Autumn Term At Crepey Towers

[QueenQueenie]

I did it!

Just running in from my disaster day of no gas, no help from anyone even remotely gas related etc etc to say that we should have a weekend away [[http://www.thebigdomain.com/large-houses/crepe-farmhouse here!!!] The reason I have found this, is that to add to my woes, it seems to have fallen to dh (ie me) to find somewhere to celebrate his mother's 70th. The reasoning from BILs is always that as I have no parents of my own, I must have lashings of time to organise theirs . Actually I adore my inlaws and am happy to do it, but I'd just like it not to be assumed...

Oh bugger, here!.

Oh wilbur, that is about 10 miles from me. I can go and check it out it you like.
Sorry to hear things are not going smoothly on the repairs front.

Ah, as usual DP has rung to tell me he is running late. So I'll be late too, meeting friends...

MI, I feel your pain. But I am home-alone for 3 whole blissful hours

What ho. Back from fun trip to the park, with DS's ex-nursery gang and parents. Lovely lot, that I didn't really get to know at the time, but who I feel might become good friends. A most welcome feeling at a time of change.

As for veg box management, tonight we are having a veg paella, then after that have to get through

Kale
Potatoes by the ton
Squash
Carrots x 100
Peppers
Pointed cabbage
Broccoli
Onions
Mushrooms x 2 punnets
Tomatoes ditto
Grapes
Plums
Apples
Bananas x 53

And just when DS has decided he no longer likes either apples or bananas, which he previously loved.

I think DP is going to unearth the juicer, and have 'fun' making various combinations with DS while I hare around the country.

Tomorrow he's taking him on the bus to see Despicable Me 2, which has already elevated him to god-like status for DS. I'll just do the grunt work, then, shall I? Mutter mutter.

And courgettes.

53 bananas?? That's a lot of smoothies. Would your ds eat a caramelised banana? Or 7?
Soup. Soup of many colours.
BTW, what do crepeys use to make their soup flavoursome? I have not been able to perfect any herb combo that I like particularly and this week's soup was full of butternut squash, courgette, mushrooms and tomatoes and yet tasted mainly of sweet paprika.

I like the tubs of green or red curry paste you get in Thai or Chinese supermarkets to flavour soups (tiny amounts if just want a bit of zing). Or parmesan rinds (helps clear fridge out). Without either, my soups taste of old wet grass as I am a lazy soup maker.

Aha, the parmesan rinds I could find. The other things, not so much. I live in the sticks. We do not have such exotic things as Thai or Chinese supermarkets.

Wet grass it is then . Tiny bits of bacon or chorizo so they sort of dissolve in (says ex veggie)?

Or a spoonful of curry paste? Plus courgettes and mushrooms are mainly water and not very flavoursome!

If you have time, roast the veg with spices/herbs for a bit before adding to stock and blending or whatever you do. Garlic helps, as does lemon juice if you're using courgettes or other green leafy veg. Or worcestershire sauce if you're desperate. Oh, and if you blend your soup, remember to take the parmesan rind out first. I learned that lesson the hard (also slightly rubbery and gritty) way.

Aha, thank you for all the excellent advice. I will try this out for next week's soup.

The geophysical survey trucks came by our house yesterday and made everything shake. It seems they are looking for oil. They are surveying most of the southern half of the county and planning permission has just been granted for a new oil field 10km from here. It also seems that there is a sneaky little change to planning law afoot, which will mean that if oil/gas extraction companies are drilling horizontally under your land, they don't have to tell you.

I am drunk... I know that will not help, but just wanted to say it...

And MIs suggests of Hugh Farmersmarket Veg book and Anjum veggie curries are spot on (eyes veg box - and zillion pumkins and courgettes....)

Stropps - re oil. I thought if you owned the land, you owned it all the way down through the earth, or a way down anyway. There's going to be a lot of that over the coming years, they will be squeezing every drop of oil out of wherever they can find it . To be fair, in California, I used to see little derricks in people's back gardens practically, and they lived with that and were used to it.

Hel lo
I am wobbly but alive.
Not quite a new woman , but certainly a bit lighter. Doc says he removed a fibroid the size of a pineapple.
Apologies if you're having your tea
Back later with news from ward 5
X
Crem. Thanks for all luck messages - really sweet you lot.

Oh Crem - so glad it's gone off OK. Wishing you a speedy recovery. xx

Oh good news Cremo :)

Lots of cooking, cleaning and deciding on floors here...

Oh gosh, Cremo! My friend was only telling me this morning of a friend of hers who has just had a fibroid removed (the size of a 20wk foetus)

Here's some and to help you recover

Cremola, hope you feel better soon....I have fibroids and their size has always been described in fruit terms too (satsumas swelling to grapefruits - always found it funny).

Just had my mothers neighbour (who is my schoolfriend's mum) on the phone because my DM was getting in a tizz about her phone not working/how to use the new mobile she has bought/a new bed being delivered/the walls in the kitchen feeling damp. She was obviously not making much sense.
So I phoned my mother. Apparently she had the BT man out because the green light to say she has messages keeps flashing, but she can't access any messages. He couldn't fix it, but didn't tell her what to do Dunno why she bought a new mobile (she threw the other one away, that DD spent 2hours trying to show her how to work!) The bed isn't due till Mon and the walls don't feel damp to neighbour.
I think she may be getting things a little out of proportion, but as I am 200miles away, it is difficult to know what I can do

It is so tough when you have phone calls like that and can't help, and one anxiety leads to another.....hope she is less confused tomorrow.

Glad the op went well, Cremo. You will have to come back to London when you are fighting fit for another debauched crepey night out.

Went to a party last night with an old friend who is pregnant for the first time at the crepetastic age of forty-seven. IVF. Donor egg. First go.

Quite a few people at the party clearly thought we were a couple as we'd travelled from the same neck of the woods ("we live in...") I was suggesting to her that she sat down from time to time and I have just had my customarily stark haircut. Much self-consciously liberal remarking of "she (me) might want to sit next to her friend."