Year round Nigel Slater discussion thread - Part 3

[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 chair to the fireplace, grab a drink and relax.

A very hearty welcome to friends new and old!

The moon arrived at our local cathedral back in October. It is very impressive.

date night was lovely, if rather expensive. Wore a red/maroon jumpsuit in the end. It’s quickly becoming my favourite go to to wear on an evening out.

Hope your dachshund feels better soon @piscofrisco.

Well, of course the sun's not with you-it's on tour!😎

Yesterday's sun and the north Devon coast/Exmoor from the Welsh coast.

Beautiful photos @HannahDefoesSpringFling

Oh no at the naughty otters eating the fish and frogs @Bimblesalong We have otters back here on the Ouseburn in our city centre, and also recently seen sea otters on the local coastline. Beautiful creatures, but a darned shame when they eat so much wildlife. The circle of life I suppose.

Snow here again in the night which then turned to rain later in the morning and washed the snow away. We had a brief spell of sun earlier this afternoon and I sat in my conservatory observing the birds with my binoculars for a happy hour. Unfortunately, the starlings have discovered and devoured all of the coconut shell fat and seed feeders in one fell swoop. Need to rethink my game plan there as that's going to prove costly (and deprive the tits and finches)

Still no daffs here, but the crocus are starting to put on a nice show.

Thinking of a pub lunch for myself and DD tomorrow. We decided to check out another local menu. Apparently the veggie specials for a Monday are veggie bangers and mash, veggie sausages with chips and beans, and an all day veggie breakfast (veggie sausages with eggs and beans) Loving the variety there! Apparently they also do a curry night on a Thursday. The veggie option there is quorn nugget curry (!?) DD just said "Are they mad?, as A. That sounds disgusting, and B. Do they not think we don't have quorn nuggets in the freezer that we could cook ourselves at home?" Even back in the 80s you could usually get a mushroom stroganoff.

Leftover veggie lasagne for us tonight and the stove will be going on soon.

Just caught up. Some lovely photos you've all shared.

Friday at work was challenging. Had tonreact to a couple of things which completely derailed my plans for the day.

I have procured two boxes with lids, some compost and some.lettuce seeds and have sowed some lettuce seeds on my windowsill. Let's see if I can get any to grow. I also got a couple of shrubs from the 'buy these they're nearly dead' section. Also got two low round tubs of primroses for £1.20 each..at that price I don't mind risking them. I'm really not a gardener!

Today has been a huge wardrobe sort out. Three bags of clothes for a charity shop and about 20 things listed on Vinted. I've already sold a couple of things so they are parcelled up to go tomorrow.

It was so nice to have a break from the rain yesterday. Today we're back to grey misery.

We have SUNSHINE! Most unexpected. Might have to sack off my plan for clearing out the kitchen cupboards in favour of a walk along the seafront .

We have an increasing family of starlings that live on our roof and nest in next-door's eaves and they can empty a bird feeder in 3 seconds flat @RainbowZebraWarrior ! I do like them though and it makes me laugh when they scuttle about on the roof above my bed so we can hear them - really confuses the cat.
@leporello shh! Don't say the s-word! I could see a rainbow out of my bedroom window when I was drinking my morning tea today. 1. How nice that it was light! and 2. Beautiful.
Half term here. And everywhere? Even though I only have one child left in school I still enjoy a half term. She's not up yet but wants a lift to hobby craft as soon as she is (how lucky she is to have staff on standby to transport her about at her convenience). (And, presumably, pay when we get there.)

To be honest, just walked to the shop and the wind isn't playing 'let's pretend it's spring' at all @RainbowZebraWarrior. Brr! So kitchen cupboards plan might have to stand. Yes, lighter mornings are such a mood lifter, so glad I won't be getting up in the dark much longer.

Sorry, that was @SheherazadesSeasonalNonsenseI should have tagged. Love your username, I was once Sheherazade on a writing community forum many moons ago, seeing the name makes me nostalgic for that time.

Good luck with your lettuce @petitpasta

Quorn nugget curry is a pretty poor option @RainbowZebraWarrior

It is both sunny and raining here today, sometimes at the same time. There's loads of birds about - been watching a blue tit in the garden this morning, and I can hear blackbirds singing down my chimney again.

I'm enjoying the quietness of half term at work as a lot of our team are off and so are the people we deal with.

Having quite the energy dip the last couple of days, so cooking this week will be more 'assembling'. But I did manage to roast a tray of chicken drumsticks yesterday so they will last a few days for salads etc.

I managed to potter down to the greenhouse yesterday afternoon in the brief patch of sunshine we had between the heavy rain showers.

This morning it’s sunny again! Really lifts the spirits seeing blue skies. Forecast saying we will see it all day so I may even manage to do a bit of clearing away out in the garden and see what is popping up. The windchill is pretty vicious though but nothing being properly dressed can’t cope with.

My daffs have all just about gone over now, always good to hear they are only just popping up elsewhere. I imagine them as a yellow wave surging up the country 🌼

Ugh. It was sunny for an hour here and now chucking it down with a cold wind. Couldn’t be more pleased to be going away tomorrow Altus at this rate there will no doubt be some sort of unseasonal hurricane at the other end.
happy Monday all :)

"Forecast saying we will see it all day so I may even manage to do a bit of clearing away out in the garden and see what is popping up."

Oh well done weather forecast; piddling it down again now!

We are always around 3 to 4 weeks behind more southerly parts of the UK when it comes to nature / gardening / harvest times, but it still takes me by surprise every year. Especially hearing most of your daffs have gone over when there's only about 3 inches of ours poking through the soil. My Aunt in cebtral Wales had hers in raised beds and they would flower in December and January! Some sort of weird microclimate going on there!

Sunny ish off and on so far here. We are off to Wetherspoons for a late lunch at about 2ish - I may regret this, but apparently they do a chilli non carne and a decent sounding veggie ramen bowl - then we will have a mooch around our favourite Whitley Bay shops then we might get a quick swing by the beach / nature reserve before dark.

Snow and ice warning for us here again tonight - I think it's for a canny chunk of the east coast - so I need to grit the paths and top up the log pile.

Wetherspoons sounds like a decent choice!

I tried to catch the sun on a lunchtime walk but got icy cold rain instead. Daffs are starting to come out here but are getting a bit battered by the rain and wind. I love the differences across the country - always comparing notes with family in Scotland.

I've decided that my payday purchase this month is going to be a robot hoover - just been watching videos sent by a friend of their new one which is doing an excellent job. I've been defeated by trying to lug the 'big' hoover around this morning and my back hates me now - so I think the investment is worth saving the energy and aches.

went for a coffee with a friend to day for a catch up and got to cuddle and meet her gorgeous baby.

then walked the dog and there was blue sky and although it was touch and go for a bit, didn’t get rained on for the whole hour. Which is a first for a while.

Well Wetherspoons was a non starter. Our nearest one was heaving and far to busy and 'pub like' for DD. We had a wander round the local gift shops and charity shops instead. Going to try another one tomorrow. Its one that was previously a Premier Inn restaurant and I think this will be a better bet.

I had a mad urge to spring clean this morning, so the blinds, windowsills and windows got cleaned. They were 'hacky dorty' as we say up here. Ive put less crap Decorative Items back on the sills so it will be easier here on in. DD sorted and chucked a load of tat, too. I did drop and smash two things which sort of helped declutter in a roundabout way (those top heavy Dcuk Ornament things) Until DD heard and came running, telling me she could fix them.

@martha79 My Eufy robot vacuum cleaner has been the best thing I've ever bought. I've had it for about 3 or 4 years now and chucked the Henry hoover and all my useless Dyson's out as they were all utterly exhausting, useless and impossible for me to use. Bought my Mum one too. She still keeps a lightweight Gtech for the cleaner to use, but I have never missed having a 'proper' vacuum cleaner. Definitely go for it.

@martha79 we also have a eufy. She’s called Maureen and she zips round for an hour at midnight every night. I wouldn’t say I never need to get the vacuum out or give the kitchen a sweep, but it’s pretty rare and she stays on top of cat hair and general dust and grime (and mud from football/walking boots no matter how many times I say take them off at the door)

I love that she is called Maureen! We have always called our Eufy a 'she' too.

If I was honest, I'd say that a hand held vacuum would be useful in the house at times (and for the car, too) but my swiffer with a wet wipe on it does us ok as we have all hard floors.

Oh gosh, I have to share this. I'm not due to pick up my bespoke seaglass rings from the lovely silversmith lady until the weekend, but she's just shared this on Facebook and I almost didn't realise that she was talking about my jewellery in her post.

Beautiful rings @RainbowZebraWarrior, how exciting to look forward to collecting them at the weekend. I have quite a collection of seaglass and would love to use it to make some jewellery - the only thing I have made is this Christmas tree decoration for Dd a couple of years ago.

Noticed today the daffodils in our village are starting to show buds so spring is definitely on the way to the north east coast, but they need some respite from the cold wind and some more sunshine before we see any bright yellow flowers.

Beautiful rings! How exciting!
I would love a Eufy but I think the dogs would marmalize it.
we are ensconced in the best western near Heathrow ready for our early flight so I will wish you all a lovely day tomorrow early :)

Lovely rings @RainbowZebraWarrior

We have a Eufy too but it's been a bit of a waste of money really, used it quite a bit when we first had it but then DS moved back im after uni and the place never seems to be quite tidy enough, there are always shoelaces and charger cables dangling, I definitely can't let it run unsupervised (have never succeeded in connecting it to the wifi either). Oh and the cats don't like it. We've got a cordless Dyson and find that very useful. I do let the Eufy do the kitchen while I clear up sometimes but rarely.

First daffodils out here, February Golds (Hampshire) but not many and crocuses are jut out too, snowdrops just starting to fade.

Beautiful rings @RainbowZebraWarrior .

I would love a robot hoover, but like @ExquisiteDresses , I think it would be a bit of a waste of money - no matter what I do our house is never quite tidy!

Daffs are beginning to open here, but even more excitingly, I saw my first primroses this morning. They are my favourite flowers and it gave me such a lift!

Oh wow @RainbowZebraWarrior - the rings are gorgeous! I really like the decoration too @Seasidebubbles

Lovely flower pics @ExquisiteDresses

Well, I gave in and ordered the robot hoover/ mop (my friends sent me a video of their newly-acquired one doing an excellent job and it tipped me over the edge) - it'll be here today. I got a Tapo as I've got a few other products by them, it had decent reviews and there was a deal on. Let's see what the cats make of it! I think it'll be fine downstairs as that's usually pretty clear - living room and kitchen floor and a weird tiny square of lino by the front door. Upstairs could be more awkward as there's probably more furniture than floorspace, but even if it helps a bit that'll be good. I've got a cordless and a handheld to get into difficult corners if needed.

I've got my landlord popping round on Friday for a general "checking everything is OK" visit so doing bits and pieces of housework through the week - he's a friend so it's not like he's going to kick off over a bit of mess but I always feel it needs to be extra presentable.

It's sunny today - another 'one day only' appearance I believe, but it's lovely.