Thread 15 - TalkLair: “I Can't Lie To You About Your Chances, But... You Have My Sympathies.”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 14).

Autumn seems to have gone straight into winter. It's cold, wet and windy. In the TalkLair, the hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them). The denizens of the lair are a welcoming bunch though, always eager for general chit-chat on all manner of topics.

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

Welcome @GrowAndGreen :-).

I rarely try baking bread because it's so much nicer than commercial bread that I eat too much of it (I am very bad at self-restraint). We have an electrically heated drying cupboard in our house and I suppose I could use that if necessary. I use it to hang clothes I don't want to put in the dryer. Nobody hangs washing out to dry here, though I do get tempted in the summer.

Hello, @GrowAndGreen. The heated seed mat is inspired! I have one of those sitting doing nothing for much of the year.

I tried a fridge method. It went ... poorly.

(That was supposed to be a loaf, not a roll.)

Well I suppose I'd better have a go at it soon then. I can't this weekend because I'm at the local adult ed college Fircroft doing some gardening course .... it will have to be next weekend. I'm going to buy the starter in, as that's halfway there, right?

Incidentally the gardening course that I'm on is a community gardening affair along permaculture principles. I am super chuffed to be on it, as it directly relates to my job, and because I'm paid so poorly it's free on the sliding scale, although I'd much prefer to be paid at a better rate to be honest.

Mine's a bought starter. It does finally seem to have risen, having made the kitchen very warm by making apple syrup, so we'll see what comes out of the oven.

The gardening course sounds interesting. I love the idea of permaculture, but I think it requires a slightly more organised approach than mine.

It looks okay to me. What was the texture like?

The gardening/permaculture course sounds great, I hope you love it, GrowAndGreen.

Just got back from someone's 90th birthday party which was at a pub in town. Very pleasant little party, with lots of other people in their 80s and 90s. There's a group of them who call themselves The Old Codgers and one of them arranged for his daughter, who runs a choir, to come with some of the choir members and sing to the birthday boy. They did a few old popular songs and everyone who knew the words joined in, which was jolly. There was a buffet with a good spread but not everyone there could hold a plate and walk at the same time, so we did a bit of fetching and carrying and got to chat to a few people. All ver, ver nice.

Putty.

A bit dryer and it would have made a decent housebrick.

Ah. Yes. It does look rather medieval doesn't it.

Still, we all have the occasional bread disaster and I've had a few horrors over the years. There was a point when I'd been turning out fabulous loaves and happened to be baking some when a friend visited. When I turned it out of the pot I was horrified to see that it only risen to about 4cm and was inedible.

Arf at medieval.

Our house is cold, too, and I have resigned myself to making sourdough over 1-2 days. I do think it has a better flavour if it rises slowly. Most recently, we made it by getting the starter going early on a Saturday morning, making the dough using about 75% wholemeal flour early Saturday evening and letting it 'rise' (it didn't seem to change at all) for an hour then forming it and putting into loaf tins and sticking them in the fridge overnight.

By morning, they had risen enough for us to put them in the oven. And the bread was really rather good as a UK wholemeal loaf – I've given up trying to get big holes, and using banetons.

Next thread is here

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5183985-thread-15-talklair-i-cant-lie-to-you-about-your-chances-but-you-have-my-sympathies?reply=138933974

You've posted that on the new thread, @DeanElderberry :-)

ah

so I have!

And it's too late for me to delete it - let this be a warning to you all . . .

not sure of what

picturing @GrowAndGreen saying 'yes, most of them are all terribly nice people, but maybe don't ask that DeanElderberry for directions'

Re artant's Covid from the previous thread - I'm coming over to the UK on October 23rd and was wondering whether to get an updated Covid jab before I come. I had Covid in early August and I'm not sure whether it's too soon after that to get the jab. I need to get the current flu jab too. Any advice?

I want to post a double cat photo but need to switch to my phone to do it because my photo wouldn't share to my email on my new phone. Stupid thing.

Here is Francis looking at a photo of Kasper and I'm having to reassure him that he's still the handsomest man in all of the land in an odd voice which indicates that maybe he is and maybe he isn't but it doesn't matter because I love him.

I think it might be slightly too soon for your Covid booster @Britinme - I can't remember exactly the interval since last infection that I was asked about but think it was at least three months. Ask when you make the appointment for your flu jab.

Yes, 3 months minimum since last booster.

Hello new thread and lovely cat pix! I start sourdough's around noon and finish up around midnight, cos I'd rather have it as fresh as poss in the morning. Yesterday's was a beauty!

Forgot to add my obligatory Mochi tax - here she's discovered (and taken over) my heated faux-fur throw.

@Britinme - I'm nor sure whether you mean you had your last Covid jab in August or if you mean you had Covid then. You have to wait at least 3 months since your last Covid jab, but I'm not sure about post-infection. According to the UK Government website (which cannot be trusted, obviously!) as long as you don't actually HAVE Covid, you can be jabbed:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-autumn-booster-resources/a-guide-to-the-covid-19-autumn-vaccination#if-you-have-a-covid-19-positive-result-when-can-you-have-your-vaccination

I had my last Covid jab in June, but then we had Covid in early August. On the basis of over three months since jab, I could have the jab, but on the basis of over three months since infection I shouldn't. I'll just be hitting the three month mark while I'm in the UK - I go home on November 6th.

What it says on the UKGov site is this:

If you are unwell, wait until you have recovered to have your vaccine. There is no need to wait after having had COVID-19, provided you are well. You should not attend a vaccine appointment if you think you could be infectious to others.

However, if you were last jabbed in June and then had Covid in early August, is it worth it?

In trivial news, I seem to have a cold! I haven't had one since pre-Covid - 4½ years ago - and had forgotten about them.

The dose of Covid I had was so mild it would barely qualify as a cold but I recognized the scratchy feeling in my throat and tested positive. The new jab covers the most recent variant, which is why I was thinking about it. Also about being crammed in a plane for an overnight flight and not wanting to be ill while not at home.

Ah, but is the most recent variant in ME the same as the most recent variant in the UK? The UK may well be several variants behind/ahead of ME!

Sorry, couldn't resist! But it's a bit like the flu jab. By the time you've had it, it's probably mutated. All hail viruses, who will win in the end!