ruby_eskimo.  I would highly recommend yoga if you don't already practice.  I find it very helpful on lots of levels.  I've also used the Calm app which is something that can be accessed in a few spare minutes.  I suspect that what we consider 'self-care' varies from person to person.  For me it's about anything that brings me calm or joy and making those a priority.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

rtandon27 said:

Oooo - a new cookbook!   Fabulous item to win - Is it one of theirs?  I love the recipes created by our veg box people - all the ones we've made have been hits!

Fortune - you've inspired me to get back to my daily yoga practice, which slowly vanished during the summer when I spent most of the day outdoors both working & gardening.  Now as the days draw shorter, I need a pick me up & yoga is just the thing.  I was surprised how stiff I'd become & was also pleasantly surprised this morning, when my shoulders rotated back just a bit further than they had yesterday & the day before! My joints however are rebelling against this damp weather & a higher dosage of glucosamine along with more homemade bone broth is the order of the day

It is one of theirs @rtandon27 😁  I believe they are very sought after.

Isn't it fab when you can suddenly do something in yoga you couldn't do before or do it more easily.  I love being more bendy.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

themadvix said:

Well done Fortune, very envious of your win , but very well deserved! I think the group is great for support and inspiration - so many delicious recipes! 

South_coast said:

Well done on the win, very well deserved 😀 And I'm loving the idea of the red wine coping strategy 🤣!

VintageHistorian said:

Well done on the well deserved pumpkin win Fortune! Hope you get some lovely inspiration from your new cookery book!

Thank you guys.  It's a spring/summer cook book so I might have to wait a while to try out the recipes.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Distracted

I've been a bit distracted this week - just getting used to lockdown again I think.  Although we heard yesterday that my brother-in-law may have Covid 😥  He had a test yesterday so we're just waiting for the results.  Very worried for him and my sister - they are both smokers and not particularly fit.

I'm in a good routine now with yoga and housework.  Even decided to clean the oven this week 😲  It's taken three attempts with various solutions so far and it's still quite carbonised.  Remind me to buy a self-cleaning oven next time... or maybe clean the oven more regularly 🙄

Meals have been:

• Cajun Grilled Halloumi with Lime Black-Eyed Bean Salad & Guacomole
• Roasted Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup
• Lentil Chilli using a recipe from one of my cookery books.

Mr F has decided he wants to learn how to do head and hand stands too 😂  That'll be good for a laugh 😂  He's very fit and flexible but not particularly graceful.

We could hear fireworks last night so took the opportunity to train FDawg that they're not so bad.  He very much enjoyed the extra treats and did settle after a while... behind Mr F's legs but it was a small improvement.

Hope everyone's safe and well.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Good News

My brother-in-law's test came back negative which is a great relief 🙂  I don't think I will ever take good health for granted after this year.

I shuffled money into savings and op's this morning and crunched some numbers to see whether we're on track with our financial plans which we are.  For the time being of course.

Lunch was Courgette & Goat's Cheese Ciabatta.  Supper was Squash & Halloumi Curry - a new recipe and one I'd recommend.  It was yummy 😋

Mr F and I did some work in the garden this afternoon.  It was a proper autumnal day - dry, cold and clear.  Mr F lit a bonfire to dispose of some prunings, chopped logs and swept leaves.  I took down some of the hanging baskets and tidied up the shrubs around the front door and the Cottage entrance.  FDawg watched sheep 😆  It was nice to get out in the fresh air.

It's Saturday night so I plan to celebrate with a glass of red and a bubble bath.

Happy weekend all

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Not Covid...

... but not good.  BiL ended up in intensive care with bacterial pneumonia!  They think he may have had flu and got a secondary infection.  He's responded well to antibiotics and may come home today although he'll need looking after for the next couple of months.

I've definitely been on the Coronacoaster these last weeks - very up and down.  Trying to focus on the positives:

• BiL is recovering
• the window work starts tomorrow 😁  Thank goodness as the weather has been getting the better of us
• we've decided on the trees for the orchard and given the Apple Man the go ahead.  He has a lot of work on so may not get to us this year.  I hope he does as it will be something really beautiful and positive to remember about 2020
• we won £10 on the Po$tcod£ lottery 😁
• Mr F still has his job and we haven't heard anything to the contrary so far
• I'm making further progress in yoga and am finding it really easy to keep up
• food deliveries are still coming and I've had no difficulty in getting slots this lockdown.  I even managed to book a Christmas delivery 😁

There are still so many blessings we can count so we're just trying to settle in now for the winter.  It's tedious and dull and a bit worrying but life is so much harder for many right now so we're trying not to mind too much.

We'll get there.

Hope everyone is safe and well.

Fortune x