Saturday 4 July 2015

Thunderstorms - what thunderstorms?

I awoke this morning to see evidence of a downpour and locals writing comments on facebook about the dreadful thunderstorms we had had in the night - oops - must have slept through that then!

So - first job on today's list was to make two sponges.  I used my go to recipe from Delia Smith  which uses the all in one method - however it had to be made in two batches because I could only find one 7 inch tin - cue for more tidying me thinks!  The cake is for later when Wendy and I go to visit Tanya in hospital - last sunday she said that she really fancied a fresh cream strawberry Victoria sandwich - for herself but also to share with the nurses - her wish is my command.  The cake was assembled just before we left - due to the weather - but I wanted to make the cake before I do THE  job (more later).  (By the way - the food police may think that there are too many strawberries - can there ever be? - I decided that Tanya might just fancy a strawberry if she can't face the cake.)


Next on the agenda was walking the dogs.  I have not taken them out all week due to the high temperatures - when I am at home they have constant access to the garden and are fairly laid back about it.  However the weather was rather overcast and cooler than previous days so I thought that  would give it a go - only to find my ankle really giving me some jip.  The walk was therefore cut a little shorter than planned!



Then it was home to complete THE job - clearing the "sink hole" that is in the front of the house.  The guttering drains into there so once a year you have to pull it up and clear all the decomposing leaves and moss - can you see why (1) I hate doing the job and try to put it off , and (2) why I thought I ought to make the cake first!!  It actually was better than I feared (which is usually the case) although, as you can see, there was a lot of debris to take out!






Next, after some paying of church bills, it was time for a quick hoover around before lunch.  By now the sun had broken through the haze and it was turning into a reasonable afternoon.  Another job I had been putting off for several months was making a summer top.  I had brought the fabric, cut the pattern out and cut the fabric pieces out.  The only thing stopping me was that I had gone off the design.  However now was the time to focus and get started!!  Well - maybe an afternoon nap first eh?


Before
After
Finally it was time to tidy another cupboard - this is a little side cupboard housing some larger cooking dishes, the rolls of foil etc and lots of  junk!!!  I swear that if I ever get to the end of these cupboards and rationalise their use I will find that I have so much space - at the moment I am storing two large cooking pans in my wardrobe!!  May I first say that all that alcohol is so old that I poured it all away and popped to the bottle bank before picking Wendy up - I do not have a drinking problem - but I do have a hoarding problem - who needs this many cocktail sticks in their lives? (Mind you - what did I do with them all?  Put them in a drawer - now why didn't I just throw them out?) I am not even going to mention the ice cube bags - I have enough to make over a thousand ice cubes!!  However ME will be pleased when I say that I have thrown out every tea towel / oven glove with a hole in it!!

6 comments:

  1. Oooooh!!! That cake looks sooooo good!!! We also missed the thunder storms, but that was because we didn't have one! We were so disappointed, really looking forward to it, it makes everything in the garden shoot up, it's always exciting. Your cupboards are looking a lot better, when you have finished all this sorting I think some rationalisation needs to take place. ie. keeping spare things in another room and only having in the kitchen the things in use. Well done on today's activities and we hope your ankle feels better soon. Xxxxxx

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  2. I knew you'd be first! what do you think about all the gunk from the hole - must make good compost I guess?

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  3. Well I am slowly coming round to the realisation my cupboard issues are not of my making...its hereditary! Although I need to blow my own trumpet a bit and say I do have a sort out every once in a while ( ok so maybe every few years in some cases!)
    As for throwing out cocktail sticks NOOOO!! I remember being in dire straits for them one time!
    I have been decluttering my kitchen cupboards and only having in what I actually use....its really amazing how easy it makes every day life! I just have to decide what to keep in the garage and what to chuck.
    Loving the look of the cake!

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  4. I'm thinking mini pick up sticks - enough to do a set for everyone for Christmas - table top game!

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  5. That gunk looks positively toxic. If you do use it as compost then certainly no weeds will grow and I'm not sure anything else will!,!!! A good job done neverthe less. Xxxx

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  6. I was woken up by the thunderstorm this morning- very loud. Too tired to stay awake and listen though. I do love thunderstorms. Gosh I'm shattered reading all the things you get done by lunch time. Well done x

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