General Chat

Dear All

Hello

Simply to say, I hope all of you have a safe and peaceful weekend.

Take care of each other and your families.

Lots of love
Elizabeth, EOS
xx

O I thought that too Anng. The pics were lovely andits so nice to get some more of the craft Island does. They were lovely.

I have managed to right my beans and not all of them were pulled out by the rots so I may be lucky and get a few more as there are still plenty of flowers onn them.

I am just waiting for the Lasagne to brown and we shall be eating. We have some runners with it and I have enough left over for tomorrows steak.

I don’t seem to have received Island’s pics. Could someone forward the email to me please.

Hallo Elizabeth, nice to see you. I hope you and your family are all well. Take care and stay safe xx

Jane <3 <3

Thanks for the photo's Island, lovely to see your little dog your pickings and wow on the crochet I love the bright colours so pretty, I'm glad you've managed to sort out the hexagon you needed .

Our runner beans went over a bit with the wind but we managed to put a bit of rope on one of the canes and we've tied it to the gazebo post for now once the wind drops we'll see if we can stick the canes back in the ground .

Ann I put my pickles down in the shed in a plastic container ,today I went down and gave the jars a turn upside down just to get any trapped bits in the vinegar.
Not sure about the chutney I simmered it for ages and it did get thick but I think it could have had a while longer .

Thank you Elizabeth I hope you enjoy your weekend too and that your keeping safe .

Thank you all for your lovely comments, they mean a lot x
Vera, oops! Have forwarded to you now. :-D

I’ve got the pictures now. Thank you AnnG.

Island, that’s lovely crochet; that would certainly brighten a room up. I love your little dog. He’s got a real ‘knowing’ look about him. I bet he runs rings round you :-) or is he a she?

Loved your photos Island and have replied. Beautiful colours in your crochet and yes what is your dog called?

Mandy I had to give my jars a little shake to get some bubbles to the top too. Now where to put them? Maybe the shed like you as the mice get in the garage. I think I might try a courgette and apple cake next!

OH said his highlight of the day was the delivery of some new pants from M&S!!

I feel tired tonight so hope I sleep well and will be off shortly. At last after 4 weeks they have finished the kitchen over the road so no noisy workmen first thing!

Have a look on here Ann https://www.allotment-garden.org/recipe this is where i saw the Cucumber and Apple chutney recipe

I don't know if any of you are interested but this recipe I used to make for when I did all the pickles and chutneys rtc for the bell fund when we had the barrow outside. Its made in the micro. Delish with burgers or any kind of meats really.

Tomato Relish

2lbs firm ripe tomatoes (or use canned)

1lb onions finely chopped

1/2 tspn salt

1lb sugar and 2 oz demerara

1/2 oz fresh ginger finely chopped

A pinch of chilli powder

7 fluid oz malt vinegar

Skin the toms. put onions in a large bowl cover and cook on full power for 8 mins. Stir after 4 mins.
Chop toms add these and all the other ingedients EXCEPT the vinegar, to the bowkl of onions.
Cook uncovered for 8 mins. reduce to Defrost (30%) setting , cook for 20 mins or until thick Stir regularly. aAdd vinegar and cook uncovered on full power for another 6 mins.
Pour mixture while hot int o warmed clean jars. Put lids on when the relish is cold. Label and store in a cool dry place.

It yields about 3 lbs. I used to save the jars from the Sharwoods mango chutney as it looks good in those.

I meant to say to those of you pickling things. If you run a knife down the sides of the jars and in the middle it releases the air and you can top up with the vinegar.

Morning all.

We have had rain and clouds this morning and at the moment the suns out and its still windy. We have blue sky now too.

Not been out yet but I can see the beans and they are still standing so thats good.

Done the Asda order this mroning so thats underway.

I have heard from FG and she will be back soon tell you more perhaps later as I have to have her permission.

FG has given me permission to tell you that the family worry is over in one place but her daughter is in hospital with a bleed on the brain.

Morning Mel, morning all

Dull and damp here today, what a difference to a week ago.

Hope is all okay with FG, thanks for letting us know you've heard from her Mel. Pleased to see your beans are still standing.

Hope your beans are okay Mandy. I grow my tomatoes in the greenhouse so thankfully the wind didn't effect them. I noticed this morning I have quite a few coming now. Still plenty of flowers as well, so with a bit of luck and some sun we should have some lovely cherry toms soon.

Good wishes to your family to Elizabeth. Stay safe.

Thinking of Jane <3 <3

It's hair colouring day today, so I'm sitting here with it on. I haven't done it for quite a while, so it desperately needed doing. Going to run a bath now as it needs rinsing off soon, my hair is to long to rinse in the sink. It's almost down to my waist.

You maybe the one with the longest hair soon as mine breaks off a lot and is getting very thin so I may have it cut after all these years. Its getting to the point where I can't reach the ends without pulling the rest through the comb. It is down to my knees now.

Did SAndra have her hair cut? and how long is it now?

I have to wash mine over the bath but use the shower thats on the bath taps.

Good morning all,

Very blustery here,cloudy also, with the odd bit of sun peeping through.

Can't stay long, as my eyes are rather sore and blurry, still getting the odd headache also.

Nice to see you LIZ, I hope you are all keeping well. xxx

When I said yesterday, the I still had 50 lbs of apples left. I should have said 100 lbs, as I have just found another load in the conservatory.

Gill we are almost out of tomatoes. We have been picking for ages. It might be, because we are so much further South, that we get more sunshine. ??

Sorry folks but I have to go and rest my eyes. Will try to get back later. Love to you all. xxxx

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooo good we have a new series of Strike coming on the telly on 30th Aug on BBC1. I did enjoy those programs AND All cretures great and small on channel 5 early September. Decent programs at last.

Well it has been a wet and windy day today so we have stayed in all doing our own thing which has consisted of the men watching cricket, and rugby and Lyn showing me how to use the birthday present she gave me, the hot foil machine, and then reading. I think we have shepherds pie for dinner, nice when I don’t have to cook it.

Wet and windy here too Ann :-( I could do with comfort food for dinner but we're out of spuds for jackets. We never had this with 'proper' shopping!

Mel, I haven't seen 'Strike' what is it? I'm guessing they are still showing repeats? I don't watch much tele but we are watching the farm programmes.

I wish 'Graysons Art Club' had continued, I really enjoyed that.

I was having a rummage through my yarn boxes this morning and found a bag of 16 crochet hexagons at variuos stages! Oh. How did they slip of the hook?

Doggie is a he, a rescue who took ownership of us 6 years ago. He has a lovely placid nature, bit of a tinker, great character, selectively deaf so doesn't respond to a name - we've tried various in the hope of hitting on his old name but nothing gets his attention like the sound and smell of biscuits - oh, and the fridge door opening as there might be cheese :-0

Frank - roll up your trouser legs and get treading those apples! Thar be coider! LOL

Evening All,

A bit breezy here today with a few showers and sunshine. I slept well again last night and woke to a very unusual sound.....OH hoovering!! He hoovered all through and cleaned the sink, toilet and bath in the bathroom and put washing out and fetched it in. I stirred my stumps and dusted and steam mopped the kitchen, bathroom, uti and ensuite and dusted the lounge, hall and bedroom and then cleaned two of the window sills in the conservatory. I shall tackle the last one tomorrow but we need to move big things to get to that one! I have also made an apple, courgette and sultana cake that is in the oven so fingers crossed it will turn out ok. After lunch tomorrow I intend to have an afternoon crafting for a change.

Poor Fg, I do hope her daughter is alright. What a worry for them. At least the other family worry is over.

Thank you for the recipes Mandy and Mel. I have copied them both out and will give them a try when I get some more vinegar. OH is under strict instructions not to throw any jars away now. lol.

Thanks for your kind wishes Elizabeth and I hope you have a nice weekend too.

All those apples Frank, where will you put them? Our freezers are both full. I hope your eyes are a bit clearer now. Why not take Ros out for a meal at one of your usual haunts for her birthday. It won't be as special, but nice not to have to cook.

Gill, is Sandra hoping to move to near you if they say she can have a flat? If they say she can't manage, won't they want to appoint a POA? It must be a bit of a worry again seeing how this will all work out for her. I used to colour my hair in my 30s and remember it being quite a job!

Mel, I hesitated for ages before having my hair shorter, and then shorter still, but it is much easier to look after now and I wouldn't want it long again. I know it is a hard decision when it takes so long to grow. I used to love All Creatures Great and Small and read the books which were good as well. A chap I worked with years ago, bought them when they came out and lent them to me to read. I never watched Strike.

In the end I sent my enquiry about our holiday via the resolver site which is associated with Martin Lewis.. It's a useful site to know about as they follow things up for you and escalate them if there is no reply.

I'm hoping we can get our main tv fixed by winter, but they would need to go in the bedrooms and the lounge if a new SKY box is needed which we aren't keen on yet. I think it is actually the tv, so might ring SKY first to see if they think the same and if so I could speak to a tv engineer to see if the problem is fixable.

The cake is cooked and looks and smells good, so I hope it tastes good too. :-)

I hope Jane and her family are managing to start getting their heads around her news. I remember the look on my old neighbours face on coming home from hospital after being told the same. His wife was at work and we felt so useless. That precious little baby will be something for her to look forward to. <3 <3

I like the way you said Doggie took ownership of you Island , I guess he just wandered in one day and decided to stay then. Love the way you said he was selectively deaf, aren't all men LOL ;-) ;-) ;-) So you have some crochet hexagons to finish, that'll keep you busy. I agree there are so many repeats on at the moment. I've started recording the afternoon movies on channel 5 so I have something to watch in the evenings, when there's not much on. I find weekends are the worse unless the F1 is on.

So you might be having your hair cut then Mel. I can imagine it's in the way if it's down to your knees, I find if I don't put my head forward a bit when I sit down I can't move as my hair is trapped behind my back and as for brushing it.......well, it's not easy is it? Yes Sandra has her hair cut it's on her shoulders now, she had it coloured blond to,but I'm not sure it's suits her. I didn't say anything though as I didn't want to offend her, although she said herself she wasn't keen on it. Sorry to hear about FG's daughter, what a worry. I wish her a speedy recovery.

What's the hot foil machine AnnG? I can't work out what it is. It sounds like it kept you busy, that and your reading. We've had terrible weather today, apart from an hour earlier which was brilliant for me to dry the towels on the line, not long after bringing them in the rain started, so that was lucky as towels aren't easy to dry without a dryer. Our broke and we never go around to buying another one. Enjoy your shepherd's pie.

I've managed to find a few bits and bobs for OH's tree off an Obituary I found, it's not been easy as I don't think the parents married, so trying to find out who had which children is a slow process. There's quite a few children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to find. At least it'll keep me out of mischief :-D