Trying to Fix the Kitchen

It has been a wet and horrible cold day here in Peterborough.  Work is still progressing in the kitchen.  I have been washing and drying stuff most of the afternoon.  It is cold in there and so I have escaped upstairs for a little heat before going back down again. I am bundled up in a thick jumper with a fleece on top.  My hands have been intermittently going blue as being in and out of water albeit with Marigolds on. 

I am at long last making progress I am glad to say but am going back down after I have had my tea.  Canned tomato soup tonight just something quick. warm and fill me up.  Then I will start another charge at getting the kitchen fixed and sorted.  The window will be washed out later on and new nets will be hung up once OH has cut me a new net wire.  Tomorrow with a bit of luck the old dishwasher will be out and the new one in. Then the work will really start for OH.

We have the collection people coming on Wednesday to collect three freezers that do not work and the old dishwasher so they will need to go in the front garden.  Fortunately we have a dolly for lugging the equipment about.  Before we do that though there is going to be at least a couple of tip runs to empty the front garden, plus there is a load of rubbish in the back garden all bagged up that needs to go to the tip as well.  So there has been an awful lot of work going on in the background as well.  I just hope the weather is a little warmer tomorrow which would help enormously.  If it is a better day weather wise I may be able to get into the garden and get the rubbish from there into the front garden so that OH can get this expedited to the tip.  He can get on with this whilst I am doing other stuff.

Every so often the supervisor Mischief has ben putting in an appearance and wanting a cuddle.  Both the cats seem to want more and more cuddles these days since we left them in the Cattery and they are being a lot more relaxed about the cuddles that we are giving.

Inbetween everything else, I am still managing to do some other bits and bobs.  My Mincemeat is on the draining board in the Rumtopf and I have added mixed peel, glace cherries and candied ginger to the mix. The mixture is starting to release its juices and is very moist. I shall add a dash of alcohol as well at this point. The butter will go into coat the contents before I bottle it up and then I shall melt it to do that. That will be at the beginning of December.

Another load of cucumber has also been prepped for pickling.  The Sourdough starters have been commenced x 3 and also the Ginger Beer Plants have been started.  I also have Apple Pop on the go.  It is a long while since I made this.  Will post up the recipe once I am happy with how things are progressing.  Possibly next Friday.

Tomorrow I have pickled red cabbage to sort out.  I will also need to go to the veg shop tomorrow to top up on ingredients especially veggies for Sunday dinner but I do want other veggies for other projects  I have on the go.  I need to see what they have first though..

I have Cranberry and Apple jelly to make as well as Chilli jelly and Rosemary and Apple Jelly.  So even if I do not get everything done tomorrow I am going to have quite a few projects going forward.  I also want to play with my ginger ice cream sauce recipe.  There is also a fresh batch of wholegrain mustard to make.  Some of the projects take two days or more to achieve which includes preparation but that is all part and parcel of the process. So it does involve flitting backwards and forwards a bit.

I am also hoping in the next few days to get some old fashioned spiced pomanders on the go as well as orange and lemon slices for adding to garlands and the tree.  I am also considering some edible garlands at this point in time thinking of dried cranberries and popcorn for the Christmas tree.  That might come to nothing but we will see.  My Bay Tree needs a haircut as well but I am trying to leave that a couple of more weeks so that I can use the greenery in decorating.  I have holly in the front garden with plenty of berries on.

Once the dishwasher is in I can start emptying under the stairs cupboard which has a lot of jars in there which need cleaning. Once they are all done I can then paint this out and freshen the shelves up with some vinyl to make it clean and tidy and ready for storing stuff again.  I intend to do a lot more next year on the preserving front than I have done this year, but that is a subject for future posts.  The dishwasher is well covered and packed up.

Once under the stairs is sorted I can then do the same for the fireside cupboard.  There are a lot of bottles and jars in there that need washing and recycling too.  Then I may be able to get organised a bit and get some breakable stuff in there and out of the way.  So a lot to do as usual. I can always find something else or a project to do. I am thinking primarily of some wine for the first few months of the year to build up my home cellar again.

I do not think the dining room is going to be decorated for Christmas but it may well be an early project for the New Year. Will have to see how things go. I have never wallpapered before so it is going to be a learning curve.  A skill I want to learn.

For the past couple of days I have not been able to craft.  I am hoping to sit down tomorrow night and trace the rest of my cushion template and then transfer it onto the Calico fabric which I have washed and pressed.  I have not managed to touch the crochet for a couple of days either, but will get there eventually.  I am eager to get started on this as quickly as I can.

So as usual there is lots to do.  Hard honest work that needs doing irrespective.

Once I am out of the kitchen OH can then go in and do what he needs to but I am going to sort the kitchen cupboards out before he goes in to make life a bit easier in the long run.  I also need to paint the kitchen ceiling before he goes in as there is a lot of stuff that is stored in tubs on top of the kitchen units.

We are going to the fish man tomorrow and will no doubt call at Harvest Barn on the way home as well as the bakery.  Will see what tomorrow holds.

Right am going to sit down.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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