It dawned on me that I didn't post the 'After 1 week' photo on my last blog, so here's the sloe gin after 1 week of shaking.I have so far resisted the temptation to open it and have a finger dip and continue to shake on a daily basis.
Today I managed to get hold of 9 bottle corks for my wine making foray and have also liberated a plastic bucket for the times that I go into mass production of various types of fruits.
Mum and me still haven't got round to making the Christmas cake but there's still plenty of time to make sure that it's a rum laden, cockle warming bit of festive desert.
It's been a bit windy around here lately as you can see from the photo, most of my garden furniture ended up in the 'hole'. Maybe it was fate that made me lazy enough not to start wheeling muck from the bottom of the track into my garden. If I had filled the hole all my garden furniture would probably have achieved lift off and ended up down the road somewhere.
Yesterday when I went to look for a last batch of crab apples, they were all gone. However, on the way home I spotted an apple tree on the bypass with fruit remaining at the top of the tree where people couldn't reach and they were huge. So I tied the dogs to a fence in the field, picked my way through the brambles, climbed up onto the crash barrier, grabbed the highest branch I could reach and started shaking for England. Down they came.There are still a couple of dozen left up there but I need to go back with a home made crook so that I reach up to the top of the tree for another little shake. I shall return.
Back at home I made some more candied peel which I split between myself and J. Now we both have plenty to munch on or add to cakes and buns.The flesh went into the pan and once turned into mush I strained it overnight and made two bottles of rather sharp breakfast juice. Hee hee, it doesn't half wake you up.
The sign language course that I was supposed to start on Monday was cancelled so I spent the day in the office as a volunteer. The course now starts tomorrow so I'm looking forward to that. I have also signed up for a Food Hygiene Certificate course so that I can sell on my stall (when and if I ever get around to opening it)
Also, it looks as though I might be able to cross one of the things off my Bucket List because there is also a sewing course which incorporates dress making, patterns and such like.
Oh, you remember the craft fair that I was going to, but didn't actually attend because it looked way too small.? Well it wasn't. My new employer had a stall there selling her Aloe products and she told me that there were another 2 huge marquis around the back.
Bugger!!!
Went to pick up my contact lenses this morning and be shown how to put them in, take them out, put them in, take them out, put them in, take them out.
All well and good and easy enough to do. The only thing that bothered me was that I couldn't see anything because my eyes were watering so much. The first couple of times I tried putting them in and out were really easy. The 3rd attempt was less so. Each time I pulled my finger away, the contact lens was stuck to my finger ha ha. When I finally let go of it, my eye was dry and itchy. I appreciate that you have to get used to them but even the big signs in the shop were blurred, so the optician is ordering some new ones for me to collect next week. Until then, I will keep practicing shoving my finger into my eye and then trying to squeeze my eyeball in order to remove the lenses. Don't be at all surprised if my next few blog posts look like they have been written by a 4 year old who's first language is not English and doesn't know that spell checkers exist.
I was sat outside chatting with my neighbours and they asked me to try and find season 1 of A Cook On The Wild Side. You know the one, the Gastro wagon thing, pre river cottage. Anyway, I found it, downloaded it and started watching it myself. By heck, Hugh doesn't half look young.
If anyone is interested the Gastro Wagon episodes and the Bain Marie episodes are still available to watch on 4 on demand and also on YouTube as are the other River Cottage series.
And finally, I still haven't managed to find something to use for the sealed pot challenge starting on Saturday.
I wore contact lenses for 30 years until I couldn't see to read near to. It would have meant putting in lenses and then putting on glasses to read which rather defeated the object of lenses. So I use glasses for seeing distances now and I don't miss the lenses one bit. i used to take them out at tea time anyway. Don't worry you'll get used to them and you'll get used to finding them when you lose one on the floor aswell! I lost one of mine on a hill top and found it in the long grass.
ReplyDeleteLove from Mum
xx
Good luck with the hunt for the Sealed Pot.