Chatback number 22

[Florence Fennel]

Good Morning All It's dark but very. Very warm. Have a good day

[Snoop Puss]

Good news about Kato, Snadger. I'm intrigued by the blacksmithing. What kind of things do you make?

[Bren In Pots]

Morning another sunny day here

Enjoy your paddling pool Nicos I feel a little bit envious the closest thing we have is either a tin bath, or a dingy that we once filled for our grandkids to sit in.

Enjoy your day.

[Nicos]

Good boy Kato…good boy xxxx

[Snadger]

Morning all

Had Kato out fishing with me with a long drive to Kielder Reservoir yesterday . Boy did good travelling so its looking better for me acquiring a camper for extended drives and possibly nights away!
Strange how some people can be affected by the 'Kielder midge' and not others? I was unbothered with them but other members of the family were bitten to bits!
Anyway, lawn to cut and bag up for allotment today and hopefully get a bit of blacksmithing done as it looks like it is going to be a nice day!

TTFN

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

Coffee, anyone? Mr Snoop has volunteered to make it this morning.

No, Nicos, no figs frozen so far. Still early days yet. I freeze them uncooked. Lovely in tagines or with duck, for example. Woke up thinking about fig tarte tatin with Danish pastry dough. So I reckon it's going to happen at the weekend. Got lots of ground almonds as well, so could even make a bit of marzipan. Just as well we've got lots of friends who'll take slices off us!

Cloudy and quite cool this morning. Looks like it might stay that way for the next ten days or so, with a bit of rain here and there. The snails will love it. I haven't really been paying attention to the cabbages and caulis since the rain. But I decided to water them yesterday. Should have been keeping my eye on things. Pretty much all that's left is green lacy bits. Pah! There are even more slugs and snails now than in the spring. Mr Snoop is off out this morning and has volunteered to bring back some cheap beer for saucers. Only problem is there are quite a few very small toads in the veg patch, not enough evidently to clear all the slugs, and I just hope they don't get drunk and topple in.

Bit of work and maybe some more tidying on the cards for today. Mr Snoop off out to help some friends. Supper up the valley, so a night off the cooking, thank goodness.

Smiles not sure what to make of the weather. But I've told them about your paddling pool, Nicos, so you can expect a few round your way. And I'm sure they'll head on further northwards from there.

Have a great day, everyone.

[greenishfing]

Morning all, all this talk of figs is making me hopeful that mine might ripen. They were late forming this year but are now mostly full size but still green and hard. I absolutely love them but never tasted a fresh one until I was on my thirties. I am quite surprised that they put up with the Yorkshire weather.
The year seems to have flown. Hard to believe I am already preparing a bed for next year's onions and garlic. My garlic this year was, for the first time ever, an abject failure and rotted instead of growing. Not one solitary head.
Beautiful morning again but I must visit the supermarket today as I'm just about out of the staples of life: milk, cream etc. I cannot stand long life milk.

[Mr Bones]

Morning Nicos and all.

Love the sound of that paddling pool
Went for a walk in Clumber yesterday, hardly anyone about which is just how we like it, pity the walled gardens are still closed.
Might pop to the garden centre later to see if the overwintering onion sets are in yet.

Enjoy your day

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

First up?…best get that kettle on pronto!

Another hot day ahead.
We got out a very old ,small paddling pool yesterday to check it still inflated. ( charity shop drop off again tomorrow)
…you can see where this is going cant you

Yes, so there we both were sat in a tiny paddling pool keeping cool yesterday

It was absolutely brill. Needless to say, it won’t be going with us to the shop tomorrow Thank goodness we have the excuse now of needing to keep it for when our granddaughter eventually visits!.
Seeing as it’s only about 20 feet away from one of the potagers , I’ll not have any guilt giving that a darned good water when we eventually empty it.

Interestingly as I poured the first watering can of water into it a bee landed and had a drink. That just strengthens my resolve to create a shallow pond when we redo the patio.

Snoop - have you frozen any figs?
We stayed in a BnB a few years ago and the owner pressed us to take away as many as possible, so we did and froze them . Just a gentle heating in the microwave and filled silicone bun trays with them. It was great adding then to different sweet and savoury dishes throughout the winter. Normally they are too expensive here to buy in bulk like that.

gf - glad it wasn’t a problem with your bread maker - that’s a relief!
I checked again yesterday and still no sign of wild blackberries maybe this mini heatwave will bring them on?

See ya later peeps….

[Snoop Puss]

Grory hop done - including impulse purchase of a kilo of ripe figs ( see Snoop - all that talk of fresh figs!)
How wonderful to have your own.

Not just our own. Other people's too... So many fig trees here and nobody picks them is my excuse. The ones we don't eat (and we don't take that many, honest, in comparison with the kilos and kilos available) provide food for wasps, ants and birds, boar and foxes, possibly badgers if the branches are low enough. I know of a well over a dozen fig trees within ten minutes or so on foot from our house.

Oh my goodness, I've just thought... Nigella has a tarte tatin with a Danish pastry dough base/top. I bet a fig one would be amazing. I might try that this weekend.

[Nicos]

Afternoon!

Grory hop done - including impulse purchase of a kilo of ripe figs ( see Snoop - all that talk of fresh figs!)
How wonderful to have your own.

Bramble - that sounds absolutely delightful. Do have a paddle and splash around in the sea for me won’t you?

Talking of hot - I think today is turning into a belter for us.
It was registering 28*C on the way home at 11.30 uk time…and it’s getting hotter by the minute

I had noticed Hibou is starting to grow her winter coat, but today she’s splayed out legs a-kimbo just trying to stay cool.
On really hot summer days she used to sleep on our lounge floor (when it was tiled )as there is a water source flowing underneath so there was always a cool area there.
it’s now we’ll insulated and wooden floor boarded so although warmer underfoot in the summer, it’s delightful to walk on now in the winter. It’s where I would sometimes do the ironing and I’d get ankle/foot/shin ache from standing there in winter.( equivalent of an ice cream headache maybe?)

Off out into the garden with my book…there’s a nice breeze starting up…

Enjoy your day peeps.

[Snoop Puss]

^Sounds wonderful, bramble. Have a lovely time.

[bramble]

Good morning all.
A misty start to the day but its beginning to lift.
It's been a scorching weekend spent mostly on the beach.

Snoop we are15 miles outside Malaga in a Spanish area and love the easy access to so much fresh fruit and veg.
We go to the farmers markets every day.
Lots of fresh fish and sardines cooked on the beach.
We have been coming here for the past 25 years but usually October/November time.
Have a good day all.

[greenishfing]

I was thinking that the breadmaker might be dying as the last two loaves hadn't risen well but I am now happy to say that it was the yeast that was letting me down. I opened a new box of yeast yesterday and put a tiny bit extra in as I'd been having problems. I've now got an explosion of a loaf! So happy.
Another wonderfully sunny day here. Off to the allotment shortly.

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

Just dashing off to do a grory hop.

Overslept!….see you later peeps!
Watch out for those smiles of Snoops…we’re going to have pizza for supper!