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!

Well, I had my summer tyres put on yesterday and the winter tyres went into storage.

Today it's minus 4 and snowing. I have my pyjamas on, my Arctic wool socks and a blanket. 🙄

The Roman Baths have probably opened since you were there. Well worth a look of anyone is visiting. Very evocative.

I once watched a full on reenactment in the amphitheatre with gladiators, horses and bare chested, loin cloth wearing Italian wrestlers.

@ConfusedmeanderingsI live in Chester and no trip into the centre is complete without hearing ‘Dexter sinister Dexter sinister’ as a legion of primary school children march past on their way to learn about testudos 🥰

Guyyyyys I missed 3 pages of chat coz we didn’t finish the last thread!!!

Sorry @AgathaMystery that was my fault. Its hard to get the timing right and I didnt want to end up at 1000 posts again where nobody knew where we went. I'll use the last thread up.

You filled the last thread beautifully @RainbowZebraWarrior

Oh I didn’t mean it rudely. I just thought everyone was v quiet 😆I am v grateful for the new thread.

Tonight On the way to Botox I passed a lovely little shop selling HUGE hanging baskets. £10.99 each and they are over 3 foot wide with trailing petunias. So pretty.

No worries @AgathaMystery the thread needed using up and it was on my to do list, so anyone now landing there will know to come here 😊

Thanks @Bimblesalong it prompted me to have a gander at Nigel's insta which I hadn't done in weeks.

Happy Friday everyone. I've just booked our Van Gogh museum tickets and am now rather excited. We go to Amsterdam a week on Saturday and I've booked the museum for the Monday. Next week will be a blur as I have so many appointments and it's also my birthday, so I'm trying to get organised. I did want to go to NT property Delaval Hall on my birthday, but it's closed so I'll have to do it the following day instead. Haven't been in years and my Dad used to keep bees in their walled garden so it will be nice to go back.

Today I really wanted to get my all-new purple-corner-border planted up, but I'm still awaiting some alliums from Garden not so express Express, so all I've been able to do is place what I have on the ground and wait for the others to arrive to see where they fit in. I have a rough idea anyway. My has Dad dropped off a load of bark chippings to mulch the new border as they have tonnes of the stuff down at the allotment, so that's ready to go too.

I've just had notification from DDs form tutor that she's been awarded Star of the week. I don't think she's had an award like that since she was in Reception! She seemed invisible in her previous school no matter what she did. It was definitely the right thing to move her 😊

Oh that’s a lovely end to the week!! I’m off to do some pottery!

@RainbowZebraWarriorstar of the week is great for your dd. It must be such boost. Working in a school h ave noticed that teens respond really to that sort of behaviour system really well. Sixth formers love getting stickers/ stars on their work.

@RainbowZebraWarrior marvellous, well done your dd and well done you for moving her.

Made it back to London after a year and visited the Philip Mould gallery on Pall Mall - VN. He has the Santa Maria pomander to scent the downstairs room. The furniture is as beautiful as the art. It’s very welcoming and well worth popping into if you’re in the area.

The Siena exhibition at the National was terrific, although I had a middle class incident in front of the St Agatha presenting her boobs on a platter picture (she is the patron saint of breast cancer, apparently, which I discovered when I had finished discreetly crying on dh). Seeing such beautifully preserved pictures and textiles from the 1200s was mind boggling.

Finished the day with a trip to the opera house for ballet, one piece used the music of Joni Mitchell, which was sung live by Julia Fordham. The final act was the dance scene from American in Paris, one of dad’s favourite shows.

A VN day. Today we have 6 hours of Wagner 🤣😀🤣. First a trip to sniff the trudon at Fortnum’s.

I love Philip mould on tv. Fake or fortune is a must watch for me. Didn’t realise you could actually visit his gallery. Making a note of that for my next visit to the capital

Morming all!

@Bimblesalong sounds like you've had a wonderful time so far. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. How amazing to have seen the St Agatha painting, and no wonder you were emotional.

It is cold and cloudy here. Again. It's a pattern we tend to have here on the NE coast when the sun eventually appears just before sunset. Hopefully, we will manage to climb above 11 degrees today. For now, the heating is on and I've lit a candle.

We had an Aurora display here last night, but I didn't see it as it was 2am. The lucky few who got the notification of a sudden elevated solar wind got some great photos which have been shared in my Aurora group this morning. We also have a cruise ship moored in our river at the moment called Borealis, so maybe she might bring some more Aurora good luck in the coming days.

I heard the plane go over earlier that we will be on next Saturday morning (we are right on the flightpath) I immediately thought, "Oh. I must pack my fortnum and Mason's breakfast blend." for some reason.

In other news, RHS shop has three large glass bell cloches on offer for just over £60. Sorely tempted.

Finally, I'm just sharing a pic of DD practicing her sax last night. It's only the second time she's picked it up and she can already get four or five notes out of it! She's utterly enthralled by it and I'm so, so grateful to finally see passion and enthusiasm in her again ❤️

Wow @Bimblesalong what a fabulous day!

I just want to come back to the '6 hours of Wagner' I take it this is Meistersinger? How do you sit for that long? (I'm guessing there's at least two or three intervals?) I'm sure it is wonderful, but this has made me realise how much my ADHD really affects me now. I can't even sit still and concentrate enough for a one hour TV programme.

I'm always amazed by other people's lives, and it's so interesting on this thread to hear what everyone's doing.

Had a walk on a beach today lovely weather shame I can’t say the same for the behaviour of my dog. planted some seeds today, been meaning to do it for ages but it’s been so busy haven’t got round to it.

looking forward to Eurovision tonight.

Enjoy Eurovision @CrushingOnRubies and anyone else watching. Good luck to our girls. It's a great song so I hope it does well. Good luck to all other Nationalities. I've popped it on the TV and also on Radio 2 in the kitchen as I keep popping in and out to do last bits of watering.

ETA I see the UK is 8th to perform this evening.

I'm going to watch it till the UK have sung, they are fairly local to us here but then I'm off to somewhere else in the house till the voting as I really don't enjoy it. DD and DH love it though.

@RainbowZebraWarrior the answer is probably with lots of stretches beforehand and in the intervals! First interval was 25 mins but second one was 1 hr 20 for some reason (maybe to give the cast an ice bath!). My back did not like the longest act (90 mins) and I was glad when the interval came. Act 3 was an absolute banger, starting with ride of the valkries and then a cracking duet about love between the two lead women. Later, I blubbed away as one of the lead women and her father said goodbye to one another. We spent the longer interval talking to two lovely American women about dahlias, Nigel Slater and the state of their country. I had my one glass of alcohol for many weeks and made it count with champagne. I’m cutting right down for health and other reasons.

By happenstance I was sat next to my youngest brother’s vicar. I have messaged my brother to warn him that the walk to the pulpit might be accompanied by Wagner rather than Bach tomorrow.

We had a lovely trip to Santa Maria Novella today, where we chatted to the staff about Nigel - I treated myself to a melangrano pomegranate. We popped next door to Fortnum’s to sniff the trudon. DH is enjoying the side quest olfactory tours.

it’s wonderful to see how Dd is taking to the sax @RainbowZebraWarrior Also excellent to have a visit coming up.

Saw this beauty yesterday and had to look closely to confirm it was a real plant! It is a Callianthe picta, commonly known as a Redvein Abutilon (well not that commonly, I’ve never heard of it.) I love the Seek app, it’s so good at identifying plants.

One of the (many) things I love about this thread is that it’s made me more observant as I walk around the city, and subsequently I get more pleasure from my walks.

And he's baaaack!

Well good morning and a happy Sunday to all. I've just woken up and checked my lotto account where I've won 2 x fivers. Woo woo! Maybe I'll buy another couple of plants at the market today. I also see that Austria eon Eurovision. DD will be over the moon when she wakes up as we fell in love with JJ and his song last night and voted for him.

What a fabulous tree @noodlezoodle it's always interesting to see your photos as they are so different. Do share more if you can.

Ah, that all sound amazing @Bimblesalong can I also just say that your bag is fabulous! I adore floral patterns and I think we have very similar tastes. I'm currently eyeing up a giant willow One Hundred stars pinch pleat dress.

Oh Lordy @Confusedmeanderings he's a persistent little bugger isn't he? I love hedgehogs, but I don't think Mr Darcy would take kindly to one suddenly appearing in our house.

Well I think it's time to pop the kettle on. Hope everyone has a great day. Before I go, does anyone have any shopping or sightseeing recommendations for Amsterdam? Van Gogh is booked, we are staying in Zandaam and will be visiting Zaans Schams. Can't do bars or posh restaurants with 13 Yr old Autistic DD, but she loves shopping. I've sadly had to give Anne Frank's house a miss as I wouldn't manage the steep stairs.

Morning all, also enjoying a peaceful Sunday morning cuppa

@RainbowZebraWarriorhttps://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en is massive but if you pick
a couple of galleries it does have some old masters and worth a look

can’t remember a massive shopping centre just a lot of small independents and the likes of H&M in the centre. The cheese shops, delft shop and the jewellery quarter are all worth a look. Afraid it was a while since we went. So can’t remember specific details

I agree with @CrushingOnRubies Definitely the Rjiksmuseum. Rembrandt’s house is also well worth a visit.
you could watch “girl with a pearl evening” as prep!

Oh yes Rembrandt’s house is worth a visit too.

Think Amsterdam is one of those cities where you walk around and you just stumble upon hidden gems. Like we just happened to walk by the canal and it was beautiful