Beekeeping plans and projects 2012
Our colony of bees didn’t make it through the winter. I always start checking to see if they are flying on sunny days. It’s so heartening to see them buzzing in an out of the hive. A real sign of spring. But this year the hive is silent. I’ve sat beside the pond for ages hoping that eventually they’d appear. But there is no sign of them. All the honey bees that I’ve spotted in our garden must have come from the hives across the road. It’s really disappointing. I haven’t looked inside the hive yet – I suppose I’ve been...
read moreLiving like animals
During the last few years of my decorating days I worked a lot with a particular builder – let’s call him Reg. He didn’t choose me. Rather I was selected by his clients. I was employed by one and then her friend, and then her ex husband and so on. If you do a good job the local bongo drums of personal recommendation bang far more vociferously than an expensive marketing campaign. I liked this builder and had a lot of respect for him. His team was good, the work was excellent and this made my life very easy. If you are matched with an...
read moreSeed potatoes for 2012
If I don’t move fairly quickly I’ll miss out on ordering a decent selection of seed potatoes for this year. Last years harvest was good and we enjoyed all the new (to us) varieties that we chose, with one exception. Ezel Blue will never darken our cottage door or vegetable patch again. We ended up throwing them away. International Kidney – from which Jersey Royals were bred – are sweet and delicious. Shape’s Express were a good, fluffy, floury spud. Our Rooster potatoes did well – these need to be boiled in their skins to avoid...
read moreFeeling like a character in a Victorian novel
I’m still in bed although I did totter to the bathroom today to indulge in a long indolent bath. I’ve got over the fever and aches but am exhausted. I’m beginning to feel like a character from a Victorian novel who wakes to find herself in an unknown bed in a strange room. Arabella shifted in the bed and opened her eyes. She was lying in a comfortable bed in a large room. A plump lady was sitting beside a warm fire. There was an old rocking horse in the window. “Where am I?” Nanny Hug lifted her head. She put aside her mending...
read moreFlu
The last time that I got flu was several years ago when I’d actually paid for a flu jab! In that instance I had flu twice – each session lasting a week with one happy ‘well day’ in between. Since then I haven’t bothered with the jab. I’ve been laid up with flu this weekend. It was so bad that I began to get a bit panicky on Saturday night, sharp stabbing pains that didn’t let up. Everything hurt from inside my ears to between my toes. Rocketing temperature and deep chills. I was taking Beechams Powders and used up the...
read moreHow to make money in 2012
For several years we ran a series of articles on how to save money. Writing these articles and reading your comments taught me a lot. As these were monthly articles it gave me a lot of focus on the task in hand as I had to come up with an interesting and useful article. I was lucky that I had a lot of these savings in hand by the time I got ill in the summer of 2009. I haven’t worked full time since then but I do have a regular income from the advertising and affiliate links on this blog. I was also very fortunate that when I did get ill,...
read moreRecipe for beef cheeks braised in stout: slow cooker/crock pot
I only started watching Masterchef towards the end of last year and I’m totally hooked. Recently a team of contestants were working in Jason Atherton’s restayrant kitchen. The main course was beef cheeks braised in stout served with horseradish mashed potatoes – it looked delicious and I thought that I’d try making it in the slow cooker/crock pot. Beef cheeks are double the price of pig cheeks in the UK but they are still a budget cut of beef at around £5.99 a kilo. Don’t be alarmed when you cut them as they are very tough indeed!...
read moreBack to the snow again
I met our neighbour John at our gate this afternoon with his new dog, Greg. John and Frieda give homes to potential ‘hearing dog’ puppies. After a year they are sent off for assessment and training if they make the grade. Greg is a beautiful and energetic Working Springer Spaniel. This was John’s second walk of the day and Greg still seemed very bouncy. “I’ve been checking your car every time that I pass and so I know that you finally went out yesterday!” “We’d run out of essentials, so I had to go. It took me an hour to clear...
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