Conkers ... Also Known as Horse Chestnuts

 

It's that time of the year, the week or so when Alan walks the streets and around the local park looking for conkers.  This year while I was driving us home from visiting Mum, he spied a LOT of very large Horse Chestnut trees on the main road not too far out of town, so he has enjoyed a few walks and conker gathering trips over the past week as they are currently at their peak of perfection.

We now have them on all our windowsills and in the doorways, we have taken some to Mum's empty bungalow and distributed them evenly there too.  The rest, of which there are many, are double wrapped in bags in both our freezers.

WHY?

Yes, I hear you asking.  Well, Alan's Mum Jessie always had conkers as spider deterrents on all her windowsills.  She explained it all to me in great detail many years ago, when I plucked up the courage to ask about her unusual window decorations.  I sort of scoffed a little ... in private, never upset your future Mum-in-Law ... until I tried it for myself in our large spider infested farmhouse, which was situated in the centre of acres of farmland.

It worked, the spiders were vastly diminished, so I have done it myself every year since.  It keeps her memory alive in a very special way and seems to keep the spiders away too.

You can also use conkers to make an eco liquid washing detergent.  Nancy Birtwistle has a very good recipe for this.  https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Bdnn2aAGu/

I've never tried this, maybe I should. 

https://youtu.be/4GaGw73LijM?si=w7K-apGtmTOKkbXr

Of course you could also do the traditional British thing of actually having a game of Conkers.  😄

Sue xx

Real Retirement, Selling the Office Stuff

 

Alan is now embracing his retirement and relishing the late mornings and time to do things, it's taken him a while to settle into this.  He was supposed to retire in 2017, but as most of you know that didn't come to pass and our plans unexpectedly took a dramatic change.

Now he has one more trip back to headquarters to hand back his security passes and secure laptop and then that is completely IT!!

As all the work from home has now ended he has been sorting through his office over the last two weeks, shredding all the confidential documents and disposing of other less sensitive stuff.  Now that he no longer needs a desk that is almost seven foot long, he has moved the things that he still needs into the small box bedroom in his house.  Instead of a new smaller desk, he now has a kitchen worktop balanced on two of our old short filing cabinets to fill the window wall of the room completely, and his big desk has been listed on Facebook Marketplace.

As has this little set of office drawers which has moved house with us five times.  I'm not even slightly sad to see them both go.  Now when we come to sell this house the 'office' can be shown as a proper double bedroom which will hopefully be so much nicer.

It feels like the end of an era and the start of something much better.

My 'office' remains at it is, as I mostly worked from the little breakfast bar in my kitchen unless we were working together recording training courses.  So now it can be my 'blogging desk'.  😄

Sue xx

Spending Money, Saving Money

 

Booths - 24th - £23.64

After my trip to the hairdressers first thing on Wednesday morning, I called to Booths for a little mooch around the shelves.  I don't tend to be able to do that when Alan is shopping too, it's straight in and straight out and grab what I need if I'm quick enough.

But as you all know 'mooching' costs money, and although I only actually needed bread and milk I came out with quite a colourful little haul.  The chips and potato croquettes* were on a 'buy two get one free' offer, so I just had too!!

*  It turned out the croquettes had milk in them, so Alan got a free gift.

26th - Barton Grange Farm Shop - £15.96  😧

Then yesterday we went to Barton Grange Garden Centre for lunch, it's just five minutes up the road from us, so it's another regular place that we visit.  After a stroll through the shop admiring the Christmas displays which are just appearing in all their glory ... it's a favourite destination for coach loads of people in the run up to the festive season, and throughout Summer of course ... we had a light lunch and then finished off in the farm shop as Alan wanted some milk.

He bought my Veggie Curry Pasty and Red Onion Marmalade for me, and I paid for my own Fruity Meercats ... they are quickly turning into a bit of an addiction so I can't let Alan keep paying for them!!

In the café, Alan had a salad and a cake, while I just chose a sandwich, so he talked me into a 'pudding',  I chose an Oat Biscuit, unfortunately as I suspected I would be, I was much too full after the sandwich so the biscuit came home and provided my supper.

A quick food review.

These chips are absolutely delicious!!

And while they may seem to be expensive at £2.60 a pack, I worked out that after sharing a pack with Alan this week, with a breaded fish portion each and a large serving of peas, it was a quarter of the price that we paid for our tea at the chip shop the week before, and it was much, much tastier.

However, half a pack was slightly too much for me, so I split the other pack into three portions and froze them for future use.

Now they are double wrapped and nestled in the freezer.

Sue xx

Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb

 

I picked another huge amount of rhubarb last week, this is the third big harvest this year.  

The first picking went into crumbles which we mostly ate straight away, the second was gifted to my sister-in-law when they visited a couple of months back as her and her fiancé both love rhubarb, and now I have this batch. 

This time I stewed it and portioned it up to share between us.  We ended up with five of these takeaway containers each for our freezers.

Once mine had cooled four went into the freezer and the other went into the fridge.

I am still keeping up with my new breakfast routine of one weetabix served with some sort of fruit, and then a fried or poached egg on toast a bit later,  It was an amazing revelation just how well rhubarb pairs with weetabix.

Looking at the plants this morning I would think an equally big harvest will be on the cards next week.  Just giving the plants a bit more space by harvesting the last lot has really brought it on even though it is getting much cooler, especially at night, now.

Just one last harvest to complete the season I think, and hopefully this will see me through a quite a few more servings of rhubarb for my breakfast over the next few months, as I will alternate it with tinned peaches and the occasional banana.

I need to make the homegrown Summer-y goodness last as long as possible.

Sue xx

'Scratching an Itch'

 

  

At this time of year I nearly always get the urge to squirrel away food for the Winter. 

 It's probably got something to do with living on farms and smallholdings that were quite a way from the shops in our recent past.  Here in our small town we are literally a three minute drive away from the shops, but still the urge is great.

At the moment I literally have a five pound note and a box full of change to my name, so I might 'scratch the itch' to stock the store-cupboard by using my Nectar points ... I have almost £25 worth.  

It's a shame my hairdresser doesn't accept them as I need that exact amount to have my hair cut tomorrow.  I think I will have to dip into savings this month.  😀

Some free food this week came in the form of the final tub of homegrown potatoes, tipped out, washed and weighed and then split between the two of us.  It gave me a lovely addition to three meals.

One of which was a nice simple potatoes and fish.  No other veggies were needed as I had already had more of my seven a day that is now 'officially' recommended.

Sue xx

Same old, Same Old

 

We had out gutters cleaned out first thing this morning, getting ready for Winter by clearing out all the moss that the birds have been depositing in them over the last few months.  I don't know where they get it all from as we had our roof and that of next door cleaned completely last year, so there shouldn't be that much moss up there for them to collect. 

Anyway once the guy had finished both houses and the annexe Alan suggested going to Booths for a bacon butty, I shared a bowl of chips with him too and enjoyed a cup of coffee.  Then it was time to grab a bit of shopping from both Booths and Aldi as we usually do.

Ginger's preferred cat food is currently on offer at Booths and cheaper there than everywhere else, so we bought six packs each containing four little pots, which is nearly two weeks of food.

Similar, but not quite the same as last weeks trolly full of food, and a smidge cheaper too.

Not buying any alcohol has significantly reduced my food spend this last few weeks. Even at less than a fiver a bottle it soon adds up.  Once again I have bought a few treaty things, and a couple of things that make life easier with all the travelling we are still doing.

Microwaveable rice and vegetables in little portion sized bags may seem extravagant, but when they make life simple and mean there is food to eat in minutes, it's very appreciated.

Life has felt very 'samey samey' for the last few months, and I have noticed that my blog posts have reflected this.  Maybe it's the writing about it as well as living it that doubles the impact.  While I realise that I am not the only blogger that writes 'same old, same old' posts over and over again, I hate being that person, it's just not me.

I think the main reason for this is that I am currently living in a kind of limbo, keeping things going that just have to be kept going, all the while wishing for the end to be in sight and not around a bend that could be just a single curve in the road, or the beginning of yet another series of chicanes.  It's been tough on us all for the majority of this year and I think it whittles down your ability to relax into life.  We snatch the moments, the walks along a sea front, a coffee in a café etc, but they are punctuated with such relentless seriousness, the relief they offer seems to vanish.

This is way too serious now, I will sign off for now.

Sue xx

Everyone is Talking About Christmas ...

 

It seems that everyone is suddenly talking about Christmas, but I am going one step further and mentioning that this week I pre-ordered my 2026 Lucy Almey Bird wall calendar. 

 I just could not run the risk of them selling out, and I have loved having this years version hung up next to my chair and matching in with the prints that I have on my wall.  

Buying direct from her website made the calendar a lot cheaper than some of the others that I was looking at in the garden centre last week too, so I was doubly pleased.  It did also tempt me into looking at all her lovely greetings cards, there are a lot and they are beautiful.  But I resisted ... for now!!

Lucy Almey Bird Website

No Christmas talk from me for a while though, although I do understand why some people have started mentioning it and of course the shops have also started stocking it.

Sue xx

Compost Heap Jelly

I finally got around to making my latest batch of Compost Heap Jelly.

I did it over three days as we have been here, there and everywhere this week, but it's forgiving in it's timings ... thank goodness.

First day, dig all the rinds, peelings and various bits and bobs out of the freezer.  

Add them to a large pan, cover with water and bring to the boil before simmering for at least an hour.  It was a lot longer than that for me as I was busy, so I left the pan to it's own devices, just giving it a quick stir each time I passed.

Once it has simmered merrily away for a random length of time, carefully pour into a jelly bag suspended over a large bowl or jug.  Leaving it overnight is the best way to do this as there is less chance of it getting knocked over, especially if like me you have a tiny kitchen.

In my case the juice then spent the following day in the fridge mellowing nicely.

Then do your workings out as to how much sugar you will need to add to your liquid.  I had 800mls of liquid so I needed 600g of sugar.  I used a mixture of the sachets I had in my little stash and then half and half normal sugar and some of the jam sugar that I found in the lower cupboard.

Put your pan on a medium heat and then stir continually until all the sugar has dissolved, then bring the pan to a rolling boil, you must use a larger pan than you think you will need as this rises dramatically.  

Boil hard for at least ten minutes before testing for a set either with a sugar thermometer, or you can do the wrinkle test on an ice cold plate, which I have to do now that I have sold virtually all my jam making equipment.

Then pour carefully into sterilised jars, preferably having one with a 'button' top so that you know you have achieved a perfect seal as it cools down and pops inwards.

This time my bags of fruit scraps made four jars of Compost Heap Jelly, two for me and two for Alan, who is a huge fan of this concoction.

https://youtu.be/-jwQnlKSxQI?si=b2AdaJsn6fMojiIF

 Watching Pam Corbin's ... the originator of this recipe ... YouTube video of making this will probably make more sense than my ramblings.

This latest batch of mine is very citrussy and tangy and very like a good lemon marmalade, but one that cost me just the price of some sugar to make.

Sue xx

The Most Shopping I've Bought in a While

Time to catch up on a couple of shopping trips done on Tuesday, which actually feels like a lifetime away already.  Alan had to ask me what day it was yesterday on our way to visit Mum, and I'll be honest it took me a minute!!

Anyway on Tuesday we went to Aldi as Alan needed quite a few bits of shopping and I thought with such an empty fridge it would be a good idea to get a few bits myself.  But looking at the photo there's not a lot for the fridge there is there?

I did get another pack of the salmon fillets, as I was tempted by all the other options you gave me on the last salmon post.  

We nearly always shop individually in Aldi as Alan likes to take time to browse the meat aisles and I like to look at other less gory areas in more detail, and of course it means that we can both buy two boxes of paracetamol for my little stash.  

Over the course of a shopping trip we bump into each other many times, he is a very random shopper whereas I mostly go up and down the aisles.  He caught me photographing my trolley contents and grinned, but he's used to being married to a blogger ... well he should be after over eighteen years of me blogging.  😄

When I got home I laid out the shopping for another photo before putting it away ... and he came in and caught me again!

Not in the trolley at the time of the photo were these purchases, which I picked up right near the till.  The flatbreads are to use as little pizza bases, they are just the right size for an individual pizza for me.

I don't tend to drink 'squashes' or any sort of flavoured water, so two of these last me almost a year.  I am just coming to the end of my last one at home.  I use them on a Saturday morning when I have to drink two full glasses of water with my osteoporosis tablet before consuming anything else.  Adding just a touch of flavour makes it much more bearable over the course of half an hour, but I still clock watch for when I can get to a nice cup of coffee.  

The shopping in Aldi came to a grand total of £27.58.

Then we went over to Booths where I spent £15.15.

The quickest food review in the world - those Garlic and Herb Bites are NOT nice!!  I ate two and Alan finished off the rest ... he's like a human dustbin.  😆

Alan wanted some specific things that he couldn't get from Aldi so we shared a trolley this time and I picked up a few bits that were on offer too.  We temporarily abandoned our trolley at the foot of the stairs, and went and treated ourselves to a coffee.  

The cost of a simple black Americano in Booths had gone up to £3.35, a rise of 15p overnight... I was shocked, and nearly all the other items on menu have gone up by a similar amount.  If it was up to just me I wouldn't go out for coffees, or meals anywhere near as often as we do.  But Alan likes it and as he also pays and asks me to join him I will keep him company, but always at the back of my mind are price comparisons.  

For instance you can get 200g of instant coffee in Aldi for £2.09 ... I knew, I had just seen it.

Sue xx

 

The Fridge Stocks Are Running Low

 

The fridge was looking slightly sorry for itself this morning.  

Low stocks and a needing a bit of a wipe out while it was so bare.  So I decided to give it a good clean ... and promptly dropped the bottom vegetable drawer on the floor, separating the front of the drawer from the sides and losing lots of little bits of plastic at the same time.  Oops!!

I borrowed some of Alan's Gorilla Glue and proceeded to stick the bits back together  Will it work, I really don't know, but it was worth a go.  In my usual 'I'm bloody useless at gluing things together' fashion I managed to stick it to the rug in the living room when I left it to set.  The one upside was that with it not being Super Glue I didn't stick myself to it too!!

If it doesn't hold I will try moving the other drawer down and use the glass divider above it as another shelf. It's not the end of the world.  😀

Trying to find a job that didn't involve dropping things or glue, I got all the fruity bits and pieces out of the freezer ...

... and got them slowly simmering away in some water ready to make a batch of Compost Heap Jelly tomorrow.  All it has to do is to simmer away for a few hours and then drip through the jelly bag overnight.

I should be safe with that ... 🤞

Sue xx

Don't Live Through Problems Twice

That's putting a lot of pressure on a book isn't it.  😄 

Thank you for all your good wishes for Mum and us on yesterday's post.  It really means a lot and I will pass them on to Mum when I next see her.  

She had an emergency flexible sigmoidoscopy the morning after her admittance to hospital after they had run various tests throughout the night. The procedure although giving her a 50/50% chance of survival went well.  It was really slightly worrying to agree to, but the odds were 100% against losing her without it, so myself and my brother just had to say yes.  It was the only way the consultant thought it possible to get to the twisted section of her bowel and hopefully untwist it.  It worked and her pain was relieved almost immediately.

She is now on oxygen and two drips, and being monitored closely by staff on the ward.  Our NHS is brilliant.  

Right that' enough medical stuff ... I hate it.  

I don't dwell on things, or worry about them ahead of time, it does no good and helps no one, in fact it just makes you live through problems twice.  The best thing we can do is to carry on as normal and do what we can, while helping those that need help.

Normal service will be resumed tomorrow!!   😀

Sue xx

A Hobbit Life ... and An Emergency

 

It sounds good doesn't it.

Although I think now that Autumn is here, rather than being barefoot I would like some big padded slippers that look like hobbit feet to keep my toes warm.  😁

Sorry that's it for today, we are off to see my Mum.  

She was rushed into hospital this week with a twisted bowel and had to have an emergency procedure, she is currently still on drips and oxygen, and waiting to be allowed to go back to her care home.  Fingers crossed.

Sue xx

Poached Eggs ... and Cat Food

 

After the last post I was asked how I got my poached eggs so perfectly round.  I totally cheat and I use these little silicone poaching cups and pop them in the microwave for just a smidge over one minute.

It means that in the time it takes for the toast to pop up I have two perfectly poached eggs.  Well perfectly poached for me, I do like the yolks quite firm.  I can't stand the wetness of poached eggs cooked straight in boiling water, although Alan quite likes them done that way.

Isn't this a lovely picture of Ginger.  

It was taken by Tash, my sons girlfriend when they stayed at our house to look after our ginger beauty.  Ginger has always liked Jason and Tash and the way they fuss over him.  He's managing to put a little bit of weight back on since we changed his food.  

He is now totally addicted to this cat food, and is actually asking to be fed at each meal time and clearing his dish every time.

His wish is our command, luckily it is on offer at the moment so we are getting very stocked up on it,  which is handy as some days he asks for lunch as well as his breakfast and tea.  

He's not going to fit through his cat-flap soon at this rate. 😺

Sue xx

Switching Things Up

 

While we were on holiday I breakfasted really well, I think you tend to when you are on a breakfast and dinner type holiday don't you.  If there's no lunch provided you tend to make sure you have enough to see you through ... well mostly.  

Every day of the five day break, for breakfast I had half a glass of fresh orange juice, Weetabix with mixed fresh fruits and oat milk, then I finished off with two slices of fried bread, two fried eggs, half a tomato and a small portion of baked beans ... and of course at least two cups of coffee. Much more food than I ever have at home.

And very naughtily every evening I drank two thirds of a bottle of wine, while nibbling on salted peanuts and watching the entertainment.

When we got back I was expecting to have put on at least a couple of pounds in weight, and it wouldn't have bothered me at all.  Whenever I put weight on I find it really easy to get back to my default weight, sadly it also works in reverse and whenever I lose any weight and then stop putting extra effort in I go straight back to that same default weight.

 But, jumping on the scales the first morning after we got back, I had lost two pounds!! 

Now that got me thinking.  So I did a bit of research and discovered quite by chance on YouTube, someone discussing that for people with a default weight setting, switching things up completely can reset that weight to a new lower level.  So the following week I carried on with what I now call my double breakfasts ... and lost a further two pounds.  I did also cut out all alcohol, so that would have helped massively.

I have never been good with cooking fried bread, so I have been having toast.

Using the breakfast muffins that I had in the freezer.

And as you can see switching out the way I have my eggs.

As you can see on the very top photo I have mostly been having my Weetabix with tinned peaches this week, but now that I have harvested some more of the homegrown rhubarb, I have begun alternating that with the peaches.  When we next go shopping I will probably buy some mixed frozen berries to make a healthy alternative.

But one day all health claims went out of the window when I discovered this little steamed pudding in the cupboard ... well it needed eating up.  Tasty, but I actually prefer Weetabix, so it was just a little blip!!  😁

Does anyone have any tips for making good fried bread?

Sue xx

Four Salmon Fillets, Four Meals

I bought a pack of four salmon fillets from Aldi at the start of the month, on THIS shopping trip and I decided to give myself the mini-challenge of using them in different meals over the course of the following week.

It's nothing wildly imaginative, but I found it interesting.

I cooked all four together while I had the oven on for some banana and walnut muffins.

The first fillet was eaten with boiled potatoes and peas, and the other three were put in a dish to cool down before being refrigerated.  As you can see I did extra boiled potatoes, I always think why cook just enough for one meal when you might as well make enough for at least three!!  I kept the cooking water from the potatoes to add to a pot of soup and saved the salmon skin to give to Ginger.

The next day I had a salmon and mayo bun for my tea, there were more homegrown tomatoes on my plate as the bun was being made, but I kept eating them ... I managed to save three for the photo.  😄

A couple of days later I had one of the remaining fillets with rice, peas and spinach.  It was very tasty and very filling.  I do like a lot of rice, but maybe I should switch to brown rice a bit more often. I do love white Basmati though.

Two more days later and I decided to have the final fillet with some noodles.  It is a really easy, and very lazy meal.  But sometimes those sort of meals just hit the spot.  I should have made some peas to go with it, but I thought of this far too late.  So it was a nice simple meal, with no green to be seen.

I had more ideas on what I wanted to do with the fillets, but I will possibly be saving them for next time as this time I was in the mood for really simple things.

What four things would you have done with four salmon fillets?

Sue xx