Year round Nigel Slater discussion thread Part 2

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Hello, all and welcome to this lovely space for our continued chats.

A bit of background for anyone not familiar with this topic:

The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles readalong usually takes place here between November and February each year (the Christmas Chronicles being a book written by Nigel Slater full of winter recipes and anecdotes) It's been running for a few years, and the contributors have collectively decided it would be nice to have it running all year round.

So here it is. It is a place to appreciate all things Nigel-esque. Think seasonal food and recipes, enjoyment of nature, gardening, appreciation of the weather, and sharing of news and small moments of joy. It's a calm, cosy space for gentle chat and merriment so pull up a deckchair, grab a drink and relax.

A very hearty welcome to friends new and old!

Some lovely beach photos on here today, prompting me to add a few views of the deserted beaches and coves on the tiny Breton island of Houat which we visited last week. So pretty and peaceful - I’m going to walk round it in my mind whenever I have trouble dropping off to sleep!

Some lovely holiday pictures. Please keep them coming

@RainbowZebraWarriorlove the idea of Jellycat inspired food crafting, and the pumpkin display

Not to make you all envious, but we had our first frost yesterday morning! Only in the shade, but it was a beautiful thick white frost on the roof and patches of grass and leaves.

It is very early, even for here so I am wondering what kind winter we are waiting for.

DS had a football match on Monday evening. The pitch is literally in the middle of a forest on the edge of a national mountain park, so during his warm up training we took the dog for a walk and did a little mushroom hunting. Found some beautiful kantarell, though not as many as last year and smaller, so they are a little late this year.

A moose and her two calves were very interested to see us too! I absolutely adore seeing moose.

Today is one of my favourite days at work. I've started a Walk and Talk offer. It's completely free, no stress and no expectations. We meet up and follow an easy walk only about 3km along a river and through a forest. At the halfway point on the river there is a gapahauk which is like a wooden bus shelter woth a firepit. They're stocked with wood as well. I light a fire, make coffee on the fire, cook a bit of lunch for us and then we finish the walk. The idea I had behind it was a completely low threshold, no barriers chance to just get out and have a bit if fresh air and company. It's very cosy and hopefully will get cosier as autumn draws in.

Frost in August sounds like a looong winter, @IngenTing, though your location sounds and looks wonderfully idyllic. Your Walk and Talk idea sounds great and very inclusive. Who are your clientele/participants?

Yes, our winters are very long! This year we had snow fall on June 6th. We tend to not really have much of a spring.

The walk and talk offer is open to all, but I work in inclusion. My main department is Settlement and Inclusion, but I'm actually shared between this department and addiction and psychiatric health. I work with adults in a very small mountain town of about 1500, but we have quite a large refugee population (about 200) and also a fair proportion of addiction and psychiatric issues. I focus on using outdoor therapy and also different ways of supporting people becoming less socially isolated. Right now I have the walk and talk offer, a completely free cafe once a week and I am in process of setting up a fully licensed boxing club. So it's busy and varied, sometimes with too much red tape and hand wringing, but i love it.

That sounds amazing, what a rewarding job!

@IngenTing lovely photos, thank you for sharing. Your walk and talk idea is absolutely brilliant and it sounds like you are in an ideal location for this. Can I ask where you love, is this the UK? I’d definitely sign up for your walk if Ali were near you.

We are back in the UK and my autumnal mood has returned. I took my boys shopping today so they can pick bedding, cushions and throws for their new bedrooms. Both were very excited (surprisingly!) to go shopping with me. They don’t normally care about these things but I think they are over the moon that they don’t have to share a room anymore and we’re happy to personalise them with their own stuff. The shops were full of Christmas stuff and autumnal stuff, it was quite nice to see.

I also discovered the Christmas shopping thread and someone there had shared an offer for the Neom wellbeing pod with several of their essential oils. I took the plunge and I’m now enjoying the lovely smells. It’s expensive for what it is but it made me happy so there is that!

The view from my window - I’ve never seen a double rainbow before!

I’ve been Nigelling it up today. Plum jam, sweet pickled damsons, rosemary syrup, tarragon vinegar all maturing on the shelves. Courgette and lentil soup to use up the monster courgette.
And I have a lovely pomegranate candle burning.
And with dinner (enchiladas) we had the first corn in the cob of the season. Very happy. But also now needing to lie on my sofa

Popping my fun science fact hat on for a second, the space between them is called Alexander’s band and is darker that the sky around because the light is bent away from your eyes

@SheherazadesSpringNonsense love this! I also noticed their colours are reversed.

@Piletka the Christmas bargain thread is awesome. I've been on it since its incarnation 14 years ago. It has heralded some amazing bargains over the years. Just in case IngenTing is busy and can't reply for a while, I can confirm that she lives in Norway.

Good afternoon Nigelistas!

I was looking at my diary earlier and noted my 'resolutions' of recording a small moment of joy every day and also having 20 minutes of nature each day. Both of which I still mostly do. The nature thing may only sometimes be in the garden with my Merlin app on, but often further afield. Yesterday we had the most marvellous walk in the woods as we went straight after a massive downpour so it was deserted. As I stood under this horse chestnut tree, I was being pelted with conkers from the squirrels above!

I often post my 'weather pictures' to the weather watchers page on the BBC website and I love to look at the photographs that others upload too. I've just happened upon this article about the benefits to mental health of taking photographs outdoors, so thought I'd share it here.

www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/cz703egxzpxo

Loving that @SheherazadesSpringNonsense I’m not sure we will get rainbows here, but I think the last heavy band of the day is about to move through.

I’ve been up in the town and there is a shop with a wall full of St Eval. A treat stored up for some sniff and choose this week.

@Bimblesalonghow are you finding Vornwall. Afraid the weather hasn’t been the best for you today.

my lounge is finally painted. And the weather has really turned. Back to work on Monday and it feels like summer is nearing it’s close

I went on a nice walk earlier today and picked some sloes, but didn't take any pictures. I'm going to clean up the house a bit and then watch The Thursday Murder Club with DH and possibly the teenagers if they are in.

Had a lovely walk from Beadnell to Seahouses yesterday. Despite the poor forecast, the weather was lovely. Stopped in the NT shop where I absolutely, positively did not buy any orange and cinnamon St Eval candles. I’m so ashamed 😔😂. Also enjoyed a walk up at Belsay estate earlier. My daughter was on a pleasure ride with a friend so I tagged along for a bit. It was hot! Very pretty though. I’ll admit though I’m looking forward to the autumn and some cooler days and autumnal vibes.

@UnimaginableWindBird Thursdsy Murder Club is on my to do list this evening also. I've half got DD interested as she loves the actor Tom Ellis.

@dazzlingdeborahroseAhh, I love Beadnell and used to spend every weekend there as a kid as Dad went diving with his pals there all year round. Thanks for the heads up about the St Eval candles at the NT shop. I'm going to Delaval Hall on Monday so hoping they have them at the shop there.

Happy weekend. We have been up in the mountains today. Very misty this morning and lots of autumn colours.

We saw some beautiful reindeer who also seemed to have their winter coats appearing quite early. We also saw a white one, with pink antlers. In Samì culture the white reindeer (Gabba) is supposed to bring good fortune and is a spiritual being.

Ooh, I’m a huge St Eval fan, @Bimblesalong, and would love a shop with the whole range to sniff! I bought several in the post Xmas sale last year, but try to light seasonally apppropriate ones year round. I’m on Sweet Pea at the moment, with Walled Garden lined up next. The only one of theirs I don’t love is Green Vines, as it just doesn’t seem to smell of anything and I wonder if I got a duff batch.

I like your resolution of 20 mins per day in nature, @RainbowZebraWarrior. I came across a slide in a wellbeing workshop which read something like: You should sit in nature for twenty minutes a day, unless you’re busy then you should sit for an hour. It’s so true, and something I need to take heed of when I return to work next week.

That's exactly where I got the idea from @LemonVerbenaGeranium after seeing this 'meme'

@RainbowZebraWarriorYes, that’s the one! I’m terrible for not building breaks into my work day, so that needs to be my “new (academic) year” resolution for sure. I worked part time for many years when DS was small and got into a habit of powering through my day so I could be out the door for the school run at 3. Now I’m full time I still work at top speed as my default and really need to learn to slow down.

Ive bought myself a nice new fountain pen for the new year, which feels like it might be Very Nigel (though he probably has lots of fountain pens and doesn’t need to buy a new one). I got a range of coloured inks to go with it (Less Nigel), and a nice notebook, so I think slowness encouraged by nice stationery may be the way to go.

Thursday Murder Club is also my planned entertainment this evening!

@RainbowZebraWarrior love love love your resolution about nature! I think I might have to try it for 2026. My 2025 one is to something related to my wellbeing every day. I even got a wellbeing journal for it and I have managed most (but not all days). I think being nature is a good one to follow in from that.

I usually have one resolution only for the whole year and sometimes it takes me two years to reach my goal. One of my previous ones was to be more selfish. It might sound sound strange to people but I have spent the last 10 years being so focused on my children (one of which has additional needs) so I kind of lost myself in being “the perfect” mother and doing everything for the kids. I also work full time and have no help from family as they live abroad. So life has not been easy and it’s all been a bit too full on. I had to work really hard on being a bit more selfish when it comes to my wants and needs and being a mother without sacrificing every single minute and thought to the kids. I’m almost there these days 😊 I’d love to hear what other people are planning for the new year or what they are working on now.

Wow at that reindeer pic @IngenTing ❤️

Also meant to say that's a gorgeous photo of the beach / cove in Cornwall @Bimblesalong is that your view from where you're staying?

@LemonVerbenaGeranium I bought a Nigel adjacent pen last year. A Pelikan pen. Not one of their fountain pens, but still a lovely thing and the ink is a beautiful shade of turquoise. I like to write my many lists in either turquoise or purple ink.

@Piletka i absolutely get the 'selfish' resolution. I ran myself into the ground for years with my people pleasing. After some health diagnoses in early 2020 and my Mum being diagnosed with cancer the week before lockdown, i had no choice but to walk away from my job. I was obviously having to home school, too. It's just me and DD at home and we both have Autism and ADHD so my selfishness basically came down to not having a relationship and stepping back from selfish relatives and peripheral friendships. It works well for us. I dont miss relationships at all as i have nowt to give to anyway, and find having to think of anyone elses needs draining. DD has never wanted to spend any time with anyone but me, so sleepovers etc have never worked. It does mean that I never have child free evenings, but thats normal fornus now after so many years. She's spent 24/7 with me in the summer hols (she also sleeps in my bed) as she doesn't cope with friendships, but we are each others best friends. I'm also an older Mum (I'm 54, she's 13) and I'm aware we have a very insular life, but it's a necessity for both of us. I must admit, I will enjoy that few hours of child free time every day when she goes back to school (which is never actually straightforward) as I do need time out / time to myself in order to be able to function at my best. I love solitude and I never get lonely. That's perhaps a feature of my Autism and also being post menopausal. Most women I know say that if they became single at my age, they wouldn't bother again and that's where I'm at. Being single for me, is my biggest saving grace. We all absolutely have to do what we need to do to save our sanity 😊

Oh, I can also confirm that Nigel smells gorgeous. After going to pick up my much anticipated Perfumer H 'Ink' fragrance parcel from Vinted yesterday, I retrieved it from the locker and was greeted with a flat package full of shards of broken glass and sodden with leaked cologne. My car will now forever smell of Nigel. Thankfully I had an instant refund from Vinted after sharing the pics.