Dear Reader,
I do hope this finds you in both fine and hearty spirits. Many people close to us have been suffering with various ailments, from the sniffles to Covid...yes the beast remains at large, though thankfully now a much more relaxed attitude to it is the norm. However, old habits die hard and so as it's made its way to the care home I work in I find myself donning a mask if I need to see anyone I know to be vulnerable. My cold has largely run it's course and I really really hope not to pick up anything else I could so do without.
I am intending to have a be kind to myself sort of day. Making no promises of what I should like to achieve. I have however removed quite a layer of dust from various surfaces in both the living room and dining hall. Our Holly & Ivy china has remained up on the dresser since the Midwinter Festivities and with a glimmer of sunshine outside I thought it the ideal time to have a change about to something a little more Springlike. So far the space has been cleared and cleaned. I'm afraid the lure of a fresh cup of tea rather took my fancy and so I sit here now by the lit woodturner with an empty cup and only a crust remaining from the last of the potato pasty I made for our tea yesterday. Eaten with some homemade harvest chutney it made for a most welcome late Winter early lunch.
February is to be a month of living out of our freezers as much as possible. Therefore no Sunday roast transpired here at Little Winter yesterday, instead a rather hearty cottage pie served us and the family next door well, with the added bonus of having enough left over for this evenings meal.
Also fresh from the Aga yesterday was a bacon, onion and cheese quiche (of which half remains for tomorrows lunches), a dozen raspberry jam tarts, some nutty flapjack, a lemon meringue pie and last but not least a potato cake.
The potato cake has all been eaten, it is delicious warm or cold with lashings of golden syrup.
I'm not sure if potato cake is a thing where you live, however I am aware that here in Devon the recipe can and does vary from village to village.
My Mother used cold suet for the fat portion, I have changed that to melted butter. My husbands grandmother used to fry hers, whereas ours always go in the oven.
Potato Cake
Quantity of cold cooked potato
1/2 the weight of the potato in flour (SR or plain)
1/4 the weight of the potato in fat of your choice
A few sultanas
Method
Mash the cold potato and add in the flour and fat. Sprinkle in a few sultanas. Pack into a baking dish. I like to rough up the surface with a fork a little.
Bake in a moderate oven...using an Aga timings can vary so I just have to judge when it it cooked. It should be a light golden brown, roughly 25-30 minutes.
Delicious served warm with lashings of golden syrup.
I have spent some time looking back through my old photos for a picture of some potato cake, but have not had any luck as yet, I guess this means I will have to make some more and be sure to take a snap before it all gets eaten!
Instead I give you a picture of Hairy Harry...recently down from Scotland...the cats are unsure whether to love or hate him!
So back to doing nothing much by the fire...it is still Winter after all and so very much allowed!
Blessings, J. x
Or so the story said...the reality of an end of January trip to Scotland was rather more blustery and wet, however me and the hubby spent a lovely few days up in the Highlands of Scotland after heading up the long road by coach. It took us fifteen hours with many stops to reach our hotel which in the dead of Winter is quite a long time as getting on in the morning in the dark is a lot easier than watching the sun go down and realising you still have many more hours of road ahead of you.
We stayed at the Lock Awe Hotel and the first morning awoke to frost which made for a lovely scene.
We travelled to Oban and spent some time there.
The following day was our trip across Rannoch Moor and onto Glencoe. It was wet and violently windy so no trip up Ben Nevis. We headed on to Glen Nevis and walked a short way to see the falls. before heading into Fort William for some shopping.
The next day we were off to Inverary where we visited the jail which I found rather creepy and was glad to be back outside. After lunch we cruised along a very bleak Loch Lomond. Traveling in the boat the windows unfortunately were very steamed up and despite us trying to wipe them with what we had to hand visibility was at best poor.
Having said that we knew that travelling to Scotland in the Winter was going to be pot luck with the weather, our hotel was lovely and the staff all happy and friendly. We have returned to Devon with wider waistlines and stretched tummies! Maybe next time we'll look to book an Autumn adventure.
So now it's back to reality. Housework does not do itself, nor does anything else so despite having an annoying cold about my person I must get on with something.
Blessings, J. x
It would be easy right now to disappear into a fit of woe me...however I am grateful for the improvements the last week has given me. I can now cut up my own food, and don't need to use a china cup as I can manage to hold a mug. I do sometimes like to use a china cup, but when it became a need it wasn't such fun.
Yesterday I worked a light shift at the care home...was absolutely knackered by the end of it, but it was good to get out for a bit. Also managed to check in on the Auntie I've been helping on Monday morning. No long hospital shifts yet, but soon hopefully.
So I've lit the woodturner...I can do that again now, which was a no no a couple of weeks ago. The rash has gone, it's just the joint stiffness that's causing a few issues now. It will pass. Just in its own good time.
Have found a couple of pork chops in the freezer so they will be for our tea, a few roast potatoes and some veg I have in the freezer. A part jar of homemade apple sauce is sitting in the fridge needing to be used, and lashings of gravy on the top should see two satisfied tummies. Sorry hubby, but as yet there will be no afters, even if you do look at me hopefully when you ask the question!
Hoping to Wassail our apple trees later with son in law. Not sure if the little ones will join in. I couldn't have even entertained it on twelfth night so it's rather convenient that there's old twelfth night too!
Currently drinking glassfuls of pineapple juice which I don't normally have. Just read that it's good as an anti-inflammatory so maybe it's a case of the body craving what it needs.
The cats are playing games of please may I...come in...go out...crazy cats!
This time of year I usually make plans...well that hasn't happened at all up to now.
We do have a trip away planned soon, but I'll tell you all about that when it's actually happened.
Have been spending some money from the fireside...darn that internet shopping...some wool underwear...and washing liquid to look after said underwear...My skin has become more sensitive to acrylic fabrics so I'm trying some natural alternatives.
Also have purchased a new hair brush...a wooden one. My plastic ones have developed a horrible tackiness which is truly yuck.
Have even purchased a Fussy deodorant which is more natural and refillable. Really pleased with it so far. May even go as far as trying to convert hubby to one from his spray.
Finally a totally random photo of the crackers I made for Christmas...they were rather large!
Blessings, J. x
So this afternoon I sit at our kitchen table...listening to some relaxing Don Williams on Spotify, and a small jigsaw just completed. A leg of lamb is sizzling in the Aga...mint sauce has been prepared. Stuffing and root vegetables are roasting. And what is really amazing about this...I have done the lions share of the preparing. Only a few days ago this would have been unthinkable. Our bodies really are wonderful. I still feel stiff in my joints, and am likely to on and off for the next few weeks, still such an improvement. The only sign of the awful rash is some mottling in certain areas. Hallelujah indeed!
The images are from our visit to RHS Rosemoor's Glow event just after Christmas...it was the best I'd seen it.
And so here's to onwards and upwards.
Blessings, J. x
Just a quick pop in...apologies for my absence and lack of response to your comments on my last post. I've been in my pit of sickness well and truly.
New Years Eve we spent the evening with good friends. I noticed my neck itching slightly however was wearing a fluffy jumper. New Years Day scratching continued...was it a flea, or bed bugs...
Tuesday morning I was worse...the rash was in my groin, under chest, arm areas and back of head. As I'd recently taken antibiotics I was encouraged to see a nurse, and then a doctor, who decided I had a drug induced yeast infection. Lots of creams, shampoo, and on Wednesday the first of a weeks worth of tablets. The rash which was very itchy had meanwhile spread and I was beginning to feel pretty awful. Within a couple of hours of having taken the tablet my lower lip had swollen. A bit of reading and we were on our way to A & E. Preventative medication given, and a stay to make sure all would be well. We arrived home in the early hours of Thursday morning. Me feeling by now dreadful. Oh and by now they had decided it was not a yeast infection.
Thursday still feeling awful, my eyes and top lip swelled in a most delightful fashion. Aches and shivers stayed with me all the while. Through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday the rash did it's best to drive me to distraction, fading to purple bruise like formations, then the next wave of angry red would appear.
Nights were fitful to say the least. On Monday youngest came over and it felt heaven like to have my hair brushed and put up out of the way of my itchy neck. I began to feel slightly better. I even sat up. We had decided I must show some pictures of my rash in its various stages to the doctor. They phoned and said not an antibiotic allergy, but a virus gone wild due to a compromised immune system, which could in part have been due to the antibiotics. However I am also pointing a finger at the varnish stripping gel I had used before Christmas. Anyway...spoke to the doctor at lunchtime, and then to aid my itchy skin I had an oatmeal bath which worked wonders, however my joints started to hurt. I couldn't use my fingers, elbows, wrists or shoulders. Since then it has worked through my knees feet, lower back and even jaw.
For want of better words it has been a blooming nightmare.
Slowly but slowly things seem to be improving. Still haven't come to terms the new year has begun, I fear January may well pass me by in less than favourable terms.
Hope to look in on your blogs soon, but for now I hope you all have had a better start to 2024 than I have!
Blessings, J. x
