Next steps; grip-relaxing bimbling, and avoiding the temptations

Watty1

Lovely apple hints.  I shall add a larder to the list of wants in the next house.  One of those lovely old walk in ones with its own little window and shelves on each size and deep shelves at the back.

If I am still here for apple harvest next year I hope my apples are abundant and healthy!

Makingabobor2

Watty1 said:

Lovely apple hints.  I shall add a larder to the list of wants in the next house.  One of those lovely old walk in ones with its own little window and shelves on each size and deep shelves at the back.

If I am still here for apple harvest next year I hope my apples are abundant and healthy!

That's what I want in our next home. Trouble is we are talking of downsizing, so not sure I'd find one in a smaller house. 

foxgloves

Our lovely little walk-in pantry was converted by builders a few years ago from a very dank & unpromising understairs cupboard. It certainly makes much better use of the space.
F

Baileys_Babe

@Suffolk_lass thank you for such a detailed post on processing and storing apples.

EssexHebridean

Although just a large cupboard style, not a walk-in, I do rather miss the larder we had at the flat. Annoyingly there would have been one in this house at one stage, but it’s clearly been ripped out at some stage and now it would be impossible to work out where it might even have been, as the old outer wall of the kitchen is no more thanks to the extension… it was great for storing all sorts of things though - and in the winter months was even good for things which wouldn’t fit in the fridge, for a short while. 

I’m processing Toms by roasting and freezing as I get sufficient ripe ones for a batch - some with basil and/or garlic and some just with salt & pepper to give us a range of options of pasta sauce bases for the winter months. Annoyingly our tomato crop was far from what we hoped for the number of plants - I’ve barely had any weeks this year where I’ve been self-sufficient in the small ones I take to have alongside my lunch which is a shame. I think a mix of the fluctuating temperatures and lengthy dry spells - I’ve lost a lot to the fruit splitting from variable watering levels too - partly my fault and partly that they just seem to have been needing a lot more water than I’ve been able to keep up with this year! 

Suffolk_lass

Definitely the same over here @EssexHebridean - the very high temperatures in the greenhouse (especially when Mr Sl forgot to open it when trusted to do so, then opened it and took the cloches off the seedlings in one go, plunging them from 40c to 10c in a matter of seconds - killed many seedlings). Anyway, onwards and upwards as Humdinger always says!

I have bought some Bon-Bon seeds after seeing that the RHS trial of good eating winter squashes rated them highly. I already grow Crown Prince and Butternuts, and grew Guatemalan Blue Banana Squash for the first time this year. That will do us, with the planned courgettes again next year. Not sure today is ideal for planting bulbs but there is plenty I can do in my greenhouse, with a waste bag and some pots and compost. 

The bees don't need anything else this month, but we will need to remove the feeders - Friday if the forecast really materialises to be 15c and sunny.

We've just had our last planned weekend away with friends (approximately 45-60 minutes from each of us), we have done this for a few years now. So lovely to just play games and chill out in our motorhomes, over a glass of something lovely, and we had two lovely meals I did not cook - the best F&C ever for me on Friday (a takeaway) and Sunday lunch at a pub grub pub yesterday, before going our separate ways. Not too much clearing up but all the bedlinen (summer and winter duvet covers) need laundering and the duvets and pillows need to be stored indoors (we have an ottoman) and the new mattress needs a plastic cover, just in case the rooflight decides it needs to leak.

So a bit of a pottering day today, and not all laundry as we have limited indoor drying space. Ooh, I can see patches of blue sky - I might use the washing machine if there is any solar energy being generated (the aga isn't on just yet)

Suffolk_lass

Just waiting for bread to bake before I move to the next thing on today's list. The boiler has just been serviced so I must pay that from my bills account. I have already logged in once this morning to round down both accounts, and I refunded the savings account top-up-loan I needed as my state pension payment fell a few days too late to  have enough in the account for the humungous credit card this month. I think I mentioned we paid the balance on the house we rented in Scotland, and the deposit on next year's booking in the north of Arran. Along with getting the van serviced, and the timing belt changed, it was a record high for anything other than buying a card on the CC!

Anyway, on the plan for today are a quick seed audit - the nearby nursery is closing imminently and their vegetable seeds are now £1 a packet - so I shall go there, with a list. Then off to the hospital to drop in a stamped addressed envelope to the audiology department. I find the dome on one of my hearing aids does not stay in my ear, bending or doing anything other than sitting, makes to fall out in such a way it is worse than nothing, as it performs too well as a noise suppressing ear plug when it displaces. I asked via email on Friday if I could try a small one and they said yes. With no appointment. A most pleasing lack of bureaucracy!

I shall do that on my way to see Auntie. She is home, with carers 3 times a day and my cousin will be with her, making sure she doesn't try to do too much. After that I need to drive to collect Mr Sl, as he is dropping his motorbike off (again!) to see if they can find what is making a fuse blow.

Time to get going, now my bread is out!

EssexHebridean

Pleased to hear that your Auntie is back home - she must be much happier too.

We had no success at all with the Squash we tried this year, so I'll be looking for something different for next summer I think, or just accepting that our current set-up doesn't suit them. 

I mentioned to MrEH at the weekend that our next weekend with downtime had best include a seed audit - and this time I plan to sort out those that can be moved on elsewhere  with a view to either seeing whether the local community garden have a seed-swap box, or at a pinch offering them on freecycle. we're also debating about swapping out the Kitchen Garden magazine subscription for a similar, but different magazine also offering free seeds, as and when it comes for renewal. That might mean we acquire some different seeds.

Suffolk_lass

Poor Auntie is happy on one level to be home, but can't cope with not being in control. I think if my cousin accompanied the cups of tea with a bit of feedback on stock levels, she might be happier. I suggested she focus on her other interests; she avidly watches the news, and knew all about the brain-surgery woman with Parkinson's playing the trumpet throughout the surgery!

I took her a beautiful cyclamen in bud from a nearby nursery. It was a bit lost among three lots of flowers, but it was just a little thing.

We also talked about "no pain, no gain" and making sure she pushes herself on the exercises she has to do, but not trying to go off-plan. An example of the off-plan obstinacy... She fell again when my cousin popped to the SM for four items, making her promise to not move from the chair. As soon as he left she stood up, turned and fell. There she was on the floor when the lovely Gemma the carer let herself in and got down on the floor with her. The carers are not allowed to lift her on their own; only call an ambulance (which may explain to some extent the shortage of ambulances in our area). At that point, she pleaded with Gemma not to and she would try to get up on her own or with a little help before my cousin got home. He arrived home. Not happy. She had not anticipated the muscle wastage to the other leg and her upper body while she has been in bed or just sitting. It sounds as though the NHS carers are really good (she conceded this) and my cousin said they are excellent.

Turning to other matters, I relayed the seed swap idea at your community garden @EssexHebridean, only I suggested a day in January with a hot drink, as people think about what they will plant next year, so as to give people a chance to socialise at the same time (and the organiser thought this was a good idea and we could do a seed and seedings day in Spring too) with a donations box to contribute to the costs. Thanks for mentioning it!

I have paid my boiler service bill (no parts this time) and my bills account is sitting just above the amount needed before my occupational pension comes in next month. So no more spending there this month. I do have to collect some glasses I have ordered (stemless wine glasses from JL) today, but they are on the Partnership card to maximise voucher points. Otherwise my focus is study and a quick reccy at the nearby garden centre to see if they have the remaining seeds ( I only need four or five packets for next year). It's currently hammering down so my focus will remain indoors today.

Supper will be something with a ragu. I shall deploy the slow cooker and sort that in a minute. I might freeze two thirds of the inc (squished into the packaging and looking less than appetising!). Have a good day all

Suffolk_lass

Eek, so busy with my studies for my forthcoming exams that I have neglected posting here. They are beekeeping theory exams (2 of them). I have paid to do two but I will do the first one then see how I feel about the second. On the 15th November, online. I haven't stopped sleeping ahead of these two so I might be OK!

Other than that, the cold windy weather means I have not been outdoors as much as I should. Mr Sl moved the two stone urns away from the table they were on, so that his repairs were not in danger of things falling on top of them. No damage in the storm this time.

In gardening news, I have seeds to sprinkle, bulbs to plant and planters and sweetpeas to get going. I did my seed audit early as a nearby plant nursery was closing down (retiring) and I manage to pick up a few seeds for around £1 a packet that I needed anyway. I want to grow mini crisp cucumbers (these were to try, last year, but were assassinated by Mr Sl in the great "freeze my boiling seedlings" event. I have ended up buying a pack online, due today. Also Black Russian heritage beefsteak - I have a few of these still ripening on the kitchen windowsill and might need to collect my own seed. I saw Gardeners universe a couple of weeks ago where Frances was removing the jelly around tomato seeds. Too much faff for me. I spread them out on a piece of kitchen paper and dry them like that. Then cut them up, paper side up in pots in Spring - the watering gets them going and the paper dissolves or they push it up as the seed leaves come.

On Friday I ran a load of washing in the free hour, and we turned the aga on then off, then on overnight so that is now belting out heat and using the first part of our electricity cushion (we use about 11 times more electric a month in winter). In Saturday's free hour I did a 95c wash of white towels and pillow cases, and ran a 70c cleaning cycle in the dishwasher. The former took the whole 3 hours, the latter, 2h 06m! I managed £2.93 for the last free before this, but I did ironing too then

This morning I need to finalise the paperwork to send out for a meeting next Monday, having done just that for a second body - both charity trusts for which I am the administrator. Better do some getting on with it, I think