TARRAGON & THYME

I am trying to focus on a few things each day in order to get things done as sometimes I get overloaded and then I get burned out.  The negative side of this is it then has a knock on effect with my confidence and self worth. I thought this might be a good way of managing things in bite sized chunks and then hopefully reducing the "low days and lack of confidence  Walk to Work Work Walk home Cook Tea  -something quick when I get in Monday is traditionally Scratch Tea Ironing (we have an ironing mountain here which I hope to reduce and then control) Some more of my longstitch (yet again trying to do a little and often) Will see how it goes - anyone else going to join in and what sort of things do you hope to achieve.   Love to hear from you. Catch you soon Pattypan  xx

I mentioned in a recent post that I wanted to get to grips with Patchwork and indeed this is on my list of 52 things to do in a year. I knew somewhere I had some patchwork templates and equipment and so I went looking last night for exactly what I do have. I located circle, heart, diamonds, strip patchwork, hexies and shell templates together with a stock of fat quarters that I had forgotten about.   I am sure I have some more somewhere along the line but at the time of writing cannot put my hand on them.  What I need is a big box in which to stash all templates and patchwork designated fabric to store said consumables in so that I can find things when I am looking for them. I think this is a job that will be done a little at a time when funds allow.  I  recently mentioned about the Dresden plate pattern for a quilt and that I was looking for a template, preferably free.  I had looked at several links last night and not found anything and then I found the t...

I am taking part in the 52 Projects challenge  http://dreamer-dreamingofasimplelife.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/52-projects-sunday_19.html I am a little slow off the old starting blocks - mostly due to time constraints but I have in the last week  managed to complete a UFO long stitch kit by Sue Daykin entitled Brotherswater which had been lying doormant for some time.  I felt very chuffed that I was able to complete this and it bucked me up a bit. I tend to be a bit slow in finishing things.   That picture has been popped up in the finished box as I want to get this set of kits completed and then framed properly but in sympathetic frames.   As far as I can remember I have had the kits over 15 years.   They were bought during regular holidays up in the Lake District and indeed i may have had them for a lot longer. I had purchased five or six kits in the range and started a couple of them and then got distracted.  I have taken photographs of what ...

In the run up to Christmas at my local veg stall they had some large bunches of fresh parsley so I snaffled some as you do and hung it off my dresser to dry.  Result after taking the dried leaves off the stems and disposing of the dried stem I now have a full jar of home dried parsley which smells wonderful.  I am thinking here something simple like parsley sauce to go with a piece of fresh fish.  I shall have a look later in the week to see if I can find a nice piece of cod or fresh haddock(or perhaps something that we do not have to ring the changes) to have for tea one night.  I like to include fish in our diets every so often as it is easy for my system to process and will help with the arthritis.  We prefer fresh fish as buying it already frozen seems to lose something in the flavour and the texture.  There is nothing nicer than going to the fish Cellars at Port Isaac and choosing the fish fresh; when we go down to Cornwall (we go self catering) we al...

Its been a busy day and I have got all the washing done - do not like doing it on a Sunday but sometimes you have to deal with things when you have the time.  That means ironing tomorrow night. I have spent most of the afternoon cooking.  I started off with making carrot and swede crush from scratch to go with tonight's tea. (I have some in the freezer but I had some carrots to use up and another swede so in the spirit of waste not want not I used them up. I do get cross with the supermarkets though selling carrots in polythene bags and they go off after a few days which is rather hypocritical as most of the carrots we buy have been stored in clamps for quite some time.  Perhaps they sell them in polythene bags so they go off quicker and we have to buy more. I am a tad cynical.  Then I had some tomatoes which I had got for 50 pence a bag to cook up with some Sofrito and fresh herbs and I have roasted them up in the oven to use during the week as one nigh...

Sounds exotic but its just a posh name for three vegetables finely chopped a trinity of flavours consisting of celery, onion and carrot.  Waitrose sell little bags of it freshly prepared for about 66p a bag - I have bought it from there before and used it as a basis for Roast Chicken,  stews, soups, casseroles, for roasting the veggies on so you get a beautiful fragrant gravy if you mash and sieve the vegetables off. I pop it into pies, cottage and shepherds pies and it always adds a lovely flavour. Therefore I was very pleased to learn that you can make and prepare this yourself and store it in the freezer.  That to me means fresh veggies, I know where they have come from and you get oh so much more flavour as a result.  What you freeze them raw - no they are cooked. I found the recipe in one of my new book acquisitions that I bought last year entitled "The Gentle Art of Preserving" by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi.  The book was on sale for about £25 origin...

Its getting towards the end of the month again and the proverbial cupboard to all intents and purposes is looking a bit bare; well perhaps that is not strictly true I had ingredients but on the face of it they just did not appear to go together,but we needed something to eat something that would make us feel full.  OH had been at work all day so we needed something substantial. One thing I do tend to keep in store is lots of different pastas  Its a good way of getting a nice filling meal and I had bought some fusilli when it was on offer recently. I had plenty of cheese, milk, pasta, some chorizo, yellow pepper, onions and broccoli, a pack of Philly cheese with chives so I threw these items together.  Strong flavours with the cheese and chorizo so I started by cooking the pasta in boiling water.  Whilst this was on I fried a couple of onions in oil with a dash of butter until golden and then drained them on some kitchen paper and set them to one side.  ...

I am suffering at the moment with Januaryitis - it is always a long month and the days seem particularly grey and extremely long at the moment.  Neverending.  I am waiting for Spring but we have  couple of months to wait until then.   I have also been struggling this week with the arthritis playing up and having not much energy and constant discomfort - that in itself can get you down (especially when there is so much to do).   I do not think it helps as OH is suffering with SAD and another dicky patch with regard to bipolar disorder.  Never mind we will get there eventually.  We are so lucky compared to some.  Must think positive nil desperandum and all that.  On the few occasions this week we have seen the sun it has been bitterly cold but at least it has been out to play.  But come night all I want to do is shut the door, close the curtains keep in the warm  and close the world out and make it go away.  Each day th...

When I went to mum's the other week she did a really quick lunch for me consisting of pasta, home made cheese sauce a tin of salmon, and it normally has sweetcorn in as well.  You can change the basis to whatever you have. I understand that mum makes it with Tuna as well.  I was not too keen on the idea to start with but after the first mouthful which was warming and filling you could say I was hooked - please excuse the pun.  It was a lovely light lunch that was filling but it did not make you feel uncomfortably stuffed which is the kind of meal I love. Basically mum cooked some pasta (on this occasion Penne)  until it was al dente (there are no measurements just enough pasta for how many bodies you have to feed.  If more than four use two tins of Tuna or salmon or add additionalveggies in like cooked broccoli, kale, etc. Mum then made the cheese sauce using a roux sauce as a basis and then adding grated cheese to taste with a little mustard to bring out t...

I am going to follow Dreamer at Living a Slow and Simple Life here is the link to her blog  http://dreamer-dreamingofasimplelife.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/52-projects.html  in this little project based over 52 weeks.  In my case this is to try and focus and get rid of some of the UFOs completed as well as hopefully starting some new projects with materials I already have to hand. Under normal circumstances I tend to prevaricate get distracted and end up doing things I had not planned.  Its the free spirit in me. Well that's my excuse and I am sticking to it.   This in turn  will hopefully help me to de-clutter some of my craft stash as well.  Well that's the plan.  I am also going to add in here making some pressies for Christmas next year to save the panic and unnecessary pressure doing everything last minute I am also popping projects and kits I have had for some time but not got around to starting. If I can get to them I will but if I ...

I seem to have a 20 pence theme running at the moment more out of coincidence rather than anything else, but I keep coming across reduced swedes at about 20pence or a little more a shot.   They are in the reduced section because of their date stamp a lot of the time but there is nothing wrong with them.  If stored properly they will keep for quite a little time afterwards. I refuse to pay a lot for swedes unless I absolutely have to especially when I seem to find them reduced on a regular basis especially when recently the price has been about 80 pence to £1.00. As a child I absolutely hated swede but now I love it on its own or combined with carrots crushed down and served with a lovely hot meal such as some good sausages cooked as toad in the hole or served with  a meat pie or even as a side dish together with mashed potato with a stew.  Pure good food that fills a spot fills you and does you good.  Put simply good home cooking. I like the next person...

At the charity shop today honest me lord! For 20 pence I came away with: A long chest/table runner preprinted with a flower pattern part worked that will go with a tray cloth in the same pattern I bought and worked some time ago. The threads were missing but I think I will be able to match them up. A metre of pink bias binding. Some trimmings in gold and cream the sort of braids to trim cushions light shades there is about a metre of the gold and about 4 metres of the cream. 1 yard curved skirt petersham with skirt fasteners. And a sealed brand new never been used brother buttonhole cutter. And last but not least - a thimble. Not bad some little extras for the sewing box. On the sewing front I have spotted a very lovely Dresden plate quilt.  See here http://www.cluckclucksew.com/2014/01/dresdens.html   Another one for the ideas  list to have a go at projects. I am thinking that this would be a good pick up put down project for when I only have a few m...

Christmas is all paid for done and dusted  for this year - gone are the days where it all got popped on the credit cards and then we had to pay it off.  Ever since OH was out of work we have got into better habits and are more sensible all round and we pay by cash and are not storing up any lurking problems for ourselves.  I did a big shop in the run up to Christmas on quite a lot of basic ingredients that you need to cook from scratch whether that be a starter main meal or pudding or even cake, cookies and bread.  The areas that are not stocked to optimum level are the freezer  - I need a new one my large chest freezer failed over a year ago and the upright is on its way out so I do not prepare too much at the moment to pop in the freezer.  Hopefully in the weeks to come that will get remedied as I rely heavily on my freezer and am missing the flexibility and just being able to get something out of there the day before (we call it shopping in the free...

On a regular basis have very good offers on books and over Christmas and I had some Christmas present money to use up and I ordered a couple of collections of books plus some extra books. I have sent for the River Cottage collection for £17.00.  Here is the link http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?productId=306679&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=100&searchTerm=river+cottage The package consists of the following titles Mushrooms Preserves Bread Veg Patch Edible Seashore Sea Fishing Hedgerow Cakes Fruit Herbs  I am still awaiting delivery of this collection of ten books which works out at £1.70 per book. I also ordered a self sufficiency collection of books for £7 the set of 12 books an even greater saving. That collection consists of the following titles:  Grow Your Own Preserving Spinning, Dyeing and Weaving Household Cleaning Foraging Hen Keeping Beekeeping Soap Maki...

In view of the kerfuffle when my phone fried and me not having contact numbers I sourced a couple of cheap diaries (a page a day) one for OH and one for myself and I have added contact numbers and appointments so far this year in an effort to get myself sorted so that I know where I am at and so that I can plan to do things and/or make arrangements.  There are a couple of things that I want to achieve this year concerning nearest and dearest relatives including some visits to extended family.  I also want to get into the habit of having birthday cards in house at least a month before the event whether they be bought or home made. I am trying to eradicate last minute panics or incidents where I have actually forgotten someone's birthday.  I am aiming to be sorted in plenty of time so that I can eradicate unnecessary stress and hassle in the process.  Well that's the plan. Birthday dates have also been registered. I am so glad that I put a few things up in the Chr...

Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. I think this is an apt phrase in my case.  Truth is I prevaricate too much  (especially around things I am not ready to deal with or do not know quite how to handle and to add to that I sometimes get distracted as well which frequently compounds matters. So I am going into the New Year with this phrase firmly lodged in my mind I only hope I manage to keep to the sentiment. Well here it goes!

Hello everyone I hope you all had a good Christmas and  a Happy New Year. I am in the land of the living and thank you for your emails enquiring if I was okay.  I am,  although in the run up to Christmas things were a bit fraught around here for several reasons. My partner suffers from Bipolar (more commonly known as manic depression).  He was dreadful and extremely difficult in the run up to Christmas and Bah Humbug was the phrase most associated with him at this point in time.  Wouldn't do anything didn't want to celebrate was not interested in anything (not helped by the fact that at that point he thought he had taken his medication and it turned out he hadn't. When he has these spells he is very difficult to live with and it is not much fun.  I had manged to get him in a better frame of mind by Christmas Eve and then matters went downhill a bit slightly after that.  Please see below for further details. The downward slide all started where...