Lovely day at home

 Had a lovely day at home yesterday.  Firstly, it was a pleasure hanging the freshly washed bedding on the line in the sunshine, already warm at 10.00 am.  I made dog food - chicken mince fried in a little oil, cooked mashed sweet potato and broccoli added along with a couple of Weetabix crushed and mixed in for fibre, and a level tsp Marmite melted in a little hot water added for umami flavour.  Then I made bacon, brie and cranberry little turnovers, using a sheet of puff pastry, these will be for picnic lunches.  Next was an apple crumble, to be served with custard (for husband), vanilla ice cream or pouring cream for me.  I used a single Bramley apple and 2 eating apples that weren't very nice....bit powdery and quite tasteless as a serving of fresh fruit, fine in an oaty crumble with a bit of brown sugar and lots of cinnamon.  

We had lunch in the garden, a slice of pizza with some crunchy salad veggies, so nice to eat in the garden in warm sunshine with the birds twittering, swallows/swifts whizzing round overhead and bees buzzing in and out of the flowers.  There were 3 or 4 buzzards circling high in the sky, being tormented by crows or rooks (too high up to see which) - I guess they've all got nests with eggs hatching so are protecting their young.

I may have mentioned a few weeks ago that there was a big family problem, the outcome of which could have had huge consequences for our immediate family.  Thankfully, it's been resolved as of yesterday, so the potential crisis has been averted.  A massive weight off all our shoulders, the relief is immense.

Neither of us wants a hot meal in this warm weather, so we've been having a salad of some kind with something like fish or cold roast pork for husband.  Yesterday we had half a large jacket potato each, I scooped out the potato, mashed it and mixed it with 1 leftover rasher of bacon grilled till crisp and crumbled, chives from the garden, grated cheddar and a spoonful of Dijon mustard, piled back in and heated through.  Was lovely with the salad.

A normal day

 For our Sunday dinner husband had roast pork (a boneless leg joint yellow stickered to half price a couple of weeks ago, which I grabbed and froze) and I had a salmon fillet.  There were 2 in the pack, I cooked both of them.  I did mashed potato, along with a huge carrot which was going wrinkly so cooked and mashed that in with the potatoes.  Peas, broccoli and cabbage as well, double quantities cooked so that I could freeze the rest for another time.  So this morning I've made fishcakes using the other salmon fillet and a small tin of tuna, the rest of the mash, some chives and parsley from the garden, seasonings, and a tbsp flour to bind it all together.  It made 4 large cakes, so 4 meals for me - one I'll have tonight with new potatoes and salad, freezing the rest.  Husband will have cold pork, there's enough of the pork left and frozen now for another 4 meals for him, and Betty will have some for her dinner tonight.

I'm really looking forward to being able to start eating our own homegrown produce - some of the potatoes, the first earlies, will probably be ready in another month, along with lettuces, radishes and hopefully strawberries.  Husband has now planted out the tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes and squash - if there's any sign of night-time frosts (which there isn't in this week's forecast, but you never know in this country) they'll all be covered with fleece.

So far this morning, husband has stumbled into me twice, nearly knocking me flying both times, and dropped a heavy knife on the kitchen floor, causing such a loud crash that it scared Betty who jumped up, shot out of the lounge and ran into my bedroom to hide.  He went to water the plants in the back garden, oblivious to the fact that he was dragging the hosepipe right across the rockery, almost decapitating some of the plants 😒.  So just a normal morning really!  (And yes things like this do happen nearly every day).

As it's going to be such a nice week weatherwise, I'm planning on us taking picnics and going out for al fresco lunches 2 or 3 times, all the kids are back at school and there's a bit of a lull in the tourist situation until next bank holiday weekend so places shouldn't be too busy.

Here's my view from the kitchen window now the new blind is up:-

Lovely new blind, rubbish on TV

 The new blind for our kitchen window arrived yesterday, it's a made to measure roller blind in a plain cappuccino colour.  Twist to fit thing, no drilling of walls required, should take just a few minutes to put up it said.  Well, it actually took us an hour (don't ask!), but it's up, I like it a lot and now have a clear view of my lovely garden, rather than through the net curtain which I hated.  And it cost far less than the vertical blinds that I was previously considering.  So at least something good has happened.

Nothing worth watching on TV again this evening - well, not as far as I'm concerned, husband amuses himself with the remote control in his hand, flicking away through all the channels.  He suggested choosing a film off the catch-up channels, the trouble is there are just too many to choose from, I get bored and confused whilst he's scrolling through them all, especially since most of them I've never even heard of.  The other problem is that we both like completely different things - I like a film with a good, strong and believable storyline, with actors I've heard of and like.  I also like musicals!  Husband, on the other hand, loves Sci-fi (literally any), and films with lots of noise - the more shooting, explosions, car chases and crashes, yelling, people being torn limb from limb and gory violence, the better.  Or children's cartoons - or old war films, westerns, kung fu type things.  Everything I don't like, in other words.  So we rarely agree on anything to watch, it quite often ends up with husband in the lounge flicking through all the channels, whilst I go in my bedroom (where I am now) and read the papers or blogs on my computer, play a few games or read a book.  Ah well, keeps us both occupied.  

Betty is sprawled out on my bed, gently snoring.  I've noticed she's sleeping a lot more during the day as well now, she's getting older, sadly.  Both of her breeds (half Shar Pei, half English Bulldog) have life expectancies of 8 to 10, possibly 12 years - she's exactly 8 1/2 years.  Apart from sleeping more, she does seem to be in pretty good health (other than her lifelong ear infections, which are well controlled), I do feed her good stuff - half homemade food, half good quality dog food, so I look after her as best I can.  She gets 2 or 3 walks a day, albeit short ones.  We play with her indoors - well, it's mostly me - to engage her and keep her mind active.  I also talk to her a lot.  She's very bonded with me, she likes to always be in the same room as me and follows me around the house.  I just love her to bits.  We've had several dogs, and a couple of cats, over the 44 years we've been together but Betty is the one who's stolen my heart.

I'm glad it's now salad weather (a fantastic sunny, dry and warm week forecast), I'm really craving fresh salads and fruit.  We had a cheese & leek pasty and chips for tea, the pasty was nice but I could have done without the chips, I'd rather have had salad, I feel quite bloated and sluggish now.

Oh for crying out loud

 I'm not asking for helpful suggestions here, I'm just venting, so no need for anyone to offer advice.

Some of you may remember that a couple of weeks ago we got a parking fine through the post, for 'non-payment' when parking in a local car park.  Husband had in fact paid with his card at the machine, and it was documented on his bank statement, so I contested the fine, doing it online, I had to fill out a form and download/submit the necessary evidence (copy of bank statement).  We had an email yesterday morning rejecting the objection, saying that they had no evidence on their machine/system that we had in fact paid, there was no problem with their machine, so the fine still stood.  They also said that if we wished to object further, we would have to go through an independent adjudication firm (details supplied).  If at the end of that procedure the adjudicators still found in favour of the parking company, we would then be liable for double the original fine.  

I asked husband yesterday, three times throughout the day, to tell me the details of what exactly he did at the ticket machine - each time his account differed!  This isn't unusual for husband, he's been like that (sketchy on details) his entire life, but it's certainly worsened since his cognitive impairment diagnosis - because he gets confused easily and can't remember things.  But what became apparent with each re-telling of the procedure was that husband either pressed the wrong buttons on the ticket machine, or at least didn't press the right ones, so in effect he didn't actually complete the transaction (he didn't get a ticket out of the machine either, a fact which he didn't tell me on the day).  So the reason for the fine seems to be that the parking firm have no record of husband actually paying for parking so no ticket was issued.....despite the fact that he swiped his card early in the transaction and the payment was taken out of his bank account straight away.  You'd have thought that swiping the card/paying for parking was the last thing to happen, not one of the first, but that's by the by.  

He wants me to carry on with the objection and go through the adjudicators, which means filling out yet another form and supplying yet more evidence.  This despite the fact that it appears to be user error - as far as husband is concerned, he paid for parking and he cannot see beyond that nor accept that it looks like it was his error.  Easy for him to say, he's not the one who has to do the work and go through all the hassle.

I've explained I'm not willing to do that - because if the adjudicators find in favour of the parking company (as I'm fairly sure they're likely to do under the circumstances), then we'll be liable for double the cost, over £100, rather than the present £51 fine, so I'm inclined to just go ahead and pay the £51.  I know it's unfair, I can see that, but it was his error!  He just cannot see what a load of hassle it causes for me.  Also, it means that in future whenever we're in a car park, it'll have to always be me to go to the ticket machine, to ensure it doesn't happen again (husband has always been the one to get the parking ticket up till now).  This morning after he finished at gym, he went to the CAB office, then a solicitors office, and finally spoke to a traffic warden.  Each of them said they didn't really know what to suggest, other than trying an appeal with the adjudicator - even though it might fail.  So no help there!

Stuff like this happens with increasing regularity, there's always some problem to be dealt with, nearly every day.  It just wears me down.  And it'll only get worse as his cognitive abilities decline.

I've got washing on the line, it's sunny (albeit still windy, but that'll dry the washing quicker) and I've made a lovely parmesan and chive focaccia loaf to go with our pasta dinner tonight.  And next week the weather is going to be fantastic!  So I'm putting everything else out of my mind, as hard as that is sometimes.

Everything in the garden is lovely

 We've been busy out in the garden the past few days, doing odd jobs and pottering for an hour or so at a time....the weather hasn't been great and it's been quite chilly at times.  Quite a bit of rain, which fortunately mostly fell overnight, so we've not needed to water the garden and the rain butt is full.  A fair bit of sunshine, but with that damn cold wind - we do seem to get a lot of wind here.  I'd bought some white geraniums and a mixed pack of petunias, having said previously I wanted to move away from bedding plants.  The white geraniums are to go in pots at the front of the house that already have some red geraniums in them - we were given these pots by a neighbour who was moving out a couple of weeks ago.  Our next door neighbours have red geraniums in pots at the front of their place, I wanted the white ones to mix in with our donated red ones so it doesn't seem like we're copying our neighbours!  The mixed pack of petunias I've also put in a couple of pots at the front - I do like them, they're lovely bright colours (not in flower yet) and keep flowering for ages, provided I deadhead them.

We've nearly filled up the new raised bed with compost, both homemade from last year and bought stuff, we need to get a couple more bags, the raised beds do take quite a lot of filling up.  We put some gravel (there's enough of it in the garden!) and some prunings in the base of each of the raised beds to fill up a bit of space, before adding the compost.  We've got 2 each of courgette plants and butternut squash to go in the new raised bed, they're currently being grown on and protected overnight in a lidded plastic garden box, along with tomatoes and cucumbers, bit too early to plant those out yet.

So far, we have the following edibles growing:-

In raised beds:  carrots, beetroot and radishes from seed, all sprouting well.  2 dozen shallots from sets.  Peas both from seedlings given to us by neighbour, and pea seeds.  Little Gem lettuce plug plants just put in, they're protected overnight with fleece.  

In old compost bags:  Potatoes, a mixture of First and Second earlies, all sprouting very well.

In the garden veg bed:  Strawberries, looking very happy and flowering well.  A currant bush given to us by neighbour, he couldn't remember if it's a red- or blackcurrant - I hope it's the blackcurrant.

We've got pots ready and waiting for the tomatoes and cucumbers, husband's already erected cane framework for them.

The cooking apple tree in the front lawn that husband butchered early last year and consequently had not a single bit of blossom on it, is blossoming well this year so I'm hopeful of some lovely apples.  There's also a cherry tree that's blooming, although they're ornamental very tiny cherries, not suitable for eating - I tried one last year, extremely sour and bitter.

So hopefully we should have tons of produce this year, which will be fantastic.

Most of the perennial flowering plants I put in last year are emerging and sprouting well, the rose bushes (all of which were here already) have buds, as do the 2 clematis.  Some of the rockery plants, which again were here already, are beginning to bloom - one of them, a sedum which has tiny yellow star-shaped flowers, masses of them, I've split and planted in another couple of places in the garden, they've settled in well and are already flowering, so obviously they're happy.  It's all going to look very colourful soon, I'll take photos when more stuff is in bloom.

I'm so happy with our garden here, it's turning out to be my favourite garden out of all the places we've lived.

No we didn't have any Easter eggs

 Well, our Easter weekend was pretty much like any other weekend - we didn't see anybody, other than neighbours, and didn't really go anywhere, other than an hour sitting on the prom at Blue Anchor  yesterday.  We did go to the boot sale this afternoon, but it was quite small, more buyers than sellers, and although the sun was shining, there was a really strong bitterly cold wind so we didn't stay long.  I didn't buy anything, husband bought himself a walking stick - well, more of a hiking stick, one of those tall natural wood ones that looked like it belonged to someone from the Lord of the Rings.....a gnarly branch thing that had been planed and polished.  I'm not quite sure where he thinks he's going to be hiking - I think his hiking days are well and truly over - but he's always wanted one and now he's got one.

Husband's daughter and SiL are coming down in a couple of weeks, they'll stay in the Premier Inn down the road but will eat with us.  It'll be good to see them, they've not been down since we moved into our bungalow.  They're a nice couple and we get on well with them, although the SiL is an extremely picky eater which makes catering for them a bit of a challenge.  Basically, he eats like a teenage boy (burgers and coke) and never a vegetable shall pass his lips....other than chips 😒.  And, annoyingly, he's as thin as a rake.  Whereas I eat mostly vegetables and fish and still can't seem to shift the extra couple of stones.  Something's wrong somewhere! 😦

Think I'll have an early night, the boring weekend is making me yawn 😂

He did what?!

 Last Spring and Summer I bought quite a lot of perennials, both flowers and small shrubs, and planted them throughout the garden, including in the gravel bed directly in front of my bedroom window.  Several are now beginning to grow, poking their way through the soil and gravel.  Right in front of my window 2 hostas, a pink phlox and 2 other flowering plants (I can't immediately remember the name of them but they have small purple flowers to come) are just pushing through - well, they were.  This morning when I pulled my bedroom curtains and looked out of the window, as I always do, I immediately noticed that the phlox and the 2 purple flowering plants had gone, disappeared entirely, yet the hostas are still there.  When I mentioned it to husband, he said he thought they were weeds, pulled them out and threw them in the compost bin yesterday afternoon - without saying anything to me.  He just shrugged, not even an apology.  He wouldn't know a weed if it whacked him round the ear (shame there's not a big spiky thistle in the garden I could do just that with! 😠).

This is one of my biggest bugbears with husband - he's always (and I do mean always) doing things without saying a word to me, he just doesn't think to run anything by me first or ask what I think.  And if I gently remonstrate with him or say I wish he hadn't because....whatever.....he just gets all irate and moans that he's not allowed to do anything without asking my permission.  Which is totally not true, of course he is.  I nearly always include him in decision making, or ask his opinion on things - he doesn't bother to do the same.  It really gets me down sometimes, I feel like I'm constantly being ignored.  And yes I know, once again, it's his cognitive impairment (although to a certain extent he's always done things like this, but it's even worse now) and he can't really help it, but that doesn't make it any easier to live with!

On the plus side, it's lovely and sunny (and dry!) this morning, the church bells started ringing at 08.45, 15 mins earlier than usual, and we can hear the steam train sounding its whistle.

Too much traffic

 The focaccia actually came out alright - rose well, looked good and tasted alright, if a bit bland.  I think that was down to the proving time - I'd followed the recipe and method given in the Ninja book, you put the dough straight into the pan and into the Ninja combi on the 40-min prove setting, followed immediately by the bake setting for 20 mins.  In hindsight, I think in future I'll prove the dough in the mixing bowl as normal, probably leaving it overnight in the fridge, before knocking back, putting in the tin and baking.  There's no doubt a longer prove gives a far better flavour.  I didn't think a bake time of 20 mins was going to be long enough, but it was - I guess because it's a focaccia bread, so quite a bit thinner than in a conventional bread loaf tin.

Tomorrow I'll try the apple cake from the Ninja book, it's made in the same tin as the focaccia so a traybake cake rather than a loaf cake.  I'm loving this Ninja, it does everything I want it to do, and does it very well.

The big car boot sale this afternoon has been cancelled, due to the soggy field conditions after the nearly all day long rain yesterday and last night.  It's been rainy and cold again this morning but is forecast to clear up this afternoon and get a bit warmer, with possibly even a brief glimpse of sunshine later.  The forecast is still for changeable and quite chilly conditions over the next few days, getting better and warmer from midweek onwards.  It's definitely not gardening weather at the mo.

We live around 3 miles from Minehead, there's only one main road from the East coming into Minehead, on Butlins changeover days (Monday and Friday) and especially school holidays, the road going into Minehead is clogged with traffic.  Yesterday, from lunchtime all afternoon until dinnertime, the road was absolutely gridlocked with traffic, everybody on the local social media pages was complaining about it.  It was a good job we didn't want or need to go into town yesterday, it would have taken ages to even get out of our village onto the main road, never mind go to town, the traffic was at a standstill even outside our village 3 miles away from town.  Apparently there was an RTA on the way into town, which would have caused even more chaos.  Must have been a nightmare for emergency vehicles, delivery drivers, anyone with an appointment at the local hospital or GP, there was little chance of anyone getting anywhere on time.  That's one of the very few downsides of living here, we very quickly learnt that going anywhere on a Monday or Friday isn't a good idea.  There are far too many cars on the road nowadays.

Still haven't found out where the 'event' that's supposed to be on tomorrow is (or even what it is!), I know I read about it somewhere.  I did ask on the local FB page - waste of time, I got some ridiculous answers, a few people suggested things on today or Monday (what didn't they understand about Sunday?!), one person suggested an antiques fair that's 1.5 hours drive away (hardly local!), somebody else said - I hope tongue in cheek - that all churches will have Easter Sunday services on 😒.  So I'm still none the wiser, we'll probably end up taking a picnic and going for a drive, we both fancy a drive out on Exmoor.

One of those days

 Disappointed with our weight loss this week.....there isn't one.  I maintained and husband has put on 2lbs.  Might have to do a rethink. 

I've made bread dough this morning, focaccia to go with our lunchtime soup.  This will be the first time of making bread in the Ninja oven, I've used the recipe and method in the accompanying Ninja book.  Unfortunately, though, I found I didn't have any white bread flour, only wholemeal - and the yeast expired last month!  I've used half wholemeal bread flour and half plain white - what with that and the expired yeast, the bread might turn out to be a disappointment also.  It's currently on the Prove programme, will just have to wait and see how it turns out.  Oh well.

We had a power cut in the night, all the clocks were flashing this morning so had to reset them all.  And it's cold and raining again....whilst I know it's good for the garden (the plants are all loving it), it's not good for us - I hate the cold, especially when it's raining as well, and husband is also feeling the cold so doesn't want to do anything.  The new raised bed arrived yesterday and is awaiting putting together, but husband doesn't feel like doing it until it gets warmer out....which is understandable.  So a disappointing morning all round.

I hope the weather will be better tomorrow so we can go to the boot sale, there's also something going on Sunday, some kind of plant fair I think only I can't remember where at the moment!  And another boot sale on Monday, we intend to go to all three (if I can find out where Sunday's event is!  And assuming the weather's ok).

Happy Easter weekend everyone.

Early errands done, dinner already prepped

 We went out early this morning, nipping into town to do several jobs before the tourists get out of bed.  Went to the pet shop to get some of the raw cubed dog food that Betty likes (although she likes it lightly cooked, not raw!), and some healthy treats.  Then to the garden centre for a few more plants - some white geraniums and deep pink phlox.  Finally, the GP surgery to collect our meds.

It's a diet day today, husband is so far being very good and keeping his hands off the hot cross buns - he'll probably have a couple for breakfast tomorrow.  For lunch we're having the usual big green salad, with some grated carrot as well, husband will have smoked mackerel with his, I'll have the leftover canned salmon and cottage cheese from Tuesday's diet day.  For dinner today I was going to do ratatouille with bulgur wheat but have changed my mind, instead we'll have shakshuka with poached eggs.  I've just sliced a red onion, large red pepper and some mushrooms into a deep frying pan and am cooking them slowly in a dessertspoon of oil and splash of water, with the pan lid on.  When they've softened I'll add a can of chopped tomatoes, a squirt of tomato puree and garlic paste, some chopped chives, a shake of paprika and salt & pepper then turn the pan off and leave it for the flavours to infuse during the day.  At dinner time I'll drop in the eggs and poach them.  Yum, can't wait. 

I'm no longer working out calories to try to stick to 5-600 cals on diet days, I know that by not having any starchy carbs (bread, rice, pasta, potatoes or baked goods) and no cheese or butter, we will naturally be having considerably less calories than on 'normal' days, that's good enough for me. 

It's been chilly and dull so far this morning, some sunshine and a few possible showers forecast for this afternoon.  Hopefully I can dodge the showers and get the new plants in.  Our new (and final) raised bed is arriving today, I expect husband will get that put together.

Veggies galore

 I slept really well last night and feel much better today after my couple of days of not doing anything much.  

We bought several packs of the Easter reduced veggies yesterday, now I need to have a mammoth prep and cooking session.  I'll be making a couple of soups - broccoli & Cheddar, and spicy parsnip & carrot.  One of the bags of potatoes (I got 2) I've already baked in their jackets, wrapped in foil and frozen.  The other bag will be turned into wedges or mash, with a couple saved to add to a panful of roasted root veggies.  I'll also make a load of broccoli and cauli cheese (the cauli wasn't in the offer, it was full price).  It makes sense to buy all these veggies when they're on such a good offer, and then cook and freeze them.  

Yesterday was a diet day, we had canned salmon with a big green salad for lunch, and roasted Med veggies topped with a chicken fillet for husband and a smoked haddock fillet for me for dinner.  The next diet day is tomorrow, I'll do another green salad for lunch, husband will have smoked mackerel with his, I'll have cottage cheese.  For dinner I'll make ratatouille, we'll have it with a measured amount of bulgur wheat cooked with a veg stock cube and topped with a sprinkle of Parmesan.  Having a very low calorie diet day just twice a week really seems to suit us, it's easy to avoid the temptation of carby foods for one day, knowing we can have them the following day if we want.  And we're certainly getting in way more than our 5 a day veg portions on diet days.....although we do eat a lot of veggies any day. 

Friday morning I'm going to have a go at focaccia in the ninja for the first time, we'll have it with one of the soups.

Rain stops play

 We've got a yellow warning for rain today and tomorrow, that should fill the water butt up.  It's raining right now and is forecast all day.  

I don't know what's up with me, I feel so exhausted, although I wouldn't say I'm sleeping particularly badly - well, I haven't slept that well the last couple of nights, but this is more than the normal lack of sleep tiredness.  I didn't do much yesterday and it'll be more of the same today, other than going to the supermarket to get some salad stuff and some of the cheap Easter veg offers (all the supermarkets seem to be doing the same).  

So I guess the rain is doing me a favour really, making me stay indoors and rest.

Thank you

 Thanks so much for all your kind words about our garden, we have worked hard on it over the past year and are beginning to see the results of our labours.  I won't be seeing much of the garden this week though, other than from the windows.  The temperature has dropped quite considerably, it's forecast to be quite chilly all of this week with showers, some heavy.  Well, the garden needs the rain, we won't have to water, and we do have nice views from the windows.

I'm not feeling great, so it's a good week to hunker down with a book.

Garden pics and plans

 Couple of garden pics:-

This is the left and right hand sides of the largest gravel bed, which is outside my bedroom window.  The green raised bed with the 2 obelisks in it is going to be for peas (our next door neighbour has given us a load).  The left hand side, where the tulip pots are, will be the location for the new raised bed that's coming this week, we'll be growing courgettes and butternut squash in that, I'll have to move the dark red little Acer.  I wanted the same bed to match the other, but the company have sold out of them so we've had to get a slightly different one - no matter, it'll still grow the veg!

The building you can see in the background of the 2nd pic is an old barn in the neighbour's garden, they've got planning permission to convert it to a holiday home.  I doubt it'll be completed this year, they've had the permissions for a few years apparently and have yet to start on it.  They're going to erect a 5ft wooden fence in between our gardens, so they say.  It'll be useful from our point of view if and when it is finished - relatives who want to come and visit could stay there, rather than in the Premier Inn a couple of miles away.

To the left of the pots of tulips, you can see a bed full of bluebells which are beginning to flower, I shall thin them out when they've finished flowering, they've apparently been in situ for a number of years and are too crowded now, some of them are coming up blind.

Our garden is coming along in leaps and bounds now and is giving us a lot of pleasure.  We have plans for further work and changes in the garden, probably next year now, I think we've done (and spent) enough for this year.  

We went to the car boot yesterday, it didn't rain although was very cloudy, not at all cold though.  There was only one plant seller and sadly they didn't have anything we wanted.  Never mind, there's always next weekend - there's also a couple of street markets over the Easter period where there may be plant sellers.  Husband did manage to find and buy a couple of garden tools at the boot sale, including a long handled hoe for me, so I don't have to bend so much for weeding.

I'm loving my new Ninja Combi, I'm in the process of cooking a gammon joint for husband and some roast potatoes and they're beginning to look nicely browned and crispy, just how I like them.  I'll have a go at some apple scones in it this afternoon, we'll have them for tea.

More veggies to grow, and ouch

 We ate lunch in the garden yesterday, it was so warm and sunny.  As a matter of fact, it got too warm for me and Betty, and we both had to go back indoors after an hour.  It was a lovely day actually, the garden is starting to fill up with new growth on the perennials I planted last year, plus all the roses, some of which already have buds on them.  Pots of tulips are in flower and the masses of bluebells are also starting to flower now.  The shallots husband planted are all sprouting, and the carrots and beetroot seeds are all coming up.  We've decided we need yet another raised bed this year, we had thought we'd get one next year but could do with more space for veggies, one's been ordered and should arrive next week.  We're both really enthusiastic about the garden, much more so than we were in the last place, it's all coming on really well and giving us a lot of pleasure already.  

I've said before that husband has no spatial awareness, he's always bumping into things and people as he's oblivious to them being nearby.  Yesterday he was in the kitchen making a cuppa, I crossed behind him to start emptying the dish drainer when he suddenly stepped backwards, oblivious to my presence - he trod on my foot (I had sandals on so yelped) and elbowed me in the ribs 😒.  And blamed me of course! 

It's sunny at the mo but showers are forecast for this afternoon, right when the big car boot is on, so I don't yet know if we'll be going.

Parking ticket, bloody cheek

 We got the compost from Morrisons yesterday, but no plants, sadly - they'd had a delivery of vast amounts of bedding plant packs, but I didn't want them and they didn't have much of a choice of anything else.  So we went on to the garden centre - the plants there are a lot more expensive so I only got 4 perennials and 2 mini cucumbers.  We're going to the big car boot sale at Blue Anchor tomorrow, hopefully I'll be able to get more plants there.

Husband had a parking ticket (a charge of £51) through the post yesterday - for when we went to Porlock Weir a week or so ago.....we parked in the car park and paid the parking charge by card at the meter!  Presumably there must have been a fault with the meter.  We had proof that we'd paid - via bank statement - but it was a blinking nuisance having to fill out an objection form online when it was their fault in the first place.  So that irritated me.

It was lovely and sunny again yesterday, but there wasn't much warmth to the sun, it was quite chilly actually.  It's forecast to be warmer today and tomorrow, and then chillier, less sun and some showers next week.  Oh well, can't complain, we've had lots of sunshine the last couple of weeks, and the garden will benefit from the showers.

Diet day yesterday went well, we had a small banana each for breakfast.  Lunch was egg salad for husband, and cottage cheese with salad for me.  For dinner I roasted a panful of Mediterranean veggies with just 15 ml olive oil and a load of herbs and spices, I topped the veggies with 2 small thick cod steaks with a splash of balsamic vinegar.  Blimmin lovely.  We each had a small orange afterwards.  We're certainly getting our 5 veggies a day on diet days - more than that actually.  Husband said he didn't feel so hungry yesterday, and I didn't have a headache, so that's a result.  The best bit though is that we've both just weighed ourselves and have lost weight - 4lbs for husband and 3.5lbs for me.  Fantastic!

How annoying, and plant day today

 Tuesday night was one of those nights where I just didn't sleep well, I seemed to be lying awake for ages (all the more annoying when Betty was snoring gently all night beside me).  So I was feeling below par all day.  Didn't help that I had raging hayfever all day, with very itchy eyes and nose....and how my nose could be both drippy and blocked at the same time I don't know.  Did my big shop in the morning whilst husband was at the gym, I'd just about finished when he came to pick me up.  Home, had a coffee then spent ages unpacking the shopping and putting it all away - and taking things off husband before he put them somewhere I'd never find them again (he was determined to 'help' 😒).  We had lunch then went to Taunton, for Aldi and Proper Job.  I got everything I needed in Aldi - they even had my frothy coffees, not that I needed any, I still have several boxes from the last time, but I got a couple extra anyway.....who knows if they'll have them the next time I go, seeing as they frequently seem to run out of them?!  Then on to Proper Job for the bags of compost, which is cheaper there than most other places.....except they'd had a run on them (must be the warm weather) and had sold out that morning!  How annoying, but we did get a few other garden things we needed.  They said they're expecting another delivery today, but it's not worth our time and fuel to go back again for just the compost, it'll be better to get a few bags from Morrisons just a couple of miles away, even though they cost a bit more there.  Oh, and I popped into Matalan which is a couple of 100 yards away from P/Job and got a nice pair of summer sandals.

I was knackered by the time we got back home, so abandoned the plan to make a chicken cottage pie and had a supermarket pizza out of the freezer instead, I just about had the energy to chop up a salad to go with it.  

Another advantage of going to Morrisons for the compost is that they have lovely plants in there, it helps a great deal that they have a lovely lady staff member whose job it is to look after the plants.  She's enthusiastic and knowledgeable and obviously loves her job.  And the plants, both flowering and veggies, are very good prices as well as looking strong and healthy (and kept watered!  Unlike other supermarkets who just have some general all purpose Saturday lad/girl to chuck a bit of water at the plants now and then, in between collecting trolleys).  So this morning we're going there to get the compost and some plants, which is exciting! (little things please me 😂).  On the subject of plants - husband has been offered some pea plants by our neighbour, and some Gardeners Delight tomatoes by a friend of his at the gym, so that's good - saves us buying them.

Diet day again today, husband's asked for egg salad for lunch, I'll have cottage cheese instead of eggs.  Roasted Med veggies with roasted cod for dinner.

That went well

 The first day of our 5:2 diet yesterday went well, even husband didn't mind it, although he did say he was feeling a bit hungry and I had a headache by the afternoon (not enough fluids I expect).  We both had a small banana for breakfast, then I did us each a 2-egg omelette with chives and seasonings, with air fried sliced mushrooms (no oil or butter) and tinned tomatoes for lunch.  For dinner we had prawns with a small portion of couscous flavoured with lemon, dill, chives and S&P, on a bed of green salad (Little Gem lettuce, cucumber, small grated courgette, sliced spring onion).  We had 15ml each of low fat salad dressing.  It was all yum actually.  We each had our normal tea for husband and frothy coffee for me first thing, followed by black coffee, sugar free squash for husband and water for me to drink throughout the day.  I'm not getting hung up on calories - I know the meals will be considerably less calories than we would normally have - but I reckon we had around 600 cals each for the day, slightly more for husband as he has bigger portions.  It was surprisingly easy and tasty actually, although I won't deny that a good sprinkle of grated Cheddar on the omelette, and some garlic bread to accompany the prawn salad would have been nice!  Still, as it's just one day of extreme dieting at a time, and only twice in a week, I think it's going to be fairly easy to stick to.  Tomorrow is the next diet day.  I think in future I'll just do a big green salad with some form of low cal protein (boiled eggs, low fat cottage cheese or tinned fish, e.g.) for lunches, and a plateful of cooked green or roasted Med veggies for dinner, topped with half a chicken breast for husband and a fish fillet for me.

Husband's going to the gym this morning, dropping me off at the supermarket for the shopping - I've now got settled into one big shop a month, with 2 or 3 small top up shops the rest of the month, it's the big shop today.  Tomorrow morning we're going to Taunton, I want to go to Aldi for the half a dozen products I like to get from there and then we'll go to the big Proper Job store for a few bags of compost, they don't do them in our small store in Minehead.  

Husband's got another hospital appointment tomorrow afternoon, more x-rays on his feet.  The podiatrist he saw at the hospital on Monday basically said that there's nothing much they can do for his diabetic neuropathy in his feet, unfortunately.  He said to go back to his GP and ask for a nerve pain meds review if the pain gets too much.  There's always something going on with husband's health - mine too as I get older, although I tend to just push it aside and get on with things.  It's nothing I can't put up with or that needs urgent attention, I'm fairly fit other than age-related niggles.  Luckily!

Thanks for the comments, I think husband has given up the idea of moving all the paving slabs.  I wonder what his next 'brilliant' idea will be?!

Not 50 anymore!

 I'm having some trouble with husband at the moment, he thinks he's still 50.  Well - he knows he's 74 and has a heart condition, what I actually mean is he seems to think he's still got the physical capabilities he had when he was 50.  He hasn't!  Nor have I, come to that, but at least I recognise it.  The plain fact is he's an elderly man with a heart condition and progressive cognitive impairment.  He gets worn out very quickly, he loses his balance frequently, he drops things, forgets where he's put things, and trips over things all the time.  He certainly hasn't got the strength he had years ago, nor the stamina.  He over-complicates everything and just cannot seem to grasp that it's best to take the simplest and easiest option, given his age and capabilities.  He is a bit of a perfectionist and wants to do everything the 'right' way - regardless of what it is.  I've told him time and again that I don't need perfection - as long as something looks alright and is functional, that's ok by me....besides, I like quirky!!

An example - we have a shortish length of path in the garden in between 2 beds, it's about 7 or 8 feet in length I should think, it's laid with large paving slabs.  At both ends of the path are gaps - one about 1.5 inches wide, the other end about 8 inches and containing broken bits of concrete, it is unsightly and a bit of a trip hazard, especially for husband.  I found out yesterday (when I asked him, because I could tell he was planning something as he was standing by the path end muttering to himself!) that he's planning on lifting all the existing slabs and moving them all down to the short gap end, and then laying a spare slab (we have a couple in the garden) in the bigger end gap - it won't fit as it is, he'd have to cut it to fit.  "Why on earth would you do all that amount of hard work, just to fill a small gap?" I asked him, "Why not just get a bag of readymix cement and fill the gap with that?".  Which seemed to me to be by far the easiest solution.  Because I know him so well, I know what would happen if he were to do what he was thinking - he'd wear himself out trying to lift and move all of the slabs, possibly give himself a heart attack or a slipped disc, and even if not, he'd quickly get fed up and most likely abandon the job halfway through, leaving an unfinished and even more unsightly mess.  Even cutting the extra slab would most likely not be straightforward - he's not terribly good at measuring things, and he's so heavy-handed he'd probably end up breaking the slab into bits when trying to cut it.

I just cannot seem to get him to do the easiest thing.  It doesn't help that he's always coming up with madcap ill thought out ideas and just ploughing ahead with them without mentioning anything to me (the apple tree that he completely butchered last year springs to mind), so I often have no idea what he's intending to do until he's started doing it.  If he would only discuss things with me first, I could possibly suggest a simpler way of doing whatever it is, something that will take less time (and money) and which he/we could easily manage.  I think it's partly because he's continually wanting to prove - whether to himself or me - that he's still useful and able to do things.  He wears me out though, trying to curb his not so good ideas, it's no wonder I feel mentally drained at the end of each day.

Husband's got a hospital appointment at 9.00 today, then we've got to take a load of stuff to the tip - some garden waste, the 2 old broken kitchen small appliances and a few other things.  More garden work after that, it's going to be a lovely sunny day again - all week, in fact.  More deadheading to do, all the daffodils have finished flowering now, as have most of the hyacinths, just the grape hyacinths and tulips in flower/to flower still.  I had a very quick count up of the aquilegias appearing - around 16 or 17, not including the small ones in between paving slabs, all from the 2 plants I put in last year.  At this rate, there'll be about a 100 next year 😂

Yes!

 Aquilegia, yes!  I knew you lot would come up trumps (including the reader who said it in German, which I had to Google translate!), thanks so much.  And thank you Chinadogs for suggesting the Google Lens app, I've put it on my phone now, what a brilliant tool.  As soon as I read the first aquilegia suggestion, I thought of course it is, I remember now I planted a couple of them last year.  Oddly enough they weren't all that spectacular last year, but have self seeded in numerous spots in the garden this year, including between pavers.  Not that I mind, I love them....I might regret saying that next year when there are dozens and dozens of them coming up though. 😂

Another day of wall to wall sunshine - and for the next week - although still with the cold easterly wind, which is a bit of a nuisance.  And it's forecast to be cold nights for the next few nights.  Not that I get cold overnight with my big chunky heffalump Betty pressed up against me, but we'll have to keep an eye on garden plants and possibly protect some with fleece.

Got to pop out to the supermarket for a small top up shop of fresh veg and milk this morning, then we'll be in the garden again for a bit more weeding and dead heading.   Husband has suggested another raised bed for veggies, there's one more place it could go.  I think it's a good idea, raised beds are so much easier to work as we get older, although we probably won't get it until next year. I'm also planning on more perennial shrubs and flowers, with low growing creeping plants too to fill up gaps and cut down on weeding.  I won't need to buy the low growing plants, we have plenty of existing ones which were here already and are spreading very quickly.  I can dig up clumps of them and transplant in the flower beds.

Fantastic weather = garden time, and what is this?

 Betty was back on my bed last night, she was quite determined not to be left in the lounge and followed close on my heels as soon as I went into my bedroom, jumping straight up on the bed.  I'd missed her the night before, I like having her sleeping on my bed, regardless of the fidgeting, snoring and woofy dreams.  So it's settled!

We've had a lovely couple of hours in the garden....it's brilliant clear blue sky and bright sunshine, very warm indeed - there was a strong freezing cold gusty wind this morning but that had died down by late morning.  Betty was dozing on the pavers, which are warm from absorbing the sunshine, husband did a couple of repotting jobs and dug out a couple of rogue dandelions then dozed in one of the garden chairs.  

We have an ivy hedge along the back fence - actually, it's next door's ivy but has grown over and covered our wooden plank fence.  I don't mind it, it's a nice green backdrop to our flower beds and covers up the very old (and frankly rickety) wood fence - and probably holds it up, truth be told!  Our Housing Association no longer replace garden fences, unless there's a very good reason - to keep in small children or if the rickety fence is a possible danger, e.g., so it's unlikely they would replace ours.  The people next door have said they intend to replace the hedge with a 5ft wooden fence in due course....I don't think it will be anytime soon though, they first said it about a year ago!  Meanwhile, being ivy, it grows quite quickly and needs keeping in check or else it'll take over everything, drowning out my flower beds.  So I spent an hour snipping it all back, it's all neat and tidy now.  It's a bit too warm outside for me now, so I've come in for a rest and a coffee.

Our next door neighbour has given us a currant bush cutting - he'd taken it off one of his plants and then decided he'd got nowhere to put it, his garden is very full, so asked if we wanted it.  He can't remember if it's a black or red currant, I hope it's a blackcurrant, I do like them....redcurrants not so much.  He's also asked if we want some pea plants, he's grown too many - yes please!  I absolutely love fresh peas, they can go in one half of the new raised bed.  I was going to grow a couple of butternut squashes in there, but would rather have peas.  I'm itching to go and buy some more plants now, we've held off until now as quite a few plants, both flowers and veggies, that we bought early last year failed to grow, so we ended up having to buy more later on.  We'll go and have a look in the garden centres midweek, although if we do buy anything (I'm pretty sure we will!) some of the things will have to stay in the car port and be protected for another couple of weeks or so.

We also need to get a long-handled hoe and a garden sieve - both things we had at the last place, but again things that husband left behind, without my knowledge, in his overstuffed shed and garage.  Since we moved here we've had to buy so many tools and things to replace stuff that husband left behind, it's so annoying but no point in getting upset over it, what's done is done.  I could box that man's ears sometimes. 😒  The big car boot sale is starting up again now it's coming up to Easter, we could perhaps get some stuff there, plants as well.

The weather is apparently going to be lovely for at least the next week, so lots more time to be spent in the garden.  Husband does have 2 hospital appointments though, and I need to do both a big shop and a small Aldi shop for the few things I like to get from there.

Does anyone know what this plant is?  It's self seeded all over the place in my garden.  I wondered whether it's an Anemone de Caen, but the leaves look wrong.....I should be able to identify it once the flowers come out.

If any of you lovely readers know, I'd be very grateful, thanks.

Thank you Sue! And a change of night time routine

 For dinner yesterday I made a kind of risotto, using brown rice and a fresh tuna steak, with chopped veggies.  It was a bit of a disaster actually - I pre-cooked the tuna steak in the Ninja and unfortunately overcooked it - I'm still learning with this Ninja Combi so everything is a bit experimental at the mo.  The tuna, when I came to flake it up, was very dry.  The rest of the risotto I did in a saucepan, sauteing the veggies first then adding the brown rice and stock - I put all the stock in at once, always have done, I can't be doing with standing over it, adding small amounts of stock and stirring all the time.  I then added the flaked tuna at the end.  Well, as well as the tuna being overcooked, the rice wasn't cooked enough, it was still quite hard in the middle of the grains.  I'd added some pesto sauce but not enough, we could hardly taste it.  I ate about half of mine, husband didn't say anything but I could see he was struggling with his, so I said he didn't have to eat it if he didn't want to.  We both gave up and had some cheese and crackers to fill up.  We dumped the remainder of the risotto in the bin, feeling a bit guilty - I hate wasting food, but it really was almost inedible.  Lesson learnt.

Sue from A Smaller and Simpler Life said in her blog this morning she'd made a potato and leek pasty - yum I thought, it's one of my favourites, with cheese of course, and I haven't made it for a while.  So I've just made pastry and the filling - potato, chopped onion which I softened in a little oil (haven't got any leeks), grated carrot, chives and lots of mature Cheddar.  I must say Miguel Barclay's idea of shaping the filling into a block and putting it in a lined appropriately shaped tin in the fridge for an hour is an inspired idea - having the filling pre-shaped like that so you can just slap it straight onto the pastry is brilliant.  The filling is in a lined oblong tin in the fridge now, along with the pastry, I'll make it up this afternoon - that's my Sunday lunch sorted, along with some green veggies, husband's having roast chicken.  The rest of the pie we can have for lunch on Monday.  Thanks Sue! (and Miguel!).

Husband has gone to the gym this morning, hopefully he'll stay a bit longer today - on Wednesday he only stayed there for about half an hour, hardly worth going for that.

I had a change of routine for last night - I decided not to have Betty in my room for one night, just to see if I slept any better.  She's always been a restless sleeper, getting up and changing position umpteen times, she also snores and has very woofy dreams, during which she woofs or even barks and always appears to be chasing something (squirrels I expect) as her legs are moving rapidly as if she's running.  All of which wakes me up a lot.  So we shut her in the lounge overnight, the connecting door to the kitchen is always open so she could go and have a drink from her water bowl.  I have to say I didn't sleep any better - I kept waking up wondering if she was ok!  I didn't hear a peep (or a woof) out of her so I'm assuming she was fine, although she was certainly extremely pleased to see me this morning.

Well, husband has just arrived home so he's managed about 10 mins longer than Wednesday.....well, I guess he has to work up to it slowly having had nearly 2 weeks of not going.  He won't be going next Monday as he's got a hospital appointment in the morning, and another on Thursday, we seem to be in another round of hospital and GP visits for him.

Sad day, and 5:2 meals for next week

 It's the extended family member's funeral today, impossible for us to attend in person as it's a 4.5 hour journey away, but it's being live streamed so we'll watch online.  Sad day.

I've come up with meal plans for the 2 days of 5:2 very low calorie we'll be doing next week, Tuesday and Thursday (those are the days which will best suit us).  On Day 1 (both days actually), husband will have a banana for breakfast....if I feel the need for breakfast (I don't often have it) I'll have 2 small easy peelers.  Lunch the first day will be a 2-egg omelette with mushrooms and cherry tomatoes, dry cooked in the Ninja.  Dinner on Day 1 will be prawns on a measured amount of couscous, with a green salad and a spoonful of low fat dressing.  Day 2's lunch will be 1/2 a pot of cottage cheese and 1/2 a small tin of tuna on a bed of little gem lettuce, cucumber, radishes and spring onion.  For dinner I'll make a pan of ratatouille (no oil) and serve on a bed of cauliflower rice, with a tiny sprinkle of finely grated Parmesan.  Each of these 2 day meals will amount to around 560 calories, give or take - slightly more for husband and less for me as he has bigger portions than I do.  For drinks we'll have our normal tea (for him) and frothy coffee for me first thing (my frothy coffee is non-negotiable, I can't start the day without it), just the one, then sugar-free squash for husband and plain water for me for the rest of the day.

I've run it by husband and he's happy with that - well, happy is the wrong word, he's not really happy about it but accepts that it'll be enough food to keep him satisfied for one day, 2 days in the week.  Personally, I'm more than happy with the meals, they'll suit me very well.  Husband does know he needs to lose weight, we both do, but unless I give him a strict diet, make the meals and ensure he doesn't do any snacking in between meals (he's a bugger for that), he's not going to manage it.  The bottom line is he eats too much and doesn't do enough to burn it off.

I mentioned the Ninja above - I went ahead and bought the Ninja 12 in 1 Combi oven a couple of weeks ago, my little table top oven was about to expire....the last thing I cooked in it was a cake which took nearly 2 hours instead of the 45 mins it should have taken.  I'm really happy with the Ninja, the air fryer mode is more efficient and faster than my Lakeland air fryer and I can fit bigger dishes in it.  I cooked chicken fillets and vegetables on the steam function the other day and they came out juicy and perfectly cooked.....I found some veggies to be a bit hit and miss in the Lakeland fryer.  So it's a big thumbs up from me.

Busyness and planning a diet

 I've been busy the last couple of days, doing all the outstanding housework, changing beds and 3 loads of washing.  I also did some jobs in the garden, weeding (that little creeping weed with tiny blue flowers, I've always known it as Birdseye - it's prolific in our garden) and deadheading lots of the Spring bulbs.  I encouraged husband to get out in the garden too, he's planted the rest of the potatoes and sowed some more carrot and parsnip seeds.  He says he's going to the gym tomorrow - I shall endeavour to make sure he does.

I've not been for a walk yet, been too busy, I wanted to get all the jobs done.  Also, although we've had glorious sunshine the last 2 days, that's been tempered by an extremely chilly easterly wind, quite gusty at times - apparently we've got it all week.  Still, at least it's good washing drying weather, the washing's been drying in no time.  I might go for a walk tomorrow, if it's not too windy - I'm really not keen on walking in windy conditions.

Having given things a lot of thought, I've decided I must lose some weight - well actually we both need to lose weight.....despite husband going to the gym for the past few months now, he confessed he's not lost any weight at all.  I don't think he does enough at the gym - he says he uses the bike and the treadmill, and some weights.  The instructors there don't supervise him or set him a programme, they just keep a general eye on him whilst they're busy with new GP referrals, so husband is pretty much left to his own devices.  Without a proper programme to follow, or unless he steps up his routine, he's not really going to feel much benefit.  

I'm going to get us started on the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet - 5 days of normal (healthy) eating with 2 days of very low calorie meals - 500-600 calories.  Ideally, I'd like to make it 4:3 but husband's not keen - he's grudgingly agreed to the 2 days of very low calorie.  I know he'll find it difficult as he's got a big appetite, it doesn't seem to be diminishing with age, although mine is.  But if he knows it's only for 1 day at a time and he can eat normally the next day, I think he'll manage (if I can ensure he doesn't sneak into the kitchen to have a crafty handful of nuts or chunk of cheese!).  He does like a big plateful of food, so if I can serve him up a heaped plate of, say, steamed cauliflower, broccoli and courgettes, tossed with herbs and spices and a tiny sprinkle of finely grated Parmesan for dinner, he'll be fairly happy (although he'll probably complain about no steak or pork chop!).  He could have a mushroom omelette for breakfast, and some fruit at lunchtime - he would never survive on just one meal a day.  He likes Bovril to drink, so I'll tell him to have a cup of that if he gets hungry (he doesn't like black coffee or tea, so he'll have to have just a splash of milk in his morning tea).  He doesn't drink plain water either, unlike me, but I'll encourage him to have a glass a few times.

I'll give it some more thought and do a bit more research, with the aim of starting the diet next week.  I hope husband will give it a go for at least a month, I'd like to keep going even if he doesn't want to.  We have done the 5:2 before actually, several years ago, I can't remember for how long or why we stopped.