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!

We are loving our Welsh holiday @leporello despite some varied weather! Sun came out yesterday and we had a lovely day on the beach at Saundersfoot. Some delicious sea bass for lunch and actually got to sit outside to eat. Taking DD to a farm park today. Hope you're recovering from your gall bladder op and I'm sure you will have a wonderful time in Wales.

good Morning Nigelistas

Still here, not in a very good place atm so just lurking and taking strength from all the postings and pictures, the photos are especially uplifting.

Sending much love to all.

(am currently trying to emulate Churchill and repeat to myself that I just need to 'keep on buggering on'😂)

Just realised I leapt to the new thread without finishing the old one so missed the news of your op @leporello. Good to have that behind you and best wishes for your recovery. Don’t be tempted to rush back to work too soon - better to have a couple of days now than to over do things and end up needing a week off! Also loved all your garden photos @RainbowZebraWarrior - glorious.

HI all, hoping I can jump on (almost exactly) mid-year? I was on the Xmas thread last year but got lost (might have been under my RafflesMaidenSister user name) towards end of Dec. I definitely need some Nigelesque calm in my life!

What amazing perfect wedges of cakey goodness ❤️

Welcome back, and funny you should metnion the almost half year point, I have put an order in for 25th June for some turkey and pigs in blankets and am going to have a 'mid year Christmas dinner' Will prep roasties and cauliflower / broccoli cheese the week before and freeze. I also have a spare bag of chestnuts that need using, so chestnut stuffing it is! The great thing about cooking Christmas dinner at this time of year is that there's loads of fresh herbs in the garden and you can have Jersey Royals, too!

I love it. We used to celebrate solstice, but my sister lives away now and it was her and I who always sorted it.

Sending much love to you @thebabessavedme and hoping you turn a corner soon.

No beach here today. DD is poorly and off school. Tbf, I had no plans to go for the next couple of days as the tides just don't quite work.

Have pottered and tidied and looked for things I can't find. (Then inevitably ordered replacements) I have also made wholemeal bread buns and a baguette and a white loaf. Spicy, garlicky, tomato soup for the invalid. Roast chicken currently in the oven for me with roasted Jersey royal potatoes and asparagus tossed around with the potatoes.

I am currently on an MCAS diagnosis elimination diet; that bread looks extra amazing!

Hello @MichaelmasDaisiesAndAutumSunset - what a nice username!

Hope you are recovering well @leporello

Just back from house viewing - it's really nice. It's the ground floor of a big end terrace converted into a flat, with a lovely little backyard/ garden. The current tenant was telling me all about what he's been growing and the containers he's built/ converted out of interesting objects. I've said I'm interested but they had quite a few viewings, so it's basically down to who they think is most suitable/ nicest I guess? Should find out tomorrow.

Oh my goodness I went away for the weekend (with very old friends, from primary and pre-school) and you all ran away and hid! But I have tracked you down and skimmed for a brief catch-up so all is well.
@martha79 I am good at throwing other people's things away. I don't know where you are based but if it is within striking distance of Chester I'd be happy to help.
@leporello , glad that annoying gallbladder is gone but the op doesn't sound fun. I called the hospital last week just to see if they would give me an idea how long the waiting list for my shoulder op is going to be, and it's a good job I did as they had no record whatsoever of my referral 🤬 - as soon as I made a couple of calls they have got me an appointment with the consultant tomorrow. So that's good, but how annoying that I've had 3 months of pain that I did not need to experience. I suppose I could have called earlier but all you hear is how long the waiting lists are so I felt I was being cheeky even ringing as quickly as I did.
@RainbowZebraWarrior , my DD3 has not been sleeping in her own room for months but she has had to tidy it a bit and move back in as DD1 came home from uni and understandably wanted her bed back! Which doesn't help you very much. We also have a village cake shed (which is quite dangerous) and my stick blender has been AWOL for about 4 months. There are 5 people in this house who periodically empty the dishwasher so I am used to things being in the wrong different places, but nobody seems to know where that has gone.
I'm on tenterhooks (i) this week because DD2's gap year travels have taken her out of data for a few days (we have become used so quickly to daily contact! I went off to uni and called home once a week and that was just normal wasn't it) and (ii) this evening because DD1 who passed her driving test recently has gone off to drive all by herself for the first time. She'll be fine I know but she's never encountered an old-fashioned handbrake that you have to haul up and down before. And (iii) DH heads to the world cup tomorrow. Fingers crossed all round.

Evening all. I wrote a lovely long post this morning which wouldn’t then let me post so apologies. Suffice to say sending lots of love to those that need it and I hope you get the house @martha79and a big hello to everyone else.

chin up @thebabesavedme.Better things will surely come. I know it’s hard to see that now. But I feel life is one big wheel of fortune, sometimes you are at the top and the next at the bottom and it keeps turning. You just have to hold on as hard as you can x

suffice to say it’s been two wet and soggy days on the farm and I still feel dead tired. In bed and have been since 8. Living the dream. Thankful for my day off tomorrow.

Evening all, welcome back @MichaelmasDaisiesAndAutumSunset .

Sending hugs @thebabessavedme this thread is great for a bit of virtual comfort.

@RainbowZebraWarrior there is one more mini cake left in the freezer so I have got Nigel off the shelf and will be joining you in mid year Christmas cooking with another batch of little cakes.

@Celiathebanshee I am with you on the DCs spreading their wings thing, DS passed his test last summer and I was so nervous when he first went out on his own (to Lidl - NVN, but he was a student). DD went off abroad on her own with no contact for a few days last week (we do have Find My on our phones but only for emergencies, we got a test when they got through security at the airport (quite a long journey to get there including across London) and then nothing.

@leporello sending best recovery wishes. We had a fabulous Welsh holiday last year, staying near Aberystwyth, really enjoyed it (apart from the 20mph speed limits and constant changes of limit). Sounds as though you are in Pembrokeshire @Markknopflersheadband we had some lovely holidays there when the DCs were young.

My sympathies. I went through that in 2021 for six months. First three weeks were only turkey and rice if it's the same one? It was infuriating as friends kept telling me to make myself a lovely turkey curry or risotto. No. No spices, no wine, no stock, no sauces. Just plain dry turkey and rice. For Breakfast. For Lunch and For Dinner.

If it's any consolation, I eat very little myself of what I make. The wholemeal bread is for DD and Mum and Dad. The white loaf is all for DD. However, I did have a successful reintroduction of quite a few things after my elimination diet. It can still be dicey, but certain things in very small quantities are ok.

Sigh.

Où est l'été 🤷‍♀️

It's so cold. Had the stove blazing last night, heating is on this morning.

Ooh @martha79 that sounds like a lovely place to live. Fingers crossed.

Also meant to say that those photos from @LillianGish and @EphemeraleEudemonia are fabulous!

Hurrah for joint mid year Christmas Nigelling @ElegantDresses I do get wirhdrawal symptoms around this time of year, and tend to resort to a Christmas in July audible rendition of the CC 😊

@Celiathebanshee Ooh. That's a lot of tenterhooks, bless you. Hope yoir mind is put at rest bit by bit. When I was on a gap year in 2006 we did have early facebook (and MySpace!) but other than that, same, it was a weekly call home from the phone box in the hostel.
My stick blender is driving me nuts. I get rid of the damp smell. I don't know whether to buy a whole new one, or just replace the shaft part.

@piscofrisco have you managed to get an appointment yet about the fatigue? (Sorry to nag) I also feel for you being outdoors in wet weather. I dodged the rain and thunderstorms so many times yesterday. Then, in the middle of an absolute downpour, DD wanted to empty the contents of the rock tumbler onto the lawn last night. My help was also required, natch. Had to peel our clothes off afterwards. Trainers still trying in the conservatory. I had only just gotten them dry from the previous day's encounters dodging waves at the beach (unsuccessfully) DD obviously feeling a lot better, so back to school today.

I love the idea of a half way Christmas. Maybe we should pick a date and do a group virtual
one with much nigelling.

I am dreading dd2 going to Taiwan @ElegantDresses. Due to her past issues I’m hyper vigilant about her anyway and her being so far away with a group of people she doesn’t know (it’s students from all different unis a sort of summer school scholarship thing) following a 24 hour journey totally alone is spinning me out so much I can’t think about it!

No Dr’s appointment yet. In fact I’m back and forth on their app with the GP who says I don’t need one and it’s just a meno symptom and without seeing me at all is insisting I up my progesterone. In the time she has spent typing messages she could have seen me twice. This can’t be the way healthcare is delivered now. It’s utterly frustrating.

Day off cancelled now as one of my more challenging co farmers is in crisis. He will only work with a handful of people and the other two are off on holiday so it’s me or bust. This puts my weekly clean and shopping day out the window so god knows when all that will get done. I see a NVN Maccies tea on the cards for the kiddo’s this evening.

have a lovely Wednesday all

I'd love that. I see it in a castle by a loch (ideally with Nigel himself there, mixing us all cocktails)

That's bloody poor form, from the GP. As you say, the time spent typing could be used to actually see you. They bloody well know that other things can mimic / present alongside menopause too. B12, iron deficiencies, thyroid issues etc) I guess your worry and stress about DD2 will also be contributing. I think for me, it's just nice to be able to sit down face to face with a GP wnd have them acknowledge and sympathise that I might actually be going through a Really Shit Time. Validation, I suppose.

Hugs x

Hello everyone. Is it ok to join you? I read your threads from time to time and find them calming and comforting, which I rather need at the moment.

I had the pleasure of watching a barn owl hovering about ten metres back from my garden in the field behind our house last night. It was really low and close and was just wonderful to see. It was about 9:30pm and its wings were so white against the darkening sky. I felt very lucky.

Oh. Heads up for anyone who likes to collect fir cones for the fire / for decor. Ours have started dropping early this year. Likley due to the winds and hot spell a couple of weeks ago. I have collected a couple of dozen already and refilled my basket by the fire.

N.B. Just to combat any romantic notions of me wafting around with a basket, collecting fir cones in an enchanted wood whilst nature frolicks around me, I am afraid the reality is that I scrabbled around for them under a particularly large tree in Smyths toys superstore car park.

Ha @RainbowZebraWarrior that’s me too, there are some fir trees overhanging our work car park so I go scrabbling around behind the parked cars for them. They fall onto gravel so they stay where they fall all along the fence rather than rolling away. Here’s a photo I took last year

Hello @PeachMelbaRose, what a lovely name, sounds like a variety Nigel would have in his garden!

Sorry about your frustrations with the GP @piscofrisco - I like the online system but sometimes you just need to sit down and talk to someone.

Love the idea of half-Christmas - I often used to have half-birthday celebrations when I was younger, as I was more likely to see e.g. my grandparents in the summer rather than in early January.

Morning all, beautiful and sunny here..so far.
Love the idea of a half-Christmas, maybe I could make the rumtopf I’ve been threatening to make for years.

No fir cone foraging here but a local garden has a huge fig tree which overhangs a public pavement. I found a friend gleefully picking the figs from its branches last year. She said as it was overhanging a public place, it’s allowed. Not sure if this is true. She is quite a ballsy person.

Morning all and what a lovely image @PeachMelbaRose those kind of sightings are such a gift from nature.

I used to pick plums and crabapples from the council-planted trees along the pavement. I don’t know if I’d be cheeky enough to help myself from somebody’s garden, even if it was overhanging! Although I eye my neighbour’s laden damson tree every year - she’s elderly and cares for her bed-bound husband but I don’t quite feel I know her well enough to say can I pick them and I’ll let you have some jam

Welcome @PeachMelbaRose