All Gone Now

The snow, thank goodness,was not waiting for some more to join it and has completely gone. It was lovely to see and I am quite happy to wait another 12 months to see a little more.
It was a different story when I was a child, probably up to the age of 45 when my first batch of grandchildren decided that they no longer liked it.

I have had a few iffy days and have had to rest a bit more than I like to. Mind you the knitting proceeds apace. Fran's Hermione socks are being knit in tandem and are ready for heel flap and turn. I have done a bit more work on my chunky sweater and I have 2 more pairs of socks impatient to be cast on.

Saturday's pizza was delicious, instead of a tomato base I blitzed the left over veg chilli and spread that on the base. Oh My Goodness the flavour explosion was almost too much, not hot but the blend of spices that had blended and intensified was amazing.

Sunday was a "wait and see what I find" dinner, I admit to having a rather greedy slice of left over pizza for lunch and was pleased to just have a smallish chicken Kiev with a pile of salad for dinner. These came from Tesco, marked down to 60p for 2 fresh Kievs and another 30p for a large bowl of mixed salad. Lovely, dinner for 2 for 90p and some more Kievs in the freezer. I don't often buy ready made but at that price I just had to.  They were not as good as home made (not at all shabby though and better than some I have had out) but were a fraction of the price and so easy for a lazy dinner.

Changing my shopping day to Sunday looks like a wonderful idea, the money that I save will be paying for some days out this summer.

Tonight's offering is a cheesy pasta and veg bake that I tucked in the freezer a couple of weeks ago with another bowl of salad.
Easy Peasy squeezy the lemon, that will be over the salad and came from my own tree.

Tomorrow is knit and natter and I am looking forward to it, as always. I have some magazines for one of the group and a pair of socks for another. I also found a couple  of little boy things in my present store that are too small for Junior, and far far too big for Leo. They has slid under something large and were missed at the right time, I am hoping that one of our group who has boys will find a use for them.

I have dug out a large note book and marked it up to record my knitting this year. Also to record my stash and future buys, none of the latter for at least 3 months!!
I did include my Christmas Eve cast on socks for Fran, a bit cheaty but hey it's my book, and with the pair on my needles I will have moved 700 g from stash, not all of that has been knitted as there is left over yarn from each item.
With some of the sock yarn I have another skein in the same colour, and may just get an extra pair out.
If the colours work some will be used for contrast heels and toes in other socks. 
The Hermione socks are having this treatment as the yarn I am using is a very soft Merino blend, using the strong sock yarn for hard wear areas will prolong their life. The next 2 pairs will be the same. 
Consequently I will have a larger amount of yarn left over from each pair, this will become stripy socks for me.

At least that is the plan so far, but the best of plans have been known to go awry.

I have not started adding up the stash yarn, that is scheduled for Wednesday, I have selected a volunteer to help but not informed them yet.

I made bread today, one wholemeal loaf and a second loaf from the same dough batch but with finely chopped black olives, green olives stuffed with garlic and some red jalapeno chillies. It does smell divine and I may have to have a slice to mop up the sauce on my plate at dinner.

One large loaf lasts us for a good week, sometimes two, so once really cold I slice and freeze it.
 I will do the same with the olive bread but in thick slices as it is for eating with soup. 
Light bulb moment, I want to get a pot of soup on the go later.

I arranged to have some people come in to look at the roof, it is not in too bad a condition. There are places were the  slate has been patched and I am concerned that a really violent storm could see them coming off, like a deck of cards, and leaving the house open to the elements. Anyhow, one chap promised last Friday, then Saturday. He finally turned up this afternoon, when the light was fading, with two other chaps. I am afraid that I took one look and thought "Bodgit, Scarper and Son".

Another one came this morning, had a very thorough look and went off to prepare a quote. He did say that he would add in a contingency amount just in case he found something unexpected. What a contrast between the two, it does help that he lives close by and has years of experience with the same type of house.

One more to come and then it will be a case of waiting for estimates to come in.

Ben has told me that it is tea o'clock, for both of us so off to the kitchen I go.

                 TTFN                                                   Pam