Saturday

I got a shock when I opened iGoogle this morning.  The weather forecast thingy said it was snowing in Chelmsford.  Well, I don't know which bit of Chelmsford it is thinking of, but I rushed excitedly to the window and opened it, to be greeted by a rush of extremely cold air but no snow.  No hopping out to the shed in my slippers and nightie this morning, that's for sure!  Shame about no snow though!

Well, it's 6:44 am and I'm not rushing to finish anything, I'm not thinking that I must have my bath soon or I'll be running late, I'm not checking my planning in case there's anything I have forgotten.  I'm sitting here, idly pondering over what I can do today that doesn't involve work.  I stayed late at school yesterday to get the new display up for after half term (it looks really nice too), I am up to date with marking, etc, and the planning is virtually done.  Bliss!

I think I want to have a go at the eight strand plaited loaf that was shown on the Bake Off programme.  I will cheat, of course, and make the dough in the breadmaker.  It's the actual plaiting that fascinated me and once you've got the sequence sorted it's not actually too difficult - or is that famous last words!  We will see. 
Also I have to pick up Beth's birthday cupcakes and sort out a nice dinner for her.  I want it to involve use of my potato ricer so I guess it will be gardener's pie with a lovely cheesy mash topping - naughty but very nice.  Alex can have a savoury mince base.  I might set to and make a really tasty onion gravy too.
Having said no work, I do rather fancy trawling some sites for resources, etc.  It doesn't count because it's fun and I choose to do it for fun.  :-)

I have to do some tidying up, of course, but in my own time.  Today is going to be a lazy day!!!  So off I go to start off the dough!

There's still a few splashes of colour in the garden.

Sunday

I think one of the greatest of the many simple pleasures I am fortunate enough to enjoy in my life is waking up to the aroma of freshly baking bread.  Having a loaf in the oven while you are showing potential house purchasers around your home is old hat nowadays, but the truth remains that it is one of the most heart-warming, evocative smells in my world.  I'm breathing deeply and enjoying . . .
I love my Panasonic!

Today the loaf came out of the pan easily.  The other day (Friday) it was more trouble and, as I bagged the loaf and took it out to the freezer, I failed to notice that the paddle was still in the bottom of the loaf.  As a result, on Saturday morning I had to get said loaf out of the freezer again and thaw it so that I could dig out the paddle.  Fortunately, Beth came round and took it home with her together with three others for her rationing week ahead (loaf, not paddle).  I was a bit cheesed off by the paddle sticking so went onto Amazon (where else) to look up replacement parts and saw that Panasonic now do a non-stick paddle that has very good reviews, especially as regards to not sticking in the loaf .  So, with a couple of clicks, they were ordered and I got an email from the company supplying them yesterday evening to tell me they are on their way and should be with me tomorrow.  Now that's good service!

This rationing eating thing is obviously good for my grandson.  A month ago he was a couple of centimetres taller than Beth and I; now he towers over us both.  I remember that my son had a sudden growth spurt at more or less this age too.  Both Beth and I did our growing (growing up, anyway) good and early and by the time we started secondary school we were more or less the same height as we are now and have been all our adult lives.  For Alex, the growing up has been accompanied by a slimming down in that he's finally lost his little boy podge and he looks really good!  Fortunately, he's still nice and huggly, bless him!

Today is a school day.  I have to prepare for consultation evenings next week and have brought home all the necessary paperwork.  It's not hard, it won't take for ever, but it's got to be done.  In between that I will be popping to Sainsbury's.  Morrison's is very convenient but there are things it doesn't have.  It doesn't do the 'value' crumpets I like to buy (because they are smaller and thinner and therefore lower calorie) and it didn't have any maple syrup last time I looked which was a pain because I need some more.  Today I want to make the Hairy Dieters meatballs in a rich tomato sauce recipe and Sainsbury's has a much better selection of beef and pork minces.  The fact that Sainsbury's has good clothes and homeware departments has nothing to do with it, dear me no, who would ever think of such a thing, goodness me . . . etc.  Thinking about it, their new magazine should be out by now . . .

I have four bananas, very ripe with skins that are browning.  They're not going to last much longer so I'm going to have a go at doing what the Frugal Girl does and bunging them into the freezer whole, to use at a later date.  I have a good recipe for banana muffins but, as I made a batch of muffins yesterday, I don't need any more for now.  I don't want to waste the bananas though!  

Well, better get on with the reports.  Or maybe I will have breakfast first!  Secisions, decisions . . .

Don't spiders have wonderful markings?  I never realised before.  They may be the stuff of nightmares but they are 'fearfully and wonderfully made'
And my spider seems to have got his knitting in a tangle!

Monday

Good morning, everyone.  Wasn't it another lovely day yesterday? It was here, anyway, although not quite as lovely as Saturday as the sky clouded over and the sun decided to go and play somewhere else for a while.  It was still a gift though, given that recent weather has been a bit wet and miserable.

As mentioned earlier, we managed to break into my kitchen without doing any damage to the door or frame (phew) and discovered that the door mechanism has just jammed.  So we took off a few more 'tubular latches' (that's what the packet calls them) that were being a bit sticky and pootled off to B&Q to get some more.  Of course, when we got back, they didn't quite fit and I need to get someone to chip a little more wood from the side of the door, but never mind, no problems.  I just have three doors that won't close but each one has a separate lock that I can use if needs be (just as well in the case of the toilet door!).  I'd much rather that than a door that might suddenly jam!  I keep shuddering at the thought of the door jamming when I was on my own with something boiling merrily away on the hob!

It's been a lovely weekend and I'm sorry it's over.  Yesterday was quiet but pleasant, with DD and DG coming over for a roast dinner with most of the trimmings - I forgot the stuffing and I remembered at teatime that the onions, which I had popped into the microwave to soften before adding them to the roasting potatoes, were still in the microwave!  Never mind, I will pop them in the freezer for the next time I do a casserole or curry, it won't be wasted.

I haven't got a lot of food left over either.  Some turkey and accompanying veg which will do me well this evening and a titchy bit of lasagne and salad which is today's lunch.  Some sandwiches which are now well wrapped and in the freezer.  I had a few biscuits left over but they disappeared before bed time (not guilty!).  So, all in all, it has all gone very well on the catering front.

Just one booboo.  As I mentioned yesterday, DD has a blog about her  wartime eating (go and enjoy - it's brilliant!).  I had promised her a beany, vegetable-y mixture and I forgot.  The beany mix is still in the freezer and she had a mushroom bake thing.  I'm not sure the grapes we had with crackers and cheese were all that authentic either!  Sorry, DD, will try harder!However, she took home a pot of the red cabbage and apple, so that's good! 
She also took three loaves.  I have appointed myself as her baker this month.  I'm not sure how authentic a bread making machine is, but it's certainly home made, wholemeal and, though I say it myself, very delicious.  I've started making the loaves for next week now - one made and cooling, one in the machine set to finish when I get home from school this evening and one in my head for overnight.

And now the porridge is made so I'd better wander off and have my breakfast!

Hyde Hall on Saturday

Tuesday

Well, yesterday was a most interesting day.  It was the first day of performance management I and had two of my four to do.  New paperwork, now 'standard' statements - well, it took a short while to get collective heads around the whole thing but we got there and my other two today will get the benefit of that.  It is possibly simpler that the old way, with more page to the form but less to have to think about, providing each  mentoree comes with their information, having done their own homework!  Mine's on Friday!

As anticipated, I came home yesterday to be greeted by the aroma of a baking loaf, very welcome after a long, hard graft at school.  For the first time this term I didn't have time to go through my checklist before leaving and I know there are things that have not been done but I really couldn't do anything about that given that Steve was waiting to lock up.  I will be hammering on the front door at 7:30 this morning, that's for sure.  So the welcoming atmosphere as I walked in last night was wonderful.  One of the best aromas in the world.

So - today . . . the usual, plus painting still life (cough, cough) and performance management.  Jolly good fun all round!

Monday

A new day, a new week, a new month - but apart from that nothing changes.  It's raining!!  The way everything looks, it's been raining for some time too.  I drew aside the curtain to pop out to the freezer with a loaf and - er - didn't!  I will wait until I am dressed with shoes on my feet!  Will that mean wet playtimes, I wonder?

After my early start yesterday, when I didn't manage to get to sleep again until after dinner (midday dinner, that is), I was quite busy one way and another.  I made another loaf (well, 'made' is perhaps the wrong word, given that I use a breadmaker), a savoury vegetable crumble for lunch and a pork curry.

The vegetable crumble was delicious.  My hopes of have a wee bit left over to lunch today faded rapidly as DD amd DG got stuck in.  With it I did roasties (from a bag of some we froze earlier), roasted carrots and parsnips and some sweetcorn and there was not a scrap left!  I do have some topping left which is in the freezer - rather nice, it was, containing flour, butter, oats and finely grated not-parmesan!

DD took the two loaves with her and I popped another one on overnight, for next weekend when I have some visitors.  That's the one I want to take to the freezer when I'm suitably clad.  There's another one on now, timed to be finished just after I get home from school.  Seeing as there's now room in the freezer, I may as well get in some loaves for DD and for next weekend. 

As for the pork curry - when I was sorting out the freezer, I found some 'important' lumps of meat which will need dealing with soon.  One was a pork tenderloin so I concocted a curry for it, which turned out pretty tasty.  It's all frozen now but when I have some, if it's as good as I thought it was yesterday, I will post the recipe.  Here's a pohoto in lieu.

Sunday

A very early good morning to you!  It's stupid o'clock so I will probably get some more sleep later on.  It seemed very silly,, however, to lie awake trying to get to sleep when there's work to be done and I'm ready to do it.  So here I am, downstairs, smelling the breadmaker doing its work and blogging instead of working.  That's life!

I really did intend to go into school yesterday afternoon.  Honest!  I sat down after lunch for a short time and woke two hours later by which time I really couldn't be bothered.  So what I was going to do will have to wait!  :0)
It was helpful to have some time in sleepland as yesterday was what I call a 'hungry day' - a day when I could have eaten anything and everything in sight, should I have had it in the house.  So it is just as well that I didn't really, isn't it?  I'm feeling hungry again now, buit that's normal given the time, the smell of bread baking, etc.  I can wait!

After my excursion into Amazon via Nectar, last week earning plenty of Nectar points when I bought my camera, and having reviewed my winter show situation and decided something needed to be done, I began to wonder if I could do the samer to get into the Hotter site.  I almost always buy Hotter shoes nowadays,  For a start, they seem to be the only shoes that last me any reasonable length of time and also they fit comfortably.  Worth the extra, although they really aren't that expensive in comparison with any reasonable quality shoe. 
So into Nectar I went and yes, I could get to Hotter, so across I went, bought a couple of pairs of shoes and earned the Nectar points.  I'm saving them for redeeming when I do the Christmas shop.  And now I'm set up with shoes and boots for winter.

Talking of winter, I needed to pop into Morrisons yesterday afternoon for some strong bread flour and a headline in one of the papers caught my eye - OK, so it was the Daily Express so not necessarily terribly reliable but anyway . . .
It proclaimed that we are in for some 'arctic' weather with snow in Scotland and frosts so  I indulged in a little fantasy about snowdays before half term.

It's Sunday, so DD and DG are round for lunch.  Tomorrow, they are embarking on a project together, to eat as they would have eaten during WW2 - rations and all - as much as they can.  With that in mind I thought I would provide a more substantial lunch than usual so we're having vegetable pot pie, roasted root veg and broad beans.  Yum yum.  That's why the breadmaker is in action.  I'm making some 'home made' bread for them and as soon as this loaf is finished I will oput another one on.  Thinking of it, I could make a Grant loaf, couldn't I?  Maybe during the morning . . .

And now I MUST do some work!!!

Sunday morning

For the first time in I don't know when, I slept on beyond four or five. It wasn't a solid sleep but good enough, and waking at seven fifteen was a surprise. It feels pretty good, once in a while, I must say! I wonder if it was the new duvet: it was certainly much more confortable and snuggly. The old duvet is now waiting by the back door - it will go into the shed and cover the freezer to keep it just a little bit warmer. That may sound odd, but freezers don't like to sit in air that is too cold and - well, I would say 'too cold' just about describes it right now! As long as I don't cover the ventilation grills, it should work a treat.

Yesterday wasn't really a day of rest and I didn't fall asleep during the day, surprisingly enough, but it was a gentle and pottering day. I made biscotti for the first time and will make them again, they're really very easy and moreish. I made some cookies from a recipe given to me by a mum-friend from school. The breadmaker worked its usual magic and produced a white loaf and it's now starting to do the same thing with a wholemeal loaf, which takes an hour longer. Both of these, plus any brothers and sisters, will go in the freezer. There's quite a lot of empty space in the new freezer and filling them with bread seems a good idea. DD can have a loaf each Sunday when she comes over, so it won't be wasted.

I was very disappointed to see Pamela go out in third place in Strictly last night. I felt she was the most beautiful dancer of the three of them and the judges seemed to agree with this, but I guess they did perhaps play it safe in their exhibition dance and she's not a 'celebrity' of today in the same way that the other two are. I remember her from decades ago, making me giggle many a time, but a modern audience wouldn't necessarily recall those times.

So on to today. The snow is lying thickly, of course. It doesn't look as if any more has fallen overnight and the forecast for today is sunshine and to remain below freezing all day. That being so, I will either stay snuggled in my warm little house and do homey, housewifey things or I will don my wellies and trudge out for a walk. I could do both, I suppose! I'm pretty sure DD and DG won't be over for their Sunday tea. DD still isn't feeling wonderful and their road (narrow, winding, busy, cars parked on either side, ungritted) will be well nigh impossible to negotiate without bumping other cars. Best not to even try! A shame, but, of course, for two weeks we are not restricted to weekends only. Yay!!

I'd like to get some more potatoes ready for roasting and in the freezer this morning. I know I already have some, but I managed to get a bag of King Edwards yesterday, which do make the very nicest roasties. They won't go to waste and, from a controlled eating perspective, it makes it so much easier to just have one bit of roast potato in a meal.
I will also sit down and make a serious list of everything that is ready and what still has to be done, bought or prepared, and then timetable everything. I do like to be clear exactly where I am with everything at times like this.

If I get all of that done, I will be very pleased. :0)

Photo: just another of yesterday.