Doing a Hugh

I'm looking forward to Hughs War on Waste  programme this evening.  Of course many of you already do your bit to reuse recycle and reduce waste, but I will put my hand up and say I could probably do more.  I only recently learned from Jack Monroe that you could pickle left over bits of veg, just stick them in a jar in the fridge and they will last another month.  I had never thought of that but will be trying it with any leftover veg I find at the back of the fridge. They usually get shoved into a soup or stew but this opens up a whole new world of flavour.  Of course I will never manage to get my waste for a year to fit into a jar as the family in zero waste home have achieved but I try to do my bit.  A lot of it is achieved with very little effort on my part, bottles, cans, milk cartons, newspaper and cardboard among other things are put in the recycling bags to be taken away for recycling by the council.  Clothing either goes to the charity shop or is cut up for quilts or rag rugs.  Uncooked kitchen scraps go in the compost bin, while leftover cooked food  is made into another meal that is just as tasty.  Yesterdays roast is todays curried bubble and squeak with home grown tomatoes.

While the blackberries picked from the hedgerow which would have gone to waste as nobody around here seems to bother to pick them anymore,  were taken out of the freezer and made into a delicious blackberry and apple crumble for our dessert yesterday.  Over ripe bananas were mashed up and mixed with oats, seeds, melted honey, coconut oil and peanut butter to make healthier flapjacks.

The amount of waste that goes to landfill is criminal, we can't keep filling holes with our rubbish, much of which will take thousands of years to decompose.  I for one welcome the charge on carrier bags, there must be millions that are taken home and discarded as soon as the shopping is unpacked.  I won't miss seeing them decorating the local trees or even worse in the sea killing sea creatures.  All the hullaballoo over paying 5p when you can buy a bag for life for 10p which will be replaced for free when it wears out.  Get a grip people!  O.k, I will get off my soapbox before I get pushed off.

So what are your favourite ways to fight a war on waste?

Chickpea xx

Life - the good, the bad and the boring

  I needed space and time away from the house this morning.  I have been in self enforced house arrest for months, apart from going out to work that is, I'm allowed out for that.  This morning I built a little tunnel out to my car and escaped, yes it was short lived as I had to work in the afternoon but oh my it was glorious!!  Not the weather of course, but I kind of like it that way.  The wilder the better.   There were a few fellow escapees  making the most of it, dog walking, surfing and like me just gulping in the sea air and the view.  My beautiful Cornwall rewarded me with a rainbow, it was saying hey Chickpea good to see you.  Who needs a pot of gold when you have golden sands.

I am on the emotional rollercoaster of house selling still, it has brought a few tears and a lot of uncertainty but my feet are firmly on this path now so I have to see it though to the end.  No offers yet but a steady stream of viewings and a couple of second viewings, we have not found that special place yet so no hurry.

Late at night when I can't sleep I have been watching a series called Outlander set in Scotland, I also caught a programme set during the Viking period called The Last Kingdom, anyway it is not really about the programmes but the knitted accessories......yes I know I'm a bit weird, looking at the knitting instead of following the story ......I wouldn't tell everyone that but I'm sure many of you out there will understand.  There are the most beautiful shawls and wrist warmers, I would love to know who the amazing knitters were who designed and made them.  Has anyone else seen them?  It got me thinking, I have started on a cardigan for myself but I am such a slow knitter that it will take forever and I am losing heart already.  I am using fine alpaca wool doubled up but it is still very fine so is growing very slowly.  So I'm afraid I'm going to rip it out and make something else, any ideas for accessories anyone?  Oh and the male leads in the programmes did catch my eye as well :)

Thank you for all your supportive comments, I know the blog has gone to pot lately and I haven't had a lot to share but that is my life at the moment, the good, the bad and the boring.  I don't blog to get lots of followers, but I do appreciate those who have stuck with it, and to those who have unfollowed, your loss, I was about to enter my followers into a million pound draw (only joking)  It's a bit like friends really, the true ones stick with you through thick and thin.

Chickpea xx

Doubts are creeping in

Hi all you lovely people, sorry for being such a rubbish blogger at the moment but I'm incredibly busy working on 'the biggie' on my 60 things to do before I'm 60.  That would be the little matter of moving house!  The house has been pimped and preened to within an inch of its life and is now on the market!  EEEEKKKKK!!!  I must say it looks pretty damned good, I don't know why I'm moving!

When the for sale board went up it felt very very real.  We have been here 15 years and it is a much loved happy home, but it is time to move on.  To start the next stage of our lives, whatever that may be. I'm not even sure what I want that to be any more, I'm having doubts.

We haven't actually found any where else to live.........I'm not going to panic.........yet

Do I really want to live in the countryside..........or beside the sea?  I'm tying myself in knots.

Doubts fill my mind, prevent me from sleeping, too many choices, too many decisions.  Such HUGE decisions to be made, and I'm not sure we are exactly on the same page.  Himself sends me 'bling' properties, I send him properties with 'potential'.  I don't mind roughing it for a while, after all we lived in a caravan in his mothers field for three years while we saved up the deposit for our first house.  He says he's too old to be 'camping' out in a building site.  I want fields, he asks who will look after them......  Am I physically up to all the work, I'm still not completely recovered from my operations, will I ever be?

What do I want?  I haven't seen one single property that feels right.  Perhaps this is telling me something.

So what have I learned so far?

Estate agent don't exactly lie but are damned good at leaving out the important information like the extremely busy road right next to the cottage 'in the country'.  The house right next door to the 'secluded cottage'  The very very low ceilings even for me at 5'1" in a house that didn't need any work, mmm yes apart from the roof being taken off and lifted unless you are happy to keep bumping your head.  The VERY bad lane that even my truck had problems getting down.   It is really annoying for us and the seller, and wastes both are time.   A bit more honesty is needed.

 I don't know why I'm so worried about everything being impossibly tidy as none of the houses we have seen so far have been tidy.  I can see beyond that at the potential, but I'm sure it would put some people off.  I'm driving the bearded one mad as every time he puts something down, I put it away somewhere, usually forgetting where I stashed it.

So I am sitting here waiting for that first message saying someone wants to view our home.  It's been on the market one day and I'm already worrying, perhaps I put it on at too high a price.  Well we are not in a hurry as we can't find anywhere to buy so we might as well 'test the market' see I'm getting the lingo.  Our last house sold in two days, it's too much to ask that this happens again.  It's only been one day FFS! calm down.......

I just hate this feeling of being in limbo, not being in control of my destiny.  Not even knowing what I want my destiny to be at the moment.......doubts are creeping in.....

Sorry for the rambling nonsense, I just needed to get it off my chest.

Chickpea xx

Five Books and a Ruby

I have a butterfly mind I can't do one thing at a time, start something and complete it.  Oh no, I start one thing, wander off and start something else, drift away and start something else.  It drives the bearded one mad, and I have to admit I find it pretty annoying sometimes.  This is why I have lots of unfinished craft project, rooms half sorted and half painted and lots of books on the go at once.

For my Five on Friday  I will show you five of the books I am reading at the moment,  I drift from one to the other taking ages to finish just one of them. This is not all of the books I am reading at the moment, and doesn't include the one on kindle and another audio book!

Thank you Amy for hosting this fun link, it is about the only posts I am managing to do at the moment, so thank you for the Friday reminder.  I really need a kick up the derriere sometimes to get a post completed. (I won't tell you about those I start and never finish)



Beloved - Toni Morrison

I read this books years ago, listened to it in the car on tape years ago on a long journey and am now listening to it on Audible read by the author.  Each time I read/listen I get more from it, that is the sign of a brilliantly written book for me.  It just gets better each time you read it.  This version is read by Toni Morrison, it is like listening to a poem, her lyrical voice is perfect.




Gut - Giulia Enders

Yes, I know it seems a bit weird to be reading a book about the gut, but is is fascinating.  We think of the brain as clever and the heart as important and we don't give our digestive system a second thought until something goes wrong.  It is sadly neglected, yet it really does affect everything including our mental health.  It is written in an approachable and witty way with wonderful illustrations.



The Self Sufficiency Manual  - Alison Candlin

I'm getting prepared for our new life in the country and reading up on growing veg, keeping chickens, storing food, making chutneys, jams and all things exciting.  I can't wait, if only we can find our future home.  I really need to do a post on the rubbish that Estate Agents talk one day.  They could describe a public toilet so poetically you would be tempted to buy.



Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Illustrated by Yayoi Kusama

I saw this on someones blog, sorry can't remember where now, please let me know if it is you as I would like to thank you for introducing me to this wonderful artist.  Her illustrations are just so gorgeous.  It is a book I will keep forever, leafing through the pages to drool over the drawings.



Easy Vegetarian One-Pot

'The Book People' have tempted me to buy yet another cookery book.  I try not to look when I see they have been to the surgeries where I work......but.

Anyway, what's done is done as they say.  This has some lovely recipes, including a section on Rubies (Ruby Murray - curry, for my overseas readers).  Well how could I resist, less calories than a takeaway and uses store cupboard ingredients.  This Dahl is cheap and cheerful, it would be lovely mopped up with naans or for those gluten free like me served with rice.

Here's the recipe

1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 inch piece of fresh ginger grated
4 tablespoons of butter (I used 2 tblsp olive oil)
12 oz. tomatoes chopped
1 tblsp curry powder
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
12 oz red split lentils
900 ml/4 cups vegetable stock
fresh squeezed juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and black pepper
2 - 3 sprigs fresh or frozen curry leaves fried for a few seconds in butter to serve.

*Spotted some mistakes in the ingredients list which I have put right now,  sorry to those who may have already copied it.

Put the onion garlic and ginger into a food processor and blend to form a fairly smooth puree.  Heat the butter in a saucepan, add the puree, tomatoes and spices and fry gently for about 5 minutes.

Add the lentils, stock, lemon juice, salt and pepper, bring to the boil, cover and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes until the lentils have thickened.

Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, then serve topped with a few fried curry leaves, if using.

Have a good weekend everyone, and welcome to the new followers :)

Chickpea xx

Ticking Five Goals in One Meal

I'm feeling a bit under the weather this week all sorts of aches and pains including  ear ache. I'm sure it is the change in the weather.  Every year the change from summer to the much colder weather seems to affect me, does anyone else experience this?  I haven't felt much like cooking, so simple food is on the menu this week, however I can still tick my own personal goals with just simple food.  So what are my personal goals I hear you ask ( well maybe not but I'm going to tell you anyway)

ZERO FOOD WASTE - As a child my mum used to nag me to eat my food saying there were starving children in the world and there was me wasting food.  At the time, I would just roll my eyes and mumble under my breath that they were welcome to my brussel sprouts.  Many many years have passed since I was a child, no I'm not saying how many - and food waste has got to obscene proportions.  You only have to look in the bins outside the supermarkets to see tons of perfectly good food being thrown away, but it is not only the supermarkets that are guilty of this.   Love Food Hate Waste reports that 15 million tons of food is thrown away in the U.K. every year, 50% of this is from our homes.  All of the energy, land and animal suffering (oh I am being controversial this week, probably because I'm feeling poorly and grumpy)  that is involved in producing this food.  Transporting it to the shops - more energy, pollution and destruction of land to build more roads for all the lorries - just to throw it in the bin! This week I had some left over mashed potato so made some potato cakes, it's a nice feeling saving food from the bin.  The 'love food hate waste' website has lots of ideas to use up leftovers.  I often think leftovers make the best meals, bubble and squeak being one of my all time favourites.  Do you have any favourite 'left over' recipes?  For these I added some rice flour (you can use plain), salt and pepper and dried tarragon (or any other herbs you want), rolled it out, cut out some circle and popped them in the over with a little oil brushed over.

ORGANIC - The amount of chemicals sprayed onto food is frightening, do we really know the long term effect consuming the combination of those chemicals has on us?  By growing my own I know exactly what goes onto them - very little.  A bit of organic feed and that's it.  There is nothing better than going out and picking the freshest of veg, still full of goodness because they haven't been transported half way across the world and sprayed with who knows what.   Now as you have probably noticed, I am a novice at growing my own, but I have managed to grow a few things including these tomatoes, and with a lot more practice and space I hope to grow more.  Animal welfare standards are also higher in organic milk etc. which brings me onto the next point.

ANIMAL WELFARE - 25 years ago me and the kids decided to stop eating meat and fish, that was our decision, just as the bearded one made the decision to carry on eating meat and fish.  I still eat eggs but try to ensure the chickens have been treated properly so buy free range.  I lived beside a poultry farm where the chickens were crammed into cages and never saw the light of day, they had a short and terrible life, and of course male chicks had a worse fate.   We used to have our own chickens and that will be the first thing I will do when we move back out into the countryside, it will be so good to eat our own freshest of eggs again from our own free range chickens.  Yes, before you say it, being vegan would be even better and I was for a while, but being unable to eat gluten already limits my options food wise.  As long as we all do our bit, meat eaters and vegetarians, for the best animal welfare we can make a difference.  Sorry do I sound preachy?  I'll shut up now.

PRODUCED LOCALLY - I will never managed to be totally self sufficient, we would starve if we had to rely on what I can grow, so will have to continue to buy produce.   However I try to buy as many things as possible that are locally produced.  It puts money back into the local economy, as Cornwall is one of the poorest regions in the U.K. we certainly need it.  It cuts down on food miles and through the box scheme I use it gives the local farmers a fair price.  I would rather my money went to keep them going than into the supermarkets pockets.  If farmers continue to go out of business we will have to rely on food shipped in from overseas, bad for the planet and our economy.  Now if only we could grow bananas in our fields as the bearded one has to take one to work everyday, he's addicted to them!

COOKING FROM SCRATCH -  I like knowing exactly what goes into my meals, no e numbers lurking, no added colourings and in my case no hidden gluten that causes me to run to the loo all day!  It's not always possible, when I get home from work really late there's nothing better than a Sansburys Free From pizza and a glass of wine  At the weekends when we have been busy and there is a house full to feed, the new Indian takeaway up the road is extremely tempting, but on the whole my meals are cooked from scratch.  Better for my pocket, health and waistline!


So a simple meal of cooked from scratch potato cakes made from left over locally grown potatoes, free range locally produced poached eggs and home grown organic tomatoes ticked my goals.    I'm only human, I don't always manage to achieve my goals, but it is something I am working towards.  I'm sure many of you do all of these things already, but I'm getting there.

I'm working extra hours again this week and painting, this is the last room to paint!!!!! Yay.  I'm missing popping around to visit you all but fingers crossed I will have more time soon.

For this post I'm joining Amys lovely Five on Friday

Chickpea xx

Friendship and Home

For B xxx

We have had a busy few weeks with family visiting and staying and last week a very dear friend came to stay for the week.  We haven't seen each other since she came to stay last year, but we soon slipped back into our old routine, sitting and chatting as if she had never moved away.  That's what friendship is about for me.  It doesn't matter how far away they live, or how long ago you saw them, you slip back into that friendship like a pair of comfortable slippers.

We had some lovely trips out including seeing Cornwalls' own Kneehigh Theatres performance of Rebecca, with all their usual fun, drama and quirkiness.  They are touring the play so if you get a chance go and see them, if only to see the incredibly imaginative way they transform the set.

We also went to see 45 years with the wonderful Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay.  It is a beautifully observed study of a long relationship which changes over the years as the couple age.  Their whole life together and their relationship that Charlottes character was so sure of is suddenly brought into question when a ghost from the past intrudes into their comfortable life.  It will not be to everyones taste but I found it very thought provoking and left me mulling it over for days after.  The added bonus for my friend was that it is set in Norwich, her home city and even included a friend of hers as an extra.

After living in Cornwall for several years, which is how we met, my friend made the decision to move back home to Norwich for various reasons.  Although she loved Cornwall, Norwich is where she grew up and will always be her home, just as Cornwall will always be my home.  We are both lucky to be able to choose to live in our 'home' counties.  Many thousands are forced to leave their homes and set out for an unknown future in other countries.  I have found it heartbreaking to watch the news in the last few months, seeing desperate people risking their lives to find somewhere they can be safe and start a new life free from fear.  I know it is a very contentious issue which has brought out the best and the worst in people.  The comments on social media have truly shocked me and made me feel like withdrawing from any form of online contact.  It saddens me that people I know are reposting such hateful things without even checking the source, just accepting things as fact when a couple of minutes research would show that they are complete lies.  I feel battered and bruised by the whole thing and needed to just withdraw and lick my wounds for a while.  However what I feel is nothing compared to those desperate people.  To me they are my fellow humans who need our help.  You may not agree with me and that is your right.  I will continue to do what I can to help, I have put together some toiletry bags that will be taken out to the refugees.  If you feel you want to do something,  various organisations have lists of what is needed, look up your local collection points.

Our plans for moving house have been put on hold to spend time with family and friends.  Next week will see me picking up the paint brush again in readiness to put the house on the market.  The excitement of it all has dulled in the face of images of families sleeping on the side of roads.  I know how lucky I am to have a roof over my head.



Chickpea xx

The Little Things

After months of working extra to cover colleagues sick leave I have had my first Friday off for months.  I was ridiculously excited by the thought of having the day off, I hadn't actually planned anything but that was the pleasure of it.  So what exciting things did I get up to?...........Well I cleaned the fridge and cooker, caught up with washing and general tidying up.....yes I know, but they really needed doing.

It has been a cold and miserable day so I didn't feel like going out anywhere instead I spent the afternoon knitting, drinking cups of tea and listening to the Archers.  It was bliss!

So in celebration of the return of Five on Friday, here are my five little things I did today.

1. I didn't get out of bed until 7.30

Isn't it lovely when you don't have to be anywhere at a certain time and you can just get up when you want and decide what to do depending how you feel on the day. Hair tied back in a scrunchy, no make-up and scruffy old clothes.  Bring on retirement, I'm sure I will be just as busy but at least I will be setting the agenda.


2. I had the time to try a new recipe 

I'm not sure what to call these but they were tasty.  After eating more convenience food due to being so busy and getting a little careless with checking labels lately I have been suffering badly from my gluten intolerance.  It was fun to have the time to make some gluten free food from scratch.  I'm not sure the label 'wraps' was a good description of these but by adding some cumin to a basic batter of   gram flour, water and salt, these were delicious served warm.  They would be nice to dip into a curry or with home-made hummus.


3. Working on my winter wooly

I don't know what's happened, but this cardi has turned out huge.  Usually my knitting comes up just the right size so I don't bother to make a sample anymore.  I came very close to ripping it all out and starting again but there was hours of work in it already, so I am turning it into a chunky oversized jacket instead.  I'm sure it will keep me toasty in the winter.


4.  Caught up with the Archers

Funny how you can miss this for months and then just fit back into it as if you have never been away. I thought it would help to catch up with what is happening among 'country folk' for when we become country folk ourselves.

Anyone else a fan?


5.  Collecting Bees

I am not a philatelist, but when I saw these advertised I couldn't resist, aren't they gorgeous.  They come in a lovely presentation pack.  I have enjoyed reading about the bees on the stamps today.




I hope you had a lovely Friday as well, it really is the little things that make life enjoyable.

Chickpea xx