Thread 16 - TalkLair: "Well, I'm not exactly quaking in my stylish-yet-affordable boots, but there's definitely something unnatural going on here."

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 15).

Another year over, a new one just begun...

In the TalkLair, the hearth is glowing, the walls festooned with tinsel, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors, the tree is twinkling with fairy lights (and possibly being clambered on by cats). 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 Christmas roast beast over there in the corner of the cave…

That was definitely a golden era of SNL, when Kristen Wiig, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey were all on. Those sketches used to make me laugh immoderately. Kate McKinnon was the best of the more recent ones, and Seth Meyers. We haven't watched it for a while now though.

They're all such talented women. I love Kate McKinnon. There's something off-kilter about her which I find very attractive indeed.

A belated happy Christmas to all.

I did turkey (a turkey breast joint) and pigs in blankets for the meat eaters and a bean and nut toast mix for me which I wrapped in (shop bought) puff pastry plus roast potatoes, stuffing, swede and carrot mash, palettes and gravy followed by Christmas pudding. No major disasters and a nice quiet day.

I walked the dog earlier and there is an interesting assortment of Christmas debris in the next street. It's mostly hotels, bars and cafes, with open drives and patios.

There was a red and green reindeer jumper, reindeer antler deely bopper type thing, baubles, wrapping paper and present bags.

In one drive, there was a small deflated / punctured paddling pool, a peachy orange stocking, a black suspender belt and a scandalous pair of black knickers, covered with silver sequins.

a scandalous pair of black knickers

That made me laugh!

What sort of dog do you have @SinnerBoy ?

She's an old Golden Retriever.

Nice, I like that breed. I adore dogs, lovely people.

That's an eclectic selection of debris. Stocking as in Xmas or to go with the suspenders?

A lady's stocking.

I've just been to Newcastle to take my daughter to spend her Christmas money. Anything more than 5 minutes walk, I've been using a crutch, for the last couple of weeks - osteoarthritis in my knee.

The amount of people who seemed to deliberately jostle me, with plenty of room and sometimes me standing still was quite surprising. The biggest offenders were teenaged girls.

What's going on there? If I see elderly, or infirm people, women with pushchairs (and the odd man) I move aside.

@SinnerBoy - do try Synflex for your knee. It does take a couple of weeks to kick in, but it really helps. It's liquid glucosamine and chondroitin. Ten years ago I had a degree of osteoarthritis in my right knee (extra wear on that joint because I broke my thighbone as a teenager and it was badly set so that leg is half an inch shorter than the other one - not enough to make me limp but enough to tilt the pelvis a bit and put extra wear on that knee and hip) that was making me go up and down stairs one at a time. I started taking that and after a month had very little problem with it. A bottle costs me about $26 because I buy them in bulk, and lasts me about a month. My DS1, visiting for Christmas, was visibly limping with arthritis in his knees, so I gave him a bottle and two weeks later he is greatly improved. You take a double dose - half an ounce a day - with the first bottle and then cut back to a quarter ounce so the bottle then lasts a month. I do take turmeric and resveratrol as well, but the Synflex is the stuff that makes a big difference. I didn't pack a bottle when I came to the UK recently for a couple of weeks, because I only had a carry-on, and by the time I was travelling home my knee was starting to bug me again, but within a few days of going back on my regular dose it was fine and continues to be so.

I'm remembering all these handy tips; I'll need them one day in the not-too distant future! 😃

Yeah, I'm starting to creak too and it's crap. We were talking over Christmas about aches and pains and pretty well everyone at the table, plus their family members, is hurting somewhere. It was sad to hear.

There's a clip doing the rounds on X of a teenage girl being horrible to her mother because she couldn't afford the girl's asked-for Christmas present. This is a lovely contrast.

x.com/Enezator/status/1872195646037614745

Just got back from a few days visiting people. One of our quick stops on the way was Jodrell Bank to say hello to the Lovell telescope - but it was a foggy day and even up close, it was almost invisible! (Rather beautifully atmospheric!).

The air-fryer shuffle worked very well. Potatoes in for first roast 40 min. Next Giant Hunk of Meat in for 1hr30, then out to rest under foil. While that was happening, parsnips started on hob in frying pan with a bit of stock, butter and honey. While meat resting, potatoes and parsnips in for final roast 15-20 min. Sprouts par-boiled and stir-fried with bacon on the hob. (Braised red cabbage and carrot-n-swede mash prepared day before so only had to be microwaved). While everything being dished up and taken to table, pigs in blankets air-fried for 7 min.

Thanks, Brit, owt's worth a go.

My daughter might have been as happy with broccoli, she's always liked it and always used to complain, if we didn't have it.

@SinnerBoy Anything more than 5 minutes walk, I've been using a crutch, for the last couple of weeks - osteoarthritis in my knee.

One of my knees has recently gone hot, crunchy and painful (as are a couple of my finger joints - "Heberden's nodes", which = osteoarthritis, said the GP) and I've just remembered that a few weeks ago Mr G's hand "went to ratshit" (as a Canadian colleague once described his car to a mechanic) and as it was a Saturday I dragged him off for an exciting day out at the walk-in clinic. The nurse there had a look, gave him a Michael Jackson style glove and recommended Voltarol gel and it was better within 48 hours. I shall try it on both knee and fingers and report back!

@Kucinghitam Jodrell Bank is always worth a detour!

Thanks, Gonners, the gel is not allowed, I'm on Naproxen and it's the same class as Voltarol. Mind you, when I was in hospital in Norway with a slipped disc, I was on 1,000 mg of Voltarol a day - my doctor at home was incensed!

I showed the hooliganette the broccoli present and she said she'd have been happy, perhaps not quite as excited, but happy, nevertheless.

I think I'd have been happy with broccli although was it around in the UK in the 70s? I was a big fan of cabbage, Brussels, all that jazz so a bag of Brussels would probably have made me happy.

Just had a pop up to let me know that Jimmy Carter has died. I'm glad it's happened before Trump is in office because I doubt he'll have a good word to say about him given he never has in the past.

RIP Jimmy Carter. I do love that a cause of death was not given: he was 100 years old!

A better man than he was thought of at the time. That's some innings.
I used to pass the signs for Jodrell Bank when heading South on my bike (and trying to avoid the M6), basically heading towards Congleton. If I do that again on a fine day, I really ought to make the detour.

Tonight I have mostly been watching Wigan Warriors Season Review (four 45 min segments). Better than the TV, and what a season! Won every trophy available, up to and including World Champions. And done it in style, scoring so many wonderful tries. Alongside the great work the club does in the community (the club website is full of "here's 10 year old Lisa telling us what a great time she had at the Warriors Weekend", etc), it makes it something worth being proud of being a small part of at a time when communities are being ever more atomised. A force for good in the world.

Carter was the greatest post-presidential president the US has ever had and I doubt he'll be bettered.

While brushing his teeth last night, DH shouted from the bathroom "Jimmy Carter has died!" - if you imagine this sentence being spoken by somebody with an electric toothbrush in his mouth, you may understand the subsequent mutual confusion when I replied, surprised, "What on earth was wrong with him? He wasn't very old!" and DH looking even more shocked in his froth of toothpaste, "He was 100!"

Apparently, Trump is angry, because the flags will be at half mast for his inauguration.

That actually seems quite appropriate to me.