TARRAGON & THYME

After coming home, I then went with OH to walk Missy for her evening exercise. It was bitterly cold and I lost the circulation in my fingers again. Fortunately the house is nice and warm and is toasty but it needed to be as I really had gone cold on the inside. On the way back we nipped to the shop as I was not sure what to do for tea.  We decided we were going to do a home made curry OH Butter Chicken and myself Jalfrezi.  Cheats version with premade sauces but it has still gone down extremely well served with plain yogurt and Naan bread.  Now completely stuffed. We have steak pie for tomorrow evening and OH will be having cherry pie for pudding and myself treacle pudding both of them served with custard. I was a bit down after not being able to play yesterday with my crafting but I did not leave it there.  Last night instead of doing some more cross stitch on my UFO I set too and stripped another four men's shirts down ready for use in a patchwork qui...

Has been spent with my friend today. Instead of meeting in town for coffee and a piece of cake today she came and picked me up from home and then took me back to her home.  She lives just down the road from where my mum used to live and where I grew up.  I had lunch and a piece of cake and then we hit the local antiques centre for a browse.  We had a lovely time looking at all the different stores within the centre.  She likes going to auctions and also to vintage shops herself.  What I have been aspiring to and what she has been doing are very much the same thing except she has been collecting the individual furniture pieces over the years whereas I do not have the room to do that at the moment. However I have been collecting the smaller things.   We were both bouncing off each other and really had a good time. Although I did not buy anything today at the antiques centre I did see several pieces which I was quite interested in, including a brass oil l...

Things did not go to plan and no sewing or crafting took place.  Nor did the paperwork get sorted yesterday as the keyboard packed up on the computer.  I have been out and bought another keypad this evening.   So back to the drawing board and I hope to get to the crafting later on in the week.  Will see how things go otherwise it will be next Tuesday again. However as I did not get to cut my patchwork pieces for the Dresden plate quilt either that will give me time to cut them out.  It will also give me time to cut the backing for the bunting as well. Its been very cold here today and has been wet this evening I think occasionally with sleet interlaced with the rain.  I think as a result it will be particularly nasty in the morning.   Fortunately the house is nice and warm at the moment which is the main thing and the animals have somewhere warmish to cuddle up as well. Catch you all sometime during tomorrow. Keep safe wherever...

My mother always used to say that the crowning glory to any good meal was the gravy.  It would either make or break a dish.  I agree with her entirely on this point, but sometimes getting the gravy right can be a headache in itself.  After all at the end of the day we are only human.  Sometimes we have really good days and another things can be really off.  I tend to be one of these people that if I am not firing on all pistons or cylinders that it tends to come out in my cooking! I was taught to make gravy the old fashioned way, with the veggie juices, and meat juices if doing a roast or a cut of meat, plenty of white pepper, some Burdall's Gravy browning (now not available but the one I tried recently is very good although you do not need much as it is very salty) a little cranberry or redcurrant jelly (I prefer redcurrant by choice), some Marigold flavouring, available from good supermarkets and Holland and Barratt, some Herbs de Provence or more particu...

  I am on a timetable today and hence an early start and need to get the following achieved: Extensive paperwork. Apply for some jobs, which entails preparing a brand new CV and writing letters.  There are three or four I am interested in and if I don't try I will not know.  However I hate the processes involved in the same as I never come over at my best.  I always find I kind of intimidating. I need to tidy out the Craft Room/Computer room in readiness for my play day on Tuesday and get the relevant supplies in place and to hand.  So quite a bit of sorting out to do. Get dishwasher on. Get washer and dryer on. Am out in the evening for a meeting. Need to prepare a meal for OH for when he comes in from work. Some patchwork needs cutting for completing on Tuesday.  Will probably do this later when I get in. Some more on the needlepoint cross stitch UFO. So quite a bit to do. Hopefully will get a clear run. Catch...

I have been on the internet most of the afternoon doing some more research for future projects and also different ways of doing things.  I have been on both You Tube watching tutorials and also on Pinterest saving items and recipes for future use.  Bit of dreaming going on here in the process but it has taken me out of myself and been giving me ideas for doing future things. It has been very cold here today.  We have had the heating on and the house is reasonably warm although it could be warmer.  The back bedroom is cold inbetween the main bedroom and the computer room.  I put this down to the fact that the building is an L shape here and the wind blows straight into the L shape and thus makes that bedroom wall really cold.  Fortunately I have a pair of thick velvet curtains up at the windows but it only stops a little of it. We have roast chicken for tea.  Just served plainly with steamed vegetables.  We have mashed potatoes, carrots, s...

Mother nature is dusting out the cobwebs and it is grey and overcast.  I did not do very much yesterday and not much is planned for today apart from some pottering in the kitchen which is more than a necessity.   We did not go shopping in the freezer yesterday.  I bought a couple of fresh chickens instead.  One we had last night and the other I intend to cook for tea with some simple veggies for later on.  If there are any scraps left over then I will probably make some Coronation chicken for OH's pack up and the rest of the scraps will go to the fur babies as a treat. Equally it could also go into a home made curry, or a chicken mould or even into some small pies. Then I will put the slow cooker on for chicken stock from the bones. I have been using it a lot in soups, stews and also in gravies just recently.  Getting the most from what I am buying and all the goodness within it. I have been enjoying getting back into my cooking just recently....

Just a little look at how the UFO is turning into a WIP and how far I have managed to get to date. After the pink flower to the left and a little of the pink flower to the right are worked that will be exactly half of the cross stitch needlepoint worked.  When I started working it there had only been a couple of rows worked and I had to pull some of those down.  So it is gradually coming along.  That is three nights on the trot have managed to do some work.  Have put in about 12 hours work so far.  These projects are time consuming but they do give you something different for your home.  I have some Sanderson's Peony fabric which I shall back this panel up with once completely worked.  Has all the right colours in. Catch up a little later. Pattypan x

This week has gone quickly and it seems as if I have hardly had time to blink and whoosh everything has gone - in the words of the comic Tommy Cooper "Just like that"! I met a friend for lunch today and we put the world to rights as we always do.  It is lovely we can just be ourselves with each other and there is no judgment or criticism just pleasure at being in each other's company and we help each other fight our own individual problems and are supportive of each other. I then after meeting my friend went and did a little shopping, stocked up on milk, baked beans, stain remover, nothing really exciting all having a practical purpose and need and I also bought some beef and red wine pasta which I have had for tea with some tomato sauce.  It was comforting and filling and has gone down very nicely. Last night I managed to have another go at my UFO cross stitched needlepoint and managed another good couple of hours of work on it.  It is slow going but it is g...

Thank you for all your lovely comments and support yesterday.  It was not a good day, but at least I partially faced up to some problems and there are now a few things in place to move forward.  I have been in a better place today as a result.  Sometimes I worry about things I have no control over  - not that I am a control freak its just I like to be as prepared as I can and when I don't feel up to dealing with things I just lose the plot.  I have had to point out to OH that just because he thinks I am capable of doing this and that in reality I may not be able to deliver and therefore his expectation puts extra pressure on me which I do not need.  I think I have got through on this point at long last. I can deal with a lot of what is thrown at me, but sometimes, just sometimes it is too much!  Yesterday was such a day. It has been another busy day today and I am now absolutely shattered.  I had planned to meet with a friend and then had to ...

Angela as requested and as promised, I have looked out the recipe for this very useful sauce for the pantry shelf.  I have had trouble laying my hands on the relevant book due to all the upheaval in the front room but now here is the recipe that I have used and like and which is very useful.  It is a recipe by Thane Prince from her cookbook Jams and Chutneys ISBN: 978-1-4053-2954-5 published by Dorling Kindersley.  It is a favourite of mine and has lots of lovely recipes.  A book that is in continual use.   The only thing I do is after the preserve is made for the purpose of longer keeping I water bottle sterilise the jars to extract any air bring up to temperature and then process for about 15 minutes then leave to cool.  Technically there may not be a need for this but I am happier preparing long term preserves this way on and then after they are opened I keep any residue (if any left over in the fridge). Like when bottling fruit the lid should h...

Well it has been one of those days literally and no play day as a result. For some three weeks or so my phone has been missing.  Not quite sure where it is so feeling a little out of it as a result. Just have not got a clue where it is. Today started at 11:00am with someone waking me up hammering on the door.  I was disorientated and as at the moment we do not use the front door.  I was also naked, and not able to find my keys.  Why is it when people knock on doors that they  can expect an immediate response or is it just me.  It takes an age to try and get dressed and to get through the house  and  by the time I had found keys and put on a dressing gown all had gone calm.  So I went about my business and curled up and fell back asleep not ideal but how I have been recently. I have not had a play day as a result not firing on all pistons.completely out of sync.  Not a good day in one sense. Did not stop there as I was about ...

Has been a long and quiet day.  Very cold and I was decidedly below par, I think due to the Raynaud's attack I had yesterday, my hands have hurt quite badly today and have felt bruised on the inside.  As a result today has been spent watching some You Tube videos on how to make various things,  research for future projects.  We have both been covered over with a throw with Missy snuggled up underneath it as well. I had planned on having a repeat performance of yesterday's dinner tonight but OH requested that we have tomatoes and sausage.  As I had said items that were easily to hand and that is what we had. It is not a complex meal.  What I call soul food, comfort food - one of my mum's repertoire.  Basically it consists of a couple of tins of plum Italian tomatoes that are not chopped (although you can use them) I prefer to use the whole tomatoes as the colour is better and I think the flavour.  Mum always used to do with good quality sa...

After  my coffee break earlier on I then set too and cooked our Sunday lunch.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Everything was tasty. It consisted of a small piece of Topside, roasted over chopped raw onion.  I served with it Broccoli and Cauliflower cheese, French beans, shredded cabbage, mashed potatoes, carrots with lashings of gravy and half a pie dish each Yorkshire Pudding.  It was delicious.  It is very unusual for me to enjoy my own cooking but today I did. I have made a few subtle changes to some of the things I cook over the past week or so more in experimentation than anything else but it seems to have worked.  I shall write more about that in a separate post. After we had finished our roast, we then watched the Treasure of the Knights Templar on Blaze which was on at 9pm.  I think like a lot of the programmes they sensationalise them but this particular programme is interesting as they are backing up and exploring links and marrying ...

Here today in Peterborough and I have not stopped to draw breath until now since getting up. OH decided he was getting up early to try and tackle the back herb garden a little.  The bay tree had got out of hand and needed chopping down a bit and tidying up.  Also sorted some of the pots and rubbish but need to get back in there during the day (hopefully a warmer one) as it was absolutely bitter outside to try and get it a little more streamlined and under control again. I hope we have a warmer day soon as I want to grow a lot of seeds this year and do the Potager proper. In any event branches from the bay tree needed chopping up to get them in bin liners in readiness to take to the tip.  So I set too and started that and had to come in, in absolute agony. I had a very bad and painful Raynaud's attack whilst chopping up the bay and got really cold even though I was wearing thick gloves and had to come in, warm up and take some pain killers.  I then got wrappe...