To clear up the weighing.....and lovely catch up with friend

 Firstly, thank you for all the comments, especially to those of you who said that the chives and thyme should regrow - I thought they might, but it's good to have it confirmed.

Re us having to take Betty to be weighed at the vets.....whenever we've taken her to the vets before, for whatever reason, she's always been weighed then, her weight is pretty stable, only altering by a kilo or so up or down (she weighs more in the winter, as she has less exercise...and probably a few more treats).  But when I'm putting in a repeat request for her flea & tick and worming tabs, I just ring up and order them, collecting them the next day - which is what I did this time, only the receptionist then told me that they can no longer give out meds without having the dog in to be weighed, apparently it's a rule now, we have to take her to be weighed before the meds are issued, even if we don't need to see the vet for anything else.  There's no charge for weighing her.

Our friend (ex neighbour from the old house) came this morning and stayed for around 3 hours, it was lovely to see her and we had a good catch up.  Not much has happened in our old hamlet, one or two people have moved in or out, some people having some works done on their houses, one of the neighbours has cancer, sadly.  Other than that, nothing seems to have changed there and life goes on much as it has always done.  Our friend is pondering over whether she should move - she's in her 70s, a widow, lives alone and has a large house and garden and worries that it might become too much for her in time.  However, she's lived there for nearly 30 years, knows everybody and feels safe and comfortable there.  She's going to think about it some more and discuss with her children, 2 of whom live in the town so not too far away.  She's adamant that, having lived in the countryside for most of her life, she does not want to live in a town, although can see the benefits of having all the services she requires nearby.  She thinks where we live now is delightful, she likes it very much.  

I put the beans in the slow cooker this morning, along with chopped onions that I softened in oil first, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, soft dark brown sugar, a little honey, splash of balsamic vinegar, some chopped sun dried tomatoes and some herbs and spices, and a jugful of water.  Just had a taste and it's wonderful, I'll add salt in a bit.  Now I'm just about to mix some no-knead bread dough, I shall put it in the fridge overnight, take it out first thing in the morning to come back to room temperature, then shape and bake it midday.

It's been the usual dull and cloudy all morning, but the sun is out now.  I gather we're forecast strong up to gale force winds tomorrow, continuing into Friday with rain as well, another named storm.  I don't think we'll be getting the full force of it down here though, unlike those of you further north.  I hope you all stay safe and warm.

Baking, beans and vets

 Busy morning, I made a fruit cake and apple crumble bars - was going to make individual little tarts but it was easier to make a traybake and then just cut it into bars....anything for an easy life!  I also made pork, sage and apple burgers for husband - I might even try one myself, they look so nice.  

I don't mind the look, smell or even taste of pork or chicken mince on the odd occasion, but can't stand beef or lamb mince, they taste far too 'meaty' and strong for me now, and I hate the smell of them.  I'm eating less and less meat - haven't eaten beef, lamb, pork as chops or joints, or any kind of offal for a couple of years now.  I have occasionally eaten a bacon sandwich about once a month but not anymore, the last 2 or 3 times I've not finished them, deciding I really don't like the bacon after a few mouthfuls.  I will eat a pork sausage very occasionally, and don't mind a savoury mince type thing or lasagne made with chicken or pork mince, but I don't eat any of them on a regular basis.  Most of my meals are veg based, usually with eggs or cheese, I eat some kind of fish about 3 times a week.  Sundays if we're having a roast, I normally have my own homemade nut roast, or just the veggies, Yorkshire and stuffing.  I do class myself as vegetarian - well, pescatarian strictly speaking - but I'm not fanatical about it and don't make an issue out of it - if we have a meal at someone's house and they serve something meaty, having forgotten I don't eat meat, I just quietly push it to one side of my plate - or give it to husband!

I'm soaking dried beans overnight and making baked beans in the slow cooker tomorrow - we're having our friend over tomorrow and I don't know how long she'll be staying, so getting the slow cooker ready in the morning means I won't need to do anything much later on (she's coming late morning, she won't be staying for supper).  Husband will have some chicken drumsticks with his beans, I'll just have sourdough bread and a sprinkle of cheese on the beans.

I'm on the last one of my library books that I got well before Christmas (I've renewed them once) so will go to the library on Thursday for more.  We also need to collect our prescriptions and take Betty to the vet to be weighed and collect her flea & tick med....apparently there's a new rule now stating that dogs have to be weighed at the vets every time before getting the meds.  I know the dosage is weight-related, but as Betty's weight has been fairly consistent for years now, she never had to be weighed every time before (thank goodness we humans don't have to be weighed before receiving meds!!).  She's got her annual vaccination jab next month, so it's an expensive few weeks for her (well, for us, she doesn't pay the bills 😉😂).

Busy in a pottering sort of way - but not today

 The intention on Saturday wasn't to go shopping, merely for a drive (preferably in the countryside).  I would never intentionally go to Taunton of all places on a Saturday, it would be (and was) madness.  As I said, it wasn't my choice, I didn't realise husband's plans (he didn't specifically say) and, to be fair, he wasn't actually intending to drive through the town centre anyway, he got a bit lost.  Husband often has half cocked ideas, which he doesn't always tell me about (probably knowing I wouldn't necessarily think it's a good idea) and doesn't think things through.  Oh well.

I've got a busy week, I've made a list of everything....although whether it'll all get done remains to be seen, if some things get missed, that's ok, it's not all set in stone.  It's supposed to be a bit warmer this week - it's misty, very cloudy and drizzly today and still blimmin cold.  Having done everything needed this morning, I'm now sat in my recliner chair with a fleece blanket on my lap.  I didn't bother putting the washing on the line outside, just on the airer in the car port....I've just been out to feel it and it's as wet as it was first thing this morning, so it'll have to be brought indoors overnight.  I hate having wet washing cluttering up the place (it goes in the hallway until almost dry, then loosely folded in the airing cupboard to finish off).

There's a bit of pastry left over from Sunday's pie to use up, I think tomorrow I'll make some little deep filled apple tarts with a crumble topping, and a fruit cake.  Our visitor who's coming Wednesday is very partial to cakes with her coffee.  I'll also make the no-knead bread this week, and some potato farls for a weekend brunch.  I'm in a baking mood.  I'll also do a big slow cooker pot of homemade baked beans to portion up and freeze - I used to make them regularly but haven't done for ages, years in fact.  I'm in the mood for comfort food at the moment, a consequence of feeling cold and dreary grey skies.

One of the things on my list for this week is to delete a load of unnecessary, expired or old emails, texts and messages, and photos - they're all cluttering up my laptop and phone and probably slowing them down.  It's one of those boring jobs that keeps getting put off!  I also want to start filling in the End of Life planner, I'll need a few hours to do that I expect....not all in one go, I might try and do a bit every day.

Well that's one day I don't want to repeat

 Did we go for a drive in lovely unspoilt countryside yesterday?  Well, we certainly went for a long drive....but ended up driving through the centre of Taunton, it being Saturday it was practically gridlocked traffic.  We then finished up in a big retail park near the motorway....again, being Saturday, it was heaving.  Don't ask, not my choice!!!  Betty was not impressed, she doesn't like long drives, heavy traffic and very busy crowded places anymore than I do.  We then went home (which was my choice).  And the less said about that little outing, the better.  Sometimes I just feel like screaming.

Today I'm going to get rid of my frustrations by giving my bedroom a thorough vacuuming.  Husband normally does the hoovering - on a less than regular basis - which means only the middle of the rooms ever gets done 🙄

I'll do a bit of decluttering as well.

Financials, fish pie and bread

 Yesterday morning, whilst husband was out at the gym, I did some financial stuff.  I've been tracking all our supermarket spending - not on a spreadsheet, I do it the old fashioned way in a notebook (one of the several I brought home after clearing out Mum's room last November).  So far, we've spent less than usual, but I'm very sure I could do even better.....perhaps by reverse menu planning!  😂.  I'm kidding, I do that anyway - well, most of the time....it'll be ALL the time now.  I've also been rejigging the budget every time we get notification of one of our regular household direct debits going up.  So far, they've all gone up - not unexpected of course, but a bit depressing all the same.  Nothing ever goes down, does it?  Fortunately, our pensions and allowances will also be going up in April, so nothing to worry about with the budget, I'll just have to be a bit more careful until we get the increased incomes.

I made a fish pie for yesterday's dinner, using everything we already had in - smoked haddock and a stray lonely salmon fillet from the freezer, diced shallots from the Christmas veggies, frozen peas and one of the packets of readymade frozen cheese sauce we got in the Morrisons frozen cafe ingredients TGTG bag a few weeks ago.  The topping was frozen mash also from the TGTG bag.  I added lots of chopped fresh parsley - from the garden, in the old tin baby bath that my sister bought us as an anniversary present last year, which I've used as my herb garden.  The curly parsley and rosemary have survived the winter but I'll have to buy some new herb plants to fill the gaps where the other herbs died - the chives, flat leaf parsley, lemon thyme and basil.  I think the chives may well regrow and possibly the thyme, I know the basil won't.

The weather's turned a bit chillier again, so I'm not keen on going out much, well not walking anyway.  I'm yearning for some warmer weather - properly, going out without a coat and gloves, warm.  Daft really, it is only January after all.  I'm just fed up with feeling cold and cooped up indoors, I really don't like walking anywhere in cold weather though.  Seems like a long winter and I'm feeling a bit miserable, probably not helped by the funeral.

I've seen several recipes for no-knead bread recently (must be the in thing at the moment) and it's making me want to start baking my own bread again.....I might do that next week.  I stopped doing it because I was eating too much of it - there's nothing nicer than a slice of lovely chewy freshly baked bread with a crisp crunchy crust, slathered with butter and Marmite!  I need to make a cake as well, as our friend who postponed her visit is hoping to come next week, I'll probably make a fruit cake.

We've got no plans for this weekend....I suppose we could load Betty into the car, along with some water for her and a flask of coffee for us and go for a drive, haven't done that for a while.  There's no rain forecast, just a bit overcast, although only 6 or 7 degrees.

Beautiful send off

 The funeral service (a full funeral service and the chapel was packed) for my uncle was truly lovely, the live streaming was perfectly clear.  The service was conducted by a celebrant who had made several visits to my cousin and her 2 adult sons, he chatted to them and friends for hours apparently and built up a very comprehensive and personal picture of my uncle.  It was so nice to hear stories and anecdotes that were very familiar and true, rather than a completely impersonal service conducted by some random priest who obviously knew nothing about the deceased (I've been to a few of those and they're awful).  It was lovely to see my brother and sister in law there, along with some cousins I haven't seen for a few years.  I was surprised and pleased to see the flower arrangement I'd chosen had been placed on top of the coffin, along with the family one - I hadn't requested that, it was a happy chance.  I found the whole service surprisingly emotional - I think it struck home quite sharply that my family is shrinking rapidly, along with everyone else's of course.  It also reminded me that, although we're a close family, we're not geographically close - we're all scattered around the country.  And for that reason, I don't often see them nowadays.  Such a pity - when we were children and teenagers, we all lived close to each other, we had regular trips out together (my Granddad loved to take his grandchildren out), meals and parties in each other's homes, and us cousins regularly played together and had sleepovers.  And then we all grew up and moved far and wide.  But that's the way it goes I guess.

We went to town yesterday morning, I wanted to go in a few charity shops to get some toys for Betty - there's no point in buying her brand new expensive things, although she loves playing with them (cuddly toys especially), she doesn't play nicely or cuddle them - she's only interested in 'killing' them (shaking them around vigorously) and then chewing them to bits.  I only allow her one at a time, for 10 mins max, and then have to take them off her before she rips their arms or legs off and pulls all the stuffing out.  She does give them up quite readily if I offer her a treat.  However, I only managed to get two toys - I've come to the conclusion that the charity shops in Minehead are all quite expensive - I'm not paying a fiver for a secondhand teddy that Betty will destroy very quickly.  There's a big charity shop (Cancer Research I think) in Bridgwater that has a large metal cage bin full of cuddly toys, at very cheap prices - incidentally, they also do books at 2 for £1, I've bought loads when we lived there - so the next time we go to Bridgwater we'll go in there and stock up on both cuddly toys and books!  We have in the past bought Betty a couple of those tough supposedly indestructible Kong toys, but that's also a waste of money as she's just not that interested in them....unless they're the ones you can hide treats in, and then she gets fed up and abandons them if she can't get the treats out.

The large chicken I bought for husband's last Sunday roast is still going strong - he and Betty have had some in some form or another for 4 days and there's still quite a lot left - one complete breast and all the bits underneath and off the bones.  I've frozen it now, along with the carcass for stock, as I expected husband and Betty would like a change from chicken!  I did a sort of midweek roast yesterday - sausages for husband along with veggies, a Yorkshire pud and onion sauce, just the veggies, Yorkie and sauce for me.

We had a really hard frost Wednesday night, the car was totally iced up in the morning, took ages to clear it off.  No frost last night though, weak sunshine in the afternoon following a bit of mist in the morning.  Sunny spells again today and tomorrow and 8 degrees.....have you noticed how the days are drawing out a bit now?  Especially in the afternoons, it's now nearing 5 pm before the sun goes down.  Soon be Spring!

Thank you everyone for all your comments, as always.  

And finally...

 Still on the subject of cremations - wow, this blog's not been full of light and joy the past few days, has it?!  I promise I'll get off the subject and move onto something happier very soon.  This is a link to a local to us funeral directors, who offer cremation only in a local crematorium Cremation Only | South West Cremation Services.  The page shows exactly what's included for the price of £880, and they collect the body.  I think it's a really well thought out and respectful package, and an amazing price.  I expect every crematorium has their own arrangements and pricing structure, you'd have to contact your local one for their particular details.  Regarding the End of Life Planner book, I got it on Amazon, there's loads on there and they're not all so rudely funny, some are quite serious!  Since my siblings (and some of husband's relatives) share my sense of humour, I know they'll find it funny too.

The bee - I had the back door open for the hour I was out in the garden, so I guess it could have come in that way, or indeed through any of the windows I also had open.  I suppose the (relatively) warmish temperature and sunshine could have woken it up from hibernation early, and it then must have flown inside the house and hidden itself away somewhere for another little snooze.  Poor Betty, it took her ages to calm down enough to go to sleep, she was really quite agitated and still kept scouting all around the house sniffing everywhere.....I did wonder whether perhaps the bee had stung her, but looked inside her mouth and couldn't see anything, so I don't think it did.  I think it was the loud buzzing sound that scared her so much, she is quite reactive to noises.

Well, I nearly stuck quite rigidly to my shopping list.....I got just a few extra things - 2 packs of half price pork mince, a box of cup soups that husband wanted, and 2 packs of puff pastry that were yellow stickered to a third of the original price, the mince and pastry went straight in the freezer.  I did notice that there were quite a few price rises again, 10 or 20p on some things, 40p on a couple of others - all these were on things we regularly buy, so I know what the price is.  As this is a year of saving up for Needs and Wants, I'm determined to keep a rein on our supermarket spending and only buy what we need.

I had to laugh at something Joy said on her Slimming World blog on Monday - apparently there's a trend right now for Reverse Meal Planning.  In a nutshell, this is doing an inventory of what you have in and then planning a menu around that.  Erm, isn't that what all us like-minded bloggers and readers have been doing for years and years?!  But each new generation thinks they've discovered a new way of doing things, don't they.