NUTS AND MORE BY FIONA CUMMMINGS

Well my family are fed. My son and myself had home made stew. Oh my, I am so full. I steeped some mixed dry beans in boiling water. And after half an hour added red lentils and covered the large dish. After ten minutes, I put water into a large pan started to heat the water then added four vegetable stock cubes. Some salt and loads of different kinds of herbs. And some tomato puree.

 

Drained the beans/lentils. Put them in the boiling water, be careful not to splash yourself, so pour slowly. Cook for twenty minutes slowly add some fresh spices or whatever you want and then tip in your freshly pealed washed and chopped potatoes, carrots and sweet potatoes. Cook for ten minutes then add mushrooms I cooked them in garlic and celery salt and if you want to, make a corn flour paste to thicken the sauce.

 

Add pepper and a little more salt and simmer for ten minutes with the lid on then turn off leaving lid on and just wait for ten minutes.

 

I guess the beauty of stew is you can put anything at all in it. Whatever you have either in your fridge or cupboards. And a big tip. If you can make it for the day before you are going to eat it, better as for some reason it tastes so much better the next day. Everything does. Soup or casserole or stew.

 

Hub had An M & S chicken and mushroom pie with chips. He said there were vegetables in the pie, hmm…. My love will do anything to get out of eating veg… going back to the stew, if you use a hand blender and get the ingredients into one, then you have a vegetable soup. Last week I did that and I just added a pour of Soy sauce.  

 

Today on my blog page, I say hello to US and UK, and hello to Canada, India, Australia, South Africa, Belgium, Ireland, Brazil and Faroe Islands

 

All time Australia are being chased by Germany. Australia have readers of 7,130 and Germany 7,107

And there is 16 between South Africa and France. At one point about ten days ago, France were ahead of SA. Poland still in tenth place and whoever is number eleven, you have just a few hundred to take the place of tenth as people from Poland haven’t been reading for a while.

 

I have spent most of the afternoon cleaning my conservatory. And now, Hub is playing with the dogs. Oh, the hair? I have cream tiles on my floor. My Waggatail has black hair. I have a brown sofa and orange rug. My Hubs LF is yellow. Why did I bother?

 

Had to put the heating on today. September? First day of Autumn? Oh, my, well they say it’s going to be a really cold winter… so far autumn is rather chilli.

 

Hub and I had a great day yesterday looking at some lovely clothes in his favourite shop. It’s coming up to his fiftieth birthday and I have been trying to think of something special to get him. He has suggested something this is good as he hates his birthdays. Since he was a child he has never enjoyed birthdays and he said since we have been married his birthdays have become better but he can sadly never enjoy them again after his past. His brother had plans to surprise him but sadly things got spoiled other people were involved so that won’t be happening. Hub learned of the spoil as he was in our sitting room when the talking text came through. and let his bro know that he didn’t want anything. Kind of his brother though to even think of him. It’s a long story why he doesn’t like birthdays, but I totally understand. So now it’s going to be us four Hub myself our Son and Shamrock. I think we will have a meal out and at the weekend our friends are coming. They wanted to come on Hubs birthday. They told me to keep it as a surprise. I had and last week I said to him I was looking forward to spending the day with him on his birthday. He said he wasn’t going to be off work. I said he had to be it was his birthday. He replied, no I don’t trust you won’t try to do something. So, I had to tell our friends not to make plans to visit on his day. And that left the weekend.

 

Our Son wants to do something special. Oh my, I have tried to tell him no, but I guess no one knows unless they have been in the same shoes. So, if Hub goes out on his birthday then I guess BW will feel like he has done something special for his Dad. As for Hub, I just want him to get it over with as that is really how he feels about it.

 

We are planning on going to my Nieces wedding in a few months. All four of us are going. It will be a lovely day.

 

A fantastic drama is on tonight, Hub and I are loving it. It’s called body guard. I hope you will eventually get it in your country. It’s really good.

 

Hopefully Hub will be able to stay awake for it as he’s so very tired still after him being ill. He just has no energy. I really don’t like seeing him like this, but he’s saying he is feeling fine.

 

BW is in charge of his staff again as his boss has taken another holiday. He’s loving it. Nothing phases him. I mean to be honest he does most of the work anyway, even when she is there, but knowing that he is in charge of seven members of staff and running a business that takes £9,000 per week could stress some people out, but not him. This is really good.

 

I must say if he leaves this job, and he hopes to, I will miss the funny stories about his colleagues. One of them has owed the company over a hundred pounds for a year and a half. BW had a word with this man in his office. Now the man is forty. BW is 21. Anyway, long and short of it, the money has now been paid back two days after talking with the gent… may be my Son should be a debt collector. I am not sure why he was bothered if he wants to leave, but when I asked him this, he replied. It’s just the morals of it all. He said if he owed that much money he would be embarrassed. I replied but this man isn’t you. But obviously whatever BW said to the man, made him think as I said it’s all paid back now and this is before pay day. So, the guy had it or did he borrow it from someone else? As long as it’s not from BW’s workplace… So, he texts his boss to let her know the money has been paid back and she is delighted. All that aside he will make a great boss I suspect his colleagues like him as when his boss is away, the atmosphere is so relaxed. BW told a lad yesterday he could lay in for another couple of hours as it was quiet. He sent a girl home an hour early for the same reason and he has done the rotas so that people are working the shift that they prefer. So happy staff make happy days. And because they are getting what they want, they are working better. So, rules are being broken, but the end result is a really good one.

 

Last time his boss was away, he made record amounts of money for the company. No orders were going missing or not getting delivered. Oh, and this is the best one. Just before his boss left, BW said do you not think we should sort out the fridge as it’s just there in the way and it hasn’t been used the whole time BW has been there. He asked her what was wrong with it? She replied it’s totally broken. So, BW got onto the people and got a new one sent out. Well when they came, they said they couldn’t fit it as there was an obstruction preventing them from doing so.

 

BW came into work that day asking his boss what was the obstruction? She replied the old broken fridge…

Oh, my.

So, BW pulled out the old fridge to put the new one in its place.

He couldn’t believe what he saw.

He called her over.

“When you say the old fridge doesn’t work, what doesn’t work about it?””

She replied I don’t know. The boss before me told me it was broken. That was two years earlier…

It took two years for anyone to sort it out. If not for BW, then I guess another two years before it would get sorted… but, you would have hoped that someone would check out what was wrong with it?

BW took three seconds to fix it.

And the problem was?

It wasn’t plugged in.

No joke.

Well on instructions from his boss, he began to pull it out and got it out side of the door for when they wanted to use the new one.

 

He suggested sending the new one back, but she said no… budgets? Well it will be her job when she returns from her holiday.

 

Just thought I would drop this in. Did you know peanuts weren’t nuts? They are legumes.

Pea plant. Or leafy plant.

 I found this information on the web. a nut is only a nut if it’s “a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed with a separable rind or shell and interior kernel.” That means walnuts, almonds, cashews, and pistachios

Thanks to the Merriam-Webster

 

 

I wrote that yesterday, didn’t get it published. As for today, I’m off later on to tackle a big shop to try to find some new crockery. I am trying to get my friend to meet me if not I shall have to rely on staff in the shop…. I’m just fed up of ordering on line getting something that isn’t suitable or paying twice the money. Before that I have to cook dinner for the boys. Hubs having baked potato carrots and fish. BW may be a curry with rice as for me? Not sure yet. But it will involve carrots as I ordered loads in my shopping this week. The organic ones at the moment are delicious.

 

Hub working from home today as has a really busy day tomorrow. Another 13-hour day. He’s on the phone now so I have to be so quiet. Haha. Luckily Boy Wonder is off work but at Shamrocks. Hopefully he will be home for dinner.

 

If Hub is OK after work, he’s going to teach BW how to make bread. It’s a pain him not being wanting to eat so much food these days. Vegan food is so very expensive too. There are never offers either. But he’s not starving that is for sure.

 

Just dusted and managed to get Hubs piano cleaned before he went on the phone. As I have to go in between every key. Gosh it really does collect dust. I was told though to keep the lid up at all times. That is what keeps the keys white apparently. OK, off to write to my surrogate Mum and then cook. Then tackle the shop. I shall let you know how I got on. Good luck to Fiona who is on week two of guide dog training. And a very happy birthday to Elaine Spain. If it’s your birthday today, a very happy one from me to you.