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3:04 pm
Knowledegable
New members
Mon 20-Sep-10
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I need a couple 
Something bigger on the inside than the outside for storing all the "stuff." Mostly canning jars and canned goods at present, but it's time to clear the garden and put up the trellis and such. And the chook house needs a good turning out before freezing weather gets here....... Wish I could afford to build another shed. Or better yet, a barn, and then I could get some goats, and then, and then.... 
What have you got to get done before winter?
3:21 pm
Councillor
New members
Wed 12-May-10
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not much realy
just re build the shed ,and greenhouse, move all the veg plots around, rehouse the chucks and turkeys, put new roofs on the workshop and garage, build the conservatory. pave the drive and back yard, re lay the garden path, dig a trench for power and water to the potting shed ,knock down and re build the wall around the front garden, decorate the hall and lay a new wood floor, change the front door frame build a porch, put new roofs on the bay windows, change the boiler, fit a log burner in the lounge. finish the bathroom refit ,raise the floor in the utillity room ,plaster the last three ceilings and fitt the coveing .
then start on the big list .
and you think ime joking
GONA BE A BUISSY WEEKEND MOS xx
sit down with a cupa and the urge will subside
4:46 pm
Councillor
New members
Fri 10-Sep-10
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As someone said to a late cousin of the queen who lived just down the road from you - haven't you got any clay and straw around for spare time brickmakeing,(he didn't get the job!) Wish it had been me that said it Patricks face must have been a picture.
Seed catalogues are responsible for more unfulfilled fantasies than the web and playboy combined . (after Michael Perry)
7:53 pm
Supreme Being
Mon 21-Sep-09
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does your missus know how to keep you out from under her feet then MOS
We have one month clear to get done what we need to do in our forest before we go away again
and only if it doesn't snow mightily. We had snow last year but it wasn't deep so that was okay. We painted pretty spots on condemned trees the other day so that when they drop the leaves we are not left wondering which tree needs saving and which ones need cutting 
Apart from that it is studying, studying, studying and oh did I mention studying
7:56 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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Josie, don't you have a basement?
I'll try that again!
8:16 pm
Knowledegable
New members
Mon 20-Sep-10
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Toffeeapple said:
Josie, don't you have a basement?
Well, yes, but it's a dank, damp, mildewy sort of place with drainage problems. Empty canning jars can and do go there, but full ones need a drier spot. Currently, the drier spot is the garage. It is partially into a hillside, so the temps are moderated a bit. My poor car sits out in the weather..... 
What I really need is to get motivated enough to turn everything out and start over. Wish I had a 
to do it for me! REALLY wish I had a
10:11 pm
Supreme Being
Thu 24-Sep-09
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I wish I had a too Josie, but not for the same reasons as you
Old teachers never die, they just lose their class
9:17 am
Expert
New members
Sun 19-Sep-10
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Oh to have a pantry. I developed pantry envy the other night as my OH letched over Nigella . All that space, but does the woman have a fairy light fetish theyre even lurking in the pantry . Meanwhile heres me with a grand total of 3 small kitchen units and a small chest freezer where everything drops on you when you open a door . I think pantry envy started when i found this website
http://theprudenthomemaker.com/awellstockedpantry.aspx
10:11 am
Senior Class
New members
Mon 20-Sep-10
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We have a pantry in this new house, but promptly ruined it by housing the tumble drier in there. Still, we don't use it much so MOST of the time its still the coldest place in the house. We'll kind of need a tumble drier in the winter with toddler and baby on the way, and then there's hubby's job.
11:21 am
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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puffin said:
and then there's hubby's job.
Well, don't leave us in suspense - what is his job?
I'll try that again!
2:58 pm
Expert
New members
Sat 21-Aug-10
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kayerunrig said:
Oh to have a pantry. I developed pantry envy the other night as my OH letched over Nigella . All that space, but does the woman have a fairy light fetish theyre even lurking in the pantry . Meanwhile heres me with a grand total of 3 small kitchen units and a small chest freezer where everything drops on you when you open a door . I think pantry envy started when i found this website
I had to have a look at that link... huge amount of space.... but reading the list of food I thought, yup, thats why my cupboards are full but there's nothing to eat. As my daughter lamented many years ago 'Mum its all ingredients! Other peoples cupboards have food in them!'
Never assume anything - except an occasional air of intelligence.
8:15 pm
Knowledegable
New members
Sun 5-Sep-10
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I'm overrun with apples and pears today - 4 huge carrier bagsful -the reward for a day's apple picking on a local wildlife reserve yesterday, to add to the 3 bags full I got last week. They are currently in the garage (a bit too warm), kitchen (too warm), and laundry room (in the way of washing machine). As a lot of them have some bruising, they won't last too long, but I'm trying to find a place to store the best and hang on to them for a few weeks if possible. May try the greenhouse, but as it's unheated and leaky, it'll probably be too warm/cold/wet for good storage conditions. I've spent the whole day cooking Fiona's Belgian Pears and making apple and lavender jelly (disaster - needs a reboil tomorrow), and have nowhere to put the jars of goodies - my 'pantry' is already overflowing with recent boil-ups for Christmas prezzies. And I'm rapidly running out of jars. Any tips on how to store 'good' apples and pears?
Gone crazy. Back soon.
4:34 pm
Councillor
New members
Thu 7-Jan-10
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Heather E said:
Any tips on how to store 'good' apples and pears?
Heather, that's why I bought a dehydrator last year. Dried apples are great, dried pears are to die for, I discovered. They also keep well in the fridge salad drawer.
Before we left we picked some of our apples. We wrap them individually in newspaper (not a whole sheet each, half a page of G2 or tabloid, for instance) and put them in cardboard boxes. That is a good excuse to sit working in the garden for a while. Then they go in P's outside loo. That is the only place that is not too hot, too cold, too damp, too variable in temperature, rodent proof... Last year we had apples for 10 months, starting with fresh Discoveries, then Sunset fresh and then stored, Kidd's Orange, and Laxton Superb. (We were lucky to inherit most of the trees with the houses.)
I also made spiced pears to go with meat, and poached pears in wine and froze some in 2-person portions.
blog: Devon Garden
7:43 pm
Knowledegable
New members
Sun 5-Sep-10
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Thanks, Devongarden - you're a whizz.
I'm currently sorting out those that need using up first and am going to make up a batch of pectin jelly to store in measured litres in the freezer. I'll then wrap and store the best, as you describe, and then hopefully I won't have too many left to worry about.
Gone crazy. Back soon.
9:10 am
Expert
New members
Sun 19-Sep-10
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lol...yes my tribe suffer the too many ingredients not enough food problem , the polish stuff in the cupboards baffles them , but we get lots of it very cheap here due to the invasion .
The favourite whinge is " why cook if you can afford a takeaway " "only poor and old people cook" bless im poor and getting old because they all still live here...lol!!!!
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