Plan C

Well, 2 months in and the aims of this blog have been forced to change.  I have to sell this house now instead of waiting the 4 years as agreed.  I could get angry and upset, I could yell and scream, I could stomp my feet and feel sorry myself that I'm not getting what I want.  I'll be honest and say that I did all of these things.  For a day.  Then kicked my own backside and said "Get on with it!"

It took me a wee while to come up with an alternative plan.  Plan C as it's now known around here.  If I could choose what I want to do, this would not be it but I have to put the teenager's needs before my own.  He needs stability for the last 4 years of his education.  He wants to study medicine (gulp!) so only gets one chance at getting the grades and needs to have a wide range of activities on his CV if he stands any chance of getting a place at uni.

So here it is.  Thanks to some clever negotiations with the ex (ie I kept saying NO to one of his demands until he gave in!) I have secured enough cash to buy a nice house in a nice area of town with no mortgage. This is a huge relief to me as without a permanant job I wouldn't get a mortgage.  But I will have to go back to supply teaching to pay the bills :-(  Like I said I have to put my son's needs before my own.  I can manage that.

I'm looking at the positives.  It's nearer my oldest son, it's nearer my partner and his kids and most importantly it's nearer my parents. There's a great rail network so the teen can easily go visit his dad without needing me to take him.  He can still get to school on the same bus, it's just a longer journey.  He has a lot of friends living in town so can entertain himself.  It's a university town so it has a lot going on.  And there will be more chances for work for me. See, lots of positives.

In a nutshell, Plan C is buy a house mortgage free, go back to supply teaching, get writing and finish that novel, build up my wee craft business and save £40k in 4 years.  In 2016 I will be 50, my youngest child will be off to uni and I will be able to choose the life I want :-) 

Back to business.  My garden has been a washout this summer.  Not much has managed to survive the extremes of rain and sunshine.  However, my kale is doing well.

Since I've had a filthy rotten cold I've been craving soup so made some Chicken and Kale Broth.

Yummy!!

Underneath all the shot veggies I found some wee turnips and radishes. The turnips were sweet and delicious just eaten raw but the radishes were minging!!!

I seemed to have a surplus of tins of pineapple in the storecupboard so turned some of it into Pineapple and Red Onion Relish.  I'm still not sure what's the difference between chutney and relish!!

Here's my tweaked version. In the pan, 750g pineapple flesh, 3 large red onions, 1 tsp crushed chillies, 4 garlic cloves, piece of ginger grated, 300g sugar, 360ml vinegar and 1tsp salt.

It didn't turn into the glorious red colour promised by the picture in the book  but is very tasty nonetheless!!