General Chat

Think evryone is in bed now Ann.

I am just about to turn the pc off as my eyes keep closing while watching the telly so I think they are telling me I need my bed.

Cleared out three more drawers in the spare bedroom this evening. Found pics of oh when he was young and when fishing from a boat and first in the brigade and the one with Katie Boyle when he got his medal and award. I hav'nt found the medal yet but he had his bar on his jacket when he was buried.

Night night all see you all in the morning.

Well that's strange as it only took me 2-3 minutes to order mine Mel. I didn't need any passwords or to be sent a code, so goodness knows why you had the faff you mention. I even looked up and gave you the link and told you the code to use so you shouldn't have needed one sending to you. You did say in your reply that you had mucked it up though and I think I've only ever heard you use Amazon. At least you have managed to get one now.

Vera I was surprised at the difference between gas and electric cost and like you have a gas hob and electric oven. I find the gas hob quicker and more controllable than electric and always thought it a good idea to have something gas in case of power cuts. I am just the same with the throw it all in meals too Vera!! I do them on the hob at the moment and it's a good way to use up bits of things in the fridge and any leftovers, much healthier too as you usually get your 5 a day easily!! I keep small tins of red beans and butter beans and if there doesn't look enough, sling one of those in as well. I've chopped up spring onion stalks to add as well. I'm interested in the tofu mince you mention as I have never tried that, so might get some as I'm sure OH wouldn't notice if it's mixed in with something like lamb mince. It would help me save a few calories too.

I have a combi microwave that is a small oven as well and is good for roasting chops and breaded fish, pizza, roast potatoes and tray bakes, but no good for heating up or cooking pastry topped things as the heating element is at the top and tends to burn the pastry top before the rest is cooked. My OH is gradually adapting
Vera. He's stopped switching the oven on to warm up now we hardly use it and switches the toaster etc off. However..........he went to bed really early last night while I was in the study and when I went in the kitchen a few hours later, he'd left the kitchen lights on, all 3 of them! At least I hadn't gone to bed or they would have been on all night. I think we are all gradually changing our habits. I want to get 2 new security lights as they are over 20 years old now and have foggy glass, I see you can get LED ones now that are much cheaper to run, so that's on the to do list.

I saw the new black kitten sitting up the close this afternoon. It lives where the robbery was and has replaced the previous black one with a bib that met an untimely end. Well something has befallen this little chap as, when he got up he could barely walk or put a back foot down as he crossed the road to where he lives. He was near the end of the close by the busy road the other day so I hope he hasn't been hit by a car. Poor little chap.

I hope you get your dishwasher repaired ok tomorrow AnnG. did you get anything from the new Dobbies?

I have now bought it from Amazon with a cookery book included for £46 something. No hassle there with passwords and codes and the books got to be worth £6 with 200 recipes.

I had my bikkies after lunch today, nice dark choc digestives.I have a nice pork chop for tonight and I am going to fry itwith some bubble and sqeak. I hav'nt had a pork chop for years so I hope its ok. Oh did'nt go much on pork he said it gave him indigestion.

Well I have tried twice today to buy myself a slow cooker and failed both times they said they would send me a pormo code but when I put it in it did'nt work so I may try again tomorrow and I will leave it out of the cupboard if I ever get one.

Good afternoon all

The sun is just trying to come out after a VERY wet day. (EDIT: It was earlier when I started this but I got distracted. It didn’t stay out very long.)

Have you enjoyed your trip to the new Dobbies AnnG? I bet you managed to find something to buy. I’m sure there is an unwritten law that says a woman can’t go in to a garden centre and come out empty handed, lol. I hope your dishwasher man can get your machine going again on Thursday.

If you get a slow cooker Mel I wouldn’t bother to find cupboard space for it. Just do as AnnG suggested and leave it out. I do have cupboard space for mine but now I’m using it a lot more I just leave it out as well. It’s in use again at the moment cooking a sort of “throw everything in” Bolognese mixture. I took some mince, packed as a generous 2 person helping, from the freezer. Then I found some frozen Quorn mince that would be about a large helping for 1. I mixed it together with some onion, some grated carrot, a beef stock cube, a tin of chopped tomatoes, some tomato puree and some garlic puree and some mixed herbs. The tomatoes were good as they were a more expensive tin and were all tomato with hardly any liquid. That meant I felt I could put in something else liquid and a good slurp of red wine seemed to fit the bill. Goodness knows what it will taste like. I can’t eat pasta so serve this sort of sauce with noodles, rice or jacket potato. Tonight it will be noodles as they only need a kettleful of boiling water so are cheap to cook.

It was useful to see the breakdown of cooking costs Ann. I hadn’t realized that gas was about half the cost of electricity for cooking. I have an electric oven with a gas hob and do feel a bit guilty when I use the oven but, as I have said before, I do fill it and bake lots of things at the same time. OH is a creature of habit and I haven’t yet managed to get him to change his mindset where the oven is concerned. When he cooked a couple of days ago I found he had heated the oven to a high temperature and then put in one very small tray of oven chips! I was not impressed.

I hope Mandy, Gwyn and Island are all well.

I went for a haircut this morning. Linda, my hairdresser is very good, and seems to produce a smart, curlyish (is there such a word?) hairdo with just a hairdryer and her hand. She doesn’t even use a brush. She has told me what to do but when I try I look as though I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards while a tornado has been blowing. I suppose that’s why she’s a hairdresser and I’m not, lol.

I think it’s time to remind OH to take the recycling and the garden bin down the road. Last week we both forgot to put the bin out and it was the general rubbish week so that bin will go 4 weeks without being emptied. Luckily we never have much in that so there is plenty of room in the bin. Our Council doesn’t do food waste separately so that could be a problem if there was food stuff rotting away in the bin for 4 weeks but luckily we don’t have much waste.

I think it’s also time now for tea and bikkies. A girl’s got to keep her strength up.

Morning Anng and all,

About the same here this morning I think as its 10 degrees and cloudy and realy miserable. Where are all our nice crisp morning we used to get.

Thanks for the pm Ann I shall take a look.

Had my oil price come through and it was 89 ppl so I did'nt think that was too bad.

Got to get ready as asda man is on the way and the order is a little bigger this week.

good morning all, dark and drizzly here and 10 degrees. I am out later to a new large Dobbies garden centre near Tewkesbury. That makes two Dobbies about the same distance from here in opposite directions. This one will eventually be part of a large shopping centre.

I can't remember if I have said but dish washer man is coming to look at it on Thursday morning.

Oohh chocolate cake and sherry, very nice Mel!

I have sent you a PM with details of the slow cooker and it is a Morphy Richards.

Mine is Mel and I am sure Annx’s is as well. I don’t put the slow cooker in a cupboard I find it easier to leave it where I use it.

Mine is Mel and I am sure Annx’s is as well. I don’t put the slow cooker in a cupboard I find it easier to leave it where I use it.

Been round to Em's with Sam's birthday present and card and stayed and had a sherry and a piece of chocolate birthday cake. Very nice and came home with a big slice of it for later.

Had a fiddle with the big pond this afternoon too. Had the scimmer on but did'nt clean the filter today but let as bit of water out and put some back in from the well.

I think I may have to invest in one of these slow cookers as they sound good. He nearly bought me one the other year but I said its something to find a home for in the kitchen when its not in use. Now I wish I had had one. I shall have to clear the corner cupboard out and get some space in there.

Is yours a morphy richards Ann?

Good evening

It was really foggy and dank first thing but it cleared later and seemed to be dry so I did 3 loads of washing and hung it all out. Well, that was a waste of time :-(. It came in wetter than when it went out. I now have washing hanging everywhere. OH cut down all the clumps of helenium and cleared away more dead stuff but I haven’t done anything in the garden today as my back is still recovering from yesterday’s stint.

It’s a matter of taste and the sort of food you like but I think a slow cooker is worth having Mel. I’m using my slow cooker more again now and I also use my microwave quite a lot and they are both economical to use. I do still use my oven a fair bit but I plan more carefully now so I fill it and never use it for just one thing. Yesterday our complete dinner was done in the oven, meat, potatoes, lots of veg and a plum crumble. If some things need a low temperature and some a higher one, I just pick a setting in the middle and juggle things about a bit.

Tonight we are just having a filling, chunky veg soup with rolls. Mostly I prefer smooth soups but I had lots of bits of veg to use up so I think a chunky one will work best. I’ve prepared it so I just need to switch the soup maker on. Seeing the time I had better do that now.

I hope everyone’s aches and pains are not being too troublesome. Have a good evening and a restful night. See you tomorrow.

Afternoon All,

Foggy here first thing but just dull and 12 degrees now.

Mel the dearest thing to run is an electric oven, followed by an electric hob. Less than half that running cost is a gas oven followed by a gas hob. Just below a gas hob cost is a slow cooker and just below that is an air fryer with a microwave the least cost to run. The wattage varies with different ones and affects the running cost and the figures AnnG has given look about the same as what I saw when I was looking to get one. The air fryer is quicker and you can roast and fry in it and more healthily, (as well as cook other things) but I like the idea with the slow cooker of being able to set it up and leave it for a few hours and without having to be around to check how things are cooking, plus the batch cooking as AnnG has said. I may still get an air fryer too as that covers most cooking needs cheaply then and if one appliance stops working, you can fall back on the others! The one I've ordered doesn't have a timer, which I really need as we eat our main meal at lunchtime, but I know we have one of those timers you can plug in a socket, so could set it with that if needs be. Mine is a 3.5 litre middle sized one.

We went to Aldi this morning but didn't see any air fryers so maybe they sold out yesterday. I was shocked at how little craft stuff they had and no fat quarters and I was hoping they had the Christmassy designs in now. Equally shocked how small the bill was for all we bought!! We got a few things to stash away for Christmas too.

It's good you got sorted with the dishwasher man AnnG.

Better get cracking with my paintbrushes and start this new picture now.

Good morning Mel and all. I thought I had posted earlier but it seems not. I have managed to contact the dishwasher man and he is coming Thursday.

It was sunny earlier but has clouded over now it is 15 degrees. I spent about half an hour in the garden taking down the bamboo frame used for the outdoor tomatoes. goodness knows why we have so many bamboos, I could set up a shop. T just seemed to be always buying them, goodness knows why when there were already so many in the shed and down the side of the house. I also cut back a bit more of a holly tree and a few other bits as it is brown bin day tomorrow. I did a load of washing and my next job is to sort out my wardrobe to bring warmer clothes to the front.

Mel a slow cooker is good. You can cook two or three meals at once and freeze them. Or sometimes I will cook stewing steak and have it as stew the first day then as curry or chilli the next keeping it in the fridge, or mince. I found this on line:

Slow cookers have low wattage, so even cooking something for 8 hours will use less energy than an oven or hob. On average, slow cookers usually use about 1.2kW over the course of 8 hours, which means it will only use around 162.5w per hour, which works out at just 5 pence per hour.

It is worth reading up the info about them but I love mine. I wouldn't get a really small one though I can cook single meals in mine which is the oval shape.

Last night I cooked my chicken thighs in the air fryer. I know my daughter does everything in hers but mine is a basic one, hers is a large Ninja. The filleted thighs (3 of them) cooked at 180 for 20 minutes and were perfect. I think I will use it more now. The saving is really in the fact that it is instant heat, you don't need to leave it to warm up like you do the oven.

Morning all,

Dull and dreary here this morning and I think its been raining in the night its 13 degrees at the moment and pc says cloudy.

I don't keep my door key on my car keys either.

Sounds a good buy you slow cooker Ann. Just how much do these slow cooker coast to run? Do they use less than a hob would? Do you think I should get a small one?

My morphs Richards is metal and oval. I think I said before it was red but I was confused. My previous one was red. The current one is cream.

Yes not wise having car and house keys on the same key ring.

Yes it is all 'what ifs' as you say AnnG. It's hard to know what is best to do. I have thought about both keys getting stolen but if I'm wearing a coat, I put 1 in a zipped pocket with my car key and one in my bag or camera case. I've even stuck the spare down a sock before now! :-D I noticed OH is keeping his doorkey on the same keyring as his car key which isn't really wise either. If someone snatched his car keys they would have our front door key as well.

Well I finally decided on and have ordered a slow cooker. It is still a Morphy Richards with the lightweight metal bowl, but has an oval bowl which will take less room up and can be pushed further back on the worktop. I thought it might be a better shape to fit a joint or small chicken in as well. I only found it because our Curry's had sold out of all the original one I wanted. The maker was doing a promotion and I got a 10% discount code as well, so it was just over £40 instead of £59.99 so I was pleased with that and free postage as well.

I've given up on my painting, which doesn't happen often, but I just can't get it to look right at all, especially the eyes. I'll start one of the others omorrow, but I will have to speed up if I want to send it in.

Have you got somewhere sort of hidden where a key pad could be attached?I do sometimes carry a spare key. Then I realise both keys are in my bag. What if my bag is snatched. It is all what ifs.

I only mentioned it as I had never thought about the insurance aspect AnnG. You are right about the noise it would make to smash one off the wall though. I doubt a burglar would risk it as you say and would look for an easier entry elsewhere. I would like somewhere safe to leave a spare key though, as OH can be 100 miles away at some matches he goes to and I could be locked out for hours. I tend to carry a spare when I go out.

Someone using his first metal detector for the first time in the next village has found a roman coin in the grounds of his grandmother's house. It dates from 200 and something AD and is worth over £1000. He had only been looking for an hour as well. We were trying to think where a house with grounds is in the village,but think it must be well off the road. Quite a few artefacts have been found in the area over the years including a roman villa remains. I suppose it's with the old roman road, Fosse way, being close by. I bet he's out with the detector every spare minute now!

That cramp is horrid Mel! It hurts whatever you do and stays sore for ages. Sometimes in bed I find my toes feel as if it's going to happen and one will suddenly feel stretched and be hard to bend for a few seconds.

I did clean the big girls out this morning but never got around to the bantam but there's always tomorrow.

I have been fishing leaves out oft he pond again today even though its not too windy. I was going to do so much today and hav'nt managed it but I was tired from yesterday so I am putting it down to that.

Come over very tired again tonight so think I may have an early night tonight after I have seen The Larkins.