Chitchat thread #24

[rary]

Good evening, back up to the chemist again, had been busy preparing our tea then had lunch, dry outside while doing that, so decided to walk, only out 5 minutes and heavy rain and high winds started, put an umbrella up and it was a bit of a struggle, fortunately its a strong umbrella and l vented to allow wind pressure out, but more importantly, three cars stopped to offer me a lift, 2 of them from people I didn't know, I thanked them for their kindness but declined as I hadn't that far to go, not sure if it was because I appeared to be struggling a bit with the umbrella, or because I looked like an... ... naw it was because they though I was struggling walking back down, it was calm dry and the sun was out

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

Brrrr …innit?

Woke up to heavy rain bouncing off the window. Another indoor day I guess.

No idea what is planned for today, but I’m thinking it’ll mostly be something to do with the camper.
We stripped the contents for the assessment so I really need to focus on what will be staying in there permanently- and where to squeeze it in based on ease of access.
We’ve already decided bedding will stay inside the house when not in use so it doesn’t get damp.
Any tips would be very much appreciated!

Time for a brew don’t ya think?

[mothhawk]

Morning all. Ta for the cuppa Nicos. I think the sun is here today There's a bit of frost but not thick like yesterday.

The beanie turned out OK so I'll try it out when I go for a walk in a little while.

Have a good day all.

[greenishfing]

Good morning all. For some reason I couldn't stay asleep last night. I don't know why. In the end I gave in at 7am and got up. It keeps trying to snow here on and off but hasn't succeeded in putting down a covering yet.

I need to go and buy a birthday present for one of my nieces today and put it in the post for her. Also a trip to the chemist to collect prescriptions.

Nicos please post pictures of the finished camper. My only suggestion for it are keep a list handy to check every time before you set off as there is nothing worse than ending up in the middle of nowhere with something major missing.

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

Thanks for the biscuit advice, mothhawk. I'd thought of going the opposite direction, soaking the raisins in the orange juice beforehand. But I'll try without. I also experimented with using only three-quarters of the sugar. The biscuit mix itself was lovely, very like shortbread in texture.

Nicos, we lived in our van for about ten months, so had everything to hand. But before that, we'd go on occasional trips and it was always nice to be able to do that on the spur of the moment. So some kind of hamper with teamaking and picnic stuff was good to have ready prepared. But I guess that's obvious. Not a top tip!

Not much in the way of news. We had a frost at 6 pm yesterday but it warmed up overnight, so none this morning. Cloudy now and a bit breezy. The usual loads of work to get through and it's a diet day today. The grey sky pretty well matches my mood!

Looks like the smiles came back with me from the Gardeners Rest. They're a bit tired after all the excitement, but say they'll head out shortly. So should be with you all soon. Have a great day, everyone.

[Bren In Pots]

Morning.

It looks like being a day of rain/sleet/snow here so I'll be mostly staying indoors.

Rary it just goes to show there are thoughtful people out there.

Nicos never had a camper but we do keep our trailer tent kitchen stocked with everything apart from food, only tip I can think of is to prop the fridge door open. We do have a box with bin bags, dishclothes, pan scrubbers, pegs, washing up liquid those are easy to forget.

Keep warm and enjoy your day.

[bramble]

Good morning all. Grey here with rain on the way.
Need to go to the flower shop as it's my dads anniversary.
Then a visit to the cemetary.
Some grocery shopping while I am out and about.
Nicos, sounds like you got some good tips there
Have a good day all.

[greenishfing]

It is freezing hard here already. The car is steadily turning into an ice cube.

I got my niece's present and it is now in the post; her birthday is on Monday. I also went to the garden centre and they had just got their seed potatoes in. I got both my favourites: Swift and Wilja. That was a bonus apart from when one of the bags burst open and there was potatoes everywhere.😳

[mothhawk]

Morning all. It's mild and damp and the sky is a blanket of cloud. No pretty sunrise today. Kettle's on for another brew. I saw the robin checking out the bluetit box to see if the hole was big enough for her (it's not) and the bluetit appeared in a huff of feathers, and sat on the feeder looking cross, but she is too scared of the robin to chase it away.

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

wet, calm and not too cold here - so can’t complain!

Seed potatoes already gf?….must look out for some here - I’m getting twitchy fingers to get this years crops started….did they have shallots too?

Ta muchly for the brew MH - perfect timing.
It’s lovely watching the birds isn’t it? Yesterday I heard, and briefly saw, a woodpecker in our garden tapping away at either the apple tree or hazelnut tree.It never fails to impress me how they can tap so quickly without getting a headache/ neck ache. Maybe they do?….now - there’s a thought for the day to ponder over!

Thanks for the tips peeps…very much appreciated!
Exciting times.

Looks like I may be helping with the bedroom renovations today. I apparently make an excellent gofer and hold it upper

Enjoy your day peeps - whatever mischief you get up to.
Anyone seen those smiles flying over yet? - sounds like they’re not used to their new time zone being back with Snoop again.( yeh…she’s an hour ahead, but we’ll ignore that tiny insignificant fact!)

[greenishfing]

Morning all. I wasn't surprised to see the seed potatoes yesterday as this particular garden centre usually gets their first in as soon as they have packed all their Christmas stuff away (they were still packing). They then usually have a potato tasting weekend as well in January. They didn't have their shallots yet but I'm sure they're due.
It's very cold and grey here this morning.

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

I've not seen my garden Robin for a few days hope he's ok. mind you not many birds have visited lately not sure whats put them of.

Wet and windy today so I won't be doing much outside apart from getting lettuce from the GH.

Enjoy your day.

[bramble]

Good morning all.
Dull and damp but it's a mild 7 degs.
Back to playing pitch and putt today.

I cant feed the birds any moreas I am plagued with squirrels.
Have a good day all.

[Nicos]

Bramble - Have you tried spraying the bird feed with cayenne pepper?
I’ve not tried it - as we don’t have any squirrels locally- but I hear it works really well.
I imagine you’d need to hang the food somewhere dry so it’s not washed off though?

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

Surprised you haven't spotted the smiles yet, greenishfing. They left ages ago. Maybe they've gone on a detour or can't remember the way after all this time. Anyway, they set off in a jolly mood. It's bright and blue here this morning and they were Rarying for the off. In fact, maybe they're visiting Rary first and will drop in on you on the way back.

Nicos, I remembered reading a BBC article on woodpecker skulls years ago and here it is, top hit in Google: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-15458633

We have two robins visiting our olive trees at the moment. One very big and fat with only a tiny bib, the other much smaller but with a really impressive red chest. Both bob about the veg patch too. I hope peace continues to reign as we get closer to mating season.

Yesterday's big activity was try and put some order into our wood pile. It's the largest amount of wood I've ever ordered but it's not very well sorted, size wise. We've made a start, at least. The main event of today will be to bring the 'jamonero' into play. A jamonero is a device made of wood with metal pins to hold a leg of cured ham in place for easier carving. This is only the second leg I've ever bought here and it should be a good one. Not very dieticious, but never mind.

Hope you enjoy the game, Bramble. How's the left-hander club?

Have a great day, whatever you get up to.