TARRAGON & THYME

Boy is it cold.  I have been so cold today that my hands and joints have stiffened up.  That's usually a sign that either it is going to get even colder or that it is going to bucket it down with rain.  At the moment because of how cold it is outside I can quite easily believe that we could get a little bit of snow especially if it warms up a tad.  But then again we are low lying round here and only tend to get snow when it is seriously bad elsewhere.  I went round to get some extra money put on the gas and electric and it was a lot colder than it had been earlier on.  I am now cocooned in the house where it is nice and warm and I do not intend to venture far either.  May be to the dustbin but that will be about it. We had the Cornish pasties from the Butchers for tea tonight with a milkshake each..  We were not really hungry so that is why we have not had a roast dinner today. We do not do bad on the food front so when we both are not famish...

.... and out of the blue we have been to Johnson's the Butchers at Old Hurst again.  OH had spoken about it to a colleague at work who had seemed very interested.  He lives much closer than we do to the Butchers so last minute a trip was arranged and we had breakfast which was very welcome on this cold morning. There was another reason behind this meet up in that OH's Department have a Christmas party looming where partners are also welcome.  Colleagues partner was nervous as she did not know anyone so that was the second reason for meeting up so that she had a friendly face in the crowd at the party.  It is always daunting going somewhere new and not knowing anybody.  I have been there.  However the group he works with are a good bunch and we always end up having a good laugh and a giggle.  I think both parties enjoyed today's jaunt.  It also goes to prove what a small world this is as the male of the couple involved is also the brother of a...

I have had a lovely day today; a bit of a lay in which was a luxury then the postman came with some of the fabric I had ordered in readiness for my play day later in the week. I walked into town, cut through Waitrose (I had not intended doing any shopping on the way out) but they an offer on whole Chestnuts at £1.50 per bag (pre-prepared) and £1 for the Chestnut puree.  So I snaffled a few more bags. I then went to the train station to pick up my ticket for my visit later in the week to Lincoln; that was an experience and one I would repeat again.  I ordered through a company called Trainline an online service and basically you have to produce the card that you have made payment with (nothing is taken or charged at the pick up point it is just to prove identity) it prints out the ticket and a copy for yourself,  I specifically chose a straight through train though as it complicates things a bit if you have to get off and change trains somewhere down the line an...

This post covers a couple of events over a couple of days. Being told "bring what you want anything to embroider, bring any fabric you want to do something with.  Have you got jelly rolls you really should get some and get a tablecloth and some knapkins and we will find a pretty design to pop onto them" is like lifting the flag to start a motor race at full pelt with me doing 100mph!  Being given the green light to play is very liberating  - but I am not just used to it.  Mind you I am not complaining. So after my telephone call with said cousin (nearly two hours later) we don't stop gassing when we start either.  I ended up doing a recce for some Jelly Rolls.  I had heard of Jelly Rolls and I have bought a couple in the past but there they have stayed due to lack of time and to tell the truth I was not completely sure how to use them but the mist is getting clearer in that respect.  So Last night I ordered some more jelly rolls in a Christmas d...

In a few days I am going to be allowed to go out to play with my cousin.  I have spent about an hour and a half on the phone to her tonight and its as though we have never been apart.  Here is the curious bit.  She has an embroidery machine a Brother.  I knew she had an embroidery machine as she had told me and I have seen some of her pieces of work which are beautiful on the Internet.  As regular readers will know however last year I bought the Accuquilt Go and an awful lot of templates. In fact I have seen another couple that I would like to add to the collection. My Accuquilt is the hand cranked one.  Speaking with her this evening.  She has the Accuquilt Go but the electric one and has an awful lot of templates.  What was it I was saying earlier that both of us have a habit of buying the same things, different places, different times and the amount of times this has happened is amazing really.  Although I know that she has bought her...

Another quick visit to Waitrose during my lunch hour.  I had predominantly gone for some white wine vinegar.  God forbid I had run out which is a rarity.  I keep a stash of vinegar in the jam cupboard under the stairs.  I normally  buy it from the Cash and Carry in bulk its cheaper that way.  I get both white spirit vinegar and malt vinegar.  However for wine vinegar I tend to go to Waitrose and get their own brand it works out cheaper than some of the others and the results have been very good thus far.  So four more bottles of white wine vinegar procured.  I could not carry much so only bought the four bottles.  I will need to go and get more later in the week as well as some other bits and bobs that I spotted whilst I was in there but yet again could not carry. For me I did not really buy that much this time round and I spent quite a bit of the time browsing and looking at new items and considering whether or  not they would get...

10 Johnson's Road Uppingham Rutland United Kingdom The World Dear Santa Claus I know you select the children who are to receive presents from your "Naughty and Nice" book.  I am now six and a half years old and old enough to write my first letter to you. I haven't been terribly good this year getting into all sorts of bother and probably more than I should have.  I must try better. Like when I ran into the room and bumped into mum when she was carrying a tray of eggs and they splattered all over the terracotta tiled floor and made it all slippy and sticky and yukky. It took her ages to scrub it up. She certainly was not very happy with me then.  I don't think I was very popular as I think she had planned on us having poached egg on toast for tea.  Or the occasion when she was making a cake in that big brown mixing bowl of hers and I knelt up on the stool and lost my balance and ended up knocking the bowl and the cake contents onto the floo...