Chitchat thread #24

[Nicos]

Mornin Flo’n’all


( te he Flo…my iPad remembered that!)

I’m waiting to hear if my local pharmacy can offer the Covid vaccine today- if not , I’ll go to town and get my grory hop done at the same time.
A few basics but mostly butter- I thought I had some in the freezer but I don’t and I want to get this parkin made…..third attempt!

More gardening later- it was very rewarding yesterday and I’d like to get more done before the rains start on Sunday.

Enjoy your day with Frank Flo.

Whats everyone else up to?..whatever it is, remember to share those smiles!

[greenishfing]

Good morning all.

It feels chilly this morning. I've just been outside to put a charity bag out for collection in just a short sleeved top, leggings and crocs. I've now sneaked back into bed with Mr GF to warm back up. The heating is on.

The charity bag is the start of me sorting out my (and Mr GF's wardrobes). I think I actually need a skip!

My grory hop is also due this morning, and I've also just booked deliveries for the 18th and 23rd of December as I got a reminder from my phone that Sainsbury's were releasing their slots today. I have no idea what extras I might want but so far I've put all the basics in.

Good luck with the parkin, Nicos. The last time that I made some it was a let down. It never went sticky. I 've just had a thought though. I fancy some sticky banana loaf. Pity I didn't think of this yesterday, while I could still amend my list for today's delivery.

I hope you like your new fridge, Snoop. I once had a gas fridge/freezer. I remember that I had to remove and clean the flue every month, which was a pain. We bought it secondhand. When we got it home it wouldn't light. Unbelievably the same day I went into a bar which had the self same fridge/freezer. Stuck to the door was a magnetic business card for a repairman. He came to look at ours. In half an hour he had it fixed.

No more excuses. It's time to get back out of bed and make coffee.

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

Grory hop today no real plans after that apart from gardening.

The only gas fridges I've use have been in for camping we had a very small chest fridge for the trailer tent and if we kept it on overnight it would freeze everything. The gas fridge in the caravan is much more reliable so no more frozen milk, butter and lettuce.

enjoy your day

[Snoop Puss]

Afternoon all.

We were given this gas fridge quite a few years ago, so I really shouldn't complain. But I am very pleased to see the back of it and the manhandling of big gas bottles it needed.

More visitors arriving this evening so I really should be up and at it, organising, cooking and tidying. But in a minute... after I've had a cup of tea (or two). Plenty in the pot if anyone wants to join me.

Have a great rest of the day.

[Nicos]

Afternoon!
Covid done- in town so a decent grory hop has been executed!😜
impulse purchase?… a bottle of vodka to put mirabelles in - to make more room in the freezer!
I’ve just cooked down some cooking pears and there is absolutely no room to freeze them 😳

I did get the butter- so. I excuse not to make the Parkin now…

[greenishfing]

This morning, the Sainsburys delivery arrived. I put it away. It was only when I went to get Mr GF a croissant out of the freezer that I realised that there was only one left. My croissants obviously hadn't arrived with my grory hop. I rang up and told them. I got a phone call about ½ an hour ago. My delivery driver. He had just found my croissants, ice cream lollies and scallops still on his van. I hadn't even realised that I hadn't got my lollies and scallops! He was so apologetic and has just delivered them.

I have, hopefully with just one email to the pharmacy, now set up home delivery for our prescriptions. I will, obviously, put our next prescription in early, just to make sure things run smoothly.

We missed lunch today but the aubergine parmigiano is now in the oven.

[Nicos]

The house is smelling of Parkin!…can you smell it? Two tray bakes almost ready…mmm…

[greenishfing]

I can practically smell the parkin Nicos. I am imagining the wonderful stickiness. I always associate it with fireworks, jacket potatoes cooked on the bonfire, toffee, and excitement. In other words ... Bonfire night.🎆🎇

I was just thinking that modern day children will never experience the joy of "chubbing" for wood, and then building the perfect bonfire, complete with "Guy". I have just discovered that, according to google "chubbing" is a Yorkshire word ..... think beg, borrow, or steal.

When did all the hype over Halloween take over? I think the first time that I saw Halloween celebrations, even on TV, was in ET. We did have mischief night here in Yorkshire though on the 4th of November ..... and young children can be surprisingly horrible.

Halloween, when I was a young child at school was always associated with death, ghosts, and witches, though (but no celebrations), and I remember that one year we had to write a poem about it.

[Armorel]

Amorel, same moan here about windows 11. Did you know you can get Windows 10 Extended Security Updates till October 2026 so you can continue to use windows 10 securely? You won't get any other extras or tech support but at least your computer will be protected for another year until you can changee to Win 11.

Last time I looked, Microsoft insisted that you had to agree to 'Sync your settings' in order to get ESU. I try my hardest to keep its fingers out of my computer but it's a losing battle. I'm already fed up to the back teeth with Microsoft ramming its AI down my throat. I have to keep disabling Co-Pilot which seems to have spread through the operating system like mycelium. For over thirty years I've always had control over my online and computing activities but it seems that my independence is being gradually whittled away by more and more 'updates' that want to do things for me. I'm a grumpy old woman and getting grumpier by the day I'm in no hurry to sign up for ESU from Microsoft.

So I'm exploring other options such as a program called 0Patch (as in Zero Patch) which you can install first as a trial free program, take out an initial month's trial of their PRO level and then, if you want to, pay for a year much like you'd pay for an antivirus program. I'm trialling it on one of our laptops at the moment. It runs in memory, applying 'micropatches' in the background 'on the fly', so to speak. So it doesn't alter your o/s or software and you can uninstall it if you find it's not suitable for your needs. In silent mode, it seems to work invisibly in the background and patches a lot more than just the operating system, it includes browsers and lots of other programs. After three days use, I think it may well be my chosen solution for a year at least. The more nuclear option is, of course, ditching Windows completely and switching to a different operating system - Linux, Chrome etc. I'm lucky enough to have a couple of older laptops that I can use as guinea pigs. I suspect that may be a decision to be made further down the line but I'll be doing lots of research (I LOVE doing research!).

Our daughter had a nice birthday and we had a lovely chat with her on WhatsApp today when she told us all about the presents we had sent her. Tomorrow morning we have our flu jabs at a local pharmacy which is within walking distance. We had to change our original appointments because we realised that they clashed with our friends' visit at the end of next week.

Nicos I know exactly which handwritten recipe book contains the parkin recipes but it's in a box in the loft, along with our winter dressing gowns which went up there because it was hot when we moved here in July and we didn't need them. Now we do, so hubby will probably go and look for them in the loft tomorrow. I doubt if he will be able to find the recipe book though ... sorry. I'll trawl the computer to see if I've tucked them away in some folder or other.

In the meantime, I'm going to make a pot of tea and relax before bed. Would anyone like to join me?

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all

Sorry I missed the brew last night Armorel…but perhaps I can return the favour with an early morning brew?…I’ll leave it by your bedroom door if you are still happily in the land of nod.


Been up a while- OH has reacted to the Covid vaccination and now aching all over with a dreadful headache . He never complains but I can see how bad he is…so he’s topped up with a mug of tea, and a turmeric latte and paracetamol having only had 3 hrs sleep. Bless him- I only realised he wasn’t in bed when Hibou chambered all over me- and I found him curled up on the sofa so as not to disturb me…awww. So he’s now snuggled up back in bed with two hotwater bottles and I’ve turned up the heating and lit the woodfire.

I was up early enough to see the sky is cloud free…but the comet has to be behind the coppice on the hill opposite.
I nipped out briefly to pick a few cosmos to pop onto OHs bedside table and realised it was too chilly to wander up the road in the hope of seeing it. It had the feel of a pre frost temperature - and just checking- it’s 5C.

Two more days before the rains start so I need to keep going out there. I really don’t want a repeat of this Spring needing to do all the Autumn clear up on top of preparing veggie beds etc. As I recall, it rained almost every day between mid October and January- who knows if that’ll happen again! Hopefully it won’t but last Spring was a bit of a reality check tbh.

Apart from that…. This Parkin is looking good. Not as dark as I’d hoped but it has a lovely smell and it’s now firmly wrapped up until it matures.
Armorel…if your OH doesn’t find the recipe book, don’t worry- you’ll come across it eventually
(I still have unopened boxes from my move here 18 yrs ago)

Today very much feels like a porridge day…cinnamon apple and prunes I think too - with a nice drizzle of local honey.
Anyone else up for that?

Have a lovely day peeps…keep sharing those lovely smiles. I started chatting to a very glum looking lady yesterday in the pharmacy and we both left giggling away. Glad I made the effort as it cheered me up too!

[mothhawk]

Morning all.

Tea sounds good, Nicos, but I'll pass on the porridge. I spent 45 minutes at the dentist yesterday afternoon having the roots of a crumbled tooth taken out, so still a bit tender. The tooth was root filled years ago but the crown gradually lost pieces until just the filled root was left. So not much for the dentist to get hold of and she had to pull each root separately. And like most of my molars, it had four roots, not the usual three. I wonder if that's a result of all the calcium from having free school milk for eleven years? Or maybe I'm just awkward...

[Nicos]

Ouch MH …I think you need an “I was brave today” sticker
I have visions of you sat there with your mouth open for ages too…hope you don’t have jaw ache on top of all that as well?
Time to treat yourself to something naughty lass…be it food ….or something a bit special for your newly decorated home?( I’m sure you have your eye on something…)

[greenishfing]

Good morning all.

The district nurse is visiting Mr GF today and also a doctor. He has really not been well for the last few days.

I hope Mr Nicos starts to feel better soon. It sounds as if he is being cosseted and well looked after.

I hope you feel less tender as well mothhawk, and can enjoy some food later today.

[Florence Fennel]

Good Morning All Dreary and dull here again. I hope Mr Nicos, Mr GF and MH all feel better soon. Have a good day

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

Nicos no thanks to porridge I've made raisin sourdough pikelets for a change, i should really make them more often.

Hope MrNicos and MrGF soon recover. I feel for you MH I had a similar problem with roots left behind after a tooth extraction, painful and on soft foods for a few days.

enjoy your day