This and that
Knee has been painful recently, think I might be heading into knee replacement territory. Been limping about something awful this week. Physiotherapists in the morning, we'll see what they say.
My husband had one of his knees replaced on the 21st. It all went well, and he is now back home recovering. I am nagging him to do his exercises. The osteopath that I see emphasised that the only people she sees post knee replacement are the ones who didn't do their exercises.
My eldest had a gastric sleeve fitted recently and is currently in hospital with a kidney infection, suspected sepsis and possibly going to ITU. Keeping all fingers and toes crossed here. Might be why I'm walking funny atm!
Mike had to self isolate from the day before the Tom Jones concert we had tickets for at The Hop Farm
The concert had been postponed 3 times due to Covid, and now we couldn't go. So disappointed. The tickets had cost £135, with parking costs included, and I put them on FB Marketplace for £100 and delighted a young couple who thought they'd missed out. So at least they didn't go to waste. We don't do waste do we!
Finished the tax return this week and took everything to the accountant. It's a boring boring job that seems to go on for ever. I always start in April and then put off finishing for months! So glad to have got that out of the way.
New Garden Bed
This is the garden bed we emptied out. The funny looking holes are where I've been digging out re-emerging weeds.
The only thing we left in was this daphne. It's a Jacqueline Postill, which I think has the best scent. Daphne can't be moved, they hate disturbance. It's just starting to become a substantial shrub now and is totally gorgeous in the winter months.
I had these hostas in the bed, in the same copper pots. But it only takes a leaf to form a bridge and the flipping slugs get in and ruin them. If I keep them from touching the wall, which the slugs will climb to try and get to them, they should be much better next year.
The plant grower came up this week with his plan for the new bed we are re-doing in the garden, and he's coming on the 6th with all the plants and will put them, in their pots, where he wants me to plant them.
Really looking forward to that.
The vegetable crop has been pathetic this year. We got a few cherry tomatoes from the greenhouse which have all finished now.
The runner beans were very late getting going. Although we got quite a few off them in the end.
I planted three small squash plants and got the grand total of one squash from all three. I was thinking about picking it this week and it fell of the vine overnight and promptly got eaten by slugs. Sigh.
There were 3 courgette plants and I got a few from them, not many. The salad all bolted. Got some rhubarb, but it's growing in shade, so struggles.
There just isn't enough light for vegetables even though my garden is south facing. My neighbour has trees all along the boundary and they cast a lot of shade and the sun doesn't get round them until the middle of the afternoon. I'm thinking of admitting defeat and making those beds into flower beds.
The apple trees seem to remain productive and we have another good crop. I shall be bottling lots of them this week. Brought the jam jars down today and I shall make a start tomorrow.
It was lovely to have jars of our apples to have with porridge or yogurt, or just on their own right round to now. Still have a few jars left, so I just need to make a few less than last time.
Carrot & Raisin Loaf
I've been making recipes from Meal Plan 2 as I go through everything for the next ebook, updating the posts as I go - they could do with it! This loaf is one of them.
Although it has raisins in it, it goes very well with the carrot soup I made today!
You can add many things to a small loaf like this - 250g flour, a tsp yeast, salt and sugar and enough water to make a soft dough. Then add a total 150g of grated veg, or fruit.
I'm going to try courgette and lemon next
My Favourite Lentil Soup
I make this many times. I usually add a tsp of ginger paste from a jar, a tsp of garlic paste, and a tsp of turmeric to give it a lovely spicy kick, and at 16p a serving, you can have a big bowl that's very filling.
Favourite Oaty Biscuits
I make these a lot for my husband, especially the large chocolate version. It's about time I experimented with a different flavour!
I have lots of walnuts, so maybe coffee and walnut ones beckon.
An e-book
I published the e-book for meal plan 1 in August and am delighted that around 20 people have thought it was worth getting.
I'm currently getting my head around WooCommerce so I can feature it on the blog. So many new things to learn all the time!
That's it for this time, do come and say hello on the Fantastically Frugal Food Facebook group, or the Sensational Slimming Sustenance group. I'd love to see you. Lots of useful tips, recipes and ideas. The nearly 17,000 membership are brilliant, brimming with talent.
And don't forget Thrifty Lesley, where there are 800+ recipes of fantastically frugal food and many weekly meal plans. And Cheap Family Recipes where you can find all kinds of delicious things that don't cost much with two family monthly meal plans.
I've also got a few YouTube videos up, not many yet, but I'm planning to do more. I've done a couple more, need to edit them now. So much to do, so little time!
With all best wishes, until next time
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