September afternoon

I had been hoping to go for a middle of the afternoon walk with OH today but unfortunately because of the weather that was put on hold.  I had wanted to pick up some larch cones and teasel heads and twigs in preparation for my Christmas decorations but I will need them dry so it will have to wait for a better day. 

Its a proper autumn September afternoon, grey chilly and cold - the temperature has dropped yet again, the wind is blowing the sort of afternoon where you do not want to do much except cuddle in front of a log fire.  I would be very happy if I could do this but no working fireplaces here even though we have the chimney stacks the gas fires are in situ and because the house is so old if you wanted to use them there would be a serious amount of money have to be spent to make things safe.  If it was your own home you would spend out, but as it is only rented I am not prepared to go this far.  Not that the landlord has done much over the years in any event and what has been done has been nasty and cheap.

Sunday afternoons for as long as I can remember were family afternoons where odd jobs were done but not many and time was taken to spend time with each other and catch up.  A more chilled less laborious day in which to wind down.  These days I am more than likely to be found up to my ears in things but that is because I work full time. 

September days have always been associated with apple picking or the start off -trailing into October.  We followed the calendar on this every year when we would go to my Nan and Pop's and help with the harvesting. The different apples required slightly different picking times with the Bramleys often being left until last.  My Nan and Pop really had some different fruit trees many of which you do not see today. My uncle and his family and my cousins would also come to help with the harvest when they were younger but not so much in later years.  That seemed to fall to our side of the family.  It was important to me as it was a time of hard work, good company and friendship, lots of laughs, lots of hard work and finished off when the harvest was in by a big Family Sunday dinner served with Nan's home made wine which was superb.  Often it would be a couple of chickens and a couple or three pheasants.  Nan would layer the chicken and then the pheasant on the plate.  The flavours complement each other very well and the chicken helps make more of the pheasant and gives a decent plate of food.  If you have not tried it, it is well worth the effort.

I am seriously considering what I want at the moment. Ideally I would like to give up working full time but unfortunately cannot afford to do that at the moment.  If I did I would look to setting up some small business of my own - but I am not quite sure as to what with - maybe the Reiki on one hand but there are other options.The thought has been there for a little while and creeps back every so often.    I have far too many interests that I am really not getting to play with at the moment unless I cherry pick and down tools to do so.  It is going to be that way when the embroidery machine arrives as I really want to get to grips with this.  I really am excited about this and is something I have had my eye on for sometime.  I never really thought that I would be in a position to do so.  So I want to use it to make Christmas pressies etc.  I have a lot of lovely craft equipment and I want to really start to use this.  I know I am lucky - very lucky and very grateful.

One of my main interests is cooking - I do a lot but I miss the days where I used to use what I had on any particular day and make something from it.  Time to experiment if you will.  I also want  a proper working kitchen garden where I would be able to have trees but that will not happen here although we have a long garden there is no room for fruit trees.  It would be nice to have a large kitchen garden where I could go and pick my veggies and get them at the optimum amount of freshness and have the ability to process and store by whatever method for use during the winter months and somewhere in which to keep a few chickens (rehome some chickens from a battery farm and give them some liberty) and probably a couple of pigs and a milking cow and some goats.  Whether that will happen or not is another thing but is what I am aiming for.  A better quality of life all round.  We shall see what we shall see in any event.  Everything is in the melting pot and things will happen if they are going to happen in the best way for us as individuals not necessarily how we foresee they are going to happen.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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