More Awards

Great news, Millie and Me, who I supply with Onion Seed Panini and biscuits on a regular basis, as well as rolls and speciality breads for BBQ's and functions have won TWO awards at the Herald Express Tourism Awards 2014.
 
A GOLD in the 'Taste of South Devon' Café/Tea Room category and a SILVER in the 'Excellence in Customer Service' category. Well done to them (or should that be us?)

NaNoWriMo

Its that time again, National Novel Writing Month is almost upon us and once again I've got good intentions.

However this year I don't intend to start a novel, I did that last year and the result was "The Rocks of Aserol, Part One." (Which you can find on the right of the page)

This year I'm looking at all the projects that I have started and not finished

Myra - the prequel to Freefall, currently 31000 words,
The Rocks of Aserol Part 2 -currently 10000 words,
Ribbonworld, a Noir Crime sci-fi - currently 25000 words.
I need about 135000 words to finish all three, that's more than I can manage in November, but 50000 would finish either one of them. That's what I should aim at.

There are also the projects I haven't properly started yet, but have ideas for,

Tales of the Sleepers, a sci-fi collection,
Survive the Wilderness what it says.

Note that I'm not committing to anything yet, I normally write on one for a while and switch when I run out of ideas. But its very true that no-one can do anything, be it read, buy, critique or edit, with what I haven't written yet.

Meanwhile I have completed this weeks organic bread order,



Ready to bake




White, Spelt and Rye



Teacakes

Soda Bread and Rolls

 

and I also made some crumpets (for me)

 



Now I just need to deliver and I can get a coffee and start writing, (I know its not November yet, a head start will get me in the mood)

Tonight we will be eating Pork and Leek Sausages with Mash, Onion Gravy and Carrots/Cabbage...... Yum.

Gammon

I don't normally buy meat from supermarkets, but this piece of Gammon was an offer too good to refuse, it will make us about 10 meals at a cost of less than 90p per meal, so I had to get it.

I will roast it in orange juice, adding honey for the last hour (It'll take 3hours 30 minutes to cook at 170 degrees) Then after carving it will be frozen for quick meals.

I used the water from boiling my potatoes to make a Wholemeal loaf, it came out pretty good, (although I say so myself) and because the water was warm, it rose better than I expected.

Changes

There are changes afoot, I can feel it in the air, and I don't just mean summers decline into autumn.

Naomi (#2 Daughter) is off to Australia for a month to visit Georgina (#3 Daughter) so Yvonne and I headed up to Kent last week to give her some birthday presents to take out and see her before she goes.

We had a great time, good food, and a visit to one of our old haunts, Badgers Hill Farm near Canterbury. A quirky animal park (Rea, Emu, Llama etc) a food shop and cafe.

We had ploughmans, a single cheese for me,

and a shared cheese and ham for Yvonne and Naomi.

Yvonne also managed to look good just lounging,

note the Cath Kidston product placement.

Not just that, my granddaughter is changing as well, she's 5 months old now and ever more beautiful.

 

I have an appointment with a surgeon next week, I fear that my shoulder may require a small operation. I say fear because, although I don't fear the knife (or arthroscope) I've been stupid and read up on the internet about the procedure and recovery. And that's never a good thing.

I may have loads of time to blog very soon, of course if I'm stuck at home I'll have nothing to blog about. Maybe I'll finish my book.

Feed the Birds

Yvonne put up a lot of birdseed, fat balls and peanuts last week, ready to encourage the birds before the start of winter. We had a somewhat larger visitor, who took about a kilo of peanuts in an afternoon, next door saw him (or her) burying them in her garden.

I managed to get a few pictures of the culprit, taken through the window with the zoom.

and a montage,

I hate being Ill

Since July, I have had a pain in my shoulder, I have had physio and a steroid injction, but nothing has done much good. Now I am seeing a different physio, who has basically said that all the previous treatments were wrong, and that I should not have had the injection! So far, I'm sad to say that her treatment has not improved my situation; maybe I should give it more time to work. To be honest I can't keep using up my sick leave with nothing to show, if anything it feels worse than it did in July.

Perhaps it's just me getting old and worn out?

Changing the subject, I have been trying a few different things cooking wise, we had Salmon dressed with my Blackberry Vinegar Glaze, I roasted a few veg, tomatoes from the garden and peppers, to go with it.

 

And a crumble, with Apple, Pear and Berries from the garden,

 

 

Talking of which, I have new blossom and fruits on my Pear Tree, maybe it knows something I don't,

 

 

Must be the Indian summer we're having, I was waiting to prune it all back.

 



A Spoonful of Sugar.

We've both been a bit ill over the last few days, hence the silence. Fortunately we seem to be getting over it, so normality (or at least a passable version of normality) is being restored.

I've been back to work, but my shoulder is still playing up, despite six weeks of physio and a steroid injection it's still very painful to climb a ladder, so I'm going to see my doctor next week to decide where we go next. Yvonne's health problems are just about sorted, it's just a shame that we were both stuck inside during the last weeks good weather.

In a way the enforced idleness has probably done us both good though, a little less rushing around never hurt anyone.

I had a request for a sample Spelt Sandwich Loaf from a cafe in Totnes, so I have been working on that, I will take my creation in when we go to the Good Food Market tomorrow.

Also Oats asked me for a Sourdough Crumpet, I found a recipe and made a batch, they tasted horrible, I assumed that I had done something wrong so had another go. Still horrible.

I checked online, I found that the recipe I had used was a translation and they had got teaspoons and tablespoons mixed up. So 1 teaspoon of sugar  became 1 TABLESPOON of sugar and a miracle happened, now all I have to do is solve the problem of the non-stick rings not actually being non-stick. Incidentally, all the recipes except the one I had looked at said 1 Tablespoon.

I also made a batch of biscuits using a tin of Caramel Condensed Milk as a base, with good results,

there was plenty of dough left over as well, this I put in the freezer for when I get a biscuit craving. (Actually it's to stop me making them all at once)

Yvonne has used the time to knit a cardigan for Elsa, we posted it yesterday.

I found that my raspberries had started ripening as well, that's a bonus as Yvonne has promised that she will make a White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake when we have enough!

We have had some gorgeous weather here, it's a pity we've been stuck with Doctors visits and calls, one sunrise had me racing for the camera, the colours were a bit brighter in real life but it was still impressive.