General Chat

You'll be finding a recipe from your book to do now then Mel

Our stew is smelling good I got OH to lift the lid but it needs a bit longer so I might leave it and have it tomorrow as I just fancy a salad tonight .

It looks very nice but its huge!!!! so I shall be able to batch cook in it. The box was a bit bashed and when I opened it it had no packing around the box inside so it was just moving about and the box it was in (the outer one) only had one piece of tape holding it closed of which came off so easiely I could.nt believe it!!

O Mandy you were lucky to get pictures of your exrays. When I asked if I could see my hip exrays the doc said she did'nt even see them. I asked when I had them done if I could see them and that lady said no too.

Its arrived so I am just going to open the box.

Afternoon all,

Nice and sunny but a lot colder so we have just lit the fire ,when we got up it was quite wet and looked like we'd had some rain in the night .

I have a stew in the slow cooker ,first one I've done in there as I usually use the pressure cooker ,mine is a Russel Hobbs and is a ceramic one so is very heavy ,just the lid weighs a ton ,like Vera's mine has an auto button .

We striped the bed off this morning so that needs remaking later I like to give ths bed an airing before remaking ,it's one job I can't do with my wrists as I can't tuck the sheet in but I can now manage to get a pillowcase on .
I went to the hospital and he has discharged me so that was good and I got some photos of my xrays my goodness my left hand was so twisted.
He told me three surgeons did the op on my wrists as I'd made such a mess of them .

Not sure what you mean Mel. I only get reward points for retailers that I have shopped with, sometimes they are on line but more often in the post and for firms I have a loyalty card with.

I have never understood rewards points. I have had £4 something come up but when I had the rewards card it was for Next and other shops like that that I never buy from.

Just had a leccy man come down from Seeka or something like that and he wanted to chefk the meter at the potting shed. We don't use any electric up there and if we do its only a light but I suppose they wanted to check the meter as the bill is only for the supply of having leccy up there. Anyway he gave me a letter to say the meter is ok and I have filed it in with the electric bills and bits.

Why do coupons and rewards points etc always come the day after you have spent money in the shop. I spent £75 in Dobbies yesterday. Today in the post I have a rewards voucher for £3.50 and a 250 points if I spend over £50. :-( :-(

11 degrees now and feels warmer now the sun is out. I have spent an hour in the garden, I have now cut down the three large fuchsias in front of the conservatory and mulched them with spent compost. I have wrapped a cordyline with fleece and brought in the large saucers ready to move in the geraniums in tubs when frost is forecast. The geraniums in baskets are also ready to move inside. I think the garden is almost ready to be tucked up for the winter, although it will never be as good as when T was alive. Still I am doing my best.

Ann it always comes over that you enjoy researching costs of things. Hope that is not my knuckles rapped for not thanking you, I can't remember if it is likely but if so I apologise.

I really should walk down to the charity lady with a large bag of things from one of my wardrobes. Mostly tops I would have worn in Lanzarote and Tenerife. Not likely to wear them in England. I don't think I will though as I am tired after all the pruning and need a bit of a rest. I also ought to start to write my Christmas cards.

Yes it is the accountant and his wife coming on Friday. I also did'nt thank you for the advice you gave me about the slow cooker so I am doing that now. Sorry I just got myself in such a muddle as when I tried to order it from Morphy Richards it would'nt let me in. It seems it took me to ebay and it would'nt accept my password that I have used before.

Enjoy your course today and I am awaiting the results!!

Morning All,

Bright sunshine here and it felt quite warm outside but the PC only says 8 degrees.

I usually go to bed about 8.00pm Mel but needed to get my painting done to send in so was up late last night. As it was I didn't get to sleep till after 3.00am. Pain is a great depriver of sleep so early nights help me catch up if I do get to sleep. I'm just thankful I don't have to be up at 6.30am for work anymore. There are easy ways to check the prices of things, but OH told me off yesterday and said I spend far too much time trying to help people for not even a thank you. Is it the accountant and his wife coming to see the things and have you mentionned a Robert before as I must have missed that.

It sounded like a good trip out to Dobbies AnnG and it's good when you come home with some purchases. I think I might have scampi and chips for lunch.....you have made me fancy some!

Better get set up as my course is due to start now.

Morning Anng and all,

Bright sunny morning here and now its 9 degrees with blue sky and grey and white clouds. The barometer has fallen though and it was quite cold last night.

I have a man coming on Friday to look at the wood turning stuff, chisels and the lathe and dust extracter so I need to know how much they are now worth and thats going to be a problem. Robert may be here on Friday but may not arrive when the mans coming at 11.30am. I shall have to tell him today so probably ring him or text.

You had a nice visit to Dobbies yesterday and sounds like you really enjoyed your day out.

Better have a tidy up and get dressed as I am still in my jim jams.

good morning still dry but very cloudy here and only 6 degrees. I think it is time to start bringing in the tender plants.
Nothing planned for this morning but U3a meeting this afternoon.
Yesterday's visit to Dobbies was good even though it poured with rain most of the morning we didn't need to go inside. There were 15 of us for coffee and we managed to get two tables put together and all got round the one table. After a good natter we broke into smaller groups (4 of us who had all travelled in one car) then went round the store. I managed to get lots of small things I had been looking for to make up Christmas presents. (mostly chocolates. This is a big new Dobbies and has an in store Waitrose plus a small Hotel Chocolat area. We four then met up for lunch and spent another hour in the restaurant. (we all had Scampi and chips and a free desert cake). got home about 2pm.

Glad you got your order sorted Mel and the recipe book sounds good too.

Ann oh poor little kitten, Hope somebody takes it to the vet to be looked at.

I missed you last night as I switched off at 1030pm without checking. :-)

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.