Monday 28 September 2015

Speeding ticket

cant believe it...opened all my mail today from while I've been on holiday and one was a lovely letter from humberside police telling me I had been captured speeding on the week before I went away...doing 35 in a 30 zone. Now today I've been back to the same ladies I gardened for on that day and have worked out where I was caught, it's just after where it drops from 40 to 30 mph, I obviously didn't slow down quickly enough.
I've filled in the paperwork and sent it off and I'm hoping that they'll offer me the speeding awareness course rather than the fine and points, but come on...it was 35 in a 30 zone...is there not bigger criminals than me out there ?

Autumn is here

Well, I'm back from my holidays and back to the usual this morning, got 3 jobs on today and it's looking distinctly autumnal outside, we are blanketed in a thick fog and it's wet and drippy outside. Not really looking forward to my workload as it will be cutting back and digging up and I'll get soaked.
I think I need to look for some more work, not gardening, but something else to keep me going during winter, whether that ends up being housework, ironing, cleaning, I really don't know. I wouldn't mind a bit more dog sitting type work, but then that doesn't really bring in the money, there's only a small daily charge and I still would need other work.
I would t mind a bit of delivery driver type work, and as we're heading up to Christmas, there might be some of that around, but, and I know I'm being a bit picky here...which is definitely limiting the possibilities, I don't want to work late on a night, or weekends. I have a fair booked for one of the days of most weekends now until the end of November and I know they don't make me a lot of money, but I enjoy doing them and I can't just sit on the mountain of stock I have.
Anyway, back on with the day. Wet is only wet, I'll dry and then I'll forget how cold and wet I was.

Saturday 12 September 2015

No recipe chutney

Yesterday I was trying to work out what to do with a small batch of pears and some rather soft nectarines and a few other bits and pieces. I had in mind a sort of really sticky sweet chutney/relish but couldn't find a recipe that really sounded right. 
So I thought, damn it, I've made enough chutneys before, just stick to the basic principles and if I cook it for long enough it'll be fine. 
I peeled and chopped the 15 small pears, added them to a bottle of cider vinegar, then chopped up the nectarines, not bothering to peel them, added them, cut the peel off half a honeydew melon and cut that up small and then simmered them for a while, while they simmered I sorted through my baking cupboard and chucked in half a packet of chopped apricots, a full packet of dried cranberries and a couple of handfuls of crystallised pineapple that I had in a jar from a previous recipe. 
Once everything looked good and soft, I added a 500g packet of soft brown sugar and then just let it simmer away until I thought it looked about right, which ended up being a couple of hours...I suppose the melon probably added quite a bit of water to the mix, but anyway it looked fine.
I've potted it up and will now let it stand for a few weeks, I've given Julie a small, not quite full, jar of it that I couldn't find a lid for and asked her to let me know what she thinks. If it's rubbish, I've only wasted a couple of pounds and you never know, I might have created something rather lovely.

Wednesday 9 September 2015

Plum and cardamom jam

I rescued as many plums as a could last week from our Victoria plum tree before the wasps had ruined them all and it's only a small batch, probably a couple of pounds, not had time for the past week to do anything with them, but this morning I've no jobs booked so I'll crack on with making something.
Just had a browse through my books and nothing really drew mean. I've made a few varieties of plum jam over the years and they do taste lovely but are not that popular. 
I've read somewhere that plum and cardamom are supposed to go well together so it think I'm going to give that a try. 
I'll just use a basic plum jam recipe which is 1.5kg plums to 1.25kg sugar and 400 ml water and add a couple of teaspoons of cardamom seeds ( not in the pods).
Nothing much else pressing to do at the moment, I've been busy with gardening for the past couple of weeks, so it's rather nice to have a quiet couple of days. I have my voluntary work to do this afternoon and then am at Hannah for one of our regular CDWMs tonight. I rather fancied being able to have a drink, and Mike has offered to pick me up, but I'm going to be good and drive.

Saturday 5 September 2015

Bleaching pine cones

I saw a post on Pinterest a few months ago, which I kept a note of, and today is the day I'm going to give it a try. Just been out walking the step son's dog who is staying with us again this weekend and picked up a handful of cones from our lane end.
I've put them into a tall glass vase, and then the instructions say to fill up with cheap bleach. I've not got any cheap stuff so am using 2:1ratio of thick bleach and water. Filled it to the top, weighted it down (rather precariously) and then I need to leave them in the mixture for 24-48 hours, depending on which set of instructions you read. The cones will close up, as they get wet, but then once dried out will become a glorious pale bleached colour...hmm, well let's see shall we?
Here they are at the start, the picture is a it dark, but I don't want to be carrying vases full of beach around, just to get a better camera shot, I'm hoping the change will still be clearly noticeable.

Wednesday 2 September 2015

Glorious hydrangeas

As I went out to feed the hens this morning, I glanced across at the hydrangeas and they made me smile. They are in full flower at the moment, unlike the rest of the plants around the house, which are definitely going into autumnal mode. 
Each year these plants give me a glorious display, getting bigger and better as the years go by, yet they are positioned with absolutely no shelter and are battered by the high winds coming across the fields and cold frosts of being on an exposed site. 
I really need to get some work done in my garden, I'm trying to clear the multitude of violets and campanulas that I have allowed to self seed over the past few years, and try and get the garden a bit less random.
My echinacea aren't looking too bad this year, and I noticed that one of the Japanese anemones that are at their best right now is actually a white one ( hurray) , but there's not much else to cheer about flower wise.
Tomatoes are ripening at a fair rate, and the courgettes that I left are maturing into marrows nicely. The artichokes, which to be honest, I thought I'd dug up in spring must be 10 feet tall. The only real disappointments are the beetroot, which have lovely tops, but no root yet and the corn, which I know I planted too late and it's not going to mature in time.




Tuesday 1 September 2015

Roasted tomato paste

So, life returns to a more normal pace after a hectic weekend of baking, grandchildren and fairs in the rain.
I have 3 gardens booked in today and so will be done with them by late lunchtime, I then will pop to Mrs H's bungalow and check everything is ok there before heading in to York and checking on IH's and then go and see Mrs H in the nursing home.
On Saturday, whilst the oven was on with the baking I roasted some of the vast supply of ripe tomatoes that we are getting currently. I chopped up a couple of onions and a load of my small garlic in  with them and then once they had fired out a bit, I blitzed them in the blender before roasting to reduce further.
I left the end result in the fridge yesterday and Sunday, with no time to do anything with them, so this morning I've quickly filled an old ice cube tray with the resulting paste and will freeze them to add at later dates to stews and pasta dishes.
I'm very pleased with the end result, it's a nice thick, strong flavoured paste. 
Been out this morning and picked another bowl full of tomatoes and the last of the Victoria's, very disappointed with what we've managed to get off the plum trees this year, they are absolutely covered with wasps. So early morning when they are very sluggish is the only time I can get anywhere near the trees safely. Not sure I've even got enough for a batch of plum jam.