Surprising developments at the cottage
Toffee and Roo After her sister Fanny died, back in November 2022, Roo was bereft. Fan had barked for her, led her and chatised her when she didn’t fall into line. With Fan at the helm, Roo was always protected. Fan was particular in her likes and dislikes. My sister’s pugs, along with Grump Pot Puskin, were high up on the list of persona non grata. Fan gave them all hell. In fact when I buried Fan. Pushkin attended the funeral. Purring loudly as each spade full of earth covered her up. Roo mourned for weeks. She...
read moreRevisiting Meatballs for my Sister
Slave Sis surprised me this morning,“It’s half term so I thought I’d come up for a week to tackle the garden.”“Great! When are you coming?”“Tomorrow. Is that OK?”Long pause…..“Yes. Of course.It would be great to see you and the pugs.”“I can come at the weekend.”“No tomorrow is fine!”And I was being honest. I’ve missed her. What Slave Sis never sees is the hysterical house cleaning and sorting that happens before her visits! Never mind. I had taken...
read moreToo Good To Go
Have you heard of this mobile app? The ToGoodToGo app is designed to link restaurants/cafes/food outlets with people who are happy to eat food that is on the sell by date. Left over food – that would normally be thrown away – can be ordered and collected in a mystery magic bag . You cannot chose the contents. The price is at most a third of the original cost of the food that is presented. This is not a new app, it has been going for several years. I heard about it last week and decided to test it out. I’m on a...
read moreDogs do cry
One of the really great things that my mum shared was a love of dogs. Albeit with reservations. When we were 10 years old we were given a dog. This was a very caring move. It meant that we had to take responsibility for another being. We had to feed the dog, take it for walks and house train this puppy. The reward was a great companion when life got tough during the teenage years – the dogs were allowed to sleep in our bedrooms. Mum did say that it was hard not to play with the pups when we were at school. She deliberately hung...
read moreMarinara Sauce and why I subscribe to the NYTimes
I subscribe to the New York Times – food and recipes section. “Why on earth would you do that?” I suspect some are thinking. “You don’t even live in America!” Well apart from the recipes – that are generally very good – it’s the food ie comments that attracted me initially and have kept me subscribing for a few years now. In the UK most of the leading newspapers publish recipes, with comments. More often than not the commentators come out with clever quips, get into tussles with other...
read moreDay for Night
This is the few minutes of dusk before visibility fades, In the UK we call it dusk. I’ve always thought that the French term ‘Day for Night’ perfectly describes this wonderful transition. The word dusk just doesn’t encapsulate the magical quality of this fleeting experience of light and shadow. In January it probably only lasts for twenty minutes at the end of the day. I often find myself stepping into this beautiful and delicate time of day as I take my dogs out for their last decent walk. After a bright clear day...
read moreBoots
Image: My work boots! When I was dismantling the kitchen in a rush before the builders arrived, I dropped a cupboard on my big toe. It hurt like hell and I realised that if I was going to fit my own kitchen and tackle all the carpentry in the cottage, I needed some decent work boots. I eventually found some in my tiny size in southern Ireland at a bargain price. They are brilliant, heavy soled stomping boots that have saved my delicate toes over the last few months. While I was thinking about my work boots I remembered another much more...
read moreRepairs at the Cottage Smallholder HQ – Part Two
Image: Pushkin in the kitchen “Well have you got the first cabinets in place?” It was Pete the plumber on the phone.“They’re in the kitchen but so heavy. They don’t fit the wall which is wonky.”“Expected!” When I was ripping out the kitchen Pete had dropped by“I want to help you fit the kitchen. I fitted my own one.”I was delighted but realised that if I accepted Pete’s offer I would be under The Rule of Pete It had taken me a couple of days to strip out the old kitchen and fix the plumbing so it was still...
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