Planning ahead a little bit

Today I have not been able to get to the preserving more is the pity I am hoping to do so tomorrow. One of the reasons I do so much on the preserving front is to provide different foods that are not necessarily available in a supermarket and to provide interest to some of the foods I am serving.  I also am doing it to ensure that there is a supply of food available to my family when times are tough.  It means the difference between eating properly when there are not many pennies around and those pennies are needed to pay bills.  That is the main reason I pay things forward by preserving what I do.  

Another reason is that I believe we all have a responsibility to provide for ourselves where we possibly can.  If we get in the mire for whatever reason, no one is coming to save you but you.  That puts a slightly different complexion on reality.  In other words I got myself into this mess, it is now time for me to work my way out providing for myself and family along the way in whatever way I can.  Life is not perfect and we all have hiccups no matter how hard we try not to.

This morning I saw an article which also confirmed the other reason why I do what I do.  I am not particularly into scare-mongering, I feel that we should be aware of what is being said and then make our own decisions on what we can do no matter how small to allow for this.  I have said in earlier posts that I did not think that the supply of fresh foods was what it should have been for quite a few months.  The supply did not seem right and some foods were either really early or a little later.  There is certainly not the choice we had pre-Covid, but then again, I appreciate the situation with the Farmers as well. 

The post in question is here:

Christmas shortages

It makes interesting reading.

There is no need to panic, just be sensible and just add what you can either to the Pantry shelf in the form of tinned goods or learning how to preserve little bits here and there. I shall carry on buying in fresh veggies, preparing and freezing veggies for Christmas day and over the Christmas period and possibly beyond. My freezer is not large, however I have found that rather than have lots of different little bags in the freezer on items like veggies I open freeze them and then pack them into one bigger bag and this tends to provide for several meals.  It is something I have done for a while.  

I do not like crowds in supermarkets or Bun fights at dawn over acquiring different vegetables.  I try to avoid them if at all possible by buying in a lot of stuff in the months leading up to and before Christmas. This is also to ensure that the cost of Christmas does not hit the bank account in the month of December alone.

I shall continue to do what I do, as every little helps in the grand scheme of things.  Even puddings and baking have their place in our eating habits, everything in moderation though. Everything in moderation.

Today I have been trying to liberate the tumble dryer to get clothes dried.  The Tumbler is in the dining room and as other stuff has been placed on top of it, I am having to clear that out of the way.  There is no room in the kitchen for it and so it is in the dining room.  In the way but workable.

In the past couple of days I have not done so well with the washing being outside in the past week and have ended up bringing a lot of stuff into the house to dry. However I try not to have too much damp stuff in the house as it affects my arthritis. In any event, I need the Tumbler for all the household linen including sheets and towels.  I have done well in getting everything  dried outside from earlier in the year, but now I have to be sensible and put it on where it is needed.

My Nan had an answer to getting the washing dried in the winter.  My grandparents' home at the back of the house had two areas that extended from the main house i.e. the kitchen and the coal house, then there was a gap, and then the small bedroom.  In effect they created a room between the two extending parts of the house, and created a closed in conservatory which had shelves for starting seeds off and for house plants.  There was also a small room off this back conservatory which was my Nan's Pantry.  Therefore everything ended up being enclosed.  A couple of small lines were strung up big enough to hold double bed sheets and when the weather was particularly cold this is where the washing was dried.  The conservatory although not heated used to get warm under any daylight Sun and was ideal for getting the laundry dry.  Making use of what they had available to them.  There is if you look and think about things always a different way of tackling problems from what is considered the norm.

Work on the  under-stair cupboard is slow.  I am still painfully dealing with patching the plaster.  It will be done, when it is done. Hopefully will be able to crack on (excuse the pun) a little bit more next week.  We shall see what happens.

We had the heat on last night and I also bought out extra blankets as I was cold.  Time to find the hot water bottles me thinks for cold tootsies!

Right am going to continue with operation Tumble Drier.  If I am quiet please know that I am getting stuck in trying to tackle the washing and the drying and hopefully restoring order.

For tea this evening we are having some Lemon Sole with homemade chips for a change.  Tomorrow we are having Ham egg and chips.  Simple meals that play their part.  We have had a lot of substantial meat based meals time for a little change up.

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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