Bundle of colour

I mull, you mull, we all should mull

As you can imagine there has been quite a lot of decisions to be made during the house extension. Some were instant choices; some necessitated deep discussion and some just needed to be mulled over.

I rather like 'mulling over' something. It is such a wonderfully nuanced phrase which absolutely encapsulates those often inconsequential decisions over which you need to ruminate; those options which you need to toss about in your head before gently landing upon your answer; those choices that need to be pondered.

So next time you have a decision to make gently mull it over. There is so much less stress involved in 'mulling it over' than 'deciding or 'choosing' there and then. You will also find that more often than not your final decision is the right one if you've mulled over rather than plunged into or plucked your choice out of the air.

So altogether now I mull, you mull, we all mull.

The fizz of elderflower

I love creating things to eat and drink. One of our very favourites is elderflower champagne. Around about my son's birthday in June, the elderflowers are out and it's time to start making the fizz. It's very easy to make - just soak elderflower heads, lemons, sugar and water together, bottle it and 2 weeks later you have the most delicious and fragrant sparkling drink.

It always amazes us that the fizz is generated by the natural yeasts in the flowers. It does get very poppy indeed. You have to bottle it in champagne bottles (good excuse to drink fizzy alcohol the rest of the year in order to generate the empty bottles), pop a cork in and secure with a wire. The first year we made it quite a few bottles exploded due to insecure wiring!

Even this year without a proper a kitchen we still made about 10 bottles. We couldn't resist. Last weekend we tested a bottle and it's a good vintage. Nothing better on an autumnal Sunday lunchtime than to pop open a bottle of elderflower and drink up some early summer fragrance.

Technology cold turkey

I went cold turkey in June. I didn't have a problem....well nothing I couldn't control. I could stop any time yep any time I told myself. Well on June 11th 2013 the whole family went out on a limb and stopped watching the TV. Well to be more precise the TV got lost in the pile of junk that was our sitting room due to the build. Too big to move to another room and besides no other aerial socket, we had to abandon it under a cover and some magazines piled on top. We all went cold turkey.

And to our huge surprise we survived. 18 weeks of not goggling at the box. OK we have watched the odd DVD on the laptop but other than that no TV. There were no sweaty palms or rantings or painful longing. We got on with life. I occasionally got a whiff of information about a programme which I thought would have been quite pleasant to watch but then forgot about it.

We got our room back last week and sat on the sofa (haven't had a sofa either for 18 weeks) and watched TV and it was lovely. It was great to have it back in our lives especially as the dark nights draw in. We have proved we can do without it but that actually we do love it and wouldn't really want to do without it. Besides 'Strictly' is back and my daughter and I lurve it. What we probably should do now is be a tad more discerning in our viewing choices but what the hell I'm having a viewing fest of the great and not so great on TV. But don't worry I can stop any time...yes I don't have a problem....I can stop.

The internet on the other hand is another thing entirely. I haven't posted on the blog for more than a week because our internet link has been down and still is. A friend texted me at the weekend demanding more posts. It's been awful - no access to emails, no access to information, no access to writing the blog. I could not survive now without the internet. I've popped round to a friend's house today and am tapping into her internet vein. There has been ranting. There has been grunting. And it's all been from me. The children seem to be able to take it or leave it but I want it back. I don't want to stop.. any time...period.

I write on books

I write on my books. I scribble notes and musings. Not every book gets 'defaced'. Just one particular kind: my recipe books. I write the date I made the recipe for the first time; who I made it for and any tweaks I made to the list of ingredients and instructions. And of course whether it was worth the effort.

I find it's of interest and use to me when I revisit recipes and I also like to think that if my son or daughter ever want to keep certain of my cookery books, they'll have a little history written there of our eating habits. Plus they'll have some handy tips. Even better if they then write about the recipe and start a running historical commentary.

Yes I write on my books. Whisper, whisper I also have overdue library books!

My tracklements are simmering

The kitchen has been filled with the rather pungent smell of vinegar these last few days. My sister-in-law gave me a lot of green tomatoes and so chutney has been made. For regular readers...yes...I have a functioning kitchen. We are not quite there yet but I have a stove, a sink and storage space. What more could a cook want.

At this time of year I do feel the need to make provisions. Or tracklements! I think that's rather a fab name for chutneys and condiments. "Ooh let me get me tracklements a-simmering." My manufacture of jams and chutneys is the equivalent of my husband's need to get the wood cut and the logs stored before the winter sets in. The leaves are falling so it's time to boil sugar and fruit and let the jammy alchemy begin.

I don't bother making a Christmas pudding and popping that into fermenting storage but I do need to make some blackberry gin and some pickled onions and piccalilli. As a child my mum's best friend's mother used to make superb pickled onions and the most fabulous piccalilli. I can taste them now - oh the joy. We always used to wait with bated breath to see whether Auntie Margaret had wrapped us up a jar of both for Christmas Day. I think it depended on whether her mum had any jars left over once immediate family had been served. Then Boxing Day consisted of eating the onions and the  yellowy mustard chutney with a little bit of turkey on the side. That is December 26th for me. It is my life's work to try to emulate the wondrosity of those tracklements and I haven't achieved it yet.

As for the blackberry gin, well I couldn't possibly be expected to cook Christmas dinner without a tipple on the side. A little bit of blackberry liqueur in the bottom of a champagne flute, topped with sparkling wine and it doesn't then matter if the Brussels sprouts are soggy and the turkey crisp. I'm merry.

Supermarket Dance Moves

My brother got married on Saturday and we had a splendid day, culminating in a disco. It's ages since I had a good dance and my nieces (all in their twenties) were able to update me on a few dance moves. Believe me I needed them to take me in hand. Claire especially tipped me off about her 'in the supermarket' technique. Granted it's hard to explain and appreciate the full genius of this advice without showing you a video but darn it we forgot to record it for the nation.

Basically move your body and feet to the beat while pretending to pick items off notional supermarket shelves high, medium and low and then every now and again push your imaginary trolley to the music. If it's a particularly quick tempo then just empty the phantom items out of that old trolley in a maniacal fashion. NB If you are dancing and actually see or hallucinate supermarket shelves you have imbibed too much.

Apparently on 'You Tube' there are some Supermarket Cart Dances but I'd like to think my niece and her friend invented it. Anyway apply the moves to most music and you'll look impressive and more importantly it will bring a smile to your face. Try it next time you hit the dance floor or just in your kitchen but perhaps not in your local supermarket. It tickled me pink.