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!

MRI scan was noisy and unsettling and weird - and the hospital Costa coffee machine and microwave noises freaked me out for a good ten minutes afterwards - but it's one step on the way to being able to eat lemon drizzle cake again and that's a Good Thing .

Planning for future cake is an excellent positive take on things @leporello

I've just been looking (online) at Mary Berry's new book 'My Gardening Life' which comes out in a couple of days - it's an autobiography based around her experiences of gardening. Definitely one I'd like to read but can't imagine wanting to hang on to... perhaps I should sort out that library card.

Just noticed it's available to pre order on Audible and its narrated by Patricia Hodge (who I love) so I'm going to make a cuppa and listen to a preview of it.

I have to say that I think it might be a no from me regarding Mary Berry's gardening book. She talks about her gardener who has been with her for 30 years and how the garden is made up of the tennis courts, croquet lawn, kitchen garden, always having stripes on the main lawn etc. There are some lovely childhood memories, but again, big house, very privileged life.

Today looks good weather wise, so I'm going to try and get some planting done and some washing on the line as early as poss. I'll hopefully still fit the beach in.

Happy Wednesday, all.

Good luck with the scan @leporello

glad the car is sorted @RainbowZebraWarrior how scary! Ds1 does a lot to cars for us but he is now working building airplanes and it’s going well
for him.

Cat is home, huzzah. Cost a king’s ransom but mum is happy. There is a heart issue with her so they are trying out some treatment. She was mum and dad’s Covid cat and has been Mums great pal since dad died.

we have a new Lidl, so I’m going to give that a try today. I’ve downloaded the app and there is a nice lot of free stuff and offers for the opening.

I do love a Lidl @Bimblesalong
I remember when they first opened one near us and the shock on the faces of a few customers when they realised how quick the checkout operators were and you were just expected to chuck everything back into your trolley then pack it elsewhere! No faffing allowed 😄

ETA: it’s much more of a ’normal’ supermarket experience now I think.

Local gossip says we might get an Aldi, but I think that has been the gossip for at least ten years so maybe just wishful thinking.

I thought of this thread when I read this in the Telegraph; it’s given me some ideas of new candles to try:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/0529d87135c864aa

Oh Mary! Not sure that'd be quite my thing either.

Good news on the cat @Bimblesalong - and enjoy the new Lidl excitement!

Last day at work for me this week - it's been a week of much annoyance and hassling, and I can't wait to be away from it for a few days. Got a friend visiting to do some craft bits together tomorrow.

These look nice - I like the sound of the Le Labo one! Reminds me I must get on with burning the last of the wintery smells.

Where's the new Lidl, @Bimblesalong ? I have missed this. (Although it takes me about 10 minutes to get to the old one and I literally never go there. But just interested!)

Need to have a proper read of this when I'm not rushing, but glad to see Neom Cosy Nights in the Top 5. Its a gorgeous candle. Anyone who likes feu de bois would appreciate it. Speaking of which, I am absolutely loving this one at the moment; Fireplace by Floral Street. Beautifilly smoky.

Oh, I didn't know Floral Street did candles too @RainbowZebraWarrior , I've got a few of their scents in sample sizes and they are lovely. Might be my new spring candle. Beautiful spring vibes today, I was quite enjoying the train ride home until two very drunken blokes plonked themselves down across the way from me .

How on earth have I managed to lose a package containing a new bedding set? It is nowhere in the house and I'm baffled.

Well that was a bargain tastic shop. Top tip, @SheherazadesSeasonalNonsense to download the Lidl app before going and to shop / checkout wisely. I have a sack of potatoes, a butternut squash, a large box of blueberries, a sourdough and a croissant all free with my electronic vouchers. Next time DH will take his newly downloaded app and hope for similar new opening offers. It’s next to our local big Sainos, which was useful as there were a few other things i needed.

Great shopping there @Bimblesalong

Sorry you had to deal with drunken blokes @leporello. Most missing things in my house seem to turn up in the bottom of the wardrobe...

Very stressful day at work, but I'm off now until Monday. Just scribbled a load of stuff into a notebook to try to get it out of my head for the weekend. And sent my GP a small essay on the NHS app messaging thing as I'm feeling like the Long COVID stuff has just stalled the last few weeks. If nothing else I'd like another fit note for work as I can't do the potential travel coming up in the next couple of months.

On the plus side, I made flapjack this afternoon. It's come out quite crunchy this time but tasty, and the kitchen smells nice.

Our village is locked in a major battle against Lidl, currently. It was a huge novelty when they opened one next to our local hospital a year or two ago around a mile and a half away. They had knocked down some old buildings to make way for it. However, they now want to build another 20,000 square foot one on farmland on the edge of my village. There is already a 20,000 square foot empty retail unit, but Lidl don't use empty properties apparently, they only build their own. This is farmland I I've known and loved since I was a child. I'm aware that I sound like a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) but I am currently boycotting them because it will ruin our sea views, rob us of yet more farmland and create even more of an issue with the already unsustainable traffic issue through the village.

That said, I love their bakery items and am all for them challenging the conventional UK based supermarkets (who's prices are soaring beyond control)

Anyway, on a lighter note, here's a montage of seaside treasures from my visit to the beach, yesterday.

Loving all the candle talk. We make ours as a way of having the nicer things in life regardless of finances, so nice to have ideas to play with, as well as not ending up entirely ignorant of what's out there, but without the conversation here it would all pass me by. Another nice thing this thread does.

Yesterday was spent in a windowless room voluntarily facilitating a screen printing workshop as one of a number of workshops we hope to attract funding for. Set up very early and it was dark by the time I got out, so am reliant on second hand reports, but am told it was absolutely gorgeous day here. Shame to have missed it, but the pay off though has been how lovely it's been to see people who life hasn't treated well, realizing they can do much more than they thought and developing skills.

@RainbowZebraWarrior Your beach is a mobile treasure trove. Just as well I don't live near it, I'd be so very drawn to it's turnover of treasures on each tide. Glad to hear the car saga worked out.

@SheherazadesSeasonalNonsense I don't know how much it's been luck or not, but the grape hyacinths seem quite resistant to bulbs being eaten and rot and just come up year in and out.

@Bimblesalong Very glad to hear poorly expensive puss is home. Fingers crossed for the treatment.

@leporello Hope your scan brings you good news. Sorry to hear the drunken blokes diminished your train ride. Here, largish missing items usually turn out to have been hiding in plain sight, though I sometimes wonder about house elves...

@DameProfessorIDareSay Memories of Lidl early days and the cashiers when I arrived in a wheelchair as a non faffer with a lap bag, as unable to maneuver a trolley. We got competitive as I proved I was more than able to put scanned items into the bag on my lap at their pace of lobbing them into the till ends.
Lobbing them there instead of a trolley nearly broke a couple of them though over 'this is against the rules' 'you can't shop here if you can't use a trolley.' On one occasion the whole queue forced to wait while a manager was called to arbitrate over a demon cashiers absolute refusal to serve me. Common sense eventually won through but only after a competitive battle of who could out perform who to be 'allowed' in again. It's all thankfully come to terms with itself, and considerably more dignified these days.

@martha79 Wishing you a lovely long weekend break and enjoyable crafting.

@EphemeraleEudemonia the screen pri tingling workshop sounds amazing, although it's a shame you never saw the sun. Access to beautiful beaches and gorgeous seaglass can be a bit of a curse at times as I often push myself to go daily after high tide (cos otherwise FOMO) but there's a fine line between getting some fresh air and building up my strength and, well, utterly knackering myself. Due to appointments and tide times, I'll only manage a quick half hour before the school run this afternoon. It felt gorgeous yesterday though, with no coat on and folk emptying their pockets of seaglass they had picked into my little bag ❤️

Im trying to organise the next couple of weeks in my diary. We have a seed seap event on Saturday, options evening early next week, and some other appointments, but I've also been offered a place on a grafting course at our local community orchard. Im so tempted, but you get to graft two trees of your choice and take them home and I really don't need any more fruit trees.

I am also tempted by a local author talk. She's a new crime writer based here in the NE of England and her books are set in Northumberland and Yorkshire. I need to ring the library to ask how long the talk will be as I don't like leaving DD at home too long / late. I've not read it yet, but I am picking up a reserved copy this afternoon from our local bookshop. It's called Dying to stay young and is part of a series of five that she will be releasing, with the 2nd and 3rd books both coming this year.

Oof. That was a long day..I've somehow managed to do over 8,000 steps. The wind is a bit wild too, so have been battling against that.

Just sharing my vinted bargain for the day. I bought a job lot of 27 items of jewellery for £6. The seller said it was mostly costume, but there were some silver and gold items among the bundle. Sure enough, this lovely sterling silver belcher bracelet was one of the items. I've worked out it cost me around 22p per item.

I have paid forward the good deed as I nipped into a charity shop and heard a couple say they were looking for cook books. I explained that the animal charity only sold vegan cook books. They told me they were after baking books for their daughter. I had a baking book and a hairy bikers pie book in the boot of the car so asked if they would like them. Dashed to the car to get them and am happy they have now found a new home.

Oh lordy. Ive just found a 9 carat gold necklace and bracelet and a sterling silver necklace with an initial on which just happens to be DDs initial!

What great finds @RainbowZebraWarrior!

Your workshop sounds fabulous @EphemeraleEudemonia

Had a really nice day here - we'd been talking before Christmas about making a wreath with a potato base as there were loads of videos doing the rounds about it, but didn't manage to. So we've made erm, early spring potato wreaths! Also popped out for a rainy walk to the city farm, and ate a lot of flapjack. I'm really tired but in a different way from the rest of the week - been nice to not look at a screen all day.

That's gorgeous! We should all have more wreaths like that at this time of year. I know a lot of folk put up Easter decorations, but i prefer the aesthetic of Christmas foliage.

Fuck it @RainbowZebraWarrior what's wrong with being a NIMBY? If you don't look after the local environment then who will!?!
Great vinted finds telling you Karma is with you! :)

Blooming heck, @RainbowZebraWarrior I’m absolutely with you on being a NIMBY. That’s a shocker.

Ok. I was convinced that the potato-based wreath would have actual potatoes on it. Yours is gorgeous, but now I have a mind-worm.

Waving to the French contingent and am hoping your croissants are always the best butter @lilliangish Hope all is ok with you and yours.

Ahh the potato is hidden! I believe it's meant to keep the greenery fresh for longer https://ngs.org.uk/how-to-make-a-simple-potato-wreath/

Love the idea of a potato wreath. It’s like a more environmentally friendly foam oasis. There’s a big move away from oasis to wire frame and things In floristry. However I know some florists aren’t keen. For various reasons

Just popping back to post a photo of my lettuce seedlings too. There is one row pf cut and come again lettuce and one of radishes which I hope will be finished (if I thin them out) before the lettuce get up to full size. Photo taken in the dark!