Solstice Greetings!!
Well yesterday to be exact....
We had a great time, we built a lovely sort of hut in the garden, from the framework of our old trade stade we used at shows in the UK and the remains of Eucaliptus trees that the loggers cut down, and Rik rigged up some lights, a few plastic tables and chairs, a bonfire, a fire pit for roasting chestnuts, a few glasses of Vinho, a handful of good friends, and then a nice home cooked meal by the fire at the house, wonderful, we had a lovely time and hopefully so did all those invited...
My dad has arrived and in time to join in and seemed to enjoy himself too, judging by the amount of Vinho he drank....
The weather the last couple of days has been stunning, absolutely balmy... at least the middle to high sixties... not a hint of frost for three nights either.... it wont last long but its beautiful while it does, at least dad can get some sun on his bones....
Now I can go and put up our Christmas tree, I never do it until we have celebrated Winter Solstice, this year is special for me as its the first year I have Christmas with dad for about 30 years ....
So in case I dont get in again....
Feliz Natal, Boas Festas.
Pat.
Frugal living in the Portuguese countryside,Eco-tourism, Agri tourism, recipes,family life, self sufficency, eco living, vegetable growing, tips and self help ideas for country living.
Monday, 22 December 2008
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Carrot and Green Bean Soup.
One of our best... and as we grow tons of beans, cheap too.
As aways, no precise quantities as I never measure...
I use a big old cast iron soup pan for this...
A large splurge of olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan.... go on its good for you!
1 med chopped onion.
2 or 3 cloves of garlic chopped.
a couple of large carrots, chopped into small chunks
a good couple of handfulls of green beans chopped, can be used from frozen.
1 small tomato, again I used a few cherry ones frozen from freezer.
1 small potatoe chopped, or a couple of tablespoons potato flakes (Portugal, batata flocos)
a good pinch of dried thyme
1 veg stock cube.
Black pepper to taste.
Fry the onion and garlic in the oil till transparent, crumble in stock cube, add the carrots, potato and beans and stir till all nicely coated with olive oil, add toms, and thyme, simmer covered for a few mins till juices start to run. add water, enough to cover all veg by about an inch above. Bring to the boil, then simmer till carrot is cooked, blitz with a hand blender just leaving a few little chunks... season to taste...
Lovely with cheesy herb soda bread, the recipe is on here somewhere....
As aways, no precise quantities as I never measure...
I use a big old cast iron soup pan for this...
A large splurge of olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan.... go on its good for you!
1 med chopped onion.
2 or 3 cloves of garlic chopped.
a couple of large carrots, chopped into small chunks
a good couple of handfulls of green beans chopped, can be used from frozen.
1 small tomato, again I used a few cherry ones frozen from freezer.
1 small potatoe chopped, or a couple of tablespoons potato flakes (Portugal, batata flocos)
a good pinch of dried thyme
1 veg stock cube.
Black pepper to taste.
Fry the onion and garlic in the oil till transparent, crumble in stock cube, add the carrots, potato and beans and stir till all nicely coated with olive oil, add toms, and thyme, simmer covered for a few mins till juices start to run. add water, enough to cover all veg by about an inch above. Bring to the boil, then simmer till carrot is cooked, blitz with a hand blender just leaving a few little chunks... season to taste...
Lovely with cheesy herb soda bread, the recipe is on here somewhere....
Energy Update
Life with low energy bulbs is getting better, Rik moved the light sockets around and things seem a little better, well downstairs at least, upstairs is still gloomy but he'll get to that soon. Life with no fridge is not a problem though, I haven't missed it at all, so really shows how little we needed it. I do have a large chest freezer which is jam packed, so cant get by without that, t stores all our winter food, I also buy an extra bag of pasta, or rice or dried beans etc all throughout the summer, so we have plenty of stores in, the bread making every day is still going well, saving us loads of money, and we have lovely fresh bread everyday, as the weather is quite cold we tend to eat a lot of home made soup, especially lunchtimes, its cheap and filling and very healthy, I'll put a good recipe on next post.
So at the moment our total energy use is .... daytime, two 11 watt bulbs and one normal strip light over the work area. . (our downstairs kitchen is a old converted adega and very dark) plus the freezer which is on full time. On Sundays we have half price electric so I do our washing then, generally two loads. And then in the evenings we have three 11 watt bulbs upstairs and downstairs obviously goes off. We have no telly or other electrical items and just watch a DVD occasionally. So I'm expecting a drastic reduction in the bills, Rik is now using the generator for any power tools so that will help. I'll report back when we get our next bill.
The kitchen/ dining room is still an ever changing place, now the wood fired range is definitely staying where it is, Rik is building me a work station around it, rough rendered bricks with slate slab worktops which I'll stone varnish and paint, cheap, clean and efficient, plus in keeping with the rest of the house, which is very ..... rustic.... I can also keep more or less a weeks supply of logs stacked under it all nice and dry and I don't have to keep trekking up to the wood barn.
He's been so busy , he's also built a kitchenette area in the cottage, sink, cupboards and also a nice two ring burner, so yes, although I said I'd NEVER do it.... the cottage is now semi self catering, in this economic climate it would be stupid to lose income through not being able to appeal to as wide a market as possible. Folk just don't have the money they did , and more need self catering... so we've done it, it does look lovely now with the log stove as well. So warm and cosy in there.
Im getting organised for Christmas, although Rik as a Pagan doesnt celebrate Christmas, he's happy for me to do it, we also are having a Winter Solstice Celebration for him this year too, a few friends, a lovely huge bonfire, hot soup, homemade bread and some golden rice pudding, all either made from our produce and/or coloured golden to celebrate the return of the sun...and the start of the longer days... (and a few glasses of red wine too of course) My Dad arrives again on Solstice day so can join in the fun.
I'm busy tomorrow making my christmas puddings, bloody late this year, but that's just how it is, Teresa made some beautifull home made mincemeat for pies, and gave me a jar , I've tasted hers and its wonderful! Ive stored some brussels, and parsnips and swede so we'll have a very traditional dinner for dad this year. Sadly, Ive even bought presents for the dogs....chewy bones and squeaky toys..
Time to plant the garlic, I'm doing it in buckets this year, as the last twice its rotted in the ground... the cabbage is in, so is beetroot, and soon some early spuds, I so look foreward to the growing season, I really miss the time I spend on our patch...
Well thats about it, I'll only be updating twice a week if Im lucky now as still no income and what little dosh we have must be saved for other stuff, so fuel for the van is low priority at the mo.
So at the moment our total energy use is .... daytime, two 11 watt bulbs and one normal strip light over the work area. . (our downstairs kitchen is a old converted adega and very dark) plus the freezer which is on full time. On Sundays we have half price electric so I do our washing then, generally two loads. And then in the evenings we have three 11 watt bulbs upstairs and downstairs obviously goes off. We have no telly or other electrical items and just watch a DVD occasionally. So I'm expecting a drastic reduction in the bills, Rik is now using the generator for any power tools so that will help. I'll report back when we get our next bill.
The kitchen/ dining room is still an ever changing place, now the wood fired range is definitely staying where it is, Rik is building me a work station around it, rough rendered bricks with slate slab worktops which I'll stone varnish and paint, cheap, clean and efficient, plus in keeping with the rest of the house, which is very ..... rustic.... I can also keep more or less a weeks supply of logs stacked under it all nice and dry and I don't have to keep trekking up to the wood barn.
He's been so busy , he's also built a kitchenette area in the cottage, sink, cupboards and also a nice two ring burner, so yes, although I said I'd NEVER do it.... the cottage is now semi self catering, in this economic climate it would be stupid to lose income through not being able to appeal to as wide a market as possible. Folk just don't have the money they did , and more need self catering... so we've done it, it does look lovely now with the log stove as well. So warm and cosy in there.
Im getting organised for Christmas, although Rik as a Pagan doesnt celebrate Christmas, he's happy for me to do it, we also are having a Winter Solstice Celebration for him this year too, a few friends, a lovely huge bonfire, hot soup, homemade bread and some golden rice pudding, all either made from our produce and/or coloured golden to celebrate the return of the sun...and the start of the longer days... (and a few glasses of red wine too of course) My Dad arrives again on Solstice day so can join in the fun.
I'm busy tomorrow making my christmas puddings, bloody late this year, but that's just how it is, Teresa made some beautifull home made mincemeat for pies, and gave me a jar , I've tasted hers and its wonderful! Ive stored some brussels, and parsnips and swede so we'll have a very traditional dinner for dad this year. Sadly, Ive even bought presents for the dogs....chewy bones and squeaky toys..
Time to plant the garlic, I'm doing it in buckets this year, as the last twice its rotted in the ground... the cabbage is in, so is beetroot, and soon some early spuds, I so look foreward to the growing season, I really miss the time I spend on our patch...
Well thats about it, I'll only be updating twice a week if Im lucky now as still no income and what little dosh we have must be saved for other stuff, so fuel for the van is low priority at the mo.
Saturday, 6 December 2008
Lightbulbs
Well after reading Alan's blog at (Tales from the edge of town ) and his exploits in bringing down his power bills, Ive been inspired to work on ours, our electric bill is just about the only bill we get, and to us its huge, a bi monthly continual worry... So we made a (for us large investment in low energy lightbulbs, you know those ugly looking things that dont actually fit in a lampshade...)
We paid 13 euros for 6, and those are the 11watt bulbs, we've ftted them in all our sockets except the strip light in the kitchen work area, and the place is like a black hole now.... Hmmmm the good points are that they last for years, and the whole damn lot only add up to the equivelent of one of our old high power bulbs.. which must save us a lot ... The downside is, they are bloody ugly to look at, and they are only equivelent to 55 watts, which means the place is a tad on the gloomy side, plus the light they give is a whiter light which is harsher than normal too. But hell we just have to get used to it...
Also, I unplugged the fridge.... yep we are now fridgeless.... I took a long look at what was actually kept in it and it wasnt much... our fridge is in what we call the cubby, which is kinda like an entrance hall, utility space, and it's stone built, with concrete floor, which makes it cold...
There is a store cupboard where I keep most of the veg, and the milk (its long life so doesnt need the fridge), so actually in the fridge was.... a lump of cheese, some olives, a handfull of carrots, and a couple of opened jars of mayo and pickle.... believe you me that fridge was off in a trice.... not to be switched on again till its hot.... very hot.... and even then I have a cooler box ... heheheheh
Alan, you dont knowwhat you've started.... The cry of 'switch that light off' echo's right across our valley now....
We paid 13 euros for 6, and those are the 11watt bulbs, we've ftted them in all our sockets except the strip light in the kitchen work area, and the place is like a black hole now.... Hmmmm the good points are that they last for years, and the whole damn lot only add up to the equivelent of one of our old high power bulbs.. which must save us a lot ... The downside is, they are bloody ugly to look at, and they are only equivelent to 55 watts, which means the place is a tad on the gloomy side, plus the light they give is a whiter light which is harsher than normal too. But hell we just have to get used to it...
Also, I unplugged the fridge.... yep we are now fridgeless.... I took a long look at what was actually kept in it and it wasnt much... our fridge is in what we call the cubby, which is kinda like an entrance hall, utility space, and it's stone built, with concrete floor, which makes it cold...
There is a store cupboard where I keep most of the veg, and the milk (its long life so doesnt need the fridge), so actually in the fridge was.... a lump of cheese, some olives, a handfull of carrots, and a couple of opened jars of mayo and pickle.... believe you me that fridge was off in a trice.... not to be switched on again till its hot.... very hot.... and even then I have a cooler box ... heheheheh
Alan, you dont knowwhat you've started.... The cry of 'switch that light off' echo's right across our valley now....
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