Monday 27 January 2014

Construction frustration

There is the expensive way of doing something, which is sometimes the easiest way, and then there is the FH way.

We have to resurrect an old chook house in order to move some of the chooks onto some fresh ground, but there are parts of the house which are beyond repair - the floor and the roof.  The easy thing to do would just be to buy a new little house, probably for about £100.  It would come flat-packed and I would spend an afternoon with an allen key and put it together, like I did the last one I bought, several years ago.  But we are doing it the FH way, so one day last week, we made the floor.  Today, we made most of the roof, and we have it ready to felt tomorrow.  Then we have to find some new hinges, repair the nest box area in the house, and put it all back together - it is sectional.

The FH hasn't been doing anything in his workshop for the best part of a year, and so it comes hard to him, especially at this time of the year when it is cold.  So I am required to be there to help him, and I am pleased to be there, because it IS for MY chooks, when all is said and done.  BUT there is a good deal of moaning, muttering, the odd cussing, and lots of generally dismal thoughts shared.  Just keeping the positive mood in the room is hard work, even before I hammer a nail too close to my fingernail...

I don't think I would have been good enough a carpenter to work with Noah on his ark, but the way the rain keeps coming down, I am sure someone must have thought about building another one somewhere very soon.  I am sure that the poor people living on the Somerset Levels must be wishing for some kind of rescue vessel.

I have been reading Elaine at MFin3 today about making dulce de leche in her pressure cooker, and I am sure that a pressure cooker will be on my shopping list by Christmas.  They seem incredibly useful, but since neither my granny nor my mother had one, they are beyond my sphere of experience and I seem to be managing quite well without one so far.  I shall think about that one some more.  I dare say that some of you would recommend them - has anyone had any bad experiences with a modern one?


11 comments:

sweet blondie blue eyes said...

I have had a pressure cooker for years. It was very useful when I had 4 children and was nursing full time.
I could cook things like stew in 20 minuets and have a meal on the table within half an hour of getting home. Christmas pudding cooks in less than half the time and I also use mine for small amounts of jam or marmalade.

I bought a stainless steel one rather than an aluminium one.14 436992

SusanM said...

In the summer, we salvaged our garden shed. It was in a dreadful state and the roof felt blew off in the gales every winter. A kind neighbour gave us lots of wood and we chopped up a pallet, cut the wood to lengths, stained it and braced the inside of the shed in various places. Then we stained the outside of the shed, replaced the felt roof and cut battens of wood to nail on top of the felt, and replaced the perspex windows which were broken. Good as new for around £25 (a new shed would have cost min £300 for that size).

I don't have a pressure cooker either. My mum had one and it used to terrify me with all that terrible hissing and steam!

Lyssa Medana said...

I did have one, and I never really took to it. I think, like you, it was beyond my experience. Also I was terrified of it exploding. As I am also scared of my sewing machine I think you can see how rational this is. Good luck with the hen house. WS xxx

Sue in Suffolk said...

I've never had one either, seem to have managed OK without for so long it would be another THING to put somewhere and look after and replace. My late mum in law used hers a lot though specially for puds

rabbitquilter said...

I have had a pressure cooker for years, it was a wedding present!! The first time I used it I ended up scraping Chicken stew from the ceiling, walls and everywhere else, and nearly had a heart attack to boot!!! Heavens knows what I did wrong, but it was something!! I find it very useful however, and always do Ham in it, but I am always slightly nervous, so don't go off and leave it which is a problem sometimes! I can't get a new gasket so am toying with getting a new one, but do I use it enough? Was thinking! As it was a Wedding present and have45538456 109 had both Husband and P/cooker for the same amount of time, I wonder if I ought to trade Husband in for a newer model too?!! Now THERE'S a thought!!!!

Morgan said...

Thank you all for your responses - mixed reviews there, I think. I won't rush into anything...

Slightly bemused as to why two of you have strings of numbers in your comments. Any ideas?

SusanM said...

Forgot to add that I don't have a microwave oven either and I've managed perfectly well without one. When my son was having cookery lessons at school, a lot of the recipes were cooked in the microwave (the sponge cake was awful - pale and rubbery). I think he was the only one who didn't know how to operate it. I do however, have a breadmaker and a mini oven (which saves a fortune compared with using the conventional oven).

Morgan said...

Yes, I have a mini-oven and a breadmachine [or two - shhh!] but seem to use the breadmachines more for making the dough than for actually baking bread - I can't stand the hole in the bottom of the bread!

I do find a microwave extremely useful - I make porridge in it some mornings for the FH in two minutes, and other mornings I am warming stewed fruit up in it for him. The YFG does a good line in a mug cake when she wants a quick pudding, and it is generally quite useful to have. However, if you have managed without one thus far, I can see why you don't need one. I guess that all the things I do in it would use more energy if I did them another way, though.

We have far more gadgets these days and some are just ridiculous - I blame Lakeland for a lot of it as they just can't seem to help themselves, inventing new gadgets and gizmos all the time - although I do love Lakeland for all their practical and useful products. I certainly don't need a cake pop maker!!

SusanM said...

I have a teeny tiny kitchen so no room for any more gadgets! Hope daughter picks up soon. Son and I have just recovered from a nasty gastric, earache etc virus. I was getting a bit uptight because son was due to start his prelims (mocks) but fortunately he picked up in time. This is an awful time of year for 'bugs'. Get well soon.

Angela said...

Bought my pressure cooker when I was 18 and a student- so it is 40 years old, and still in regular use. I got it when I saw how useful they were [my boyfriend had one] Ditched him in 1975, but would never ditch PC [nor my present beloved bloke!!!]
As well as cooking under pressure, it is brilliant for marmalade making, and heating up vast quantities of soup when I am feeding the 5K.
There are always scare stories-but the present crop of PCs are much safer and easier to use. Put one on your list, you won't regret it.

Lesley said...

My mother-in-law got beetroot over the ceiling when hers exploded. After two coats of paint failed to cover it, the ceiling was tiled. For some reason, I've never fancied one!