Sort of Scary

Sharon - thank you. I'm sure it's just a cold, it's just particularly malevolent.

Bless - I may have a rummage and dig out all the elderly towels. There is a cat rescue place near us so I could try them. That's if I don't try and mend/reuse. I'll check and see if they'll accept it. That's a great idea.

Cherie - if I hadn't seen the length of a duvet cover while thinking about my awkward window sizes, I would never have thought of duvet covers for curtains. I mentioned it to the neighbours, but they all prefer floor length curtains, which would cover our radiators. You can probably pick up secondhand curtains for the price of the duvets, but they just fit my window nicely. 

Kate - I wouldn't say that bear was a goth, but it's all in black. Mind you, he's colour blind and choosing clothes can be an adventure so perhaps he's best sticking to black! He can't tell the difference between green and brown or blue and purple and never seems to spot pink, poor lad. 

When I was thinking about the duvet covers, I checked on Morrisons site and they have some quite nice sets that are cheaper than the crushed velvet ones I got from Aldi. I noticed, however, that if I added the duvet covers to the grocery order I could set it to add duvet covers on a weekly basis. Who is going to order duvet covers weekly? In my case, every decade or so is nearer the mark! I mean - why?

Mind you, I'm not in my right mind. I was driving to pick up bear this afternoon and I kept having to stop. I had a shocking headache and felt very sick. I told bear to get the bus home and that I'd follow in the car when I felt a little better. I was waiting for painkillers to kick in. I felt so poorly, but picked up enough after an hour or so to drive home, but I drove the long way around to make sure that I had the minimum of complicated junctions. 

The parcel of what were described as tray cloths arrived.

It's not really what I wanted, but I know I'll be able to use some of it and it included a gorgeous pin tucked duvet cover. 

And That Fuchsia is looking like it is settling down for winter. The blossoms are now only on the end of the branches though they are still busy with bees. The sparrows are also being very vocal about staying in there.

I intend to spend tomorrow very quietly indeed.

Hugs and good health to all. 

Waste

Bless - the duvet covers are perfect for curtains for me. They are the correct drop and there is plenty of fullness (which will keep in the heat). They are already seamed. There are two layers of fabric. It's often cheaper to buy the duvet covers than the fabric. If I felt particularly dedicated, I could sew something between the layers. I can even use the pillow cases that come with the sets for matching cushions in the room! Hopefully they will last a good while.

Cherie - if you lived nearer, I'd definitely let you sew them. 

Eileen - the sewing thing is quite irrational. I suspect that it's just lack of practice. The whole performance of setting everything up seems quite overwhelming, but the dining room isn't used on a Saturday so I should perhaps just knuckle down then. 

Hazel - I never thought about an eyelet kit. Hopefully this will settle me down. I never thought of looking for pre-owned, not because I'm fussy about that (because I'm not) but because the drop is unusual. But I could have just added a little fabric on the bottom and I think it would be fine to get 72 inch drop.

Sniffles have started. I swear I've used half a dozen tissues since I started typing this and sneezed relentlessly. I'll be glad when this is over. Bear is denying that there is anything going on while sniffing relentlessly. DH is much, much better. I'm organising a delivery for Sunday as I don't want to take these germs into a store. 

We have a hole in a bath towel.

We have plenty of towels, and this isn't a brilliant one. I should work out how to mend it, or cut the thing up for a hand towel and face cloths. It wouldn't take two minutes to hem on a sewing machine (if I had the courage). I am very tempted to dump it in the textile recycling at the tip. On the other hand, there are always lots of uses for this sort of rag. I shall have to have a think about it.

I wish I was more enthusiastic about it. But we have a load of towels, I've just bought some microfibre cloths and I wonder if I'm just hoarding rubbish rather than saving waste, especially if it can be recycled. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Facing the Fear

Bless - thank you. The commute isn't usually that bad, so I can't really complain. Sometimes I really treasure the fifteen minutes or so I have with my knitting and the peace and quiet while waiting for bear. I've turned up quite early in the past due to traffic issues, and I've got a lot of knitting done, but I've found a few short cuts that miss the worst of it so don't have to set off so early these days.

Sharon - thank you. DH and I both adore good home made soup, so we can lap it up and work around bear.

Eileen - I think all schools are having trouble keeping teachers at the moment. At least they are taking it seriously. English is a keynote subject. 

Bear has started coughing. I'm keeping an eye on him. I feel grim, but DH is definitely picking up, especially if he doesn't get carried away but takes it steady.

I had a delivery today. I've spent a fortune on duvet covers from Aldi. Well, at least a fortune for me. In the scheme of things, with the cost of thread and heading tape added, it should still work out at relatively inexpensive curtains compared to ready made. I'm still wincing at it, though. I have bought two king sized duvets and two double duvets. That gives two layers of fabric at the window, one window is 90 inches wide with 76 inch drop and one window 46 inches wide and 76 inch drop. You can't get ready made curtains for a 76 drop. You have to either get 81 inch or 72 inch. These duvet covers are 'crinkle velvet' which feels quite unpleasant but which should be useful in keeping in the heat.

And they are roughly 78 inches long, which by the time I have finished adding heading tape will fit very nicely. Of course all the radiators are under the windows, so I don't like them to hang down too much, but I don't want them too short to leave space for a draft. All I need to do is sew heading tape on one end of four duvet covers. I can line them later if I like, but with double glazing and my lack of skill, I'm leaving that for now. 

It's the sewing that's the problem. Really I should set up the sewing machine as soon as the heading tape arrives in the post and get cracking. But I'm still not comfy with my machine. It's ridiculous. It will take maybe an afternoon to do all the tape with the sewing machine, including setting up the new machine, having a practice and working out what goes where. If I sew by hand, I get sore fingers and it will take ages! As it gets colder, we need warmer curtains up soon, so I need to face the fear and do it anyway. I'll share if I get my courage up. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Rice Continues

Pam - rice is one of the things that I don't check the sell by date on. I'm strict on some things, but not rice or pasta. And filling up with rice makes a lot of sense. I may check out the local Asian stores, but I shop at Tesco in Batley, with a high Asian population and this rice was on a deal for Ramadan, so hopefully I can keep an eye on things there as well.

Bless - thank you! That casserole sounds like a great idea for a dinner. I've thrown in raw rice with chicken, stock, herbs and loads of veggies and baked for a while, and it has always worked, so the soup idea sounds even better.

Eileen - thank you. I have a habit of throwing all sorts into soup, and it hasn't failed me yet!

Today's commute was grim. There was a junction on a nearby motorway closed, which led to nearby roads getting bunged up, which led to near gridlock. We left the house at pretty much 7am sharp, which normally gets bear to school around 7.30am. Today I dropped him across the road from the school around 8am after sitting in queues for ages. I waited in Tesco car park for a while to let the worst of it die down before trying to get back, and there were still challenges. I'm checking the local travel maps and that junction is still closed so heaven help us tomorrow. Bear said that he was in a classroom overlooking Reception, where late comers have to check in, and he said that there were loads of buses and coaches running late and dozens and dozens of kids having to sign in. Bear travels eight miles to the school, and there are lots of kids who travel further. If we had left at a reasonable time, bear would never have made it to school before the bell. 

This meant that I set off for pick up ridiculously early and so ended up sitting for an hour in a country park car park. It's not a very big country park, but there is a cafe and a toilet and lots of good dogs. I saw a lot of dog walkers around. I actually took some pics.

The horse chestnut wasn't looking too healthy. I didn't spot any conkers, but I saw a few cases.

I got a notification on my phone asking me to leave a review of the park on Google maps. I haven't. I've only really been to the car park. I suppose I could praise the rather basic single toilet. I was there at the weekend as well with my knitting. I found the car park incredibly relaxing but I'm not sure that Google maps are after that. 

A sculpture near the cafe. Apparently there was a cold mine here before.

We had rice with the chili con charlie tonight. It's rice all the way. I'm making notes of all the hints I'm getting from you awesome people.

DH and I were supposed to be at a meeting at school tonight. They were discussing English Language and Literature for the pupils. It's a compulsory subject and apparently all of the year are struggling after going through dozens of teachers over the last couple of years. The new teacher sounds a little more effective and bear is very much in awe of him. However as both DH and I are coughing, spluttering and aching, we decided not to share the suffering and stay home. I'm sure that we'll hear about it in due course. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Darn it to Heck

Cherie - I'm going to have to try that, and I love rice pudding with sultanas.

Col  - I think that may be a good way to go, though I'll have to clear the freezer first.

Sharon - I've had a couple of 'bitsa' meals and I guess that I'll have a few more. I'm glad that you liked the leaves. I thought they were gorgeous.

Bless - I always feel that I'm letting the men down with jar sauces, not that they would notice. I'm going to have to try that trick with adding rice to salsa. We may not get through as much rice as you, but I think that we'll get through it fairly quickly. It won't do us any harm.

Eileen - I have heard about freezing uncooked rice. I heard that it gets rid of bugs, but I haven't spotted any so far.

I woke up this morning with a very scratchy chest and achy bones. I do not approve at all!

I have no real idea of what I did today. We had rice again, and I've got the rest of the sack in tupperware containers, so it should keep. The leftover cooked rice got thrown into the freezer and I'll use it up as I go. I was thinking about throwing the frozen cooked rice into a nice veggie and lentil soup. Legumes and grains together give a complete protein, and with loads of veggies in there, it would be a powerhouse of nutrition and still coming in as an inexpensive meal. I noticed in Morrisons, when I stopped to get comfort food, that the stew packs were 99p for a kilo that included a swede, carrots, onion and parsnip. Even if I was ridiculously generous with the lentils, spices, stock cube and oil, and even with the cost of the electric, that would still be an inexpensive feed. 

Bear, of course, is utterly rejecting soup. DH and I fully approve of it, especially my home made version which can often be eaten with a knife and fork. I may try variations on the theme of dal and rice with lots of good veggies on the side. Mealtimes can get complicated. 

I have been more random than usual on eBay. I'll share when it arrives, but the eBay pic makes it look like there is a fairly large pile of vintage tray cloths, napkins and doilies heading my way. I got it for 99p. The postage was nearly £15. I have no idea what to expect.

This morning had the most gorgeous sunrise.

Writing stuff - latest instalment is here. 

Hugs and good health to all. 

Rice With Everything

Bless - thank you!

Cherie - knitting in the car park is actually really good for me, if there are lots of trees and nature around. I can only take so much excitement.

I'm still feeling slightly out of sorts. I had far too much rum on Friday night. I mean, rum to an excessive amount, in large quantities, almost a vatful (maybe an eighth of a bottle, which is a lot!) and it burned a lot of the lurgy out of me and so while I had a hangover and I'm not feeling utterly top form, I'm doing okay, though worrying that I'm going to get it later. DH is really struggling, though. It's lodged right in his upper chest and throat and the poor lad is seriously croaky. Bear currently is unaffected. 

I'm slowly chipping away at the stash in the freezer. Today I put three chicken breasts, which were the last ones in three separate bags (which cleared a surprising amount of space), in an oven dish and poured over a jar of curry sauce. The men will enjoy it, and it's cheaper than anything I can make, and better tasting. I also added some frozen mushrooms from the stash when I got a load marked down and some frozen onions. I feel low enough cooking a jar sauce, but at least I add to it. It's rumbling away nicely. I'm going to cook some frozen peas in the microwave as an experiment, and I'm going to serve with rice.  

I'm nearer sixty than fifty. You would have thought that I would have learned some sense by now. However there was a deal on rice a few months ago and I bought 5kg of basmati rice (which DH very much prefers) at a very good price. I can't currently find it on Tesco website, so they may have been getting rid of it, but it was something like £1 per kilo, which you can't get now. I thought I would bung some in the rice cooker (and it's so long since I used it that I'm hoping that I got it right). I tipped some into a large, airtight storage container. I now have a sack with roughly four and a half kilos of rice being held shut with a bulldog clip. I cannot imagine that this is an acceptable way to store rice. I refuse to allow it to go to waste. So now I'm wondering about the best way to store it and also how much rice we could sensibly eat over the next few weeks. It is less than you would think. DH likes his pasta bake and bear has terms and conditions about food which usually ends up either buying a salad or eating something beige. I couldn't face taking a pic, so here is a stock photo from Unsplash.

Faris Mohammed is obviously a better cook than I am. If I don't use a rice cooker, my offering is always extremely soggy or burnt. 

The bag should be okay for now, but I think I should decant into something slightly better soon. I think that I'm going to end up in IKEA. You see, tomorrow I may as well do the big 10% off shop which I had planned to do Friday, then I can call in at IKEA on the way home. IKEA doesn't open until 10am, which is a lot later than I'm normally headed home, but if I have a good walk followed by a big shop then it should be opening as I go past and I want to pick up some frozen veggie meatballs from there. And I could do with calling in at Wilkos which is just along from there as I am out of fat balls for the birds and the magpies are starting to give me meaningful looks. 

I may or may not get the storage from IKEA. I don't want to spend the money. I think this evening is going to involve rummaging in the backs of cupboards for decent airtight storage. There may be a haphazard tower of random rice containers by tomorrow. 

I also need to use it up within a reasonable time frame. I refuse to let it go to waste, and I quite like rice. If I make a large quantity at the beginning of the week, it could end up stirred up with all sorts of scraps that I can use up. And as bear's preferred liquid with cereal is rice milk, I suppose I can have a go at that, though it wouldn't be fortified like the commercial stuff. 

I have also measured up bear's trousers. There is now a surprising amount of sock on show when he wears them, which is not surprising giving that he's thankfully growing like a weed. I bought school trousers for him but, after measuring up, he's really in men's trousers now. What a milestone - men's trousers!

Hugs and good health to all. 

Sniff Continues

Bless - we rarely have proper chicken but it may be worth it if I get a chance to use up all the scraps. I'm sure that it would taste better. Sometimes soup is an edible hug.

Sharon - I used to have a load of soup frozen, the type that was mainly veggie and lentils with lots of spices, and it really hit the spot. I need to get back to that. 

Lurgy continues, but I did manage a brief run out to do a little knitting in a nice car park. 

Hugs and good health to all.