On My Mind

I'm joining in with  Rhonda's Down to Earth  'On My Mind', today.

Our Dishwasher is leaking - BIG time. I know exactly what's happened as this is the second time this year - mice. The wee monsters have eaten through the second outlet pipe. Who knows what the three cats are doing, but it's not keeping the mice out ( or maybe they are and it would be worse if they weren't here) Anyway, this morning I did the dishes by hand and I actually enjoyed it. I suppose that's because there were very few. I think my enjoyment of the task would decrease rapidly if we'd had a crowd round for dinner, but for now, I don't mind.
I didn't used to have a dishwasher. When I was single ( many moons ago) I just did all the washing up by hand, this was probably because I had the smallest kitchen in the world so there was no room for a dishwasher, and also I couldn't afford one.

Nip over to Down to Earth to see what other people have on their minds.

On my Mind

Travel, Scotland, Birthdays and new life.

Woah!

Fairly huge 'on my mind' today.

In 2 weeks I'll be on my way over to Scotland. *Big Grin*

There are 2 huge things happening. My mum is celebrating her 70th birthday and my brother and sister-in-law are having a baby. I can't wait!

This is where I'm from. The beach is slightly different to what I'm used to now.

Aberdeen.

I'll be in Aberdeen most of the time, but also down to Edinburgh because this is where my brother lives. I have never even seen their new house so that'll be exciting too.

I do get anxious, though, because I am a very nervous flyer so actually feel very brave to be doing the trip on my own. Lovely Lloyd is staying on the farm to look after everything.

For more things on people's minds have a look over at Rhonda's Down to Earth.

On my Mind

It's that time of year again, the veggies are ready and there's much bottling and saucing to be done. This is pretty much all we've got left of last years stuff, but soon there will be more chilli sauces and more tomatoey things ( however we mostly make passata for the freezer with them)

It'll be time for the citrus before we know it and there will be marmalade and lemon curd.

And this year we're going to dry and dry some figs. We have 2 fig trees in the garden, one is a purply fig and the other is a huge green one that when cut open is pinky white! This is the first year that we've had fruit from this one as it's only been in the ground for 2 years and yesterday, I was pretty excited when I saw how big they'd got.

On My Mind over at Rhonda's have a peek at the other posts.

and as ever on a Friday... 

at Verde Farm

On my Mind

STEP... AWAY... FROM ... THE ... catalogue!

Resist... I shall resist...

For more 'On My Minds'... Head on over to Rhonda's.

On My Mind

 Tablecloths!

Odd thing to have on my mind, but I have a table cloth I use every day, it stays on the table all the time. And it gets dirty! Which is fine because I just wash it - over summer it's become soft and faded and lovely. However soon I won't be able to dry it outside ( well not with any certainty) so I thought I should have a back up one. Now I am an absolute sucker for anything from Wallace Cotton I adore them and the quality is fantastic. I fell in love with a raw linen table cloth they have but, oh no, my table is round. The cloth is for a rectangular table. What to do... what to do...? 

I know! Buy it (of course) cut off all the excess fabric and make napkins. Which is exactly what I did.

Thrilled.

Nip over to Rhonda's for more lovely 'on my minds'

Seed Saving

For us in the southern hemisphere it's getting to be that time of year again.

I tend to use just heritage/heirloom seeds for the veggie garden. I, personally, think they taste good and also if you buy ones that did well in your area in 'ye olden days' then they are likely to still do really well! It's nice to save and share.

Year after year I save the seeds from things that have become favourites over summer. It's mainly tomatoes and chillis. But beans and peas are super easy.

With tomatoes I go for the plumpest ripest fruit then scoop out the seeds. Wash them thoroughly in a sieve then put them out on kitchen roll to dry. Remember to write what they are. Be patient and leave them until they are completely dry ~ you don't want them going mouldy. Also don't worry if they stick to the kitchen roll - you can just tear the seed off and plant it with the wee bit of paper.

Once they're dry I put mine in small brown envelopes ( wages envelopes because they definitely earn their keep!) Then just store. I have to put all my seeds in to water/rat/mice proof containers as 2 years ago my potting shed made a lovely winter home for all sorts of wee critters, and almost all my seeds were eaten.

For chillis just remove the seeds and let dry out - I don't wash these.

If super nippy ones put gloves on.

Peas and beans -  I just take some nice plump pods into the house and let them dry out. It can take a wee while so again, just be patient. You can also let them dry out on the plant.

Alderman peas and yard long beans.

Herbs are incredibly easy! Just let some of them go to flower, then seed, just where they are in the garden. I then shake the plant over where I want new ones to grow, and save the rest. I can't remember the last time I had to buy rocket, coriander or parsley seeds.

Happy seed saving!

this is On My Mind over at Rhonda's and also at the lovely 

Farm Friends Fridays.

Click on the links.