Pin Up Girl

I put on a fresh white shirt. and the front was gaping a bit between the buttons. So I grabbed my pot of safety pins, found what I needed, and felt I could face the day with confidence.
In the pot I found three of these sets of little brass pins. Where did I get them? I have no recollection of ever going to Paignton. I think they must have been in one of those tins of random haberdashery I have acquired over the years.
Haberdashery is such a great word - but none of the etymologists can fully agree on its origins - it goes back to the 1400s. It could be

• from Middle English haberdas meaning small things, sold by a pedlar or market trader
• from the French haber d'acheter, "to have to buy"
• from Old German habt ihr das?, have you got this?
• from Dutch haberdoedas, gibberish
• from avoirdupois - merchandise sold by weight, which was occasionally spelt with an h

Nobody seems to be sure. Finding this little set of pins reminded me of my Mum who always carried some in her handbag, telling me" because you never know when somebody might need a safety pin, Ang". I have a great fondness for buttons, pins, little skeins of thread and sewing notions. I have just added "sort out my haberdashery" to the 70's List!

Tuesday Tasks

Bob worked very hard all morning installing the built-in fridge and the cooker hood. Both of which required modification to fit in place. I shortened a dress for a friend to wear at her grandson's wedding. Then set about refixing the insulation on the oven doors. Quite amused to realise my tinfoil is called "Trust" and the kitchen knife I was using said "Have faith in God"

In the afternoon Ro and Jess came over for an afternoon of Easter crafts. Well, I had some leftover Holiday Club stuff which needed using up! Rosie and Jess made Hama bead hearts and crosses, then Ro added to hers. Lack of kitchen space meant we decorated biscuits at the coffee table. I am borrowing Julian's Carpet Shampooer next month!

Wednesday will be a little quieter for me, as I am going to my neighbour's funeral. Bobs Shed Friend is coming after lunch to help with the worktops. It's beginning to look like a kitchen at last!

What's Cooking?

The first air fryer was not around f9r the Battle of Hastings and the Bayeux Tapestry.  It was made of wood, and aluminium, with a chicken-wire basket - and it was as big as a dog kennel. The inventor was a Dutchman, Fred van der Weij in 2006. I know this because I watched Hannah Fry [who seems to be all over the BBC TV and radio lately] in this programme

I have a confession...having declared very firmly back in November that I didn't need one, I must tell you that one arrived at Cornerstones at the beginning of March.

Liz and Steph had suggested it might be useful once the Kitchen Project started. Who knew how long I'd be without my oven? 

After much discussion and research, we settled on the Tefal Dual Drawer model, agreeing it should be counted as part of the Kitchen Project. I was still dithering, then discovered it was on offer in John Lewis. [I think the reduction was because it was about to be rebadged as part of their Jamie Oliver range]

Four weeks in, I have to report I'm getting on better than i expected. Sunday breakfast croissants are delicious. Jacket potatoes are quick and easy.  Salmon fillets, and other fish pieces are moist and flavourful. The two baskets with synchronised finish time are a good idea. Fish and chips, meat and potatoes, all work well. I got a small chicken and produced a proper Sunday Roast Dinner. I did pork steaks with Aunt Bessie's bake-at-home Yorkshire puds, combined with veg from the microwave...all good. I've not tried any cakes yet.

"We lived on sandwiches for over a week when they were doing our kitchen" said a friend, most concerned that our DIY plan, with a longer time frame would mean uninspired cold meals. I assured her we were enjoying a varied, flavourful cooked diet, and not splurging on meals out or takeaways.

Jamie's chicken and mushroom parcels looked and tasted good [with baby potatoes cooked in the second drawer, and mixed veg in the m-wave] Recipe here

It will be interesting to see if my cooking styles change when I'm back to a full size kitchen with oven and hob. But I'm managing on a small worktop with the microwave, toaster and A-F [and kettle] 

Which is a lot more than a lot of families have. So many people across the globe have one pan on a fire or single gas ring. I am grateful for good food, and so many ways to prepare it.

I've Got A Little List

I had so many lovely birthday cards, they are all hanging on the wire in the hallway. This is so useful, as there is nowhere else to display them properly, and with all the kitchen traffic in and out at the moment and doors opening and closing, the draughts would blow them all over the place if they were standing up.

Towards the right is a bright blue one, handmade - with 70 cut out of card, and each numeral covered in colourful tinfoil. It's from my old friends Elisabeth and Mark in Cambridge. She sent a lovely newsy letter with it, and posed this question "have you got a list for the year?" It's apparently a thing for 'milestone birthdays'.  Either you have a long list of Small[ish] Aims, or a shorter list of Big Ambitions. So she suggested 70 little things I might want to do before next April 10, or seven major things, one for each decade.

Learning the Saxophone, Growing My Hair To My Waist, Writing a Crime Novel, Visiting The Kennedy Graves At Arlington, Seeing the Northern Lights, Owning a Lotus Elan [like Emma Peel's], and Running A Half Marathon. These seven were all previously considered at some point in my youth, but long since abandoned due to lack of finance, time, health and talent. So The Big Seven List is out...
This week I shall try and come up with 70 things which I could aim for. What's that phrase? SMART Goals

My dear Auntie Peggy used to have a plate like this in her china cabinet, my Mum gave it to her, because she was always saying 

"One day I'll get around to it" So maybe this is the year for me to do all those things I have been intending to do...

Watch this space [please, NO suggestions, I am afraid that once I start writing it down, there will already be more than 70 on my own list, without additions from well meaning friends!]

ITEM NUMBER ONE - WRITE THE LIST!

I just spent 10 minutes on this project and came up with 20 items without much difficulty 

Lent 6: Release

The calendar picture is a little late - because I took it down from the hook in the kitchen, and then couldn't find the 'safe place' where I had put it!It turned up on Tuesday, when Julian was helping me go through the stacks of kitchen stuff in the back bedroom. 
It seemed a very apposite message - not everything that came out of my kitchen cupboards is going back! I even managed to let go of a beautiful NordicWare Bundt pan.  On sale at £50, it cost me £5 in a CS, but I have never used it [it was 'as new' when I got it] And my gran's glass jug [never used, as I was always afraid I might break it!]

There is no point in hanging onto things like this. They can go and bless others. But more than material items, it is important to let go of other 'stuff'

• bad, hurtful memories
  
• grudges or ill feeling because of past slights
• aspirations you will never realistically achieve 
• worse, aspirations for your children [they may not want to be doctors or lawyers or whatever]
• envy because you do not have as much money as someone else
• resentment because age or health is limiting your activities 

As we get older, we need to let go of things which have may been an important part of our lives in the past but we are just not able to do them anymore. Maybe we don't have the stamina, or the flexibility for the activities we enjoyed in our youth. We need to learn to  let go of these things with grace, rather than resentment

I spoke with a lovely lady on my Hospital Volunteer Visit this week. She is a widow, with no children-or grandchildren - she asked the head of a local school if she could give an Easter Egg to every pupil. She's done this for a number of years. The village children speak to her when they see her on her mobility scooter. She was so bright and cheerful [even in a hospital bed]  

In her eighties, she reluctantly had to give up knitting because she can't manipulate the needles anymore. So she gave her wool stash to a knitting group - and also made a donation to a group which provides "angel blankets" for mothers of stillborn babies. Rather than become embittered by her lack of family, and her loss of craft skills, she is using her resources in a positive way. She's making an impact.

I had a friend who used to say of things she was letting go of"it was mine for just a season, but now that time has gone". Release what is past to make room for what is to come. It will sometimes take courage. Don't dwell, don't dither, step out in faith.

Who knows what that new found freedom may bring?

In And Out Of The Kitchen

So the idea is, you all work together, doing your set task, following the rules and everything, and once it is all done, there it is - complete.
Strippers, plasterers. plumbers, electricians, painters, powder-coaters, floor guys, cabinet builders, counter-fitters....But it is like doing the foxtrot*, two steps forward, and then two sideways. Trouble is that the first job [the strippers, Bob and me, taking out the old fittings] revealed so many unexpected issues. Our home, built in 1972 has surprisingly non-straight walls, and the floor-to-ceiling distance varies. Add in the extra time for rejigging a cupboard to fit round random pipes, and time for altering the cooker hood so it can vent though the ceiling, into the loft and outside, whilst avoiding the rafters and joists, and the project soon over-runs the time schedule. If we had hired fitters, they would have got on with it, but added ££££ to the costs. We are DIYing it, and fitting the work round funerals, hospital visits and other unexpected appointments. So it is taking longer. But Bob did warn me that would happen. We plod on, doing work most days. We follow the IKEA instruction books assiduously [the only way to make it work] There are many tea-breaks

 

* I must confess, I cannot dance the foxtrot, or the cha-cha for that matter.

This little quirky guy - part of Julian's birthday gift - is making me smile.
Please can someone suggest a good name for Mr-Potato-Head-With-Aloe-Hair?

The Wonder Years

We were a bit late getting up on Tuesday, and therefore we were still getting dressed at 8:15 when the doorbell rang. I pulled on a dressing gown and ran to answer, expecting a parcel delivery or something. And there stood Julian, grinning, with a large gift bag - "Happy Birthday!" he said. As he had  Tuesday off work, he decided to come up unannounced and deliver his gift in person. I was utterly thrilled. 

We went out to breakfast [North Elmham Post Office] Then we came back, and I opened J's gifts, an Ottolenghi cookbook [Simple, which is one I have been keen on for ages] a quirky plant holder, and another little gift. And a birthday card saying that now I am 70 I am entering the Wonder Years.[I wonder where I put my car keys, I wonder what I did with that book...] He'd addressed to Ang aka WonderWoman!

Julian helped us with more kitchen work, stopped for a snack lunch, then went home mid afternoon. What a lovely surprise.

Wednesday was another birthday event. My best friend Chris treated me to tea and cake at Tall Orders. I made a real effort and dressed up properly [having lived in my red overalls for most of the previous few weeks]
She gave me a lovely card, bouquet of flowers and a little book about "You are entering the Wonder Years, now you are Muddle-Aged" [I am spotting a theme here]
Late Wednesday evening, I opened all the cards, and Bob's gift. A new Breadmaker, to replace the one I have had since 1998 [which no longer produces a decent loaf] That will be reviewed once I have a proper kitchen again. The girls and their families gave me a joint gift of a Spa Day [oooh!]
We got up early on Thursday. I delivered a card and plant to my SIL as it is her birthday too. She gave me a card and a plant in return! Then on to collect the oven doors. In the last ten years, they have got very scratched and tatty, but now they have a new powder coating and look splendid. Thanks Tom and Ian at Colorcote.

On the way back a quick stop at a plant centre [coffee and scones] The afternoon was spent planting, sorting flowers, and building kitchen cabinets - and then a lovely meal of moules et frites. I feel truly spoilt - thank you everybody for all your lovely comments yesterday. I don't know about wonder years, I certainly had a wonderful day.