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!)

Had a very busy weekend and have just caught up - over 60 posts. What a wonderful chatty bunch you all are!

Yesterday morning was spent listening to Spanish classical guitar music and eating Spanish orange cake in the grade 1 listed surroundings of the Old Chpael of the Bishop's Palace in Lichfield (now part of the Cathedral School (pic below). A most Nigel morning!

In further Nigel adjacent adventures I have booked tickets for an opera about Aethelflaed, the Merican warrior queen, sung in Olde English, for the end of the month and am volunteering at a finds evening for the portable antiquities scheme tomorrow evening (the last one turned up a solid gold Boudicca era coin which was amazing!).

DH has been told that his contract isn't being extended which we half expected so he is now looking for another contract to start from early 2027. Bit annoying but not unexpected.

Now I want plum and cinnamon crumble, need to inspect the fruit bowl for inspiration...

@LillianGish that is so sad to hear (I am heartened by broader discussions of a rapprochement with the eu but we will leave the politics well outside of the thread).

stunning pic @petitpasta

That's awfully sad @LillianGish I saw the pictures online and it's amazing nobody was hurt, or that it didnt spread to neighbouring properties. Plum and cinnamon crumble sounds delicious. I've had all the ingredients sitting by the pan for spiced plum and whisky jam for days. Hoping to make it tonight.

Totally agree @Bimblesalong

She is a very beautiful lady @leporello

Gorgeous photo @petitpasta and good luck to your DH finding a new contract.

Well done with your apple day endeavours @ElegantDress Ours was also at the weekend, but is massively geared towards small children with rides and things and I always imagine it to be chaotic for some reason.

Nigel's chocolate filled biscuits looked delicious @piscofrisco I might try making them when I feel more inclined. I also have a delicious looking recipe for cheese shortbread.

I am watching Disney's Christmas Carol and devising a revision timetable for half term for DD as her Year 10 mocks start the day she goes back. Still feeling slightly nauseous, fuzzy headed and achy but cannot complain if this has been my lot.

My mother was rather emotional last night as DD took her some of her delicious quiche and Mum said it had "tastes of the past" so I guess that equates to a comforting feeling of nostalgia. It made me think of writing down some nostalgic recipes for DD.

DD got this job lot of cassette tapes for her Walkman from Vinted and there are some belters. Mostly 80s stuff (which she loves) and they worked out at 50p each.

Just caught up just over the weekend.

I am being ruthless with the household clutter and keep getting distracted by messy shelves. Less messy now.

Some great Nigelling and other not so great Nigel news.

I am now printing out past papers and mark schemes again for Monday revision session for maths calculator papers (GCSE), physics (Alevel)

And then our youngster has RE paper 2 (philosophy and ethics) the mark scheme alone is 55 pages! 55.......it has to cover the philosophy of many religions - so we will have to wade through that to find the Christian/Islam bits I expect. What fun!

Autumnal decorations are beyond this household this season as pretty as they are. Will have to do with whatever mother nature does with the trees in the garden (increasingly rapidly turning yellow).

What a bargain! I definitely had a few of those - Thompson Twins and the Eurythmics - and probably bought the Chris Rea one for my dad as a birthday present at some point 😁

Danny Wilson @RainbowZebraWarrior ! There’s a blast from the past.
I’ve been keeping up with the thread but not really posting - still struggling to type with my right arm in a sling. In fact I have been spending way too much time every day on mumsent because it turns out nearly all my hobbies involve my right hand - it doesn’t actually do my head much good but it won’t be long now.
i’d be so thrilled with a Boudicca coin @petitpasta ! Amazing stuff. I don’t really know what a finds evening is though - is it like on the Detectorists where they all bring their buttons?
What a beautiful beast @leporello (and @LillianGish ’s too, although smaller) - we actually went for a walk around the zoo today in the interests of me not sitting indoors 24/7 ( we have membership so it’s easy to just pop in for an hour for a cup of coffee and a stroll) and we did see the Young snow leopard but it was quite far away and not moving about. It was a pretty grey, damp morning and to be honest most things were quite far away and not moving about much 🤣

A grey and dampish day here too and I was awake at 2.30am so I’m now in bed already as I feel wiped out.

is it a snow leopard @leporello?what a stunner.

That is sad news re the market @LillianGish. I do love your pictures of the cemetery. Very seasonal. I used to love a turn around Highgate cemetery when I lived in London.
Did you have any bother with the AI attacked freezers?

glad you feel better @RainbowZebraWarrior.

Sorry to hear re DH’s contract @petitpasta.That seems unfair after your redundancy worries earlier in the year. My nephew got married in Lichfield cathedral-it’s very lovely.

and a big hello to everyone else…

praying for sleep tonight as I was half asleep this afternoon at work.I will probably nod of during uni versity challenge and then wake up at midnight .

A finds night is where detectorists and people who have dug things up in their garden / allotments come to declare their finds. By law you have to declare things. If it's got significant precious metal content or it's 'historically significant' it can be declared 'treasure' which means you can't sell it for a set period time while local or national museums decide if they want to buy it at the market rate. If they don't you get the item returned and it's your to keep or sell. It's quite addictive once you start digging around in the database! It's genuinely changed our understanding of history in some places, particularly when Roman stuff unexpectedly crops up.

https://share.google/9jDwJQBuFdBp4CpnC

I missed out a key bit of information on the finds. All of them (whether treasure or not) are logged on the portable antiquities scheme database which you can search by era, area etc. Every area has a finds liaison officer. The one I am volunteering with tomorrow is the one who had a very muddy solid gold tudor heart handed to her by a detectorist - the one which went on to be the subject of a £3m appeal by the British Museum.

@leporello Zaya is gorgeous and I bet her cubs are too!

Thought you all might appreciate this Halloween decor I spotted on my walk through central London this morning - very autumnal flowers!

Now with photo!

oh I love that @Celiathebanshee. I follow some woman who had a brownstone in New York on insta, and she decorated her ‘stoop’ like that, it’s stunning.

DD2 had a metal detector for a bit. We never found more than some rusty old nails. She was convinced she was going to discover the Hertfordshire horde and be rich and famous.

woke up at 3.30. So going in the right direction but I honestly feel quite tearful im
so tired at this point and I’ve got a really tricky intense co farmer today that I honestly struggle with on my bed day so not excited for the day ahead.

nevertheless a lovely Tuesday to all

Beautiful photo @Comtesse - like @piscofrisco I am reminded of the brownstones we saw in New York from mid September onwards so I am wondering if this is the home of an American. Nice to go all out with autumnal decorations - this was also very popular when we lived in Berlin. The concierge in our building has gone big on Halloween this year, though in a slightly less Nigel way! She put up so much "Scène de Crime" tape that DS actually thought a crime had been committed when he arrived home late at night to see it on one of the internal doors.

Oh that is amazing! I have front steps / front door envy and well done that person.

I have to admit that I am being very grumpy and snobbish today as to the amount of plastic tat I am seeing. The 'keep out' tape and the nylon fake cobwebs are giving me the rage. Two of my neighbours decided to cover their entire front gardens with this evil stuff yesterday. It's wet and windy here and frankly it just looks a mess. Naturally nobody gives a feck about birds and wildlife any more.

Sorry, it's just such a pet hate of mine.

Oops. I've just seen your bit about the 'scene of crime' tape. My issue with it here is that we live on the wild NE coast, and it gets whipped off in the wind and ends up in the hedgerows.

There's a house in our street that goes all out with the Hallowe'en displays, they are very creative and have projector lights etc. But not tasteful AT ALL.

Oh I’m completely with you on the plastic tape @RainbowZebraWarrior!

Yes colour coordinated pumpkins and alliums are quite a different proposition! Lots of Americans round here - some have spectacular decorations, will look out for more 🎃

Agree on loving the doorstep squashes and dried flowers etc., not so much with the fake spider webbing everywhere. Very bad for wildlife! Must admit I do have a bit of halloween plastic tat built up over time while the dc were young. It gets hauled out every year, along with witchy string lights etc. But I don't like anything genuinely horrific. Dd1 was absolutely traumatised one year at a little community Halloween event in the swing park when a teen wore one of those Scream masks. She had nightmares for ages.

I’ve got Halloween plastic too @leporello - mostly fake skeleton animals 🤣 They are in the loft so unless DD3 decides to get up there then they will have to stay there this year - I’m not going up there one-handed and DH would not understand 🤣

Rather less refined than the beautiful squash and flowers.
A spooky garland made by 3 year old dgc and me.

Home made stuff is the best! We had a load of bats cut out of black paper and we reused them every year for ages. I do have a fair amount of plastic tat that gets reused every year now but its that nylon fleece stuff outdoors that drives me mad.

Anyway, my mind was blown this morning by Neom introducing a layered candle. Three pf their chriatmassy scents that you work your way through as the candle burns down. I am thinking of trying to make one myself as I have loads of their oils that I should be using up.

I have also realised I can get 15% off my feu de bois diptique candle that I've been saving up for. Liberty offer a code off first purchases if you have never shopped with them before.

Currently sitting outside school in the middle of a proper squall. 'Twill be a soggy woodland walk after school, then!

@RainbowZebraWarrior
Oh my! The Neom layered candle sounds amazing.
Ive just bought their Christmas Wish candle (20% off at LoonFantastic) and it doesn’t disappoint.
Not sure if I actually want to use it!

DS’s uni still closed as protests continue here so all lessons on line which is giving me pandemic throwback vibes! Leaned into the nostalgia of that by making some rather delicious leek and potato soup for lunch and then rustled up some fairy cakes to have with tea this afternoon. Tray baked pork chops with pear and roasted vegetables for supper. One of the few upsides of that time was that everyone was always reliably around for family mealtimes rather than having to work out who was going to be in when and juggle accordingly so I’ve enjoyed a pleasantly domesticated day in and out of the kitchen. You can really feel the days start to shorten so I’ve put on the twinkly lights and lit some candles - it’s beginning to feel a lot more Nigel.