General Chat

Great recipe, Linda!
Thanks for posting that.

It sounds similar to Jack Monroe's tomato and bean soup:

https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2018/03/03/tomato-and-haricot-soup-15p/

The recipe is a Slimming World one, it is so easy because it is just open the. And tip them in. I just use a stick blender to blitz it smooth
I love homemade soup, I make lots of different types. I had spicy lentil and carrot today

Linda, I do make lots of soup during autumn/winter but not today as its already very warm. I have all the windows open and having just stripped my bed, I am now roasting!

Gonna put some cans of juice in the fridge for later and a bottle of flavoured water.

Kitchen looks like a bombsite lol so that's my next task for the morning.

Hope everyone ok and well today who looks in

Florence in the hebrides

hi all, Yes thanks Florence I am ok, just a bit busy, was out all over the weekend so been trying to catch up with the garden since as I have a meeting here this afternoon of our U3a gardening interest group. there will be nine of us today, better than the 12 it could be as it is going to be too warm for too many bodies. Just blitzed the kitchen and now going to sort out the conservatory

AnnG, hope you have a large jug of Pimms to make the meeting go with a swing lol :-D :-D

Tut Florence, dancing encouraging the consumption of alcohol. I thought that we were all strict teetotallers on here ;-) ;-) ;-)

I am Linda, but what I would do for a glass of Pimms ;-) ;-)

No alcohol at the meeting but I have a glass of wine by my side at the moment.

Phew its so hot here already :-D

Trying to do housework and getting very tired very quickly!

Making sure I drink plenty of water though and only doing short bursts of chores and as for the ironing....def not today!

Sending the sunshine to anyone who hasn't got any.

Have a good day all.

Florence in the hebrides

Your sunshine hasn't reached us yet Florence, lol.

I have just been outside to fill up all the bird feeders & there's a chilly wind, need to go back out & fill up the bird baths but will have to carry it from the house because my very BIG water Bowie has run dry, no rain here for a long time.

Hoping our Son in Law will manage to cut the 2 areas of grass soon as it is really long at the moment, however working on the nearby farm he isn't getting finished until well after 10-00 pm which is too late to use the mower, he's going to find cutting the grass hard work when he does manage to do it.

A simple meal today, Pizza, i'm not a big fan of Pizza but hubby requested it !

Disturbed a baby deer yesterday he/she was sleeping in the verge alonside the house road, such a cute thing.

Joan.

Our weather was better today, but still a bit chilly in the shade. I did my usual weekly house clean this morning and lots of washing this afternoon

Tomorrow we are going to the Knaresborough bed race, we went last year and it was fun. Sunday is supposed to be very hot, so it will be the large paddling pool in the garden again. It is the monthly town litter pick in the afternoon, I don’t fancy that in the heat, but it has to be done

Evening anyone looking in.

Well left it as late as possible before watering the plants. So large jug in hand for the smaller pots and off I ventured outside. pleasant evening, still very sunny but much cooler.

Had just started watering a pot when I felt I was being bitten around my eyes and my back. Oh my the blooming midges were awful. Thousands of them as the wind had dropped. I did the quickest water ever and ran back indoors. Im still itching around my ankles and my eyes wee blighters.

That's the thing here you cant win, you want no wind but then the midges arrive grrrr.

Joan we haven't had rain either for nearly 2 months and none coming in the week ahead. Your little deer sounded lovely, wonder where its mum was?

LInda, hope you didn't get too exhausted picking litter in the sun. I'm sure the girls love the paddling pool and will keep them cool.

Dads bloods have gone down after 2 months of increasing so that's really good news and has boosted him back up as he was a bit down last few days worrying but he needn't have :-D

Well coffee time now and then have a read online of the news etc.

Florence in the hebrides

Good morning up (not dressed) early, sun shining and 11 degrees. the last few days have been beautiful, sun all day, blue skies and a light breeze. Yesterday it was 25 degrees. I did manage a bit of gardening as the breeze kept the temp down a bit. The garden is definitely suffering lack of water. I am only watering pots and containers. Being on a water meter does make you careful. Most of the plants and the grass will survive not being watered.
We do get a mix of weather on this thread don't we? But interesting to note we are all equally as short of water.

Morning AnnG and everyone else looking in.

Well I was up early at 8am and had a cool shower and washed hair. Drying it made me extremely hot as its way down my back sitting under my bra!

Was determined to water the plants after last nights failure so jug in hand and out I went. Phew the heat at 10am hit me as if I was abroad, its warm, very warm.

However, as I reached the side of the house the wind came through very breezy and chilly as was off the sea. So depending on which area you are in its different, East or West.

Anyway all watered now. The grass is tinder dry and mostly brown with not much new growth, hence the grasscutters are leaving it for a month to help it.

We don't have any stormy weather forecast here but some may get heavy downpours and thunder, not sure where that is?

Daughter went off to town to look at windbreaks so probably a tel call soon asking for money to buy them :-D :-D

As for our main meal later, no idea. Im actually fed up with food just now so picking at little things. far too hot for a cooked meal and salad is getting boring!

Sending our sun to anyone that want's it....going free ;-)

Florence in the hebrides

Hello all,

Well back to normal now, we had visitors from far away. They were here for 10 days so a lot of catching up done. 3 we hadn't seen for 15 years (except on skype) 1 we saw 4 years ago and 1 we had not met before (in law) . When they left Britain the youngest was only 3 yrs old.so you can imagine how much they had grown. They managed to do a fair bit of sight seeing as well as seeing us most days
. After the last months which haven't been the best for me as losing 3 close members of my family in less than 8 mths has been difficult but seeing family has been wonderful.

Weather is lovely at the moment but like most we could do with a shower or two for the garden as although we have had chilly days we had no rain.

I have caught up with everything on here now so know what you have all been up to lol. Hope you are all well and enjoying the weekend .

Take care all.

Ginnie

Afternoon all.
JustGinnie, good to see you posting and glad everything back to normal with you.

Its been a lovely hot day at the front but in the back garden a nippy easterly breeze. That put the dampers on our food tonight. daughter came back with some treats and I decided to make a cold buffet. So a tuna pasta, potato salad, green salad with prawns, crabsticks etc. Some breaded drumsticks and put 6 petit pain bread rolls in too.

Yummy crisps, some dips and the last of the non-alcoholic Pimms.

However, the haar from the sea is heading fast this way making the air damp so buffet indoors sadly.

There will be enough left over for tomorrow as well. always a bonus :-D

Hope everyone else had a good day

Florence in the hebrides

I hate mozzies and midges Florence, I think I have a large sign over my head saying” bite me”

We went to the Knaresborough bed race today and it was scorching. Luckily it was just Eve, her father, OH and me. Esme had a birthday party for someone in her class to go to, so she couldn’t come. That was just as well given the heat.
I think there were ninety six teams this year. They are all given an identical metal base on wheels. Goodness knows how they store them during the year. They decorate them and they are judged. Each bed can have as many helpers as they want, they are all in fancy dress to match whatever theme has been chosen. There is a huge parade around the town, complete with marching bands etc. We managed to find a very good viewing spot, amazing as the town is absolutely heaving with visitors, between 20-30 thousand usually
The teams all end up down by the river where they strip off all of the decorations, just leaving the metal frame which has a chair on it and some buoyancy floats. All the teams are then reduced to six pushers and a passenger, usually a young teenager. They set off at one minute intervals and have to complete the 2.4 mile course, not easy as it is an incredibly hilly town. They come hurtling down the huge hill at breakneck speed.
Once they get back down to river level, they actually have to push the bed along the river for a hundred yards or so. It is so deep at that point, that they actually have to swim.
There is just one section of river bank where a few people can clamber down through the brambles and nettles so you are right opposite where they are swimming. It was a lot more overgrown this year, but we managed it. There was a fallen willow tree which was still growing and jutting out over the water. Eve and her dad climbed onto that. OH and I both slipped and ended up sitting on the bank. Again we had a great view. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get up as I was just sitting in the dusty soil right in the edge of the bank, but I managed it without falling in
:-D :-D

Wow Linda, what an afternoon you had. The race sounds amazing. So glad none of fell in as that would have a disaster but it all sounded great fun :-D :-D

Just G how lovely to see people after such a long time, lots of photos I expect and more memories made. Glad you had a good time.
Florence, that buffet sounded rather moreish, shame about the weather though, it was glorious here yesterday and so far today it is sunny and 21 degrees at 0830.
Linda, what a great day you had, love the sound of the decorated beds and then the race, doesn't sound as if anyone was hurt as well. A bit different to our annual race (cheese roll) when it is a rare year when nobody is hurt. And well done for not falling in the river too. It did sound as if you thoroughly enjoyed it all and I am sure Eve did as well. :-)

Your cheese rolling is crackers Ann :-D I read about this years event recently and so many people were hurt. The bed race has been going since 1966 and I don’t think there have been many injuries. A few of the floats looked like they were going to tip over in the river, but the teams managed to right them. The teams stay in a channel formed by orange ropes, there are lots of marshals in wet suits in the water and some in boats where they have to swim. If anyone got into trouble, they would be spotted immediately
It is going to be twenty seven degrees today, so we will be having a garden day with the large paddling pool. We will fill it with hot water, so it is more like a hot tub which Esme loves. She will play in it all day. If we put cold water in, they can’t stay in the water.

Have a good day everyone