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!

Oh that's pretty @SaraCrewe06 it looks like a sedum, they do multiply. A friend has a load of them in pots under her open porch.

@SaraCrewe06 I'm going to take the credit for the island - glad you enjoyed it too! I keep telling my friends here to listen and they all go yeah yeah and then don't. And the plant is an aeonium - they will take cold over the winter but hate being cold and wet so I bring mine in. They don't like 'in' so always look a bit weedy by the time I put them back out in the spring, but they soon bounce back, I love them. The more UV light they soak up, the darker they get - like a suntan!
@RainbowZebraWarrior , I might have said this before but Stevie brought some of her favourite capes along to her concert to show us! I love her.
@piscofrisco , the girl with the louding voice is worth sticking with.

I've had an eventful Monday morning. Was quite content sitting in my bed with a cup of tea, doing the wordle, when the school bus driver texted to say he was stuck in traffic (motorway closed) so I had to leap up, throw a cardigan over my pyjamas, and drive DD3 to school. Except before we left the house we wondered what the cat was looking at - image attached - and it became apparent that a bird had come down the chimney. I opened the woodburner carefully and armed with a teatowel thinking I would catch it and it shot straight back up the chimney, I could hear it scrabbling about about a metre up. So I covered the door with the teatowel and went to have a think. Then I decided the best thing might be to leave the windows open so it might find its own way out (room door closed because of cats) but when I went to do it there were TWO young birds flapping about in the windowsill! Stupid things. So I caught them and put them out of the window (you can imagine for yourselves that this was less straightforward and calm than the sentence makes it sound)

PS @SaraCrewe06 do you know when he cut the branch? They do best if you let the end dry out before you plant it - leave it on a windowsill for a couple of weeks, if he cut it recently

Totally distracted from all important conversations by @Celiathebanshee ’s gorgeous cat. What a beauty. I’ve always had torties and miss my girls. Hope your day gets less chaotic!

@Celiathebanshee
I think he cut it last Tuesday.
Your cat is gorgeous and what a palaver with the birds.
We once had a squirrel descend our chimney. It pelted around the living room for about 15 seconds then leapt out of the window at full speed!

Gosh, squirrels and birds down the chimney. I just get bees. Speaking of which, I was just at my parents and my Mum was shouting from the back door "Rainbow! You need to come and look at this. I don't know what it is but it's green!" It was actually a honeybee with a leaf stuck to it's underside, so when it was flying, it looked like a large green flying insect. Here it is. Here also, is one of my lovely old fashioned rose bushes that the drunken neighbour thankfully didn't get her mitts on!

Afternoon all

How was Anna Lapwood @leporello? Was this with her new touring organ? I had tickets for York but had to cancel unfortunately.

Lovely cat @Celiathebanshee and I'm glad all the drama was resolved eventually!

I like the bee's outfit @RainbowZebraWarrior 😁

I am having a day of can't-be-botheredness, I'm just tired and meh. Thankfully work is fairly quiet. And I'm only in three days this week. Got another house viewing booked for Thursday which I'm quite keen on - it's small but quirky and looks nicely done out.

The hydrangeas are starting to get some colour here - it seems like everytime I look out they've got a bit pinker.

I actually realised after posting that it is a leafcutter bee.

Lovely hydrangea @martha79 Sorry to hear you are feeling a bit Meh. Not surprising bless you. Fingers crossed for Thursday. I like the sound of this interesting, quirky little house.

I've never stopped. Was only at the beach a short while when I got call from school saying DD had forgotten her science book so had to sort that. Made 11 vintage teacup candles in the end - 10 to sell, one to test - and have cut 30 boxes of honeycomb. I just need to label and box them now (and find time later this week to drop 12 off at DDs old gym)

Grabbed a tub of gravy from our newly opened KFC on the way to school. I already cooked a chicken joint and roast potatoes last night, so that's an easy dinner sorted.

Also, what's brown and sticky? My kitchen floor! Doesn't matter how many times you clean it after cutting honeycomb, there are still sticky patches that your feet stick to. It's a bit like pine needles long after the Christmas tree has been chucked.

@SaraCrewe06that is a rather bonny house leek or semper vivum. Thrives on neglect, bad soil and ignoring it!

Moyses, the man who cuts back my garden with his machete has gone home to Guatemala for a month, so I have been forced to take action and buy a new lawnmower. I actually do like mowing so have no idea why it has taken me two yrs to buy a new one!

Breadmaker arrived on Saturday, today’s loaf has been a basic white, enlivened with nuts and cranberries… cooked while I got on with Teams calls, sounded like I had mating walruses in flagrante in my kitchen!

The ironing pile is humongous, someone tell me I cannot drink gin until half of it ironed an out away, pls…

@RainbowZebraWarrior
Oh wow, that honeycomb looks amazing. What does it taste like? Obviously not like the confectionery version.
Your teacup candles sound lovely.

@LatteLady
That’s such good news re my new plant as I’m really not very good at gardening. I’ve temporarily planted him in with my basil until I can get some compost.
Unsure if this was wise but he looks very happy there.

Yum, I can taste that picture, not had honeycomb in ages.

Your bread sounds lovely despite the noises @LatteLady and I'm enjoying the fact you have a man who cuts your grass with a machete.

The house is an end terrace on a funny angle, so it's an interesting shape. No garden but there's a bit of space for pots. And not far from a nice park where you can eventually walk out into woodland.

@SaraCrewe06 Please do not get special compost... it is the sort of plant you can stick in a hole in the wall, it does not like getting its feet wet... Literally grab an old pot where a plant has died, make a hole and shove it in, a misting of water and let it rampage, albeit slowly!

Basil likes it really wet though @SaraCrewe06 so I don't think they will be happy housemates for long!

Said plant. Enjoying his probably short time in the sun.

@leporello v jealous of your Anna Lapwood concert. I need to watch out for dates, she's amazing. My dad was a very good organist (he played Widor's Toccata for our wedding) and I think he'd have loved her.

I have managed to negotiate garden leave from Monday so a summer of VN wafting around beckons, ahead of my new job start in late August.

I have started a list of projects to complete. Nothing major just some really annoying things in the house to sort. I am off to find some cute ceramic knobs to order because one annoying job is that the leather straps on my dinky desk drawers have broken. I like the drawers so I plan to fix them.

Back home after another weekend of beaches and camping. Much nicer weather this weekend which made all the difference

Great news about the gardening leave @petitpasta .

Amazing beach pics @CrushingOnRubies Pleased you enjoyed your weekend.

Fab news about the gardening leave @petitpasta Also getting projects done. I love replacing drawer knobs to give furniture a new lease of life. B&Q have some surprisingly lovely ones. My project for today is to replace my shower screen seal strip. I'm also then thinking of playing around with a seaglass idea.

The honey tastes amazing @SaraCrewe06 It's just so fresh and obviously in it's most natural state. The best I have ever tasted was when we kept pur bees one spring and summer at Cragside NT property. We had let them feed on the rhododendrons, then me, Dad and our old dog went up one sunny day in June and took some frames from the hive. We were just sitting on the ground digging in with our fingers it was soooo amazing. It's one of my favourite memories.

Right. A few jobs to do before school run, then running some errands afterwards. Shame it's cold and grey here again. I beleive there may be another heatwave for some later in the week. Cinema at noon to see Tuner, so weather doesn't matter for that at least.

Anna Lapwood was incredible, @martha79@petitpasta, do snap tickets up if you get the chance. I don't know where the hell she gets her energy from, playing a long and gruelling Lord of the Rings symphony then leaping off the organ stool like a young gazelle 😀. Our church organist was in the audience; I did suggest he sew some rhinestones on to his organ shoes but he wasn't sold on the idea...

Yes, she was playing her touring organ (despite the venue having its own instrument) - DH was fascinated by this. She was able to mimic the organ of Salisbury cathedral using sampling but there wasn't the floor-shaking effect you get with a real organ. It was somewhat easier on the eardrums though.

That sounds great @leporello - I did wonder about the lack of floor rumbling but it's so interesting being able to sample etc. I do like an organ recital! I suspect all her leaping about is down to being young 😂

Lovely photos @CrushingOnRubies

Great news on the leave @petitpasta, I hope you can have a relaxing break as well as getting some projects done.

Very much lacking in oomph again today, didn't sleep well and I feel quite strongly that midsummer is not a time to be doing lots of things. But there are lots of things to be done, unfortunately!

@RainbowZebraWarrior
Cragside! I went there with my course to look at the art, I can’t remember what was there but the property was beautiful.

Enjoy the cinema @RainbowZebraWarrior - your honey sounds amazing.

@leporello that sounds fabulous! Love a bit of Anna L. We heard her play at the Royal Albert Hall during the proms - she did the now-legendary Cornfield Chase.

Happy leave time @petitpasta May the Nigel be strong for you.

@martha79 meh! Bad sleep sucks. As does an overloaded todo list when you really want/need to todon’t.

I’m slow-moving today after an infusion yesterday to build my bones. I hope to get on with my crochet blanket for a bit.

Wow I'd never heard of Anna Lapwood, she looks fabulous. I used to play the organ but have fallen out of practice for many years. If she'd been around when I was younger I would have been so inspired by her. Hopefully she's bringing a rather unfashionable instrument back to a younger generation. Just noticed she has a recital very near me in the autumn but it's sold out, bah! Will have to keep an eye out in future.
This thread is wonderful for so many things, it's the kindest and most supportive part of the Internet, and it opens up worlds which I would never have come across otherwise. Thanks ladies.

She is doing amazing work with young organists and women organists - both definitely underrepresented groups!