Fennel Friday

[Kittykatt]

Triple Dog Dare!

Pick 3 things
Do them
Post your TaDas!

»»—-Cheers! WTG! Ygg!—-««

Don't think about it. Just do it!
~~ I Triple Dog Dare ya! ~~
Good Morning!
»»————　✼　————««

[Kittykatt]

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a highly aromatic, hardy perennial herb from the carrot family, characterized by its crisp, white, bulb-like stem, feathery fronds, and strong aniseed flavor. Native to the Mediterranean, all parts of the plant are edible and used extensively in cooking—raw in salads or cooked via roasting and sautéing.

Fennel has a :fresh, aromatic anise or licorice flavour. The "bulb" (actually a swollen stem base) is treated as a vegetable. It is often eaten raw in salads, braised, or roasted. The feathery, dill-like leaves are used as a delicate herb for seasoning, particularly with fish dishes: Fennel seeds are used as a spice for a stronger, concentrated flavor. Yellow fennel flowers are edible and ideal for salads or pickles

Fennel thrives in full sun, well-drained soil, and is drought-tolerant once established.: Easy to grow, though it can grow quite tall (up to 2m) and may self-seed.lRegular harvesting of leaves encourages new growth, and earthing up the bulbs (covering the base with soil) can make them sweeter.

Traditionally , fennel is often used for indigestion and to soothe colicky infants.

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[lucylee]

Fennel is probably the one thing my dmom didn't try when I was a colicky infant! Reportedly, I cried 24/7 for the first six months of my life. I think jelly on a pacifier was her main remedy, and that is probably why I have such a weakness for sweets today.

Hope you are all doing well over here in Fun and Games. I'm just here procrastinating. It is almost 1:00 a.m. in the southern states and I need to take a shower and get to bed. Happy Friday to you all!

[Kittykatt]

Good morning everyone and happy Friday!

Sleep well, Lucy Lee! I think over here gripe water for colicky babies still has dill and fennel in it..(traditionally it also contained brandy!! But that's been taken out)

Helia, WTG on a productive day. Was WW encouraging?

L,Ann, I hoped DD's doctor appointment went well

Bama, cheering you on with those monthlies!

Trissie, when I was growing up the blue tit, long tailed tit etc were often referred to as "titmice". And yes, it did make a class of 10 year olds giggle!

Gma, that shawl is beautiful and I think it will look lovely in yellow - so fresh!

Well, I did nothing yesterday. My sole achievements were to cancel.all my appointments amd reschedule them for next week, take a shower .and sip water throughout the day. Oh, and I listened to a podcast. Domestic harmony has been restored as I've allowed the cats back in the bedroom - I really.didnt want to be climbed over Wednesday night, and I didn't want them picking up anything either!

Today I'm actually feeling hungry, so I'll try something light and bland. Waitrose are delivering at 10am, so if I want eggs, I'll have to wait until then. But there's plenty of bread so I can make myself toast in the meantime. Other than that,it's a free day. If it's dry I'll potter outside a bit - the fresh air would be good. I don't think the house can be too bad, as DH was doing the elections all day yesterday,amd I was in bed!

[Kittykatt]

Today's list:

Shower and dress
Breakfast - toast and banana?
10 am Waitrose delivery
Unpack groceries and PA
Keep sipping water throughout the day
Go for a gentle walk?
Can I do a little in my garden?
PUPA in house

Anything else will be a bonus!

[FrenchFlybebe]

◕‿◕ * * * Good Morning! * * * ◕‿◕

Kittykatt, thansk for the start, glad to read you're better. I love fennel as a bulb, especially roasted. A friend at work has a wonderful recipe of fennel salad, with shavings of fennel, apple and passion fruit. The fennel seed can be used for herbal teas, for upset stomachs, als anecdotally for lactating mums.

Waving to lucylee, I hope you're fast asleep now !

Gma I procrastinated and watched a bit of the crochet video. I never had a reading shawl but I think I owuld love one. Actually I would love to crochet one too ! What a nice pattern and shape for a useful crochet project. I miss having a needle craft project these days, the last jumper I finished was over a year ago. Thank you for sharing !

8th of May is VE Day here, no payroll, most shops closed. Many to-dos on this three-day weekend. Also DSisYounger and family is visiting next Thrusday and spending the night, and the house isn't company ready.
Added to that, the week has been especially busy, with MrNG having two consulting days over two days, and a medical exam that is a bit stressful - expecting the results next week or later, for a diagnosis of something not funny, but we're not sure what, ranging from "it's not life-threatening but you will have to take aspirin for the rest of your life " to the dreaded C-word but MrNG thinks our doctor (who received part of the results) would have scheduled an appt already if it was that.

TADAs
stayed in bed
sorted 2025 Spring photos
progress in photo album for April and May 2025

Now DS10 is up, it's 9.30 am and I will have breakfast with him

[trissie]

oh, kittykatt, I do have memories of fennel tea from when my kids were babies!
oh no, Frenchie, that's really worrying! But you are probably right, if the doctor did not schedule an immediate follow up, it's probably something not so serious. I've seen people be glad that they received an immediate date for a medical and I was like "oh shit, if they want to see you tomorrow, it's BAD with capital letters!"

It's Victory in Europe today and a bank holiday, Meaning we have a lovely 3 day weekend! Up early, because DS has a hiking trip with the scouts and they were meeting at 8:30. He did pack everything last night, so it was just a matter of adding stuff from the fridge and the new pair of pants, but still I would have preferred a longer sleep-in this morning! Tomorrow, maybe?
Big plans for the weekend! Given the upredictable way of our lives lately, I need to have peace and control at least in my house. Also, we are kinda starting to think that maybe taking in DMIL over the summer may be in cards, and we have no guestroom or anything, so we'd probably have to move furniture from the office or something? And set up a home office elsewhere, because we both work from home? I really, really don't want to do that but the current way of things is not sustainable and over summer, we are stretched to the limit even as is, as kids can't be home alone. I don't know what to do and I feel like I am crumbling from the stress and uncertainty. And it doesn't help that I can't properly plan anything of our normal lives either - can't plan trips by plane (because a cancelled flight would spell disaster in our carefully crafted plans), don't know if I will be able to take the 5 day solo trip in August - already changed plans from Rome to Berlin, because Berlin is 4 hours by train and trains should not be affected no matter what.
But there's nothing to do about that now, so I will do what I can do best, and that is act on things I can act on and hope that takes my mind away from the rest of the stuff.

TaDas
- breakfast and coffee
- dressed to shoes
- DS off the door
- DW unloaded
- internet time
- morning routine

ToDos
- 30 minutes downstairs
- 15 on laundry
- 30 outside

Braindump
routines
- midday routine
- afternoon routine
- evening routine
food
- lunch
- dinner
- bake something sweet
- bake bread
organization
- homework and backpacks
- DBD's speech therapy
- update land contract
- 15 on filing
- plan for May
cleaning
- mop kitchen
- spiff up living room
- clean downstairs bathroom and hallways
- clean office
- clean out / reorganize attic
- spiff up DBD's room
- spiff up twins' room
- spiff up DS1's room
- spiff up master bedroom
- spiff up master bathroom
laundry
- load of colors
- ironing
- folding
- mending
- laundry put away
garden and outside - weekend
- spray roses
- repot seedlings I bought
- weeding in veggie garden
- weeding in front garden
- work in raspberry patch - pruning, fertilizing, replanting
- prune fruit trees - blooming pit fruits
- prune bushes
- prune/tie/shape climbing roses
- pick up - front garden / porch
- pick up - backyard
- start cleaning out the carpool
- fertilize fruit trees and bushes
- fertilize conifers
- start oiling garden furniture
- fertilize vegetables
me time
- 15 of exercise
- Bible study
- reading

[FrenchFlybebe]

Wow trissie, having your DMIL over is a challenge, in your already crowded house. And your crowded weekly planning. I hope you can find / invent / force... find ways to house an extra adult and arrange your space around that.
Yes, planning plane trips is risky these days, but a trip to Berlin sounds nice too and I would add that Rome in August would be very hot weather, more than Berlin anyway.

It's very sunny. MrNG has been working for two hours and needs a break. the kids are up now. I was intending to do a small trip to the local convenience store that might be open this morning, but this involves walking past the city hall building where the 8th May Celebration is taking place - DS10's teacher organized something for the pupils during the ceremony and DS10 said he didn't want to participate, so now I would not feel comfortable walking past the crowded families and ignoring them...
I will do my lasagna dish from cupboard and pantry instead of adding fresh produce.

TODOs - in any order - today
prep lunch
sort more pictures
consider applying for a job offer I saw 2 days ago... MrNG thinks I should
get dressed and do a dandelion-busting session in front garden
a lol in
get the kids out of the house : garden or neighbourhood
prep dinner

[Kittykatt]

Good morning, FFB and Trissie!

FFB, I'm sorry about Mr NG's health scare - I think Trissie is right though, and if it was anything *that* serious, you would have heard something by now. Do you think the job is something you would enjoy doing? If so, then why not give it a try - you've got nothing to lose, and potentially a lot to gain.

Trissie, just wow, that is a lot to take on. If you do take DMIL in, who is going to do all the looking after her? You are so busy already. Can you get carers to come? Also, I really think if she does come to stay, you really need an end date for her stay, so it's not indefinite. Also, how mobile is she? Can she manage things like stairs etc? Just had a thought, over here, many of the care homes do respite care, where the older person goes to stay for a while, either to give the family a break, or if they need extra care for a time. When DF FL went on holiday recent, her DMum stayed in one of these homes and had a great time - her exact words were it had been a holiday for her, too! I don't know all the details, but she had three tasty nutritional meals a day, was able to get her hair and nails done, went to the spa and discovered some craft activities. Maybe that's something you could consider for DMIL? Then, of course, you could still visit her, but the caring responsibilities would be removed.

Waitrose have delivered, and DH has gone out to sort out the seating for his concert. I've managed some breakfast, and next I need to put the groceries away. I had planned to hoover, but with three cats lying peacefully on the sitting room carpet, I think that's going to be postponed.

[Kittykatt]

Today's list:

Shower and dress
Breakfast - toast and banana?
10 am Waitrose delivery
Unpack groceries and PA
Keep sipping water throughout the day
Go for a gentle walk?
Can I do a little in my garden?
PUPA in house
Renew library books

Anything else will be a bonus!
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