Veg Plotting

We went from zero to glut in one day as far as cucumbers were concerned last week. That turned out to be no problem as the variety I'm growing this year is relatively small and I've found my own delicious version of Tzatziki  uses them up with ease. I've not been well recently* and the medical advice going forward is to eat a low fat diet. I'm marvelling at how my body has accepted this so readily, not even turning a hair at all the tempting treats such as cheese on offer in the fridge. I'm sure it's its way of protecting me from harm. I've discovered how delicious Skyr ** is this week. This strained Icelandic version of yoghurt is super thick and is a fantastic substitute for mayonnaise when making a tuna filling for sandwiches or jacket potatoes. It's extremely low in fat and has lower sugar and higher protein levels to the usual natural yoghurts. The recent spell of hot weather got me thinking about cooling foods, so it was only natural I sh...

Three weeks ago we had two cats and now we have none. I found our Jess in the kitchen on Sunday morning, her face pointed towards the garden through the patio door. It looked like she was going to join her brother. Like him, she was so peaceful in her final sleep. If Skimble was the stately cat, then Jess had a touch of the clown and scamp about her and kept us in stitches. She'd also purr for ages after you'd been near her, even if no stroke or cuddle was on offer. I went to sleep on Saturday night hearing her last purrathon from the bathroom where she'd taken up residence to keep cool. The house is empty without our favourite pair. Thank goodness NAH comes home from holiday today, so we can share our grief. Then tomorrow we'll set them free to play in the garden. On Sunday I completed this year's big butterfly count in her honour. There's nothing she liked more than chasing them around in the sunshine. You can read more about our cats' adv...

Two weeks today we lost our darling boy Skimble. NAH found him in his final sleep on our patio when he went down to get breakfast. He looked so peaceful, as if he'd just paused on his way back in to see us. Needless to say we are heartbroken. We'd been concerned about him for a while as he'd got very thin, though he seemed to be on the mend and was enjoying the garden again. He'd even earmarked a spot under the figs as his hiding place of choice for the summer. He had a different spot each year. Jess had a good look at him with calm acceptance. We fear its only a matter of time until we say farewell to her too. We lit a candle in the evening on the spot where he was found and then we watched the bats fly round the garden, just like he used to do. He even caught one once. I miss my garden helper. You can read more about our cats' adventures here .