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!

Wow. <makes note not to mess with your sister @sueelleker > @Bimblesalong I think I might be a bit too scared to have her over!
Very blowy here too. Suspect DH is slightly regretting running out of steam halfway through sorting the old plastic plant pots at the weekend - he had left the ones destined for recycling on the patio table and now they are nicely distributed around the village. It was hammering the horizontal hail against my bedroom window earlier but I am a hardy type and have wrapped up and heading to town in search of Things To Open for DD's birthday.
No news on mouse. I'm a bit worried it might have died under the bookcase given the lack of interest now shown by the cat, so I suppose this afternoon's job will have to be unloading the entire shelf so we can move it and see.
Good luck with all the quests today everybody! Opera and vegetables and work and so forth.
@Bimblesalong in a slight stitch from your comments on fuel prices and risotto, I was looking for a restaurant in Exeter for next weekend (any recommendations?) and was slightly horrified that one is charging £26 for a wild garlic risotto! I am extremely good at spending money but I was forced to channel my grandmother and muttered about how I could make that for the whole family for about a fiver 😂. Which is academic because I am the only one who would eat it with any relish - DH and DD1 would eat it to be polite, DD2 would poke at it a bit but be very sad, and DD3 would just go and get cereal 🤣. Those memes you see about eldest/middle/youngest daughters are spot on in our case

Thanks @leporello. Hope you enjoy tonight - what are you seeing?

It's snowing here! Wild and windy and horizontal white stuff.

Rigoletto, @martha79, the last act quartet is one of my absolute favourites, can't wait to hear it live 🤩.
And snow! It's certainly colder and very breezy here but nothing like that. Keep warm.

Oh Gosh, loose mice, reminds me of when dh hit one and killed it with a broom, cat was very miffed but we didnt want to start a colony in our dining room, DD was traumatised and kept telling anyone who would listen that 'my dad kills animals with his bare hands' she was about 7

Hi everyone, I've been away from the thread a few days and just catching up - it's been quite a lovely meander through delicious food recipes, catching mice and crazy winds! 😄

I've totally lost the poster who mentioned they were reading/had read Raising Hare, however wanted to add that by coincidence I have just finished reading it and really enjoyed it. A peaceful, quiet read and actually fascinating about the lives of these beautiful creatures. I took a picture of my copy of the book in front of a glorious yellow bush in the garden area at work (winter jasmine???) for posting with my "proper" review on my Bookstagram account!

I'm on annual leave this week and took a stroll into the town to get a coffee. There's a huge pine tree of some kind next to the cafe with the biggest pine cones I've ever seen! I thought this group might appreciate seeing a picture of the giant pine cone 😁

I think there were a good handful of of us that were reading / had read Raising Hare. Im listening on Audible. I think most enjoyed it but a couple weren't keen.

That pine cone in impressive. My Dad used to keep bees at Newcastle University botanical gardens and we have some from there as big as my head! Mum and Dad have a loveky display in the grate of their unused fireplace. The cleaner goes through a protracted cleaning ritual with them every six months.

Winter jasmine has green 'leaves' / branches, but it could also be forsythia as this is also yellow and coming into prolific bloom right now. That has brown branches.

I also need to look into this Bookstagram!

Sorry to hear about everyone's battles with the wind. We just have our usual gusty NE coastal winds here and nothing massively out of the ordinary (I am saying this whilst the car is rocking about, but I am waiting for DD in a particularly exposed spot) The stove will be on again as usual tonight as its forecast minus 1.

@Bimblesalong it is my own darned fault that I am fatigued and in pain. I've done almost two hours down the beach daily since January. It is a wonderful tonic, but there's no escaping that it takes it's toll physically. I just don't want to give it up.

And so here are today's beach pics.

@WhoAteMyBiscuit I can't see awfully well as the sun is very bright, but it looks like forsythia to me.

I've just done some Googling and I am in agreement that it's forsythia! It is such a wonderful colour when the sun shines on it 😍

+1 for forsythia. I never used to like it - so in-your-face yellow! - but am mellowing with age and coming around to it. A good thing as my neighbour has a massive one that seems to like it better in my garden and tris to get through the fence. It’s not as nice as gorse though.
Glorious beach photos @RainbowZebraWarrior
We moved the bookshelf and …
…
no mouse 🤣
so goodness knows where it has gone. I’m really at a loss now.

Socks and books purchased for the birthday girl, and I’ll take her shopping when she’s home for Easter.
love the enormous pine cone!

@piscofrisco school trips seemed different when we were kids. We had a residential to Ludlow when I was 11 and I recall being allowed to wander around in small groups without an adult - can you imagine that today?

My outstanding memory of Llandudno is DS1's epic tantrum as a toddler who did not want to be removed from the beach!

Oh my @leporello you lucky thing! You'll have a fantastic time - be warned, it's addictive!

@SheherazadesSeasonalNonsense no ideas for Exeter, sorry. Is River Cottage near there and worth a diversion for? I am salivating at the thought of wild garlic risotto, although not at the price. We've pretty much given up paying to eat out unless we're on hols - even then, we double up with a swoop to marks for take out food!

Glad there is no mouse. Hope you don't need to follow your nose in the coming days. In my previous house, a large Victorian Semi, we had a strange oily stain under the carpet on the threshold of the kitchen when we moved in - guess what was underneath .... ? !

That is ginormous @WhoAteMyBiscuit and very like the hare's ears.

@RainbowZebraWarrior stunning photos. You are very lucky. It is pants that the things that bring us joy can also break us.

Evening all. Exhausted but dragged myself out for a quick walk and despite the earlier snow it is looking lovely.

I feel I need a 😱😱😱 reaction to the stain story @Bimblesalong

That's a beautiful pic, and well done for getting out, my lovely. We had a crazy hail storm earlier. March really does chuck us four seasons in one day

@SheherazadesSeasonalNonsenseI stayed in Exeter back in November.

had one meal here. Really good it was on an old hospital so interesting decor
https://cosyclub.co.uk/location/exeter/

had a really nice pub grub meal here. https://www.theprospectexeter.co.uk/

this place is always recommended. Went about 10 years ago. Also nice but a bit further out I think https://millontheexe.co.uk/

there was one of those Lounge places further along the quay from there.

Will try and find the list of potential places to go that made for the trip

https://samueljonesexeter.co.uk/food-and-drink/ this place came up when I was researching where to eat but didn’t go in the end

Can't remember who is going to the Opera House for the first time tonight, but how fabulous, hope it's a wonderful night. I've only been once in my life, in my twenties with a very posh friendwhose dad had given her some tickets he didn't want. We saw Salome, such an incredible experience I remember I felt quite breathless afterwards.
I've started Raising Hare, it's a gentle read, although I'm finding it so gentle it's hard to get too enthusiastic about! Some interesting stuff in there though and I think I'll stick with it (unless I find something better - I'm often quite ruthless with books if they're not grabbing me!)
Freezing cold here today with a biting wind. Weather looking more hopeful for next week though. Would be nice to wear something other than the same two poloneck jumpers on rotation!

Gosh @martha79 that is spectacular.

@SheherazadesSeasonalNonsense were you anywhere near my health club tonight with your pied piper effect? I had to pause on the road leading up to it as there were two rats fighting on the road. I declined DH’s exhortation to run them over.

Delightful swim, VN, with Paul Mealor’s “A tender light” on my waterproof headphones with only me in the pool. Sometimes I coincide with men doing their 100 splashy lengths, which makes me think of the titanic. Tonight was serene.

I'm impressed with your sister @sueelleker ! She clearly isn't someone to mess with !

Enjoy Rigoletto @leporello . I am very jealous!

That's a proper whopper of a pinecone @WhoAteMyBiscuit . Years ago we brought back some huge fat ones from the Dordogne. They now live in a wooden antique dough trough In our sitting room, a permanent reminder of a lovely holiday.

Oh my, opera house and Rigoletto were both incredible. Dd2 joined us from Bristol and we ate at Balthazar then had cocktails on the terrace - a bit chilly but worth it as you could see the costume department at work in the studio behind, which was fascinating. Plus, views!

As mentioned, couldn't add them to the post for some reason...

Oh spectacular @leporellowhat a treat!
Sunny and cold here today. I’ve gone into work feeling rough as old boots and wish I hadn’t. I’m an Idiot.But I’m here now so will try my best and if I have to go home I have to go home.
A lovely sunny Thursday to all

Got more than I bargained for this morning when I went sea glass hunting. Ended up there for an hour and a half helping the British Divers Marine Life Rescue Medics with this little one.

Ohhhh, @RainbowZebraWarrior, bless him or her. Was he ok? He does look a bit sorry for himself.

The first medic that arrived concluded it was not injured, but she had to dash off on a course so I had to wait for a 2nd medic to turn up. By that time I'd had a fair bit of time to observe it and I think it might have an eye infection. I've left it in her hands for a couple of hours and have to go back down after my hair is done to assist further if needed. I have just wandered over from the hairdressers to my Dads allotment, root dye on, plastic hat atop, cape billowing behind me. He's on standby as we might need an extra pair of hands if we feel it needs lifting back into the water (its an incredibly busy stretch of beach ; I found it at peak high tide, but dog walkers will be flocking to the beach now)

I will update ASAP.

Oh the little darling, I hope it's ok!

Beautiful day here though still quite cold. I'm fairly broken from the last few days at work but today is a quiet one and I've managed a bit of a tidy up in the garden. Replanted a thyme whose pot had been blown across the garden and smashed. And my seeds have arrived.

After today I've got almost a week off so can gradually do other garden bits and have a few friends popping round at various times.