Cucumbers ... and a Confession

 

This for me has been the year of the cucumber, and considering how hot and dry it has been this year I am amazed by how many cucumbers I have managed to get off just one plant. 

As fast as I pick them another takes it's place, growing like an alien under the cover of the leaves, surprising me a few days later by already being ridiculously big.  They are tasty thank goodness, and have been my snack of choice whenever I get the nibbles, well it saves on buying any biscuits.

I have a confession to make ... I have never actually made a wrap!!

I always make sandwiches, I do buy wraps but I use them as thin pizza or quiche bases or to make homemade 'nacho style' crisps, never have I made a wrap in place of a sandwich until this week that was.

I had run out of fresh bread and needed to make Alan's lunch, the thought of driving backwards and forwards was too much so I got some wraps out of the freezer, thawed them to warm them and make them more pliable, and had a go.  The one you see on the plate with a bite out of it was my trial wrap ... it worked, although I struggled a bit with the folding at first.

I loved it.  Now I don't usually buy them for me when we are out and about although Alan has them regularly, I find the ones you get in the shop seem to be all bread and hardly any filling, mine were much more filled and so much more balanced.

I also have to confess that the 'chicken tikka' flavoured pieces of chicken that I used in Alan's wrap had been bought in error for Ginger, he has the plain chicken regularly but I doubt that's he's a chicken tikka flavoured kind of cat. 🐱

Alan had no qualms in using up the chicken, I had already admitted to the error of my ways.

Two wraps for Alan's lunch and I made another one for me while I was practising my new found rolling techniques.  As you can possibly just about see, I got super good at it by the time I made Alan's.  😄

Sue xx

Underfloor Heating ... and a Wildlife Haven

 

Alan has worked like a trooper this week and he has the sore, creaky knees to prove it.  

All the underfloor heating mats were first glued into place, with the doorways and edges being like a mind-boggling jigsaw of little bits cut to keep the pipes travelling logically in the right direction. 

 Then he was onto the task of pushing all the pipes into the grooves.

Missing out areas where we do not need the heating to extend to.  This is in the en-suite, and beyond the line of bricks is where the shower tray will fit.

All I can say is he has a LOT more patience than me.  😄

By Thursday evening he was all finished.

All the pipes lead to the manifold, which he is commissioning this morning.  An engineers delight and a total mystery to me. 😐

Then we will have the weekend to wait and check for any leaks before he starts on the next job, which is laying the floor tiles in the main room ready for the kitchen to be installed the following week.

He's had a busy week, and he's rewarded himself with a new set of knee protectors ready for the tile laying.

I've been taking him his lunch each day, and we sit on the back step while he eats.  The 'mountain' as it's now been christened, is alive with all sorts of insects and it's fascinating to watch.

So much so we have decided to keep a wildlife area when we finally get around to sorting out the garden next year.  It's the least we can do for all those very necessary little pollinators. 

Sue xx

A Morning Out in Morecambe

 

After a week of working hard at the bungalow, mostly on his own, Alan needed a break and some nice fresh air.  So with the temperatures going down nicely, and a weekend virtually to ourselves we headed off for breakfast in Morecambe last Saturday.

And that was just what we did, had breakfast in one of our favourite cafés, Ralphy's and then went for a circular walk on the prom.

We stopped to read the billboard, telling us about the coming Eden Project North.

It's been promised for so long, and was stuck in the planning stages for years.  Alan was hoping that they would have broken ground on the development and there would be something to see.  Unfortunately, there was no sign of anything happening yet, although it had been reported on social media that they were starting in June.  

It will be very good for the regeneration of the town and it's tourist trade when it finally happens.

https://youtu.be/whhHTVQH44o?si=qFlejGcgdmXBGLxd

We bench-hopped along the prom and stopped for a while to look out to sea, it was such a beautifully clear day and we were playing 'spot the Cumbrian town' on the opposite side of the bay.

Sometimes you just need a little seaside break to clear your head and re-invigorate yourself, ready for some more hard work the following week.

Sue xx

Art, and Mixed Fruit Jelly

 

Tea, toast and marmalade - Artist Lucy Almey Bird

It's that time of year again for me, time to dig out all the fruit peelings, cores and random bits from the freezer where they have been added to for months, and make up a batch of Compost Heap Jelly ... only this year I have renamed it Mixed Fruit Jelly as there was so much good fruit in there too that would never have ended up on the compost heap.

I assembled all the bits well over a week ago and chopped some extras up.

They simmered away nicely on the hob ...

... then I discovered a tub of extra blueberries in the freezer so these were added and I kept it all puttering away for quite a bit longer.

After a night of dripping away through a jelly bag and into a large bowl, the resulting liquid was stored in the fridge ... for well over a week, it was just too hot to be stood at the hob boiling up any sort of jam or jelly.

With the weather having cooled considerably now I got it out this morning and boiled up the beautifully coloured jelly.

Three and a half jars of beautiful tasty Mixed Fruit Jelly.  Alan is very happy with his two jars, he loves this stuff, no matter what the colour and what the flavour.  I think it just reminds him of our smallholding days when we had jars and jars of jewel coloured preserves lined up in the cupboard.

Sue xx

Shopping and Shopping Bags

 

My little black fold-up bag is probably one of the hardest working things I have owned for years.  

I bought it way back in 2013 when we first moved to North Wales and I shopped regularly in Marks and Spencer in Llandudno.  I had simply forgotten my shopping bag one day and didn't want to buy a plastic carrier bag, so a reusable bag that was actually made from recycled plastic and sold at the checkouts seemed like a very good idea.  It used to tell me all this information on the bag, but after thirteen years of constant use the words have faded as has the logo for M&S.

Anyway it came with me yesterday, as it always does, to Aldi and held all this shopping with ease.

14th - Aldi - £16.97

Once again my shopping included some things I don't usually buy, as some of them were for Alan's lunches ... not the Tasty Licks I hasten to add, they are most definitely for Ginger.🐱

Once the bag was unpacked, my bag was refolded and is now happily living in my handbag until next time.

11th - Booths - £52.96

A couple of days earlier I had shopped at Booths for some things we needed and some treats. The shopping was away and in the cupboard and fridge before I even though of taking a photo, so once again there is just a photo of the receipt for posterity. It's proving to be much more expensive to shop for both of us for two meals a day ... especially when there is a hard working man begging for treats.  

 But it's not a problem, he deserves them all.  😄

Sue xx