TARRAGON & THYME

Sorry this is a quick nip in and out as I am out this evening - indeed very shortly. Have had a fantastic day with my friend.  We had tea and cake and then went off to The Range and had a good mooch around there.  L had not been before and I think she quite enjoyed it.  They always seem to have something different there. We then nipped into B & M.  Quite a lot cheaper than a lot of the supermarkets.  Dark Soy sauce 59p per bottle in B M - elsewhere £2 a bottle and it is a proper Chinese sauce as well.  Knorr stockpots £1 for a pack of four - £2.00 for four everywhere else.  Tinned salmon £2 a tin, Corned Beef £2 a tin.  Could really do with going in and having a proper shop but that is someway off.  I nipped to get some onions as I had run out from the veg shop.  They have said that they are having difficulty in getting hold of cabbages, apparently they are going to whoever makes the highest bid and so I think I am going...

Well I wouldn't mind but I don't think OH would agree. I think he would blow a casket! Catch you later on Pattypan xxx

I am sat down for five minutes having a coffee break.  I have been cleaning most of the day and very slowly I am starting to see that I am clearing a path.  Very slowly though.  I was starting to flag so I thought a coffee break was in order just to sit and rest my back which is starting to twinge just a  little bit.  The coffee has gone down very nicely. We are having fish for tea tonight. The reduced monk fish for OH which I got for £1.80 and the smoked haddock for £1.70.  So I did not do too badly.  The smoked haddock is a little bigger than the monk fish.  The haddock will be served with a poached egg and some bread and butter and OH will have a full meal with the fish, home made fat chips and also mushy peas and bread and butter. I also managed to find some reduced lemons when I nipped to the Co-op to get some bin liners as I had run out.  One or two will be used for pancakes tonight but the rest will go into lemon chutney - thi...

I love flowers in the house in particular but cannot always afford to have these.  However when I do they certainly brighten up the house and my mood. I like flower arranging although I do not class myself particularly good at it. It is something my Nan used to do is always have pot plants thriving even in the middle of winter. Nan had "green fingers" in any event. She had a small lean too conservatory between the bathroom wall and the kitchen wall that enclosed the space and her pantry was also off this room. It was not posh but it was fitted out with shelves and she always had plants growing there.  This little area also served as a drying area when the weather was bad.  A boon in those days as the Lincolnshire weather used to be a lot tougher than it was.  It also served like a mud room as boots used to be taken off at the door with the boot heel the boots cleaned down and then stored inside the conservatory.  What I remember most though is that they had...

Well I have managed to do a tiny bit of food shopping today.  Being as it has turned so cold I have bought a meat pie and intend to serve it with shredded steamed buttered cabbage, carrot and swede crush and mashed potatoes with lots of gravy.  Something substantial to keep the wolf from the door.  Comfort food.  OH although he is taking pack-up to work needs a good cooked meal at the end of the day as do I. I am concerned about him not eating regularly and often as I think it could potentially be too much for his system just to have one meal a day.  So I bullied him into taking pack-up and have since I have been at home (not that I did not before) make sure that he has a good evening meal, even if that meal is what I call a scratch meal i.e. baked beans on toast and some fruit for afters.  I also got a bargain with a smoked piece of haddock and a monkfish fillet. I spent £3.50 on them both as they had both been drastically reduced.  Although not ...

Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday and it is Pancake Day.  Yay.  I absolutely love pancakes and will quite regularly have them as they are quick and simple to make. OH has to be in the mood for them though.  Being as I had been using a large frying pan to do these in I have been and bought a couple of smaller pans as these will be the ideal size for me and possibly for OH. I have also stocked up on some various sauces (for long term use not necessarily just for tomorrow) although in fairness I think that the best pancakes are often the most simplest i.e. cherry pie filling with some ice cream or whipped cream or lemon or orange juice with a sprinkle of caster sugar.  I am therefore looking forward to indulging in one or two.  However I am also very fond of blueberry pancakes as well so they could also be on the cards.  Decisions, decisions. One of my memories surrounding "pancakes" was after moving to a village outside of Peterborough when I was 11, I ende...

Boy it is bitter out there this morning looks warm as the sun is out and it is a blue sky, but looks can be deceiving it is really nippy but then it should be for this time of the year.  We are not far off spring, but in this country we are used to very unpredictable weather.  One thing I have noticed though is that we are not getting rain as regularly as we used to which is kind of worrying on the "reserves" front as normally the winter months fill up the local reservoirs etc.  After last year's really warm summer, when water became low I just hope that supplies are healthy although my water butt is full. After getting OH all sorted out before he went to work, pills taken, breakfast eaten - I am just about to make a pot of tea before commencing battle royal. I thought that I had not put a post up - and I don't want to get out of the habit of blogging, especially with what I need to achieve.  I need to get a lot of work done this week and weekend coming so it ...