Chitchat thread #24

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

No idea why but I’m wide awake.
Probably because I’m now trying to find alternative options to the new medication we gave to Hibou last night. Total failure in that she foams at the mouth worse than the tablets It just seems cruel to have to do that on a daily basis for the rest of her life. Maybe her cardiologist can suggest something.

Apart from that…all good here. We seem to be inundated with flea beetle this year though. Never seen so many! ..where are the ladybirds when you need them? They are also on my radish , turnips and nasturtiums. Pah.

Today will most certainly be a gardening day.I’ve nothing which absolutely should absolutely already have been done to do, so seed collecting and more weeding are the priority. I’m loving the seed collecting. The promise of free flowers in years to come! What could be better?

Actually bramble - thanks for the heads up…I need to check my tomatoes for elbows!

Andraste oh dear…thank goodness I’m not the only one accidentally doing things like that!( never that bonkers though!
)
Lottie….make a fuss…three weeks is very unacceptable for an urgent referral xx

Flo…happy burpday to your OH! I’ll happily offer to have his slice of cake if it’s going stare?…yum…what type did you make?
Funnily enough I was thinking just the other day about buying one of those chocolate caterpillar birthday cakes when we’re in the uk- we are staying at a friends place for a couple of nights arriving the day after his birthday.

Right…I think I need my morning brew….anyone care to join me?
Enjoy your day peeps…do pass on that lovely smile of yours too. You never know who us in need of seeing that today.

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

Sweet is not a word I would use about Jack, Flo. Not yet, anyway. With any luck he'll get to that stage. Hope Himself has a great day today. Sorry he won't be enjoying your cake, though.

Oops, that was definitely in the fail category, Andraste. Hope the next sowing doesn't take long to come up.

As for here, it was a really warm night and next to no breeze. Looks like tonight could be more of the same. Due to drop Wednesday next week. That feels a long way off, so will definitely be moving downstairs to my cave this afternoon.

In the meantime, more of the usual to get done. I'm losing track of the days, thought today was Thursday. So I'm a day further behind than I thought. I'd include another sad emoji, but one is enough for one message. Don't want to give the impression it's all doom and gloom here when it's nowhere near that.

No idea what time the smiles left, Jack actually let me sleep till 7.10 am today, probably because Mr Snoop got up with him at 5.30 am. So I hope they (the smiles) are doing their usual rounds.

Have a great day, everyone.

[Andraste]

Well, I guess if a job's worth messing up you might as well do a proper job of it lol They were up in 2 days Snoop so fortunately I can easily sow some more today

Awww poor Hibou - tablets aren't fun at the best of times but that sounds particularly unpleasant (both the giving and receiving) *hugs*

I can highly recommend Asda's "Mega Chocolate Celebration Cake" Nicos - there's a lovely looking one in their 'Exceptional' range but it's twice the price so I've not been able to justify one yet. Shame you couldn't pop to Flo's place & grab some of her homemade which would knock spots of any store-bought I'm sure

[mothhawk]

Morning all, and Happy Birthday to Mr FF

The clouds are clearing and it's less humid than yesterday so a pleasant day before tomorrow's predicted thunderstorms.

Cute pic of Jack, Snoop With those big feet and his colouring, maybe he has more than a touch of dachshund in him?

Got some painting to do today. I'm using some scrap wood from an old cupboard to make some shelving for the back porch, and a coat of paint will hide the discrepancies and make them all look more uniform. Then the next job will be to clear all the rammel in the porch so I can actually get to the wall to put them up!

Nicos, could you not coat Hibou's tablets in butter so they are "sealed" and also perhaps will slip down with less of a struggle?

[bramble]

Good morning all..it's dull but dry.

Happy birthday to your hubby Flo, hope he has a good day.

Domestics and a grory hop this morning,
A bit of weeding snd deadheading in the afternoon if it doesnt rain,
I must start seed collect8ng for next year, ho the time flies.
Have a good day all.

[Nicos]

That’s actually a good idea MH…hadn’t thought of that…and she adores butter. Nice one- thanks…will try tonight and see how that goes. Thankyou x

Andraste..wow, it does look yummy. Should be at 4,000 calories for the cake! Mmm…

[greenishfing]

Good morning all.

I struggled to get to sleep last night, just too much going round in my head. Consequently, late up this morning.

We've got grey skies here, but are supposed to get sunny spells. It feels quite humid.

I've just got two bags of frozen raspberries out of the freezer and put them in a pan to defrost. I need to make some more raspberry jam, Mr GF has just had the last with his croissant. I've scrubbed a few jam jars ready to be sterilised in the oven. If I remember correctly it was very quick to set last time I made it, about 7 minutes.

Obviously the gap in the freezer caused by removing two bags of raspberries is now begging to be filled with something "naughty".

I hope that you find a solution to Hibou's medicine problems, Nicos. 4000 calories for the cake, but only 250 per (official) portion.

Yet again I'm thinking about changing the bed and washing the bedding and yet again, as if by magic, the sky has darkened and it looks like rain. I don't care. Come hail, rain, sleet or snow it is getting washed today.

Off to strip the bed.

Happy birthday to Mr FF.

[Snoop Puss]

Cute pic of Jack, Snoop With those big feet and his colouring, maybe he has more than a touch of dachshund in him?

When I posted the photo yesterday, I thought I'd try a Google Lens search on it, just to see. First hit was Transylvanian hound (I'm thinking of calling him Jackula). Looks a good possibility, though unlikely to be pureblood. We have quite a big Romanian population locally, so it could be that someone had one of these nearby. Anyway, they're scent hounds, which dachshunds are too. So I was quite glad I did the Google Lens check. Learnt a lot about scent hounds.

[Andraste]

I'm happy to endorse excessive cake calories as a treat - as long as you're not eating one to yourself every month I reckon it's ok.

You're welcome to adopt my logic that chocolate cake can be counted as one of your 'five a day' - what with chocolate being a derivative of cacao seed/beans it's essentially a fruit

Add that to the essential proteins from the egg, chocolate being a great source of potassium & there probably being a dash of calcium (there's usually some kind of milk product in a shop-bought), I'm fairly sure a slice of chocolate cake is a healthy eating choice

[Andraste]

OH and I were debating Jack's mysterious heritage last night too as I had to share your latest pic with him

e mentioned doberman & rottweiler (love his little ginger eyebrows) and maybe a splash of spaniel but I can definitely see dachshund link. I'm stuck on the legs though - he looks to me like he's got knee-high fluffy ugg boots on in that pic. Whatever mixture he is, it turned out super cute.

MH - I'd love to see a pic of your DIY/craft project when it's finished. x

[Nicos]

Te he ^^^ though I guess it depends on the size of the slice!

[greenishfing]

I'm quite pleased with myself today. The bedding is on the washing line. At the moment the sun has appeared, although we still have a lot of cloud, so hopefully both loads of washing out there will dry. Tomorrow's forecast looks pretty horrific.

The raspberry jam is made and jarred and it tastes great. However, having just looked at supermarket prices it would actually be cheaper to buy the supermarket own brand jam than make my own. Should I try a supermarket jar at some point?? I do know that I bought a jar of supermarket marmalade, in an emergency, a couple of years ago and it was a complete let down, had to be fridged once opened, and went mouldy on us.

Andraste, I love your chocolate cake logic. Very convincing.

[Florence Fennel]

Afternoon All Sunny here. Thanks for Himself's birthday wishes. It's a Victoria Sandwich cake - though it's raspberry jam not strawberry and filled with fresh cream. Plenty left. Hope you're all having a good day

[Snoop Puss]

e mentioned doberman & rottweiler (love his little ginger eyebrows) and maybe a splash of spaniel but I can definitely see dachshund link. I'm stuck on the legs though - he looks to me like he's got knee-high fluffy ugg boots on in that pic. Whatever mixture he is, it turned out super cute.

I asked the vet and pound about rottie possibility and they said no. Other friends have mentioned doberman, but the vet thinks not. Transylvanian hounds come in two versions, short legged and tall (with long legs). I asked about the weird joints and the vet said they were because he's still growing, so I'm guessing physes (growth plates at the end of long bones).

If you're interested, have a look here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYW1...hannel=Rocadog

Although the video says they're rare, that seems not to be really the case nowadays.

[Andraste]

Raspberry jam in your Vicky Sponge Flo = totally fruit based = definitely one of your 5 a day

I couldn't resist the link Snoop - cuteness overload!