TARRAGON & THYME

After yesterday's beautiful sunny weather and a lot more comfortable than damp days,  today has been a showery one, although have had the windows open to let some fresh air in. I have been in the kitchen.  I decided in my infinite wisdom that today would be cooker cleaning day.  Ughh! Do you ever start something and then wished you had not.  Well that has been the story of my day.  In any event deep clean on my Gas cooker has commenced and I have had the glass out of the doors, on the small oven, the burners to pieces on the hob and the glass top all squeaky clean. Overnight the two ovens will be left with cleaner on them to deep clean the ovens.  The glass on the larger oven was taken out and cleaned.  The shelves for the small oven are outside on some newspaper covered in cleaner.  They have since been turned and the second load of cleaner added.  I have the shelves for the main oven to do this way as well. Only half way through at the time...

Unfortunately these days I cannot afford to fill the freezer in one fair swoop like I used to.  I am not alone in this, many households have been affected over the last few years. It is a sad state of affairs as I believe that every family should be able to eat properly. I usually take the view that as long as all the bills are financed, and we have a roof over our heads and that there is some kind of food on the table then we are indeed rich. Some of those meals might not be the fancy meals that we would like, but they make good eating, fill bellies and make the pennies go that much further.  I will say however, that when it comes to meat I will not sacrifice quality.  I like good quality meat however I will not pay through the nose for it especially when pennies are tight.  What I save can often go towards something more for the Freezer or for something for the Pantry shelf. There are some items that we really like and that we pay out for - cherry picking.  Th...

All is well although we have had a few disturbed nights/early mornings which have thrown us all out of routine.  Hopefully will be back into my usual routine of posting shortly. Not much has been done as I have also not been 100%.  Being good listening to my body and just starting to get things done.  Today is the first day for a while where I have felt a bit brighter.  No pain thank goodness, my back and my hips have been suffering for the past ten days. Today have tackled the study/craft room/computer room and got that a bit more presentable and washed out as well. Also am currently digging the tumble dryer out of the dining room so that I can use it.  As a result of something else that is going on in house a few things extra were put in  the dining room that definitely do not belong there.  Some of G's fishing equipment and some other items have also been placed there short term.  G has not been going fishing because of the cold weather.  ...

 Back into the kitchen today and have been stuck in sorting out what goes where.  I have started although not completed cleaning cupboards and re-arranging appliances. I have a big box of herbs and spices to sort out and decant where I can into jars as well.  That will have to wait for another time though.  I also have two drawer towers double stacked (four units) which I store my hand appliances in as I have no drawers at all in my kitchen and do not have room for any.  These provide a home in the meantime.  However I also need to start working my way through drawer by drawer and organising the tools so that I can find things quickly and easily.  I am intent on concentrating on the kitchen at the moment as I want to do a bit more work to it I have several Pantry projects to complete i.e. make up my own mixes for different things the most pressing of which is the different bread machine sachets I use.  Makes it easier for me when I am in a hurry....

Lots of things are on the agenda.  I want to make use of the quieter months to complete projects that I am part way through and then move on to other projects.  There is a lot to take in and some of it looks totally impossible from where I am standing at the moment.  You have to give it a go though.  Well I do.  I do not give in easily and I like to be busy. Perhaps the simplest answer to this will be a piecemeal one.  Where I attack a particular aspect of my life or home with gusto and focus in order to get a head start on the lighter months, ones where we hope to go down to Cornwall.  There are long term plans in some respects or outline plans in any event.   There is also a lot to do on the preserving front as well.  It will be a year round effort as this past year I did not get the preserving done which I needed to do. Christmas is also featuring very highly on the Agenda this year.  I will be aiming to do stuff across the board...

         It has been another bitterly cold day here today in Peterborough - according to the forecast temperatures are likely to fall to -5 degrees C.  Therefore likely to be more than a bit nippy! Today several pieces of electrical equipment have needed some much needed maintenance and a bit of a spruce up. Time consuming more than anything else, but a job well done in any event.  I started with my Bread machines, went onto the Ninja and then the Magimix food processor.  Everything gets wiped as I go along however every so often, like the kitchen I end up giving the equipment a little more TLC  and a deeper clean and that way it lasts me longer.  Not much achieved in the greater scheme of things overall although I am also slowly collating all my baking tins together.  They all got took out of the kitchen and have not been put back apart from the few pieces I use on a regular basis.  Still have another couple of bags to get sor...

Into the New Year gracefully I go.  I am not working at speed at the moment.  I have a lot to do but, I am taking things steadily. I was not 100% this morning when I rose initially and chose to go back to bed to have a lay in, which developed into a mega lay in but I do not feel guilty about things.  By the time I did get  up I felt a lot better than I had earlier on.  Really felt off colour and out of sorts.  In any event when I did get up I found that low laying Peterborough had sustained a small snow shower.  It would appear that Winter is starting to take her grip although Winters are nowhere near as bad weather-wise as they were when I was a child.  Everything was still frozen up at 2:00pm when I went out to sort the cats dishes and re-stock them.  It is now another cold night. I did not feel like cooking tonight and therefore G had cold Beef sarnies followed by tinned fruit and cream and Plum loaf.  I had Beauvale Stilton (think it...

2026 a New Year, calls for a new Diary. Sometimes you have to focus on practical matters, ones that set you up with a sturdy foundation and using a Diary helps me do this.  I prefer a paper physical Diary one where I can see things clearly, and pick up and put down.  Even though for many years I was a Legal Secretary, I hated the computer Diary that I had to use.  I prefer something tactile something real that I can reach for easily.  However, in reality for many years I have kept a page a day Diary here at home.  It helps me keep track of things that I would like to do, and gives some guidelines as to when certain preserves are made or certain things are due  to be worked on seasonally. In the latter days of 2025 I have hastily scribbled down on slips of paper ideas, things to do, things to plan to be added to the crisp new Page a Day diary that I purchased recently.  These file forward notes have been waiting in readiness to be inserted in the r...