Dahl, Rhubarb ... and the Smallest Harvest of Them All.

 

I'm supposed to be working on emptying the freezer but this past week I seem to have been making an effort to fill it.  Oh well, if I cut back a bit further on the shopping and instead eat what I already have it will still empty ... eventually!!  😄

I made a reasonable sized batch of dahl, a very tasty batch if I say so myself.  This time using my curry powder mixture from the cupboard instead of predominantly cumin like I usually do.  We each had some with rice and a salmon fillet for tea, and then I potted up another seven single portions for the freezer and one for my breakfast the next day.  I do love dahl and rice for breakfast, I discovered this when I did the refugee Ration Challenge a few years ago.  I re-read some of the ration challenge posts to find this link and discovered that I had made some wraps for myself way back then. 

Also into the freezer were four tubs of our homegrown rhubarb.  

These will be so good with my morning weetabix in the darker mornings of Autumn and Winter.  I reckon I have one more good sized picking and stewing to get through.  I always share with Alan, although he eats his rhubarb with ice-cream rather than weetabix.

I am really pleased with this years rhubarb, I have had three pickings up to now, and there's one more to go. Each and every one will be so much more than the 400g that you get for £2.50 in our local shop.  You have got to love a crop that you put in once and reap the benefits of for years to come haven't you. 💚

I've been picking off the three blueberry bushes whenever I have been out watering the garden, and I have to admit that most of them are simply popped in my mouth as my garden watering payment.  But this past few days I have been making an effort to bring some inside and each day adding them to the little tub that I now have in the freezer.  

The tub was quite full until I made the mixed fruit jelly last week and I decided to empty it into the pan.  Hopefully I can get another tub of the lovely berries together before the plants stop producing, which no doubt they will very soon.

Back soon.

Sue xx

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

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

A Week of Lunches

 

Lunch 1 - Homemade Vegetable Soup and a toasted crust of bread.

My lunches, frequently also called dinners here up North ... .with me it depends what mood I am in ... are quite simple affairs.  I've been trying to get away from just sandwiches at every midday meal and have also been attempting to use up the bitty bits from the fridge and freezer at lunchtime.  The more I delve in the freezer drawers the more I seem to find.

Also leftovers, and the last one or two of anything make for brilliant lunches.  

Lunch 2 - Fishfinger Butty and homegrown tomatoes.

Lunch 3 - Leftover Rice and Roasted Vegetables.

Lunch 4 - A Tomatoey Vegetable Medley

Lunch 5 - Homemade Soup and half a Garlic Bread

Lunch 6 - A Sausage Bun with Ketchup

One thing most of my, and our meals have had in common this past couple of weeks has been the addition of courgette.  We are in the midst of a yellow courgette glut and I am determined to keep up with the output this year.

Sometimes just a few slices and sometimes a whole lot more.

Lunch 7 - A Vegetable Omelette

It's been a very tasty seven days.  Now I have just started on a 'Week of Teas' ... we will see how long it takes me to photograph seven nights of evening meals.  I keep forgetting ... I have a lot on my mind ... but no-one wants to see a half eaten plate of food, so I will persevere.  😄

What is your favourite type of lunch?

Sue xx

Remembering ... with Flowers

 

Look what came up in my Facebook Memories this morning.  I shared it years ago and it felt very appropriate.

As I had just been out into the garden to take some photos of the flowers that we currently have there.

The potentillas ...  Anemone 'Ruffled Swan'

Two bees were busy buzzing around, much more interested in the flowers than they were in me.

The sunflowers.

The cherry tomatoes.

One of the many figs.

And the little vegetable bed, with the intense heat of the last few weeks the Rocket had gone to seed, but the bees loved the flowers so they are staying in situ for now.

The bee drinking station that I always have in the garden.  The birds love it as much as the bees and other insects, so it needs topping up daily.

The reason for me photographing some of the flowers in the garden ...

... I was remembering Suky.

13th October 2011 -  6th July 2024

  💖🌹💖

Sue xx

 

Rhubarb and Renovations

 

I've been a bit slow to pick the first lot of rhubarb this year, so yesterday I just went out and pulled off half of the stalks.  I just pull and cut until I know that I will have enough chopped rhubarb to fill my largest pan.  

Cooked with just a smidge of water and minimal sugar it doesn't take long to do.  Every year I wonder why it takes me so long to get around to actually doing it.  😄

Once it was done and cooled down, I divided it between four tubs, two for me and two for Alan.  I had some of mine with my yoghurt for breakfast this morning.  It was absolutely delicious.

I'll be doing an action replay next week as there is at least the same amount of rhubarb left in the garden.

https://youtu.be/40ZKOC2L0XM?si=glLFVDSph3988A9Z

The plasterers finished on Wednesday, a day earlier than planned as they had another job to do the next day.  They worked late into the evening to complete ours.  As you can see from this YouTube walk through, they have done an excellent job of it.

Alan is back at the bungalow again today painting some more of the walls and perhaps a couple of ceilings.  He wants one coat on in the main room if possible, before next Monday when the 'screeders' will be at the bungalow to screed the floor and get it ready for the underfloor heating.

Then he will be able to have some time off as we will not be able to walk on the floor at all.  Hence me booking us a long weekend away starting on the 10th, where there will be no tools, no work clothes, just rest, relaxation and the spa for Alan, and rest, relaxation and a couple of good books for me.

Sue xx

My Bank Holiday Weekend in Pictures

 

First thing on Saturday morning we went out for breakfast to one of the garden centres we like.  We got a small breakfast each and our free coffees for May.  As usual my 'Vegan Gardeners Breakfast' was brought to the table with a couple of packs of Lurpak butter on the plate and I had to ask for Flora instead, which the waitress brought over with a smirk on her face.  I am starting to realise that someone in the kitchen is out to try and annoy vegans!!  For anyone that doesn't know I am not vegan, but I don't eat meat and I can't eat dairy, but the intolerance often shown to vegans is absolutely infuriating.  I have left a review on Trip Advisor after this visit, enough is enough.

After we had finished eating and drinking  we wandered around to see if they had any Tumbling Tom type tomato plants, but no such luck.  So we called next door to an even bigger garden centre and there we struck lucky.

Alan bought me a tray of spring onions and six Tumbling Tom style tomato plants, three of them being called something else and being yellow.  We detoured to Fleetwood on the way home for some fresh air and another cup of coffee.

The tomato plants are all now in the 'bedroom greenhouse' until the weather gets a bit warmer.  😄

On Sunday we went to visit Mum.  

She's back at her care home now, but still not doing very well.  As is now our habit we stopped at the motorway services to get a snack and a coffee, Alan had the free steak bake that I had available on the Greggs app and we both had coffee.  I wasn't in the mood for a pastry so I decided to get a portion of fries from Burger King ... £3.65 for a large fries and a little pot of mayo!!  Wow, it's a good job Alan's pastry was free. 😐

This stop on the way home is proving to be a very necessary decompressing stage, we are both coming out of the visits more despondent each time.  It's so hard seeing someone you love declining and getting absolutely nothing out of life.

On Sunday we went to Booths café for a quick breakfast before shopping at Aldi.  Alan had a small cooked breakfast and I just had a couple of crumpets, Booths are always good at supplying Flora, there are no problems there.

Then it was onto Aldi for the bits of shopping that we both needed, seemingly this week I will be living on fish, peas and tomatoes.  I was really surprised that the tins of pink salmon were only £1.45, so I thought I would try them, I usually buy red salmon.  If it's just as nice I may stock up a bit as the date on the tins is December 2030.

  As usual I didn't need much, my cupboards are ridiculously full.

The receipt for posterity.

So it's seemed to be a very foodie Bank Holiday weekend, with a bit of plant buying and a detour to the seaside for a coffee and some fresh air.  It's also been a very snooker-y one for Alan as he has been glued to the Snooker World Championship for the last week and the final was over the weekend.  Now he's back to the bungalow for a few days of things really moving forwards.  The solar installation will be finished by tonight, the gas pipes will be disconnected to the road tomorrow and the new windows should all be installed by the weekend.

Big changes.

Sue xx

Appreciating What You Already Have

 

After sitting looking at the soil and rock pile at our new bungalow the other day, shown on Thursday's post, I came home and appreciated what we have here all the more.

Having no money at all to spend on the garden this year is setting me a nice little challenge, making the most of what I already have.  The little tin bath at my front door has been refreshed with the free rockery plant that I got from the garden centre as their April freebie for card holders ... along with the usual two free coffees.

The forget-me-not seeds that we got off the vets after Suky was cremated appear each year, (both Suky's and Mavis' ashes are in this little tin bath, so they will always be with us).  The tall twiggy plant at the back grew from sticks that were in a bouquet of flowers that Alan bought me a few years ago, I just pushed them into the soil et voila.  💖

The little vegetable bed at the end of the back garden had this years veggie seeds sown yesterday.  

There are just rocket, radish and three types of salad leaves in there for now, along with the perennial chives and thyme plants.  Seemingly there's also a random potato plant, which I didn't have the heart to pull up, but I will have to won't I ... maybe I'll try to transplant it.  😀

I was also going to sow some spring onion seeds, but I have none.  Also, much to my dismay I have absolutely NO tomato seeds.  How did that happen?  I was so upset going through my seeds tin and finding it devoid of tomato seeds that Alan asked what sort I had wanted to sow.  I told him that I was simply going to have a couple of hanging baskets of 'Tumbling Toms' this year, so he said that he will buy me a couple of plants when we next go to a garden centre.  Which I think will be very soon with a Bank Holiday Weekend upon us and two free coffees available at two of our favourite ones

Across from the vegetable bed the rhubarb is looking brilliant already and will soon start to be picked, and the apple tree is having a very leafy and blossomy time.  As are the blueberry bushes, two are full of little flowers and the third is the one that always blooms a bit later anyway.

As you may have spotted on the new header photo, we also have a little bit more colour appearing now that the daffodils have all gone over.  

I'm putting the photo here as well as one day in possibly the not too distant future, the header will change and then later readers will not know what on earth I was on about. 😄

Ginger in the garden first thing yesterday morning. 🐱

I hope he's still with us when we move, and that we can make him a new garden to explore and play in.

I hope you have a wonderful Bank Holiday Weekend, if it is one where you are.

Sue xx

Indoor Gardening, and Winding Down

 

Over the last few days I have been doing a few little jobs in the garden and I really thought I was on a roll, then yesterday morning I woke up to really heavy rain and temperatures that had plummeted ... as promised by the previous nights weather person.

So I decided to find an indoor something or other that I could do to try and keep me motivated.

A little trawl through my seed tin and I found two different kinds of courgette seeds, a pack of cucumber seeds and some rocket.  So I sowed them all in little pots with labels.

And now they live on the bedroom windowsill, alongside the chitting potatoes.

The potatoes that we have had from Riverford for the past few deliveries have been delicious, so I had decided to sacrifice three of them to see if I can grow some for myself this Summer.  Fingers crossed. 🤞

I'm not growing too much this year, for two reasons, firstly, my health.  Gardening is becoming increasingly difficult for me and I can only manage a few minutes at a time without a long rest, and secondly because of our imminent move we want to wind the garden here down to make it truly easily manageable, but at the same time we want to keep it photogenic enough for when we put this house on the market later this year.

So just a few vegetables, and our regular fruit from the apple tree and the blueberry bushes will be more than enough.

Sue xx

Free Food, Bargains and Final Pickings

 

My 1st October shopping from Sainsbury's.

I had a £100 Sainsbury's gift card to use that I had acquired by taking out a Pure Cremation funeral plan. Me, Alan and my brother all did this so that Mum would get £300 in gift cards for recommending people. As my Mum doesn't need much  these days except soap and shampoo, Graham kept just one of the hundreds as a Sainsbury's card to keep her supplied, and with my permission used the other £200 plus his own £100 for taking out his funeral plan to go towards a much needed new laptop from Curry's.  Alan chose a Marks and Spencer's gift card and bought himself all new underwear and a couple of t-shirts.

Well anyway I digress, with far too much background information.  Here's what a smidge over £50 of my gift card bought me.  After reading so much online and in the news about coffee prices due to really shoot up soon, I thought I would stock up on next years coffee supply, this winter's lip salves and a decent stock of dairy-free cheeses.  I also bought a few other things that I had almost run out of.

I didn't want to blow it all in one fell swoop as I wanted to see what I had in my longer term storage cupboard and see if more coffee would be good idea, or did I need something else.  When I got home I found I already had one and a half of this sized jars, so at the rate I think I use coffee I reckon that is a nine month supply. I might just hang fire a bit and see if a decent coffee offer appears later this month.  

There was a coffee offer on at the moment but that was on the 200g jars, and looking at the shelf edge label in store this was still quite a bit more expensive per 100g than my jars.  So not quite the brilliant Nectar offer it proclaimed itself to be.

Tip of the Day:  Always check the shelf edge label for the price per 100g, or mls whenever possible.

They didn't have any organic eggs in Sainsbury's for some reason, so I nipped round to Booths for my preferred ones, and managed to find myself two £1 books on the charity book table.  These have been on my radar for a while and have been recommended by many people.  There were a lot of really good books there but I restrained myself admirably.  😁

Once I got home and put the shopping away, I decided to pick the remaining rhubarb.  That's the last from my two plants for this year, and the garden suddenly looks a little bare.  Once lightly stewed with a bit of brown sugar, I got another five takeaway sized tubs of rhubarb for the freezer, two for Alan and three for me. 

That should keep me going for a while.

Then yesterday I picked the last of the tomatoes.  With the weather turning really bad this weekend I wanted them in and out of the way.  Now they are in the fridge, while I decide if their fate is chutney or something else.  🍅

Here's to a weekend of mostly staying in and staying cosy as Storm Amy is set to hit our area over Friday night and Saturday.

Sue xx