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!

@martha79 I hope your back is better soon.

A mix of VN and NVN today. I made a lovely couscous salad with a basil and lime vinaigrette which was delicious (VN)

I had a lovely wander around Waterstones this morning and bought five books including one by Alastair Moffat about the North Sea, which I shall save for when we're in Northumberland in September. I suspect this is VN too.

I also had an eye test and chose some new glasses - tortoiseshell Marc Jacobs ones and then some bolder green /grey Vivienne Westwood frames.

I also had a lovely moment in the gym this evening when a man told me I had picked up the wrong kettle bell and offered me the 6kg one. I gave him one of my special looks and explained that the only reason I had picked the 14kg one was because someone was already using my customary 16kg and then proceeded to get complimented on my kettle bell swing by the class trainer. Silly little man! I was also next to him on one of the plank slots and boy was he huffing and puffing. I think he rather underestimated me because I am petite and fat! Rebellion is probably NVN!

Couscous recipe for anyone interested: pinchofyum.com/couscous-salad-with-lime-basil-vinaigrette?fbclid=IwdGRjcATOFMxjbGNrBM4Uw2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHrL_AvcPiepu614e6eUBiEGD5MNlQuaDoBdmaqe9G6OBhFsD0YqKN-upRlKj_aem_kk8KBJ2acDvAdapKx8emhQ

@RainbowZebraWarriorso it really was a chance meeting and a couple strangers chatting on a bench or in your case some boulders. That’s amazing.

@piscofriscoit hasn’t even mizzled here for a good month. It was really misty a few weeks ago but that was more sea fret than that proper Cornish wet mizzle.

Well as I arrive on Saturday Cornish gardeners can be thankful as I’m very sure the heavens will open :)
As it is it’s due to be 28 on the farm today and the humidity is sapping all energy. Tempers are very short and everyone is a touch fed up with watering endlessly.
DD2 is in Bristol and has a job Interview today to work at the uni sports centre cafe. I hope she gets it as she has no money and I have none left to give her at this point. She has been on one endless holiday since May really so reality needs to bite a touch.

Have a lovely Thursday all :)

Feeling somewhat fed up today. We have been planning a day out to mooch around Sherbourne for ages and each time we are due to go something happens and we end up not doing it. The idea was to do it on a day when we have no other commitments so we can just mooch and take our time. The trouble is, those kinds of days only happen once or twice a month! We've had to cancel for various reasons 3 times now - I think we're fated not to go!

In other news, the hedgehog is back - he clearly doesn't like the cats current type of kibble!

Afternoon all,
I’m impressed the sound quality was so good when it was recorded outdoors @RainbowZebraWarrior the wonders of modern technology.

Just been out picking some blackberries from the garden, we have a fairly large and unruly logpile in one corner (habitat pile, no logs for burning, they are nearer he house) whichbrambles scramble all over. It means stepping awkwardly and balancing/reaching. I wobbled a bit, dropped my tub of blackberries between the pile and the fence and scratched my arm, not happy. I got secateurs and gloves out and cleared a proper space, should have done that first, and retrieved most of hem but annoying. Luckily I had a tetanus jab last year. My arm looks a mess though and going to a wedding his weekend so want it to look nice.

We have a hosepipe ban from Saturday so I have been using it today to fill some big tubs of water at the far end of the garden to dunk my watering can into. I have pu small planks of wood in them in case any wildlife climbs in. But we actually have black clouds today. No rain here for several weeks now.

Waving! Just catching up after our trip to the VN resort for our Nigelistas - Menton! Gorgeous. We visited other places too but DH has expressed a wish to up-sticks and live there.

I've ordered Edmund De Waal's book "how to begin" to be published in autumn. He is very Nigel-adjacent, and, I believe, makes pots for Nigel. The book is about the journey to becoming a creative artist.

Meanwhile, it is not France or Italy outside. We are not dining on icecream for lunch and supper but it is good to be back to our rather overgrown garden!

A view from Beatrice Rothschild’s mansion on Cap Ferrat, from Villa Kerylous at Beaulieu-sur-mer, Menton and a delicious plate of stuffed courgette flowers (soft cheese and courgettes inside).

Just having a quick catch up after community beekeeping chat which was really hard work. Sometime folk are delightful, and sometimes, well, not so much. No more this year. Scarecrow Festival in Sept then Christmas fair in Dec. Tbf. My heart really wasn't in it, but I did try and plaster on a smile.

It's been a tough last six weeks with non stop illness and hospital with Dad. He is still recovering from his failed skin cancer skin graft, subsequent infections, new autoimmune disease which hospitalised him and high dose steroid withdrawal side effects. Seems like such a kick in the teeth that he then has to start radiotherapy soon. Seems like such a kick in the teeth that he got this shitty diagnosis right after being told he didn't have the terminal lung condition they thought he had.

"Here. You don't have a terminal lung condition after all, but have prostate sodding cancer instead!"

Really sorry for thr whinge. I am feeling fiercely protective of him and unashamedly angry on his behalf for the relentless medical nonsense of late.

My artwork / clip is up on the SOAB podcast. I don't like it. I wanted rainbow coloured long hair and an aurora sky (yes, I am very hard to please right now)

Absolutely cannot complain at the lovely comments though ❤️

Love to everyone else struggling with heat, illness, whatever life chooses to chuck etc.

www.instagram.com/strangersonabench/reel/DbIW6VsshH_/?hl=en

What a wonderful instagram post and clip. I will imagine the rainbow hair and aurora sky when I relisten.

It is absolute rubbish what your dad (and you guys) have to endure. Life comes extremely fast at times - sometimes it feels relentless.

Aww yeah, that's not you @RainbowZebraWarrior! But very lovely to read the comments. So sorry your dad's had so much to deal with at once (and you supporting him).

Busy day here with multiple car trips to pick up and deliver things, but I think we might actually be at the point where there are more things at the new house than the old one. I had three people helping this afternoon and kept getting told off for trying to lift things.

On the sofa now with tea of lamb kofte and coconut rice (ready meal but a very nice one).

Thanks Bimbles as I know you have been through the mill yourself. I just really wanted Dad to have a little bit of a break.

Also, I just want to say that I was thinking of you when I described the amazing aurora that night x

That's it. As soon as I saw it, I thought "that's not me" but I am guessing Tom doesn't give the animator a brief (and no photos are taken) Still Very grateful for the opportunity though even though.

Pleased to hear you are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. You've done a grand job, lass. Hope you can have a bit of time off and a rest, soon.

I fancied something different for dinner tonight, so browsed Sainsbury's and was shocked at the price of beef! £18 for a small joint that would likely shrink to the size of a pebble. Ended up with a small gammon joint with a honey glaze, which will hopefully do for sandwiches too for a couple of days.

Picky wee hedgehog @confusedmeanderings:)

Beatrice Rothschild was clearly a woman of taste @bimbles.How was our lovely Menton? I hope you have come back with a suitably large amount of lemon themed items. I got some soap whilst there and it is lovely!

I can recommend Miracle de Paris if you need to cover up scratches and bruises @ElegantDressesim covered in marks all the time so sometimes it’s the only thing for it.

You’ve every right to moan and here is the place for it dear @RainbowZebraWarrior. Your poor Dad and you have had a hell of a time of it, you have both done so well .

And you are doing incredibly @martha79slow and steady wins the race

Ive cut myself to ribbons today on brambles and nettles and got some weird sunburn on one arm. My co farmer had an ear infection, was a bit off centre as a result, and tried to ransack a campers open car boot. The goats escaped and we have had three dead hens apropo of nothing. Not a classic day at work.

Thanks @piscofrisco and I will be looking up that cream myself as I am always covered in scratches and bruises. I usually use arnica for bruises, but recently got stung to bits by nettles after clearing an area at the bottom of the garden which is prone to both those and the dreaded brambles. The three dead hens is sad to read about. We've lost two in the last month or so. Likely age related, but the hot, dry weather won't have helped.

Also meant to say pleased you had a lovely time away @Bimblesalong The photos look amazing. Imagine living there, eh? Idyllic! DD is making noises about wanting to visit Sicily and Norway so I am holding that thought as we have only managed 5 days away since 2022.

Your Hedgehog is a constant source of amusement @Confusedmeanderings but I know it can also be a bit of a pest at times. It certainly seems like a character! My young one that I discovered a few months ago seems to be keeping the slugs at bay. I haven't seen it for a while, but I hear it shuffling about in the undergrowth (now there's a reminder of David Bellamy)

Sympathies to those further south with hosepipe bans imminent. There's nowt worse than watching your hard work shrivel up. We are very lucky here having Kielder water and a less aggressive climate, but the dead grass is a sign that even we may have to rethink our planting next year. My sweet peas were literally thriving yeaterday, and gone to nowt today. Off to do a spot of watering now.

Anyone else totally confused as to what day it is? First week of summer hols has had me totally out of routine!

I thought this looked more like you (not exactly like you of course but more like the you-ness of you).

Then I realised all Tom's podcasts have the same picture.
Then I realised the stranger in the picture is wearing a flying insect costume!

Yes, I would have liked butterfly wings or long, flowing rainbow hair as opposed to an old person's short pink haircut - with NHS crutches!! - reminds me of my Grandma's pink rinse back in 1983. Also, I repeatedly say that the sky was a beautiful blue that day, and it's dull and grey in the animation. I think the person who does this might think 55 years old = old bag.

Grumble grumble... Maybe I am actually a miserable old bag 😆

I might have to paint myself better 😊

@piscofrisco thank you, I don't have time for any more shopping before the weekend but fortunately rushed out and bought Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs after getting a rash on my ankles during an allotment session a few days before another formal event a few weeks ago so I will try that.

@RainbowZebraWarrior I don’t even notice the end of term now apart from the miracle of how much less traffic there is on my way to work, it is a bit strange after so many years of being a slave to the school run and holidays, hope you and DD get into a good routine.

You and your Dad are having such a tough time @RainbowZebraWarrior . Sending lots of hugs.

Prickle the hedgehog has been in again. He's a very noisy eater, so even though the sitting room is down the hallway from the kitchen, I could hear him. I crept down the hall and nearly got to him, but at the last moment he scurried under the kitchen units. He's a whopper! I looked at him and thought "that's my cat food that's made you grow so big!" 🤣🤣🤣 Also, I never knew they were so flipping strong! I tried to prise him out but he hung on for dear life and I gave up in the end. I'll have to leave the back door open all night. No doubt in the morning there will be all manner of wild animals demanding breakfast and turning up their noses at whatever I offer them!. Meanwhile, this is what Muldoon, who should be defending his territory, is doing.

Darn it, the picture didn't add. I'll try again.

Hopefully this worked!

I thought the same and then also realised that was the photo for all the episodes!

What a gorgeous cat @Confusedmeanderings even if there's a lack of defence skills. I'm imagining you like Snow White surrounded by animals in the morning.

I haven't particularly noticed the end of term but am off work and so confused by days too - somehow I've had a week off already and I'm not sure where it's gone (well, moving things and being a heap on the sofa, mainly). Spending the next few days packing the last of everything - I was worrying about the amount/ bulk of clothes, despite lots of clearing out, but suddenly had the idea at 11pm last night to order some vacuum storage bags.

What a lovely cat @confusedmeanderings.
And how lovely to have a tame hedgehog. I wonder if they ate getting bolder as they don’t have as much of their regular food to eat due to the dry weather? Certainly we have seen some off behaviour from the badgers that live on the farm. Because there are no worms to be add they have taken to raiding the kitchen garden. We lost two whole long rows of carrots to them this week, which I don’t believe is typical badger behaviour but I may be wrong.

We haven’t had the DSS’s this week and the farm is actually quieter as school groups and work with pupil referral unit kids ends for the summer. But I feel weirdly like summer is beginning to end as it’s been so hot for so long-I don’t get that start of summer holiday feeling I used to when my girls were little and it feels discombobulating.

Ive woken up full of cold, so I definitely know I’ve a week off approaching. My mother arrives today, but with cooked chicken or without? We shall see… happy Friday all

I see that the heat is forecast to be back from next week. I popped into a garden centre yesterday to pick up a gift for a party we have this weekend. As I entered someone was leaving with a trolley full of plants which I thought was a tad optimistic. I'm not even sure how he plans to turn over the soil to put them in, it's baked rock hard here!

I am secretly wishing for Autumn!

Today I need to choose a paint colour to go with these curtains for my office. I have tried to find a pink and failed so now i think green and a pink chair:

Fresh Botanical Eyelet Curtains | Dunelm https://share.google/lYKqwo20FrrtKg7jJ

Maybe a pale green paint?

I think that is the way to go. I want something restful. I tried the two pinks that were the best colour matches and one is too peachy and the other one was too cold for a north facing room. I think a pale gren would also let me choose a bolder colour armchair. I think one of these two might work for a chair