Wednesday 17 September 2008

WHAT A GRAND DAY OUT!

Well! Hello there!
Sorry to open with such a gruesome picture - especially nasty if you are a vegetarian. But this is life in the country! Its Sootin season!
My friend turned up with a Gentleman who was a retired Gamekeeper in tow, he had been at one of the shoots - had spare birds and would I like them? Yes Please! love a bit of Duck, and I certainly can't afford to buy it in the shops - and how could it be fresher than this?

Of course it involved me 'dressing' the birds, not that great a job, but I feel if we want to eat meat we should be prepared to do the nasty side. I got a goodly amount of meat from them that now sits in my freezer - lovely duck with orange sauce on a cold winters evening!

On to our Exciting Day out!!

Hubby P has taken a few days holiday from work - to fix the roof primarily! but I thought he should have a least a days fun! So - off we trot to the local Household Auction, armed with a bit of cash and trusty picnic basket (no expensive cafes for us Credit Crunchers!).

I just love it all! - the smell of the old well polished furniture, musty old books, the anticipation in the air, the atmosphere, and then the buzz of the bidding as the Auctioneer drones on in his sing song-y voice!

We had looked at what was for sale earlier, and noted down a few lot numbers that perhaps we could have a bid at, Hubby P left me to go for a -break (smoke!) - That was it - I was so enthralled in it all, the Auctioneer mentioned 3 Antique chairs (my attention was grabbed!) -Chairs for renovation project (more bells ringing - he said renovation - that's the same as crafts/sewing/fun to me!!!) well my hand shot up! - I just had to have them! Got them for a £1!

Funny no one else wanted them! - No wonder when Hubby P went to track them down (we had not seen them earlier - they were stacked on top of a wardrobe!) - well! they all had 3 legs! one had no seat! but they had been beautiful - still were in a sad, crumbly, faded fashion. They just had to come home with us - to spend the last of their glory days fading away in our garden!



I think they look rather elegant!





As if they are just waiting for the Fairy Princess to take a rest amongst the flowers!

Hubby P managed to win this butter churn, it came with a crate of milk bottles! I like the churn, but I'm not sure what we will do with the bottles!



I won some Potty's (Chamber Pots)! again for £1 - no one wanted them. I have them in my bathroom for storing things in!



We got lots of other things - boxes full, because they sell things by the box, and if - for example I wanted some Willow pattern mugs (I won them for £1) I got the whole box of household items -an iron, heated rollers, clocks, pictures, and endless all sorts! Some things were really grim and went in the bin, but the rest - well we did a Car boot sale on Sunday! and turned a profit! What fun!
Just thought I would show you this -


Its a wonderful great big piece of woollen fabric given to be by a friend. Fancy finding this at the back of a cupboard! It really wants to be made into something rather fine, tailored into a nice jacket or coat.




Think I might put it on Ebay and share any earnings with my friend - I don't feel confident enough to put the scissors to it!
More Apples!
Hubby P came home with a box of windfall apples someone had kindly given him - we put them in the freezer (I made a few apple pies) and the peelings and cores I boiled up to make apple jelly.

Just before I put it in jars I added some finely chopped chilli - I don't know if it will work! - what it will taste like! but its a bit different!



Bad photo of the jars of 'Apple jelly with a hint of chilli'! as you can see I got quite a lot considering it was just the peel and cores I used, I will do that again -Nothings Wasted in the Crunch household!
Hope you are all having a good week Remember 'Gird Your Loins' against this Credit Crunch, and we will come out the other side!
Ta ra for now xxxx











10 comments:

  1. Oh save us some Apple with Chilli Jelly for our visit! Did you hear that I made Scones this week? Yummy!

    Gary x

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  2. You are right about the animal thing...it's a shame we are all so detached from animals and that if we eat them someone has to kill them first.

    At least Mr Ducky was wild and free before he met his end.

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  3. I love the chairs and I've never tried apple and chilli jelly but it sounds delicious.

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  4. I`m asking to all the Bloggers to support our dear FRIEND Mandy!
    Please do come over, and DO LEAVE A COMMENT!

    Kisses
    Debbie Moss

    Thanks so much for your SUPPORT!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds like you had great fun at the auction. My parents would go to auctions and had great fun going through the boxes later. Sometimes they'd find a real treasure and other times not-so-good.
    I bet the duck tastes lovely. I'm not keen on gutting animals myself but have done it a few times in the past. I rarely bother plucking them I just skin them and save the fillets!

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  6. Hello, Thankyou so much for your support, I appreciate the time you took to pop over to my friends blog to leave a message. Hopefully the person concerned will get bored. Thanks again, Mandy X
    P.S I love duck too, pity its so expensive! And the apple and chilli sounds divine.

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  7. Auctions are fun, but I never get to them anymore. Your haul looks so interesting. How funny about the chairs having three legs apiece!
    I think the chilli should work well in the apple jelly. Worth a try!

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  8. Hope you really enjoy your duck and your apple with chilli jelly!
    Your chairs look lovely in the garden and I like how you use the potties in the bathroom!

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  9. Love the butter churn and great potty. Apple jelly with chilli soiunds good to me.
    Shame about the chairs I bet they'd have been lovely if they were complete.
    Yvonne

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  10. Love the chairs, you could combine them with the potties and make commodes :) I love duck, hmmmm, potatoes roasted in duck fat, yummy. Your apple and chilly jelly sounds lush, swap you for a jar of chilli jam!
    Twiggy x

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