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Life outside Ambridge
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Life in Ambridge
THIS POST IS CLOSED "longer off topic comments' - Episode 8 Life Outside Ambridge Beach Chairs
*** FROM PREVIOUS BLOG ***
ReplyDeleteArcherphile - July 16, 2020 at 10:20 PM
After my shopping experience today I might just go back to home deliveries - at least until I’ve had my eyes done!
Don’t know about anyone else, but hearing today that we shall have to wear masks permanently until a vaccine is found, made me feel very depressed.
I’m going for my first haircut since before Christmas tomorrow, feeling a bit like a sheep just before shearing and I expect I shall look as odd as they do at first , with short hair again. I have been putting on weight during the lockdown, eating all the things I gave up to loose those 5 stones and I think my face has fattened up, so my old short layered cut is going to emphasise that. Might be just what I need to get back to the diet!
Lady R - July 16, 2020 at 11:08 PM
Archerphile having had our neighbours daughter shop for us for such a long time I have managed to be able to book click & collect from our nearby Waitrose. Tonight was my 3rd collection I go between 6 & 7 pm the last hour for pickup so quiet and no queuing involved to do this (not that queuing is an issue at that time anyway)
Being only the two of us I am happy to do this for convenience and the good and efficient service.
Although a quick operation I still wear a mask and gloves. I was also able to pop into the Pharmacy nearby as well to pick up Mr R prescription. I agree that It is a heck of a situation we are in and would not like to wear a mask in the store for the length of time required to complete a big shop as I always “trolley”shop then it’s onto belt then into bags, into car into home and finally into cupboards fridge/ freezer 😴
I managed somehow to wear a mask and not steam up glasses tonight - the luck of the draw me thinks 😮
Proud to be Yorkshire - July 17, 2020 at 6:58 AM
If you put micropore tape across the top of your mask and stick it to your skin it stops your glasses steaming up and keeps mask in place so you don’t fiddle about with it.
The only downside is it hurts like hell to pull it off. Guess if you waited till you were home you could help it off with water or makeup remover.
It does work.
Ev - July 17, 2020 at 9:28 AM
I went to the doctor’s this morning for a blood test. Wore a mask of course, had to use hand sanitiser before going in then wash hands in there. After the test was directed out of the back door. I only saw the person before and after me. All the chairs apart from a fixed bench, a garden type bench and an armchair had gone. The nurse had a disposable apron and mask etc. The receptionist had a mask and asked if I had any signs of a temperature etc. It was surreal!
*** THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS ***
ReplyDeletePbtY, over to you! Enjoy!
PtbY - that’s an interesting tip, hadn’t thought of that.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been watching people on TV wearing masks and noticed many have long noses which gives a good gap between top of mask and eyes.
I think my problem is because I have a very short nose, so in order to cover my nostrils properly the top my mask is right underneath my eye and often catches on bottom eyelashes.
So perhaps taping it down would help.....unless I tore out eyelashes taking it off 🥺
Wash your glasses with a touch of soap and water just before going out and they shouldn't fog up for the rest of the day!
DeleteThat's useful advice Gary. My glasses sometimes steam up but only outside.
DeleteArcherphile, a bit of extra weight acts as a natural filler for the features.
ReplyDeleteMy hair salon has a special offer but I've got used to my new look.
I might take my mask off on the way back from the shops, as it's uphill, so I don't get out of breath.
When my elder son got married the day before the ban on weddings in Canada because of the virus, he celebrated by going out and buying seven pairs of shoes because he has to do seven complete changes a day at least.
ReplyDeleteHaven't a clue what made me put th at comment in when the talk was about masks.
DeleteI was watching the Test Match at the time and my mind must have been wandering
Wandering minds are perfectly acceptable Lanjan!
DeleteWow 7 pairs of shoes required way more expensive than our masks and gloves LJ 😱
DeletePtby I would be ok ripping off micropore tape as I’m used to having my top lip, eyebrows cheeks and legs sugared every few months and top lip is a sensitive area quick rip is the answer not sure I could do the procedure to myself though 🤣
My hair is now longer than it's been for years and I have become used to it. There's also the added benefit that I can put it up in a clip or back in a ponytail.
ReplyDeleteI'm due a hair appointment on Monday (if Jon allows me out!) and have decided to give up colouring my hair! It's going to be a dreadful shock for my granddaughters when I next see them!
ReplyDeleteAs to mask wearing I'm not sure how I'll cope. First I have developed asthma since I had pneumonia in February and get completely out of breath after just a minute or two's activity. Secondly the mask given to me when I had my last blood test kept steaming up my glasses so I'll try PtbY's tip.
Finally I won't be able to make out what people are saying to me because I do rely on lip-reading to some extent,especially since I need a new hearing test but hospital audiology department is closed.
But looking on the bright side; the sun is shining, cricket's on the radio and tonight we're having a BBQ. So potato salad and falafels to be made this afternoon.
You could wear a clear face helmet Spicy or a scarf, in your case wearing a mask is not /will not be mandatory.
DeleteNB my comments about the visor, which I found very useful as I also wear glasses. The sponge panel inside across the top rests on the forehead so that the visor stays above the glasses. You can then see clearly without having to take them off.
ReplyDeleteOk...here goes. Haven’t had books for a while so I’ll do that.
ReplyDelete1. Delia Smiths Christmas book.
This is my bible on the run up to Christmas. Admittedly I don’t cook so much out of it now there are just the 3 of us at Christmas. But this is deffo my most used cookbook.
2. Dirk Bogarde - Great Meadow.
Love all Dirks autobiography’s but this one is lovely. So evocative of a different time. The adventures with his sister. You can just picture yourself there.
3. George Grossmith - Diary of a Nobody.
Really amusing. Loved it when it was done on radio 4 too.
4. Dick Francis - The edge.
Again love all Dick Francis books, can’t beat a thriller, but this one set on the Rocky Mounteneer train really made me fancy going on it. One day maybe I will.
5. Jilly Cooper - The Common Years.
Again, I’m a big jilly fan but this is a diary of her walking her dog around Putney Common and the people she meets, the different dogs and the changes in nature over a year.
Food wise.
All sorts of salads with a piece of salmon or chicken.
Pudding wise....any cheesecake or lemon based pud.
Thanks PtbY!
DeleteNot read a single one of 'em!
If I'm in the right mood I can devour my weight in salad - but I could do better when it comes to healthy eating. I DO try though. Just not awfully hard...
Found a little tribute to Dirk Bogarde from YouTube accompanied by a nice version of "As Time Goes By" sung by Bryan Ferry. Hope you like it!
Gary ...ah that was fab.
DeleteLove Brian Ferry too so a double whammy. Xx
PtbY, your books:
ReplyDeleteDelia Smith - yes! Also have the Christmas , Summer &Winter books & use them lots.
Dirk Bogarde- yes, yes, YES! Love all his autobiography books and other books.
George & Weedon Grossmith - yes, loved it, also radio adaptation
Dick Francis - haven’t read the books but love the radio plays based on them
Jolly Cooper - no, not keen I’m afraid
Excellent - 4 out of 5 could have been on my list too
Food: can’t wait, what time’s dinner?
6ish.....you’ll be disappointed tonight. It’s left over pasta puttanesca and left over salads. Lol
DeleteThat will do just as well! I’ll bring the drinks. 🍷 or 🍺?
Delete🍸
DeleteChanged photo to a couple of my favourite Heuchera plants. I have quite a collection of different varieties. I love their names . The 2 in the photo are Lime Marmalade and Autumn Leaves (!). I also have, Plum Pudding, Creme Brûlée, Peach Melba and Ginger Ale and a very dark variety called Obsidian. They are just about my favourite garden plants but I keep them in pots rather than planting out.
ReplyDeletePtbY.. I haven't read any of the books but it's not the first time I've heard praises about Dirk Bogarde..I'll certainly check it out.
ReplyDeleteWe're in the process of preparing for our holiday in Istria..we leave early Sunday morning..and as usual Mr🍁🍁🍁..is packing everything but the kitchen sink..no wait.. I believe I just saw it go into a box.
He is a true Italian and wants all his home comforts on holiday..so in goes his mocka. .favourite pot..bread machine..salad spinner..favourite cup..I could go on and on.
It's his birthday tomorrow so well have a zoom meeting with the girls then it's off early Sunday. By afternoon I hope to be dipping my tootsies in the clear blue Adriatic. I've got my books packed..Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan stories as mentioned in a previous blog (have been saving them for this special occasion) and several editions of La Settimana Enigmistica. My fellow Italian bloggers will understand but for everyone else it's a weekly publication of crosswords, sudoku and all kinds of puzzles. I only do it when I'm on holiday. So I am a happy happy person because I honestly didn't think this would be happening a few months ago.
Not only that I am officially semi retired..I qualified for my American pension this month.....everyone the milky bars are on me🌴🌴🌴🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞
Well done, semi-retired and going to a semi-desert/semi-island. Enjoy!
DeleteHave a wonderful holiday Autumn Leaves. My family have been to the Adriatic coast and had an enjoyable time. My daughter in law buys La Settimana Enigmistica but I prefer doing puzzles in English
DeletePtbY - I haven't read any of the books but recognise most of the names.
ReplyDeleteI'm also a big Delia fan and like Brian Ferry.
Salad with some chicken and cheesecake to follow, food-perfect.
Lanjan - a fascinating piece of information, I'd just have to open my shoe boxes.
ReplyDeleteArcherphile - fascinating edible names for plants.
PtbY - I have Delia's Christmas book too and have used it a lot over the years. I heard Diary on the radio and enjoyed it. Haven't read the others but am familiar with names.
ReplyDeleteSalad and pudding sound good to me.
Dirk Bogarde - thank you Gary for the compilation. What a lot of different roles he played and a lot of kissing too! He was a handsome man.
I like Bryan Ferry but not this sort of singing. I prefer his 'Street Life' type of style with Roxy Music.
My favorite Dirk Bogarde film, has to be Campbells Kingdom. I haven't read his books though..😣
DeleteTMS on Feedback now.
ReplyDeleteI can recommend Delias Christmas Pudding recipe. I make it every year, and will do so again, this year. Let's hope it will be used.. 🤞🤞
ReplyDeleteAutumnleaves. Your hols in Istria, sounds brilliant. This is somewhere, which is on my places to visit. I have been close to a booking, on several occasions, but these never came to fruition, for various reasons - usually the single supplement - just too much! and departure airports with flight times.
PS I always make the pudding, on Rememberace Sunday. It is my tradition.
DeleteThe heuchara which was totally burnt down to ground level, (the fence fire), and is now producing flowers, is one of Archerphiles' - namely Autumn Leaves. It is lovely.
ReplyDeleteMy first haircut, is now just 10 days away.. can't wait.
Quick extra - I have just seen a wonderful photo of Capt.Sir Tom Moore, being "officially dubbed".
ReplyDeleteSo lovely and up-lifting. 😁
Another post relating to Dirk Bogarde.
ReplyDeleteThe B/W 1958 film, A Tale of Two Cities, when he plays Sydney Carton, is on Talking Pictures, 11.05 on 29/7.
I personally don't like this film, (executions 😨) but he was brilliant in it.
I always check "Talking Pictures" to see what's on. Sometimes there are some cracking little films and documentaries.
DeleteI had a big crush on Dirk Bogarde in Tale of 2 Cities in early teens, + Robert Hardy as HenryV on TV ! I did realize quite soon that neither would be interested in slightly spotty school girls, &, a little later, that Bogarde ( + Hardy probably) wouldn't be interested in grown up girls at all....
DeleteAny of our resident cricket lovers got any thoughts on the new format involving THREE teams playing in the SAME game that's about to take place in South Africa? Was just reading about it on the BBC news website. I must say, I'm pretty intrigued...
ReplyDeleteI need to look this up! It sounds intriguing but also sounds impossible - 3 teams at once...
DeleteAlso isn't SA a covid "hot spot" at the moment ?
Off to find out more.
Thank you, PtbY, for offering us your book choices.
ReplyDeleteLast post (6.03pm)nonsense aside, I'd enjoy your Bogarde book, having read another of his memoirs - he's a sensitive & interesting writer, I thought. Nigella is my go to cook, sometimes Nigel Slater, but not Delia because strikes me she's more work intensive & I'm a lazy cook !
Jilly Cooper - a hoot ! Wasn't very taken with Dick Francis but do devour detective fiction. Grossmith - ✓✓
Like cheesecake ( but not the lemon one) & would certainly find the salmon salad very palatable, washed down with an organic white wine.
I have read nearly all the Dick Francis books, but this a long while ago. I know I enjoyed them. 🐎
DeleteA salmon salad sounds great, with a cheesecake, as long as it not a baked one. I only need a non-organic Sauvingon Blanc or some Scruff + T, to imbibe with it.
Delete🥂.
Must go, as tea is cooking - a salmon + chllli fishcake with spicy potatoe wedges (thanks supermarket).
It is to be served with, skinned tomatoes, braised with olive oil, chilli + basil (home made) with a crisp green side salad (lettuce, celery, cucumber + advocado). A strange mix, but my taste.
PtbY - loved Dirk B throughout my life, and shared some moments in the checkout queue at Kings Road Waitrose in his later years. Yet I've seen very few of his many films for some reason. The best of his excellent performances being in The Servant and The Night Porter, neither one of which particularly comfortable films. But I have read and enjoyed very much several of his books.
ReplyDeleteI dislike immensely Jilly Coopers most read books, but as an individual I liked her during her Putney Common dog walking years when I too was a daily walker on P common with my dog. And I loved the book, one of my most enjoyable reads. She is once again a nearby resident since I came to live here in Stroud.
I don't read cookery books, and your other choices are not familiar to me.
Although I did enjoy diary of...... on R 4 when it was broadcast.
Gary - thank you so much for the DB compilation above. Wonderful !
I'm giving Lady her major walk in the evenings during hot weather.
ReplyDeleteLast night as I walked back to the car on Selsly common I watched a Barn Owl circling above the wooded area opposite then saw that the local cricket team were on their ground supposedly practicing as I drove back into town.
Two lovely pastoral sights as well as the views West stretching from the Severn Bridges south, across the skyline of Wales to the Herefordshire hills as the sun was sinking.
How fortunate I am to be living in such wonderful countryside.
I think all of us have learned to appreciate our surroundings especially after this lockdown. I know I certainly have.
DeleteSounds delightful - Mrs P.
DeleteAnd a Barn Owl..Wow
Good mixture there P tb Y.
ReplyDeleteI used to have the Delia Smith book.
I made the chocolate torte when almost everywhere had sold out of liquid glucose
Son (who still lived in England at the time) got me some from a chemist.
I will try any book recommended so have ordered from the library the Dirk Bogarde, George Grossmith and Dick Francis (probably read that years ago I used to read all his books)
As for Jilly Cooper......
As I said I will attempt to read any book recommended to me.
I did start it...........
If you are making the salads I would love to join you for a meal .
I bet your coleslaw is homemade as will be the hummus
Love cheesecake too.
I worked in a Pharmacy, when that torte became the "must do". We bought in a large container of Liquid Glucose, weighed it out + re-packaged it. All I can say, it sold well + was very profitable 😁
DeleteThese days, this cannot be done, as there are too many regulations and also the needing of the necessary "wholsale" licences.
It was fun though, weighing this awful sticky "goo" out, and trying to get it into the jars (ones used for ointments!).
Memories....
I liked Dirk Bogarde in "A Tale of a Two Cities too ,Miriam.
ReplyDelete"It is a far far better thing ..........."
No Sydney ,you shouldn't have done it.
I have been besotted with Dirk Bogarde for most of my life. All those heroic war films, The Servent and, of course, Death in Venice. But his books, especially his autobiography series were sublime. We used to live near Pinewood Studios when I was a child and I passed it every day on my way to school. I saw Dirk once or twice and it was so exciting to see a real live film star. When I grew up and started reading ‘A Postillion Struck by Lightening’ I was hooked for life. A beautiful, talented man.
ReplyDeleteWith you 100% Archerphile.
DeleteHave you read his book of letters. It’s a huge book full of correspondence from over the years. I found it fascinating.
I have been trying to think why I dislike Dirk Bogarde because I do! I remember the film Tale of Two Cities and I am sure I have seen him in at least one WW2 film. The only thing I can think of is that one film he must have been a nasty character and I took a dislike to him then. Of course I am talking about black and white films i watched, with my Nan, back in the 1950s as a young child. I listened to A Postillion... when it was serialised on radio 4 some while back and enjoyed it.
ReplyDelete(My logic regarding the dislike stems from never liking Richard Attenborough after watching him as Pinky in Brighton Rock!)
As there were 20 comments on the other blog, (mostly apologies!) I thought I would remark on the police picture here, as it is associated with black and white TV long ago. As soon as I saw the radio and cap it reminded me of 'Highway Patrol' very much a favourite of mine as a child. With lovely gravely voiced Broderick Crawford. "10 - 4 Over and out!"
Gary - Simon Mann was reading the rules out of the 3 sided cricket game on TMS. Much too complicated for my liking! What a shame that Dominic Sibley's 100 was not shared by a live crowd and he missed out on a standing ovation.
Enjoyed a lovely BBQ with Jon last night and we have planned a different sort of one tonight . ( Anything to keep me entertained!) As we sat at the table yesterday we watched (for the third time) a tatty wood pigeon feasting on the remaining redcurrants! It was falling right into the middle of the bush trying to get the last of them and was ignoring us, just four/five feet away!
Off now to water the vegetables as it is going to be a hot one today apparently.
I received a text from eldest son saying they had been allowed into Rhodes for a ten day holiday but hardly anything was open. The girls are not fussed, as having lived in landlocked countries all their lives they love the seaside! They had to have all sorts of tests at both ends of the journey and hopefully they'll get back into Germany okay!
Have a good weekend everyone.
I was about to post my appreciation of the Dik Bogarde Tribute, but someone else has taken over my profile....
ReplyDeleteAlastair Cook...
You must have been listening to TMS yesterday! I do complain about the ignoring of the game and tactics whilst the commentators talk about their private and social lives but I was laughing out loud at the way Aggers started winding up 'Chef!' 🤣😁🤣
Delete🤣🤣loved it!!
DeleteSpicy, yes, I remember Highway Patrol and Dragnet - my Mums favourite, not forgetting Perry Mason, the DA in a wheelchair!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed your BBQ last night, it was a beautiful day - if a bit too hot for me.
Last night we were invited next door for a ‘Sundowner’. Don’t know if I have mentioned before, but their garden is further up the hill from ours and they have built this very posh pavilion at the top. It’s a huge construction with everything you could wish for garden entertaining - large surrounding terrace with barbecue area, wine fridge, table that sits 12, indoor cooker, lighting etc and 30 floodlit steps up the hill to reach it.! My gripe when it was built was that it looks down across our garden to the fields opposite. They have a magnificent view but we feel it’s like a watchtower looking down on us and we have no more privacy in our garden. It didn’t require planning permission and we weren’t consulted. As you can tell, it’s still a sore point with me.
However, that’s all beside the point really . We went for this drink, watching the sun set across our garden and the fields. Drank lots of wine (well, 2 glasses for me) ate lots of nibbles and chatted, exchanged news, put the world to rights.
Generally have a very pleasant, convivial evening. Until we told them we are having a valuation next week; one of the reasons being to get advice about whether we should fell the very old, very tall conifers along our road boundary and have a nice brick & flint wall built instead, because the conifers are so tatty, unattractive and so much work to look after. We want to know if it would make our place more saleable when the time comes.
Instant reaction from next door was horrified - ‘but we’’ll be able to see the road, it will spoil our view’. Very negative that we should do anything that would improve our property with a view to selling. We have both lived here in our houses for almost 40 years and this is the first major bone of contention between us.
I didn’t know whether to be amused or bl...d’y annoyed. I shall leave the story there because if I carryon, I shall get even more annoyed!
Annoyed I would say Archerphile due to the fact you were not consulted regarding their plans and lovely as all that they did sounds you certainly are now very much in their view. I thought you were about to tell us that they were devastated to know that you are considering a move after all your years as neighbours. They did what they wanted on their property you must do the same. A shame though if their “distress” leads to bad blood but it will be of their own making. Look forward to hearing (without monetary detail of course) how your Estate Agent visit goes next week - good luck. Wonder what his thoughts will be on your idea might he say leave the decision to the new owners.....
DeleteHow did the hair cut go? We also had our lady here yesterday - masked up of course thought I’d go gently but more off than I planned for so a shock the other way now when I look in the mirror 🤣
Mr R lost a stone when he had his eyebrows trimmed 😀 and was also pleased to get the back and sides cut Nothing to worry about on the top!
Archerfile, it may not be worth it to have the conifers taken out and a wall built. Walls need a foundation so some digging required. All in all it could be very expensive and if prospective buyers like the house the conifers should be a small thing. Maybe they could be cut back. I agree with Lady R though that the Estate Agent should be able to advise. Your neighbours obviously only see things from their own point of view! Maybe best to ignore their chagrin as hopefully you will move away from them anyway!
ReplyDeleteArcherphile - I agree that it would be best to just ignore your neighbours' annoyance as, after all, they did not consult you over their alterations.
DeleteMy neighbours had rows going on last night. Lots of shouting outside ending with car doors slammed and storming off.
Gary6:06 pm.
ReplyDeleteI have seen something that shows a man rushing around with a net in which to catch the ball .
That was in South Africa.
It won't catch on.
They have messed up the game of cricket enough.
All the Powers that be are interested in is making money.
When the Twenty - twenty -now T twenty - was first introduced Lancashire were in the semi finals at The Oval
Semi finals and finals were played on the same stay as they still are.
There was a worry that the game wouldn't catch on so they had dancing girls to entertain the crowd .
It was awful.
Oh for the days when we had four day cricket starting on a Thursday and Sunday. league cricket
The shorter game brings in the money.
The County Game is dying
Very sad.
Progress?
,
What a great afternoon I have had!
ReplyDeleteSport yes, football or cricket no.
I have been watching the BBC programmes, about the 2012 London Olympics. I missed a lot, as I was working long and hard then, so I only saw quick highlights.
Today, I felt I was seeing so much, as if live, and it was as exciting, as it must have been then.
My ironing pile, was not totally finished as planned, as I got too involved in watching. It is hard to believe this was 8 years ago.
It was also a "good feel" feeling - with all the magnificent sports men + women, who did GB proud, in a small portion of time.
There is much more tomorrow, but can I cope - the bedding still needs ironing, so my excuse for watching.
Archerphile, may I give you my thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI was the daughter, who was in charge of the sale of my late father's bungalow. I arranged for two estate agents to visit on the same day. I asked them the same questions, before deciding, which one to place it with. My questions went along the lines off:-
How to "dress" the property to make it appeal to potential buyers.
What, if any, improvements could be made, to make it more saleable.
The realistic value for a quick sale, or one, if prepared to wait a bit longer.
I learnt a lot, and followed the guidelines of the estate agent, who was the most helpful (but more expensive). I listed the property with them, 3 weeks later, after following his advice, and sold at full price, in 3 days! The extra estate agent fees were so worth it!
At least with the change in stamp duty costs, will help dramatically with any house sell and buying.
This was a few years ago, but I learnt so much!
PS I went room by room, with each estate agent and making notes, as to their suggestions.
DeleteI compared these, one page, against three much more detailed ones.
The thing was, we had to sell, so it was a very different situation. I just hope, my experience might help, in some way. 😀
I have just met my new next door owners, in a group chat with other neighbours, outside in the road. Two males (a couple? possible) and seem lovely. It is looking good - well so far. 😁😁
ReplyDeleteAt least I know more.
We are consulting the estate agent about whether it will affect the value of our property to leave the very high scruffy conifers which need constant attention and are starting to die at the bottom - but which do give us privacy from passing heavy traffic, and to some extent mute traffic noise.....or......to invest £4000 - £5000 in having them removed and replaced by either a good quality 6ft high fence backed by a beech hedge, or a much more expensive brick & flint wall which is the local vernacular architecture for 200 year old houses in this area. This would give the property much more ‘kerb appeal’, but some buyers might value the privacy that the trees provide. We shall be guided by his advice and they are one of the biggest agents for country homes in Hampshire.
ReplyDeleteWhen we moved here 38 years ago the entire garden was surrounded by 50-60 ft high conifers which gave total seclusion but cut out an awful lot of light. Over the years we have removed most of them (affording our neighbours much more light too, for which they were grateful) and the only ones left are those along the road boundary. Our cottages are semidetached but built at a right angle to the road rather than facing it. We have the cottage and garden closest to the road - our neighbours have the ‘inner’ one which is on a rising slope, therefore looking down on ours. It’s very difficult to explain, wish I could draw a map to show the problem.
Anyway, roll on Wednesday and we’ll see what Mr Estate Agent has to say! 🌲🌲🌲
You have explained it so very well, and I have a good imagination, so I think I can picture it. Miriam xx
DeleteToday a friend drove me to A&E to check on a minor problem, one which tends to reoccur roughly every 7 years like some bizarre kind of ritual. She dropped me off in the street where my daughter always parked when I was visiting her dad, and I went in through the same entrance - but of course there was no call to expend any energy to be a 'tower of strength' for him, because this time it was only for me and the matter wasn't serious.
ReplyDeleteAfterwards I continued on the same route, but I could turn right into the main entrance to phone for a taxi instead of making for the oncology unit or the lifts to the 6th floor, because he wasn't there either. As I waited in the lobby, there was a man sitting on a bench outside in the sun, same age, same size, same build, shirt and hair (in appearance Mr S was fairly representative of his age and gender), who ought to have been him, but it wasn't.
Although he could be a dominating personality, in the months of lockdown I've grown accustomed to his absence from the house and garden, but in the hospital the magnitude of his 'not-thereness' was bewildering. I can see that being confined to barracks for so long has caused some delay in acclimatisation to my new circumstances.
That must have been very hard for you Sarnia and a shock after these past months. I hope you were able to be in contact with someone (apart from us!) to share your feelings in 'real' life. Best wishes to you, from Spicy
Delete.......which I am sure are something to look forward to,Sarnia.
ReplyDeleteMy very best wishes to you
What a strange experience for you Sarnia. Hopefully you are continuing to come to terms with what has happened and such experiences as you had s’y the hospital will become fewer and less bewildering. I am so glad you felt able to share such things with us, your virtual but very fond, friends.
ReplyDeleteThank you, no, there wasn't anyone else to talk to. I was due a visitor this afternoon, but I had put her off as I had no idea how long I would be. I needed to write it all down to stop it going round in my head, which was preventing me from getting on with making dinner.
ReplyDeleteI went equipped with visor, but the staff insisted that I wear one of their masks, to protect me from them rather than the other way round, as the admissions nurse put it. She tied it on for me, careful not to make it too tight, my glasses then went over the top and I had no problems at all, so I'm now the proud owner of a regulation, pale-blue face mask.
Then thank goodness for our blog Sarnia 🙏🏼 providing you with an outlet to write down the (understandable) emotions revived during today’s necessary hospital visit. Virtual friends we may be but our support is real enough 🥰
DeleteTrust your friend’s postponed visit happens soon!
I am sorry you had such a bewildering, forlorn experience, Sarnia. It is good that this very special blog could help.
ReplyDeleteSarnia, it is strange how you get on with life after bereavement only to have it hit you in the face in incidents like yours in the hospital. My thoughts are with you. The blog helped me so much after my husband died and so glad it helped you too this time.🥰
ReplyDeleteSarnia, thinking of you.
ReplyDeleteSarnia,I may have got this wrong and apologies if this is the case but I got the feeling that your experience in the hospital though strange made you realise that it was a new beginning for you.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that you were able to share your experience with us is a good sign.
I was pleased for you .I just felt that now you can start your new life with hope .
It's all part of the re-adjustment, LanJan, which is being partially hindered by the lockdown. Hilary, I wasn't wandering around the hospital in the forlorn hope of finding Mr S still there - he was in such a dreadful state that no one could possibly want that - it's just that for such a long time that's where he was when he wasn't at home. Going back there with him not there either was just, well, weird, and as LanJan says, part of the new beginning. I'm often surprised that such simple things should be proving so difficult to get my head round.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, Sarnia, I get the sense that the experience you had marked some shift in the complex grieving process. There's been an abrupt change for everyone since lockdown, life being 'on hold' in many ways. Now we are starting to get out & about more so I imagine you will have other moments like this, triggering memories, which will feel sad, strange, giving rise to a mixture of emotions, but also leading to a kind of healing. I know there's no forgetting, but there can be a different, & not unhappy, future.
ReplyDeleteAll the best to you.
Beautifully put carolyn 🤗
DeleteYes, Carolyn. Have found your last sentence is so true! For myself, whilst remembering him every day I don’t make a big deal out of anniversaries as I think dwelling on them just keeps a deep wound open. I know that we are all different and for others it is important to mark these dates. You need to get through the process in your own way.
DeleteThat’s the last but one sentence of course!
DeleteThis is no way at the same level as your experience Sarnia, but it brought to mind for me, hearing hymns sung at family funerals for the first time since the funerals. I have been reduced to tears.
ReplyDeleteYou will be having a year of 'firsts' which will bring back memories, good and bad. I hope that if you visit the hospital again your experience will not be repeated x
Very true Zoetrope I have had the same experience 🌹
DeleteSarnia, I can only echo what others have said so eloquently. Xx
ReplyDeleteThinking of you Sarnia. Things will get easier, memories wise.
ReplyDeleteI was assuaged with guilt when my mother died 4 years ago, that feeling has eased. It’s still there but I don’t think about it as much. I’m sure it’ll be the same for you, it’s just the getting there.....💐
Agreeing with all the comforting words others have written for Sarnia.
DeleteI know, from painful personal experience, how helpful and supportive blog friends can be.
Testing
ReplyDeleteJust seeing if I can post messages using my phone as well as my ipad. Seems I can!
Delete🤗 👏🏻 🤗 👏🏻 Hilary
DeleteI see you loud + clear, Hilary..✔✔
DeleteI nearly always use my phone.
👍🎉
DeleteWhat a great place this is.
ReplyDeleteIt is somewhere to give personal thoughts, frustrations, worries, but also share celebratory news.
I am sure, I am not alone in saying, this site has helped so much.
Thank You GG - and all other virtual friends.
No news tonight, except a lovely, sunny day, though breezy.
As a single person living on my own, with just my pusscat - I have appreciated this place, to have a chat.
DeleteEnjoy your newsy chats Miriam agog now to hear the next instalment regarding your new neighbours- sounding hopeful so far 🤗 🤞🏼
DeleteI am about 3 or 4 weeks behind with the Archers and with the other blog, so don't know who's been posting ...
ReplyDeletebut nothing from Stasia recently? I hope she's OK.
I have just been sent a video, relating to Covid.
ReplyDeleteThe music was brilliant:-
Barry Manilow - When Will I Hold You Again.
I was reduced to tears. 😭😭
This is, as I can still not cuddle, kiss or hug anyone. How I am missing this.
It's life, which I accept - but when can I do it again (as per the track).
So so hard for you Miriam 😥
DeleteThroughout my mum’s years of dementia she loved a cuddle and hand holding so much it kept her really happy (that and the car rides out for a cuppa which we did with her most days) My heart broke for the families not able to visit Care Homes for all those weeks - necessary of course but I’m sue my mum would not have survived that even if she had not contracted CV19.
I am feeling a bit low tonight.
ReplyDeleteThe reason is simple. I had some wonderful photos sent through, of Sis, Niece, grand niece + nephew, having a wonderful socially distanced, outing and picnic, in the sunshine and by a river. They were not far away from me, and so I could have easily joined in.
I just felt excluded..and yes, envious. 😣.
I have now got my upset into perspective, and realise why..they were 6 persons which was the limit.
Understandable all the same but glad to hear you are feeling a little better 🌻
DeleteIt also might be the 2 household rule - as this is Wales.
DeleteI need to read all the rules, again. Niece and kids, have now formed a household with her Mum + Hubbie in Wales, she has another one with her Dad + partner in England...
It is so confusing..
and I have no idea, where I fit in.
....if at all.
DeleteOf course you fit in Miriam! You are probably always in their thoughts. 😊
DeleteJust to let you all know that I am off to The Cairngorms for 5 days from tomorrow morning! I will not be able to edit, delete or even view the blogs until I get back on Friday/Saturday as we will be in the total wilds - so if either of them go over 200 comments don't forget to click on the little "load more" box at the bottom of the screen...
ReplyDeleteBye for now!
Happy holiday GG!
DeleteAbsolutely 🚘 🚲 🐿 🦔 🌿🍷
DeleteHave a great time Gary.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely holiday, Gary!
ReplyDeleteSarnia, just echoing recent comments to you after your experience at the hospital and sending warm wishes.
ReplyDeleteGary, have a blissful time in the Cairngorms....
PtbY, belatedly looking in on your list and I do like Diary of a Nobody - really funny and probably a pretty perfect pick me up for these anxious times. I also loved The Common Years which my mum bought me because I lived in the area in the late eighties. She was a fan of Dirk Bogarde and introduced me to Doctor in the House, one of her favourite films. Oh and I am quite a fan of Delia. Some of her Christmas meal tips are really helpful. Thinking about cookery books made me think of my Gran who owned a number of cookery books which she enjoyed browsing through in the evening but wouldn’t dream of having them open whilst cooking.
Enjoy the Break,Gary.
ReplyDeleteHope you get some sunshine .
You can send all the rain down here if you like.
Have a wonderful and restful time in the beautiful Cairngorms Gary.
ReplyDeleteWe will be thinking of you!
Bonnes vacances GG ! 😙😙
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely time Gary
ReplyDeleteI was given a Delia Smith cookery book as a Christmas present once and at the time, although I did my best to hide it, I was disappointed because I loved the annual cardigan the giver normally gave me (she always chose ones that were just right and had pockets), but 20 odd years later I still have and refer to that cookbook.
I have to admit to possessing (& referring to..) Delia's Cookery Course & Winter Collection.... my sister ended up with Mam's copy of the Christmas book...
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be able to live without Delia's instructions for poached eggs - turns them out perfect EVERY time! We have her 3 books about "the basics" and they actually are a very interesting read...
DeleteThank you all for your good wishes. I'm expecting my honeysuckle to flower any day now, I have a new, yellow/bronze osteospermum with its amazing colour spectrum to watch as well as the pink/ruby ones already flourishing, and the hospital experience is on its way to being assimilated.
ReplyDeleteI'm always keen to keep the situation in perspective: I have a steady income, a roof over my head - all of it now, not just half - a home which can be gradually restored to its full potential, a garden to enjoy while learning new skills and I have control over my circumstances. When my father died I was nine years old, left living below the breadline with a widowed mother who went to pieces and leaned on me for emotional support, and in constant danger of being downsized by the local authority into smaller accommodation away from everything familiar that was left.
I was always aware that the minute a woman agrees to marry she is potentially signing up for widowhood sooner or later; realistically, in comparison with the aftermath of the loss of my father, my present situation pales into insignificance.
Very positive thoughts Sarnia.
DeleteWe should all try to count our blessings and try to dispel negative ones. I shall try to follow your example. 😊
We were sitting on the terrace earlier doing that very thing.
DeleteWe have both been so lucky musically with the opportunities that have come our way, so lucky to live where we do.
Some days resemble wading through a bog, but the next day will be better.
Golden orioles in the fig tree today!
Golden orioles - Wow!
ReplyDeleteThey're wonderful!! They nest every year in the tall trees down by the river. What a song.... but so shy & wary...
DeleteBrathwaite!!
ReplyDeleteMr P is a happy man.
I doubt if anyone has had a morning like Mr LJ (his idea) and I have had.
ReplyDeleteWe have been to a Riding School near to Heathrow Airport where we have dug up well rotted manure and put it into old compost bags .
When I say "well rotted" ,it is just like slicing peat
Wonderful!.
There is no smell.
I have been doing this for the twenty years I have lived here.
The digging is getting a bit more difficult though.
The bonus is that not only is there manure but next week we plan to return to collect blackberries greengages and possibly elderberries.
The blackberries are the lovely big juicy ones like the ones you can buy in M and S .
It is like being in the country because there are so many birds around.
Usually there are aircraft but there wasn't one today .
Our blackberries are ripening, few days to go yet...
ReplyDeleteSome interesting blessings there, LanJan!
ReplyDeleteMmm, greengages!
ReplyDeleteI made my first few jars of blackberry jam last week.
I googled golden orioles and think they are now my favourite bird, being that wonderful yellow! So I don’t need to tell you what my favourite flowers are! (Clue: I wandered lonely as .....!!)
Yesterday I had a childhood memory bubbling up to the surface of my mind:
ReplyDeleteCoughs and sneezes
Spread diseases.
Trap your germs
In a handkerchief!
I also remember the “Don’t be a litter bug” one,
Drinka Pinta Milka Day
and “Milky Way, the sweet you CAN eat between meals”!
“Let the train take the strain “ never believed that one!
Delete“A finger of fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat “ or as I prefer “a finger of fudge is just enough to rot your children’s teeth “ 🦷
Those are both new to me!
DeleteA Mars a day helps you work, rest and play!!
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember that one!
DeleteTetley teabags go to pot
DeleteThey like the water boiling hot!
No naughty tea leaves when you drink
No messy tea leaves down the sink!☕️
A finger of fudge is just the thing
DeleteTo give your kids a treat.
It's full of peppery goodness
And oh, so small and neat!
A finger fudge etc,etc.
As I recall, it had to be re-recorded so that 'Cadbury' could be heard more clearly, but unfortunately for them the original had already caught on!
I wish GG a wonderful escape to the Cairngorms, in the lovely hide-away, he knows so well and loves.
ReplyDeleteMy cooking "bible" was Delias "Complete Cookery Course", the original version. Mine got very dog eared, but on clearing my late fathers bungalow, I came across a pristine copy, dated 1982. Luckily neither of my sisters, wanted it. I am taking so much better care, of this one!
As to other childhood memories, as mentioned by Hilary + Sarnia, my input is:-
Go to work on an Egg.
Clunck, click every trip.
PS The cook book, was obviously Mum's, but it had hardly been used. She preferred the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book (which Big Sis loves and still uses).
DeleteThe egg one is familiar but I was already living abroad when seatbelts were introduced.
DeleteI wonder whether present-day ones will be remembered sixty years from now.
I don't remember any now...but that is probably an age thing 😂
DeleteNot exactly a childhood memory, Miriam. When I was a child people didn't have televisions, and when they did become available in my early teens there was only BBC on a 14'' black and white screen!
DeleteI have looked things up.
ReplyDeleteI was so surprised to find that, seat belts were not compulsary, until 1983. I thought that it was much earlier.
I passed my driving test in 1978, and I bought a car soon after (a Fiat 128) but I cannot recall, if I had a seat belt..
I think I did.
DeleteWere seat belts well used, before this was made mandatory?
ReplyDeleteThis is so similar, to wearing a face mask, in this current time.
I think the clunk click every trip campaign slogan was to help us develop the habit so it became normal behaviour before it became compulsory.
ReplyDeleteThe same with crash helmets I seem to remember... 🤔
Miriam - I still have the original copy of the giant illustrated GH cookery book which I had as a wedding gift 50 years ago. But my all time favourite is the Dairy Book of Home Cookery which I bought from the milkman, just after I married. It is now very tatty, with food stains on the pages and copious notes written in the margins. I still often refer to these 2 books because all the recipes are in Imperial measurements. I have never got used to grammes and millilitres and only ever use ounces, pounds and fluid ounces!
ReplyDeleteHowever, my most precious cook book is my Mum’s copy of Florence Greenburg’s Book of Jewish cookery which has her notes and annotations in. It makes me weep when I see her very familiar handwriting, commenting ‘Gas Mark 4 is better for this’ or use matzo meal for dusting the fish, it crisps up nicely’. Best of all, the recipe for Stuffed Monkey, with a big asterisk next to it and ‘Dan’s favourite pud’.
Monday again and time for afternoon tea with chickens. They can hear me on the phone and I managed to convince Ashleigh the grey one that I had laid an egg. She was very puzzled.
ReplyDelete(After four months alone in the house, you understand I have to get my entertainment where I can find it! My son thought it very funny.
Ha ha, Sarnia! You obviously have a talent for chicken laying imitations!!
ReplyDeleteTonight at 8.20 and 20 seconds it will be-
ReplyDelete20 20 20 2020.
A moment in history.
I have a paper back book, called Pressure Cooking properly explained. It dates from the '70's.
ReplyDeleteWhy do I Love it - it was my Mums- but it is not the recipe contents, but what is written inside.
In Mum's handwriting, I have some of her recipes (ingredients + methods) written on the blank pages, plus her "store cupboard" list. This was her check list, as to what she cooked with and were necessities. The count is about 37 items, and strangely I have exactly the same, plus quite a few more.
It sounds extensive, but includes things like different stock cubes, mustards, pepper (black, paprika), so many herbs + spices, sauces (soy, worcestershire, tomatoe), rice (pudding, long grain, risotto), vinegars (malt, red wine, white wine), oils (olive, sunflower)...and so the list goes on..
I know, where my love of cooking came from, as I cooked with Mum, from a young age. As her tastes expanded, so did mine.
My store cupboards, are always full.
It is lovely, to see recipes in her handwriting.
I don't use the book, as it is too brown + fragile - it is now, just a sentimental keepsake.
I still use The Dairy Book of Home Cookery.
ReplyDeleteLike you .,Archerphile, I bought it from the milkman.
I also got The Dairy book of Home Management from him.
They don't owe me a penny.
Were they about 4/6 each?
Ladies -what do you do with all the jam you make?
It can be used for sandwich cakes or scones but what else?
I won't believe any of you if you say "jam butties".
That’s nice, Miriam.
ReplyDeleteI have my grandmother and my mother’s hand-written recipe books. They are hard-backed with lined pages. I never met my maternal grandmother as she died when my mother was only fifteen. My mother gave me a similar recipe book which I do use. I like the fact that some of the recipes are in friends’ hand-writing, some with the date too so it’s rather like a diary in parts.
I remember 'Don't forget the fruit gums Mum'. There was also one for milk with the slogan 'Are you getting enough?'. My mother-in-law at the time thought that was disgusting.
ReplyDelete🤣🤣🤣
DeleteDomestic Science reminds me of my lessons. Anyone else learn how to make grated apple sandwiches?!
ReplyDeleteOpal Fruits : made to make your mouth water!
ReplyDeleteBoom boom boom boom : Esso Blue.
...the Esso blee dooler!
DeleteGhastly cheese scones...
ReplyDeleteI chose Domestic Science - cookery, instead of needlework at my Grammar School and have never regretted it. I learned all the basics and made my first pastry, sponges with all methods, and Christmas cakes etc.
ReplyDeleteMy O level exam was to prepare a picnic tea for 2 adults and 2 children including 2 drinks and a two course supper for 2 people. We had a two hour exam to show we mastered food values, balanced diet etc etc, then an hour's exam to plan the dishes we were to make and write out a timetable. Finally a four hour 'practical' exam to prepare, cook and serve everything we had planned.
What did I manage to do the day before the practical? Smash my glasses so couldn't see clearly at all. I explained this to my teacher and the outside invigilator, who then thought she'd help by writing out my timetable in large block capital letters, Bless. However I risked burning my face by having to look at the cooking dishes from about six inches to see if they were done.
Anyway I got a good pass grade.
Sad that I am not so interested in cooking now. If I was alone I think I still would be, but after nearly fifty years of cooking for two, four, five or six people day after day 24/7 it has become a chore rather than a pleasurable past time. Especially when it was five (the four children and I) and money was almost non-existent. Time became a factor too as I was teaching to support us all. Oh well that was in the past. Gaining some pleasure now in my preserving things. Some of the old methods coming back!
I am going to make Christmas cakes and puddings at end of August (when I always used to) and I am looking forward to just after Christmas, when I shall start planning and designing my youngest son's wedding cake for his June wedding.
Today gardening; planting seedlings of broccoli and cauliflowers and a BBQ again tonight. Got to make the most of the warmer weather!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGood result on the cricket yesterday! Jon is pleased he is on holiday next week so will be able to follow the cricket in full. The only thing he has to do for me is to book an appointment at the rubbish tip to remove all the junk accumulated at the bottom of the garden!
ReplyDeleteAfter the Remove Year we had to choose between domestic science and Latin. I chose Latin!
ReplyDeleteLanjan: 9.12 last night
ReplyDeleteI’m so pleased to hear someone else still has the Dairy cookery book. Yes it was very cheap and obviously biased towards using dairy products. But it was my cookery bible and is still where I go to when I forget the quantities needed for things I don’t often make, like pancakes, or puff pastry. The only thing that annoys me is that the index refers to a recipe by its number and not the page number.
I bought a copy for my daughter when she married 25 years ago (which she still uses) but by then it had altered quite a bit and used metric measurements.
“A finger of fudge is just enough
ReplyDeleteTo give the kids a treat”
Seeing hand written comments in old cookery books is nice, and because of that about 25 years ago I bought a really special A4 size Recipe Book, and asked various relatives to contribute their favourite recipe in their own handwriting. Many of the contributors are now dead but the book keeps memories alive and will be passed down the generations.
ReplyDelete" sleep tight, don't let the midges bite"
ReplyDeleteSpicycushion 8.08, at my grammar school it was the first half year was needlework and we made the apron that was then worn to do make cheese straws (all I remember!) in the second half year.
ReplyDeleteEsscee, neither am I! Quick (or oven cooked) and simple is my motto!
ReplyDeleteAt my primary school we did cookery and the boys woodwork and then we swapped.
ReplyDeleteOr ,as we said Janice.
ReplyDeleteGood night,sleep tight mind the bugs don't bite.
No wonder I don't like cooking.
We only had half a term of cookery.and half a term of needlework.
We made
Semolina with meringue on top.
Ginger biscuits
Fruit salad
I learnt how to divide a packet of margarine.into 8 one ounce pieces.
Big deal.
I made a pair of cami knickers and an apron.
I learned how to do a button hole and came 6th in the only needlework exam I took.
I actually "taught" needlework after I retired and did some Supply work.
The most enjoyable time of my teaching career.
I "taught" art too and drama.
Is there no end to this woman's talents?.
Me too! Quite enjoy cooking but life is too short to stuff a mushroom! I found Delia was a bit too complicated for me not to mention difficult to get ingredients but can see that a dedicated cook would appreciate her. I try to do a roast dinner on a Sunday and just lately have found roast vegetables a good addition cut chunky in an oven tin, sprinkled with olive oil, seasoned of course and with a couple of rosemary sprigs on top. This way no last minute veg cooking!
ReplyDeleteI learnt to cook from my sister in law. My brother is 16 years older than me so I used to get palmed off on them when I was little. Family celebrations were held at their house and I can remember learning to peel carrots, make melon boats for starters and melba toast. Very 1970’s.
ReplyDeleteI was useless in cookery lessons at school. The birds wouldn’t even eat my bread buns....they were like cannonballs.
I started to love cooking after leaving school and this continued when I got married.
Nowadays I’ve got to be in the mood for cooking something from a recipe book. I do like making a curry though.
One thing though.....I cannot bake to save my life. Been attempting various cakes during lock down. Mr PtbY says I have to stop and just accept I’m not a baker.
Every time I tell him I’ve seen an easy cake recipe on YouTube he just shakes his head and mutters “oh dear God”.
I’m no good at cakes but can make superb pastry. Have just sorted gf pastry which needs more kneading than usual. Buckwheat flour makes a good strong pastry for pasties, sausage rolls etc. My cakes have been described as cowpats! Nuff said!
ReplyDelete‘Domestic Science’ at my school only happened in the Fourth Form.
ReplyDeleteIt consisted of spending every lunch time break in the school kitchen and scullery helping the school cook, a toothless crone caked Edie to do the washing up for the entire school.
The school was housed in a rather beautiful old mansion at Stoke Poges, and all the meals were prepared in a 19C National Trust type kitchen. Meals were taken to the classrooms on big trolleys (no central dining room), then, afterwards, wheeled back by the Fourth Formers to the scullery where we washed everything in big stone sinks with greasy wooden draining boards.
The sinks had only one filling of hot water, with washing soda, and the plates, glasses & cutlery for the entire school of 300 girls plus teachers, were washed in the same water. The water was stone cold and disgusting by the time we had finished.
Whilst one team of girls did the washing up, the other team had to do all the drying and putting away. The most hated job was scraping the bits of gristle and uneaten food into the pig bin. The next week, duties were swapped over. I think it put most of us off washing up for life! Thank goodness dishwashers were invented!
There were absolutely no facilities for teaching cookery.
Fortunately my Mum taught me everything I know about cooking.
Slave labour that was, AP ! It certainly wouldn't pass Inspection these days.
DeleteNasty in another way, too, implying as it does that, never mind this education tokenism, girls better get used to their lot in life - doing the daily clean up jobs as no one else is going to do them...
I did housewifery at school.
ReplyDeleteWe had our own ' chalet ' house in the girls playground and the boys had woodwork and metalwork in theirs.
I objected as I learned cookery and cleaning at home from my mother. I would hang around the boys entrance to their playground pleading to do woodwork, to no avail of course.
I remember choosing and cooking my first complete meal a Cornish Pasty with new potatoes and carrots and peas. And that would still be a favourite meal.
I make good pastry still, even though I don't cook often.
Two family Christmases running I complained that we had not had mince pies, so my two son in laws, who do all of the Christmas cooking challenged me to make them myself. I was terrified that my pastry would fail as I hadn't made any for a number of years. But as usual it came out very well, but then it was, ' right you can do the pastry from now on ' from both of them.
In the seventies I came across a handwritten recipe book at a jumble sale.
Many wartime recipes and the best chocolate filling ever.
I've never been able to make a sponge cake, but am good ( was good) at fruit cakes and teabreads.
I envy Miriam her love of cooking. And cooking for herself alone suggests a great deal of self esteem in certain areas of her character.
Both my granddaughters and my grandson have become good cooks.
I remember making cheese and potato pie too. I always enjoyed taking my offerings home for Mum to sample. We had to choose continuing Domestic Science or taking shorthand and typing. I chose the latter and did not regret my choice.
ReplyDeleteHilary - Yes that's what we did too! It must have been a national standard unless we went to the same school! (Tunbridge Wells County Grammar School for Girls, pupils known as Twiggies!)
ReplyDeleteThe plain white cotton apron had loads of different sewing techniques. It was made of a bib, joined onto the 'skirt' which had a box pleat in the centre with two knife pleats either side. Finally had long ties attached. We then had to embroider our initials on the bib.
This was done after we had made a gathered skirt and a blouse, then we had to make the choice of what we were to do in the Upper Thirds! If you chose cooking it was the apron, if not then another garment for the sewing class.
I had liked cooking before. Ever since I was in the Brownies. Mum used to buy a packet of Viota Fairy Cake mix and I would make these after Sunday dinner (taken at about 2pm) I just loved the bits of angelica included to decorate the tops along with glace cherries. Everyone then had fresh warm fairy cakes for tea!
Another reason for choosing cooking was that I thought it would be cheaper for my parents to pay a couple of shillings for the ingredients every week for something we could all eat rather than a couple of pounds for material for just one garment. Gosh what memories!
Well I haven't done any gardening as not such a good day today. Even had to have a blanket over my legs as I feel cold even though bright sunshine and, I'm sure, quite an acceptable temperature! Oh well there's always tomorrow!
My school was Chichester High School for Girls (" Chi High" - rhyming)!
DeleteI have to comment as a reply, to Esscee (8.32).
ReplyDeleteThis relates to the basket used, to carry home the produce, of the Home Ec. class.
Mine had a cover, which fitted over the handles, and was elasticated so to fit around the basket rim.
The problem was, carrying it upright on the school bus, along with the normal school bag, full of books + homework!
I used a shopping basket, for many years but I gave it up, due to too many snagged tights!
DeleteNow I use re-usable canvas bags. These I have bought supporting various charities eg.The Poppy Appeal, Red Nose Day, Sports Relief. They are a good size so when they are full, they are not too heavy to carry.
Back to cooking and pastry.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite is my home-made wholemeal one. I use vegetable white "fat" rather than lard. It is easy - half plain wholemeal flour with half SR flour, along with the right weight of, white and yellow, cooking fats. The trick is the amount of water, added in.
It is always crispy, and crunchy - well how I prepare + cook it.
PS I have never had a "soggy bottom", with my shortcrust recipe - be it in a quiche or a pie!
DeleteAs to puff pastry - I just buy it in the supermarket, and it is great.
Rayburns are rather good for avoiding "soggy bottoms". Cooking on the floor of the Rayburn crisps the pastry nicely.
DeleteI might live on my own, but I do still enjoy cooking, and creating meals. Why not?
ReplyDeleteMy problem is - Home Alone - so several portions go into the freezer.
I am now eating up these many concotions, to free up, both freezer space and the containers.
I have many recipes in my mind, to then create + refill, and so buy the necessary ingredients. These will then do my next creations, hopefully tasty and edible.
Me Again!.
ReplyDeleteBig Sis has just told me something interesting . If I drive 5 miles, I can go to a retail park, which is in Wales, so no compulsary face masks are required in Tesco's, Boots, Smiths etc.
I might just do this, as I feel so smothered, in a face mask.
At least I have an alternative option.
PS New neighbours (two males), are not moving in for a couple of weeks, but seem lovely.
I am intrigued though, as to their relationship....😁
Carolyn: 2.56
ReplyDeleteYou are dead right - we did think it was slave labour, though daren’t say so in the hearing of any staff! Outside the Headmistress’s study and a Conduct Mark for such impertinence!
This was a fee paying school for ‘young ladies’, mostly boarding but also with some day-girls of which I was one. Had they employed more kitchen staff the fees would probably have been higher. And it was explained that doing this duty in Fourth Form was ‘doing our bit’ for the school and teaching us to be responsible!
The poor boarders had to ‘do their bit’ at the weekends too.
Why and how are you intrigued by your new neighbours relationship Miriam ?
ReplyDeleteIsn't the fact that you have met them and found them to be pleasant people enough ?
I am just naturally curious. I have no predjudices in any way at all, neither racist nor sexual. I just don't want to assume something, and then, inadvertenly, say the wrong thing. It is better to know, than make a massive "faux pas".
DeleteAgree, Miriam. You have to tread carefully!
DeleteOur neighbours in Ledbury were a gay pair who had been together then for 25 years. Their sexuality was nothing to do with us as ours wasn’t anything to do with them! They were just lovely people who would do anything for anybody. They used to clear the snow from the front of neighbours across the road who couldn’t manage it themselves. They had two huge curly haired dogs. They painted the front of their house by mixing together the paints they had. It turned out a garish yellow! A friend of ours who we believed was gay came to stay and one evening we went past their house. They were having a blazing row! Pip, our friend was most amused! Maybe he’d been there! Miriam, I hope your new neighbours are as great as they were! They had moved from. Malvern where they encountered prejudice but all the immediate neighbours in Ledbury were fine. Both Mike and I got on well with Pip. He is now in a home in Deal. Very happy there and I still write to him. His voice has gone so the telephone is no good now. He is an American of Italian extraction and as we used to say in the navy is completely bombed out! That is crazy!!😁
ReplyDeleteLanjan 12.18 I too remember being taught how to divide the block of fat into 8 one ounce squares, and found it quite useful. Nowadays though the 250 gm packs are nearly 9 ounces in weight so it doesn't quite work.
ReplyDeleteAs with several of you I used a wicker basket for carrying the cookery class offerings home, but one day we only had to make custard so I just took a large glass jar and as I was leaving the classroom the bottom of the jar fell out and hot custard went everywhere.
Hilary, Spicycusion - me too - the cookery apron must have been on a 1960s girls' grammar school curriculum! In the first year we had to make and embroider a hymn book cover with our name in chain stitch, then make and embroider a needlework bag. Then, the cookery apron exactly as described, and a pleated white hat as worn by earlier generations of housemaids. Then in the third year, cookery - cheese and potato bake ( lovely), egg custard (not) and lemon meringue pie (delicious, and still my party piece when I got married)
ReplyDeleteI can't remember whether we had a cap or not.Lemon Meringue pie is also my party piece Minty! All my children love it and when there is a family gathering it's me who takes the Lemon meringue. I have also made it (actually three large ones) for a special cricket tea!
DeleteI think the cookery apron was on all school needlework curriculum for girls.
ReplyDeleteCertainly at my secondary school in the fifties.
I've been racking my brains to remember what else we made, but can't. But not a maids cap, I am sure of that.
I can say though that I certainly did not have a special basket to carry the cooking home in. But I bet the girls at Prendergast did !
Though we didn’t have cookery classes at my school, needlework was treated very seriously. Started out small, embroidering needle books and pencil cases in a fabric I now know is called Aida. Then on to bigger things like hand sewing an item of lingerie (a full length slip for my Mum) with French seams and attaching lace. Eventually, using sewing machines, cutting patterns and, in 6th Form, designing our own clothes to be worn at a ‘fashion show’ in front of parents.
ReplyDeleteI made a summer suit in pale blue linen, with chocolate brown binding around the jacket front, neck and sleeve edges à la Chanel.
Audrey Hepburn I was not, being short, fat and blonde but I still remember that little suit with great affection.
As our mother made most of her own clothes throughout her life, and many of our summer dresses when we were children, my sister and myself automatically made our own clothes from our early teenage years on into adulthood.
ReplyDeleteMy sister was a ' mod' and I can remember several of her outfits, with boxy jackets with floral lining matched in colour to the skirt and exterior of the jackets.
I perfected the making of shirts and still have the left over silk of my favourite.
We both made our tiered petticoats, made from yards and yards of fine cotton print tightly gathered into the tiers to bulk out our fifties picture skirts.
Perhaps because we were so productive in our needlework and dressmaking at home is why I find I have difficulty in remembering what was made at school.
I do remember however the many years of ' crush ' that I held for my needlework teacher.
Her name was Joan Anderton and even now I have no difficulty in visualising her.
Ours was a Mrs Heaton-Smith, which I thought was a very posh double barrelled name, until someone pointed out that she was just a plain Mrs Smith who had added her maiden name to glamourise herself! She was very strict but a superb needlewoman and teacher.
DeleteTalking of silk, I still have a beautiful little ballet dress, made for me out of parachute silk when I was 3, by my mum. It had several tiers and was liberally sprinkled with tiny artificial flowers sewn on individually. My brother (23 years older than me) had been in the RAF and obtained the silk for her.
Why I was sent to dance classes and had to appear in the end of term show I shall never know. I was a fat round little pudding bobbing about in white silk like a baby elephant, but the dress was, and still is, beautiful
I went to a girls grammar school in the mid/late 60's. We had needlework in the first year. The 1st needlework project was a gym bag, with your initials, appliqued on and the 2nd, was the cookery apron - to be used in the 2nd year, when Home Ec started.
ReplyDeleteI was so proud, as I modelled my cookery apron, (the best in year) at the school fashion show. I also modelled the wool cape I made, the year after 😂
I remember well, but so laughable.
I think I might be the 200th post, so remember to click on more.😀
Is it today, AP, had a visit to get her cottage valued?
ReplyDeleteI hope it went well for her + Mr AP.
Just testing the "load more" button worked - and it does. ✔✔
DeletePS On a main PC, once on site, if click control + end, then the 200th post comes up, and then click load more, to continue. It is better than scrolling down - I hope this might help some, for the interimn time.
DeleteNot Control + end on mine, Miriam, just 'end'.
ReplyDelete....mine is now quite ancient (only 7 years old), but I still use it and it suits me.This is when I do my on-line banking, buy from web-sites etc. The security is much more secure + safe, on this device, than others I use.
DeleteYes Miriam, the Estate agents visit was today.
ReplyDeleteHe turned up over an hour late which was annoying after his no-show last week.
But as it turned out, he knew the village well having once lived in one of the largest and oldest houses in the village. He sold it to our local film-star resident Liz Hurley, who has since sold it again.
Anyway he had an hour’s look round. Said we should definitely leave the fir trees because they give us privacy , just get well qualified tree surgeons to trim them regularly.
He also gave a valuation which knocked me sideways, far more than I had anticipated. Mr A’s reaction was ‘about what I thought it would be’
We will not be moving for the foreseeable future, but within the next 4-5 years which is OK with me......at least it’s now pencilled in!