General Chat

Morning all, I'm a little scared to put anything on here.It's a pain to type it and then it just disappears into space!!!!!!! However here goes, my plants on the balcony are really growing, the basil has now been harvested twice, my toms are getting bigger by the day and I have 2 that should be ready for a sandwich in about 2 weeks. All the other herbs look good too.
Mary because of the hot weather in April and the lack of rain there is very little food in the wild, so the bears are very hungry and are showing up in places they are not wanted. The Ministry are kept busy with the live traps and taking them away, but I don't think it's working too well.
If we get one in our yard I will get a pic for you.
I too tried Les recipe and enjoyed it. Some of the folks here found it a bit "hot" but they are not used to that kind of food. Most loved it .
Hope all the others are well and would love to hear from you. !!!
Must go and start my day. Edith XXXX

Afternoon all,Fred is in the building ,just ,after getting the first cut on the lawns ,filling the tattie barrels again ,and doing a load of watering in Mary's chalet ,which is now stowed out with greenery,
We now have flowers on our tom's and cucumbers,the peppers are well away,and the courgettes are away up the trellis.all six of them.
The better weather has arrived at long last ,and when i came home Monday the garden was amazing,two days of sun makes a lot of difference.the runner beans have found their canes and are halfway up already,the french beans are getting the flower buds in ,and ditto the broad bean.
The red onion are doing really well ,and the beetroot are starting to swell up and look really good,the salad leaf are ready to start cropping and we have had three pickings off the asparagus already ,so ,all seems right with Fred's world.
The car is cleaned out and is ready to go back for the swop over ,and her majesty has calmed down now she realises that we are not about to swan off and leave her again ,he he.,she stuck to me like a cling on all day yesterday.
What a load of cat hair i had to clear up when we got back ,am i glad that we have a darned good H E P A hoover ,and she is a short hair Hissy that is ] ,not Liz.,lol.
I have taken that second Morrisons out of the freezer for tea ,which saves me making one from scratch ,so ,a lazy evening for me ,just really the washing up to do all afternoon and evening [bliss] .
Off now to sit in the sun for a while now ,before getting the oven warmed up ,catch you all later ,Fred.

Hi everyone.. We have lovely sunny weather here,,around 18c to 20c these past few days,,not bad for winter...

Just got back from visiting my daughter in Orange and boy it was cold up there..-3c to 0c and only around 5c or 6c during the day..lovely and sunny though so it was very nice..Trained it both ways and enjoyed it greatly..Love train travel..4hours there and 4 hours back,,time to relax and enjoy the view.. Kangaroos everywhere and the countryside was lovely..
Only went up there last sat. and came home Monday..but it was better than nothing..Might see about doing the same thing to Canberra to visit my other daughter down there,My eldest granddaughter in off to the UK and Europe in a weeks time..Boy how they grow up fast..seems only like last week I enrolled her in kindergarten.she is now 21yo..and beautiful to boot..
Fred Enjoy your weekend away and hope Liz gets time to relax..Hope the weather is good for you to.. doesn't sound like you are having much of a summer..

Les and Edith..I think you have pinched Freds summer..be nice and give him some back..cant have the poor man freezing on holidays..Hope you are all ok and I have got the ingredients for that recipe you sent Les..gonna give it a try..sounds yummy...

Well better get some work done..Keep well..

Love Mary xxx

Morning I have just had about 14 lines of text disappear on me so will hope this manages to get on.
Sure makes a person say a few bad words grgrgrgr
Edith XXXXX

He He ,Les ,yep i did forget to mention the grass didn't i ,lol,ours is so green and thick i need to trawl through it before i hit it with a mower in case there are any Japanese troops hiding in among it,it's as bad as that,no way will i be able to do it in one cut so i will have to cut it twice in two or three days to get back to normal.
We are so teed off with the weather that we have booked the weekend away at our usual haunt in Blackpool,but i will take the portable heater ,just in case it's as cold as it is here.
The herbs will be okay in the greenhouse until we get back and nothing is going to spoil in three days.
We don't have a problem with the birds that way,the cat is always lurking around and they won't even come down to the feeders unless they know she is indoors, lol, then they come to the window and tease her something rotten,
Away to do a little packing ,and then to get a bit of shopping in to do us until Saturday morning when we will mooch off for a walk around Fleetwood market.
Catch you all later ,Fred [in holiday mode].

Well after 3 days of warmer weather, the rain has descended again. And ya know Fred not only does that falling wet stuff make your veggies grow but my lawns are like Hay fields most of the time....cannot keep up with the mowing or finding a dry enough day to mow in. Meanwhile my veggies only planted 10 days ago are up. The peas, beans, turnip and beets....no carrots as of yet.
Norm has been away for a couple of days to the big city so I walked over to the local nursery and got more cilantro and dill to plant. The cilantro because we use it a lot and the dill because the birds are eating it and the parsley. Yesterday I finished digging out and weeding one of the front beds. It looks good.
I have a bigger bed at the side of the garden and the previous owner planted it with some kind of "creeper". I have dug it out twice already but this year, I guess because of the rain, it has gone beserk.....and I have given up. In the Fall I am going to have my nice man come and dig it all out. I will save the good plants and have him truck away all the rest including the soil....then I will put new soil in....and then pray that the noxious thing has not reseeded its self nearby.
Off to do my chores.
Lesxx

Morning Edith ,yep the same here ,he he ,rain ,rain ,and more rain ,but at least ,all the rain water is making the veggies grow far better than tap water will do the job.
Hissy decided that after her first trip outside at 6am ,she was having none of it and commandeered the wifes chair and refuses to move,and i can't say that i blame her.
The heaters are on yet again ,the house only 18c at nine oclock ,and the missus shivering,so i had no option,i an starting to get a little worried though ,if it dosn't improve quickly ,the sea won't have time to warm up this year before the return of winter resulting in cold air from the sea at the time of year that the air coming off the sea usually keeping the winds a tad warmer than the land they flow over .
If this happens we will land up with an even colder winter than the last one
The new car arrives next Friday ,but i can't help thinking that i should have gone for a boat instead he he,or maybe one of these cars that can be used on water as well ,hmmmmmmm?
It Was so wet yesterday that Beamish was a waste of time even thinking about ,so we have decided to leave that until the weather gets better,if it ever does ,lol.
Yep ,we like our cheese and onion too Edith ,sometimes ,we even make some mash up ,mix in some onion and chive ,add some cheese and stick it in the oven for a treat,but that will have to wait a while until the new herbs are ready,which will be a couple of weeks yet in the conditions we have at the minute .As i can't get outside ,i am now going to sign off and rid my puters of some of the unused files to speed things up a little,and get the dinner of course which will be easy today ,lol,we got two 2cperson meal deals at Morrison's yesterday,onoffer at £6-50 for the pair ,one Dansac meal ,and one Khorma ,just the job for a coolish day ,he he ',tother meal is in the freezer for next week ,or the week after .
Catch you later Fred.

A good morning to all, It is indeed after 2 days of rain. We are looking at 2 of sun now. Yaaa My balcony garden is really coming along this year, the onions ,toms and all the herbs are thriving, even used some parsley yesterday.I have an addiction to cheese and onion sandwiches so am a happy bunny the onions are growing quickly.
Have a friend with an indoor orange tree Fred and it is always loaded with fruit.She makes the best marmalade I have ever tasted. Would love to go to that farm with fresh cream etc.!!!! Nice to hear from Mary again. I tried your trick with the site and so far it seems to be working.
Hang tight Les, summer will get to your house too!!!Looking at the long range forecast you too have some good weather coming .
Have to give my garden some T.L.C to-day so had better get started. Bye for now . Edith XXXXX

Morning all ,not too good 'ere this morning ,dull ,and threatening rain ,but ,not to worry ,it will save me watering today.
I gave up putting rice in the oven years ago Les' i found that grandad knew best [again ,and now do my rice on the oven ring in a saucepan ,just as quick ,using far less energy and it always comes out nice and creamy,but if you want the skin ,as my grandkids do ,i put it into a tin for the last half hour ,sprinkle some nutmeg dust on top and let it brown with the meat,and tatties.
Liz is doing the meal today giving me the day off ,so all i have done this morning is a bit of tidying up and re-potted my orange tree which was becoming root bound.
If it grows as big as the little tree i saw in a pot in Cyprus ,i may even get a few oranges off it so i am glad i chose to bring the pips back with me ,instead of a couple of olives ,they have to be processed before you can use them ,and the oranges just need peeling.lol.
Tomorrow ,we are going to Durham and the Beamish museum to get us an O a P pass so that we can go in as many times as we wish for twelve months,including the car,for £13 all in.
This is just the place to go for the day out ,nice places to sit for a little picnic,places to visit ,and see ,from an original village taken down stone by stone and rebuilt on the museum site,through to a complete tramway and railway that you can ride on,a farm [working ] complete with dairy ,farm shop ,and cheese making ,plant,and home made butter and cream to die for .
They even have a small bakery ,where you can buy bread and cakes ,and an original COOP store and cafe,so much to do ,and see including a walk round a drift coal mine,and working village .
With that to visit ,Sunderland park in Durham ,Durham city itself ,and Whitley Bay ,we are spoilt for choice,and all from our O a P passes ,it is a cheap day out all round.
We are even thinking of using our bus passes to travel Down to Whitby,spend a couple of nights in a hotel there to see the sights at our leisure and make it all worthwhile travelling the distance.
Time to go ,and have my coffee outside and sit with the boss [the furry one] who complains if i don't spend a few minutes out on the patio with her every day ,she is one spoilt kitty.
catch you later ,Fred.

A quickie......... sun is shining and there is much to be done outside. I put my back out yesterday so that may slow me down a little.
Fred do you have a good baked rice recipe using pearl rice. I used to make it all the time...lovely and juicy with a nice brown skin. Not so yesterday....lumpy and chewy. Maybe the rice is diffferent??? Any suggestions, oh! and no egg please. Thanks Fred.
I have just recovered the canopy from the patio swing....what a royal pain and ya know you cannot buy one anywhere just a whole new swing. So now I am going to attempt the seat cushion....and by then I shall wish we had bouight a new swing set!!!!
Off to the mine!!!
Lesxx

Morning all,nice andbright here this morning ,watering done ,and i am now sat on the patio with the lappy and cuppa enjoying the fresh air and early sun.
I reckon you found the answer to all the jumping okay Mary ,,i had many problems with vista and xp ,but as soon as i put windows 7 on the puter i had no bother ,so i reckoned it was a compatability problem,but couldn't work out how to sort it .
Yep to with the tatties ,i just put them in the bottom of the barrels ,cover them [just] with the medium,wait for them to start growing ,and just cover the leaves again and so on,i land up with the soil right at the top of the barrels,with the haulms coming out of the top..loaaaaaads of tatties lol.
Hissy now sticks her head out of the door first and looks around as if to say ,where's that ruddy bird this time ,and no bird and out she slides ,but if the bird is around she sort of chunters to herself and waits till the coast is clear.
The blackbirds here are having Magpie problems and tend to gang up on them ,i reckon it makes the blackies protective of their eggs and chicks,and have become somewhat aggresive to anything that nears their nests,gonna get my hat out for when i am in the garden ,just in case lol.
Time to get the shorts on again ,he he ,this is getting to be a habit ,but my legs are starting to get nice and brown,i am trying my best to get a nice tan in case i get visitors from over the pond on their way to visit kin in Scotland.
Found a new way to marinade my chicken breasts after watching the box a few nights ago,and will be giving it a try over the weekend ,and i think it could work well for pork and beef too.
You just crumble any stock cube into a tad of olive oil,mix it to a thin paste and rub it into the meat ,and i see no reason why you jouldn't do the same with spices either hmmmmmmm,this could work well on the B B Q as well as in an oven.
Time for a look around the boards now ,catch you later ,Fred.

Hi everyone..we have lovely RAIN and its been pouring most of the day..yyyyaaaayyy..

For those of you who have been having trouble with your post disappearing in the message box so that you cant see what you are typing I have fixed it by going into TOOLS up on the right hand side of the page and click on COMPATIBILITY and that is it..
A nice person contacted me after reading my post and also had that problem put a thread on the General Board ..Aunty Sherlock.. and got the info on how to solve the problem..I hope it doesn't go back to the way it was as it was so irritating when you couldn't see what you had written..

Fred That poor kitten.. bet she has learnt her lesson..hee hee... when you plant tatties do you have to top up the soil as the plant grows as that is what I saw on the tv the other night..supposed to give you more tatties..

Yay I can see what I am typing now and it is so much better..

Hope all are well and hugs for all my lovely Canuck friends,, Hope its not to hot for you..hee hee..

Love Mary xx

Hi everyone.. We have rain and loving it..Usually doesn't last long but is nice to see..

Whats this about the colonies not having mixed spice.. Cause we do and in OZ it is used a lot..Must say I haven't but its on the shelves of all the shops.. Come on you lot..get with it..LOL...
We really haven't had any cold weather yet.. still getting up to the high teens or low twenties,, and not going down below 10c,,still only have 2 blankets on the bed..It will be cold when I get the doona out..hee hee hee..

I find that when you post a message that reaches the bottom of the message box it doesn't show what you are typing,,you have to keep going and lifting it up to see where you are.a right pain in the neck..

Nothing much happening her,,leading a quiet life and doing some FH to keep my sanity..lol.

Got the death cert. for that elusive grandfather and he died of a infected knee.. That is another clue that he might be the right man as he is supposed to have died soon after having his leg amputated..I am thinking more and more that he is my man but still cant work out why his son my gggrandfaterh said he was born in Worcestershire and yet is Christened in London where all the other members of the family are christened..he married in Staffs near to where he says he was born and had a child before he married,, His occupation was shown as boatman so I am thinking he used to work on the canals that came from London and must have met his future wife on one of those trips..still a puzzle..

This blurry page is a pain as it is dropping down all the time I type.. and when I look up it is halfway back up the message..ggggrrrrr..

Have a lovely weekend all

Love Mary xxx

Hi Edith ,just time for a quick game of Tiddlywinks before i put the tea on he he.
We went for a little shopping this morning ,up to Cramlington because the market was on ,but didn't find anything of interest,so we came back to Newcastle and Morrisons.
We did find some smoked back bacon [for the chicken breasts stuffed with cheese] and ditto unsmokedback for a couple of breakfasts.
We came away with three punnets of fruit to make a change ,one of Peaches ,one of ,Nectarines and on of blush pears,and my usual bag of apples ,sigh ,i do love my fruit..
I Found a nice climbing plant to go between the two Clemantis ,but should have brought two because that wall now looks a little lopsided ,lol.
looks like i will get my B B Q tomorrow seeing as the weather is at last improving [about time too ] and i have managed to get ten minutes sat in my patio chair ,knees exposed to the sun ,bliss.
I also found a nice looking Rosemary plant in Morrisons ,which i put in a big bucket and placed where the old plant was up near the Rhubarb,by the gate,so i have a fullcomplement of herbs again.
A load of the patio peppers have decided to show through at last ,and it looks as though things are at last on track.
Time to put the tea on now ,and then take another cuppa into the garden for another spell in the sun,catch you all later,Fred.

Morning again, Can any one come out to play please????

Lovely day ahead for me so hope you all are just as lucky.

Bye. Edith XXXXX

Morning all, After a day of rain yesterday we are looking at a sunny one to-day. We are in the middle of the country here and seem to be missing the cold and rain in the west and the intense heat in the east. Weird weather patterns all over the world !!!
Les, the brand is McCormacks Gourmet in the small bottle. They have packets as well but I have never seen mixed in them. They really have a great selection of herbs and spices, a lot more than any of the other companies.
My plants on the balcony are coming along really well, the basil is coming along and I will soon be able to pick some for pesto. Look forward to some pasta and pesto mmmm. Time for breakfast so will see you soon.
Edith XXXX

It didn't rain from yesterday noon on and was fine early this morning so I did put my garden in. Now the soil is wettish and hopefully the seeds wont rot. Meanwhile it started to rain about 5 minutes after I was finished and they are calling for rain all next week. This may be our summer....yuk!!

So now I am off to take my grubby self to the shower and get warm and then it is time for Come Dine with Me......such a life..LOL
Lesxx

Sounds about normal this year Les' we are in the same boat ,i am sat here in the front room ,bringing my puter up to date ,and have had to turn the heating back on to keep warm.
at least i have managed to get a good start in the garden in general ,but the main peppers in the greenhouse have failed yet again because it is too cold out back still.
If i can't get any started this next week ,i can see my self having to buy them this year and just pot them on.
Have to go and get the dinner seen to now ,with both grand children wanting fed ,i need to be on my toes today.Fred.

Edith. what brand is your mixed spice....sure isn't any on the shelves here in BC???

Guess the weather in Quebec is awful, s-i-l says it was 34 yesterday and 40 on the humidex....they couldn't breath!! They live just outside of Hull. And here?? well it is still raining of course. Norm and I went yard sale-ing the morning and it was bitterly cold....there were folks out with toques and winter gloves....and it is June 1 on Tuesday. AND I still haven't got my garden in....just too damn wet!!

OK back to my job for today, clearing out the linen cupboard...pretty amazing some of the junk in there...LOL
Have a great weekend.
Lesxx

Hello all Just moving us up. You may be right Les.
Time to move the thread??? Edith