TARRAGON & THYME

....but I needed it to be as I am absolutely tired out again.  No particular reason just how the cookie crumbles sometimes.  The gardener has come back with a quote.  I will take him up on the quote which he has given which involves two workmen and a skip.  And the rubbish is being disposed of ethically which is a good thing Probably a good couple of days work.  Days were when I would get stuck in and do it myself but unfortunately because of my back it cripples me these days - the heavy work that is.  OH cannot either his back is worse than mine.  I had him off work for 13 months about 10 years ago as he sustained a slipped disc.  So have to keep him working no matter what.  There is a greenhouse down there somewhere.  The shed is in a state of collapse and not looking its best these days (dilapidated not fit for purpose) caved in roof - suitable perching post for the cat  - oh and last September a Fox was basking on t...

With Thanks to my brother I received last Sunday a whole load of parsnips which he had grown to put down in the freezer to take us through the summer months and into the autumn. So one night during the week I sat on my Nan's stool with my bag of parsnips to the side and a couple of processing bowls in front of me.  One for the peel and one for the parsnips (with salted water in) and I knuckled down and processed the lot.  I now have some 30 bags of about 4 pieces per bags of parsnips resting in the freezer and as I was preparing them they smelt wonderful.  I have also done some bags of chunked parsnip for popping into a casserole or a stew.  So thank you my lovely brother I have put these to good use and they will not be wasted as we love roast parsnip with our Sunday lunch along with home made roasties.  This should take us through to autumn nicely. If I can get the garden sorted I will look forward to growing my own as well. So thanks lit...

We had the rib eye steaks that we bought from the farm shop yesterday.  Cooked rare they were delicious. The steaks were cooked with field mushrooms, Tuscan vegetables home made fat chips and onion rings.  They were delicious - I could only eat half the steak.  OH finished the rest off. Tomorrow we have leg of lamb with garlic roasted with seasonal veggies for our main meal.  I have also bought a couple of Ox-tail joints to make Oxtail stew.  Something neither of us have had since we were children.  Am going to start that off tomorrow. Don't forget to put the clocks forward an hour. Catch you later. Pattypan x

There are still wheels within wheels in motion here at home.  I am still starting to collect bits and bobs together and have recently purchased some second hand Elizabeth Bradley cross stitch/needlepoint charts for further cushions to work for the themed Roses Lounge I am working on little by little.  I love pinks, greens and creams warm colours and I keep working away at bits and pieces.  This at the moment "dream" lounge will not happen here but it will be altogether and blended by the time I find my forever home.  I even have Rose china pieces and framed artwork. I am working new pieces and old textiles and pieces together to try and create a unique home. Eclectic like me. Some pieces I have worked myself and some I have found unloved in Charity shops but each has its place and once I get it altogether I think it will look good. I noticed when I was in Wilkinsons the other day that they are starting to do the feather blank...

This morning OH wanted to be up early as he had made his mind up that we were going to pay a visit to Johnson's Farm Shop at Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire. Telephone 01487 824658 website: http://www.johnsonsofoldhurst.co.uk/ My step-son and his fiancée had been and had taken some produce in for OH to try.  He was impressed and so decided that today was the day for a recce. We headed off down the A1 from Peterborough until we hit the signpost for Abbots Ripton.  We suddenly hit the Fen Alps these villages being  much elevated compared to the flat Fenland surrounding Peterborough.  I cannot recall ever having been this way at all but they were proper old fashioned villages Abbots Ripton in particular being very picturesque with lots of Thatched cottages.  I hadn't realised that there were such pretty villages off to the side of the A1. We eventually got to our destination and headed for the café for something to drink as I was gasping.  The ...

I have been busy this evening trying to organise some help for the garden in clearing it up.  It is long overdue and I would like to enjoy it as a proper garden.  OH for the past 7 years or so has indicated that he would do it and it just has not happened.  So it looks as though I will have to take charge.  I have all my seeds to grow and unless I get some help soon and with the disposal of the old fencing the landlord's agent has left behind - don't ask and my trees they chopped down and left behind. (we haven't got to the bottom of it yet but believe it is something to do with the moaning next door neighbour).  The landlord's thugs came in and chopped down my cherry tree - they have absolutely decimated it.  That was two years ago - I have not had any cherries since. I am going to be another seven years in the waiting if I leave it to OH.  Whilst he goes fishing it would be nice for me to be able to sit outside on a nice day and do my croch...

So far it seems a peaceful morning bright and the sun is trying to break and at least there is some colour in the sky.  It is always hurley burley first thing getting OH off to work and now I am sat in the peace of the house.  It is a little chilly so the heating is on as it is not warm enough otherwise to walk around in my pjs.  As a result with me being in the computer room there is a little Jack Russell snuggled up to the radiator.  She likes to be warm and she must be near you. I found the majority of paperwork that I was looking for which is a good thing.  Big sigh.  I also found the conservatory blinds and got them washed and clean, dried and pressed.  So that is another good job done with and thank goodness I found them.  I am a little bit scatty at the best of times! We nipped to my brother's yesterday just for a little catch up and he had a plethora of parsnips.  Last year on his allotment they had set three rows but only pa...

The sorts of things that you have known forever and have been with you in one way or another for life and which outlast the generations.  Things at first glance which you are never particularly enamoured of but which grow on you little by little.  When we came to sorting mum's out we found several such pieces my brother and I and we both have items of this calibre. My brother has  my Grandmother's Bureau.  I am pleased he has this as I did not really want it to go out of the family.  I would have loved this as my Dad used to use the desk to do his homework and to read his music however I just did not have room. It used to stand in the dining room against the inner wall (small room that it was).  It had a china cabinet either side of a central drop down lid (which was the desk) below that was a small drawer and below that a cupboard. In my Nan's day the desk was used as a drop down desk and the china cabinet either side had...

Today has been spent in trying to sort the front room out a little bit and to find certain bits and bobs I have been looking for, for quite some time.  Mostly to do with paperwork.I have not found it all yet but we are getting there.  I had also brought the blinds back for mum's conservatory to wash and iron them and then popped them somewhere safe and then not being able to locate them.  They are now in the washing machine whizzing around getting clean.  Just the drying and then the ironing to do and then they can be delivered back to my lovely brother for popping back up. I have also come across Topsy.  Topsy is a negro pot doll that used to belong to my maiden Great Aunty Ivy.  Topsy's body parts need re-stringing and some of the finish has come off one of the forearms so I am going to look into see how much it will cost to restore her and depending on how much will depend when it gets done.  My Great Aunty Ivy used to have a chest in her b...

..... you forget just what you have and when you find it again its exciting like re-visiting an old friend or renewing an acquaintance.  Well it is for me. Books are like friends they do keep you occupied if you are on your own and they give you something to do to keep you occupied and the little grey cells busy.  I get so much from reading it stretches you in a different way and gets the ideas buzzing in the brain.  I read extensively and I save magazines that have useful patterns so it is always with pleasure that I re-find such items that I had put carefully away and then forgotten about.  I mention the forgotten about quite seriously as my memory is not what it was or perhaps it is that I am distracted more and then lose the golden silken threads of thought and completely lose the plot. Such was the case yesterday.  I found a stack of magazines both cookery and needlecraft and general magazines that I had squirrelled away for fu...

Well I have been very lucky in that I was able to get an urgent appointment with the Dentist today.  Apparently my previous Dentist has left and gone to pastures new and I have yet to meet the new one - he is currently away on holiday but I have a follow up appointment on 4 April 2016 where indeed I shall meet the said gentleman.  The one who saw me today was lovely and quickly put me at my ease - I absolutely hate going to the Dentist as a rule (something always manages to happen that shouldn't and I have been put off root treatment for life especially as I had been complaining to my Dentist for two years that there was a problem with one particular tooth. In the end she did an x ray realised there was quite a big problem and then tried to do root canal treatment - I then got an abscess under the tooth (I get caverns under my teeth which are healthy environments for abscesses etc.to form - as a result of having a brace in my teens).  I was then sent ...

I am in a very fortunate position in that I have lots of books and I mean lots of them and all of them get used prolifically. These days I do not necessarily buy them brand new but often well loved at a lot cheaper price and the money I save goes towards other things that I am interested in. I have just been on Sarah Tudor's blog at http://frugalinlincolnshire.blogspot.co.uk/ where she has not long posted a mixed post about seeds and cooking and a book she had obtained from the Library by Barbara Beckett entitled The Harvest Pantry ISBN 1 86373 5070.  It was a lovely surprise to find that someone else had found it too.  I have had this lovely book in my library for quite sometime now.  When I was looking to buy this second hand prices ranged from between £30 and £60 - everyone was after it as it was out of print.  However with a little patience I managed to source mine for about £12. It has sections on : The Harvest Pantry Condiments. Preserve...

The French use them for home preserved foods so I they are good enough for the French who really do love their food why are we not making more of them?  Just doing a few jars here and there when there is an offer on to be had all helps in keeping our families stocked with food at home cheaply and safely.  I am specifically speaking about Canning foods under pressure  (I hasten to add not by hot water bathing/processing or indeed a pressure cooker both of which are available in this country).  There is a very big difference but more specifically a proper canning processor.  Cooking under high pressure makes foods such as meat and vegetables which are low in vitamin c safe to consume as the canners work on altitude so it is a case of adjusting to the atmospheric pressure for the area where you live.  The idea being that  no nasties can get in and no illness as a result.  Now I do not have a canner yet and this is only my opinion fr...

Since last Thursday evening I have been dosed up on Neurofen as I have had the most horrendous toothache.  Unfortunately I cannot do anything until I get paid, so am trying to hang on but I have had a lot of pain and been very uncomfortable. At the weekend I went out dosed up and not able to have a drink anyway because of the epilepsy meds so I just had coca cola. I think when I do get to the Dentist that there will be a further couple of extractions in which case the broken plate will need to be added to so it is going to cost quite a bit to get the situation rectified and that is on the National Health.  It needs doing though so hopefully will be able to get in sooner rather than later.  These things are sent to try us! Never mind though will get there eventually. Fingers crossed and toes plaited. Catch you later. Pattypan x

For a while now I have been collecting little pieces of embroidered mats, tray cloths, damaged table cloths not spending very much in the process and accumulating a stack of things that will one day be turned into a very individual heirloom quilt for my bedroom as well as bed cushions, handkerchief purses, coathanger covers, curtains, bunting, nightdress cases.  I have also been collecting pure cotton fabric as well so that the quilt will look more like a crazy patchwork and I have also thought about adding extra embellishment when it is all put together with additions of lace and also more embroidery to covers seems and the like.  Here are just a few of the embroidered pieces I could lay my hands on easily.  There are a lot more.  It will be a case of using the pieces of embroidery wisely without spoiling the dynamics to get the best overall effect. So I foresee lots of umming and ahhing and rearranging this and not liking it there etc.  Out of the top cloth I...