Old fashioned home maker

There’s definitely something of my grandparents in me – all four of them!

This time of year I have a definite hankering to be busy preserving things. So I made home made pickled onions.

I found a good market stall in central Coventry that sold pickling onions, another shop sold me a 5 litre can of malt vinegar. Some years ago i picked up packets of pickling spices, so all I needed was time really.

I sat down on Friday night and spend four hours peeling them into a pan of salt water to brine overnight (rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle or what!) and then lunchtime Saturday while the Tall One was out with our parents I took them out of the brine and packed them in glass jars, shook over them one of my pickling spices packets and then topped up with vinegar and sealed them.

The jars are now in what used to be an airing cupboard and is now my extra kitchen storage cupboard, waiting to be joined by bottles of ketchup and brown sauce and mincemeat. After Christmas will come Marmalade.

I made a rod for my back with marmalade. I like my own best. If it’s not tangy it’s not proper. It is possible to buy good marmalade – at four times what it costs to make and without the pleasure of making and seeing the bounty of jars in the cupboard. Then my mother tasted it, and I ended up making a batch for her. As I enjoy the process I didn’t mind, but then someone else asked me for a batch and supplied me with four times the ingredients. Oh my Lord, was that a busy day! Fortunately it was right at the end of marmalade season and I’ve had almost a year to recover. I doubt I’ll be asked to make that quantity again.

Anyway. The onions are pickling and the smell has finally left my hands, so I’ll return to my knitting.

Take care!

Changes. Lots of changes!

Oh my goodness. So much has changed since I last posted.

I’ve moved out of the flat I did my grieving in and into another. I now live in a city (how did that happen?) And I’m settled and enjoying it (WHAT? I’m a village type!)

The part of Coventry I live in does have the feel of a smaller community. All the same, I’ve found home. The things I need urgently are close by and there is a good bus service 7 days a week. Actually, the good bus service still surprises me. The bus stopped so early in Rugby that nice as the place is, I often felt very stuck.

I’ve been here four months now, and fairly typically have still not finished unpacking. It’s coming along but is taking ages.

I’ve been crafting and creating. I’m hoping to post pictures of things I’ve made. Mainly it’s yarn based but given my love of cooking and my Scottish heritage there are food based projects in the mix.

I think the nature of this blog will evolve. I’m not the same person who first started the blog. My thoughts and ideas have changed. Life experience changes us all and so I have no issue with adapting my little blog to fit with my life.

Keep watching!