Monday

Good morning!  Nearly half past six and it is starting to get light but that won't last for long as the days are rapidly getting shorter and the nights longer.  Fair enough - we're almost into November now and I must get my 'No Trick or Treat' poster ready for my front door this evening.

I'm an old meanie and, quite apart from any other reservations, I really dislike anything that says, in effect, 'give us something or we'll do you some damage'.  It's nasty and, in an adult world, it would be considered illegal, so why do we encourage children to do it?  It may be wrapped up in a lot of fun and fancy dress but that's the underlying message.
See, I said I was an old meanie!

< jumps off soap box >

Yesterday turned out to be a much more productive day than the rest of last week put together.  It was a slow start but I don't mind that.  I'm allowed to start slowly after decades of rush.

I added some apple, some orange juice and zest and some sweet spices to the cranberries that I have simmered the day before and simmered it all again while I searched again for my jelly bag.  I KNOW I have two!  Unfortunately, I couldn't find it.  What I did find was a lot more jam jars in another box, so that's good and now I can make the chutney as well!

So . . . this . . .

. . . is what you do.  Looks very gory and Halloweenish, doesn't it?
I will leave it to drip for a bit longer and then make the jelly, maybe late afternoon.  Then I will push the rest of the gunk through my mouli and make a jam with the rest.  Can't waste all that good fruit!

I also prepped the King Edwards and par boiled them.  Here they are, drying out and cooling.  They're now tossed (well, rolled) in semolina and flour and have been frozen.  There's twenty four of them which will be enough and to spare for Christmas dinner for six and, probably, some left over for the next day.

After lunch (scrambled eggs), Beth and I did an audit of what we have for the School Fair - what's done, what needs finishing and what hasn't been started yet.  Then we sat in from of repeats of Bake Off and hand stitched until we had twenty finished tree decorations.

After that, as the wadding was out, I started dealing with my cushions which are as flat as pancakes.  They're not now - well, most of them aren't but there's three still to do!

Today I will do some more sewing and I shall go shopping.  Food shopping at Morrisons (I have vouchers for points which translate into more vouchers - slightly confusing but worth doing) so I am going to start getting in Christmas stuff.  I think today it will be the wherewithal to make the pigs in blankets and the sausage rolls, both of which will be frozen until needed, of course.  I'm very thankful that I am working to clear space in the freezer.

I also want to research a 'sweet' pastry recipe as I think it will be nicer than the ordinary kind for the mince pies.

So, you see, a much more lively day planned, a sure sign that energy is returning!

So - today's food.
B:  probably marmite on toast, apple
L:  home made soup, probably split pea (from the freezer, of course), orange
D:  sirlon steak (being a bit lavish here but it is from the freezer) with home made wedges and maybe some peas.  I might make a mushroom sauce with some soft cheese that needs using up too

As I've typed this, it has grown lighter and lighter and now I can see it's a chilly, misty morning which will probably brighten into a lovely bright autumnal day.  Fingers crossed!

Sunday

Welcome to winter time.  It's working - it's getting lighter and it is only around half past six!  I'm very glad some of my clocks reset themselves but I have a list of appliances I need to change.  Thermostat, boiler control, oven (always have to look that one up) and sundry clocks that are not radio controlled.

I know a lot of people don't, but I like the darker evenings.  It's a joy to shut out the dark and snuggle down safely and for an early bird like me, slightly brighter mornings work too.

Things are picking up now.  Yesterday I slept a lot which is always a good sign.  I slept in the morning, in the afternoon and again in the evening, fortunately not during Strictly.  Today may be the same!

In between sleeps, I made some bread and started off the cranberry jelly.  Annoyingly, I couldn't find my jelly bag (I have two so goodness knows where they are) so will have to concoct a sort of Professor Branestawm type thing over a bowl.  I'll fasten it to the handle of the boiler door so it won't get in the way and I won't have to move it.

Beth's due round today and I guess we will stitch together so I'd better set to and tidy up a bit.

Have a good day.

Saturday

Good morning!  It's a bit earlier (and will be even earlier tomorrow, I am sure) but I'm awake after the best night's sleep I've had for several days.  Although I'm still feeling 'weary', it's a lot better than it was so fingers crossed the curse - I mean cold - is lifting at last.

I know I made the right decision to stay at home and not inflict me and my bugs on my parents.

Yesterday was a quiet, sleepy day in between coughs, so there's not a lot to report.  Today I plan to catch up on mundane, everyday stuff that has been neglected this week and there's an underlying feeling of relief that I won't be back at work in two days' time.  I wonder when this mental/emotional adherence to the school calendar will go.

I might defrost some cranberries and start the Christmas spiced cranberry jelly.  For some inexplicable reason I have four bags of them in the freezer, three from Sainsbury's and one bag of fresh ones, bought in Morrisons last Christmas and never used.  So I have plenty enough to make jelly rather than jam or sauce.  I shall add apple to the mix for setting and some Christmas spices for added flavour.

The recipes I have read suggest leaving the fruit mixture to drip for a long time, up to 24 hours, so I can start this morning and finish tomorrow.  Most of them suggest adding alcohol, but I won't, not to this batch anyway.

One way or another, I am slowly working through the glut of stuff in the freezers which is a very satisfying experience.  I will definitely have enough room for all the Christmas stuff at this rate.  That being so and given that I have a bag of King Edwards in the fridge, I might also get the Christmas roasties prepped and frozen.

I've done this for a number of years now and it doesn't half save time over the Christmas meals.  This year I have some fine semolina too, so I will dredge the par-boiled spuds in a half and half of that and flour before open freezing and then bagging them.

So that's the plan for today, fingers crossed, and it only remains to report on food!
B:  bran flakes and an apple
L:  probably soup
D:  I fancy making a one egg Yorkshire and having savoury mince and veg inside it, using it as a plate.  If it shapes OK, that is.  Time alone will tell.

Friday

Apologies for the lateness.  Still not terribly well and I have cancelled a visit to my parents.  At nearly ninety, they could be considered pretty vulnerable to bugs of all sorts and I'm not going to inflict it on them.  It means, sadly, I will miss the Arcadians' show but it can't be helped.  Apart from not being in the right place anyway, the last thing anyone wants is someone coughing and sniffing their way through the performance.

So I am at home staying warm and resting, sleeping quite a lot and eating far too much.  Ho hum.

I'll be back!  :-)

Thursday

Morning, everyone.

Yesterday I did manage to get into town and splashed out on kettle, duvet and two pillows which came to a ridiculous amount but I'm glad I got them.  I wasn't feeling wonderful by the time I got home though.

It was a lovely evening yesterday, out for a meal at the Hare.

This morning I'm feeling a bit rough again (no, not alcohol) so am going to have a warm, restful day inside.  Hoping this is the last fling, so to speak.

I think I might use the time to plan out all my Christmas meals and other stuff I intend to make this year, source all the recipes and put them all together.

Have a great day

Wednesday

First things first

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU . . .
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU . . .
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR BE-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-ETH
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Have a lovely day, dearest daughter of mine!

It's half way through the week and things are picking up.  There's no doubt that having a good night's sleep does make a huge difference and, while things are still very coughy and totally disgusting (what cold isn't?), things are picking up.  Phew.

What did I do yesterday?  Well, I made a fish pie and have loads left over for today and one small one for the freezer.  That was about it really.  I sat and I rad and I slept on and off - it was a waste of a day really but do I feel guilty.  No, I don't!  So there!

Today there's quite a lot to do.  I have a stack of washing that really needs doing and I might very well pop into town and get that quilt and those pillows.  I have to change the sheets today so that would work out very well really.  I've also decided to get a new kettle as bits keep falling off the one I have and it doesn't always stay on until the water is boiling.  I'm not too disappointed - I've had it for many years now and it was very cheap to start with so it's more than earned its keep.

I shall be going out for dinner with Beth, her partner and Alex so I'm really looking forward to that very much.  It's to the Hare as usual - we love it there - so I need to take a look at the menu later and make a few decisions.

Today's food:
B:  bacon and egg (gotta use them up)
L:  fish pie (ditto)
D:  no idea yet.

Have a lovely day, everyone.

Tuesday

I'll get the whinge over first, shall I?  Still coughing, very sore (but muscle strain, not lungs) but it is 'looser' so I'm getting there.  Temperature went up a bit yesterday evening and it was a restless night but, despite that, I'm feeling a lot more with it today.

End of whinge!

Brrr - it is a very chilly morning this morning.  I've just popped out to the shed to get some things for meals today and was glad to get back indoors again.  I gather it might be sunny later.  I do hope so as yesterday was quite dull.

I got the tomatoes done and dusted, using up all the red ones (there's many more turning though).  Now I have four pots of chopped tomatoes in their own juice and four pots of passata in the freezer so there's less room than there was!  They will help to make delicious meals come the winter months.  The kitchen was a bit of a mess though!

I also had four very manky bananas that I got on yellow sticker several days ago so I made a batch of banana pancakes (recipe here) which are also in the freezer for easy breakfasts and desserts.

Clearing up the kitchen took a while especially as I had to keep stopping to cough but eventually it was all done.  I then decided to take a bit of a break so I did the ironing while sitting watching telly - the best way to do it, in my opinion - so now I have an empty ironing basket.  Oh, joy!
I also broke my rule and dried some washing in the tumble dryer - bad me.

Today I am still taking things very easy.  After the bad night, I guess I will flop at some point, so there's nothing that I HAVE to do today apart from meals.  I really hope things are good for tomorrow as it is Beth's birthday and we are supposed to be going out for a meal.  Fingers crossed again, eh.

Today I'm making a fish pie using lots of odds and ends from the freezer that should be used.  Some 'fish' (so not cod!!!), the dregs of a bag of peas and a bag of mushrooms, the rest of the bag of 'mashing vegetables' (which has been very useful so I intend to get another one), some sweet potato topping . . .
I shall make a bigger pie and have some for lunch tomorrow as well so that will make life easier.

Today's food
B:  banana pancakes with bacon and maybe a drizzle of maple syrup to spoil myself plus an apple
L:  home made soup and an orange
D:  fish pie, runner beans and some natural yogurt.