Today’s books are ‘A Mountain in Tibet’ by Colin Thubron and James Rebanks’ first book ‘The Shepherd’s Life’. Plus chat on the thoughts both books prompt in me.
Month: November 2023
On the Sofa: Weekly shop, fuel prices, house move.
Grab a cup of something hot and join me for a chat. I’ve done my weekly shop including a bit of a treat (and an explanation of it for my North American friends) plus I’m assessing my most recent fuel bill and calculating if there’s any wiggle room compared with last year. Finally, some thoughts on my house move…..
In the Kitchen: Chard Soup – Mediterranean (plus tips on growing)
Another (!!) rainy day finds me in the kitchen making soup. Today it’s a Mediterranean variation on chard soup with a hit of summer from tomatoes and fabulously pungent with garlic. Plus some tips on growing the gorgeous chard.
On the Sofa: Reviewing the Polti Iron (plus: how to spot a shocking liar!).
It’s another rainy day (surprise, surprise!) so I am staying indoors and getting on with preparing some vintage linens for my shop. They’ve been soaked and washed and are now ready to be pressed using my new Polti steam iron so it’s the perfect opportunity to review it. While I press I’m chatting about some recent documentaries I have watched with a bit of a theme…liars! As consumers of social media (for example) how can we spot a shocking liar?
Vivi’s Kitchen Garden: Winter Cover, Rotten Squash & Tidy Up
Finally there is a let up in the rain so I can get back to the garden and start the tidy up and cover up for winter. Today I’m chatting about different methods of protecting the soil over winter, storing equipment, finding the perfect varieties of veg for your garden and more while I get on with some of the jobs. The forecast says it will be dry all day……..here’s hoping!
On the Sofa: A quick update.
Rain, rain and more rain……calls for a delicious little pub visit….plus news about a new playlist.
In the Kitchen: Chard Soup (Northern European).
I’m in the kitchen this evening cooking up a lovely winter warmer: chard soup. This is my Northern European take on it using butter and cream (I use coconut milk instead of cream). In the coming days I’ll also bring you my Southern European version (think Mediterranean ingredients). Chard is a wonderful, hardy veg which I use as a cut-and-come-again veg right through winter.
On the Sofa: My Sister, the sea, and me (and a book).
In today’s video I’m all at sea……in the best possible way. Plus…..is it the end of the M&S saga? Warning: this video contains an impression of a fog horn!
Beyond Frugal: The weekly shop £3.84 ($4.60). Plus meal plan.
A bit of shopping from the garden and the supermarket should give me enough ingredients to ‘play’ with to create all my meals for a week. I spent a total of £3.84 (US$4.60).
Vivi’s Kitchen Garden: The Squash Harvest ’23. Plus storing & recipes.
The forecast says we are finally going to get a dry day. So, of course, that means only one thing…..it’s time to get the squash harvest in! My guess is 15. Once the harvest is in I chat about storage ideas and some lovely recipes to try.
