I'm tired

A pattern seems to be developing in my sleep habits. If  have a good (relatively comfortable) day I have a dreadful night and vice versa.  I had a dreadful night last night and feel like a wrung out rag today. I will be having a short walk with my friend Kath… she is keeping me going just lately.  Sadly I can't manage anything more than a hobble around the block but at least it gets me out in the fresh air and exercising the hip.... or so I am told.  My friend Jayne has been brill too.  We are doing a shorter walk too and it is a great chance to let off a bit of stem and have a good old moan.  I come back better able to cope with everything. It makes me aware that for some people pain is a reality that they just have to live with. I do know that at some point my hip will be replaced and if all goes to plan I will be pain free.  I just wish that it would come sooner rather than later.

For Briony

These are the teabags I faffed about with   created a masterpiece from, :-) several years ago. I put a few in the frame for my craft room... the rest I binned

Dyed and embellished teabags.  I love the round ones

I unpicked the boat cos it looked awful... I binned it a couple of days later... I had fun playing with them.

Or you might say I am a nutter  :-)

Tea bags :-)

Well what is a girl to do when she is a total tea holic… is there such a word?  Tony and I get through gallons of tea in a day so I am not totally taking the blame here. :-) I was in crafting mode yesterday and had some dried teabags to use up.... doesn't everyone... :-)
I've made things with teabags before but that was a few years ago so newer blog followers may not have seen them... I gathered some teabags over a few days. Rinsed them and dried them.  Split them open and tipped out the tea (that went onto my garden). Then began the fun.  I cut butterflies from the teabags. The bodies are a brown envelope and the antennae are snips of embroidery threads...I try to waste absolutely nothing.. :-)

John Denver

Occasionally I like to listen to you tube while I am browsing the internet and reading all your lovely blogs. At this very moment I have John Denver singing to me in the background. I love his voice and have done since I was about fifteen. I've always loved country music stars and never tire of listening to the likes of Dolly Parton, John Denver and all the old classic singers.  I'm not so fond of the  'hoe down' kind of music but there are one or two that I quite enjoy. Today I have a friend coming over for a games session.I think I will put one of my John Denver cd's on the player. We can play dominos and Rumikub while John gently sings his beautiful songs. Bu,t before that, I plan to make a few more cards. I have been making Christmas cards and Birthday cards for my stash. Yesterday I cut loads of backing papers for my cards. I have a stash of beautiful wallpaper samples and they have made perfect backing papers for layering onto cards. I discovered that the little dies that I use for cutting greetings work really well with the wallpaper samples. I am planning on cutting a few 'Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas's while I am in die cutting mode. Later today I will share a couple of pictures of the cards that I have made recently.

Here's a little John Denver tune to brighten your day. Close your eyes while you listen...…..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diwuu_r6GJE

Mattress topper and fish cull

On Saturday Tony and I popped out to do a bit of shopping. I bought a mattress topper for the bed in the hope that my hip will find it more comfortable.  I love a really (rock hard) mattress but I don't think my hip likes it at the moment. Someone suggested putting an old duvet under the bottom sheet and at first I considered that.  I discovered that we had gotten rid of the spare duvets as we just don't have room to keep them. The topper looks really cosy on the bed and with a bit of luck I will have a better night's sleep than I have been having. I've put fresh bedding on and the washing machine has just finished the load off the bed.  It can go out on the line and dry before being put away for the winter.  I am starting to want the cosy warm sheets on so when I next do a linen change I will be putting the snuggly ones on the bed. .

Another of the little fish has gone into the pond today.  It just hasn't thrived at all and we noticed last night that it is missing a big chunk of tail fin.  We think maybe one of the bigger fish has attacked it and it is too small to defend itself. For quite some time I was concerned that it isn't growing and knew that there must be something wrong.  I was still feeding it baby fish food as it couldn't manage the adult stuff. The kindest thing was to pop it into the pond and let Mother Nature take her course. At least it will have a quick swim of freedom before one of the big fish eats it.

Comfort food

I hate to think how many calories are in this but after reading Briony's post it gave me the urge for some comfort food. I set to and made a mini bread and butter pudding using my elderflower and lemon marmalade. It's only one sandwich which we will share with a bit of custard... I was tempted to make a much bigger one but then we would have had to eat it... :-) Puddings aren't a regular feature here in Kemp castle. Just as well as I have no willpower at all. That's not all I made though.  I decided to make a tasty fish pie which will do us two days. I never use as much cream and butter as the recipe calls for so it isn't as loaded with calories as it might have been. I will serve it with some steamed veggies.
Here they are all ready to pop into a medium oven

Just big enough for two people to have a little sweet treat

One large Basa fillet. A handful of prawns and a slice of smoked salmon. Cook them in a lovely creamy sauce 

Mmmmmmmm cheesy buttery mashed potatoes on top

Bread and butter pudding

I am sure that there are loads of recipes for this old fashioned pudding.  Briony over on Crafty Cats Corner blog has a tasty way of making it... My way is dead simple....Simply layer up some jam or marmalade sandwiches in a buttered bowl. Mix three or four eggs with some milk and sugar then pour over the sandwiches. Let it all soak into the bread before baking in the oven until golden and a little bit crisp.... Serve with custard or ice cream. I think it's also lovely  and quite Christmassy if you make the sandwiches with a jar of sweet mince and grate the zest of an orange over it all before you bake it in the oven. I have a jar of elderflower and lemon marmalade in my fridge. I made it this summer when I made the elderflower cordial.. It tastes absolutely delicious so I will give it a try as a bread and butter pudding today. It's a pity I don't have a fresh lemon to zest over it all.
I bet you could make individual ones in little ramekins if you don't want to make a large one

Have a look over on Crafty Cats Corner blog and check out the recipe.  I would love to hear about your version.

crafty-cats-corner.blogspot.com/

Addicted to house plants

My current passion has become 'houseplants'.  At least it is something that both Tony and I can enjoy and I am currently drawing up a list of potential plants for a Christmas list.  I would love a 'swiss cheese' plant but can't find one anywhere in the shops.  There are some rooted cuttings on ebay so I may have to buy one of those. Does anyone know whether bronze fennel is simply an annual or whether it would become a perennial if I kept one as a houseplant? The foliage is so fern like and beautiful. Next year I might try growing some of my usual edibles as houseplants.. just to see how they work. I bet a little tumbling tomato would be a nice addition to the bathroom. It's nice and warm in there and there is plenty of light. I could hang it up in one of my macramé plant hangers... watch this space.

Wind damage

I hope you are all safe and didn't get any damage from the wind last night. We didn't go to the ceilidh after all. We stayed home and curled up in front of the TV.  Well Himself curled up,. I haven't got an ounce of curl in me at the moment.  The exercises feel as though they are making a difference though. This morning I don't feel as stiff and the pain isn't as bad... It could just be that I am having a good day so I won't count my chickens too soon.
Last night the wind was appalling... it blew the cowl from our chimney. We heard it rattling about but of course there was nothing we could do about it.  I left a message for the roofer and asked if he will fix it when it's safe for him to climb up on the roof.  We were watching TV when with an almighty bang, the cowl blew off the roof and clattered over the conservatory roof. We don't think it caused any damage but will give it a thorough check this morning.

Bleach bottles

This isn't likely to be the actual layout as I have a tin filled with plastic flowers that I cut from bottles. I quite like the colours of these though.