I am ......Organised

I have finally finished sorting out my layout, it ain't perfect mind, but at least everyone's links are showing now; sorry to all the peeps I follow for the delay.
Well this afternoon wasn't as bad I thought it was going to be. I have been referred to do some charity work, so at least that will start to get me back into the swing of working hopefully.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch allotment; I have affixed a Swiss flag to the shed door , declaring our neutrality in the ongoing saga of 'who has a vendetta against who'. Honestly! I knew allotments could be cliquey but....worse than kindergarten?

The runner beans, or at least half of them have finally managed to struggle high enough to reach the strings on the wigwam. I was close to giving up to be honest , this is the third lot after the first two got killed in the late frosts; but they seems to be catching up slowly and one has its first flowers on, as do the Borlotti and some of my Maris Piper potatoes.The peas have pods so they are doing well now, and the garlic looks like it might be ready early! ( either that or its dying, which I doubt seeing as it survived the winter). The first two courgettes are forming, and we have another gherkin. why they can't come a few at a time is beyond me, I mean you can hardly pickle one gherkin; and they are not really freezable, so I will have to come up with a cunning plan.

Having harvested another 300g of broad beans for the freezer, son#1 is still gamely trying to overcome his dislike of them; eating the small ones raw as I shell them, whilst washing them down with a taste of SBC ice cream. Personally I think the whole thing was just an excuse to get more ice cream, but it does mean he daren't complain when I put them on his plate next time.


And so to dinner, which; having spent so much time in the kitchen this weekend, I wanted to be quick and easy. Now I love cooking, but that's the hobby part; and sometimes the daily grind of doing dinner is not always fun, so anything that can be prepared in 10 minutes and cooked in 5 is perfect. Tonight it was noodles.

When our local Woolworth finally closed its doors, we speculated for a while as to what would open there? there were wild rumours of an Asda, maybe an Aldi; or ,joy of joys; an Iceland! and what did we get?  well imagine the local chagrin when a Chinese wholesalers took it on !!!
Oh the comments:  'what do we need one of those for?', 'they will never last' etc. etc.  and so on, ad infinitum.
I was dead chuffed!!! all that cool stuff on my doorstep? seventh heaven, and we make very good use of it too; curry sauce concentrate for when you really crave a bad curry, noodle types out the wazoo and chili oils and sauces to die for; coconut milk and cream at a fraction of the price in a Tesco or Sainsbury.
I will eat noodles several times a weeks as a snack and a big pack will last me a good fortnight, having bought the same ones several times now; I never noticed the 'Point of Origin'.....

OMIGODS!!!! are they serious? I can hardly eat them for laughing! anyway, once I had wiped the tears of laughter from my eyes I stuck them in boiling water for 2 minutes; added sliced mushrooms, shredded Pak Choi; diced spring onions, sliced radishes and a couple of handfuls of prawns; 2 minutes more and it's drain nearly all the water off and stir in Spicy Szechuan sauce (Lee Kum Kee) . Voilà.

Instant spicy gratification, just in time for the football.