Tuesday, a pop of colour and ramen

Morning, everyone.
Oddly, I have been feeling a bit down recently.  Nothing personal; I think it is stuff that's happened to people I love and just the general state of life, the universe and everything.  Perhaps that's why I'm not sleeping that well - who knows?

Anyway, it's not like me so I'm going to focus on positivity for a few days.  I started with some Autumnal colour.

I finished the latest mini granny lap blanket, which I am keeping this time rather than donating and I sorted out the garden room for Autumn.  It looks very cheerful now with the reds, golds, browns and oranges giving a real pop of colour. 
I am not one for much decorating apart from Christmas but I do like this cheeriness and am thinking I might pop into the cheapo shops and get a few more things.

I have loads of Autumnal coloured yarn so I've switched temporarily from granny squares to pumpkins!  After all, can you have too many pumpkins at this time of year?  
I crocheted one (they're not difficult and don't take that much time) and went to get my polyester wadding, only to remember I gave it to Beth.  So Amazon to the rescue!  A bit more expensive than Temu but probably better quality and certainly quicker delivery!
In the meanwhile, I will make a few more.

Today is Groove and Chris is coming too - I have missed our walks - and then I have bread to make.  The leaven isn't quite ready after doing its thing overnight but I might be able to mix up the dough before I leave for Groove and finish the loaves today.  We will see.

Chris asked a question about ramen.

This is how my first ever attempt ended up.

I made the stock from some chicken stock and some white miso paste with a shake of soy sauce - I do like the extra flavour the miso added.

I cooked the noodles separately.  There is such a thing as ramen noodles - I used what I had which was bog standard ones.  Noodles are not a thing I have looked too closely at.  

I gather that the noodles and the stock are the actual ramen and the rest is like 'toppings' - very fancy toppings - but they are not optional.

I boiled the egg at the same time as cooking the noodles, in the same pan, I mean.

The other stuff is four baby corns from the garden, some cooked edamame beans (DON'T cook them in the microwave; mine went hard like bullets), thinly sliced pork, yellow pepper and red onion, some ribboned carrot, a tomato and some spinach.  This was all stuff I had in and I softened some of these in the noodle water.

I gather you can add almost anything you fancy so leftovers are definitely to be used.  Chicken, salmon, prawns . . .

I didn't eat the chilli, it's just there for colour really.

Please be nice - first times are always feeling the way times.  And it was lovely - tasty and filling.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

I got loads of washing, line drying and ironing done so this morning's first task is to put everything away.  So - better get moving!

Bye.  xx

Monday

Hi again.  New week, same old!  It's nice to be back into a routine again.

Yesterday was - let's say gentle.  I didn't do all that much except catch up on sleep (I'm having a bout of restless nights again which is a nuisance), crochet, cook and read.  
Actually, while it might sound boring, it was really nice and, let's face it, the garden can wait!

I've just realised that in a fortnight I will be off to one of my favourite places for a five day break - well, three days and two travel days.  Must start planning what I'm taking as it is self catering.  That will be fun.

I have Circuits first thing and then I've planned something new for lunch.
I've never, ever had ramen and have been a bit baffled by it all but I Googled and, amidst lots of stuff about tradition, etc, I gather that basically it is a clear umami stock with noodles and lightly cooked whatever-you-have in it.  And it looks pretty!  What I make will not be traditional or pretty but it should be nice (I bought some miso paste especially, most unlike me, so it had better be good enough to want to repeat!)

It's housework day today and I want to start another batch of sourdough for Lindsey and Beth and I need to soak some pulses as I'm getting short.  

Oh, and washing, drying and ironing.

Looks like I need to shake off the weekend lethargy pretty pronto, doesn't it?

Have a lovely day, everyone.  Doing anything exciting this week!  xx

Sunday

Good morning, all.  Sunny Sunday morning greetings to everyone. 

This made me happy this morning.

Plenty of runner beans coming along after a bit of a pause in production.  That's sorted out my Sunday dinner green veg, hasn't it?
I also picked a bowl of tomatoes and really MUST deal with the chillies - they do last on the plant for ages but a few are wrinkling up now.
(A bit like me, really)

Yesterday was pretty quiet until late afternoon when I decided to check out the other Morrisons.  It's not too far and more or less on the way to Lindsey's and it has a filling station which our local one does not have so now, if I get a patrol voucher, I can use it there.  In the past I think the nearest one was Maldon!!

I also noticed that over the road was another filling station with a little Waitrose.  Another one to check out. 

However, the shop may have been bigger and had a very poor substitute to Aldi and Lidl's centre aisles, but it was no better in terms of content.  I got a few things but it's not worth the journey each week in terms of 'better'.

As I was nearly there, I went on to Sainsbury's because I needed a few of their own brand things.  I got the dishwasher powder but do they still do their Be Good To Yourself range?  I wanted a BGTY gammon joint and there were none, not one!  I found a nice, lean piece but all the same . . .
(I checked the site before continuing this - the range is still there but not the gammon joints.  Oh, drat!)

I was also a bit spendy because they had, half price, a 'need to go' small, straight sided frying pan, with a lid, non stick - perfect for someone who cooks on their own.  My little pans are old and manky and need replacing and I am hoping better quality pans will last longer.  They are Ninja, by the way
Half price was still a 'stop and think' thing but they had two left and I got them both.

I looked at their Autumn/early winter clothes and I have never seen such a drab, dreary collection in my life.  Just walking through them was miserable.  Thankfully, no temptation there.

Today is another quiet and at home day.  Gardening, maybe?  I'll see how inspired I feel.
Have a lovely day, everyone.  xx

Saturday

Morning, everyone, and welcome to Saturday's post.  I'm a bit late as I'm having a very easy, gentle start to the weekend.  I've made two soups, started planning the layout of my Advent calendar project and sorted out my social media stuff so now I'm here!  😊

Sue, it's a bit hard to explain how the Guided Cooking function works with the Thermomix so I've found a YouTube video that is a sort of general intro (just ignore any sales stuff or twee enthusiasm, OK)  The guided cooking stuff is in the second half but it's not a long video.

So, if anyone is interested . . . Alex finds it extremely helpful and this is the TM version he and Beth will take over.

Yesterday was very busy and then very relaxed.  I toddled off to Slimming World as usual and then into Morrisons for my weekly shopping.  Sadly, this particular Morrisons seems to be going rapidly downhill in recent months.  They've opened a new on about a mile away which, I have been told, is really good so maybe it is a strategy.  Who knows?
I think I need to take a look.  I like to support locally and it provides work for local people but when several quite ordinary items on my list are just not there . . . well, it's a bit frustrating.

Alex came round and we made two kinds of burgers.  Some were for their dinner last night and the rest have gone into their freezer for another time.  

I took Al home and then the rest of the day was spent chilling.  I caught up with House of Games and then watched some old 'Eat Well For Less' programmes which really showcases how much food prices have risen since they were made.  Oh, well . . .

Oh, and the Advent puzzle and tea bags arrived and are now tucked away out of sight.  I have no idea why they were delivered to two doors away seeing as I have a sign on the door that says ' Please on the door step', nor do I know why I was only told that they had been delivered, not to where, leaving me worrying that they had been dumped somewhere.
Oh, well . . .

And the boiler money landed so I was able to give Matt the deposit.  I'm glad about that.   My bank account will now look very healthy for three weeks.  lol

Finally, I got stuck in to the new Cormoran Strike book that landed in my Kindle this week.  

So, all in all, quite a nice day, don't you think?

I have very little idea how today will go, no plans to go anywhere or do anything apart from a bit of gardening at some point.  It feels quite nice really, to be so lazy just as the new school year has started!

Bad me, eh?

Have a lovely Saturday, everyone.  Take care, be safe and enjoy life.  xx

Friday

Morning, everyone.  Friday begins and I think the weather is supposed to be picking up a bit.  Hope so!  Mind you, I have noticed that it's feeling a bit chilly mornings and evenings and I reckon I will be getting my snuggle hoods out soon and giving them a wash so they're ready to use.  They're so comforting and cosy.

I had a really nice time with Chris over coffee yesterday morning.  Then I had a chilled day tending my back which is playing up a bit.  I think it's just getting back into exercising again, it's not like when it was really bad but I'm being sensible.

Further to yesterday - I went on Amazon and bought the Christmas puzzle I had my eye on last year and which can go away until December and I saw a not particularly expensive Twinings tea bag calendar which I snapped up.  OK, a bit expensive for twenty four tea or infusion bags but better than buying a box and then wasting half of them because they don't get used.  This way I might be able to find a few I really like the taste of as well as the aroma.  Do you find the smell is way better than the flavour for a lot of these fruit teas and indusions?

Today is a bit busier.  It is Slimming World first, then I'm doing a smallish weekly shop (I'm working on using what I already have, you see) and then Alex is over for burger day!!   He's making a meat one for himself and Jack Monroe burgers for Beth.

And then - chilling, I think.

Have a great day, everyone.  The weekend is nearly here.  :-)  x

Thursday

Hello again, everyone.  Welcome to Thursday!  We had some interesting weather yesterday, very changeable, ranging from gorgeous sunshine to howling winds and lashing rain.  No hail, no snow though (for which I am duly thankful!).

It was a 'funny peculiar' day yesterday.  I woke at stupid o'clock after a restless night and just felt slightly under par all day long.  I went to personal training though and it was absolutely the right thing to do as this morning I'm on top of my world again after the best night's sleep in a very long while.

If you've been following my blog for any time, you will know I do like to forward plan for Christmas (sorry, but it's less than four months away now so . . .  inevitable).

I've started by thinking of advent stuff because last week, Beth gave me this, saying 'I know it's early but I know what you're like, Mum!' and it set me thinking.

Over the years since retirement, I've 'done' a variety of commercial calendars ranging from mini bottles of gin (I kept quiet about that one) via sachets of coffee (still going strong the following Christmas, if I remember correctly), make up (not my thing) through to better ones such as the M&S one last year (really good and some products are still going strong) and the Body Shop one (nice and supporting of overseas self help groups but a bit repetitive) and culminating in the Advent of Change which is now an annual event for both Beth and me.

The little one Beth gave me just has twenty four tiny motif patterns plus the necessary threads and fabric and one hanging ring but I think I will use a better fabric (I have some) and make a wee sampler with them instead.  I need to look for a nice dividing patters and some cross stitch numbers so I can put the year at the top or bottom.

Again, as you know, I do love crochet so I looked up some crochet advent calendars but they are expensive for what you get and there's no guarantee that you want to make everything anyway.

So, I thought to myself, there's a lot of free Christmas patterns out there on YouTube and elsewhere so why not put one together myself.  A granny square with a festive vibe each day and at the end you have a blanket.  Or a little something like a mug warmer, a coaster . . . 
Anyway, I am pondering and have some YouTube things saved in case.  Now is the time to get started, isn't it?

What do you think?

(I will be off to the Knit and Stitch show again this year and will be looking out for projects there.  Also, there may be another CAL coming up with a seasonal vibe.  You never know!)

Today, Chris is over for a chat and, as I am doing the weekly shop tomorrow, I need to do next week's meal plans and make my shopping list.  Nowadays, I'd be lost in the shop without a list!

So - better get the day moving!  Have a good one, everybody!  Take care, be safe and I'll see you again tomorrow.  xx

Wednesday

Morning, everyone.  It's a horrible day out there this morning - rain, wind - yuck.  The last few days have been pretty gusty and I'm so glad I tied the runner beans to the fence, as you can see.  If I hadn't, the lot would be down by now as it's very top heavy.  Must give the canes a wider base next year.

I've just braved the rain to get freezer stuff in and to pick some tomatoes.  When it is this damp, blight could be in the offing and I want to harvest as much as I can before it hits.  No signs yet, but I'm on the look out.

There are three rather oddly shaped cucumbers but nothing else developing and I think that will be my lot.  They've been OK this year so no regrets about buying more to replace the ones that collapsed.

The raspberries are coming in now - just a few at a time, fine for with yogurt.  I could bag and freeze them, I suppose, but frozen raspberries are easy to find in the shops and I'm only growing a few.

Beth came round after having here eyes checked.  Actually, she parked here, wheelchaired herself to the local clinic, had the drops in and her tests done, wheelchaired back, had lunch here and by around four her vision was back to normal again and she was safe to drive home.  So that worked really well and it was nice to have her here.

And I bought the flour from Marriages and did all the ironing so that's all sorted.

Finally, I heard from Matt the Plumber.  He can start on October 1st and it should take three days.  It will be nice to get that all done, dusted and paid for.

Today I have two sourdough loaves to finish off, one for Beth and one for Lindsey.  They have been cold-fermenting overnight and the dough is now warming up again so I can finish the whole process in an hour or so.  The only other thing really is personal training this afternoon.  The rest of the day is the usual houseworky/kitcheny stuff.  There's no way I want to walk out anywhere, not in this weather.

Not a terribly exciting day but #Real Life.

I hope you're getting nicer weather your way.  xx