Chatback number 22

[Peteyd]

Morning All,

Drizzly start this morning which was a shame. it was the horrible rain that soaks you really quickly but you dont really feel it!

i went for a run last night for the first time in about a year, it wasn't far and it certainly wasn't fast but i still went so i'm happy with that

[Snoop Puss]

Afternoon all.

Smiles set off quite early today, but I'm a bit late on parade, so I hope they turned up when you were expecting.

Friends left this morning. Very odd just being the two of us again. Even the dogs seem quite subdued. Had a lovely time.

Got a bit of work to do, then probably have a bit of a baking session (bread and a couple of very soft bananas for a banana loaf). And then a lie down. Looking forward to that.

Have a lovely afternoon, everyone.

[Bren In Pots]

Afternoon, I've spent the morning in the garden re-homing teasels, potting on lettuce and dead heading tidying up plants.

enjoy your afternoon

[mothhawk]

Afternoon all.
It's been overcast here all morning, and the breeze is getting cooler day by day.
New sewing machines Lottie! Lovely. I still use my mum's old Singer from the 1960's. Every time I watch the sewing B on TV or sewing videos on Utube I realize how much more advanced machines are today, but I really don't sew enough to justify a new one.

All the blackberries I've picked have been cooked and puréed and frozen in ice cube trays ready for blackberry & apple pies come autumn and winter.

[Snadger]

At this rate you’ll be off in your yet unbought camper before we are!

Good idea about seeing if he travels OK first…now you have no excuse not to get one
What are you leaning towards buying?

Belated reply to your question.
A VW Transporter whether a finished campervan or just a van, I'm not sure yet?

[Bren In Pots]

I still use my mum's old Singer from the 1960's. Every time I watch the sewing B on TV or sewing videos on Utube I realize how much more advanced machines are today, but I really don't sew enough to justify a new one.

I've got 3 treadle sowing machines 2 are in working order the 3rd I use it to house my 45 year old electric machine. The Singer treadle is my favourite I bought it from a house clearance store, its got all its attachments and documents showing it was first bought in 1916 paying for it weekly after that. It really is a nice machine to use.

It feels like its going to rain its gone dark and chilly.

[mothhawk]

I've got 3 treadle sowing machines 2 are in working order the 3rd I use it to house my 45 year old electric machine. The Singer treadle is my favourite I bought it from a house clearance store, its got all its attachments and documents showing it was first bought in 1916 paying for it weekly after that. It really is a nice machine to use.

The first machine I learned to use was a singer treadle, at school. There was a hand turned one as well, but I could never master turning the handle with one hand while guiding the material with the other. Our needlework teacher was horrid though, so I never enjoyed the lessons or became very interested in needlework till much later in life.

[bramble]

I learned to sew on a Singer hand turned machine in school as well.
Then graduated to the foot model.
Unfortunately I no longer have it.
They were a great machine.

[Nicos]

Morning all

Glad you mentioned the camper/motorhome Nicos, I was going to ask you summat. Campers are expensive, vans are a bit cheaper.Do you reckon you have saved a lot by doing your own conversion? Just pondering what to do myself as I don't want to pay a shed load of money when I could possibly save a fortune by doing it myself and building it to my own specification.?

TTFN

The idea was to save a fortune by converting a van….but by the time we had upgraded everything ( insulation,solar and shore power, diesel heater, quality mattress, fitting a loo etc ) we probably paid out the same…but it’s at the quality and standard we wanted.
It was/is great fun doing it though.
I think it depends on if you want a 4-5 star camper or just somewhere to lay your head.

Having converted this one , I’d never buy a ready made one out of choice.
You’re very practical Snadge - a bit of research and I reckon you’d find it easy to do.
Happy to share info on what we used if you want.

If you can get all the parts I reckon it’d take 5-6 weeks full time…..but obviously if you want to get away sooner then you’ll need to buy a converted one.

[Nicos]

Talking of sewing machines…My mom taught me the basics on her electric Singer when I was about 6 years old. At secondary school they mostly had ones with handles and I really couldn’t cope with them!
my mom bought me a Singer sewing machine for my 21st and 20 years later , whilst making curtains, it set fire
Purely my fault…I’d never had it cleaned or serviced
so I replaced it with a very basicSinger again! This time I keep it defluffed

[Florence Fennel]

Good Morning All Bit brighter this morning. Lovely reading your posts Have a good day

[Peteyd]

Morning all,

Very dull here today, I need to harvest some beetroot this afternoon. might just have to dig out the chutney pan and make some beetroot relish

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

Grory hop, bread baking and making a batch of sourdough oatcakes this morning, not sure after that it depends if todays predicted rain arrives.

Enjoy your day.

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

It rained in the night. Yay! Not much but looks and sounds like more is to come. Good bit of thunder and a very cool breeze out there. I'm due to walk the dogs, but might wait for a bit to see what transpires. Mr Snoop off in to town to get post and do a few other chores. He's also taking delivery of a package from one of those companies that sells British foodstuffs to Brits abroad. I'll be interested to see how it all goes. Cheapest way to get decent tea in the end, so I added some other goodies. Overpriced, some of them, but others about a fifth of the price I'd pay here. So probably all much of a muchness in the end.

I was going to make it a gardening day but the weather looks like it's going to put the kibosh on that. Hmm. There is of course plenty of tidying and paperwork sorting. Hope I can find something else instead...

Have a good day, everyone. I've left the smiles over by the kettle. They don't like the thunder much, so aren't keen to go out. Oh, and the rain has just started so I can't see them flitting off for a bit. You might just have to grab them, along with a slice of the banana loaf I made yesterday. A Mary Berry recipe. Gets the thumbs up. Not so sure about the pain de mie I made yesterday in a Pullman pan. Not sure if I'm being influenced by the look of it, but it's very Mother's Pride-y. My first: looks the part and great texture, just very boring to eat. Fortunately, Mr Snoop thinks its delicious.

Right, that's enough of that. On with whatever mischief I can find to get up to. Have a great day everyone.

P.S. Snadger, thumbs up from me for decommissioned ambulances for camper conversions. They've already got insulation and are often overlooked, so not as pricey as you might imagine. Very capable vehicles and well maintained of course. Not sure where you'd look for one, but perhaps worth considering.

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

OMG!…. We have sunshine again! That was a lovely surprise

Off to market soon - we are going to buy some baby leeks today plant out where the spuds were.
We may well limit it to 100 this year - at least that’s our initial plan
Not been there for weeks, so I hope it’s still fairly quiet. I used to love wandering around buying fruit, veg and cheeses we didn’t need, but mostly people watching to the scent of warm melons and peaches and cooked couscous and roasted meats!

Fact for the day…..
We’ve just been looking up comfrey in french….it’s names here are Donkey’s ears; cows tongue and interestingly ‘confee’.
Love the first two - but yet again another English name originating from French ( William the Conqueror and the French Dukes who became English and subsequently ruled England for 200 years speaking only French in Court) Clearly they used it for aches and pains too!

I tried to make mango coulis yesterday but it ended up more like jam…..is it supposed to thicken like that or shouldn’t I have cooked it?
Ah well , it tasted good on toast!

Enjoy your day peeps - see you later!