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Sometimes I take photos just for the fun of it, sometimes it’s just something that’s caught my eye and I want to remember, often it’s something I’ve done/put together and is of no interest to anybody but myself. Going through folders I found one of those (taken 2019) and it brought back oodles of memories……
some good some not so.
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Prepare yourself for a bit of a rambling Monday post🙂
There was a time….quite a few years ago now that I think of it….that depending on the season I would make a few jars of jams and pickles.
Then the plum tree came down in a gale so the jam production went down. Things were tight and I wasn’t going to fork out for fruit as well as the sugar. We were eating less and less of the sweet things so I didn’t miss the stack of filled jam jars in the cupboard.
I gave up on tomato and cucumber and some other vegetable growing a while ago… travelling and a back that has me cautious when digging as well as bending put paid to that. Besides even with making chutneys and pickles I gave away more than we ate.
These days I usually buy fruit and veg from the farm gate or at a good greengrocer. I can pick and choose and buy to our needs….. not have a glut when the season is good or worry about what we were going to eat if it was a bad ‘un
Food regulations meant that donations to ‘Street Stalls’ had to have ingredients listed and homemade recipes of ‘just a pinch of this and a pinch of that’ weren’t acceptable so in the end that part of my life – the productive housewife – sort of came to an end.
We now buy jams and pickles. Commercial food labelling means we are aware of all the included fats.. sugars.. salt.. you name it… so can judge whether it fits into our respective health needs. You know what I mean…..is it going to make me fat, raise my cholesterol even higher (even though we pop a little pill one must still be aware – or so the lovely GP tells me)… not do my BP any good (same advice from the GP)
Now healthy or not (depending on your point of view) we do like a cup of coffee. A Latte or Flat White when we’re out…..either plunger (french press) or (horrors of horrors, as some of my friends are inclined to remark) instant at home. The Golfer was given a little coffee maker with associated pods but it’s a pain to use so has sat on the bench for quite a long while now – the Bodum plunger is easy and depending on the brand of ‘proper coffee’ used makes an acceptable drink – the one we use…grown in Queensland tastes good to us – the taste of the instant brand we prefer isn’t so bad either.
Which brings me back to pickle making!
Like it or hate it…Moccona our instant coffee of choice – comes in big chunky jars which when washed and aired are great for dry goods storage. Because they are also airtight an old acquaintance would use the smaller one for pickles (pickle onions and gherkins mainly)
I rang her one time to say ‘I’ve got some spare ones if you’re interested’……then promptly forgot – and so did she.
Over a year later, a weekend of sunny weather – good for clearing corners of the garage – produced this haul of 8 Moccona 200gm jars. Plus various balls and cricket stumps!
Sadly, when I rang this persons house to give her the good news (we had sort of lost touch but thank goodness for old address books) it was to hear her husband tell me she had died only a few months beforehand.
‘She would have loved them’ he said. ‘There was a time when….then he broke down. I said my goodbyes and also said to myself.
‘yes there was a time’.
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It’s Monday morning and I’m in my ‘musing’ mode.
Remembering and wondering
How about you – was there a time when you did…….and now just look back and wonder about the things you would do…..when you had the time?
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Still Waters 