The Beast is Tamed

The Beast is of course the lap top, my photos are now loaded and I can share them with you. Be aware this is the stuff of which dreams are formed.

I am going to have this framed, there is a little shop in Ammanford that do framing, and hang it on the wall in front of my sewing station where it will inspire me.

I have taken a couple of close ups.

How beautiful is that, one day, maybe, I will be sharing my work with you.

In my present were lots of other goodies to help me get started.

Pretty thread in glorious colours, I am going to have so much fun with these.

Some beads, charms, fabric ( I see a very special book mark for me in that) and 2 needles in a holder. Everything that I need in fact to make a start.

With a very happy card inside to encourage me on.

It felt like having an extra birthday, I am so pleased for this and will be sure to "pay it forward" at the first opportunity.

I have found, in the short time that I have been blogging, that Random Acts of Kindness happen frequently in blogland. The American blogs, that I started off reading before writing my own, would often mention RAK's. I took them with a pinch of salt but have come to understand that this is worldwide. I have had parcels from the States, Australia, Germany and Singapore alongside some from the UK. I have also sent some out myself, as my Granny said, "What goes round comes round." and I read The Water Babies and Mrs Do as you would be done by was a favourite character.

Digressing to the world of blogs, I recently stumbled across Frugally Challenged and would like to follow but there is no way that I can see to do so. I do follow her other blog, Trundling Through Life so will have to remember to click over to check regularly.

I went into Ammanford this morning, silicone stuff was needed for the glazing bit of the greenhouse. I popped into Lidl to get another bag of bread flour and some lard, £1.07 to add to my total. I did pick up 4 ground cover plants for the side of the greenhouse for £5,00 but that comes from the garden budget. That also applies to the roll of green covered wire netting that I picked up for £3, that will form a tunnel to protect my garlic from marauding cats and playful birds. There will be loads left for other projects and as the cheapest ready made tunnel cloche that I have seen was £3.99 and too small makes it a Bargain.

I can see myself turning into a Garden Bore, I will try to restrain my self and not publish photos of every new leaf that unfurls.

Reasons to be grateful.

1.  My lovely gift, I will use every last thread.

2.  My new found friends who have welcomed me to the village.

3.  The sun that continues to shine on us.

4.  My poor neglected roses that have bloomed continuously.

5.  The wonderful Welsh people who are friendly and helpful where ever I go.

I am so glad that I finally plucked up the courage to move across the country, I could not be happier. I know that I go on about the sun a great deal and I know that summer will end and there will be cold winds and rain. I also know that I will enjoy those times as much as I can, my days will not be spent moaning about the weather but rejoicing in my crafting. being thankful for cooler evenings with my crochet spread over my legs without melting from the heat of it. 

The smell of luscious casserole meals wafting from the slow cooker and the scent of freshly baked bread or herby dumplings perfuming the air.  There will be fruity jams and jellies to spread on thick slices of toast, oozing with salted welsh butter, from a local farm. Jars of spicy relishes to add a bit of oomph to savoury foods and steamed puddings swimming with the afore mentioned jam.

The of course as soon as Spring arrives I will have to garden and walk like a mad thing to get the weight off.

That is not quite a mere jest.

I have a small piece of RTC welsh beef to roast for dinner and as I have a fancy for sausage rolls will be sliding a tray of them into the oven while it is hot.

I have also started a new batch of Sourdough, I will have to divide it tomorrow so will let you know how it turns out. I do not waste the bit that I take out, I make something if only pancakes or flatbreads.

I am off outside now, I need to tidy round a bit and put my new plants into a water bath, they all need a good drink. 

    TTFN                                                  Pam

It's beginning to smell like Christmas round here.

The first mince pies with this years mincemeat have come out of the oven.

These are destined for the CS tomorrow morning, it is market day and they won't have time to pop out to the bakery , while I was rolling pastry I made a few sausage rolls as well, the pastry ran out before the sausage meat so I wound a cut of strip around the last one. I don't like to re roll shortcrust pastry, it makes it a little tough. I don't waste any, I cook the off cuts and just pop them on some cooked fruit for instant pie, it,s a cheat but that's what you get in many a restaurant. 

I caught the lovely Nigel cooking Christmas leftovers on TV last night and tonight I copied one of his dishes.

Bubble and Squeak cakes, Nigel made his with roast parsnips and sprouts and put a little bit of cheese in the middle. Fine, I had parsnips but no sprouts. What I did have was cabbage, broccoli and some carrot and swede mash so that's what I used, I also had a piece of RTC Cambozola and used that, a dusting of flour and a rest in the fridge to firm up.

I browned them in a dab of butter and a slug of oil and popped them in the oven with the baking for 15 minutes, too good, much too good.

Another batch of Delia's mincemeat, I wasn't drunk just suffering from a slight list to starboard. These are all for gifting.

Apart from that I have been clearing my dresser and I have a box of stuff for the CS, I am also emptying my bookcase. I now have enough space in one of the built in cupboards to hold everything so the bookcase is going.

I have a big mirror hanging over the fireplace, I want to move it opposite the window to help the low light levels. I am thinking of making a wall hanging to replace it.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. The sweet smell of mince pies drifting round the cottage.

2. 5 jars of lusciousness sitting in the kitchen.

3. More floor space coming my way soon, very soon.

4. Ben running around with Greg, the dog next door, ears flapping, tail going round in circles.

5. A meeting with an old friend this morning, a gossip and a good catch up.

All in all it has been a good day, it has been cold and windy, there was a flurry of rain but the wind was so strong it blew the clouds away.

Tomorrow I will finish clearing the bookcase and claim that floor space. No sewing for me before Monday, it will be brush and gloss or emulsion, lovely, pray for a dry day the windows will be open.

                   TTFN                               Pam

Cooking, Sewing and Snarling down the Phone.

What a day yesterday was, I could not decide what to eat so emptied the veggy drawer of the fridge and made a Rogan Josh.
I just chopped onion, carrot, peppers, squash, celery and sweet potato and sweated off in a little oil. Added a half jar of Rogan Josh paste, a little tomato puree, some garlic puree and enough veg stock to just cover. I brought it up to simmer and cooked covered for around 20 minutes, then I added some cauliflower florets and a tin of drained mixed beans from Mr S and cooked uncovered for 10 minutes.

Here it is with just 5 minutes left.

I just sprinkled some fresh coriander from the garden on top, because there were beans and potato in it I did not need rice.

I did stir in a dollop of this though, it is really good.

I got it from AF for about 30p a jar, and I could eat it straight from the jar!

I have not cooked Southern Fried Chicken for ages so I picked a RTC £1.70 chicken from the freezer and jointed it, it is sitting in the fridge in a slick of natural yogurt. I normally use buttermilk but the yogurt was RTC 20p!.

I will coat these with fresh breadcrumbs with a mix of spices in and then spray with a light coat of Fry Lite and cook in the oven. Hot with oven cooked chips and the last of the sweetcorn tonight and cold with Jacket potato and salad tomorrow.

The spice mix will be a random selection but will have cayenne, smoked paprika and cumin, probably a little turmeric both for taste and colour.

Now for the sewing.

This is the result of sewing all those strips together and will make the Santa Sack for my swap partner.

This will make a cushion cover to go in the sack, along with a pincushion and a mug rug that I have yet to make. I also fancy making a couple of yards of bunting.

I keep taking strips out of the basket, sewing, trimming and throwing all the little bits back and I swear that the basket is fuller now than when I started.

Now to the snarling bit.

My internet connection has been playing up and is very slow, this means that when I try to access outlook it cancels on "time out".

Today I managed to get through to BT and explained the problem to a very "helpful" woman , who was possibly in Delhi!

Her response was to tell me that my email was nothing to do with BT and she could not help, 3 TIMES I explained that it was the lack of speed that was the problem. Finally she got the message and put me through to the correct dept.

A VERY helpful young man went through a speed check and confirmed that there was a problem. However the corrective system was in the process of being upgraded and nothing could be done today. He then went out of his way to speak to a supervisor who assured me that we would get a call back as soon as the system was up and running and the issue would be resolved.

I stopped snarling but was a titchy bit sharp and asked for a time scale, it will be at least 24 hours.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. Dinner sorted for 2 days.

2. 3 generous portions of veg curry in the freezer.

3. A load of laundry dried on the line before the rain came.

4. A new recipe for pear chutney to try out.

5. My copy of SEW magazine arrived today, so copious cups of tea are on the agenda while I read it cover to cover.

On that note I am heading for the corner of the sofa.

                       TTFN                      Pam

P.S. Has anyone got a recipe for mustard pickle, I have made mine up for years now and would like to try a change, it needs to be hot rather than sweet. Pam

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I checked my emails today to find that I have won 2 fat quarters of a beautiful print from Texas. I entered a giveaway in the " April Showers Mug Rug" blog hop and won this,

This is the Bluebonnet, the national flower of Texas, I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it and intend to buy some yardage, I won this on the  More Stars in Comanche blog, I often follow these blog hops and when I am a bit more confident (and have the time) I will take part in one, perhaps there is a UK blogger who is in the know who would be able and willing to host one.

I have it in mind to make these into mug rugs in the spirit of the theme and then perhaps have a little giveaway competition.

I have been to Lynn and got the bulb for the Toyota and got the little Janome sorted so I am all set for sewing but it will be tomorrow.

Dinner tonight is a pack of the bacon chops, I have put them on a bed of diced onion and apple, spread them with some wholegrain mustard and drizzled Maple Syrup over. They will go into a moderate oven for an hour covered and then I will bang the heat up and cook them on for about 20 minutes uncovered, we will have baked sweet potatoes and cauliflower cheese with them.

While I was in Lynn I took the time to buy Michael his birthday gift, I know what he would like and I found it with no problem it is now in hiding, he reads the blog via email so I will just delete it from his in box before he sees it.

I hope that they spend many happy hours together in his "man cave" AKA the shed.

I have to make this a quickie as I have a hot date that will not wait

I will happily press every seam that I sew and every piece of fabric however small but I hate, loath and detest ironing, I have to iron just about everything and I have to do it properly, my granny again, I can feel her looking over my shoulder if I skimp on it. TTFN   Pam