Chitchat thread #24

[bramble]

Just stopped for lunch now..
The sun is still shining and it's breezy so I have taken a chance and hung out a line of laundry.
Working in thr greenhouse taking lower leaves from the tomatoes and doing some weeding.

Rary, that's a heavy load to be carrying, you reminded me to go and get some in the next few days.
Enjoy the afternoon,

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

A dull start to the day, making it perfect for topping up the solar batteries with distilled water. Thinking about lithium for our next lot of batteries, which will be maintenance free, so one thing less to think about. Will try and do the batteries before taking Jack out, though he's marauding round the house, making a right racket slapping his toys around the furniture. Mr Snoop has turned his phone up because of Jack's noise. And me, I'm thinking I need earplugs.

More domestics and paid work on the cards for later.

But before that, a cup of tea. I'll make a big pot so there will be plenty for all.

Have a great day, everyone.

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

Ooo….nice cuppa- thanks Snoop
Cor blimey ..those batteries are expensive!…we have one in our camper. But as you say, you can just forget about them…and there is no worry about keeping an eye on their minimum charge either.

Today will mostly be spent in the kitchen cooking and baking and preserving. It’ll be very rewarding!

Whatever you get up to, have a great day….those smiles were in a cheeky mood as they flew over Snoop!

[Florence Fennel]

Good Morning Snoop and All How's your leg Snoop? Hope it's a lot better. Bacon and eggs are on. Have a lovely Sunday

[Bren In Pots]

morning

Heavy rain/winds this afternoon so I'll be in the kitchen dehydrating, roasting and freezing fruit/veg.

Enjoy your day

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks, guys. Yes, my leg's a lot better today. I pulled the muscle trying not to trip headlong over Jack, who ran in front of me.

And yes, expensive batteries but ease of use is starting to become an issue. We've been very careful with our batteries and make sure not to let them discharge deeply, topping up from a generator if necessary if there's a spell of cloudy or foggy weather. Or snow on the panels. But yes, lots of good things about lithium.

Edited: just got back from walking Jack with the last of the blackberries. We've been eating them with yogurts. But when you guys make crumble, do you use them whole or make a pipless purée/coulis and use that? Nicos, if I recall rightly, you cook them down first, but that might be for freezing rather than crumble. Thinking ahead to next year, when I'm retired and have time to go proper blackberry picking... Does anyone juice them?

[Nicos]

I picked a large bowlful yesterday Snoop.
Mostly petit pois sized, but tasty.
Indeed, I add water, cook them down, then mash them with the potato masher, then use the juice. So basically juicing them.
I freeze in ice cube trays or add to apples when cooking them

My blackberries are gritty bullets basically , so no other option!

[bramble]

Good morning all, it's a horrible morning with a dark sky and rain,.
The usual Sunday here, out to the church and then grandson will come for lunch.

I make bramble jelly eih my blackberries, boiling thrm down and thn sieving them.
i freeze them until he end of the season and thrn do them in one big batch,

Have a good day and enjoy the goodweather if you are lucky enough to have it,

[greenishfing]

Good morning.

Not the best night's sleep. I was wide awake between 4am and 6am. I eventually fell asleep and have now been awakened by what sounded like a squirrel clog dancing on my bedroom windowsill. There are lots of grey squirrels around here.

I think that I'll make some jam today too, raspberry, as the last lot has all disappeared.

Snoop I just freeze blackberries whole and just tip them into the crumble dish frozen. If I'm making jam though I cook them and put them through a seive or jelly bag.

............ I'm back. I've just been chatting to one of my sisters on the phone for an hour.

I really ought to do something productive now.

[Jay22]

Evening, hope you are all well. Been feeling a bit yucky the past few days. After effects of new medication. Feeling good today again. All set to go again on Wednesday!!
Weather has been a mixed bag, some sun and some horrendous showers. It’s so dark too.
Saw someone online saying when it gets dark at 8pm in April your heart lightens. When it gets dark at 8pm in September it’s not to good. Can understand where they are coming from.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Catch you later. x

[bramble]

Evening all, and Jay,
I hear you about the weather and the dark evenings.
It's been a miserable day here withvery hea y rain and a driving wind.
I hate the dark evenings, makes the evening and nights so long.
Sorry to hear you're not feeling great, hopes it improves for you.
Have a good evening,

[Nicos]

Hope you feel the improvement soon Jay x

I’ve just been outside and it’s 22C … but I know what you mean Jay - here it’s an hour later of course but it’s horrible waking up when it’s dark

[Nicos]

We’ve just had some bizarre weather…It’s still 19C but the winds got up and then it began roaring out there…no rain but branches and trees massively swaying around. It’s been on and off for about 10 mins but looks like it’s subsiding. No rain. Almost like a series of mini tornadoes. Never experienced anything like that before. Have we got caught up in the tail end of a storm?

[Nicos]

And just been woken up by the wind!…very blustery. Wouldn’t want to be on a ferry in this!
No doubt there will be lots of apples on the lawns again
I’ve just checked and it looks like southern UK is having similar high winds too. Hope your greenhouses, garden furniture and climbing plants are ok peeps.
I guess there will be lots of debris on the roads for those of us with wood fires !

Keep safe peeps.

[mothhawk]

Morning larks and all.

The wind had me wide awake at 4am so I made a brew and tried to get on the vine only to be told the connection had timed out. Got here at last and expected to find other peeps awake too with the stormy winds, but maybe you all can't connect to the vine either. It's dustbin day today and lots of folk put their wheelie bins out the night before, so no doubt many will have blown over and spilled their rubbish around.

On my to do list today is arranging a boiler service, sorting out insurance for my new car, and making an appointment for an eye test - I know it's due but for some reason I haven't been sent a reminder from the optician.