Chitchat thread #24

[burnie]

The frost melted away and the temperature climbed up to 3°C, but it is now dropping again. There is a bitterly cold wind.🥶 and the temperature is minus again already.

Burnie, I never particularly wanted an SUV, but we bought one just over four years ago as Mr GF was struggling to get in and out of our estate car. It's not a big one but it really made things so much easier for him (and his siblings too).

I've now added cooking chocolate and digestive biscuits to tomorrow's shopping list. I'm planning on making sticky chocolate cake, a.k.a. fridge cake when my chocolate stash "disappears". I've got all the other ingredients in stock.

I bought a Skoda Kamiq, to me it looks more like an estate car, but they call it an SUV, but it has a reasonable size door and we can get in and out of it ok, my wife has arthritis and has had both hips replaced, but manages this car and it has heated seats. Only thing is I had to come kicking and squealing into the 21 st century, its' all digital with a tv screen where the old dials and switches should be lol.

[greenishfing]

I bought a Skoda Kamiq, to me it looks more like an estate car, but they call it an SUV, but it has a reasonable size door and we can get in and out of it ok, my wife has arthritis and has had both hips replaced, but manages this car and it has heated seats. Only thing is I had to come kicking and squealing into the 21 st century, its' all digital with a tv screen where the old dials and switches should be lol.

I do sometimes snarl at mine when it warns me of possible ice after I have spent a freezing 10 minutes or so scraping the windows. Being treated like an idiot ..... by a car

[Florence Fennel]

Good Morning All -2 here but sunny. Bacon is on. Have a lovely Sunday

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

Not been out to check the GH temperature, we still have frozen snow covering the garden, so I'm glad I don't need to dig up any parsnips today.

A rather tasty egg and mushroom cob here Flo.

enjoy your Sunday

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all
-5°C again first thing this morning…with a beautiful white frost again.
Dont you just love the smell of the crisp cold air on mornings like this?….sort of vaguely metallic.

No plans for today - I may just start taking down a few decorations but will leave the majority up until 6th.

I actually fancy a short walk and then doing family tree as I found a site covering some Dublin births from the 1800s. It’d be wonderful if I could find my mom’s grandparents on her father’s side….especially as she has two younger siblings still alive who would be thrilled to find out.

Breakfast is bacon butties too here. The last of the bacon my OH made from a thick, meaty chunk of belly pork .

So…a gentle day for me. What’s everyone else up to? Hope it’s something to bring a smile to your face and a twinkle in your or someone else’s eyes .

Whatever it is…enjoy your day and let’s share those smiles. Oh…and soaking of with…I’m sure I spotted those smikes with bobble hats and toboggans

[Nicos]

Ooo…now that’s talking Bren!…think we’ll have a fried egg on our bacon butty too
Thanks for the heads up with that!

[greenishfing]

Good morning.

After a glass of milk and some chocolate I did eventually manage a couple of hours of sleep but was than wide awake. I decided to read a bit of the book, a Christmas present, that is currently at the side of the bed. I hoped that it would just send me to sleep as it did the last time I picked it up.

A hundred and odd pages later I must admit that the book is improving and it will no longer be a classed as a candidate as an insomnia cure.

I wrote the above at about 6am. Since then I have managed another couple of hours of sleep. I have now given up on more sleep and made myself a coffee.

It is -2°C and the world is frozen again.... but not a snowflake in sight. Tuesday's snow forecast has now turned to rain! I think meteorologists should not be allowed to make anything more than 24 hour forecasts, as they are obviously incapable of more, on most occasions. In any other job their wild inaccuracies would probably get them fired. I still remember the "Barbecue Summer" the local BBC weatherman promised us a few years ago. It hardly stopped raining all Summer, the barbecues rusted .... and he's still got a job! Who pays them for their guessing games?

Due to changing my supermarket delivery to today I've had an email confirmation this morning, and there is just one substitution on my list. They've substituted their expensive cooking chocolate (double the price) for the basic one that I ordered. As I'll get it for the original price I'm more than happy to try it, but will my untutored taste buds be able to appreciate the difference when it's mixed with dried fruit, butter, biscuits, glace cherries and booze? It will be interesting to find out and may take time and patience.🤣🤣

Nicos, you obviously have a very talented husband, making his own bacon. I always think a bacon buttie tastes best of all when eaten outdoors on a freezing morning. I once knew an old man who used to cook bacon on a shovel over a brazier at work for his breakfast. No 'Elf and Safety and hygiene rules but lots of friends.

No bacon in the fridge, but I'll go make another coffee.

[bramble]

Good morning all...frosty and very cold at 0 degs.
Our usual Sunday morning fry up.
Off to mass shortly and then it will be an indoor day.
Stay warm and happy Sunday.

[lottie dolly]

Good morning all,boy oh boy it is cold,i also did not sleep good again,suddenly went cold and took ages to get warmed up,i only hope this does kill off the bad bugs,roll on spring and warmer times,last night i sorted through the seed stash,and got the January sowings out,so will get the sweet peas into soak,then have a sowing spree another day,just have to make space in the outer place,cold but has light from the roof,and no going out into the snow,only for seed trays ext,i just wish i could get rid off this darned cough,just cannot get rid of it since the plurasy begining of last year,i think thats why i get so tired,righty ho,must go and get my day started,or at least try,tata for now

[Nicos]

We’ve just spotted 5 roe deer in the far field behind our house…always a delight to spot before they silently skip away

[mothhawk]

Afternoon all.

...Whatever it is…enjoy your day and let’s share those smiles. Oh…and soaking of with…I’m sure I spotted those smikes with bobble hats and toboggans

You typing with gloves on, Nicos? 😁

Had a lovely sunny walk this morning, but now it is clouding over, though not thick enough to bring rain or snow. The weather app says a 50% chance of snow at midnight - I shan't be staying up to see it.

How lovely to be able to see deer from your house, Nicos. My house is gradually moving from the edge of the village to the middle as more and more houses are built around it, builders have just applied to build nearly 200 more in the fields beyond me. Very unhappy about that.

[burnie]

Our village has literally doubled with the number of houses built, only a couple of dozen, but the character of it has gone, we used to know everyone's Christian name, now if we say hello they just look at you like you don't belong here. If my lottery numbers come up we are off.

[Nicos]

Afternoon all.

You typing with gloves on, Nicos? 😁

Ha ha ha!….

[Nicos]

Just had a lovely walk around a local beauty spot which is a rocky outcrop parts of which are 650 million years old!
Nothing compared to the 3,000 million year old rocks in the NW highlands……- but pretty old for here!

The sun was shining with some warmth on the face…a definite promise of things to come for sure

[Nicos]

Our village has literally doubled with the number of houses built, only a couple of dozen, but the character of it has gone, we used to know everyone's Christian name, now if we say hello they just look at you like you don't belong here. If my lottery numbers come up we are off.

Sad I know. The original residents on our village all went to school together and went out with each other’s siblings. Not many left these days as many have left for better jobs- so we ‘oldies’ (as Rary would jokingly call us ) are doing our but to create activities where various members of the village get involved in- with the exact intention of people getting to know their new neighbours.

In the uk I was the Homewatch coordinator for our large cul de sac and arranged a BBQ every summer and Xmas gatherings on the street. The children would play Xmas carols on their school instruments and we’d have games. All with the intention that they felt safe with their neighbours.
We had each others mobile and land line numbers and house keys for emergencies , and if a house alarm went off in the middle of the night about 5 of the adult males would appear to investigate.

It takes an effort and trust but certainly worth the effort. The majority of people want to be friendly…life just gets in the way and it’s too easy to become insular by minding your own business.

Did anyone make an effort to welcome those new people into the community Burnie?
24 houses is doable….but 200 would be difficult