Your Day (apart from gardening) - what took place?

Thankfully our eldest is feeling much better now ( still had a horrid cough though) and was able to face the train journey down to us ( he was suppose to come last Friday). He will be with us for 10 days ..

I went on slow hobble around the lakes opposite and collected foliage to create a Winter arrangement for my parents grave.

 

How very lovely news @Upsydaisy

 

Great news @Upsydaisy

 

Great news @Upsydaisy

 

This Putin fella. He is demanding that NATO doesn't take on any new members - by this he means Ukraine - why is this? Why does he object to NATO members providing a unified response to military/other threats? What's he up to?

 

Are you on the right thread @clanless ?

I know before anyone says it...I'm a right one to talk?

 

Spent hours scouring nearby stores for jars of sweet mincemeat pie filling. I tried making some this year and it was horrible. And I do mean totally unpalatable. So it is back to store bought.

As everyone probably already knows, I make a dozen varieties of Christmas cookies and also mince tarts to fill trays for my friends and family and all of those trays have been picked up or delivered.

One friend has a brother in law who is going to the end of his life suffering with Alzheimer's. This man loves mince tarts and I usually make a plate chocker with them for my friend to take to him. I did that again this year but then I got to thinking that it is kinda stingy of me to only do it at Christmas. Hence the search for jars to be able to send him these treats a few times a year. I've never met the man but even without seeing him, I feel that I'm making life a teensy bit more pleasant for him.

Then I had yet another go at finishing sewing a top that I was working on. It is now in the rubbish and will be collected with the rest of the trash tomorrow.

 

That's very thoughtful of you @CanadianLori
Shame about the top, but I do that sometimes when I'm sewing.

 

That is strange Lori,my younger brother suffers from Alzheimer's too and has deteriorated a lot this year, we are in the middle of helping him to buy an apartment in a 24/7care complex. He absolutely loves mince pies too and I am visiting him tomorrow with a stash for him !!

 

@Upsydaisy I wonder if their sense of taste gets compromised too and perhaps the strong spice and sugariness of mince pies gives them a good jolt of flavour?

I have decided to get my act together and properly label my table cloths. I spent too much time today unrolling a few of them and then rolling them back up, until I found the one I wanted. I made some years ago in varying lengths and to fit the table with no leaves or one or two. I roll them up on the long cardboard tubes that are typically used for shipping textiles. I can roll the tablecloths up as I iron and then they're wrinkle free for the next time

 

that is what I do, roll them up on cardboard tubes. I also use those tubes to freeze my cookie dough in them, first wrapping in wax paper then letting the hard structure of the tube to further mold it better, then slide them out when frozen and wrap for a good sleep in the freezer. Easy then to just slice and bake when I need.

 

I never use cardboard tubes of any sort near food even though the food be wrapped in paper first. I guess I'm paranoid but the tubes are previously used porous material and it turns my stomach thinking about any breach. Yes, I am paranoid... I won't use a wooden charcuterie board either. I stick with glass. My cutting surfaces are silicone.

I did recycle my old wooden cutting boards by using them as platforms or trivets.

The previously discussed table cloth is at this moment in the washer with plenty of soap and some bleach. There isn't much left to tidy after yesterday's feast and I'm going to let the crumbs here and there, be vacuumed by the robot.

And I've already done my baking which means that whilst listening/watching my beloved Corrie, I will have lots of time for starting some of my chillie seeds and maybe lay out some fabric to start a new piece of clothing

 

I guess you did not totally understand how I do it. the raw cookie dough does NOT touch the cardboard. it is completely hand rolled inside wax paper tightly, and then slid inside the cardboard tube ---the tube gives it better smoothing out than my hands can do . When it totally frozen, its taken out of the freezer, the tube of raw dough -----still encased securely inside the wax paper is slid out, then that tube of dough still inside wax paper is placed inside a freezer bag and it is put back in the freezer. to my understanding Wax Paper is not porous.

 

I did say "even though the food be wrapped first"! I'm guessing you missed that part.... and trying to stuff a roll of dough down a fabric tube of the standard 54" length without ripping the wax paper is a feat to be sure. I know I couldn't do it. I guess I'm all thumbs

Changed my mind, now that I've tidied and swabbed the decks, I'm not going to be pulling out bags of potting soil until tomorrow.

I shall go straight to playing with my fabric stash to figure out what to make next!

 

wondering if your 54" is the same as USA 54" . too long for a freezer for us if it is 54 inch. anyway, my tube is about 12 inches, and I can use tongs to help pull it through the tube at the other end as it is wrapped about 3 times in the wax paper. has been working well for me for years. love the easy way I can just take it out of the freezer and slice off what I want then put it back.