You've all come up trumps

 Thank you all very much for the dairy free recommendations, I really appreciate it.  Popped to the supermarket for a small top up shop of fruit & veg yesterday and took the opportunity to have a look at some of the vegan stuff.  A few things were on special offer, so I took advantage of that and bought some - some of the long life oat milks, and Lurpak plant butter (I didn't even know they did that) for example.  I also bought a pack of Applewood vegan smoked cheese, Philadelphia plant cream cheese and a tub of nutritional yeast flakes.  I've tried a slice of the Applewood cheese - it's actually not bad, a mild smoky flavour and quite 'cheesy', no unpleasant plasticky or chemically taste.  Even husband said it was ok, and he's not a huge cheese lover.  Haven't tried any of the other things yet (other than oat milk, which I've had several times in the past anyway), I'm going to try making a 'cheese' sauce using the oat milk and nutritional yeast and maybe grate a bit of the smoked cheese into it, just to see what it's like.  Cakes will be no problem, using plant based spreads, and I can of course make batter for Toad in the Hole with oat milk.  I've made pastry in the past using oil instead of butter....can't remember what it was like but am fairly sure it was ok.  I've had the Alpro yogurts before, they're absolutely fine.  Didn't know about the Swedish Glace icecream, I'll certainly try that - and the vegan Magnums!  So I now know there are plenty of options for making ordinary things dairy free.

But as one of you said, the prices of some of the dairy free things are much higher than 'normal' stuff, quite an eye opener.

Not done much today, I've had a belting headache literally all day, I think it's sinus related.  Might be worth me going totally dairy-free for a few days!

Dairy free recommendations?

 I've done lots of research the past couple of days and have decided that I definitely want a Ninja Combi 12 in 1 multicooker.  My tabletop oven is certainly losing heat, it's just taken over an hour to cook a small 1lb loaf cake that should have taken just 30-35 minutes, I don't want it breaking down when sister is here.  Husband has very kindly said he'll buy it, which is very nice of him.  One of the things on our Needs/Wants list for this year is a new TV - his choice, it's a want not a need, there's nothing wrong with our current TV.  Being a man, he wants a bigger screen and more features - although whether he'll be able to work out what they're all for, and actually use them, remains to be seen! 😉 He says he's happy to put off getting the TV until later in the year though, and agrees the multicooker takes priority over that.  We'll be getting it in a couple of weeks, which will give me time to get used to using it before sister comes.

Speaking of sister, she's told me she now cannot eat any dairy produce.  Like me, she's been lactose intolerant for years, she takes Lactase tablets for it but says they no longer work, and she cannot put up with the stomach pains and diarrhoea she gets.  My intolerance is mainly with cows milk, I've had lactose-free milk for years and am fine with that.  I can cope with cheese, yogurt and butter, so long as I don't eat loads of them - to be honest though, I couldn't imagine a life without cheese, it's pretty much my favourite food, so I'd most likely be prepared to put up with a certain amount of pain and toilet visits.  Imagine never eating cheese again!! 😮😂  Sis doesn't want to go back to the GP, as she says she's terrified of having to have a camera either down her throat or up her bum - or both.  Bless her.  I do understand how she feels about that though.  So I will have to revise my cooking and baking plans to take account of her dairy-free wishes, which is no big deal really.  I'll start buying some dairy-free things like spread and cheese and doing a bit of experimenting.  I already buy soya milk for her - I have it sometimes too.  If any of you have any recommendations for dairy-free alternatives (Kath and Sue, for example, I know you're both dairy-free), please let me know.

I didn't spend the whole day in the kitchen yesterday, just the morning.  I made a chicken & bacon pasta bake and a pineapple and coconut cake, both frozen now, and a feta, cranberry & red pepper rice salad for lunch.  In the afternoon I had a chat with my sister, then read for a while.

Kitchen day

 Just to make things absolutely clear - even though I'm diabetic and overweight, I've not been offered (and nor would I request) the Ozempic-type injections.  Just my personal view, I wouldn't have them even if the GP suggested them, they're not for me, the side effects I've read about and the skinny-to-the-point-of-wizened look of some of the celebs who've taken them put me off.  Who wants to lose so much weight that they look like they've aged 20 years and are at death's door?  I do know someone who took one of the weight loss drugs and spent all their time either throwing up or crapping a lot (to put it bluntly), so it's no wonder they lost weight!  And then put it back on after they stopped taking them.....

I'm going to spend the next couple of days batch cooking and baking, for when sister comes to stay, so I don't have to spend ages in the kitchen when she's here, and we'll have some nice treats (cake!) to go with coffee in the afternoons.  We'll probably go out for lunch a couple of times, and have sandwiches or quiche for other lunches, either here at home or as a packed lunch out.  Sis works hard at home, looking after her husband, doing all the housework and cooking, and cooking dinners for family when they come over at weekends, so I like to make sure she has a nice restful time when she's here.  I don't let her wash up even - she's a bit clumsy especially when she's having an MS attack, and I do like my china! 😂

There's loads of chicken left from husband's Sunday lunch, so I'll do a chicken & bacon pasta bake, husband can have some for his dinner tonight and I'll freeze the rest for him and sister.  I'll also make a fish pie, a portion will be for my dinner tonight, with the rest being frozen.  I'll bake a cake of some sort, and possibly some cookies or flapjacks if I have time.  That'll be a good start.

Husband thinks he's pulled a muscle in his back doing some weights at the gym yesterday, so he'll need to take things easy for a couple of days.

Sunshine, sis coming, and a mini rant

 Yesterday was awful weatherwise, I don't think it stopped raining all day, and the howling galeforce wind was hurling the rain at the windows.  Fortunately, today is sunny, bright and dry, with just a bit of a breeze, good washing drying weather, I've got Betty's fleece blankets that we have on the sofa and my bed in the washing machine.

The big happy news from yesterday though is that my sister wants to come down for a week on the 24 March - that's just 4 weeks today!  I was thinking she'd probably come in April or May, but I think she's desperate for a holiday - which is absolutely fine by us.  She's full time carer for her very disabled husband, so rarely gets much time for herself or days out.  Their son and daughter, who both live fairly close, will look after their father whilst sis is down here, and they have lots of supportive friends who will also look in on him.

I think my little tabletop oven is on the way out, it's not getting as hot as it used to.  Well, we bought it second hand anyway, it's done well.  I use my air fryer, microwave and slow cooker a lot, but am thinking about buying a Ninja multicooker, the Combi 12 in 1 12.5 litre - has anyone got one of these?  It seems to do the job of both the mini oven and the slow cooker, as well as being an air fryer.  If I do get one, I'll still keep my Lakeland air fryer though, but probably get rid of the slow cooker.  I'll have to take one of the things off the Needs/Wants list for this year and put it back to next year, which is no big problem, this is more of a Need than a Want.  

I read an article in the paper a couple of days ago about a middle-aged investigative journalist, who went on a radical fasting diet (under medical supervision) and lost 3 stones in 3 weeks.  Apparently, he literally ate nothing at all for those 3 weeks, just drinking water and black coffee and having multivitamins and minerals via an IV drip every few days.  Well, duh - anyone would lose several stones doing that, it's hardly remarkable.  But how dangerous and ridiculous is that?  And how many of us have access to a personal diet doctor who will administer vitamins via a drip and do tests and monitor us constantly?  And surely once you'd started eating again, you'd put the weight back on - you can hardly go indefinitely without eating.  How ridiculous.  I'll stick to traditional methods of eating less carby stuff and moving about more, now the warmer weather is coming and we can be more active in the garden and going for walks.  As for all the 'celebs' who are taking the Ozempic-type drugs (and thus making it difficult for diabetic patients, who they're actually meant for, to get prescribed them by their GPs as they're in such short supply now) - well, they end up looking like walking skeletons with a covering of very lined wrinkly skin who look like they're about to keel over and die.  Just seems like if you have oodles of money and can afford it, then you pay for it and take the easy way out, rather than actually having to work at it yourself.  End of soap box rant 😂😂

It's coming.....

 Spring, that is.  Although you wouldn't think so today, we've got another gale coming anytime now, loads of rain and winds of 48 mph.  But only for today - back to sunny spells and light showers, with just a normal amount of wind from tomorrow.  It's meteorological Spring on Saturday!  Proper Spring though not until the 20th March, when hopefully it'll be much more Spring-like and warmer.

But there are signs of Spring in my garden:-

Daffodils around the apple tree in the front lawn

Little narcissi and primroses on the rockery 

Bed full of bluebells, they'll flower in April 

The sun gradually getting higher in the sky, will soon be covering nearly all the garden (excuse my washing!  And the brown lawn patches where Betty's wee'd on it).

It was such a nice sunny day yesterday, we went for a drive in the afternoon to check out a tearoom on the way to Lynton/Lynmouth, which has good reviews on FB.  Looking for places to go with my sister when she comes down.  Well, there are wonderful views from the car park - towards the sea at Lynmouth one way, gorgeous Exmoor countryside the other way - the tearoom is located at a very high point so the views are far-reaching, it claims to be Britain's highest coastal tearoom.  The tearoom itself is converted from an old barn or maybe a cottage? and is pretty, with a log burner, nice old china, friendly staff and very dog friendly (there were about 6 dogs in there yesterday, I'm glad we hadn't taken Betty, she wouldn't have been impressed with all those dogs, she's a bit unsociable with other dogs).  However, it is a bit on the small side and the tables/chairs quite crammed in, so in the summer it would be uncomfortably busy and crowded, I suspect.  They don't do lattes, my favourite coffee, so I had a filter coffee with heated frothy milk on top, which was ok....except that it was in a small cup and saucer - I prefer a big mug of coffee.  I also had a cheese scone, which was one of the cheesiest tearoom scones I've ever had, so full marks for that.  In conclusion, the views are to die for and it was certainly nice inside, but because of the size - and it being a fair distance away up a very steep hill - I doubt we'd make a special effort to go again.  If we were going past on the way to or from somewhere though (Lynmouth e.g.), then we'd probably stop there.  

Next time there's a sunny day, we'll go back to Exmoor through Dunster and Timberscombe, driving across the moors - but this time I'll ask husband to drive slowly!  He tends to drive too fast, taking no account of the views and countryside, in fact he's oblivious to them.  Car journeys for him are all about the destination and he's got tunnel vision, his eyes being firmly focused on the road ahead.  I did note that there were several tearooms as we drove along a few weeks ago - well, I caught brief glimpses of them as we flashed past at the speed of light!  

A week late! And fingers crossed....

 The weather yesterday morning was blinking awful again, back to heavy showers and very strong gale force winds.  Fortunately, it was better in the afternoon, although apparently Sunday is going to be bad as well, more of the same.  Today though is going to be fine apparently, sunny and dry.  What to do?  No clue yet, other than washing to go on the line.

I was looking back at photos of our garden for around this time last year, it was interesting to note that the daffodils and narcissi (the ones that were already here when we moved in) flowered last year exactly a week earlier than this year.  So it looks like the cold wet weather has delayed things this year, but only by a week.

Between us, husband and I are going to cut my hair today, using his beard trimmer with the largest comb attachment again, and trimming the edges with scissors.  I'll probably end up feeling scalped again like last time, but fortunately my hair grows quickly and it'll be better than having all these longish wispy bits blowing around my face.  Also, the top is so long and fine it's just lying flat and limp, instead of being short and spiky how I like it.  Wish me luck! 🤞😂

We're having homemade pizza for dinner today... well, a bought base which I'll top with tomatoes, ham, mushroom and, yes, pineapple.  Plus cheese of course.  We'll have it with a few chips and some salad.  I fancy making a cake too, currently wavering between date & walnut or ginger.  I might make some peanut butter and banana dog biscuits as well.

Things going well

 Yesterday's weather was very hit and miss - short sunny spells interspersed with showers, some heavy, and the odd blast of strong wind.  It wasn't particularly cold though, which was a bonus.  

In the morning we nipped to Tesco for a small top up shop of fresh veg, milk and bread, then I did the freezer inventory as it was raining.  Once the rain stopped, we went outside and finished off filling up the new raised bed, it's all done now and ready for planting.  We know what veg we're growing this year, just have to plan where everything is going.  We'll have beetroot, carrots, shallots, probably 2 kinds of tomatoes, mini cucumbers, radishes, courgettes, maybe a butternut squash or 2, new potatoes grown in bags like we did last year, and strawberries.  Hopefully the tree in the middle of the front lawn will provide us with cooking apples this year, now it seems to have recovered from husband's butchery of it last year, when it then didn't produce a single apple.  The beetroot, carrots and radishes will be grown from seed, the rest we'll buy as mini plants.  The potatoes we've already got, they're chitting away nicely and are almost ready to plant in bags.  We've also already got shallot sets, plus strawberry plants which were new last year, although didn't fruit very well at all.....I'm hoping it was just because they were new and will fruit better this year.

Progressing on our Needs/Wants list - 3 things have now been achieved, and I've booked an appointment for the 4th, someone coming next month to measure up for the vertical blinds for kitchen and lounge windows.  I've had one quote already, although I wasn't overly impressed with the salesman - he wasn't pushy, just disinterested after I told him we only wanted 2 windows doing.  The 3 things we've already done are the bedroom carpet for husband's room, new glasses for us both, and the new raised bed for veg.  There are 7 things left on the list after the blinds have been done (the 7th was a late addition and may not be achievable this year, might have to wait until next year) and I've scheduled them all in my calendar spread out throughout the year.  All going to plan so far.

Had a long WhatsApp chat with my sister yesterday, she's going to try and come down to stay twice this year, which will be fab for both of us.

More done

 It started off raining yesterday, stopped by 9 ish and the sun came out nice and bright.  I got more washing on the line, then prepped the slow cooker and veggies for dinner - husband was out at the gym.  I did a bit of housework until after lunch, then we went in the garden.  Although the sun had largely gone, the wind had dropped and it wasn't too cold, so we could work in relative comfort.  I weeded the flower bed and pruned back the perennial shrubs, putting the prunings in the bottom of the new raised bed, as Marlene suggested.  Then we started to fill the raised bed - the donated top soil (which was actually more a mixture of stones and lumps of mud) in the bottom, on top of the prunings.  We followed that with a thick layer of our own homemade compost from last year, comprising of veg peelings, prunings, eggshells, banana skins, etc - it had rotted down well into quite a nice compost, with the odd few bits of eggshell still visible.  The top layer is bags of bought multi purpose compost, it will take 6 bags altogether but we only did 2 before we had to stop.  It's surprisingly heavy and tiring work, shovelling the topsoil and compost into a trug (husband did that), then lifting the trug onto husband's homemade garden trolley - a wooden platform on wheels.  Unfortunately, it broke beneath the weight of the 3rd trug, I think husband filled it up too much 😒.  I raked all the soil level in the bed after helping husband lift the trugs and empty them into the bed each time - just the raking wore me out.  Husband would have carried on but I suggested it was time we stopped, or else we'd be unable to move come the evening!  He needs to do things slowly and take regular breaks anyway, because of his heart failure - which he doesn't unless I tell him to.  Besides which, the strong cold wind was back.

This morning we both ache like mad, so having a restful morning - besides which it's drizzling.  I'm going to do a freezer inventory, having done a fair bit of batch cooking lately there are quite a few homemade ready meals in the freezer.  I'll add to the menu plan too.  Sunny spells forecast for this afternoon, so we'll try and get the other 4 bags of compost into the raised bed.  The other raised veg beds need topping up and lightly forking over too, then they'll all be ready for planting up in due course.

Lots more Spring bulbs are beginning to flower now, Spring is definitely on the way! 🌷🪻

A good start

 It was still chilly in the morning so we started off in the car port, which had become very cluttered and untidy again, making it difficult for me to get to my veggie box and clothes airer, with hardly any space to put the airer up.  How husband manages to accumulate so much stuff and clutter everything up I don't know.  Well, I do - he never throws anything out or puts things away after he's used them.  I had the same problem with my utility room in the last house - husband used it as his extra shed, despite having 2 sheds in the garden.  Drives me nuts, I am by nature very tidy and organised, whilst he's the complete opposite.

Once that was done, the next job was to replace the rotted plank along one side of the biggest gravel bed.  As it was so rotten and warped, it wasn't holding the gravel in, I was fed up with constantly having to shovel up the gravel where it had fallen on the path.  2nd job done.  We stopped for lunch and a short break, then went outside again to carry on, it was a bit warmer by this time.  We dug up a small Acer that was in the space where the new raised bed was going, I put it in a pot for the time being until I decide where it's going.  We positioned the raised bed, ready for us to start filling it today, whilst I got on with pruning the roses and doing some weeding.  A good day's work, we were pleased with progress, although both of us had sore backs last night.  We're ok today though.

So today we'll fill the new raised bed - the bottom layer will be a couple of large bags of rough topsoil which a neighbour was giving away last year, having had some work done in their garden.  Then we'll put in our own homemade compost from last year, with some bought bags of peat-free compost on top.  I need to do some more weeding and pruning of shrubs that I'd left to die back over winter, and start clearing another small gravelled bed that's going to be another flower bed.  That'll be enough for today.  I'm so happy to be able to finally start working in the garden again, it feels like months and months since we last did anything out there.  

I'm doing a rice pudding in the slow cooker today, we'll be glad of a nice sweet treat after the garden work.  Salmon baked in a foil parcel with ginger and lemon, with new potatoes and green veg for dinner, followed by the rice pud.

It's raining right now but is forecast to stop by mid morning and the sun come out, with a temperature of 12 or 13 and less wind, so even better than yesterday for garden work.

At last!

 Do you know, we're actually going to do some gardening today!  It's dry and bright, the sun is coming out and it's forecast to be around 8 or 9 degrees.  There's quite a strong wind though (always seems to be windy here) so doubtless it'll feel a bit colder.  But with a fleece jacket and gardening gloves on, it should be ok.  We're itching to get started on all the jobs out there - even husband is - and got to take advantage of the sunshine.  Forecast for tomorrow is even warmer but no sun!

Obsessions. And THAT is cold!

 Husband's latest obsession is fiddling with the shower controls.  This is a recent thing, just in the past few weeks - prior to that, in both the last house and this one, we had the shower settings the way we both liked them and didn't alter anything, the only thing that either of us altered was the temperature, as we each have different preferences for that.  The shower head has different settings for Eco, flow rates, types of droplets, about 8 settings in all.  Then on the control unit there are temperatures and High or Low push button setting for water pressure I think.  Recently husband has started to change ALL of the settings, even including the height of the shower head (why?  Has he suddenly got taller or shorter overnight?) each time he has a shower, which of course then means that I have to adjust everything back to what it was before he started fiddling with it.  I know not why he does this, I have asked and even he is at a loss to explain why, he just shrugs his shoulders or has even denied doing it - when it's blatantly obvious that he has done it.  Another of his cognitive impairment quirks that make our lives slightly more difficult.  And annoying! 😒

He bought Betty a new mattress pad to go in her bed the other day - it cost all of £4.99, as cheap as you can get it.  It was as cheaply and poorly made as the price suggests - very flimsy material with no removable washable cover, with a filling of very loosely packed cheap wadding, there was no substance to it at all, I told him it wouldn't last and was false economy (I wasn't with him when he bought it in one of the cheap pound shops).  Betty has gone through numerous mattress pads over the years, she does have a habit of chewing them occasionally, eventually ripping a hole in them - the cheaper they are, the quicker they get destroyed.  This one lasted all of 5 minutes - virtually as soon as husband put it in her bed, she jumped in it and chewed it, tearing the flimsy material and pulling out mouthfuls of the cheap stuffing almost immediately.  It was an "I told you so" moment but I refrained from saying it!  He got on the internet and ordered another mattress, one with a thick furry pile and (allegedly) plenty of stuffing, and washable, costing £24.99.  It arrived yesterday - again it's not a removable cover, apparently the whole thing can be washed in the machine, although I'm not sure I'd want to, as the fur cover is indeed very deep and thick and I have visions of it coming out in handfuls and clogging up the washing machine.  It is certainly better quality than the cheap rubbish one and Betty absolutely loves it - she actually slept in her own bed for several hours last night, only coming up onto my bed in the early hours of this morning.  It does look and feel very snuggly, but I have my doubts as to how long it will last.  Still, it's already lasted hours and hours longer than the last one!

It is husband's money out of his own account, to spend as he sees fit (we have a separate main account for all household bills, plus our own personal spending accounts and a couple of savings accounts), but he continues to buy things that are dirt cheap and consequently aren't fit for purpose and don't last long at all.  Waste of money, in other words.  But it's his money to waste.

I feel ridiculously excited at the forecast for higher temperatures this week, from Wednesday it supposedly will be 12 or 13 degrees during the daytime, positively balmy in comparison to the bitterly cold temps of late.  A mixture of sunshine and showers is forecast, but hopefully we'll be able to start getting out in the garden to do needed things like weeding and pruning and getting the flower and veg beds and raised beds ready for planting.  Can't wait.  One of my Canadian readers, Jackie from In the Land of Living Skies blog, posted last night that they were expecting night time temperatures of - wait for it - MINUS 50 degrees!!  Makes me feel ashamed for complaining about -2 🥶😱.  I cannot even imagine what that must be like.  I hope you're safe, Jackie.

A good party dish

 I didn't make a pizza after all yesterday, I changed my mind after seeing a recipe on FB from a Canadian cook called Marie Rayner, she also has a blog/website called The English Kitchen (she lived and worked as a chef here in England for a number of years).  The recipe was for Baked Spaghetti - I have a lot of pasta in the cupboard so decided to make that instead.  It's dry spaghetti in a sauce of tinned tomatoes and stock (I used veggie stock), with fresh tomatoes halved, herbs and grated cheese all mixed together in an oven dish, then baked for half an hour or so, stirring the spaghetti halfway through.  I added sliced chestnut mushrooms and a couple of finely sliced shallots to mine.  Once I'd got the dish out halfway through to stir and mix the spaghetti (I used wholewheat spag), I added the sliced smoked mozzarella on top for the final 15 mins.  We had it with a crusty roll each, it was delicious and I'll definitely do it again.  Husband said he'd like minced beef or bacon in it next time, although he did like the veggie version.  So next time I'll split it in two and put some meat in his.  Although I halved the quantity of spaghetti in the recipe (Marie used 500g), it still made loads and I've frozen another 3 portions.  The full quantity would make a good party dish actually, a big steaming dishful on the table with bowls of grated cheese, cubes of ham, salad and a basket of garlic bread would feed loads of people with little effort required.  And minimal washing up!

Betty's annual jab on Friday really knocked her out, she was sleeping all afternoon and most of the evening, which made for a quiet evening - she normally comes to life and wants to play in the evenings, just when we're tired and want to relax!

Very cold again today but at least it's forecast to be dry, the wind chill is going to make it feel even colder.  I'll try putting washing on the line but doubt it'll be fully dry.  But hooray it's going to be warmer by the middle of the week!

Non-Valentine flowers

 Husband doesn't observe Valentine's Day, he told me very early on in our relationship (even before we married) that he thinks it's just a made up thing to force people to spend (waste) money.  I think the only time he got me a card and flowers on Valentine's Day was many years ago when I had flu, so he felt sorry for me.  So it's always been a normal day for us - I don't have to get him anything either as he also told me all those years ago that he doesn't want me to!  Fair enough, although I have made him cards occasionally throughout the years.  This year was no different, except that a week ago he bought me 2 bunches of carnations, completely out of the blue and for no reason.  They were in tight buds when he brought them home, but are in glorious open flower now:-

How lovely are they?  I can't remember the last time he got me flowers, for any reason - he used to buy them regularly but it's a rarity now.  So I'm counting these as Valentine flowers 😁  Carnations are one of my favourite flowers, they're so pretty, come in so many colours and are such good value for money as they last for ages.

When I get up in the mornings, I open several windows straight away, I like to get the rooms aired.  Within half an hour yesterday though I had to close most of them as it was so blimmin cold - a freezing wind was making the house feel chilly, even with the heating on.  Aren't we all just so sick of cold, grey, dreary days?  And it rained yesterday, with more today.

Yesterday morning I broke up and whizzed up the stodgy cheese bread from the other day, resulting in a lovely big pile of cheesy crumbs, which I froze.

I made a chicken and mushroom pie filling, heavy on the mushrooms and other veg - onions, chopped red pepper and peas, with a can of chicken & mushroom soup, thickened with cornflour, as the sauce.  Instead of putting it in pastry, I used one of those large Yorkshire puddings as the base, topping it with some of the cheesy breadcrumbs and putting it in the oven.  We had half each, it was delicious with tenderstem broccoli on the side, and very filling, I couldn't eat all mine (husband finished it off).  Loads of filling left over, I froze it.  Today we're having homemade pizza, I'll make a scone base and top it with a little smoked bacon and lots of pineapple (yes we like pineapple on pizza!! 😂), mushrooms and tomatoes.  I got a ball of smoked mozzarella when shopping the other day, never had it smoked before, that'll go lovely on the pizza.  We'll have half with salad tonight, the other half will be lunch tomorrow.

Took Betty to the vets yesterday for her annual jab, claw clipping and ear check, all fine.  Well, her ears are a little inflamed but no infection right now, the vet said to give them a squirt every couple of days with the ear cleaner spray he gave us last time and she should be ok.  I had to pop into the supermarket whilst out, I forgot to get any custard when we did the big shop and husband does like custard with his apple crumble.  I had a quick look on the reduced shelf and was glad I did - I got 2 packs of 2 salmon fillets and a small beef joint, all half price.  Husband loves beef but hasn't had it for ages, he was really pleased about it so I said it was his Valentine's present as he got me flowers 😁

A big shop and giant cauliflower

 I think the older I get, the more I hate shopping.  I know I could do it online and have it delivered but I hate doing that as well, and you can't get to look at and choose your own fruit and veg, or easily pick out substitutes of things they don't have.  Nor can you get any yellow stickered things online - I got several packs of meat and fish things yesterday that were yellow stickered, saving me over £14, it all went straight in the freezer.  It was a big shop, we used a big trolley rather than the smaller one we usually use, I definitely won't need anything other than a couple of top up shops for fresh veg and fruit for the next month, we're well stocked in the (admittedly unlikely) event of being snowed in for a month 😂.  So my job for this morning is to do another freezer and larder inventory, and lunch/dinner menus for a month.  

Sometime over the next few days, I want to do some batch cooking of meals for both us and the dog....I got 2 packs of reduced chicken mince to cook up with veggies and brown rice for Betty, and reduced pork mince, diced chicken and cod for us.  I also got a ginormous cauliflower, an extra large one because they looked nice and fresh whereas the normal sized ones had very droopy leaves and were going a bit off colour, they'd obviously been there a while.  We like the leaves of fresh cauli lightly cooked as an extra veg, so I always try to get one that's got nice leaves.  The cauli will make around 8 portions of cauli cheese, even more if I add macaroni to it as well.  Cauli cheese, with or without macaroni, is one of my favourite meals, especially with a jacket spud.  I've got a few apples that need using up quickly, I bought Cox's a week or so ago, they're generally one of my favourites but these ones must have been in storage for a while, instead of being crisp, juicy and flavourful, they're soft and powdery, not nice to eat as they are but will be fine in a crumble.

We were forecast sunny spells yesterday but they didn't materialise, just the unrelenting cold greyness again.  Once again, the local forecaster on the TV said it's colder than average, it should be around 8 or 9 degrees this time of year but is only about 4, and feels even colder than that with the bitter wind.  They do say it should be sunnier and getting warmer - up to 11 deg wow! - from the middle of next week.  We can but hope.

I've just found out (I saw something online) that I'm now eligible for the shingles vaccine, as I'm now 65 - apparently I should have been offered it by our surgery but I've not heard from them yet.  I might ring and ask about it.  We know a few people who've had shingles and they all say it's horrible, really painful.  Husband had his jab a few years ago.

A success

 Well, for a change, both of us got everything we wanted from Matalan, Proper Job and Aldi, so successes all round.  The Taunton Aldi even had my favourite frothy coffees, having not had any the past 3 or 4 times we'd been there (although I did manage to get some from the Bridgwater store when we went for husband's dentist appointment last week), so I bought another 10 boxes.  I now have enough frothy coffees to last me for two or three months, which has pleased me no end.  Husband got the compost - well, a starting amount anyway, we'll need more throughout the growing season - and some veg seeds.  Oh, there was one thing we couldn't get, shallot sets, but I'm sure they'll have them in the local garden centre.  I got a lovely new shower mat and hand towels, plus a nice big fleece throw for my bed - in fact I bought two, they were so nice and a good price.

Sue, I love Dunelm, there is one in Taunton but it's not near where we were yesterday, it's over the other side of Taunton.  Ironically, there's one close to where we had our caravan....in fact, I bought some of the soft furnishings and kitchen bits for the van from there.  Speaking of the caravan, a neighbour asked yesterday if we'll miss having it.....funnily enough I was thinking about it a couple of days ago, a few fond memories of our time there but no I don't think I'll miss it really, it just wasn't the same last year after our friends left and several new people who had loads of dogs between them and didn't seem as friendly arrived.   Both of us ended up not really wanting to go anymore, we were actually quite glad to give it up. 

I think we need to move to Cornwall - we had none of the promised sunny spells here yesterday, just uniformly grey and dreary again, cold and with fine misty rain in the air.  However, my brother who lives in Cornwall sent me a photo of their back garden - with bright sunshine and clear blue sky.  I hate him 😠😂😂  (I don't really of course, and no we won't be moving to Cornwall).

We're going shopping today, I want to stock up on freezer stuff - veggies, fish, meat for husband, plus enough bread and milk to freeze and last for a month.  I'm going to try doing a big shop just once a month, with just a couple of top up shops for fresh stuff every month.  Dry goods, cleaning supplies and toiletries etc I'll try and build up a 2 or 3 month stock of - the theory being that cutting down on the number of times I need to go shopping will reduce spending.

Incidentally, Sue - how coincidental that your son's dogs woke him up for unknown reasons too - I wonder what it was, I certainly hadn't heard anything but Betty clearly did, she jumped up all alert and keenly listening for something and was unsettled for ages afterwards.  Perhaps she saw or heard a ghost!! 😳😂

Stodge, bummer and imaginary noises

 The date and walnut cake is lovely....the cheese bread awful.  It was a non-yeasted quick bread made with SR flour, it was, oddly, both crumbly and heavy, it plunged to the bottom of my stomach like a big lump of stodgy suet pudding, bloating me for ages.  Not one of my culinary successes, I'll stick to yeast breads in future.  I shan't waste it though, I'm leaving it to dry out for a couple of days then will whizz it to breadcrumbs and freeze it.  It can be used to top pasta bakes or fish pies etc.

We're off on our shopping trip to Taunton when husband gets home from the gym around 10 am.  I've been going on about things I want in The Range, and have just realised that the store near Proper Job (where husband particularly wants to go) isn't The Range, it's Matalan.  Bummer!  Matalan does do some homewares but I prefer the things in The Range - I want a new shower mat, some more hand towels and a large bed fleece.  There is a Range in Taunton, but it's right over the other side and not really near where we're going....never mind, hopefully I can get what I want in Matalan.  Otherwise I'll order it on the website.

We've just found out that 2 elderly residents here on our sheltered housing scheme died within a few days of each other last week, we knew one of them slightly but not the other.  I guess it's inevitable when one lives in a community of elderly people.  We did see an ambulance come down last week - again, that's a fairly regular occurrence.  Several of the residents have daily carers, one near us has carers in 24/7 on a rota basis.  I suppose you could say husband has a 24/7 carer too!  

It felt a bit warmer yesterday - having said that, I didn't go out anywhere, other than in the garden with Betty....we have to keep an eye on her out there or she'll be digging in the flower beds.  We're actually forecast a few sunny spells today, although the weather forecasters keep saying the temperature is colder than normal for this time of year.

I didn't sleep well at all last night, Betty kept leaping up hearing imaginary noises - well, noises only she could hear.  She seemed very anxious and couldn't settle, for whatever reason.  I had to put the light on and stroke her, talking to her quietly for a while till she eventually settled.  Perhaps she was having bad dreams?!  She seems fine this morning, whilst I feel like death warmed up. 😞

Dull days, outside and in

 Another grey, dreary day, with very fine mist-like drizzle - cold but not quite so bitter as there's not such a strong wind.  I've done washing but it's on the airer in the car port, in view of the misty drizzle, it won't dry on the line.  Isn't it boring when the weather is relentlessly grey and washing has to be clogging up the hallway overnight on the airer (I don't have a tumble dryer).  Our Housing Association say we shouldn't dry washing indoors - erm just where are we supposed to dry it then, if we haven't got tumble dryers?

It took me ages to warm up yesterday, having got thoroughly chilled and wet waiting around for husband and then having to walk 300 yds to where he'd parked.  I never used to feel the cold much when I was younger, and during the menopause it was a case of hot flushes and night sweats, I'd have been grateful to feel cold then!  As I've aged though, I definitely feel chilly more often than not, despite having a good layer of fat 😂.  Thankfully I don't feel so cold today.  I've been in the nice warm kitchen with the oven on, made the cheese bread and date & walnut loaf cake, and boiled some eggs to go in the smoked haddock kedgeree we're having tonight.

I've written lists for the things I want from The Range and Aldi tomorrow (hopefully more coffees!  And we like their mature cheddar), and a list of husband's wants from Proper Job - he'll never remember, and I won't either with all of the stuff I want, my brain will only remember so much.  The three stores are all pretty close to each other, so we're killing 3 birds with one stone (what a nasty expression that is!  Must stop using it).  

Nothing else to write about today, the days are all much the same at the moment.  As I keep saying - roll on Spring!!

Cold - again!

 It's drizzly, grey, windy and freezing cold again today, how depressing, and forecast to be much the same all week.  The local weather lady on TV this morning said it's colder than average for this time of year - don't I know it!  Although there is a glimmer of hope, apparently it will be a couple of degrees warmer at the end of the week.

I got husband to drop me off in town when he went to the gym this morning.....I didn't really want to go in this weather, but needed a few things in town, all of which I got so that was a good thing.  I'd arranged with husband for him to pick me up in the usual place (outside one of the shops that has a covered canopy so I could shelter out of the rain) and at the usual time.  Well, he was 10 minutes late for a start, I saw him coming and then he drove straight past me and around the corner into a car park at the back of the shops, around 300 yards or so away from where I was stood waiting, so I got even wetter and colder walking to where he was.  He didn't even glance in my direction when he drove past, he'd clearly forgotten where he was supposed to meet me, but why on earth he drove to a car park where we almost never meet up is beyond me.  He couldn't explain it when I asked him, other than to say he thought that was what we'd agreed.  😒  I wasn't best pleased.  Since we've been home he's asked me the same question 3x in the space of half an hour....I think the cold today must be affecting his brain!

I've just had an email from the library reminding me my books are due back in a couple of days, it doesn't seem like 3 weeks since I got them out.  I've only finished one of the 6 books and am halfway through a second, not much reading done lately obviously, I've just renewed them online.  Last time I checked my library account online, I was a bit shocked to see overdue charges amounting to around £19 on my account - I always renew my books online if I haven't finished them so where the charges came from I don't know.  However, the charge has now been removed so it must have been a glitch in their system.  As I'm still feeling cold (my nose and fingers are freezing despite the heating being on), I'm just going to sit and read this afternoon, snuggled up with a fleece blanket and cup of hot chocolate.  I was going to do the baking I mentioned yesterday, date & walnut cake and a cheesy soda bread, but will put it off till tomorrow.

I'm eating too many carbs again lately, I blame it on the weather.  Another reason I can't wait for Spring to arrive.

Thank you

 Thank you for all the comments on my 'Banter' post yesterday.  We all have different views - of course we do, and that's absolutely fine.  Giving those views in a calm, polite and respectful way shows grace and is much appreciated, thank you for that.

Personally, although I didn't (and still don't) like the salacious overtly sexual and downright rude comments I got from men on my boobs, I didn't mind the wolf whistles accompanied by a cheeky grin, they generally gave me a little lift.  I don't think there's anything wrong in showing a little appreciation or admiration with a cheeky wolf whistle, although I do understand that not everyone feels the same.  I do still think that some can be over-sensitive - yes, I agree that nobody knows what might have happened to colour people's perceptions of things.  As a personal background note, I would just say that I was sexually abused for a period of time as a child/young teenager, so it's not like I've never had a bad experience.

On to today, the start of a new week.  Although it's still cold, we've actually had a few glimpses of sun this morning, which is very nice.  It's still forecast to be dull and cloudy all week, but with the temperature rising to an almost balmy 8 degrees towards the end of the week!  

We're not having a roast dinner today.  There was some cooked leftover roast chicken in husband's freezer drawer so I've got that out and defrosted it, I'll mix it with some bbq sauce and he can have that with a jacket potato and some veg.  I'm going to have cauli cheese with my jacket spud, I fancy something nice and simple today.  I've got lots of wholemeal pasta and brown rice in the cupboard, so our meals will be featuring those this coming week.  Husband has asked for a date and walnut cake and I fancy a cheesy soda bread, so a bit of baking tomorrow.  I'll get husband to drop me off in town tomorrow morning when he goes to the gym, I want to pop into the health shop and need a few toiletries from Superdrug.

Wednesday we're going to the big Properjob and The Range stores on the outskirts of Taunton, they're very close to each other, we both want a few things from each shop.  They're quite close to an Aldi as well, so might pop in there too, it makes sense as we'll be in the area anyway.

Friday we have to take Betty to the vet for her annual vaccination, her claws need clipping too.  She hates going to the vet, bless her....can't say as I blame her, I'm not particularly keen on going to the GP either!

Gill, I meant to say thank you for the info regarding quotes for vertical blinds, you said your quote was £150 for a sash window.  The first quote we had for our kitchen window was £189 - that window is around 36" deep by 72" wide, so I guess the £189 is reasonable really.  Will wait to see what the others are.

Is it just banter?

 Re husband's knob twiddling etc.....I know he can't help it, he's not doing it deliberately to annoy me (although it does feel like it sometimes!) - it's down to his cognitive impairment, he's sometimes not even aware he's doing stuff, his brain just works differently now.  I do have to keep reminding myself that he can't help it though.  I do a lot of teeth grinding, tongue biting or walking out of the room to save my sanity (or his ears!).  At the end of the day, he's still my husband - albeit a somewhat different version of the bloke I married.  But then none of us is the same person 44 years on, we all will have changed some way or other.  I'm just glad I gave up smoking and drinking years ago - if I still did either, I think I'd be rather too reliant on them now! 😂😨

Saw on the news yesterday that the chef Gino D'Acampo is the latest bloke to have allegedly been behaving badly for years, he joins Wynne Evans, Gregg Wallace, John Barrowman, and of course Huw Edwards, Mohammed Al-Fayed, Russell Brand and Phillip Schofield, amongst many others.  The last four mentioned had more serious allegations against them, either actual sexual assaults or at the very least, a case of them abusing their power status and believing they were untouchable.  In my opinion (and it is only my opinion), the first four are just tone-deaf idiots who think their inappropriate sexual innuendoes are hilariously funny - they're all show-offs who like to play to an audience and class what they do/say as just banter and tomfoolery and think anyone (for that read woman) who objects has no sense of humour.

I would think that most women have been subjected to this kind of behaviour from men for years and years - I know I have.  I had the misfortune to become very well endowed in the boob department from puberty, which has meant me having to put up with leers, men talking to my boobs instead of my face, even the occasional grope thinly disguised as 'accidentally' brushing against me, and no end of ribald comments, for my entire adult life from said puberty onwards.  And even worse behaviour on a thankfully few occasions.  It's not a case of being humourless - I consider myself to have a very good (cheeky) sense of humour.  But most women know what is or isn't appropriate, and can 'read the room' and judge when something is likely to offend....well, that's what I think anyway.  I also think it's been the case for years and years that women in particular have been reluctant to make a fuss or call some bloke out on bad behaviour for fear of not being believed, or even losing their jobs.  But women are coming forward now in this 'Me Too' age, because they finally can.

I do think though, even now, that some women - woke snowflakes mainly - take the 'being mortally offended' too far.....like women who complain loudly in the media about being wolf-whistled by workmen in the street.  Again this is just my opinion but when some girl complains about that I just think "Really?  They're just showing appreciation for a pretty face or figure, they're not rugby-tackling you to the ground and tearing your knickers off!!" 😒  Feel free to disagree with me, we all think differently.

 

On/off, on/off aaarrgghh

 I generally try and do whatever needs doing (including dinner prep) in the mornings, so that I can sit and read or browse on the computer in the afternoons.  Yesterday afternoon when I sat down in my room, I noticed the radiator was stone cold and the room was freezing, I hadn't noticed before how cold it was in the house as I'd been busy in the kitchen.  I asked husband to turn the heating up - the thermostat and control is in the lounge where he was watching TV - he then said he didn't think the heating was working and I should report it to the Housing Association!  So I asked why he thought it wasn't working - other than the fact that the radiators were cold.....he said he'd switched the heating on and off a few times and it hadn't come on - probably because he expected the radiators to respond instantaneously.  It transpired he'd literally been switching the control on/off every few minutes for a couple of hours.....I don't know why, he was unable to offer much of an explanation other than to check it was working!  So I switched it on (he'd turned it off) and asked him not to touch it.....it came on, the radiators warmed up and all was fine.  He'd also turned off the frying pan I had on the electric hot plate browning off the veggies before putting them in the slow cooker with the split peas - without asking me, I was in the loo at the time.  This is typical of him, he just cannot resist fiddling with things, it's one of his obsessions.  He's like a small child who just has to touch knobs and switches, it drives me nuts. 

Hard frost again this morning, bitingly cold wind, no sunshine forecast today - or even for the next week.  Overcast, cloudy, spots of rain and very cold every day for the next week.  How depressing 😔 

It feels like it's been a very long winter.

Spring, cooking and planning for Needs/Wants list

 A hard frost this morning, ice on the car and the grass and paths looking almost like a light covering of snow.  It's bright sunshine now so the frost has gone but it's still very cold.....6 deg but feeling like 0 or 1.  Much the same weather forecast for the next week.  I've been out in the garden (with my coat on!) checking out the bulb pots.....yellow crocuses and yellow iris in flower, the buds of hyacinths just beginning to show, daffodil flower buds are bending over so they'll be flowering in another week or so.  When we've been out and about in the car we've seen quite a few daffs already flowering on roadside verges.  There are newly born little lambs in nearby fields and lots of birds in flight and beginning to sing, so Spring is definitely on the way.  The daylight hours are really lengthening too, which is lovely.

I've spent this morning in the kitchen.....quiche made for lunch, a 2-portion apple pie made for husband, using a bit of leftover pastry.  Split pea and veg soup in the slow cooker for dinner this evening, there'll be lots left for lunches or to be frozen.  I'll make a cheesy soda bread this afternoon to go with the soup, it's nicest fresh out of the oven and then toasted on subsequent days.

Both husband and I keep getting text reminders from our GP surgery to book our annual diabetes review.  However, when husband went to collect our prescriptions last week and asked about booking our reviews, he was told that they're very busy right now and won't be able to do it until the end of March 😒.  I hope this government does something to help our failing NHS.

Next month is the first month of getting 2 of my Carers Allowance payments in the same month, so I'm planning for what to do with the extra money.  The next thing on our Needs and Wants list is vertical blinds for the kitchen and lounge windows, so I will be making arrangements for a couple of blind reps (well, reps who work for suppliers of blinds 😂) to come and measure up and give us a quote.  I've had one quote already, from a local firm - I thought it was quite expensive, but as we've never had vertical blinds fitted before (although lived in a couple of homes that had them already fitted) I wouldn't really know.

I've done a reverse menu planning list of dinners I can make from what we've got in the freezer, veg box and cupboards.  There's enough to take us up to the end of the month, I'll just need to get some milk, cheese and eggs, so February will be a low spend month.

Nut roast 'recipe' for Sue, and Betty's pic

 Sue of Eating and Living Well on a Small Budget asked for my nut roast recipe.  It's not actually a recipe - I just wing it really, it depends on what I've got in and what needs using up.  As a base line though, it always contains the same few things, with other additions:-

Nuts - obviously, I use whatever I've got, I chop them first, mostly small but some bigger chunks for texture.

Sage & onion stuffing - the ordinary supermarket packet stuff, I use it dry.

Carrots, grated, 1 large or a couple medium size.

Then some or all of the following:-

A grated parsnip, some dried cranberries or diced dried apricots for a bit of sweetness, a spoonful of Marmite melted in a little hot water, a couple of spoonfuls of peanut butter (especially if I haven't got many nuts).  Half a grated courgette - more than that will make the mixture too wet.  A large shallot, finely diced (or maybe half an onion or some stray spring onions).  A tsp garlic paste, and couple of squirts of tomato puree.  Maybe the last scraping out of the chutney jar - I've even used the last bit of marmalade out of the jar a couple of times.  Mix it all up well and pack into a greased and/or lined loaf tin - 1lb or 2lb depending on how much mixture you've got!  Oh, and if the mixture seems very dry, I might add a beaten egg.  Baking time depends on size of loaf tin - maybe 30 mins for a smaller size, 45 for bigger - I don't really take much notice of actual timing, to be honest - I test it by pressing on the top to see how firm it is, and by the look of it - it should look deeply golden brown with a few slightly charred bits.  When cool I slice it up into portions and wrap individually in cling film or foil then freeze.  Reheat it in the microwave, air fryer or oven if it's on for something else.  Timing - well, I just do it until it's heated through.

Sorry I can't be more precise - virtually all my cooking is like that, I'm not one for slavishly following recipes, I like experimenting and just use common sense.

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my new header pic - sorry it's so huge, I didn't know how to resize it!  As I said, the photo is actually from 4 or 5 years ago.  Betty always makes a beeline for the statue when we go to Watchet, and yes she does seem to think it's a real human....she likes the fact that she can jump up for a face lick and he doesn't push her off or look aghast!  I should mention that we don't allow her to do that to real humans though 😉😂

It's very cold again, the forecast is for cold weather every day for the next week.  I'll try not to get despondent though, but look on it as an opportunity to do some batch cooking and soup making, making more garden plans and doing lots of reading.

No cabbages thanks

 Very blustery here again today, a strong bitterly cold wind.  What is it with all this wind lately?  Seems never ending.  Not a day to be outside, weak sunshine at the moment but dark clouds and rain forecast very soon.  

I've just done another freezer inventory, adding in the things I bought yesterday, I'm determined to keep on top of it.  I'm going to sit and write up a menu plan, incorporating everything we've got in the freezer and the veg box....it'll just be a list of lunches and dinners, I won't do daily menus - plans change or we have to go out somewhere or something needs using up quickly, so the daily menu goes out the window.  It'll be easier just to write a list of lunches and dinners, then I can cross meals off when I've done them.

I made a list of what veggies we want to grow this year, there are one or two changes from what we grew last year.  E.g. I don't want to attempt any cauli or cabbage family things....I say that every year but husband still persists in trying to grow them, and they are just never successful.  The problem is that he doesn't cover them up very well, there are gaps or the fleece gets blown around (that wind problem again!) so the cabbage butterflies can get in.  Which means bugs and caterpillars and they get eaten to death way before we can eat them.  I'm the one who does all the food prep and I really don't want to be dealing with caterpillars etc., so I'm putting my foot down this year - no cabbage type things!!  I also don't want to grow runner beans - they actually did pretty well last year, bit too well in fact, we were inundated with them.  And the fact is that runners aren't one of my favourite veg....I don't mind young French beans, but even then only occasionally.  Besides, our neighbours, who have an allotment and are avid veg growers, kept giving us loads of fresh beans last year (to the extent that I had to say no thanks in the end), I expect they'll be growing loads again this year.  They grow much more of all sorts of veg than they need, but do like to give plenty away, which is very kind of them.

So, having done the list of what to grow, I've suggested that whilst it's raining later on, husband could draw up a plan for what veg to put where.  We've now got three raised beds for veg growing - well, four including the raised wall bed that was already here.  We've also got a few large pots that can be used - the new potatoes will be grown in bags again, same as last year.  I want to grow shallots this year instead of leeks, we've grown them before, although not in this garden.  I like shallots and use them more than leeks.

The sun has now gone, it's coming over very cloudy and the wind is getting up even more.  I do hope we're going to have a decent summer this year - not too hot though!

Thank you for all the comments.  Jane, our car is over 10 years old so we don't expect to get much for it when we do sell it - every little helps though, of course.  Cheryl, I empathise over your 'weed' (thyme) being thrown out by your husband.....mine's done the same on several occasions, pulling up emerging flower plants as he thought they were weeds....one year he snipped off the buds of my lovely purple agapanthus plants as he thought they were spent flowers that had gone to seed!  Grrrr.  If only they would ask us first before 'helping'!!

Jessica, it's interesting to know that the NHS are supplying different types of hearing aid now, thanks for that.

Step away from the tree!

 Bright sunshine today, it's lovely and warm at the front of the house, blimmin chilly in the back garden though as it's still in shade and there's a freezing cold wind blowing again.  Honestly, we seem to have had so much wind since we've moved here, and yet I would have said that our back garden was quite sheltered.  Putting washing out on the line this morning, my fingers froze again.....the sun has just reached the back fence and part of the rotary washing line now, so hopefully the washing will dry.

I did my shopping whilst husband was at the gym.....it was just a top up shop although I did get a few extras - some chicken and pork that were yellow-stickered for husband, dog treats that were on special offer, ditto the Branston baked beans we like.  Betty gets all excited when we get home carrying shopping bags - even if they're not food.  She wants to stick her nose in all of them....she's like a sniffer dog checking for drugs 😂.  I don't intend going shopping again until the end of next week, I'm sure we can hold out till then.

Going back to transport once husband has to give up driving.....I'd forgotten that obviously we would no longer have all the car costs - tax, insurance, MOT, breakdown cover, garage bills - so thank you to those who mentioned it.  We should have no trouble funding taxis or charity minibus charges then.

Speaking of husband, he's in the car port putting together the new flat pack raised bed which arrived on Saturday.  He's cursing because he accidentally affixed one of the panels upside down without noticing and has now had to unscrew it - it's apparently crucial for it to be the right way up else some of the screw holes for other bits won't be in the right places.  Oh dear.  Never mind, he's got it sorted now, I'll go and make him a cuppa to soothe his nerves in a minute.  I promise I didn't laugh - well, not in front of him anyway 😉😁

I noticed him eyeing up the apple tree that's in the middle of the front lawn earlier on.....I told him to "step away from the apple tree!".  He butchered it last Spring, really hacked it right back without telling me or even really knowing what he was doing....consequently, it had almost no blossom on it last year and therefore no fruit at all.  Our neighbours said it's normally loaded with fruit!  It would be nice to have a good quantity of apples.....it's a cooking apple, apparently.  It's growing well now and has loads of leaf buds on it, so hopefully it'll be alright.

Finding solutions to future problems

 Our good friends popped in yesterday, had I known they were coming I'd have done lunch.  Still, it was nice to see them.  I really need to go and have my hearing checked again, with several people talking I can barely hear any of them, makes it hard to follow (and join in) a conversation.  I suppose I've been putting it off because the NHS hearing aids (which I have got but never wear anymore) are useless - well, the ones I got given a few years ago were.....they were clearly extremely basic, no way of adjusting them at all, and the only thing they seemed to do was to make background noise louder.  This in turn made it more difficult, rather than easier, to hear what people were saying, as I was too distracted by all this background noise that previously I'd been unaware of.  The batteries didn't seem to last 5 minutes, I was constantly having to change them, and they're so small and fiddly.  I didn't find the aids comfortable to wear either, so just abandoned them after a few weeks, very unsatisfactory all round....well, that was my experience anyway.  Whether they've improved at all since I had them (I guess about 5 or 6 years ago) I don't know.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the future and how we'll manage....there will come a time, and sooner rather than later, when husband has to give up driving - he's even mentioned that himself recently.  Whilst we're much better off with regard to having services, health facilities and shops much more local here, none of them are within walking distance.  Well, not for us, for a younger, fitter person they would be.  The bus service here is pretty unreliable, we've discovered, especially during the winter months when there are less buses - people complain every day on FB about buses being very late or cut out altogether with no notice and having a wait of an hour or more for the next one, by which time you may have missed your connection or your appointment.  The bus company admit they're short of drivers so if one goes off sick, they often don't have a replacement.  I asked a question on the local FB page about buses to our GP surgery, which is a bit out of the way, although it's the nearest one to us.  I was given links to a website I'd not heard of, which gives details of several local minibus services, they pick people up from their homes or a nearby easily accessible point and take them to supermarkets, health services etc, for a small charge.  There's also a volunteer driver scheme whereby a volunteer uses their own car to transport people to where they need to go and will sit and wait if required.  Again, there's a small charge - the charges for both the minibus services and the volunteer car driver are even smaller if you have a concessionary bus pass....I haven't got one (not old enough yet!) but husband has.  So FB, which I'm not a great fan of for various reasons, has actually proved very useful for once.

Whilst we don't need transportation services right now, it's nice to know that they will be available when we do need them.  So that's one worry off my mind.  We've been so used to having a car for our entire lives together that I was panicking a bit about how we'd manage without one.  Obviously we can get most things - shopping and other stuff - delivered, but getting to GP or hospital appointments, which both of us have fairly often, does present a bit of a problem.  Visiting our friends and family, going to the library, browsing in the high street shops, going for walks along the seafront or up on the moors or out for a coffee and cake in one of the many cafes around, picking my sister up from her coach journey when she comes down to stay - all this we have so far taken for granted as it's easy to do with a car.  When we have to get rid of the car, I really don't want to end up marooned indoors - I think even husband might get fed up with that eventually, I know I certainly would.  Yes, with hindsight it's a pity I didn't learn to drive when I was a lot younger - I couldn't do it now, I'm far too lacking in confidence and full of anxiety in a car, there's just too much traffic about nowadays and it scares me to death.  It's not something I'm willing to try.

Husband is going to drop me off at the supermarket tomorrow morning on his way to the gym, so I can get a top up shop and have a leisurely browse, which will be nice.

This week's obsession

 As some of you lovely readers, those who have experience with their own relatives with similar problems to my husband, have said - dealing with your close relative's problems, physical and mental, and lack of motivation etc is hard, very hard.  Not only do we have our own stuff to deal with, coping with someone else's stuff means we're doing the work of two people.  And it is exhausting.  Husband has little obsessions which change from week to week, sometimes reappearing a couple of weeks later.  His current obsession is with our electricity usage - we don't have a smart meter so he is constantly checking the meter outside, at least every other day, writing down the reading and then calculating how much we've used since the last time he read the meter.  He then insists on telling me, not that I want or need to know - our electricity is quite cheap actually, we're on the lowest tariff with Octopus and it's very reasonable indeed.  He's now going on about the water charges (he heard they're going up in April) so is obsessing about saving water.  His brain never switches off - well, except when he's dozing, as he often is throughout the day.  And even then, he must be dreaming about this kind of thing as he immediately launches into a rant about his latest obsession as soon as he wakes up.  It's no wonder I relish my 15 minutes of total peace and quiet when husband is taking Betty out for a walk twice a day.

The gravel beds in the back garden constructed by the previous tenants to make the garden easier to manage, are bordered by a mixture of things - some have an assortment of bricks and rocks of varying sizes and shapes, some have planks of wood.  The gravel tends to fall out of the gaps between the rocks onto the paths, or Betty accidentally kicks it out when she's been running about on the gravel.  The wooden planks are clearly a few years old and are rotting and bowing, so need replacing.  I'm constantly picking up gravel off the paths and chucking it back on the beds, it's almost a daily occurrence.  I suggested to husband that we need to think about replacement this year.  Well, that's certainly motivated him, and fuelled a new obsession - he's been googling ever since to find out where he can buy the cheapest planks, or other edging, and constantly measuring and re-measuring.  At least it's given him an impetus and galvanised him into action!  Trouble is, he's constantly telling me all about it and keeps calling me over to look at the latest bit of wood or edging he's found on the computer.  A couple of times I've had to tell him I can't look at it now as I'm busy, if he bookmarks it I'll have a look later, I'll never get things done otherwise.  I don't know what's worse - him doing nothing all day, or driving me mad with his obsessions.

As it was sunny again, we had a nice walk with Betty at Dunster beach in the afternoon, although we didn't go on the beach but walked along the grass beside the chalets.  Nobody in the chalets, other than builders doing work in quite a few.  It was very peaceful there and quite warm, except for a bit of a cold breeze.