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!

Thankyou all (especially Mr D) for kindness re Doggle. He will need to have another operation unfortunately. £3.5 grand. No alternative. His (other) knee is gone and they can’t even amputate his leg as it would put too much pressure on his remaining one. DH asked what I wouldn’t, which is would it be kinder to put him down. The vet said she wouldn’t even consider it for an other wise healthy Dog. And neither would we really though it’s 12 weeks of having to stop him moving again and that’s our holiday off the cards :( . He’s cuddled up with me now off his box on anaesthetic, bless him. Hopefully they can do his operation soon.
so not the ideal Friday. Though I did manage a horse ride with my friend whilst Dog was at vets which was an absolute joy.
Hope everyone is having a lovely Friday evening.

I was saving Love Story to watch which is good as Dog and I will be stuck in for the forseeable 🫣🫣

Oh bless the little love. Much love from us all here and hope you both sleep well tonight@piscofrisco

Morning all.

Looks like a relatively decent morning here weather wise, so I'm going to chance hanging some washing out before heading to the market.

I found this little flint 'dino' on the beach yesterday, so have been carrying him around in my pocket. He is very tactile. Also found a pristine copy of Val McDermid's Winter on the charity book table, so I have popped that away with my winter books. I previously only had it on Audible.

Hope everyone has a lovely day.

Good morning all
A sunny ish morning here too. Up early to give Doggo his pain killers and then all back to bed with tea and a bit of my book club book-which is Yesteryear - I’m quite enjoying it.
The house looks like a bomb has hit it so will try and tackle that this morning. Have got a three times cancelled and very far overdue hair appotment this afternoon. I look god awful at the minute to the point that I’m actually dreading having to look at myself in the hair dressers mirror for hours whilst she does my highlights and what not. But needs must.
DD1 is feeling much better and has just left for the last Wednesday game of the season wearing my vintage Wednesday shirt from 1997. A day out with her cousins which will do her good.
If doggie settles I might chance a trip to the garden centre later. I ordered some rectangular planters from Temu (I know this is very bad and isn’t something I make a habit of but I was desperately searching for a large indoor planter everywhere and went on there in desperation, didn’t find one, but did order these), and they have arrived and for £10 for 4 they are surprisingly large and sturdy. So now I need something to put in them.
Have a lovely Saturday all

It was the Flower (or Spring) full moon yesterday, and this May is unusual in that we have a full moon on both the 1st and last day of the month.

I've caught up with the last thread and got as far as the 22nd on this one, and the 29th onward and it's been lovely to see what everyone's been up to, but work beckons. TBH I'm being taken there and back and unlikely to be doing much more than cheering on mural painting.

@martha79 My garden is also full of whatever would like to make it home and I also still have little violets flowering quietly.

@Celiathebanshee can you be tempted to post results of art group?

@Markknopflersheadband Love hearing about the post box maypole.

A belated hello to @MrsJLevinson I made myself stop catching up the thread just at the post that said your moniker was from League of Gentlemen, I'd initially thought Downton Abbey and wondered about the J...

@piscofrisco Also remember what you all went through previously with doggo and decisions. Glad to hear the vets response. Money represents a life already spent when you think about it, being able to turn it into continued life and love is worth every penny.
Hope DD'ds recovery continues at pace. Very hard on you having Dc's that don't get along. Sympathies to @leporello too. There have been some trying times here too with downright opposing needs and not enough space to separate them really. Distance and age seems to improve things eventually. (keeps fingers crossed behind back)

@RainbowZebraWarrior How exciting about the podcast! Look forward to that.
Mr Darcy really is ridiculously gorgeous... as is that orange fancy parrot tulip... Love the metal allium and the dino stone too.

Re Cow Parsley or Queen Anne's lace as it's often known here, I got to watch two small white butterflies twirling and whirling gracefully above, around and in and out of a patch of it on my way back from hospital. I love that it grows everywhere freely.

If anyone's interested it's edible. (usual warnings about knowing the difference between it and Hemlock which is very poisonous - You want the stem to be hairy with a slight ridge, a uniform purple pink tinge is normal, but not smooth with purple blotches, that's Hemlock.) Normally harvested before it flowers, but even now you can just pick the young leaves for pesto and frittata, (best use here) though it would be more work, and I've never tried pickling older stems, but pickled in a sweet vinegar (prior to flowering) and eat sauteed in butter and black pepper; worth the effort.

Bee with it's striped proboscis extended

This might be easier to see...

I finally bit the bullet and splashed out on a copy of The Christmas Chronicles after years of procrastination.
And I got it half price!
Feeling very cosy and snuggly and it’s only May!
Looking forward to November and will do my utmost not to delve in before then.

I am happy to share but it comes with the disclaimer that 1. I haven’t used chalk pastels before and 2. I do it for fun - I wasn’t allowed to take gcse art because I was too bad! - and have no aspirations to hang on any walls. It’s about the process 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

A very warm welcome, and hope you to delve in along the coming months. Winter will be here before we know it, eh? (I usually start making my - longer life - Christmas food shopping list in July as it all starts to appear in M&S from early September)

For now, I am trying to enjoy some sunshine before this band of squally rain moves up over England and Wales later today. It isn't due to reach us up here until 9pm, so I have optimistically brushed down the pizza oven and filled it with sticks ready to light later. DD does love a good pizza garlic bread.

That is a fantastic picture! Glad to hear you're out of hospital and getting about a bit. Thanks for the info on the cow parsley. I had forgotten it was edible. I'm also determined tonl do something with elderflower and elderberries this year.

I loved @martha79 's wallpaper but for some reason, I just cannot do wallpaper (last time was 1995!) So I am - once again - thinking about stencils as an alternative. Tempted with this one and hope it would work all year round. I might get it and try it out on a painted wooden cabinet I have in the hallway. In buttery yellow.

Afternoon all and welcome @RipplePlease

Mr Darcy is indeed handsome @RainbowZebraWarrior

Gentle doggy cuddles @piscofrisco - sorry he has to have an operation but I'm glad he'll be ok.

Excellent bee @EphemeraleEudemonia. I have looked at eating cow parsley but didn't trust my identification skills quite enough.

Lovely pictures @Celiathebanshee - I love the light through the trees.

Impromptu few hours out today as friend I was meant to meet on Monday had a change of plans. Been for a walk through the local parks - the one that's planted up with edible things is looking great, with the start of currants, gooseberries and apples. Stopped at cafe for a cooked breakfast and popped into the city farm where I spent a long time stroking a baby Anglo Nubian goat, and was amazed by how much the piglets have grown.

Not really got any other bank holiday weekend plans. I bought myself a cheap paint by numbers canvas so may have a go at that tomorrow.

Oh I did not know you could eat it @EphemeraleEudemonia! So glad you are out of hospital. Sending tho lots of love and healing.
hello to @RipplePlease
I think those pictures are fantastic @Celiathebanshee!
I would love to being good at stencilling. I don’t have the steady hand or the patience. Those are lovely stencils though-they will look super against a yellow.
currently at the hair dressers with my foils in. Having a lovely read of the magazines which I never ever do nowadays so it feels like a treat.

@RainbowZebraWarrior
You’re absolutely right re M and S Christmas food. I guess ordering from their catalogue marks the beginning of Christmas for me!
I have listened to a little bit of the Christmas Chronicles on a podcast and was inspired to make a malt loaf (delicious).
But nothing beats a real book for me.

Love your bee photograph, @EphemeraleEudemonia and I think @Celiathebanshee 's pictures would make gorgeous printed fabrics.

Rainy Bank Hol here, mostly running errands and getting house things shipshape but I did run into a friend at the local coffee shop and heard all about her fascinating life - one of the first women to be ordained, a real world Vicar of Dibley.

Oh wow. I missed this. Absolutely beautiful, and you totally have an artistic ability. I was constantly chastised during GCSE and A Level art for my 'laziness' by my Art teachers. I think a lot of folk end up taking up things they didn't necessarily think they were good at during school later in life, and find that they have a real passion for it. I was once asked as an adult after bumping in to an old teacher why I had persued a certain career and I replied "because I wanted to do it, rather than being forced to do it"

Morning all, I’m back from my break in London and amazed at how much culture I managed to fit into a 36 hour visit! I saw a ballet triple bill on Friday night (Wayne McGregor), my favourite of which was set to Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, with set by Edmund De Waal, my favourite potter. It was truly lovely and so very moving. The other two works were set to very modern music and I found them harder to enjoy but quite a cerebral experience. On Saturday, I saw the dress rehearsal for Peter Grimes, also at the ROH, and managed to upgrade my seat just before the show from one up in the slips to front row balcony. Oh my! It was a magnificent performance. I didn’t know this opera, I knew the sea interludes, which paint a marvellous sound picture of the Suffolk coastline in the cold morning’s light, but gosh, what a work. Bryn Terfel sang the bass baritone part, a strong and true friend to Peter Grimes, but the times and the townsfolk gossip overthrew Peter’s life. The production put a right wing spin on the townsfolk, adding to the gossips already placed there by Britten. Some actors were dressed as football hooligans, with tattoos, swept up by lies and nonsense consistent with today’s experience. Heartbreaking and beautiful. All VN.

I managed to fit into a visit to the Tracey Emin exhibition at Tate Modern, which is not top of my list of Tates! There was a mix of painting, sculpture and video installations which she made to reflect / comment on her life experiences. This made it a very impactful show, and helped me to connect so much more with her work. Her recent experience of cancer is part of her work, discussed with frank honesty on her socials. I admire her feisty spirit.

How’re you doing @EphemeraleEudemonia ? On the mend, I hope. Your bee picture is fantastic!

Sympathies to you @piscofrisco dogs are so bloody marvellous and heartbreaking too (And expensive). As are children.

I agree with you re the cow parsley and childhood carefree days wandering the lanes and woodland @RainbowZebraWarrior My dear old gran used to love it. Your flint dino is amazing!

@Celiathebanshee wow, gorgeous artwork!

Morning all.

Well I think the best thing I can say about today is that at least I won't have to water the garden! It's so dark, I felt like I had been asleep for six months and woken up in November.

Anyway, waterproofs on and out we go.

Hope everyone has a lovely day.

Good morning all.
That sounds a lovely arty sojourn @Bimblesalongim
glad you have had such a lovely time. It’s been so long since I saw nothing good live-I really need to up my cultural consumption!
A wet night and still some little showers here. Been to Pilates (hard this morning but I’m seeing some improvement…I think). About to take the two fit fogs for a walk and then meal prep for the week. We are taking the DC to go ape this afternoon. Without DD2 apparently as she appears to still be at her Dads when she was meant to be on the bus an hour ago. She went out yesterday so I suspected this might be the case.
Have a lovely Sunday all :)

I could have sworn blind I'd 'reacted' to a couple of pictures that this morning show otherwise. So if I've 'liked' something twice, that's what's going on.
Mural successfully painted, (as where some of those joining in painting it!😂) but paying for it today. I do need to be getting on with things though, especially trying to earn a living, so trying to find a balance.

@Celiathebanshee I wouldn't take too much notice of what your school said, ability speaks for itself. (A lot of very damning things where said about my capacity by various institutions, but life says I'm more capable than they gave credit for) Oil pastels aren't something I've had the opportunity to play with yet, but you're inspiring me to try. I love the light, color choices, and atmosphere you've created in particular and think you should definitely experiment more and see where it takes you.

Hi to @RipplePlease. Christmas gets thought about all year round here.🙂

@RainbowZebraWarrior The sudden dark sounds disorientating. I don't think I've caught up to @martha79's wallpaper yet, but those stencils look like they'd work very nicely.

@piscofrisco Hope DD2 recognizes it's a choice she made and there aren't enough hours in the day for us to have it all.
This may not appeal if they've given you too much previous grief, but light tack adhesive spray, 'dry' paint and a dabbing brush, might be your friends with getting round stencil issues.

@martha79 it's only the leaves that are very similar the stalks are noteably different. One answer though is to start your own patch then you know exactly what you have.
The piglets are enchanting and stroking a baby Anglo Nubian goat sounds like such a good use of time

@Bimblesalong A very culture filled visit indeed! (I've read a bit about De Waal's set design and it sounds like cathedral spaces and heights are still influencing him) Thank you for all the info. There's so so much in London, that even if money was no object, it would be difficult to see everything, so always good to hear about things.
Am a bit weak and wobbly tbh, and discovered just how much yesterday, but the lovely folk involved where so pleased I'd made it, that it offset it until I stopped.

Your London trip sounds fabulous @Bimblesalong - not sure how you managed to pack that lot in, and all exceedingly Nigel. I love Tracey Emin. I love that the first thing you see when you step of the Eurostar is her post-Brexit message to Europe (I want my time with you). I went to see Top Hat at the Chatelet last night - NVN, but very good fun.
Cow parsley always makes me think of the opening lines from Brideshead Revisited: I had been there before over 20 years ago on a cloudless day in June when the ditches were white with fools parsley and meadowsweet - so evocative. One of my favourite reads.
Bank holiday here was on Friday - May 1st itself - and I spent it at a friend’s house with her tortoise and dog. The tortoise was in the garden when she moved to the house and just roams wild, taking himself off to hibernate in a pile of leaves when the time comes. He was both incredibly speedy and amazingly friendly - you only had to step into the garden and he would come powering through the grass from some hidden corner to say hello and then hang out wherever you were sitting or just follow you round. Quite a revelation that a tortoise could have such a big personality.

What nice animals @LillianGish

Sounds like a wonderful trip @Bimblesalong, I love Peter Grimes.

Hope you're getting some rest today @EphemeraleEudemonia

Are you sure you mean my wallpaper @RainbowZebraWarrior? I don't think I have any exciting wallpaper!

Rainy here and I'm actually quite glad it's cooler, I think I over did things a bit yesterday between the sun and walking further than usual. `

Wow that sounds like a jam packed couple of days of culture you've had there @Bimblesalong You are an expert at getting the most out of your trips, I feel!

The great thing about the weather being pants and I don't feel like I should be working in the garden, etc. That said, I did manage to get 9 dahlias potted (that sounds like it should be a line in a summer version of 12 days of Christmas) last night before the rain came. Only 3 left to do.

It was a quick turn around the market this morning. Again, it was nice as it wasn't heaving as it is in good weather. We've also made another new pals down there; a lovely fella who is going to buy some stuff from DD and has a dog called Yoda!

I was reading the list of people who will be appearing on celebrity Traitors last night and was thrilled to see Miranda Hart's name. Made me think that Nigel would be fabulous on this. I never watched the standard series, but became hooked on the first celeb one last year and found it fascinating.

Anyway, a quiet afternoon is being had here. I've made lemon muffins and now have a chicken joint in the oven alongside honey glazed carrots and lemon roasted Jersey potatoes. I got that sheeps cheese you recommended last night on my waitrose order @martha79 and am looking forward to trying it tomorrow as part of a cheese board.

We have been through River Café two cookbook and chosen some new recipes for the week ahead. Fingers crossed DD likes them as she really needs to broaden her food repertoire.

Candle on the go now, and I am going to go through some of my new books then update my pokemon binder. I also have some marbles arriving from Amazon later (Yes, I am absolutely a small child)

Could anyone help with veggie parmesan please? If you buy this, where do you get it from? Waitrose's has been unavailable for ages. Similarly, if anyone sees any ditaloni pasta in the wild, please shout up as I've had to order that from Amazon, too!

It was @Celiathebanshee lovely arts and crafts style wallpaper I was thinking of @martha79 I fould have sworn it was you. I should write things down. I also seem to have missed some new posts. Will go and have a proper catch up

Edited to add: I have just found the beautiful wallpaper online. I won't now be buying a roll to 'faffing about with doing crafts' It is absolutely beautiful though

I am very intrigued by your podcast @RainbowZebraWarrior - any idea when we might be able to hear It? Can give us a link to the series? I’m always on the lookout for new things to listen to. I’m still enjoying the Nigel video you linked to and have watched it several times - so soothing.

The host said it would be in a few months as he has some already in the pipeline ready to go. It comes out every Monday. It's called Strangers on a Bench and is available on all the usual platforms. I've listened to a few already and they are rather fascinating. There's one with a Parisian link (Episode 6)

Here's the link to his Instagram page (which links to the podcast). Bless him, I told him to go and see the seals at our lighthouse island after we met, and also to the fish restaurant I used to chef in. And he did.

https://www.instagram.com/tomrosenthal1/p/DXz9kT2jMqD/