TARRAGON & THYME

I love pretty things and I always like my table to look good no matter whant the season celebration or occasion. I like the simple things the best and to me at Easter one of the memories I have from childhood is having boiled eggs with bread and butter fingers as part of high tea Easter celebrations.  The egg a symbol of new life and new growth and the chocolate eggs we have are also symbolic of that. Hot cross buns with lots of butter simple fare In the run up to Easter I have been sourcing new items for my table.  I csme across these egg cups which are Ducks n Drakes which I took a shine too from Dunhelm.  Aĺl I need now are some wreaths flower rings and a pretty cloth perhaps a pale lemon or a pale appe green check to set everything off and that should do us for this Easters high tea table. I also bought a pack of three tea towels with a herb, plain green and a stripe design in.  Not to use as teatowels but to make a large tablecloth cover for my p...

Ostensibly I nipped into Lakeland during the week to get some refill jars and mini jars to use with packups for my lunch.  I could not locate them to start with.  However found a pack of 2 x 1 litre pots together with two smaller lunch pack pots for under a tenner. So I was quite chuffed to have found them.  The brand is Easiyo and I have been using it for years having first come across it in the Pleterborough health food shop which used to be in the old arcade. This was at a time when I had the children at home and they were eating a lot of yogurt and it was costing a lot. I found that the sachets were good quality although at the time it was just plain yogurt.  The best bit for me is that the system uses just a kettle of boiling water and the large thermos flask to makeim so saving energy as well. Also you dont have to use the sachets now available in a whole lit of flavours but can use fresh milk to fill the inner pot which has been scalded not...

To those passed before us still miss you dreadfully mum. And to those mums who are here with us today have a lovely day.  The sun is shining here although a little chilly. Hope you have a lovely day xx

Guess who forgot to put the clocks forward.  Dingbat ovr what!

Hello everyone sorry its been a while there have been problems chiefly with my health. In the past six weeks I have had two epileptic attacks the second one at work which resulted in the anbulance being called and me being off work.  No apparent reason as have really been trying to look after myself which I am not too good at doing everyone else yes but not myself.  I think it was a reaction to the foot surgery I had and the rough trot with the anaesthesia and then going into shock in recovery as well as being violently ill and then reacting to some meds they gave me and finding I was allergic to it.  Things always come out later rather than st the actual time with me usually when I relax.  I have also had an upset tummy and migraine as well to add to things.  Oh well as I have said before tiz just the depth that varies. Now I hope things will return to some kind of normality and start to do the things I really want to do including my cooking reading writing cra...

Sorry to be missing absolutely up to ny neck with things with alligators and crocodiles snapping at my ankles and me fast running out of time. I received a phone call yesterday saying that they were going to deliver today. They use an external delivery service/carriers and it is kerbside delivery only.  I therefore asked if the driver could phone me when he was 40 minutes out of Peterborough so I could get home. I bought the chillers off ebay from a company called Birmingham Refrigeration.  I first spotted them before Christmas but by the time i had got my act together they had sold out.  But I kept looking. I then spotted them again and placed my order they did however want a lot for delivery. I ordered two but I got the delivery charge reduced because I had both units popped onto one pallet.  If you do place an order with them bear this in mind. The phone call came abd I organised a taxi to get home.  The driver had just turned up as I arrived. ...

I have always been a keen advocate of eating a proper breakfast as you need to recharge the blood sugars overnight.  This has come even more to the fore whilst I have been recuperating after my operation after which I was totally shattered for no apparent reason as I was not really doing much apart from resting.  I wondered if it was down to the fact that I was still off my medication for the scleroderma and a rise in the antibodies in my system so being me I decided to look into this a little further.  Bkueberries are very good at helping with this kind of an issue and so I have started incorporating them into my diet a little more. I am also a fan of smoothies but as I am never firing on cylinders first thing I need to be able to throw things together quickly. So bearing in mind the need for blueberries and other fruits in my diet i set too in making my own fruit base in my slow cooker. There were quite a lit of different fruits i popped in ie strawberries,...

Sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day to accomplish things and despite being organised and busy for the best part of the day until I sat and watched the good karma hospital I have not had much chance to sit down. I have been sorting more clothes out for the charity shop and bagging up ready to take round. I have been washing and ironing and food shopping and packing stuff away. I have been and bought more boxes for packing stuff away in.  I will need to get some more though.  I got them from Dunhelm.  I had not appreciated they had a sale on and I managed to nab one or two bargains. A very large Jamie Oliver 1 1/2 litre bread pan.  I already have two of these and I paid full price at £15 each.  This one I got half price £7 so I quickly nabbed it. I also bought 4 Mason and Cash pie dishes in a soft tuorqoise blue at £4.99 each instead of £9.  So I was very chuffed with those.  Ideal for pies and egg custards. As th...

I can remember this when it first came out.  In fact I bought some wallpaper the poppy design for my kitchen.  It got left behind when I split from my ex husband.  However I do have several other things that I do have.  The intention is to have my bedroom decorated with the honeysuckle rose design eventually.  I have all the bedding I bought it brand new but at the time they did not do the bedding in king size.  We have a super king quilt on the bed and so I thought I would extend the quilt covers with long strips/panels of fabric finished off with some broderie anglais lace frill trim. Why on earth am I talking about this at the moment.  Well truth is I found my Country Diary book of crafts by Annette Mitchell when sorting out earlier on. There are lits of lovely projects in there and in due course I am going to make some of them to go with and compliment those items already to hand. I had also thought that I will buy some new bedlinen and embro...

My wardrobes are not big enough and i therefore bought a couple of hanging racks.  My Reiki couch was stored behind one of them and during the week the Reiki couch lost its balance and knocked over the rack.  I have therefore spent a couple of hours restoring the racks to normal.  I have also sorted some clothes out thst are now too big for me.  In the last 8 years I have gone down from a size 24 to a size 18.  Still a way to go but a size 18 is more liveable and does not impact on my joints quite so much.  So I will be making a delivery to the Charity shop tomorrow to pass on those items I no longer have a need for.  It feels good to be having a bit of a sort out. I also need to get some new bedding organised as I have managed to put my foot through one of my sheets. There was a small hole and if course my foot found it.  I can use the rest of the sheet up in due course it will not go to waste.  I can feel a shopping trip coming on.  ...

For a long time now I have been wanting to have a go at making my own sausages. Salamis etc but have had no where to keep said produce once it is prepared. In any event I have slowly been gathering bits and pieces together now all securely stored in a box so that I have all my curing powders together in one place.  The sausage skins are in the fridge and the curing chambers are ordered and on their way. One is possibly going to store wine in now that I have started with the home brew again. The original idea for the curing chamber I saw on Jamie and Jimmys Friday night show where Jimmy regularly comes up with alternatives for the home producer. There is a link for those that are interested on my pinterest site patricia ellingford under meat charcuterie and salami.  I have been collecting links to recipes and procedures for some time now.   I went to place the order before Christmas but by the time I had got myself sorted they had sold out.  I was after a 40 bottle ...

A miserable orrible day.  We need the rain but I hate it when the rain is constant and does not let up.  Even Missy our Jack Russell is hibernating in a load of throws well and truly buried if you please and heaven forbid I should move my foot.  She has a real thing about feet yet she plonks herself between my lower legs to go to sleep. From a normal well behaved companion when she is tired she gets very grumpy.  Lets just say she has her humans well trained. Lets just say butter wouldnt melt.  She is a sweetheart really and very funny.  Is always smiling and when you are feeling down she always makes you laugh one way or another.

I did a full week at work last week and went to work this Monday just gone and ended up in an ambulance. On yhe Monday morning I had not felt my usual self and mentioned it to my colleague as I was very sleepy and kept forgetting things. Unfortunately I ended up having a seizure but my colleague managed to get me in the recovery position so this time I did not bite my tongue for which I am very grateful. However since then I have been to the Drs and had some bloods taken.  It may be that we will never know what triggered it but I have a suspicion that it is shock coming out of my system as a result of the foot surgery.  But hey ho back to the drawing board.  I have done a lot of resting and sleeping this week always do in the aftermath. I am being kept on the same meds as before and we are to see how things go and whether anything shows up in the bloods. I have been told I can go back to work next week so I am looking forward to being with friends and colleagues who rea...