Here in the far east lands, we have had our sprinkling of white stuff and are now in an eerie, frosty stasis. Honestly, you couldn't tell the difference between a still photo and a video at the moment, and I am less than a mile from the centre of the Fine City.
We don't seem to have had anything more than a heavy frost since yesterday. I don't imagine walking in it will be much fun, but I don't really have to go anywhere except along the walkway to the laundry (assuming I actually do some laundry that'll need drying).
First of all, get organised and have breakfast, then I'll see about minor details like housework.
Here in the far east lands, we have had our sprinkling of white stuff and are now in an eerie, frosty stasis. Honestly, you couldn't tell the difference between a still photo and a video at the moment, and I am less than a mile from the centre of the Fine City.
I shall have to ask my sister how things are in her Small Town about 20 miles to your north.
We finally have some snow here in south-west London. It was looking very impressive twenty minutes ago, but is tailing off now. A friend who lives a bit further out sent me a photo of lots more snow where she is.
We did a brisk walk just as it started round our playing fields, and husband is now going out to try and take some photos. I'm not going to go with him!
I'm jealous of all your snow. My mum sent a photo of their garden under a good four inches worth, and it's so pretty. Apart from the little scattering last weekend, it's almost three years since we had Proper Snow.
We have about an inch of snow if that, in our bit of the Valley. Lord and Lady P, who live further up the same valley, so about 900 ft, have a little more.
Here, it is melting busily, but I was glad that church was via zoom, as it might have been awkward getting to Merthyr.
It’s been snowing here (Surrey) all morning. Very pretty but it seems to be turning to rain now. Could be treacherous in the morning if it freezes overnight.
Nice thickly falling snow yesterday morning, in this part of Northwest England - nearer to the border than to Manchester. But it didn’t last. Almost nothing left at our level today, but the fella look beautiful in the sunshine.
BF - deconstructing and thoughtfully analysing some of your posts that are possessed of a certain resonance, I find myself wondering if, when you were somewhat younger, you subscribed to a magazine called "The Young Elizabethan"?
Just spotted this - thanks for the compliment (I think... ).
I didn't subscribe to The Young Elizabethan, but I do recall reading a few copies somewhen in the 1950s - possibly at the dentist's. I was born in 1951, so I'm really one of the latter-day Georgians...
Laundry accomplished, and the walkway wasn't too bad (although I was being more careful than usual). I've even done some Iron Ing, and picked up an Industrial Injury - when I was opening the wee flap thingy that you pour the water into, I forgot that I'd already turned the bloody thing on, and grabbed it by the footplate to give it some leverage ...
I am a piglet of very little brain (and rather sore fingers).
In other news, a post on Facetube tells me that January is SOUP Month - why did I only find out when it's nearly finished?
I can possibly feel a spot of cooking coming on - although whether I should be trusted with pots of hot liquid may be a moot point (see above).
Ouch @Piglet , I hope your poor fingers feel better soon. (If people will insist on ironing...)
We had snow this morning sometime between 5am, when I got up and checked and there was none, and 7.30 when I got up and checked again and we had a good covering. Mr Nen and I headed straight out for a walk in it, to fetch the Sunday papers and to get a takeaway coffee. I like being out in snow when it's freshly fallen and it creaks under the feet and every branch and twig is lined with it. When it's been mashed up with mud into slush, not.
I was then chasing my tail all morning as it's our busy Zoomy day but I've caught up now and have the Cranachan prepared in the fridge for our Burns-Night-themed Sunday afternoon group. It has made loads, despite me thinking I'd cut down on amounts, and for me (not a patient or natural cook) it was a lot of fiddly work, I thought, and the cream took ages to whip properly. I hope it's worth it.
Juggling things in and out of grills and ovens last night I grabbed a ceramic dish which proved to be very hot indeed.
I ran the cold tap over my hand, smeared it with Sudocream, and clutched a bag of ice cubes til they melted. My reward, after about a painful hour, is OK hand with just a little light blistering on one finger.
Better than the remedies extant in our family which were, hold it to the fire 'burn the burn out' or apply baking soda (equally painful + permanent scarring). There's folk wisdom, and then there's folk idiocy.
I've caught up now and have the Cranachan prepared in the fridge for our Burns-Night-themed Sunday afternoon group. It has made loads, despite me thinking I'd cut down on amounts, and for me (not a patient or natural cook) it was a lot of fiddly work, I thought, and the cream took ages to whip properly. I hope it's worth it.
There was a recipe in yesterday's newspaper but we decided that it was too (a) fiddly and (b) fattening. Memories though of an excellent and eccentric Scottish restaurant in Shepherd's Bush, London, about 20 years ago.
We had snow around 9am, after a glorious sunrise at 7:30am. It turned to rain around 3pm, so there was a bit when we finally got out.
My daughter has been pattern testing for trousers with the aim of making a pair in corduroy as warmer to walk in. After two trials, pyjama shorts and a pair of summer twill cropped trousers, I finally cut into the cord yesterday afternoon. They were finished this morning around 11am. With the final stages of the sewing going through my machine to top-stitch the waistband as my presser foot lifts higher and the layers were so thick. She wore them out for walking this afternoon, without the final stitching down of the belt loops because I didn't think my machine would cope with canvas interfacing, ten layers of cord and 2 layers of bias binding lining to be stitched down in tiny areas.
It was very pretty but I suspect we may have black ice tomorrow
If you get proper snow falling steadily, it really doesn't take long for it to accumulate. I used to live in Canada; I know whereof I speak!
SOUP has now been made (Cullen Skink, since you ask), and a batch of rolls is on its second rise.
That's quite enough goddessishness for one day - I think I deserve a glass of WINE.
@Firenze - your burn sounds a lot worse than mine - there's just the merest tingle now where I touched it.
@Nenya - I'm struggling to see what's fiddly about Cranachan - toast the oatmeal lightly and leave it to cool, put the raspberries in a serving bowl, whip the cream and sugar (without the booze until it's thickened, or it won't*), add the booze (my preference is Drambuie), dollop it on top of the fruit, mix the oatmeal with some brown sugar and sprinkle it on top.
Got up to quite a covering of snow this morning, so Mr Doone and I walked up the lane and across the fields - it was beautiful and I just love the crunch sound that fresh snow makes when you walk on it. There’s still quite a covering everywhere and a very cold night expected, so it’s going to be treacherous in the morning!
Ha, all this talk of snow in inches. When we had our Sunday walk (which has replaced Sunday morning church since I have been recording it and putting it online) it was up to my knees on the hillsides. And that’s how I like it. It hasn’t actually fallen Ron the sky here for a few days, but then it has never got above freezing in these days, despite the bright sunshine. I do like living here!
We had fritata and salad for lunch before heading out for a brisk walk. Snow covered hedges looking very pretty but we didn't stay out too long.
Tonight is going to be roast chicken, with chocolate souffle to follow (courtesy of my son who is very good at that sort of thing), and maybe cheese and a glass of port.
We still eat our main meal at 1pm on Sundays, even though there is no evening church to prevent us having an evening meal. Roast chicken with trimmings and roasted veg. plus sprouts earlier. Bread and Cheese just now. No pud, but I did have Cake at 4.30pm.
@Nenya - I'm struggling to see what's fiddly about Cranachan - toast the oatmeal lightly and leave it to cool,
The recipe I had said you had to make a kind of flapjack first, with oats, honey and sugar, baked for 20 minutes, then cooled and crumbled before layering with the fruit and whipped cream. It baked quite hard and was difficult to crumble. I'm guessing, maybe hoping, you could just toast some jumbo oats?
I wasn't particularly impressed, but Mr Nen was so I guess that's a result.
I think I usually use pinhead oats, but I have used the jumbo ones - just pop them in a small frying pan and toss them over a medium heat until they start to smell fragrant (watch them like a hawk or they'll burn).
Let them cool completely before mixing them with demerara sugar and sprinkling on the top. I've never seen it with the flapjack thing - it sounds rather nice, but as you say, a bit of a faff.
Snow? No snow here. Heavy frost early and frozen ground all day; blue sky and sunlight that has made everything, even modern flat buildings glow... Best of all worlds.
No snow here on the SE coastal edge today.
A hard frost first thing, which disappeared quite rapidly once we had daylight - soon followed by what I call 'thick' rain. That is big fat cold raindrops that would be sleet if it became just a bit colder.
Sunny by lunchtime, and through the afternoon, but with our usual blustery wind, so I was not tempted out by the blue sky - I know how cold that wind can be!
Snow didn’t start til the evening here so I managed to get a nice walk in this afternoon. We then had another online gaming evening with our sons which didn’t finish til 10pm so we have just had a very late dinner of Japanese noodle soup with fish and seaweed (husband’s signature dish), followed by ginger yoghurt with shortbread.
A lovely morning here with a light scattering of snow on the ground. And the mornings are getting brighter.
I’m running late so must get dressed and out for my walk. My routine was far better when I had children going to school. Usual admin this morning and possibly a little marking this afternoon, to clear the decks to do some studying this week.
It's yet another glorious day in Embra; there are still a few Patches of Treachery™, but they seem to be getting fewer. It's still jolly cold though - currently 3°, but feeling like -1 - and I was glad of my boots, even though I didn't have too.long to wait for the bus.
I've just had lunch of a homemade roll with Orkney cheese and some fruit, but whether I'll be organised enough to sort that every day may be another matter.
Supper will, I think, be mushroom risotto (memo to self: get more risotto rice v. soon).
We went for a longish walk first thing. We'd underestimated how icy it would be in places, but it was still a lovely walk. Since coming back I've done some of my jigsaw puzzle, had some lunch (crumpets) and am now deciding what to do next.
I went out for a short walk but it was too icy to go far. Busied myself doing the usual monday morning admin and emails and phoned a student for a telephone tutorial.
I've just cooked pork escalopes and fried eggs for lunch and am now relaxing before braving the marking mountain.
Our walk was across the fields as the roads were sheets of black ice in places, in fact instead of walking a circuit we turned around and went back the same way to avoid a section of road walking.
The fields were crunchy and great to walk across. There was a huge flock of fieldfares in one field where the path runs around two sides so we got a long look at them, and a couple of charms of goldfinches, the bigger one in the corner of a field that's been allowed to go wild, next to a stream.
Washing hung out early this morning, then a slightly treacherous walk to the supermarket in glorious snowy sunshine. A Primary School Admission Appeal will start in a in a few minutes; for dinner (my wife being of Caledonian ilk) we shall ceremonially slaughter a haggis and consume it with neeps, tatties and glassfuls of Scotland's Other National Drink. It also being St Dwynwen's day here in Dragonland, Herself may then consume a dram of good Welsh whisky (I'm not keen).
Clear blue Skies here - and I mean clear, with not a single aircraft trail to be seen (a few cotton wool clouds have appeared, though).
In that respect, the Sky resembles that of Lockdown One, O so many months ago!
Italian-style CHEESE (and BACON) on TOAST (to wit, PIZZA) for lunch, with a nice Spanish table WINE.
ION, a neighbour tells me that the local Ducks were greatly discombobulated a few weeks ago, and were found hiding underneath one of the walkways that lead along the banks of the river. The reason was the presence of a large Eagle Owl, and even the resident Swan family had decided to go out for the day...
It was really icy this morning with a powdering of snow. Then we got some welcome sunshine for an hour or two but it has gone now.
I took the puppy this morning but he wasn’t impressed at how slowly I walked due to Much Slipperyness. I was going to phone my brother while we were out and about but needed the non-lead hand for balance!
When I did ring later on he seemed fine. He lives alone so I do get concerned, but he seemed very chipper and has lots of DIY projects on the go.
I'm not LVER, (she's probably popped out to get some eggs) but Chocolate Concrete was a solid baked cake pudding beloved of school cooks in the 1960s (as well as the 70's and 80's...).
MrStE remembers it very fondly, served with peppermint sauce rather than custard. (He went to a posh school. Well, a grammar school, anyway.) If I can find a recipe I will put it into the appropriate thread. I'm sure LVER's recipe is a much better one than any I could find, though....
@St Everild Thanks! Looking at the pictures and reading the descriptions was illuminating. Not something that appeared at my school; the nearest was a light chocolate sponge with a gooey centre, served with dark chocolate sauce and ice cream.
One of the few nice elements of school dinners from the aforementioned epoch. A cocoa laden confection that's sort of in between cake and biscuit. In true school dinner style, it should probably be served with pink custard, but I fear that's asking too much of husband en rouge. I shall make normal custard.
Comments
The white stuff is an excellent reason (as if one needs a reason!) for crumble - thank you for reminding me, @TheOrganist.
First of all, get organised and have breakfast, then I'll see about minor details like housework.
We did a brisk walk just as it started round our playing fields, and husband is now going out to try and take some photos. I'm not going to go with him!
Here, it is melting busily, but I was glad that church was via zoom, as it might have been awkward getting to Merthyr.
MMM
Fresh croissants this morning - bliss.
Just spotted this - thanks for the compliment (I think...
I didn't subscribe to The Young Elizabethan, but I do recall reading a few copies somewhen in the 1950s - possibly at the dentist's. I was born in 1951, so I'm really one of the latter-day Georgians...
The Young Elizabethan magazine:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_Elizabethan
Targeted at grammar school students it may have been, but I was able to read before I was four years old...precocious little s*d that I was...
Even on the rooftops.
Wasyadrosty
I typed ‘it was icy and frosty this morning’ and THAT’S what my machine comes up with!? 🧐🙄
I am a piglet of very little brain (and rather sore fingers).
In other news, a post on Facetube tells me that January is SOUP Month - why did I only find out when it's nearly finished?
I can possibly feel a spot of cooking coming on - although whether I should be trusted with pots of hot liquid may be a moot point (see above).
We had snow this morning sometime between 5am, when I got up and checked and there was none, and 7.30 when I got up and checked again and we had a good covering. Mr Nen and I headed straight out for a walk in it, to fetch the Sunday papers and to get a takeaway coffee. I like being out in snow when it's freshly fallen and it creaks under the feet and every branch and twig is lined with it. When it's been mashed up with mud into slush, not.
I was then chasing my tail all morning as it's our busy Zoomy day but I've caught up now and have the Cranachan prepared in the fridge for our Burns-Night-themed Sunday afternoon group. It has made loads, despite me thinking I'd cut down on amounts, and for me (not a patient or natural cook) it was a lot of fiddly work, I thought, and the cream took ages to whip properly. I hope it's worth it.
I ran the cold tap over my hand, smeared it with Sudocream, and clutched a bag of ice cubes til they melted. My reward, after about a painful hour, is OK hand with just a little light blistering on one finger.
Better than the remedies extant in our family which were, hold it to the fire 'burn the burn out' or apply baking soda (equally painful + permanent scarring). There's folk wisdom, and then there's folk idiocy.
My daughter has been pattern testing for trousers with the aim of making a pair in corduroy as warmer to walk in. After two trials, pyjama shorts and a pair of summer twill cropped trousers, I finally cut into the cord yesterday afternoon. They were finished this morning around 11am. With the final stages of the sewing going through my machine to top-stitch the waistband as my presser foot lifts higher and the layers were so thick. She wore them out for walking this afternoon, without the final stitching down of the belt loops because I didn't think my machine would cope with canvas interfacing, ten layers of cord and 2 layers of bias binding lining to be stitched down in tiny areas.
It was very pretty but I suspect we may have black ice tomorrow
SOUP has now been made (Cullen Skink, since you ask), and a batch of rolls is on its second rise.
That's quite enough goddessishness for one day - I think I deserve a glass of WINE.
@Firenze - your burn sounds a lot worse than mine - there's just the merest tingle now where I touched it.
@Nenya - I'm struggling to see what's fiddly about Cranachan - toast the oatmeal lightly and leave it to cool, put the raspberries in a serving bowl, whip the cream and sugar (without the booze until it's thickened, or it won't*), add the booze (my preference is Drambuie), dollop it on top of the fruit, mix the oatmeal with some brown sugar and sprinkle it on top.
* I only made that mistake once ...
Sounds like just the thing for a cold day. You can probably hear my stomach being envious...
Tonight is going to be roast chicken, with chocolate souffle to follow (courtesy of my son who is very good at that sort of thing), and maybe cheese and a glass of port.
The recipe I had said you had to make a kind of flapjack first, with oats, honey and sugar, baked for 20 minutes, then cooled and crumbled before layering with the fruit and whipped cream. It baked quite hard and was difficult to crumble. I'm guessing, maybe hoping, you could just toast some jumbo oats?
I wasn't particularly impressed, but Mr Nen was so I guess that's a result.
Let them cool completely before mixing them with demerara sugar and sprinkling on the top. I've never seen it with the flapjack thing - it sounds rather nice, but as you say, a bit of a faff.
A hard frost first thing, which disappeared quite rapidly once we had daylight - soon followed by what I call 'thick' rain. That is big fat cold raindrops that would be sleet if it became just a bit colder.
Sunny by lunchtime, and through the afternoon, but with our usual blustery wind, so I was not tempted out by the blue sky - I know how cold that wind can be!
I’m running late so must get dressed and out for my walk. My routine was far better when I had children going to school. Usual admin this morning and possibly a little marking this afternoon, to clear the decks to do some studying this week.
I've just had lunch of a homemade roll with Orkney cheese and some fruit, but whether I'll be organised enough to sort that every day may be another matter.
Supper will, I think, be mushroom risotto (memo to self: get more risotto rice v. soon).
CUSTARD will follow later but I only have one egg left and I can't go and buy more until Captain Pyjamas wakes up from his nap.
I've just cooked pork escalopes and fried eggs for lunch and am now relaxing before braving the marking mountain.
The fields were crunchy and great to walk across. There was a huge flock of fieldfares in one field where the path runs around two sides so we got a long look at them, and a couple of charms of goldfinches, the bigger one in the corner of a field that's been allowed to go wild, next to a stream.
In that respect, the Sky resembles that of Lockdown One, O so many months ago!
Italian-style CHEESE (and BACON) on TOAST (to wit, PIZZA) for lunch, with a nice Spanish table WINE.
ION, a neighbour tells me that the local Ducks were greatly discombobulated a few weeks ago, and were found hiding underneath one of the walkways that lead along the banks of the river. The reason was the presence of a large Eagle Owl, and even the resident Swan family had decided to go out for the day...
Alas, I didn't see the said Owl, which seems to be a most impressive Bird:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_eagle-owl_in_Great_Britain
Can't say I blame the Ducks and Swans for *ahem* avoiding an encounter.
I took the puppy this morning but he wasn’t impressed at how slowly I walked due to Much Slipperyness. I was going to phone my brother while we were out and about but needed the non-lead hand for balance!
When I did ring later on he seemed fine. He lives alone so I do get concerned, but he seemed very chipper and has lots of DIY projects on the go.
I'm not LVER, (she's probably popped out to get some eggs) but Chocolate Concrete was a solid baked cake pudding beloved of school cooks in the 1960s (as well as the 70's and 80's...).
MrStE remembers it very fondly, served with peppermint sauce rather than custard. (He went to a posh school. Well, a grammar school, anyway.) If I can find a recipe I will put it into the appropriate thread. I'm sure LVER's recipe is a much better one than any I could find, though....
One of the few nice elements of school dinners from the aforementioned epoch. A cocoa laden confection that's sort of in between cake and biscuit. In true school dinner style, it should probably be served with pink custard, but I fear that's asking too much of husband en rouge. I shall make normal custard.