Tuesday 12 March 2013

General chit chat...

Welcome to my two new followers, Closet Blitz Woman and h.graham.33.

At the moment we have lovely blue skies with fluffy white clouds but I am sure it won't last, it is certainly cold in the very brisk wind. This photograph was taken first thing yesterday morning and luckily, no more snow settled despite frequent snow storms.
Have just got back from the post office, sending off a large parcel so that helped blow the cobwebs away!

We are so glad about picking pine cones the other week as the wood burner is messing about when first lit and the addition of a few of them gets it going again. We think the current batch of logs may be heart wood and that it can be quite hard to burn, certainly when starting the fire.

I thawed (what would once upon a time) be a one person portion of curry and rice. The curry had 2 tomatoes, a few mushrooms, a bit more curry paste and tomato paste added to it and it was enough for us both. We finished off a little more of 'that' chocolate cake with custard.

Fed the worms in the wormery yesterday, they certainly seem to be jiggling around well so I think they have accustomed to their new home. They had a finely diced banana skin with a small handful of chopped potato peel, both of which had been left out a few days, to begin de-composing. Apparently I now have to do that once a week, in each of the 4 corners (providing they have eaten the previous amount).

Once they have eaten 4 corners worth, they should be able to tackle everyday stuff in small amounts. The wormery is still in my conservatory. The windows get opened and it gets a shading of newspaper if the temperature rises above 20 Celsius. It's like having pets!

I can tell that Spring is almost here (despite the current weather) as the sun is now getting onto my kitchen window sill. Thought I'd show you a photograph of my 10 potatoes chitting (don't have room in the garden for anymore but like to enjoy the taste of freshly picked new potatoes). The old margarine tub is being used to grow my 2nd batch of cress. 

Had the first batch the other day as cress sandwiches to go with a bowl of soup, tasted so fresh. Just outside the window, sitting on top of a half size log store, is an alpine bed made with some re-used fence posts. 

The soil level has certainly sunk over time but as they are alpines, they have probably got more than they would have. Again, this picture shows the remains of snow from yesterday.

13 comments:

  1. Yay, how exciting you noticed me.

    Many thanks,

    Francesca the closet blitz woman

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  2. We have glorious sunshine today, but there's still evidence of yesterday's snow on the ground. I can tell it's almost Spring because it was daylight when I went to the carboot at 6.30am on Sunday!

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    1. I know, the evenings are also getting light. Just think when the clocks go forward in a fortnight, it will be light until 7pm. Just need some warm weather so we can do something with the extra daylight.

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  3. This weather is appalling isn't it? A curry sounds just right to warm us all up, keep warm xxx

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    1. Wasn't the best of curries but hit the spot.

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  4. Thank you for the welcome. Snow here on the East Kent coast has caused havoc. Daughter's car broke down yesterday and she had to abandon it. Luckily she was only a 10 min walk from the railway station so she got the train home (which was delayed by 40 mins due to a broken down train at the previous station) and my youngest son spent 6 1/2 hours on a bus that couldn't move in either direction due to a tailback of traffic on a country road caused by a jack knifed lorry. He left Canterbury at 5.40 and got in the house at 10 mins past midnight. Even at that time of night he was really grateful for the plate of beef stew and dumplings I'd saved for him. The stupid thing is the snow has nearly disappeared now due to brilliant sunshine this afternoon. Our dinner tonight is a massive minced beef and onion pie (made in a 12 x 8 inch baking dish because there will be 7 of us) with mash and veg. Blow the diet we need filling food in this weather.

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  5. Better late than never and how wonderful to be able to tuck into a bowl of stew and dumplings. When we had a holiday with our son and his girlfriend, I also made a lasagne dish of chicken and vegetable pie. Just what we needed on our first night.

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  6. Like you DC I also freeze portions of dinners and its surprising how you can plump out a meal for one with odds and ends to make it into two. Add a portion of rice or pasta and hey presto. Have a good week and keep warm.
    Patricia x

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    1. Got to keep trying haven't you and I enjoy the challenge at all times. Keeps me on my toes.

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  7. Oh I do love compost wormeries and I plan on having one soon . My friend Mel has shown me how its done and now reading it here I am reminded ~ I want them ! Lol psst I sent this post to my friend Mel too being so excited that you had worms ... sounds a bit odd in writing though, doesn't it Ha ha

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    1. As I said on my post "New critters on the blog", I got my wormery from a commercial place but you can make them yourselves. I didn't have any luck with my first home made one but this one is working better and is lovely to look at which in my small garden, helps the look of the place.

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  8. I'm following your wormery progress with interest. There's more to it than I thought

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    1. That is probably because I am being pedantic and following the instructions to the letter! Mind you, just realised I mis-read the feeding part anyway. It says after the first fortnight, to feed them every other day, small scraps in each corner. I have just done two feeds and as of yet they are not tackling much of the first. Apparently, I now have to wait a few days for them to start feeding at the first bit before I give them any new food.

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