Journey Clumping!

Now that we live out of town in a village we find ourselves asking more and more as to whether an item is 'worth the drive'. It is funny as we are really not that far from the town we used to live in, in fact distance wise we are longer but time to get there is probably the same. Where we used to live there was always traffic and traffic control systems where as now we can just nip down the dual carriageway or go through the back roads. It just feels like more hassle and I don't know why.

At first I thought we were being lazy so and so's but actually when I started thinking about it, it makes absolute sense to 'clump' journeys together and only go places when you have to. Think about it, it saves you time and stresses of driving places, it saves you money on petrol and on those little 'extra' purchases you make each time and very importantly it is kinder to the environment.

In some ways it is like good old times when you would go into town and spend the day running your errands, butchers, bakers, pharmacy etc. All individual shops that you had to go in. I think the convenience of super markets have made us loose touch with the buying process, I mean, it is all too easy just to run out for that one thing and buy it without thinking. Now I really think about what we need. I plan meals better so that I know we will have food in, but also in doing so there is less food wastage as I try and knock up a meal with what we have in rather than jumping in the car to go to the shops.

I am also finding it quite a time saving device. I can dedicate a day off from work that I am going to spend shopping and running errands, putting food away and all that stuff. It means I don't have chunks out of my day or week popping places unnecessarily. 

It wasn't even a really conscious thing that I was doing but then I wondered why less food was going to waste and how our food bills had gone down. When I looked at it I have to say I was surprised!

It makes perfect sense all round really.

The view from the van window

We're Back!

Well long time no post huh!

Not intentionally really I must add, just that, well life got a bit on the gruelling side for a while and then on the busy side and it is only now that things have fallen back into place and it is time to start blogging again!

So what happened? Well at the time I stopped blogging, I got really poorly. I had pneumonia and was in and out of the hospital like a fiddlers elbow! But I recovered. It was a long, unpleasant illness but I recovered and fully I may add. And then the third biggest thing of our life happened. We finally moved house! Yay!

So we are now in our forever home. Our home where we truly feel happy and settled like we were just meant to be here all along and it is here that we are now able to start thinking about our eco journey again and of course our blogging journey.

We haven't been totally absent from the internet world though. We have been vlogging and some of those vlogs have included stuff about the veggie patch that we have planned. So this post my dear readers is just to say that we are back and to catch you up on the vlog posts until more blog posts find their way!

The everlasting pumpkin

I love Halloween but this is the time of year that pumpkins are in the shops in abundance. I love pumpkins, the orangey-ness of them. I always have loved them and always will. I used them a lot as photography props but I also eat them afterwards.

As a food item pumpkins aren't that popular or fashionable in this country so shops seem to stock them with the intention of children carving them for Halloween decorations and for this reason they are really cheap.

I bought this large pumpkin from Waitrose for just £2. I know £2! But it serves so many purposes. Out of that one pumpkin I will create the following recipes:

• Spiced pumpking fold over (this recipe is in the River Cottage Veg cook book)
• Pumpkin, Carrot and Coriander Soup
• Pumpkin Pie (probably savoury this year)
• Pumpkin and chickpea stew

And those recipes will also last more than one serving which is great.

I also use the pumpkin seeds to make a nice snack. I put them on a roasting tray, sprinkle them with salt and paprika and roast them until they are a nice golden colour.

It's old fashioned thrifty cooking at it's best.

But then I do look forward to November because after a while I do get sick of too much pumpkin!

Here is Betty and Bert modelling with said pumpkin:

Make do pie

I hate to see food go to waste, it's criminal so before going shopping again I try and make whatever we have do. We have some funny meals this way but also some of the best. It's weird how it works out.

So my make do pie is a trusty favourite.

In it goes onion, garlic, pots, carrots, cheese, herbs and anything else I fancy with a nice pastry crust.

It's rather scrummy!

When do you put the central heating on?

I think it is safe to say that the Summer is now over and that Autumn is here. Whilst the skies are still blue the temperature is well, shall we say, crisp. The temperature has dropped quite noticeably even in the day time now.

Last night I was on the sofa watching telly wrapped up in a blanket. Jon said "you can put the heating on you know". This led to a discussion as to the eco properties of doing so coupled with the admitting that it is 'no longer summer' effect.

At the moment it is only just nippy so I am happy to close the windows and doors and pop a jumper on or cover myself with a blanket but what I want to know is when is it acceptable to pop the heating on? Is September too early? Have other people turned it on yet? Am I just getting old and feeling the cold now?

It's funny as I grew up in a house with coal fires whereby you only made a fire in the depths of winter as it was so messy and such a faff to do so, therefore I am more used to wearing a jumper than just turning the central heating switch. It has however, become very convenient to do just that. At what point do you stop making life hard for yourself and flick that switch?

Maybe little animals have it right with hibernating - all that energy they save.

I do love the Autumn and Winter though - long walks in woods and coming home to a homemade soup - bliss"

Image credit: http://middlechildcomplex.tumblr.com/post/16467408759

It's a good job we're not digging for victory

Well it's a blooming good job we are not digging for victory is all I can say! If we were we would starve!

Of everything we planted not much has survived the amounts of rain we have had or the amount of sluggy visitors we have had in the garden too. Normally we grow a mass of courgettes as we love them, last week we had one and then it got eaten by a slug. Even the rhubarb that was doing well, yesterday got eaten by a rabbit who had managed to sneak her way in past the defences! The only thing that is doing well this year is the apple tree but I won't say too much about that as I don't want to jinx it!

I want a small holding!

Last Sunday we went to Holt Hall in Norfolk to the Smallholders event run by the Norfolk Smallholders Training Group.

We were blessed with a warm sunny day which was quite surprising considering the wet weather we have been having lately. I really wanted to go but I was a bit apprehensive as I thought that it would be full of real country types who would frown on us turning up in anything other than a beaten up 4x4. I didn't know whether to wear my wellies or not as the are flowery! It really was nothing like that. The people at the gate were really friendly and nice and it was really cheap to get in too - only £5 which I think is good as I have paid in the past £15 to go to a Country show. There were very few wellies in sight, mainly trainers which in hindsight was a little of a mistake as the ground was a bit muddy in places!

The show wasn't entirely what I thought it was going to be. I thought it would be more of a show aimed at people who have or want a small holding so I thought there would be tools and equipment and advice etc. There was this to a certain extent but not as much as I thought it was going to be. The show was more aimed at people who already have small holdings or cottage industries selling their wares, which was equally lovely. It was in essence a large farmers market which was OK by me as we bought some lovely breads and veggies.

I loved looking around all the animals. I soooo want an Alpacca and a goat! It was a great show and I am glad we went. It was really inspirational seeing all the providers and what the have produced. It certainly gave us a lot to think about so we had to go for a lie down on the beach after!