TARRAGON & THYME

For the past couple of days I have been wanting to make stock in order to make soup.  Now for me soup is a meal in itself especially when it is homemade and I am quite happy with a bowl of soup on any occasion.  G is a different kettle of fish though.  Like meat pies, he has not been bought up to eat soup.  I nearly therefore fell of my perch this morning when he requested that I make some chicken soup as we had the remains of the chicken from the other night in the fridge and it would have been a pity not to use it up.  He has somewhere down the line been listening to what I have advocated for years.  I am really shocked.  I therefore as requested set too and made some stock first, then going on to make the soup later on.  It worked out well as I had the chicken and various vegetables both fresh and in the freezer that needed using up.  I was going to turn the chicken into a stir fry!  In any event there was enough chicken for the soup ...

Now that the Autumn Equinox has happened, there are a few things that I would like to try and do. Celebrate this autumn and the bounty of the crops that flow no matter how large or small. I have grapes to harvest in the garden and I cannot think of a more fitting day to harvest them; Make some Beeswax candles to light the way to the darker months.  Had all this planned (had bought a kit), unfortunately no wicks were included and therefore have to order these in; candle making put on hold until they arrive. Decorating to celebrate the season, collecting a few decorative items, and making a few things a little at a time, year by year - layering as I go; Go on foraging trips and appreciate the beauty of the season and natures offerings as well as having a proper good walk in fresh air which gives the soul food to feed on; Collecting twigs, leaves, nuts berries for preserving in some cases and crafting in others; some for this year some for next; gathering of cones of different sizes; ...

 I have a lot of things that I want to do moving forward, and in the past things have slightly got away from me and I am attempting to put that right.  My reasoning is, that if I have something to make or do, no matter how small it will help smooth things along each day, and not make me feel like an abject failure when I do not get things done. I love preserving, as many of you will know.  I also enjoy crafting and just have not been getting to any of these creative pursuits this year at all.  Fingers crossed having some time for pleasure will make the housework move along that bit quicker. Yes, there is a lot of cleaning to do moving forward in any event. In reality it is going to take a lot longer than the time I had originally allocated. I am deep cleaning, as a result of being out of action with the Shingles earlier in the year and the subsequent side effects and pain that I have had to deal with. I am aiming to get things back on track.  I want some goodies...

Not just restricted to Pensioners though, of which I am one. I am not going to get involved/embroiled in Politics.  As far as I am concerned that is not relevant here, as every Government does it.  Sometimes the implcations are felt much later, where a differing political party has caused the relevant damage. None of them are perfect. Being aware of how you as an individual or a family can protect their boundaries is something that I think we should be able to decide for ourselves at the end of the day.  Some of us also need more help than others which is not a reflection of who we are, it is just that times are a changing and when you work full time you are more aware of what is going on in the world or that part of the world that you are part of, than when you retire. Life changes a lot then. However I do believe that some of the items on the link below have more far-reaching consequences with hidden deadlines which impact your ability to be proactive for your own ...

 ...the first of the autumn style meals to hit here.  More about that in a moment though.   The past week has involved a couple of medical appointments,.  I have one further one to arrange (my eyes need to be tested again) and then hopefully that will be everything done and dusted.  I have also managed to sort out the front garden out to make sure it is all nice and tidy again. G does the cutting of the bushes down - I get to do all the sorting out and tidying.  The hedges have had necessary haircuts and the remnants of G cutting an Elder plant down which was dealt with a couple of weeks ago and (which he had conveniently left on the gravel and which had shrivelled up) has now been removed from said gravel.  It was a bit of a mess and took some time to painstakingly remove, along with prickly Holly leaves which were also hidden in the gravel.  I have also this week for the first time since just before the first real hot spell, have been wakin...

We paid a trip out to the Butcher today to stock up a bit more on a few more meat items for the freezer. I have spent approximately £100, but there is quite a bit of good eating to be had from this.  Now I must make it clear it is a lot of money to spend but in the Winter months in particular I do like to have one really good meal per day.  This meat will last us a fair while, although I am looking for specific meats for Christmas. There will therefore be an element of meat buying in for the next few months.   One of our mainstay ingredients particularly during the Winter months is Beef mince, but the prices are only going up and there are a couple of places that I source Beef mince from as it is of a really good quality.  The middle of the road Butcher that we have been to today i.e. ABC Meats caters more for family sized packs of good quality meat and at reasonable prices.  I have used them on and off for many years and it is the Butcher I tend to go to w...