Catchup

So my initial prediction was right and I've let my posts go, so let me do a bit of catching up.

The Grow-Your-Own project has been all but abandoned. The last bunch of salad leaves I gathered tasted horribly bitter (shame I used it for a dinner party!) and my tiny peppers are struggling to get any light, even given pride of place in the front window. I have also been given a bit of tuition from my lovely sister-in-law on machine knitting, and she generously even gave me one of her spare machines. However, it has largely just sat in the spare bedroom and I have yet to actually create anything on it.

However, I have not been completely idle. I managed to make another batch of jams after a bumper harvest of plums (14kgs!!), even if one batch didn't entirely set and I burned another one. Le sigh. I also was glad to recycle a cross-stitch piece my mother had done and some offcuts from my sister's dress I'd altered for her into a small cushion for my aforementioned sister-in-law.

I also managed to finish a little project I actually intend to keep for myself (!) with a double-sided indicator system I thought up. Background story: I keep my ironing tidied away in a wardrobe, but out-of-sight-out-of-mind being an irrevocable truth I tend to forget whether I need to break out the ionized water. So this piece hangs on the wardrobe, in a place with is easily visible, and whichever side is showing indicates to me whether I have ironing to do.

Yes I know The last "k" on the first side should be over further to balance it out, but I had to do it free-hand and fixing it would mean dismantling the whole thing. Maybe one day it will bother me enough to fix it!

Blossoming

Well it looks like our first foray into GYO has not been a complete failure! Despite some very late frosts and abysmal weather (frequently referred to by me as the month of FebruMay) our little pots have managed to survive and are now veritably exploding! Even since these photos were taken a couple of weeks ago (sorry) the tomato plants are now halfway up those canes and the courgette plant's growth can almost be seen with the naked eye!

We were worried that the sweet peppers (second from bottom) had failed to germinate altogether, as not even a single bud was seen until just recently. The salad leaves (bottom), however are doing so well that His Lordship moved them to our trough planter to give them more room. Fortunately they survived the ordeal!

Oh, and no the strawberries (top) have not had a miraculous growth, His Lordship decided the puny ones we bought were not doing well enough, so he got some more mature plants to add to our hanging baskets. We had our very first (well, the only one anywhere near ripe enough) home-grown strawberry this morning between us, and it has definitely given me the taste for more!

Springing up!

Well the long, hard winter appears to have finally receded into the past, so it's time to think of, um- next winter?! No- I am thinking more towards fall; in particular I am looking forward to my first harvest. Yes, after many subtle (and some not-so-subtle) hints from my other half (who happens to work for a national Housewares/DIY/Gardening store) I have taken the plunge (well, dipped a toe in at least) into the world of Grow Your Own!

I have sown seeds of mixed salad leaves, sweet peppers and Marigold flowers; the latter to not only replace the bulbs in the front garden's planters but also to keep away greenfly. (Get me with my permaculture skillz!) I have also invested in some hanging baskets for strawberry plants. A grow bag has been planted with a single courgette plant (previous experience on a veg farm has taught me to never overdo that particular crop!) and will be filled out with tomato plants once they are large enough to be transplanted.

I aspire to keep a photographic record of my first foray into GYO, partly for the blog but mostly to (with any luck) inspire me to carry it on or even expand on it in the future! Not only will it mean saving a bit of money as well as reducing food miles, eating something much closer to organic, etc, etc. I also plan on adding "canned" tomato and vegetable sauce to my repertoire (and possibly even my Christmas gift stash)!Of course, if it all results in a dismal failure I can look back on this while happily heading off to the shop...

Amazing website

I would just like to share with you an amazing new feature provided by The National Trust. They posted the following from their Facebook page: "A collection of our castles, country houses and outstanding landscapes have now been added to Google Street View. Nineteen of our properties and landscapes can now be explored online, giving people around the world the chance to catch a glimpse of places they might otherwise never see." I have just had a walk around the Avebury Stone Circle (left) on a warm, sunny day, and didn't even have to watch out for sheep droppings! You can have a wander by clicking here. Happy trails!

New year, new projects

Well, it is now well into 2010 and time to get back into the regular routine. The house is desperately messy and I will be putting a fair amount of effort on getting it back up to scratch over the next few days. Nothing triggers off my borderline OCD tendencies like a messy house! But there are also a couple of other things I want to do to get my house- literally- in order.

Firstly I am going to break the habit of a lifetime and get rid of a large number of books. It goes against every fibre of my being- I am the granddaughter of a librarian and Professor of English Literature- but I simply must admit that I have bookcases full of books that I have not, nor likely ever will, actually read. So I am going to flog them on a popular internet-based purveyor of books and other sundries, and at least that way I may actually get a couple of quid for them.

Secondly my spare-bedroom-cum-workshop needs a bit of sorting out. I am going to move all my craft books to the bookcase in there, and move around some of the flotsam residing inside the wardrobes to make space for material, supplies and- eventually- some finished items. Yes, I am still considering starting that little income generator but it is still very much in the Research & Development stage. Meanwhile I can at least get my space arranged comfortably!

There are other longer-term projects taking root in my mind, and most fall into the "home improvement" category. Basically since we moved in just over two years ago the carpets (all a very fashionable but wholly impractical beige/biscuit colour) are grotesquely dirty and the walls all need a coat of paint. We are also considering replacing the barely-functional central heating system, but not until the cold weather is a distant memory!

Looking back

What a lovely Christmas it's been! All of the hand-made gifts (and a small handful of store-bought ones) have been distributed, including the home-made jelly, left. All the gifts appeared to be gratefully received, which always helps! And the food...

Our Christmas lunch was almost exclusively done to recipes by Nigella Lawson, including our first attempt at the "Spiced and Super-Juicy Roast Turkey". Oh. My. Goodness! It was fabulous! Considering we got the cheapest, most basic frozen turkey (£8.99 for 4.5kg at Aldi; indeed a bargain!) the flavour was unbelievable. My husband gets full credit for actually cooking the turkey (and everything else!), and he had the brainwave to use the onions, etc from the soak inside the bird while roasting; and he also put beef fat under the skin of the breast for even more juiciness. However you may choose to adjust the recipe, I cannot recommend it enough!

At last I can now post a picture of the patchwork bag I stitched for my mother (right). It came out quite well, I believe! Considering that it's the first patch I've ever done I

was quite pleased with it! Granted, I could have been a bit less rough-and-ready attaching it to the bag, but I was working to a tight deadline! Mind, that's pretty much been the story of this Christmas, in that I've been frantically working to deadlines and only just getting it in under the wire. In one case I did a cross-stitch Doberman for my step-son & his family, but didn't finish & wrap it until after they'd actually come over for dinner! My husband had to keep them entertained for 20 minutes on his own while I finished it off upstairs! I really must consider a resolution to not procrastinate quite so much in future...

The other major project was making the cot-quilt for my expectant sister (left). I managed to finish that the evening before she came up to visit, so there was a little more breathing room! It is in the same theme as the bag I did for my mother; in fact, that was part of the idea, that my mother in Canada would have a piece of the quilt used for her first grandchild, born in the UK. Sentimental, I know. But my mother likes that sort of thing!

Overall it has been a wonderful and fun Christmas period, and I will hold many special memories from it. I will end with a line from one of my favourite Yuletide songs: "Hallelujah, Noel! Be it heaven or hell- the Christmas we get, we deserve!"

Baby, it's cold outside!

We've had another dusting of snow last night. There has been snow on the ground since Friday and it seems to maliciously refresh itself every time I get up the gumption to clear off the walk! Very frustrating and bone-chillingly cold (yes, I am Canadian but I feel the damp, British cold terribly!), it is also gut-wrenchingly pretty and highly festive!

Speaking of the C-word, my plans and preparations are coming on apace, which is heartening! I have larders full to bursting point, mostly thanks to Suma and Nectar! No these are not magical potions of some kind, but my two current favourite businesses (so please forgive the product placement- believe me, I wish I was getting reimbursed for it).

Suma is a wholesale co-operative which does all sorts of organic, fairtrade, ethical foodstuffs and sundries. They have recently opened their doors to individuals (previously they only supplied businesses) and I have managed, by my rough calculations, to save myself nearly £100 by buying things I would usually buy individually at the supermarket in bulk. They're excellent for anyone who is really into vegetarian/ vegan/ organic/ fairtrade/ green products. Just make sure you have space to put it all!

Nectar is high on my "good" list at the moment because they have made my Christmas that little bit more enjoyable. I'll explain: being a creature of habit I shop at the same supermarket week in and week out. I also tend to fuel up the car there. So a free rewards points card was not a huge leap to make, and I dutifully handed my husband a duplicate card. At the time he was working a job which involved a stupid amount of travelling, which meant that he was spending a lot of money filling up the car. Granted, the firm was paying for both the car and the fuel, but I thought it would be a great way to rack up some points. The downside? There were only two particular petrol station chains he could get the points from, and I politely asked him to a) only use those stations and, b) use the card. Well, needless to say, he found it a bit too much bother to do either while he was busy driving up and down the country, so it didn't exactly get a lot of use.

The turning point came last Christmastime. We were both doing the shopping for our big dinner, and predictably rang up a considerable total at the till. I asked if we could cash in our points to shave a bit of money off, and we were both pleasantly surprised when we ended up with a balance under £20 for the lot! The look on my husband's face was priceless, and as we exited the store he said quite firmly. "Right. I'm convinced now. I'm going to use that card!"

He very shortly had to change jobs so we no longer have the opportunity to rack up points on fuel, but his current place of employment has joined in the scheme so now we're gathering up points from there as well! On Monday we went to gather our Christmas feast for this year, asked to cash in what points we could... and cheerfully paid the outstanding princely sum of 67p. Merry Christmas, Nectar card!