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!

My hair is much like yours @PrizedPickledPopcornthough since peri began it’s become like a Brillo pad in textures. I ignore it in the week anyway as I just tie it up and usually wear a sort of headband with ear warming bits over it anyway for work (it’s a look!). At weekends I deep condition and straighten but it’s a losing battle I suspect.
crying at anton du Bek.
Rain rain and more rain. I feel wiped out for some reason and struggling to muster the energy to trudge about in the mud today. I loathe the sound my waterproof trews make so I will be irritated all day! What a ray of sunshine I am 😂
My candle purchases don’t abate during spring and summer at all (especially Easter which I like as much, if not more, than Christmas). So I think you will be fine @RainbowZebraWarrior.

Have a lovely Thursday all

Have a lovely Thursday all

Have a lovely Thursday all

We will, Pisco, we will!
We will, Pisco, we will!
We will, Pisco, we will!

Im also crying at Anton du bek being needy. I can actually imagine he would be! 🤣

Anyway, moving swiftly on.. I've come up with a shortlist for some non-christmassy candle blends, which, if not sold, will be happily put away until our Autumn and Winter fairs. So far, my shortlist is Lime, Bay and Bergamot, a coffee and walnut one, a vanilla and honey one, and a Baccarat rouge 'inspired' one. In the past, I've been such a purist and only used essential oils, but I'm so impressed with Nikura fragrance oils that im branching out. Tbh, id be stupid not too. It seems to be what most people want.

I've also bought this massive mercury glass vessel which I am going to make into a multi wick White Co Winter dupe for myself. I'll be using White Co Winter oil, so it won't be a dupe as such. It's going to take a lot of wax though; I reckon about 800g. Will still work out cheaper than the equivalent WC one. (although I also have a 700g WC Winter one squirrelled away for next Christmas in the wardrobe, just in case this one turns out pants)

I have massaged my hair / head with rosemary and peppermint oils before my appointment. I also live pretty much permanently in various wooly hats / headbands @piscofrisco so you aren't alone.

Have a good day, all. It's only 9 weeks until the clocks go forward, and we get rid of this seemingly perennial darkness. Hang in there!

Anton du Beke , did you dance the saaaaamba?

@SqueakyDinosaur , I read an article YEARS ago about how Max Richter's On The Nature of Daylight was chronically overused in drama, and unfortunately Hamnet is another offender... Other composers are available, filmmakers!

I will, will, will @piscofrisco !!!

Lovely mercury glass there, @RainbowZebraWarrior

It's gloomy and grey here. I'm having a boxing off morning in the office and then going to go for a bit of a stroll, followed by a book. I got another of Harriet from traitor's books from the library yesterday. I read Blood Orange, which was a good potboiler and a little like Harriet's traitors performance, as she went steady for most of the book but the end was somewhat overdramatic an a little unbelievable.

Whilst I love Max Richter's music, there is a lot of overuse. I do raise a brow and the number of different ways "Sleep" has been used and remastered. His remastering of Vivalidi's Seasons is terrific and, coupled with the genius of choreographer Crystal Pite, makes an outstanding ballet.

I'm waiting for this to pop up at the Garnier in Paris, @LillianGish and then I think we have a date for champagne!

Why is it SO rainy? Had a bad night's sleep - I'm definitely having a return to being suddenly boiling hot in the middle of the night since I stopped HRT. It's a quiet day at work though, thank goodness.

Good luck with the new hairdresser @petitpasta

Good work with the Vinted shopping @PrizedPickledPopcorn. I've been on this morning after seeing the news that Joanie Clothing is closing down - I like their stuff!

@RainbowZebraWarrior coffee and walnut scent sounds excellent, yum.

@Bimblesalong I like the Richter Seasons too but didn't realise it was a ballet! I went down a rabbit hole of listening to Vivaldi operas this week, that was fun.

I am asking the same thing, @martha79 . We are supposed to be going to Andalusia in the first week in Feb. We’ve been to all of the places already but had sun in previous early Feb visits. It’s currently looking like rain most of the time. Although we have a couple of day trips booked, they’re likely to be cancelled by the tour people if they don’t have enough uptake. Everything else is cancellable so I’m looking at backup plans for the Canary Islands whilst the weather forecast starts to get a bit more “solid”.

The seasons ballet is absolutely amazing - there are a few more clips on YouTube of it. I’ve seen it 2 or 3 times in Paris and am looking forward to seeing it in the future. It’s never travelled - sometimes Crystal Pite’s works come to Sadlers but this is one which works well at Opera Garnier.

Afternoon all

come on hand it over - how many minutes in to the Trevor Belson show of yesterday will I hear Rainbow?

Bizarrely yesterday was the first day in a long time I caught sight of our garden frequent visitor squirrels and we have no such exotic birds - we had a crow v 2 magpie fight this morning, evenly matched but 2v1 was always going to win (they are effectively the same bird with different feathers)

Spending a day preparing mini Mexican so garlic and cumin scents here

Went to see Prof Brian Cox this week - oh well he is adorable and very clever which makes him more adorable (I am just as attracted to minds as well as bodies)

And youngster has a crush we just can’t work out on whom yet. Time will tell. And it’s very entertaining he is all a tiswas. Young love so cute.

I have just checked my 10 day weather forecast and it shows rain absolutely every day @martha79 I hate the rain. It's depressing, I can't get out much in it and it exaccerbates my joint and bone pain. Plus it ruins my straightener curls! I want dry weather so I can start gently plugging away at the garden. Pah!

I've done my first seed order! I've thought long and hard this year and after a telling off discussion earlier with my Dad, I've only gone with two tomato varieties this year; Roma and Vivacious. I usually buy far too many and he's the poor sod that actually grows them for me, so I'm finally taking notice! He will also grow a couple of varieties of his choosing, so that's more than enough really.

I've done a prototype of my lime, bay and bergamot candle and I think I'm happy with it. The coffee and walnut ones are going to be made in china cups. I just need some vessels for the others now. I'd like some ribbed glasses, but im just trying to find them at a reasonable price. I'll probably just make do with these from Dunelm. Im not willing to pay much more really. If anyone sees anything, do shout up!

@frozendaisy it's around 1 hour 30 mins and 30 seconds in 😁

I’m going to post Everything thrice from now on 😂😂😂

Hope everyone’s hair is fabulous after being done. I basically look like a drowned rat today. F this weather honestly. We are going to the Lake District next week Friday. We are going to get very wet aren’t we? Bah!
however in some good news for once,DH has blagged a work trip to the actual Caribbean mid Feb, and if I can find a dog sitter I am going with. Anyone fancy minding one and a half Jack Russells and a sausage hound for a week?
Today on the farm we got the call from our lovely neighbouring farmer to say we could borrow his wood chipper tomorrow. Great! We need the wood chip desperately to put on our waterlogged paths. Not so great that all the branches we pruned in the orchard were still under all the trees and they all must be near the entrance of the orchard as the chipper can’t get in. I got the whole lot of them (and the school aged kids too) moving branches most of the day and we did it! This wicker man style pyre was
what we had at around 1pm. It got bigger! Great effort! Something in there has very spiky branches however. Covered in scratches.
just home, very knackered.Dogs needs a walk. Bah again!
I will take one of your lime and bergamot candles please RZW. Take all my monies. It sounds beaut!

That's an impressive heap @piscofrisco!

The weather forecast is ridiculous. Here it says rain for the next fortnight except the odd day when it might sleet/ snow. Fingers crossed for those of you with travels planned.

I have cobbled together something to eat including brown rice, cumberland sausages, mushrooms, leeks and peas - it feels very wholesome.

My goodness, you work hard @piscofrisco PM me your latest address and I'll send you one of my new candles (from Party Mouse)

We got home from school and the house smelled amazing. I didn't put two and two together initially and couldn't work out where the new smell was coming from, so the conversation between me and DD went like this:

Me: Ooh. Who smells nice? Is it me or you?
<sniffs DD>
DD: Mum! Get off me!
Me: Hmm. You smell lovely, but it's not you.
(I walk around the kitchen and catch on that it's the new candle I made earlier today)
Me: Oh! DD. It's my new candle. Have a sniff!
(She ignores me)
Me: DD. Sniff my new candle!
DD: Mum! WTF?
Me: Sniff My Candle!
DD: Mum. Go Away!
Me: SNIFF MY CANDLE!
DD: OK, Fine!
<she sniffs the candle>
DD: OK. Wow! This is mine now.
(She wanders off clutching the new candle)

That's a winner, then.

Was that the lime bay and bergamot? All lovely scents so of course it will be lovely. I’m a fan of geranium, too. It’s so satisfying when something works as hoped. It feels as though the world is running according to plan, and the chaos gremlins are off visiting someone else.

I had an exhausting, but satisfying day. Did a couple of things well enough for someone to notice, and Anton left me be, which was nice. He was a bit of a tag along last night. Outstayed his welcome.

Tomorrow is a sewing and a clothes assessing day. We are having a holiday and I need to check I have enough clothes in the right size. I may have outgrown quite a few… hey ho. When the assessment is done, I may see if I can copy some clothes I already have. And if not, there’s always Vinted! Amazing wool on Vinted. Not spotted any good candles yet. Though there were some of the rolled beeswax sheet ones. Do you sell online, @RainbowZebraWarrior , or only at markets and craft fairs?

Yes, the lime, bay and bergamot @PrizedPickledPopcorn 30 drops each of lime and bergamot and 20 of bay laurel seems to be a good mix for a 140g ish candle.

Hope you had a peaceful, Anton free night.

No selling online as I wouldn't be able to cope or control demand. Of course I get asked all the time at the markets. My Dad and I currently carefully control the sales (and therefore the incredibly laborious harvesting of honey / sterilising of jars / labelling / candle making can be spread over the course of the year with gaps and rests in between). We have local folk who have been buying from us for decades and we stock our allotment shop with 10 jars of honey every Saturday. It's all about what's manageable for us botth. Two or three craft fairs a year is doable alongside our regular buyers. Daily making and posting of goods isn't something I'm capable of, bearing in mind I work using a perch stool and have to lie down for 15 mimutes every hour.

Sorry, that was a long explanation.

Thank you for the explanation. I was once very keen to get into all things bee, from an environmental interest. I started reading up on it, and looking into it and was startled by the amount of labour intensive, equipment intensive, detailed work involved. One of my churches keeps bees, so I’m hoping to get to know someone there and dabble. They are remarkable. As are you- what persistence and determination!

We have booked a holiday. Quite a long one. Due to poor lining up of dates, we have a weekend away followed by 19 nights away, then a week away, with a few days of work between each trip. We are going to be thinking about retirement while we’re there- at least, my retirement. I am struggling with the work I do. And most of all struggling with doing anything apart from the work I do. So my health and fitness are getting worse because I’m not paying attention to them. So we’ll see how a holiday goes! It’s been a while. Had to renew our passports. It’s making me a bit anxious, to be honest. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it when I get there!

I love this photo. It reminds me of the brush hedges they use in our country park to keep people on the paths. They’d be good at the bottom of a raised bed as well. Lasagne planting it’s sometimes called I think. Or a Swedish name. Build a raised bed, fill the bottom with wood to soak up water and slowly decay releasing nutrients, then leaves and shredded card/paper, then kitchen waste. Then a bit of soil and compost on top. Keep topping up with compost as the levels drop.

It is my father who is remarkable, not me @PrizedPickledPopcorn as he does all the real work. As you say, it is labour and equipment intensive. He's 78 and received a terminal illness diagnosis 18 months ago. Yesterday's conversation about seeds with him was rather poignant as, by his consultants reckoning, we only have a couple more summers left with him. He paid in advance for his funeral yesterday, which is something I thought I'd never see him do. Still, it's tbe pragmatic thing to do, and a weight off both our minds.

You do absolutely right to book a long holiday and seriously contrmplate retirement. Life is for enjoying and not absolutely flogging yourself till absolutely ragged, as I know by personal experience.

My granny taught me to put newspaper in a pea or bean trench, @PrizedPickledPopcorn it’s good to hear more information about it. Glad to hear you’ve booked a holiday. The weather forecast for mine that is mostly cancellable is getting worse! Backup plans are firming up and I too am assessing what has shrunk in the wardrobe.

A wise use of spoons @RainbowZebraWarrior I love your description of dd’s reaction to the candle. I hope she is doing well with school now, all must be so different from 18 or so months ago.

What a brilliant reaction to the candle @RainbowZebraWarrior - it must smell wonderful! You and your dad seem to have a good way of working.

Re the funeral plan, I feel it's one of the kindest things my dad has done for me - everything is paid for and arranged, I know exactly what will happen and what he wants.

Your long holiday sounds great @PrizedPickledPopcorn.

I have also dabbled with bees - considered getting them at one point (I used to have a huge allotment) and went on a beekeeping course. I really enjoyed it apart from trying to deal with the wax sheets as my warm hands let me down there, like with making pastry!

Today I have a visit to my lovely massage lady. Trying to do a few bits of housework beforehand because I know I'll just flop afterwards.

Enjoy your massage @martha79 I think you had to cancel your last one, so I hope it makes you feel amazing. You're right about funeral plans. My mum is now about to do hers, and i also intend to sort mine at some point.

@Bimblesalong thanks so much for asking about DD. It is just shy of a year since she moved. She is now thriving academically, and her confidence is soaring. What a flipping difference a school - and an extraordinary head teacher - can make! She's very well regarded by her peers, and the teachers love her. Utterly transformational. I shall say this with fingers crossed, but we haven't had an episode of situational mutism in over six months. I was lucky I got her into this school, albeit it took a tribunal to do so, as there's now a massive waiting list. I thank my lucky stars every day when we leave for school, and there's no tears, and I pick her up, and she's smiling!

Urgh. I bit the bullet and have been in the garden as it seems pointless waiting for a dry day. Did some litter picking with my stick and put up a new feeder so we can do some bird counting this weekend. Came back in rather soggy, then realised I hadnt switched the solar feeder on so had to go back out.

Ooh. Sticking with the nature theme, I hadn't realised Winterwatch was on this week.