Moving on

Cherryfudge

Those look absolutely lush! I have just gained weight reading the recipes... thank you!

I've just discovered that greengage jam goes well in overnight oats with mashed banana.

Cherryfudge

I didn't seem to do much yesterday. During the day I had an appointment to pick up my second new pair of glasses, then I wandered round the shops and bought food for the wild birds and silicone covers for the constant array of bowls of greengages... then I had a few trips into the garden to pick up yet more greengages! I think yesterday's haul was something like 1300g, and I delivered another bag to the older neighbour. I also offered some to our former neighbour but they are still eating the last lot we gave them!

It is literally raining greengages round here - I got hit by falling ones a couple of times yesterday!

We also got some real rain, for the first time in weeks. There were a couple of tentative showers in the afternoon, but not enough to wet the ground, then while I was at work, there was an absolute downpour, brief but thorough, followed by a few peals of thunder then a rainbow. A sent a video of the hail in their garden a couple of miles to the north, and DH got a very scenic shot of his bike on the path in the rain. The rain water barrel and watering can are full again and the hanging basket of tomatoes, which had needed water, no longer does so.

Today I'm really tired but made myself get up, which has helped. I need to stay in for a delivery and in the meantime there's laundry in process and I'm defrosting the freezer. It was getting to the point of doors not shutting properly so we need to tackle it - how often have I said that?

We are going away much of next week so I need a list:

Pot on some plants especially those that will suffer in small pots if left un-watered for a week
Do more things to do with greengages
Finish defrosting the freezer
Get the laundry on the line
Sort out dinner from the freezer
Do banking
Amend the lesson plan for next term
Do the mending (socks)

Cherryfudge

We've had rain again! Not as heavy as yesterday, and the washing was dry before it started.

I got over being tired and worked all afternoon to finish the batch of greengages, defrost the freezer and sort out some food. The only garden activity was putting ice from the freezer in a pot to melt so it can be used on the garden. Very few greengages fell today so I've not collected them.

I've spent a bit of time hunting for the hairdryer but I've no idea where I've put it so defrosting was a rather slow job. I'll be glad when the dishwasher is back in use - I washed up by hand and was putting things in an overhead cupboard between emptying pans of water(onto the garden). Then I stood up without thinking and went straight into the corner of the upper cupboard that I'd left open. Ow. At least I had ice handy to put on it! The bruise is above my hairline and not spectacular but it's a bit tender.

I washed the rest of the Kilner jars I bought the other week and used them for the greengage puree and eventually got the freezer back together. Lovely to have the drawers moving easily! We had salmon with sauce and pasta for tea again tonight - creates a bit more freezer space. Lunch was a cous cous concoction with mushrooms and peppers from the freezer, butter, milk and tuna from the fridge and cous cous and Worcestershire Sauce from the cupboards. It sort of worked, odd though it was. Then before I went to work I grabbed some porridge with greengage puree - now that was nice! And yes, three meals plus breakfast. At least I've been active.

I've yet to do the lesson plan but I sat down and allocated the rota gaps as fairly as I could so, for the time being, I have that done. I don't think I mentioned here that I've spoken to one of the leaders about having a business continuity plan - turns out she's the right one as she's done this before and knows why it's important. However, I also know the team has been working hard over various things and it will have to take its turn. She's suggested that in the meantime I speak to the head of children's work so we can work together on what we need, and that makes very good sense.

It started to rain as I was setting off to the shops so DH kindly collected some groceries while I was at work. He's had his appointment to diagnose what turns out to be a cyst of Zeiss, which is fully treatable and will be done in a few weeks. I hope it's not too close to his birthday!

Today's list now looks like this:

Pot on some plants especially those that will suffer in small pots if left un-watered for a week - still to do.
Do more things to do with greengages - another batch done. Will probably buy gin tomorrow and do a batch of greengage gin.
Finish defrosting the freezer - done.
Get the laundry on the line - done.
Sort out dinner from the freezer - done.
Do banking - still to do.
Amend the lesson plan for next term - still to do.
Do the mending (socks) - still to do.

Cherryfudge

I've made progress on all the above jobs:

The downstairs houseplants, which were all very dry, have been fed and watered. Out of doors, the leeks are now all in pots and the ones I planted first must have got their roots into something nutritious as they are starting to grow. I spent a bit of time on the perennial ground elder battle and pulled out a knot of roots. There are still lots of plants that could do with bigger pots or actually going into the soil.

The gin is bought but not utilised yet. The young man on the till checked I was born before 2007, bless him. I thanked him for asking.   Again. no greengages gathered today but I should really do them tomorrow.

Banking is up to date and pay is in. Next job will be to check my timesheet and submit it.

The lesson plan is considered and a new version written but I have some rewriting to do for about week 5. Last year that story stopped on a 'down' note and the children looked sad, so this year I'll follow a team mate's suggestion and let them know more about how things turned out in the long term. I'm going to sleep on the new stuff though as I don't make my best decisions at night.

The socks are mended, but then I remembered I'd said I'd try to fix DH's back pack.

We've had a bit of rain again, but less than yesterday. DH fixed a new waste hose to the dishwasher so the leak is probably gone - but its gone back to not taking in water. Next step is to investigate a float valve (?) that could be faulty.

DH made dinner from the freezer and it was very tasty: sausages, potatoes, broccoli and home made ratatouille. I have hopes for space in that freezer before we go away!

In the afternoon we went out for coffee and DH had a go at my Duolingo. For someone who's not done French since he was about 16, he has a real knack of working it out! I do some every day and have done for years, but I don't have that aptitude. 

Work again this evening, the last for a week. Three hours.

Expenditure:
Entertainment (drinks and scone in the nice café out in the countryside that I went to with church friends early in the summer) £15.20
Housekeeping £18.04
Cash out £30
Gift £2.95

Cherryfudge

Just reading some of GP's thoughts on using foods up, I'm prompted to write a memo to self: I have eggs, cheese and yogurt to use, as well as the small pot of greengage puree we've already started. I loved it on porridge and DH loves it on baked apples so it will be used. The thing is, we are staying at a hotel overnight on Sunday, so I can't pop chilled foods in the fridge: they need to be used or frozen. I have more free sandwiches from work and some of those will have to go in the freezer, and there will be milk left over which I'll give to the neighbours. There's also a lot of sundry veg so perhaps soup, if there's freezer space. I need a proper reccy tomorrow.

We will be self catering apart from that one night so I'll take a box of everyday things - no point duplicating things that take a while to finish. 

weenancyinAmerica

I too love visiting hardware stores. Even do it while traveling as there is always something there that isn't in the shops at home. I also have a problem reading cookbooks. I have about 400 World War II cookbooks - but I have about 400 more (if not more than that) mostly from the fifties and before, that I just have to read. I don't actually cook. I used to but right now I can't stand for more than 2 minutes at a time - can't cook anything as a result. I can just read them and dream.

Cherryfudge

@weenancyinAmerica, that is a really impressive collection! I get the whole thing about just reading them: you don't necessarily need to try a recipe to imagine how it would taste or pick up on new ideas.

Watty1

That is an impressive collection. I used to collect old cookery books mainly for the fabulous old style dishes like "Sussex Pond Pudding" as lovely memories. Rarely cooked.  The collection has gone. I'm not quite sure where/how but somehow in my home dramas they vanished.   I'm telling myself that will be one less thing to worry about when I downsize.

Cherryfudge

That's a wholesome attitude to have @Watty1. Perhaps you will start again because every now and then you will see one that needs to come home with you.

We had an extraordinary car boot find this morning: a little book from the late 17th century of templates for all sorts of letters, complete with those long 's'es and worn covers. I found it and was tempted, DH bought it. All of £1.

Apart from that it wasn't all that exciting: a book and a jigsaw for the little girls (£1 total) and a wall bracket for a hanging basket (£2).

I'm a bit out of sorts today, which I think is mostly because I'm tired from staying up reading, and we are going away which is never easy. However, DH did dinner (haddock, cous cous, peas and, from the neighbour, little tomatoes) and we watched 'Destination X', and I've made a start on digging over the desiccated bed next to the path to put the plants in. I was pleased to discover two of the old ones, looking very straggly but still alive. Now I'm choosing what to put with them. There were going to be some crocuses that I bought in the spring but they are entirely gone from one pot - whether drought or creatures, I can't tell. The white crocuses remain and will go near the front due to their size. There are lavenders to put at the back and wallflowers for the middle and, because I'm wanting things to be happening at different times, a Mexican Fleabane. I hope the lavenders won't smother the others, but the intention is to cut them back after flowering and do artistic things with the flowers so much of the time they will just be a grey-green backdrop. Last year I put a lot of bulbs in pots but now everything got moved round when the builders were here so I don't know what's in where. I might buy some spring bulbs and alliums to give colour and height.

I've done the laundry and am hoping it dries before the rain comes. In very good news - the washing machine wouldn't fill, so I realised the water was probably still off. DH turned it back on and now we have not only the washing machine, but also a working dishwasher! That's £200+ we needn't spend yet, and it's cost us probably less than £20.

Cherryfudge

I'm rethinking the above because in my mind I can't reconcile wallflowers and lavender... perhaps Mexican Fleabane and thyme next to each other in front of the lavender, and an underplanting of small daffodils, with crocuses at the front?