Number 14

My edging was slightly different this time round. As usual I edged with a double crochet but then I continued round with treble shells, ch 1 and then round again in the chain spaces with 1 dc, 1 tr, 1 double tr, 1 tr, 1 dc. I did one slip stitch across the shell below to get me to the next chain space.

The wool I used was donated to me from a dancing friend who can no longer see to knit. Her wool is being put to good use.

xx

Kitchen Window - February 2013

Still steamed up!

Cupboards all sorted and tops cleaned.

Display shelves sparkling after their yearly regular clean.

xx

What next?

 Celeriac chips - check.

What do I do with the half celeriac I have left (apart from cutting my fingers off peeling the thing)?

Aha! Celeriac soup.

Saute onions, celery and carrots in butter (tut, tut).

Add celeriac cut up in small pieces (minus pieces of flesh and skin) plus 2 vegetable cubes and enough water to cover.

Simmer until tender then blend. Add more water until you have the consistency of soup.

Celeriac soup - hmmmm!!!!!

I'll do this one again. Now where's the knife sharpener?

xx

It's a breeze ...

... walking round the lake. It's only a short walk and it's sunny - a little cold maybe - we can do it.

Walk around the lake, take a look at Granny's Bay and call at the cafe for a cup of tea.

It wasn't a breeze, it was a gale! Oh my goodness - don't walk too near the edge.

Seagulls were hovering again!

And the ducks were surfing.

We were blown back round the other side of the lake.

Oh no, the cafe was closed but the bird shop was open. Identifying the birds would be a breeze for Jill but I'm afraid it wasn't for me.

This chap must have been cold!!!!

The breeze gale hadn't knocked him off his perch.

xx

A Tale of Two Books

Two books, one I enjoyed reading and one I didn't.

F2F by Phillip Finch is about a new kind of predator, a psychopathic genius, stalking the Internet and Can't Let Go by Jane Hill is a psychological suspense about a girl who has built her life on a lie.

I should have put one of the books down as the plot went round and round and did not really come to a satisfactory conclusion.

The other book I couldn't put down even though I was certain that I'd read it before. The plot was built up over different chapters and was gripping right up until the end.

Should I tell you which book was which? No, I don't think so - I'm sure that everyone's taste for fiction is different. I've now got 2 more books on the go (one for upstairs and one for downstairs) plus a book on the Kindle. These New Year Resolutions are a doddle!

xx

Still busy ...

... tidying drawers and sticking recipes in my notebook.

Seeds are sorted, shoe cleaning bits and pieces, dusters, rags, batteries, candles and place-mats. One solution to my recipe scraps was to laminate the family ones. These place-mats are laminated over colouring in pictures and precious photos. (DS went to bed with his new boots - couldn't part with them!)

Christmas laminated place-mats were another activity when the children were young.

The recipe book is coming on well and I intend to decorate the pages as and when the fancy takes me.

Right, where's the next drawer!

xx

I've been busy ...

sorting, tidying, cleaning - 

paintwork cleaned, windows cleaned, floor hoovered or swept and mopped, cupboards and drawers tidied and sorted. De-cluttering has happened with items dispatched to the CS, Ebay, compost bin or dustbin. Ooh, I have been busy in the lounge, dining room, back room and bedroom. I kept time for hobbies and walking of course. It's been cold and windy but sunny. Here's the sea a few days ago.

The seagulls were hovering in the wind.

I've got a dilemma now that I've started on the drawers in the dresser. There's an awful lot of scrappy bits of paper in there,

scribbled and cut out recipes that I've used and just kept together in a heap pile in the drawer. 

Perhaps I should write out the recipes in my new to me notebook with blank pages (just waiting to be used). 

Let's see what we've got. A-ha! This one for Rabbit Biscuits was written by DS when he was little.

And this one is possibly DD's.

This one, with illustrations, definitely is.

This one for Green Tomato Chutney came from a good friend. It's been well used.

As did this one for Mincemeat without suet. It's seen quite a few Christmases.

This one for Sweet and Sour Sauce is jotted down on an envelope. I wonder where that recipe came from?

And what's this I've found? I wonder who did this drawing.

So many memories just sifting through them. Should I just put them back in the drawer or copy them into my book then dispose of them on the compost?

I'll leave you with this recipe from the Ladies' Evening Circle Favourite Recipes booklet from the 1982 Yuletide Fayre!

xx