Mumble, mumble, mumble!

Not in the best of moods today!!! My weight is creeping up again from the weekend away, I have also been having serious problems beacuse my diet altered so much over the weekend! Its actually got me quite down, does it mean if I go away I am going to have to take all the things I need to eat with me???? Everytime??? It makes me feel old!!!!! I'm not for goodness sake! I'm only 21!!!!!!!!!
I'm looking for a kitten as well and what I would like I can't afford!!! I know I could have any type of kitten around but I'm sorry folks once you've had a burmese you can't really have anything else. I mean who else knocks on the front window to come in the front door, then comes for a cuddle and a chat before he snuggles up next to the woodburner in the front room



This is Sassy, now shes more your in door girl but does like to assist you when your on the computer




Well I'm not sure you could call this assisting!! Tori gets really annoyed because when Sassy is with her she likes to type by walking up and down the keyboard!!!! She is also very bossy and if at 10pm hubby and I haven't gone to bed she comes to the bottom of the stairs and shouts at us!!

So I thought to myself get out girl, go and do some hard work in the garden, get those endorphenes (sp) powering round your body. So I went out and decided to clean out the chickens, its a quagmire again!!! Couple of days of rain and thats it!! A sea of mud! So I am going to have to come up with something to solve this!!

I decided to do some more digging at the bottom!!! Big mistake, just how depressing can things get..... because I have totally re dug the beds at the bottom, the bindweed has gone 'ape' its everywhere covering everything, just after a couple of days of rain. What is the point of planting new plants that will be smothered by the strangling bindweed in a couple of weeks! If I leave it the roots will get entwined into the new plants roots and it will multiply beyond belief!! So why I ask does no one else around us suffer with it?? I never see bind weed in either of the gardens to my left and right!!!!!

I know the answer is

GREEN CONCRETE THROUGHOUT!!!!!!!!

Lime Marmalade & the Black Dog!

I do try hard to write a cheerful blog because I don't want to lose any of you, hence loads of pics recently!! But......

Have you heard of Winston Churchill's 'Black Dog'? (Depression)

"Our society unfortunately still has these strange ideas about depression – that weak people get depressed. If weak people get depressed then why did Winston Churchill get depressed? Why did Abraham Lincoln get depressed? Why did Charles Darwin get depressed?" Dr Ian Chung.

I am sadly one of these people and I believe I have done well to get through the last 6 months with everything thats been going on! Anyway I saw the GP 2 weeks ago and everything is now in hand. To be honest its a b****r! I still have no idea why? Its like someone has flicked a switch and try as I might I can't seem to flick it back! I must admit I don't talk about it much as I don't like people knowing, but I can tell you because I don't see you!!!!!
I don't need sympathy, I would never ever harm myself in any way shape or form, because I know I am better for the family a zombie in the corner of the sofa than not here at all!! I also know how loved I am!! So maybe now you understand my confusion as to why I get this!!

So what do I do to help myself, I set a task everyday, something I have to do or should try to do. Usually I am quite happy to spend a whole morning down the garden or cooking, sewing, knitting or whatever. I am lucky if I can manage half an hour at the moment, so that is what I do and today it is the turn of the Lime Marmalade. This takes alot longer than half an hour, but I can break it up, so last night I gathered the ingredients



such lovely cheerful colours!



I then squeezed all the lemons and limes and put the lime skins through the mincer (I don't like large rind in my marmalade)then put the minced rinds into the juice to soak over night!

This morning I popped it all in a pan, in the bag are the membranes and pips of the lemons and limes.



Still looks a nice colour!

Then I boiled it for 1 hour before removing the bag and adding the sugar. Now the photo does not really do this justice because it still looks a good colour here but to be honest it looks like 'vomit'!!!!!



I did the saucer test, well in my case the small plate test,to see if it had reached setting point. I also took the opportunity to taste it! My goodness it will certainly wake you up, hubby won't like it, I think it will be too bitter for him!



then poured it into the jars.



and now a close up!




Next time I won't put so much of the rind in! Can't wait to taste it, maybe I will have a piece of toast for lunch!!!!!!

So for coffee break I wandered to my favourite spot in the garden and what I do love to see apart from sunshine, is washing on the line



chickens enjoying themselves, even though they have wrecked the garden



look at all the frogs spawn. The lump I showed you the other day has grown and is getting tails!!



I will keep an eye on it this weekend and let you know how they grow! Right I'm off to have lunch down the garden, catch you all later!!