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!

Ah I hope it worked @martha79!
A good tip re taking the antihistamine at night @RainbowZebraWarriorI Will try that today.
Bless you @EphemeraleEudemoniawhat a torrid time you have had-I’m so sorry to hear it. I hope you are being looked after and that you are starting to turn a corner. Lots of love to you….
Like you @EasterlyDirection I used to love a good half an hour potter in the garden before work when the weather was anything but rain. Sets you up so well for the day. I’ve becomes fixated on knowing if the cherry trees I planted three years ago finally blossomed this year and knowing how my Rambling Rector Rose is getting on. I wonder if it would be reasonable to ask the letting agent to go and do a garden inspection? I need to get a grip don’t I? What if th tenants have chopped it back? 😱 best not to know…
My lunch yesterday was lovely, both company and food. Garden aside I finally feel like I’m settling a bit here.
DD2 came home full of plans for summer (but not full of plans for how she will fund them) Trying to give a healthy dose of realism whilst not squashing her totally. She has a month in Taiwan on a partial scholarship from the uni, but in typical DD2 fashion can’t get her head around the fact that the other part needs to be paid for, so she will need to try and work before it and after it for next year. When I was at uni I spent the summers working in an egg factory (grim as hell) to fund travelling and my next year to a degree. Thems the breaks. I will let her Dad have a chat to her later as he will be slightly more forceful than me, and maybe that will cut through.

Sunny morning here and I’m off to ride my friends horse again after work. So best get up and ready and get my stuff together. I’ve got the DSS’s school run to contend with en route to work which whilst only 24 minutes is another 24 minutes on a hour and half drive, and just makes me feel stressy to an unreasonable degree!
A lovely Thursday to all

Not unreasonable at all @piscofrisco I would probably employ a drone (and therefore get locked up!) Pleased to hear you are finally settling a bottle otherwise though. That commute plus school run sounds like a bit of a killer and time stealer, mind.

Hope you slept better @martha79 I chuckle when I look at my bedside table; perfect nights sleep candle, magnesium this and that, lavender sleep spray (which just gives me a headache so I dont use it any more)

My NT property was selling 3 packs of seeds for 50p yesterday, so I grabbed a bunch and also some lovely books. Our lot don't have a proper gift shop, so it is hand knitted and crochet items, hand made wooden items, second hand books and the usual seeds / plants from the estate.

Cold and bright here today, so the thermals and wooly hat / gloves are still on for now, but hopefully shed some layers later on.

I've just seen that the long post I wrote yesterday morning disappeared. I do find the mn app a bit hopeless when out and about tbh. So I will post a pic of the b&b garden from the weekend and hope it works. I'm on my way to work with hair full of sand - crazy wind today!

Oh my @EphemeraleEudemonia what a time, yet still you continue to draw on nature for strength. I hope that things are on a more even keel.

re antihistamines, I started on loratadine during chemo as they helped to allay the pain from the injections boosting my white blood cells. I’ve kept on them as I’m very reactive to mosquito bites! I’ve read a couple of research papers about how longer term use of loratadine cuts down the risk of breast cancer recurrence, I’m up for anything that prevents a rematch!

I hope you had a better night @martha79

off to bring my dahlias out into the sunshine. I play Hokey Cokey with them in early May, making sure they’re properly hardened off.

It worked! Yesterday's was a lengthy and heartfelt post about how my dds have done the same as @piscofriscos - bffs to barely speaking in the space of a year with no precipitating event. Rather than try to repeat it all I will just give you a 💐 of solidarity.

Morning all! I did sleep better - still weird dreams, but slept 10-5.30 which felt more civilised than waking at 4. Did wake up very sniffly which was annoying considering the antihistamine and clean sheets, but it's probably down to the cats who are shedding fur by the handful (some nights I'm convinced they've actually shoved it up my nose while I'm asleep).

That sounds like a lovely gift shop @RainbowZebraWarrior. I also have a pillow spray (I think it was a present along with the body cream) but can't stand the smell of it!

I totally get wondering about your old garden @piscofrisco. I've always either rented or lived with people who owned their houses and there are still bits of old gardens and particular plants that I planted, that I miss.

Cold and bright here but meant to be getting quite hot later. I've got leftover fish pie for lunch - finally made it last night - and a relatively quiet day.

Art for me this morning. we are starting a new block on soft pastels so it is going to be quite messy. DH needs the car so dropped me off early so I’m having a lovely coffee in the streaming sun (sorry about the view of a petrol station 🤣)

Gosh, what an amazing morning I have had. It's a beautiful day and I was approached whilst sea glass picking on the beach to take part in a podcast. So I have spent a lovely hour and a half being recorded for said podcast, which, when it airs, will have a unique piece of music composed to play out my interview. I really enjoyed it, and I think my host hopefully appreciated my honesty (and hit lucky with me as I am quite the oversharer, which I think it often what they want from such interviews) It also felt quite liberating to do something so totally spontaneous.

It will be a couple of months until it goes live, but I will share the link when it does, as I talk about the existence of this thread and what it means to me.

This was our view as we chatted.

Lovely seeing everyone's sunshine! And how exciting about the podcast @RainbowZebraWarrior - I bet that was a fascinating conversation and I can't wait to hear it.

I've just treated myself to an iced coffee and pistachio cake because it's hot and it's bank holiday weekend (almost) and, well, why not?

Iced coffee and pistachio cake sounds lush. I need to treat myself to the same sometime soon. I forget how much I love an iced coffee!

This whole podcast situation is actually really surreal. Not only was it a chance meeting / right place right time thing, but there was also a Nigel connection. There were other quite incredible links and coincidences too, which I will leave to see if they make the edit. I've now been on the podcasts Instagram page, and they had a front page feature in the Observer earlier this month. Nigel obviously follows the podcast as the first thing I noticed was 'Nigel Slater and 4000 other poeple like this'

Anyway, there are something like 81episodes so far of the podcast, so that gives me something new to listen to while I wait for mine to come along.

I tell you what, I will be buying some more of these tulips again. Hopefully they will be out in full in the next few days. May is quite late, but well worth the wait, I reckon. Amazing Parrot I think they are called.

How lovely, all. Wonderful about the podcast @RainbowZebraWarrior I too treated myself to an iced coffee - a rare thing as I prefer it black. However, a cherry oatmilk iced latte cooled me nicely today @martha79

A morning in the office, lunch in town and a short potter in the garden planting out some seedlings. Most are in the cold frame still but I’ve popped the beans against their canes as they were breaking out of the cold frame. I’ll keep an eye out for frost reports, should they need covering.

Ooh @Bimblesalong - cherry oat milk iced latte here too (decaf)!

Ooh. How did I not know about the existence of these? (Probably because I don't often buy takeaway coffee and have never been to café Nero before) This is going straight on my week-long-list-of-birthday-treats!

@martha79 your cake and latte looks lovely!

It’s been such a nice day today, had a days training now waiting to meet a friend for dinner.

That cake looks phenomenal @martha79im afraid I’ve jumped on the pistachio everything quite hard -bloody love it!

lovely Sunny pictures everyone :)

I feel a bit torn between the DD’s at times-I wonder if it’s the same for you @Leporello?

This is MOST exciting re the podcast! I can’t wait to give it a listen! I hope Nigel hears it and makes a guest appearance here as a result! That’s the dream! I’m sure you were fabulous @RainbowZebraWarrior. Proud of you.

A mixed bag here today as I went downstairs this morning to find our oldest dog had done his knee in. You may or may not remember when I first came to the Nigel sphere it was when he was on 12 weeks crate rest after an operation on his other one. A vets trip and x rays tomorrow will confirm the worst I think and then we will have a decision to make. So I’ve been on and off in bits all day. I had to go in to work as we are so short staffed so I left him with DD, two sick notes together. Was actually glad I did, as it was a truly beautiful day on the farm, with Cow Parsley lined lanes, (that’s my very active co farmer in the distance on one of his sprints -I’ve done 22 000 steps today at pace), dappled sunlight in woods, and fussing over our dear Clover who is the last to give birth and is keeping us all waiting. We did have surprise triplets overnight from a sheep we had somehow lost track off so that was a nice surprise.
home now and getting in bed with my dear beloved Dog. He will get all the fuss in the world tonight, from just me for a bit, as it was when I got him (he was my divorce dog and I got him when I could barely bring myself to leave the house-he quite honestly saved my life).
Dogs are so great and yet it’s so bloody hard when they get poorly.

Thanks and Oh bless you @piscofrisco Yes, I remember the first operation on your lovely DDog, in fact I still have all of the old threads pinned, and my last post on one of the 2024 threads was "pleased doggy seems to be doing ok so far" Sending much love to you. Sending fuss and cuddles to DDog, too. That emotional connection to him from more difficult times in your life makes it all more personal. My best pal recently lost the cat she got when she found out she couldn't have kids. Pets are often so entwined in our lives for hugely personal and emotional reasons x

Cow parsley is a very special thing, I think, and I love it when the lanes are lined with it here. It reminds me of my relatively carefree childhood days, roaming freely among the local farmland. I remember Monty Don being brutally honest and saying that he pulled his car over and wept uncontrollably when he saw the local authority cutting it down one year.

This podcast is bloody massive, which is slightly scary from my perspective as not only does it focus on folk (including me) spilling their guts opening up but it has also won awards and appears to have quite the cult following around the world. I shall try and put it out of my mind after today and just see what transpires. It's strange that it has been largely London centrist so far, but the podcast 'owner' happened to find me on my little corner of a North East beach this morning purely because his train elsewhere was delayed, so he took a last minute different option. We actually talked about wether I thought Nigel might indeed read this thread.

Hope the pastels went well this morning and you enjoyed it@Celiathebanshee

That b&b garden looks amazing @leporello

Wishing you very mild evenings for your plants @Bimblesalong My seedlings are also galloping along and fast outgrowing their space.

Hope you enjoy dinner with your friend @MrsJLevinson

Much love to all. So lovely to see so many sunny photos. 20 degrees forecast here tomorrow, so the factor 50 is out!

Thankyou RZW for remembering our lovely boy.
Cow Parsley is the scent this takes me back to being a child too-I think one of my earliest memories is walking down a lane with overgrown Cow Parsley taller than myself each side, after a rain storm and the scent was so powerful. I had a necklace with some sort of pressed into a silver pendant once, I was devastated when I lost it.

Sending lots of virtual doggy cuddles and thoughts to you @piscofrisco

Happy May Day all. Didn't quite get up at dawn but have had an early morning wander round the garden. My lawn is full of these little violets (and dandelions and the odd primrose).

Happy May Day all! Another work week nearly over with!

@piscofriscowill be thinking of you and DDog today ❤️

Happy May Day all and thinking of you @piscofrisco That pendant sounds like it was gorgeous. I have been having a look on Etsy and there's some pretty stuff around cow parsley jewellery wise.

It's also reminded me to call by our seaside gift shop today. I bought some of these large metal stakes for the garden last autumn and promised myself I would buy some more. I am certain they had them in cow parsley designs as well as alliums and teasles. I'd love a border sprinkled with them. There are also these smaller versions for pots and vases on Amazon.

Trying to dress cleverly with layers today for various situations. 1 degree now, 20 degrees at lunchtime, rain at teatime then back to 1 degree tonight.

A very happy first of May - sumer is icumen in (but shyly, bit dull today)!

I'm very intrigued and excited about your serendipitous podcast @RainbowZebraWarrior, Nigel links and all. Sounds like new bedtime listening for me.

Yes, @piscofrisco, it's hard to stay above it and neutral, especially when the hostility came all one way at first but now the other dd has been worn down by it and given up making any effort. But young people can often be their own worst enemies I suppose. It's depressing though, and casts a pall over family holidays etc.

It's a beautiful may morning here, sunny and warm. When I dropped DD off at preschool this morning I noticed thst some clever person had put a knitted postbox topper on the box with a maypole, and 4 mice dancing round it! Really brought a smile to my face.
Sorry to hear about your dog @piscofrisco, they really are our best friends, give him lots of cuddles and love.
Exciting to hear about the podcast @RainbowZebraWarrior I don't really listen to podcasts but will have to make an exception for this one!
Have good Fridays all x

Hello everyone. Mr Darcy here.

Hope you are all well this Friday evening. My Mummy is busy, but keeps me abreast of Important Goings On with her Nigel Pals.

Sending my biggest kitty cat cuddles to @piscofrisco and keeping my paws crossed that you are ok ❤️

Mummy often takes me for a look around the garden @martha79(we call it a Carry Cuddle) and we also love seeing the violets and forget me nots. I have told her she needs to get a goat, as there are so many dandelions, too!

I love the sound of the knitted postbox topper @Markknopflersheadband I do like mices!

I have been busy being A Very Important Cat tonight as people come to see The Honey Lady (My Mummy) I make her take me to the door, as I am a bit of an attention seeker, and like being told that I am a Very Beautiful Boy and have Very Beautiful Blue Eyes.

Anyway, must go. It's time for another nap.

Kitty love to all 🐾

Evening all,

@RainbowZebraWarriorwhat a gorgeous cat you are Mr. Darcy!

We have ordered a takeaway tonight, and I’ve just started to watch the mini series Love Story about Carolyn Bessette and John Kennedy Jr.

No plans for the bank holiday weekend, although I did see an advert for wild swimming at a local reservoir….I've never been before so wondering if I should take the plunge (literally) and go alone….

Happy May Day and long weekend everyone

sorry I haven’t commented much this week. Work has been pretty full on.

@piscofriscothinking of you and your dog. I hope the visit to the vet today went ok.

not got much planned this weekend. Hoping to potter in the garden and just decompress. To prepare for another busy week next week