The frost is finally gone, but it got quite cold before it finished. This is a drainage ditch which normally has running water in it -- frozen solid!
And on to
Christmas. We went to Greg's brother's house in the Cotswolds and had a lovely time. Some of my favourite presents: A knitting needle gauge so I can sort out second-hand knitting needles:
This isn't really a present, but Louise got a new toaster so we took her old (working) toaster home to have as a spare for when our current (
Freecycled) toaster dies:
Greg bought me (us really) a new turntable -- ours had been on its last legs for a long time so this is quite welcome. If anybody wants our old one -- which I think is eminently fixable if you're of a mechanical mind -- it's on
Freecycle.
Several books -- two of which are mine and one which is Greg's --
Bread Matters, which I hope will teach me how to make better bread,
The Building of the Green Valley, which I hope will give me more insight into how people might have lived here 400 years ago (and ways that I can use that knowledge in my own life), and
A Carmarthenshire Anthology, which I hope will have interesting information about the history of the area we live in.
Greg got this useful energy monitor so we can see what is eating
electricity in our house. Of course it's made in China -- why isn't there a company here in the UK making these??? Having to choose between a device to help us reduce our electricity use (which is a good thing) and having yet another thing that was
made in China (a bad thing) is not a fair choice!
I got this food mill which will make making
ketchup and
apple butter much easier!
I don't think I've done an
egg post in a while, so here are two really cute fried
bantam eggs -- check out the yolk to white ratio!
We've also decanted the first of the
sloe gin -- yum! It is really a much lovelier colour than you can see here but I couldn't get it to photograph the way I could see it so you will have to use your imaginations...
The rhubarb is starting to come up:
And a lovely man from ApplianceWales came to fix my washing machine so I can wash things again! One interesting thing came up in conversation while he was here that I thought might be worth mentioning to people: the amount of laundry detergent you use. At one point, he asked me to put a load of laundry and detergent in the machine as I normally would, so I did, and he started laughing at the microscopic amount of detergent I was putting in. I explained that we gradually started reducing the amount we used from the amount called for on the bottle -- I think we are now using about 1/3 the recommended amount -- and that our muddy clothes still get perfectly clean. He didn't quite believe me, but when the machine started producing suds, he agreed I might be right. Think about it -- the laundry detergent manufacturers want to you to use more detergent because then you will buy more detergent and they will make more money. Next time you do a wash, put in half the amount you usually use, and see if your clothes still come out clean...
Last thing I want to talk about today is the the primary elections in America tomorrow. Yes, I want you to vote for Barack Obama, but even more than that, I just want you to vote. If you're not sure who to vote for, have a look here. Don't play silly games about voting for the person you think will win, just vote for the person you honestly believe is the best person for the job.
