Me Obsessive?

It’s been brought to my attention that I have an obsessive personality. Of course, like most things I hear about myself I dismiss it straight away. After a bit of thought (an obsessively large amount as it turns out) I have to agree. I never thought it about myself but I do tend to obsess about one thing and then go onto another. It doesn’t have to be anything large either, I can obsess about putting the rubbish out, making a cup of tea or totally designing a new garden, it doesn’t matter. What has made me realise this after so many years? The log cabin I have been rebuilding, that’s what. 

Obsessive

I neglected all of my other duties around work and home and could think of nothing apart from the rebuild in the last three weeks. If I did try to fit things in between running to the DIY shops and drawing out plans for fixed seating, it was usually after midnight and done very quickly. But you know what? I loved every minute, even the bits where I wanted to burst into tears were in some way enjoyable. I’ve only just realised this because most of the work has now finished and because I have nothing at the moment to obsess about I am looking for more and more to do such as paving around the outside walls.  I have finished most of the detail work, the gate has gone in to keep the dogs out, I have varnished the outside as well as the floor so what next? If I don’t find something to redirect my obsessive trait then the cabin (I’m not calling it a shed anymore) is going to get decorated with thousands of fairy lights for Christmas, which should keep my busy for a while.

Ripening Fruit

We never managed to get any raspberries again this year. One reason is that a load of them had to go to make way for the cabin; the other is that the dog weeds them up. I’m quite sure she does it to help as it usually happens when I am weeding in the borders myself. All I can hear is the sound of twigs snapping as she systematically works her way through the row, tail wagging and full of joy. How can I stop her from doing that? I can’t she enjoys it too much; it just means that I have to buy raspberries from the shop.  

Shop bought fruit seems to last a bit longer that fruit from the garden. We have a lot of plums this year and if you don’t eat them within a day of picking them you are chasing fruit flies out of the house as they rot.  There is a way to deter mould from fruit and it enlists the use of cider vinegar. Not the first choice out of the cupboard but bear with me. 

Mould spores are all around us in the billions. If they are present in large enough quantities, they become visible and can ruin the fruit. Berries already have a covering of invisible mould spores on them and given the right conditions, these can kick into life fast. However, there’s a simple way to deal with this in the form of our trusty friend Apple Cider Vinegar. Vinegar is antifungal, antibacterial and also has great properties as a cleaning agent.

Using Vinegar to Stop Mould

Add a cup of vinegar to a bowl of water (around 1 part vinegar to 1 parts water) and leave them for several minutes, perhaps swirling them around gently a little. You’ll probably find the water changes colour a little as the diluted vinegar lifts dirt, mould and thing living in your berries. Leave for a couple of minutes, then drain and rinse. After rinsing, any vinegar taste should be gone but I would just do a few first to check. Then store your berries in the fridge.

You should now find that your berries last at least a week rather than just a couple of days.

This method should work for all kinds of fruit and veg, try it on the blackberries if you are picking them this month. I like the idea so much that I’m going to be washing EVERYTHING in cider vinegar before eating. 

Note: I have just been told by my family that washing everything in vinegar demonstrates an obsessive personality and should be avoided. I’ll stick to raspberries.