General Chat

Rnubarb works wonders on stainless steel, I wonder if it would work on the nonstick.

That was a strange haul Linda.

Joan have you got any white vinegar? Try leaving the pand soaking in some of that.

Oh dear Joan, I don’t think the pan will survive. My main pains are all stainless steel with metal handles. They were an expensive set when I first got them, but I must have had the twenty years and they are still going strong. I have several frying pans in the set and the large one, I use just about every day as a wok. They joy is that I just use a steel pan scrubber on it if I need to. I have burnt lots of stuff onto the pans over the years. When I end up with a charred black mess, I just put a dishwasher tab in, bring it to the boil and leave it to soak, that usually dies the trick.
I do have a small nonstick pan for scrambled eggs and a small nonstick frying pan for my omelettes, but I have to replace them regularly

It is a sunny day here, but very windy. I did a long litter pick this morning and got a very large bag of rubbish, a set of wheels on an axle from something like a child’s pedal car, a very large bag for life full of old electrical bits and a large nitrous oxide canister. Some people leave odd things by the road side.

Oh my Linda!! Yes you will miss them but by golly, you will be happy to just have the house back to you and hubby.

The kitchen survived the oil - just. I left them to it while they were doing the prep, but went in while the oil was being heated. My pans have metal handles, but it didn’t occur to him that the handle would be hot, so he burnt his hand :-S
Then he had to sieve the oil into a Pyrex dish ( I stopped him from using a plastic measuring jug). The oil then needed to go back into the pan and be heated up with more ingredients, so he rinsed the pan in water and was just about to pour the very hot oil into the wet pan when I said that was not a good idea and made him dry the pan. He then attempted to pick up the Pyrex dish to pour the oil back into the pan of course it was incredibly hot, so he spilt some onto the hob top when he put it down. Luckily he didn’t get it in his hand.
He did wash up, but thankfully they went out to soft play, so I put all of the packets of ingredients away and gave everything a good clean. I dismantled the hob top and gave that a good clean as well, to be fair that was overdue a clean

The good news is that they exchanged contracts on the London house yesterday and completion is on Monday. Now they need to get a definite date from the house they are buying up here . When they had their offer accepted, the estate agent said it would be available from mid July, but when they went to measure up for furniture, the couple who are going back to America, said mid September would suit them. I think they gave compromised on mid August, but now the London house has gone, they are in a better position to push for an August date. We will really miss them, but it will be nice to have our house back.

Linda :-D :-D Seemed like a good idea at the time. Is he the only one who uses the oil. It sounds as if it would be too hot for most people.

Florence what a mystery about your bruise, maybe you did it in your sleep. Glad you have got rid of the carpet, and that there was somebody available to help lift it.

Joan, good to hear that your granddaughters shoulder has healed and that she can help you again.

Ginnie isn't it frustrating when you have a good day gardening and then can't get back to it the next day. Typical of our usual British summers. But, I think, preferable to what they are getting in Europe.

Afternoon all from a very wet village! Started raining early hours and Its still raining, so no venturing outside for me today.

Instead daughter and I have been making xmas and blank cards for 3 hours! So have finished clearing up! Oh my the mess with all the little scrappy bits of this & that.

There is a xmas fayre in Nov and we have booked 2 tables to sell the cards. I have ordered the cellophane sleeves to put each card in so they look professional.

So now to organise the tea. Jacket potatoes, mini corn on the cobs, home made tzatziki with naan bread strips, side salad etc. We have some lovely mint choc chip ice cream for desert as well.

Linda, I'm with Joan re the kitchen. I like everything in its place and would rather cook then let my daughter! Last night she put a whole bottle of cooking oil in a good pan and then put some oven chips in this mini basket to fry them????

She turned the hob to number 6, the highest to get the oil hot!! Oh nooo I said, we dont want a fire so turn it down to no 3. I was so nervous in case the fat overflowed or worse, it got too hot, smoked and went on fire.

I was so glad when she had finished and then she said where do I put the oil??? Well what a waste as I never fry anything. So down the bottom of the garden and over the fence in the deep grass, its rough waste land.

As for the mess.....hmmm she did clear it up but I went over it again later on.

Linda you must have the patience of a saint!!. Hope sil did all the dishes and cleaned up after himself?

Was so lovely last night to be able to shut the inner porch door and not trip over the carpet at 4am when I needed the bathroom lol

Well Im off to sort out the food now.

Enjoy your evening everyone

Florence in the hebrides

:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

I am pleased that your trip hazard has gone Florence.

It has been raining all morning here, so I haven’t ventured out yet.

Son in law decided that he was going to make some extra hot chilli oil to put on noodles, another of his fads. It requires a huge number of ingredients, some of which he ordered on Amazon. When they arrived, he just abandoned them on the kitchen work tops. When I pointed out the error of his ways, he rammed them into various cupboards. Eventually this morning, he decided to make it, so,I have been scuttling round trying to find everything for him. Luckily for him, I had bought all the other ingredients the recipe mentioned. Eve is helping him, it involves heating oil up to a very high temperature in one of my good pans. They are toasting all sorts of spices and chillis, so the whole house is starting to smell. Eve is now wearing her swimming goggles :-S
Once they have made it, it goes into a Kilner jar and I guarantee that it will sit untouched in the fridge for months :-(

Afternoon everyone looking in.

Yay :-D :-D :-D The carpet has gone and i have back my space in the hall and no more tripping over it. The guy came on his own! I said I cant help lift that so luckily my neighbour was hanging out his washing and i said" yoohoo" lol and asked if he would spare a pair of hands and some muscle. Well he chuckled and and said " hands yes, not sure about the muscle." hes about 5ft 6 medium build.

Anyway he came over and within a couple of minutes all loaded and all away.

I decided I couldn't put off ironing the 2 duvet sets any longer at the bottom of the pile. I managed 1 the other day but had left 2 covers and a sheet. So all done now and Im sitting with a coffee to relax my legs.

Yesterday i did loads in the garden including taking some lobelia out of my large pots for my neighbour then helped her to repot them. They did wilt in the heat but overnight have perked up and now look very pretty.

Its forecasting heavy rain overnight, so hopefully the garden will get fed and watered well.

Joan so glad your grand daughter is recovering well. I had forgotten you mentioned her some time ago.

JustGinnie I'm sure your rain is heading towards us as the wind has suddenly picked up and the clouds are huge, probably filling up to downpour later tonight.

How annoying about your cheese. I would have been fuming as that's my fav food and surely, there are plenty of other cheddars they could have substituted with? I got 2 cucumbers instead of spring onions lol

Yes I am on blood thinners and do bruise easily, I just couldn't remember banging it. It came out and now is purple and yellow.

Tea tonight, no idea lol maybe just crumpets and my mint ice cream mmn

Florence in the hebrides

Hi everyone,

Raining today so it's an indoor day for us, we had a good tidy up in the garden yesterday and pleased that we did it and didn't leave it for today.

My Asda shopping came today, I have subs for out of stock items as Asda have been pretty good at sending reasonable alternatives . Today though the cheese I ordered was out of stock but no alternative was sent, it was only a average size block of cheddar but they had no sub available apparently.

I hope your arm isn't too sore Florence are you on blood thinners ? My sister was and a slight knock would leave her with a big bruise.

Good that you enjoyed the museum Linda , nice to have an afternoon doing something you enjoy.

Hope Joan, AnnG and all looking in have a good weekend.

Ginnie.

Aw bless her Linda. Glad you enjoyed the museum.

The bruise is getting bigger! I still cannot recall hitting my arm at all!! Major senior moment me thinks :-S :-S

Still no rain, so daughter and I spent an age watering plants tonight and they were really dry despite the heavy rain last weekend.

Finally getting rid of the old lounge carpet. original lady pulled out so re advertised an hour ago and someone taking it tomorrow yay :-D :-D

Off to make me a coffee now.

Florence in the hebrides

It is annoying when it rains nearby but you don’t get any. I hope that your arm is OK Florence.
I had a very nice afternoon with my friend at the museum. Esme was very good at her “ jelly belly” appointment this afternoon. She had a scan every three months as people with her condition are at more risk of childhood cancers. Thankfully she has been fine so far. She got four stickers for being good

Afternoon all.
Hope you enjoyed your trip out Linda, sounded very interesting where you were going.

Rather peculiar day here. Was black and overcast but no rain and scorching hot. I decided to do a bit of weeding and tidying of my pots. Neighbour came out and I gave her some cuttings to fill some little pots so we chatted and potted.

Suddenly Tesco appeared and I thought oh my the time has gone very quick as it was between 12-1 they were coming. i looked at the clock and it was 11.30!!

Anyway shoved it all away and then went back outside and other neighbour was out so had a good chin wag with him and then carried on gardening.

Daughter went to town and said it was bucketing and in another village 6 miles away it was also chucking it down???

It is still black sky but dry & very warm. I had to come inside as was too hot for me at 2pm.

I even took my towels in which were nearly dry as thought it was going to pour...but it didnt. So def will have to spend and hour watering everything a bit later on.

Awhile ago, I was feeling my right lower arm sore and when I looked, there was a big lump and now a bruise :-S I have no idea how I got it as dont remember banging into anything. Anyway its sore and going purple!

I removed all the alyssum plants from various pots as they were dead as if there was a bug or disease, didn't want it affecting anything else, still baffled by it dying though.

So quick tea tonight, pizza and chips yay my fav.

Hope everyone ok
Florence in the hebrides

I am glad that you enjoyed your daughters visit Joan.
I am playing with Esme this morning, currently cafes. She has a hospital appointment this afternoon, so normally they would take her into school, then go back to pick her up at lunchtime. It is the Great Yorkshire Show for three days this week, the showground is just a mile from her school, so the traffic is horrendous. All the children are very late for school and by the time who ever took her got home, they would have very little time to do any work before they had to set off again, so she has taken the morning off as well. Unfortunately she has been awake since 5,20am, so she us very tetchy and keeps needing to go for a rest in her bed. She never sleeps during the day, so she watches her iPad. At least it is a respite from playing for me.
I am going out this afternoon with my neighbour. We are going to the Workhouse museum in Ripon. I have an annual family ticket and she has never been.I didn’t know Esme was going to be off when we arranged it, but it is the only day this week when she can go.

Oh LInda, poor things you and hubby!
Happy 53rd anniversary. At least you had a nice meal out <3

Nothing worse then getting caught in a downpour and getting drenched. I hate being wet fully closed, nothing worse.

Its still drizzly here but lighter rain but dull and overcast so not a nice day.

Looking forward to a friend coming tomorrow at 11am for a coffee and catch up as haven't seen her for ages.

Hope you are dry now Linda and back indoors.

Florence in the hebrides

We went out for a posh pub lunch today as it is our 53rd wedding anniversary. We went somewhere we have been before , so knew it would be nice. I don’t think that I will be losing any weight after that meal :-(

Afterwards we drove to a nice little market town near the pub and went for a walk around. We had taken our light weight rain tops just in case as it had been a bit drizzly. We were doing a circular walk and had got as far away from the car as possible when suddenly there was an almighty clap of thunder and the heavens opened. It was a torrential cloudburst and there was nowhere to shelter. Eventually we found a covered archway between two buildings and took shelter there, but by that time we were drenched. It eased off, but according to the radar, it wasn’t going to stop for an hour, so we decided to head for the car. Part way there, it got worse, so we found another archway. Luckily in Georgian towns, there are archways for carriages in the buildings. The water was just cascading down the streets, I was wearing my new sandals and the water was right over the soles, I was just plodging through it.
When we got back, we had to have a complete change of clothes. At least it was warm rain. The annoying thing is that when we got home, we found that it hasn’t rained here.

Afternoon everyone.

Of course it was going to be raining hard, I mean it was bin day today grrr never fails. Donned a waterproof jacket but still got wet and the wind blew my hood off!

When i was able to get to the supermarket Linda, i used to buy all the reduced strawberries and make pots of jam but now I haven't made any for awhile.

I have Tesco coming on Thursday and so glad, as I have never seen my fridge so empty. We were on a drive to use up everything lurking and now apart from some cheese and the veggie box, theres not much else.

I weighed myself today and lost another 2 lbs so dead chuffed. Just 1 more lb and then ive hit target 1. Best to plan targets in stages so you lose weight gradually. Not a fan really of these crash diets although the 5 -2 diet worked for me several years ago. Ive just stopped eating snacks really and cur down on bread, no pasta a little rice.

Jacket potato for tea tonight with cheese and baked beans and that's it.

All very quiet here and rain non stop all day, so far so quite depressing.

Hope all's well with everyone

Florence in the hebrides

I used to make lots of jam in the past, so we always went strawberry picking. When we have the allotment, I had lots of Raspberries and Blueberries as well. I don’t make any now because it isn’t exactly Slimming World friendly :-(

I was out at 9.30 this morning doing my exercise with Eve. We did it in the cemetery this morning, the gate is only about fifty bards from the house. There is a path around the perimeter, so it is easy to do long circuits. She was then collected by her aunt and uncle and they have gone for a caravan holiday near Filey, she will be away until Friday. Esme thinks that she has gone in a school trip :-D There would be ructions if she knew the truth.

After she left, I did the weekly supermarket shop, but ended up popping back this afternoon as I forgot a couple of vital things. I was going to go and pick up a load of litter, but the rain has started, so it will have to wait

Afternoon all

Ooh strawberry picking Joan, that brings back memories from the 70's when mum and i used to go and pick and yes, think I ate my weight too lol

Getting very thindery looking here and so still not a breath of wind. Thankfully, grass cutters came and its looking better after all the rain.

On lighteningmaps.org most of the thunder & lightening is up in Wick and heading to Orkney but a few rumbles I think Joan in Aberdeenshire, just hope it doesnt head over here!

Blue bin and organic bins tomorrow and so glad as both are full to capacity and grass cuttings just about got in today.

Postie delivered my crafty things I ordered on Saturday for xmas card making and the things are fab so can't wait to do them soon on a rainy day.

Joan you do have so much wildlife in your garden, what a joy to see. My robin hasn't been seen for months now so I do wonder what's happened to him.

Good grief, the heavens have opened and I need to shut the windows, back in a jiffy....

Oh I didnt see that coming as wasn't on the forecast but I wont need to water the flowers now lol

Well I have peace and quiet until Wed evening as daughter gone elsewhere and its actually quite nice having the place to myself.

Better see to the laundry and it will be the tumble dryer now the rain is on.

Hope everyone else having a good day

Florence in the hebrides