General Chat

Hi Sylvia ,we meet again for the second time today ,lol ,and again ,nice to see you back :-D.
Yep ,we is all still here ,still crazy as loons ,but hey ,we all stay cheerful no matter what,apart from a few grumbles about weather ,exept from Edith who i don't think a neapolitan day would faze,she enjoys anything the weather can throw at her ,he he
Well ,anyway ,i now have the new sandwich toaster which i am going to try out this evening ,starting with four toastie rounds [Two each] ,of a slice of home cured ham topped with grated cheddar cheese with a little red onion ,mixed with a little pickle .
Tomorrow i will be making a stuffed Marrow which i got from the local shop for 30 P ,and will be making a filling of rice,and minced beef skirt,mixed with some Thia green curry,all wrapped in foil and oven baked along with some roasties and parsnip/carrots.
Think you are right about the tomato's Mary ,either your soil is a bit nutrient shy ,or they are lacking sunlight ,it's no good putting feeder on them until the fruits are set .or the plants will shoot away up the canes ,and be far too spindly to make any decent fruit. :-(.
Think these next few days it looks like stay indoor time ,we have lots of cold air blowing across the county driving drizzly rain before it,so Liz and i are already looking forward to our first holiday which we booked last night online.
Back to Blackpool we go the last week in April ,when ,hopefully the sun will be back ,nice and warming [he says hopefully].
Going to go now and do the windows update that the puter keeps reminding me of .lol.Catch you all later ,Fred.xxx :-D <3

Hi! Everyone, I wish I had the energy to cook some of your recipes Fred. I think I will have to make a real effort as they sound so tempting and I haven't bothered much lately.

I am not going out today either Fred, but because it is too hot, not cold. The temperature outside is 38C at the moment but, thank goodness, it is quite nice inside with the air conditioning.

Hi! Mary, I haven't spoken to you for ages. I hope you are well, but, I gather, John is in hospital. I hope he soon recovers.

I am suffering with my Arthritis too so I think I will try Cinnamon. I quite like the taste, especially with sugar on toast. I have been taking Fish Oil for a long time now and it really helps, as, if I forget to take it, I soon know the difference. I take 9 capsules a day though so it is not cheap, but worth it.

It is time for a snack now, so I am going to have some Cinnamon Toast!

See you all later,

Sylvia XX

hi guys it is one hand Les here. Infection spread horribly and i am still going three times a day for antibiotic iv......Norm and I are exhauseted....up early for the first round and then the last one supposedly at midnite. Last night they let a half an hour of saline thru before they realized that they had not switched it over. We didn' t get home until almost one...exhausted!!!
more later when my brain is functioning. Good to see you Sylvia./
Lesxx

Hi Guys and Gals!

Welcome back Sylvia!

Les, I am sorry to hear that you have an infection in your hand, hope it heals soon. I have had cysts removed and it is not a lot of fun. Mine were on my head so every time I combed my hair it was agony.

Bob is doing fantastically. He was discharged on Jan 2nd just 17 days after transplant. He actually only spent about a dozen days in hospital. The rest of the time he came home on day passes and returned each morning. Apparently, he is in the top 5th percentile for recovery. 90% of people who have a transplant are discharged between 45 and 60 days, 5% over 60 days and the other 5% less than 45 days. So to come home after only 17 days is very good. He has had a couple of ups and downs but is generally very well. His blood counts continue to rise and do what they are supposed to do. 3 months after the stem cell transplant they will do another bone marrow biopsy and will then be able to tell us whether he is cancer free. So fingers crossed until the middle of March. It is still a long road to complete recovery but we are much more hopefull than a few months ago. Thanks for all your good thoughts over the years.

Have any of you checked out the new Electoral records for London on Ancestry? I can't remember who has London roots on here. I have been having a great time tracking my family with the help of these records.

We finally got snow last weekend (2-3 inches) and very cold weather. It was minus 33 on Wednesday which was also my first day back at the greenhouse, so a little chilly on the old bones. Today we have a chinook so the temperature has flown up to plus 2. Such a difference in 4 days.

Must run and try to figure out something to throw in the oven for dinner. Bob has no taste buds right now so it is a challenge finding something that he will eat. The doctors say not to give him his favourites right now as he may never eat them again if they don't taste right. At the same time we need to up his calorie intake as he lost 23 pounds in two weeks. So more than a bit of a challenge right now. Suggestions from you all would be very welcome!

Teresa

Morning everyone ,from a sunny but coolish Newcastle in the frozen north of Blighty .
Glad to hear that Bob is bearing up Teresa ,sounds like a very good prognosis to me ,long may it last too leading to a full recovery.
My mum beat cancer three times over the years ,and at 78 years got it again ,and died of it ,but there is now stem cell treatment which gives people a better fighting chance ,so i think a full recovery is on the cards.
If MY greenhouse was reading minus 33 i would be staying indoors ,in bed yet, ,he he ,we over here are wusses with temperatures like that.i can't stand more than 30c either ,in my old age ,i am def' a middle of the road guy ,lol.
Sorry to hear about the hand Les' it sounds painful ,and not nice at all ,you need some tlc from the hubby ,Bella ,and Ollie until it heals ,but this backwards and forwards dosn't help although it has to be done ,no wonder you are so tired and out of sorts,cum'n Edith ,some of these jokes and little stories of yours would do us all good about now ,so how's about it?
Nothing much happening here ,we had our £0-30p marrow for dinner yesterday ,i stuffed it with a little minced beef [skirt] some long grain rice ,and put green thia curry mix in for taste ,wow ,even the grand sone ate it ,and he is a parky eater,so i think i did well,a whole meal for less than £3 .
We had fish and chips for tea ,done on the air fryer ,and both chips ,and fish portions were crisp ,and done to a turn,a far cry on the old actifry we had before.
Noticed that my Blue bells were coming through out front .the Fushia were still hanging in ,and my wild Garlic is coming up away ,so it looks like spring isn't too far away.
Catch you later all ,time to do some work ,albeit half heartedly .
Fred :-(xxx

Hi Guys, no the infection was not in my hand, I was one handed because after 4 other places the only vein that would hold the stent was in my right hand and I just babied it as there weren't too many other places to try. I did actually have a cyst removed from one of my "girls"!!! But as life often sucks the infection spread until it was half way up my chest. Every day it advanced and at one point they told me that if they couldn't stop it it would become deadly serious. Today they took out the saline lock and now I am on oral antiobiotics but I still have to go back each morning to get it dressed. Still painful. Norm and I are exhausted. What should have been a 45 minute visit to the hospital was aften 2 hours, so very little sleep for either of us. Finally today I will be able to wash my hair but still no shower or bath. The doc said today that there was three types of infection in there. I asked where they had come from but he didn;t know!! Asked me if I had been out at night flashing my boobs at the night clubs....what a wag!! I gave him a quick punch in the arm. Lovely man, great sense of humour.

Apart from this we jog along. We spent the entire weekend watching movies and dozing then last night we watched episode three of the second Downton Abbey series....what a fabulous show...sure can't beat British drama. Did you and Liz watch it Fred???

We have had appalling weather. Two days of freezing rain and then last night a wind storm so fierce that it shook the house and when Norm went to look at the wood pile this morning the front rows had been "moved". All the rain yesterday tho has melted the snow, a blessing.

Now I am wishing for spring and hoping that we will be able to sneak away with that little trailer for a few days. The little trailer has done well this winter, not damp inside mainly because of this funny little flying saucer thing that soaks up damp and oozes warmth. We have it sitting on the floor, we have all the cushions stacked up on their sides....so hopefully all will continue well.

Glad Bob is doing OK, Teresa. Altho still uppermost in your minds hopefully it will become a lesser worry for you.....life eh??
Hi Mary, Edith and Sylvia, hope you are doing OK. Fred this will be my first night of real cooking since last Wednesday....gonna try and rustle up something smashing!!
More later. Lesxx

Afternoon peoples ,just a quick one today me being busy on research into a few family members .
Hope things are coming right for you now Les ,it looks like you are having a rough time of it lately,as you say ,time to get the trailer out again ,and take Bella and Ollie camping again .
We went out this morning to get rid of two monitors that were getting past it ,and called in to Morrison's on the way home to buy a Haggis ,and steak pie for tonights supper ,the steak pie for the wife who dosn't like Haggis ,lol, never mind ,all the more for me he he.
I also found some seeds for this year Edith ,a brussel seed that is club root resistant ,a calabreese ditto ,and some new tomato seed that are new to the market.
Hope all are having a good week ,Fred. :-D xxx

Good evening, Yes, at last I found a minute to post.
Glad your on the mend Les, take it slow and easy. Our weather is as crazy as yours, hot and cold and hot again. We have a lot of folks down with a virus,Docs say it is not the flu. With the temps up and down the body doesn't know if it's summer or winter I guess.
Fred, I too have ordered some seeds, heritage tomatoes from seed stored many years ago, they are supposed to be the round firm tasty ones I remember my Gran growing. Here's hoping :-)other than that I am sticking to my herbs this year, not a lot of other veg. I can usually buy them at the markets during the summer and the prices are very good.
I can splurge on flowers instead.
Have sent you some jokes to-night, hope they make you smile :-D
Big wave to Sylvia, hope the cinnamon helps you.
Teresa I have a good recipe for beef-madeleine which is different and easy to make. Ground beef rolled in a flour and cornmeal dough like a jelly roll and served with a mushroome sauce. If you think it sounds good I will send it. Also how about Fred's potato and leek soup. It sure seems to be a favorite in my complex here.
Well, folks off and running again to-night, so bye for now. Edith <3

Hello everyone,

Edith, I have tried the Cinnamon and I really think it might be helping my Arthritis and I have also recommended it to my sister. I love it on toast but what other ways are there to use it? I have made some bread pudding today and that includes mixed spice so I expect there is Cinnamon in that too.

Do you make bread pudding Fred?

Sorry this is short and sweet but it is getting near tea time. I don't know where the day has gone.Oh! yes, I had a man come to fix my kitchen cupboard door on again and he checked and adjusted all the doors so they won't fall off again, I hope.

"Bye for now,

Sylvia X

Morning to Sylvia ,Edith ,Les ,and anyone else who turns up over the next few days.
Yes Sylvia ,i did use to make bread Pudding ,from a recipe of my gt grandads which the kids ,and i loved ,but after the diabeties hit me ,i had to forgo that luxury ,which i reckoned was the King of puddings ,and all from war years where even stale bread was used up ,instead of binning it .
Can'y make sugar and cinnamon on toast for the same reasons [sniffle ,t'aint fair sob] ,but i can and do add a tad in some stir fry's or currys ,and get a little that way :-P.
As to swinging ,tut tut, lass ,you are supposed to swing to music you know ,not exercise on the kitchen doors ,he he ,whatever next .
Edith ,you keep 'em coming please ,that is the first job of my day after opening my puter up ,and have to say ,the wife and i had a darned good laugh at the i phone joke this morning ,one that has been passed on to family members straight away :-).
Looks to be a largish cooking session for us today ,frozen beef and kidney's thawing ready to make steak and kidney filling for pies and whatever ,and some frozen stuffing from Christmas to do with the chicken at the weekend.
I suppose the stuffing comment makes one remember ,only 11 months to boxing day and turkey left overs for lunch ,lol.my ,time is flying again.
A nice morning here now that the sun is showing through the heavy clouds .hmmmmm ,looks like a little snow may be in the offing ,but i hope not ,we are doing well enough without it thanks very much :-D .
Going to make a coffee for my break now ,before starting on the you know what grrrrrr ,just the dusting today ,so it isn't too bad i suppose.
Catch you later all ,Fred& The furry pest ,lol ;-)xxx

Morning, Fred I hope that book missed your head, Christmas "INDEED"
Sylvia, try the cinnamon on yogurt, just the plain stuff, on a custard pudding or if you drink smoothies add it to them as well.I also added it to a bowl of applesauce and it was good.
It seems you do need a teaspoon a day for it to work. Friends have tried less and no results.
Have a great day. Edith <3

Hi Gang. Well finally I think I am on the upside of down...thank goodness. Edith I did not get any jokes, pouts!!

Meanwhile I found a new recipe that I altered a bit and will share. Here in Canada we eat vast quantities of perogies, they are on almost every restaurant menu that you look at. So how about you, Mary and Sylvia and Fred....perogies??? Anyway, quantities to your own liking. Boil the perogies until floating and spread in a lightly oiled casserole dish. Sautee a large onion, a handfull of mushrooms (both sliced) plus about 4/6 rahers of bacon chopped up small. Sautee until onions are translucent and bacon brown. Spread that mix over the top of the perogies. Then arrange a layer of sliced tomatoes over the top and then sprinkle with a little (or a lot) grated cheese of your choice. We use a low fat cheddar/ mozzarella mix. Bake in the oven for 30 mins at 350. Very yummy and a different way to eat perogies. Norm said he liked them this way best of all. We had them with meat loaf but they would be good with anything and perhaps even a bit yummier with a dollop of sour cream.

Freezing rain and snow overnite, just doesn't know when to quit. A couple of nights ago there were some "lads", probably drunk wandering down our street in the middle of the night. Generosity would say that they fell but actually they had a little fun smashing one of the truck windows...grrr! Norm is hoping to replace the mirror but we will likely have to buy a whole unit....mucho dinero....another grrr!!

Fred, do yu have a low fat pastry recipe at all??? I have a hankering for a meat pie but I never eat regular pastry. Norm tried to make an olive oil pastry but altho it was tasty it wouldn't bind properly.

Ok I am off to do a little FR and then might try a little doll clothes sewing for the sweet Rhian's birthday.
Later Lesxx

Hi everyone.. Have been busy with 2 grandaughters her for a few days and running them around as well as running after John..there is always something he needs..
Have just got my new puta going and am in the middle of downloading my programmes so am going around in circles..dont have a clue what I am doing.
Sylvia..So nice to see you back..Dont lose your way again..hope you are well..

john has to have a chest xray next week as he is having some chest trouble..so more to do..

Will try and get back soon..havent had time to read back as I have to take the girls to see john and then to the station so busy again..

Hope all are well

Love mary xxx :-D :-D :-D :-P

Hi everyone.. Have been busy with 2 grandaughters her for a few days and running them around as well as running after John..there is always something he needs..
Have just got my new puta going and am in the middle of downloading my programmes so am going around in circles..dont have a clue what I am doing.
Sylvia..So nice to see you back..Dont lose your way again..hope you are well..

john has to have a chest xray next week as he is having some chest trouble..so more to do..

Will try and get back soon..havent had time to read back as I have to take the girls to see john and then to the station so busy again..

Hope all are well

Love mary xxx :-D :-D :-D :-P

Hello everyone.
It is nice to see you again Mary. I hope John's xray is OK.How are you keeping?
Lesley, what are perogies? I have never heard of them and they sound strange to me.Perhaps we don't have them in Australia but I would be interested in knowing what they are.
We had another bad storm last night and today it is very humid and hot, so not very pleasant.
See you later,

SylviaX

Afternoon all [at last] when will genes learn not to mess with a computer mainframe while it is working okay Grrrrrr ,they spend too much time messing with this and that ,changing the pages formats ,and playing with the site layout until the poor computer becomes overloaded and confused to the point it is trying to run up it's own backside.no wonder it crashes.
Any way ,Yep Les ' i have heard of the whootsies ,lol,and luckily here at least we can buy them ready made ,so no need to make them ourself ,and yes again ,i will try the recipe ,it sounds ace
There are two recipies i know of for making low fat pastry ,one using veggie oil instead of marge ,or animal fat . and one uses rice flour instead of cornflour or wheat flour.
Go on line and search for [low fat recipe ] scroll down nearly to the bottom of the page that comes up ,to find what you are looking for.
Hi To everyone else ,must fly as i have tons to do ,catch you later .Fred :-D xxx.

Sylvia, perogies are little pastry dumplings, flat, halfmoon shaped usually filled with potato and cheese. Normally you would boil them until they float (from frozen) and then lightly sautee them with onions and either oil or butter. Nice with sour cream....yummy all of the time.

Fred we buy ours frozen. There are lots of brands but we like the bulk pack that we get from Costco (do you have Costco in England??) These are filled with potato, onion and cheese.

Spent last night watching One Foot in the Grave. The kids gave us the complete works for xmas. I swear that sometimes Norm sounds just like Victor, makes me laugh. I told him that we should have a Margaret and Victor day...imagine the fun we could have in the grocery store. :-D

Mary, take it easy a little bit, some deep breaths, maybe a nice glass of red. Hope that John will be OK from this latest problem.

I have just finished working on my Darbon family, been at that for 2 years on and off. Now up to 1190 ancestors. I have never put this on GR....hmmm! wonder how long it will take me to enter all of that??
Later Lesxx

Morning to all from the frozen north he he ,no way will i be trying to get Brussel off my plants this morning ,too cold on the old Pinkies for me .
I Hope John isn't going to be troubled with chest problems too Mary ,he has more than enough problems to start with ,life seems so unfair at times with some poor people getting more than their fair share of illnesses.
We do have a Costco here Les with is connected to Asda superstores so we are luckier than you ,and i will be looking for some of these treats next time i go there ,they are so handy to have in stock ,and easy to use ,and i really fancy trying some .
We have our grandson Chris again this weekend , which we always look forward to ,the lad is no bother ,is easy to feed providing you don't over do the onions in recipes ,he he ,we have to chop 'em small ,and hide them among the other ingredients so that he won't notice them .
We had to take the new printer back and change it for another brand,the H p we got would not couple into the computer to allow the connection to the wi fi in any way shape or form ,so i changed it for a Kodak model to the same specs ,and it went in no bother [a strongly worded complaint has gone to Hewlett packard ] in which i said ,if thats the best you can do ,i will NoT be buying from you again,lol,so far ,no comment back from them.
Well ,time i was outa here ,to find something for the dinner,as hungry Horace [Chris ] will be here shortly ,he he ,i am still sure the lad has hollow legs ,or worms :-|.
Catch you later all Fred.xxx

Hi! Everyone. Those perogies sound very nice Lesley and I would like to try them but I don't think I could make them. What sort of pastry do you use for them? I'm sure they don't sell them over here in Australia,but, you never know, I suppose they could have them in some of the Continental type Delis. I will have to look around.

Hello Fred, I hope you have enjoyed having your grandson. I wish you could have my 2 youngest Granddaughters, they are little horrors. It's a pity you can't eat Bread Pudding. I like to eat it cold and I have already eaten the one I made on Thursday. It wasn't very big though.

I am going to watch Taggart on TV now so I will say Goodnight all. I might see you tomorrow.

Sylvia X :-)

morning to everyone from a very chilly Newcastle where the snow clouds are gathering ,lol,any way ,i don't give a stuff ,we are well stocked every way ,and it can please it's Bessie ,he he
Hi Slvia ,these pasta dumplings are known in Britain and other places as Gnocchi , an Italian dish which come with many different mixes of fillings.
Most stores including the ones in Oz stock them in the frozen section .
Asda,Here do them ,Aldi ,which i know you have over there stock them ,and i believe Costco as well ,so you should be able to get them okay.
Anyway ,when i can get out to the shops next week ,i intend taking the shotgun to the stores and hunt some down he he ,they sound ,as you say ,really nice ,even more so when you can get them with other fillings mixed in with the potato.
There may also be a version ,actually made with suet pastry ,so i will be on the hunt for them too ,and if i can't find them ,well veggie suet pastry is dead easy to make ,and if i have to ,i will make my own.
Dinner today sees me cheating ,lol ,three sliced meats out of the freezer ,corned beef ,chicken,and pork all frozen down in previous weeks from big joints for times like this ,the beuty being all the ingredients for the dinner being done in the small oven ,saving energy and bending over ,he he .
The rest od the dinner will be Roast ,and mashed tatties,roast parsnip,roast red onion ,with sweet potato, stuffing ,[out of the freezer again] sweetheart cabbage ,carrot,and some frozen peas,all topped with a nice beef ,or chicken ,or veggie gravy,i havn't decide on which yet :-).
Still looking at the seeds Edith ,and have a way to go yet but i'm getting there slowly ,hope every one is getting a bit of R&R in their busy lives ,take care all ,Fred & Hissy& t'other boss lady lol. :-Dxxxx