Grey days.

 Hello everyone , how are you all.

The weather has turned a little chilly at the moment, no wind and no sunshine. It doesn't bother me but i do know it bothers other people. I light my lamps and have a scented candle going to lift the gloom. The trees in the garden are shot through with yellow and i have been watching the leaves fall slowly across the garden. If we have a gust of wind then it looks like yellow confetti, but no gusts not yet. I think this time of year is the settling period, the hustle and bustle of Summer activity is over and all at the Allotments is definitely slowing down with only so many jobs left to do, you can't make jobs up just to keep busy. 

The decorating in the house is done and dusted, i have de cluttered and re organized just about every room and cupboard we have, so no joy there. I have donated books and clothes plus some old toys we found,with every big removal and clean the house feels lighter and less stuff to clean up and around.

We had to empty out all the under storage in the kitchen as when i moved a box i spotted some mould growing silently in the corner. All my equipment is kept in clear storage so i can grab what i need easily, and it stays dust free. That turned into an experience and half, i thankfully am still nimble and small enough to get into the back of the space and clean. We did get rid of quite a lot of gadgets and baking tins that we no longer use or have to be honest ever used. It turned out my foray to get my Slow Cooker expanded into full blown mould killing warfare. We did it all and shuffled the boxes around with daily used items at the front and baking equipment has it's own space. So far it is making life easier for all of us just to grab what we need and no more playing Jenga with kitchen gadgets.

I finally got my Slow Cooker out and it is now at the front ready to go, with the weather being as it is there is nothing better than a hearty warming stew or chunky soup all bubbling away filling the house with delicious smells of lunch cooking away.I also use it for making puddings, the jam swirl one is a definite favourite, with custard or cream it goes down well.

I do love my Slow Cooker it's nothing fancy or expensive it just works and that is what i like. Fill it up,switch it on  and leave it to do it's thing whilst i go off and do something else, years ago it meant prepping everything early morning and then leaving to slow cook all day in a low oven, making sure it didn't dry out or get that crusty gravy top around the edges or the bottom of your dish burning and ruining the meal altogether, so glad for slow cookers. I did have 3 of them but i gave 2 of them away, i couldn't justify having 3 and not using them. Plus i now have more space. I don't know if anyone else gets that sense of joy or satisfaction from having everything sorted and in it's place easily to hand and quick to find. I even found things i had forgotten about such as a new liner for my fruit basket and 2 new hot water bottles, bonus finds.

So for now we are getting Winter ready with extra throws the thicker duvets drawing the curtains when it gets dark, pulling out the long sleeved pyjama's and wooly socks for everyone , bringing out the jumpers and cardigans that had been put away in favour of light weight tops and linen trousers.

How ever the weather may turn around yet and we have some glorious days which is all we can hope for. 

Take care everyone

Love Ftm🍂