Irish Sally Gardens

I have added a link to the lovely Rebecca's paypal store, where you can purchase the e-booklets she has written over the last couple of years with all of the basics on various homesteading/smallholding activities like keeping goats and growing vegetables. I don't generally want to fill up my blog space with lots of ads or commercial activity but every once in a while I think helping someone out who is fighting to keep the life they have built up for themselves and their children is a worthwhile thing to do. Although I haven't actually bought any of these e-booklets myself yet I have attended one of Rebecca's kitchen workshops, where I went to her lovely smallholding in the Leitrim countryside and learned how to felt and I'm sure her e-booklets are just are useful and practical as her workshop proved to be.

Not much else to blog about now or else I have so much to say I can't get it all out. Am just back from a few days with a friend in Brussels and have the rest of the week off work as well so I hope to get a few things done that have been bothering me in the house. And I need to kick my lodger's ass into gear to get out and find a job pronto. Or at least to get out and do something, anything apart from sleep all day and watch DVDs all night. It's still cold and snowy but it is starting to feel like spring despite that - it didn't get dark until after six today. Hooray!

Plan for tomorrow:

Go to farmers' market in the morning - have milk ordered and have to let beef farmer know how much suet I want (yes, I am this far behind in the stuff I planned to do for christmas that I am only now getting around to getting my hands on some suet in order to have a go at making my own mincemeat) done - also ordered beef mince to go with the suet and found preserved ginger in the health food shop on the way home as well as took the time to chat a bit more to some of the farmers about their operations, which was interesting

Go to post office to send off two parcels I should also have sent weeks ago just back from doing that - actually found a third package I also should have sent to Ireland a while ago. Ooops

Go for a walk or, if it's raining, head to the swimming pool for an hour I walked home from choir (about 35 minutes) and that will have to count as my walk

Sort out the kitchen - move around the tupperware and baking stuff so that the things I need often are more accessible. Clean fridge. am going to do this today (Thursday) instead

Sit down at table for three meals and once for a cup of tea and a snack. since my table is still full of tupperware I didn't achieve this one either although I didn't buy any takeaway crap either and did eat proper food - no proper breakfast (did sit down for a cup of tea and had some chocolate with it for a sugar rush to get me out and about) but leftover lentil stew for lunch and bread roll with some garlicy cream cheese for a quick tea before choir as well as a cup of tea plus yummy macaroon from the market for a four o'clock snack