The Year Round Nigel Slater discussion thread part 6

[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

N.B. The Christmas Chronicles thread proper will start in late October, ready for the book beginning on 1st November (seems a long way off, but will be here before we know it!)

Lovely to welcome some 'old' friends back into the fold. Sad that it's in such difficult circumstances, but hoping you can find the usual warmth and comfort here ❤️

We've had another bag full of goodies from the woods today. Decided it was time to give something back, so DD and I have cleaned the signs.

💐 and a properly brewed cuppa ☕️ to all those having a NVN time.

To be fair to Nige, he had his fair share of struggles early in life and for all we know may still. I guess the gardening, the cooking, the beautiful house, the travels may all be ways of anchoring towards the present as in A Thousand Feasts.

So may everyone with troubles find a Nigelesque chink of something soothing even if just for a moment.

I have have a new to me big squishy sofa which is more Miami than Nige but it's making putting my feet up very easy indeed.

I stuffed marrow rings with beef and mushrooms and topped them with ricotta/egg with some chopped basil.
I turned the rest of the marrow into a smooth soup with peas, odd bit of cucumber and mint and rocket. Feeling very pleased as the marrow was taunting me and I hate to waste food.

That sounds very cool. If you get stuck let me know - I have some archaeology chums still (though tends to be human).

A very successful day. I didn't find a throw but I did find the perfect mug which fits under our coffee maker, a gorgeous candle and two prints for our sitting room which were paid for from the little art fund we gathered at our 30th wedding anniversary by asking people for cash rather than gifts.

Then we saw something neither of us had ever come across before - a stumpery. Apparently made from the stumps of hundreds of felled oak trees stacked on top of each other. Seemingly a wonderful habitat for moss and fern. Quite odd to look at and reminded of me of something that might be a location for Lord of the Rings or similar.

Will definitely go back to Biddulph Grange. The dahlias were almost over which I think is earlier than normal (not a gardener but I think of them as autumn flowers)?

Waves @ingentingI’ve thought of you often -I’m so sorry to hear of your troubles .

@EphemeraleEudemoniais there anything we can do or send to make life easier? People were so kind to us when we had our big house fire and it was much needed at the time as we had lost almost everything. Please let me know if there is any way I can help.

I’ve also been stung today by a horsefly which is painful . First sting of the year for me so I’m doing pretty well really. Stinging someone on the actual nose is not on and poorly played by the bee @MichaelmasDaisiesAndAutumSunset

Dhalias should go much later than this you are right @petitpasta.I like your pictures!

I love both of these programs as well!

I am just rejoining today as well, clearly something called us back to the thread. I remember you from last year Plus, all your gorgeous photos, and I’m so sorry to hear what a terrible time you’ve had xx

Good morning all
It has RAINED over night! The Petrichor! The Freshness! The fact that I’ve no idea where my work trousers are! It will be the first time I’ve needed them in months… though it still
says 25 degrees later so maybe not for long even if I do find them.

welcome back @YuleBeBack :)

poor DD is not on good way-she feels very dizzy and is panicking that it will be forever. Feel a bit worried about leaving her today. I’m hoping her dad might come and see her whilst Dh and I are at work.

Have a lovely Tuesday all

Yes, hurrah for the rain. It absolutely stotted down here last night. The birds baths are full to the brim! We also have heavy rain forecast for tomorrow (and thunderstorms)

I knew I should have really cut the lawn during the weeks and weeks of dry weather available to me.

Hope DD turns a corner soon.

Those prints are amazing @petitpasta and the tree stunp thing looks prehistoric! Some of our woods has patches of masses of huge Gunnera. They have all died in the dry weather, and that looks rather prehistoric too. Dahlia's should definitely still be flowering. Mine are at their absolute height at the moment.

Fabulous to see you back too @YuleBeBack something is definitely in the air that has called so many. The turning of the seasons is probably it. AKA The call of Nigel!

Just read your posts again @YuleBeBack. Sorry to read of all the difficult circumstances in the last year. I hope the coming months are a respite for you

Hello to @YuleBeBack and @IngenTing - I hope the next few months are kind to you.

@petitpasta lovely purchases and I'm intrigued by the stumpery!

I've been looking at tomato leaf/ greenhouse sort of scented candles - has anyone come across any particularly nice ones? I feel like there's still a few weeks where that's going to be an acceptable scent before we move into the autumnal ones (which I have a stash of and must not buy any more).

Pintail do a tomato leaf one, I think. I really like Pintail (especially Incense and Embers) and I have just had an email from them declaring it to be Autumn! 😊🍂I have also just read in laat years November Simple Things magazine about Folk candles which has piqued my interest.

(Rubbish photo attached)

Thanks @RainbowZebraWarrior

Me saying I don't need any more autumnal scents...
Also me finding this website with lots of peaty, foresty scents... https://www.madeinthehills.co.uk/buy-luxury-scented-candles-uk 😍

Hello! Sorry I fell off the thread as real life intervened in Brittany, Burgundy and now Blighty - each as warm as the other. This is the least Nigel time of year for me - I don’t get Nigel vibes at the seaside or in the depths of the countryside in high summer, swimming in lakes or snoozing in a hammock. Nor do I want to wish the summer away - autumn will be here soon enough and I hope to enjoy a few more sunscreen scented moments before that. I have dipped in and out - loved your Santa Maria Novella pilgrimage @Bimblesalong, my idea of heaven. Also loved @RainbowZebraWarrior‘s podcast and song.

My SM feeds have been flooded with ads for Potts candles featuring a tomato leaf one.

Welcome back @IngenTing @EphemeraleEudemonia @YuleBeBack sorry to hear about life's problems but hope the thread helps

I love that cup @petitpasta

Sorry about DD's dizziness @piscofrisco

I got a cracking one called Greenhouse Basil
(dW candles) at TK Maxx on Saturday @martha79
And some Falling Leaves ones from Sand and
Fog. Plus ice just ordered a loveky funnel
neck jacket and some brown barrel leg joggers from adidas so my autumn shopping has begun in earnest despite it being 24 today at work and still quite warm.
DD and I are having a friends re watch. She has been watching it with me for her whole life really in the Background on and off, so it’s like putting on an old slipper. She is still feeling rough :(

Poor DD @piscofrisco, I hope she feels better soon.

Thanks for the candle recommendations. I've discovered a couple of local shops that might have some interesting ones so will see if I can have a wander.

In terribly un-Nigel news, I tried using my oven for the first time this evening and it's tripping the fuse - obviously I didn't discover this before I had put the ingredients into a casserole dish to make a tomato/ bean/ egg/ cheese bake thing. The hob is not working either so I had to improvise by chucking it in the microwave and coming out with a tasty but messy scramble.

Morning

Hope your DD is feeling a bit better today @piscofrisco

Also, hope you get the oven sorted @martha79 Sometimes it can be the bulb thats blown that trips the fuse

Pouring with rain and rather cold here. It sounds mad, but I never really did get to wear much in the way of summer clothes this year. Certainly never got out of trainers.

Anyway, Apricot jam was made yesterday. This morning I am making apple compote to go with the leftover cobnut cake. Later today will be Rosehip syrup. Tomorrow's plan is elderberry tonic after we strip a couple of trees we've seen which are almost over-ripe. Might as well get good use out of all the jars and bottles folk give us. We are also going to check out some of our sloe locations as the ones in the woods have very little on them.

Link to Rosehip syrup for anyone interested

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/07/raw-rosehip-syrup/?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=923099488&gclid=CjwKCAjwhZDUBhBGEiwAbi5bjiW_4MiAGxDrodwRMJwzUcUoTVyg8tklpVIze8XoPuaxGeOnQmJCwRoCVegQAvD_BwE

Also, just pondering for a moment about 'making the best of things' DD has been really struggling with Grandad being unwell, so our foraging (among other things) has been a great distraction. Call me whimsical, but I have now named all the paths in the woods, perhaps in the style of AA Milne. We have Cherry Plum Lane (sounds like a Hallmark Movie) Blackberry Corner, Rabbit Dropping Crossing, Apple Tree Alley and Rosehip Row. There's also Hawthorn Hedgerow, Heron's Pond and a fair few 'Destiny Paths' Strangely enough, the road running alongside the woods is actually called Sliver Fox Way which always makes me giggle and think of George Clooney

Anyway, as I say, bit of a whimsical thiught there.

Cup of tea time!

Good morning all
I like naming little paths and things too and your names are lovely. If does lead to some confusion at work however as I use ‘my’ names for various bits of woods or the individual fields and obviously everyone else knows them by their actual names. I have managed to make ‘woofs walk’ stick , which is a walk I found which we do with a co farmer (I am woof at work because it’s often how my actual name comes out when the Co farmers say it). And the Dickie pond which is the duck pond I spent ages dredging by hand and is now named after my Dad.
DD still asleep for now which is good as I’ve been up throwing up on and off since 5.30 and feel absolutely rotten, can’t even keep tea down, so god knows what bug I’ve picked up somewhere. So annoying as I had things to do today.

It must the the season for things going haywire in the house @martha79as our sliding wardrobe door has decided it will no longer slide (it’s very heavy and we can’t get to any of our clothes-we have tried to fix it to no avail) and our hob is also on the Fritz.

Hope y’all have a nice Wednesday x

Sympathies to all of those suffering. @piscofrisco youve had rather too much of it lately. I hope dd soon picks up too.

@martha79 loving the homeliness of the new place but not the glitches.

Thankyou for the recipe for rosehip @RainbowZebraWarrior I’m off out foraging again this morning to add more to my blackberry vinegar stash and have spotted some good looking rosehip too.

Good Morning Nigelistas Just popping in to say hello to all.

So, I have seen the doc and it's all a bit of a shitshow tbh, It seems my thyroid is shot and I will probably need it removed and my other hormones are all over the place so I'm going on HRT. I'm so very lucky to have a great doctor who has been fantastic since I lost the plot in her office and cried like a baby, it looks like a long haul but at least I know now that what I was feeling is real, I was starting to doubt myself. She has even given me a load of info in regards helping my elderly parents and taking some of the load off me.

I'm so sorry to hear of others worries and troubles, hang on in, we'll get there!

Much love to all x

Morning, oh gosh, sorry about all the poorliness. @thebabessavedme a friend of mine had her thyroid removed about ten years ago, and felt SO much better for it.

I hope you can get to your clothes soon @piscofrisco and you feel better before long.

I love all the names for places - when I was a kid I used to go and see "the animals" which was a collection of old tree stumps on a hillside which I was convinced were all different creatures.

Oh bless you. I'm pleased you've been to see about things and hopefully the HRT will help a bit (I swear by it myself) Also hope they can sort you out in the best way possible re the thyroid. We have thyroid issues in my family (Mum had the radioactive treatment etc for hers, and DD has been on thyroxine since she was 10 years old) Not fun. Sending hugs x