Still finding items

 Last night whilst sorting through the dining room as you do when you just cannot settle, I came across two different carrier bags.  Not sure what they were I decided to look and it would appear that I have found my missing sugar - all 7kgs of it.  I knew I had more as it is one of those things I do tend to buy when I have a few pennies spare. Now that is timely, as I have some Lemon Marmalade and Seville Orange Marmalade to make.  Have more than enough to do this now and I have jars as I found a load of those on Friday in any event.  So one happy bunny.  I will be able to get on with this during the week.  Possibly one project a day in order that I can keep my kitchen reasonably tidy.  I also hope to get some frozen Strawberries and turn them into some Strawberry jam as I have run out of last year's efforts.

I am going to need more sugar though as I also have some wine that I want to make as well as the marmalades and jam.  There are always other plans in the background just waiting for their chance to surface.

I also am going to look to see if they have any reduced lemons at the veg shop.  If they have to start with I am going to make a few jars of fermented honey and lemon also for the Pantry shelf.  It can be used as a drink and also in cooking and I need things on the Pantry shelf that I can use.  Fortunately I did find a load of honey on the Pantry shelf when I was clearing it out.  That is also an ideal use of a Pantry staple without expending much money to do so.  It looks as though by the end of the week there could be another episode of "Kitchen Capers"!

I have also found another crate of items. Plus another small preserves box.  I shall never go to heaven!  Not sure what is in this but it looks as though it is my dried fruit items.  Potentially therefore I have a lot more items for the Pantry shelf.  This is going to take some juggling.  Need to get into that Pantry again to re-sort it yet again.  Maybe Tuesday will be able to do that bearing in mind what I have to do this week.  As I have said once the Pantry is under control this will sort out a lot of space in the dining room.  However further space will be created once the Fireside cupboard and the under-stair cupboard are stripped out, washed, painted and then re-filled. I currently have tubs with items in to go there. Picking off segments of the room in order to create space elsewhere.  Nothing is ever straightforward here, but I am determined to get it sorted out in an effort to move forward and get better organised.  Needless to say I am de-cluttering during this process as well.  There will be some bags going to the Charity shop during the week.

I have a lot of old vintage vases a couple of special ones which have ended up being broken which I am quite sad about.  However, the plan is that the Fireside cupboard top shelf will be used for storing these.  I have some charming ones which have been inherited; a couple of lovely ones from my Nan.  I also love my flowers possibly because my Nan always had them in the house (grew her own and kept the local Church supplied). Nan was one of the flower arrangers for the local Church. I have also collected the odd one or two vases from the Charity shop. My Nan had a stunning collection a lot of them went to other members of the family.  Not sure whether they are still in existence.

The second shelf down in the Fireside cupboard I plan to put a lot of my "canned"/Bottled as we English say preserves as I need an extra shelf or two.  The rest of the shelves will get filled as I go along.  However I may set about the cupboard tomorrow at some point to allow the paint to dry.  Then I will be able to get items sorted and out of the way.  I am only keeping those items I really like on the vase front.

Once the crates are emptied out that is also two crates for packing other stuff up in, namely a batch of linens I have.  That is therefore a super positive as far as I am concerned. I currently have a pile of linen that needs washing.  That will be sorted during the week though.  Will then be able to get it washed, ironed and aired and then put away.  That will be progress.

In any event G has started painting in the kitchen.  He has started with a first coat of paint in the little porch back door entrance.  My Pantry door faces the back door so it is only a very tiny area.  Hopefully during the week he will get to the main part of the kitchen.  It is only white paint, but it should brighten things up a bit and make everything look a lot cleaner which is the aim of the whole operation.  It has made things look so much better and he has gone in for the second coat this  morning on the little entrance porch.  No doubt in due course he will work his way around the room.

Kitchen curtains were found last week and washed and dried. They are a second-hand pair that I bought from the Charity shop a couple of years ago.  I think I only paid about £10 for them.  They are predominantly white, but have flashes of yellow, blue and grey in them.  They are all ready for hanging.  G will need to put up a curtain rail for me and will need to get some hooks.  I also need to make a pelmet out of some yellow Gingham I have which is the same colour as in the curtains and also locate an old blind I have, which I want to re-vamp this with some yellow gingham if I possibly can.  Using what I have available to me, without costing an arm and a leg.  That is the plan in any event.  I have some Navy fleece to make a new curtain for the back door.  When I am up to it I tend to multi-task an awful lot.

As I have mentioned recently, the fatigue seems to be at bay at the moment.  Whilst things are like this I feel a lot better in myself and have a lot more energy.  I drink a lot of tea with an occasional coffee thrown in.  However last year I fermented a load of honey and lemon for drinks and use in hot toddies etc.  I am quite taken with this and it makes the most beautiful first drink of the day.  Very soothing on the throat and light.  At the moment therefore I am choosing to have a hot lemon and honey drink first thing to get me going before I finally succumb to the first cup of tea.  Things are going well at the moment.

We have some nice roast Gammon for tea tonight.  Followed by some Angel Delight and Strawberries for pudding.

Have a lovely one.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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