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!

Yes! I mean, I love photography in general, but I also wanted to 'preserve' this perfect little image, too. Annoyingly, I leaned down low and focused my camera for ages on the little pile of brown leaves where he was. I should have just took the picture as he was actually there all the time, but my focus had lost him. I stood stock still for 30 seconds, then watched as he ran under the ivy.

@EphemeraleEudemonia I am constantly in awe of your resilience and your ingenuity. I know it's a needs must situation much of the time, but you have an incredible skill set and imagination. The food sounds amazing and I love the idea of the repurposed black denim jeans apron. We used to have some lovely heavy duty denim aprons when I had my café. I have no idea where they went.

Regarding legume free hummus, think courgettes! I have made this before when we have a glut (every year!) Lovely and garlicky and lemmony. The firm, creamy white flesh of the courgettes does a great job of substituting the chick peas.

https://www.eatingbyelaine.com/easy-paleo-zucchini-hummus-no-chickpeas/

I hope your day is progressing OK @martha79 and that you don't have toi kate a finish. Fingers crossed also for a better night's sleep tonight for you. My beef stew has just gone in the crockpot. Ive added some chillies too as I quite like a spicy, peppery stew. It will be mostly welcome this evening as we are going down to 0 degrees again.

Where does the time go? I cannot seem to drag myself away from the beach at the moment. Its knackering but so rewarding. My best pal was saying that garden centres are her happy place and she finds herself humming and whistling as she goes round. I'm the same at the beach. I always end up quietly singing whatever my current earworm is as I'm pottering slowly along. Today was Kenny Rogers "Coward of the County" for some rather bizarre reason!

Need to get some more seeds into propgators and onto windowsills before having to go back out to collect DD for her physio.

Obligatory beach photo of the day, including some of our swimming club ladies in the water. It was very calm, but extremely cold!

Ooh I would like to at least paddle in that sea.

Today's gone OK, thanks - thank goodness for working from home though as I've done some of it while pretty much horizontal. I've got a bit of music teaching to do this evening but that should be alright, at least it's a change from looking at a screen.

Only managed to pop out into the garden briefly but today's new thing is that the flowering currant is starting to flower.

smashing beach pic RZW.
we do some wool carding at the farm @EphemeraleEudemoniabut never thought beyond it. Felting might be a shout.
glad your day was ok @martha79
A glorious day on the farm today-actual t shirt weather and blossom beginning in the orchard.
made up for the fact that our boiler is on the Fritz and won’t be fixed until Friday. No hot water, 3 moany children. Swings and roundabouts.
DH now en route back from Paris, a day early as he feels so poorly. I told him so. He has managed to get a Dr’s appt for tomorrow at least. Here are some plum trees blossoming in sunny spots in the orchard for our Spring watch picture series :)

last night was lots of fun. And thinking about it because it was so last minute I didn’t have time to dwell on the fact that I went on my own. If i had any longer to think about / dwell on it I would have been more wobbly about it all. have spent most of today with a sore throat. Really hoping it’s because of all the singing last night and not the start of a lurgy.

big milestone reached today for the coming of spring. Drove home, went to the shop and put away the recycling bin bags in the light. No car headlights or torch needed.

Ooh you are brave @piscofrisco- I ventured out without a coat today but a T shirt Would definitely have been a step too far. I snapped a very quick shot in town as I was chatting to DD2 who is currently in Portugal and wanted to show her the sky! I’d forgotten it could do that - glorious. But very chilly when you get out of the sun. Nil pwa for composition but lots of pwa for the spring sunshine.
I popped out in the garden for a bit too. My pelargoniums have been looking pretty happy all winter in the summerhouse but all of a sudden looking a bit at death’s door so I grabbed some safety back-up cuttings so fingers crossed they take. The crocuses are all having a lie down and I blame the blackbird that seems to spend all its days rootling about amongst them. I don’t know why but there are bird feeders in the tree above and now I think if it I don’t think I’ve ever seen a blackbird come to a feeder so perhaps they don’t do that but just tidy up the spillages on the ground.

March-when it’s summer in the sun, and winter in the shade. In fairness I was working with a very active co farmer which probably also contributed to warmth. I’ve done 20,036 steps today at quite high speed!

@piscofrisco I'm a bit undecided on the Peter Kay book, not very far into it yet though. It's basically a collection of anecdotes from his youth and general thoughts but it's not as entertaining as I had hoped it would be. Will
continue with it and see.

Popping my head in. Things are busy here and I then have few spoons left. I’m enjoying the spring photos - although not the one of the shed roof looking for a nesting site in RZW’s garden!

Managed a couple of sunny walks to break up a busy (but good) working day today. The hawthorn smells wonderful.

Got the red cabbage with pomegranate done, (but it's somewhat showing its age and fresh pomegranate seeds would definitely be better) but it can wait for the morning, as pictures of a beautiful worm moon over London are definitely the better visual choice.

@RainbowZebraWarrior You're very kind, but there's honestly little to be in awe off, I just lack the imagination or common sense, to know when to quit.
Thank you for the courgette suggestion, I am now in possession of one, and will hopefully get some time in the morning to see if it sorts the pepper hummus out..
The beach looks amazing, I'm not surprised you're down there treasure hunting. I would love to be!

@SheherazadesSeasonalNonsense Blackbirds are mainly ground feeders, but ime if you give them a decent sized flat surface, low platforms, or bird table they'll use them. Beautiful sky.

@piscofrisco "March - when it’s summer in the sun, and winter in the shade"
So true.
We're carding rag bagged moth eaten jumpers with 50% or more wool here for felting wool, when we can get them, so you should be good.
Sorry about the boiler and hope DH can get some answers, or at least better.

@Bimblesalong Wishing you some extra spoons.
.

I saw that book on the charity book table in sainsburys yesterday. Brand new, so obviously someone wasn't impressed with it to pass it on so quickly. I had a flick through and it wasn't for me (I've always previously loved his comedy)

Hope you have some restful time coming up over the weekend my lovely. The hawthorn being out where you are has just blown my mind! It will be May here for us. The trees are still completely bare. I'm also still patiently waiting for daffs to open. I swear I am in a very weird little micro climate here. It's loveky to read what's going on nature wise elsewhere as it reminds me what I have to look forward to 😊

Hope you slept better and have some easier days coming up.
Now the flowering currant is my one shrub I can truly rely on. I have one in the front garden right next to where I park. I take a photo every day of it at this time of year and am always amazed at how quickly it goes from 'buds poking out' to 'look at me! I'm in full flower' I bought one for the back garden last year but it's a little bit behind. I need to take it out of its pot and put it in the ground. Very little went into the ground last spring and summer as it was so dry and tbe ground was rock hard!

I’ve got a DD named after Hawthorne (in a round about way) so it always cheers me to see it. Not quite out for us yet but not long.
Lovely moon pic. We couldn’t see it due to cloud.
Up early to take car for its oil change then it’s a day off of cleaning, cooking and Dog walking for me I think. A long walk around Rutland water if it’s sunny, Burleigh House if it isn’t. I’ve got a console table to upcycle too so I might start sanding it down.
have a lovely Wednesday all

It was a beautifully clear night here with tons of stars and a bright moon. Frost on the windscreen again this morning. We've had some perfect winter mornings here recently. Frosty, with crisp bright skies.

@piscofrisco Hope your Dr is a good one and doesn't just look at what ails DH at the moment, but the frequency and severity. If the GP doesn't offer, it's worth asking for full bloods ro be taken. My guess would be that his health issues are either stress related or could be an underlying autoimmune condition. My father went through a similar spell in his late 40s that ended with our GP standing at the bottom of his bed shouting "Will you listen to me Man, you are exhausted!" My DD was ill constantly and it wasn't till I pushed for bloods that we found out about her Pernicious Anaemia and Hashimotos. Anyway. Best of luck and fingers crossed for him. I hope you also enjoy your day of not running about the farm like a whirlwind.

@SheherazadesSeasonalNonsense My pelargoniums haven't survived the winter but as I love them so much I shall be buying more. I used to have a garden full of red ones when I had a sheltered walled garden. Very Mediterranean. I now go for the lipstick pink ones and they mainly stay in the conservatory for some bright colour. My crocus are also flat, but I can't blame Shadow (my resident blackbird) It's my own stupid fault for planting them down the side of the drive in the front garden where they just get battered by the wind constantly. 15 years since I planted them and 15 years I've been saying I will lift them and move them. Maybe this year will be the year.

Ah Thankyou RZW. I’m going with him as he won’t ask any of the right questions!
My Pelargoniums in pots which move with us have also died. I’ve got some on the go in the poly tunnel at work for when it gets warmer. Freya and chilly here this morning but I’ve hopes the sun will break through in a bit

Ah, I wonder if I have mixed up hawthorn and blackthorn. Must take a closer look later when I have a walk.

There is a clear herald of spring here. We have just had the noisy road menders sorting out some of the more dangerous pot holes on our lane - at last!

Thanks for well wishes. Too many tabs open is another way of describing it - a first-world issue, caused by a short uk break early next week, so I have a lot whirling that I "need" to sort before we go.

The hawthorn is definitely coming out here - more flowers than leaves at the moment. It's one of my favourite plants as it reminds me of walks with my dad as a kid - he was always pointing out the different stages it was at, and telling me about its medicinal qualities. I did make hawthorn jelly once, which was a pretty colour but not that exciting to eat. I actually have a hawthorn branch tattooed on my arm (NVN I guess!) - although it's a bit seasonally inaccurate as I wanted both the berries and flowers on there.

Beautiful but chilly day here - got some washing hung out first thing and a potter around in the garden. Would like to go further but I'm waiting in for a couple of parcels, so will have to see when they arrive.

Work is quieter although I'm wrangling some annoying data/ admin stuff. Am ridiculously hungry whilst having no inclination to cook. Pate on toast for lunch I think.

I love that tattoo @martha79 Ive also been obsessed with hawthorn since I was a small child. Id be allowed to play outside at around age 6 as long as I was local. I'd take myself off for a walk along the hedgerows, pick the prettiest, pink tinged, wash to reach branches and call on my great aunt with an armful. How I wasn't cut to ribbons I'll never know. By the time I got home (around a 4 mile trip) My aunt would already have been on the phone to my Mum saying "she's wandered off again, mind" Yet still I did it again and again.

Sun mostly out here. Peter Kay still on the book table when I dropped some more books off earlier. I've had my hair done and had a little change, cleaned the stove out and prepped it for lighting tonight, cleaned tbe bathroom, reordered all my meds, been to M&S (bought more Dahlia Labyrinth tubers as it's my fave & Freesia bulbs as they arr my Mum's fave - good price, you get 2 Dahlia tubers for £6) also bought more Campanula as I'm obsessed with it. I now really need to put some stuff in the ground.

Interesting re Peter Kay book @RainbowZebraWarrior . I'm going to finish it as DS bought me it but then it will quietly go off to the charity shop. There's just something about the style it's written in, a bit infantile, a bit dated. A shame.

Beautiful weather here this afternoon. I'm off work sick (tummy upset) was in bed all day yesterday, today I am up and about but taking it easy as I feel very weak. It was cold and foggy this morning and the clouds only cleared about an hour ago but now it is tee shirt time, I've got a hoody on and am too hot. Going to go in and fetch my crochet and some magazines to sort through, I cut out and collect recipes.

I thought the same when I flicked through it as I originally swooped on it thinking wow, my Mum would love this.

Beautiful here too. Ive just pulled up outside school and we have an options evening this evening. DD is very excited that I am getting to meet some of her teachers for the first time.

Hope you're feeling better soon. Crochet and magazines sound like a good plan. Cutting recipes out of magazines is one of my favorite things to do 😊

I LOVE that tattoo! I’m going to show it to my dd as she is wanting to get one but doesn’t know what!
freezing here today as the cloud hasn’t lifted. Still no heating and no hot water so I’ve got DSS’s oodie on.
DH managed to leave his paracetamol out and one of the dogs has eaten one. We don’t know which of the three, (money on the sausage) , so they are all currently in the vets having their stomachs pumped as a prescription as it’s so toxic to Dogs . Brilliant. 😡😡

Ohh no, poor dogs @piscofrisco - hope they're all OK.

Thanks for the nice comments on the tattoo - it's an extension of an older one, so there's a crescent moon in the middle then hawthorn branches going up and down from it. I have various others - a couple of hares sitting in moons, a hummingbird at a crocosmia flower, the sun, a butterfly and a whole host of sea-related creatures - all black/ grey in the same sort of style.