TARRAGON & THYME

Hot Cross Buns, Hot Cross Buns, One a penny, two a penny Hot Cross Buns Give them to your daughters Give them to your sons One a penny, two a penny Hot Cross Buns I have some Hot Cross buns on the go as we speak, from scratch made by my own fair hand - we shall see how they come out. I am otherwise all prepared for Easter.. No meat at all today.  We have fish for our main meal.  I have a bit of smoked haddock OH has a piece of Cod and mine will be cooked in milk with and then served with a poached egg and OH will have his gently doused in flour and fried served with a bit of bread and butter that should do  very nicely. For Easter Sunday we have a leg of lamb which will be served with veggies although it will be cooked with garlic and fresh Rosemary. Are you all prepared to celebrate Easter in your own particular way. Catch you soon. Pattypan x

I have always had a penchant for pretty expensive things probably spurred on by the fact that my Nan had a tiny pretty china cabinet where she kept all her best bits of glass and china things that she did not want children to touch.  My Aunty was the same and so going frequently between the two households and the fact that my mum had a few nice bits and bobs as well it was something I was brought up to.  Something I have carried on over the years.  In particular I love Roses I always have done so particularly the old fashioned roses that my grandparents used to grow in their garden.  Roses with lots of scent and I suppose indirectly my love of Roses has "coloured" my choice of soft furnishings and things like that.  So every so often I treat myself to a bit of something to either go with something I already have or to start a new collection entirely and my latest collection is a high tea table set.  It is how I spend my pocket money apart from on my cr...

I am trying to be good that is for me.  I am technically an owl who gets up when everyone is going to bed and I start doing things at odd times just getting stuck into things at will. However increasingly with working full time I am finding that every couple of days or so I need to be in bed that little bit earlier in order to let my body have a chance to rest and catch up.  To tell the truth I have not been firing on all cylinders since the flu I had at Christmas and I think I am in the throes of starting another cold - I hope not  - also another reason for going to bed earlier for me.  T he other reason of course is that I wanted to finish my book - but now I feel bereft until I get stuck into the next one.  That aside the other reason is that I do want to take things in hand is that with these flare ups on the health front that I am starting to feel like a little old lady (no offence to little old ladies - and perhaps not a good comparison) - I am no...

Very busy day at work again today - been a long day as I did not sleep too well last night as a result of the change in the clocks.  Am always the same when they mess around with things.  However was pleased to see the sunshine this morning and come home in a light evening.  Its been a tad colder this afternoon I was hoping not to have the heating on but have popped it on as I have become a tad chilly whilst pottering in the kitchen this evening despite moving about.  So on it has gone. I had a very enjoyable lunch out with my work friend today it will probably be the last time we will meet for a fortnight because of Easter. We both ended up having scampi and sweet potato fries.  Went down very well so much so I was not hungry when I got in.  However OH was so I cooked him some butter chicken which he seems to have demolished all on his own. Last instalment of my book this evening when I go to bed only a few pages to go and then I shall hunt out th...

I have been researching making my own dried pantry mixes for my pantry shelf to make up in bulk and then use as I need them. I am very much an ingredients person in any event but I am aware that a little bit of extra stuff here or there is added in on a lot of pre-prepared products that are not necessarily required by the manufacturers/producers - not everyone but certain ones.   I am thinking about fillers and/or extra sugar in products that really do not need to be there. Because I like to know what goes into my food because of the different health considerations of OH and myself and because I like to keep an eye on how much I was spending I decided that I would try some mixes out for myself and see whether or not that they have a place on my pantry shelf.   Because I work full time in any event I was also looking for a simpler method in which to organise stuff so that I did not have to mess around during the week.  That is why the home made pantry mixes appeal...

Courtesy of moving the clocks forward.  Pleased for the lighter nights and more opportunities to be in the light -  will help with my Vitamin D Levels.  The new Vitamin D pills seem to be working that much better thank goodness. I am always the same in the first week to ten days when the clocks "Spring forward" until my body clock adjusts. When its darker I tend not to get stuck into projects basically because I cannot see what I am doing.  Now to make the most of the lighter nights and step things up a gear.  Thus far I feel very much that I have not managed to accomplish what I had intended to for one reason or another so I really need to get a wriggle on as I am really behind.  Need some concerted concentrated effort to go in.  The Spring cleaning also needs doing.  I need to get a lot more organised especially on the food front but it will get sorted eventually.  Now is the rundown of the freezers in time for re-stocking with fresh i...

Well I have come up for air and decided to be a little bit sociable - have to show willing.  I am still not through my book but boy am I enjoying it.  I really love the way that she manages to weave fact and fiction together to keep the reader in the palm of her hand.  I have also read Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel is the final book in the trilogy. I am about three quarters of the way through Citadel.  A lot of the facts are historically correct in it and were qualified by a programme I saw purely by chance on the War in France and in Europe which really helped to put things in perspective for me and also being relevant to the book I am reading.  It more than qualified it.  What are the chances of that happening under normal circumstances.  I could have quite happily carried on reading but felt I had to come up for air for a while and then go back to it later on although my natural inclination is to carry on reading. The sun has also risen today ...

With OH that is as I have had the temerity to read all day.  The new Kate Mosse book I referred to earlier in the week called Citadel.  I am only half way through it and I am enjoying it very much  OH hates it when I read as I become anti social and totally absorbed.  He will just have to get used to it.  I am not giving up my reading at any cost. Its been a wet orrible day here in any event so I think I made the right choice to read especially with me being so stiff as well.  Sometimes you just have to do what you've got to do. Catch you soon. Pattypan x

So sorry after all the posts from the last few days but I seem to have run out of steam this evening and am absolutely shattered.  OH has not been too well with his Bipolar condition (formerly called manic depression) and it was work related issues which spun him off course.  Consequently a lot of  my attention has been geared towards him for the past fortnight trying to be supportive and drag him out of the depths of depression.  He is starting to come out of it but it is leaving me more than a little shattered from all the emotional support and input I have been having to do as well as work and try and keep things ticking over at home. He was in a right state initially and I was seriously concerned at the way he was presenting. Hopefully he will get resolution all the way round next week when he goes back to work.  His HR Section are well aware of the issues involved and of the person who caused the issues in the first place. He has been off work for a fo...

Last year I bought several new bits and pieces for decorating the Easter table.  I have added a few more bits this year.  So far just actual decorations rather than mugs, egg cups etc. but I think some pretty pieces all the same.  I have in mind to make some bunting as well but am not sure whether will get enough time to actually set to and do it. I have the bunting pieces cut out just need to organise the backing. Would be brilliant if I could otherwise might have to make it after Easter and put it up in readiness for next year and I really want to pretty things up. Anyway here are the few bits and bobs I have added so far.  Nothing fancy just a few bits. Some faux eggs and little birds on nests Some felt baskets for presenting eggs in on the table inn two different sizes two of each. The last is a little carrier which is ideal for putting some eggs into although I also think they would be ideal for organising sauces and the like ...

Just a few of the kits accumulated for when and if I ever retire if not before. Maggie Gee's Hedgerow Honeysuckle (although it has dog rose in it too) Rowandean  Vintage Transport tram Dream cottage Country Diary picture frame kits Watercolour still life of a bowl of flowers (this is a Chinese kit so I think will be interesting although the canvas is printed in colours. All our Yesterdays Ladies Bathing Huts Wildflowers Cottage garden flowers Winter Trellis Cushion Kit by Design Perfection Another Rowandean kit And another one An Afternoon stroll  A part finished tablecloth with Morning Glory on it.  It is terribly pretty. Country Diary Poppy Spray

For many years I have collected in particular the Leisure Arts cross stitch charts and at one time their monthly magazines.  Then my source dried up in this country and for many years I did not see them.  However just recently I have been finding the odd charts to add to my collection (which is quite extensive in any event) on Ebay.  I have not paid very much for them.  You do have to be careful though as I have found a couple of people generating computer charts on A4 paper, nicely presented but you cannot read the charts.  On one in particular I thought it was an original chart so you do really have to be careful and read the small print. Anyway here are a few of the new to me charts: I have a thing about Angels.  The one below is a Leisure Arts Chart the ones below that are Lavender and Lace charts.   I could not resist this one it is really pretty and like the others will take some working but I want to get really organised...

Which arrived.  Not ostentatious just a small plain recycled ice cream tub but a veritable Pandoras box with some surprises in it. I had placed a bid on ebay for a mixed batch of embroidery threads which I won. That little ice cream box gave me so much pleasure when I opened it up as not only were there a whole host of threads there was a little embroidery hoop as well.   It was with the same satisfaction that I used to browse my aunty's button box that I gently went through this inconspicuous little gem. The contents it was clear had belonged to someone who loved embroidery as not only were there the threads and the hoop there were a couple of prepared linen pieces with transfers already on with the vintage pattern and instructions for making embroidered cutwork mats. This is what I saw when I took off the lid. When I unfolded the paperwork this is what I found. It is really pretty.  I have been interested in cut work for a long t...