A bit of everything,,,again

Good luck and  God speed for America and her rebuilding of the storm damaged states and their peoples.  Its going to be a  real challenge but I'm sure they will succeed.

Here in the United Kingdom we've had a wet and very windy autumn day and I bet it was cold and damp for those who insisted on tricking and treating for Halloween.

Yesterday was glorious, a bright and sunny,  breezy lovely day, let's hope we get more like that before our winter sets in.

Our property rebuilding work is coming along and the kitchen is almost done.  Apart from the little things that  is, of course, and I've been amazed at the amount of too-ing and fro-ing we've needed to do, to get matters sorted.  I think I've already told you about the tiles, the paste that sticks them to the walls, the  anti-porous wash needed to be applied once they are in place; then the silicone which needs to be put in place between the tile and the work top.  Well, so far so good!  Then we bought the tiles, and we thought the colour good, well that is, until, I saw them up on the walls when I arrived at the property later in the morning.

  "Oh gosh, I railed at Him", the dear SO (for clarification, I mean my Significant Other!) "they look awful!"  And they did, because the colour jarred with the cream of the cupboards and the pine work top.    But, then on Tuesday, He applied the Vanilla coloured silicone and, hey presto, the tiles looked incredibly better.  Now who would have thought that with just a little squeeze of the tube, one could transform a dull, rather unlovely looking coloured tile, into an almost perfect foil for the main coloured contenders for our new kitchen?  I was almost speechless and, let me tell you, He, who must be nameless and who often begs me to stop talking...because he's thinking, or reading or involved with a piece of technology he's trying to sort out for me, was delighted, because he'd known all along how it would be.  But then, he's been designing and building kitchens for a long time now, so He just knew it would all be OK once the silicone had been added.

I wanted cafe curtains for the kitchen window, and not net as most of our new neighbours to be have, and gingham curtains to boot, in a dramatic shade of scarlett.  We've got these sorted but to buy a good looking pole to support my curtains has been rather a drama, which is still not sorted out.  Apparently, wooden poles    
are not readily available for our purpose and we may end up with wooden dowling if we're not very clever!  I'll keep you posted.

Now it's going to take about a fortnight for my curtains to be made and because I don't want an unadorned window for that length of time, today I bought several brightly coloured pink and red winter cyclamen plants
and two ruby-hued  heathers,to sit in nice planters on our window-sill.  And they look very good indeed, and with the roller blind pulled down a little lower, we are just fine and dandy.

But, I must tell you, I'm really enjoying the whole process of making our new property look good and  fit for purpose.  It's taking much longer than I'd supposed, and much more time consuming, but, oh the joy and fun of making sure each separate entity fit in well with its neighbour.

Bring on the next project, please!!

Well, goodnight everybody, wherever you are, and be safe.

Daisy

Hello there!

We've been off-line so I have not been able to follow up on my Superstorm Sandy blog of Monday,
 before now.

Thank goodness I can now do so!

We here were all horrified by the pictures flashing before us on our various screens and much saddened by the number of fatalities the storm caused.  Our sincere condolences go out to all those whose loved ones have been lost.

My goodness, what a terrible storm it has been and obviously still is, as it has spread away from the coast and inland.  We've seen the snow-bound areas of Virginia and the Appalachian mountain range and our hearts go out to all our American cousins.

God bless all of you.  Keep safe and well and good luck to everyone.

Daisy

We're watching..

Good luck America - we hope you survive Sandy and we're thinking of you now, and praying for all of you
tonight.

God bless you all

Daisy

News.......

Hi there, Daisy calling.  Hasn't this week simply flown by and, goodness knows,we've been busy at our new home to be,, and quite soon now!  Don't you just hate moving, and packing everything up, then losing things because you can't put your hand on the list you've drawn up, to ensure you don't lose anything?

Well, I guess we'll be OK and settled again, soooooooon!

But to the news, which I've been following today.  Our English Ash tree is under threat from an imported disease which, unless its progress is halted and steps are taken to prevent its spread, could pose a very significantly serious threat to our island nation; a condition which needs to be dealt with, with the utmost direction and speed, for to lose the Ash tree as well as the English Elm, would be he most awful disaster for the British Isles.

America is today facing up to a dreadfully alarming storm which is about to break on its east coast and I wish all our American cousins good luck and a safe deliverance from its damage.  I do sincerely hope all those living within its projected area on impact, heed their national and local government warnings and remove themselves and their families to a place of greater safety for the duration.

Good luck and God speed to all concerned and be safe.

So our clocks have gone back by one hour and we're all out of time today.  Soon the mornings will be darker later, our days will shorten, and the air become decidedly colder, at least here in the northern hemisphere, as the world hurtles towards the mid-winter festival, which thankfully we all celebrate in our own individual way.  My son in Australia tells me it's still cold, when it should now, by rights, be coming warmer and staying  so, but when we Skyped the other morning, the rising sun was obscured by some low lying cloud, and it looked very dull indeed.  I do hope the weather improved later on?

Christmas plans and menus are being drawn up and folk are posting Amazon lists to one another, but there's still time, so don't panic just yet.  And I always find it so interesting to watch as the affairs of nations and peoples continue to resolve themselves right up to, seemingly, the very last moment. almost to Christmas Eve itself, before the world calls a halt to such matters and concerns, finally settling down to a peaceful period of family home time.

I love reading the weekend newspapers, don't you?  The holiday destinations, the food and gardening items and the fashion news, not to mention the stories, articles and individuals' interesting viewpoint columns;  and  the news.

Ah, the fashion articles and the pictures of the look of the moment, being worn at an Event or on some catwalk somewhere.  What fun for we girls, and for  the men too, for their fashion news is given just as much prominence nowadays, and isn't that good news, for all of us?

Cheerio for now

Daisy

A bit of everything!

Well, here I am back again after my mammoth painting session of last week and at the weekend, painting the hall, all by myself.

OK, it's not a big hall, actually quite a small space, which most certainly doesn't boast a gloriously high ceiling area either.  Yet still I had to get out the middling step ladder and His highest work bench to reach the ceiling for, and I believe I've already mentioned, I'm  really quite short, so to reach the  wall-ceiling area I had to stretch up on my toes.  Phew, for that meant holding onto whatever I could to steady myself....for I'm not at all happy with the idea of going above my comfort zone.

So the hall painting was more an exercise in fear control, rather like when I tried to regain my bicycling legs!  But upwards and onwards and once I'd got over my fear of heights, I really began to enjoy the work. Of course, quite a good deal of paint in spots, drips, splashes and splodges soon bedecked the uncarpeted floor, and me as well, but the sense of elation and satisfaction from doing the work was reward enough in itself.

I can't wait to paint again...have even suggested  to the dear SO that I could do  a course in painting and decorating, you know, just to be ready for the next paint job that comes my way. He naturally just laughs at me and promises there will be plenty of painting somewhere up ahead of us.  But how, when and where??

And today we've been buying tiles for the kitchen walls and behind the hob; looking at curtains - a door curtain this time which,  hopefully, will keep out the noise of people walking up and down the stairs to the properties above us.  This for Alice, who's never lived in a flat before for,  already, she looks unhappy whenever we're in the property.

This afternoon we were trying out a whole variety of beds from hard to soft and the very softest one was absolutely heavenly.  We have a good bed at the moment but feel we need a new one for our new home.....mmmmmm well, hopefully.  I'd not had so much fun for ages, bouncing up and down on the softest bed imaginable.  What a lark!

And curtains?  Well we've chosen the curtains for our sitting room, lovely rich wine coloured ones which, I have to confess, were rather His choice, for although I loved the richness of the colour, I was of the opinion it would overwhelm its surroundings.  But hey ho,  we're set now and, because of that, I've been able to choose scarlett gingham cafe style curtains for the kitchen where I no they'll look gorgeous!

And...at complement the  gingham, I've chosen a very pretty scarlett wooden clock to sit in the "quirky" antique corner of the kitchen, along with the blackboard and, hopefully, some lovely wooden mug racks I have my eye on?


My children and I are already into swapping Christmas present ideas and sending out Amazon Wish Lists to each other and, my goodness me, the days will pass by all too quickly.  But, don't we all just love our seasonal festivities?

Cheerio for now

Daisy xxx

A second Man-Booker Prize for Hilary Mantel

Her book "Bring Up the Bodies" is very good and I've no doubts as to why she has won this prestigous prize for a second time.  What a splendid achievement.

Wolf Hall was excellent but her second book of the trilogy is certainly better; I can't wait for the third and final part.

My computer has been playing up which is why I've not written much this week.  Hopefully, it's sorted out now - I do really want it to be user-friendly!!

We've been painting like mad and He's been finishing off the kitchen, well, almost, and with the carpets going down on Monday, I've got to get a move on with the fiddly paint work, for I don't want to be wielding a paint brush or roller with the new carpets underfoot?

Now it's curtains that are bothering me, for I simply cannot find anything which I really like and which fit the windows.  I did find some lovely Laura Ashley cafe-style kitchen curtains which I'm considering but it's those for the sitting-room that are taking the time to find..

And I'm supposed to be sorting out our account bills and invoices, for it's my job to keep an eye on
expenditure but then I'm also the gopher, the "daily" and the curtain finder - it's a busy life.  I shall be jolly glad when all the work's done and dusted and I guess the dear SO will be too!

That's all for now folks, for  I must read a little before going to sleep,

Goodnight

Daisy

ps The newspapers are full of interesting titbits to talk about but the renovation comes first - I guess there will be other newsy items later to discuss with you?

ps and I found a typo in my last blog - silly me!

What a good read...

We're reading Hilary Mantel's book "Bring Up the Bodies" and it really is a very good read.  It's her second book in the proposed trilogy about the Tudor's reign in England and this second book is about the career and life of Thomas Cromwell.  The first book "Wolf Hall" is on Henry V111 and presumably the third book will be on Anne Boleyn.

Now quite frankly, I think the Tudors have had an awful lot of material written about them, and they're on television and they're part of the very fabric of our national consciousness but, and it really is rather a little but, I do believe somebody should write about another family of the ruling class, say the Plantagenet's, who I firmly believe, would provide a very satisfactory account of themselves.

Perhaps I should have a go....well, perhaps not me, just yet, but definitely somebody should.

We had a very entertaining book club meeting tonight and I've got my homework to prepare for next Monday, which I must make time to do.  As the "new girl" I really cannot expect to be taken seriously by my fellow readers, if I'm not prepared to put in the hard slog?

Our renovation work went very well today, done by Him, and my painting is coming along a treat.  There are, of course, still much unfinished areas awaiting a good coat of paint so I cannot be complacent, so I must be off early again tomorrow morning to get on with my allotted work.  And I do prefer the painting to the accounts work which I have taken on as part of my duty as works foreman..... somebody's got to do it, haven't they?

The dear SO's granddaughter with her friend called in this afternoon for a chat and a cup of tea, and then other friends called in to see the how the work is progressing, and I had to read my book for tonight's meeting; and then on Radio 4, this morning, we had a reading from a new book on Lady Nancy Astor who had been Nancy Langhorn before her first marriage.  I'm looking forward to hearing a second reading tomorrow morning.

And now frankly my dear reader...I simply must stop writing and retire for the night!

Daisy

I only went in for ....

one or two things such as chipolatas, good pork ones to go with the roast partridge and some red current jelly, and dog food for Alice, yet I ended up with two huge carrier bags full to the brim with all sorts of goodies.  Only I couldn't find red current jelly and bought Cumberland Sauce instead.

But let me explain, and then you'll understand.  You see yesterday, my sister, gave me two brace of partridge and  I thought, as you do, oh goody, we'll have ourselves a smashing game supper for Sunday evening, before Downton Abbey.

So I wrapped the birds in bacon and placed them gently on a bed of mixed vegetables and sliced red onions, over which  I poured some very hot stock, before placing the roasting tray in a prepared oven and set the timer for a good 45 minutes.

Of course, I did cheat a little by buying frozen croquette potatoes, and lovely sweet parsnips, but I redeemed myself slightly by chopping up a whole Sweetheart cabbage and thickly slicing some fresh carrots.  And to the gravy I added a generous teaspoonful of Cumberland Sauce, a beautifully silky smooth dark rich sauce.

The partridge actually cooked for a little longer than 45 minutes but they were still OK, thank goodness, and the potato croquettes were scrummy.  We also enjoyed some pickled red cabbage and a jar of delicious quince jelly.

I just so love quinces, English quinces, that is, of course.  I guess the Spanish quince has its charms and admirers but I find they have a very cotton-woolly texture and are almost quite without that wonderfully potent aroma of the English quince.  Just try leaving one quince on a table in a warm but cooling closed kitchen overnight and find yourself quite entranced by the delicious scent that assails your  nostrils as you open your kitchen door next morning - divine!

Another amazing aroma comes from a hyacinth plant left overnight in a closed living room, or kitchen.....it's utterly dreamy and you're quite knocked out by the plant's perfume.  I know I always am.

Well, I must say, Downton Abbey was rather shocking tonight and we're all terribly saddened by what happened...it weas just too awful.

Its back to painting tomorrow and then my book club and then painting madly for the rest of the week so that the carpets can be laid on the following Monday.

And my goodness, they tell me Christmas is only a few weeks away.  Oh my gosh, how time flys by when you're busy doing things!

Cheerio
Daisy

Birthday cake baking...

He went home early from the property, having fiddled with the new taps in the kitchen, which are still not right.  It's the hot tap, actually, which is being awkward, with a very intermittent output of hot water.  I think these little difficulties are just so trying, don't you?

So, down to baking, a cake for my sister's birthday, and a new oven to use.  So a test run first of all, for all ovens vary in their little ways, and an oven currently being used elsewhere, is a very hot oven and chocolate cakes always require a little less time anyway, without being cooked in a quick or hot oven.

It's a fan oven, which is good, and I choose a lower temp. than normally used, just in case; in any case, I'm baking a vanilla sponge because I'd forgotten to buy more cocoa power (!) silly me, and I shall cover it with chocolate icing and for its filling, strawberry jam.

And it bakes w ell, fairly quickly, and it turns out well too, so all is well.  I make the icing, spread it over the filled and layered cake, and decorate the whole with sugared flowers and, hey presto, I have my sister's birthday cake.

I've already made another cake earlier on, just to check on oven matters, and my very first cake, in my new kitchen, will be for weekend visitors!!

This morning, I made him show me, again, how to check my tyre pressure, oil and water, and once I've set up the Sat-Nav, I shall be ready for my little journey this afternoon.

Before that, of course, the dogs need to be walked, and there's an auction to attend
too, so a busy morning and, thank goodness, it's his turn to cook supper.

There's also the Korean GP to be watched, my book "Bring Up the Bodies!"by Hilary Mantel, to be read for our book club meeting on Monday and I'm still in the process of drafting my latest family researches; and there's always the Diary to be filled in, phew!

So I'm off.  Have a good day, wherever you are, and enjoy your weekend?

Cheerio

Daisy

Watercress days

It's delicious, which I suspect you already know and, like me, you've been eating this lovely green and peppery salad leaf plant for years?

No, really no?  Well then you should, because it's good for you and your body.  Apparently, it contains a higher percentage of vitamin C than oranges and provides the body with calcium and iron.

And  what's more, it really does taste delicious, just as it is on its own, in a salad, as a separate item with a meal where it provides a lift to a simple meal and refreshes the palette, and it makes the most delicious soup on its own or even mixed with other vegetable items, such as, potatoes and, according to the television programme last night, tastes good mixed with peas for a different mix.

The TV programme on traditional British food covered such items strawberries and watercress last night and featured top British chefs discussing the good things about these two items and why they should be eaten, and more often and how we should ask for our chosen favourite (for strawberries), and for the watercress, how sales have fallen dramatically - I mean, we are simply eating less and if we are not careful, we could lose this splendid item altogether from our food choice.

Watercress is grown at Arlesford in Hampshire, where the Watercress Line train service chuffs to and fro, in a very attractive part of the countryside, feeding passengers with scrumptious food, including their special watercress soup recipe.

The journeys are a delight for adult and child alike and I remember my children thoroughly enjoying our time on the train, many years ago.

So, eat up your watercress, please do, for its an ancient product which deserves to be saved from extinction.

And it's very readily y available in supermarkets everywhere!

I've had a really good day today, organising things, doing lots of painting and then cooking a jolly nice pork casserole - mmmmmmm yummy.

And more painting tomorrow but, I also have a birthday cake to bake for my sister and I shall cover it with chocolate Ganache for Saturday.  And me oh my, Saturday is going to be very busy for we have an auction to attend, the Korean GP will be sorting out pole positions for Sunday, and I shall be visiting my sister with her gorgeous birthday cake.

Life's good, hey?

Daisy

Paint Sticky days!

Oh the joys of painting, and some even gets where it's meant to be!  However, for me, quite a lot of it gets beneath my finger nails, on my clothes, and even in my hair?

When we drove off at the weekend, my hair was streaked white with paint but of course, it all disappeared with a few brisk sweeping brush strokes!

Luckily for use, and do you remember my telling you about it, the work gloves we found at one of our local car boot sales, yes, well they have proved to be so extremely useful?  A small sized glove which, for me, is still a little large means, for me, there is still a little unfilled glove fabric flapping off the end of my fingers which, amazingly, provides a perfect sized-wipe to scrape off the unwanted  paint spects and spots.

And I can't be the only one who gets paint everywhere, hey?

So now the pace has quickened for our painting, for our new carpets are to be laid in just less than two week's time, so it's all hands to the paint-brush for the next few days, for we really do not want to be still painting when the carpets are down.

The autumn leaves are turning  a gorgeous array of mustard yellows, limey-green, pale terracotta to deep-darkest green, and the colouring is particularly good this year because of our on-of, wet-dull-good summer days; and with the few Indian summer days we've had recently, the countryside has been looking very good.

In Wales, the white cottages nestling in the lush green hills and dales, look like cubes of fondant on a bed of green icing.  Earlier, more poetically, I was thinking of the drops of water, sparkling like diamonds, on the shaped leaves of that lovely old-fashioned plant, Achillea Mollis.  It has another country name which I simply cannot locate right now, but I will.

Ok, that's all for now, folks, for I'm off to watch a spot of TV before bedtime.

Cheerio,


Daisy

Back home....

Well here I am, Daisy and the dear SO, back from our weekend away and I've just unpacked all the luggage, put everything back where it was before we flew off, and planning to be off early tomorrow morning for we're having our kitchen and bathroom flooring laid down!

So it's back to the property renovation immediately and painting and looking for tiles for said kitchen and bathroom, Ikea to visit again, more painting, curtains to find on Ebay and...whatever else needs to be done to finish off the work we began just the other week, or so it seems to be so!!

Of course, I missed my book club meeting on Monday which was rather a shame, for we'd each planned to do some research into a Greek God of our choosing and talk about him.   I was and had in fact, begun my research  into the Visigoths who have somehow always fascinated me, those ancient peoples of Germanic stock, wandering over and about Europe and, well, I just wanted to know more?

And then, because I did him for my A-level exams a few years ago, I was going to read Keats' poem, An Ode to a Grecian Urn, which would have been fun, ah well, I guess another time will be just as fun!

For next week, we've to read Hilary Mantel's follow-up to Wolf Hall, on the Tudors and King Henry V111, who was an absolute beast, to my way of thinking.  Of course, the Tudors are totally fascinating, still, although they are always being "done" on a screen somewhere; of course, one is always supportive of Anne Boleyn and her destruction was despicable and terrifying, and the following ramifications, the fall-out from, totally upset a great many lives?  Oh dear, I shall have  my work cut-out to get a chunk of this book read before next Monday?

So the weekend was jolly good, the conversation  lively and entertaining, the wine red and the food glorious and colourful, some of which I produced, which was enormously fun for me, for it's been a long time since I've  cooked as I used to do!

Alice had some nice exercise, and we read and read, watched a little TV, and enjoyed a lovely family weekend.

Oh dear, it's bedtime again, and another early start tomorrow.  Actually, I've had fairly early starts all weekend, for I've been able to write, which flowed and positively gushed, as memory and thought coincided.  My work is not yet complete, and it will be harder to finish the first draft of my family story, now we're back home with the property to finish, and a new book to read....

There's another GP this weekend in Korea, I believe, an auction to attend and some cakes to bake?  And I thought I was rushed off my feet when I worked full-time, hey ho, life's fun, don't you think?

Cheerio,

Daisy

Off on a spree...

There I was, patiently painting and endeavouring not to get too much paint on the floor and walls when, He had a telephone call from his brother and.....5 minutes later, we're going away for a few days.

And I'd so promised myself to get all the skirting boards done and possibly some of the doors!  Ah well, that can all be done when we return, as long as it's done before the vinyl goes down!!

So a temporary shut-down and lots to tell you when I return from the wilds of England.

Cheerio

Daisy

Aha.....Ikea

Off for a spot of shopping with the dear SO for the new property, and me too?  He wanted an extractor hood for the new kitchen and a splash back, while I didn't know what I wanted?  I mean, I'd hardly thought of anything other than cupcakes and coffee, printing and posters and rushing madly about, trying to get everything done; so was a little mystified as to why we were going off when in fact, I had thought it was the painting that needed to be got on with, rather than shopping for "things".

Still the dear SO knows when I need to be taken out of myself, so off we went and when we got there, why it was like a new beginning.  And it was very exciting and seeing their second show-house really got me burning with enthusiasm for little things I'd not seen before, yet knew, quite suddenly and inexplicably, that these were the very items my heart and soul had been yearning for!

We became dislocated, no, no, I mean separated, so he got through the check-out, while I was still shopping. Then  I had to go and exchange an article for I'd picked up the display item - honestly, you'd have thought I'd done enough shopping in my life not to pick up the wrong item?  But there you are, I did, and on the way back to the pay-desk, of course, I noticed several other items I should dearly have loved to have bought; but, time was running out and he was waiting, and well, I thought, perhaps I'll keep some items to buy another day, don't you know!  Extend the fun of buying new things for this new property, and have a second outing to Ikea to look forward to.?

And we always have their meatballs and sauce, just as you do, huh, for they are rather tasty.

Actually, I used to make a recipe for American meatballs and they were yummy and, if you ran out of time to mould the mix into individual shapes, I found you could create a meatloaf instead, and serve it with a homemade tomato sauce, which was just great, and time-saving too; if you were busy with the school-run and supper and after-school activities, as I was then, well, it was very helpful and everyone was very happy with meatloaf for supper.

They could also become dinner with a tossed green salad and hot baby new potatoes sprinkled with chopped chives, or with a soured cream dressing - mmmmmm - these recollections are making me long to be cooking again!

I think I'd better hang up my apron, right now, don't you?

Farewell,

Daisy

Cupcakes....

or, as we used to call them, Fairy Cakes!  Now when I was very little, I used to watch my grandmother  make these, and she would push the mixture off with her thumb into the bun tin - you know, we didn't use special cases for our Fairy cakes then, although probably later on, we did.  Fashions and availability change, don't you know.

Well, just before popping the bun tray into the hot oven, my grandmother would drop a spoonful of strawberry jam onto the top of the mountain of cake mixture, and as the cakes cooked, the jam settled snugly into the middle of the mix; I can still to this very day, see her in my mind's eye, watching the jam plop down, settling itself nicely into the gooey mass of pale creamy yellow mixture.

As the cakes cooked, some of the jam bubbled up and out of the crusting sponge and as it couldn't retreat, there it would be on the height of the hot cakes, boiling hot, just like the molten lava bubbling up out of a blown volcano; and which firmed up with the cooling of the mass providing your tongue with a crusted, and sometime slightly burnt jammy coating.

And just one bite into the cake brought your teeth and tongue into direct contact with the sweet and still just warm jam centre all surrounded with a lovely soft and moist cake crumb.



Daisy


to be continued.................................

Hello again......

I've been terribly busy since my last post, organising my coffee morning event for Macmillan Cancer Support World's Biggest Coffee Morning, which I'm pleased to say, went very well indeed! 

Phew!!!

I raised £128.55 from coffee and cupcake sales, my cake stall and the raffle prize draw and donations, and in the process, had a very good time. 

It's been a great deal of work, planning composing, writing, posting, putting up my event notices and delivering my invitations; not to mention cooking, which took up twelve hours of constant cooking, on Friday, to produce a storm of cakes and cookies, biscuits and my very special prize draw Boston Cream Pie.

This delicious concoction is not a pie but the most moist and tender sponge cake, sandwiched together with pastry cream and then iced with a dark chocolate ganache - totally scrummy.

And today, I've posted all my thank you letters, put all my cooking pans and dishes away and banked the proceeds.

This evening, I've been to my book club meeting.  It's been a very long and busy day.

So, I shall tell you more later, for now I'm retiring; tomorrow it's  back to the painting and decorating, the ironing and laundry and all the other general chores one has to do!  But we're going out for dinner tomorrow evening, which will be fun.

So farewell for now

Daisy