Getting ready to sew

   Back from Cornwall and a LOVELY Wedding. The ceremony was so much fun that even the registrar got the giggles.. nay she was laughing out loud, as was her assistant ! It's second time round for both the bride and the groom, who both have large families, who obviously spend plenty of time together, with the young cousins playing comfortably together. They reminded me of my girls and their cousins who spent much of their childhood together. They still hang out together now ( and as they say, cousins were your first friends and understand your crazy family!)
  Now I'm not a great fan of eating out. I always think it is a waste of money. I sit there computing how many meals I could have made for the cost of a bought meal. I often feel I could have cooked it better too! That isn't arrogance, just a sign of how disappointing some meals can be. HOWEVER, the meal was lovely, well cooked and plenty of it. So well done the Hannaford Point Hotel at Looe in Cornwall. ( and what glorious views too)

  By the end of this week I should be breaking the back of the preserving for winter, though the garden still has plenty of veg and fruit. I am planning to get the sewing out as these jobs reduce and the nights draw in. I have some large pieces of quilting and also some work with heavy material to sew and decided that I should use my treadle for smaller jobs and set up an electric machine with a walking foot for the larger jobs. I'm actually struggling with pains in my legs if I use the treadle for any length of time.- My family and friends will be thinking "Ah ha, is Gill finally admitting to feeling her age?!"
  My dear mum, who died 10 years ago, bought herself a new electric sewing machine a few years before she died. She was a seamstress and used to do alterations for a "posh" dress shop and as any sewer will tell you alterations are far more difficult than making from the start. She always struggled with this machine and I assumed that it was because she was becoming more frail and forgetful. I have had this machine in my bedroom as a table for the last ten years and last month decided to get it out to set up in the spare room with a large table for my quilting and I can't get it to behave either!. So I have decided to invest a little money in taking it to an expert. Today I took it to the sewing machine shop in Ilkeston. he will look at it and hopefully get it going for £35 plus vat. If he needs to spend any more he will ring me to see what I think. YD emailed to say that Groupon have Brother machines at half price (£69)so I suppose it would be almost as cheap to buy a new one, but I will try to recycle first - and it IS my mum's machine after all, bless her.
  I am still having problems loading the photos from my phone, so I shall go out and about with D's camera this week and transfer from that. I do like to put a picture or two on this blog to cheer things up and reduce my word count!
I have just managed to look into my (I think) Bloglovin thingy and see that some people are following me there - Haloooo each !
 I have been working with D. on a "Getting ready for Winter" post which I shall start tomorrow. I hope that those who are newly independent, because they are starting college, left home to get married/live together, etc will find some of it useful.
Till tomorrow then
Gillxx

Off to a Cornish Wedding

Bags packed and off to Cornwall again. this time for a wedding ( and a cheeky days fishing too)
So have got out the glad rags and hope they still fit us both - we don't dress up very often!
I'm anxious to be leaving burgeoning bean and tomato plants, but will be back sunday lunch, so hope they will be okay.
YD  ( with a little help from Godson) are taking over again... I SO owe that girl!!!!
Back Soon Frugal Friends
Gillx

The stall, broodies and harvest in full swing

Hello Dear Frugellers
I'm just about standing up, tho' I could keel over at any moment from exhaustion!
The gardens are giving of their bounty thick and fast and I couldn't ever waste the produce, so I'm pickling and jamming and wining and drying and freezing like crazy. The buckets in the kitchen don't seem to get any less, while the space in the freezers is shrinking and we took Shaun the Bully to the (unmentionable) yesterday. I will collect him on Wednesday and sort him out into joints that suit our family and freeze them . "When will he be ready?" I asked. "At the weekend"  he replied. Ah! bit of a problem there as we are at a wedding in Cornwall this weekend ! " Can you make it earlier.. like Wednesday as we are off on Thursday?" He then remembered that he doesn't have to joint it for me , as with all the other stuff he does, so it will be okay to pick up on Wednesday Phew!!
 The stall was sort of so-so on Saturday. There were not many people there to buy really. However, we did as well as most and better than some. We cleared £55, which wasn't a fortune, but not to be sniffed at either. The other smallholders were very friendly and helpful and we would probably do it again sometime. While we were there YGD put some punnets of damsons outside the shop she works in on Saturday and made £20 !! I have taken a (poor) photo of J at the stall, which I'm struggling to load. We used the lovely old laundry basket that she bought me for Christmas to but the beans in and placed a vase of Bishop of Llandaff Dahlias on the table. They looked really nice and I could have sold several bunches of the flowers!
 A neighbour just popped round to ask about chutney. She has just made some chutney, in the usual way ( I checked out her ingredients and it was a perfectly normal recipe and method). She had made it as presents for Christmas and then read that the chutney keeps in the fridge for a month! After discussion, we agreed that the chutney should not even be started for another month at least and that it would keep for years if left unopened. When opened it should keep for considerably longer than a month, well mine does anyway. So what that was all about I don't know.
 Committee meeting last night at ours for the Civic Society. Took me some time to make room for them, what with all the buckets and baskets, as we always meet around our kitchen table. The next few weeks will be busy with walks and an exhibition we are holding on the industrial history of our area. The week before that we are holding a dedication evening for the re-siting of a small war memorial that was in the empty and up-for-sale little church. We have rescued it and it will soon sit in the village hall. So we are trying to trace relatives of those mentioned on the memorial that fell in World War I and II. As the secretary I get to do all the letter writing and reports for the papers etc. As my mother used to say "If you want something doing, ask a busy woman"
 J. and I dug up the potatoes yesterday as I saw the early signs of the dreaded blight on the outdoor tomatoes. from one pound of Pink Fir Apple seed potatoes we have 44.5lbs of potatoes and from 2lbs  Sarpo Miras seed we got 98lb. They wont last us the whole of the winter, but will go a long way towards it.
The tomatoes in the greenhouse, which went in late and have been very tardy this year are finally giving out the little red beauties. Hurrah! Don't you just love home grown tomatoes?!
 Bubble and squeak with cold lamb, beans and mixed veg for dinner last night, with heated up rhubarb crumble.
A broody with two eggs bought off a chick on sunday, I put her in a broody cage with said chick and egg so that she could have some peace.. Yesterday I found an empty shell and no second chick. The whole cage was in disarray and I finally found one expired cold chick under a pile of wood shavings. I took it into the house gently blew into its little beak and put the hair dryer on it. I turned on the incubator and we did finally manage to bring it round even though it looked dead (moral;-Never give up). A couple of hours later when it was cheeping its head off we sneaked it under mother while distracting her with a crushed apple and some chickweed. We didn't see it again and hoped that she wouldn't crush or murder it. This morning the two chicks are sat under mummy's chest cheeping away. Don't you just love a happy ending?
We have never had chicks born so late and we still have one more broody sitting.
Off to start some more jam.
Take care Frugellers
Gillx

The Auction Fridge in situ

The fridge I bought at auction is in place and it JUST fits under the shelf, couldn't have measured it better.
Here are a couple of pictures to demonstrate. Trouble is I will have to decorate the kitchen now. I have decided to do an area at a time as at this time of year there is too much going on in my kitchen. What you can't see in the photo is several buckets of damsons and apples, trays of beans, baskets of shallots, bowls of tomatoes and boxes of jars of jam and empty honey jars. These will be doing a dance round the kitchen as I throw some paint around. - and looking at the state of those glass doors to the cupboard above the fridge, a little white vinegar wouldn't go amiss!

 It has rained most of today, which hasn't been too good for picking, but the forecast is better for tomorrow, so J. will be swinging from the trees with her little bucket and filling the punnets for Saturday. I am a little nervous about doing a stall on the market place. it is not something I usually do and am concerned that no one will want my stuff.
 Just heard from J. that there is some sort of hold up on the A38 near Burton. I hope it doesn't prolong what is a pretty long journey anyway. I will put some veggies on to roast with some Lidl chicken legs now and later boil some Pink Fir Apple potatoes and some beans. That should set her up when she gets here.
 Back later
Gillx

Damson glut

 What a lovely day it has turned out to be.
D.has been up the large damson trees, giving them a good prune (they really are too high) and throwing the branches down for one of our shared lives guys to pick. I have just looked in the kitchen and there are EIGHT buckets. eeeek! I have a sign at the door but I reckon  I will be lucky to sell all we have from the door. Those buckets are from one and a half trees and we have another five to go.
A few days ago it was clear that there would be a surfeit of damsons and beans so I have taken the bull by the horns and booked a (car boot)  table at Ripley market place for Saturday. YGD has bought some punnets with lids online, which have now arrived and tomorrow my friend J. from Cornwall will arrive too with her picking clothes on! The cost of the table is only £5, so if I sell 6lbs of Damsons I will make a profit. Worth a punt eh?
Poor J. doesn't know what she has let herself in for as there are two elderberry trees to be picked too. These will be frozen until I have time in the winter to make some wine.
I have finished papering and painting the corner for the new (to us) fridge. I am so pleased with it I may well have a bloggy unveiling for you all to see!
 Yesterday I made, some more plum jam, which I might put on the stall on Saturday and also some really tasty tomato chutney from Chelmarsh Chunterings, I still haven't worked out how to do a link for you to follow CC, but please look her up she is worth a visit.
What is LETS ? I have seen the term a couple of times recently and think it might be some sort of voluntary scheme. Anybody know?
 This evening's plan is -
 Put the new fridge in place.
 Put the cupboard back that goes above it and return the cookery books.
 Make some damson jam, if I can spare the damsons tee hee...
 Write a condolence letter
Make my organisation list for the next four days.
Make the guest beds up for J. and Adam who will both be with us this weekend.

Off to collect the eggs and pick a few more beans before tea.(Lamb curry)
Have a good evening all, the nights are getting a bit chilly aren't they?
Gillx

Home-made apple picker and More Fish

Afternoon Each
The weather can't decide what to do today. We have had sunshine and downpours throughout the day so I have been picking stuff from the garden, then in to do indoor jobs and then out again.....
 Below is a picture of D's second largest pollack from last weeks fishing. This weighed nearly 6lb. His biggest was 7 and a half, but I didn't take a picture. In the next picture my friend J. looks as though she is about to start filleting doesn't she ? Actually I do all that and she feeds me cider while I do it! Well, we are in Cornwall, which makes some pretty good cider.

 Some of the apples are ready and many are being blown off the tree BEFORE they are ready by the gusts of wind we are experiencing today. I shall make some sort of jelly with the windfalls. I shall also add them to the chutneys I have still to make. And of course the rabbits and chickens love them too, so even the windfalls won't be wasted.
Talking of apples I thought I would share my apple picker with you. it is a lot safer to use than teetering on the top of a ladder to reach the odd one up high.
The body is made from the top third of a drinks bottle (Lidl orangeade in this case, though that is of no consequence) Cut a small, say one inch deep by half an inch wide, hole in the rim. cover this and all around the rim with gaffer tape or insulating tape. This ensures that there is a soft edge that will not bruise or cut the fruit and is easier to see.

 With your tape attach the top of the bottle to something like a washing line pole. If you have one with variable lengths, so much the better. If you find that the pole goes all the way into the bottle, cut a piece of cork or some  "blu tack" and press into the neck, so that the pole doesn't shoot through or stick into the fruit.

Place the "bowl" under the fruit to be picked, with the groove underneath and up to the stalk. Push upward, while giving a little twist. If the fruit is ready it will fall into the bowl and you can carefully lower the pole and take out the fruit. Voila! Happy Picking.
It  is sunny again, so I am going out to pick some tomatoes and red pepper and have a go at Chelmarsh Chunterings  Sweet tomato pickle.

Tonight I shall be papering the wall behind the old fridge. We took out the old fridge and the back wall was disgusting! So I shall clean it all up and repaper and paint before the new fridge goes in. WHICH MEANS... that I shall be re-decorating the kitchen a couple of months earlier than I had planned !!
Hopefully I shall be sat down in time to watch a some telly and do a bit of embroidery that has been hanging about.
See you soon
Gillx

Back Home!

Back Home !
The  gardens have gone rampant in just a week! We have winds and rain forecast so we threw our bags in the door, took the fridge we bought at auction in the outhouse and stood it up to settle, and attacked the fruits and vegetables we thought might spoil in rain and wind. We also checked the drains and bought in some wood for the fire in case we needed one. Phew! D. also took down some of the overhanging damson branches which were heavy with fruit. We have had many broken branches this year. It has certainly made picking damsons easier for tomorrow!
 My youngest daughter looked after our place (again) while we were away. Again my godson gave a hand  when she was otherwise engaged. He and I agreed that a bit of barter was in order for the favour(though he would do it anyway) so returning favour for favour I am going to take zip out of some of his old trousers and put it into his working trousers. Don't you just love a skill barter?!
 Was hoping to go a to a local show tomorrow, but I don't think I will have time as there are BUCKETS of produce to process or sell, piles of washing to do and catch-up on the jobs I have been letting slide for the past few weeks, with being away so much. The diary is very full for next week so I'd best buckle down and get organised - not my strong point !
I notice that I have a new follower, but I can't see who they are! So welcome anonymous follower!!
Back Soon
Gillx

At the Auction

Still in Cornwall and sending you all greetings.
J. and I have had a really good week so far. We have raided just about every charity shop in Cornwall. taken all her rubbish to the tip in my Berlingo (lots of room with the seats down) and taken her old immersion heater to the metal recyclers ( a nice little cheque in the bank) Done the aforementioned potato peeler conversion and bought some dry winter stores from Lidl. A large amount of fish has been caught and frozen ( and given away).
But today was the best ever!
 My large kitchen fridge has broken and I have been using the outside "beer" fridge and my small dairy fridge. This is not really sufficient at this time of year in particular, with the stone fruits, blackberries, peppers and tomatoes in full swing. So D. and I have been looking on the interweb, the Argos catalogue  and local sales sites for a larder fridge. Argos have their Value Range Larder fridge at £199 which would fit the hole, but the trouble with Argos is that you cannot actually see the large products and it was still a little more than we had available. Others that we Googled started at $400 to £800 !! We decided that we might have to buy a second hand fridge at those prices.
Yesterday J. says "There's a household Auction up the road tomorrow, with viewing today, shall we go and have a nosey?" Shall we? of course we shall! So off we went yesterday to have a look and in the sea of tat was a beautiful Miele larder fridge, as good as new, in fact we think it probably had very little use. At home later we Googled the make and model. The prices for this particular fridge started at £595 and went up to £775. Okaaaaaay, this might be out of my league I thought. After talking it through with D. we decided that really £180 tops was all we could afford, including the buyers premium of 15%.
 D. went fishing and after a spot of breakfast J.and I set off for the auction. I could go on trying to build up the suspense, but I can wait no longer.. with only one other person bidding I sealed the deal at £60!!! with buyer's premium that is £69 for a good quality, as new larder fridge. What a bargain. 
Getting it in the car was a bit of a challenge, but we managed it. So if you see a Citroen Berlingo going north up the M5 on Saturday afternoon, with a thumping great fridge in the back, it's us!!
 I also saw a very large lidded wicker hamper that I thought would go well next to the fire to put extra logs or maybe spare knee blankets in. It was quite old and there was a lot of interest in this lot, so I backed out at £12 ( a large cardboard box would be free) J. then took the card off me and continued to bid until she got it. "What are you going to do with it ?" I asked. "Give it to you for a Christmas present" she replied. How lovely is that ? and we don't even buy each other Christmas presents!!!
So What a super day it has been.
I phoned YD last night to see how things were going back on the old Smallholding. "Okay, nothing's died yet!" Bless her what would we do without her?
I'm off to fetch D. off the boat soon. I wonder if he has much fish?

Nice to hear that you are following my blog Rachael and enjoying it. Love to you and your adorable children
Back soon All
Gillx

Hello from Cornwall

Hello from deepest Cornwall !!
 I'm sitting in my friends' conservatory, getting my strength up to go to Trago Mills with D.
He isn't fishing today, so I am taking the opportunity to drag him out shopping for things he really needs. His watch has broken "What time is it Gilly ?" and he needs a new winter heavyweight waterproof. There are bits and bobs needed as we get ready for winter - boiled linseed oil, part for the paraffin lamp... you get the idea!
  I have now completed all the mending I bought with me and am way ahead with the winter preparation lists! I moan about being away from home, but it has been nice to have some "thinking" time.
D. has now done two days fishing..What a haul! There is now no space in J's freezer so we have been driving over to her son's house to fill his freezer up ! if D. gets anymore J. will quickly run out of relatives ! I estimate that nearly 25lb of pollack and 10lb ling is now frozen. I also passed some over to J's elderly neighbours.
   J. and I "did" the charity shops on monday and very well I did too! I bought a lovely nearly new double sheet to back quilts for £1. two teeshirts, a lovely warm fleece and a shirt for myself for £8 and a good quality working shirt for GDS for £2. I also bought some smallish (enough for 2 people) ovenproof dishes for bulk cooking meals for £1 each.
  Did anyone see "Blackout" on the TV last night? it was a docu-drama about the national grid going down and how people (didn't) cope. The arty farty camera angles... "Yes we know that taking with a mobile phone would look like this, but you are making me giddy!".. got on my nerves and it was very disjointed at times , but the message was clear and may make people think.
   J. and I went to the "Disability" shop for something to put on the handle of her potato peeler as her arthritis makes it difficult to grip. They showed us a wide handled potato peeler for £10 something and some foam tubing to put on handles for £28 or some old stock at £18 !!!!!. so we went to B&Q and bought some foam pipe insulation for 79 pence and  then to the Pound shop for a wide handled potato peeler.
(Also bought 18 large bananas for £1 from the orange sticker isle at the co-op -  need to google banana cake recipes now.)
All for now.. back soon
Gill @ Frugal in (temporarily) Cornwall xx

Blog Lovin, Rabbit meat loaf and plum stones

Hello
Can anybody explain what Blog lovin is ? I keep seeing it and have no idea what it is !

Getting ready to go fishing tomorrow. As we are going for the week and staying at our friend's I am taking as much food with us as is practicable. Have dug up some Sarpo Miras and Pink Fir Apple potatoes and picked beans, tomatoes, plums and peppers. I shall take some eggs, jam and chutney. I've made a lamb curry and some cheese sauce for a pasta meal.
I've also made a Rabbit and belly pork meat loaf, which is very tasty and easy to make. -
 You will need -
Meat from one rabbit
2 slices of belly pork
Two slices of streaky bacon (Lidl bacon bits)
Three cloves garlic
Mince these four ingredients and mix together with  -
salt and black pepper to taste
teaspoon each of chopped parsley,sage and thyme
half a teaspoon of mace
One egg
Quarter pint of (preferably) white  wine
( If you have a slug of brandy too so much the better)
Pile the mixture into an ovenproof dish, place in a roasting pan of water and bake for one and a half hours at 160/325 or gas mark 3.
Can be eaten hot or cold, but I prefer it cold with chutney on home made bread. 
I know that some people are upset at the thought of eating rabbit meat. It is a sustainable, low fat, high protein meat and I believe, may well be a food resource of the future for those who eat meat.

  EGD has spent the day here, making preserves for Christmas presents. She had a day off work and it was lovely to work together discussing what we could make next and how it could be wrapped.creatively. While she was stirring away I was sorting the buckets of plums that covered half of the kitchen floor. Some went into another batch of jam, some went into the freezer towards the wines I shall be making when I get back from Cornwall. The rest were too soft and bruised so they went to the hens, who LOVE them! When Annie our goat was still with us she use to love plums. She would move them around her mouth, with her cheeks bulging and then spit out the stones across the goat house ! I think we fed her more than we should have, just to see her spit out the stones!
 Off to finish packing now. I have remembered to pack my spare mouse, so that I can use J's (my friend) laptop. It takes me forever to use it without a mouse and I am hoping to do a spot of blogging while we are away. So blogging friends, will keep in touch.
Take Care
Gillx

Just a Quickie

Hello All
Just a quickie (where have I heard that before?!)
Had a good sales day today. I was beginning to wonder if things were going to pick up and I am pleased to say they have.
I've been a little bothered as we go away to Cornwall again this weekend.... YES AGAIN !! In truth I'm getting a tad tired of these fishing trips and this one is for a whole week! My frustration is that everything is coming on in the garden and some of our biggest crops are likely to be ready just before and when we are away. I have started picking the Victoria Plums ( the pink ones, Frugal in Suffolk!) which are very popular, with a short season and a race against the wasps too. The round damsons (purple!) are also now ready. I tried the corn on the cob this afternoon and that too is ready for picking. Eeeek !
 I always find lots to do while in Cornwall and will be with my oldest friend most of the time. I was going to contact Foster mummy and Frugal Queen to see if they fancied meeting up for a cuppa, but realised that they will be at work. I then realised that I must actually now be used to retirement ( after 4) years, as  my daughter had to remind me that other people have to go to work!
 Have now made 2 batches of plum jam and 2 batches of Glutney Chutney. I hoped to make some Blackberry and apple jelly tomorrow, but sold the blackberries I had picked ! Plenty more coming on still, so no probs.
 Home made Pizza tonight with some yellow label brie and mozarella and roast veg from the garden. Victoria Plums straight from the tree for pud.
 Off to clean out Percy now. He has been pigging out on beans and peas,and fennel stalks and it doesn't half make his poo smell!!
Good Night Dear Frugellers.
Gillx

Red Spider Mite!

Hello All
 A warm Welcome to Twiggypeasticks ! Thanks for following my ramblings.

We have spent the day fighting the dreaded red spider mite ( Oh No !!!!) For those of you that don't keep chickens, the red spider mite is the scourge of the late summer months. It is a VERY small mite that lives in cracks and crevices during the day, to come out at night while the birds are roosting to suck blood from the poor things. If you look at them while they are hunkered down before a feed they are little grey dots, but they change to red after they have fed! They are truly disgusting and pull the poor hens down  We have not been troubled with it before, but this year we are struggling to keep on top of the little blighters. After trying all the products from the fodder rooms, which made very little difference, we bought out the Big Guns ... Creosote !!!. After vigorously  brushing and scraping down the perches and laying boxes, we painted them, and every nook and cranny, with creosote. By Gum that showed them ! You are probably thinking.."Doesn't the creosote hurt the chickens"? Not half as much as being attacked by thousands of Vampires it doesn't !! I got quite a lot of creosote on me, in my hair, down my t shirt, on my neck and I am not harmed in any way.
 I came in covered in the creepy little mites and went straight into the shower after throwing my clothes out of the bathroom window. ( I even had mites in my bra running all over my chesticles) Don't know if any neighbours saw my clothes flying out of the window, but it probably looked a little odd  if they did!!
 I need to get down to some Civic Society stuff as I am falling behind with some of the oral histories and collection of material for our exhibition later this year. Blogging is so much more fun though! I think, "I'll just have look at those I follow" and then I see something interesting in their side bar, click onto someone they follow and before you know it I'm on a journey around the world. It's a bit like a drug and probably the biggest time-waster in my life. I think I need to set my timer as a reminder of the things I should be doing!
 Anyway, I see it is gone eleven and I need to set the washer for cheap rate before I take my book to bed. St Luke's Hospice Charity shop at Callington had 6 books for a pound last week... bargain! and for a good charity too. I shall take them back when I have read them to be recycled yet again.
 Just realised that this blog is not very interesting and will also probably make you itch! I shall try to do better next time.
Good Night dear frugal friends
Gillx

Plum Jam, MORE Chutney and the Hops

Hello All
And a special welcome to Fran. I see you are well into boats Fran. We are involved in canal restoration and of course, D. spends as much time as possible fishing on the briny, so we will have things in common I am sure ( as well as frugaldom!)
So, what have I/we been up to? well, it has mostly been gardening...looking after animals...processing stuff from the garden... more animal care...more gardening!
 Have just started cooking another batch of glutney chutney in the slow cooker. This one has peppers in it and less tomatoes, using the same principle as before.
I have also started stoning some plums for a mixed plum jam. Pic. of the plums below (6lb). They look like a plate of jewels don't they?
They are - Victoria; Czar; Margories seeding and Cambridge Gage. The Greengage gives a special, fragrant dimension to the jam. The recipe is...
             6lb Plums, 6lb Sugar, a pint of water. If you don't have a large preserving pan, just scale down the amounts to fit
 It is probably the easiest jam of all to make. Put the sugar in an oven-proof bowl in a warm oven, alongside the jars you will be using. Stone the fruit (some people then crack a few stones and put them in a muslin bag in the jam while it cooks. I don't) Cook the fruit in the water for about half an hour until the fruit is soft. Add the warmed sugar and when this has dissolved boil the jam vigorously until setting point is reached. Pot into the warm jars.

I LOVE PLUMS! rest assured there are plenty left for me to eat. I prefer them to all other fruit, but the season isn't very long and they don't keep, so I have to make the most of them.
 Another crop that has done well this year is the hop "Fuggle". This has fallen down from its tall pole and is languishing along the paddock gate. I think it looks quite well there. So if anyone need any hops. I have PLENTY.

I guess no-one out there in Frugal land has grown Strawberry Spinach as no-one came back with ideas as to what else to do with it!
 Tonight meal was entirely home grown, with all the potatoes, veg and lamb produced here. What a wonderful feeling that is!
Off to the shower now before we go out to meet up with friends for the evening.
Was going to write a bit about a programme I saw the other night with Nigel Slater, but I guess it will wait as I am fast running out of time.
Good Night All
Gillx