Monthly Roundup September

Here's a new idea I picked up from a friend's blog and thought I might try and do this on a monthly basis, too. This might get me out of my dilemma of the irregular blog entries and keep you all informed about my doings: it's called a "monthly roundup", just answering a set of questions at the beginning of the new month about the previous one. I hope you'll be enjoying it!

September 2009

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
I have finally managed to get the Cadfael Chronicles complete and am now reading them all consecutively, which is more fun than piecemeal. They are separate stories, but the author has a habit of referring casually to things or characters from previous episodes. I’ve had a fair bit of time for reading and so I’ve got through books one to eleven! You can find an introduction review on my Book Reviews Blog but I haven't completed later pages.
The other thing I started this month is reading my Bible-in-a-Year, finally - I bought this three years ago at Spring Harvest and have been meaning every year to start it at the beginning of the year as it is numbered so. But of course, then I always forgot. Now I just thought it doesn't really matter when to start, and between my dodgy health and our upside-down lifestyle of going to bed late and getting up late I haven't been to church much this year and miss some spirituality. So doing this long daily reading and the meditation verse each day seemed a good idea. I'm also using the meditation verse to make a page for my Faithbook each day (well, FOR each day but not necessarily daily, just as I find time...). It is very rewarding.

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
The third part of “The Tudors” is on iBBC and we’ve been watching King Henry with his third wife (three episodes) and his grief after her loss (fourth episode). Shame Queen Jane died in childbed – he might have been content with her…
We also watched another weekly on iBBC called “Economy Gastronomy”, a rather fun real life TV series where two chefs teach a family each week how to save money and make the most of their ingredients while still have satisfying meals. They had a good variety – large families, a gay family, a single mother and child, and even a student cohab. I learnt some tips and tricks, too, and copied various recipes from their website. Some useful entertainment for a change…
Finally, we watched a variety of Open University documentations: on dinosaurs; the chemistry of snow; the history of mathematics; the mysterious decline of the honeybee; and the oldest map of Britain. It’s our “dinner theatre, thanks to the flexibility of iBBC…

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
Sean and I spent an afternoon at Saltex, the local show for estate managment, clubs and amenities. It’s a strange mix of agri- and horticulture; playground stuff; and sports resources. We got free tickets through Sean’s uncle, and Sean wanted to have a look at wood processing machinery. There wasn’t much on show, and what was there was so expensive as to put a stop to any further musings about getting into the wood recycling business. We ended up buying some work clothes and shoes for Sean, and a sturdy pair of secateurs and thick gardening gloves for me.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
Well, of course September is my birthday month but we usually ignore the fact more or less. I got a lovely home-knitted scarf from a friend (the type that is knitted in the round and you can double-sling it over your head, pull it up as a hood, or pull it down over your shoulders to keep you warm there. Plus a nice little picture from MIL.
Not so much a gift as a prize: Sean was away for a weekend at the Cardington Interclub Slalom Finals, coming third in his division which got him a special 25-year anniversary trophy from the event (photo here). Not that he’s proudly collecting this kind of thing – but it’s an ashtray shaped little bowl and will probably come in useful for something…

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
We have pretty much gone off spending a lot of money on buying things – not that either of us was ever a big spender – and have instead started thinking about resources we have. For the first time since I’ve met Sean we have been getting lots of fruit from Woodlands (there are tons of different sorts of plums and apples, and also Asian pears, grapes and figs), and Sean has ingeniously converted an old filing trays box and some computer fans into a dehydrator (photo here), so we have been cooking plum compote for the freezer and drying apples, prunes and pears to tide us over the fruitless season. Let’s see how long it will last us!
Received via Freecycle: book ends; 4-ring binders; grapevine cuttings; waterproof mittens; two planting tables and a load of big terracotta planting pots

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
My annual blood test was due (compulsory for anybody on Thyroxine) and my doctor ordered some extra tests as well to try and look into my continuing problems of low energy and immune system. One of the tests required was for fasting blood sugar which meant for 12 hours before the appointment I couldn’t eat or drink anything other than a little water, and the tests have to be sent in early so I had to go for the early morning session! The whole setup did NOT suit our normal lifestyle and was a right nuisance.
Later in the month I developed a really bad leg after a mossie got to me one night, biting me 6 times across my calf. Either I’ve suddenly gone allergic to mossies or this one was infected with something because each of these bites went swollen, pussy ad sore, and they took over two weeks to heal. (photo taken after about a week!)

What was going on in garden and allotment?
The courgettes and beans are in full production – there are far more than we can eat so Sean did some research on freezing containers and found a type that is the ideal size for our freezer drawers. He drove over to Maidenhead to buy them in bulk – only a few pence per box and we have 200 boxes, so that should cover the whole of our harvest.
The little cucurbits called “melothrie” are also a success, making an easy and unusual addition to salads. Sean has got quite used to a little side salad with most meals and doesn’t deride it as “rabbit food” anymore – in fact, if there isn’t one he asks what’s missing!
Sean’s taken the chilli plant in the growhouse under his wings, tending to it rather lovingly, and it’s responding with tons of flowers and little chillies in various states of ripeness. He takes a few off almost every day now – sometimes as many as 20! Again, the surplus goes into the freezer, and I’ve started using chilli in cooking a lot more than I used to.
The allotment still looks in good shape after our mega effort in July – unfortunately, “something” (rabbits? mice?) ate nearly all the beetroot, the carrot fly tunnelled all the carrots, the fennels don’t seem to want to form proper bulbs, and the corn is far behind, but there’s more beans and courgettes, spinach, parsley, the last potatoes, onions and garlic ready. And it all looks very pretty thanks to Emily’s wedding flowers – sunflowers, cornflowers, nigella, marigolds and cosmos.
Oh, and of course there’s the hedgerow bounty as well – I’ve spent a couple of afternoons out foraging for blackberries!

What new recipes did I try out?
I have been searching for bean and courgette recipes, of course, and these are our favourites:
Crunchy Pecan Beans (in photo mixed with sprouting broccoli)
Courgettes in Blankets
Salmon Stir Fry
Salad Nicoise
I also found an interesting recipe to deal with those green tomatoes we had to rescue from the blight last month: Tex Mex Rice with Green Tomatoes (no photo)
(Recipe links go to my new online cookbook - see next paragraph.)

What were my accomplishments this month?
I finished the first section of the Book of Me Challenge at the Club Scrap Forum (six pages – one each for the three themes for Sean and for me). It was interesting to talk to Sean about some of the questions and I certainly learnt a bit more about how he sees things (he’s not very forthcoming in such talk unprompted!). You can see them here.
I also completed Emily’s wedding keepsake album – 40 pages!!! Format is 6x6”, but still, it was a lot of work and I hope that she’ll like it. I think it turned out really well (and was a good way of using up some of the lovey-dovey embellishments for which I don’t have much use in my ordinary scrapbooking…). See photos in post below.
On another note, I started a new project: an online cookbook with my favourite recipes, especially recipes adapted or found for this anti-candida diet I’m on. As I’m getting used to Joomla from my work with the Deanery website, I had Sean convince me that it is the ideal medium for this idea, and it turned out that, as usual, he’s right. It works really well – and Sean did up one of the mini IBM laptops for me which now sits in the kitchen so that I can use my online cookbook without having to print the recipes – safe the trees!
Finally, job-wise we had the first network meeting, for School Governors in the Deanery, and with a speaker from the Diocesan Education Centre. It all went really well and was appreciated by those who took part, so hopefully it will be the start to some successful networking projects in the future. As this is a main objective in my job description I feel quite passionately about it!

What were my disappointments this month?
Something really annoying happened: after my blood test I went to Coffee Break at church just to say hello and sort out the SfP cards for sale as I hadn’t looked after them in a long time. Everybody wanted to talk to me, and the Traidcraft stall was up as well, so it all took longer than expected, and what with a long wait at the post office afterwards and queue in the supermarket I was a few minutes late at the carpark – and Mr Job’s Worth Traffic Warden must have been waiting right there to put the ticket on my car. Or maybe it’s because my little car stands out from all the others and is easy to remember that he thought it had been there for a long time and checked back…? Anyway, it cost me £30 which I thought hilarious, especially since the carpark is usually half empty now that the maximum parking time is only two hours…

Anything else noteworthy to include?
Our old church choir was called back in for an afternoon on special request to sing at the memorial service for one of its former members. Although a sad occasion it was a happy get-together and the singing went really well, and felt really good. We all still feel ready to get back into our Sunday duties if only they could find us a new music director… (photo here)