Tales from The Shire

rtandon27

How lovely! - how fabulous to be able to look forward to a life of less work & more time to yourselves

Fortune_Smiles

Cool 😎


Thanks everyone for your messages of support.  We both feel differently already knowing that this is an option for us.  Now I just have to balance spending and saving... so no change there then 🤣

Most of our efforts this week have been dedicated to keeping cool.  It's sweltering in the Shire.  Not that I'm complaining - it's lovely to have the sunshine.  It's cool in the house in the morning so I've been doing the vacuuming and any heavier housework then.  By mid-afternoon it's getting very warm so that's when I've been doing computer or paperwork.  By early evening the house is cooking but it's getting cooler outside so that's when we've been harvesting in the veg patch and watering the garden.  We gave FDawg a bath yesterday morning to help keep him cool.  Mr F has a fan in his office and FDawg has been lying in front of that for most of the day.  He's more sensible these days and finds somewhere cool to sleep in the heat.  When we first rescued him he didn't have an off switch and would've run and run around the fields all day in the blazing sunshine if we'd let him 😲

We had a young man come round to give us a quote for some decorating on Wednesday.  He's a local lad and comes highly recommended.  We have extremely high ceilings upstairs so can't do those rooms ourselves.  He's come back with a sensible quote so I've ordered some paint swatches so I can make a decision on the colour.  We'll still need to maintain the house over the next twelve months and I've factored the costs into our budget.

Other MS related tasks this week have been booking my car into the new-to-me garage as the air-con has stopped working - that was good timing wasn't it 😆, contacting Window Man as we're having trouble closing one of our new windows and contacting Apple Man as one of our new trees isn't growing properly.  Apple Man has already responded to say he'll replace the tree this coming winter - I'm very sorry we've lost one though.

Yesterday's lunch was Halloumi, Spiced Chickpea, Kohlrabi & Spinach Salad.  It's the first time I've tried kohlrabi and I liked it a lot.  Supper was Courgette Carbonara.  Our courgettes are going mad already so will be featuring heavily in the menu plan.  Today's lunch was... Courgette, Feta & Mint Tart 😆 with salad.  And I'll shortly be starting tonight's supper of Chorizo, New Potato & Haddock One-Pot - even I can't stomach courgettes at every meal 😆

The veg patch is doing well.  As well as courgettes, we're harvesting broad beans, lettuce, spring onions, radishes, chard, spinach, marrows, raspberries and pinkcurrants.  The red and blackcurrants are almost ready too.  We have about 4kgs of raspberries in the freezer, have probably eaten a further kilo and gifted another to neighbours.  We invested some time and money on the raspberry canes this spring and it's paid off.

I did the grocery shop today and managed to come in well under budget by meal planning around the veg patch and what's left in the fridge 😊

My tummy's rumbling now so time to put the supper on.

Hope you're all coping with the heat 🌞

Fortune x

Cheery_Daff

Struggling with the heat here too - I've just resorted to putting plastic tubs full of ice in the chicken coop to try to make sure they don't overheat overnight. Sounds like you've got a good routine going on there. I'm basically just not doing very much! 

Fortune_Smiles

Cheery_Daff said:

Struggling with the heat here too - I've just resorted to putting plastic tubs full of ice in the chicken coop to try to make sure they don't overheat overnight. Sounds like you've got a good routine going on there. I'm basically just not doing very much! 

Best-laid plans Cheery - it's too hot now for gardening at all.  I used to give my chickens frozen watermelon on a hot day - they loved it 🐔🍉😍

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Best-Laid Plans

It's too hot now in the mornings to get any gardening done so I spent the time yesterday reconciling the bank accounts.  Everything balanced so it didn't take too long and I decided to try out my new steam cleaner after and give our en-suite a spring clean.  I did it bit by bit throughout the day so as not to get too hot.  The steam cleaner did a good job, however, I now have a heat rash on my back 😲  I don't think it was the steam cleaning that brought it on, just the heat generally as I think it started yesterday.  Fortunately it's not the itchy kind but my back is blotchy and bumpy and a bit gross 🤮  I've also picked up a horsefly bite just under my arm so am no oil painting right now 😆  And that's all probably TMI 😝  I had a order from my skincare business arrive this morning and I'd had the forethought to order some Tamanu Balm.  It's brilliant for healing most things so I'm going to give it a go.

We had leftover Courgette, Feta & Mint Tart for lunch with salad and supper was Spiced Salmon & Tomato Traybake which was super quick and easy to make.  I used frozen salmon fillets so just put those in at the beginning of the cooking time.

I joined a Zoom call with my Writing Group last night and I finished a short story just in time to read it.  I'm a very slow writer so finishing a story is something to celebrate for me.  Something else to celebrate - one of my short stories was short-listed in a writing competition.  I didn't get placed but there were 248 entries and only 12 were short-listed.  Plus the judge was an establlished, London literary agent so I'm feeling validated 😁  We've started to talk about meeting up in person again - perhaps from September.

It's going to be another scorcher today so I shall work at pottering speed.  There is a lot of fruit to harvest in the veg patch so it might be a day for making gin and fruit vinegar 🥴

Keep cool

Fortune x

greent

Oooh - congratulations on being short listed - well done to you! x

Fortune_Smiles

greent said:

Oooh - congratulations on being short listed - well done to you! x

Thank you greent - I was chuffed.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

🌞Scorchio!🌞

I got some chores done in the morning but just gave in and sat down for the afternoon - much too warm to be doing anything.

We had Courgette, Potato & Cheddar Soup 🥒 for lunch.  It's a brilliant recipe for using up lots of courgettes plus it make loads.  There's enough left for our lunch today and some over for the freezer.  Supper was Creamy Pasta with Broad Beans, Mint & Bacon.  The broad beans have gone mad so there's rather a lot of those to use up too.

The Tamanu Balm is like a little pot of magic!  My horsefly bite has almost gone this morning.  The heat rash is still there but the balm definitely had a cooling, anti-inflammatory effect on it and I was much more comfortable overnight.  Mr F used it on an insect bite last night and that too is almost gone this morning.  Another product to add to my 'can't live without' list.

I didn't get round to making gin yesterday so I shall do that this morning.  This afternoon I may iron... if I can face it 😆  Hopefully there'll be a breeze so I can stand in front of a window.

I thought the good weather was due to end for us tomorrow but the forecast seems to have changed.  It will be a little cooler but just showers instead of the two weeks of rain originally forecast.  We have been invited to a garden party on Sunday - the first social we've been invited to together since the start of the pandemic - it will be lovely if the weather stays fine.  We've been told not to bring anything either (although we'll probably take a host gift) so pretty MS too 😁

Happy Thursday all

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Ribbet

So much cooler today, made our dog walk on the lanes this morning very pleasant.  Although the water company have been here since the beginning of June putting a new pipe in so we are having to dodge barriers and diggers at the moment.

I didn't get to do any ironing yesterday as time just ran out.  I did, however, make three gins - raspberry, pinkcurrant and rhubarb.  The blackcurrants are ready now too so I shall use some of those to make blackcurrant vinegar - before the blackbirds eat them all!

We had some of the Courgette, Potato & Cheddar Soup 🥒 for lunch.  Supper was Gnocchi with Courgette, Mascarpone & Spring Onions 🥒 Not what was on the meal plan but I needed to do something quick.  The courgettes and spring onions were from the veg patch.

The paint samples I ordered arrived yesterday but only one works and I'm not 100% sure about that one.  I've ordered another which might work better.  Need to hurry up and decide now though as the decorater is coming first week in August.

Mr F was out at his exercise class last night and I had a call with a friend so I found myself watering the veg patch very late in the almost dark.  I was spooked several times by some rustling in the fruit cage and eventually the culprit revealed himself - a very, large and friendly frog 🐸  He didn't seem bothered by me at all and I think was hanging about because he could hear water.  I have a large plant saucer in the veg patch which I fill with water for the frogs and toads.  I've had very little problem with slugs this year and I think my friendly frog may have had a hand in that.

Have a great day everyone.

Fortune x

rtandon27

Gin trumps ironing any day of the week Fortune! I like your priorities