TARRAGON & THYME

Well I have made a tentative start to my preserving with dehydrating some herbs that would not have dried as well in natural drying as in the dehydrator. I have added Sprig Rosemary, Garden Mint, Common Thyme, Parsley to the dehydrator this evening and had them on for a short while. I have left them overnight in the machine to cool down and they are now in bowls conditioning ready for decanting into their storage jars.  I am not sure about the Dehydrator though as the instructions are a little sparse although on the face of it the machine seems sturdy enough.  Just need to get to grips with the controls.  It is not like normal dehydrators in that it has three levels of function which I think relate to the temperature bands (although that is not strictly clear).  I think I am going to have to get G to have a look at it to un-taffle it for me.  It did not cost a lot of money.  A Temu offer (so some you win some you loose) approximately £35 and it took over a ...

 I had a lazy morning here and then got ready to go to the hospital. I saw my Consultant's Assistant and all went pretty well. So far the Hydroxychloroquine has not affected my system.  It is used to protect the main organs from the body, as many of the conditions I have can potentially cause organ failure.  As I have been on the drug for about 15 years.  The yearly appointment is really to track progress.  She has dropped one of the Hydroxychloroquine tablets because of me  having been on the medication for such a long period of time.  She was going to drop it completely, but I urged on the sign of caution saying something is better than nothing and she has agreed to this.  Must say had a very good conversation with her and she has put my mind at ease about a few things, which has been very helpful.  I have been given contact details in case of future difficulties and been told not to hesitate in contacting the Consultant's secretary if ther...

 Well I should have expected it really, but I totally crashed last night on the sleep front and slept through until 12 noon.  Feeling a lot better than I did but there are quite a lot of bits that ache, due to me pushing myself.   I am today taking things easy just pottering in my own time and doing what the fancy pleases me to do.  I am hoping to get to some of my crafting over the weekend as well which should give me some downtime. Now I can start to do a bit in my own time and hopefully get things a lot squarer still.  Decorating will certainly be going on probably starting from next week as I need to get some more materials to start seriously.  Bathroom is on the Agenda first.  Then the kitchen.  Then the under-stair cupboard and the Dining room.  G is well aware now that decorating is going to be taking place and I have also informed him that I want to learn to wallpaper.  I need to have a go at this myself so that I can if nec...

 Well I pulled the all day and the all nighter.  Now really tired and hurt, but a lot has been achieved.  The house is the tidiest it has been in a long time.  After having something to eat earlier I then went to bed and slept for a good couple of hours before getting up and quite honestly not doing much.  I am not sure which part of my body hurts the mostest but I do intend to have a couple of paracetamol before going to bed which will not be long now.  I am feeling the need for sleep again.  I have been banned from setting the alarm clock for tomorrow and I am just enjoying a tiny bit of Pernod in a large tumbler glass with ice and it is going down a treat.  Earlier on we had an iced Frappe each which also made a nice change. From tomorrow the work will start again.  We have quite a lot to take to the Tip and so will start taking that from tomorrow.  We may well get a couple of trips in tomorrow.  Tomorrow night I am going to have...

Carrying on from Last Night   As I have already mentioned I managed to get the shoe boxes into the small Walk In Wardrobe last night.  I also reacquainted myself with a load more shoes.  Some are going to the CS, as they are too small for me since I had the Bunion surgery.  One foot has always been that bit bigger than the other in any event.  Now to make up some more shoe boxes. I pulled a later night but with an early morning start as I have a lot to do and G is fishing today so I will only get help later on as I will be babysitting a Jack Russell and a Cat who quite likes the space in the back bedroom and keeps running backwards and forwards really enjoying herself.  I am therefore going to get stuck in from the start.  I have to find some boxes for the books I discovered in the front bedroom.  I have found some more Vellum bound Classic Books which also need to go into a new box as the one I used the other day was filled.  I have a lot of...

....the computer/craft room/study.   I have started on the front bedroom with frequent trips into the back bedroom as this is the storage room in the house at present or it will be the only one by the time I have finished.  G is on standby to do some lifting and moving for me as  unfortunately these days I am not good at carrying things and I trip over very easily. It is a drizzly grey day here in Peterborough.  Do not know whether it is because I am on the move or not (I try to keep moving at all costs), but it is very muggy.  I am bogging in as usual and hopefully with all the work going on at the moment it will give me a better foundation for phase two which hopefully will see more progress and where hopefully I will be able to address one room at a time.  All self inflicted over the last 38 years!  Long story, boring and real life has caused havoc on quite a few occasions and it has been a case of deal with it as best you can at the time....

It has been an overcast and light showery day here in Peterborough, and the temperature has dropped a little which is a relief, but it also shows that the cooler months are not that far off.  In fact I suspect we are or will have an earlier autumn than usual. I am hoping to get out to see if I can collect any wild blackberries to do something with as well.  I am sadly behind on the preserving this year although I am hoping that will change in the next few days or so once the kitchen is sorted and I can find my jam jar lids!  I have a lot to do and a lot to achieve but will get there eventually. Yesterday when I went into the garden I took photos of my small wall planters and larger planter that I had potted up rather late in the day.  I also took photos of some of the planters I had popped veggies into.  The veggies in planters are doing well and my Courgettes are producing but not as many as I had hoped.  I think it is because they are in planters I think ...