Winter joy

Hellebores budding in my garden.

Winter is not generally a time of year that I enjoy for a number of reasons. It’s cold, damp, muddy, wet, frosty, grey a lot of the time, there are minimal flowers in the garden and a myriad of other reasons. As winter is going to come around year after year I decided that I really should put out some effort into thinking about the nice things that winter brings with it. Here is a small list of things I’ve come up with to help me think more positively about a season that often makes me feel more than a little glum.

Blueberry muffins and camelias.

Roast dinners, soups, stews, self-saucing puddings, muffins, chocolate, hot chocolate with marshmallows floating in the top, lattes, a hot cup of tea, wood fires, cozy beds, snuggles on the sofa with a cat, crocheting (it’s not too hot), being inside a warm house when its miserable outside, having the oven on and it’s not too hot to be baking, stepping outside to cool off when I’m having hot and sweaty moments that seem to descend on me every half hour or so and wearing snuggly thick socks to keep my feet warm.

I took a peek outside the other day and discovered the first Forget-me-nots were starting to flower as were the Helebores, Snowdrops and of course Polyanthus although I did cheat there and buy some flowering pots. I should not forget the beautiful Daphne. I look forward to it flowering each winter so I can bring in some sprigs to sweeten the air. I hope you are enjoying your winter or summer depending on which hemisphere you live in.

Anne

Daphne on the bathroom window ledge.

The Black Hole

Hello! This is my first post ever so thanks for taking the time to look in. Yet another day has gone by when I’ve avoided looking into the black hole. Does anyone else have a black hole in their home like I do? It scares me silly to even think about it. I contemplate different ways I might go about approaching it, but it never seems to get any easier. As each day goes by, the black hole gets blacker, nastier and I chastise myself about my avoidance tactics. I'd much rather be in my garden, dreaming about my garden and planning projects for my garden.

Oh yes, back to the black hole. Can it really be so bad to face one black hole? YES IT CAN, because this dark cavern of horror is my oven. I imagine those of you like me who have a tendency to avoid oven cleaning duties are grimacing in horror at the thought of oven cleaning time and those who don’t have a procrastinating bone in their body are saying to me, just get in and clean it girl!! Oh I will eventually, all in good time. But first I need to have a plan of attack.

Unfortunately for a girl who likes natural cleaners, I’ve yet to come up with one that doesn’t require mainly elbow grease. (Any great recipes out there for natural oven cleaners, I’d be grateful?!) I've tried all those nasty spray cans of oven cleaner that claim to be irritant free or non odorous but alas I still find one small whiff and the back of my throat and lungs feel like they are peeling away.

Now if I was really smart (and I’m obviously not), I would wipe out the oven every time I baked or roasted or whatever it is that happens in an oven. When I had my new oven in my brand new house 10 years ago, I was virtuous for about the first week and then sadly I fell back into my bad habits of oven cleaning avoidance. One of the problems of cleaning an oven is finding a time when it’s not in use. I mean who wants their prime roast leg of lamb or sponge cake infused with oven cleaning smells. And if you use those nasty cleaners that come in spray cans, the fumes hang around for days. Just another excuse I know but it is a real quandary for girls who use their ovens a lot.

I go through stages of loving baking and other stages of loathing it. I love cooking for special occasions but everyday fare and routine cooking can be rather boring. Just something that has to be done to keep the family from starving. So what to do? Perhaps I need a freezer so I can prepare meals and cakes in advance so that we could get by without needing the oven for a week. As a freezer is no where in sight I suppose the oven cleaning duties will keep for another year or two. :-)