Chitchat thread #24

[mothhawk]

Morning all.

The forecast for today is sun all morning, rain all afternoon, so I'll need to crack on with weeding the flower bed soon. Then I can spread some compost and let the rain wash it in.
Snoop, I found a couple of caterpillars in the chard yesterday, really don't expect them at this time of year. I wonder when we'll have a frost, or IF we will have a frost this winter, I only seem to remember two or three last year, but I guess there must have been more.

Films, Nicos, I'd suggest a musical, you don't have to concentrate on the story, and you can sing along

[Nicos]

^^^^ you’ve clearly not heard me sing MH?

Good idea though…OH might crack on with more outdoor jobs if I do that!

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

It was 6c in my GH overnight think its time to remove the last of the toms to ripen them indoors. Oddly I spotted 3 green strawberries in the garden yesterday don't think they'll come to much.

Not spotted any caterpillars we did have a slug in the kitchen yesterday morning, not for long though.

Best get on laundry to hang out. Enjoy your day

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

What a silly night. I'm still adjusting to the clock change too. We struggled through a film, half asleep the pair of us, to stop ourselves from going to bed at 9 pm. And then I was wide awake at 12.30 am. Decided the best thing to do was to get up. Did a bit of work and watched a few videos on using my new mixer and on breadmaking (I am a serial obsessive - currently bread, with any luck it'll go back to gardening soon). Now kind of half asleep again. I'll be glad when they stop bothering to change the clock. Everyone talks about energy efficiency being the original reason behind it. But I bet there's a big increase in accidents.

I was going to suggest a musical, as well. Who cares what your voice sounds like? It's your house. Me, I like the old ones I used to watch with my dad, starring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and the like. The plots are pretty predictable, so you're fine if you get distracted by having to fold a sheet or whatever, but the songs are really good. Number of times I watched High Society with my Dad doesn't bear thinking about. Despite his dementia, he knew the script off by heart.

So today here. Lots of work and a wee bit of gardening on the cards. Cloudy and not very warm. Had the range going when I got up in the night. What a luxury. Probably relight it later on. My excuse is I find it easier to concentrate when I'm not cold. The smiles enjoyed the extra heat in the night but even so headed off this morning without dithering. Hope they find you well and jolly.

Have a great day, everyone.

[greenishfing]

Good morning. A good start to the day. The temperature was perfect when I woke up after a good night's sleep. Even better I could smell bread. The breadmaker was nearly finished.

When it's beeper went off I tipped the bread out. A brick!!!! Not fully risen to say the least. The possible cause? Either the breadmaker has gone faulty or the flour is no good or the yeast. The yeast goes out of date next month so I am hoping that that is to blame. I've got another pack of yeast, expiry date next March, and a new bag of bread flour so I'll have another go this afternoon. I use bread flour for Yorkshire puddings too so I'll use the last bit of the current bag of flour for them. The "brick" will be zapped into breadcrumbs later.

[lottie dolly]

good afternoon all,all i want to do is sleep,must be something in the air,i was up in the small hours snacking and drink of hot choc,not good for us,is it girls,my mojo is operating on a go slow,as and when,between lid inspections,it has turned chilly again,time for some heat,and get some food preped for the air frier,love the thing,i just cut things into big chip sizes,season with what ever and give it a blast,tip onto a plate and eat,i got one that can be washed in the machine,well worth the extra money when used most days,so robust,does it realy matter what it looks like on the plate,as long as the taste is there,yumyum,shame about the bread GF,and snoop no excuse needed,if you need the warmth,go for it,i am one of the lucky ones that are able to,with caution,am lucky my new home home is very well insulated,if i was at the old one,would be a different story,so a lot to be thankfull for,have a good evening

[bramble]

Good evening all.
Well we are home from holiday.
Left Malaga at midday at 23 degs, a beautiful sunny day.
Flew into gale force winds and rain over Ireland.
The pilot did several circles over the sea before he approached the airport.
We had a very bumpy landing but are home safely now.
Lots of flowers still in blossom in my garden so obviously the temp is still mild.
I cant believe its November already.
Have a good evening all, catch up tomorrow.

[Nicos]

Welcome back bramble- enjoy snuggling into your own pillows

[Bren In Pots]

Afternoon

We've had heavy rain and wind since 2-ish did get the laundry dry first though, so not all bad.
It's it a let down when bread fails, hopefully its the flour/yeast and not the breadmaker.

Welcome home Bramble, hope the wind doesn't spoil those flowers.

enjoy your evening.

[mothhawk]

Morning all.
Woke up to rain and it's still going. Grory hop today, and a trip to the library and the recycle tip with rose clippings. My climbing rose blew down in the high winds yesterday and I've had to cut a good half of it off to get it back against the wall and tied in. It's not the first time in its long life (well over 45 years now) that it has blown down. I knew I should have cut it back and tied it in sooner as it was top heavy, but it was one of those jobs I kept putting off. Done now anyway.

[rary]

Good morning, feels cold this morning temp. showing on thermostat 15.5c think I might need to alter overnight temp a bit as I think you can use more gas getting the temperature back up, I like a minimum of 17c during the day for OH, I have a problem with a small drip of water coming in at the conservatory roof started replacing the gutter yesterday but high winds and heavy rain stopped that so will be tackling that later today, unfortunately some things to do in the morning so gives a short window in afternoon to finish before it's dark, hope your internal thermoset adjusts quickly bramble if your weather is anything like here it's quite a change in temperature, well enjoy your day Folks and remember to pass on a smile

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all. And welcome back, Bramble.

Sorry to hear about your rose, mothhawk. Hope it does you proud next year. I've got a lot of gardening jobs I've been putting off. Must make a start on them this weekend.

If I get a failed loaf, it's either the flour, the yeast or me... No-one else I can blame. It happens less often these days, fortunately, but it's always a relief when I see the dough start to rise.

Cloudy here again. We actually have a 60% probability of rain. Less than 1 mm per square metre though. No good to man nor beast. Months now since we had any decent rainfall.

Plenty to do today, so better get a move-on. Have a great day everyone.

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

Grory hop first then leaf raking and removing last few tom plants from the GH.

I've found that Tesco bread flour just doesn't work with Sourdough its fine with yeast bread though. I stick to branded flour now, the flour from the local corn merchant only contains wheat that's my favourite plus they sell fresh yeast.
I suppose you get what your pay for.

Enjoy your day.

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all
We have rain bouncing off the ground at the moment.
I didn’t get the ironing done yesterday as other things cropped up - so, today it is then !

[bramble]

Good morning all.
it's a cool dry morning, the calm after the storm.

Rary, it is indeed cooler, it's just 9 degs now.

Lots to do today, just dont know where to start.
I will be collecting my grandson from creche this evening, cant wait to see him.
Grory shop this morning, the cupboards are bare.
Have a good day all,