Thereby Hings a Tale

Well I suppose the big thing that happened this week is what everyone was talking about – Eunice “a female given name: from a Greek word meaning “good victory”. Well if your view point is devastation is victory, then for some places in the UK she did her job.

For myself she was more of an inconvenience. I did not get to take the dog’s out for a walk and my garden will need a little tidying up of general debris, but on the whole we survived. It did mean I got to do a bit of cooking.

A new little feature for this blog and out of my comfort zone is cooking using ingredients I have never used or in some cases never even tasted.

Taking a leaf or in this case a rhizome out of http://carolcooks2.com I have decided to try finding out about and using new spices or herbs that I have either not encountered or used before. My first is

Asafoetida also known as Hing which is the dried gum from the rhizome of the species Ferula assa-foetida, a perennial herb from the arid regions of Afghanistan, Iran, and India.

When cooked, apparently its flavor is suggestive of garlic, leeks and onions. I personally found the smell when cooking to be like this but not so much the flavour once cooked. Although it definitely had a distinct flavor which was a slightly bitter taste but not bad.

Facts:

1. Improve digestion: Hing removes all the toxins from the body and cures any issues related to indigestion. It helps in regulating the digestion process

2. Helps in weight loss: Drinking hing water increases metabolism and keeps the bad cholesterol at bay with which we feel active and hence helps in weight loss.

3. Reduces blood sugar levels: Consuming hing regularly can relax your blood vessels. Hing helps in secreting more insulin and thus decreases blood sugar levels.

4. Relieves from menstrual pain: Hing acts as a blood thinner and helps. It helps in the smooth flow of blood in the body and hence relieves from any menstrual cramps.

5. Reduces headache: Hing has some anti-inflammation properties which help in reducing headache. Drinking hing water as mentioned above can work.

You can get it in major supermarkets.

I decided to make a recipe I found on www.saltandtamarind.com/hing-chicken-chicken-cooked-in-asafoetida-sauce/

I also adapted a side dish of http://www.saltandtamarind.com/namkeen-chawal-vegtable-pulao-recipe/

I not add the potato but did add a half tsp of asafoetida

I also have been doing more of my macrame wall hanging for my lounge. After numerous un-picks I have finished the shell pattern. I now need to make a flower for the center.

With work (I run my own dog training school), this week I added an extra class to my sessions. I now do Smart Skills, a step up from Beginner Skills. You never know how a new thing will work but I have to say within days of launching this I was fully booked and had a waiting list. The first session yesterday was great fun. I have in the past tried various things only for them to have very little interest but I don’t give up and either try in a different way to incorporate it into my sessions or look for new things to try. As you have probably gathered I like finding and trying new things in my life 🤣

I’m off to find a herb or spice beginning with ‘B’, there are many but I want one that I have not used or not thought about using in a particular way. Any ideas gratefully received.

Until next time step big, step small but take that step forward as life doesn’t go backwards!

Chris x

Four C’s this week

Last Sunday I ventured to Plymouth to visit my youngest daughter at University. We have not seen each other in over a month, which is a long time for us. I took her bike and a number of things we could not fit in the car when she went back to Uni at the beginning of January. One of the things was a slow cooker that she got for Christmas. It will be interesting to see what type of things she will make as she is a Pescatarian and I am use to using mine for meat dishes. Although this week I did make rice pudding in mine as had rather a lot of milk.

On Tuesday my daughter messaged me to say she had a positive test for Covid. So had to cancel all plans for that day and do a test for the next few days and luckily for me all negative and no symptoms and back to normal life, she on the other hand is still stuck in her Uni studio accommodation as still testing positive.

On the crafting front I have started a macrame wall hanging for my lounge. It will be the most complicated pattern I have done so far and have had to unpick a number of times already, mainly due to tension, either doing too loosely or too tight!

I did my first seed swap event yesterday, which is such a great idea. I don’t have a large garden but do like to grow some vegetables but often there are so many seeds that I never use them all and end up throwing them away as they get too old.

I made up envelopes of smaller amounts of the seeds I was not going to be able to use before their expiry date. I managed to pick up some flower seeds which I will plant up nearer the end of the month. I have planted my plum tomatoes – Roma, which are now in my conservatory hopefully working hard beneath the soil. I planted these last year and they were brilliant until they got tomato blight. Fingers crossed for a good crop this year.

I made baked chocolate oats for breakfast yesterday morning from a recipe I saw on @callascleaneats I did not add choc chips but did add a dollop of Greek yogurt and I cooked in the microwave for 3 mins rather than in the over. I have to say it was rather nice and not that sweet, which is good for me as not keen on sweet things for breakfast. I’m going to try adapting this recipe for different flavours, maybe apple and cinnamon, yum!

So after this week of covid, crafting, crops and cooking, I hope you have had a lovely week and please let me know if you got up to anything new!

Chris x

Short and Sweet (a bit like me)

With the guest cloakroom about finished I turned my hand to some crafting. I wanted to produce something to hang on the wall of the cloakroom. I had previously made the feather that looked more like a leaf in macrame so thought that I would make a wall hanging of leaves.

On one of my dog wallks I came across some lovely dry broken branches. I collected them and at home cleaned them up and popped them in the oven on a low temperature for about 30 mins to kill off any creepy crawlies.

I decided to create a stalk that hangs from the branch and the leaf is then created on the filler cords. I chose three colours to tie in to the cloakroom but did not try to match the exact colours.

I just have to add a cord to hang the branch on the wall. So will post a picture of the completed wall hanging next week but below is when I had got about half way.

Tomorrow (Monday) I am running a crafting session at my house to teach some of the ladies of our Social Butterflies Group how to make a feather/leaf. There will be much laughter I am sure!

This week I don’t feel I have done anything that has really been out of my comfort zone but learning a new skills I think will count.

This week it was 2/2/22 Tutu Day a once in a lifetime day which had to be celebrated and as you can see below myself and my friend Amanda wore our Tutu’s with pride at the local pub that night. So there were two wearing a tutu and the sign we are pointing at says Winning Double! 😂

With Spring beginning to show itself, my thoughts turn to my garden although at the time of writing this it’s blowing a gale out there. It’s time to find my seed packets from last year and check dates. We have a seed swap in my town next week so I will be packaging up those seeds that I have more than enough of and making a list of things I would like to grow.

A short post this week, enjoy any good weather we have and if wet and windy take the chance to plan for the better weather.

Chris x

Angles are not my friend!

Hello my lovely reader.

Last week’s episode left us on a cliffhanger. The floor was down but I still had paint to go on the walls and would I manage to get the ceramic splashback tiles secure!

Well I only had 8 tiles to fix but what a faff. Turns out my walls are not completely straight. I got my first 2 on and then tried to line up the top layer and they were not aligned, so had to adjust the bottom layer to make sure they lined up and also do the same on the other side too. The gaps are not completely even but the edges line up and that’s what counts.

Then with the walls painted in @Lick Green 01 and 02. I got to try my hand at fitting a dado rail to break up the two greens. Getting my head around which way to cut the angles for inward and outward corners caused me major hassle but I got there in the end and they fitted together perfectly until I tried to put them on the walls! The unevenness by just mm made slight gaps in the joins but with a little filler they do not look too bad.

I have also painted the radiator in the green from the top half to tie it all in.

I had an old wooden mirror hanging around, so painted that in the same colour as the dado. I just need to find the right accessories to finish it all off

On the crafting front I tried my hand at macrame and started off with creating a feather which I feel looks more like a leaf but it’s very pretty. I then created a pair of earrings which was much more fiddly. I have decided to create a wall hanging for my lounge incorporating macrame feathers so look out for that in the coming weeks.

Goodbye until next week.

Chris x

One small step for woman, one giant step for this 60 year old!

Well if you remember I had a dreadful cold at the end of last week and really had not been out much. So on Sunday I ventured out with the dog’s. Not for one of my normal magical mystery walks but for a gentle, quite meander on a new lane. Wow the difference a week makes to mother nature, I noticed the daffodils gentle poking their heads out of the soil and the green bunches of what will be carpets of snowdrops adorning the banks. Then there was the catkins or as my grandfather told me they were, lambs tails as when the new lambs loose their tails they get hung up on the birch twigs. These were definitely out before there any of this season’s lambs!

The visitors cloakroom project has begun. The tiles have arrived and paint samples from @lick which are great as you can just stick them on the wall to get a real feel of how the colour will work. I got samples #green01 and #green02 to decide which looked best with the floor tiles. Guess what? I decide they looked so good together I will use them both, just have to decide which will go at the top. As you can see from the samples I have a pink tile in there for the splash back. I had a box left from doing my daughter’s shower and I love green and pink together so decided that pink would be my accent colour.

I started by ripping up the old lumpy bumpy lino, which actually came out really easily and the floor underneath is very good. The next thing and probably the scariest part was to take the splashback tiles off. Armed with flathead screwdriver and hammer and a bit of brute force they all came off cleanly.

I then removed all the rawl plugs and mirror and filled all the holes left. The size of some of the rawl plugs was a little over kill and did leave crators!

I gave the skirting a new coat of gloss and once that was dry it was time to try my hand at laying adhesive vinyl tiles. Where I needed to cut around object such as the pedestal or toilet I created a paper pattern as obviously the vinyl does not bend that easily. Despite making sure the surface I was laying the tiles on was clean and dust free, found the adhesive on the tiles whilst felt sticky was not as grippy as I would have liked. I will probably get some spray adhesive and use on any of the tiles that lift. Overall I am pretty chuffed with my handywork.

I am now waiting for the paint to arrive, so next week I should be able to get the paint on the walls and then try my hand at ceramic tiling 😳

I also did my kitchen central island display for the month with a Valentine’s theme. You can check it out on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/111118134777891/posts/118387037384334/

Well dear reader, what have you been up to this week? Did you manage to step out of your comfort zone? Until next week, take care and remember it just takes one little step to make a big difference!

Chris x

Stepped Out and Survived

Well the weather outside is frightful, but my kitchen is so delightful, since I have nowhere to go, let us bake, lets us cook, let us steam!

So I managed to use the steamer I bought at IKEA to make steamed dumplings.

I have never made them before and definitely had a back up plan of fish and chips if they didn’t work out. 😂

I made two types of filling the first was aubergine and mushroom from a recipe from @berriesandlime and then a prawn one which I just made up by chopping cooked prawns into tiny pieces and mixing them with finely chopped spring onions and garlic, ginger puree and oyster sauce.

Well let’s just say they went down a storm and tasted amazing. I will definitely be trying variations on the fillings.

I made extra dough as was not sure I would have enough but hey presto the recipe allowed me to make enough for both fillings. Therefore I had to decide what to do with the other dough, I left it proving over night and then checked out Pinterest for ideas, if you don’t know me I LOVE Pinterest, it’s like having an encyclopedia of wonderful ideas at your fingertips 😂

I went with adding some melted butter and an egg yolk to make it more like brioche dough then created a plaited cinnamon loaf. It worked really well.

My downstairs cloakroom needs a little TLC but last year I spent a fortune on having all the other bathrooms done so it’s going to be a make over with minimal outlay. I have decided because it’s such a small area I’m going to see if I can lay vinyl tiles and if it all goes pear shaped I can then get someone in to do. If it goes right then I may look at doing the hallway! I have measured the area and have order, so hopefully will be able to do this next week.

The other thing I did to step out of my comfort zone this week was to drive in and around Exeter to pick up various things my daughter needed before she went back to Uni. General driving is ok but finding my way around a city that I don’t really know well definitely makes me a little nervous. What if I go down a one way street, the wrong way! Google maps is great but even then I can find myself taking a wrong turning. Obviously I am writing this blog so as you can tell I survived the trip, although I may have a few more grey hairs 😜

Now I did all of that stepping in the first part of the week. The rest of the week I have been holed up deep inside my comfort zone as have a horrid head cold which has left me with inflamed sinuses, so I am off to steam again and not the dumplings type of steaming!

Look forward to seeing you on the other side of this cold, with floor tiles and paint samples.

Chris x

Well this is what 60 looks like!

Only look a day older 😂

So how did I step out of my comfort zone this week? Well mainly it was starting this blog, when you start any new project whether a new business, a new job or just simply a new craft or exercise class, there are those beginner nerves – can I do this, will I fit in, will people like what I do, will I like it?

For me starting this blog whilst a great way to look back on my achievements be they large or small. I want people to enjoy reading what I’m up to, give me feedback and ideas of things to try and also try to inspire you, my reader, whoever you are, (is anyone out there), to go on this adventure with me.

The Big Day

My actual big day was spent with my two girls G and Mia and we hit IKEA and they treated me to my birthday meal, meatballs and Daim cake, so whilst not a great splashy meal it was very yummy!

One of the things I bought was a bamboo steamer. I have always wanted to try making steamed Chinese dumplings. As Chinese New Year will be 1st February 2022 Year of the Tiger 🐯 I am going to practice making them during January. So watch this space to see how I get on, it could go one of two ways 😂

My other buy from IKEA was some shelves, the one for the hallway #mosslanda went up with no hitch at all and looks super cute and hopefully I will be able to find my keys now ( as long as I remember to put them there when I come in)!

The other shelves are for the utility room once I decide on the colour to paint it.

I have a number of ideas to allow me to stretch myself and step out of that Comfort Zone during the next few weeks.

Let me know what you did this week to pop that toe into uncharted waters.

Don’t forget to sign up for notification of new posts and until next time have fun.

Chris x

Stepping Out Of Fifty

So as I sit here on what is a pivotal day being the day after New Year and the eve of my 60th Birthday ( how the hell did that happen)! I’m wondering what this year will bring and what new things can I do. I have decided I want to step out of my comfort zone.

Now I’m not a novice to doing that. At 20 myself and my childhood friend Paula left England and went to LA with the plan of either a long holiday or hopefully finding work. Paula found work and her husband that first night. I on the other hand did a few weeks of traveling, then opened the LA times and found a nannying job in Redondo Beach. I returned back to England a year later having had an amazing time.

In my 40’s my husband at the time and two young children sold up everything and moved to Southern Spain. Unfortunately the marriage went from bad to worse and myself and my two girls packed up my car with what we could and left and drove from Southern Spain back to the UK and I then had to rebuild my life again!

A year and a half ago my brother and I sold my parents and grandparents family home, where I had been living and I made the move from Oxfordshire to Mid Devon where I knew no one!

Despite being in a pandemic I threw myself into starting a new business, creating a new home and joining some new groups. I have made wonderful new friends and probably have more of a social life than I had previously.

So as you can tell I’m a pro at stepping out of my comfort zone but each time it has made me grow as a person.

This year I’m not going to do anything near as drastic as the above (well not as I write this)!

Stepping out of your comfort zone does not need to be a grand gesture it just needs to be something that tests you or gives you that little butterflies feeling.

For some of you it could be to start a new fitness or crafting class or try a brand new recipe that stretches your skills. Other might set a goal to reach by running a half marathon or just go for a jog once a week. It doesn’t matter what it is.

So what am I going to do?

Follow me to find out.

Chris