Long Half Term

It feels like this half term has been going on for ever and when I counted up on the calendar, it has been 8 weeks long.  So a bit longer than usual and no wonder that we are all tired.

We had a flu jab yesterday and everybody is going round with a sore arm today.  The headmaster reckons that paying for a doctor to come in and vaccinate everybody who wants it, will save him money in terms of paying for supply teachers to cover the teaching of those who have gone down with flu.  Well I don't want the flu.  I've had so many chest infections in the last two years that I would really like a relatively healthy winter this year so a sore arm may just pay dividends.

After the £500+ that I have paid to the vet since the end of May, I was really apprehensive when Puss came into the house last night with blood all over her foot. This morning, it is still nice and clean and she is putting some weight on her foot.  Little sigh of relief.  I'll heave the big sigh when there is no sign of infection after a couple of days or so. We have also paid an Enormous Extra Bill this month and have another one to pay next month so we've been trying hard to be economical this last week - well, even harder than usual.  There is going to be a bit of a hole in our savings pot now.  At least all this being frugal meant that the money was there when we needed to spend it so we did not need to go into debt. Hurray!

Last week, my son was given 2 boxes of cauliflower leaves so the rabbits and hens have been feasting on these leaves.  They all really enjoy them and it makes a change for them too. AND in one of the boxes there was a cauliflower with beautifully white curds.  I've no idea why it was in the box as the leaves were really some shop's throwaways but I'm not complaining!  Twice we had a meal that was a cross between cauliflower cheese and macaroni cheese with lots of bits of other veg thrown in for colour and flavour.  Lovely!  I always put a bit of mustard in the cheese sauce because it not only adds flavour but also cuts down on the amount of cheese needed to make a tasty sauce.  I used spaghetti broken up into short lengths rather than macaroni because that was what I had in the cupboard and it did the job just fine.

Then my friend picked one of her big pumpkins that she had grown and she gave me a large piece of it.  I steamed some and mashed it and put it in bags in the freezer and the rest has been turned into soup. It made enough soup (with some homegrown carrots and onions and a big potato) to do us for four days.  A friend at work was talking about pumpkin soup the other day and said what a difference a pinch of nutmeg made.  I tried it and it really enhances the flavour of the pumpkin without actually tasting of nutmeg.  I'll certainly be doing that again. The first day we had it straight with a little sprinkle of parmesan-lookalike cheese and served with homemade bread; the second day we had it the same but with a big handful of cooked and mashed carrot stirred in (because we had it and it needed used up); tonight it will have a diced potato, a diced apple and a thinly sliced sausage as additions; tomorrow will be the same but with whatever is left in the fridge added as well, as one daughter is cooking on Saturday night and the other one on Sunday and anything that is languishing in the fridge won't be fit to eat by Monday.  So it has been an economical week foodwise but next week won't be - but that is a story for next time : )