Thread 18 - TalkLair: "That's no moon. It's a space station!"

[RasaSayangEh]

(Previous thread 17)

We've had our heatwave - is this it for the summer? All is lush and green in our LairGarden, flowers are blooming, berries are ripening...

In the TalkLair, all the windows are open, the Pimms is chilled, the MN massive salad is ready to serve. The denizens of the lair are a welcoming bunch, 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…

I really don't like these new colours at all, it looks too Play School to me and the old colours were fine. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Nobody likes them! The thread in Site Stuff is filling up fast with disgruntled punters.

I find myself amazingly indifferent.

I don't think that pale salmon pink for my own posts is any easier to spot than the lightish purple I had before though, and I don't think the pale blue for OP is easier than the green I had before. So, no change really but no improvement either.

Given the amount of ranting about it elsethread, I'm beginning to wonder if it's some sort of social experiment to discover (1) just how small-c conservative Mumsnetters are and (2) how long it will take us to get used to it! 😀

It was initially mildly irritating, but having been off to cook and eat I'm now not bothered. So ya sucks boo to them! I wonder if I'll even notice by the morning?

If they keep it, I'll be here a lot less because it makes me feel quite unwell if I read it for more than a few minutes at a time.

Try what I've done - I don't pay, by the way. And I'm on a PC, not a phone, so this may be different for you ..

1 Go to Settings, under the little person at the top right of the page.
2 From the menu on the left, select Talk Settings.
3 Then, from the Options on the right, go to Display. I chose to highlight my own posts in Grey and "posts by thread author" in Green. Both colours are so pale as to be barely noticeable.
4 Scroll down and click Save Settings.

and ... of course ...

5 Come back and tell me that it didn't work for you!

I haven't found a way of getting rid of the hideous purple "Original Poster" and "My Posts" labels, though.

I've done similar. I'm usually on the laptop. I haven't even looked at MN on my mobe; I seldom do. But I'm not an app fan, so the MN on my phone is the website anyway. But with ads.

I liked having noticeable colour on OP (different from the MN comments colour, unlike now) and my posts. So the new invisible colours are a backwards step.

The things stopping me looking at the page for long are the glaring white background, bright blue MN brand colour, and the liberal use of clashing shades of pink for links and those awful lozenges. None of which are modifiable in settings.

Yes, it's the glaring new blue that is most irritating to my eyes.

Having said that, the ads are usually more garish than anything else. So overall I'm not hugely bothered, just mildly peeved.

I haven’t noticed any difference but maybe they’ve not got round to ‘freshening’ the iPad app yet.

I thought it was my eyes being funny, disliked it at first, but am now used to it.

Apropos of nothing, I spotted the first mince pies of the year in Sainsbury's on the 10th of September. This afternoon, I finally succumbed and bought a pack. Which I now feel too guilty to eat - because I'm now part of the problem! <Flagellates self>

Oh! I thought pumpkins in Morrisons this week was bad!

I saw Halloween decorations in Costco before the end of August, which I thought was bad enough. We're also getting Thanksgiving stuff (November 27th) on the shelves.

Abel and Cole already has a “first signs of Christmas” section. It hadn’t really occurred to me but I’ve just had a look and yes, that does include mince pies available for delivery now. I can wait.

Coming back to the season at hand, our apple tree is absolutely groaning with fruit (having been barren for the past two autumns). In the past when we've had a good harvest, we've made a lot of apple sauce and frozen it (in addition to constant apple crumbles, cakes and pies, of course). I think more drastic action is called for this year.

I found this thread, which has given me the idea of making apple butter in the slow cooker. Wish me luck...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/food_and_recipes/5412658-millions-and-millions-of-apples

My favourite charity shop has had Christmas stuff out since the end of August. Decorations and also various craft materials for people who decide to make stuff. So far I have only succumbed to a robin-and-holly bedecked teapot and two (second-hand) felt decoration kits, one to make a camel, and one to make a sloth.

Remembering friends at Christmas is a thing.

Gorgeous looking apples, Rasa! Any idea what variety they are?

It's been an amazing fruit year and the trees at our work are heavy with apples and pears. The walnut tree there also has masses of nuts on it and, for the first time ever, we've got there before the squirrels. Unfortunately, I didn't wear gloves while removing the outer husk and my fingers are stained dark brown. No matter, it'll wear off.

Another 'unfortunately' - Mr Veg inadvertently disturbed a wasp nest and for some reason they all went for his left hand, which is very swollen but we think has deflated slightly this morning.

Ouch for Mr Veg @Vegemiteandhoneyontoast! I have a great dislike of wasps even though I know they're good for the ecosystem.

I don't know what our apples are. Many years ago, we took some to an RHS Apple Day for identification and they couldn't work it out either. They're huge and are definitely eaters not cookers. Very crisp, flavourful and fragrant without being overly sweet, quite tart really.

@RasaSayangEh whilst they're not running it this year, Brogdale, home of the National Fruit Collection, run a fruit identification service. It might be worth contacting them next year to see if you've got something special.

brogdalecollections.org

Apple butter is ace. Takes forever to cook, but it's worth it.

Weirdly although I love to make jams and chutneys, I just can’t acquire a taste for apple butter. On the other hand I do have a recipe for apple and ginger jam which I plan on making sometime soon.

I'd never heard of apple butter until just now. Is it a North American thing?

Definitely not a US thing. The recipe I use is a Jane Austen one, and it's a huge tradition in Jersey - the making of it is an even much like cider festivals in the West Country.

I think calling it apple butter may be a US thing, though. It's more usually known as black butter here.