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!

Ooof! You are all such prolific posters that I've been finding from this thread because there seemed to be so much to catch up on!

@Bimblesalong, did you go inside and sniff all the candles? Also, that mushroom crepe looked amazing.

@EndlesslyDecluttering I hope the move goes well and that she settles happily and that you don't feel too strange without her around. I'm getting to keep DD for an extra year, but I'll be in your situation next autumn and I'm not looking forward to it.

Thanks all, we have had an extra year too @UnimaginableWindBird as she needed three years at college, it has helped, also DS graduated this year and is home again so the nest isn't empty but it will be quite a change, she is a homebody usually and we go out together a lot. Anyway, she's gone, we're back, going to distract myself later with Strictly (NVN).

@CrushingOnRubies Mr Fox looks fab! He's got such a happy face! I'm another one who thinks a square frame with a round mount would be good for the embroidery.
@Bimblesalong I'm glad you're having a lovely time in Paris. I definitely hope you went in and had a good sniff 🤣
@RainbowZebraWarrior With all those lovely gins and vodkas, I'm coming round your house for Christmas!

As for the Dales - Fab, but wet! I think I may have given the neighbours a scare - it's been torrential rain and we are next to a cobbled ford. The stream has flooded and the water is pouring past our front door. The car is parked at the side of the house on a bit of an upward slope and we were worried about whether the water had reached it. DH is a bit unsteady on his feet these days so I've just gone out to have a look. My waterproof is, of course, in the car so I borrowed his hoodie. No wellies (that was a mistake!), so I put my strappy sandals on and then I didn't want my leggings to get wet so I went out in my knickers. Thank god the neighbours are, in fact, cows! Still a bit anxious about the car, it's ok at the moment but not if the waters rise much more. Not much we can do, we can't move it to safety now anyway, the road is completely submerged.

Oh and by the way ... Booths ... What a supermarket!

@Confusedmeanderingsthank you. I enjoyed stitching him.

Managed to get a square frame but not a round mount. Will frame it, and it will do for now until I get around to getting a round mount.

I love the dales. Keep meaning to go back up there. The dog would love it. It’s a fair way from where we are now. My dad is from that part of the world and I think they’re in my blood. Hope you don’t get flooded out

We survived the night and the car is safe! We're off to Ingleton Waterfall Trail today. Here's a picture of the Crook Of Lune from Friday.

Epic sniffing of Cire Trudon has happened, which summoned two of us out of our phones and into a very nice cafe for cake and Nigel chat.

It was a delight to meet you in 3-D @LillianGish

How Fabulous! ❤️

That picture looks like a postcard @Confusedmeanderings Glad you're safe and sound after the torrential late night car dash!

You too @Bimblesalong (who I can report is much more glamorous than her name suggests!) Most hilariously, we were interrupted from our animated candle discussions by the Trudon assistant uncorking the most delicious aroma from a nearby reed diffuser which literally stopped us in our tracks. It turned out to be Spiritus Sancti, a Nigel favourite, so it was almost as if the man himself had made an appearance - though at €175 neither of us felt inclined to take it home with us. It was a VN moment.

Meant to say earlier, yes, Booths is amazing @Confusedmeanderings it reminds me a bit of Harrods / Harvey Nicks food halls which I haven't been to in about a decade.

Winter bedding now on here and the fleece pyjamas are also out. It felt bitterly cold in Tynemouth today and is due to go down to 3 degrees tonight. Woodsmoke is hanging faintly in the air. Shame some dipstick has just started with the fireworks.

Have caught up the thread again, lovely to catch what everyone's doing. Life's a bit hectic here, with too much going on and currently all VNN, so depending on everyone else and wonderful pictures.
The crepe's look particularly fabulous, and lovely to hear @LillianGish and @Bimblesalong meeting and high living.
Last of the strawberries and raspberries I think. There's still a few unripe one's in the greenhouse and with the strange cycles of weather we seem to be getting anything's possible, but I suspect their best hope is as seeds, but all the tomato's have suddenly picked at pace.

Apples and tomato's in abundance, (though the apples are from a swap, my trusted apple tree was one of the casualties of an earth slide)
The plums are gone as are the butterflies, the last storm seems to have put paid to the last of them. But some lovely moths about.
The photo's really don't do them justice, just snaps. This one actually has a subtle tone of deep violet to the darker parts, which the camera hasn't picked up, it was also noticeably velvet like, and a good inch and half long.

Lovely pictures of abundant produce and wildlife as always @EphemeraleEudemonia I had meant to say that I've spent the last few days foraging and seen more butterflies and ladybirds than ever. Surprising considering I'm on the NE coast of England. I think today might be a bit of a turning point though. 2 degrees this morning so the hats and gloves are now out.

How lovely that @Bimblesalong and @LillianGish actually met in person and with the extra Nigelness of the scent in attendance too!

Ice on my car windscreen this morning, even though last Thursday I was still wearing sandals to work!

It was 27C here on Friday! Dropped a good 12 degrees from that now, but sunny, so hopeful for last few tomatoes to ripen, and wild bilberries to ripen enough for foraging.
Glad you've got the butterflies and ladybirds still RZW.

Unfortunately what's in abundance or not, seems all over the place currently. There's been a lot fewer mushrooms of all types probably as we've had less rain, but also fewer beech nuts about than normal, and still waiting on sweet chestnuts to ripen.

Have dug out NS's tomato pickling recipe, and adapting it very slightly to add dill before it bolts.
Going to crop the last of the dill and pick what's probably the last main batch of tomatoes and hoping to fill a giant Kilner jar later this afternoon.

@LemonVerbenaGeranium You have ice already... whereabouts are you?

@EphemeraleEudemonia My icy windscreen and I are in NE England, which does not normally have ice in September!

@EphemeraleEudemonia what lovely pictures - I can almost smell the aroma of those fruits. A real bounty!

It was very chilly in the small hours of last night when I finally got in from the airport after a delayed flight. Not quite a frost but not far off.

This Nigel thread series has done some lovely things for us posters and lurkers - anything that facilitates cake, sniffing nice candles, chat and laughter is brilliant. I proper lolled at that memory @LillianGish . I'm also really pleased that I was not totally sure about bringing candles in hand luggage, as that Gabriel candle would have been mine!

The dahlias have really got their acts together in the few days I was away. It's such a shame that the frost will be starting soon - it seems that some of them have only just started to flower.

I hope dd is fully on the mend now @RainbowZebraWarrior

These were large buds last week!

They are beautiful. Mine have similarly exploded into masses of blooms!

I promised I'd give you a heads up about the JL Home Fragrance advent. I'm afraid I'm rather disappointed. It was £99 last year and has jumped to £120 thus year. I don't think I'm feeling it. Here it is anyway:

www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-scented-candle-oils-advent-calendar/p113677352?irclickid=z5yzl2RCRxycUZr2VzwJ4zimUkp1F8V9mUm8Uc0&irgwc=1&tmcampid=99&s_afcid=af_10078_Content

Worthy of the Jardin du Luxembourg! I’m still chuckling about the fact we were both carrying exactly the same Longchamp - as if we were about to perform some kind of dead drop bag swap (a candle exchange possibly 🤣)

I've always thought that you lovely ladies were like two peas in a pod ❤️

@LillianGish taps nose. No one understands that this thread is also operated by secret squirrels!

Thanks for the link @RainbowZebraWarrior I don’t think we’ll be having anything but a choccie advent here as I’m inclined to agree with you.

Just checked out the JL calendar link (thank you @RainbowZebraWarrior) and noticed it’s only 12 days! So £10 per day - not at all convinced for that money.

Indeed @Bimblesalong and @LemonVerbenaGeranium I'd rather spend £120 on candles I actually like. As an aside, if anyone fancies trying the Lily Flame Christmassy scented candles, JL / Waitrose had them on half price last November, so I will give a heads up if they do that offer again. They are nice, but at the cheaper end of the market (I used to stock them when I had my café / gift shop)

@LemonVerbenaGeranium Am glad to hear September ice isn't normal for you!

Secret agents @LillianGish and @Bimblesalong 😎

@RainbowZebraWarrior Totally out of my price range, but thank you anyway, the packaging gave me an idea to play with.

Have laid down some of the apples in sandboxes, and apple crumble's on tonight's menu. Will admit to having eaten quite a few of the tomatoes during prep and tested both sage, and a lavender oil made a couple of weeks back on them... but one filled giant Kilner. Diverted from NS recipe intentionally by adding dill, but accidentally by adding some of the bay, rosemary and peppercorns to the pickling mixture when it was simmering. (but not the rest, or the garlic or cardamon) Just distracted, but hopefully wont matter.