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Post by ambersparkle on Mar 18, 2022 11:43:20 GMT
Morning all, it is just beautiful here, so lovely to see the Sun. Glad you enjoyed your Trip away Chris, and the Journey was good one Way at least, and you always seem to have such lovely Grub! Although Tum is not good, I will, I hope be able to get some early Seeds in, want to get a whole lot of Cosmos Seeds in, as they are so pretty, and the Bees feast on them. That is why we are such a close Family now Val, I used to sit them down, and say, "what shall we do? and it worked. Just had a Phone call, unexpected Visitor. be back later, love Tina x
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Post by ambersparkle on Mar 18, 2022 11:45:05 GMT
Should be I will get some Seeds in Tomorrow, old Age, and Insanitary, again!
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Post by ambersparkle on Mar 18, 2022 21:15:55 GMT
That always happens, I think I have free Time, then someone turns up out of the Blue, and my Plans are up the Creek! But, not moaning, it is lovely that I have Friends who take the Time to visit. Am away to Bed, have a wee Read before settling, Night, Night, love Tina xxx
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Post by ambersparkle on Mar 19, 2022 9:36:48 GMT
Morning all, it is another beautiful Day, so hope I will be out in the Garden later. Seems you have all deserted me. Today, is Shower Day, so have to wait until Carer comes, which is a Bind, but dare not attempt it myself in case I fall. I was in Bed last Night, having a look at different Forums, Foodie Ones of course, when I came across a Picture of Raisin Soda Bread, it looked so YUM, just got to make it, now wondering what I can cook with it. I have Tomatoes past their best, and Crusts that can be baked, or a Rice Pudding, a Rice Pudding is a safe Bet. Yay, always happy thinking about cooking, and have another Story coming up. A Job in a Pub, that catered for 50 Dockers every Day, was Advertised, they wanted a Cook, have done many Jobs, but not that One. So, with no References, I went for it. The Manager said, how do I know you can cook? I said, well, I will work free for a Week, if I suit, I have the Job, if not, you have had a free Week. I got the Job, and catered for Coach Trips in the Summer, too. I absolutely loved doing the Menu's, and Introducing the Dockers, to Bread Pudding, and other Delights. Better make a move, and get everything ready for my Shower, be back later. Have a good Day, love Tina. ps, hope you are all okay, and just busy. x
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Post by brightspark on Mar 19, 2022 10:34:48 GMT
Ha, Tina, some days are like that - nobody writes, then the next day all the posts come in !! It is good to have people coming to see you, Tina, you're very lucky!
Beautiful day here - and the washing machine is going, now on the second wash. I just wish I had more sunshine in the garden to hang out the washing, but it is north facing. It isn't until the mid-summer when the sun is high that we get full coverage!
I have removed the extra 'pane' from my window quilt, sadly, as it doesn't look as impressive with only four panels, but hey-ho, at least it should fit on the wall now.
Thinking about past times, only last night we (OH and I) were thinking back to our younger days and wondering where the time has gone - as Maureen Lipman said (In the Sunday Times last week) 'time goes faster when you're older' and it certainly seems that way. Bread pudding has its own place in people's wish list - when we were running the cake stall at our big event in town (The Motorcycle Meet), we had usually men lining up to buy it, and even taking several pieces, with comments like 'Just like our Mum used to make!'. My friend, also working with me at the stall, made three traybakes of it, including putting in some cubed apple - and it was still very popular.
I had some leftover chicken to use up last night, so I cooked up a small amount of pasta, I put half a bag of young spinach leaves in the bottom of the dish firstly; then I cooked up half a box of mushrooms, quartered, with some chopped onion, then added stock and some cream, mixed in the chicken and pasta, and poured the mix over the spinach. Then topped with lots of grated cheese. Next time, instead of pasta, I think I shall slice up some Charlotte potatoes and top with those before adding the cheese.
It's our son's birthday next week, and he has asked for trellis/obelisk or similar as he is growing lots of vegetables this year, including cucumbers, his favourite. It is certainly time to think about what to grow this year.
Have a lovely day everyone, x
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Post by paperman on Mar 19, 2022 10:35:21 GMT
Good morning Ladies and what a lovely looking morning it is, maybe only 8 degrees but the sun is shining brightly in a clear blue sky.
I hope this finds you well.
We will be off for a walk along the beach in a bit, duly wrapped up but enjoying the fresh air.
I just want to say my lobelia has continued flowering right through the winter and just as we go into Spring it is beginning to look sad and wilted, do I trim it back or just leave it. It is in one of my hanging baskets. Amazingly also the little flowers that were poking through my terrace slabs are still there, somewhat reduced in number but looking good.
We are having steak tonight, last night’s cod & chips was, as usual, very good.
I switched some time back from red to white wine but in yesterday’s podcast by Zoe, the people I have reported to daily regarding Covid etc., they are recommending that we drink red wine, they say no more than 2 glasses a day but apparently it improves many things that affect the heart so once I restock I will be buying red.
When we visited our friends down in Portsmouth Patrick cooked a super lunch for us of Moussaka. In a previous life he lived in Cyprus and wrote a food column in one of their newspapers, he also wrote a couple of books of Cypriot recipes and sadly the book of his that I have does not have a Moussaka recipe in it so I have downloaded one from the internet and having already bought, yesterday, lamb mince I guess I will be having a crack at that during the week next week. If it turns out OK I’ll load up the info in the appropriate place.
Now to get ready to go for our walk.
As always, take care xx
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Post by brightspark on Mar 19, 2022 10:43:16 GMT
Chris, red wine had consistently been given the top slot (I don't drink wine at all, so I haven't a clue!!)
I found this info:
White wine is known to improve heart health and may prevent heart diseases. However, red wine comprise even more powerful antioxidants, which are known as resveratrol that protect your blood vessels and may prevent blood clots. Resveratrol decreases bad cholesterol (LDL), while increasing the good cholesterol (HDL).
food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/red-wine-or-white-wine-which-is-better-for-your-health-1834678
However, it looks like they both have health benefits, so drink what you like would be my reckoning.
Chris, I am not a gardener any more, but found this: Lobelia Perennial Lobelia in winter will die back. Leaves drop and stems may get soft. Cut them back after flowering to a couple of inches (5 cm.) above the ground.
www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/lobelia/overwintering-lobelia-plants.htm#:~:text=Perennial%20Lobelia%20in%20winter%20will,above%20the%20ground.
Hope this helps. V
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Post by ambersparkle on Mar 19, 2022 13:42:38 GMT
A Beautiful Day here, so been in the Garden, sitting in the Sun, watching my SIL, put Blood, Fish, and Bone, on my Plants, and fresh Compost, so have half a Dozen Planters ready, to sow some early Lettuce, and Radish. Got a Friend coming for a short Visit, then might go back Outside. Daughter, made mashed Potato for my Dinner, so will add something easy to it, and a Veggie, plenty of Desserts, never got round to Rice Pudding. I like a nice drop of White Wine, but can force myself to drink Red at a push! As said previously, I used to make Wine, better than any you could buy. I had a long Table specially made for the Demi-Johns, against the Kitchen Wall, was like a Miniture Brewery. Better open the Door for Friend, bye the noo. x
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Post by irist on Mar 19, 2022 15:07:59 GMT
Afternoon all. So good to read that you are not all suffering the same weather as us. The forecasters got their prediction VERY wrong for today. We have had 60-80 mph gusts and high winds since about 9pm last night and there's no sign of it abating. The saving grace is that it is dry and bright. I am pleased to report that until now (2.45 pm) my greenhouse is still in tact - that is no more glass has shattered. Luckily the wind is from a southerly direction so it's slightly more sheltered. However, there will be no work done in the garden. Despite the gales, our young friend has taken two trailer loads of rubbish to the tip for us and on the way called in to buy some petrol for OH's tractor and the lawnmowers. He also put the tractor battery on charge. OH's friend said he would come today and drive the tractor around the field and start on the job of re-assembling the plough. Once that's done then both the tractor and plough are being put up for sale and also the trailer. No point in hanging on to the latter as I don't have a tow hitch on my car. For years our neighbours and friends have used it more than us I've been busy indoors with the usual weekend chores and I've ironed 3 washloads of laundry. Yesterday I made a beef curry in the pressure cooker so we will have some of that for dinner tonight with garlic and coriander naan bread instead of the usual rice. For lunch we had a ham and cheese salad which we ate in the conservatory listening to the wind whistling around us and watching the trees and bushes bending and swaying. Bread pudding is a favourite of OH's but now we don't eat as much bread I don't have leftovers to use up. I'd always but the crusts and last stale slices in the freezer too to make the pudding or to make into breadcrumbs. I even resorted sometimes to buying a CFC loaf to use for the same purposes. I intended to make pork schnitzel a week or so ago but didn't have any breadcrumbs so quickly changed the menu! Time for an afternoon cuppa and some research online to get an idea what OH's tractor etc are worth. Enjoy the rest of your day.
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maxh
Junior Member
Posts: 93
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Post by maxh on Mar 19, 2022 15:21:00 GMT
Good afternoon all and what a beautiful day it is. It looks as though this gorgeous weather is with us all until at least next weekend.
What a nuisance about the quilt, Val. I admire your spirit as I would have given the quilt as it was on the basis it’s the thought that counts! Oh those pesky mice! Although we live near fields in the UK we don’t have rodent problems. However, we get them in France. The house is surrounded by fields and so once the maize has been chopped down in Autumn the mice look for food elsewhere. I was sentimental about them until I saw one scuttling across the living room! We now leave poison bags down when we’re not there - needs must! When we get there it’s OH’s first job to collect them all up before we let the dog into the house. Your meal ideas sound very tasty. I tried your idea of putting the marmalade in the fridge to set - and it worked! Thank you so much for the tip 💐.
I hope you manage to persuade your respective committees to let you stand down, Iris and Chris. It’s no longer enjoyable when you don’t really want to do it anymore. My friend and I ran a brownie pack for several years. When we were no longer able to continue we gave a years notice but nobody came forward to take over. Another pack helped run it for a while but eventually it folded which was very sad.
Sounds like you had a fab trip Chris and Happy Birthday. I fully agree with you about Iran and Covid. I’m just hoping Europe and specifically France doesn’t start making it difficult for us to visit.
Hope your mash went down well Tina and your tum’s starting to behave.
OH woke up yesterday with a vomiting bug and shivering. He’s never I’ll so it was a bit of a shock! We can’t work out where he picked it up. He’s had a piece of toast today which has stayed put so progress! There seems to be a lot of bugs around, not just covid possibly because so many people seem to have dropped all precautions after 2 years of being masked up and hand washing.
I made Hungarian green pepper stew with brown rice for my lunch after taking gd to library and to get her comic. She’d made OH a get well card which she signed including her surname😂.
Take care all. Mx
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Post by brightspark on Mar 19, 2022 16:15:33 GMT
Interested to know, Chris, did you get the table overlooking the harbour as requested at Carluccio's?
What a difference it makes - one year, OH knew I liked Luciano Pavarotti, so he booked a pre-Christmas December trip for us to go to Prague to see him in concert. Arriving on a Friday afternoon, it had just started to snow, it was one beautiful panorama from up in the sky, looking down on the city. That evening we were invited to the house where Mozart stayed, and were given a private performance (there were about 12 of us) to watch the local theatre group perform, and this was followed by a dinner overlooking the Vltava river, but we had to go up in a funicular railway to get there - oh the views of the city was spectacular, and then there were fireworks. At that time, we had a window view, it was an amazing gift to see.
The following evening, Saturday, off to see Luciano - amazing evening (it took two hours to get away from the concert hall!). Amazing weekend to be truthful.
Later: I was looking for something on the internet, when I came across this - Andre Rieu playing a waltz composed by Sir Anthony Hopkins
Who knew?? Apparently Sir Anthony Hopkins was a musician before he became an actor, and composed this all those years ago. I didn't know that.
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Post by ambersparkle on Mar 20, 2022 8:45:46 GMT
Morning all, lovely Morning , and am assured it is going to continue. all tidy, well, almost, in Garden, now have the Fun, of deciding what is going where. Has to be different, as no Greenhouse, leaves that Space free, and as it is the sunniest Spot, the Outdoor Tomatoes, and Cucumbers will be sited there, and my Chair! Fairly sure will not get Visitors Today, so can have a 'please yourself' Day, though have Letters to write. Also need to order Seed Potatoes, as mine have gone too soft, and the return you get make it worthwhile, am away to do that, before I forget again. Be back later. love to all, Tina x
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Post by paperman on Mar 20, 2022 12:05:57 GMT
Good morning Ladies I hope this finds you well. At 7:00 this morning it was a beautiful cloudless blue sky morning however intermittent clouds are gathering along with some high cloud so the sun is not as it was earlier although as the wind has dropped from yesterday’s vigorous easterly breeze to something much more gentle it does feel physically warmer.
Val, thanks for your piece about Pavarotti, you lucky lady. To answer your question yes we did have the requested window table at Carluccio’s, albeit a chain and sadly the great man passed away in 2017, the standards at Gunwharf Quay would have met his high standards no problem. The first Carluccio’s I went to was in Tunbridge Wells, which was local to where I was living back then and at that time he only had maybe 6 or so outlets and I was there one night when he turned up. Apparently he did that quite regularly back then visiting the different branches to make sure they were up to his standards. The great man didn’t have any children although he seemed to be the sort of man who would be everybody’s favourite grandfather and revel in the role. Really sadly for a man that gave so much pleasure to so many he was not really a happy man.
What a talented man Hopkins is, it was good to see him in the audience too, that is a lovely piece Val, I never knew about his musical talent so thanks for that as well.
Our steak last night was well up to par, tonight we are having roast chicken.
There being nothing that appealed on TV last night we watched a difficult to enjoy film ‘Once upon a time in Hollywood’ that I had recorded on my hard drive, as it turned out I don't know why. It was, I suppose, a typical Quentin Tarantino film in as much as it didn’t spare the blood at the end and whilst it didn’t retell the murders of Sharon Tate et al it did cover similar, fictional, events in the house next door to where she was living. That got me thinking how lucky Manson was not to have been executed, he died in 2017……happy thoughts eh?
So, Formula 1 is back. It will be interesting (for some of us) as to how this season pans out.
This afternoon I am going to clear down my terrace upon which the birds have been chucking moss etc. off my neighbour’s roof and gutter in their search for grubs; that will also get rid of the sand etc. that was deposited the other day.
That’s it, I hope you are enjoying your weekends.
Take care xx
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Post by brightspark on Mar 20, 2022 13:53:29 GMT
Hi everyone,
Another beautiful day here - and I have been looking through the Sunday papers, huh I'm wasting the lovely day !! I have made a cherry cake - see 'Cakes and Bakes'.
I also started another Bible quilt block - this time 'Wings of Eagles' - I am now doing the bit-more-difficult ones, having finished the easy ones.
Chris, I am glad you enjoyed the Andre Rieu clip - I have to say I am a big fan as this lovely man is always smiling. I like the old-fashionedness (is there such a word) of his performances - the ladies in the orchestra wearing such beautiful dresses. One I saw a while back where the aisles were very wide in the audience section, and there were ballroom dancers, also in their beautiful dresses dancing in the aisles. Such a treat.
Max, your French experience with the wildlife was similar to ours, but our problem was birds! Each time we arrived we found a dead bird somewhere, they were obviously coming down the chimney, and unable to get back up. Every time it was very sad, but on two occasions (yes, two !!) the bird in question was a little owl. Can I just say that owls poo a lot, and I mean a lot!! OH invested in a contraption called a chimney sheep for each fireplace, and so far so good, no more birds. www.chimneysheep.co.uk/
Iris, it sounds like you drew the short straw on the weather, we had breezes, but I can't say it was too bad, great for drying the washing, of course. Is it worth buying some bread to make the bread pudding for your OH - I know, none of us need it, but it would be a nice treat - I bet your grandchildren would love it too ...
Tina, it sounds like, with luck, your garden will be very productive again this year. Once our French house is sold, we are more likely to plan to do something with our veg patch that became unproductive as I really loved the fresh veg from the garden, but alas at the moment, the veg patch will need some tlc. We'll have to find out what's wrong with the soil and then start again.
Have a lovely afternoon everyone, x
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Post by ambersparkle on Mar 20, 2022 15:08:54 GMT
Before I forget, do a PH Test on your Soil Val, all Soil can become better with the right Treatment, am getting excited for you, as you know am a Saddo where Gardening is concerned. Sent for my Tatties, three different Types in One Lot, Arran Pilot, Maris Piper, and One other. Forgot to say, Val, have been a good Part of the Morning, prepping Veg for the Freezer, feel so pleased with myself. I have difficulty doing it, as you can imagine, with my impaired Digits, and Arm, but had a Flashbulb Moment, I sat on my Kitchen Stool, and put a longish Wooden Board, that I roll Pastry on, on my Knees, and thus managed that way. I have enough Carrots, Leeks, and Parsnips for a while, and Ginger, had to give up on the Swede. The Veg Draw is looking better, but don't know what to do with Courgettes, wondered if I grate them, then freeze them, with most of the Water squeezed out, would they be ok to use in Fritters, or Cakes. Washed all Peelings beforehand, and put in the SC so should make some lovely Stock, a Bonus. Took out one of Cheffie Son's Cottage Pies, so will have that with Peas, and a Tiramisu for Afters. Bye for now, Tina x
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