The Year Round Nigel Slater Discussion Thread - Part 5

[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 on Mumsnet 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!

Morning all, happy solstice!

What a wonderful day out @Bimblesalong

Enjoy the first run with the new lawnmower @LatteLady

I'm up early to go swimming, enjoying how quiet and cool it is at this time. Early morning garden wanders - the hydrangea teasing a bit of purple amongst the pink, baby olives (is it hot enough for a crop this year? Last time was the year we got 40C) and a rogue rocket flower in the salad.

Wishing all a good solstice.
@LatteLady Nice you're carrying on J's legacy of support for M.Well done with Foundation Paper Quilting, I had to look it up, though not sure I fully understand.

@Bimblesalong The exhibition looks and sounds fabulous, as well as the rest of the day.

Early sunlight caught the colours

Oh one of my absolute favourite flowers. Verbena Bonariensis. A Happy Solstice to you and all on the thread, too 🌞

Gorgeous pics! An olive harvest would be lovely. I have an olive tree, but sadly it is the non edible variety. Hope you enjoyed your swim.

That does sound like a VVN day you had there @Bimblesalong I do love Hokusai's wave, and have the One Hundred Stars kimono in the similarly inspired print.

Just catching up with the thread after a busy couple of days. I have to have my Dad at hospital for 7am tomorrow. Urology rang late on friday to try and book him in for more prostate nonsense on the same day, even though we had told them he was having an operation. They had the cheek to ask which hospital he was attending as he could possibly "do both" No, as A. Operation is an all day job, and, B The hospitals are 25 miles apart. Jeez. Stop the merry go round, we want to get off!

Your cakes sound delicious @ElegantDresses I was hoping to make one today, but am runjing out of time, so will get the ingredients ready for a date and walnut loaf to make tomorrow. It will gove me something to do while I wait for the call to pick Dad up.

Anyway, the sun is shining and the birds are singing. We have had a very manageable 18 / 19 degrees here for the past couple of days. I am now going to prep a pasta bake which should see me through the next couple of days dinner-wise.

I also meant to say, (sorry) sending love and gentle hugs to anyone who finds this day difficult x

I didn't know there was such a thing as non edible olives... or is it just that it doesn't produce any? I did learn that year that you can't eat then straight off the tree (well, you can, but they're very bitter)!

Hope everything goes smoothly for your dad - it sounds like a lot of hospital time and juggling things.

Swimming was lovely, and had excellent carrot cake afterwards. I did also fall over on the path to the cafe and have a few scrapes and bruises. Have spent the rest of the day napping on and off.

Karl Jenkins was wonderful although the orchestra rather overwhelmed the choir during Adiemus. We went with our lovely neighbours and it turns out that they are also Anna Lapwood fans so if she tours near us at all we will go as a four.

Indulged in a lot of cheese and biscuits on our return and I had a few non alcoholic gins.

I also seem to be on a vinted roll, this time with Dents bags. Dents is a superb very old British brand and my great granny used to design and make bespoke gloves for them. I love their bags but they no longer make bags so you have to look for second hand ones. I found my first one last year and got a £200 one for the princely sum of £18, with tags still on. I've recently found two news ones with tags on RRP £225 and £195 and I paid £15 and £28 respectively. I also found a very good quality used one (judging by the photos) for a fiver!!. I will gift DD one of the new ones as part of her birthday gift to pass on the family link.

I may indulge in some Nigelesque baking this week since I still have 9 weeks of garden leave. Normally don't have a lot of time. I found some ground almonds that need using up so I think a bakewell tart might be in order this week, or an orange and almond cake.

My dad's nursing home had a BBQ in the garden today for World Cup / Father's Day, families invited so DH, DM and I went to that, it was boiling but a lovely afternoon. I left the date and walnut cake for him to have during the week (have also frozen half of it im fingers for another time). His mum, my granny, was a great baker, she used to make it (from the Be-Ro book) so it is a nice bit of nostalgia for us.

DH was driving down the M6 yesterday and encountered (going the other way) the 40,000 motorbikes taking part in Dave's Day, the charity tribute ride to Dave Myers, said he'd never seen anything like it.

Thought you might appreciate this photo of a local farmgate flower stall, I stop by for cut flowers regularly in summer, they are beautiful, reasonably priced and last really well.

Sending cooling wishes to everyone for the coming days. I'm so glad Royal Ascot was last week not this for DD and glad it's over now, it was tiring me out doing the taxiing and poor DD was shattered today. But she enjoyed it overall.

Love the VVN day 😄. My day is unlikely to even be mildly N, spent in a boiling hot building. I'm prepped and ready for numerous fainting and dehydrated youngsters. Hope parents are all nagging them about water bottles and sunscreen. I've just nagged dd2 on holiday with mates in a caravan in Pembrokeshire along these lines...

Morning all.

I am reverting back to recording daily small moments of joy.

Managed to get up really early today and get loads done. Went to pick Dad up, dropped him off at hospital and got back home all within 16 minutes. As I came back into my street one of my neighbours had a load (more) big terracotta pots outside with a 'Free' sign so I nabbed them as I always need more. We have been told by another neighbour to help ourselves to tomatoes and courgettes while they are on holiday in exchange for watering services. Baby rabbits everywhere in the field this morning. Our lovely dog is trained not to go for them (she's used to sharing her space with our free ranging hens) so it was so nice to see them hopping about among the wheat. Plenty of time to get DD sorted and just dropped her off for school with no major mishaps or meltdowns today.

Plenty of joyful moments to take from there and it ain't even 9am yet.

Have a good day all.

Well I am off to Manchester this afternoon, just finished packing and am sitting here waiting for a work call, thinking, what have I forgotten? In my dragalong is the quilt, so if you are on the 14:35 to Manchester Piccadilly the old biddy sewing is me!

In the good news column, I will be reuniting with a bag I left at the back of a cab when I was up there last time, which has a half finished sock which I was working on for my boss's wife, so I will have something to work on, on the way back.

Hottest blooming days of the year and I have to organise a team work event... must plan better next year!

DD3 and I on our way back to the airport after an excellent few days in Amsterdam. She’s been pleasant and engaged throughout (she’s 16 and this is not always a given), we have looked at all the art and walked miles. Home for a big sleep then prom on Wednesday

Sounds fab @Celiathebanshee I hope the prom venue is air conditioned! Looking forward to hearing about frocks.

I have had ds2 home for the weekend, which was really lovely. He has informed me that he's off to a "concert" / aka a mosh pit in London on Thursday. Argh! I've ordered a portable insulin chill pack for him to take with him as the forecast temperatures could kill the insulin in his pump (he's ended up in hospital pretty quickly before). T1 diabetes and adhd do not mix at times! Fortunately, he is with friends, who should support him if he gets into strife.

Lovely moments of joy @RainbowZebraWarrior, I hope the rest of the day has gone well.

Enjoy Manchester @LatteLady

Glad you had a good time in Amsterdam @Celiathebanshee

Ugh it's not mosh pit weather @Bimblesalong

The highlight of my day has been this salad.

That looks delicious! You do make some great looking food. I'm still not sure about my 'inedible olives' I will try and go down to the bottom of the garden and check the label again. Once it has stopped raining. It has been so cold here today. Literally freezing with numb hands at the beach this morning.

Pleased that you and DD3 enjoyed Amsterdam @Celiathebanshee Hope you can enjoy a bit of rest time now as I know how knackering city breaks are.

Hope your DS2 is ok at the gig @Bimblesalong It's a worry for you. I hear there are going to be some really high temperatures in the south tomorrow. (I don't suppose one could have missed it as it has been on the news all day) Good to know he's with pals though, and I'm sure they are a sensible lot.

I love that you are being reunited with the ongoing sock work @LatteLady Hope you enjoy your trip.

Loving the link with your family to the handbag / glove company @petitpasta I absolutely must not google Dents bags on Vinted. I'm a nightmare for getting sucked in to vintage bargains!

Meant to say that I love the idea of farm gate flowers @ElegantDresses I see some lovely (possibly) cornflowers or scabious among some of them.

I am shattered, but all is good. Picked Dad up earlier. His op went well. He isn't allowed to bend or lift for a week. Thankfully he has someone looking after his allotment until Friday, and he sorted a lot with the bees yesterday, so they should be ok left to their own devices for a week. He also isn't allowed to swim for a month. He swims every day, so that's a tough one for him, but the main thing is that it's done and out of the way. Onwards and upwards.

Made some cheese scones. Couldn't get my date and walnut cake made this afternoon as planned as I got the call from hospital to go and pick him up earlier than expected, but it's just come out of the oven now. I like a lot of extra walnuts and a lot of spice. The house smells rather Christmassy 😊

Lovely pics of food... I have just snacked on an M&S ploughman's picky pot... I am thinking of being brave and going downstairs to have a G&T and take my sewing with me...

Train was delayed by an hour, so Delay & Repay will pay for my lunch on Friday, when I am going to the Queen's Gallery for the dress exhibition with an old friend.

Oh the dress exhibition is fabulous @LatteLady I went last month. So interesting, not just the beauty of the clothes, but the diplomacy and traditions behind choices and designs, it really is fascinating.

@Bimblesalong sympathy, my DH is T1 and I suspect ADHD but fortunately takes the T1 very seriously now (not so much the case when I first met him). He doesn’t have a pump as he prefers to inject manually but does have a CGM. Hot weather can play havoc. I might suggest he puts his pens in the fridge for the next few days. But then he’ll probably forget to take them to work.

@RainbowZebraWarrior glad things went well for yur Dad, bakes look lovely. I forgot to take pics of my bakes the other day.

Just on time, someone recommended the thread. I needed to share my guilty secret that we used to have Christmas dinner very often until recently...just like that, we did not stop at Christmas day 2025....

the second thing is I am going to celebrate Christmas in July and still don't know what this is....Australian ??

Lovely salad and bakes! I've got some nectarines to eat tomorrow and I am thinking salad with some serrano ham and feta.

I had nectarines with strawberries and raspberry ripple ice cream tonight which was lush (but NVN). In mitigation I did grow the strawberries.

I love nectarines but it's so hard to find ones that have flavour and are properly ripe. Those supermarket 'ripen at home' ones are usually rubbish. I had to go over to Sidmouth last week to restock the cabinet I rent in an antique shop there. Just up the road from the shop is a proper greengrocers and they had fabulous peaches and mangoes in. I don't mind admitting that I gorged on them!

Oh I love nectarines and peaches! I am a heathen though, and prefer them rock hard. I got s taste not waste box last week from Sainsbury's and it was amazing. Peaches, nectarines, apples, blueberries, strawberries, Lemons, mange tout, mushrooms, carrots and tomatoes. All for £2 and all in perfrct nick. I reckon it was worth about twenty quid. Might have a look today to see what they have in.

Nowt particularly remarkable forecast here today. We aren't under any sort of weather warnings, but hope everyone else manages ok with what's forecast. Is it meant to be today or more tomorrow? I'm on watering duty for myself, Dad and neighbour. This will be fun with my slipped ribs. Dads growing a melon that is like a triffid and it's taking four watering cans a day!

Welcome @Violinorbanjo

Christmas in July would be great woth our normal summer weather I think. Not so much this week, at least here.

Just trying to think what a very Nigel approach to the heatwave might look like. Sounds like PPs are spot on with perfect fruit

"It would be almost sacrilegious not to offer fruit for a summer afternoon tea. Scones with strawberries and cream, a slice of pavlova dripping with cherry juice and whole fruits or a slice of peach tart, the pastry crumbling under your tiny fork. I am very fond of serving a raspberry cranachan for tea on a summer’s day. The fruit is crushed with a fork and threaded through whipped cream and toasted oatmeal."

https://observer.co.uk/food/recipes/article/nigel-slater-a-day-in-the-sun-summer-recipes-roast-fish-raspberry-biscuit-cranachan-fried-courgettes-tahini-mushrooms-toast

It's the "feels like 41" that I'm not liking the sound of @RainbowZebraWarrior

Here's the forecast. We're a 100 miles from London so it's not a city thing.