The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2024 Part 2

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Welcome all new and old friends.

The journey continues.

Thank you for the welcome! The candle obsession is already sorted; I feel like I've found the corner of MN where I belong

@RainbowZebraWarrior I had a parallel experience on Saturday (without the really horrible train station bit) as I thought it might be nice to see some lights when visiting DC at uni in London.

For some reason I thought it would be nice to mooch around Covent Garden onSaturday evening. For one of our party it was very not nice and we had to hot foot it out and ended up drinking horrible drinks in a Pret while DC charged phone enough to use tube to get home.

All not very festive.

Oh gosh @HannahDefoesChristmasHamper sending solidarity. Sometimes, things are just so overwhelming. In my mind, I'm serenely Nigel and everything is delightfully calm, but actually I'm sure he's had similar issues. Hugs to you.

@RainbowZebraWarrior

Low histamine is an effort to ease long covid stuff. I had post viral fatigue as a student so thinking there's a pattern/vulnerability?

Would be good to chat by DM or we could start a histamine/mcas support thread on allergies and intolerance board even if its just us two as its pretty niche?

I thought I'd try for 4 weeks because how hard can it be? I can cook I thought. Ha ha its really quite hard as you know and definitely not festive 😕

More than happy to chat via PM. I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome which has similar co-morbidities / symptoms to ME, Lyme Disease, Post Viral issues, Long Covid. All have issues relating to MCAS. I'm in a FB group which is very helpful. NHS isn't very MCAS receptive and I'm contemplating private. Chat soon.

So sorry to hear about your disappointing day out in York @RainbowZebraWarrior - probably even more distressing having been much looked forward to. I think British attempts to ape Germanic Christmas markets often fall flat - not least because we lack the ice underfoot and snow in the air. What Britain is really good at, as I have been observing with my mum this week, is the winter wonderland garden centre experience - possibly NVN, but twinkly-lighted displays with every kind of decoration (including candles) and a cosy cafe for v British tea and cakes. Free entry and always plenty of parking! I sometimes think we can lose sight of what we are really good at here. I love this thread - reading about your dogs and gardens. I thought of you all as I sniffed the St Eval candle range in the Windsor farm shop today. I’m keeping up on my Kindle, but I feel the experience lacks something in comparison to the book.

Tried the turkey stuffing balls today - lovely - had them with mash and veg. I didn't have any cranberry sauce or whole oranges so used marmalade!
Feels really wintery - a few flakes of snow this evening. ❄️

We have snow!❄️ The dog is desperate to go out and roll on it but will have to wait until morning as he will need drying off and he’s the size of a small horse (well ok, a rocking horse).

So do we

Oh @Bimblesalong and @ElectiveAffinities I am so jealous - I love snow! In this mild and damp corner of the south west we very rarely get it! We are off up to Alnwick for a week at the beginning of December so I'm really hoping we might find some then.

@RainbowZebraWarrior I'm so sorry the trip to York was so horrendous. The last time we went was about 9 years ago and I used to love it. @bigbadbarry I think being able to enjoy the Bath market is about timing. My DH used to work in Bath, so I would meet him after work and we would get to the market for about 5.45. At that time, those with children had mostly left and the late night shoppers hadn't yet come out. It was still busy but it was bearable. I do agree though that these days many of the markets are the same old tat. I am running the last antiques fair of the year at Dunster this coming weekend so I'm hoping the crowds will come our way!

@rai

I meant to say @Bimblesalong your physiotherapy sounds great. I still have large areas of numbness. Some help with getting feeling back would have been much appreciated. I did get offered hydrotherapy though and that was wonderful! The water temperature in the pool was the same temperature as you'd have in a bath. Imagine getting into a bath where the water is shoulder deep! I always wanted to ask if I could have some bubbles as well!

oh my goodness, I’ve found you! I had thought all had gone quiet and didn’t realise there was a new thread - phew 😅

I’m a weekend reader only and fear I have jumped way too far ahead - the book is so addictive I can’t just stop after a few pages. I loved the pudding chapter - I had forgotten all of the lovely traditions with the stirring and the coin. My DM passed this year and so this is our first Christmas without her - the book reminded me that she used to come and get us to stir the pudding and then we would all be so excited to find the coin. This would have been in the 70s and 80s and then commercialism took over and the dreaded microwave (NVN) so she probably moved on to shop bought.

I’m also loving learning so much from the book - loved the descriptions of Cologne markets and cathedral and the Three Magi. My DD1 went there over summer with school so we had a lovely look through that chapter together - nice to see a cool 15 year old still takes an interest in her mum’s book!

Snow here in NW this morning - Nigel has made me see it in a new light - I’m excited to go out for my early morning walk before work but also fear I haven’t bought sufficienct provisions for the cold - is it only our house where gloves/hats/scarves annoyingly go missing each year and fresh supplies have to be bought!

@Bearsinmotion big yes to the Uber boat. And I always love to get off and have a look around the little covered market at Greenwich. One of our favourite Saturday trips.
I'm wondering about going to Battersea power station...It has a lovely park and a little zoo I'm told and looks lovely for Christmas.

Welcome along @Mediocrates candles at the ready

We have obviously no snow. My mum in the Peak District has lots. I am livid

We haven't had any either.😞😞

@RainbowZebraWarrior Your trip sounds like such a trial, I hope you and your DD have recovered.

For what it's worth, we live in Bath, and I echo what @JMAngel1 has said about the 'ShedFest' here. Just after work, or early innthe morning at the weekend, is bearable. We also have the night before the official opening as "Local Residents Night", where we get a discount and a quieter time.

Usually, the day trip coaches come in, drop off their passengers, and then park in designated zones. There are 4 or 5 zones. Last year, the Wellsway zone had 84 coaches parked along it, on a Saturday mid-morning. It's a lot of extra people, in a small city centre.

However, that being said, I do love to visit, when it is quieter. Many years ago, I stood in the shadow of the Abbey, at dusk with snow falling, and it stuck in my mind as such a perfect moment, with the smells of Christmas.

All going to plan, my DM, DSis and twin DNiece and DNephew are visiting this weekend. The twins are nearly 2, and have had a lot of health issues, so have never visited us before. We're planning on going to Whitehall Garden Centre, at Lacock, which regularly wins prizes for the best Christmas displays.

I am thinking of putting up a strand or two of Christmas lights, just to get us all into the spirit!

Slightly snowing here now. Sleet really. Humph.

@piscofrisco at least it’s something. We need to take what we can get even though I am genuinely envious of everyone else’s lovely snowy views this morning. The dog will be furious at having to wear his coat though.

Actually just checked again, it’s getting more snowy and starting to settle slightly! Watching it through the window with a cup of tea is making me very happy

19 November

Planting bulbs and a lamb boulangère

I have spent winters deep in the Worcestershire countryside, on the Cornish coast, the Yorkshire moors and in the Black Country. I have trudged through the snow in the Italian Alps, the Norweigian forests and the Icelandic lava fields. I have run from saunas to freezing ice pools in Finland and rolled in the snow after many a steaming hillside onsen in Japan. And yet it is still winter in the city that I find most entrancing

No snow here. I was awake at 5am though and watching the snow radar online. I reckon Bimblesalong will have had quite a bit. It seemed to be quite heavy at that point moving in from the west from around Liverpool down to Wales.

Morning all. No snow here, but we may get a flurry later. It will be too wet to settle though, I think.

I ordered our Christmas tree yesterday. I decided to try a Korean fir this year. Usually get a Fraser fir. 🎄

We’ve got about an inch of snow here in Chester, on plants and vehicles if not on the roads. Better than usual! So pretty
I will pass the Bath market tips to DD1, thank you. She did tell me about residents’ night and I thought that was very sensible.
@JMAngel1 i was just saying yesterday that I had no idea where my gloves are! Need to have a search today

6 am out the bedroom window