23-05-25

 Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Friday which feels impossible but really is!

After coffee and a chat with Chris, I decided to make one final attempt to find some Sungold tomato plants and drove across town to Abercorn, which is just over the road from Lathcoats where I go strawberry picking.
Abercorn is a jolly good nursery type place but with a garden centre section too - quality plants and fun to look round, especially if you're after gifts.  

I'm so glad I did because looky-look!  I now have three Sungolds planted in the garden.  OK, so maybe that's two too many but I was so pleased.

No Italian plums but you can't have everything, can you?  

I also fell for another dianthus to go in one of my smaller pots (the mini shrub that was there had died), some gardening gloves as mine are more than a bit tatty now and some reed diffuser replacement liquid (which is now in a couple of diffusers and fulfilling its prime directive.  Lovely).

The planter on the left already had some soil in it from last year which I had already fed so I topped it up with fresh stuff, egg shells, etc, and popped two in there before filling one more pot for the third.
I would like to say 'that really is it now' but realistically, if I happen to find an Italian plum . . . 

I didn't do the bedding so that's top of today's list.

Groove was, as always, great fun and that's it now until June 2nd as Lindsey is away for the week, taking classes in Portugal!  She gets about, that girl, for sure!

I have a whole load of stuff from her saved on YouTube for next week so no excuses.

Today, I should be able to sort out my finances for the rest of this month as my Teacher's Pension has landed.  I can work out how much I have saved, get that moved out to avoid end of month temptation and get everything up to date.

The most important thing, though, is that I won't be going to Slimming World today because Eddie is back with his 'friend who can', Mike, to see if my desktop can be sorted out.  Fingers crossed.
I've made a small batch of little shortbreaddy-type biscuits to offer with tea/coffee so the house is smelling rather lovely right now.

And then Alex is round for lunch and his next cookery 'experience'  An easy one today - toasties, but I may  also show him how to make pepper and tomato soup, given that Beth's thermomix is now working.  If he can grasp the principle, he will always have a healthy and tasty meal less than half an hour away.
To be fair, the Heinz canned version is not ultra processed but it is flippin' expensive!

So the idea is to get the soup started off and then make the toasties while the soup is cooking so that they are ready at the same time.  That's our lunch.  It's not so warm today so it should be perfect.

The rest of the day should just be nice and relaxing.   Maybe a bit of week scraping around the front, maybe some weeding - that sort of thing.

It's just over a week until my sourdough course so I looked up the details again and have copied and pasted them at the bottom.  I really want to learn how to make a 100% wholemeal loaf and the rye sounds great too.

As for scoring - my scoring is very poor so I'll be concentrating hard at that point!

I'm rambling!  Time to stop and get on with other bits and bobs.  Have a lovely day, everyone, and be happy!  xx

In this fun full-day workshop which will take place in our new shop and bakery in centre of Hitchin, we will take you step-by-step through the whole process of making and baking your own sourdough loaf.

We will start with an introduction to the theory behind the sourdough process, while you enjoy tea and coffee with freshly baked sourdough pastries, then it will be time to get your hands on dough. You will learn everything from creating and maintaining your own starter through to how to knead, shape and bake your bread.  All the skills you will need (with a little practice!) to become a successful sourdough home baker.

This workshop is ideal for both those starting their sourdough baking journey or those who want to learn more about how to make amazing sourdough bread.

During the day, you will make three different types of sourdough bread: our Table sourdough, 100% Wholemeal (Silver Award winner) and a 100% Rye with seeds.​

Each participant will create, from start to finish, the wholemeal and rye sourdoughs.  They will also learn to score by baking off table sourdoughs made the day before.  In addition, you will make the table sourdough during the day, shaping it at the end of the day so you can take it away with you to bake it at home the next morning. ​

In addition to all the bread you bake, you will go home with a course booklet and sourdough recipes, sourdough starter, banneton, dough scraper, lame and links to supporting videos and our WhatsApp group. So please bring a bag to carry all of your goodies home.​

 

You will be served freshly baked sourdough pastries with coffee or tea on arrival and a homemade seasonal lunch with freshly baked sourdough. Tea, coffee and water will be available through the day.

This full day workshop will take place in the Knead & Desire Bakehouse in our new shop and bakery in the centre of Hitchin (ample parking nearby).

Classes are limited to 6 participants.  Courses start at 9.30 and finish at approximately 4.30.