Sunrise looking to the south
Friday morning I was up at 4AM and got the post up. Then I got the kitchen cleaned up and started prepping for making cranberry relishes.
I’ve collected a lot of small Tupperware for storing small amounts of things in the freezer. I had to get all the boxes and tins down from the top of the storage cabinets in the pantry.
I found a box of Christmas teas at BJ’s a few weeks back. One of them was Twinings Christmas Tea Black Tea. It has cinnamon and clove in it. I found I can drink it plain and enjoy it. Previously my go to tea was Twinings English Breakfast but I needed lots of cream and a bit of organic sugar to enjoy it. That did not work well with the intermittent fasting. So I am glad to have found a tea that does work well.
Once my tea was made, I set about checking and washing the 5 bags of cranberries that had been sitting in the fridge for the last 2 weeks. Lots of them had gone bad but I still had enough to make 5 batches of relishes.
My helper friend arrived at 8AM and set about watering the first floor house plants for me. Once that was done he went to the store for oranges while I got a shower and ready for the day.
I went out to the New Herb garden and picked a bunch of sage leaves. A few years back I had preserved ginger in vodka and it’s still fine. So when he returned he chopped the sage and ginger very fine while I got the zest off an orange.
I was using frozen blueberries left over from last spring. We put everything in the pot and brought it to a boil.
While it was cooking, we got started on the cranberry orange relish.
This is very easy to make. Just peel ½ of an orange and section the whole orange small enough to fit in the food grinder. Grind it up with the cranberries. Add back in any juice that leaks from the grinder and the sugar and refrigerate to let the flavors blend. I got 7 meals from a double batch.
We left the chutney to cool and then I put some in 2 jars, one for my helper friend and one for his mom. He will be going to his mom’s this weekend. I got 4 meals out of the 3 batches we made. I will have to make 2 or 3 more batches to have some for the year.
While we waited for the chutney to finish cooling we went in search of my boxes of Christmas window candles. I have so many now they are no longer in the boxes I used for 30 years and I have a hard time remembering what they are in or where I stored them.
So it took 2 trips to the attic and 1 trip to the store room to find this big red box, mostly because I didn’t remember they were in a big red box. They won’t be again because while the box is only a couple years old, it’s already disintegrating. So I will have to get a large tote to store them this year. So it will be another long hunt next year…
I had sort of thought I might get the autumn wreaths out while I was in the attic. So instead of coming down empty handed on the first trip, I got out a wreath and a swag and he helped me hang them up. It’s only for a couple weeks, until the Christmas stuff goes up the weekend after Thanksgiving.
He left just before noon and I had lunch and lay down to rest on the couch. I was watching a movie with my eyes closed, not really asleep because I had to get ready for my first PT appointment at 2:15PM. The phone rang just before that and my driver was here already! So I zoomed around and got ready.
Not a very good photo, but there’s a giant skeleton with 2 casts on, one on leg, one on arm, in front of the PT place.
The PT person said I was a bit stronger this time around. I had tried to start PT last spring but just didn’t have the energy for it. So now I have to get serious about doing the exercises. And get my butt back to the exercise classes on Mondays and Wednesdays at the senior center.
The van was late picking me up so I didn’t get home until 4:15PM. The contractor had already checked the outside light and needed a new bulb to finish that job on a tall ladder.
So he had come inside and started replacing parts on the old washer. He got it back together and we spent a lot of time trying to level it. Between being old, spending 3 years in the cellar, and the floor being uneven, it took quite a while.
But finally it was done and we ran it on the gentle cycle to start with. It seemed to do fine. So I will be doing laundry on Monday and see what happens.
By the time he left at 6PM, I so exhausted. I had to pull shades, light both fires, and find something for supper.
On Saturday I need to clean up the old washer, clean up the kitchen, and then start putting up the candles in the windows. My brother leaves for his vacation at 3AM so it will be pretty quiet around here for the next few weeks. I can play my Christmas music in the morning too!
You have done lots of cooking today I can see, I loved the teacup with the pumpkin design.
It's good you've found a tea brand you enjoy without sugar and cream- it's a lot healthier that way. Your helper definitely did well helping out making the relishes and they turned out well. Starting the PT exercises is a good idea, helps you stay healthy and fit. Thanks for the update and have a great weekend.
Very medicinal, clove and cinnamon tea but I hope it doesn't have a bitter taste?
Actually it's smooth and nice.
How will you use the chutney and the relish? Do you serve them with meats?
I love Christmas music, especially the Christmas hymns. Other family members don't like Christmas music at all, so soon I will start playing it in the mornings before they get up.
Here when my husband was alive, there was a ban on Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving. I had to stop New Year's day. I like the music from the late 40's thro the early 70's and there are a lot of hymns in the collection.
Yes, I'll use the chutney and relish as side dishes for poultry and pork dishes.
Black tea is the best, I have it too like yours and do it daily!
#hive #posh
A good decision you're made with the PT at least that will enable you keep active.
It was actually a very busy day that you actually have and I guess you really need to have quality rest