Summer fruit for a winters day

It was always around this time of year that my late Grandmother would start making jams for the winter cupboard. We would go up to Grandpas garden and pick all the blackcurrants or blackcurns as they would call them in Donegal.  There would be a bucket full of these succulent fruits that were fat and ready to burst with ripeness, or at least that’s how I remember it. Grandma would wash them all and put them in large bowls so we could start to pick off the withered blossom by pinching them between our thumb and forefinger nails. Our fingers would be a dark indigo purple and the sweet blackcurrant perfume would fill the air. If you’re not sure how this would smell, open a bottle of Ribena and you will almost get the same kind of sent. The next few hours, my Grandma would spend slowly stewing the blackcurrants together with Irish sugar, over the black and white Stanley range. Every now and again, my grandmother would take a spoonful and let the newly made jam run down the cold surface of a plate. Once the jam started to set to my grandma’s satisfaction, the large sauce pan was taken off the heat and allowed to cool down until I was as warm as a bowl of porridge that you would eat on a cold winter morning. My grandma would have all the empty jam jars ready and sterilised, warmed in the oven and waiting to be filled to the brim with this delicious homemade preserve. It was a real treat to open a new pot of Grandmas homemade blackcurrant jam and spread the dark purple delight over a fresh slice of Milford bread with real Irish butter. I never remember the jam being too sweet, but I will always remember the rich blackcurrant flavour that I can almost taste now. The funny thing is, I never eat jam, white bread or even Irish butter any more. If ever I have jam in the cupboard, it tends to stay unopened and well past its sell by date before I end up throwing it out. In fact, the last pot of I threw out was three years past its sell by date. It still looked ok as the sugar would have preserved it, although I would not imagine it tasted that good. I think if I had a pot of my grandma’s jam now, well I’m sure you all know what I would do.

Theres sharp and then theres sharp

I bought a ceramic knife sharpener from IKEA the other day.  I already had a steal one but it was a very cheap one that worked fine for a few years but now it is a nightmare to use as the steel is too soft and leave serrations on my blades. I did not realise how blunt my knifes were until I used my brand new IKEA ceramic knife sharpener. I have spent some time sharpening all my knives and OMG they are sharp. I used to think that I kept my cooking knives sharp, but now I know what sharpness really is. I no longer chop carrot or onions with the false belief that my blades were doing all the work. Now I slice through my vegetables with such ease that I had never known before. The other thing about using the knife sharpener is the sheer satisfaction that I get when I hear that swishing sound of the blade running up and down the ceramic sharpening steel.

It reminds me of when I used to do the cabinet making and I kept my chisels and plains super sharp. I always got great satisfaction when I heard the smooth swooshing sound as I ran my wood plain over a peace of timber leaving a beautiful transparent paper thin ribbon or when I sliced through the end grain with my chisel, to pair the joint to fit snugly.  Unfortunately they were rear memories as we mostly used MDF which is very abrasive on your tools. That was another reason why I kept my edged tools as sharp as the MDF would have a tendency to tear once the blade was dull. I kept a piece of glass with fine wet & dry grade 2000 paper stuck to it, and every now and again I would hone my chisels as I was using them which brought the blade to a super sharpness once again. The biggest secret to having sharp chisels is to have the back of the chisel honed to a mirror finish which meant the sharp edge would be free from serrations. The biggest reason why I used to love having sharp tools was that nobody were I worked at the time, were able to sharpen as good as I could. Using some one else’s chisels would be like using my knifes before I bought the IKEA knife sharpener. Once you really know what sharpness is, you would never use a blunt knife or chisel again. Plus there is a certain satisfaction when you sharpen things yourself.

MDF (medium density fibreboard) is a manmade particle board that is used in making furniture.

It is made by pulverising or grating wood so it is the same consistency as cotton wood. This is then mixed with Urea Fumalgahide glue and the heated and pressed into sheet form.

The MDF can then be used to make everything from kitchen cabinets to laminate flooring.

I am trying to lose weight and get fit

Being overweight, I am looking at ways to lose a few stone, and MY GOD, DO I NEED TO LOSE A FEW STONE!  My diet isn’t really that bad, all though I do have the odd treat now and then. I have a savoury, more than a sweet tooth, although I am partial to wine gums, gummy bears and jelly sweets that do not contain fat or as much sugar as any other type of confectionery or candy as our American cousins would say. When it comes to savoury, I love salt and vinegar flavour crisps which I don’t tend to eat that much, although I do buy the odd multi pack of KP Meanies which I have been guilty of consuming within an hour. Funny thing is, my younger brother Arren (sounds like Arren but starts with a D) has the same love for these savoury snacks. In saying that, I would buy Meanies every 2 months or so. The truth about me being overweight is the lack of exercise more than anything else.

It wasn’t that long ago when I used to do a lot of exercise as I used to love cycling and I was once super fit. I used to cycle 10 miles into work and then 10 miles back, in all weather conditions. This changed when I purchased my house which was about a mile from where I worked at the time and before I knew it, I was really unfit and now I’m at least 6 stone over weight. One of the biggest factors of me being overweight is the fact I totally lost my confidence and motivation. In fact it is more down to motivation than any other factor. I try to get myself motivated but, I just can’t seem to keep it up which in some way may be due to me being unemployed and finding it hard to find any kind of work. Even when I tried to get back into college or do an up skill course, I get rejected. It just seems to be a vicious circle that I am finding hard to escape. The good thing is that I am not depressed which is a blessing as I had suffered depression since I was about 12 so you can imagine I lost some of the best years of my life. ANYWAY that’s another story.

Two years ago or so, I bought a set of Nordic walking sticks and I am now using them. Yesterday I brought my dog for a walk along the canal and once I let him of the lead I was able to use the Nordic walking sticks for really the first time (although I have used them briefly in Donegal) I have to say using the Nordic walking sticks is really good as you tend to get a full body work out. OK, I do feel a bit self-concuss about looking like an overweight doofuss, but I was surprised at how fast I was and how much ground I was covering, also it seemed way easier than normal walking as a lot of the strain is taken by your arms and sticks. Yeah I can see me getting into this Nordic walking although I would rather do this with human company than with my dog. The problem with doing it with a dog is, you have to put him on a lead and it is almost impossible to use the sticks as he always gets in the way. I have also been using a fantastic pedometer made by Omron which shows the amount of steps you take and it also records the aerobic steps that you take, which is when you walk fast and use your lungs more. Yesterday while on my walk with my dog I made 6482 steps of which 3233 of these steps were aerobic. My goal was to do 10,000 steps but as it started to rain and I got soaked to the skin, I thought it better to get home and dry than catch my death.  I think if I keep this walking regime up, I should be able to lose weight and get fitter in no time. I am looking forward to getting fit and maybe my old clothes with start to fit me again. I am going for another walk with my dog today although the sky looks very grey and I think it may rain. 

Mobile apologies

About 14 months ago I changed my mobile phone to one of those LG Cookie fresh phones. I have to say that it was a really good phone with a fantastic MP3 and a radio that you didn’t have to use with earphones. Well with all the wear and tear of it being in and out of my pocket, the phone just got all scratched and grubby.  Although I am an adult, (I promise) I still have the pockets of a nine year old boy, which means I could have anything in them although I no longer play with plastic soldiers, marbles or toy cars, you name it and I’m sure I have had it in my pocket at one time or another. WELL anyways, I decided that it was time to change my phone for a more up to date model plus I would get free phone credit. Win Win Win , so I thought. Two weeks ago I got a new Samsung Tocco Icon with its brilliant screen, fab MP3 player and also its android operating system, it even came with a memory card and a lovely leather case which will protect the phone from school boy’s pockets like mine. It looks really up to date and very stylish. All in all it looks to be a very good phone, but let me tell you folks, looks can be deceiving to say the least. Over the last week about the only thing I have been doing with the phone is calling or texting people (all my texting is done from the Vodafone website and not from my phone) with apologies to almost everyone on my contact list. Trying to text from this phone is dam near impossible and when I tried I found that the touch screen is designed for people with really small slim fingers and not for adults. Every time I tried to text, the message was incomplete and got sent to everyone and anyone. I can promise you that my fingers are not big thick sausages and I have got a delicate touch as I am a trained cabinetmaker. Even making a phone call is a task on its own. I rang the wrong number three times in a row when I was trying to call home the other day and kept getting through to a Mrs Cahooley by mistake. Thank fully Mrs Cahooly was very nice about it after I called her for the third time and once I told her what was happening, we both had a good laugh about it.  I am afraid, as I am on the dole, I will have to stick with this phone as it I can’t afford to buy a different one, although I recon, if I can get a new battery and some Tcut, I may be able to bring my old trusty LG Cookie back to life again. Also if you are reading this blog Mrs Cahooly, I promise not to call you again if I can help it.

Donegal sky

I went home to Donegal for a few days as my aunt Veronica and Angela were visiting. My mum and Dad and two aunts had spent a week touring around Ireland, staying in hotels and living it up.  Good for them I say. They had a few days in Dublin and probably saw more of it than I have, even though I live there. It’s a wee bit embarrassing as they went to Kilmainham Gaol which is only down the road from me.  Needless to say, I have never been to Kilmainham Gaol which has important historical relevance for Irish freedom and our independence from the crown. Here is a link you can read.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilmainham_Gaol

After they had holidayed for a week or so, they all went back home to Donegal were they could really relax for a few days.  One evening the sky was so beautiful and the colours were so rich and varied they did not seem real. I would have loved to have painted a picture of the Donegal evening sky. I did however take a few photos that really don’t do justice to the beauty we have in North West Donegal. I think the polarizing filter has muted the colours, which is a shame as I think the photos could have been fantastic otherwise.

 Here is a few of the photos of our Donegal June sky.