Pain in the Neck

I've had back and neck pain for longer than I can remember.   It's mostly intermittent now, but every so often I hace a flare up. Over the years I've tried all sorts of gizmos to try and help.  
I've had backstretchers that look like a curved abacus. A imilar laddery neck stretcher.

Some years ago I bought a newer type of back device, called a FlexiBak. This really helped.  Unlike the abacus thing,  each individual piece moves independently,  and the exercises were simple rocking ones.  The improvement I see when I use it is much greater than the small amount of input it takes.

The only downside is that I have to lie on the floor to use it, and often I just couldn't be bothered to get all the way down there and all the way back up again.

I do still use it when I'm in pain, though.

What actually works is regular visits to see my Chiro,  fso that problems can be tackled before they get serious,  and massages in between.

Sometimes though, I still get neck problems - usually if I've been working in one position for a long time,  or I've been overdoing it on my tablet, or if I have a migraine attack.    During one such occurrence a few months ago,  I came across something oon Kickstarter called a C Rest. 

Because I was in pain at the time, and I was desperately trying to massage my neck to release the pressure,  I could see how the C-Rest might help me.  I particularly liked the idea that it could be used while I was sitting in a chair,  and so I backed it.

It arrived today.

I'm not sure about it.  I've had a quick go (I even lay on the floor to try it),  and I'm not sure.
I'm going to try it again later.  And I'll take it to my next Chiro appointment (not for another 5 weeks!) to see what my Chiro thinks about it.

We'll see.

How do they do that?

My chooks love yoghurt.  Natural, live yoghurt.

They don't get it very often. In harsh weather, I might mix some into their warm pellet porridge; if an individual is looking under the weatherm they might get a bit;  sometimes I use it to dispense Flubenvet, that sort of thing.

I'd had a  rare yoghurt-making fail yesterday morning.  I'd ended up with something of a "drinking yoghurt" consistency,  and there was far too much of it for me to drink.    I poured some into small plastuc "coop cups" and put it out for the chooks.   They all dived in.

When I went out later to give them their afternoon corn,  I was amazed to see that the coop cups were completely clean. 

 How did they do that?

I don't just mean they'd eaten it all,  I mean the cups were clean. Like they'd been licked out.  Chooks don't lick.

They have beaks.  They can only peck at stuff.  With liquidy stuff, they stick their beaks in, grab some between the upper and lower beak.

It's like trying to pick up yoghurt with chopsticks

And yet.... the cups were clean.

How did they do that?

Mothers Day cards

It seems like absolutely ages since I made anything.  It is absolutely ages.

My machine was fine, didn't even need a service.  I'd got some fluff caught in the tension discs, and now she's working perfectly again.   

I made a couple of bits for the DGDs' birthdays, A cute sheepy pencil topper for S,  a bunny pencil topper for G.   I made some treat bags for them (again, a sheep and a rabbit), but I had a minor glitch with the sheep... the treat wouldn't fit in.  So I decided to turn them into cards instead.  I had everything wrapped and in the parcel before I realised I hadn't taken a picture.

I've also made cards for our mums for Mothers Day at the weekend.  

I made the Westie one first, it looks deceptively simple.  It's a really clever design.  I decided to try a variegated thread for the first time, and used it for the lettering.  It's OK, buy not as impactful as I was hoping.

 It was harder to pick a design for my lovely mum in law, but in the end I chose something quite colourful.   At the last minute, I decided to try another new variegated thread for the lettering.   I really like the effect, and I wish I'd used that on the Westie in my Mum's card.     I'll definitely be using it again.
 
















The machine worked beautifully, and making these cards reminded me why I like her so much.

Memorabilia

We have several large "bankers boxes" of 'memorabilia' in the loft.  

The other day when I was up there lookin gofr the sewing machine box (to send it off for service), I had to move one of them. The cardboard cut-out handle couldn't take the weight, and the box ripped.     Moving the contents to another bankers box would only result in a repeat performance,  so I bought some different sized boxes to try.

I've bought some small, sturdy, lidded boxes.  Size A re A4 footprint,  size B are A4+half again.  I also bought some "transfer boxes", which turned out to be more flimsy than I expected.  So, I shoved a load of them in the loft hatch, and then last night I went to start separating the memorabilia.

The box burst completely when I removed it from the shelf, so I had to try and do it while I was up there.

I used a size A box to house "cards".  Cards to me from Geoff, to Geoff from me,  and some cards from other people.  I didn't dwell on them - I can dwell another time, when I review that particular box,

I put letters (like letters from the step children) into a transfer box.  I stopped myself from reading them.  Again, I can read them when I review that particular box next time.

I put photos into another transfer box. I tried to flick through them as I put them in, putting some to one side to bring downstairs to make sure I had a scanned copy (some of them are 36 years old).   Two transfer boxes fit precisely into a Size A,  3 into a Size B. 

The "other memorabilia" was put in a pile. I need to see what sort of stuff it is, so I can decided how to handle it.   Some bits - like my step daughters school reports - I put to one side to give to her. 

A small amount of stuff was thrown away.  

After about an hour, I couldn't take the cold anymore, so I gave up.  I scanned the photos, and sent electronic copies to the relevant people.   I also had some photos where I am going to give the subjects the actual photo and just keep the electronic versions for myself.  These were mostly pics of the children from the various holidays we had,  but I also found some of my parents' long-deceased dogs.
 

1988

1980?

1987

1988

1981/2?

I'm going to go and finish that particular box now, wonder what else I'll find?

At some point in the not too distant future, I will do the same with the other memorabilia boxes.  Not just now though.

Fractious

The Garden Girls are getting fractious.

I'm not surprised, t They've been on lockdown for two months now.

At the beginning, there was some squabbling and bad tempered pecking.  After about a week, things settled down and they stopped screeching to be let out.   We keep the run supplied with plenty of hanging treats:  at least 2 green vegetables, a swede,  3 peckablocks.   The run  is is F shaped, and has (technically) enough floor space for goodness knows how many hens.   It has long shelf perches at different heights,  plus a wooden garden chair and two nestboxes, which together give them plenty of opportunity for getting - and keeping - out of each others way.

We also have both Cubes open and accessible, plus the two aforementioned nestboxes, so that if there are you're-not-coming-in-here problems, they have plenty of choice of where to sleep.

Last week, the comb on  Fleur (my young Cuckoo Marans) returned to its gorgeous vivid red, and she started to lay. Not every day, but she was laying nonetheless.   Over the last couple of days I've seen the combs start to redden on the others and, along with it, we've started to have some unsettled behaviours.

There's been a lot more...whingeing.    We've had some hen-crowing.  We've had squawking, as Poppy chases the two smallest girls.    Today, they have been vocal almost non stop.

Spring is in the air,  and the Girls are feeling the pressure of being confined.

I've tried explaining to them how lucky they are. How light and airy their run is,  how much space they have each. How lucky they are to have on-tap cabbage, cauliflower, swede and peckablocks.   I've told them about otherhens, shut in sheds, or in hastily contructed pens.

They don't care.  They want out. And they don't care who knows it.

Lockdown continues until 28th February - and there is no guarantee that the restrictions will be lifted then.

DEFRA has agreed some respite for free range birds (who will otherwise lose their free range status), in certain areas, with very strict conditions.    This will, I expect, be misinterpreted by hobby keepers, not least because there are huge numbers of  areas classed as "high risk", hundreds of miles away from the outbreaks.

I WILL...

....get on with some sewing.

I've done nothing since the beginning of January.

I thought that, without my embroidery machine, I'd get on wth sewing some clothes...but no. No inspiration.  It's ridiculous.

I have a top cut out, ready to overlock. It's been waiting since just before Christmas. 

I have an almst finished top on my mannequin, waiting to be hemmed. 

I've got my abandoned duvet cover folded up and put on the side.  

I've got the pieces for a skirt cut out, but I wanted to wait until I'd made some leggings to wear underneath.  I bought some crushed velvet to make another skirt, also waiting for leggings.  And I can't/won't make the leggings until I've made my final trouser pattern. The last one was so close, but not quite right/

I just have no enthusiasm for it.


I thought that it would come back of its own accord.    It didn't.

I thought last week's my long-awaited trip to the fabric shop on the way home from my parents would inspire me to get started.  It hasn't.

So, yesterday,  I ceared the kitchen table.... and set it up for fabric-ing.  It's covered in cuting mats.  I retrieved my notions (bit and pieces you need for sewing) from  their pre-Christmas-clearance-strorage -place (a box under my bed), and put them on the table.

It's ready.  It's waiting. Will it call me in to action?

Suds

I was having one of those weeks. You know the sort. If it can go wrong, it will go wrong.  I broke this, I dropped that.  The shop servicing my machine didn't.  The washing machine failed.

Of course the washing machine didn't really fail,  I did.  I went in to empty it, and saw that it was full of suds.  Like in the cartoons.   The machine wouldn't (or couldn't) drain, and I couldn't get the door open.   I got a bowl and, being an old hand at this sort of thing, some newspaper and old towels,  and opened up the bottom drain hose.  I drained the little water in the machine, checked the filter, and found nothing.


I put the machine on rinse, to try and get some water in.  Then I drained it. I couldn't hear the pump. The water was exiting the drum, but the pump wasn't working.  On the plus side,  I was able to pop open the door.   I emptied the suds out by jug, until I realised that I was putting a jug already half full of suds back in the machine.    I used my hands instead.

When I'd cleared out most of it,  I tried the partial rinse and drain again.   I got the manual, I'd already done what it said as the first thing to check (filter).  It's next suggestion was a kink in the hose.   This seemed highly unlikely - there is a shelf above the machine and there isn't any way that anything could get there to kink the hose.  My guess was that the pipes were so full of suds that the machine couldn't do anything, and that the best thing would be to wait a few hours for the suds to pop.

Still, I though I should check.I'd hate to wait a few hours and then find there was a kinky hose after all.

I heaved out the machine.  There was no kink, but there was a load of stuff behind there.  I hoiked it out, by balancing on top of the machine and stretching my arm so much that I though I  would pop it from its socket.  Then I got a broom handle.  Then I got the vaccuum cleaner, which works quite well for picking up large objects and holding them until I can retriev them from the brush.  Small objects -not so much. I'm sure I didn't want them anyway.

I left the machine to sort itself out.

Several hours later, I tried again with my rinse program, stop, drain..and this time the pump kicked in to action.    After a couple of goes,  there was no longer any suds in the drum.

I put the machine on - empty - on a quick wash cycle, with nothing else. .   There were an alarming number of suds,  presumably recalled from drum,  so I was pleased that I'd given it a run through with nothing in.

And then it was OK.

Birthdays and stuff

I've been away for a couple of days, visting my parents.  It's my Mum's birthday,  so my brothers stayed at a nearby B&B.  Our respective partners weren't able to come, each for a different reason.

We had a family tea on Sunday, and it was lovely for us to be together.  A pleasant evening, and then back to our usual B&B.  We saw them the next morning,  then DB1 had to depart.   DB2 and I tool mum and dad for a lovely homestyle lunch, and then we collected a new combi oven for them, which mum had just bought. Her previous, and rather ancient, one had given up the ghost a few days beforehand.

The afternoon was more chatting,  and for 'tea' we had some Christmas Cake which I'd taken with me. I had thought about trying to pass it off as a birthday cake, but that would have been disingenuous/

We had booked a second night at the B&B, and so it was another relaxed evening. We popped along the following morning, and finally left at about 1.30 to start our journey home. 

We were coming home the long way, so that we could go via Swansea. My brother came fabric shopping with me, even buying some with the intention of doing a few home makes himself.     We took a while, and it was rush hour when we left.   We might as well have stayed in the shop for longer. Or gone somewhere to eat.

We stopped at some services. Quick wee.  It was almost deserted.   Pick up a sandwich and some crisps in M&S, and get a Costa Coffee.  How long could that take?

DB went off to get the coffees while I paid for the food.  The Costa in the entrance was just closing, so he had to go to the main one.  I joined him.  There was a short queue in front of us.  I don't know how it can take quite so long to deal with so few customers.   There were two baristas, and I wondered if there was a hidden camera somewhere.   There was one person after us in the queue, then no one..  We paid for our order and joined the queue waiting for the coffees to be made.  

The Baristas worked hard to avoid catching the last man's eye.   Thet walked up and down fetching things, and neither of them had the customer service skill to look at him and say'sorry about the wait Sir, I'll be with you as soon as I can'.   The chap was getting a bit fed up (I was getting fed up on his behalf).   I could see that he wanted to walk off...but there was no where else to go.

Eventually, we got our coffees.  Our 5 minutes (which we had expected to be about 15 really, allowing for queing) was over 40 minutes.

Ivan

Some time ago (September 2015) I bought an Instant Pot.  I was a member of a very active Thermomix group, which often started buying crazes.   One of those crazes was the Instant Pot, and the new DUO 7 in one had just come out.   I delayed a long time, mainly because I already had a good quality stovetop pressure cooker (which actually cost more than the Ipot) and I couldn't really justify the purchase to myself.

In the end, and in the face of an irresistable Costco offer,  I jumped in.  I felt really sheepish when I brought the box in from the car.

Luckily, Ivan was and is a success.    I sold my stovetop pressure cooker, which partially funded the purchase

Not only is he a fab pressure cooker,  but he is also a good slow cooker.  I had no previous experience of slow cookers, so I can't say he is better than any other slow cooker. Except that I can brown stuff in Ivan, which I don't think you can do in most slow cookers.

I also use him to make yoghurt, at least once a week.  I used to use a saucepan and a flask.  Ivan is a bit more convenient, and I don't tend to forget about a batch of yoghurt when he's sitting on my worktop with "Yogt" on his display. Not that I've ever left a flask of yoghurt in the airing cupboard (cough, cough).

I don't use all his functions: I don't use his rice cooker functionality - I have no problems cooking rice, and a saucepan is just as easy.  I don't tend to use him as a non-pressure steamer, as I find a saucepan and steamer just as easy and no more/less washing up.

I've tried lots of recipes that I probably wouldn't have tried in my stovetop. That's because I keep getting recipes in my news feeds.  Lots of delicious asian recipes with pork;   pressure cooker cheesecakes;   lots of slow cooker recipes for stews (where I previously would have used long slow cooking in the oven).  

I've also used him to make hard boiled eggs (or firmish boiled eggs for scotch eggs) and, genuinely, they are easier to peel when done that way.   I wouldn't use him to pressure cook boiled eggs for instant consumption - it seems a lot quicker (and less washing up) to just use a saucecepan.

He's in use many times a week,  and he's actually overtaken Thermy as my most-used item. I had to get a spare bowl for him, as I often use him for multiple things in a day.


I bought an Ivan for my mum. When I was a child, my mum was an early adopter of pressure cooking. She had one of those tall Prestige pressure cookers.  She physically wouldn't be able to use a stovetop pressure cooker now, but I thought she might find an Ivan helpful.   To my surprise,  she loves him and seems to use him a lot!

I see they've now bought out a bigger version.  I won't be upgrading,  the current size is fine for the two of us.  It'd be fine for four of us really.

I see also that they've rought out a SousVide option for him.  We already have a similar device, from something DH backed on Kickstarter a few years ago,  so I can't see us switching.  

A Gentle soul

Fleur, my Cuckoo Marans, is a very gentle soul.

She arrived a tthe age of about 6 weeks old, 18 months ago along with Fay the Fayoumi,  as replacements for a bird that turned out to be a boy.  She grew to be quite a large bird,  at least as large as Poppy and Gloria (my Welsh Blacks).

She didn't - and doesn't -  really understand the whole pecking order thing.  The three youngsters obviously had their order sorted out from a young age.  When we introduced them to the Big Girls, Poppy and Gloria were great advocates of the Pecking Order,  and would Peck at every opporunity.  The pecks seemed to bounce off Fleur, she almost didn't notice them.

Fleur mixed in both flocks.    Poppy and Gloria didn't want her in their flock,  but Fleur attempted to join them anyway, ignoring the hail of pecks.

Everything was fine, until they moulted last Autumn.  Suddenly I noticed that Fleur was frightened of Sasha (the tiny Appenzeller).   Even now, when they are all fullu feathered, I can see it. I Whenever Sasha comes anywhere near Fleur, Fleur runs (and Sasha chases).    I think Sasha must have had a bit of a go at Fleur when Fleur was in an oven ready state, and I susepct it was a bit of a shock.   Now I suspect their behaviour is habit.

With the Big Girls,  Fleur will stop whatever she is doing, and turn her head away.   For example,  Fleur can be happily attepting to eat fromt he swinging cauliflower.  If Poppy or Gloria turn up,  Fleur stops eating, and turns away.  She doesn't leave,  she just turns away, and stands still.  Poppy/Gloria then has their fill of the cauliflower and move off.  As soon as the coast is clear,  Fleur turns back and starts eating.

DH recently repaired the camera in the Run and today I watched them for a while.  Same behaviour.

Makes me a little sad. She's such a gentle soul.

I don't have any recent pics of her - here's one from when she was very very younf (no comb or wattles!)

Winter sun

Another fabulous day.  Bitterly cold - I don't like being cold - but lots of sunshine.    The garden is covered in a thick frost, even now at 10am, and it's sparkling everywhere.

We have a concrete mixer in the garden (we really must move that, it's rusting away poor thing), and there is steam rising from it as the rost is melting and the water is evaporating.  The grass looks like it's covered in little diamonds, as the frost turns to droplets, and the droplets refract the sunlight.

The Girls aren't overly happy.  I made them some pellet porridge today, which they loved.   I spent some time in the Run with them yesterday. I took some raisins out with me (they haven't had raisins before) to reward them for letting me pick them up and stroke them.  I wanted to give each Girl a once over, to make sure everything is still OK.  It is.

Suck it up

It's been a week for things breaking or going wrong.

This monring I put Raymondo, our robot vacuum cleaner, to work in the bedroom.  He spun round a few times, and then gave out  his oh-oh sound and stopped.  Usually when he's in trouble, he speaks a helpful error message, for example "Please clean Roomba's brushes".

Today, there was  no message at all.

I cleaned all the brushes anyway, and took the front castor out to clean that too.  When I popped it back in, it wasn't rolling correctly, and it looks like the plastic holder has broken. I'm guessing that's the trouble.

At least it's easy enough to buy a replacement part. It hasn't always been the case.

He's 8 years old now, and very battle scarred.

When we first bought Raymondo, he was top of the range.  Accessories (like brushes and filters) were hard to get  and spares were impossible and had to be imported from the US.   Accessibility to these things improved as robot vacuums became more common.

He's had 2 replacememnt batteries (the newest one was a lot more efficient), and  we also replaced the brush head module which (apparently) effectively upgraded him. His ability to clean, already excellent, became outstanding. 

He used to be our main vacuum cleaner (up until I bought my first stick Dyson), and he was set on a timer to clean the downstairs while we were out.  I retired him for a while, the Dyson was so easy to use.  I found that Raymondo cleaned under the bed with less hassle than when I did it, so I brought him back into service, and he now lives upstairs. .  He does a fab job on both the solid floors and the carpet.    We no longer have him set on a timer - our ailing cat spends much time asleep on the landing, and she hates Raymondo.  We don't want to disturb her, so Raymond is set to work manually.  He's  also parked in a cubby hole, and he's not able to get himself in and out, so the auto thing isn't possible.

His main duty is our bedroom and the landing.  Izzy (the aforementioned ailing cat) is nto able to groom herself properly, and sheds an incredible amount of fur.   It gets everywhere, despite daily brushing by us. Raymondo does this beautifully.

Actually, I might move Raymondo and base plate into our bedroom.  I could then put him back on automatic daily duties.  Why didn't I think of that before?  That has the added bonus of freeing up the cubby hole/

Hopefully the new castor will arrive quickly.

And hopefully it'll solve the problem.

Stocking up

I dropped my air rifle on to the hard floor atthe gun club, and I've broken the stock.   Not a little break.  A big break, the stock is in several pieces.

Unfixable. Silly, expensive, mistake.

Fortunately, it's possible to buy a replacement stock, and DH will be able to fit it.

And fortunately I have enough left in my "unexpected expenditure" pot to cover it.  (I hadn't really expected to use up the pot quite this early in the year, but I guess that's the nature of such things).  

Pollyanna

I've been having some problems with my embroidery machine.    A myriad of birthdays this month, and the machine has been playing up.  Since the beginning of the month I've been working through all the usual known causes and, in the end, I just couldn't fix it.

I contacted Janome to see about sending her off for a service.  No problem, except I have to organise and pay for the sending courier.  That came to a horrendous some of money - more than the cost of the service, in fact - so that was a no-no.  It would have been cheaper for me to drive to Stockport,  deliver the machine, stay overnight, and drive home again.

There is a Janome approved engineer relatively close to me, so I phoned them on Friday and took my machine in today.    She's going to be away for a while - ten days probably - which is something of a shame.  I Pollyanna'd myself by concentrating on the fact that I was glad I'd taken her in - , if I hadn't, she wouldn't be useable anyway.

Everyone this month is getting shop bought cards,  and it means I won't be able to make the little rabbit pouch for DGD4's present. (She got a Rabbit from her parents for Christmas. I've bought her a little necklace, and I was going to make a rabbit shaped pouch to wrap it in. Never mind). I'm glad because.... it's less work for me.

In the meantime, I might try and do some clothes sewing.  I'm not quite in the mood, but I'm getting there.
And maybe I'll be glad my embroidery machine went away, because it'll make me concentrate on clothes.  Maybe.

Oh, Vienna

We were watching Rick Stein's series about weekends away.    The ones on Berlin and Vienna  were particularly interesting as - many years ago now - we holidayed a lot in Germany and Austria.  Rumpsteak mit Zwiebeln (steak with specially cooked onions) was a particular favourite of mine, although I had forgotten all about it until the programme.

When we saw the part about Gulasch and Spätzle,we decided we'd have to try making both.  The Gulasch was easy (although the method Rick used on the programme was different to the method given on the programme website). http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/viennese_gulasch_96419

Pic from DaringGourmet blog. Our spatzle were mych mor irregular

Google helped us with finding an authentic Spätzle recipe.    I liked this lady's recipe, mainly because of her writing style and her pics.  Just scroll past the info about her home town. http://www.daringgourmet.com/homemade-german-spaetzle/

I meant to halve the quantities for the Spätzle.  This went well until I stopped concentrating, and ended up adding a full amount of milk.  I then had to go back and add in the dry ingredients again, and we could see that we were going to have a lot of noodles.

I watched a video of someone using a board and knife to make the Spätzle.  I also saw someone using something which looked suspiciously like a potato ricer.   We don't have one of those, we were planning to use the colander method, as Rick had done in the programme.  Then  I remembered we had a mouli in the cupboard, and that seemed to be ideal. We had the right sized holes, and the winder would be much easier than trying to scrape dough through the bottom of a colander.  Result!

Or not.  The mouli was a complete failure.

The colander method was painful, but it worked.  We boiled all the noodles,  using only about a third of them, heated in butter,  to serve with the Gulasch.  Both were lovely.

The remainder was divided into one portion for the fridge and one portion for the freezer.   

Pic from DaringGourmet's blog post for Kasespatzle

The next day, we had Käsespätzle which is spaztzle, caramelised onions and cheese, layered and baked in the oven.   Because we'd liked her Spatzle recipe, we followed the same lady's  recipe for Käsespätzle http://www.daringgourmet.com/kaesespaetzle-swabian-german-macaroni-and-cheese/

Another winner!

The third lot, currently in the  freezer, we intend to cook until crispy.  No idea what we'll serve them with,

Definitely delicious, and we'll definitely make again.   I will probably buy a ricer to make them, but I'll wait until we're actually going to make them before I purchase.

I might see if I can find a recipe for the Steak mit Zwiebeln.  It must be 25 years since I've eaten it.

Frustration

Complete loss of creative mojo, so no sewing or embroidery since before Christmas.   Many looming birthdays forced me to create some card designs,  which my machine refused to sew withour birdnesting. I am sick of rehooping and redoing as I work through all the possible causes and fixes.

Rethread machine.
Use different thread.
Rethread bobbin.
Clean the bobbin race
Clean under the bobbin race.
Change bobbin.
New needle.
Different design.
Change the bobbin race
Different stabilisers (tearaway, cutaway, vinyl, filmoplast)
Different hoops
Go in to the "here be dragons" part of the machine to get out any bits of thread
Clean the threading route with dental floss
Try adjusting the (automatic) tension
Threading according to the manual (with presser foot down)
Threading according to popular wisdom (presser foot  up)

It took me several days to get through it all - I got fed up quite easily, and suffered from CBA (can't be a**ed - ahem - bothered).     I think it's a tension problem, and I may have to just take it in to get it serviced.  I'm going to try using a different thread stand, but I've had enough of today.

I keep looking at the fabric I cut out to make a wrap top, but I'm just not in the mood.   I've got anearly-finished top on my dressform, waiting for me to finish the sleeves and hem,  I just have no enthusiasm for it (despite getting a feeling of pride when I walk past it).    I've got stacks of knit fabric to have a go at making some leggings,  and I've got a pile of funky fabrics to make some lovely skirts to wear over the leggings.   

I just can't get interested enough to even get started. Maybe it's the weather?

I'm going to have to go and buy some birthday cards, as I'm nearly out of time.



.

Frozen Fingers

I've just finished vacuum sealing the leftover vegetables. I freeze them in portion sizes then, once they are frozen, I decant them into vacuum bags and seal them.  I find this a little easier than trying to vaccum seal them unfrozen., because I can get them a uniform size and thickness this way (and they don't accidentally warp when in the freezer).   The down side is that I then have a mountain of tubs to wash, and very frozen fingers. 

DH is taking the last of the goose off the carcass today, and we'll be having Goose Rogan Josh for dinner.  I'm going to make some stock with the goose bones - although I'm not quite sure what I'll use it in.  Maybe I'll freeze a bit of leftover goose as well, and then I can use both for a Goose Risotto.   We'll see how much we have.

I made a very acceptable Disaronno Sour last night.  I'd bought some pasteurised egg whites (Two Chicks) specifically for making sours. We're buying eggs at the moment,  so I don't really want to use them for making cocktails.     The first Disaronno Sour I made, on Christmas Eve, was OK but not great.  Thinking it was quite a sweet alcohol, I missed out the sugar syrup - and that was a mistake.

Yesterday's was very acceptable.  I dipped the rim of the glass in almond syrup and then crushed almonds, and that worked well.  Not as well as the maraschino that I'd had when we had dinner out last month, but quite well.

I shall be making it again. Probably this evening.

Not sure it goes with curry, but I don't really care.

The smell of Christmas

The house smells lovely.

I do a lot of the prep for Christmas Day's meal on Christmas Eve, and this year was no exception.

Swede and carrot - steamed and pureed.  Plenty for tomorrows dinner put into a tub, and the rest portioned out to freeze.   Prunes in armagnac braised and now in the fridge.  Light goose gravy made (using the neck, giblets and vegetables), and in the fridge.   Goose liver Pate for tonight's dinner made (by DH) and setting in the fridge.

Best of all - always best of all -  I've made tomorrow's red cabbage.  That really is a Christmassy smell. The apples, the cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg... mmmmmmmmmmmm

It's  cooling at the moment, then that too will have some put in a tub for the next few days worth of mealss, and the rest will be portioned and frozen.  I make a huge amount, so the "leftovers" (except it isn't really leftovers) will last me for months to come.

Eating rubbish

Up until about a month ago (maybe less), I hardly ever touched shop bought cakes and biscuits.  Even sweets and chocolates were a rarity (apart from Christmas).

For the last month I've been eating all sorts of bought sweets, cakes, biscuits, and Pringles.  It's ridiculous, and I'm cross with myself that I am doing it.

Today, my Christmas grocery order arrived.  I've got more biscuits (and little cakes) in this one order than I've consumed in probably 2 years. 

I don't know what I was thinking.

Little things

Not so very long ago, our cat Izzy had become very....unwell.  Something happened which meant that the body of our cat was still with us, but Izzy had vanished.    We weren't initially sure whether she'd hurt herself, or whether she was suffering from a kind of feline dementia, and we were back and forward to the Vet wuite a bit.

We came home from our last Vet appointment knowing the next time would, probably, be the time we took her to be put to sleep.

For the following week, things were very much taken on a day by day basis. We talked about how we would know when the time was right.    If she didn't eat;  if she lost weight;  if she looked in pain; if her fur started to look a it stark.   I was very aware of the "better a week too soon than a day too late" principle, and each evening I was sure it would be her last.


Each morning, she'd wobble downstairs to eat (having wobbled downstairs in the night to get to the litter tray - she won't use the one we set up in the upstairs bathroom for her).   Every couple of days when we weighed her, we were surprised (and relieved) to find she was maintaining her weight.

On the day of her last Vet appointment, we bought her a small heated pad to go under her bed upstairs.  She loved it!   A day later, I bought another one to put downstairs, so it didn't matter where she was, she'd have a warm bed to snuggle in to.

She was moulting like mad.  She's not really been able to groom herself, so the hair wasn't getting groomed out (and swallowed).   The tumbleweed hair balls were everywhere. It didn't matter how often I vacuumed, or how often we brushed her,  they just...bred!

Time marched on.

In the fine weather - when it was cold but sunny - DH carried her in to the garden and set her down on the grass, while he got on with something.  Sometimes she would sit where she'd been put,  sometimes she'd wobble round part of the garden,  sometimes she'd wobble to the door and then sit down in the sunshine.  These excursions really seemed to perk her up.


Sometimes, she'd get on the bed (with more success on some occasions than others) in the middle of the night,  staying between us for a couple of hours.

If DH was working in his study, she wobbles in to see him, and sits on his lap.  She's not been a lap cat before.

In the evening, DH would carry her downstairs and put her on her "downstairs blanky" between us.  Sometimes she'd stay, sometimes she didn't.    When the fire was lit ("orange TV" we call it, because the cats stare at it like kids watching tv), she'd move to sit in front of the fire.

I tried brushing her with dried catni on the brush hairs.   It did the trick, encouraged Wash to Wash her.  He was a bit to energetic though, so I've had to stop doing that,


Recently, she's come downstairs to eat several times during the day.  She's also tried to wash herself a few times.   For the last couple of nights she's gone to the catnip station to have a fix,  something she hasn't done in weeks.

We could see that Izzy was back in her body.  Her body was still frail, but she was in there.

I've realised that, for a week or so now, I haven't started each day wondering if Today will be The Day.

A few days ago I read that Tom Cox's gorgeous Cat, Bear, had finally died.  I cried. A lot. Bear, also known as My Sad Cat,  was 21 years old.  Tom's description of Bear's last few arthritic weeks really resonated with me,  we are going through the same sort of things with Izzy (although she's only 12!).

It  reconfiemd for me that Izzy isn't going to get properly better. 

And we're really lucky that we've got a bit more time with her.