This we will tackle after we've sorted our fireplace out. The weather forecast was again dire for the weekend but Saturday was surprisingly dry and friendly so I spent that outside starting to tidy up the wooded area at the bottom of the garden. A large pile of tree prunings, branches, old bits of wooden flooring etc had accumulated down there so I took my hatchet and started chopping. Very relaxing. Together, OH and I filled 4 huge hessian sacks with kindling and the area looks a little less chaotic now.
Then off to the plot. We're about a month late planting things out -- the seedlings just won't grow properly because there's always a cold spell. OH has found a tray of globe artichoke plants for 20p on the "roadkill" shelf of our local garden centre. I have to plant out the chards and perpetual spinach and my marigolds before they get eaten by the slugs. The convolvulus must also go in.
On the plot, the weeds have taken over and we spend the first hour weeding the cabbages before we manage to get to planting anything. We bring back a little bowl of strawberries and a huge, and probably last, for this year anyway, armful of rhubarb.
When we get back, it's really late but we must use up the defrosted sausages today. OH takes care of them while I promise the accompanying mash, which I want to make out of frozen grated potato. Unfortunately, the massive block of uncooked frozen potato gratings takes absolutely ages to defrost in the milk and what does defrost turns into the gloopy, still chewy, stringy mass that burns really quickly. I can't sell this as "mash" so decide quickly that I'll turn it into "potato soup". As potato soup, it tastes of wallpaper paste so I throw in 2 chopped onions and soup spices and ground mace and lemon juice and when it still doesn't taste of anything, I throw in grated mature cheddar and some mustard powder, and when that doesn't quite hit it, I give up and stir in half a packet of curry powder. Now it tastes halfway decent but it still looks disgusting.
OH eats it anyway, and I am pathetically grateful.
I'm not really having a brilliant culinary weekend, it has to be said. The next day, I needed to use up some pureed red- and blackcurrants so I thought I'd make oatmeal muffins with the puree. The colour of the unbaked muffins turned an uninviting purple-black, with the baked top being completely black and the inside, after baking, seaweed-green. Another thoroughly disgusting-looking dish (photo to follow). However, when OH comes in, he greedily devours two of them for lunch and pronounces them "excellent"and "something experimental for Masterchef".
He is lovely.
OH has laid the first two bricks in the hearth - hooray! And later on, my friend will be coming over for some impromptu interior decor consultancy. She practically pleaded with me to allow her to come over and get her designing hands on my kitchen and living room and study. I am both flattered and terrified. She has changed the layout of each of her ground floor rooms possibly five times already. Her DIY OH patiently tags along and does what he's told, shifting furniture from Corner A to Wall B, laying electric cables, fixing radiators, painting. I've read the short stories he self-publishes on Kindle -- they explain why he is so patient.
Anyway, I've already told my energetic, spend-happy friend that I would not countenance any expense on decorative knick-knacks -- it was either free, upcycled or not at all -- and to make doubly sure she doesn't go into my study, I've hastily strewn piles of wastepaper all over the floor and told her I'd started a major clearout which would take weeks to finish and the study was, sadly, off-limits.
I also only baked the muffins because I knew she'd be coming over -- but I don't think I'll offer her the black and green ones -- they look too weird for words.
Hopefully, she and her OH will stay over for dinner --- I'm offering pancakes with "fillings" and the England-Italy game from a really comfy sofa in front of an unplastered hole in the wall and a pile of pamments.
No comments:
Post a Comment