And athoer thng. I dsn't mttr how many tims I go thrhgh adn chek the potst thre is alwyz anthr tyop org wrng: pn. untn mrk wich ive' mssd. Sigh
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Sautrdya 25th Ferurya
And athoer thng. I dsn't mttr how many tims I go thrhgh adn chek the potst thre is alwyz anthr tyop org wrng: pn. untn mrk wich ive' mssd. Sigh
February 25th - more flowers
This week I have seen (flower-wise)
Have I already mentioned the irises at the corner of the drive? On Monday, they were an encouragement as I reluctantly left to start teaching again after the halfterm break.
On Tuesday, in a sheltered corner of the churchyard wall at Trotton, I came upon a sudden sight of bright, pure-white flowers, interspersed with glossy, dark-green leaves, all close to the ground. It was only a fleeting glimpse as I carried on up the hill towards Rogate. I have no idea what the flowers were; I have an impression of snow-drop shapes, but brighter and larger, almost like lightbulbs, or very white, pearly teeth, scattered in the grass.
A few hours later, coming back the other way, I was looking out for them, but missed them completely, because my attention was caught by the ground inside the churchyard wall. As you come down the hill towards the little church, which is just to the west of the ancient. single-track bridge, the road is actually below the level of the grass in the churchyard. I was completely surprised to see that the ground, at my eye-level, was carpeted with the most delicate pale purply-pink, like confetti, like cherry-blossom. Crocus? Cyclamen? No idea - the lights for the bridge were green, so I had to continue without enough time for a proper look. I wonder if they will still be there next week?
On Thursday, when I went to empty the kitchen compost tray into the wormery, I saw my first dandelion face to face. I would have taken a picture of its bold, mocking grin today, but it has already closed its petals up and hidden away under the shrubs. It is the harbinger of the war to come - me versus the weeds. Last year I lost against the mare's tail and couch grass, but won against the goose grass.
Today, while I was wandering round the garden looking for the elusive dandelion, I found that the fennel I planted last year is making a comeback. To think that I nearly pulled it all out! I set all the tiny seedlings in a sunny patch at the bottom of the garden, and they all grew, tall and invisible against the laurel hedge behind. At the end of Summer, there was no sign of any delicious bulbs of fennel to eat, which is why I was going to give them the heave ho. Luckily I forgot all about them and then it became colder and wetter.Luckily for them, I'm a strictly only-in-fair-weather gardener. Maybe they need a second year to create those big, fat, beautiful, yummy bulbs. Delia has a recipe in the Christmas recipe book involving fennel and red peppers and olive oil all baked in the oven... I can taste it now...
At the end of the Summer I planted a whole load of Spring flowering bulbs in an area that I cleared of undergrowth - the first time it had been taken back to bare soil for years and years (over the Summer holidays, when the weather is fine and the grass dry enough to sit on, I go for a couple of weeks of full-on gardening, clearing borders back to bare earth at the rate of roughly a square yard every day. I pay myself £8 per hour as an incentive. Sad but true). Anyway, there, in the mud, is a tiny, early anenome, looking very lost. I hope the others come up soon to keep it company.
I'm sure I wrote about the snowdrops a while ago. They usually come up at Christmas time every year, but last Christmas they were a few weeks late. However, they are still going strong. Here they are, just beginning to look a little tired from all the snow and frost.
On Tuesday, in a sheltered corner of the churchyard wall at Trotton, I came upon a sudden sight of bright, pure-white flowers, interspersed with glossy, dark-green leaves, all close to the ground. It was only a fleeting glimpse as I carried on up the hill towards Rogate. I have no idea what the flowers were; I have an impression of snow-drop shapes, but brighter and larger, almost like lightbulbs, or very white, pearly teeth, scattered in the grass.
A few hours later, coming back the other way, I was looking out for them, but missed them completely, because my attention was caught by the ground inside the churchyard wall. As you come down the hill towards the little church, which is just to the west of the ancient. single-track bridge, the road is actually below the level of the grass in the churchyard. I was completely surprised to see that the ground, at my eye-level, was carpeted with the most delicate pale purply-pink, like confetti, like cherry-blossom. Crocus? Cyclamen? No idea - the lights for the bridge were green, so I had to continue without enough time for a proper look. I wonder if they will still be there next week?
On Thursday, when I went to empty the kitchen compost tray into the wormery, I saw my first dandelion face to face. I would have taken a picture of its bold, mocking grin today, but it has already closed its petals up and hidden away under the shrubs. It is the harbinger of the war to come - me versus the weeds. Last year I lost against the mare's tail and couch grass, but won against the goose grass.
Today, while I was wandering round the garden looking for the elusive dandelion, I found that the fennel I planted last year is making a comeback. To think that I nearly pulled it all out! I set all the tiny seedlings in a sunny patch at the bottom of the garden, and they all grew, tall and invisible against the laurel hedge behind. At the end of Summer, there was no sign of any delicious bulbs of fennel to eat, which is why I was going to give them the heave ho. Luckily I forgot all about them and then it became colder and wetter.Luckily for them, I'm a strictly only-in-fair-weather gardener. Maybe they need a second year to create those big, fat, beautiful, yummy bulbs. Delia has a recipe in the Christmas recipe book involving fennel and red peppers and olive oil all baked in the oven... I can taste it now...
At the end of the Summer I planted a whole load of Spring flowering bulbs in an area that I cleared of undergrowth - the first time it had been taken back to bare soil for years and years (over the Summer holidays, when the weather is fine and the grass dry enough to sit on, I go for a couple of weeks of full-on gardening, clearing borders back to bare earth at the rate of roughly a square yard every day. I pay myself £8 per hour as an incentive. Sad but true). Anyway, there, in the mud, is a tiny, early anenome, looking very lost. I hope the others come up soon to keep it company.I'm sure I wrote about the snowdrops a while ago. They usually come up at Christmas time every year, but last Christmas they were a few weeks late. However, they are still going strong. Here they are, just beginning to look a little tired from all the snow and frost.
Friday, 24 February 2012
Friday February 24th - Lent
Are you doing "giving-up-for-Lent" this year?
Sometimes I do"giving-up-for-Lent", some years I don't.
I vividly remember the time, probably nearly 20 years ago, when I successfully, or rather, nearly successfully, gave up biscuits for Lent. Everytime I saw a bicuit, or even a biscuit tin, I would mutter "Gethsemene" and run away mentally, if not physically. It was a tough time. I did eat biscuits twice. Once by accident, sitting at the tea table after a children's tea, chatting with a friend, I discovered that my mouth was full of biscuit and I hadn't even noticed what I was doing. It seemed uncouth to spit it out, so I finished it. (It was custard cream - not even worth eating). The other time was when my daughter brought a biscuit she had made at shool home and saved for me - I honestly and sincerely believe that it would have been so wrong to refuse to eat it when she had carefully made it and brought it home. Sometimes the breaking of the fast is more important that the keeping of it.
I can't remember much of the Lents since that one.
This year might be more memorable; As well as giving up freecell (see an earlier post), I am also giving up speeding - don't laugh - in the hope that after 47 days of this I will be a reformed driver. I don't speed very much or very often, but there are a couple of very, very annoying restrictions along my weekly routes. So far I have deliberately broken this one once - I got myself boxed in on a dual carriageway and the only way out was to break the 50 mph limit. I should have thought ahead and avoided the situation.
My colleagues think that giving up speeding is hilarious. They should try it; you need a lot of mental toughness to stick to 40 mph all the way up the road from Horsham to Rusper. I am so thankful for the driver behind me, who also seemed to be determined to observe the speed limit and left a decent distance between his bonnet and my boot. He was tail-gated all the way up the hill for his pains. Bless you, who ever you are.
Sometimes I do"giving-up-for-Lent", some years I don't.
I vividly remember the time, probably nearly 20 years ago, when I successfully, or rather, nearly successfully, gave up biscuits for Lent. Everytime I saw a bicuit, or even a biscuit tin, I would mutter "Gethsemene" and run away mentally, if not physically. It was a tough time. I did eat biscuits twice. Once by accident, sitting at the tea table after a children's tea, chatting with a friend, I discovered that my mouth was full of biscuit and I hadn't even noticed what I was doing. It seemed uncouth to spit it out, so I finished it. (It was custard cream - not even worth eating). The other time was when my daughter brought a biscuit she had made at shool home and saved for me - I honestly and sincerely believe that it would have been so wrong to refuse to eat it when she had carefully made it and brought it home. Sometimes the breaking of the fast is more important that the keeping of it.
I can't remember much of the Lents since that one.
This year might be more memorable; As well as giving up freecell (see an earlier post), I am also giving up speeding - don't laugh - in the hope that after 47 days of this I will be a reformed driver. I don't speed very much or very often, but there are a couple of very, very annoying restrictions along my weekly routes. So far I have deliberately broken this one once - I got myself boxed in on a dual carriageway and the only way out was to break the 50 mph limit. I should have thought ahead and avoided the situation.
My colleagues think that giving up speeding is hilarious. They should try it; you need a lot of mental toughness to stick to 40 mph all the way up the road from Horsham to Rusper. I am so thankful for the driver behind me, who also seemed to be determined to observe the speed limit and left a decent distance between his bonnet and my boot. He was tail-gated all the way up the hill for his pains. Bless you, who ever you are.
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Amazing Colours of Spring
The David Hockney art exhibition, and associated news features, have been around for a couple of weeks now. I haven't been to the exhibition, but I heard most of his Radio 4 interview with Andrew Marr, and saw the film of the exhibition on the Countryfile programme a couple of weekends ago.
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/hockney/
My initial reaction was that his choice of colours for the winter views was garish, surreal. Since then I have been looking at the trees and hedgerows with much more attention, and, yes, the branches are an almost acid yellow in the sunlight, and many shrubs have extraordinarily bright branches.
This apparently dull, grey season is actually full of vibrant colour even where there are no flowers to be seen.
I'm so glad to have had my eyes opened to the amount of colour that is all around. I have found driving through the dull grey hedgerows in the dull grey weather at this time of the year rather depressing, but this year everything is visually more exciting, simply because I am more aware.
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/hockney/
(picture copied and pasted from the Royal Academy site above)
My initial reaction was that his choice of colours for the winter views was garish, surreal. Since then I have been looking at the trees and hedgerows with much more attention, and, yes, the branches are an almost acid yellow in the sunlight, and many shrubs have extraordinarily bright branches.
This apparently dull, grey season is actually full of vibrant colour even where there are no flowers to be seen.
I'm so glad to have had my eyes opened to the amount of colour that is all around. I have found driving through the dull grey hedgerows in the dull grey weather at this time of the year rather depressing, but this year everything is visually more exciting, simply because I am more aware.
Sunday, 19 February 2012
Chicken and Chick Pea Curry
I went to a "Pampered Chef" party a few weeks ago, and this is what the demonstrator made for us to show off all the equipment. I don't have the actual recipe, so this is my version. It serves six.
You need
1 large onion chopped very finely
1 or 2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon or so of finely chopped fresh ginger
1 small chilli, finely chopped
cook these in a bit of oil until the onion is taking on a nice pale brown colour. Then add
some curry paste; 2 teaspoons of medium tikka paste is what I used
2 chicken breasts, cut into smallish pieces.
any vegetable you are planning to add - a red pepper maybe, or cauliflower, or whatever
cook this until the chicken is cooked (so if you have pre-cooked the chicken, you can just stir it about a bit)
now add
1 tin coconut milk
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin drained chickpeas
simmer over a low heat to finish cooking the chicken and reduce the liquid a bit. Check the seasoning and serve with rice.
I'm not great at sticking to recipes, or at having all the right ingredients. The last time I made it, I used too much curry paste, to the curry was very fiery, and didn't have any coconut milk. Luckily I had some creme fraiche in the fridge when took some of the heat out of the curry and made it nice and creamy.
You need
1 large onion chopped very finely
1 or 2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon or so of finely chopped fresh ginger
1 small chilli, finely chopped
cook these in a bit of oil until the onion is taking on a nice pale brown colour. Then add
some curry paste; 2 teaspoons of medium tikka paste is what I used
2 chicken breasts, cut into smallish pieces.
any vegetable you are planning to add - a red pepper maybe, or cauliflower, or whatever
cook this until the chicken is cooked (so if you have pre-cooked the chicken, you can just stir it about a bit)
now add
1 tin coconut milk
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin drained chickpeas
simmer over a low heat to finish cooking the chicken and reduce the liquid a bit. Check the seasoning and serve with rice.
I'm not great at sticking to recipes, or at having all the right ingredients. The last time I made it, I used too much curry paste, to the curry was very fiery, and didn't have any coconut milk. Luckily I had some creme fraiche in the fridge when took some of the heat out of the curry and made it nice and creamy.
Sunday 19th February; Magnifying glasses, Free Cell and Minesweepers
It was extremely irritating to look up the Bible verse for my Sunday School session in a modern translation, and find that the glass in the verse "seeing through a glass darkly" (1 Cor 13 verse something or other) turned out to be referring to a looking glass - ie mirror, - rather than the magnifying glass that I had built the "plans" around.
So, frantic re-think. Quick work with a concordance turned up Psalm 66 v 5-ish - "See the wonderful things God has done for us, and, as a total foodie, Psalm 34 "Taste and see that the Lord is good" is one of the wasier ones for me to remember.
My little group of children were perfectly happy to look at things through the varity of lenses I had brought; a couple of plastic fresnell lenses, an Early Learning Centre Sherlock Holmes style magnifying glass, some retired reading glasses, sunglasses and cheap binoculars.
We looked at pictures in the newspaper (discovering that they are made up of little dots) at our rice cakes (did that make them actually bigger?) at each other's hands and eyes - eyes are especially fasinating when you see how many different colours there are in the iris.
All the time I was fishing around for "the message". When we all sat down together to talk about what we had been doing, and say a prayer or so before going back into church, I found that there were two messages for us all;
In the communion prayer, we get a chance to "taste" and remember that the Lord is good, sending Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
In Lent, giving up something, or taking on something, gives us a chance to "magnify" God in our lives; every time we Don't have the chocolate, or Do read an extra bit of the Bible, we have the opportunity to make God a bigger part in our daily schedule.
My intention is to give up playing Free Cell for Lent - I waste an enormous amount of time clicking away. However, the time recovered from the clutches of the computer will be wasted if I don't use it for something more important.
I had a trial run at giving up Free Cell yesterday. It wasn't too hard, except that I played rather a lot of minesweepers instead. Oh dear.
So, frantic re-think. Quick work with a concordance turned up Psalm 66 v 5-ish - "See the wonderful things God has done for us, and, as a total foodie, Psalm 34 "Taste and see that the Lord is good" is one of the wasier ones for me to remember.
My little group of children were perfectly happy to look at things through the varity of lenses I had brought; a couple of plastic fresnell lenses, an Early Learning Centre Sherlock Holmes style magnifying glass, some retired reading glasses, sunglasses and cheap binoculars.
We looked at pictures in the newspaper (discovering that they are made up of little dots) at our rice cakes (did that make them actually bigger?) at each other's hands and eyes - eyes are especially fasinating when you see how many different colours there are in the iris.
 |
| from wikipedia article on the iris |
In the communion prayer, we get a chance to "taste" and remember that the Lord is good, sending Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
In Lent, giving up something, or taking on something, gives us a chance to "magnify" God in our lives; every time we Don't have the chocolate, or Do read an extra bit of the Bible, we have the opportunity to make God a bigger part in our daily schedule.
My intention is to give up playing Free Cell for Lent - I waste an enormous amount of time clicking away. However, the time recovered from the clutches of the computer will be wasted if I don't use it for something more important.
 |
| from wikipedia article on freecell |
I had a trial run at giving up Free Cell yesterday. It wasn't too hard, except that I played rather a lot of minesweepers instead. Oh dear.
 |
| from wikipedia minesweepers article |
Saturday, 18 February 2012
Flowers - February 18th 2012
These brave little irises have come out in the past few day, nestling around the base of an old pink rose at the corner of the drive. They are the second flowers in our garden for this year - the snowdrops have been out since the beginning of January (they were late this year; normally we have snowdrops round the base of the apple tree for Christmas Day). It's raining at the moment, or I would nip down and add a picture of the snowdrops to this post.
I thought I would keep an informal record of the flowers in the garden this year. I think the next one due to appear is the Forsythia - a beacon of bright yellow at the bottom of the garden. Should be out soon.
Time flies; like buzzing insects, here and gone;
This was the post for 26th November 2011; just occasionally I have an attack of verse-or-worse. I was trying to do National Blog Promotion Month, but as I started late, was doing two posts a day to catch up, apart from days when I was caught out!
So, this verse-attack was prompted by missing a day or two, and then being unable to recall what (if anything) had happened in those days.
Time flies; like buzzing insects, here and gone;
Like midges, caught in shadows of the sun.
Great battles, or small victories may
Have been lost and won in that day.
But all in vain, swatted flat, squashed, dead
if their reason and purpose is lost, and instead
overlaid by the next eventful day of this and that
and who and why and when and where's it at.
Time flies away, unless you pause and think
And allow the memories to sink
Deep, deep into the stillness of your heart
Deep, deep, into the stillness of your heart.
So, this verse-attack was prompted by missing a day or two, and then being unable to recall what (if anything) had happened in those days.
Time flies; like buzzing insects, here and gone;
Like midges, caught in shadows of the sun.
Great battles, or small victories may
Have been lost and won in that day.
But all in vain, swatted flat, squashed, dead
if their reason and purpose is lost, and instead
overlaid by the next eventful day of this and that
and who and why and when and where's it at.
Time flies away, unless you pause and think
And allow the memories to sink
Deep, deep into the stillness of your heart
Deep, deep, into the stillness of your heart.
Microwave Almond-cake-in-a-mug
In a Big Mug,
spoon in
2 tablespoons of self-raising flour
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 tablespoon ground almonds
add
1 small egg
1 tablespoon oil (I used mild olive oil)
1 tablespoon milk
mix all together very well; make sure you get the flour stirred in properly
the original recipe called for the mixture to be topped with a few white chocolate drops and some dried cranberries, neither of which were to hand, so I dropped a spoonful of raspberry jam on top instead.
The recipe says to zap the mug-and-mixture for 3 minutes if it is an 800W microwave oven; ours is 1000W and 2 minutes seemed to be about right.
It's well worth watching it as it cooks - a mountain of goo rises from the depths of the mug, threatening to topple over and make a horrid mess but solidifying into cake at the last moment just as you are about to hit the STOP button.
It is cooked if, when you poke a cocktail stick into the cake, it comes out clean.
The jam sank to a red-hot molten layer at the bottom of the mug, making a kind of tangy sauce to contrast with the sweet cake. I have no idea what would have happened to white chocolate buttons and dried cranberries during the cooking process!
Picture to follow once I have made another cake.
Lamb Kofta Kebabs (mini burgers)
1 onion, chopped or processed finely. The koftas are much improved if you fry the onion in a little oil before you carry on.
1 peeled and cored apple and 1 clove garlic, again chopped or grated or processed but not into a mush.
1 peeled and cored apple and 1 clove garlic, again chopped or grated or processed but not into a mush.
500g minced lamb,
a good handful of breadcrumbs
a good handful of breadcrumbs
I add a finely chopped courgette or grated carrot - not in the original recipe, but a good idea.
finely chopped parsley and /or mint - couple of tablespoons
1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon salt. add pepper or chilli flakes if you like
An egg is also not a bad idea for helping everything to stick together, but they will be OK without.
Mix all together and make into little flattened patties about half an inch thick
dip in flour and fry in oil for 3-4 mins each side
good hot or cold.
The original version of this recipe came from the magazine part of a Sunday paper
Mix all together and make into little flattened patties about half an inch thick
dip in flour and fry in oil for 3-4 mins each side
good hot or cold.
The original version of this recipe came from the magazine part of a Sunday paper
A flapjack recipe that works
This is a post from the old journal. I'm glad to have tripped across it again as I have an over-supply of Porridge Oats in the cupboard at the moment.
Flapjack Bites (the recipe calls them oaty biscuits but they always seem to come out as flapjacks)
preheat the oven to 150 for fan oven, and line two trays with baking paper
melt 3oz each of butter and brown sugar wih a tablespoon each of milk and golden syrup
Mix in 3oz each of porridge oats and SR flour (you can get brown flour SR which is good for this)
Add extra oats if you need to make the mixture less wet - maybe I should just say use 4oz oats?
Form into about 20 balls and arrange on the paper; squash each one to about the thickness of my thumb - which I guess you can work out for yourself. They don't seem to spread as they cook.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown, leave to cool on the trays, keep in an air-tight tin unless you have already eaten them
Flapjack Bites (the recipe calls them oaty biscuits but they always seem to come out as flapjacks)
preheat the oven to 150 for fan oven, and line two trays with baking paper
melt 3oz each of butter and brown sugar wih a tablespoon each of milk and golden syrup
Mix in 3oz each of porridge oats and SR flour (you can get brown flour SR which is good for this)
Add extra oats if you need to make the mixture less wet - maybe I should just say use 4oz oats?
Form into about 20 balls and arrange on the paper; squash each one to about the thickness of my thumb - which I guess you can work out for yourself. They don't seem to spread as they cook.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown, leave to cool on the trays, keep in an air-tight tin unless you have already eaten them
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