I've been cooking and gardening - what's new!

I've been enjoying winter meals over the past couple of weeks - pea and ham soup, Swedish meatballs with cabbage and potatoes, curried chicken and others winter warmers.   One of the meals I still enjoy is a Sunday roast lunch. I grew up eating them, yes, EVERY week, but when I had my own family, it was more like twice a month. However, I did want to continue eating roast pork, chicken or roast lamb after Hanno died but initially I couldn't work out how to get around the large pieces of meat. I'd never eat it all even if I made a second meal of curry or a pie. But now, I buy pork belly and cut it into four pieces before I freeze it. A quarter of pork belly does me well for two meals, one roasted and one cut up in bite sized pieces, salted and served with a little leftover gravy the next day. The beef roast I do now is beef fillet. It is expensive but I like how there absolutely no waste. I carefully cut my fillet into four pieces between 2½ and 3 inches long, freeze three of them and roast the first one. Delicious! I usually have some left over for the following day which I slice thinly and have as a roast beef, mustard and lettuce sandwich.

This is what the garden looks like now. 

My main task has been to get my garden growing. I've had all the old vegetable gardens removed but I just can't give up gardening so I'm creating a floral container garden. I'm mainly growing roses with a couple of foxgloves, a new double lavender recently bred in Australia, buddleia - the butterfly bush, Texmax pelargonium which I'm growing for the colour, two blueberry bushes, Johnny Jump ups (violets), alyssum and several old English roses. I have climbing roses on the lattice and fence behind the containers and I think it will look lovely when they're all growing well.  Kerry and Jamie came over yesterday and helped me move pots, potting mix, mulch, pine bark and odd and ends to the garden so it would be easier for me to set everything up. I'm so lucky to have the family I have.

These are some of the old rose pots and new plants just bought.

The new outdoor setting waiting for their armrests.

I bought a small outdoor setting because the old table collapsed after 30 years on the job. It looks good but it came as a flat pack and I had to put it together.  🤨  I'd never done that before but I got through most of it and now I only have to add the arm rests to the last three chairs and it will be done. I'll enjoy sitting out there in the afternoons tending the garden and enjoying time outdoors in the fresh air.

I don’t watch a lot of TV, I prefer premium YouTube where I watch a variety of interesting programs with no advertising. Bliss! Lately I've been watching Wocomocook - a wonderful program about food and people all over the European countryside. It’s encouraging and inspiring to see people living lives connected to each other and the land. They milk cows, make ice cream with the milk and the cloudberries growing in the forests; they make bread, jam and chutney, pancakes, and cheese. I watched cakes, stews and drinks being made that I’ve never seen before. It shows a lifestyle of productivity and optimism, something similar to the way Hanno used to live. I’m continuing on with a small snippet of what I used to do but watching Wocomocook is enough to keep me interested in a productive life and moving forward.

Thank you for visiting me here today. I'll be back in a week or two with photos of the new garden.  Take care of yourself and take care.  xx

ADDITIONAL READING

A loan until death: what happens when your mortgage outlives your career?

Big Scioty, with clogging

Almost 2,000 children die every day from air pollution, report finds

On winter solstice the oranges on my tree reach their peak

My neurotic dog Tully doesn’t like change. This reminded me of Gracie.

The brown bears are back at Brooks Falls. Many of you know I love watching the brown bears catching salmon at Brooks Falls in Alaska. They came back this week and will continue eating until it's time to hibernate later in the year. If you haven't seen them, it's worth a click.