Ohhhh..... Heck!!

Today I am sat here wondering what I have done.

A week ago I was messing around on Linkedin and came across a part time job teaching people how to use the internet and general computer stuff.
I applied.
I figured it would be a little bit of extra cash and also give me a bit more volunteer work to do in order to help out and be involved with a different part of the community.

During the interview I was asked if I would consider full time. IE. 37 hours per week. Well I looked at the ceiling and thought about it and then said, "Yes. Why not?"

But now I am worried that I have just ruined my life. I feel that if I take the full time post, I will have lost all control of my life and be returning to the old styley Christine, working all hours that god sends in order to get the job done due to the fact that I won't leave something half done, coming up with new ideas to make things more interesting for the customers and increase profits for the business, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
I don't want that any more. I escaped that. I am happy foraging, recycling, crafting, baking, going for long walks with the dogs, trying to get a community website built up to improve the area and all the rest of the stuff that makes my life fun, relaxing and pleasant. The long hours and hard work that it takes to maintain this pleasant life are rewarding rather than binding.

I will be back in the situation where money controls my life rather than money being a bonus.
I won't be able to do the volunteer work that I have recently started with the community group because I won't have time.
Someone else will be walking my dogs.
I won't see any of the wonders of the day because I will be stuck inside.

This, my dear friends, is fate kicking me in teeth for not acting upon the crazy thought that I had midweek, when I saw a little cottage in a few acres of land for rent on the isle of Uist.


Addendum

Positive proof that I am worried and stressed out. I can make an upside down cake with my eyes shut. I can make an upside down cake whilst writing a thesis on rocket science. Just look at the state of this flaming thing!!!
It's half an inch thick and I have a bowl of what can only be described as caramelised shortbread. AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH

Thursday

You never know what's going to come your way and you should always follow up on those little subconscious ideas. On the way back from town this morning I suddenly decided to detour past my daughters house and pop in for coffee.
Whilst I was there, my son in law walked in with a carrier bag, dropped it on the kitchen side and said

"There you go, you are always telling us not to throw things away until we have checked with you"

In the bag was this lot. 2 Packs of Puff Pastry, 1 pack of Dessert Pastry, 1 Penne Pasta bake and a bag of Hash Browns.

Then I spied a tin on top of their kitchen cupboards and thought "Hmmm that would be perfect for the sealed pot challenge.

A few minutes later my daughter started brushing her teeth at the kitchen sink and explained that they had ripped out the bathroom sink this morning. I logged into Freecycle for a quick look and guess what was on offer? A brand new basin and pedestal.

Not bad for a quick visit eh?

Oh and my new book arrived the other day. River Cottage Preserves. Time to get busy in the kitchen again I think.

Did anyone watch Kirstie last night. The part where she was on the stall with the lady who made the hand scrub?

That is so simple and I shall be making a few of those for Christmas presents if I can find some suitable jars.

I have been spending a lot of time on the energyshare website lately, trying to figure out how someone like me has a cat in hell's chance of understanding anaerobic digestion systems and even less chance of getting support and understanding from my local community in working together to find the land, the permission and the technical know how to actually get one up and running for the village.

I also discovered by accident this afternoon about something called Community Right to Reclaim Land, which was spooky because when I walked the dogs yesterday I looked at a huge bit of waste land that I pass daily and thought that it would be good if I knew who to contact in order to turn that land into allotments.

It turns out that the land is public sector asset. Guess who will be digging around in the local council next week?

I had to post this. Girl falls off bike, listen to her reaction

The Eyes Have It

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.