Chitchat thread #24

[mothhawk]

Morning all. Deffo ready for another brew Nicos

Took some honey up to the farmer who owns the farm my bees are on. He tells me he's given up the sheep flock, but will rent the land back to his buyer, so there'll still be sheep through the summer. No getting up at silly o'clock for lambing for him though this year!

More importantly for my bees, he's put a lot of land down to wildflowers, 5 metre wide strips on two sides of his fields, plus 10 acres of sunflowers as a wild bird food crop, and in the field where my hives are, 16 acres of beans. My bees will (figuratively) be in clover this year.

[rary]

Good afternoon, dull but dry today, went to church this morning and OH decided to come along as well, she is now sitting watching TV but says she is a bit sore, but also said it was nice to get out and talk to folk, I have told her that we could talk, if she stopped sitting there thinking on what orders she can give me didn't get out last night as she felt too sore, so just nipped up the town for fish suppers, which were very tasty but couldn't get any seaweed was also out in the greenhouse earlier but had to put the fire on as it did feel a bit cold, washed the windows, andnow starting to tidy it up a bit might go back out for a time before making the tea, and Nicos, I think a thread on cooking/baking recipes would be a good thing, especially as I have had to go on the web to find out how to cook things, and ofcourse there is always the question of do you accept cookies, and recently I have found several that if you reject, which I always do they don't seem to move on, meaning, to me, either accept on go off the site, sorry about the moan but get a bit annoyed with practically every site asking you to accept cookies. Well weekend about finished, but keep safe when out, keep warm and remember the smile. Goodnight

[greenishfing]

Well, I am now hoping that I was panicking without real reason this morning after yesterday and last night. Mr GF felt (and looked) awful all morning, didn't want to eat or get out of bed, his nose was streaming and he was shivering, coughing and sputtering but I kept forcing liquid down him. By lunchtime I got him to have a small bowl of porridge. He dozed on and off. By this evening he had two bowls of mushroom soup and was insisting he felt much, much better. He has now got out of bed, stopped shivering and sweating and his eyes and nose seem to have stopped streaming. He says he feels weak........but not at deaths door any more and is now happily watching David Attenborough in his recliner and awaiting a hot toddy (with a tot of whisky in it). I just hope that whatever bug made him ill has now buggered off. Obviously he'll get mollycoddled for a while (unless he has given it to me) and I'll send his PCR test off when I get it and keep him isolated.

[JanieB]

Sorry, have nipped in occasionally but not joined in. I’m not even going to try and catch up. I was hoping this year would be better than last but so far not so. However, I have started planting on the worktops in the kitchen. Much disapproved of by my youngest son. Not his kitchen!

[JanieB]

By the way my avatar and bestie died just before Christmas. Her very much loved brother is cuddled up with me.

[JanieB]

Well, I am now hoping that I was panicking without real reason this morning after yesterday and last night. Mr GF felt (and looked) awful all morning, didn't want to eat or get out of bed, his nose was streaming and he was shivering, coughing and sputtering but I kept forcing liquid down him. By lunchtime I got him to have a small bowl of porridge. He dozed on and off. By this evening he had two bowls of mushroom soup and was insisting he felt much, much better. He has now got out of bed, stopped shivering and sweating and his eyes and nose seem to have stopped streaming. He says he feels weak........but not at deaths door any more and is now happily watching David Attenborough in his recliner and awaiting a hot toddy (with a tot of whisky in it). I just hope that whatever bug made him ill has now buggered off. Obviously he'll get mollycoddled for a while (unless he has given it to me) and I'll send his PCR test off when I get it and keep him isolated.

Nightmare isn’t it. Because I’m a Councillor I’ve been given a box of tests to take because we’re not “Quorate” unless we appear in person despite the danger to our health. I’ve now had 2 colds in the last 2 months where I’ve had to take tests. What worries me is if I caught a cold from someone even though I’m extra careful I could just as easily caught Covid. Weirdest thing is that I haven’t had a cold for years until now since I started having the flu vaccine 9 years ago.

[Nicos]

Lovely to see you Janie. You were missed .
So sorry to hear about your sweet dog - heartbreaking isn’t it? xx

Glad to see you are using your new kitchen to full purpose..te he!

[Peteyd]

Morning All,

Levelled out that garden over the weekend after we finished moving the oil tank. now just need to make it look nice again!

Happy Monday All

[Nicos]

Mornin Peteyd n’alln’all

Well done on getting the worst of the job done there- now comes the fun bit!

Woke up to a heavy frost today - first one in a while.
As the sun was melting the frost on the Velux window we had first a bluetit and then a great tit landing on the frame and drinking the melt water. So sweet to see them so close up.

I nipped down in the night and topped up the wood stoves so it’s actually quite warm downstairs - so who fancies a brew?

Just had my weigh in and it’s another week of a drop in weight, so the effort is paying off

Not even thought about my plans for the day although if it’s still sunny later I really fancy a bit of gardening in the sunshine

[greenishfing]

Just had a text from Royal Mail to say they're delivering Mr GF's covid test today. I slept like a log last night probably because he did. He says he feels awful at the moment but I'm hoping he'll feel a bit better when his morning painkillers kick in.
The only place I'll be going today is to post his test back to the NHS.

[Snadger]

Morning all

My plan for today is to take my yellow,pink and white chrysanthemum plants out of ther pots and re-pot them with minimal compost into one of those long propagators designed for windowsills. I will then put them on the spare bedroom windowsill and se if I can get some cuttings from the 'stools' I have ordered some red chrysanthemum plants for later in the year so hopefully I can fill an allotment bed with blooms this year.
Piggin freezing out this morning but a long walk with Kato will shake out the cobwebs I hope?
Meatless Monday today so I think maybe veggie stir fry with fried Halloumi will be on the menu, definately not any of that disgusting veggie mince I reied last week!
TTFN

[Nicos]

Gf - hope your OH feels a lot better soon. It’s awful seeing loved ones suffer isn’t it?

[Bren In Pots]

Morning a misty start but no frost

Snadger I've tried Halloumi but I wasn't to keen any tips on how to make it less 'rubbery' would be much appreciated.

Congrats on your weight loss Nicos

Hope Mr GF soon feels better xx

[bramble]

Good morning all and it's a lovely sunny morning.
All the excitement of the wedding is over so it's back to basics today.
We had a great day and everything went without a hitch.

GF, hope your husband will be feeling better soon.

Nicos, great to hear you're planning a trip with your camper.

Restrictions on covid have been lifted here in Ireland and we are feeling cautiously optimistic.

Have a good dsy all and take care.

[Snadger]

Morning a misty start but no frost

Snadger I've tried Halloumi but I wasn't to keen any tips on how to make it less 'rubbery' would be much appreciated.

Congrats on your weight loss Nicos

Hope Mr GF soon feels better xx

The best way to make it less sqeeky is to shallow fry the living daylights out of it until the slices (which often break up) are brown on each side. It seams to increase the saltiness but takes away the rubberiness!