Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Read Along 2023 - Part Two

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Continuing from Part 1

For anyone who has not already had the pleasure, the annual Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles read along is a real time annual MN tradition.

The book began on 1st November, however there is still time to fully appreciate Nigel in All His Splendour as it takes us to Christmas and beyond.

Most of us already have the book (or Audio book) For anyone who doesn't, it's a challenge to see of you can pick up a bargain. WH Smith has come up trumps in the past, as has ebay. A rare and precious charity shop find is the holy grail and adds a certain special-ness that simply extends that warm, fizzy Nigel feeling (and some well earned smugness)

I shall continue to make a post each day and we can share our thoughts and feelings on the days recipes, sentiments and indeed Dear Old Nige himself.

Pull up a chair and a cosy blanket and join in. Twinkly lights are optional, but candle light is definitely recommended. Regulars and newcomers are welcomed like old friends.

I agree that he describes it so beautifully. The house is so peaceful before anyone else gets up. I do enjoy eating my breakfast alone - but only sometimes.

But the eternal mystery - who are all these disruptive other people chez Nigel? His house absolutely screams wealthy person with no domestic ties.

Maybe he's just talking about before the world really gets going in the morning. Lack of traffic and street noise, perhaps?

He's talked before about having lodgers for company. I don't know if he still does.

His house absolutely screams wealthy person with no domestic ties. That is what always strikes me - he doesn’t have any young children or teenagers to disrupt the tranquility, or any elderly relatives to accommodate. I love to follow him in the run up and then in the quiet days afterwards, but the reality of my actual Christmas inevitably ends up being NVN (and DH always has to very sweetly remind me to manage expectations in this respect which is why he usually treats me to a posh candle - Diptyque Baie this year - in nod to Nigel).

I see Nigel's latest IG post shows bulbs peeping through the ground. He talks about how he protected them with Christmas tree clippings last year, but "We couldn't have a Christmas tree this year" I'm so nosy and I want to know why.

Aha! He has answered the question.

Excellent detective work @RainbowZebraWarrior - I have been wondering about this and happy to know there is a straightforward explanation!

Oh, well done for finding that out @RainbowZebraWarrior I was a little worried about our Nigel!

I too have serious house envy.

I haven't taken down my decorations yet, can't bear to. Maybe I should pretend I am the late Queen Elizabeth and leave them up until Candlemas.

Well done for the detective work @RainbowZebraWarrior . It's good to know its all OK chez Nige. I presume that he won't have gone for a bright and colourful makeover?

We have undecorated and everything looks so bleak! Inspired by someone on this thread I bought a copper tray and set it up with candles and trinkets and I will use that to try and bring some cheer to the room. Mind you at the moment it's got a fairly unattractive plant on it that my husband bought me so I'm going to have to figure out what to do with that first!

I'm in the middle of redecorating my house, so the January bleakness is offset by various rooms looking nicer. The main bathroom is now a soft moss green and the downstairs loo is white with vibrant babouche yellow, both of which are much cheerier than they were before. Next up is finding a nice cosy warm neutral for the stairs and landing before I get to make major changes in the living room.

Mine are staying up until the next time my SIL visits. I fell off a 2 step stepladder a week before Christmas, while painting the hallway; and dished my back. I may have cracked a rib, but it's been bl***y painful anyway. So I'm not climbing anything unattended for a while!

This has tickled me. I now have a vision of Lawrence Lewellyn-Bowen popping out on Nigel saying "I've gone for a Tart's Boudoir theme, Nigel darling. Blood red walls with black lace curtains and heavy gold accents"

I'm now thinking that the shots Nige shared on Insta of his immaculate study and that bare room with the candle on the table may have been showing off his redecoration. I'm also remembering that line in the World of Interiors article in which he says he repaints the whole house every five to seven years.

I sound so incredibly sad here, but yes that room has been painted recently as he's shared that same 'view' before. The walls were all cream coloured when he posted a similar shot of the desk / lamps / mirror reflection last February. The latest shot looks like the shutters are still cream, but the walls have been painted a taupe / mushroom colour.

It would be lovely to be able to have the whole place redecorated routinely. Our house is quite small and chock full of furniture which makes it really hard, you can't just shove it all in the middle of a room and work round it as there isn't enough space. Apart from the landing which was done as part of hall and stairs last year we haven't done any of the upstairs rooms since pre DCs (20+ years ago). Not a problem Nigel has with his huge beautiful uncluttered spaces.

I have fallen off the thread and fallen behind with Nigel (although I have just listened to a short Bill Bryson Christmas audio book which was cosy and nice in a different way). Did you know that it is traditional to eat KFC on Christmas Day in Japan? I don't think Nigel has passed on that snippet, it probably makes him shudder.

8 January

A celebration of sprouts and citrus

To read the press, watch television and certainly to scan the endless press releases that infest my inbox, post Christmas dinners are supposed to be different. A casting off, a release from endlessly rich and sweet festive fodder. Food that will take us from sloths lying imprisoned by our own greed on cushioned sofas to being energy-packed titans of the gym. Follow their suggestions and we will emerge flushed from our workouts and 'superfoods', pumped with energy, glowing with vigour and New Year positivity. At least that is what we are told.

Almost forgot to post today's entry, and on that note, I have snaffled a large bacon wrapped turkey joint on sale from Sainsbury's. It's bitterly cold here, and a turkey dinner with some sprouts and roast potatoes might be just the thing to warm me though.

A roast seems like an excellent plan

looking around we could do with repainting but it would be me that does it sadly!

the babouche yellow sounds fab

I don’t know whether we know if Nigel lives alone? It seems a big house for one person and he mentions ‘James’ sometimes who I assume may be a partner. I love his description of early morning solitude but do also wonder who disturbs the peace!

He also mentions today that he goes to the gym which I really can’t imagine!

James is his long standing creative partner and best friend. The gym thing I was surprised at also. Someone posted a link to a podcast a couple of weeks ago. It was a podcast about health and wellbeing and Nigel was a guest (I think it was on Boxing Day) He's apparently been working put with the founders of the podcast for over a decade. I can't remember the name of the podcast now, but it will come to me.

9 January

A fry-up for a rainy day

I am envious of the North, of Scotland and Scandanavia, with it's Arctic air and drifts of snow. The winter of 2016 brought Scotland twice as many days of frost as it did to England, the west of Scotland even more. Further south, the months of December, January and February often seemed to consist of little more than rain. In truth, England had forty-eight days of rain in the winter of 2016, compared to sixty-six in Scotland. Almost fifty days of rain out of ninety-three. To put it another way, it rained virtually every other day.

@MerryMidwinter here's the post about the fitness podcast that Nigel was a guest on.