Today has been a lovely day of quality sales shopping time with my daughter. With her birthday falling in Feb, we tend to get her birthday pressies in the post Christmas sales, and this year has been no exception. That just leaves me with a couple of bags of clothes and some new boots to get wrapped up.
But whilst that was a very enjoyable way to spend a day, it does not really qualify for a project.
I hit the new technological age at Christmas myself with some fancy new gadgetry that I have been sternly advised I cannot on pain of death call a walkman. It is an MP3 player, and so tiny and cute looking that I am quite in love with it, accompanied by a docking station to give me a stereo system in my studio.
(Somehow I just cannot get MP3 player to trip off my tongue though, so it is and forever will be a walkman - have to whisper that bit in case the teen police are listening).
Therefore today's project was to actually download my albums onto it, because the first time I managed to hide albums in folders that then would not play on the random shuffle option - total technophobe here.
The random shuffle option now has me listening to Latin Divas, next to Garbage, next to the Doors, next to Lily Allen, then some Evanescence, followed by some Bjork, with some Metallica and Pink in the mix. Hmmm - eclectic anyone?
I had forgotten how much music affects my mood, and sets the tone and pace of a day - what bliss now to do my housework plugged into my tiny earphones. Well almost bliss, truthfully just slightly less than a bore chore when I can dance around and sing really really really badly while changing the beds - until poor Brendan had to come and take my new toy away. He said something about his ears bleeding due to my tone deaf caterwauling. Cheek. Oh well hopefully will get it back tomorrow.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thank crunchie for Friday
Today is a collage of projects - time for that sewing needle to get busy.I started with the torn sleeve on a shirt that I have not worn since summer, when I tore it on an apple tree and never got round to fixing it.
Then the button that popped off my waistcoat a week ago - luckily managed to catch it when it hit the floor so did not have to replace all the buttons to match.
The finally the black dress.
As some of you may be aware my main new year resolution this year is not to buy any new clothes. I am allowing myself second hand clothes and Fairtrade, but really with a bulging wardrobe I should not require any additions to it for at least 5 years.
This black dress I bought on ebay last year, but hated it on once it arrived - one of the drawbacks of buying clothes on ebay - but I really liked the slashed sleeves and the bead detailed v-neck, so decided to keep it and turn it into a tunic top to wear with jeans. So I promptly shoved the dress on a hanger and forgot about it for 9 months.
Today while I had the sewing box to hand I cut 15inces off the bottom of the dress, so it now hangs to mid thigh, and removed some of the extra beading that looked a little overdone and a bit too bling for me. Just need to get the sewing machine out to finish the hem neatly, but that will be a job for another day as we are off out for a meal tonight with friends so need to get out of my work clothes and find something to wear!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
At a loose end .......
Struggling to find a project for today and not really sure why as there is no lack of things that need doing.
Unfortunately my motivation seems to have wandered off for a walk in the sun today.
Yesterday we had a day of visits with the morning taken up with friends and then the afternoon too, so very pleased we managed to fit the essential wood cutting in over lunchtime.
I have a number of schemes running through my mind but can't seem to get down to actually doing any of them - first and foremost is the thought that having given away my surplus suitcase of clothes, I have not tackled the clothes in my wardrobe, which are now hanging 6 to a hanger and the door won't close unless wedged.
What I have acheived today is to pass on my cheats chilli recipe in French to my client, no easy feat, considering my poor written French. Being the sort of person to abhor wasted food of any description and having seen the meaty chicken carcass she was considering throwing away, I picked it clean for her, and made up a batch of very mild chilli, so I hope they enjoy it.
Cheats Chilli
a bowl of any sort of left over meat
some wrinkled old tomatoes chopped roughly
that onion at the back of the veggie basket that is sprouting green shoots, chopped roughly
a forgotten tin of red kidney beans, or any other beans or sweetcorn knocking about
a dusty dented tin of tomato puree, or the final squeeze from the puree paste tube at the back of the fridge
garlic, salt, pepper, paprika and chilli
Chuck a bit of oil in a pan (the greasy juices from the leftover meat will do), fry the garlic (if using fresh chillies add these now and fry with the garlic), add the onion and fry for a couple of minutes, add the meat, stir in chopped tomatoes, add some water, season, add paprika, add beans and the puree, and let simmer for about 30 mins, sprinkle with chilli flakes, simmer for a couple of minutes and to finish stir in a spoonful of creme fraiche.
Unfortunately my motivation seems to have wandered off for a walk in the sun today.
Yesterday we had a day of visits with the morning taken up with friends and then the afternoon too, so very pleased we managed to fit the essential wood cutting in over lunchtime.
I have a number of schemes running through my mind but can't seem to get down to actually doing any of them - first and foremost is the thought that having given away my surplus suitcase of clothes, I have not tackled the clothes in my wardrobe, which are now hanging 6 to a hanger and the door won't close unless wedged.
What I have acheived today is to pass on my cheats chilli recipe in French to my client, no easy feat, considering my poor written French. Being the sort of person to abhor wasted food of any description and having seen the meaty chicken carcass she was considering throwing away, I picked it clean for her, and made up a batch of very mild chilli, so I hope they enjoy it.
Cheats Chilli
a bowl of any sort of left over meat
some wrinkled old tomatoes chopped roughly
that onion at the back of the veggie basket that is sprouting green shoots, chopped roughly
a forgotten tin of red kidney beans, or any other beans or sweetcorn knocking about
a dusty dented tin of tomato puree, or the final squeeze from the puree paste tube at the back of the fridge
garlic, salt, pepper, paprika and chilli
Chuck a bit of oil in a pan (the greasy juices from the leftover meat will do), fry the garlic (if using fresh chillies add these now and fry with the garlic), add the onion and fry for a couple of minutes, add the meat, stir in chopped tomatoes, add some water, season, add paprika, add beans and the puree, and let simmer for about 30 mins, sprinkle with chilli flakes, simmer for a couple of minutes and to finish stir in a spoonful of creme fraiche.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Can't see the wood for the trees
As wood is our primary source of heating - actually reading that back makes me smile, because it sounds so posh, in fact our secondary source of heating is one ancient oil fired radiator for emergency use only in Thea's room.
So as I was saying, wood is our main source of heating, with the kitchen Rayburn running two bedroom radiators and wood burners in the bathroom and living room, we have to spend quite a bit of time making sure we have wood stocks in place for the winter.
We buy aged oak from a local supplier and also have a small hamlet coppice for our use - this by default - it used to provide the wood for the hamlet (a grand total of seven houses) but as three are now permanently empty, one is a modern electrically heated bungalow, and the other two are occupied by very elderly ladies who benefit from diesel fueled central heating now, we are the only house that requires wood. It is mostly birch, of varying ages, and there is quite a bit of tidying up to do there, but we are very lucky to have it none the less.
In order to make life easier for himself, Brendan hand built a death saw, a large mounted cutting disc run by a petrol engine - a Moteur Bernard. The motor came from our neighbour's barn where it had sat for nearly 15 years under a pile of sand.
Brendan mounted the engine, drive belt, cutting disc and a movable platform for the logs on a steel frame, and that is now our main way of cutting wood, much quicker and safter than the chainsaw. An hour on the death saw and we can have a week of wood cut ready for use. The larger pieces still need splitting by axe for the smaller wood fires, but this can be done in the barn in the relatively warm and dry.
You may have gathered therefore from the direction this entry is travelling in that today's project is to cut wood. We normally have full wood bins beside each fire, as well as a couple of spares in the hall, and a couple of weeks worth ready in the barn, but stocks are low, therefore a couple of hours of hefting logs and splitting ahead of us this afternoon.
Brendan's death saw project was featured in Brit Chopper magazine last year.
So as I was saying, wood is our main source of heating, with the kitchen Rayburn running two bedroom radiators and wood burners in the bathroom and living room, we have to spend quite a bit of time making sure we have wood stocks in place for the winter.
We buy aged oak from a local supplier and also have a small hamlet coppice for our use - this by default - it used to provide the wood for the hamlet (a grand total of seven houses) but as three are now permanently empty, one is a modern electrically heated bungalow, and the other two are occupied by very elderly ladies who benefit from diesel fueled central heating now, we are the only house that requires wood. It is mostly birch, of varying ages, and there is quite a bit of tidying up to do there, but we are very lucky to have it none the less.
In order to make life easier for himself, Brendan hand built a death saw, a large mounted cutting disc run by a petrol engine - a Moteur Bernard. The motor came from our neighbour's barn where it had sat for nearly 15 years under a pile of sand.
Brendan mounted the engine, drive belt, cutting disc and a movable platform for the logs on a steel frame, and that is now our main way of cutting wood, much quicker and safter than the chainsaw. An hour on the death saw and we can have a week of wood cut ready for use. The larger pieces still need splitting by axe for the smaller wood fires, but this can be done in the barn in the relatively warm and dry.
You may have gathered therefore from the direction this entry is travelling in that today's project is to cut wood. We normally have full wood bins beside each fire, as well as a couple of spares in the hall, and a couple of weeks worth ready in the barn, but stocks are low, therefore a couple of hours of hefting logs and splitting ahead of us this afternoon.
Brendan's death saw project was featured in Brit Chopper magazine last year.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Tuesday 19th January - Recycling day
Today's task is to get the recycling sorted out as it has attained a life of its own in the pantry.
We have been recycling for some years now, and were lucky enough in the UK to live in one of the first regions to have kerb side recycling schemes for our glass, tins, paper and garden waste.
Now we recycle even more and have reduced our landfill waste to one 40 litre bin liner a month - or as Bren would have it - I have just taken to hoarding more stuff.
I only throw out what I really cannot use, so our bin mostly has unrecyclable plastic in it.
All of our food waste goes to the animals or as a last resort to the compost bin - which the chickens like to raid anyway.
No material gets wasted - what can be reused goes for the dog's bed or the draught excluders, zips and buttons are kept, and the rest goes for rags.
With wood burners every little bit of paper is zealously guarded for fire lighters.
Glass bottles with screw tops and jars are all reused for my pickles, oils and sauces.
Yoghurt pots are either used for freezer pots or for seedlings in the garden, and clear plastic tubs make good propagators for spring too.
I wash and reuse the plastic bags that you buy your fruit in here in France and those little net bags that the clementines and oranges come in too.
I could say that I am being really green - but Brendan just believes it is because I am really really tight - Thanks Bren.
We have been recycling for some years now, and were lucky enough in the UK to live in one of the first regions to have kerb side recycling schemes for our glass, tins, paper and garden waste.
Now we recycle even more and have reduced our landfill waste to one 40 litre bin liner a month - or as Bren would have it - I have just taken to hoarding more stuff.
I only throw out what I really cannot use, so our bin mostly has unrecyclable plastic in it.
All of our food waste goes to the animals or as a last resort to the compost bin - which the chickens like to raid anyway.
No material gets wasted - what can be reused goes for the dog's bed or the draught excluders, zips and buttons are kept, and the rest goes for rags.
With wood burners every little bit of paper is zealously guarded for fire lighters.
Glass bottles with screw tops and jars are all reused for my pickles, oils and sauces.
Yoghurt pots are either used for freezer pots or for seedlings in the garden, and clear plastic tubs make good propagators for spring too.
I wash and reuse the plastic bags that you buy your fruit in here in France and those little net bags that the clementines and oranges come in too.
I could say that I am being really green - but Brendan just believes it is because I am really really tight - Thanks Bren.
Monday, January 18, 2010
This should be tomorrow's project if I don't get a chance today.
This is one of a pair of hand carved wooden flowers I found in a brocante (an antiquities / flea market type of store in France.
My project - to clean them up and varnish them and then to mount them on the wall in the bedroom - despite what my husband says - walls need decoration, bare white is too stark.
The lovely old telephone that we bought with some friends in mind, who decided that they did not want a turn dial phone, now just sitting on the window sill.
365 days - 365 projects
Day 18 - Monday 18th January
Today's project is to remember my password to get into my blog site - done, and to upload where I started from in Facebook with my project for 2010.
And here it is...........
And the catch up was -
Jan 01 - recover from hangover with some home made remedies and finally put away all the books I received for Christmas in my library by auther name - very Virgo I know.
Jan 02 - make a gift for my guests - with friends visiting from the UK, I made a gift box of chocolates decorated with pretty ribbons and sequins.
Jan 03 - replenish depleted stocks - having used lots of my flavoured oils over the holiday period I took some time to make chilli and garlic oils ready for cooking.
Jan 04 - back to work - hard to find a project for today but then it was made easy for me, as soon as I got to the village where my client is, I spent 30 mins going around kissing everyone and wishing them a happy new year, so when I got home, I did the same in our village with our neighbours - it is very traditional in France to visit and have a little drink - an apero - to wish your neighbours a prosperous and healthy new year. Toddled home quite happy.
Jan 05 - mundane stuff - chasing up missing paperwork from my current agency - this may not seem a huge project but when you have to write in French it soon becomes a gargantuine task.
Jan 06 - Funeral - another hard day for a project, when your mind is totally distracted. This was the funeral of one of my summer clients from last year where the whole family have become good friends of ours, he had cancer that spread rapidly and took him on the first of the new year. Started a new knitting project in the evening.
Jan 07 - Off to get my health cover sorted - or so I thought. The French love to have dossiers of information on everything and you would think that after 3 years I would have got my head around it all but no - missing some paperwork so back home to find that and get it photocopied ready for the next meeting.
Jan 08 - Off for a meal with friends tonight - heavy snow on the forecast so it won't be a late night, finished my hat project and a couple of decorative knitted flowers for decoration. Look out for this listing on my etsy site.
Jan 09 - LOTS AND LOTS OF SNOW - today's project - clear areas for the chickens and ducks to feed from, a path to the wood pile, and an area of straw for Milla (my horse) to stand on, although mostly she just wanted to run around kicking snow into the air.
Jan 10 - redo CV - with a meeting with our employment advisors scheduled for Monday, I took the time to sort out my CV for this year - updated with last years working experience and sent it out to various agencies via email. While I was sat at the computer I also wrote a couple of long catch up letters to friends. I am not one for telephone conversations - too many memories of work related credit calls to feel comfortable with chatting on the phone, I would much rather write a letter, but when I leave them all for so long they become a chore - which is wrong - so must resolve to write more frequently. I prefer to write by hand to be honest but with money so tight I can't afford the stamps - so emails it is.
Jan 11 - ANPE meeting - today's mission - to get them to do something about French classes for Brendan - got them to sort out some contacts for lessons, they are coming in the post so that we can get Bren learning some French - some vocabulary other than car and tractor part names!
Jan 12 - UK tax Returns - finalised all my UK tax returns before the 31st January deadline. Horrid chore but finally done - the problem with such a long deadline is I always seem to put this job off until the last minute then panic in case I have any queries and they don't get resolved in time.
Jan 13 - visit a neighbour - with one of our neighbours feeling unwell, I made some soup and popped in for a quick visit to make sure she had enough wood for her fire and something to eat. Then finally uploaded some of the photos I had taken over the holiday period and logged back onto redbubble to get them on there and enter a couple of photos for various challenges.
Today's project is to remember my password to get into my blog site - done, and to upload where I started from in Facebook with my project for 2010.
And here it is...........
I will write up what I have done so far - but that will be a project for another day - so for now here are this weekend's projects.
Thursday 14th January - clean windows
We do suffer with damp in the unheated rooms in the house and unfortunately mould is a side effect of that - so today was window cleaning and curtain washing day. All the windows got cleaned, mould from the frame in the spare room and the office was bleached away and the net curtain in the spare room got a hand wash. Mundane and dull I know.
Friday 15 January - relearn to crochet
Crochet is something I pick up and discard almost as quickly because I just cannot seem to make my fingers and hands remember how the stitches are supposed to go. So I sat myself down and forced myself to complete something crocheted - and viola! one new headband finished and a new stitch - the treble crochet - learnt.
Saturday 16 January - spend time with friends
Now this should not be something that you have to schedule as a project I know - but sometimes when your friends live 1h30 mins drive away it can be easier just to email and phone and not to make the effort to drive over and physically spend time together. So on Saturday I got my act together and packed up all those old clothes from the suitcase under my bed and went and spent the day with a couple of girl friends and did some clothes swapping - and then a bit of sales shopping, as well as lunch and a glass of wine.
Sunday 17th January - animal caretaking
Another put off job - to be fair the weather has not exactly been amenable for outdoor working recently so when the sun came out this morning it was definitely not a day to waste. Out came the shovels and wheelbarrow and all the rabbits got a clean out and fresh straw, the quail got new sawdust and hay, and the chicken and duck house had a thorough cleaning. Bagged up a couple of sacks of sawdust from the death saw in the barn and spread the rest through the housing
Thursday 14th January - clean windows
We do suffer with damp in the unheated rooms in the house and unfortunately mould is a side effect of that - so today was window cleaning and curtain washing day. All the windows got cleaned, mould from the frame in the spare room and the office was bleached away and the net curtain in the spare room got a hand wash. Mundane and dull I know.
Friday 15 January - relearn to crochet
Crochet is something I pick up and discard almost as quickly because I just cannot seem to make my fingers and hands remember how the stitches are supposed to go. So I sat myself down and forced myself to complete something crocheted - and viola! one new headband finished and a new stitch - the treble crochet - learnt.
Saturday 16 January - spend time with friends
Now this should not be something that you have to schedule as a project I know - but sometimes when your friends live 1h30 mins drive away it can be easier just to email and phone and not to make the effort to drive over and physically spend time together. So on Saturday I got my act together and packed up all those old clothes from the suitcase under my bed and went and spent the day with a couple of girl friends and did some clothes swapping - and then a bit of sales shopping, as well as lunch and a glass of wine.
Sunday 17th January - animal caretaking
Another put off job - to be fair the weather has not exactly been amenable for outdoor working recently so when the sun came out this morning it was definitely not a day to waste. Out came the shovels and wheelbarrow and all the rabbits got a clean out and fresh straw, the quail got new sawdust and hay, and the chicken and duck house had a thorough cleaning. Bagged up a couple of sacks of sawdust from the death saw in the barn and spread the rest through the housing
And the catch up was -
Jan 01 - recover from hangover with some home made remedies and finally put away all the books I received for Christmas in my library by auther name - very Virgo I know.
Jan 02 - make a gift for my guests - with friends visiting from the UK, I made a gift box of chocolates decorated with pretty ribbons and sequins.
Jan 03 - replenish depleted stocks - having used lots of my flavoured oils over the holiday period I took some time to make chilli and garlic oils ready for cooking.
Jan 04 - back to work - hard to find a project for today but then it was made easy for me, as soon as I got to the village where my client is, I spent 30 mins going around kissing everyone and wishing them a happy new year, so when I got home, I did the same in our village with our neighbours - it is very traditional in France to visit and have a little drink - an apero - to wish your neighbours a prosperous and healthy new year. Toddled home quite happy.
Jan 05 - mundane stuff - chasing up missing paperwork from my current agency - this may not seem a huge project but when you have to write in French it soon becomes a gargantuine task.
Jan 06 - Funeral - another hard day for a project, when your mind is totally distracted. This was the funeral of one of my summer clients from last year where the whole family have become good friends of ours, he had cancer that spread rapidly and took him on the first of the new year. Started a new knitting project in the evening.
Jan 07 - Off to get my health cover sorted - or so I thought. The French love to have dossiers of information on everything and you would think that after 3 years I would have got my head around it all but no - missing some paperwork so back home to find that and get it photocopied ready for the next meeting.
Jan 08 - Off for a meal with friends tonight - heavy snow on the forecast so it won't be a late night, finished my hat project and a couple of decorative knitted flowers for decoration. Look out for this listing on my etsy site.
Jan 09 - LOTS AND LOTS OF SNOW - today's project - clear areas for the chickens and ducks to feed from, a path to the wood pile, and an area of straw for Milla (my horse) to stand on, although mostly she just wanted to run around kicking snow into the air.
Jan 10 - redo CV - with a meeting with our employment advisors scheduled for Monday, I took the time to sort out my CV for this year - updated with last years working experience and sent it out to various agencies via email. While I was sat at the computer I also wrote a couple of long catch up letters to friends. I am not one for telephone conversations - too many memories of work related credit calls to feel comfortable with chatting on the phone, I would much rather write a letter, but when I leave them all for so long they become a chore - which is wrong - so must resolve to write more frequently. I prefer to write by hand to be honest but with money so tight I can't afford the stamps - so emails it is.
Jan 11 - ANPE meeting - today's mission - to get them to do something about French classes for Brendan - got them to sort out some contacts for lessons, they are coming in the post so that we can get Bren learning some French - some vocabulary other than car and tractor part names!
Jan 12 - UK tax Returns - finalised all my UK tax returns before the 31st January deadline. Horrid chore but finally done - the problem with such a long deadline is I always seem to put this job off until the last minute then panic in case I have any queries and they don't get resolved in time.
Jan 13 - visit a neighbour - with one of our neighbours feeling unwell, I made some soup and popped in for a quick visit to make sure she had enough wood for her fire and something to eat. Then finally uploaded some of the photos I had taken over the holiday period and logged back onto redbubble to get them on there and enter a couple of photos for various challenges.
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