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Wednesday, 6 October 2021

Cooking and gardening

 Thank you for comments, I feel much better today.  Took a dose of Night Nurse last night, as my sinuses were blocked and I felt a bit sniffly, although it could have been a slight reaction to the flu jab, I suppose.  Anyway, I slept like a log - Betty having a 'woofy' dream woke me up at some point, but I must have gone back to sleep immediately.  Then I woke up early this morning - 05.36 according to the clock - needing the loo....I would normally have gone downstairs then, but thought no I'll get back in bed for another half hour (the effect of the dark mornings!).  However, when I went back in the bedroom I realised I'd read the clock wrong and it was actually 06.36!!  Well, a couple of minutes later by then ๐Ÿ˜‚.  And, you know what - I still got back in bed, eventually getting up around 07.20.  A lie in - unheard of for me!

I got all my clothes sorted yesterday, there's a large bagful to take to the charity shop and my summer clothes have been put in a lidded plastic box under the bed.  But, sod's law, it's bright sunshine today and, other than a few showers forecast for tomorrow, the next few days after that are predicted to be a mini 'heatwave'!  I doubt it's going to be hot enough to get the summer stuff out again though, just pleasantly mild I should think.

This is the first week of our new way of eating (just 3 days of meat meals, 2 days of fish and 2 of vegetarian) and it's going very well.  Yesterday was a 'fishy' day, we had prawn risotto for dinner, and for lunch I did something we used to have a lot when I was a child and haven't had for years......tinned pilchards on toast.  I mixed a bit of horseradish and a splash of lemon juice into the mashed pilchards, piled it on the toast and put it back under the grill to warm through.  Then I topped it with sliced vine tomatoes (I'm not keen on them cooked) and it was absolutely delicious....even husband, who looked a bit dubious when he saw what I was making and said he wasn't sure he'd like it, decided he actually really did.

Today it's a meat day, I'm going to make sort-of Cornish pasties - except that I won't encase the filling entirely in pastry, it'll be in a shallow dish with just a puff pastry lid (I want to cut down on carbs).  It'll be thinly sliced swede, potatoes, carrots and onions (more swede than potatoes, as swede is slightly lower in carbs) topped with minced beef, and plenty of pepper and salt.  I'll also make some apple turnovers with the rest of the pastry - husband loves them and he's not bothered about cutting down on carbs.

Husband's tackling the garden today, cutting the grass, pruning, pulling up the finished veg plants and generally tidying for winter.  I'll have to supervise the pruning of the front flower garden (or do it myself), as he'll just chop it all off willy-nilly if he's left to his own devices - he's a demon with the shears! ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜’

12 comments:

  1. Hope your weather is better for gardening than here - pouring rain overnight and still hanging on this morning.

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    1. Bright sunshine here, a bit breezy though.

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  2. Good for you. An extra bit of lie in, if wanted, is a lovely thing.

    I do like your meal plans. As you know, I'm having a fish week and really enjoying it all. And pot pies are lovely - all the fun of a pie but only half the carbs! :-)
    xx

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    1. Pot pie....that's the name for it, thanks Joy - I just couldn't remember!

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  3. I'm the same as your hubby with shears, I snip everything that looks untidy, everyone says our garden is very tidy. But last year I followed Monty's advice and left things to die naturally, food for the wildlife, and I though it still looked good, so I'm doing the same again this year.

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    1. My hubby doesn't just snip though - he chops everything back to the ground! Well, he would if I let him. I recall Monty saying to leave the dead heads on the hydrangea, it'll help protect them over winter, so I'll do that this year.

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  4. Looking like it is going to be a good day here - so more gardening I expect and we return home we will have to make a start in the garden there! Your meal plan sounds like a good idea - I might make a pastie or two or some little pies when we get home (veggie ones of course). The farm shop on the Chatsworth Estate where we go very occasionally do some delicious little homemade Mushroom pies and I keep meaning to have a go at my own - as like most farm shops they are quite expensive to buy.

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  5. As we've spent so much time at the caravan, there's a lot needs doing here in the home garden.....it's become jungle-like in places! Yes, we do like to support local farm shops, but sometimes they're just a bit too expensive.

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  6. It's funny but Pilchards always seem to slip my mind. I love them but never think to buy them, you've made me want to go out and get some.
    Glad you had a good nights sleep it makes all the difference.
    Briony
    x

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  7. Glad you got a good night's sleep - and a lie in. Not that most people would call that a lie in, but I would! Warm and sunny here today, so I'll get some cutting back done later. I could do with your hubby, I'm a bit timid when it comes to pruning, but I'm getting better at it. Have to, it's like a jungle out there! xx

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  8. Gorgeous sunny and very hot day here, I'm in t-shirt under a light fleece mode at the moment so it was back to just a t-shirt and dinner on the patio ... until it got too hot and I had to come in while Alan went back to work.

    The meat/fish/veggie plan sounds like a good one and should help you to come up with a wide variety of meals.

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  9. Sunshine and breezy here as well. I think this might be our last very warm day though.

    Your supper sounds very tasty.

    God bless.

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