Year Round Nigel Slater discussion thread - Part 4

[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 has been running for a few years, and the contributors 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, grab a drink and relax.

A very hearty welcome to friends new and old!

I found Nigel's video so uplifting, I watched it twice, @LillianGish Also, beautiful flowers! I love pelargoniums, especially the striped variety. They always remind me of strawberries swirled with cream. I usually have lipstick pink ones, but have gone with traditional red this year.

Hope you enjoyed your film @Bimblesalong I also loved reading about your fledgling Robins. I found fox poo in my front garden this morming, so have charged up the camera as I am hoping it might be our local vixen with some new cubs.

That sounds like a really good film @martha79 and reminds me of this book I picked up yesterday.

Hope DD is doing better today @piscofrisco and also hope that the imminent arrival of your other DD doesn't cause a stir. Fingers crossed that they might heal their rift. I always hear about siblings becoming close later in life after being at odds with each other in earlier years. I have rearranged some books on my dresser, and Party Mouse looks after things on that front. Hope Clover is doing ok, too.

That sounds lovely. Would love to see it when you do pick it up!

Also, @martha79 hummus, bread and olives sounds like a decent second choice meal. I totally get how frustrating it is when you don't have the energy to make what you planned, though.

I feel that Nigel is building up to something. More videos, social media posts etc usually points to an imminent book release (I am determined he is going to do Christmas Chronicles #2)

Speaking of books, I want to write 'The Sea Glass Diaries' Of course it will probably never happen (like my podcast idea) If only I was as good as following things through as I am at coming up with Projects!

Loved Project HM. Had a few little weeps. Came out of the cinema from outer space into bright sun, then went for a swim and had the pool mostly to myself. There was a very thoughtful chap who didn’t start the jacuzzi up until I got out as he had realised what a peaceful swim I was having. Got home to a bunch of flowers and thanks from a parent I’ve helped out.

Mando and Grogu looks absolutely brilliant @RainbowZebraWarrior (also … Pedro Pascale!).

glad you enjoyed the debating @martha79 Excellent dinner choice too.

Swooning at the window boxes @LillianGish Would your mum accept a regular gardener for a bit of help?

Sounds like you've had a lovely day @Bimblesalong and Pedro Pascal indeed! Jon Favreau knew what he was doing alright when he cast him in the Din Djarin role! He is the Johnny Depp of the Star Wars world.

Ah glad you enjoyed your cinema skive off @Bimblesalong. We have a jolly little Robin that visits us too when the silly Dogs don’t bark at him .
Falagel and Hummus is a champion dinner @martha79hang the faffy fish pie :) (fish pie gives me horrors because it was the only thing exh could make and I use that loosely as it was not good, but I used to pretend to like it to be polite).
Nice to see party mouse @RainbowZebraWarriorI might get around to some felting again. I think your list sound grand!
I don’t think I’d trust myself around fused glass @MrsJLevinsonthats impressive.
Out of interest @LillianGishdo they have allotments in Paris or is that a peculiarly British thing. (I suppose if so that waiting list would be length and would you even have the time?) When we lived in Canada I think there was the odd community garden knocking about but more around sort of blocks of apartments not our style allotment.
Nigels garden video has at once made me very envious but also give me some inspo as like me he has no grass (he clearly also doesn’t have our rented astroturf either ☠️). I love how all his pots and containers add depth. So what I basically need is a million pots and a million pounds and I too could achieve this look 🫣 Not for the first time I miss my old garden so much!
DD1 vs DD2 is basically ADHD (manifesting in structure, routine, planning, black and white thinking) vs Inattentive ADD (manifesting in chaos, mess, impulse adventures and disasters, and sometimes a failure to recognise consequences and effects on others and self). They were best friends until 14 or so then both of their traits started to come out hugely and battle commenced. It’s a shame as I love them both hugely but it’s very rare that they can both be pleased at the same time. We have the odd moment here and there where they get on and I think they love each other underneath it all. They will hopefully learn to respect and tolerate each others differences as they get older.
Im meeting a friend from new women’s group for lunch at a veggie place today. Then usual
cooking and cleaning and I’ve got Pilates this evening. I also went last night and it was hard! I’m very sore today.
The apple blossom was well
and truly out at work yesterday. It looked and smelled gorgeous. Photos don’t do it justice really. We also got a new bee hive in the orchard which is exciting.
Have a lovely Wednesday all.

I was glad to see all his pots, as most of my flowering plants are in them; and I always felt vaguely as if I was cheating by not planting them directly in the ground.

Sounds like you have a nice day planned @piscofrisco how is your DD feeling?

Half 8 and I’m already sneezing my brains out (hayfever) I’ve already taken 2 tablets….hope it eases instead of getting worse ☹️

She is a touch improved I think @MrsJLevinsonshe slept well anyway. The dressing in her nose has dissolved I think now so it’s hurting a bit more but I think that’s a sign it’s healing. Im making her get up and sit outside a bit today.
hayfever is absolutely ruining me this year too. It’s a swine!

@MrsJLevinson it's been bad this year. I went and had a chat with the pharmacist yesterday and have changed to a different antihistamine so fingers crossed today is the start of a whole new me!
Loved the video. I wonder why he hasn't gone away this year? I like his middle woodland bit.
We also have no grass @piscofrisco , had it all removed a few years ago. We do have beds and borders though so I don't have quite so many pots as him (and mine are less immaculate 🤣)
Also happily the next video that autoplayed was entitled 'dahlias not growing' and mine are not doing a thing this spring, so I've watched that too. She's a nice lady and I feel reassured

Isn't the pollen awful? Am on an antihistamine but I've seen a spray I'm tempted to try which is supposed to coat the inside of your nose and stop the pollen attaching itself or something like that.

Fell asleep early again, and decent sleep but woke up at 4am. Am very grumpy about everything - you know when you're not sure if you're just tired and irritable, or if in fact everyone is being annoying? Going to watch Nigel's video to cheer me up 😊

My mum has a gardener for lawns, hedges and wisteria pruning @Bimblesalong, she has had to accept, at the age of 89, that standards have to slip a bit. She maintains the pots and beds close to the house within easy pottering reach - I will make a few inroads into the borders when I visit. Logic says she should downsize, but she loves her house and garden it’s her raison d’être and it’s what keeps her going even though it’s a big undertaking so we leave her to get on with it.
No allotments in Paris @piscofrisco though there are a few communal gardens. I’m not sure I’m really an allotment person - I like to be able to step out of my house into the garden (or open my window onto a window box in my case!) Half the point is to be able to see it from the house (a bit like Nigel!) I have to accept I’ll never have that while I live here - that’s the compromise.

No I know what you mean @liliangish.My friend has a beautiful allotment that is more like a garden -she has set it out like one and it’s mainly flowers and she goes and sits in it, but as you say it’s a walk from her house and you don’t get the pay off for all the work if you can’t see it out of the window.

We have raised-concrete boxes-I hesitate to call them beds, which the landlady has seen fit to fill with bamboo only ☠️and gravel so you can’t even under plant them. All surrounding a lovely bit of astroturf and a weird grey plastic shed, Grim. The only nice thing is a big tree but sadly it has dropped catkins all over said Astro turf and made a sort of brown carpet that doesn’t respond to raking and won’t obviously decompose through the plastic. I think I’m going to have to take the Henry to it. Then I will be a person that hoovers their Astro turf. It’s a new low.

I’ve got hayfever wipes which are quite good for immediate relief but not much else and I’m taking one a day Allevia. What is everyone else using? It’s driving me up the wall!

Ah, glad I’m not alone in the hayfever misery but sorry so many of you suffer!

I take just own brand cheap one a day relief, but I do take up to 4…as soon as I start with a runny nose/sneezing there is no stopping it.

I do get like this year round as I also have a dust/dust mite allergy.

Loratadine here @piscofrisco which is one of the cheap one a day type (think I've got Asda's own at the moment). It can also potentially help with some of the Long COVID symptoms so definitely not giving up the tablets!

That video was lovely, thank you @RainbowZebraWarrior for sharing it. Given me some thoughts about having more pots at different levels in the garden. I go out and sniff the herbs too like Nigel 😄

I'm away at the moment but will catch up with the video when I'm back on wifi. We are enjoying some chill out time in the Canaries, our first proper holiday without our DCs.

Re gardens and allotments, I have both and they serve different purposes. I love the fact that the allotment is away from the house and from voices going "Mum!" and it's away from our traffic noise too, very tranquil. It's less than 10 mins walk from the house so I can visit little and often. I also love chatting with my fellow plotholders, they are mostly lovely and we chat about all sorts. Our garden isn't
much use for growing flowers and veg as it is too shady and I leave it semi-cultivated to encourage wildlife. The edges of the lawns are full of primroses at the moment and buzzing with insects. My favourite time of the day is first thing, when weather permits, I'm out there every day observing, listening, doing small amounts of gardening, half an hour in the greenhouse doing seedlings is one of my favourite pastimes. I'd love lots of pots like Nigel's but it's the watering that's too much of a commitment especially when we're away. I do have my herb garden all in pots though, they are fairly drought-proof.

I will take a guess that he didnt go away as he had a book deadline. Also, travelling is knackering the older you get. I wonder if he's starting to feel that a bit?

Fexofenadine seems to be the antihistamine of choice nowadays. It's the newer kid on the block. Unfortunately I had a reaction to it, so I plough on with my 8 ceririzine a day. Biologics helped my allergies and asthma too. They were given to me off licence for my hives. Every cloud.

I love hearing about your various gardens and allotments. Actually I can see the attraction of the allotment being somewhere to escape to for peace and quiet. Berlin, where we used to live, is full of gartenkolonies which are more like little communities of gardens, each with its own cabin or shed where apartment dwellers can hang out - a bit like people who go to their beach hut for the day, but miles from the sea. I like the idea of it looking like a real garden rather than regimented lines of fruit and veg (though this can also be very attractive in its own way). A friend of mine in London has a garden that opens onto her allotment which seems like the best of all worlds. Sounds like you will have to bite the bullet and vacuum the astro turf @piscofrisco. At least you spend your working day surrounding by nature so perhaps having what your landlady presumably thinks of as a low maintenance garden is a blessing of sorts, though there really is no excuse for plastic grass. I like your idea of adding some Nigel-inspired pots - his tulips are and inspired choice as bulbs don't require too much watering, it's the reason I always end up with varieties of geranium and pelargonium in my window boxes, so I can go away and know they'll still be there when I get back! Glad your DD is feeling a bit better, my own DD would consider the presence of a sausage dog (well any dog in fact!) as a cure for all ills.

I keep my packs of hay-fever wipes in the fridge and wipe my eyes with them when they get itchy. I also do a quick swipe over my whole face every time I have been in the garden.

I spent an awful lot of time in the hospital immunology department as a kid. I wasn't allowed carpets, curtains or cuddle toys due to severe dust allergy. Best advice I was wver given though in relation to hay fever, was taking off clothes at night as they will be covered in pollen, and putting them away fron where you sleep (so dont put a cardy you are going to wear again on a chair next to you for example) Also, your hair traps a lot of pollen, and the 'pollen shower' occurs just before sunset when all the pollen in the atmosphere falls to the ground, so if you're on a one a day type antihistamine it can be better to take it in the evening.

Loving that orchard beehive @piscofrisco Your two DDs remind myself of me. Having both Autsim and ADHD is fun!! Autistic me loves order and calmness and ADHD me is scatterbrain, cannot concentrate, and is short tempered. I wake up each day wondering which one will rule the roost today! It's like being two people sometimes. No wonder so many females used to be misdiagnosed as bipolar.

I have been outside all day today. Went to Delaval Hall this morning, then the beach and I am now sitting having a late lunch in the biodiversity park near DDs school. It's an amazing place, and with the sun shining and music playing, I feel like I am on holiday!

Bluebells were out at Delaval Hall but the wisteria and the laburnum arch not quite. Hopefully by next week.

Photos of blossom never show their true potential. This bluebell wood is massively carpeted in bluebells but you don't get the scale at all. First pic is the park I am in now.

Gah. Bluebell pic didn't post..

Oh, I have also been to the nature reserve today and watched the Herons, and a delightful Mummy and Daddy Canada Geese pair with their goslings.

This is the best part of a month in pics. It was a beautiful day over three weeks ago, and the luckiest little bee, got dropped by a bird into a pot of water in front of me, rescued, dried out, put on a flower, and returned to looking for nectar.

I had to be interviewed regarding the whistle blowing stuff and this unlikely apparition appeared in the sky en route, which left me filled with a sense of foreboding. The sense of foreboding remained and turned out to be a warning sign that my heart was about to thoroughly malfunction. Unexpected trip to a & e, do not pass go, do not collect £200.
Mixed feelings about the artificial backlit sky, as quite confusing in the early days, but eventually definitely better than nothing. (windowless ward) Then moved to a ward with a really good view of the sky, which was exactly what was needed.

I've scan read today's posts, but It will take a bit of time to catch up as we where on the earlier thread when all this stopped play.

Sorry for all the hay fever sufferers.@RainbowZebraWarrior You absolutely should write the sea glass diaries. I hope you're correct about CC2.

@piscofrisco situation with DD's sounds very difficult. Sympathies. Hope DD! (?) is doing ok...The Bee hive looks lovely. Trying not to chuckle at the absurdity of having to hoover the astro turf.

@LillianGish You may already know, but in case not, scented pelargonium leaves are edible, though best used for infusing sugar.

I'd been wondering where you were and how you were @EphemeraleEudemonia - especially with the whistleblowing business going on. So sorry it's been a tough few weeks and I hope you're very much on the mend.

Oh lordy @EphemeraleEudemonia Good to hear from you at long last, but what a lot you've been through. Hope you're on the mend my lovely.

That's a European Black Bee that you rescued (exactly the same sort as we have in our hives)

I have snapped that same type of weather / cloud / plane (?) phenomenon twice. I'll try and find my pics, as they are almost identical to yours.

Much love to you.

On a serious mission to sleep better and at more sensible times tonight. I've read, had a cup of hot chocolate, done a 'yoga for deep sleep' class, had a quick shower with nice banana soap my neighbour brought me from Thailand (doesn't smell of bananas but is very gentle and moisturising). Taken my magnesium and swapped my antihistamine to tonight on the advice of @RainbowZebraWarrior. Magnesium cream on. No lights on since I came upstairs. 'Boring History for Sleep' podcast on. Surely that lot will work!