General Chat

Our guests go home tomorrow.....and there is snow flying in the foothills....and its still September. Everyone says we wwill have a toug winter this year. If I was rich I would head south...but not!!

evening all,from a not too bad day which sees Newcastle getting ready for the Great North Run start tomorrow morning.
I gave in to temptation last night and took the big carrot that sprang up in the red onion box ,and WOW,what a result,it measured 10 inches round the shoulder and was five inches in length ,including the whip [the thin tap root]
.If I were still showing them ,and i had another the same size ,i would have won first prize for a pair of stump root .
Suprisingly ,despite it coming up in a box heavily manured for growing onions,the root never forked,so ,you live and learn.
I was soooo chuffed with it , i had to take a pic before i chopped it up for dinner,and i was even more chuffed when there was enough in the one carrot to feed the four of us.
I took even more runners off the plants too ,added some small shoots of calabrese, and some cabbage ,so everything veggie wise was fresh from the garden.
The wife got her hair done this afternoon ready for the trip to Oxfordshire,and having dropped her off at the stylists ,i took the car to my usual cleaning shed ,and had it done ,inside and out,and then went back and picked the missus up before going to the shops on the way home.
Sounds like all govenments are the same ,ours in a flap
because one M P cheated in the voting at the general election,they are all tarred with the same brush.
Off to get on with stripping the bedroom down ,before coming back to get on with the papering.
Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend Fred

Morning all, The sun is shining to-day but the air is cool. I guess things will be very quiet around here with Fred off to Cornwall. Hope your trip goes well Fred and Liz stays in good health.
If you have time will you visit the Eden project? I have friends who are still talking about it after 3 years. They are gardeners too.
Has your house settled down yet, Les? How are the "kids" through all the company?
All the winter activities are getting underway so will have to get all my notes
in order. My calendar is filling up so I think it's time to start saying "NO"
Hope Mary is staying well and keeping out of trouble hee he.
Time to get busy so bye for now. Edith XXXXX

Just a few ,quick lines to let folk know we have reached darkest Wiltshire without any mishaps ,despite the many roadworks and the odd breakdown,,but lucky for us ,we were fine.
We reached the camp at 12-30 and went straight out again to get some stir fry stuff for the tea.,and now at six oclock i am packered and ready for my bed,lol.
Be back tomorrow morning ,have a nice evening all,Fred.

Hello, Glad to hear you are o.k. Fred. The roads are not fun to drive any more are they??Must figure out a way for them to do repairs in the winter when we are home and not wanting to travel!!!!!!
Rainy wet days here and more to come so the weatherman says. The days are getting shorter as well so it's time to settle in a little earlier, a good book usually helps. !!!
Must go and get my day on the way, so bye for now. Edith XXX

Hi everyone We have lovely weather and no we don't want your snow thank you...hee hee..
Been busy with family coming and going..John had a fall last week and his legs were very weak for a few days,,He is now back to where he was before the fall..We see the specialist on the 8th of next month so hope he can do something for him..
Les I have been voting for you and will have another go today..

Fred Bet you are looking forward to your holiday..Hope the weather is fine for you..have a clotted cream ice cream for me will you ...they are so yummy...Hope Liz is all recovered from her bad back..

Getting my garden in slowly..Might get to the nursery this weekend and get some plants and herbs..

Have a lovely weekend all..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LES...XXXXXXXX

Love Mary xxxxx

Morning Mary, Fred, Liz and all who look in.
Rainy day forecast, so it's a day of reading!!!! Love days like this.
We won't send any snow Mary, and if it gets too hot you can have that too.!!
I too am still voting for Port Alberni.
Our town has entered a pepsi challenge to win money for a "no-kill"animal shelter. We seem to have way too many cats lately and the one we have now is just too crowded.
Fred will you visit Project Eden in Cornwall?? Never seen it but have read a lot about it. I would love to see all the plants etc.
Time for breakfast and the book. Stay well everybody. Edith XXXX

The fishing competition is getting hot and heavy. We are fighting to stay at number one. Anybody else you can think of who would vote for us. I am going out today around town to find more voters.....between this and the sewing....I am knackered, you guys!!!
Meanwhile we have fresh salmon for tonite....a big guy. Gonna spread him with a little mayo, dust him with panko crumbs, spice him up with fresh dill and then cover him with orange slices. He will be deee-licious.
More later.
Lesxx

Afternoon all,here at last despite having to rely on a dongle instead of a broadband connection,lol,from a very Hilly but beutiful Cornwall.
The car has done very well with it's supercharger ,turbo,despite only 1500cc,it brought us all the way down here ,via Oxford and all the running about there ,as well as out every day here and has used in a week 8 gallons of diesel.which i think is fantastic.
We are very glad we came while Liz is still able,because the county ,the towns,and the people are fantastic,and we would have missed such a lot.
the scenery is out of this world,and the food ,mmmmmmm.
The traditional cornish pasty here is huge,when the wife and i ordered one at a local cafe ,we landed up sharing the one and asking for a doggy bag for the other ,bringing it back to the van for the next day ,lol the cafe owner ,said it happened a lot ,he he.
We even found the original pasty that everyone was saying wasn't made any more in a little bakery in Padstow [called a miners pasty] meat one end and fruit in the other,so we will try that one day next week ,sat on a seat in the harbour,with a cuppa.
We are going out very shortly Mary ,never mind your clotted cream ice cream ,which is alive and doing well,but we are having a cornish tea this evening ,naughty ,naughty,but veeeeery nice ,he he.
This dongle connection is a bit iffy ,so i will sign off for now ,in case i lose the message ,which has happened already this week,have a good week,all ,just in case,Fred.xxxxx.
P S the Salmon sounds lush Les' yum yum xx

Well at the end of the competition we won by about 18000 votes. Now all those votes have to be verified....so we are all hoping that we will keep the win.
Meanwhile, Fred, last year in New Brunswick Normie and I went to Kings Landing, a historical site. In the old pub we had what was called a "shepherds purse" and it, too, was a piece of pastry filled with meat and veg and baked. You could have either chicken or beef. ...yummy Interesting how different countries serve a similar thing....hey do you guys have one in Oz????
Of course I have always loved cornish pasties....harder to eat now that I am not supposed to eat pastry...how do you manage that Fred???
Tomorrow is the first "show" of the season and my aprons are tagged and ready to go. May even sew another today if I have time. Then next week I must get at the garden, get it all clean and tidy and ready for winter.Keep well everyone.
Lesxx

Evening folks,back in the van again after a lovely day in Perranporth,watching the surfers and taking loads of piccies of the town and surrounding area.
While on holiday Les i put up with the pastry,bu tat home i would consider using a potato topping as with a sheppards pie.or even use a well rolled slice of bread for the crust,okay as long as you cook it slowly.
The beach next to the surfers has it's own feathered character that had us in stitches with it's antics.
A hooded Crow that struts up to the people eating their lunch and stands there calling until someone throws it a bit of bread or whatever they are eating,then it grabs it and backs off until it's eaten it ,and then calls again until he gets a bit more.
We didn't eat till late today and decided to go for four scones ,cream and jam for the princely sum of £4,but when we got back we decided on toast and baked beans ,with one scone apiece for afters,so ,now is the time to get the knife out yummie,lol,see you tomorrow all,Fred.xxxxx

Morning all, Good to hear from you Fred. Happy to hear you and Liz
are enjoying your trip. Hope the weather stays good for you.
The fall weather is closing in on us. There is white frost on the roofs this morning. So if anyone has left something in the garden it is gone for sure.
Made a few jars of beet pickle last week, I bought some at the farmers market, Have just enough to last me for the winter.
The leaves are getting past their bright colours and as soon as we get a good strong wind they will all be gone. Have seen big flocks of geese overhead in the big V so winter will soon be here.
Les, glad to hear you won. I voted every day so happy it helped. We are now voting to get a grant for a "no kil" shelter for our area. It is put on by pepsi. We are promoting it as we have a lot of orphan cats and I for one can't stand having them put down just because someone threw them in the local dump. Some folks need a prod in the lower part when they do something like that.
Hope all the others are well, sure would be nice to hear from you.
Bye for now. Edith XXXXXXX

Hi everyone.. We have had some lovely rain..

Been busy lately as John hasent been able to do anything much.. He sees a autoimune specialist on friday and hope for good results,,Not raising my hopes but stil clutching at straws,,will let you know how he gets on..
Hope my daughter will visit us tomorrow for a few days,,Do miss my girls..

Les,, How are we going with the comp,,do hope you win,,I did vote for you to Edith..LOL..

Been a long weekend here this weekend and we started our daylightsaving hour...still getting used to it,,Takes the body a few days to adjust..

Hope you sell lots of aprons Les and make a motza...

Fred Ar you having clotted cream with your scones,,OH I loved them when we were in the UK..Also a clotted cream ice cream..wont do your colesterol any good but its yummy...

Have fun all..

Love Mary xxx

Evening peeps,just back from Boscastle,and Tintagel,of King Arthur fame,and we Did manage to get down the cliff path to the castle entrance,due to a coastal rescue vehicle,making extra cash by running a service up and down for people with a problem with mobility,which enabled us to get some good pic's after all.
Boscastle was stowed out and we couldn't find a place to park the car,but we did see that a lot of damage from the floods two years ago is still evident,anyway the town nestled in the hills above the valley floor looks so lovely that we are leaving the car in the town tomorrow and catching a bus,leaving us free to wander at will.
Of COURSE the cream we had with the scones was clotted Mary,that's a bit like asking someone from Durham to burn Yorkshire coal [perish the thought] ,as you say though,nice though it's ,it's not something to have very often lol.
Hope John gets some good news on Friday,Fred.xxxx

Ah! Fred, Tintagel, one of my favourite places and then up the coast to Clovelly.....homesick now.

Yes!!! we won. My LIttle town is the ultimate fishing town. We now have our own signature salmon dish that will served at all the local restaurants of note. This lady in town who created it won first prize with this dish in an international competition.

The dish: A nice salmon fillet and wild please non of that farmed stuff. Better to eat a smaller wild than a larger farmed. Cut the fillet into portion sizes as you desire. Chop fresh sage and lightly sprinkle over the salmon, then wrap each piece with proscuitto. She says to pan fry but I would foil mine and bake them in the oven. Serve with either a garlic aioli or a white wine butter sauce., a few baby spuds and asparagus....yummy, yummy.

More later.
Lesxx

Morning Lesley,yes you should miss Cornwall a lot,if i had been able to choose a place of birth,it would have been Scotland first ,Cornwall second,but there you go ,lol.
The wife and i decided to go back next year ,and we booked the same two weeks next year ,there was so much we didn't see and do,that a return was inevitable .
We are now resting in Wiltshire before returning home tomorrow,where i will have to make one heck of a fuss of Hissy ,before starting sanding down three of the upstairs doors so that i can get them painted
The memory stick was a good buy, as i have uploaded all the holiday pics onto it from the cam corder,my camera ,and the wife's liitle sure shot ,so that i can put them all into her 'puter as soon as i get home.
Half of the film we took on the cam corder is already on dvd and i will transfer the rest onto disc at home before i wipe the mini discs for re use,this cam corder is so much lighter than the old one ,and the mini discs take up far less room than the old tapes did.
Have to go now ,and get brekkie ,toast and beans,wow ,what a come down from fresh cornish eggs, bread and tomatoes,he he but you can't have it all can you?.
Hope everyone has a good weekend Fred.xxxx

Thanksgiving weekend here Everyone will be cooking turkeys and pumpkin pie...but not us. Norm doesn't like turkey and we both heartily dislike pumpkin.....so what are we having....well.....
I am going to create a pocket in two chicken breasts, stuff them with cranberry stuffing, wrap them in proscuitto and bake gently. Serve with white, red an and purple baby spuds and asparagus. Then bread and butter pudding with apple in it and hot custard...come on over!!!!
Hey Fred, have you learned the joy of pasta sheets??? You can only get them here at one grocery store and they are the most fun. So far used them to make an earth shattering veggie lasagne and then when dau was here we made canellonis.....baked in a tomato sauce rather than bechmel...less fat....and oh so good.
In another life I think I was a chef...lol!!
Have a great weekend. Lesxx

Just a quicky as we pack up to go home.
Love the idea of stuffing the chicken with cranberry stuffing Les' and will try it,next time you do this try streaky bacon wrapped round it too adds that extra kick.
Catch you later all ,Fred.xxxx

Hello all, Not full of turkey yet but will be tomorrow.
grand daughter is chef this year and as she had to work the week-end
we will celebrate on the day itself.Les, we are the opposite everyone loves turkey and pies are split between apple and pumpkin so both are to be had. Sounds like a great holiday Fred will look forward to the pics when you can find the time to send them on.
Our weather is holding and it is wonderfull to be able to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine this late in the year. Day temps have been in the high 20's for more than a week and don't appear to be cooling until next week.
Will enjoy each day as it comes and then not grouse when it is -20, hee hee.
Will also try the salmon dish next week Les, as the fresh fish comes in on Thursday. Being so far inland we have to wait for the fresh stuff. Even Thunder Bay doesn't have a fish store????
We are still voting for the animal shelter until the end of this month. Sure could use it as we tend to have a lot of idiots who don't get the animals neutered and then toss away the offspring as they are too many to feed etc.
Must finish off a few more e-mails and then settle in for Sunday eve T.V
We have a few good programs on and as I don't care too much for most of the stuff I do like tonights shows. Bye for now, Edith XXXXXXX

Hello Just nudging us up. Hope all are well. Edith