New Year - New Kitchen!

Hello Bloglies!

Thank you for visiting me.  Isn't the weather bloomin' awful?  I'm enjoying my period of enforced hibernation and rejoicing in the fact that I don't really have to leave the house unless I really need to!

We've been in a state of flux here at Peapods over the last couple of days.  Towards the end of last year, the Council promised us a new kitchen but warned us that there could be a two year waiting list for the work to be carried out.  The old kitchen was barely serviceable with cupboard doors hanging on by one hinge, the work tops scratched and marked and the tiling looking decidedly jaded.   We had resigned ourselves to waiting their timescale, however just before Christmas I got a call saying that they would begin work on the 6 January!  The weekend was spent madly decluttering and dividing stuff in to keep/charity/throw away piles as you do.  The workmen arrived on Monday morning and proceeded to gut the kitchen - honestly the noise they made you'd have thought that the Tasmanian Devil had been let loose with a wrecking ball! They were extremely quick at removing the old units and tiles.

In just a couple of hours this had happened:-

and a little while later the old warped floorboards had been taken up too.

The base units were put in soon afterwards and by the end of Monday we had work tops too.   They finished the majority of the work on Tuesday, just leaving a couple of jobs for the electrician today.  

So here's the finished kitchen - we still have to paint and replace the light shades, and get a new blind for the kitchen window.  We also need to sell our fridge and get a new, smaller one so that we can move it into the old pantry cum storage/junk room (now clutter free!).  This will give us a lot more much needed room in the kitchen and will allow us to utilise the table.  To date the chairs matching the table have lived in the shed for around 8 months due to lack of space! 

Ahh look - there's my new soup maker steaming away next to the microwave!   I mentioned this in my last post I think.  I'm so pleased with it.  It's this one:-

I'm sure the traditionalists will be throwing their hands up in horror at the very thought of such a gadget - but believe me it is SO handy, particularly for those of us who work full time or have busy lifestyles. As you can see, it is no bigger than a large jug kettle and takes up hardly any room. I simply add roughly chopped veg of my choice and some stock and seasoning, press a button and 21 minutes (for smooth soup - 28 minutes if you like your soup chunky!) later the soup is cooked and blended to perfection without any need for transferring hot liquids between receptacles or retrieving the liquidiser from the back of the cupboard.  It makes enough for four people (well four - six meals for me at least!). It cooks and blends so quickly you could do it in the morning before work and decant some into a flask for lunch.  I shall continue to sing it's praises for a very long time I reckon and am currently experimenting with recipes.  I began with a mixture of sweet potatoes, carrots and onions.  Today I did pea and mint - which is my favourite!  450g of frozen peas, hot veg stock, an onion and a packet of fresh mint - or 20g if you are lucky enough to have it in your herb garden.  Yumski! And as I'm such a domestic goddess (cough) I made some soda bread to go with it.  I dunno how I do it for the money! A very frugal, filling and nourishing meal. 

Velvety smooth, and a delicate shade of froggy green!

Thank you for all the health enquiries and recommendations over the  past few weeks.  I very much appreciate them as always.  I saw my consultant last Saturday and explained my discomfort to him after meals.  He now wants to do an endoscopy to see whether I have anything else underlying which may be the cause of my pain.  I'm having to wait for his appointment to be sent through, however as I shall go via BUPA again he reassures me that this should follow in around 2 - 3 weeks.  

Stay safe and warm, particularly if you are being affected by Mother Nature's current bad mood.

Love and Light 

xxx