Is he cold?

Graham came in for a cup of coffee. He's working in the garage and it's freezing¬!! Note the fingerless gloves and thermal hat.

sisters

We went to Sheffield for an "official" sisters. my niece Cherie offered to host it and we understood that we would all bring our own food etc. Well 20 people turned up and it turned into a shouty celebration. Cherie had made Stew and Yorkshire pudding, Chilli and rice, garlic bread and various other goodies and we were able to eat until we burst. Of course we missed sister Pat but Val is now as much a part of us as she was so it was lovely. I look forward to the next meeting!

This is England 88

I know that I have raved about "This is England" before on this blog but I have just finished watching the latest three episodes. I think that Shane Meadows the writer is some sort of genius.We were totally engrossed for an hour over the last three nights and I can't wait for" This is England 90 " which is in the pipeline.
The long planned W.I xmas dinner at the wagon and horses went very well and several people have telephoned to thank me for arranging it. They don't know yet that I am not re-joining next year so someone else will have the job!
Tomorrow we are of to Sheffield for a Sister's meeting. the weather is threatening, they had snow in sheffield yesterday,so I hope we won't have a problem getting there.

Pheasant pluckers

A brace of pheasant given to us by a neighbour who shoots on local farmers land
with permission of course,we plucked them this morning,though we are not as efficient at it now as when we used to get them from Vinnie Jones from his shooting outings when he was at Leeds Utd. so as you can see we were a pair of Pheasant Pluckers this morning.

Treacle sponge

Treacle sponge and custard after stew and dumplings,food for winter.

Religious truths

spice cake.

As I can't stand fruit cake I decided to try this middle eastern recipe for cake that has all the usual christmas cake ingredients without the fruit. When it's cool I shall try it!

tay barn

We were introduced to "the Tay Barn" at High green. Apparently we are the only ones who haven't been there. it's quite near Sonia's and it's an "as much as you can eat" place with every kind of cuisine on offer. 10 of us went and we were there so long that Norman started eating again at 3pm
"Well it's nearly teatime!" he said. What value. We actually got seniors rates so with unlimited drinks and food our bill came to £10.00. Incredible!

Gary Speed

We are absolutely devastated to hear of the death of Gary Speed. So many wonderful memories of his time at Leeds united. Such a waste!

I'm a celebrity

We are into the second week of " I'm a celebrity get me out of here." and it's not as good as anticipated after Freddie Starr was taken out of the jungle when a bush tucker trial nearly poisoned him! We were looking forward to his antics. Sandra would be alright in the jungle with all those cockroaches snakes and spiders etc?
Tomorrow we are off to Gina's for a couple of days so it will make a nice change from the little house on the prairie.

children in need

Yesterday, as part of a children in need event, we went to a nearby village for a Soup and Pudding dinner.We arrived to find that about five of our friends were already there so we had a very pleasant lunch and won some raffle prizes and then we both won the bingo! What is interesting about the day is that we met the mother of the motorbike accidentee, who, you may remember, was very badly injured outside our house a couple of years ago. I tended to him and rang his relatives until the Air Ambulance came and took him to hospital. It turned out that he had just bought the huge motorbike and it was his first time riding it. His mother said she had longed to come and thank me for helping him and for stopping a woman from taking his helmet off, as this was what was holding his nose in place! It was nice to meet her and to find out what had happened to her son, as so many of the accidents that happen on our stretch of road remain unreported and we never find out if they make it or not.

The sun going down

The sun was a big red ball, just about to go down in the mist.

Armed Robbery!

So I decided to go to the shops. to the Co-op to be precise as that's where I get my bread flour.
I didn't know that there were that many policemen in England let alone Mablethorpe! Needless to say the Co-op was closed. there had just been an armed robbery! I left the car at the co-op and visited other shops, then when I tried to leave I wasn't allowed out of the car park. apparently they had some of the gang holed up in the vicinity. Eventually I was allowed out but I still haven't got any flour!

Graham's owl

The dead tree that Graham carved an owl onto has suddenly started growing again!

Autumn fruits

We don't know what these are but the tree is laden like never before. For some reason the blog site keeps cancelling photo's that I publish. Anybody know why.

Early to bed.

These two are going to bed earlier and earlier each day and who can blame them? It's dark and cold at 4pm.
I am interested in the new theory of shining a light into your ears, It must be a silvery light, not a golden one, and it's said to be more effacious then the traditional "sad "lamp. It comes as a pair of Earphone type things which enables you to move around whilst wearing them. I might give it a try with a small book lamp that I have.

Horrible weather!

Is it just my imagination but doesn't the hen look miserable? Perhaps the weather is getting her down.

Fungi

Yes but can you eat them? I am not expert enough to decide which ones are poisonous. They do say that very few of them will actually harm you but I don't want to be the one to make the point! Graham is already suspicious of everything I give him to eat. I do like a mushroom risotto though!

treacle apple tart

We have ways of making you eat apples!! It's supposed to be Welsh. I simply put stewed apples into a pastry case then mixed together
1tsp. ground Ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon powder
Zest and juice of one lemon
6 tabls. Honey
1 tabls. Golden syrup
About 4oz Bread crumbs.

Cover the pie with the mixture and bake for about 45 minutes at gas mark 4 or 180

goodbye friends

Two of our friends came to say goodbye for the winter. They are off to Spain and won't be back until March. I envy them, although not the part of Spain they are going to, Benidorm! It is only 95 days and counting 'till we go to Florida. Roll on!

Continuing the theme

I was going to continue the "Who is the handsome one?" But handsome isn't the word I am looking for.!

Who's this?

Who's this handsome chap?

Wedding Cake

I have just been to the village Hall to help put the chairs etc out for tonight's meeting which is a talk and demonstration by the woman who made the royal wedding cakes for the last three royal weddings. Apparently at the end you get to sample some of her cake. what a pity I don't like fruit cake.!
Nothing else of any note is happening.We are waiting for our holiday in Florida. Gina and Andrew are drawing up an itinerary of what they want to do whilst there. I hope they remember that they are only there for two weeks, although once we have done Busch gardens there should be time for the Segway lessons etc. we are carefully watching the dollar as it seems very erratic at the moment. as soon as we think about buying some dollars, the rate goes back down! Oh well that's capitalism for you.

Just gone.

Susan and Trev have just gone. Yesterday we all went on our usual Wednesday trip to Boston and had a meal in our usual place.This morning was hilarious. No matter how we try, she always leaves something behind, so we ran a check list and checked every room. They had only been gone 5 minutes when I noticed her coat over a chair in the kitchen. I was just about to ring and tell her when she rang and said she was coming back to collect it. As she was running out the door a second time I went into the bathroom for something and found her special shampoo hidden under some towels. ran after her and off they went again.
Some two hours later, she rang me from Sheffield to say that she had left her phone charger plugged in in the bedroom! I have had to post it to her! she is the original dizzy blond!

Last night I introduced them to the second series of an Idiot Abroad which they can't get on their network. They laughed so much.Also a new series of Rab C Nesbitt which was very funny.
It's back to the quiet now.

Chaos !

Susan and Trevor are coming today. In a moment of madness this morning, I pointed out to Graham, a crack that has appeared in the living room wall. he immediately fetched the step ladders and went up into the loft to see if anything was happening up there. His verdict is that there is too much stuff up there and it is all too heavy. The next thing I knew boxes and paintings etc appeared on the kitchen floor, which I had just cleaned in anticipation of the afore mentioned visitors. Like a fool I suggested that he designate one shed to his paintings (of which there are a great many) On entering his choosen shed he found that all the stuff already in there was full of mouse droppings so every thing must be cleared out/thrown away/re located. Now the kitchen,Garden outhouse garage etc is littered with stuff. Oh God !!

Betty turpin

oh no !! Betty Turpin has died. Will Coronation Street ever be the same without her?

Pat,s ashes.

We will be making yet another trip to Sheffield on Monday when we will finally say goodbye to my sister Pat as we place her ashes in the ground. It will be good to see everyone again though. We will go for a meal afterwards and hopefully the sisters will begin to feel a bit less depressed. We have all suffered in our different ways. It's a bit like losing a limb. There is always someone missing.

An idiot abroad.

I forgot to say that "An Idiot Abroad " series two has started. I have watched two episodes and I am still reserving judgement. Because he now knows what is going to happen to him, they have altered the format somewhat . He is now told that he is exercising freewill by choosing things from a bucket list of things to do before you die. So far he has been marooned on a desert island ( not very good) and has gone on the "Trans Siberian railway".
Yesterday I went to the Lincolnshire ladies lunch. A prestigious occasion for all the movers and shakers ( plus a few non entities like me!) It was such a hot day and after a huge three course lunch it was terribly difficult not to fall asleep during the lecture. i had to remind my friend to give me a nudge if she saw me nodding off. I should point out that I am a mass of bruises from her costant prodding!

Safely back

well here we are safely back from the wilds of Rotherham.It was quite an adventure watching Grahams paintings being hung. A woman came past and commented that they were very good apart from the fact that he had made a pit pony look like a racehorse.She said they were usually mangy looking things!
Then to lunch. We went to the pub at Ecclesfield that we were last in with all the family after Naomi's funeral. We hadn't realised that they have a pensioners meal every day. it was very good value although I wish it had been a day later as it is curry on Tuesdays. anyway we had fish and chips and Apple Pie and custard with two beers etc for £14.
Then to Josephs. Their poor little dog is totally blind now but he still attempts to play a game of tug toy with you. Joseph and Karen are both well and Karen has 5 days off so they are managing to get on with a few things.
Sheila xx

Red cabbage

I bought a huge Red Cabbage but there is only so much you can eat at dinner so I decided to make some pickle. I found an old recipe dating back about 200 hundred years and it has turned out lovely with a minimum of effort.

Get the curlers!

Sick of looking at the pork chops I give you myself at 16 with my hair in curlers. How embarrassing! Oh to be that thin again.

Pork chops

Last week my friend killed one of their pigs and she gave me these two chops. I don't usually eat pork but I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth! They weigh 2 pounds ( or 0.80 kilos) This is more meat then we would eat in a week.

Tomato glut

My neighbour gave me a lot of Tomatoes so I made Pasta Sauce. That should last me a few weeks!

Pastel de nata

I had a go at making the little custard pies that we had for breakfast in Portugal. Delicious!

Lunch

Just been out for lunch at the Waggon and Horses pub. very nice. It means I don't have to cook this evening as I shall be out at the W.I.

Judging !

How quickly the 1st Saturday in August comes around, then it's my judging day. Here are some pictures of the agricultural show. I have to taste everything on the table in the first picture. Then I am supposed to join all the judges for a big slap up lunch. Obviously I cannot eat a crumb after my judging so I miss out!
The vegetables are a treat to behold. The marrow alone would feed a small town!