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Post by brightspark on Jul 8, 2023 22:00:01 GMT
Busy day today. Up quite early to put the ganache on to the cheesecake as it needed three hours before the next stage. Meanwhile I prepped a whole bag of Charlotte potatoes to make the potato salad. Then finely chopped red cabbage, carrots and pink onions for the coleslaw. I found that the recipe for the cheesecake made more of the basic mousse-y part and was too much for the tin (my tin clearly wasn't tall enough!), but hey, that meant that I now have four individual cheesecakes in the fridge ! Then we drove to daughter's house because they were donating a gas bottle for the barbecue to our son. They don't use them any more. Then off to son's house. This proved to be very fortunate as son said that his gas bottle managed to warm the barbecue before running out!! Son's friends arrived and we had a lovely meal and a spent a very pleasant couple of hours before they left, then we left after a cuppa and a sit-down! We left son's house in sunshine and arrived back home in the rain. The garden needed it. All in all a very successful day, and we both feel quite shattered, so now time to retire to bed ! I shall probably fall asleep quite quickly (I hope!). Sleep well everyone, x
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Post by paperman on Jul 9, 2023 10:06:38 GMT
Good morning Ladies, I hope this finds you well. It was a very close night last night, the lowest temperature overnight was 17 degrees and even with the window open there was little relief and the night was lit up with flashes of lightening although no thunder or rain. Having said all that, in fact by my standards, I slept quite well and this morning it is grey with rain forecast around mid-day. It is a sultry humid 23 degrees right now.
Your mention of thunder flies Val underlines that also here we seem right now to have a plentiful supply of various types of fly but yesterday my Valerian was visited by a Painted Lady butterfly, just the one. They are quite an incredible insect as they migrate, multi-generationally, from sub-Saharan Africa it is the longest butterfly migration known, even further than the American Monarch.
Iris, I guess you must have been feeling that the world was ‘agin’ you after all that traipsing around.
When we went out on Friday night for a meal ‘A’ & I had a seafood sharing platter so last night in fact we had our usual Saturday steak night and tonight I am cooking a simple lamb chop traybake.
We have to be up early tomorrow as I have a morning appointment to see the consultant in Norwich and ‘A’ is insisting on coming too and very welcome she is too.
As I am sitting here it has just started raining so the hanging baskets won’t need any attention from me.
Val I hope you caught up on your sleep after such a busy day.
That’s it for now, please take care xx
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Post by irist on Jul 9, 2023 13:50:58 GMT
Afternoon folks. I'm having some feet up time after running around from 8.30am to 1.30pm with a three year old and a 6 month old. Phew. The little one was fractious the whole time. She is very Mummy orientated at the moment and demands attention or someone to entertain her constantly. So dealing with two little ones and an 85 year old was quite wearing and not an experience I wish to repeat in the near future! Granddaughter had a successful morning so some good came out of it She had a table at a baby and toddler goods sale and made over £200 selling outgrown and unwanted baby goods.
Yesterday daughter and SiL took us to M&S for coffee and cake for OH's birthday. I changed my plans and took him out to lunch on Friday. Our meal was just OK. I made the mistake of choosing something different and was underwhelmed OH's beef and ale pie was a hit so he was happy. I took a pre-prepared pasta bake out of the freezer for lunch with the greatgrands today but the older one didn't like it so I ended up making her and myself a salad with ham and cheese. Not sure what we'll have tonight. OH has requested a jacket potato so that's easy. Back to normal tomorrow hopefully.
Sounds as though you had a really busy time yesterday, Val. I bet there wasn't any cheesecake to bring home so the excess mix will come in useful!
Lovely to see the butterflies about again, Chris. I've seen a very few of the more common varieties here but nothing like the quantities we used to have. Even the buddleias aren't attracting many. Sign of the times I guess. Good luck for your trip to hospital tomorrow. Will be thinking of you and A and keeping my fingers crossed for the best outcome for you.
Enjoy the remainder of your day. Bye for now.
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Post by brightspark on Jul 9, 2023 13:57:49 GMT
Hi all,
Unfortunately I guess I must have been overtired as I really struggled with sleeping - a combination of too warm, and for some reason pain in my legs and being unable to find a comfortable position to lay. Of course, come the morning, and all I want to do is sleep. I think this calls for a siesta.
Son's barbecue was a triumph in all the tasty meats he cooked and not sure if I have mentioned this before, but he planted some dried peas (a packet from the supermarket), and he had a trayful of wonderful pea shoots which we had as part of our salad. A bit leggy, like eating spaghetti with all their tendrils! Alys Fowler suggested this on one of the garden programs.
Today for lunch and using some leftovers, we had a large whole-meal bap filled with pulled pork in sauce (son's recipe - delish) with coleslaw. With that, Hubs had picked another cucumber, and thickly sliced went well with the very tasty bap. This evening will be more of our leftover BBQ'd meats - chicken thighs, lamb koftas and pork'n'apple sausages served with potato salad, coleslaw and green salad. Iris, there was a small amount of cheesecake leftover, but it was very rich, some folks perhaps could eat more, but I found a taster for me was ideal.
Chris, sending good wishes for your consultation tomorrow. Will be thinking of you both. Interesting that you have had a butterfly visit. There seems to be a real scarcity of bees - daughter said she may have to get out the paintbrush to start pollinating her vegetables - our cucumbers are doing very well, yet, the courgettes seem to be struggling. Runner beans struggling, too.
We have a chimney sweep coming tomorrow, so this afternoon we will be covering up furniture, just in case.
Iris, what a day for you - these things are sent to frustrate us, aren't they. You begin to feel you should've stayed at home! Where we used to live, we had a knitting group, and some of the ladies were very fast knitters, so we had an almost constant supply of knitted blankets for the charity that we supported. On one occasion, hubs and I loaded the car with several boxes of blankets, only to arrive at their premises to find they had gone into liquidation !! Then we had the task of finding a similar charity that would take them.
I have picked up daughter's wall-hanging quilt today to continue hand quilting it, and now I'm looking forward to having it finished.
Well, perhaps I'd better get on with it !
Have a good afternoon and evening, x
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Post by paperman on Jul 11, 2023 8:13:54 GMT
Good morning Ladies on what is a damp morning, having rained overnight. There is a light breeze and currently around 19 degrees.
After yesterday’s trip up to Norwich we had spag-bol again last night as there was still some of the sauce left. We had an 'exciting' lunch up there sharing an egg mayo sandwich!!
Today we are going into Aldeburgh as ‘A’ wants to get a gift voucher for DIL’s birthday.
Yesterday was ‘V’s 5th birthday; he’s the son of our Ukrainian neighbours and they popped in last night to give us a piece of his birthday cake which was a nice interlude. Apparently he hasn’t stopped playing with the dinosaurs that we bought him and the Paw Patrol book we bought is going to be his bedtime story. So we had that lovely feeling of having ticked the right boxes.
It being Tuesday I will be making a speedy exit soon, when my cleaning lady appears.
Iris, I read that there is a new coast to coast footpath in Cornwall, not that I’ll be attempting it but I think the family down there may well do some of it.
Tonight we are really slumming it food wise as we both have a yen for bacon, egg & chips although ’A’ forbids me having any chip butties!!
Now for a cup of coffee, I hope you have a good day, please take care xx
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Post by brightspark on Jul 11, 2023 10:21:19 GMT
Morning all, I believe that we all have those days/evenings when all we want to do is have some comfort - food or otherwise. We brought home some foods from our son's barbecue and as we not eating the amounts we may have done when we were younger, it is taking us a while to get through it all. Tonight will be the last night - four sausages left, so like you and A, Chris, it will be sausage egg and chips (alv). Last night I combined several vegetables into a stir-fry with chopped up sausages, and doused with some of my home-made sweet chili sauce. Yesterday and the day before for lunch we had the large wholemeal bap filled with pulled pork and my homemade coleslaw which was delicious. (Even the last of the excess cheesecake mixture made into individual pots will be this evening too..) Tomorrow will be back to normal food instead of catch-up food!
This morning I have washed the baby quilt I made last week together with the two matching bibs - they both turned out really well. Next week we will be having a lunch at the pub with two other couples, so hoping to give these to our friend who runs the pub for her daughter's new baby.
Our son has given me the fabric and wide Velcro to make the replacement cover for his director's chair. The backrest I repaired worked well, but then sitting on the seat, that fabric split, so son said it is time to replace it totally. The chair itself is red, but he wants the seat and backrest in black, so that is going to be quite a challenge for me - I am not a fan of working with black fabric. I have the chair to make sure that I can fit it properly, but it isn't going to be an easy project (for me!).
Chris, our son's friends at the barbecue were saying they have just purchased a camper van/motorhome - they have two children, aged 5 & 6 years - it is the start of their 'life-journey' with a motorhome. The children love it, and so useful for visiting and being able to sleep in your own space, as you discovered too. They have family in Devon, and visit regularly, yet they live near Stansted Airport. I told them about your stay in Savernake Forest - for future reference on their journey down.
OH is selling his fun car, as it isn't often used, and some younger person may get more benefit from owning it. He has had over 1000 views, and almost 100 watching, and a few have written to him asking questions about it. One, very interested guy lives just within the ULEZ zone, (crazy idea to include residents, imho), and is so disappointed as he would have to pay £12.50 per day (I think) just to have a little run-out. My brother lives within walking distance of the M25, yet he too falls within this zone, and, as a pensioner means that he will either have to buy another car or pay stupid amounts just to go to the shops, (for example).
Well, folks, time to get back to doing something useful (!), so have a good day, x
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Post by irist on Jul 11, 2023 13:35:18 GMT
Afternoon folks from an intermittently wet and breezy SW. Nothing exciting going on here. I've caught up on some housework, including giving the bathroom a thorough clean after OH had a shower this morning. I've been browsing the internet to find a jacket go with a new dress I bought on Saturday. The outfit will be worn to granddaughter's wedding in April next year. Not having much success at the moment but I'll keep trying. Then it will be a hunt for the shoes, bag and fascinator to compliment the outfit. Yesterday I made a batch of courgette chutney to a River Cottage recipe as OH had neglected to harvest his crop and found a marrow growing!
The lawnmower was returned this morning. I had worked out the problem - it was the battery not holding its charge. So now I should be good to go mowing when it is dry enough Jolly costly business having to pay someone to do the work that OH would always have undertaken when he was well.
Good luck with your director's chair refurbishment, Val and also to your OH in selling his fun car.
There's no chance of us embarking on a walk from coast to coast either, Chris. I would love to have walked the Cornish Coastal Path when we were fit an able but we didn't manage it. I suspect son and DiL will at least walk some of the new cross country path when they visit DiL's sister and her husband as they live just outside of Plymouth and enjoy exploring new routes.
Well I'm now going to make a cuppa and then phone OH's sister. I put this task off (very naughty) but know she will go over the same ground for about an hour - all about her woes, including regretting moving home, quarrels with her daughter and SiL, etc. However, duty calls and I've no excuse to avoid my task.
Enjoy the remainder of your day.
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Post by paperman on Jul 12, 2023 12:13:16 GMT
Good afternoon Ladies on this mixed weather day, pushing 22 degrees it may well rain later this afternoon. It is tai-chi in Westleton this afternoon but I have decided to give it a miss, probably out of laziness although I could develop a different story if required but frankly I am in desperate need of a nap so whilst ‘A’ has gone it is my intention to have a doze.
Last night’s b, e & c (alv) was just what was needed, we really enjoyed it and tonight we have friends down from Aberdeen in their old caravan collecting their brand new one from a local dealer and we are out with them for a meal.
This morning I went to the village coffee morning to catch up on the local gossip and to have a chat with our parish clerk.
I have been intending to bring you up to date on my squirrel war; the new locking system has stopped him/her getting into the feeder but the little blighter has now found that if he turns the whole thing upside down the seeds fall out so what he does, he hasn’t mastered holding it upside down YET, he leaps from the birdbath and knocks the feeder hard, this makes it rock about and the seeds fall out. This only works when it is full as when it is half full he cannot rock it enough so no doubt at some point he is going to come up with another plan. Time will tell….
Hope you are having a good day, please take care xx
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Post by brightspark on Jul 12, 2023 20:29:52 GMT
Evening all,
I popped in earlier and wrote a fairly long post and it disappeared, so I think I'll leave it for today and come back tomorrow.
Have a good evening and sleep well.
PS - I am totally shocked by the revelation of the BBC presenter - both hubs and I find it almost too hard to believe.
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Post by paperman on Jul 13, 2023 9:46:51 GMT
Good morning Ladies on this bright mixed cloud & sunshine morning here in Ruritania where the temperature is a pleasant fresh 18 degrees and maybe rain forecast mid to late afternoon.
All the earlier rain this week had totally flattened my Valerian and it had collapsed over the footpath so yesterday I had the gardener take it up, a lot of it was turning to seed anyway so I think we’ll be OK for next year.
I noted your closing comment yesterday about ‘H.E’ Val and I guess a lot of other people might feel the same however my feelings are somewhat different and I am highly suspicious of the whole scenario. The only reports so far have come from The Sun newspaper and other newspapers and the BBC’s own reporters have been simply quoting The Sun. No real evidence has been published by that rag which was told by the young ladies solicitor, before they went to press, that it was all complete rubbish. Yet they went ahead and published not even having the good grace to publish the statement from that solicitor until over 24 hours later. The Sun also now informs us that the BBC has had further complaints from other BBC staff members and that they will publish nothing else on the matter and leave it to the BBC to investigate. Meantime the police have had a look at it all and decided that there is no evidence of criminality and now ‘H.E’ is languishing in hospital probably having a serious nervous breakdown, his livelihood, reputation and self esteem wrecked on the altar of increasing newspaper circulation. It is perhaps also interesting that The Sun and Sky TV both have the same ownership. Sky TV is a competitor of the BBC and anything that will undermine our BBC, justified or not, is a bonus for Sky. I must confess that in general terms I do not see any of this alleged behaviour is actually anyone’s business even if true; these are 2 consenting adults and what they do in private is surely nobody else’s business.
It is The Sun for goodness sake, not the Holy Bible..
Enough.
We had a lovely evening last night with our friends and they pick up their new caravan this morning, I hope we’ll get a chance to be nosey!!
We are having quiche salad this evening and are about to go up to the farm to stock up on various things.
Have a good day, please take care xx
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Post by brightspark on Jul 13, 2023 11:34:02 GMT
Not quite morning - it is just past midday! But Good Morning anyway.
Chris, I agree totally with your feelings about this episode with The Sun newspaper. Our daughter said "Poor bloke - he's a decent chap". Most of us feel the same, I would think. Like you said - his reputation, livelihood and self-esteem must be at an all-time low. The whole episode is very upsetting, of course, to his family, but also a lot of the public may feel the same. As an aside, I wonder why the second person 'threatened' to name him - was it for a nefarious reason? This is, and always will be, a problem with celebrities in the public eye.
Enough of that too.
A big cooking day today. I am attempting to make a large batch of marmalade, and getting the peel to soften is taking a lot of time. I also cooked a large 'tray bake' of almond slices (in the oven as I type) pastry base, with jam spread on top, and the mixture is ground almonds and semolina with eggs and butter - then dotted with flaked almonds. It is a recipe that was printed on the box of the semolina. With the leftover pastry also a roly poly with some mixed jam from the cupboard.
We had chicken wings last night, and this morning I have cooked up the bones, and I'm thinking of making some onion soup with the stock. Finally I have some minced beef to make this for our dinner this evening: thatsdeelicious.com/ground-beef-stroganoff/#recipe
I think after all the cooking I will retreat to my sewing room for some peace and quiet!
We have had some torrential rain while typing this, so Chris, make the most of the day if you are still experiencing dry weather as I think it is coming your way. Iris, you must've already had it before us?
OH had a visit yesterday from a very interested guy wanting to have a look at the car that hubs is selling. He said he is very interested, and has gone away to have discussions with, I guess, wifey and the bank !
Iris, we are the same, in that although we would love to do the coastal walk, it is no longer possible. Hubs has always enjoyed walking and for long walks too, but half a mile is probably his limit now. I don't envy your dutiful phone call, as I have a similar type - my SiL doesn't always listen and then will talk to someone else, or even start eating while still on the call - which I find quite difficult.
Anyway folks, time to get the tray bake from the oven. Have a lovely afternoon and good evening, x
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Post by paperman on Jul 14, 2023 9:12:09 GMT
Good morning Ladies I hope this finds you well. It is a brightly grey morning, my phone tells me it is raining here, but it isn’t; it is 18 degrees and the forecast is no change for the day.
Being Friday we are having F & C (alv) tonight and we have taken a couple of lovely looking pieces of Hake from the freezer.
We watched Paul Whitehouse & Bob Mortimer on catch-up last night before we went to bed and one of them (I forget which) caught a good looking trout which they put back, of course, but it has got me thinking that when we go up to Lowestoft next time if he has some I might buy a couple of trout (or is it trouts?), no I am sure it is trout! What I am not sure of is the difference between sea trout and trout-trout as far as taste is concerned because he is unlikely to have any of the fresh water (rainbow or brown) varieties, but as they are all members of the salmon family I’m sure they’ll taste good whatever. I have a book of fish recipes so I am not short of ideas.
Also being Friday we have Tai-Chi in Saxmundham and will be popping into Tesco afterwards.
Thinking aloud, I guess most of us have at least one phone call we make from duty but would rather not, I’m terrible at that and have a couple of long distance friends that frankly I no longer have anything much in common with and I’m generally rather bad at chit-chat, ask ‘A’ she has seen me slink off if we meet someone, I claim it is my low boredom threshold…….she thinks it is ignorance, whatever, life gets more precious as one gets older and it is to be treasured.
At this point I am off for a cup of coffee, enjoy your day and please take care xx
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Post by brightspark on Jul 14, 2023 17:20:48 GMT
Afternoon all,
Chris, your weather forecast - according to my pc, the BBC says we have 100% chance of rain till 7pm this evening. So far it has been totally correct !
Just watching the birds, poor things, having to keep shaking off the rain, and the food I put out this morning seems to have gone already, so when the rain eases off for a moment, I can refill for them.
I went to our quilting group this morning and the plan was that today we would have a pot-luck lunch. My bag was very heavy. Yesterday I had cooked the 'frangipane' tray bake for the coffee bake, and I also took along a dozen scones, strawberry jam and Rodda's clotted cream. I served them as halves already spread with cream and jam. The whole table was amazing with hardly anything being 'doubled up'. My friend and 'chauffeuse' made lemon posset all in individual pots with a pretty quarter strawberry (for colour) on top each with its own spoon. Quiches, sausage rolls, pork pies, crisps, a cheese board with crackers, vol-au-vents, olives, cornichons, crisps, soft drinks ... There were 20 of us, so lots of chats and laughter. I don't think I will have room for a dinner this evening ! We had planned like you Chris to have white fish'n'chips (alv), but I think I won't have the room.That may have to be tomorrow's dinner instead (need to have fish more often ).
Yesterday, I made 12 jars in total of marmalade, so we're set up for a while. I also filled three very small jars for some of friends at quilting - one lady is in her nineties, so it's nice for her to have a little taste. The cranberries were sitting in Cognac for two days before being added to the marmalade.
We watched all the Bob and Paul 'Gone Fishing', such a relaxing programme - a pity we don't have more like that. The 'Who Do You Think We Are' is another prog that is interesting. Most of the time! There are too many 'reality' shows that we find unwatchable.
Iris, interesting that you found a marrow in your veg patch, when it rains a lot they seem to become marrows overnight! Hubs picked a very long courgette yesterday (quite a pretty one, being striped). Good that he picked it as I think after the rain today I think it would've become a marrow. When you use it in chutney, do you salt it for a while to reduce the liquid content? I do like chutney with a little bit of sweetness too - date and apple being my favourite. Our spinach is really doing well, luckily it reduces to a very small amount when cooked, so trying to keep up with it is a little easier. The cucumber plants are doing well too, having a cucumber each day (normally) with our lunchtime sandwich. The tomatoes seem to be taking ages to ripen - our son and daughter have the same issue, lots of them, but green! The beans are slow too - we have runners and French bean plants but none to pick yet; although we are still picking a small amount of summer raspberries.
I feel so sorry for the big events planned for this weekend - The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) in Gloucestershire must be spoiled by this rain - difficult to have an air display with pouring rain and low cloud. It is also the Bristol Harbour Festival Weekend, and someone we know who normally has a stand there has had to cancel due to the weather. There must be so many others too.
One of my cousins, a train enthusiast, has built a miniature railway in his large garden, and he regularly hosts a family 'do' each year - guess what - it was meant to be tomorrow, but with this torrential rain he has had to cancel that too. Such a shame.
Anyway folks, time to get back to doing something useful ( ), so have a good evening all, x
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Post by paperman on Jul 15, 2023 7:49:26 GMT
Good morning Ladies I hope this finds you well on the brightly sunny morning with odd clouds scudding around with the forecast again for a mixed day. It did rain overnight and it is a touch breezy but so far nothing like the high winds that are being forecast.
Last night’s Hake was really good, which is the opposite of what seems to be on TV at the moment, unless that is you are a tennis fan of course. Personally I watched the final part of yesterday’s Tour de France stage for an hour and we settled for an evening of catch-ups.
Today nothing is planned although I do need some cash, truthfully I don’t know why when virtually every transaction these days is a card transaction, but having no money in my pocket doesn’t feel right. So, when we go and get ‘A’s newspaper I’ll also go to the cash machine.
Tonight we are having cauliflower cheese, I bought a good looking cauliflower yesterday so it’ll be a comfort meal tonight.
Val here is a link to the Savernake Forest Site that we used as an overnight stop, highly recommended, which I thought those friends might find useful.
Now for my morning coffee, take care xx
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Post by brightspark on Jul 15, 2023 10:29:23 GMT
Morning!
Hope you're okay, Iris, after the deluge yesterday!
Chris, thanks for the link to Savernake, I have forwarded the info to son's friend.
Sunshine currently, but very windy, and the forecast is for thundery showers.
Our granddaughter is in a show this evening, including two solos, but in a major part of the rest of the show. Also grandson is part of it, but less - he is part stage managing. We will be going to see the pair of them - daughter has already bought the tickets. However granddaughter was having a little complaint as the tutor decided to put on this show a bit late and it has meant a lot of intense rehearsals beforehand, particularly for her as she has many parts in it.
A quiet day planned before we go out, as I found it very difficult to sleep last night, so about 2am I started reading my Kindle. Even finishing the read, I still couldn't sleep - that is, not until hubs brought a cuppa, and of course when it was almost time to get up, all I wanted to do was to sleep! Some people are never satisfied, are they? Now it is time for a bit of sewing if my eyes can take it..
It looks like we will have our dinner today at lunchtime, as we will be leaving to go to the show before our regular mealtime. I'll try the fish'n'chips (alv), something to look forward to.
Daughter has been working with the Arts Council recently, and she said everyone likes to have a break and have a coffee, but they also like a piece of cake or similar. She noted that they have a freezer, so she has asked me to experiment with individual portions that freeze well, to enable them to have a ready supply. I shall have to get my thinking cap on.
Have a good day everyone, x
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