Saturday 26 June 2010

Barbecue summers and budgets

Just a quick blog, has anyone not noticed how hot it is? It seems to be getting hotter every day.  The papers and weather forecasters are keeping stumm, no mention of barbecue summers, or flaming June etc etc. Last time we had weather like this it started on the day of our daughter's wedding, when the chocolate petit fours melted in the heat on the terrace, at the reception. It lasted for quite a few weeks and we wilted in Yorkshire, where they hadn't had rain for 6 weeks. Husband dislikes the heat and covers up. I used to sunbathe when younger, but can't cope with it so much now.Daughter is wilting as she has about 9 weeks to go and is looking forward to giving up work for a while.
The next big news, or yawn of the week, is of course the budget. Having looked at it,  I can see that once again we will be worse off, but that happened a lot under Labour, so is nothing new. At least they are reducing some of the benefit bill, which has practically bankrupted the country. It means our daughter will not get the Child trust fund, but she is not too worried about  that.
We are trying to avoid the football  at all costs, it seems crazy that with just one goal England can get through to the last 16, but who cares anyway. Too hot to think of much else to say, and in need of water, so will sign off.

Friday 18 June 2010

Cheese sandwich anyone ?

Well folks another mystery this week. One morning husband came into the bedroom and asked 'Did you do me a sandwich last night?' Sleepily I said, 'yes, cheese, in the fridge'. Quite a speech for me for early morning.When he came home from work I asked 'Did you find the sandwich?' 'No I bought one' said he.
Cue for opening fridge door, hunting for sandwich, not there; checked freezer, cupboard, bin, any where a tired and pain ridden body might have accidentally placed sandwich. 'But I'm sure I made it', I can recall placing the last bit of cheese in the corner and wondering why some bread gets holes in. Or am I thinking back to last week's cheese sandwich with the placing of the cheese? I'm sure I can remember buttering the bread, with the hole in it. Or was that the previous night's sandwich? I don't know, I am baffled. Did one of us sleepwalk during the night and consume said sandwich? I really don't think so, but if anyone finds a cheese sandwich that looks a bit lost, please place it in the nearest bin, the cheese will be sweating by now.
Things have been pretty much the same lately, C the leader of parents and toddlers rang me and asked was I there that day. 'Yes' said I, 'registration' 'Good' she said 'you are the only one from the original list and there have been so many swappings. 'Yes I swapped with V last week, as she couldn't be there, that's how I came to do 2 weeks in a row'. Holidays, illness sudden appointments, all make for alterations to the list.
We had many more children and parents this week, I daresay that they have the same problems as us. so sometimes can't make it.
Ladies meeting was a book review and I noticed that all the Christian books reviewed seemed to have a theme, dealing with difficulties. Some think that the Christian life is a bed of roses, well it is really, as roses do have lots of thorns!
The garden is still doing well, we've had enough peppers from the pepper plant to justify having bought it, and I've harvested some herbs and frozen them.
Yesterday coming back from putting my car away I met D, whose daughter got married 2 weeks ago. Her sister was with her with her new pup.He is gorgeous a ball of white fluff. D is feeling deflated after the wedding. I know the feeling well, so much planning and then nothing. I still can't pass a wedding dress shop without having a peek. D, B and I discussed K, a father from primary school days who died a couple of weeks ago, he was the same age as me, Scarey!
Btw the osteopath was pleased with my back, but I didn't mention the neck and shoulder, Coward! I used my TENs machine on it today, and could feel the muscle lifting. Daughter came round last evening and lay on my sofa for a rest. Husband was going to be late home. We watched her tummy moving with some amusement, obviously junior was having exercise time. Daughter is complaining she cannot eat much as her stomach is bit compressed.
The sad news this week is of the passing of husband's aunt. She has been ill for some time, really, so in a way it is a relief that she is no longer suffering, although as far as I know she didn't complain a lot. She was a lovely lady, very down to earth, you knew exactly where you stood with her, and she had a tremendous sense of fun. She will be very much missed by all the family. our thoughts and prayers are with her children and grandchildren, and great grand children.
We had lovely sunshine here yesterday, and I managed to get out in the garden for a bit with my afternoon cuppa. I decided whilst in town to get some folding camp type chairs in Millets, one I chose, had snazzy stripes, but was £19.99, the other a plain one was £12.99. As I approached the till  the assistant said,' That striped one isn't in the special offer,' 'No I know' said I. 'Oh' he said as he entered them in the till, 'yes it is in the offer, 2 for£20', so I got areal bargain there.
Well I must go as I have to collect husband's dry cleaning, I've forgotten it 2 days in a row.

Monday 14 June 2010

pains and (knitting) needles

Well it's been a busy week,  parent and toddlers' again, spring cleaning the church at Ladies meeting,catching up on housework, and more garden centre. We went there for some slabs for the front, but they didn't have the ones we wanted. Got more compost, a rather nice prunus tree, ornamental, and my favourite copper osteospermum. Husband worked very hard on Saturday afternoon putting more bark down, and planting out my ceanothus, which had just finished flowering, and the new hydrangea, which is busy changing colour. The bees loved my ceanothus. I'd like another in a deeper blue. I'm seeing them everywhere at the moment.
Glad to say that my finger has now healed reasonably well. I have an appointment with my osteopath tomorrow; last time he saw me 6 months ago, his last words to me were, 'Take care of that back' The following day I fell in the snow!
I don't know whether to mention my aching shoulder and neck, the problem is if I do I will probably end up on weekly appointments again. I think I have been knitting too much, one of the baby jackets is finished, the pattern was a bit of a problem, I think I might write to the manufacturers; there is definitely something wrong somewhere, 2 pairs of needles stated, yet only one size mentioned all through. The sleeves kept ending up too long, and with the tension calculations it could not possibly not end up too long, if that doesn't sound Irish. In the end I used the smaller needles for the sleeves Presto!
I will give myself a rest before I tackle the next jacket. The problem is that I can't sleep for shoulder pain, can't get comfy, so I'm hitting the cocodamol again. Our son has managed to secure part time work, not what he wanted , but it will help pay the rent. There should be overtime too. Their house still hasn't sold though.
Today I have been ploughing through a mountain of ironing, and we now have a clean bed and clean towels. I've also got the last of husband's seedlings planted so feel quite virtuous. The strawberries are coming, and we've had quite a few. So much better than from the supermarket. Plenty of rhubarb too. We had rhubarb tonight, but I think it may have been a mistake as I had some of my homemade cauliflower soup today. I needed to use up some cauliflower and soup is ideal for less than best veg. The herbs are running wild too, must pick and freeze some. I had parsley sauce with my fish on Friday.
I tried a bit of coriander in the soup. I must look up more recipes online. Well this is turning into a garden blog, sorry! Life is a bit quiet at the moment, but sometimes it can be too hectic. I ordered husband's tax disc online today, bad memories of it being forgotten 2 years ago with the excitement of the wedding and going on a wild goose chase to Exeter (whilst on holiday) to try and get it sorted. It's good now you can order from the 5th of the month, and they will check MOT  and insurance for you. Must go it's bedtime.

Tuesday 8 June 2010

A burning issue

I forgot to mention that when Daughter and Son-in Law came round a week last Sunday, I had put the separator from my pressure cooker down on top of the stove. I came to move it when I was doing the desserts and dropped it rather quickly. I had forgotten to turn the gas off, it was down low, so that the gravy would not boil over, but as I had taken the gravy off, and  I couldn't see the flame......
I ended up with two badly burned fingers, I was glad I hadn't said any naughty words. I sat with my left hand in  a jug of water whilst eating strawberries and ice cream with my right. I felt like sticking my left paw in the ice cream! Out came the burneze, which helped a bit. Before we went off to the evening service I located the blister plasters as I had one surface blister and another deeper.
On the Monday the blister plasters were peeling off round the edges, and in frustration I peeled them off. The surface blister actually came off with the plaster. Since then I have tried a variety of dressings, none of which worked entirely in keeping the wound clean and dry. I left the dressings off, and got a measure of healing, but dressed it with Melolin and micropore for the sake of those who had to look at it when we were in church.
Keeping it dry enough to heal was a real problem, I have showered wearing  a rubber glove, but water still seeped in. Yesterday I dressed it with Melolin, donned a 'surgical' type glove, put an elastic band round the wrist and got in the shower. I even washed my hair, Success!
The surface blister is now healing, and the skin over the deep blister has cracked and peeled leaving lovely pink new skin underneath. I must remember to use rubber gloves every time I wash up for now, I'm supposed to wear gardening gloves too, but I feel so clumsy in them. I hope I have learned to be more careful in checking that the gas is off, or find somewhere else to put the separator.

Sunday 6 June 2010

A hotch potch, a hose and a whodunnit revealed.

Sunday evening again already! Two excellent sermons today, not much rain, a bit sticky in church, and an invasion by Daughter and Son-in-Law this evening. It's been an odd week, weather very mixed, and with the bank holiday difficulty knowing what day it was.
We were unable to contact Mum-in- Law for a couple of days, her phone kept going straight to the answering machine. If she was still down the road , 12 miles away one of us could have nipped over, but as she is 100 miles away, one cannot just 'nip'. We had a good ladies meeting on Thursday afternoon, the pastor spoke on the woman with the jar of oil; not so many there as it was half term.
On Friday I went to a thanksgiving service for P who had been killed by a car whilst out running. I had ordered 2 skirts from M&S online, one of which I thought might be sober enough to wear. Both were from the same range, bur when they arrived I couldn't do up the zip on the one I wanted to wear. I measured them and one is about 2 inches bigger than the other. I will have to have a moan at M&S about standardising their sizes. This happened last summer, when I bought 3 pairs of trousers all from the same range, and each was a different length and width
I chose another patterned skirt, and when I got to the  service I was chatting to a friend who said that the widow had requested no black. I felt sorry for the lady I had seen arriving all in black. I caught up with a few friends after the service, and enquired about G. He stopped having chemo as it gave him a blood clot on the lung, and last week went up to London every day by train for radiotherapy, then came home by train. I also met the youngest Son of the widow, whom I taught in Sunday school, he vaguely remembered me. He is a fine Christian, and is getting married next year. It is always thrilling to hear that our former Sunday school pupils are trusting the Lord.
I hurried back home as my Son was coming over to visit as he had to meet someone in St Albans. We tried everything we could think of to sort Grandma's phone problem, but as we only know one neighbour's Christian name, and the vicar was away, we didn't have much success. Whilst here Son took a phone call about an interview not the sort of job he wants, but at present he will do anything. As he left he said he is quite bored, and really loves working. I do pray that something will come up soon.
 On Saturday I at last managed to contact the Vicar, who sent someone round to Mum-in-Law. We soon got an apologetic phone call, one phone had been off its cradle, she must have knocked it at some time. Husband wanted to buy some weed control stuff, so we ended up back at the garden centre we visited on Monday. We didn't spend quite so much, but had lunch there. Their cafe is really nice. The indoor plant section was almost unbearable as it was a  cloudy muggy day, but I did get tempted by an orchid, and some water bubbles, which you fill with water and invert in the soil to keep indoor plants watered during periods away.
I had tracked down yet another hose connector online, and it arrived on Saturday, although the postie didn't ring, just left it outside the front  Good thing I checked out there. Husband managed to work out how to fit it, and we were able to use a hose.
Late afternoon, I put some more bedding plants in, then just as I finished watering all the pots, it began to rain and pelted down! After the rain I was called out to clear up the mess which I had been unable to do when the deluge began.  I  asked Husband where to put the compost, and he said under the table for now. As I lifted the table cover, what did I find but the red trug which had  gone missing! Now I wonder who put it there?
The front garden is beginning to take shape, but with only Saturdays for Husband to work on it, plus the odd dry Bank holiday, it is a slow job.We did buy a lovely hydrangea from our local Sainsbury's which we hope to plant out there at some stage.
I was checking our front garden fuchsia, when an elderly gentleman passing by asked me if I had been a Land Girl! I said' I'm not that old','Ooh no' said he 'you'd have to be at least 80'. Bless him, I think he was just trying to make conversation. he is a nice old chap, he pushes  an old pushchair which helps him to walk, I once said he should get a scooter but he pooh poohed it saying he would rather walk Well I'd better go soon as it's past midnight and this will be turning into next weeks blog! Have a good week.

Tuesday 1 June 2010

What a grey day!

Well that is another Bank holiday weekend over. It is amazing how quickly they go. I spent most of Friday indoors, apart from my usual walk, trying to get motivated to do some ironing. I am not very good at self discipline these days, I suppose it is because my days are a bit unstructured, I do whatever I feel like doing, unless there is a job that shouts Urgent. We had herb crusted haddock for dinner, which is recipe I found on the internet, and very nice it was too.
Saturday dawned grey and miserable. I needed to get to town before the banks closed to transfer some money, so we were a bit more organised. It began to rain before we left home, so out came the waterproofs. We split up in town, I sorted the cash, got the market shopping and we met up in M&S. We decided  on lunch at home, so got the bus back up. I get a bit fed up with salad, and as I'd been snacking, due to tiredness during the week, and my weight is up, decided stir fried scallops and veg would be lovely, and warming and not too high in calories, on such a grey wet day.

I went up to our bedroom, and saw K's wedding car had arrived, so I grabbed my camera and dashed out. I had put on a warm jacket, which was just as well as it was still raining, not heavily, and they were taking photos indoors. We also heard the pop of a champagne cork. I was chatting to the driver whilst I waited. Eventually they emerged, K looked lovely, but as she is petite her shoes were 1inch platforms, and mega high heels, so she had  trouble getting out of the door. Her Mum looked very elegant too. I took some snaps to show Daughter. Sadly they had to use brollys to get to the car, and  after they set off the rain absolutely pelted down. I have known K since she was born. Her Mum and I actually met at ante natal classes when we were expecting the older 2. She was due a month before me, but as she went nearly 2 weeks over ,and I was induced a week early, her son and my daughter are only 10 days apart.
I was a bit cross as our Telegraph did not contain the Weekend section, I couldn't do the GK crossword. Still, I managed to finish the back of a baby cardigan I am knitting. I also went up into the loft to get down some plastic boxes for Daughter and  Son in Law for them to use as they pack up to move. Contracts were exchanged on Wednesday.
They came for lunch on Sunday but didn't stay all afternoon, as she wanted to lie down for a rest and our spare bed has stuff all over it as husband had to repair a drawer, so the stuff from the drawer had to go somewhere.
When I chose my kitchen taps I chose them for their looks, but didn't realise it would be difficult to fit a hose connector. We have no outside tap, and being in a terrace would need it at the back of the house where there is no water supply. Husband needed a new rake, so I suggested a trip to a different garden centre  near St Albans, where they might have more choice. There were lots of people there, but  it is huge so didn't feel too crowded. There is not room for two trolleys to pass in the plant section, so I ended up reversing, with an uncooperative trolley. Husband found peat there, he's been looking for peat for ages. I bought lovely fuchsia, sadly non hardy, and a gardenia to replace one on my kitchen windowsill, which I have been desperately trying to revive. Home to lunch, a doze then more planting. We have fruit canes  growing all along one bed, we have never seen so much blossom on them, so when I was planting I had bees buzzing round my head. We have a nest under next door's paving, near where the field mice are. I read somewhere that bees like to nest where  mice have been. Our blackcurrant is heaving with fruit too. I'd better clear space in the freezer. . Oh well the hose connector I got yesterday didn't fit either, I scraped some rubber out to try and get it to fit, so can't return it.
It is a dull day again today, so I must tackle the ironing and get some more plants in, my pots need re doing.
I had better get on!