Harvesting nettles for tea

Its that time of year again. The very top of the nettles is tinged purple from the cold nights, but other than that, they are okay.

I take thick rubber gloves and a metal colander with me and only need to walk about a minute from the house to gather them, down a small walkthrough, that gets next to no traffic. The top 4 big leaves are taken, and pushed firmly into the colander until it is full. 

Once home, the nettles are thoroughly rinsed, spun in a sald spinner to remove the water and left for a short while to dry on a tea towel.

After that, they are placed into my dehydrator and dried for about 6 hours on 100F:

Then I put my rubber gloves back on and crush them into flakes before packing them into a tightly sealed glass jar:

They will be checked every day for a week to make sure they aren't starting to clump together which indicates they weren't dried properly and will get mould. They can be rehydrated in a net bag at this point if necessary, but so far, they are ok.

The above amount 1/3rd filled my glass jar and today, another 6 trays are drying.

Warmer sun but bitter wind still

 We were planning on a sandwich for lunch but it is just too cold. Ransacked the spare pantry and found some close to date tins of tomatoes, sweetcorn and mixed beans. Once cooked with onion, carrots and potatoes, flavoured and thickened, that should warm us up nicely.

We are trying to shed a bit of weight so are adjusting how much bread we eat. Instead of two slices of toast we are having one or one and a half. One slice as a sandwich rather than the usual two. No cakes, reducing our biscuits to two a day, more fruit etc.

Will take an age but it’s more about trimming than stone shedding, as well as forming better eating habits, even though we eat quite healthily.

A weekend away!

 We drove down south for our second granddaughter’s christening. It was a small family affair, the service being performed once again, by the same fabulous locum vicar.

Don’t think we will be able to do such long drives shortly into the future, 5 hours plus stops, was a lot!

We were invited by family (in laws) to tea on the Saturday and had a great relaxing time. A marvellous spread was laid on, enough frankly to feed an army. The baby was in fine fettle, only crying when accidentally biffed in the face by her dad whilst getting changed in the car park, into her long gown. She was a bit sick in the morning so they didn’t want her in it too long beforehand.

Our holiday home was ok but as always, it was great to be back home and in our own beds. Granddaughter 1 was very excited to see us which is always nice. The weather was fine but freezing as it seems to be just lately.

In the bin!

 Honestly, my brain scares me sometimes:)

I decided to make a cover for the oval dog bed we recently bought. Got a lovely fox fleece from Morrisons. Measured, cut and sewed around the outside, leaving a gap to push the cushion on. So far so good apart from the mess from the cut edges.

I had planned on fitting poppers as a closure but it was too thick. Changed over to press studs and sewed the first half of four on one side. So far so good.

Next day, sewed on one of the other halves and yup, the first 4 were upside down:(

Removed just one and turned it the right way. Hooray, one done. I decided to finish the other 3 today. Got the next two on then went to cut the two wrong facing ones off. Promptly cut off the two I had just attached. Doh!

In the bin it went as I had decided that fleece was just too messy and her fur would stick like crazy. I shall rummage in my materials box and see if I can find some cotton duvet to use.

Keeping on top of our pantry inventory!

 We have tried many ways of doing this but a spreadsheet document on the computer, printed out, works best for us.

We have one for items stored in the pantry and one for the freezers, split into indoor and outdoor. It’s not perfect as occasionally, we both forget to cross things off the list when items are used.

The pantry one needed redoing today. DB stood in the pantry and yelled out what we had. Everything is dated in black pen so we rotate to use older items first.

Wasn’t too far out, maybe 10 or so items, some on the list but none in the pantry:( They have now gone on the shopping list.

I am a bit of a prepper regarding food, toiletries and other items. We definitely work on the principle of two is one and one is none. Some items we use regularly, and have quite a few extra ones put away! I have just started to use the frozen bags of our own tomatoes grown last year.

I had never run a pantry this way until I noticed my mother in laws pantry worked like this. She used to say, if only they had known war was coming, a few extra items would have been squirrelled away:) Everyone thought it would be over by Christmas and had no idea just how short they would be of certain items, or the impact years of rationing would have. This made them think about food storage differently after the war.

Expenses galore this month

 Christening accommodation, final large payment on the car and insurance for Ruby. That has dented our savings massively but was planned. Now to get it topped up again. 

Good job at the moment we don’t need to be spending my pension and the increase will help. However, the increase now means I pay tax due to the personal tax allowance not being increased. Win some, lose some!

Apparently here in the UK - update

 From Tuesday onwards, we are supposed to be able to watch the heats and finals of British swimmers, qualifying for the Olympic Games.

It is supposed to be on Channel 4 and the BBC iplayer. So far, can’t find it anywhere on Channel 4. I will have to wait to see if it appears on the iplayer or red button!

Just found this: here.

Sorry guys

 We had some very bad family news a few weeks back, which knocked us for six:(

Luckily it eventually turned around and things are better and returning almost to normal. Have not felt like blogging even though I would have liked to, my mind was all over the place!

We alternated between being terrified, to hopeful, back to terrified and eventually back to hopeful and are finally heading towards recovery.

We are going nowhere this weekend, the traffic will be its usual horrendous self and frankly, we seriously need to de-stress. Even Ruby was affected, she acted very out of character but she too, is settling down. It just goes to show, that when things are pootling along nicely, a life or death spanner can be thrown in your direction.

What we do believe is, if this had happened over here, they would most likely not have survived. It happened abroad, ambulance there in 5 minutes, in surgery shortly afterwards. 6 days in hospital, 4 days recovery then returned home to recuperate. That process is still ongoing but going well and in the right direction.

One wash is all it’s taken….

 I have been using my homemade shampoo for about a year. It has been brilliant at stopping the severe itch due to a scalp skin condition our family suffer from. 

It can leave my hair slightly tacky for 24 hours before changing to silky smooth. My hairdresser comments on the tackiness so without thinking too much about it, I used normal shampoo for her yesterday.

What a mistake!

Within an hour I was scratching and it has gotten worse so today, I will wash my hair again with my own shampoo.

What are you growing this year?

 I hope to grow tomatoes, chillies, carrots, beetroot, various lettuce and other greens, dwarf French beans, radish, might squeeze in some peas, and more annual flowers for the bees.

On the fruit side of things not much. The bramble usually does well, but strawberries, gooseberries and rhubarb were all pathetic last year. Hopefully they will do better this year. Still have my red pear but it too didn’t do well.

Ah well, got to keep trying. 

On the herbal tea front, another month should see the nettle growth in a wild patch close to us. They will gradually get harvested and dried for tea. Made two jars worth last year, used one so far. Need to plant a lot more mint in tubs as we almost ran out of that.

If you have only bought commercial mint tea, lemon balm or lemon verbena, or nettle tea, your own that has been dried is way better.

Another gardening year begins!

 Last year we grew first early potatoes 'Winston'. Allegedly they weren't supposed to be very good but we enjoyed them. This year we are trying two 'new to us' varieties, Caledonian Pearl and Sharpe's Express:

They were already sprouting when we bought them and I needed to remove one or two long sprouts but the rest were stubby so okay.

Haven't got the compost/manure yet to plant them into containers but we will remedy that soon. I lost two of the wallflowers in a front pot so remedied that by buying two nice primula.

Creature comforts …

 A tv programme where slow motion animated plasticine puppets play out everyday overheard conversations.

We visited a garden centre this morning to pick up a few things, stopping in their cafe for a coffee. On the table next to us, were a couple visiting their friend who was filling them in on his latest medical news.

No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t tune him out!

Genes for Huntington disease, inherited from his mum, patches of his brain not working properly, Ménière’s disease, vertigo etc. Doctors at the hospital who say they will refer him to other specialists but don’t.

He can apparently get around his house, go to the very local shop, just about get to the pub but can’t get home.

The mind boggles.

First lovely warm day

 It is gorgeous today and we hope to be able to sit outside to have a cup of tea, with a coat on! We tried on a sunny February day but a cold wind stopped us.

We are still ill but both feel we have turned the corner. A chesty cough has developed, still a slight runny nose and headache though. We both feel shattered. Did a Covid test which was negative. 

Whatever it is/was, we hope to never have it again!

Not a normal cold it seems

According to the surgery nurse yesterday when hubby had to give blood, fully masked of course.

She said a cold, with many flu symptoms is circulating and it is horrible. Well we can confirm that. Unfortunately for hubby, he is 12 hours behind me so can see what’s coming poor lad.

2 1/2 boxes of tissues later, we are still going, our noses are raw. Still sneezing, noses like taps, headaches, occasional joint pains, occasional sweats, very chesty with lots of coughing. I ended up back in bed yesterday, we are drinking but have hardly any appetite.

Between us, we form half a functioning human:)

Returned with a stinking cold!

 We have just come back after spending time with our new granddaughter. She is three months old now and we were chomping at the bit. Timing couldn’t be helped though.

First granddaughter G was so excited to see us as it had been months. C, our new one, is a Bobby dazzler, giving us lots of cheeky smiles and starting to verbalise. She had tongue tie and it took a while for her to be diagnosed but it has been cut, and she is better for it.

She still suffers from colic type wind sometimes and screamed her head off several times. She also likes to be cuddled on the move when screaming, stand still and she’s off again. All in all a lovely visit.

On the way home though, I started with an itchy sore throat which developed quite rapidly into a possible cold. Day four and still under the weather. Hubby started a few hours later and he feels rotten.

Unfortunately I have a hospital appointment today for my heart so will mask up to be safe.

Drenched!

 I was the wettest on our walk yesterday. 4 1/2 miles in driving rain and strong winds. Our faces were stinging!

We all had our wet weather gear on but the bottom half of my jeans were wet as was the area inside my knees. Think I might need either a new pair of waterproof leggings or might buy a waterproof spray for them and my coat. Although it kept me dry, rain got into my pockets and wet me from the inside out in that area.

We were glad to get back to the car and huddle inside a porch to get changed. We all had chicken curry for lunch, which warmed us up nicely.

Hubby pleased with himself

 I don’t know how many versions of wordle there are but hubby did his on Tuesday morning in one go!

Lovely day yesterday and managed to get washing done and almost dry. Final lot out today, colder and grey but a good breeze so hopefully they will get at least half dry.

We are carrying on buying loose tea whenever we see it available as there certainly seem to be shortages appearing on tea bags. Probably due to the news going on and on about it.

How disappointing!

 We had booked a weekend away, staying in a private posh mobile home for a first experience. Got notified yesterday that they had sold up!

Requested a full refund then spent 5 hours on and off, trying to find somewhere else. Not easy so ended up spending more than hoped, especially with a dog as that limits places for this particular weekend. 

Ah well, these things are sent to try us. Let’s hope the weekend booked for a christening doesn’t get cancelled!

First ever sighting of mammatus clouds!

 I was so excited to see these the other day:

Some areas were better but blocked out by houses.

Cardamon Seed Tea

 I came across this tea, reportedly to help clear mucus and phlegm and thought I would give it a go. If you wish to try it, do your own research!

It is quite flavourful and needs some honey, at least for me. I drank a cup a day over several days, just to get used to it. I used 5 cardamon pods, crushed and steeped for 5 minutes:

A slightly cloudy water. Here it is in a cup:

I had a good cough a few days later, and cleared my lungs so maybe it works? However, I just drink it as I like it.

Hello again…

 Sorry for the absence but I have been down in the dumps to say the least. The black dog had been nipping at my heels for several months now and finally lunged, full force.

Got myself just about in order finally, I have to work through it but I was close to going under:(

Still a bit stressed which is playing havoc with my digestive system and general well being. I have been taking a daily cup of crushed fennel seed tea which has helped. I just feel shattered and have the odd feeling that my inner and outer body are not quite aligned if that makes sense.

When I go to bed at night, I feel as though I am slightly floating above myself but it is resolving itself.

Lots of jigsaws done and playing of a new video game although that can raise my blood pressure a bit - lol.

Had our lowest temperature last night

 Greenhouse thermometer registered-6.8C, just under 20F. Obviously colder up in the north and Scotland but that was cold for us.

How things have changed. When we moved here over 35 years ago, it was ‘quite normal’ to have overnight lows of about -10C, sometimes colder.

Our heating has been on far more than normal for us, but the coming wet and warmer weather should mean it will reduce again, until the next time.

Lovely soups have been the order of the day. Once my leeks thaw, I hope to start using them!

Can't praise these enough!

I had been reading about people using various makes of preserving vegetable and fruit plastic bags. I thought they can't really work can they, being plastic? Won't they still go slushy?

I have been using these now since just before Christmas:

My veg were already clean and dry (a prerequisite of using them). I placed each type of vegetable and fruit into their own bags. Each time I opened them to use, I double checked for moisture. If any was present, it was dried with kitchen towel paper.

Three weeks my carrots, swede and parsnips have been in them and they are as fresh as the day they were bought! Grapes sweat a little more, but were dried againand are already two weeks in a bag. Eventually my brussels sprouts went a bit iffy so were discarded but that was after nearly 3 weeks.

I opted for medium size as they were the best for me. They are reusuable with a good soap wash, rinse and thorough dry after use. I think they cost just under/over £9 but WELL worth the price.

I haven't tested them on banana's in the fruit bowl yet. Apples, pears have been great too.
 

Two more jigsaws done

 Both of these were 1000 pieces. Grandad with young grandson version was a complete nightmare as it had unusually shaped pieces. It will go off to the charity shop::

Grandad in his attic was better from a shape point of view but had a lot of brown which made it difficult. It too will go off to the charity shop:

Back onto a 500 piece train jigsaw now!
 

Being financially prudent

 We, more often than not, replace our second hand car with another. Occasionally we buy new, usually using savings to make up the difference. Those times have changed. Both new and secondhand are now very expensive.

Last time around, we decided on new, with interest free credit. That has almost finished and as is their want, we have been getting pestered to take out a new loan for another new car. There are a few problems with that.

1) Such a loan, even with part exchange, would now be nearly £100 more.

2) DB’s age. It is a sad fact to acknowledge, but we are both getting on, he more so than me. Whilst we have previously worked out I can financially manage without him, I couldn’t do so with a monthly car loan!

3) Should he survive me, he could manage without my pension,  just, but would have no ability to save for unforeseen circumstances.

Somewhat of a dilemma. To get them off our backs, he keeps telling them he will shortly be giving up driving and for now, the calls have stopped. 

We have decided to keep this car until it falls apart or gets scrapped due to governmental pressure regarding all electric vehicles. Yeah, right.

With regard to him having to give up driving, certainly long distance, that is only just over the horizon and we will cross that bridge when necessary. Whilst I do drive, I hate any journey longer than an hour or so. Anywhere new, forget it, I no longer have the confidence. 

Those future problems will need much heart searching as it might involve us having to move. We haven’t decided yet.

Are you having to think about this?

Hi folks

 We had our noisiest fireworks last night. Absolutely surrounded by them. We couldn’t manage to stay up so went to bed hoping Ruby wouldn’t be too worried. Obviously didn’t get to sleep until after it had all died down about 00:25 hours!

I was also watching part of the London display, whilst waiting for silence, humongous to say the least. Who pays for all these displays? Considering everyone is supposed to be hard up, it rather tore at my heart strings. Whilst it’s nice to celebrate, part of me feels it’s become a”our display is bigger than yours” sort of event. Each country trying to outdo one another. I would rather see smaller displays and see more money helping those in need.

2023 was a hard year for many. One of my sisters died suddenly after a spontaneous brain haemorrhage. That was balanced out by the arrival of our 38 week term, second granddaughter. 

With so many countries at war and more military action being taken by other countries in response, I really hope things don’t get out of hand, for all of us. Everyone is hoping oil, gas and electricity prices fall come Spring. So do we, but they could go the other way if more conflicts happen.

We will continue to save where we can, stock up more supplies and hope for the best, especially regarding food prices. We will continue to donate to food banks every week. We rotate between food, toiletries, baby products and pet food, hoping that is the best way to do it.

We are just about back to normal now. We have had some sort of mild digestive bug. Lots of gripes and wind, feeling like we have been punched in our stomach area. 

Hope you and yours start the year as healthy and happy as possible.