TARRAGON & THYME

 .....? Or am I the oddity. As I have been entertained for the past few days in starting to sort out the bedroom, I have been immersed in lots of washing for the past few days.  I had been unable (for quite some time to reach my closet (which used to be the Airing Cupboard) and bring out all my clothes from said closet.  They were a bit dusty.  I was sneezing profusely and so I took the decision to wash the lot. There are a lot of clothes concerned, and this is only one part of my clothing.  I used to have two wardrobes, one for working and one for wearing personally, and a lot of the clothes I have had for many years. Working in a professional practice we always had to look neat and smart at all times. If you look after your clothes you can achieve keeping them for a long time.  I have also scrubbed the closet out within an inch of its life and I am starting to organise it somewhat so that it is like a mini dressing room for me (not that there is much spac...

For the past few days I have been esconsed in the front bedroom trying to sort it out as it has been used as a bit of a dumping ground recently and therefore long overdue a shake up.  Bearing in mind my intention for an early spring clean before we start going off on our travels again, now is the time to "strike whilst the iron is hot". I have therefore worked my way through to the cupboard in the bedroom which was originally the airing cupboard, but since the new boiler has now been sited upstairs in the smallest room and we no longer have a copper hot water tank, the airing cupboard has had a couple of clothes rails added in for storing shirts, blouses, jumpers that sort of thing and turned into a small closet wardrobe. As it has been a little while since I was able to gain access I  have thoroughly scrubbed the cupboard out, and I have washed all the clothes that were in there as well, to make sure that there is no dust and that everything is presentable for wearing again....

My Pantry storage under normal circumstances consists of my fridges, freezers, my actual Dry Pantry and under the stairs, and formerly the shed.  However the latter two I am careful what I store in there.  I also have one of my Dressers which I use to keep a lot of my ground glass storage jars (vintage ones).   My Dry Pantry holds my large old Roses and Quality Street sweetie jars for more bulk storage. I buy both sets of jars when I can locate them.  They do seem to attract a premium though.  I also have enamel ware tins for storage of small cakes, a large cake platter, bread bins, and my old sweetie tins from Heroes, Roses and Quality Street which are also used for baking - normally the Christmas cake or fruit loaves. You do not need a pantry for food storage, however it does help.  Mine is far too small for my needs but you have to make the best of what you have and I am lucky to have one. You can literally use whatever is available to you like a sm...

I apologise in advance to those of you who are not into crafts of any sort, for a double dose of crafting posts today.  Hopefully will be back to "normal" soon.  Too many other things going on in the background. It has been a really busy week here; working in the kitchen, trying to get the cupboards filled with essential equipment and sorting out the other items to be stored in the under-stairs cupboard, which have since started to do but is still work in progress. As a result I have only managed to get to do some knitting twice this week.  However the jumper is growing I am now on the front and nearly to the point where I start the arm hole shaping. (not the first picture this was just after I had started the front of the jumper).  So not doing too badly considering. However, I am itching to get stuck in again.  It seems to help my hands a lot. Maybe this week I will fare a little better than I have thus far this week.  However in fairness there has been a...

Due to where some of my crafting items have been stored for sometime, some of the materials have become a little grubby.  I recently located some more wool for some ongoing projects and so in the first instance I have bunged them in the washing machine and they have come up spotless.  The only trouble is that the wool de-skeins in the washing machine so it needs re-winding.  When I think of re-wnding I have fond memories of helping Mum out when it came to winding wool which was often sold in skeins when I was small and so I used to have to sit on a stool with arms apart with the wool stretched between the two and mum would wind the wool  up.  It didn't half hurt on the arms and the times my poor little arms sagged!  I tended to be used as I kept still much better and mum used to be able to get a wriggle on with the winding of the wool. This is the Cat's Cradle Spaghetti Junction of a mess I started off with. OH was a little gob-smacked that I stayed put for...

I know that I promised I would not start another project until I had some of the other projects out of the way, in any event, ran out of wool for my blanket.  As I  have not been able to get to my Aran wool stash, because it is not easily accessible at the moment, I have felt the need still to have a pick up and put down project on my needles in the interim so that I do not waste anytime.   Whilst looking for my Aran wool for the blanket, I found two lots of Aran Wool, 2 large balls of a lovely Lilac colour and two large balls of a Turquoise-Green.  I have therefore started on a jumper for myself using the Lilac.  I started it on Friday evening, and did a fair bit watching TV.   This is the jumper that I am having a go at.  It is a You Tube Tutorial. Knitted Jumper - Lilac I was then able to set too and do quite a bit last night. I am halfway through working the arm shaping, so not far from working the shoulders and the neckline.  I...

 It has been a sunny cold day and we woke up to a heavy hoar frost.  At 1pm the roofs on the houses where I live were still well rimed up with frost.  Nevertheless it has been lovely to see the sun even if only for a short while, but it always lends a different complexion to what is going on.  For me it is cheerful and represents warmth. It has been a pottering kind of day.  I am trying to use up stocks of stuff I have in house and where possible turn them into preserves for the pantry shelf.  Using the Clementines in this way adds something to the Pantry shelf, making the most of what I have, preparing for tomorrow and not wasting anything.  I am also using up what is actually in the fridge as well. We also popped up a scuttle full of Welsh Rarebit for OH to dip into as and when he wants.  This is a short term preserve that is kept in the fridge.  Usually will keep for just over a week (not that it ever lasts that long), but is easy enough f...

I have on and off over the years made these oranges for the pantry shelf.  They make a nice change on the winter tea table.  This year I did not manage to get any prepared, but as I am still able to get hold of small Clementines I am choosing to make some more to probably take me through to the autumn when the new stocks come in.  Also with fruit having gone up so much in recent months, if  you have any that need using up, it is a way of getting the most for your money and preparing for tomorrow without wasting anything. You can segregate the segments if you wish, but I tend to keep mine whole.  I had been laboriously peeling the Clementines by hand (which I think you need to do in any event).  Then I stumbled upon the Pectolase method and I must say that also helps.  I do wash the Clementines though after they have been standing in the Pectolase.  Links are below for the sake of completeness. (Pectolase is used in winemaking and usually Wilkos ha...

I nipped into Waitrose today, and found several bargains.  I tend to buy ingredients for the best part rather than the finished item.  Occasionally I try new things to see whether I like them and then go looking for a recipe or make one up myself. There were quite a few empty shelves, but that seems to be the case wherever you go at the moment.  There was this sign however from Waitrose apologising as the issue is down to countrywide issues. The first item on the list was a couple of Lamb Shanks, quite a fair size for £7 the two. These were in the freezer section. Then I found my Seville Oranges.  There was an offer on of three boxes for the price of two at £2.79 a box. 3kg in weight.  At the moment they appear to be cheaper than they were last year.  I like to have marmalade on the shelf and love it on toast for breakfast but there is so much more that you can do with it.  It can be used as the base for sauces, you can use it for glazing the Christmas...

Yes I know, far too early for some of you.  However, I am going to be getting things together all through this year of various elements and as I find them in readiness for Christmas.  Not just on the Christmas present front, but items for the home by way of decorations both bought and home made and vintage when I can afford or find them.  So occasionally through the year I will do a little catch-up of items I have managed to gather together in readiness for the same whether they be bought or made. I went to B & M yesterday and found a couple of reduced items.  these were a couple of artificial heart shaped wreath's that appear to have been about £6 each and which I managed to get for £2 apiece.  They have joined some of my other wreath and garland decorations and have been packed away for next year. By the time I hit B & M I was fairly loaded up and had not taken my trolley with me, so I was unable to bring back everything I saw, but I shall try and get ...

Has been another quietish day and I pootled into town as I needed a few bits and bobs for the house.  I hit B & M and saw all sorts of things that I needed for the pantry shelf at quite reasonable prices, but as I did not have the capacity to bring all that stuff home with me today, as I was on my own, I have decided to go back, probably with my bright and spotty purple shopping trolley (you cannot miss me) to carry as much as I can to a usual pick up spot so that I do not have to walk all the way home with it.  A lot of bargains in there at present, a lot of it very useful in providing a meal of sorts from a tin can store, dried items, sauces and condiments and basics like coffee, tea, baking bits and bobs and of course lots of practical items to help in the home. I did however, find two heart shaped Christmas Wreaths which had been reduced for £2 apiece (I think although maybe wrong that they were originally £6 apiece) and so they have come home with me in readiness for ...

It has been another cold day and I think is meant to be colder tonight.  Today I have not cooked but have been pottering doing housework, just little bits here and there, jobs that need to be sorted before I go headlong into a project.  All of it plays a miniscule part of the whole as they say and a necessary and useful part of the whole organisation. I have also started on the laundry pile and have got the washing machine and the tumble drier in full swing.  These cold days are not conducive to getting washing dried outside. Therefore to my mind the tumble drier is a necessary part of winter housekeeping.  If I only had a Rayburn or an Aga with a clothes airer over that would really help.  I only put full loads on in the tumble drier or sometimes hang stuff on coat hangers in the house to get it dried.  Fortunately my tumble drier is a more up to date one and has several eco features on it but even so I am careful how I use it.  One of the other reaso...

 We have had a couple of Trifles over the Christmas period and as I still have cream and sponge fingers left I thought that I would make yet another one.   There is one requirement in this household by OH that if I make a trifle that it has no alcohol in it.  I was always taught especially over the Christmas period to add a spot of sherry to the sponge or sponge fingers after they had been spread with Raspberry jam and then covered with a Raspberry jelly.  As I have neither Raspberry jam or Raspberry jelly at the moment I have gone to the pantry shelf to see what fruit I had and I came away with a tin of Strawberries and a tin of Pears and a Strawberry jelly.  Its amazing what I find on my pantry shelves, dig a little bit and it really does throw up some different bits and bobs all carefully squirrelled away at different times of the year. I layered the sponge in the bottom of the dish, and then added pears and strawberries.  I had retained the juice f...