Slaving over a hot stove

I tried something new last weekend . . . making tomato relish and tomato sauce. Where as my mother was a great bottler and preserver – I never inherited that gene. But with the world like it is, and money becoming a scarce commodity around here, the vegie garden went in. It is just a strip along the fence with tomatoes, and a wheelbarrow of lettuces to start off with, but we all have to start somewhere. The watermelon never came to anything – that was really disappointing! The pumpkin that appeared from the compost is going great guns – three pumpkins on it – and I have no idea how to tell when they are ready LOL

We have an abundant supply of tomatoes – so many that my freezer is full of them as I haven’t had the time to do things straight away with them – I’ve just picked and frozen them so they don’t go to waste.

I picked the ripe ones off the vines and used them straight away last weekend, though. It was one of those “if you feel like doing it, then do it straight away or it won’t get done” sort of moments.

I have to say that I was a wee bit disappointed at how much it all reduced down while cooking. I was thinking I was going to have a shelf full of jars, when in reality I got only five jars in total. A miserable little amount for the work that went into it! But the bottles do look nice!

Friday 13th March

Friday the 13th. Sends shivers down a lot of spines and is very unlucky for some.

Some interesting facts and superstitions about the number 13:

*Italians don’t use the number 13 in their national lottery.

*It’s bad luck to fly on Friday the 13th.

* The 13 ball is the least likely number to come up in the UK lottery, since it’s inception in 1994.

* It has been suggested that if 13 people all sit down at a table together at once, that they will all will die within a year.

* Beware of naming your children anything with 13 letters, example, Charles Manson.

* There are 13 witches in a coven.

* We have 3 Friday the 13ths in 2009, February, March and again in November!

* The British Navy is notoriously afraid of Friday the 13th. Nonetheless, it built a ship named Friday the 13th. On its maiden voyage, the vessel left dock on a Friday the 13th and was never heard from again.

* If you were born on a Friday the 13th then today is your LUCKY day!

* Many tall buildings do not have a 13th Floor, because if they did, no one would want to stay on them.

* Most hospitals do not have a room 13.

* A baker’s dozen is described by a dozen loaves of bread with the 13th being an offering to the devil so he would not spoil the other 12.

* More than 60 million people do not go to work, drive or leave their house on this unlucky day.

* The seals on the back of a United States dollar bill include 13 steps on the pyramid, 13 stars above the eagle’s head, 13 war arrows in the eagle’s claw and 13 leaves on the olive branch.

* President Franklin D. Roosevelt would not travel on the 13th day of any month and would never host 13 guests at a meal.

* The ill-fated Apollo 13 launched at 13:13 CST on 4/11/70. The sum of the date’s digits is 13. The explosion that crippled the spacecraft occurred on April 13th.

* According to the British Medical Journal the risk of a car accident in the UK increases by more than 50% on Friday the 13th.

We’ve had a busy time of it lately. Ricki came home for a month in between moving houses in Chch. I flew out to Australia with family to my nieces wedding. I was really impressed there with how well the kids coped because it was so BLOODY HOT. Back home we have continued to run up the kms checking out rural properties. We have been trying really hard to decide what we really want to do. My mind has been going in a thousand different directions, and with working mostly full time for the last couple of months I have been stressed to the max!

Decision has been made (I think LOL) as of today that we will stay here for at least the next year and put the finishing touches on the house and section to get it into a sellable state. That way, if the right property does come up – then we are ready for it. The possibility is there that once the house is sorted, we may well sell it then anyway and effectively become cash buyers. I feel a lot more settled now. We have a plan. Plans are good!!!

A couple of pics: