Friday

Good morning and welcome to Friday!  The end of the third week of the holidays.  At this point I usually start feeling a sense of mild panic that increases as the days start to flash past and the things that still need doing start to assume huge proportion in my mind.  Not this year though.  It feels wonderful!

It's nice and sunny again.  Us early risers really have seen the best of the week's weather round here, I think.  Usually, within a  few hours, the clouds have appeared and the rest of the day is dull.  I wonder if today will be the same.  While it would be nice to have more sun, I infinitely prefer what we have been having to a 'heatwave'.  The nights have been cool, perfect for snuggling under the quilt, and the days have been comfortable with the windows open to let in the fresh air.  No complaints from me.

Beth wasn't going to come round yesterday but plans changed and we spend some time together.  We were both tired after bad nights' sleeps so didn't fancy doing any sewing work but Beth helped me to tidy/sort out some shelves in the other cupboard.  There was stuff there that was around fifteen years old.  It's all in the bin now and I'm on my way to having two tidy cupboards!  There's something very 'releasing' about having a good sort out, isn't there?

Before she arrived I prepared the rest of the apricots I bought from Aldi, simmering them up with some apple juice.  Today I will add the sugar and jam them, using the maslin pan this time, not Thermione.  That should work better.  Beth brought a bag full of jam jars with her so I don't need to go the the garage for any more!  In fact, quite the opposite.  In return, she left with a pot of the greengage jam!
I know it sounds as if I am making a lot of jam but the batches aren't large and Beth and Alex account for at least half of what I make, so it's not as bad as it sounds!  Come the winter they will provide me with great breakfasts spread over my delicious home made toast!

I didn't make bread yesterday as I remembered I had a loaf in the freezer, so that will be a pleasant task for today or tomorrow.

The replacement laundry basket arrived and it works perfecly.  Good old Lakeland, their customer service can't be faulted as far as I am concerned.  So now I have two, one of which has to stand up on its legs all the time because they don't retract properly and one that works fine.  I'm sure I will have a use for the former, there's no way I am throwing away a perfectly usable laundry basket.  I did try to repair it but no luck; I suppose that's why Lakeland doesn't want it back, it's not worth trying to repair.

The painter has now finished the fencing and it all looks really nice.  He will pop back today to just finish off any patches that need it and to collect his trestles, etc.  As I was looking round I noticed that one of my tomatoes is ripening.  Yay!  Once one gets the idea, the others are quick to follow.  Excellent!  And that reminds me - I need some more tomato food so that's a good excuse to pop over to Wyvale or another garden centre (we have several not too far away) to pick some up and maybe spend a bit more of my garden voucher gift from my lovely class and parents.

Actually, I need to pamper my tomatoes a bit.  Earlier in the week they got a bit of a clonk as the painter was trying to take off a fence panel and hit them with it.  I've picked up the fruits that were knocked off the plant and they are ripening on the kitchen window ledge, but the support canes were all knocked squiffy and it is bugging me.  I've tried straightening them and it hasn't worked, so I will put in some more canes and tie the plants with their existing wobbly canes to the upright ones.  That should do the trick, fingers crossed.

So today it is finishing off the cupboard, finishing off the jam, getting on with some washing and ironing and maybe making bread.  In the sewing line, I want to make myself a peg bag, an old fashioned peg bag just like the one I remember Mum having from my childhood, with a strap that goes over my head and sits across my body so the pegs are in reach all the time as I hang out the clothes.  I shall quilt it to give it some substance and it should work well!

So - quite a busy day and I'd better get started!  Have a good one yourself.


Food!
Breakfast:  toast and jams, apple, maybe a yogurt
Lunch:  I have quite a lot of vegetables - onion, red pepper, mushrooms, tomatoes and courgettes so I think I will make a roasted vegetable - er - thing .  I suppose I mean a vegetable stew really.  Maybe I will crack an egg over the top.
Dinner:  I know it sounds a bit samey but I have a couple of rolls that need using up so I think I will slice them in half, rub over some garlic and top them with the veg mixture (must remember to reserve some and not eat it all at lunch time) and some bacon bits, sprinkle over some cheese and pop in the oven or under the grill for a short time to make sort of pizza type thing.

I seem to be eating a lot of 'thing' today!