TARRAGON & THYME

What a glorious sunny day today has been it has been lovely to see the Sun out for the best part of the day as well. Today has been busy in that we paid a visit to the Butcher. Have come away with a nice selection of goodies for eating at some point in the week/into next week.  I am not one really to have a set day for this or that although I do take longevity into account.  Sometimes if I plan things by the time it comes to eat we don't want it and tend to put off to another day.  So I have started to do an outline shop of things on the meat front.  Needless to say that we do not necessarily have meat everyday.  I do things in between sometimes scratch meals, sometimes lighter meals. Today I have come away with the following in no particular order; Rolled Shoulder of Pork joint. This is destined for today's Sunday dinner (we have this at night so we get more time in the day to do things).  Has been padded out with finely shredded Hispi Cabbage which has be...

I have picked up a project that I had done the rib on this evening, A UFO I found lurking in the front room which as a kit picked up from Aldi a while back.  As I was sat down to watch a film in any event, and cannot sit without having something going on in my hands,  I have been knitting, listening and watching TV. I have managed to knit the back of the sock, including managing the cable pattern and managing the cable needle.  The heel shaping has been worked and I have been able to follow the pattern relatively well.  I now have to knit the foot itself and do the toe shaping.  Need to do some measuring first to accomplish that little technicality. I am quite chuffed with myself as I have got stuck in and tackled the pattern.  I have only followed the cable pattern once before and that is on a pair of mittens, and I went wrong.  That is also in the UFO box.  The jumper, and the blanket are not yet finished.  I would say though that the blank...

 A bright sunny day, one to lift the spirits although cold.  The promise of better weather and lightness to come and spring starting to unfurl her crumpled wings. Just the sun has made me feel loads better, although I love the winter months per se and staying close to the house and my self-made cocoon I do miss the light.  This is something that I have developed as I have got older, not to the extent that it really rattles me but it does have its own effect. So my heart was gladdened and I felt "lighter" than I have for many a day.  The wet, cold and damp has not helped my joints and my movements.  I am not old and still have an awful lot of living to do.  I hate being pinned in.  Too much of  a free spirit me thinks. I have started to sort the lounge a little bit, or should I say the things that are in the lounge.  I am decluttering and getting rid of bits that I no longer need or require and sorting through old paperwork and only keeping th...

Due to lack of space in the pantry, I keep quite a few items on my dresser shelves in the dining room.  There is quite an eclectic collection of items which I use on a regular basis which perhaps not a lot of other people do, however what we keep in our personal pantry's very much comes down to what you like and what you actually eat.  Some of these are bought and some are dried myself after all each person's Pantry shelf is very individual.  A lot of items I also use in crafting too so not strictly food related, but it is after all a central store for household needs.  That was the whole purpose of the Pantry in the first place a store house.  This particular post is a follow on to the first part of sorting out my Dresser shelves.   I do intend to update this post as I work along, as in a roundabout way it is going to be the basis for a Pantry storage list so that I can see what I need to use and what I need to buy in - which is the long term goal....

Tuesday Was a pottering kind of day.  Jiggered up in the afternoon by having to go to the hospital for pre-op tests height, weight, blood pressure, sugar levels and blood.  My veins do not like giving up much of the precious liquid - they shrink in fear and you never know which arm is going to  co-operate.  I always come out of any session bruised, as they always take at least three files of blood from me.  I am not keen at the best of times.  Have become not as scared during all the jabs have had to have because of the virus and in a roundabout way facing fears; but still do not like them.  All necessary procedures.  Just one more element to complete and that is the Covid testing next Tuesday, and then I have to isolate after that visit until the day of surgery which is 4 March. Planned as day surgery. I am apprehensive, but am resigned to the fact that it needs doing at the end of the day.  I am also extremely appreciative of the fact that ...

  Now prices are going up all over the place, I am being more selective in my shopping, not going without, but still making the most of what I do have available.  I needed to go out today as I needed some more Soap Powder.  I prefer Persil either ordinary or biological when I can get it.  Just recently I have been paying about £6.99 for a reasonably large box.  Today I went into Home Bargains and they did not have any. Plenty of Fabric conditioner but I Still have a lot of that left so no need for that today. Might have to go back for that another day. Whilst in there though, I did go and have a look around and ended up with large dishcloths a pack of five for £1.65, tin foil different sizes, a pancake pan, some Bamboo tooth brushes I thought that they were standard but they are child size.  So looks as though will have to go back and get the right size for those.  I also came away with a large tub of Oxi stain remover for £2.99. I also bought a couple...

What an awful weekend weather-wise.  We have chosen to stay in the house trying to keep warm.  Trouble is with an old house when the wind blows, it chills the air that little bit more, but there we are.  We have Gas central heating, but I wish I had a Woodburner range cooker and at least a couple of fires. At least here we have not had take off with the fitted carpet!  It is very disconcerting when your carpet "flys".  Extra jumper on, heating on, but not to a silly point.  We have chosen to keep a couple of rooms warmer by keeping doors closed etc. I had to top up with new potatoes and onions yesterday in any event.  The shop where I get a net of onions from for £2 and they are large onions, is the Asian supply store.  It has lots of interesting things in and they sell dried whole Rosebuds and Lavender and Chamomile and Hibiscus which are ideal for teas but also home made toiletries and bath products.  Also lots of different spices and flavo...

Talking about the storm.  Fortunately we have not suffered as badly as the rest of the country. and thus far we have not been without power.  For those of you who have been without I hope that you are quickly connected again.  I just hope everyone is safe and sound. It has been bad enough though.  Will find out tomorrow if we have any fence left.  We have not ventured out all day and kept to the warmth of the house.  It has therefore necessarily been a quiet day here.  Not much done but a quiet day all the same. It is a cold night here - the wind to me nearly always feels cold these days.  Will chuck another blanket on tonight even though the heating is on. Here is hoping that tomorrow is a better day for everyone. Take care, tomorrow is another day. Catch you soon. Pattypan x

I have had the oven on this evening to cook the Sourdough bread.   Halfway through cooking tea - steak and chips, I Suddenly decided that I was going to make some cheese scones for OH and some richly fruited scones for myself.  Tea was then slightly delayed until all were cooked. I had only got as far as frying the onions in any event. In any event it has been a while since I made any scones and I was craving them, just for a bit of supper later in the evening, could be served with a bit of cheese and an apple or grapes.  I was extremely pleased with the way that they came up as the photos below will show. After they were made I set too and prepared and made the richly fruited Scones; I used Raisins and Sultanas.  I made a double batch of each set of scones.  These have also come up fairly nicely. Later on, and whilst I was getting the oven ready for cooking the sourdough I remembered that I had some pastry in the fridge that needed using up.  So out t...

 .....you will be glad to hear I have had a "Do nothing Day" and I have enjoyed every single moment of it.   It started in with a generous lay in.  We woke when we woke after being absolutely shattered. I will quite readily admit that I do not always make things easy for myself, but there is a method in the madness somewhere down the line. I also enjoy cooking and like feeding people including ourselves.  One of the most substantial ways of grounding yourself down is to eat, especially when your body and your soul is weary.  I find that to have a good grounding meal always lifts the mood, and it is not necessarily down to a sugar rush as in general cooking I tend to use the minimum amount of sugar so that OH can indulge on certain things.  Not everything, there are some things that I make that he cannot have. I had thought that OH would have bacon and eggs for breakfast this morning, but he decided on fried eggs, with bread and butter so I thought he w...