General Chat

Hi Everyone,

I need some help from Fred and all you other chefs. I want to make real English rice pudding for my mum and when she was in the hospital a couple of years ago I asked someone on here for a recipe. It was delicious but I have gone and lost the recipe. Has anyone ever made it in a rice cooker?

Teresa

Hi all

Glad to see everyone is surviving either the winter snow or heat and floods.

Keith just had his stress test and the cardiologist is pleased with him. All his wounds from the quad bypass surgery are healing well and he is just rarin to go!!!

I had an email from a friend in Calgary today - (tis the year of the babies for several of my friends who are expecting first grandchildren.) Well Cathy is catching up in a hurry - her son Joel and his wife are expecting naturally conceived triplets . . . for sure 2 boys and they couldn't tell with #3 as he/she was hidden behind the boys. What a shock and the poor couple only have a 700 sq ft condo and a Mini - no room for 3 baby seats in that.

Keep on posting Sylvia, my Mum hasn't cooked much for herself since my Dad died she gets meals from a company called Wiltshire Farms - Fred might have heard of them. I set up an account with them also and every now and then I send her some special treats.

I haven't been rushing around this last couple of weeks as I had surgery - waiting for the biopsy results still but the surgeon was very positive and gave me the results of the preliminary results of the other testing just before putting me to sleep!!! went under feeling very positive.

I am glued to the TV this week watching the Scott Tournament of Hearts from Victoria. I am not a curler but I love to watch it.

My youngest daughter who went into real estate at the end of last year has just made her first sale, she called us as 11 o'clock last night sooo excited.

Its cold and sunny in Dundas today, the end is in sight. Keith and I are off to the UK for March Break with our grandson and he is so excited.

Got to go - time to watch the next round of the curling on TV

all the best

Hugs for those who need one

Veronica

Hi Y'all,
Teresa would should have a chat I think...will call you soon.

Sylvia, good to get such a great letter. If you still like to cook why don't you just freeze half for another day. Normie and I do that all the time. There is a place here in town where you can get ready made meals. We popped in last week and got a shepherds pie....ugh!! it was so greasy....see we make ours with ground sirloin...not much fat that way.

Mary if I was there my lovely I would come and drive with you to Canberra and I would love to see New Zealnad also...only problem....I am thousands of miles away.

Dorothy don't feel bad about your card. Norm sent our Kitchen Aid back to the manufacturer as it broke (grrr!) and the post office lost it....imagine blurry great thing like that!!!

OK I am off....going out for coffee this morning. Don't do that too often so it is a treat.
Take care
Lesxx

hi this is dorothy in barrie ontario hope you all are well just caught up with all the news, sylvia I hope the grandchildren get well soon and then you can have a visit, for those in calgary I have a little problem I mailed my sister a birthday card on the 2nd of feb. and it has not arrived nor has it come back to me I did put a return address on it, and I made sure I had the right address on it I enclosed a gift card for chapters so not sure what has happened to it. I think that chris may have thought I am loosing my marbles , I was thinking about fred and his veg etc we still have lots of snow so doing veg is not on my mind at the moment I know one can do seeds but my two aged cats just go after them , but I hope to do more this spring on the balcony the tomatoes and green peppers did well last year. we are in for snow and rain to=-morrow but to-day the sun is shining and it will be about 2 degrees this afternoon bye for now dorothy

Hi! again everyone. I'm glad to see you all again. I thought my posting had made something go wrong.
Mary, thank you for your kind words and I think I am doing quite well at the moment. The Grandchildren are still poorly so I probably won't see them this weekend, but I might visit my brother or sister, so I won't be on my own. I went to see a very good friend yesterday, she is in hospital and has just been diagnosed with Liver Cancer, and she looked terrible. She and her husband were our first neighbors and friends when we arrived in Australia 35 years ago, and her husband died a few years ago with Cancer.
Lesley, thank you for your messages to me too and don't worry, you won't get rid of me easily.
Fred, I'm glad you have got your Laptop working. I have missed your messages and the news about your garden and the cooking etc. I wish I had as much enthusiasm for cooking as you have. I don't feel much like making anything for myself at the moment so I have ordered some ready made meals to be delivered from Home Chef. I have had them before and they are quite nice.
Hi! Edith and thank you for the lovely Email you sent me today.
Teresa, Hi!. I don't know if it is just a coincidence, but my family come from Essex and, a long time ago, I don't quite know when, some members of it emigrated to Calgary. I don't know their names but our family names were Lambert, Hooper or Tydeman. Wouldn't it be strange if they were related to the family you are trying to trace. When the war started in 1939, we were asked if we wanted to go to Canada to stay with them for safety, but my parents wouldn't agree.

Well, I hope I haven't missed anyone out. This is about the longest message you have ever had from me, isn't it? I must be feeling more cheerful!!

Love to you all from Sylvia XX

Hi everyone...Sorry havent been here for a few days..Life has been rather tiring..We have nice hot days but I hope they get some rain for the poor peeps in Victoria down south..The weather has been so mad lately..We have floods up in Queensland in the north and fires down south..Thank goodness we are in the middle..Just say a prayer the south get some rain...

Les Glad to see you are working hard..make lots of money and Normie will retire also..perhaps you could get anther sewing machine for him and make him your second in charge..

Sylvia We would be very sad if you stopped posting on here..You will have good days and bad days,,quite normal.. so take one day at a time and hope the grandies are on the mend and you can get out to see them again soon..big hugs...

Fred.. Glad I am not playing around with my puta..It would only be fit for the scrapheap if I did..I wish I was more puta literate but I learn as I go along..bits here and bits there..Glad your sugars are so good..You must be doing something right..hee hee..or is it the good looking after you get from Liz.....me thinks the latter...

Well I knew it was to good to think we would be going to New Zealand,,It is looking less likely each day. Glad I didn't get my hopes up..Even the Wattle meet in Bendigo is looking dicey..not sure about that yet..

Teresa Lovely to see you back..Hope you are all well.. I agree about selling a big house to downsize,,who wants all that extra housework..The kids will pop back top visit and perhaps stay a few days but once they are on their own they usually like to stay that way,,New Zealand is a lovely place to live but Angie might find it a bit quiet after Canada..Or did she go there on here last trip..can remember..a beautiful country with some magnificent scenery..and lovely people..

Edith..You still feeding that pesky fox...Bet it comes everyday for a feed..You are a real softy...Are the bears about yet...

Hope all are well

Love Mary xxxxx

Hi Everyone,

I'm still here, just very busy with a lot of things. I am on temporary layoff from my job until the snow goes, you can't sell perennials in the winter, lol. I should be back at work the first week of April.

In the meantime, we are busy doing some decorating and odd jobs to prepare our house for sale. We have finally decided to sell it as it is far too big for the two of us. Angie moved out in December and I am sure even though she is planning to go to New Zealand later this year she probably won't move home again. House prices are definitely less than they were this time last year but I guess it is all relative as even though we will get less it will cost us less to buy another. We still will have made about $300,000 profit in the 15 years we have lived here. I think we may look at having a bungalow this time. Maybe two bedrooms up and another in the basement, really like the idea of a walkout too so that you can access the garden from the basement as well as the main floor.

We had Michael and Stephanie visiting this last week, nice to have them here for a while. She now has the heavy studying time before exams in early April. She has already started to apply for her articling for next spring. They have the choice of several places including Vancouver Island so watch out Les I love the Island and if they are there I may come calling. That is assuming you haven't gone back to the mainland by then.

I have been helping a fellow from Essex trace his family who moved to Calgary in 1914 and have managed to get all the way to the 2007 phone book, then nothing. There is the possibility that the daughter of this family has died or gone into a nursing home as she would be 78 now but there is no obituary to be found. I found her daughter in Arizona so the fellow I am helping is going to write to her. This family has not been heard of since they emigrated and there are still living cousins etc so it would be nice to reunite them. Like you Les, I have thought about doing genealogy for a career, just not sure how to start. Maybe we should do it together!!

By the way, for those of you with google maps my postal code is T2X 3A9. My house is actually the one on the right side corner of the street that leads into the close behind it. Angies car is parked at the side of the house.

Lots of new snow today so I best get shoveling.

Teresa

Busy time right now. I have four possible venues coming up and need to be at the machine...lots!! Have created a couple more designs that I am quite happy with...photos to come sometime.
It feels like spring yesterday and today. We had lots of loverly soft rain....washed away all the grit. However I see now that I lost a lot of shrubs in the snow and icy temps. so will have to either pull them out or cut back and hope for the best. Other stuff is coming up nicely.
Fred I think you should start a gardening diary for the rest of us....email and tell us what to and when so that we can have veggies like yours....all those in favour say yes!!! So should I have started my toms by now...I don't think I can even get seeds here yet???
Sylvia, little chick, don't you worry. We want you on here all the time, weepy or smiley...don't matter....just be on here. You can keep us all together as it has been a bit tough all round of late and we need a prod every so often!
That's me gang...off to the salt mine!!
Lesxx

Welcome back Fred, Happy you got your new toy up and running.

Still winter over here but not as cold. Maybe only wishful thinking but I

I was sure I could smell spring.

Still into the soup and stew here but like you am looking forward to the

B.B.Q season.

About time we heard from Mary , Veronica, Teresa, and Les hmmm.

Let's hear from you. Stay well all. Edith XXXXX

Profound apolozies Sylvia and Edith,i have been loading my new laptop for the past two days ,and got finished last night ,so ,i am back.
I had it up and running on the basic programmes last week but i wanted to make it fully portable lol,and thats when the fun started.
Try as i might i couldn,t load the dongle for vodaphone in.it kept telling me it couldn't find the device grrrrrr ,there it was ,stuck in the usb port shining like a great carbuncle but would it pick up the radio signal from the transmitter ? would it' eck..
Fred kept trying and trying ,gettin' morre pi**** off as time went by,and then it dawned on me that something hadn't loaded properly when i did the programming ,and this was blocking my attempts to get my vodaphone mobile connection to work.
I starrted to go back through the programmes i had loaded ,and found the bother was with windows office 2007,i hadn't configured it properly [silly old duffer]
Anyway.i got it sorted and now my lappy will work on wi fi ,AND mobile internet ,wahay,this means i can go on the net in a rowboat in the middle of a lake if i want [thinks,i could do that in summer ,and fish at the same time hmmmmmm.].
I did manage to get to the docs yesterday for my diabetic review,and found that my sugar levels had come down quite a bit since the last visit ,so all my attempts to be a good boy seem to be working.
I am due at the hospital next month to have my eyes checked to see if they are still disease free,i want to see if i can get my glasses done cheaper through their clinic because i want a pait of the ones that react to sunlight and darken up as to the amount of sun,far better for driving.
I also have to apply for my ten year licence to drive ,good job i kept that spare photo from my passport photos lol that's saved me a few pennies.
Seems to be all paying out this next month he he ,what with a dental check too,oh well ,i may as well get my gnashers on top linr too ready for the B B q season ,which won't be long now.
Spare a thought for those poor people in oz folks ,who look to be under threat yet again as the weather conditions look to be going back to last month ,and everything will again be tinder dry,waiting for a thunderstorm strike ,or some loony to get cracking with the matches again.
Lets all hope and pray that it doesn't come to that again,all our buddies were lucky last time ,and no one of them got hurt although some of them lost belongings and property.
Fred is already planning his veggies for this next season,lol,the tomatoes are in,set away on the kitchen windowsill in their little minature greenhouse.
I have bought some hollow crown parsnip seeds to go in the big square tub in early april,and the big sack of dried manure is ready to go into the pots as i clear them out.
With the way the prices are going up in the shops ,i will have to mount a shotgun guard on them this autumn,i will have to make a tiny shotgun for Hissy lol,she spends most ot the day out back anyway ,so i may as well put her to work he he .
Off to do some housework now .take care all ,and enjoy your week. Fred.

Hello Everyone. Its strange that no one has posted since I did 3 days ago, I hope it is nothing to do with me!! I hope you are all well anyway. We are still having some very hot weather in WA. See you soon I hope.
Love Sylvia XX

nudge

Hello Everyone. It is nice to know that you are thinking about me still and I'm sorry I don't get on here very often. The problem is, as soon as I start typing I think about Norman and then burst into tears and I can't see what I am doing.Sometimes I am fine but I think I am goingthrough a bad patch at the moment.
I haven't been able to see the grandchildren for a couple of weeks because they are all ill with bad colds and the two little ones have got a gastro bug now, which I don't want to catch, as it wouldn't be very good for me being on my own. I feel a bit isolated here with no neighbours to speak to but I am OK as long as I can get out in the car.
You are so clever Fred, growing all your vegies as you do. I planted 2 potatoes yesterday and I am wondering if they will come to anything. New potatoes were Norman's favourite but he didn't have much luck growing them.
It is 36C here today and a bit too hot for me to go to the cemetery so I might go tomorrow as it is supposed to be cooler then.
I must get myself some lunch now, so, see you later.
Love from Sylvia XX

Morning all.. We have had some lovely rain but it is not falling in the bushfire ares..which is a shame..I wish we could send some down to them..as some of the fires are expected to increase with some hot weather due this weekend,,luckily enough it is not threatening any homes at the moment.

Fred Gosh you have done well with your vege patch,,You should write a book on how to grow your own veges and make a success of it...

Les.. Has some blighter been pinching your designs,,Patent them,,an sue em..How dare they...Love your wood stove.. it is so cosy and there is nothing like a fire to sit in front of and read,,used to love our wood fire when we used to live in New Plymouth in New Zealand..it got so cold over there under Mount Egmont that a good fire was needed..John on Brenda's thread lives there the lucky butter...Always love going back to visit..

Hope all are well and keeping warm,,Wont be sad when our summer is over and we head to the cooler weather,,It has been a very hot summer and a bit of cool will be nice...Thank goodness we don't get as cold as you lot..lowest of around 7c and up to 19c during the day,No frost or snow,,just luuuuvvvveeeerrrllyy...hee hee hee...

Have a nice weekend
Love Mary xxx

Afternoon all, it is a lovely afternoon here today, mild and nice enough to have a "potter" about. Hope everyone is keeping well.
I wish the 1911 census had the North East on as I would love to find out where my "lot" where and what they were up to.
Hope you are well Sylvia, and Lesley hows your sewing coming on. Have you thought any more of the geneology service??
I agree with you Christine about that 13 year old boy becoming a father. What on earth is going on?? Where has all the pride and dignity gone from our kids, now it seems the more people they sleep with the more "street cred" they have, girls as well as boys.. Well I'm afraid it's time for some old fashioned values to come back... Thats my moan for the day...
Fred, you have done very well with your veggies haven't you. I really miss my allotment, just simply can't do it.. who knows maybe next year???
Take care everyone bye for now .

Hi there edith,Hows the weather you end ?.Been so nice here this morning that have been standing at the sink preparing the veggfies for the dinner with the back door open,lol.
Well today is the last of my carrots from the garden,and i only have three cabbages left too ,still i did pretty well out of what i had in,and there are still plenty of brussels,kale leeks to eat ,so ,i will be okat until the middle of next month.
Time to start on the tatties too,i only took a few out for the christmas lunch,and then put the lid back on the barrel.
Now is the time to start using them proper ,when last years old potato's become scarce.
I recieved the electric bill this morning ,wahey ,i owe british gas the princely sum of£3- 65p.not bad eeeeeh.he he.
I expect the gas bill in the next few days and i expect a different story lol.
You hang in there Sylvia ,and do as Edith says,sound advice from a very sensible lady,you know,we all understand and will be here whenever we are needed.
This new computer fregime is just what the doctor ordered,i can now dso the housework knowing i am clear to come on line as soon as i am finished.
Have to go outback this afternon to cheeck the seedlings ,the winter is expected to return at the weekend [bummer] so it's out with the straw again,not bad for protection and i can dig itinto the garden when i am finished with it.
Catch you later folks,fred.

nudge

Hi all, Fred I think you can get to the larger areas in Canada but I live

in the boonies. We usually say 42 miles up you know what. !!!!! We are

on the main rail line across Canada, but a small town.

You can try a larger area. Here is one for Thunder Bay P7E 4K2.

It should be a moderate size house with a very large back yard and a

garage.

The fox are still visiting every night and are now bringing other family to

taste our fare as well. They loved the dregs of the lentil soup so will

have to make some more and keep some for them. hee hee.

Weather is changing for the better and the days are getting longer so

things are indeed looking up. Hope the folks in Oz soon get a break

as well. Maybe the rain will stay and help all the areas. Your country

like ours is so vast that weather from coast to coast is sometimes like

nite and day.

Our fresh veg prices are beyond reason now, a clamshell of

strawberries is $6.00, and they have no taste and a thick skin.

Asparagas is $16.00a bundle, cabbage is cheap and the other root veg

are not too bad yet. As our fruit comes from California and Chile with

citrus from Florida we do pay a lot.

Enough moaning as I manage well enough . We have a holiday to-day

someone decided we needed a mid-winter Feb. day off, so it is

officially "Family Day". Only recreation places are open and

we are being urged to spend the day in the outdoors with family !!!!!!!

Most young folks I know will spend the day in jammies and get some

extra sleep heehee

Enough of my blathering, stay well. bye for now. Edith XXXXXXX

hi lesley my sister is a quilter and there is a terrific quilting shop in canmore when I was there I thought that it had everything one could want and for me it had a pretty good library, and as she says calgary is not far away also they are quite close to banff I had an idea that this move would take place eventually as her husband just loves the place so we shall see how they do with selling the two other places, fred I am sorry that our government does not let you see where we live, thought of you last night when the pot luck took place quite a good variety of dishes it went well. bye for now dorothy

Mornin'all,and mornin'to the lasses as well lol.
Yes Mary ,my house is the one next to the corner,and if you look again ,you will see the car in front of the van too,let me know before you sent the satellite over next time ,and i will give you a wave he he.
Sorry to hear that the leeks are so expensive ,but there is a quick remidy.a four by six piece of ground ,and you could grow your own ,very easy to grow,much easier than onions,and all that sun ,they would quickly grow to a fair old size.
You know how small my veggie patch is ,and i grow them every year in front of the brussels.
How tight arsed they are ,these canadians ,wont even allow us to take photos of their land from the air [humph] lol,don't tell the brit's Edith ,they will do it over here too,our goverment try to make a buck anywhere and everywhere they can ,to help pay for the biiiiiig government pensions.
Nice and mild here for the next few days,so i may get out into the gardens and start the big clear out ,ready for spring.
No sign of an orange tree yet but i am still hoping,they don't grow very big ,so if one does come through i reckon i could get one to grow on in a big tub.
Catch you all later ,take care all.and stay safe .Fred