Chitchat thread #24

[mothhawk]

Morning GF, Nicos and all.

I seem to have joined the insomniacs club for a while. Not shaken off this cold/flu yet, the cough is back and I woke up earlier in a flush so hot I thought I was re-living the early days of menopause. I made some horehound candy yesterday so I'm sucking a square of that to ward off the cough, and I'm hogging a whole pot of tea to myself. I'll make another if anyone wants a cup, just let me finish this pot first.

[Nicos]

*sits down and joins MH….

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

Tea and fruit loaf here and plenty to spare.

I've done the plant shuffle, its time to move some out of the GH into a cold frame. Toms are staying indoors during the night for now they're not reached that too heavy to carry stage yet.

enjoy your day

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

Finally got back to sleep

Tea loaf Bren? Oh yum!…yes please!
Out of interest MH…could you please share your hoarhound candy recipe with us?…you’ve spiked my interest there!

More gardening for me today…it’s supposed to rain later so I’d like to get some grass moved from one place to another so nature can water it in for me. Basically the lawn is mostly scutch and creeps onto a gravel path and every year I need to take it back to the edge of the gravel again…(probably about 8”) cut into chunks it makes a perfect piece of turf to repair other areas.
Waste not want not eh?

Well…I best get a wiggle on…but first get that washing machine earning a living!

Enjoy your day everyone, whether it be sunny or not

[Florence Fennel]

Good Morning All Beautiful sunny day. I sowed some carrots in a bucket yesterday and the birds have had a feast! Rookie mistake leaving it uncovered. Have a good day

[bramble]

Good morning g all.its a misty start but Due to brighten up later.
Some errands to do this morning and then another bit of gardening.
Have a good day all.

[greenishfing]

Good morning.

It looks as if it's going to be another lovely day. We actually reached 23°C yesterday.

Mr GF says he has no recollection of waking me up in the early hours.

A few weeks ago someone gave me quite a lot of medjool dates. I made a date and walnut loaf, which I was really not impressed with. Since then, I've just been chopping the dates up and adding them to salads. They have now given me a lot more. Just wondering if anybody has any interesting ideas.

Time for my washer to earn it's living again. Yesterday it was introduced to it's first paper tissue. It was a load of black clothes, of course.

[Nicos]

Gf….I tend to eat one fresh each day.
The time I’ve cooked with them is wrapped in streaky bacon…nice stuffed first with a prune!

I found this link though and it’s got some nice recipes on it!
https://www.allrecipes.com/gallery/r...mejdool-dates/

[greenishfing]

Thank you, Nicos. I'd completely forgotten about dates wrapped in bacon. I used to go to a restaurant in Spain where one of the frequent starters on the Menu del dia was entremeses. A mix of meats, cheeses, a crab claw, a croquet, a date wrapped in bacon and I can't remember what else. I used to be so annoyed if I had to choose between entremeses and paella, or fideua or mussels, or snails. All my favourites.

[Nicos]

You are welcome gf.
Oh my…..those sound delicious

[mothhawk]

Oh no, GF! If there's one thing worse than a paper tisue in the wash, it's a paper tissue in the wash with dark clothes. No amount of shaking or brushing ever gets it all off, does it? Do you have one of those sticky roller things to pick up the last fluffbombs?

Horehound candy:
Steep 2oz fresh horehound leaves in 1/4 pint boiling water for an hour or two. Prepare a tin by buttering it well. Strain the liquid into a pan, add 1lb sugar and 1 tablespoon cider or wine vinegar, and heat gently till the sugar dissolves, then boil rapidly to hard crack stage (300F, 150c). Pour into the tin and leave to cool. When it just starts to set, mark into squares or rectangles. leave until set, turn out, and break into pieces.

I use a 2lb loaf tin as I have no small shallow tins, and those dimensions (8" x 4") makes the candy layer about 1cm thick. It's really important to firmly mark into squares almost to the bottom, otherwise you end up with a sheet of volcanic glass that needs a hammer!

Horehound is bitter but without much flavour, but the sugar counters that.

[greenishfing]

What a good idea mothhawk. I have now ordered lint rollers. Fortunately it was only a small load in the washer as one of the items was a black cotton top and I had a sneaky suspicion that it might bleed dye, so only black items.

[Nicos]

Thanks MH…much appreciated!


oh dear gf…my OH always manages to forget a tissue in his trousers…no matter how many times I remind him to check before they go into the laundry basket

Good call about lint rollers. I tend to use sellotape wrapped around my hand.

[Snoop Puss]

Afternoon all.

Very late on parade today. Been to a medieval fair in a nearby village. Really good event and nice sunny weather. Except I'd forgotten all about it and had been hoping to sow a load of seeds. Back home and it's clouding over. Rain forecast for the next twelve days, some days heavy rain... So that's that for my gardening leave.

Right, time to cheer up. Make a cup of tea and have a bun.

Catch you later. Have a great afternoon.

[rary]

That looks good, Rary. How big is it, out of interest?

Snoop the bed it's self is 6X4 and the hightof the tunnel is 4ft. I know I have said I would like to grow a trombonceno in it and I know those climb a lot higher than that, but someone who knows what they are doing should be able to contain it, as for me I will just guddle through