The Last Sunrise of August

 

Sunrise on the last day of August just outside out little town.

Taken by a local photographer Keith Sergeant.

Sue xx

Rhubarb, Almond Milk, Weekend Watching and Scarecrows

 

You're not really supposed to take a harvest from newly transplanted rhubarb during it's first year, but I had no option.  Like something out of The Day of the Triffids it sprawled over most of the woodchip area of the garden getting bigger and bigger by the day.

I pulled most of the stems leaving just a couple behind for the plant and after a good wash and a chop cooked it all up.  I ended up with enough  for a rhubarb and custard tart, two containers that are now in the fridge that can be turned into crumbles in the blink of an eye, and the excess juice from the cooking I poured into the little jug.  This was drunk over the course of a couple of days mixed with sparkling water and was beautifully refreshing.

Literally a week later and the plant is almost as big as it was before ... I'll have to watch it doesn't eat one of the dogs!!

In my ongoing ultra processed foods discovery journey I had my occasional breakfast of Aldi dupe weetabix with almond milk.  Although I didn't have the cereal box to check the ingredients of the Wheat Bisks I could look it up on the Aldi website.  This is what I found - 

Whole 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭 (95%), 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐲 Malt Extract, Sugar, Salt, Niacin, Iron, Riboflavin, Thiamin, Folic Acid.

 Not too bad  actually, and something that I am happy to keep in my diet.

The almond milk I'm not so happy about ... I think it's time I went back to making my own!!

*** *** ***

Here's some Weekend Watching for you, chosen from some of the channels that I've been watching and enjoying this week. 

 First a new one to me that I only discovered this week - Farmhouse on Boone

https://youtu.be/DWrSk-175Kg

I find it so relaxing watching someone else cooking or cleaning, and it's been nice to take it easy with a cup of coffee first thing in the morning and watch from my armchair.

Next a massive haul for Freakin Frugal, thank goodness there's some food that can be rescued before it ends up in landfill.

https://youtu.be/fwdj9sHyMH8

From Jessica at Three Rivers Homestead there was this lovely video at the start of her canning season.

https://youtu.be/ymeuMLCzy6U

Some shopping from Madelaine Olivia -

https://youtu.be/kHATnMEgm_E

And the follow on video when she uses the shopping bought at Lidl to make meals, is here:-

https://youtu.be/OQJL-6yYbto

I hope you enjoyed a couple of those, I'm always on the lookout for more channels to watch so if there's one that you love do let me know in the comments below.

 It's the Scarecrow Festival here in our little northern town, so it will be quite busy around town and the carparks will all be full.  The theme this year is Films.  On the canal one of the narrowboats near to our house is now the Titanic, I do hope history isn't repeated.  😉

While in the Pizza shop, Laurel and Hardy seem to be tucking into a lovely Italian meal.

Happily, we have had to drive around town twice today so we have managed to see most of the scarecrows and we can avoid the crowds tomorrow and Sunday.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Sue xx

Of Narrowboats, Seeds and YouTube

 

It may look a bit gloomy, but it's just early in the morning, the world is barely awake but it's nice to be out walking the tow path with only the sounds of the birds singing as my soundtrack.  The crunch of my feet on the soggy gravel barely disturbing anyone.

I love narrowboats and we always get a few different ones to wander past.  It's hard not to look into the windows as you pass, but you can look in the direction of the boats when the curtains are closed without feeling too guilty.

I was desperate to plant some seeds the other day, although I know it's still a smidge too early for me here in Lancashire.  So I quieted the urge by planting two Courgette seeds in a pot.  They sit on my windowsill with their plant pot encased in a reused polythene bag.  Their own tiny greenhouse.

The hope of things to come. 💚

Some Weekend Watching, just a few of my favourites from this week.

https://youtu.be/OfJv1A-CBI0

Freakin Frugal.   Frugal Daddy in the dumpster again.  I find it so sad that supermarkets throw so much perfectly good food away, and even more sad that animals have lost their lives only for their flesh to end up in landfill.  Happily they rescue a tiny portion of it, and share it with neighbours and others. 

https://youtu.be/xfXMoGmb74w

Never Too Small.  An apartment with the same square footage as my little lodge.  It's always interesting to see such different layouts to mine and what people have done with them.

https://youtu.be/u9R0IFJaqF4

Gittemary Johansen.  Zero waste shopping in Denmark with the original sustainable badass vegan.

And finally:

https://youtu.be/HKNIm4ZxLk4

What's for Tea.  Meals of the week from Cheryl in Scotland ... why are other people meals so much more interesting to look at than your own?

  If the rain stays away today I'll be sorting out my tiny garden ready for a Summer of food growing.  Just a little bit in the raised beds and lots of pots, but just a little bit is better than none.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Twelve - Health and Safety for Santa

 

Photographing my Advent calendar goodies in a different place for a change.  

This feels like it's getting too samey ... anyone fed up yet?

Today seeds as you can see are Kale and the jam is marmalade, and in the Christmas tree recycled decorations calendar I have some little acorn type things, I can't remember what sort of tree these come from but they are real.

The little tree is starting to fill up nicely.

Meanwhile, outside the lodge the pavements are sheer ice, although the roads, once you are off our little cul-de-sac, have been gritted.  It was the Santa Run in town yesterday, downscaled to a Santa Walk for health and safety reasons.

We can't have two hundred Santa's breaking their legs now can we. 🎅

Sue xx

It's Just a Walk in the Park

 

Who's that coming towards us through the trees ...

Me and Suky have arrived in the car as arthritic little legs and painful backs are not conducive to long walks, she sits by my feet in anticipation of Dad and Mavis joining us at any moment.  She can't see much these days but hopefully she can almost hear me as I tell her 'here comes Dad and Mavis ... should we go for a walk?'

After a brief rest for Alan who has walked from home through the houses and along the main shopping street with a very happy and full of beans Mavis, we all set off for a lap of the park.

Past the play areas of which there are three for all ages of children, past the little wild beds that are always left this way, not just for the 'No-Mow May' that we have just had here in England ... which is playing havoc with poor Alan's hayfever as the mowing has begun in earnest all at once on verges and roundabouts in our area.

This is a well used and very community spirited park, along with the play areas there are various wild life areas, bug hotels, herb and strawberry beds that you can actually take things from.  British trees of all ages and some planted in little copses that will be wonderful as they get bigger and bigger.  There are areas that children from the local schools can sit and do their nature lessons and a couple of undercover areas so that all is not lost if the rains come.

There are winding pathways with arches covered in foliage to keep toddlers entertained but safe and a few memorial or remembrance gardens that are always beautifully looked after.

And after one last photograph of a beautiful little rusty metal Robin it's time for us all to take the path that leads to the little car park at the Scout Hut, pile in the car and go home for a well earned cup of coffee ... well the dogs actually prefer water and a gravy bone after their exercise, but we'll stick with the coffee.  😃

Sue xx

Large Jugs ... and Clever Posties

 

I knew that I loved the large brown jug the minute I saw it on the shelf in the gift shop, of course it was a very necessary purchase as my huge bunch of flowers had nowhere to live.  As I was sat watching television last night my eye was drawn to my little painting above the radiator shelf and then I realised why this particular brown jug had caught my eye and my imagination.

The painting of The Milkmaid by Vermeer has the girl pouring from a very similar jug.  So it seemed only right as I took my cards down this morning and had a bit of a dust-athon that I put the jug and it's contents into a new position and the flowers that Alan bought me onto the sideboard where they co-ordinated perfectly with the pictures behind.

It was my Uncles funeral in Stockport yesterday and the day went really well.  It was nice to meet up with family again even though it was sad to be saying a last farewell to a lovely man who was but two days away from his 95th birthday.  

Mum handed over a couple of cards that hadn't been posted and then my Aunty asked if I had received her card to me.  I hadn't, but then I really hadn't expected her to send me one with everything that she has been going through over the last few weeks.  She had sent it to my old address at the other side of town and the redirection that I did have in place ran out at the end of March.  

We promised we would call to the flat on the way home to see if it was there, but when we got there no-one was in, I even checked in the paper recycling bin outside but no luck.  Then we got home there it was through my new letterbox!!  Bearing the postman's writing saying 'now at no. 4'.  There are definite perks to living in a small town where the postman sort the mail and get to know everyone on a more personal level.  They had remembered where I had moved to after the flat and forwarded it on themselves.

Brilliant service and it really made my day.

Sue xx

    

A Famous Shed and Dudley

 

Photo Credit - Michael Coleran -  Dudley over Garstang  😉

Storm Dudley got us good and proper last night, it was wild and noisy with gusts going on for hours, although there was a weird lull for an hour in the middle before it built up again just in time for bedtime.  

I gave up trying to wedge the wheelie bins in place when they came knocking at the door numerous times and eventually left them lying on their sides with the lids pressed against the wall to stop the contents flying out.

Our neighbour got home from work and accidently opened her briefcase (just how do you actually do that?) and papers flew out.  Luckily she managed to catch most of them but one important piece of paper blew over the back fence between our gardens.  So her husband phoned Alan ... who was in Berkshire ... who then phoned me to let me know the neighbour was about to knock on the door to ask for his piece of paper back.  What a roundabout way to do it, why not just knock on the door?

Anyway it was all sorted and we got off a lot lighter than some people, although local roads were blocked for a while with fallen trees.  Massive thanks to all of the services workers who go out in atrocious weathers to put these sort of things right and keep our towns and villages safe.

My little shed is famous!!

I am currently catching up on some magazine reading and earlier this week I made a start on the January edition of  The Simple Things subscription I have.  I should have looked much earlier because look what I found ...

... I guess I'll have to cut out and keep this for posterity.

I think we have all our magazine appearances from our former new life in the country in Alan's office somewhere, but I don't think this needs to join them.

*** *** ***

Thank you for all the wonderful comments on yesterdays post.  It would seem we are all of the same mindset and they were wonderful to read while I sat at the breakfast bar that is now my mini office space clutching a massive cup of coffee.  Suky snoring rather loudly in the background made it feel very cosy in here while the wind blew even more loudly outside.

Sue xx

Do I Still Do the Things?

 

The fridge is fuller after a weekend shopping trip you can stop worrying about me now  😉

Someone asked me the other day if I still do 'the things that I used to do'.  

The short answer is Yes.

I still drink my coffee black, still eat the same foods, in this case yellow stickered strawberries with my morning Weetabix.

I still pick up the unused sachets etc if we eat out and don't use all the condiments.  This was from a couple of weeks ago.

And this from yesterday.

If we need anything from Dunelm ... and this week I needed a Winter-weight duvet for my bed ... we tend to go first thing on a Sunday morning.  Before getting our shopping we usually treat ourselves to a coffee in the café and for the last few months you have been able to buy a bacon bun for just a pound with each cup of coffee.  Now obviously I don't eat bacon but we still take advantage of the offer and get one each,  Alan then moves the four slices of bacon from one bun and adds them all to the other.  Meaning he is getting a well filled bun and a lot less carbs, which is the best thing for a diabetic.  

Well you know me rather than seeing a bread roll go to waste I scoop it up along with any other condiments and take it home wrapped in a poly bag if I've remembered or a serviette if I haven't.  I usually have a couple of twin packs of Lotus Biscoff biscuits in my bag so I have them with my coffee.

Yesterday we called to Aldi on the way back for a bit of shopping so I treated myself to a tube of Stackers, their version of Pringles, to go with the bun.  Which once home was filled with cheese, spring onion, mayo and iceberg lettuce.  It was a lovely lunch eaten while watching back to back episodes of Martin Clunes in Manhunt, series two.  Gripping stuff for a Sunday afternoon.

So the answer to the question is most definintely yes I still do all the things I have always done, eat the mostly the same things, buy yellow stickered bargains when I see them, pick up the spare condiments and binge watch pre-recorded programmes on the television so I can whizz through the adverts and not have to wait until the next day or week to see the next episode.  

I'm sure there's a lot more things that I 'still' do, but at the moment there are a lot of things that I can't do because of my ongoing health issues, which is very frustrating but I am working on things slowly but surely and I can see a glimmer of light at the end of this long tunnel.

Sue xx

A Sign of the Times

 

It's a sign of the times for sure when your new birthday present bag comes complete with a free face mask!! 

 I had to smile, it's just so ... Covid  😎

I went out for a mooch around the charity shops after completing a blog post over on the other blog, it should have been done last night for publishing first thing this morning but as usual was left until the last minute.  Have you ever noticed that when you have money to spend and the will to spend it the offerings at all the local charity shops are zero, zilch, nothing.  I came home with four cushion covers and a little vase that just called out to me.  I doubt it will ever hold flowers but it was just something about the shape and texture that appealed.

It's a bit of a strange day, my birthday always is, I'm extremely phone phobic, I will walk miles to tell someone something rather than ring them, and this is the one day when everyone feels they should phone you, I end up being all sweetness and light on the phone and then once they've gone yelling at my phone ... 'JUST LEAVE ME ALONE'.  Then I feel guilty and end up in tears.

It's not a normal response I know ... but then did I ever say I was normal?  If you thought I did then you were sadly misinformed.

I have nothing left to say I am all talked and cried out ... oh and I don't want sympathy just say Happy Birthday and go on your way  😉

Sue xx

Tape, Sunshine and Cutting Through the Weind

Oooh ... what's all this then?

  Someone has taped off all the grass at the riverside, Suky was proper miffed that I wouldn't allow her on there for a little run.  But although she could quite easily walk under the tape it would have been wrong of me to do so if I needed to pick anything up 😉

At last some blue sky, and although it was cold and very muddy underfoot just seeing some sunshine made the world of difference.

You've seen the riverside before so I thought I would show you what's further along our walk once we pop out into the carpark from the riverside footpath.  This new development on the site of what was a wonderful old building was stopped through the first lockdown so has been ongoing for a couple of years now.

But it's starting to take shape now and the new flats, shops and businesses should be good for our little town.

We cross the road after the new development and take a shortcut through Nickson's Weind.

It's a pretty little alleyway that leads through to more houses and if you carry on straight down across the road will bring you out at Booth's supermarket.

To the left just as you get into the Weind is another little path, Suky likes to 'make use' of the grassy bit in the middle most days 😄

I love this old wall and the plants and lichen growing on it, I examine it frequently while Suky sniffs much lower down ... I don't sniff I just look!!

Just in case you forget where you are this is the sign at the other end of the path.

We pass by more Weinds ...

... and blue plaques.

Thomas's Weind.

Then it's a left turn and along past the town Herb Garden, the one where the kindly gardener gave me some Rosemary cuttings just after I moved in.

It's looking very well looked after.

One of the many, many pubs our small town has, and the lovely old phone box on the left is now filled with flowering plants that spill from the empty window panes.

Then it's along the road until we reach another little cut through that brings us outright opposite home.  And little weary Puggy legs can rest while she snoozes and dreams of walks with Mum while I put the washing machine on and sit down at the computer with a coffee.

Sue xx

A Quick Look Back at the Year

 

Happy New Year to everyone that reads my almost daily ramblings.  

I hope that this coming year is kinder and more gentle with you all than the last one was.  Before we step forward into the great unknown here is a look back at my life during 2020 ... the year that lots happened but that somehow still seems to feel like a total non-event!!

January

Rather fortuitously I started the year buying a pair of new walking boots in the Hotter sale.  They sure came in handy when walking became the new going out!!

February

While the Caravan Park was still closed I was stuck in wet, wet Wales.  Flooded fields and dreary days.

March

Then it all changed, the sun came out and the Park re-opened after the closed season.  Washing was dried in the sunshine and doggy walks along the river made me and Suky happy.  Then after a couple of glorious weeks the park closed again as Lockdown hit the UK with a vengeance.

April

A lovely surprise was waiting for me when I got home to Wales, Ethel was back and with her a brand new son ... Joey.

May

The month my new best friend arrived.  

Who else will tell me what day it is without laughing at me!!

June

Then suddenly it was quite nice being stuck in Wales with the sunshine and the flowers.

July

But then Van Life resumed and my true life beckoned 😃

August

Long days, long doggy walks and lots of blogging from the kitchen table.

September

The month I managed to get to two car boots sales, before they were closed down yet again.

October

October brought a massive change, with me renting a flat and putting the Van on the market.  It was the end of an era but one I think that was a very necessary transitioning zone.  It was fun turning a blank canvas into a comfortable temporary home.

November

November was spent falling in love with my new hometown.  

The shopkeepers, townsfolk and the town council do so much to keep things warm and welcoming and participate in all calendar events.  The Remembrance poppies are just one of the ways the town shows it cares. 

December

It seems somehow fitting for December to show the leftovers of my Christmas dinner.

In my view 2020 is a year best left behind, and as we move forward into the chilly New Year I wish all my blog readers, family and friends all that they would wish for for themselves if they weren't such a beautiful bunch of  be more generous to others glorious folk.

Happy New Year ...let's make the most of it it's all we have until the next one!!

Sue xx