Blinds, Beds, Floors and Soups.

Well so much for the new determination to press forward with the blog and website. Seems keeping Mum in the loop with the building work has become a full time job, From the moment she gets up till when she goes to sleep near enough. 

Blinds.

After much deliberation and comparisons with other rooms in the house we decided on a roller blind for the window. Several hours poring over designs and patterns and one is chosen and ordered. Next day "curtains will look nice when they come" No mum we are having a blind. "Ooh no, Curtains I think" Grits teeth and runs for the bottle bank.

Beds

As space is at a premium we have spent a lot of time fine tuning the layout, bearing in mind when the person you are designing the room for has dementia nothing is simple, we have managed to come to a design that works. We have a pull cord for the light over the bed, and the sockets are in place to be either side of the headboard for radio bedside light etc. Mum has now decided the bed cannot go where we planned. No real reason, just it cant go there. Just have to press on and hope she will sleep in it when its all done.

Thursday we had a mammoth bed selection session. Luckily the guy in the local furniture barn was very helpful and understanding. It was unbelievably hard to persuade Mum to try double mattresses for comfort when she is getting a single bed. No amount of "if you find one you like we will order it in a single" would work. "Thats too big for my room" was the only answer. Eventually with much stamping of feet and huffing and puffing we managed to make a selection so thats ordered.

Floors

Flooring is down in the wetroom/toilet and it is starting to look pretty good, hopefully it will all be plumbed and working tomorrow. Just need mum to pick a mirror and thats finished.

Soups

In other matters, two new soups this week. Beetroot with goats cheese Croutons and Carrot and Jerusalem Artichoke. Beetroot loked amazing but was a little too sweet for my liking, needs something to sharpen it up a little. The carrot and Jerusalem artichoke though was much better.....



500g carrots peeled and diced
500g jerusalem artichokes peeled and diced
1ltr hot stock(I used home made chicken stock)
1 large onion finely chopped
2 sticks celery finely chopped
1 leek thinly sliced
1 red chilli deseeded and chopped(optional)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

1. Gently fry the onion, celery and leeks in the olive oil for about ten minutes till softened, taking care not too burn them.

2. Add the chilli if using it and the carrots and artichokes stir it all around and sweat for a couple of minutes.


3. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil then simmer gently for at least half an hour.


4. Once everything is cooked through and the carrots and artichoke are nicely softened blitz it in small batches in the liquidizer.


5. Pour it back into the pan and bring back up to temperature. Add a little salt and pepper if you think it needs it.


6. Serve with a big dollop of creme fraiche and some chopped coriander.