Yesterday, Today and Coffee

Sunday 

.........when I was that little bit younger things got very uncomfortable.  I was in a lot of discomfort from the fall the other day.  I believe the bruising was starting to come out.  Pain killers did not touch.  I did eventually get to sleep though in the early hours  of this morning; things are a little bit better. I have had some pain killers and they seem to be kicking in today which I am pleased about.  Feel as though have been kicked by a horse!

I have just had my pills and my breakfast and have been contemplating what to do today. 

Tea was already sorted we were supposed to have Rib Eye steak tonight. Not sure whether it will be chips or something else with it at the moment though.  I will have onions as I always do, but might change things up a bit. In any event, we ended up having a Cromer Crab each for tea with some salad

Today is to be a day in the kitchen/Pantry.  I have a lot of sorting to do and shall be kicking G out from downstairs so that I can get stuck in and sorted out.  I am going into the Pantry today to try and sort that out once and for all, or at least get the stuff in the Pantry sorted out and where it needs to be before I drag the other boxes out.  It is going to be a challenge, but there we are.  I really need to get this sorted so that I can find stuff, and also get other Christmas stuff put away.  I am going to take the remainder of the preserving jars out of the main Pantry today as well, and get them into the cupboard under the stairs.  I removed some jars the other day from in here in order to be able to do this.  I therefore have to battle under the stairs in some part today as well at some point.

I also have further items to add into the Pantry and buy this week which also includes eggs, honey and a new sack of potatoes.

Well after a full on day and night in the Pantry, I have been through nearly everything in there, and cleaned again as I have gone along.  Most of the stuff is in its resting place, other items are not,  but for the best part I am nearly there.  It has taken a lot of effort, but I feel a lot better about things now.  All that is waiting is for me to sort out the cartons that are going into the bottom of the Pantry, - I now have a big tub with all my baking ingredients in due to the lack of space, but at least it is all together which is the main thing.  The boxes need to be shuffled a bit, and a few more places found for things and hopefully after Monday night the Pantry should be finished.

I have dragged all the preserving jars out of the Pantry.  They are currently boxed up and ready to go into the under-stair cupboard.  I need to get in there as a priority.

I also had a partial liberation of old jars of preserves that are past their best and have emptied them, got their lids off and given them their first wash. Whilst dealing with these I had a thought.  When I washed the curtains the other day in the Computer room/Study/Craft room I had taken all the curtain hooks off and added some oxygen powder and boiling water and they also came up beautifully.   I wondered if it would do the same for the lids as I thought that the lids were good enough to be re-liberated and used again.  All I did was use some oxygen cleaning powder and a kettle of boiling water and then left the lids to soak for a few hours.  When they went in some had purple staining from red cabbage, now they are lovely and clean.  So saved some pennies there.  In reality the lids will be re-used with similar type preserves.  The jars are in the dishwasher ready to press the Go button, however I have a few more jars to get in there first so that I have a full load.

Monday

We had a seriously horrendous night with Missy last night so much so severely over-slept and even now are not functioning 100%.  My back was bad again yesterday, but not as bad as it had been and I was ready for my bed last night.  I think all the moving around no matter how uncomfortable has helped ease things off a bit.  Her Ladyship just would not settle and was not having any of it.  Got her settled eventually but then we crashed.  I have been relying on the pain killers again today - not just for where I fell, but generally with the arthritis.  The colder weather has triggered it again with stiffness in my hands and feet being the most limiting factor.  It is what it is, sometimes just need more help with things than others.

Today a delivery arrived for some different flavoured coffees this morning and so I need to get them into the Pantry as well.  I bought them from a company called Jaccs Coffee.  I have paid for these items, which have been a personal purchase. It is not a promotion of any sort, but a small company providing a very good product. I first came across this company at a Christmas Fayre at Burghley House a few years ago.  The link is here:

Jaccs Coffee Shop

I ordered a large pack of Chocolate Cherry (1kg bag which is one of my favourites), some White Chocolate (drinking chocolate which is also lovely), Mint, Christmas Spice, and Irish Cream flavoured coffees, predominantly for over Christmas, but realistically for the next few months as well.  They will all go into large jars for storage.  Are in air-tight bags but should help keep in good condition.  You can order different grinds, I have opted for Cafetiere grind as it is predominantly me that has the coffee.

After a bit of a late breakfast work then re-commenced.  As the jars need to go into the under-stair cupboard and because they are in the way, I am going to tackle these first and get them squared up a bit more so that I can eventually can get into the Pantry again sometime today to finish that off.  As I have said before often it is lots of little jobs that have to be done to achieve a big project being accomplished and which seem to take forever. It is going to be another late night.

I also have a large tub to liberate in order that I can pop this into the front part, but the bottom of the Pantry with the Christmas goodies in which will be easily to hand.

In-between all of this there are still little projects going on.  Take for instance the other day I prepared a load of Thyme, Parsley, Sage and Rosemary for drying.  The first of a couple of batches I will make until the jars are full.  Some of this has now dried and as I have located the new containers can go into these for going into the Condiments cupboard, which is another job off the list.  I have plans to make some more Rosemary salt to go on my chips as well.  I love Rosemary - it is too fragrant for G.  I must say it has also been very satisfying re-filling and re-stocking the herbs and getting them into new long-term jars that match.

We had an earlier than usual tea.  We have the Rib Eye steak for tea tonight accompanied by salad and coleslaw, fried onion and mushroom.  The reason for the earlier meal is that I want to get on without any disruption, which will mean that G will not be able to get into the dining room whilst I am sorting things out to get the jars back into the under-stair cupboard and onto the shelves. The cupboard also needs sorting out.  Fortunately the Pantry will not take much sorting in comparison.

To tell the truth it will be really good to get everything under control finally in the Pantry.  However, lets be honest.  I am blessed with a small Pantry but in reality it is not really big enough for what I actually do.  Hence, the Pantry over-spilling into the under-stair cupboard but it will also go into the Fireside cupboard as well.  I did not manage to get these sorted and painted out before Christmas however will re-convene in the New Year for getting these sorted out. 

The Pantry is and was always a work in progress right from when we started stripping it out, decorating, re-organising it etc. and it will continue to be a Work in Progress depending on the needs at the time and also the constant flow of taking stock and replenishing items where I can.  What I tend to do when stocking things up if I can afford it, is to buy two of an item, and gradually build a stock up that way on and it is only for items that we will actually use.  It is part of the ongoing rhythm of the Pantry and food storage.  

One of the things that I need to do immediately is that I need to find a smaller box to store all the sugar I have in the Pantry as well.  I tend to keep a larger supply where I can so that I can make preserves when I want to or when I come across a bargain or two.  That is the way I tend to operate.  The Pantry by its very nature will always be a work in progress, however I should now be able to manage things a lot better. I already have a load of white vinegar in the Pantry which I bought as a bulk purchase off of Ebay to use moving forward. I now need to source in bulk Malt Vinegar and slowly build up my preserving basics for the year to come. I very much have my practical head on this year and trying to make what we have available to us to work efficiently and well.

So busy days here as usual.  Hopefully it will inch everything forward that much more in due course.  Will need to do some shopping in the latter part of the week.

Right off to roll my sleeves up and get busy again.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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