Tropic of Cwmgors

Another glorious day in the valley, the sun has done its best all day and is still going strong, it 21C in Glanamman and at least that in Cwmgors. Ben and I have just returned from a long leisurely stroll along the footpath that runs  behind the village right down into Gwaun Cae Gurwen. I had to stroll, I was full to bursting. There were 4 of us for dinner, nobody wanted a roast or anything too heavy, after discussion we settled on Pizza and salad.

Homemade base with my chunky tomato sauce.

A scattering of Chestnut Mushroom slices.

Some small chunks of Gammon steak, blanched in boiling water for 10 minutes, this partly cooks it and draws out the extra salt.

A bit more gammon and a small Mozzarella sliced roughly.

A large tomato sliced up and a good handful of grated cheddar.

I may have gone overboard a bit.

There are also some sliced red pepper and red chili in there somewhere.

This is the result, enough for 4 adults and a doggy bag, I am told that it will be breakfast tomorrow. We had a simple salad of lettuce, cucumber, red peppers and tomato. It was delicious, I left the sauce chunky simply because I made enough for a pasta sauce for next weekend and could not be bothered scooping some out to blitz.

Boy did I need that walk, I was rather overfull and uncomfortable.

I managed to get a few pictures on my walk before the batteries died.

The footpath is tarmac and lit, the grass is cut 2 or 3 times a year.

Lots of bramble flowers, I will be out picking the fruit once it is ripe.

This stream runs down from the upper valley sides, after rain it becomes a raging torrent but today it is a gentle little stream.

I will make sure to check my battery life in future, this is the second time, not good.

Reasons to be grateful.

1  A visit to see my new friend Maggie this morning, time chatting in her very pretty garden.

2.  Over the road and a quick visit with Melbourne, a chat and I left him with his favourite Carrot Cake and a jar of marmalade.

3.  A long distant chat with Francesca after I returned.

4. Did I mention the sun.

5.  Laundry done, dried and ironed.

I did take Maggie a jar of marmalade as well, she has offered me all the apples that I wish to pick from her garden, blackberry and apple jelly by the gallon.

I have managed to do a little sewing as well, the pockets and straps for another set of bags are done and I will finish 4 later when it cools down a little.

I will have to give all the plants a good drink tonight, I do that when I go on my nightly slug hunt.

Now it is almost time for a brew, no surprises there.

              TTFN                                                Pam

A Thoughtful Gift and an Overdue Finish.

I think that I may have been wittering on about crochet a tad too much. This was bought for me today.

It was a very thoughtful gift, one that will hopefully kick start a new craft for me.

There is a double page showing the main stitches, and even I can understand them.

6 different Granny Squares, which I will attempt as my starting point.

There are several patterns all using the "free" wool, some of them are knitting. it is an excellent way for me to start but I would not have thought to buy it myself, in fact I have never seen it before.

 I subscribe to 2 sewing magazines and that is enough.

While looking for something I unearthed this from the very back corner of a cupboard. It just needed lining, so I ran that up yesterday evening and finished it off.

Another bag to keep in the car, I will not use carrier bags I do not like them plus they saw your fingers off if they are heavy.

I am still cutting my way through anything smaller than a fat quarter, mostly into 1 1/2" strips, some 2 1/2" strips and crumbs. I am taking selvedges off at 1 1/2" for a future project. I am nearly halfway through and can see the benefits, my storage looks better, I can see my fabrics without having to shuffle through them.

The day started off with wind and rain but cleared to bright sunshine for about 3 hours, we are so lucky compared to much of the country.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. Good friends.

2. A gift to keep me busy for a few hours.

3. A big pile of ready cut strips for my next quilt.

4. The garden is nearly dry enough to work in.

5. The village shop is nearly ready to reopen.

There has been lots of activity in the village shop, new floors and storage, a window bricked up and the internal walls have been moved. There has been some rather large refrigerated units moved in  and some work done at the rear.

I do miss the shop, not that I used it much but it was a good central meeting place and source of information.

I am off to brew up and open my wool pack and see if I make a Granny Square or a Spiders Web.

     TTFN                                                       Pam

What to do on a Rainy Day.

With a little bit of this and a little bit of that I can fill my day with sunshine, well warmth and the golden glow of the oven light.
I couldn't sit still today so between the showers I took Ben and Greg out for 2 walks.
 I sorted out my sewing patterns and cut out another full skirt from my new to me pattern. The first one will have to be refashioned, I felt that the fabric was just a touch too heavy so am rethinking. The white on red polka dot is cut out and pinned together, I have a zip and will probably use a hook and eye fastening on the waistband.

At mid afternoon I had to get into the kitchen, I started by getting my pastry mix, homemade, out of the fridge and making a ball of pastry to rest back in the fridge.

While it was chilling I made this.

1/4 of a roast chicken, 1 bacon chop simmered in a little water  for 15 minutes, 2 leeks some buttery stuff, plain flour, milk and stock.

Slice the cleaned leeks and sweat off in some buttery stuff, when soft stir in the plain flour and cook for 10 minutes stirring gently. Add in enough stock and milk to give a fairly thick sauce, season and stir in the diced meats and put to cool. roll out the chilled pastry and make pies or pasties.

I got a pie for the freezer, another for my neighbour  Nev, and a pastie for lunch tomorrow, maybe.

I had some pastry left and knowing that both my neighbours have a sweet tooth I made a Paradise slice.

Line a greased swiss roll tin with pastry and spoon in some jam to cover the bottom. Weigh 3 eggs, 2 if very big, and use the same weight of caster sugar and buttery stuff, beat together with a wooden spoon, then use the same weight of half and half SR Four and Ground Almonds and stir into the mix, then add around 100 gs coconut and 400 g luxury mixed fruit (RTC if you can find it is perfect.) I have used homemade mince meat and added a little extra almonds to counteract the extra moisture, dollop on to the jam and spread level cook at 180c for 25 -30 minutes. I like this warm with a little cream, others like it with custard. I made a small round one from the excess pastry and filling mix, waste not want not.

I phoned the surgery this morning for my follow up test results, only to be told that it had been tested and on seeing the results the sample had been sent to "the lab", and no there was nobody available to give me any details, and no they could not prescribe anything until the results are back.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. A happy productive day.

2. Treats for my friends that cost little more than my time.

3. Missing the rain on my walks.

4. Despite the weather laundry and ironing done and dusted.

5. Seeing a mole pop out of his hole and sit up sniffing the air, luckily Ben and Greg were charging around on the other side of the field.

They are pretty little creatures and surprisingly fast, a blackbird sounded the alarm and in the blink of an eye the mole had turned a somersault and was gone.

I have stocked up with lemon barley water and cranberry juice, I will try the surgery Friday afternoon but in truth I expect it will be Monday at the earliest before I get any answer.

I have 6 items on my shopping list, I will go to see Mr T. on Friday and see if I can stock up enough things to get my £6 off. I have checked on line and some of my regular buys are on promotion.

Time for Tea,

                        TTFN                                             Pam