One small step

One old towelling dressing gown.

One pair of scissors, one pile of rags for cleaning, one pile of rags for the CS.

One huge heap still to sort from the ...

2 huge heaps (perhaps more) that came out of the bedroom ...

that's being decorated.

The de-clutter begins, one small step at a time!

xx

Found a conker

Apologies to the song - Found a Peanut

Found a conker,

Found a conker,

Found a conker yesterday,

Found a conker,

Found a conker,

Found a conker yesterday.

Picked it up then,

Picked it up then.

Picked it up then yesterday,

Picked it up then,

Picked it up then.

Picked it up then yesterday.

Stroked the conker,

Stroked the conker,

Stroked the conker yesterday,

Stroked the conker,

Stroked the conker,

All my worries flew away.

I always keep a conker or conkers handy in a pocket in autumn and use them as stress balls or Baoding balls.

xx

During the day

There is a work surface opposite the kitchen window which is used for different purposes throughout the day. Here are a few glimpses of said surface.

The pic below shows some things that are defrosting from the freezer.

Here we've got the mixer ready for making the bread and some tomatoes that have just been picked. T|here are glasses and dishes ready to be put away.

The dough is a-whirring.

The phone is charged round here.

It looks like the clothes are ready to be folded from the tumble drier.

Bread has baked. The lampshade is from our lady lamp at the bottom of the stairs. We were expecting the carpet fitter and we didn't want him to knock the lampshade as he was taking up the carpet.

It was a hot day - that's my excuse!

xx

For Cherie

Mum's Crumble Topping Recipe

It's very simple - all you need to remember is 

Half fat and sugar to flour.

eg. 6 oz flour, 3 oz butter, 3 oz sugar

or 

8 oz flour, 4 oz butter, 4 oz sugar

Instead of all flour you can add some oats

eg. 6 oz flour 2 oz oats (8 oz),  4 oz butter, 4 oz sugar

The sugar could be white or brown - I like to  use brown for more flavour either as sweetener to the fruit or in the crumble topping.

This is my go to crumble topping although if you look it up there are quite a few variations out there. I just like things simple to remember.

The topping can be sparse or thicker on top of the fruit - it's your preference.

Happy crumbling!

xx

Not much there

There's nothing on the kitchen window sill since we painted the window. I don't want to make marks so it's just the hanging plant. It looks very bleak here but it was quite bright and sunny outside.

My flowers are from the garden and I've put the vase (shaped like a milk carton) by the sink.

I've been making crumble topping ...

... for the home grown rhubarb.

For 6 ounces of crumble I use this bowl which belonged to DH's mum. It's a very old pudding dish but I'm loathe to get rid of it even though it's past its sell by date.

Didn't take a pic of the final crumble when it came out of the oven but it was partially eaten after tea with custard. 

Yum!

xx

I want to be alone

Walking is part of my exercise regime and today I ventured into the park but wanted to avoid people at all costs. Once in the park I cut across the pitch and putt - nobody playing today even though the schools are closed for the summer.

On through the bowling greens and not many people here either. Only one couple bowling, one tramp  asleep and one lady exercising her dog on one of the greens - grrr!

I walked up the embankment to keep out of their way...

... and had a great view of the local golf course - no one playing here either.

I decided to give the Italian gardens a miss as there were many people out enjoying the sun and sitting outside the cafe. Quick, quick - try the boating lake. Hmm, not packed but I'll keep out of the way by ...

... walking through the trees.

Very cool in the shade on such a hot day. I walked home via roads with large grass verges so I could safely distance myself from other human forms. 

What strange times we live in at the moment.

xx

Glut of tomatoes

We are not able to keep up with eating all the tomatoes as they ripen so I picked some to go into the freezer.

After taking all the skins off I boiled them up and added some leftover passata that needed using up. I reckon I have the equivalent of 4 cans of tomatoes here. It's taken much longer to get to this stage with homegrown tomatoes. I could have just picked 4 cans off the shelf in the supermarket but I'm sure I wouldn't have the same satisfaction. I'll wait for them to cool and then put them in the freezer.

We also have smaller tomatoes which we will eat fresh, the yellow ones (Ildi) first as they split as soon as they are picked.

I've now picked and eaten 32 bunches of grapes and there are still more to go. These will be eaten today.

To clean the pan I use this brush. I would really like to have a wooden one but I'm not going to throw away a perfectly good plastic one so the wooden one will have to wait a bit longer.

 

This is saved from its eventual 'do harm to the environment' fate for now.

xx