I Love Spreadsheets!

Does anyone else share my love for spreadsheets? I don't know what I'd do without them, they're so handy. Jack laughs at me as I have so many different ones, I spend ages on playing with the layout, adding in formulas, pivot tables etc. and I have a spreadsheet for just about everything! Shame I can't make the actual figures stretch any further than they already do, but such is life! :-)

This time of year I always make an extra effort to keep them all up to date and count the pennies. I always shop around too, especially when it comes to household bills. I always tell my mum that she should make more of an effort to do the same! I've saved £70 on our home insurance this year with even more cover than we had last year, I've saved on our electricity too by changing tariffs. Next on the list is Sky TV who I detest with a passion; their customer service is the worst out there! I'd quite happily walk away from them all together but I think Jack would be a very upset man without his sports to watch and that's his way of relaxing after working a very hard week so I won't begrudge him that, though it is the most expensive part of the Sky bill...!

We've got a quiet weekend at home planned this weekend; my jobs are to have a sort out for an EBay selling session, I've got coving to paint in our bedroom (which I keep putting off as it's a horrible job) and then in between that I hope to find some time to bake something, crochet something and read more of my book! I've started reading War and Peace (gulp!) because I'm enjoying the BBC TV adaptation so much. Tolstoy books aren't exactly an easy read but I love reading and I'm enjoying it already - Jack's Dad told me I should add it to my CV as an achievement if I finish reading it!!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend, I hope Storm Gertrude doesn't cause you too many headaches or damage (take care!) and I hope you all get time to relax :-)

Em x

Autumnal Food

I hope everyone had a good time on Halloween and watching fireworks on Bonfire Night last night. Our village had a display last Saturday which we watched from our driveway; it was Barry's first experience of fireworks and our nervous little puppy was surprisingly brave. That's not to say he stood with us going "oohh" and "ahhh", instead choosing to head for the safety of his comfy bed where he could watch and listen while playing with his toy. I know fireworks are extremely scary for a lot of pets.

We've had a lot of dense fog this week that hasn't cleared at all some days in our little 'dip' in the Berkshire downs. We've also had a lot of rain this week which has meant I've made the effort to re-stock our freezer with meat that will be perfect for stews and casseroles. We enjoyed a lovely lamb stew one day this week; I love being able to use my slow-cooker. My Nan gave me her old slow-cooker a few years ago and I love it - the older ones are just as good if not better than some of the newer inventions. The settings on mine are very simple; auto, low or high. It has a big ceramic pot that's removable too which is great as it means when I get home I take it out of the slow cooker, make some dumplings and pop it in the oven to finish off the dumplings. If I didn't do dumplings I think Jack would cry! I love dumplings too, very naughty but so good, especially herby dumplings!

My lovely assistant; the slow-cooker

 



Barry is eager for the weekend to arrive as it means much longer walks in the countryside. These dark evenings mean that our usual walk is somewhat shorter, though he still enjoys a good run around the field in the mornings too when Jack takes him out before he goes to work. We had a nice walk together last weekend, lots of colourful berries everywhere.

I also cooked a lovely Halloween-inspired meal last Saturday; Sausage, sage and pumpkin casserole. It's so tasty and this time I did it with some couscous on the side (great to soak up all the juices). I really like pumpkin and would love to try making a pumpkin soup. What do people recommend I do with the pumpkin in the soup? I was thinking a pumpkin and carrot soup?

Things at work haven't improved sadly, and I don't think it will any time soon. Therefore, my de-stress therapy when I get home is to crochet or read a book to switch off, both of which I didn't make much time for. I'm now making more of an effort to have an hour or so of 'chill time' and my little limpet is always by my side while we wait for Jack to get home from work. Once home, all three of us squeeze onto our tiny worn out sofa which is finally meeting its end. It's been in Jack's family since he was little and was kindly donated to us when we first moved into our own place, before coming here to our house with us. It's now falling apart completely and we have finally ordered a new sofa and arm chair which will arrive before Christmas. We're very excited and I've already called dibs on the armchair, it's a perfect snuggle for me (without little limpet) with a good book, though Jack also thinks it'll make a good gaming chair... hmm. I think we've both already said it's going to be pretty difficult to stop Barry from joining us on the new sofa. I think I'm just going to invest in a good throw (mainly for the bottom cushions) to help protect the new sofa from getting worn. He's only allowed up when invited (as opposed to many dogs that beat you to the best spot in the living room!), but he perfects his "I'm so lonely" face from across the room in his bed when he's not on the sofa with us, so we usually give in!

My little limpet

 

 

We're having a quiet weekend at home; I hope the weather will be dry so we can enjoy a nice long walk somewhere. Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

Final photo I promise; Barry showing off while playing his favourite game we call "patience/frustration"! He loves it and stays stock-still until given the cue to gobble up all the treats!

Autumnal Feeling; This Calls For Soup!

Hello from a rainy West Berkshire!

Autumn is definitely here and I'm amazed at just how quickly the leaves are changing colour and falling here. I do think Autumn is a very pretty season, it's probably my favourite season actually for the fact that it's acceptable to wrap up in jumpers and boots, and eat comforting homemade soups and stews. I'm a big lover of proper British food and relish coming home to the smells of the slow-cooker creating a tasty tender stew for us.

I also love making warming soups with all manner of different veg (usually I buy one main ingredient and the rest is leftover veg in the fridge so they work out cheap to make). I got a soup book the other day and it has some great recipes, all very easy to follow too. I didn't own any soup books so this was my splurge this month! It was only £8 when I got it to the tills too, so I'm pleased at that :-)

I love celeriac and it's now in season so I decided I wanted to make a celeriac and leek soup yesterday. Here were the ingredients I used;

• Celeriac £1.30 (when did celeriac get so pricey!?)
• Leek (reduced to £0.30 in the supermarket)
• Carrot (leftover in fridge)
• Onion (£0.60 for a giant one at the local farm shop - half went in soup and half went in a cottage pie I made last night too)
• Fresh thyme (from the garden)
• 2 Bay Leaves (my bay plant in the garden isn't quite big enough to start stealing leaves yet)
• Salt & cracked black pepper (lots of pepper, I love it in soups!)
• 1 1/2 pints chicken stock

When I say a giant onion, I really do mean a giant onion - I'd never seen one this size!

Anyway, I loosely followed one of the celeriac soup recipes I found in my new book but I like making it up as I go along too. I think the recipe wanted me to fry the onions and leek in butter first but I was trying to make this soup as healthy as possible so just chopped everything up and let it cook away in the stock for half hour on a medium heat. It probably didn't even need that long but I was busy making cottage pie portions too.

Celeriac

 

Everything chopped up and thrown in

 

I removed the Thyme stalks and bay leaves once it had finished cooking and then blended the soup. It's quite thick but that's the way I like my soups. It tastes lovely and I've got a flask of it today at work.

 

Finished!

 

Celeriac has a nice creamy flavour as it is but I can see why people like adding cream to these kind of soups. I'm lactose intolerant however so no cream for me! I'm looking forward to making some more soups now that soup weather is here. I'd like to try a pumpkin soup next, but can't decide what else to cook it with... carrot? Any suggestions welcome! I made a lovely parsnip and apple soup last year which was really tasty and froze well too, so I must have a go at that seeing as I have tonnes of apples in the cold cupboard from Jack's Parent's trees.

 

Em x

 

Little Holiday In France

Bonjour!

We just recently got back from a lovely little break in France, just what the doctor ordered! It was lovely spending a few days with my parents and I think my Dad really appreciated having Jack out there to help him with some jobs.

The weather was kind to us all week, a few cloudy spells but for the most part it was warm and sunny. Dad and Jack were busy building a shed in the garden, it's flat-pack which is a fantastic idea as it was so easy to put together. They're painting it an olive green colour and it looks lovely sat nestled between the old stone barn wall and the Hibiscus. Jack also helped Dad with some strimming and other jobs (anything with an engine and Jack is a happy boy!).

 Shed building in the sunshine

 

The house and gardens are looking fantastic now; the shrubs my parents planted have all taken well despite fending for themselves over a warm summer. The tomatoes had gone mad while my parents were back in England and my mum has buckets full to use; I suggested making a nice chutney or some pasta sauce as they can't eat them quick enough in salads and sandwiches. The peach tree in their garden is also full of fruit and they're lovely and sweet; mum made a lovely peach jam which they enjoy on fresh French bread most mornings (they're living the life I tell you!). 

 

 Dad's self-built Boules court in the garden, we had many games and I am pretty useless!

 

 

We didn't go on many trips out while we were there as it was just nice to relax at the house and sit in the garden reading a book or doing some crochet. We did enjoy a couple of lovely lunches out in Saumur; one at Le Panorama Bar which overlooks the Chateau, town and Loire River and another lunch at my favourite restaurant L'Entracte (formerly called Brussels Café) where I enjoyed some tasty Moules Mariniere!

 

Jack, Dad and Mum enjoying a nice drink at Le Panorama Bar

 

Haven't yet managed to visit Saumur when there hasn't been renovation work going on at the Chateau

 

Jack and I also had a nice afternoon walking through the forest near to my parent's house foraging for goodies. We came home with lots of mushrooms (we'd managed to pick mostly poisonous ones oops!) and a bag full of chestnuts (the trees are overflowing with them at the moment and they're all over the roads and tracks)

 

Lots of chestnuts ready for roasting on the fire

 

Hazlenuts from the tree outside the house too

 

We also had a drive out to the vineyards at Bourgeil. They're as far as the eye can see and are weighed down with grapes at the moment. The specially-designed tractors that harvest the grapes are very odd looking as they hover directly over each line of vines but quite fascinating to watch. I got out of the car at one point to take a couple of photos and "borrowed" a grape, I was surprised at how lovely and sweet they were. Bourgeil is quite a famous red wine region.

 

 

Vineyards at Bourgeil

 

We had a lovely time anyway and I was so glad the weather was kind to us too so we could spend time outside. It was lovely lighting the fire in the evening, I love watching and listening to a real log fire. That will be our last trip to France for 2015 (two visits this year, three last year), but I'm excited at the prospect of some nice holidays out there next year. We hope to take Barry with us too now he's getting better with car journeys. He'd love walks through the forests and my parent's big garden to run around, I'd just have to make sure he didn't take too much of an interest in the next door neighbours' poultry, sheep and donkey!

 

Mum and "Tulip" the donkey. We'd give her a carrot every evening along with Horace

 

Horace the Percheron Stallion

 

Barry had a lovely holiday with Jack's parents at their house back in Cambridgeshire while we were in France. I think he totally tired himself out running around their big garden, eating all manner of things he shouldn't and rolling in everything else! We have him on some anti-anxiety medicine from the Vets at the moment which is made from a natural milk protein and so far it seems to have really helped with the car journeys. He no longer cries, shakes or vomits and instead just lays in his crate watching the world go by or has a snooze (they are anti-drowsy as I didn't want anything that sedates him). It's so nice to see him happier in the car and we're continuing with the short trips to make sure he's used to the car. Hopefully we can wean him off of the medication soon and he won't be so stressed out about going in the car, he even jumped in the other day as if to say "where are we going?" which is totally unheard of! He hasn't let us out of his sight anyway since we've been back and jumps straight into my lap at every chance he gets, I did really miss him.  

 

We enjoyed a nice lunch out on Sunday for Jack's brother's birthday. We also picked some lovely apples from the trees in Sarah and Richard's garden and I enjoyed lazing in the sun by the beautiful windmill that sits in their garden.

 

The beautiful 'Cattels Mill' Windmill that sits in Jack's parents' garden. More photos of the mill on this website for anyone interested http://www.windmillweb.net/gallery.htm 

 

One final note (before you've had enough of all the photos!); I read a brilliant book while in France called "Pigs in Clover" by Simon Dawson. It is one of the best books I've read this year and really hilarious. Not only that but it was also heart-breaking in places and has really opened my eyes to the "good life" vision (I knew before that it's not half as "good life" as what you assume and you have to work harder than you've ever worked before). It's also made me realise that however much money I think I need for a smallholding I'll need more! I've been doing a lot of research into it recently though and it is definitely still my dream that I hope one day I can achieve and it's probably best to be better prepared now even if its still years and years away. Anyway, I definitely recommend this book and a second book has recently been released which I'm also itching to read. They do have a website too; http://www.hiddenvalleypigs.co.uk/ 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine and having a lovely week! :-)

 

Em x