Thursday 15 September 2022

NOT what I wanted to see out of the kitchen window today!

 


This is the child of the Bad Mama Ewe who is forever getting out of a nearby field and getting into our garden, or someone else's with its sibling and mother.  They were around a couple of weeks ago and I'd seen them on the verges, but had taken to leaving the gate open again and of course they noticed.  Ratbags!



A picking (just over 1 lb) of Sloes from a bush up the hill.  I have washed and frozen them, which gives me time to decide whether they'll be for Sloe Gin or Hedgepick Jam.



Crab Apples having a bath.  I picked these windfalls from a tree in the park - some falling the road side so I had to be careful not to be run over!  I am going to boil them up in a minute for Jelly.

        Yesterday I contacted the Mobility Centre where we got our Wheelchair, to see if they had any 2nd hand Mobility Scooters of the sort we were looking for.  She knew our needs and said there was one, so I arranged to go and collect it that afternoon.  However, when I got there she had to confess she had forgotten it was out on hire next week until 3rd October - so obviously it was their hire scooter (another fact she had neglected to tell me).  Anyway, it's the right price, well-maintained and we get it next month.  I stopped to get plenty of fruit at Breinton Manor Farm Shop - Victoria Plums were a huge punnet BOGOF deal, so I am going to bottle the two punnets I bought.  I got a big bag of Conference pears, and 4 big bags of apples - Cox's for Keith, and Discovery, Lord Lambourne and Red Windsor for me.  Not a totally wasted journey an it was a lovely afternoon again.  I'd rather have been walking in it than having a wasted journey but hey ho.

        Keith's blood pressure was measured last night and this morning and he is back to normal.  Mine MUCH more as it should be too, but I have to take readings morning and evening for a week.

        Keith is walking and feeling much better today and drinking more if I check and nag him enough.  I'll keep you posted.

        Last night I was trying to place an order on-line through The Range, as they were offering Kilner bottling jars at a reasonable price.  The order came to £31 plus postage.  I opted for next-day delivery, and went through Paypal who then wanted to know  if I was who I said I was and sent me a text - which meant I had to turn my little-used mobile on, and  take it upstairs to a window to get a signal and the text.  I typed the number in, but no WAY could I process the order. I tried again and again, before deciding it must have crashed and I was a little worried about getting 200 jars next day at a cost of £310!!  Fortunately the order(s) didn't go through.  I ordered today through Charlies (Wales-only country store).  Nearest shop is 50 miles away so best to order online.  Then I found I had some Kilner jars in the cupboard with various dry goods in.  I knew I had what I thought were just large ordinary glass jars up in the loft, but when I brought a box down I found that they were all Kilners!  I shall be bottling stuff forever at this rate.  Victoria Plums first - they're ready to go hence the BOGOF offer on them yesterday.



10 comments:

  1. Good news re: scooter.
    I vote for sloe gin, although I can't drink now, so maybe jam?
    While I understand why, all these extra levels of security do make life difficult, especially as my hands hit keys multiple times.

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    1. If I make jam, it is for gifts as no-one eats it here. Keith says it's too sweet - this is the man who likes MEAD and that is sickeningly sweet. YUK!

      Sorry your hands have a mind of their own when it comes to typing. Not fun.

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  2. I notice sheep are always getting out of the filed around Fforest Fields especially the lambs

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    1. Farmers round here only seem to mend fences when they HAVE to. Once sheep have found a weak place in the fence, they'll be out through it - put them back in the field and they will make for that gap again . . .

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  3. I had to laugh at your jar problems. Sounds like me, I do some home canning each year which requires new lids for each jar and pretty much every year I buy the wrong size. It is so vexing when things, big and small, don't go smoothly. Each little bit of stress adds up. I will keep myself calm today thinking of damson jam.

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    1. I could have got PYO Damsons at Brockhampton last weekend but I end up being held to ransom by fruit to process and Damsons are pretty strong tasting.

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  4. Argh. Ordering on line. If you've got dodgy internet, it can be a bit of a crap shoot. Thank goodness you did not wind up with 200 jars. Also glad that you and Keith are returning to normal and glad you got a mobility scooter.

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    1. I am glad I didn't end up with 200 fresh jars too, especially as I went in the attic yesterday and found a whole box of Kilner jars I moved house with!

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    2. I discover things that I've bought and tucked away for the future, and wind up forgetting that I have them. I have a mind like a sieve. I once found a Christmas gift that I'd put away for a child who was way too old for it by the time that I'd rediscovered it.

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    3. You and I are very alike then, as we once bought our son Danny a watch which helped him tell the time. It went (for safe keeping and well hidden) in the open loft which subsequently became bedroom 5 at our old home. Could I find it? Finally it turned up when he was about 11 . . .

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