MAKING A START

It was very late last night before I switched of my little net book and very late indeed before I managed to get off to sleep. I had suddenly decided to make a start on the mountain of documents downloaded from the Planning Department, it was a good idea and today I feel much better for having made a start. As I ploughed through the statements made by the applicant I was amazed at the amount of untruths and glaring inaccuracies and I am hoping that the fact that they told so many lies will help my cause.

My head was buzzing with all the arguments , points and counterpoints but when sleep came I sleep for four hours and woke feeling much more hopeful, somehow things seem to be falling in to place. Yet it is the sense of just what is at stake which still sinks my heart down to boot level whenever I think about it, this battle is very close to home and heart.

Eager to make amends for my gloomy demeanour of yesterday I made a special breakfast for Pa, Eggs Florentine using spinach from the garden, the spinach this year is the best I have ever grown and we have been enjoying it for some weeks.

Now that the strawberry season is at an end I have removed the nets with which I cover them while they are fruiting, I would normally have done this a while ago but the weather has been rather inclement. I gave the bed a good weeding as I worked , some of the plants are getting rather old and are ready to be replaced, a job for later in the year, I hope. The pumpkins and squashes are doing well now that they have had some rain and that part of the garden had a jungley appearance and is the haunt of many frogs and toads.
In the green house the tomatoes are ripening at last and soon we shall be feasting on them every day,also the experimental sweet potatoes I planted seem to be doing well judging by the amount of top growth,it will be interesting to see what is beneath the soil when the time comes to dig them up.

I have been asked to publish a recipe today and so I have chosen one which I cook quite often, the recipe calls for pork chops but I have cooked this dish with gammon steaks and most recently bacon chops and it is always delicious. It also has he virtue of making boring old chops in to something rather special.
Pork chops a la Avie
4fl.oz. Olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper
4 large pork loin chops
1 lb of canned tomatoes
half a tablespoon of chopped fresh tarragon or a quarter teaspoon of dried tarragon
Heat the oven to 190oC
Heat the oil in a flame proof dish and saute the garlic. Remove the garlic and fry the chops with the salt and pepper until brown on both sides.
Add the tomatoes and tarragon and return the garlic to the pan.
Cover and cook in the oven for About and hour and a half, a little less if the chops are thin.
This amount will serve four people and can be served with boiled rice and salad or as I often do with butter sautéed potatoes and French beans. It is a good meal to prepare if you have worked all day as there is not much prep is and while it cooks you can have a hot bath, tidy up or play with the children. Good luck and I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine do.

Pa is still improving and it seems like a miracle, because of this last week was lovely in spite of the fact that my son and I were both unwell. If it were not for this awful business with the garden I should have nothing left to wish for. Oh well as my Mother always says “The day you don't have a problem you will probably be dead.” She always was a cheerful soul, bless her!