Plant

Plant

Tuesday 20 January 2015

New appliance

Earlier this month I treated myself to a soup maker. I've ummed and ahhed about getting one for quite a while, but finally decided to invest, and I'm so glad I'm so glad I did. After the first use, it was up there with my slow cooker and bread machine as one of my favourites. So far I've only made veg. soup, and it's SO yummy :-) I said to hubby on Saturday that I think I'll make Saturday a soup day, having in sight to make a chicken and sweetcorn soup next :-)
The beauty of this gadget is that after prepping all the ingredients you put them all in the soup maker with the stock, set it to what type of soup you want, chunky or smooth, and leave it to do it's thing. Twenty minutes later you have a wonderful hot smooth yummy soup. (A bit longer for a chunky one) It is quite noisy when it churns though. Made me jump when I first used it lol :-) Never the less it was well worth the pennies and I can see me using it lots :-)




Bowood Walk







Second Coate Water visit




Naughty Nell stealing the birds bread.(A lady's dog feeling hungry lol)







First Coate Water visit












Lacock








Marching through January!!

So here we are in the middle of January. It's a cold day today, but bright with the sun shining, which is nice. I do like my seasons to be seasons though, and feel cheated if they aren't. So although I enjoy a nice crisp, bright, chilly winters day, I do like to have a day or two of snow, which we haven't had so far. We've had a sprinkling, but not anything to boast of.

I've had a few days out. Went to Lacock a couple of weeks back with my eldest girl, which was lovely :-)

Last week I was ill :-( Picked up a virus of some sort which put me out for a week. This week I appear to have a cold. My nose is very drippy :-(

Last Sunday we went to a little country park near us called Coate Water. When we got there I started to feel ill, so didn't enjoy it as much as I was looking forward to. We came home earlier than intended, and I spent most of the rest of that day in bed asleep!!! So, this Saturday we went back, and it was lovely. We took a slow leisurely stroll around the fairly large lake, making lots of stops to take photos. The bird life there is remarkable, and some of them are quite sassy, and seem to be quite happy to pose lol.
Sunday we took a walk around the outskirts of Bowood House, and beyond. We went to hunt out snowdrops, which were out but the buds were still closed. The birds there aren't so keen to 'pose' so not that many wildlife pictures. We heard a woodpecker but didn't see it. Saw plenty of birds, but they were too quick to catch on camera. On the way home, my husband had to indicate to a driver to slow down. This was on a lane/road. She was going far too fast, and very often families are out walking with their young children and dogs. She stopped and was very rude to my hubby. Such a pretty girl, sad about her having such a foul mouth!!!!!!

I gave myself a good talking to yesterday. I seem to be so disorganised. In my head I'm very organised. Just doesn't seem to work out in practicality !!! Anyway. Whether my self talk will be of any value in the days to come remains to be seen lol.

On the 'home front' I've been pretty well behaved. Not much food stuff found the bin over the last week or two. I've managed to recycle and not waste :-) This always gives me a boost. Somehow, the thought of getting value for money out of stretching a meal over more than one evening makes me feel a weird sort of fulfilment, and also, in a weird way, it makes me feel I've got one up on those organisations who like to 'take' my money :-) I know!! Some people don't need a lot to make them happy lol :-)
I'm still trying to make the meals around the enormous food stuff that has 'grown' in my cupboards and freezer :-) lol Tonight it's going to be fish fingers with wedges and veg :-) Really fine dining going on there lol.
Hopefully I will start getting into my 'earning at home' theory. I made a good start yesterday by making some flap jacks for lunch boxes instead of buying something :-)

On the 'craft front.' that was another thing I lectured myself about. There's so much I want to do. So much I've started that needs finishing. And so many other crafts I want to learn. My head is full to bursting with ideas!!! I aim to make most gifts for birthdays/Christmas etc are handmade this year, Cards as well hopefully. Again, it's just getting some organisation in place, and prioritising properly.
Anyway. I've made a start on some knitting for my grandchildren. They live in Alabama USA, so don't get long spells of cold, but my second eldest asked me to knit them a sweater, so I've made a start, and am well into one for my youngest grandgirl. I'm making her a little jacket. The older two I will do a sweater for. We're going out there in October, so the weather will be more sweater wearing by then :-)

I'm also attempting to get on top of the ironing that has accumulated !!! Doing a little every day where possible.