Rocky seemed somewhat uncomfortable with me at first - maybe the smell of hair dye? Dogs aren't meant to see colour?I know I have sounded like an endless pit of self pity lately with the dilemma with my two younger girls. That does bother me - I don't believe in self pity - I do believe you make your own bed. It just wasn't the scenario I wanted. And yes - who the heck do I think I am to think I can dictate how things happen.
Oh - that reminds me. The only after Christmas sales purchase I made was a set of good sheets on severe markdown. I normally only buy markdown crap sheets. These are heaven. I have been washing them in the morning and putting them back on the bed at lunch time rather than using my old ones. (MOTH and I sleep with Rocky and - well Rocky is not partial to baths.. he can be downright gross sometimes) Very small things can amuse me. I like my new sheets that were marked down .. to the same price I would normally pay for five sets of sheets.
Yep - I am that much of a peasant!
And my mind really does waffle that badly. I can start thinking about some awful news event and within seconds be thinking of fairy floss.
The lime tree and the parsley. The coriander seeded - after a ridiculous harvest that I couldn't use or give away - and I replanted some today.
The mass of green in the garden - and I tried to make myself cull some stuff to give something a chance to grow - but I actually managed to feel sorry! for all the plants and decide to just let them fight it out themselves. Except the rosemary in the black pot - I am giving that to a friend because another rosemary plant went crazy in the bigger vegetable garden.
I pulled out most of the tomatoes and capsicum - they are just falling off rotten? I planted carrots and potatoes ... maybe they will fare better with this mad weather?
The basil has gone mad - I made pesto.. well sort of. I didn't have pine nuts but I had semi dried tomatoes and roasted capsicum and eggplant in the freezer so I just... mixed it all in the blender with olive oil , garlic, some olives and some anchovies and Parmesan cheese and it tastes fantastic - and it just smells so nice....
And I am running out of ideas on what to do with the rest of it. I hacked away at most of it these last few days. I did kinda use Trundling Grunts recipe as a base and I noticed he said it freezes fine.. so I was wondering if I could just freeze the basil with oil? I should Google it.. but couldn't be bothered yet. I will think of it when the damn stuff all dies back I guess. I just put the "pesto" I made in jars in the fridge.
My girlfriend Robyn was in Rockhampton this weekend and we had hoped to make the trip to see her. But I took Anna's phone as my own (contract thing) and MOTH took my old phone - and we emailed everyone i thought may need it. I neglected to get the numbers of my friends off MOTH's phone - and it meant I couldn't contact her to organise anything for today - Sunday when we could of met up. I told Anna and the other kids we would meet her so they were all disappointed. I did email Robyn's sister telling of my error - and I did keep both phones close to me. I also sat up making food for a BBQ that never happened...
And that was kinda odd because Robyn has been a little pissed at me not making the effort to visit her. I never really understand anything I guess. The time I did want to visit her.. she couldn't because she was out of the country. I did suggest that I needed accommodation (it was my cousins wedding) and she had a boarder and it was inappropriate. And that is fair enough.
The times she visits me... are on journeys to visit family. She also has the luxury of cheap train travel... I THINK the tickets are like $5 each way within the state. I don't. My trip to Sydney.. I spent almost $5K. And I had cheap air tickets for only $3 each.
I wasted a couple of hours desperately looking around for anything that had her phone number on it so I could tell her I wanted to be there but couldn't ... well not couldn't. I could of. I was meant to be in Rockhampton. But I didn't want to go if there was a possibility of me sitting around all day waiting for someone. That is how selfish I have got.
My daughter Anna was looking forward to our visit to Rockhampton. So I disappointed her too.We all would of loved to see Robyn and the kids. William hurt his eye yesterday - and although I packed the camp/BBQ box and made rissoles for the day.. when I woke this morning I just thought... buggar driving all that way for nothing. And I never heard from Robyn today...and I really am getting cross when demands are made of me that don't seem necessary. I cannot afford to visit Cairns. I wont do things that make me feel uncomfortable.
I told Robyn that we had new phone numbers. I told her that we would make it to Rockhampton today if that is what she wanted. I wasted my time preparing for that visit. Anna and William would of loved to see her kids.
Anyway I managed to feel guilty over that too!
5 comments:
I liked reading this gardening story. I can't advise you on basil, other than making tonnes of pesto.
They might come handy in the winter, but ooops you don't have REAL winters over there, do you?
I like the flower on the 3rd pic.
We often sow that in our garden. not only it is useful against some pests, it is edible.
Do you eat it, too?
The nasturtium? (I might of spelt that wrong?) The leaves have a peppery taste - and some people like them in salads. I have a recipe for a sauce similar to Worcestershire sauce for the leaves and flowers here somewhere.
And do you mean freeze the pesto? The stuff I put in jars I have no idea how long it can keep for?
My mom grows nasturiums and the leaves are a great addition to salads. I read a couple of articles that say you can freeze pesto - one said only for six weeks, but a commenter said it keeps forever.
Sorry to hear you didn't meet up with Robyn - I hate it when plans go awry.
Re:flowers
We eat them with meat. When you cook something hearty, a nice salad feels needed, right? But when you don't have time/will to make one, you just pick a leaf/flower or two, toss it on yourplate and voilá.
Re: pesto.
If you can them into plastic or glass containers, making sure they are NOT completely full, sure you can freeze them. You eat them within 6 months and that is just fine.
But also, you can conserve the pesto in glass jars. You have to make QUITE a lot, like 20 bottles at one time. You have to pour the pesto into jars while pesto is extremely HOT.
Prepare a 'bed' for the jars. It can be a large box that you cover from the inside with pillows, blankets, whatever soft that keeps them warm. Put the filled jars one after another into the bed. Make sure the bed is closed while you're working with filling another jar.
When all jars are filled, close the bed by addig more insulation.
It should NOT feel warm from the outside. Put as many blankets/coats/rugs from as many sides as you can.
You can also wrap freshly filled jars into paper to prevent any potential leaking from spoiling your pillows. You can also use throwaway type of bad and old towels, pillows, etc.
One the bed is ready, you have to wait for 3 days.
Open the bed and examine each jar.
Those that are leaking or their lid pops up should be put into the fridge (NOT into freezer) and used within a couple of days.
Those that have firm, hard lids that do not pop up can be stored for as long as you wish in the cellar/attic/kitchen, wherever you store usually jams/canned food, etc.
REPLACE One the bed is ready, you have to wait for 3 days.
WITH
Once the bed is ready, you have to wait for 4 days.
We have been making fruit compotes, and such in the past 10-12 years. Deterioration rate is around 5%.
NO preservatives are needed.
Do not put foil/plastic wrap/anything between jar and lid.
Post a Comment