We had vegetable soup last night. Those of you who are familiar with my methods won’t be surprised by this, as we had vegetable stew the night before. The difference is a couple of minutes with a hand blender. As usual, I got the quantities slightly wrong and it looks like we will be having soup for lunch too. However, there are worse things.
Biscuits – slightly overcooked and slightly too festive for my tastes
The snow is still here, as are the low temperatures. I am sitting here typing in multiple layers of clothing, wishing I’d made a different choice of home thirty six years ago. It was only ever meant to be a temporary stop on the housing ladder, but somehow it became permanent. We could, I admit, have found better built houses with more facilities in better areas, but it was hard to find one that improved in all areas, and which had decent schools, good transport links and good local shops.
That’s life, I suppose. It was too good to improve on and not good enough to feel settled.
Grantham Gingerbread
It’s a bit like the new place. The house is better, the heating and garden are great improvements, but it can be busy and noisy when the steam railway or parkrun is on, the chip shop is not as good and, in general, the local facilities aren’t quite as good. Plus the neighbours are a bit posh. Some of them have electric BMWs and a number of the women look like they need regular maintenance from nail bars and bleach bottles. I expect that we will become known as the odd couple at the end of the row. My ten year old VW with the bent wing and odd mirror is already quite distinctive amongst the shiny new cars on the rest of the street.
However, even if I won the lottery I wouldn’t change. I’d add an extension to the bungalow so we could access the garage without going outside and I’d probably have the wing fixed on the VW, but apart from that I have everything I need. You’d never believe that I used to be hard-working and ambitious, would you?
Gingerbread Men
When I move I am going to start baking again.
I am sorry to hear the chip shop is not as good. I though you had found a good one there, but I am probably confusing it with another one you and Julia visited recently.
I hope you can get back to baking. Tootlepedal is right, the delicious smells will drive your neighbors crazy! 🙂
It seemed good to start with, then less good, and now, after pie, chips and peas, seems to be improving again. It’s just a case of getting used to new things.
Planning scones for next week. 🙂
You will get there
Little by little, it will be done. By the yard it’s hard, by the inch it’s a cinch as the marketing books used to say. 🙂
I hope that you do get round to baking when you are settled in. It is a very satisfying activity and the delicious smells will drive the neighbours mad.
I am going to start with biscuits and move on to scones. I have a scone recipe that uses oil and is much kinder to arthritic hands than rubbing butter in.
Even though we have an electric car in our driveway—daughter Dee’s—you would fit right in on our road. In central Maine we tend to be a little, ahem, casual about clothes, hair, and makeup. Just the way I like it. 😉
🙂 Sounds like a place with proper values. 🙂
It is! My kind of place. Let’s just say I’m not exactly the height of fashion.
🙂 It saves a lot of worry if you don’t have to worry about keeping up with the latest fashions.
You bet! Not my thing. At all.
🙂
I love the biscuits – all of them. Re cars, My Kia cerato is 16 years old and still going strong. I’m getting a bit old and try not to drive it as often as before.
There will be more biscuits in retirement. I try not to drive in the dark now if I can avoid it – the thin end of the wedge.