Cooking for one (Mark Three)

meg72

caronc wrote: »

The mint, chives and thyme I have in my garden were all originally SM pots as is the big bowl of basil I have in my kitchen which came originally from a pot QUOTE]


this is so worth doing I`m constantly amazed when I see people picking up a small bunch of cut herbs when, at least in my Asda, there are pots of the stuff for the same price right next to them.


Last year, thanks to a great post from faraway I got 4 packs o the living salad or 29p each. I split these into hanging baskets and they kept me ,family and friends in lettuce for almost all the summer months


I regularly take cuttings of mint, chives, thyme and sage pot up and take to charity shop.


today I was delighted to find packs of living Japanese greens in our local taste not waste greengrocery shop for 20p each. Ive never seen these before, a Sainsburys product. They are a mixture of babyleaf Japanese spinach and purple pak choi It says juice into smoothies, toss into stirfy, blend into soups Just discovered its a tasty addition to salad as well So will spend a couple of happy hours potting them up when itgets a bit cooler.

Farway

Hope you're feeling better PN, I think weather has a bit to do with ti, just too hot really

Into L's on way to volunteering, joined PN in grabbing some sausage rolls, I enjoyed the last lot, which is odd, never liked theirs before, and impulse YS buy, sliced black pudding, it is decades since I had some, I always used to choose it for breakfast when away working, no chance of it at home with vegetarians all over the place:)

Lunch was corned beef & piccalilli sandwich, splodged it down my front:o, now I can smell piccalilli every time I breathe

Never managed to water the runners earlier, I'll have to do it later, after GQT & a cuppa

Dinner, must be some of the YS black pud, and I'm defrosting a couple of bangers on the top, couple of eggs & frozen chips, ready to go. Hope the BP is as tasty as my memories of it and not a Fray Bentos pie experience

moneyistooshorttomention

Belated lunch today was the other one of marinated portobello mushrooms from yesterday, some bagged salad (mind gave up thinking at that point - so dressing was bit of coconut yogurt and fresh lemon juice), bit of artisan bread with nut butter. Then pear.

Have got some meals written up to try on the fridge again. (if nowt so formal as a mealplan so to say). Duly added some breakfasts as well - so my suggested-meals-for-self are now broken down into breakfast, light meal, main meal.

Must get myself out of the autopilot mode that dictates breakfast is always porridge with bit of fruit, followed by toast, and branch out a bit.

PasturesNew

Well, that went downhill fast - it must be a record breaker.

Wed 11pm

kittie wrote: »

I put an offer in on a house

Thu 8pm

kittie wrote: »

... very needy vendor who doesn`t stop talking and so on.

Friday noon

kittie wrote: »

vendor from hell...

PasturesNew

So far I've managed:

A 1/3rd of a quiche
A piece of toast with the rest of the crab paste on
The last of the ice cream
One egg custard tart.
3-4 sweeties.



They do say "feed a cold".... so I'm onto it!

[Deleted User]

they are not making any more crumpets because of the CO2 shortage


money how does 8 beds sound, 3 in outbuildings. She is taking 1

PasturesNew

kittie wrote: »

how does 8 beds sound, 3 in outbuildings. She is taking 1

They call that "HMO Opportunity" these days

moneyistooshorttomention

More beds than average and guessing that means she might have more "other furniture" than average.

As we know - it is the norm/the law etc these days to leave "vacant possession". Though I've read a noticeable number of threads on the housing sub-forum where all sorts has been left.

My thoughts are that I'm wondering whether, in worst case analysis, you may not have to move out of house 1 and into house 2 the same day?

If you don't - then the possibility is there to leave a gap of a day or two "between houses" and get in a house clearance firm to "do their thing" during that time.

If you do have to swop houses on one and the same day - then that leeway isnt there. But I guess the worst case analysis would then be "bung the removal firm some extra money to transfer her stuff into the outhouses - and then claim the cost of that back off her afterwards".

But, if EA is explaining how things are normally done/should be done in this country (ie that "vacant possession") then hopefully the question won't arise.

Whatever happens - it's definitely not worth having any sort of re-think about whether to go ahead with purchasing it or no. In the grand scheme of things - you've found a garden you like/a house location you like/a house you'll doubtless like once you've got it the way you want it and you could land up having to wait months more for another house that fulfils that criteria if you "dropped" this one.

Hence I'm saying - go ahead with getting this one.

Sometimes the onlooker can see things from a different angle - remembers scanning house details of various houses online from another poster on MSE and saying that one was clearly the obvious one for her (from what she'd said and what I could see the house was like). Last I heard - she was very happy in it. We had a sorta mutual chat thing going on at that time re housebuying and her suggestion to me about selling my house was one I wouldnt have thought of myself (as I'd never heard of it in my part of the country) - but I tried it and it worked.

Farway

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Must get myself out of the autopilot mode that dictates breakfast is always porridge with bit of fruit, followed by toast, and branch out a bit.

Same here, either porridge & fruit or zero. If I had a slave I would have full English, or kedgeree, or kippers or even steak, egg & chips just for a change

Meanwhile, watered the beans and figs in their pots.
I am now dad to a couple of baby French climbing beans "Cobra"
Plus sampled my first crop of Japanese red gooseberries. A completely different sort of scented taste with them
Very International crops French & Japanese

Now off to tackle the black pud etc for dinner

moneyistooshorttomention

Kittie -

Further thoughts re this house. That being that vendors are often a "pain in the !!!!" of one description or another and one is lucky if they aren't.

I've read tales of people walking into nice clean houses/bottle of champagne and welcome card waiting for them from the vendor and thought "If only....".

Chances are much more likely that, one way or another, one wishes the vendor was different (less greedy or less dirty or less of a lying toad or or or).

I've had 3 vendors personally and didn't think much of any of them.

VENDOR ONE
The house that should have been mine - being the one that I had offered on as a starter house in my home city and offer accepted. So it was mine and I didn't hear and didnt hear etc etc and heard the vendor might be wavering (so met him and thought we were back on track again). Then didnt hear and didnt hear etc etc and only eventually realised he'd changed his mind/never meant it in the first place through other channels.

I'm still spitting feathers about that house to this day - as it was a better house/better location/better condition/better in every which way than the one I eventually had to take instead. He finally did sell that house to someone somewhere along the line and I wouldnt be surprised if it's literally THE dearest Victorian terrace in the whole of my city - the road it's in is certainly way dearer than the road I eventually bought in:(. I might well even have kept that house to this day...:mad::mad:. If I had sold it - that road is SO dear these days - that I'd have received enough money for it to swop that mid-terrace house for a cheaper detached:eek::mad::mad::mad: Thoughts about him go along the lines to this day of "If I meet him again - I'll have his guts for garters".

VENDOR 2
The starter house I actually had to take instead. Impression - nasty/greedy/pushy little man with poor downtrodden wife that probably didnt get any of her share of the say in that marriage. They'd moved onto their next house too - but werent being the remotest bit helpful in any way. When I turned up - I found he'd stolen some bits we'd agreed he'd leave included in the price and the house was pretty dirty.

VENDOR 3
That being my current house. First impression - thick and devious. Didnt need the money (it was his inheritance - and, as far as I can make out - he was making sure the blimmin' lot just for himself - despite having siblings and safely owning a pretty reasonable house of his own already and I'd guess mortgage paid off. Greedy greedy greedyguts. Doing kowtowing to bossyboots nfh nearby - but was intent on having things exactly as HE wanted them as regards me. Was intent on keeping the house on the market even after accepting my offer - but I spotted what he was up to and had his EA point out "the facts of life" to him quick sharp that, if he didnt stop that malarkey and whip the house off the market quick - I'd just withdraw my offer and buy another house instead (and I would have .....:cool:). Yep - and racist - I picked up he wanted to try and charge me more than it was worth because I'm an incomer! He didnt manage it.

At least your vendor doesnt come over to me as someone that will try and pull a fast one of any description or come over greedy or deliberately unco-operative. She could be a lot worse....