It's all very well................................

......................................living just 10 minutes walk away from an Aldi, BUT the housekeeping money is zooming out of the purse much faster than it ever has before!

I even bought myself a birthday cake!! I've never done that before. Tut.Tut.

 Must get back in baking mode ASAP........ what with fancy food and charity shop baby stuff, I shall bankrupt us in no time!

Back Very Soon
Sue

Missing.................

or to be more accurate ..............in a box somewhere in the shed

My large cream metal colander
A chopping board
A pile of new tea-towels and  new oven glove
Stainless steel meat carving plate with spikes
and lots of other things that I haven't missed.............yet.


 I've just finished the latest Tracy Chevalier - The Edge of the Orchard. I've read most of her books and I like the way they take a real person from history and weave a story around them. The real person in this book is Johnny 'Appleseed' Chapman who took apple trees and seeds all round the States.
This is the summary from the library website.

What happens when you can't run any further from your past? Ohio, 1838. James and Sadie Goodenough have settled in the Black Swamp, planting apple trees to claim the land as their own. Life is harsh in the swamp, and as fever picks off their children, husband and wife take solace in separate comforts. James patiently grows his sweet-tasting 'eaters' while Sadie gets drunk on applejack made fresh from 'spitters'. Their fighting takes its toll on all of the Goodenoughs - a battle that will resonate over the years and across America. Fifteen years later their youngest son, Robert, is drifting through Goldrush California. Haunted by the broken family he fled years earlier, memories stick to him where mud once did. When he finds steady work for a plant collector, peace seems finally to be within reach. But the past is never really past.

My rating - A Good Book

I've just heard on the news that we have to limit our intake of Dolmio pasta sauces to once a week, that should be simple here as they are something I never buy. A Pasta sauce made from a tin of tomatoes, a chopped onion, some tomato puree, a little brown sugar and some seasonings must be one of the easiest things to make. Vary it by adding in some chopped veg - aubergine for instance-  make a big batch and pop in the freezer.
Simple.

Oh Goody, the countdown to the EU referendum starts today. Odd really as I seem to have heard quite a lot about it already! Are you like me.............the more I'm told what I ought to do the less likely I am to do it.

Thanks for all the comments

Back Soon
Sue

A bit of food growing at last.............on a very small scale.

First of all welcome to  Becky and Meggie, new followers in the pictures on the right and thank you for comments left after my last post - especially the ones from John Gray ( I think!)

With the gardening stuff unloaded on Sunday I was keen to get started doing something outside but we lost half of the fine sunny Monday taking the trailer back to our friends barn, where it can stay indefinitely or until Col is well enough for us to decide what adventures we will have next.
Cutting the grass was the first job but of course the mower hadn't been used for months so wouldn't start. Luckily just 5 minutes away we have a car parts place so Col was able to buy a can of Easy Start and get the mower going. It still wouldn't start with the key ignition which will be a problem as there is no way I can pull-start it.
Then I fitted the compost bin together and started trimming some of a huge Buddleia which had lots of dead bits over-hanging a mystery shrub in a big tub. My first thought was Camellia which would have been good. After looking again I think it's just a Rhododendron so a good thing it's in a barrel as they can be very invasive.
The only useful shrub in the garden is a large Rosemary, and the rest of the borders have various large shrubs, lots of perennials, bulbs, primula and too many grape-hyacinths, which have taken over - as they do. Col's brother is coming over later in the year to take out a huge Leylandii, a large vicious Pyracantha and a dead Cotoneaster. He'll bring a trailer to take everything away as I don't think a bonfire here would be much appreciated!
In a narrow border between the bungalow and the fence is a long row of half dead geraniums. I like the perennial sort that grow into clumps with small flowers but that's not what these are so I think they'll come out and be replaced by............ something. If the sun gets high enough to come over the top of the bungalow I could have some grow bags here with  veg in although it might be a bit of a wind tunnel.
We had a lot of rain overnight Monday/Tuesday. The sun came out early Tuesday afternoon and I tried a bit of weeding but everywhere was much too wet, it seems we have heavy clay soil just like we left behind at the smallholding so it's not going to be easy to make veg beds from the grass lawn, that will have to wait until Col is fit and well again.
Time is ticking by for food production  so this morning I went to B& Q to see what plants they had and came home with some cut and come again lettuce and mixed salad plants, 3 tomato plants, 2 courgette plants and a couple of grow bags. Total cost £12 (including my 10% off because I've joined the over 60s club). I noticed Asda had some special square, deep grow-bags that said they were ideal for one tomato plant but they were £3 each so instead I'm going to cut the top out of one grow-bag and the top and bottom out of the other and put that on top to make deep enough compost for 3 tomatoes at a cost of £4. It is really weird buying grow-bags and plants after all the years of being self-sufficient and growing everything from seed. Maybe next year I'll get organised to do things from seed again. Have we got room for a greenhouse? ( Or more to the point - do we want to stay here long enough to make a greenhouse worthwhile?)

Three tomato plants and 2 courgettes are being kept warm under this fleece

This is  a good place to sit out of the wind and in the sun, just room to squeeze in with all the boxes, chairs and the big dining table.

It's really good to get a few things growing.

Back in a day or 3
Sue

Thursday to Sunday ( my titles are getting boring!)

Many thanks for all the comments on the last post, all the info about ultrasounds was very interesting. I've been searching my memory and maybe I did have a scan for our youngest in '87. Certainly didn't know the sex of any of them until they arrived although I somehow guessed right each time.

The cat flap has been fitted, Polly wasn't impressed because after two weeks without one  she now prefers to have someone open the door for her! I shoved  her in and out several times and she eventually realised she was now free to come and go just like at the smallholding.

Colin came home from hospital on Thursday evening, and with more antibiotic tablets to take for a week his 5th chemo cycle will be postponed for a few days. They gave him some different high calorie/ protein supplements to try but, just like the previous types, they are revolting. He says he'll stick to peanut biscuits and fish butties! He is going in almost everyday for blood tests -they need his platelet levels to increase  so that he can start having the clexane injections again ( they are for a blood clot on his lung - not sure I've even mentioned that but it was something they eventually found whilst trying to sort out the breathlessness) Apologies for all the health details, sometimes this blog seems to be turning into a medical encyclopedia and it's still hard to believe he was never ill until he was 56.

The larder fridge has been delivered, very prompt service and the extra shelf is very welcome. I emailed The Ipswich Furniture project and Age Concern who both collect but neither could come for the old fridge for several weeks so on Friday Col, who has more patience than me for sorting out stuff, decided to put it on ebay after all. No idea if anyone will want it.

Saturday afternoon we went back to Knodishall to fetch the trailer full of our garden and workshop stuff  from our friends barn.
It was quite a load

 On Sunday our son and future daughter in law came over to help us unload and get as much as possible stowed in the garage. This means I have 4 large pots, three bags of compost, a water butt,the lawnmower and my garden tools here and I'll be able to start weeding and growing veg - on a very small scale - at last.
Then we treated them to lunch and went somewhere we've never been before............PizzaHut! Blimey, it's not cheap is it? but it is just up the road, was decent enough but we probably won't bother again.

There were a few things Col decided we didn't need here ( thank heavens!) and they've stayed on the trailer to take back as soon as we can.


I've read the book that my friend Mary-in-Bath suggested after I did the review of  "The trouble with goats and sheep".   "Spies" by Michael Frayn is also a world seen through the eyes of a child growing up. This is the blurb from Fantastic Fiction.....

In the quiet cul-de-sac where Keith and Stephen live there is very little evidence of the Second World War. But the two friends suspect that the inhabitants of the Close are not what they seem. As Keith authoritatively informs the trusting Stephen, the whole district is riddled with secret passages and underground laboratories. Then one day Keith announces an even more disconcerting discovery: the Germans have infiltrated his own family, and the children find themselves engulfed in mysteries far deeper and more painful than they had bargained for.

It was very short and easy to read.

Visitors have just arrived
So Back Soon
Sue

Home alone, good TV and other stuff

I am still home alone (unless you count Polly the cat- and she's not very talkative) because Col is still stuck on the oncology ward. They gave him antibiotics and then a different sort, they've given him platelets but the levels are only creeping up slowly. He might come out tomorrow, I hope so. Then he should be due for the 5th chemo cycle next week but this may be delayed. The doctors have explained about stem cell treatment which he will have after the 6th chemo session, it requires 4 WEEKS in hospital, most of it in a single room to avoid infection. Oh my goodness, he will be institutionalised!!  not to mention bored stiff.

This is the photo of Col that our son posted on his Facebook page the other day when he took a giant Haddock sandwich into hospital for Cols teatime treat. M and R had popped down to Felixstowe and Col had put in a request for decent food. I'm not sure this counts as Good but he needs all the calories he can get at the moment and there's no chance of that with hospital food.

Now to the good TV programmes - We watched most of The Farming Life which finished last week. It was a series of 12 programmes describing a year on 5 farms in various parts of Scotland. The hard work in harsh conditions was something I wouldn't want to do that's for sure. I enjoyed seeing some of the farmers showing their animals at auctions and agricultural shows which I never wanted to do when we kept goats and sheep (not that we ever had anything worth showing anyway!).
On Sunday evenings I've been watching Paul O'Grady getting involved in the work of the Salvation Army. I'm not keen on him but I am interested in what the sally army do. An aunt and uncle were uniformed members all the way through their lives and my cousins  and their families are now. My Gran went to a Salvation Army over 60s group when she was alive and her funeral was at the Stowmarket Citidal.
On Monday Night there was a fascinating programme about The Vikings and their journeys across the world all those years ago.

And all the other stuff - a  larder fridge has been ordered, I shall ring up one of the charities that collect, and donate the old fridge to them along with an armchair from the shed. I know I ought to be selling them on ebay but at the moment I just can't be doing with the hassle.
On Tuesday I had time to go on a tour of the Ipswich charity shops to look for some baby clothes for the 2 bumps, but there were so few around. Some charities don't have any at all but there is a jumble sale at the local Scout group on the 21st and luckily they are not from us and I must try to get to some boot sales.
 As her OH is working away in Manchester this week our youngest asked me to go with her for the first scan of her bump this afternoon. Mini bump was turning somersaults! We were both glad to see only one baby (my dad was a twin so you never know) and the heartbeat was fine so that's good news.
When did ultrasound scanning start? I can't remember if I had scans for any of our three in 1980, 81 or 87? Anyone know?

Back in a while
Sue

Into April...........random notes from my diary

I                                               




 I wish I could remember who mentioned this book on their blog, but thanks to whoever it was I've just hugely enjoyed this first novel by a new Author.

Here's what it says on Amazon
"England,1976.
Mrs Creasy is missing and The Avenue is alive with whispers. As the summer shimmers endlessly on, ten-year-olds Grace and Tilly decide to take matters into their own hands.
And as the cul-de-sac starts giving up its secrets, the amateur detectives will find much more than they imagined…"
Behind each door on The Avenue is another secret, most have been hidden for  nearly10 years and some secrets are not pleasant.
A really good read, a kind of mystery but also about being ten years old during that long hot summer. 

We've been here for nearly two weeks and everything was jogging along until Cols latest blood tests which showed very low platelets then he started to run a temperature so he is back in hospital for a few days until they can sort things out.  So I'm getting plenty of practice driving through the traffic of Ipswich. After all the years of country living without endless roundabouts,traffic lights and busy junctions, I'm now getting moaned at for being in the wrong gear/lane and Col says I'm ruining the gear box on the Tucson which was already a bit dodgy. He had been thinking about changing to a Ford Kuga when the house sale money is sorted until his brother told him about a friend who had to use You-Tube to find the oil filter which then took three hours to change due to being hidden away and under other bits.............. so maybe not a Kuga after all.

We rang a local company to get a cat flap fitted in the bottom half of the double glazed kitchen door. We are going to have the glass replaced by a plastic coated metal panel instead of glass, it won't make any difference to light in the kitchen and it's a bit cheaper. When the man came to measure up Col recognised him as someone who had stayed on the campsite, the son-in-law of one of the regulars  - Isn't it funny what a small world we live in!

I've cycled to Asda a couple of times, it's easy- peasy as there is a cycle path up beside the main road and a proper push button crossing because it's part of one of the national cycle routes. I measured it on Mapometer website and it's just a fraction over a mile, so not really energetic but every little helps. I'm now planning my route to the nearest car boot sale!

We've filled in the forms to register at the local doctors which is literally just round the corner and walking back on Thursday I got soaked by a hailstorm which was preceded by three big claps of thunder and followed by rain - strange weather. The forecast is for a bit warmer for the weekend, I hope they are right because there is some tidying to do in the garden so I bought new secateurs as all our gardening stuff is still on the trailer in a barn at a friends. Col is not sure when we can fetch it - depends on how he feels next weekend and who we can get to help. Thanks to our son calling in on Thursday afternoon we've now cleared a bit of space in the garage for workshop stuff and the gardening bits we need. I still think Col is being over optimistic about what we have room for.

Which reminds me of the most annoying thing here........... The Fridge, it's bad enough having an under counter fridge after my old tall one - but it's ridiculously tiny and stupidly it has an ice box - which isn't needed because we have a small freezer in the kitchen and the chest freezer in the garage, 6 steps from the back door. We bought the fridge with the house but it's driving me nuts, so I think I shall fork out for a larder fridge, without icebox so an extra shelf to use.

That's it for now, thanks for comments on the last post
Back soon
Sue

Easter has come and gone..................

...........................without us noticing!

Colin had hospital appointments on Saturday and Easter Monday as they needed him to have blood tests to check platelet levels. Both times he had platelet infusions in the ward day-room because the clinics were shut for Easter, of course there are no extra staff for the extra cancer patients going to the ward for checks over Bank Holidays so the poor nurses were all rushed of their feet.

I ventured out on my bike on Saturday morning to take a few things to the charity shop and go to the post office and found a pathway through from one road to the next which means Aldi, 2 charity shops, the post office,newsagent,Co-op and chemist (and dubious take-aways!) can be got to by bike in 10 minutes.Yay! but because I still hadn't shaken off the cold/croaky throat - the first I've had several years - I didn't feel like dallying.

On Sunday Col's brother came over to lend a bit of muscle power for shifting boxes and now 16 boxes of books are under a bed and 6 more piled in the corner of the room. There still seems an awful lot of  other boxes in the summer house/shed and garage but at least the books are safe from damp. Andrew also brought a pair of secateurs (ours are on the trailer still in a shed on a friends farm along with other garden bits) to cut down some bamboo so we could haul out a compost bin I spotted in the corner of the garden and get it in use as our compost bin is also on the trailer.

Then of course we had Weather with a capital W as storm Katie blew in early Monday morning and by golly she was cold, wet and windy! I went out to the garage to investigate another box but it was just too cold for working. Instead we swapped some of the curtains left here for ones we had brought with us and Col (who is feeling not too bad) fixed up my little shelves to hold the herbs and spices - no room in a cupboard anywhere.

Herbs and spices sorted

Below the shelves we have a hatch - they were big in the sixties............ saves all of 10 steps from kitchen to table in the living room, I doubt it will be used.


Polly has settled in nicely, we went outside with her a couple of times during the week, then on Sunday she didn't want to be caught to come in again, climbed a Buddliea, jumped on the fence and onto the shed roof of the house behind and vanished  - Ooops we thought, but 15 minutes later there she was appearing from between our garage and the garage next door. Phew! At least we know she can find her way home again, now we just need to sort a cat flap.

That was the weekend gone - no trips out, no car-boot sales, no visits to stately homes or the sea-side but never mind, we are getting settled and that's the main thing.

Many Thanks for all your comments, sorry I'm not getting around to replying or leaving comments on any other blogs at the moment and welcome to gingerliz and L Efting.

Back in a day or 3
Sue