Friday round up

Hello there, grab a cuppa and pull up a chair.
What a week of weather we've had, from sunny to snow, hailstones and then sunny again. These gorgeous Primulas aren't they just bursting with colour! They were from my Sons for Mother's Day last weekend. I'm not very good with inside plants, I forget to water them. I think plants need more care than I give to feed and freshen their soil. Thankfully these can go outside after flowering.

I've been reading through a couple of book series from the library. Alexander McCall Smith - No.1 Ladies Detective series is one of them. This book followed in the list, it's really a collection of short stories including the detective ladies. Whenever I read a book, I find myself totally absorbed in either the characters or the setting. I guess that's the craft of the author to draw you into the world they've created. In this series the 2 ladies are constantly stopping for tea, Mma Ramotswe in particular loves her Red Bush tea. She makes the ritual of  tea seem the most important thing ever.
Do you find yourself lost and completely absorbed in a book? Do you like to try some of the food mentioned? eg Rosamunde Pilcher's books evoke images of nice crusty bread, with thick Brie on top.

I can't remember if I showed you the Crochet Amigarumi that I made. The 2 Star Wars characters, Storm Trooper and Yoda were from a kit online. The small knitted Haggis chap was from a Jean Greenhowe Scottish Scarecrow pattern book. The haggis was part of a Knit & Natter display for a festival for the C of E village church.

Many years ago I talked about diet issues, FODMAPS and IBS. I'm much better than I was, though I still have bad days for no apparent reason. Anyway before I was discharged from the NHS Dietician, bless her she worked so hard to help me, she wanted me to broaden my diet again. I'd cut it right back and hardly ate any fruit or vegetables. This is Sweet & Sour pork with peppers and high fibre foods such as aubergine with skins on. So far all is good, last weekend we had Spanish Chicken, a Hairy Biker's recipe. It contained lots of spicy chorizo peppers and tomatoes. Having avoided all those food types for so long, it was a delight to eat them again.

A before photo of our kitchen, the oven needed replacing before Christmas so the kitchen re-fit started earlier than intended. We bought the cupboards from a company called Furniture Nation. They can make them specific to your requirements if you ask. They had several options in solid wood, the free standing cupboards would've been amazing in a massive farmhouse kitchen. These are fitted ones, with kick boards and feet. We opted to Danish oil the cupboards ourselves and paint the doors. You could pay them to paint, oil or wax them. All the cupboard come ready assembled, you just fit the doors. It may sound expensive but for the cupboards needed, it was much less than the equivalent posh Wickes Kitchens. We just need to order the worktops, then the tiles can be fitted behind the sink.

After (nearly done) As you can see I love green, the doors are painted in English Sage furniture paint, the walls are Chalk white. There will be a worktop over the fridge, for tea making. For now, an old towel has taken residence. The sink is the old fashioned type that sits on top of the base unit, that was hard to source online as most sinks are set inside the worktop. The blind was from B & Q and fits in well without adjusting. They all seem to be blackout blinds now, so it can go from bright warm sunshine to darkness in seconds.

There's no utility room here, however this end of the kitchen has room for a small chest freezer, washing machine and tumble dryer plus food cupboards. Our previous house had 2 porches, pantry and a utility as well as the living rooms, bathrooms and bedrooms. With much less to clean and organise, I'm very happy with the move. 

A few cookery books in the kitchen, at this stage I've not rushed to bring all the books back. The Be-Ro book is a definite favourite of mine at the moment, the chocolate chip cookies recipe is amazing and easy.

Liking the open shelves for cups and glasses.

Angus at 2 years old. His first Summer with us and on his first beach visit, he was delighted to find an old rope. He still gets very excited going to the beach.

Angus will be 3 years this Summer. Nat bought him a new toy, a very soft stuffed branch.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit, please leave a comment before you go. I've been visiting your blogs this week and though there doesn't seem as many as before, it's nice to catch up with you all again. We had fish & chips for dinner tonight, with crocheting and reading to catch up with, I wish you a lovely relaxing weekend. 
TTFN 
Cathy