A Piggy Past

 

All this week my Facebook Memories has been throwing up images of our rare breed pigs and news of their new homes, as this was the month in 2011 when we suddenly had to rehome our gorgeous girls, their babies ... and Jack the boar ... as sadly we were having to travel backwards and forwards to Scotland as Alan's Mum was in the last few months of her life.  We needed to be able to leave our farm at the drop of a hat.  It all went so smoothly looking back but it was a hectic time of our lives for sure.

Here's a real blast from the past, a full post from my old blog Our New Life in the Country. 

Friday, 8 July 2011

The Large Blacks in their New Home

Don't you just love it when......you know you've done the right thing.

We've known Lulu and Lottie since they were two weeks old, they came to live with us when they were seven weeks old.  Liz and Jack both came to us when they were four months old.  So they've known us and we've known them almost all their lives.

We felt like parents sending their children away when they left the farm this week.  They trusted us and we felt we'd let them down.  Then we get a phone call to say that Lulu has settled in well after we delivered her to Jimmy's Farm last week, and has made her home ready for her babies to be born.  Then yesterday we get an email with the picture at the top of this post, along with others showing more of Jack, Lottie and Liz's new home, grassy pastures surrounded by woodlands.

The lovely folk that picked them up from our farm took loads of pictures in the orchard, documenting the loading at our end and the fun and games we had in trying to move a 30st boar in a direction he's not keen on going in.  Luckily Lovely Hubby is a strong man and Jack is a friendly boar.  Henk and Annemie who are the new owners, were amazed at Jacks lovely temperament, and that he walked into the trailer and let them close the dividing door ready for the loading of his wives.

Now we feel we can take a deep breath, like parents who have raised their children well and sent them off into the big bad world with the knowledge to live their lives well, we feel in a small way we have done the same for our pigs. 

Jack, Lottie, Liz, and later Lulu and her litter when she joins them, are forming the start of a breeding herd of Large Black pigs in the Netherlands, supplying rare breed quality pork and keeping their rare bloodlines going.  Animals reared the natural way.  Henk has had to work miracles to get permission to do this, animals are not permitted to be kept outdoors in the Netherlands, something I knew nothing about.  He is breaking new ground and bringing a better quality of life to farm animals and educating people on what their meat should taste like through his restaurant.

We are so happy to be a part of this.

Sue xx

 Gosh it really shows how different things were in our lives back then.  Hope you all have a good weekend.

Sue xx

Thanks Angela ...

 

Angela from Tracing Rainbows gave me a real earworm yesterday ... all day.  

Her post was about granola and she very cleverly called it 'Her Name Was Lola ... She Ate Granola'.  The tune was stuck in my head, the only way I could get rid of it was with the old Postman Pat trick, but Lola came back again and again. 😐

The reason that most of Barry's songs turn into an earworm for me goes back to the mid eighties, when he was really popular with my ex-husband.  I made the mistake of buying him the double album on cassette tape for Christmas ... it was the only cassette tape we owned and our little orange Mini car had a cassette player in it.

From then on every single journey we went on, local or long-distance, had a Barry Manilow soundtrack, and we travelled to Manchester every week from Barrow in Furness.  We must have had the only five year old that knew the words to all of Barry Manilow's songs off by heart.  Simon would sit in his little car seat in the centre of the back seat of the Mini belting out the songs as loud as his little lungs would let him.  If it got too much I would tell him to sing very quietly and we could see his lips moving via the rear view mirror.

Happy memories in so many ways, except for the earworm that I have now given myself!!

https://youtu.be/Yj1r0sGV38s?si=saGu2xVpXfVFJnK_

Sue xx

Small Kitchen Appliances

 

These are three of the six small kitchen appliances that I use the most often.  Seen here in action last night earning their keep and cooking my tea.  😀

Usually the rice cooker is kept in the drawer, the other small appliances not shown here, are my toaster, which kept on the little white drawer unit in a basket, my Nutribullet which lives in the cupboard under the sink and ...

... my small sized Kitchen Aid food processor, which also lives in the cupboard until I need to use it.

I don't have the space to leave them all out ready for action so it's just the things that are used every single day that are on the worktop.  The kettle ... what would life be without numerous cups of coffee over the course of the day ... and the Remoska which is used once or twice every day and which normally stands on the back of the hob, I only ever use the front part of the hotplate so it's perfectly safe there.

I did give an air fryer a try for a few weeks last year when my last Remoska broke and was unrepairable, but it didn't suit my style of cooking as well.  So that was sold on and that particular little dalliance ended.

What are your most used small kitchen appliances?

Sue xx

I've Completely Lost It ...

 

I've completely lost it ... my train of thought that is.  😕

I had downloaded these two photos onto my new post, Alan came and asked me something ... and then the electric went off while the engineer was working on our Smart meters.  They haven't been 'talking to base', and since our change from British Gas who installed them, to Octopus, the new company has been struggling with getting the readings at their end.  British Gas kept us waiting for months and months and never got around to sorting things out, so hopefully we are on the verge of success.

Anyway all of the above made  me completely lose my train of thought.  When I compose a new post I usually start with a photo and go from there. I think the top photo was to show the space I now have next to my front door, so I will roll with that idea!!

  I sold the cupboard that used to stand there on Facebook Marketplace at the weekend.  It just had one of the Mother in Laws Tongue plants standing on it, and took up quite a bit of space.  Now the cupboard is gone, I have trimmed down both my plants, they were ridiculously tall, and put the cuttings into the jug you see there and I suddenly have space.  

This has been a very prolific plant, I have already sold two plants off the original and will soon have another pot of rooted leaves, so I guess another plant will have to go.  Not bad really, for an initial £24 purchase of a large Mother in Laws Tongue, I have already made back the purchase price and with hopefully more to come.

This was the second photo that I had ready loaded when the power went off ... at the same time as my brain seemingly.

Well, what can I say ... this is George the bear.  His name tag says Edward, but I have always thought of him as George!!  

You can just see next to him on the right, the jug that had been with the plants by the front door.  I moved it as I had visions of me whipping back the curtains and knocking water all over the floor, now that would have been annoying.

Not the blog post you were perhaps expecting, but then it's probably not the blog post that I was expecting either!!  

Sue xx

Shopping, Baking and Visiting

 

The weekends shopping and the last that I'm hoping to do this month.  I've been spending too much on things that I don't even really need.  Of all these things the only thing that I really needed, to keep my supplies up for the month, was the paracetamol.  I sort of needed potatoes, but I could have managed without them really as I have a couple of tins of potatoes in the cupboard.

I need to stop shopping and keep my cash, as the bank account has dwindled a bit after paying this years second tax bill. 

The two items that I had put into the freezer before I took the top photo.

Altogether these things cost me £12.17, which is actually really good, looking at what I've got, so I'm not being too hard on myself, and the single items and tomatoes added over 200 points to my Nectar card.  Those points are all I'm giving myself to spend for the rest of the month along with a pound coin or two if necessary for any overs.

I used up my old banana, so that it wouldn't make my new one ripen by being close together.  There's only two ways to use up very ripe bananas in my book, cakes or 'nice-cream'.  Once again I chose to make some Banana and Walnut Muffins.

The oats are in the Nutribullet cup as I didn't have enough flour, so the missing amount was made by whizzing up enough oats to make oat flour.

There were two more on the cooling rack, but Alan came over and spotted them ... and they mysteriously vanished.  😲

I purposefully made them quite small so that we could take some for our visit to Mum yesterday, and she really enjoyed two of the smallest ones.  She doesn't eat much these days so although there was a scary moment as she had a coughing fit, it was nice to see her enjoy them so much.

Sue xx

Remembering Suky

 

It's one year ago today that Suky went for her final walk with Alan and Mavis and collapsed on the tow path.  Dying shortly afterwards, completely naturally and in her own time at the vets.

To say that I miss her would be the understatement of the year, she was everything to both of us from the minute we visited her in South Wales as a five week old pup, and then picked her up and brought her home just in time for Christmas as a big girl of eight weeks.

She was my constant companion and the light of my life.

Suky 13th October 2011 - 6th July 2024  💔

Sue xx

In Reality ...

With last weekend's shopping being so heavy on books and light on food I thought I better reverse things a bit this week.  Somehow yet another plant fell into my supermarket trolley ... before I had even entered the store.

And on the way out a book leapt into my hands, oh well it only made me pay £1 for it.  😄

I had already stocked myself up on these again from the big Sainsbury's in Sale, after visiting Mum and having our lunch around the corner.  Ten pounds worth of Deliciously Ella Breakfast Bakes, totally delicious and handy to have in for those days when I really don't really feel like anything 'proper' for breakfast.  On special offer at two pounds per box instead of three, and it made use of the money you get back via a coupon from paying to park in the supermarket carpark.  Hopefully these will last me the six months that the last purchase did.

Happily my July pension payment went into my account. 

Unhappily, my July tax bill landed on the doormat.  Gulp!!

Oh well, as Alan said we have had the wages, we have to man-up and pay the tax man.  Sadly, it's time to jiggle some money around from my savings to pay this.

I did manage to make £15 by selling a little cupboard on Facebook Market place, but there is definitely more going out than coming in.  Numbers are not stacking up well. 😒

Thank goodness for a few free things this week, after all every little helps.

Two napkins, bringing unused napkins home off our trays has definitely saved me from buying paper kitchen towel since I started doing it.

A couple more napkins and a box of teabags for Alan via my Booths card.

Two sugars picked up from a coffee shop in Sale, where we went in preference to stopping off at the services after seeing Mum on Thursday.

Hope you all have a good weekend.  xx

Sue xx

Four Salmon Fillets, Four Summer Meals

 

Back in June on THIS post I blogged about my shopping ... as I tend to do far too often ... and that I had  bought a pack of four salmon fillets from Aldi, they were £6.99.  

Here's what I did with them as I know you have all been waiting on the edges of your seats for this vital information. 😁

I cooked them altogether as you can see in the top photo, this of course means that the oven is only on once and the fillets, if necessary, can be reheated in the microwave.  So, one fillet was left plain, two were topped with green pesto from an open jar in the fridge, and the final one with the last of a sachet of spicy tomato ketchup rescued after a meal in Booths.  One of the large Stokes ketchups that they have been giving out for the last few months does me two sausage butties and one other 'thing' at home.

The first meal was a pesto fillet served with rice, cucumber and tomatoes.  Nice and simple for a hot Summer's day.

The next day I decided to use up the last of my old potatoes, which were all cooked up at once.  Served firstly just as boiled potatoes with the spicy tomato salmon fillet this made for a lovely lunch.  Yes, I did slightly over cook the salmon on reheating, but it was still very edible.

The next night it was the turn of half of the now mashed potatoes and the second of the pesto salmon fillets.

The final portion, if anything the simplest, was actually the tastiest.  

I simply flaked up the remaining plain salmon fillet, seasoned it with salt and pepper and stirred in the last of a bottle of mayonnaise ... so perhaps slightly more than I would usually use ... and it was absolutely delicious on a bun, served with some of my homegrown tomatoes.

What a delicious and filling evening meal this made on a hot Summer's day.

Celebrating hot Summer days, lovely salmon fillets and homegrown tomatoes.  🍅

Sue xx

The Books That I Read in June

 

Free - by Katharine Hibbert

As usual just click on the links to Amazon to read more about these books, and to get other peoples views on what I read last month. 

The first book that I read in June was Free, I really enjoyed this although it wasn't quite the book that I was expecting.  It's more about being free, giving up everything, walking away from your life and being homeless.  Squatting in disused buildings and old houses, the legalities of doing this and how the people that do this as a way of life get by.

Even though it was not what I was expecting to read it was very interesting and touched on things that I knew absolutely nothing about, and those of you who know me through my years of blogging know that I love learning.  To my mind there is always something new to learn and the day we stop learning is the day we die.

This book has been donated.

The Woman Who Took a Chance by Fiona Gibson

A bit of light summer reading for some hot summer days.  This was a break into fiction for me, something that I do more and more in the lighter, hotter days of summer.  I enjoyed it and it's well written, with an ending that I didn't guess, which in a way made it all the more enjoyable.  If you guess the ending halfway through a book the actual ending is going to be a disappointing ... and I do like a nice surprise in a book.

This book has been donated.

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

It had to be done!!

After going to see the film a couple of weeks ago, I just had to reread The Salt Path ... and on rereading, it still is one of my favourite books.  Parts of the film that I thought they hadn't got quite right, like how it began, were actually spot on, my memory was at fault.  The film follows the book very well, it skips things which in my opinion are slightly shall we say 'naughty' ... like pitching tent on the edge of a golf course ... for good reason, they obviously don't want copycat backpackers and walkers following suit.

I really enjoyed my reread of this book and it remains on my bookshelves.

Vegan Feasts by Rose Elliott

My next read was something completely different, a book of vegan recipes by Rose Elliott, the queen of vegetarian cookbooks.  It's a good book and has enough good recipes that I fancy trying to make it earn it's place on my cookbook shelves.

Kept.

Tin Can Cook by Jack Monroe

I finished the month with another recipe book off my small kitchen shelves.  I've not even looked at this book since I bought it and read through it in 2018, so it doesn't seem to be in my repertoire of most used cookbooks.  While there are some very good ideas in this book, they alone do not warrant me keeping it on my shelf.

This book has been donated.

That's it folks another month of reading, and I am already into this month's.  

The current hot weather makes sitting in the cool of the lodge, or out on the patio once the shade has reached the garden chairs, very appealing, so whenever possible I am just giving into it.  I have now started a new habit of choosing four books at the end of each month ready for reading the following month and placing them ready for action on the shelf above the radiator.  It is not compulsory that I actually read them, but it does make the decision process easier when I reach the end of one book to know that there is another already chosen for me.  📚

Sue xx

I would just like to point out, that although I provide links to Amazon for all the books that I read each month, not all my books are bought from Amazon.  If they are some of them were bought from the Used section rather than full price.  

I share the links so that you can learn more about the books that I write about for yourself, or read reviews from others that have read them.  Of course most of the books I talk about would also be available from your local library, and if you are very lucky you might even find them in charity or thrift shops.  

There are so many ways to bring books into your home if you love reading. 📚

It's a Cat's Life

 

They drove me all the way to Wales*.

I didn't like it so I yowled all the way, it was hard keeping it up for two hours ... but I managed it.

They let me out to play in what appeared to be a hayfield of tickly proportions.

Then just when I had gotten used to, it they cut it all down.

Luckily they missed this super big bit of grass, so I had a lie down in the shade and had a snooze.

Then they called me over.

I came very willingly, after all I am a very good boy.

But I suspected they were going to load me into that basket again, so I needed to go and have a drink to lubricate my vocal cords for the return journey.

It's a Cat's Life.  😺

Ginger xx

* We needed to go to the Welsh flat which we have not been able to sell due to lease problems, and so we were getting it ready for renting it out again, happily after a nice twist of fate, to the son of the lady that lives in the upper flat.  Ginger came with us, we thought he would sleep for the journey ... he didn't.  We were all glad to get home!!

Sue xx

A Good Week for Books

 

It's been a brilliant week for books.

Over the course of a couple of visits to Booths I have managed to pick up all the the books in the photo, for just £1 each off the charity book table. There has obviously been a few people around town sorting through their reading matter.  It definitely pays to say yes, when Alan asks me if I want a coffee with him when he's going for a bacon bun for his breakfast.  😃

Especially when he's getting more shopping than me and pays for my three items as well.

Yes the total sum of my shopping this week is a tub of ice-cream, to go with the rhubarb from the garden, a pack of brown buns and a lovely little lavender plant.  I have just about enough space to squeeze it into a gap in the flower bed.  ⚘

I also have ten pounds to add to my purse after successfully selling the two pans and the steamer that I no longer needed on Facebook marketplace.  A nice simple transaction, and to someone who was really pleased to get them for that price.

A successful week.

Have a good weekend everyone, now I'm off for a read.  😀

Sue xx

Wild Ramblings, Statistically Speaking

 

I was checking for comments that might have gone into the Spam folder yesterday after writing a blog post ... happily less and less 'proper' comments are ending up in Spam these days ... while I was rootling around I decided to have a look at my blog statistics.  It made for fascinating reading.

While 44 people at that time were reading the current post, a grand total of 333 people were reading various posts on the blog at the same time, and from all over the world.  Interestingly someone was reading their way through Blogmas 2024, at the same time as five people catching up on the previous days post.  One person was reading about my challenge last year of living on £100 a month for all my shopping and one person was reading the very first post of this blog.

I like doing this occasionally but it can be dangerous, as I tend to click on the posts that someone is reading to see what they are reading about and how wildly I rambled on and on at the time, and I usually end up losing an hour or more down a rabbit-hole of my own making.

If you're a blogger have you checked your stats recently?

Sue xx

Sorting The Pan Drawer

 

It's hard to believe that all this fitted in the one drawer ... but it did. 

Some things get used over and over again, and some things are simply moved out of the way over and over again.  I am one person and one person does not need three frying pans.  I chose the two that I actually use often, and it turned out that the one that's leaving home came 'free' with my oven and hob when I had the kitchen fitted, and it's just too big and quite heavy.  So, even though it's new I forgive myself for it having to go, as it's not something I went out and chose to buy.

Of everything here, two pans are going, the steamer and the large tin of cookie/pasty cutters.  They are all listed as a job lot on Facebook Marketplace.

The drawer was given a thorough clean and wipe out and left to dry in it's own time, before I put the things that have earned their places back into it.  Leaving things to dry in their own time means that I can have a cup of coffee and go and read for half an hour.  😁

Although I forgot to take a 'before' photo, I can assure you that it now looks so much less cluttered and everything is more accessible.  I now have what I use and what I need in this particular drawer and nothing to excess.

Tucked away in the Le Creuset casserole pan are my measuring cups and cookie cutters, but they were there before so I'm not hiding anything.  😄

Now it's time to start on the bottom drawer.

Sue xx