Chatback number 22

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

Happy birthday to Mr GF. Special bunch of smiles heading your way. Hope the others manage to stay out of the way of the ducks, Nicos. I suppose they might look a bit like fish to a duck!

Glad to hear assorted camper plans are coming to fruition. Hope the blood results are what you hoped for, Nicos. And congrats on the scales result, Peteyd.

Interesting what you say about chocolate cake, Nicos. I did actually buy some espresso coffee granules for the purpose, but was too much of a coward to add any as they weren't included in the recipe. Next time...

Not a very cold night last night but a heck of a wind gusting about out there now. Just as well the smiles set off earlier. Not sure they'd make any headway out there at the moment. Got plenty to keep me busy indoors.

Have a good one, all.

[bramble]

Good morning all.
Dull and grey here but the wind has dropped.
A visit to the hairdressers this morning.
Very badly needed as the sun has bleached my hair blonde.
Quite envious of you Nicos and Snadgar, I could do with a project as the garden is slowing up,
Greenishfing, I make jm and jelly every year but never marmalade, perhaps I will give it a try.
Have a good day all,

[Nicos]

Just a quick nip in for a brew before the grory hop.
More Sanding discs are on the list too.

I’ll be joining you on the diet Peteyd as from next week…. We have a couple of birthday bashes to munch our way through first

Bramble - have you got a shed , or room for a shed in your garden you could do up as a project? I see garden ‘luxury summer houses’ (aka done up sheds )are pretty popular these days.

Once our camper and bedroom are sorted - hopefully before Xmas - I’m wanting to crack on with family tree research. My granddaughter has a whole other side which needs researching!

Must dash - shops are much quieter here at lunchtime….

[greenishfing]

Bramble, I use this marmalade recipe. It is dead easy and there is no waste, apart from the pips. When I have scraped all the contents of the cooked skins into the pan, and before I put the rind in, I put the stick blender in and give it all a good zap. It sets really easy too.

[lottie dolly]

AFTERNOON ALL,my a lot going on in here today,happy birthday MR GF,thank you for the smiles,if ducks are about do not look up,pleased you getting the campers sorted out Nicos and Snadger,happy jamming ladies,well done on the weight loss Peteyd,i still live in hope of some will power ,son came in said,if i get the dr before 1pm i get a flue jab,so he took me ,so quick ,mmmmm,must try that in choc cake,part of me is itching for growing,but i have to be patient and wait,however,i can try and organize seeds ext,and try a plan for my new garden,now that is a good excersize,i like a planning challenge,keep thinking about,if i can get a allotment plot at the back of me,need to remember to knock a door ,keep forgetting with other things going on,can't you tell i feel more in charge ,enjoy rest of your day,and Bgood2yourselves.

[bramble]

Sorry, forgot to wish Mr Mr Greenishfing a happy birthday, I hope his day is very enjoyable and thank you so much for the marmalade recipe.

[Nicos]

I missed that too!

Happy burpday Mr gf.
I have a feeling there’s going to be another happy hubby tucking into his burpday cake today !

[Snoop Puss]

lottie dolly, could you try some things like spinach, lamb's lettuce or overwintering lettuce? Broad beans, maybe? Just to scratch that itch...

[Nicos]

^^^^ nice idea!…a few free flower buckets and Bob’s yr Uncle!

[Snadger]

Evening folks.

Got a set of blue tartan curtains and three different bedding covers for a 99p a piece from the charity shops and a £5 fleecy throw from B&M to see which would look best as my camper upholster?,

I wrapped one of the seat bottoms in each and photographed them then showed them to my three grown on up bairns on snapchat. They were all in agreement the throw I got from B&M looked the best but the others won't be wasted The blue and white tartan curtains will do for my bedroom and one of the duvet covers will do for my bed.

Managed to get a steel seat frame hacked to bits with an angle grinder this afternoon and it now sits in the position I want it. I just need to reinforce the bits I have hacked out now.
Off to B&Q tomorrow to get some timber for build.

TTFN

[bramble]

Snadgar, you sound like a man on a mission.
Well done on all or bargin purchases.

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

Grory hop first then back to stripping wallpaper and hopefully some gardening later.

You got some good buys yesterday Snadger one of my best charity shop buys was a Dehydrator for £5
enjoy your day.

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all
where's the sun gone?…I hope someone is keeping their eye on it?

Fantastic bargains there Snadge!
I have to admit that I am a bit of a hoarder and dug out denim curtains and duvet covers from our uk house ( 14 years ago!…but still in perfect condition) to cover our cushions and the curtains from the study there to make the curtains for the camper.
I’d been hanging onto them for when our kids get bigger houses but they haven’t so I thought I’d use them myself!
It’s actually quite comforting and reminiscent . So glad I kept them.
So - for all of you who get lots of for hoarding - it DOES sometimes pay off!

I called in at our local charity shop on the way home from the grory hop yesterday and asked if they’d like some Xmas decoration to decorate their shop and they were absolutely thrilled - so I’ll go and sort some out for them.
I used to make lots of Xmas crafts (but want to use more natural products now )so I’ve loads of old decorations people have given me- including plastic trees- which I can sort out for them.
It was so worthwhile asking - the manager was absolutely thrilled! Their shop was burned down last year so they moved to new premises and of course all their stock went down in the fire.
I think I did a good deed there and my OH will be relieved I’m clearing more ‘stuff’

Have a great day peeps….see ya later!
kettle’s on by the way….

[Nicos]

Have you got a steamer Bren for stripping your wallpaper?
We used to have one and it was also great for steam cleaning furniture / mattresses / spot cleaning carpets

Thats a brill bargain price for a dehydrator!
Always worth popping in isn’t it?

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

I love charity shops, but Spain isn't big on them. I'd never be able to extricate Mr Snoop from them. He's a terrible hoarder. Even he's starting to admit that some stuff will have to go back to the tip from whence they came. I hate all the piles of stuff about the place, but have to admit he's never let me down and can always come up with something for my veg patch almost as soon as I ask.

Bright blue out there, but not far off a frost down in the valley, I'd say. 6 ºC in our little walled corral by the house. Better go and pick all the tender stuff worth saving. Loads of basil. I've seen people say make pesto and freeze that. But do the oil, pine kernels and cheese freeze satisfactorily?

Odds and sods day today but lots of them. So need to be a bit more active than I'm feeling.

The smiles set off this morning in a good mood. I walked them and the dogs through some woodland looking for mushrooms. Lots of inedible ones, but nothing tasty. Maybe when it's a few degrees cooler. The dogs are also in a good mood. While out, we ransacked our vine for grapes - amazingly, the birds haven't taken all of them - and now they're scrumping off our fig tree. All the figs still on it burst in the rain, so we've stopped taking any. Not many now at dog height, but dozens still for the birds and wasps. And loads in our freezer.

Right, better get the show on the road. Have a good one all.