The day of The Spring Clean..

VT has burst into activity today..and has decided to clear out the shed. The result of that is that loads of stuff has appeared outside the back door, and two trips made to the tip. He has found loads of things that were either rusty or no use any more, including a wheelbarrow, and two bikes. It's amazing how much stuff gets put into the shed, to be kept..in case.. or forgotten. Lots of half tins of paint. He is a busy little beaver in there today, and little Rusty keeps going in and out to see what he is doing. It's no wonder cats get locked in sheds, they are so nosy, then I suppose they go in and settle down then get locked in because they are so quiet.
It is a lovely sunny day today really, and the Spring Blossom is lovely in the back. We don't have a big garden, but there is quite a big plot of land between our house and the row of big houses beyond, and a number of trees.

This was taken in the snow, but it gives a good idea of the size of our patch. It is at the moment quite colourful, because the primroses are still out, and the Spireas are greening up beautifully. A lot of the pots are going to have to go though, because the snow and frost got to them this Winter, despite them being supposedly frost resistant.
All I did this morning was the ironing, which was quite enough with the bed linen on its own. It is lovely bedlinen but you do pay the price for it being pure cotton. At least we have two sets so there isn't the rush to get everything done in one day. God knows how my Mum used to do the washing, and get it dried. Monday was always washday in our house I wonder why? and the house would smell like a laundry for a couple of days, especially in the winter when it was cold. You could never see the fire for a clothes maiden in front of it with clothes on it drying. Then they say "The Good Old Days". We were watching the programme called Blitz street last night. it was very moving actually, what people put up with,losing everything when their homes were bombed out. terrible devastation, and loss of life. Some older people were recounting their memories and they were still moved even after all those years.Not surprising when you saw the sheer power of the bombs they dropped.
Tonight we are having:
Sun dried and Mozzarella escalopes,
Sliced and sauteed new potatoes,
Mixed vegetables with a mushroom sauce.

A Taxing day...

By which I mean I got a directive from the tax Office to say they are taxing my Voluntary Contribution Pension that I have been receiving from The Prudential. They are deducting £15 off my measly amount of £77 !! Must admit I had a strop, till VT checked all my tax information and said that instead of all my tax being paid on my Teachers Pension, some of it is being taken off the AVC's instead. Why?? Beyond me.I don't understand any of the tax stuff..VT deals with all of that.Thank Goodness.
It really is a gorgeous Spring Day today, I am looking out of the window and all of the trees are in blossom. There is a square of land at the back of our garden and it is full of trees which are a lovely colour at the moment, pity they don't last, but very pretty at the moment. The cats love the sunshine, and Bobby in particular is usually to be found in a sunny spot somewhere outside. Our garden is nice for cats really, all the plant pots are sort of cat sized so they can go in and out of them easily. Bobby loves jumping out on poor little Rusty and surprising her.
We took my money to Waitrose this morning..we went posh again. It is a nice shop to go round though, and their veggies are tgood quality. We got some new Quorn Sausages too, with Branston Pickle in them, sound tasty. VT was pleased because he got some reduced vegetable pasties for Friday Night..doesn't take much to make him happy! Aaah Bless!
Jane has sent me an email today to say that she is sulking because we said Oh No when she rang up last night. Well she did ring at the very minute that VT had cut up our Pizza and we were just about to sit down and eat it. We asked her to ring back, but she is in a huff now. She is off for three days..got some nice weather for it.
VT is in the garden at the moment, it is lovely out there but a bit bright for moi, I shall have to dig my hat and sunspecs out.
Tonight we are having:
A Big stuffed Portobello Mushroom..saw them in Waitrose this morning, the size of saucers.
I shall put some tomato in their bases then top with breadcrumbs and a bit of cheese.
Bubble and Squeak cakes to go with them.

Sunday in Action..

VT went out for the papers to find that there was a coupon for a free chocolate bar in the Mail..so that decided where he went for his trip. Crosby via the particular newagent. Actually the only chocolate we have pretty much is from freebies, they are a good offer, this one was a Twirl worth 70p !!! Can't get over that, 70p for a chocolate bar...that would have been 15 shillings in old money and an absolute fortune. Sometimes when we consider the price of things today, in terms of pre decimal currency you get a real shock. We used to think that getting a ten shilling note in the birthday card was fantastic, you were really rich!! I suppose nowadays it is a ten pound note!
We did the bedding today, and VT hung the quilt on the line where it dried a bit, finished it off in the drier. Fortunately we have two sets now so don't have to hurry to iron it, and can do that later in the week. Then we made the Pizza dough in the bread machine and got that going. Beautiful Paninis for lunch with Pesto, Tomato and a bit of Mozzarella in them. Put in the oven for about 15 mins very tasty.
Crosswords after lunch, and neither proved to be too difficult for us. The big Mail on Sunday one was a little trickier with VT checking some of the awkward ones on Answerbank. That is a really useful site, but we only use it when we are absolutely stuck, and often you find the same clues coming up which means that a lot find the odd tricky one.
Somebody not a million miles from found some Lottery tickets yesterday, in a busy area with no-one looking for them. Checked the results last night and nothing!! hardly a number, on ten pounds worth of tickets. I do have to say the Lottery isn't very successful for us, we have had a smattering of £10 wins and only four numbers once..just after it opened.
Tonight we are having:
Pizza..with our Tomato sauce,
Portobello mushrooms,
Meatfree sausage pepperoni type, pineapple, basil and Mozzarella,
Salad with egg and potato
Rice salad for VT and potato salad for moi.

Lighting up the Garden..

VT went off this morning for one of his weekend mooches. The idea was to get the cats their chicken, which he did, but he also came back with some solar lights for the garden. This was a set of four, from B&M for the silly price of£6.50 or thereabouts. The ones that were in the garden some of them were getting past it, and these look really good. Nice bit of sunshine today too to get them going. At least there was, it's clouding over now. Since we don't have a lawn, he puts them into plant pots and they do brighten up the garden in the evening. i can see how a solar panel would work quite efficiently.

Just to the left of Rusty is a pot with one of the stick type solar lights which are quite good, but the new ones I think are better.
Funny how Solar Lights have become cheaper, like microwave cookers and big televisions..

Very quiet today really, nothing doing anywhere, no post, no deliveries and no callers or phone calls..very strange.
Tonight we are having:
Tacos with the Discovery trays,
Quorn mince made into the chilli base,
Accompaniments such as..
Salsa. Soured cream, shredded lettuce, grated cheese.
very tasty tea actually.Just right for a Saturday night.

St Georges Day Today..

I had completely forgotten about that, till we were in our little cafe in Ormskirk and there were red and white flags all over the walls. I thought it was for an important England football match! then VT said it was for St georges Day.. Felt stupid then. Should have remembered, because my dad died on St Georges Day in 1973. It is William Shakespeares birthday too. Maybe we would make more of a fuss if we celebrated that instead. Trouble is England isn't England any more too many immigrants and other nationalities. There isn't a sense of being English any more these days.
We went into Ormskirk this morning and took my money to Mr Morrison via his supermarket. Did a bit of mooching as well, it was a really nice day actually, but still a cool wind. I bought a great little light coat from Bon Marche in a sort of crushed raspberry and cream colour. Got my bonus card filled too so have £5 of anything next time I go there.
There was a little woman following me around the shop. Really funny, she was telling me her life history. I picked up a jumper and she said there's a hair on that one, then I picked up a v-neck one and she said i don't like v-necks. She said I take size XXL and I'm over fifteen stone you know. I said you don't look it, and she said the doctors said that I have the blood of a twenty year old! I think she was lonely. Anyway I picked up my jacket which I was pleased about because it is a M size and got to the till before she said she didn't like that either.
Went to M&S then. Bit disappointed that they didn't have our salad, and their sell by dates are so short, you really have to search for ones that will keep for more than a day or so.
Morrisons then to get the weekend things. They have a great range, and we got a gorgeous Spelt and Rye loaf for our lunchtime sandwich. I do like Morrisons actually, the one we go to in Ormskirk is clean tidy and always well stocked with good fresh vegetables and fruit, and their bread is lovely. terrific choice.
Came home then and were back by lunchtime, to be greeted by the little ginger girl from next door who knows VTs car, and our two coming down the stairs looking for their chicken.
Tonight we are having:
A baked potato with cauliflower cheese and baked beans for VT. Nice simple tea tonight, but not very St Georgish!

Compost and Peat...

VT went out this morning to get some compost for the plants that we bought yesterday in Dobbies. While he was out, the doorbell rang and it was the people from Hortex delivering two bales of peat, which was all they had left. For quite a few nights now we have been having peat block fires. They make a good fuel, not for when the weather is really freezing, but like it is now cold in the evenings, and they smell wonderful. The Hortex man was lovely, he was saying that it comes from Ireland, and they will only be getting some more in September now. He said, don't be deceived by the weather, it was cold out, and he had been talking to a delivery man who had left Congleton at five this morning, and all his windscreen wipers were frozen.Yet it is lovely and sunny through the window, and little Bobby has been out for ages sitting on one of the garden chairs in the sunshine.
Jane rang up at lunchtime, she is on a long day today. She was saying the buses were rubbish at the moment, and she had been late twice this month because they were late, and she is leaving the house at twenty to eight for a nine o'clock shift. It's only a twenty minute bus ride too. She will be tired tonight, she isn't a morning person like me I am not good in the mornings either.
VT planted his two little box trees in the new pots, and they look really good. We shall have to see how they do.
Tonight we are having:
Not exactly sure yet..Maybe
Sage and onion fillets,
bread sauce
Baked potatoes
Green beans and peas for VT. who isn't a fan of green beans.

A Morning Mooch..

Confrontation in the garden..

Out this morning to get our free coffee at Dobbies before April runs out. It is May next week after all, isn't time flying by? Nice sunny day but the car is covered in a fine dust so VT wanted to get a carwash as well. Called in at the BP garage and gave him twenty pounds toward his petrol. There was a big delivery van stuck in the drive up to the carwash so he decided to get one on the way back instead.
Went to Dobbies and had a good look round. Spotted some Saxifrage plants in the front, that make good pot cover so got two of those. he also saw some little box tree plants for 3.99 each so bought two of those as well. The larger trained ones are £15 quid each so a bit pricey, he is going to make that a bit of a project. get your nail scissors out and trim them!
I had a look round the food hall and bought some after dinner mint crisps, and a pack of shortbread biscuits for half price.
Enjoyed out cup of coffee (free) and took our own biscuits!! all that cost was 20p because he had a large cup which is dearer. Shame they have turned our coffee area into a poncey "old fashioned tea room" with two people on the entrance and about three people inside!!
Jane rang up at lunchtime to ask what you need to put into a Kedgeree. they like that apparently. She makes a big batch of it, and Rachel takes it to work with her and they have it again tomorrow. VT said you.d think she would know how to make that by now..I said she probably wanted to check that she hadn't left anything out. Nice that she is cooking anyway.
Tonight we are having:
Quorn mini balls, like their large ones but smaller.
Tomato sauce,
Linguini
Carrot strips and green beans as a side.
A bit of garlic bread.