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!

Good to hear from you @Seasidebubbles and thanks for the check-in ❤️ Loving all the glove connections / stories.

So what brings you to the Northumberland coast next week @piscofrisco Is it business or pleasure?

Speaking of gloves (and your question about glove boxes) @LatteLady I have a rather large cashmere glove collection. They aren't as tidy as they usually are, but here's some my collection that are kept in three separate drawers in my bedroom. There are a few neck warmers and headbands among there, too.

A fairly quiet day has been had here. Had to go and grab Dads phone and bring it to mine to download his appointment letter for tomorrow's prostate Operation. Their internet is off and they dont have an engineer coming out till Tuesday.

I am going away for a few nights with my two oldest pals one of whom is back from Australia and keen on bird watching so he is dragging us on a boat trip to see some puffins. Im not that fussed about the puffins but Im very happy to be seeing my pals :)

Just popping my head in to say be careful that the vim doesn’t scratch the bath and taps. It can take the surface off!

Good advice binbles! I seem to remember it taking the enamel off my mums bath!

Lovely gloves @RainbowZebraWarrior and fascinating to hear about the old glove manufacturing. I've actually just cleared out quite a lot - I like wrist warmer types and cosy mittens for really cold days, but not really a fan of gloves with fingers, my fingers like to be free!

I'm just in what feels like a never-ending cycle of clearing things out now 😂and then posting off Vinted sales and Oxfam donation bags, and arranging for people to collect stuff. And gathering a collection of bin bags in the cellar - all the stuff that isn't up to being sold/ donated. I've found a waste company who will do a collection of multiple bags for a reasonable price, so will arrange that once I think I've got most of it sorted. Then there's some dead electricals and things like broken music stands to go to the tip.

I have however spent the afternoon on the sofa, napping and listening to a new podcast called Outsiding with Caitlin Moran interviewing Bob Mortimer, that was quite nice.

Feel a bit sad as my choir had a concert this afternoon - I haven't been since September, but am still paying my fees with the intention of going back. Let's see how things go after the summer - although with the move across town it'll be quite a trek to get there.

@Seasidebubbles thank you for sharing that book. Intererestingly my granny used to say that her mother made gloves for the royal family. I'd always dismissed it as one of those made up things that go down families bit maybe it's true! I will see if I can get a copy of the book.

@RainbowZebraWarrior that's a very impressive cashmere glove collection!

My Sunday has been quite chilled. I finally managed to get to the tiny almshouse chapel in Lichfield city centre to see the John Piper stained glass window. It's glorious!

Yes, I think we only used to use it on sturdy cast iron / metal baths back in the day. I still have a cast iron bath which seems to be rather bullet proof thankfully, as I do have a habit of chucking all and sundry at it.

Ooh, you must be going to the Farne Islands then, @piscofrisco As well as the gorgeous puffin colony, we also have a very healthy seal population there. Plus, we have had many dolphin and orca sightings in recent months (and a walrus!) Worth looking at / joining the Newbiggin-by-the-Sea dolphin watch facebook page to check for recent sightings.

Rainbow Farne Islands anecdote: I once did a North East Tourist Board TV ad which was filmed on a very cold February day on a boat around the Farnes. It was to be shown in the summer months, so we all had to sit on the boat admiring the seals wearing t shirts and shorts in bitterly cold temperatures with huge swells. The production company also gave us all seasickness pills before we went out (as obviously it took hours of takes just for one second of a boat scene shown in the attached mash up of Ads that year)

m.youtube.com/watch?v=13ijCMKiPrM&pp=ygUgMjAwNiBub3J0aCBlYXN0IHRvdXJpc3QgYm9hcmQgYWQ%3D

Oh I love the puffins! They're such funny little things with such a quirky flight. We're going to Beadnell in the Autumn but I suspect there will be no puffins when we're there.

We're just looking at holidays for next year. Pondering a train trip to Lake Garda. We've been to the Southern half of Italy a lot but not really the north, apart from Turin which I didn't like.

Oh wow. That is something else! ❤️

You can see grey seal pups in Autumn, and it's a great time for bird watching in general, although, yes, the puffins will have left by August.

We've been to Garda twice, although we flew. We stayed in Garda town itself, which is in the south of the lake-near Bardolino. The north of the lake is quite mountainous, but the south is more open. We loved it.

@RainbowZebraWarriorthats a very colourful winter woollens draw.

My gloves for Flora Day are Dents. You just can’t find lace gloves in the same colour as your dress these days. They’re not that much of a fashion accessory as they were 100/50 years ago. You can get white gloves but then you end up looking like a mime artist or Micheal Jackson. And considering they’ve got a royal warrant they weren’t that expensive

Oh, well maybe I will stand corrected then. If there are dolphins I will be delighted!

My nephew got married in Lichfield cathedral last year @petitpasta.It was very grand!

Everyone, look at me, I am about to look rather foolish... several weeks ago, I bought a selection pack of salts and peppers in my foolish attempt to look well rounded in the kitchen. One of the grinders contained Black Pepper, how exotic, you cry, except for those of you who know where this is going. And then it struck me, subtle at first, but unmistakable pong of rotten eggs and farts... but I was on it, the sink was cleaned and drain unblocker used, the washing machine was Vamooshed, but still the smell lingered.

At this point I looked up Black Salt, which apparently is not a salt but is affected by the sulfur it contains... still I have a very clean kitchen!

Oops @LatteLady! I hope the rest of your salt and pepper collection is nicer.

It's a very Monday-ish sort of Monday here - general work annoyances and lots to do. Still waiting to hear when I can pick up the keys to the new flat. On the plus side I just had a delivery of some local honey - it's from a local coffee roasting company who have hives on their site.

Good Lord, just back from work which was akin to working in a furnace :(. Plus I stayed up to watch the match last night so about ready to drop.

Oh crikey. It's bloody freezing here. I have my hoodie on and was contemplating turning on the heating. Tomorrow looks slightly better, and then Wednesday onwards is around 22 to 24 degrees. Safe journey for tomorrow.

That looks like nice honey! Just had a look at their website (we like to compare prices) We have just put ours up from £5 to £6 for a 340g jar, which feels quite strange, but I'm aware we have been underpricing ourselves for years.

Not tried it yet but it smells lovely! I wasn't actually looking for honey, I went on to buy some coffee to leave as a present for my landlord when I move out as he's an absolute coffee fiend.

Getting the new flat keys after work tomorrow!

A slightly odd recommendation, I got pointed towards the Sunday Morning's Essential American 250, on Spotify... and I have had it playing as I work today and it has been lovely. It reminded me of what I thought America was, excluding the current sh1tfest, American Songbook classics, intersperced with Bernstein, classical Gershwin and Copland, to say nothing of Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, Ray Charles and Motown, Springstein... There is literally something for everyone... it has given me hope for the future, if we have produced this, we can do it again... FIFA permitting...

Oh exciting @martha79!
Don’t get me started on FIFA @lattelady The audacity of them!

That sounds brilliant @LatteLady

Very grey morning here, although I'm glad it's still quite cool - am not impressed with our expected return to 30C this week. Had a power cut yesterday evening and it was so dingy I just went to bed, then couldn't be bothered getting up to do anything when it came back on. I did do some bed research though as I've decided to buy a new one (going for slightly smaller, plus mine's been moved a few times and I'm not sure it'll withstand another dismantling). Picked up some sheets in the John Lewis sale, and also treated myself to a fancy dressing gown - decided that now I have a bath I need something nice for when I get out of it!

Normal sort of work day (I hope) then across town to get the keys and leave some basics at the flat.

Exciting times @martha79

Get in, Belgium! and Get Stuffed, Trump (and FIFA for that matter). Both have long been corrupt.

I am wearing my Phillipe Albert 1995/96 Newcastle shirt today to celebrate Belgium's win. (Sligtly tenuous link, admittedly)

Cold, grey and windy here. No 30 + degree heatwave forecast (there never is, thank God!)