Pear shaped

Well most of my plans for the end of summer are now on hold. I am wating for a small operation to undo the damage I did moving two paving slabs in the back garden. I saw the consultant yesterday and I should be booked in for 2 weeks time, I'll know for definite on Monday.

At least the end is now in sight; however, I had to cancel the trip to Denmark, next week's break in Cornwall and so far the holiday in Greece looks a non-starter too. We are still off tomorrow for one night only, as they say, to see the Quo and the Hayseeds and to meet up with other Outhousers. Full report to follow.

All in a Pickle

A glut of plums on WH's tree and a wonderful new source of the biggest blackberries I have ever seen, couple that with apples on the tree in our new house and my thoughts turn to preserves; not jam particularly, we don't eat much of that and in any case WH ONLY LIKES STRAWBERRY, which is a total pain, but chutney and gallons of it too.

I am just making my second batch of plum chutney this week and have also made tomato chutney, runner bean pickle, and blackberry and apple chutney. The plum however remains my favourite and I didn't even wait the obligatory week for it to mature in the jar before I began delving in. Aah, heaven in a tablespoon. It's brilliant with cold meat, jacket potaoes and cheese sandwiches not to mention what it does to a curry.

Sweet Plum Chutney
Makes about 5 pounds.

4lbs stoned plums
1lb peeled and chopped cooking apples
1lb finely diced onions
2lbs sugar
1 pint (20 fl oz) vinegar, 5% acidity
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground allspice
3 teaspoons ground mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon groung nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard


Throw all the ingredients into a large preserving pan. Simmer slowly until all the fruit and veg is well cooked. Turn up heat and reduce liquid until thick and pulpy. Cooking will probably take about 2 hours in total.


Allow to cool for 10 mins then pot into suitable warmed and sterilised pickle jars.


Leave for one week to mature before opening.

I'm IN at the Outhouse

Just an update on my ongoing saga with the Hayseeed Dixie Outhouse. Well someone read my moans on here and took pity on me (thanks Kook) and now I'm a fully fledged member, posting and all.

A week on Sunday we're seeing them live with Status Quo at Dudley Castle, just hope my foot recovers in time, I feel a serious need to bop coming on.

NOT My Left Foot

After a day when I have to all intents and purposes become a builder's supply delivery driver, I finally got home at 4.45 only to have to rush out again to a doctor's appointment in order to find out what ails my right foot. My request for a nurse appointment to 'just have a quick look' was met with dogged insistence that I attend the branch surgery 8 miles away to have a doctor examine it immediately.

Turns out the nurse was right, I have an infection in my sole, most probably I stood on a splinter or something and it started that way. Not that I remember doing anything like that, but a definite possibility as the house project resembles a building site more than anything else these days. So more antibiotics and a ten minute explanation when I told him that I already take them 'off licence' for Lyme Disease. And then that light-bulb moment on the doc's face as he realised that I was 'the one' they had had to have a partner's discussion about, whether to prescribe for me or not. (Answer = NOT)

I have however been prescribed the impossible this time. I have to keep off my feet for 3-4 days. Easier said than done in my new (but temporary) career. I can drive without my left foot at a pinch (in an automatic) but not my right. Solve that one doctor.

Pasta Paella

You know when you desperately want to make a great recipe then you don't have the right ingredients or can't for some other reason, well I had that experience just last night.

I had a sudden craving for Paella, well WH can't eat rice so I thought I'd do it with pasta. Then came a phone call and the third member of the dining party announced he hates fish. I was stumped then but decided to have a go at a fish-less version anyhow. Despite virtually every ingredient being substituted for something else, the basic spicing and background flavours were all there and Oh boy it worked and worked well, giving the right amount of Spanish hit that I had been craving. I used kritharaki, a Greek rice shaped pasta which is smaller than the Italian orzo but rice would work even better. The pasta does make the dish slightly more sticky overall.

Serves 4.

150g cubed turkey steak or chicken
100g lean diced smoked bacon
150g peeled prawns
150g sliced chorizo (I actually used wild boar sausage and only discovered when it was too late!)
1 large onion diced
2 red peppers diced
150g peas
150g orzo, kritharaki or rice
2 cloves garlic sliced
500 ml chicken stock (or fish stock)
150ml home made tomato sauce or passata
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
half teaspoon saffron soaked in 50ml warm water
20ml olive oil
black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a pan and brown the meat, add the onions and peppers and stir fry until the veg has started to cook down. Add the chorizo and bacon and cook untilt the fat starts to melt. Add the garlic and turn in the oil but do not allow to colour as it then becomes bitter. Now add the paprika, stir around then add the stock, the saffron in it's soaking liquid and the tomato sauce. Stir in the pasta or rice and allow to simmer for 15 minutes on a low heat and check frequently to ensure it does not stick to the pan. Check to see if the rice/pasta is done and cook further until it is cooked to your liking. You can add extra water at this stage if it needs it.

Stir in the peas and cook for 3 minutes then finally stir in the prawns and allow to heat through. Check the seasoning and add black pepper to taste. You shouldn't need to add any extra salt as the ingredients are salty enough.

Serve, eat and dream of sunshine.

A Misty mystery

On Sunday we put a collar and a bell on Misty to try to stop him terrorising the local bird population. To say he went berserk is an understatement, he shot up the stairs and then immmediately turned tail and shot out of the cat flap. WH reckoned he was faster than a greyhound. Anyway that was the last we saw of him for over 24 hours.

We searched, called and rattled his favourite biscuit tin, all to no avail. Eventually we went out on Monday, we had a 9th Birthday party to attend. When we got back at about 9pm there he was, large as life and angry. See that wild look in his eyes, that was nothing. His wimp of a brother wouldn't go near him because of the noisy collar so we had to remove it. The twins then raced round for an hour or so until they were exhausted. True to form Misty was starving too and has eaten non-stop ever since.

What we can't undestand was where he went. He obviously had no food or water during that time and now he's making us pay. It's the second time he's disappeared completely but surely he didn't choose to hide like that. Strange cat that it is that can be so angry he misses a whole day's food. And that disapproving scowl, that's permanent now!

The power of Schmooze

Hey, I won an award. Shout it from the rooftops. My first one. And all because the wonderfully talented Di gave it to me.

It's a Blogging Community Involvement Award and the idea is you pass it on to 5 people who in your opinion have contributed to the blogging community.

So here goes:

And the winners are:

Thursday's Child for just well, um being Thursday.

Farmgirl Fayre for brightening the days of so many with her animal tales, delicious recipes and of course her daughter Cary.

Joshilyn for being a scream and making us laugh with every word.

Liverpool Leftovers for blogging despite all her adversity and loss.

And finally:

I know Di already has this award but really I want to award it again to her as without her inspiration I would not be doing this. Reason enough I guess.

PS My HTML edit still doesn't work so appologies about the poor layout.

Playing catch up

The last week has been a whirlwind, a funeral, a flower show, a lot of hammering and banging and I seem to have been shopping almost every day, either for birthday presents (6 birthdays THIS week) or electrical stuff for the new house. Oh and I bought the living room curtains TWICE. I didn't realise I had the first pair until I put the second pair away. DUH.

Anyway life should get a little more calm now, before the storm of a trip to Denmark, Hayseed Dixie AND Status Quo on the same bill at Dudley Castle, a trip to Cornwall, a possible trip to Greece and moving house. All before the end of September. Whew.

No more time to type tonight, but I have some interesting news tomorrow, it's connected with Diane Shipley. Can you guess?

Progress of sorts

The new house project is coming on slowly. The upstairs now looks like a building site however not quite as bad as that depicted by Thursday in the House of Gloom. We now have all new windows, woodwork, new ceilings, electrics and tomorow we will have coving. On Monday the painter moves in and I get to choose the colours. So far so good.

As for the rest of the house, the planning application is now in and the garden has been cleared of 14 conifers and a number of very large shrubs. It actually looks twice the size now. The fig tree has been stripped of all it's rambling roses and clematis and the figs are actually ripening. At the top of the slope we have uncovered 3 apple trees complete with apples and 2 blackcurrant bushes which yielded 2 pounds of currants. Once the ground dries out (if it ever does) we will knock a hole in the garage wall and get a mini digger in to landscape it all.

As to when I will move in, ask me another. WH was going to be in there a month ago, now he might move in next week. It's a moveable feast, however I'd like to be in by the end of September and have a birthday party/ housewarming there, on the other hand with all this awful weather, it looks like Greece is beckoning again.

First I'm in then I'm out

I've had it with the Hayseed Dixie World Service. I finally got to join their Outhouse at the 7th attempt, posted one message and got kicked out. Some poor chap who must live near me, spent ages trying to help me out and I finally thought we'd done it. That feeling was short lived. I just went back to post again and I find I've been de-listed AGAIN.

I give up. It's not like me, but I have spent HOURS trying to sort this out, I even got a new email address and resurrected an old one, all to no avail. Why they think I am some sort of risk goodness only knows.

The gig on Thursday incidentally was brilliant, even though my heart was in another place. I'm looking forward to Dudley now in September with Status Quo.

As for their Outhouse, I think I'll pass.

Sad times

I lost a dear, dear friend yesterday. The Mother I should have had, instead of the one I got. Our friendship spanned 21 years, a generation gap, the loss of several relatives on both sides and whole lot more.

I went to a concert last night, knowing she was at life's end but her words were ringing in my ears, "Well I wouldn't waste tickets that I'd paid good money for. No way"

A bittersweet moment in the Hayseed's set, they played an Elvis song as a one off, one of my friend's favourites. I knew then she'd gone.

The day I walked into her life, which is how it actually happened, both our lives were changed forever. My life has been richer for knowing her, and I think I added a bit to her world too.

Her real family are now in mourning and shock, for this was sudden, she was well last week and gone this week. The whole of her community now surprised by the unforeseen, quick exit. Now she is at peace and I am left to ponder on why I should lose both mothers within 6 months.

Sometimes life just isn't fair.

Hayseed Dixie - The Outhouse

The Outhouse is the message board part of the Hayseed Dixie World Service. I have tried unsuccessfully 4 times now to join this and each time I do, I never get the activation email to actually open the account. I even emailed the webmaster twice on the help tab, but he never ever answers.

I'm not sure what's going on here, I've tried different email addresses and even posted this blog in the hope that someone will realise I am a Genuine Fan but they just never let me in.



I'm off to see them at Bridgwater tonight and I might just accost one of the team if I can and ask them why they keep shutting the door on me. Maybe there's some thing about devon girls that's a bit TOO HOT even for them.


JW if you check this out please LET ME IN.

Absent friends

It's funny what you learn when you have a blog. Lots of people read it, some of those you think you know. Some of those you probably know. And when people live in an unusual place you really DO know who it is.

Most readers don't bother to comment, and when people do I often forget to reply, leastways I think I've replied and then at a later date I find I haven't. Then I feel guilty. And then there are the lurkers, who often read but never say a thing. You wonder sometimes who they are. Sometimes you know who they are and it surprises you.

I can tell mostly from my sitemeter who is looking and when. It would be nice to have a two-way dialogue sometimes. It's a strange feeling, friends read my thoughts and doings but never give anything in exchange.

So come on if you're out there reading, write a little comment once in a while, drop in and say hi. I'd love to know how you're doing too.

Blogger AGAIN

Just a note to say my edit function is not working and what I type in is not necessarily what shows on the page. Alright, the words and the typos are mine but the colours and the spacing are not.

OK??

I'll correct it when I am able!

Heroes

Whilst Britain sinks under a deluge of water, my thoughts are still in Greece and warmer, actually hotter, weather and it's attendant problems.

I was looking at my pics of the waterbomber planes that we watched most days we were away, continuously scooping water out of the sea then flying over the forest fires and spraying the water from the air. Those guys were relentless and really caught our imagination and sympathy for what they were going through.

I looked up the Canadian designed plane (Canadair CL 415 or waterbomber) on the net as I had never seen one before and reading about it I discovered this amazing video of the Helenic Air Force in action fire fighting.

Sadly 7 Greek pilots have been killed in firefighting already this year and the summer's heatwave is not yet over. The worst bit is that the guy who made the youtube video above, died only yesterday.

As they say in other circles, respect. I truly mean it.

Greek by numbers

Ena 1 .........Number of Delta Nirvana pralines and cream ice-creams I ate, strangely I only want savoury stuff now but I thought that may have changed when I had another of these, my absolute favourite for so long, sadly it didn't.

Dio 2..........Number of swims before breakfast, well most days anyhow

Tria 3.........Number of oranges to make a glassful of freshly squeezed juice in my 10 euro new juicer

Tessera 4.....Number of cars parallel parked in Argalasti crossroads before the policeman blew his whistle and got them all moved

Pende 5.......Number of moths a gecko can eat in a minute if the going is really good

Eckse 6........Number of waterplanes in view at one time from Affisos beach when they were filling up in the Pagasitic Gulf

Efta 7.........Number of bottles of wine a week we drank on the terrace, yes I know we're both tea-total here but at less than 31 a bottle you have to really!

Octo 8.........Number of kilos of oranges bought for juicing in 2 weeks, not all at the same time, we'd got no where to store them all.

Enea 9.........Number of boats in front of the window in the morning

Deka 10...... Number of frappes two of you can drink in one day. They just don't taste the same here.

Back from the brink

Whew, it was hot out there, 42 degrees when we got to Greece and into a region of severe forest fires. Earlier in the week it had been 47 degrees so we escaped the worst. We spent one night in a hotel as the road was closed at Afites where the fire crossed over and so we couldn't get to Kalamos for 24 hours.

It was worth the wait though. I spent hours and hours in the sea, the locals recognised us from previous visits and we adapted perfectly to life in a small village at the water's edge.

Waterplane just about to scoop from the sea.

Gone away

Just a note to say we are off to Kalamos again tomorrow so I won't be around for a while.

I know I owe people emails but I have had so little time the last couple of weeks I am all behind.

The weather is set to be very hot so we'll be making the most of the sea at the end of the patio.

See you in two and a half weeks.

Life insurance medical

I saw my GP yesterday for a medical for my life insurance. I thought it was just me and my poor medical history that required it but I was told that they do it all the time now.

Anyway interesting reading going through my medical notes for the last 20 years and before, and an invaluable exercise for my GP too, as I have only actually been seeing this one for 9 months.

Things I found out:

I have been complaining about my hands for over 10 years.

My then GP in 1997 queried RA but never did anything about it.

They had me down as depressed, but when the GP dug into it, it was just a comment after I had 2 bereavements in the same year, 11 years ago. The diagnosis was removed from my long list of current problems

Another GP had frequently put 'unexplained weight gain' and never followed it up.

That same GP had documented my aversion to Amytriptiline and my refusal to take it on the grounds of weight gain but never tied the two things up.

My heart problems started immediately after I had Parvo virus as did the RA but it was never 'joined up'. The GP put that right too yesterday and said in the report that I had had both things as direct result of the Parvo virus, it being a well documented progression in adults.

If all this had been sorted out at the time I probably wouldn't have remained with the ME diagnosis and other problems I had would have been investigated more.

The GP concluded the report by saying that as conventional treatments had failed to have much effect I was now seeing my Lyme specialist and getting much better on this regime, giving credibility to the 'probable Chronic Lyme' diagnosis.

Interesting isn't it? When someone actually bothers to review all your notes not just the current appointment stuff.

I thought that this government was all in favour of 'Joined-up Thinking', pity it doesn't extend to Ms Hewitt's departments. Or then again it's really no surprise is it?

It's a boy.

He finally arrived by c-section at 1pm on Friday, after 5 failed inductions and 4 days in hospital. Mum and babe doing well when we saw them yesterday. You forget how tiny these little ones are.