Tuesday 29th August 2023 1018hrs BST

 

OK, I'm 67. All morning the Moody Blues song 'Never Thought I'd Live To Be 100' has been on continuous mental play - finally an earworm I can definitely appreciate (grimly). 

 

Paul brought me my favourite roses and birthday cake. My children emailed birthday wishes. My cup runneth over:)

 

Meanwhile...

 

The reconsideration project (aka decluttering) continues, almost finished but still some to go. It is working despite being one of the most simultaneous tedious-gut wrenching experiences ('But we might need that one day and the way prices are rising I don't want to have to pay eyewatering amounts to replace it!' and/or 'OMFGosh, AGAIN we have to spend the day sorting boxes, WHAT??!!'). We still need a slightly bigger house because getting to household and cleaning supplies is still going to be 'move ten things to get the one thing' owing to the bare bones storage space in this shoebox. sigh

And I would really like to know where the hell I'm going to hide the Christmas presents. Yes, I have Christmas shopping done (e-vouchers will be sent to the US loved ones at the start of Christmas week so that's done as well). 

 

The first of Paul's gifts arrived this morning (thank-you Mr Postie) and I need to work out where to hide it. I have a half-mind to dig out some of the Christmas fabric and make a big bag to hang off the mantel, I could put every gift in the bag and not have to worry. Hmmm. Gonna give that some serious thought today. Paul doesn't 'peek' so having the gifts tucked in a 'Santa Bag' from tomorrow doesn't pose a worry and would mean I wouldn't be finding things I'd meant for gifts in March. The thought is growing on me.

 

Speaking of autumn, it cometh, and honestly I can feel winter looming as well. The rowans are stripped of berries, the leaves are beginning to change colour and the swifts will be leaving soon for their African winter home. 

 

Autumn is my favourite time of year - I usually have the new diaries and calendars bought by mid-September but this year (for 2024) I already have got those tucked up. Christmas gifts are bought, winter clothing and bedding either washed or in the process of being washed (my workhorse clothes washer working overtime to get it all done). All that is left is planning and stocking in 'festive foods'. This year I'm either buying a 'crown' (turkey breast roast in the USA) or simply chicken filets (boneless chicken breasts in the USA) that I'll roast and serve with traditional 'trimmings'. Thanks to the lovely worktop oven I have been working on perfecting my sugar cookies and Yule Log skills - one worry off, yippee!

 

I love everything about autumn, always have. The changing leaves, the crisper air, the cooking and baking, the lovely anticipation of winter - will it snow long enough and deep enough to build snowmen that last weeks, what colour Christmas lights will I use to decorate the front garden, which illuminated ornament should I use in the front window, should I use the full-on 4ft Christmas tree or go with the 2.5ft mantel tree...

67, wow. Never thought about being a 60something, actually. I'm fine with it, it definitely beats the alternative!

 

 

1 August 2023 0751hrs BST

 

Aaaaand the calendar rolls on into a new month as we continue the reconsideration project here at Holly Cottage. Paul is now so fully on-board he has taken over as project manager and is actually becoming rather ruthless in the cull of stuff. 

 

This morning I'm taking close to thirty like-new jigsaw puzzles to the dementia centre after a chance meeting with one of the centre volunteers as I awaited my taxi to the dentist. I tried to convince Paul he could easily sell these puzzles on eBay or our local sell-buy-swap site but he says he doesn't think the puzzles would sell (HEH! How does he think those puzzles got to our house in the first place?!) and he just wants to see the stack whittled down. (Uh oh. I ordered three more at the weekend...)

 

My personal project of clearing out the kitchen to make it more efficient continues, sigh. Getting there but not fast enough to my satisfaction. Still, every little helps and nowt more than the worktop oven and dishwasher. Yes I lost a lot of food prep space but what I gained in truly life-changing usability is worth the loss of the food prep space. Not having to bend into the oven and not having to stand at the kitchen sink hand-washing dishes is an absolute priceless trade-off. 

Can I do a sort of sidebar moment here regarding kitchen efficiency? Scroll past if you can't take yet another of my glowing reviews...

Last year I bought a Cuisinart 'multi-cooker' to replace the single use electric skillet. It's a three piece (griddle-grill+steamer insert+deep-ish main pot) '5-in-1' unit, I can fry-boil-slow cook-steam in the main pot. I can grill bacon, burgers, fish, steak on the grill plate. BONUS (and reason for buying the thing) - all the bits except the heating base are independent of the base. Yes, that's right, all the bits but the wipe-clean heating base go in the dishwasher (or hand-wash, not that I EVER want to have to do that again!).

I loved my electric skillets (oh yeah, I had TWO, one small-ish and one huge) but the Essential Tremor made washing either skillet increasingly difficult. Juggling the washing-up process (keeping the electrical part completely free of any water whilst cleaning the cooking surface without dropping the skillet into the water) got to the point I avoided using those electric skillets as often as I'd wanted owing to how difficult cleaning said skillets had become.

 

Now, I have GOT to have an electric skillet - Paul has fallen seriously in love with Cajun fried chicken (I put a shocking amount of Cajun seasoning in the flour dredge) and for some reason I can only make said chicken in an electric skillet. Yes I have tried using a frying pan on the hob and all I can say after dozens of seriously bad fails that an electric skillet is a MUST HAVE to make perfect fried chicken.

 

The last time I used the smaller skillet and stood at the sink praying aloud I didn't drop the damn thing into the soapy water, it dawned on me I simply couldn't be the first chief cook and bottle washer to dream of an electric skillet in two parts - one the heating base and the other a detachable cooking surface that could safely be dunked.

 

And I finally found that dreamt of kitchen appliance when during a long online browse I stumbled across the 'multi-cooker' section.

 

OOOOOOH! A Cuisinart appliance! Great reviews. And a Cuisinart. With the famous Cuisinart quality (and guarantee). Well worth the £199.99 price...that I couldn't make myself splash out. I bookmarked it on the site I found it on, I began searching for it on the discount sites, I checked the original site hoping for a sale. 

And last year my patience was rewarded by a £50 price drop during Prime Day. 

Paul wasn't too happy about the purchase until he enjoyed a few meals cooked in that incredible device. Oh ok, being able to clearly demonstrate how the new appliance actually saved a considerable amount of electrical cost to use probably was the decider for him.

 

That multi-cooker is an absolute marvel, so much so I haven't used the hobs since it arrived. We're eating even more healthier - veg is so much nicer steamed! Steaks and other grilled foods come off that plate more moist and tasty at a much lower energy use cost than even grilling in the worktop oven (also a huge energy cost saver but I love grilling on the Cuisinart because it's easier to clean than the worktop oven after a grill session). 

 

And I can actually make a seriously mean spag-bol in one go with the main pot (brown the mince, drain, pour in the fresh ingredients for sauce or dump 1-2 jars of decent spag-bol sauce I then 'doctor' a bit plus 2 cups water. Bring to boil then dump in the pasta, bring back to boil then turn down the heat to high simmer until the pasta is cooked. (this works on a conventional hob, btw)

OR I can cook the pasta first and set it aside in a serving bowl then make the meaty sauce to serve over the pasta. 

 

I've died and gone to cooking Dog Heaven.

 

Our Scottish Summer is following the typical Scottish summer weather pattern - damp to soaking wet (rain, rain, and yet more rain) and on the chilly side. We don't need to turn on the heat but we both find a body warmer and fleece lined trousers our cosy best summer garb. I hate to think what winter may look like this year. I'm in the annual process of making sure the winter blankets and garments are mended (if needed) and washed (needed or not!) and vacuum packed to be opened and used come mid-autumn - or sooner if the weather continues damp and chilly. 

I'm giggling a wee bit as I type this, I STILL don't understand why people spend huge sums of money to fight over sunbeds at foreign holiday destinations so they can bake in unbearable summer sun and heat. I love our much cooler summers so much I've actually been known to wear a sundress whilst moaning about the rare 80F heat wave and longing for a return of the damp and chilly typical Scottish Summer weather. All I need is room for a nice little glasshouse to grow tomatoes in.