Old friend returns

I was banging on a while ago about the history of my favourite armchair, and how I’d decided to treat it to a proper reupholstery job.  Well, here it is, looking and feeling like brand new.  I could probably have got three from IKEA for what it cost, but not to this standard.  I may well drop off in it this afternoon, after a day and a half of work in the kitchen.

The first batch of marmalade is in the cupboard, and the second lot is cooling, accompanied by the occasional satisfying ping as the lids tighten down.  I posted the recipe three years ago if you feel the need to consult it.  Given my reluctance to go to the shops these day, I was almost resigned to not making any marmalade this year, and mentioned the fact to Annie.  She suggested that I get Seville oranges delivered by Abel & Cole, as her sister-in-law had done.  Excellent suggestion - and they even delivered 10% more than I’d paid for.  I did all the fruit preparation yesterday and boiled up the first batch.  It was still pretty runny when I went to bed, so I thought I might have to boil it up again this morning.  But by morning it had set, if not quite to my preferred level.  It’ll do.  I was more patient with the second batch: we’ll see tomorrow if that has paid off.

We are getting heavily into on-line shopping these days.  Martyn found an on-line source of our preferred brand of bangers (there’s nothing quite like Speldhursts), and made up an order including a ‘super greens veg box’.  Gosh!  Fennel bulb, apples, kiwis, avocados, courgettes and much else, including enough curly kale to keep an army regular.  

Next in line is the Sainsbury’s list, due in later this afternoon.  We find that, if we log on in the small hours we can get a delivery slot for seven days later.  I’ve tended in the past to shop from hand to mouth, so these trying times call for substantially more planning.  We nevertheless ran out of milk this week, so I had - reluctantly - to make a very rapid visit to said supermarket.  I’ll be a little less timid once I’ve had my first jab, but I’m still waiting for the call.

It looks as if Ben and colleagues will be making a start on the garden soon, so I’ve placed an order for veggie seeds.  Meanwhile, I’ll dig up and pot a few dormant roses that need to be moved to allow Ben to clear a bed that’s full of ivy and miscellaneous other pests.  So we just need to survive long enough to enjoy it!