The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2025/6 Part 4

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Hello all, and welcome to Part 4. We Continue our CC journey. We are almost at the end, as there are only four chapters of the book left, but there will be a year round thread for those who wish to continue.

For anyone who has not already had the pleasure, the annual Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles read along is a real time annual MN tradition.
The Christmas Chronicles (Notes, stories and 100 essential recipes for midwinter) book began on 1st November.

We continue to read along and comment with the book which is set out in diary form. I will make a post each day (or let you know if there is no entry on a particular day)

For anyone new, (and it's never too late to join in) it's a challenge to see of you can pick up the book as a bargain. Vinted has come up trumps in the past, as has ebay. A rare and precious charity shop find is always a bonus. Don't forget, you can also listen along to Nigel's dulcet tones via Audible.

So, welcome to old friends and new, and don't forget that reading by candle light is particularly enjoyable. Cire Trudon may be one of Nige's candles of choice, but it's somewhat pricey. We don't discriminate against other less expensive brands - even if they are NVN (Not Very Nigel)

Pull up a chair, light a candle, grab a cosy blanket and join in!

@PricklyBob the issue with your phone call is likely to be a rather female trait of not wanting to cause any trouble, wanting to be compliant to authority etc. So bite your own tongue and summon your inner parent to act for you. Be your own Tiger Mom.

I’m behind with the thread but did just want to say that before going back and reading properly.

Oh, and - trivia alert- I discovered while preparing for a work meeting tonight that as well as my own personal church altar background, Zoom will also apply lipstick for me. Choice of colours as well! Save me a quick minute that will 🤣

Congratulations @PricklyBob. I’m another one who HATES making personal phone calls of that nature. I would put that off and off and annoy myself to death.
I Like your candles RZW.
The Weather can absolutely do one. Rain rain and more rain. The Mud is next level.
Im exhausted, as always when I stop for a break.Sore throat (which I’m studiously ignoring), Packing to do now and then an early night.

@petitpasta I keep picking Craftland up in bookshops and carrying it about then remembering how many books I have at home and putting it back down again! Probably I should just add it to the pile (then ignore it like the rest of them)

@PricklyBob Do you want me to call?

Actually perhaps I could start an online business - as a sort of floating PA - just to do the phone calls people don't want to make!

Hope you enjoy your weekend away @piscofrisco I can't remember where you are going, but hopefully it is somewhere without rain. I am sodding sick of it (or should that be sodden?) I should be grateful, really, as our brilliant council put in measures to stop further flooding here a few years ago (they built a massive run off basin in a nearby field) Also, I meant to say well done on securing the Harry Styles tix. I love his new song! DD is not a fan - she's a goth -otherwise I'd also be there in a heartbeat.

Now there's a business idea!

@PricklyBob I once used the Clarins website to 'try on' lipsticks. Unfortunately, I have very thin lips, and none of them made me look awfully good, so I didn't buy. The colours on the models always look amazing. This probably explains why I still have so many unused lipsticks from the 1990s (Twilight Teaser and Ice Champed Pink anyone?)

I’ve lit my Diptyque Baies this evening to combat the January gloom, inspired by your candle photos @RainbowZebraWarrior. It’s one of my favourites. I

I had twilight teaser! And heather shimmer

Oh I loved Heather Shimmer. Was Twilight Teaser a darker purply colour?

@frozendaisy I would absolutely employ you to make phone calls for me, I hate phoning people. I find conversation really hard without visual cues - video calls are much easier for me (plus they're usually arranged in advance so both sides are expecting them). I can write a really persuasive email though!

And apparently I can get Zoom to glam me up, I must try that @PrizedPickledPopcorn

Some lovely candles this evening. I'm trying to get through some of the Christmassy wax melts in the hope it won't be too long before I can move onto spring scents - I've had a mix of frankincense and a smoky sort of one called something like Fireplace this evening.

Congratulations on the nomination @PricklyBob! Also, good luck with the phone call, it won’t be as bad as you think but I feel your anxiety about it as am much the same.

I would 💯 use a PA to do all my horrible phone calls for me. this is a GREAT idea!
I used to wear a lipstick called Black Cherry from Rimmel. It was quite gothic, which is odd because I was not. I fancied it made me look very sophisticated. Old pictures reveal that It did not. That said I’ve been wearing the same eye shadow for day time (when I can be bothered) since I got a free sample of it aged 15 and im now 46! (Boots no 7 shade Wheatsheaf in case anyone is remotely interested :) so perhaps I should revisit my dark lip too!
we are going to the Lake District. A place that could not be more rainy if it tried. With added sleet in the forecast. It’s our annual trip that we get each other for Christmas and birthdays to a swank hotel. Last year we went to Burgh Island. This year we are going to the Gilpin hotel and lake house. (Only for Sunday night mind as it’s spendy, tonight and Saturday we are in an air b and b in Bowness. We intend to do some hiking, (wet weather gear being packed), and some pub teas next to some hopefully roaring fires, followed by a Sunday in a very nice spa and a posh slap up dinner. I am very excited!! I’ve been up since 5 like a kid at Christmas.
A lovely Friday to all!

That sounds amazing @piscofrisco I hope you have a fab time.

It's coming uo to Nigel's usual Japan time so I am checking his insta for pics. I don't know why, as it just makes me feel rather envious that I don't have his 'freedom' (or money!)

Very much looking forward to a time in the hopefully near future when I can leave the house in the mornings and it not be dark.

Busy few days coming up. Today I am cutting and boxing honey comb as DDs old personal trainer has asked if he can sell it in his gym. I've then got regular honey orders to put together for delivery over the weekend and a couple of hundred more jars to sterilise. Also need to pop to the library to discuss our 'Bee talks' I was asked yesterday if I could do one during May half term, just as I was looking to book our Paris break for then. Need to get things booked.

Happy Friday, all!

Happy Friday! Have woken up to an unexpected sprinkling of snow. Meant to be going on a little day trip with a friend today but she lives far more rurally than me, so will have to see what the snow is like for her getting here first.

Tried to take an arty photo of my hydrangeas in the snow but it was a bit too dark to focus properly!

@piscofrisco have a wonderful weekend- anywhere right now without obligations would be just fine - nice wet hike then no guilt over food or wine with fires and reading - perfect
I suggested to H we have a sneaky lunchtime pint after I finish sketching today (out of house this would be on way back) - before hungry teens get home - best we can muster up this weekend - I’ll even get a real newspaper with a crossword

@RainbowZebraWarrior a Pooh bear weekend stealing honey

due to Sunday arrangements our usual Sunday roast is going to be on Saturday this weekend - so no one will know what day it is for weeks

oh yes to have the life of Nigel - it would be easy to enjoy the cold slow mornings if the rest of the was in a warm kitchen and nothing more pressing than lifting a quill! We can but strive

That makes it a very arty photo, @martha79 !

What a lot of jars. It’s the worst bit of jamming, for me. Constantly trying to get labels off jars and get everything clean. I do them in the microwave as I’m not doing the numbers you need, RZW.

I’m having a nice quiet day today. Sewing, I think. I’m very tired- achey eyeball tired. I made a big pot of spicy chilli yesterday so there’s no need to cook.

My Vinted is showing me shoes in the expensive brand I like, at bargain prices, and I’m having to decide what I actually need… so far I’ve bought two pairs of shoes and two tops.

@RainbowZebraWarrior wat do people do with honeycomb? Do they eat the wax? My mind immediately leapt to the much less healthy Crunchie type of honeycomb. I need to make some for DH’s coming birthday, as he’s rather fond of it and there’s nothing else to get him.

I made the call! It really helped, feeling like I had all of you lovely people cheering me on. In the end, it was really easy and a complete non-event. As soon as I explained unable to make that date, I was told that the next available appointment would be seven weeks afterwards. The receptionist was really apologetic but I jumped at the chance to take the slot without having to turn down and explain the six week time in between.

Phew!

I have to do a couple of hours of work - not actual work as it's my day off but I do some consultancy on the side - but then planning to go for a run and then have a decadent candlelit afternoon bath using some of the lovely products I received for christmas, and hopefully finishing my current book (Margaret Atwood's memoir).

It wasn't me who originally posted about the lipstick, but, funnily enough, I have recently rediscovered lippy and find that it really lifts my face. I wore it as a teen - I remember all the shades mentioned here and would add BonBon to the mix (I can't remember of it was 17 or No7 from Boots - I think it might have been the latter in an attempt to feel very grown up).

Also, I meant to post my mushrooms

Well done @PricklyBob on getting that done.

No snow here, but it's blowing a hoolie with a delightful rain / sleet / hail mix. Just need snow and graupel to conplete the precipitation bingo!

I'm going to have to force myself back out there as I need to go and retrieve the frames of honey in order to cut and box it. Yes, folk who like the comb eat the wax too @PrizedPickledPopcorn It's mostly just a thin capping which more or less dissolves (especially if you're spreading it on toast or having it with hot porridge). I think people either love or hate cut comb because of the wax element. I get asked all the time for 'Raw' honey which is a bit of a wanky buzz word at the moment. It has no real meaning or definition, but I guess you can't get any more natural that slabs cut straight from the hives. What they probably mean by 'raw'is actually unpasteurised. I suppose it's seen as a 'superfood' especially anong the supremely fit and healthy. It's a very serious gym where all the local premiership footballers go. I must admit, I do miss people watching and gawping at supercars there when DD had her weekly sessions. Funding came to an end after a year, and I can't really justify the £70 an hour to pay for her myself to have personal training.

Right. Best get going and also find my comb cutter. God knows where I've squirrelled it away!

@PricklyBob well done, what a relief. My lips are a bit grey and if I don’t wear lipstick I get asked if I’m alright! Glasses have helped the eye situation- no visible eyelashes or eyebrows. I used to need to do brows and lashes as well. Basically I felt I had to paint on some facial features as I’m so colourless 😁. Well, apart from the freckles 🙄

Haven't worn lipstick, except a neutral beige I bought from the YSL counter circa 2002, in years! I have thin lips that just look scary in any kind of strong colour, very sad because I love make-up and wore all the on-trend brands through my 20s but it just has a clown effect on me now.

The school where I work is closed today because all the school bus companies refused to operate in the predicted flooding... The funny thing is it's quite pleasant today, nothing much happening weatherwise. But I can well imagine a lot of the country lanes are impassable, so a relaxed work-from-home day for me, yay.

I wish I could be arty and crafty like so many of you but I'm all left thumbs. I limit myself to buying nice things when I can afford to . Lovely white tulips for the living and dining rooms today.

@leporello I'm a fellow member of the thin, pale lips brigade, and my solution is frequently-applied tinted lip balms and/or sheer lipsticks. My go-to is Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream lip balm in Plum (often good deals online), but Clinique Black Honey sheer lipstick also works for me, as do some of the Burts Bees ones. I'm also extremely cackhanded so the fact that they generally look ok without a mirror - just a quick swipe - is a huge advantage. My colouring is basically pale blue, but there are ones that work well for other skins too - there's a more goldy twin of the Clinique one, and several other 8 hour ones.

Well done @PricklyBob My old boss used to call it "eating a frog" and explained that every day, metaphorically you have to eat a frog, so best to get it out of the way with.

Very pleased to see RBZ's candle bargains, how lovely. It has been a slog to get through January, candles definitely help!

@PrizedPickledPopcorn I had my eyebrows microbladed before I went for chemo - it was great as I lost all of my facial hair apart from a couple of chin hairs - just rude! I absolutely love having the appearance of eyebrows as mine now are paler and thinner with age. I'm keeping up on the microblading. Never thought I'd be a person to have "work" done but it's been a revelation!

There's a thread on here called something like "one shitty job a day", very much along the lines of "eat a frog". My frog-eating exploit today has been to pay my personal tax, AND verify my identity with Companies House. I am absolutely stuffed with frogs and think I might go and cut some stuff down in the garden to recover!

Thank you so much for the lippy recs @SqueakyDinosaur , this is gold! I will be heading to the make-up counters next time I'm in John Lewis now.