Thursday, 02-04-26

Morning.  There's a big old moon low on the horizon as I type and a distinctly chilly feel to the air this morning.  I didn't hang around outside when I went to the freezer in the shed.  Welcome to Thursday, everyone.

I decided not to wander very far yesterday (petrol, etc) but to pop round to Morrisons for the few things I didn't get earlier in the week and to have a look at what they had in the way of cheap veg for Easter.  I was pleased to see swede, carrots and parsnips, all at just four pence each.  Now that's what I call value.

What with what I got there plus the Oddbox contents at the weekend, I will be fine for vegetables for a few weeks and will need to eat plenty in order not to waste any although, to be fair, I intend prepping and freezing some.  Very healthy!

I think it is the same all over.  It's almost like a Dutch auction where they all vie to match each other so when Aldi said 4p they all went the same way, like duckings following mama duck.  Fine by me and it is a loss leader so farmers don't suffer.

The rest of the day was just ordinary stuff really.  I haven't mentioned crochet recently because I'm just doing granny squares again.  I bought yarn for the maple leaf blanket and the quiet skies blanket and wanted to use some up so I chose a blue, pink and purple colour theme and I'm now on the border.  It does look nice.
I have no need of any more blankets but I need to have something to keep my hands busy in the evenings and grannies don't take too much thought.  Thankfully, I have had no more trouble with my thumb, wrist or shoulder so that's a relief.

Today is busy but in a nice way.
Chris is home again now so she will be over for the usual coffee and chat and today my neighbour, T, is joining us.
Then I will bustle around getting things ready for lunch before Diane turns up.  I expect we will talk a lot about Crete which is less than three weeks away now.  My fingers are still crossed because things are so very volatile at the moment.

Once Diane heads off home I expect I will make a cuppa and relax.  

A nice day in store, I think.  How about you?  Doing anything exciting or enjoyable today?  Take care and stay nice and warm.  xx

Wednesday, 01-04-26

Morning, all, and welcome to April.  I love April, it is my favourite single month.

I've been buying a few more clothes for both my hot weather holidays and last week I ordered some shorts from Temu because - well - cheap!
They came yesterday and I got them too big; you never know with Temu, do you?.  They're knee length (what I wanted; I am getting on a bit now) but I fear that when I wear them I will bear more than a passing resemblance to Lofty from 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum'.  Remember that oldie?
To be fair, after I ironed them, they looked a lot better but still too big, I think.

So I went back online and ordered the size below and fingers crossed.  
They were so very cheap that it's not an issue and I'm not going to bother to return them - they will do me at home - assuming we actually do get some warm weather, of course!!

I pottered in the kitchen yesterday and made some not cross bun dough using a Cookidoo recipe.  In the end, the amount made two small cake sized loaves and three not cross buns.  There's nothing meaningful or statement-like about the not cross bit, it's just an extra hassle I can't be bothered with, making the flour and water stuff to form the crosses.  I did make a glaze though!

I also started Diane's sourdough and it's been slowly fermenting overnight in the fridge.  It's out now and warming up before I carry on.

I got an email from Readly.  They are amalgamating (or being taken over???) and are 'excited to welcome you to a new reading experience and a new Readly app very soon.'  In other words - it will change.  Grrrr.  

It means I will lose all my bookmarks so, yesterday, I went through with my camera and photo-ed each thing I wanted to keep because I don't know if you can copy or print from Kindle Fire.  They're now all uploaded and I need to go through and give each file an appropriate name - they're mostly recipes.

Sharon came and worked the usual magic with my hair.  I read the gas meter and checked the boiler pressure (fine) but will do the knives today. 

The diary is empty so I think I might look round a few shops just for fun.  Maybe I could get the bus into town - I'll see how I feel.  I have the loaves to finish and I have just sliced and frozen the not cross bun loaves to get them out of arm's reach.  They are just too delicious!

I  hope your week is going well.  Have a great day, everyone, and take care.  xx

Tuesday, 31-03-26

 Morning!  How are you today on this last day of March.  It's dull and dreary outside which makes me thankful for good lighting inside.  Something else that makes me happy is that downstairs is tidy (as tidy as it ever gets in my home anyway) and clean, thanks to Kay.  She does a really good job, bless her, and leaves my kitchen spotless - she even wipes over all the cupboard doors and all the wall tiles, something I tend to 'forget'.

What else did I do yesterday?  Well, I changed the sheets on my bed, washing, drying and ironing them and getting them back on again - I like to do that because otherwise they might just sit around for ages waiting to be ironed or something and, yes, I do iron my bedding.  Don't shoot me!!

I binge watched the rest of the Mary Bennet programmes.  It was good but, oh, how I wish they wouldn't change things unnecessarily  I know a book has to be adapted for TV but, all the same.  Having said that, I have thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing, I will watch it again at some point and I still think the book is loads better.  If you liked the show, do read the book.

I found two books for my Kindle that were on special at just £0.99.  One is another Tracy Borman history, 'Elizabeth and her Women, the hidden story of the Virgin Queen' which is about the women who had the greatest influences on her life.  The other is 'Healthy in One', eighty healthy one-pot recipes, or so the blurb says.  At 99p one can hardly go wrong really and I do enjoy browsing through cookery books.  I have far too many hard copies of recipe books and no room for any more so three cheers for my Kindle!
Kindles tend to divide people - some  think they are an abomination while others regard them as the next step in the development of books/printing/etc.  Me - I like both.  Books are great to handle and snuggle into a chair with while Kindles are fantastic when one is on the go.  I'm glad I have the choice

Which do you prefer?

I got a real shock yesterday morning.  Suddenly, while doing stuff on my laptop, my Google Chrome updated and I just lost all my shortcuts that I kept on the Google home page (or whatever it's called).  Just . . . gone.  So, so annoying.
So I had to go all round the houses to get shortcuts on my screen instead.  Thank goodness I am meticulous at keeping passwords safe or I'd have been in a right stew.  There was one, a link to a game site called DKM Games that does games like sudoku, battleships and something called shisen that I am quite addicted to.  I've warmed my brain up with this for years and years and could I find it by searching?  In the end I remembered I could check history and got it that way.

But so annoying that I didn't even have the choice!!  I know things move on but . . .

I've got all the finances sorted for the month already so I don't have that to do today.  I'll read the gas meter, sharpen the knives and check the boiler pressure so I don't need to do it tomorrow and I want to start Diane's sourdough (mine came out beautifully Sunday and yesterday).

And the lovely Sharon is coming round to work her usual magic on my hair, as I always say.  It needs a good neaten up and should be just right for Crete in three weeks - eeeek, just three weeks!!

Right, well, time to get the ball rolling, I think.  Have a lovely day and take care.  See you tomorrow.  xx

Monday, 30-03-26

Morning, all, and welcome to a new week.  In some ways it is not a busy week as there's no classes but there's still things on.

Today:  Kay (confirmed)

Tuesday:  Sharon to do my hair
Wednesday: the usual new month stuff and message Kay (finance person, not cleaner)
Thursday:  coffee and chat with Chris who will be back from her cruise today and then Diane is round

Friday is clear.
No, definitely not busy but writing it like this fixes it in my elderly brain!!  😀

I might have already mentioned it, but Beth and Alex are coming round for lunch on Easter Sunday which is the ideal excuse to splash out on some lamb.  I love roast lamb but hardly ever have it because it is fiendishly expensive.  
I had thought I would shop later in the week but, when I checked my Morrisons App for any new deals, I saw that one was triple More Points, finishing yesterday.  So I finished my list and popped over.
They had loads of legs of lamb but, more to the point, they were less than half price if I used my More card (which I always do).  So a very decent leg of lamb was around £12-13.  Still not cheap but more affordable - so affordable that I bought three, one for Sunday and two for later in the year.  There were loads so I didn't feel guilty.
I also found a reduced pork joint and a few other meat items so I am super well stocked with meat now.  So much for reducing contents of my freezer.

Oh, well - sometimes you just have to.

So today is Kay-day and things are almost ready for her tender care.  I just have to tidy stuff on the table and put away the rest of the ironing, neither of which will take all that long.
Apart from that, I can complete the finances for March, I need to plan my meals for this week and my bedroom needs some attention so that means sheets to wash.  

And, joy of joys, the remaining episodes of The Other Bennet Sister have dropped into iPlayer so I have that to enjoy too.

At the moment, I'm reading Tracy Borman's 'The Stolen Crown', the story of the succession of Elizabeth I.  It's factual, not fiction, but reads very interestingly and I do enjoy history that is not too academic in form.  So I can get on with that too

I won't be bored, that's for sure.

Sunday, 29-03-26

Hi, everyone, welcome to British Summer Time and a heavy frost!  Classic!

Yesterday was another lovely day.  I finished off the washing and did most of the ironing:  there's just a little bit left which I will do after I've sent this.
The bread came out lovely and I took it over to Beth's in the afternoon where I had a good old chat before coming back home.

I think I might have already said that I'm not making bread for Lindsey as she's away for the week so I'm making some sourdough for myself this week.  I tend to have a mix of sourdough and yeasted, depending on how much time and energy I have.  Yeasted is a lot easier and very much quicker.  The starter is just on its last stretch and then I can start the dough.  It might be finished today or it might need the second rise in the fridge.
Then I want to make another batch for Diane to take when she comes around on Thursday so I will start that Tuesday.
And, finally, there will be more bread for Beth and Alex and I want to make some spiced Easter loaf (aka not-crossed loaf), pretty much the same as hot crossed buns but a lot less faff!
It's going to be a bready old week this week - how lovely!

Have you had a frost this morning too?  Stay warm and cosy and see you tomorrow.  xx

Saturday, 28-03-26

Good morning, everyone.  Welcome to a lovely, sunny Saturday morning here in mid-Essex.  It's none too warm but that's OK, the sun makes such a difference.

Yesterday wasn't sunny but it was a pleasant day for me, even if the washing did have to dry inside!  Slimming world was really good, there was a really positive vibe and loads of people.  I do love helping with the weighing - that way I get to exchange a few words with everyone.  The new magazine was out too and I'm looking forward to having a good browse through it later on today.

Alex came for his last cooking session for now with one exception.  He will be coming round on May 8th, his birthday, to make a birthday cake.  Isn't that nice?  Not that it is working to my strength but I am sure between us we can get something decent made.  At the moment he fancies a vanilla sponge with chocolate icing although that might change!

This morning, I have almost finished Beth's loaves.  They just need baking so I'm going to pop them in the oven after I've finished this so they will cool nicely before I take them over this afternoon.  
I have a bit more washing, plenty of ironing and some sorting out of the veg in the freezer but, apart from that, the day is my own.  Nice.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone.  Take care, stay safe and see you tomorrow.  xx

Friday, 27-03-26

Morning, all.  this week seems to have gone really quickly;  how can it possibly be Friday already.

Yesterday was a really pleasant day.  It was really cold but the sun shone and it was very cheering.  I had time to get everything done without feeling rushed before Val arrived and we had a lovely chat over soup and cheesy toast - yum!

That was about it really.  A gently, restful sort of day.

Today is the usual Friday - Slimming World and then Alex is round to make a Thai green curry.  This will be his last lesson for a while - I think he has other commitments coming up.  I think the weekend will be pretty gentle too.  Nice.

Have a lovely day, everyone, whatever the temperature.  xx