Oh, that sounds marvellous, LVER! Did Captain P come along too?
As for one of our schools in this 'ere Continental WesShire, we went on a 3 hr-hike on Friday with 2 of the lower secondary classes, first on two bus lines, then 2 hr-hike with break, lunch with fireplace usage on the top of a hill, by a fairly new observation tower (a nice wood-and-steel design) and great views, and then down 1 hr in a different direction, and bus and train back to the school.
The weather radar had been threatening very heavy downpours, but we had decided on Wednesday it would be all right, so we still went - and in fact, while there was some rain, it was only sparse, and the clouds made for a nice dramatic backdrop. Also, it wasn't anywhere near the forecast 25°C, so it all went rather nicely!
Different story on Friday night - thunderstorms of a rare violence crossing much of the land; luckily no damage to the house, but many streets and underpasses flooded! I went to check wearing my new Hoggs of Fife wellies (which I had bought for just such a case!), and they were barely high enough not to get my feet drenched - there was 40cm of water in places! Quite something. Fire brigades busy, but all ok now, except for more thunderstorms in the making.
In other news, I've got another DVD boxed set from Blighty, this time the complete CI5 The Professionals, with all their late 1970s Ford Granadas, Capris and Escorts and Rover SD1s. I always thought I'd like to be George Cowley, with his formidable Granada - one of my friends from church had a Granada Estate, and that thing took off like rocket, plus you could load loads into it. I've always been more on the practical side, you see!
I think I may have been converted to shopping trolleys (IYSWIM) - I transported five assorted tins, a 500g package of pasta, three bottles of WINE (they didn't have my Chilean SB on special offer any more ) and sundry other bits and bobs the length of the High Street - at about the same time @Firenze posted about it being warm, which it was - without doing myself any serious harm.
I'm unsure of the etiquette of pulling a shopping trolley on a narrow pavement. There's a stretch of pavement which is quite narrow, but there's another bit beside it, up a step. Obviously, hauling the trolley up the step would rather defeat the purpose, and when a lady with a pram approached in the opposite direction, I sort of squeezed myself as close in to the side as I could. I have no problem with that, but when three perfectly able-bodied young people are coming the other way, it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect one of them to fall back a little to let me and the trolley pass. Would it?
Again I tried to squeeze myself into the wall of the building on the inner side of the pavement, but I didn't get the slightest acknowledgement.
Supper was a salmon fillet fried in butter with basil and lemon juice, leftover potato salad and green things. And WINE.
I thought of fava beans when I mentioned chianti @Arethosemyfeet, liver is definitely off the menu though as we at least try to be vegan .
Our son has come to spend a couple of days with us. We spent a happy hour or so making salads for tea, discovering while doing so that putting both ovens of our inherited range cooker blows the fuses. Still the end results were good, and there is enough left over to take to our friends for lunch tomorrow.
So far in our move we've lost two measuring jugs, a load of fridge containers and a blanket I knitted. I'm pretty sure the first two items were accidently left behind in a cupboard we forgot to clear, but I'm mightily puzzled as to where the blanket has got to.
@Piglet People with shopping trolleys are invisisble to most other pavement-users, especially the young. We are assumed to be "little old ladies" whom everyone knows are not worth noticing, and therefore invisible.
I find pulling it behnd me with both hands helps to give the illusion that there is no trolley, just me - but that may be simply in my imagination.
I've got this nifty invention of a shopping trolley here. (It can still be purchased, but apparently not from The Rainforest Company.)
I use it for shopping and for work, it fits well on the trains and buses here, and you can load up to 40kg into it. The trolley takes a sensational 18 (!) , that is 3 entire 6-packs, of 1.5 litre mineral water bottles at a time! In the shops, you flip out the third wheel contraption, and use it just like a conventional in-shop trolley. When you leave, flip it back down on its two main wheels.
I mostly pull it on its 2 main wheels, but can also push it, expecially if it's not completely full and heavy - and I find that the pushing action, combined with not a white, but an alternative bright red cover, nicely clears the way. They can't say that haven't seen it comin'! If people don't move, I just stand still and wait for them to move - after all, it is me who is heavy-laden, not them. Works all the time.
All these long walks sound great, if tiring. I must nag the family to go on a long walk soon, lockdown seems to have made them reluctant to move anywhere.
Piglet, those young people should definitely go round you as they are not steering a heavy load.
Up late this morning (though I woke early) as the heat is making me tired. I’ll be off for a quick walk shortly and then Zoom church, my other half has church online games this afternoon so I might do some wool spinning.
I’ve started a painting course called ‘find your joy’ and I’m finding lots of messy mess! My hands are still covered in yesterday’s paint (acrylics stick when they are dry). I’m using a palette knife to paint - an entirely new technique to me. 🎨
@Piglet People with shopping trolleys are invisisble to most other pavement-users, especially the young. We are assumed to be "little old ladies" whom everyone knows are not worth noticing, and therefore invisible.
I find pulling it behnd me with both hands helps to give the illusion that there is no trolley, just me - but that may be simply in my imagination.
You don't need to be pulling a shopping trolley to be invisible, having been irritated yet again by groups spreading themselves across Forest tracks and not moving over, not even for my stick wielding daughter.
You might enjoy Peggy Seeger's Invisible Woman (YouTube link) jointly written with her 61 year old son who was saying something similar, played with both her sons, Callum and Neill MacColl.
Wow - that lady looks amazing for someone with a 61-year-old son!
It looks like another nice day here; I must get up and organised, as my brother and sister-in-law are coming out later, and we're booked for Actual Lunch in a Proper Pub, followed by an amble round the loch.
As they'll probably drop in to the flat first, I'd better go and do a spot of tidying to make the place look civilised.
If you want traditional naughty there's the Banishing Book (YouTube link) sung by Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman (NSFW) - apparently there are a lot of songs about farting in the book where that song was found, that she hasn't tried singing in public, yet.
' Plein air' is yer actual French, used in talking about painting to imply that you are up there with the Impressionists.
@Boogie - there's a lot of fun to be had with powdered w/colours ('Brusho' is the brand name). Either sprinkle on paper and add water, or drop on to already dampened surface. Then move the resultant puddles around either with a brush or by tilting. Let it dry and then go in with felt tips and bring out a picture suggested by the shapes.
What a lovely (and accurate) sentiment (although tbh my first mental picture when reading that was of nurses up ladders painting the ceiling)!
I've had a lovely afternoon - lunch was a shared platter of bread, grilled Halloumi, olives, tomatoes, salad and pesto, followed by a Caesar salad with chicken and bacon, accompanied by a couple of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc, after which we worked off some of the calories with a nice amble almost all the way round the loch. It really is spectacularly pretty, especially on such a beautiful day.
Huh. All this lazing and ambling about Will Not Do.
I (said he, virtuously) have made a start on The Painting Of The Wheelhouse Of The Ark, but, fortunately (having knackered myself) have temporarily run out of paint.
An Exciting Expotition to the special paint emporium is planned for tomorrow...the said emporium is next to Tess Coe's, so BEER can be bought more-or-less at the same time. God is good.
Still, the tricky bits round the windows etc. have been done, so the next instalment should be easy (Ha!) to accomplish by roller.
The old one, transferred from Ye Olde Shippe, was looking a bit tired, so I hit on something which more accurately represents my actual RL appearance...
The last time I played Trivial Pursuit was New Year's Day 2020, fuelled by prodigious quantities of WINE, and with a spot of unaccustomed luck* with the questions, I won.
* the sort of luck that particularly manifested itself in the last, winning question: name the bass player with Queen, who just happen to be my favourite rock band. My nephew was well impressed!
The old one, transferred from Ye Olde Shippe, was looking a bit tired, so I hit on something which more accurately represents my actual RL appearance...
...when vested, of course.
Gosh. A gathering of Rochester Readers must be a sight to behold.
The old one, transferred from Ye Olde Shippe, was looking a bit tired, so I hit on something which more accurately represents my actual RL appearance...
...when vested, of course.
Gosh. A gathering of Rochester Readers must be a sight to behold.
O it is indeed a formidable sight. Should you behold it, be Afraid. Be Very Afraid...
ION, the Expotition to the Paint Emporium proved a bit disappointing, inasmuch as they didn't have the colour I wanted in stock. The Nice Man will order some in for me, and let me know when it arrives. It's probably a blessing in disguise, as I'm still so tired and achy from the weekend's painting exertions that I really need to rest up for a day or two.
Meanwhile, the Wheelhouse wears a piebald look - part light brown (a traditional Dutch colour for some parts of barges) and part red oxide, which will be the final overall colour IYSWIM.
It's the paint they use on barns, and other metal farm buildings, and it is most wonderfully gloopy. You don't need to stir it, you can use it straight from the tin, it covers a multitude of sins, dries in about 12 hours, and weathers to a sort of semi-gloss finish.
My printer gave up the ghost at a Most Inconvenient Moment. New ones were hard to source, I was fortunately able to buy another from a well-known store ("Never Knowingly Undersold") to be delivered to a local shop by 3pm on Saturday. Fortuitously it was delivered at 10am which meant I was able to install it and the Get Ahead and record my service for Sunday.
I booked a slot at the local Tip Waste Recyling Centre for after swimming this morning to dispose of the old one and other items. I arrived waving my confirmation piece of paper and ready to show my driving licence (Cardiff need you to show that you're not from outside the city); but, to my surprise, I was welcomed by name by a helpful man at the gate who'd clearly checked my number-plate off his list. Very impressive.
...I was welcomed by name by a helpful man at the gate who'd clearly checked my number-plate off his list ...
No he didn't - he checked his records against the microchip Bill Gates put in your arm along with your Covid vaccine ...
It's a warm, rather muggy day in Embra; I woke at one in the morning feeling very uncomfortably hot, but luckily managed to get back to sleep by sticking my feet out from under the sheet.
I bought some minced beef at the weekend with the intention of making chilli: I think I'll have to do it tonight as I out it in the fridge rather than the freezer. Maybe rather warmer than I'd have wanted, but no matter.
Ain't that the truth. I have red oxide fingers as I type...
The tin I've just used up was first cousin to the Cruse (or Jug) of Oil of the Widow of Zarephath, as there was far more in it than at first appeared. Happily, this means that most of the wheelhouse has been done, and what still remains will either be a contrasting colour, or (if necessary) a slightly different shade of red oxide!
A light lunch is called for, I think. Sardines on TOAST, with a watercress side-salad...and some more BEER, as it's quite warm and mugsome here today.
I had a yoga class this morning with real live people - good to see them again.
I spent this afternoon filling in some incomprehensible research application forms.
I need to cook dinner but I need to apply for Greenbelt tickets at the dot of 7pm so it will just have to wait.
I've had a lovely afternoon - lunch was a shared platter of bread, grilled Halloumi, olives, tomatoes, salad and pesto, followed by a Caesar salad with chicken and bacon, accompanied by a couple of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc, after which we worked off some of the calories with a nice amble almost all the way round the loch. It really is spectacularly pretty, especially on such a beautiful day.
I think some snoozage might be in order now ...
Piglet, I am puzzled how one ambles almost all the way round the loch. Did you swim across when you gave up walking?
Piglet, I am puzzled how one ambles almost all the way round the loch. Did you swim across when you gave up walking?
It was such a warm day it might have been tempting!
We started from a little way along the High Street, behind the Burgh Hall, and wound our way round to where the path turns off and leads to my flat, so it wasn't quite the whole way round.
I abandoned the chilli idea and put the minced beef into the freezer; it was really too warm to start faffing about with cooking meat, so I had a "meatless Monday" and did pasta with some tomatoes, mushrooms and a red pepper that needed using up, and it was rather nice. I'll do the chilli some weekend, when I can take my time with it, and maybe let the slow-cooker do most of the work.
The Met Office says it didn't get above 19° in Embra today, but it felt warmer than that - it was decidedly æstival.
We took TIG#1 to the Wild Place Project near Bristol today, it being an INSET day. We haven't been for ages, though when he lived nearby his parents had annual membership.
@Piglet - we saw BEARS*! Four beautiful brown bears living in an enormous wooded enclosure with high-level walkways above, and nearby wolves and wolverines (though the lynx was missing, as usual). Plus gelada, cheetahs, giraffes, reindeer, lemurs, meerkats, okapi, African red pigs... sadly you can no longer go into the lemur enclosure because of the dreaded COVID, but you can still spot them at a distance.
I know some people disapprove of zoos on principle, but it still sparks wonder in me to see real animals such as those up 'close'.
Warm here, too, and today's Pilates session resulted in myself gently glowing...
The Nice Paint Emporium Man called to say that Large Tins of special paint will be delivered later this week, so hopefully I should have recovered some energy by then...
I have booked a weekend away, the first trip of more than 12 miles from home since March 2020, and the forecast is, to my way of thinking, dire.
Hot sun, for sightseeing. Eating outside with possibly no shade!
Ground floor property so it may not be safe to have windows open at night?
I shall seek refuge in the cool of the cathedral as much as I can.
Why do broadcasters speak of lovely weather. Not everyone appreciates high temperatures. I wilt at 23 or above.
I'm spending the day doing all the "later" jobs around the place: re-glazing a cracked window in the shed, washing off muck and algae from the weather-side of same, weed-killing bits of path, etc. All very necessary and all deeply dull.
In other news, after much havering our attached neighbours have put their house on the market. Apparently they were upset at the valuations they got but the local estate agents all pointed out that the house is "tired". One of the drawbacks to selling is going to be the need to 'fess up to having no fewer than 3 applications to extend rejected.
A leisurely day today, starting with a long walk and then a potter in the garden. This afternoon I applied to teach a new module on mental health (to replace the health foundation module I resigned from last week as I want a change after teaching it for 14 years).
I have booked a weekend away, the first trip of more than 12 miles from home since March 2020, and the forecast is, to my way of thinking, dire.
Hot sun, for sightseeing. Eating outside with possibly no shade!
Ground floor property so it may not be safe to have windows open at night?
I shall seek refuge in the cool of the cathedral as much as I can.
Why do broadcasters speak of lovely weather. Not everyone appreciates high temperatures. I wilt at 23 or above.
I'm with you. Direct sunlight is the worse. It hurts.
I have booked a weekend away, the first trip of more than 12 miles from home since March 2020, and the forecast is, to my way of thinking, dire.
Hot sun, for sightseeing. Eating outside with possibly no shade!
Ground floor property so it may not be safe to have windows open at night?
I shall seek refuge in the cool of the cathedral as much as I can.
Why do broadcasters speak of lovely weather. Not everyone appreciates high temperatures. I wilt at 23 or above.
I'm with you. Direct sunlight is the worse. It hurts.
I'm ok with the sun, generally, so long as the air temperature stays below 15 or so. Which is basically most of summer here so I'm fine. Visiting my parents in south Lincolnshire, on the other hand...
I'm no good at heat either; the Optimal Porcine Temperature™ falls somewhere between 14° and 21°.
One of the things I absolutely don't miss about Canada is the summer temperatures in the mid/high 20s (or occasionally even worse ), but feeling considerably hotter because of the humidity.
According to the Met Office it was 18° in Embra this afternoon, which was just about right.
Supper was risi e bisi - I'm going to have to invest in some more ham, as that was the last piece from the freezer.
Dry and sunny here, but still damp underfoot from the recent rains. I got soaked checking a geocache on Friday (because it's a sneaky one and the previous seekers couldn't find it).
Thanks for that, I haven’t checked into Zoe for a while and just popped in now. I haven’t been prompted for the long covid survey, possibly because I feel normal today. I’ll check back again tomorrow. They have my usual symptoms from previous logins, and I think mine fit with a post-viral syndrome. I’ve even told their research which one.
Tea was an unseasonal beef and mushroom stew with dumplings.
While, on the other hand, we've put the electric fire on for a bit in the evenings as we've both felt a little chilly at around 18 degrees!
In other news ... I've just been to the dentist and been fully serviced and repaired. Herself is there now. Dental charges in Wales are significantly lower than in England, too.
Comments
As for one of our schools in this 'ere Continental WesShire, we went on a 3 hr-hike on Friday with 2 of the lower secondary classes, first on two bus lines, then 2 hr-hike with break, lunch with fireplace usage on the top of a hill, by a fairly new observation tower (a nice wood-and-steel design) and great views, and then down 1 hr in a different direction, and bus and train back to the school.
The weather radar had been threatening very heavy downpours, but we had decided on Wednesday it would be all right, so we still went - and in fact, while there was some rain, it was only sparse, and the clouds made for a nice dramatic backdrop. Also, it wasn't anywhere near the forecast 25°C, so it all went rather nicely!
Different story on Friday night - thunderstorms of a rare violence crossing much of the land; luckily no damage to the house, but many streets and underpasses flooded! I went to check wearing my new Hoggs of Fife wellies (which I had bought for just such a case!), and they were barely high enough not to get my feet drenched - there was 40cm of water in places! Quite something. Fire brigades busy, but all ok now, except for more thunderstorms in the making.
In other news, I've got another DVD boxed set from Blighty, this time the complete CI5 The Professionals, with all their late 1970s Ford Granadas, Capris and Escorts and Rover SD1s. I always thought I'd like to be George Cowley, with his formidable Granada - one of my friends from church had a Granada Estate, and that thing took off like rocket, plus you could load loads into it. I've always been more on the practical side, you see!
I'm unsure of the etiquette of pulling a shopping trolley on a narrow pavement. There's a stretch of pavement which is quite narrow, but there's another bit beside it, up a step. Obviously, hauling the trolley up the step would rather defeat the purpose, and when a lady with a pram approached in the opposite direction, I sort of squeezed myself as close in to the side as I could. I have no problem with that, but when three perfectly able-bodied young people are coming the other way, it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect one of them to fall back a little to let me and the trolley pass. Would it?
Again I tried to squeeze myself into the wall of the building on the inner side of the pavement, but I didn't get the slightest acknowledgement.
Supper was a salmon fillet fried in butter with basil and lemon juice, leftover potato salad and green things. And WINE.
Our son has come to spend a couple of days with us. We spent a happy hour or so making salads for tea, discovering while doing so that putting both ovens of our inherited range cooker blows the fuses. Still the end results were good, and there is enough left over to take to our friends for lunch tomorrow.
So far in our move we've lost two measuring jugs, a load of fridge containers and a blanket I knitted. I'm pretty sure the first two items were accidently left behind in a cupboard we forgot to clear, but I'm mightily puzzled as to where the blanket has got to.
I find pulling it behnd me with both hands helps to give the illusion that there is no trolley, just me - but that may be simply in my imagination.
I use it for shopping and for work, it fits well on the trains and buses here, and you can load up to 40kg into it. The trolley takes a sensational 18 (!) , that is 3 entire 6-packs, of 1.5 litre mineral water bottles at a time! In the shops, you flip out the third wheel contraption, and use it just like a conventional in-shop trolley. When you leave, flip it back down on its two main wheels.
I mostly pull it on its 2 main wheels, but can also push it, expecially if it's not completely full and heavy - and I find that the pushing action, combined with not a white, but an alternative bright red cover, nicely clears the way. They can't say that haven't seen it comin'!
Piglet, those young people should definitely go round you as they are not steering a heavy load.
Up late this morning (though I woke early) as the heat is making me tired. I’ll be off for a quick walk shortly and then Zoom church, my other half has church online games this afternoon so I might do some wool spinning.
But first, coffee and a bagel.
(I'll get my... light sweater.)
I’ve started a painting course called ‘find your joy’ and I’m finding lots of messy mess! My hands are still covered in yesterday’s paint (acrylics stick when they are dry). I’m using a palette knife to paint - an entirely new technique to me. 🎨
You don't need to be pulling a shopping trolley to be invisible, having been irritated yet again by groups spreading themselves across Forest tracks and not moving over, not even for my stick wielding daughter.
You might enjoy Peggy Seeger's Invisible Woman (YouTube link) jointly written with her 61 year old son who was saying something similar, played with both her sons, Callum and Neill MacColl.
It looks like another nice day here; I must get up and organised, as my brother and sister-in-law are coming out later, and we're booked for Actual Lunch in a Proper Pub, followed by an amble round the loch.
As they'll probably drop in to the flat first, I'd better go and do a spot of tidying to make the place look civilised.
' Plein air' is yer actual French, used in talking about painting to imply that you are up there with the Impressionists.
@Boogie - there's a lot of fun to be had with powdered w/colours ('Brusho' is the brand name). Either sprinkle on paper and add water, or drop on to already dampened surface. Then move the resultant puddles around either with a brush or by tilting. Let it dry and then go in with felt tips and bring out a picture suggested by the shapes.
I've had a lovely afternoon - lunch was a shared platter of bread, grilled Halloumi, olives, tomatoes, salad and pesto, followed by a Caesar salad with chicken and bacon, accompanied by a couple of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc, after which we worked off some of the calories with a nice amble almost all the way round the loch. It really is spectacularly pretty, especially on such a beautiful day.
I think some snoozage might be in order now ...
I (said he, virtuously) have made a start on The Painting Of The Wheelhouse Of The Ark, but, fortunately (having knackered myself) have temporarily run out of paint.
An Exciting Expotition to the special paint emporium is planned for tomorrow...the said emporium is next to Tess Coe's, so BEER can be bought more-or-less at the same time. God is good.
Still, the tricky bits round the windows etc. have been done, so the next instalment should be easy (Ha!) to accomplish by roller.
you may for a pint cry. /
So when you buy paint /
forgetting pints ain't /
something that should go awry!
Ok, I may have gone awry with too many double negatives...!
To your health!
The old one, transferred from Ye Olde Shippe, was looking a bit tired, so I hit on something which more accurately represents my actual RL appearance...
...when vested, of course.
* the sort of luck that particularly manifested itself in the last, winning question: name the bass player with Queen, who just happen to be my favourite rock band. My nephew was well impressed!
Gosh. A gathering of Rochester Readers must be a sight to behold.
O it is indeed a formidable sight. Should you behold it, be Afraid. Be Very Afraid...
ION, the Expotition to the Paint Emporium proved a bit disappointing, inasmuch as they didn't have the colour I wanted in stock. The Nice Man will order some in for me, and let me know when it arrives. It's probably a blessing in disguise, as I'm still so tired and achy from the weekend's painting exertions that I really need to rest up for a day or two.
Meanwhile, the Wheelhouse wears a piebald look - part light brown (a traditional Dutch colour for some parts of barges) and part red oxide, which will be the final overall colour IYSWIM.
It's the paint they use on barns, and other metal farm buildings, and it is most wonderfully gloopy. You don't need to stir it, you can use it straight from the tin, it covers a multitude of sins, dries in about 12 hours, and weathers to a sort of semi-gloss finish.
My printer gave up the ghost at a Most Inconvenient Moment. New ones were hard to source, I was fortunately able to buy another from a well-known store ("Never Knowingly Undersold") to be delivered to a local shop by 3pm on Saturday. Fortuitously it was delivered at 10am which meant I was able to install it and the Get Ahead and record my service for Sunday.
I booked a slot at the local Tip Waste Recyling Centre for after swimming this morning to dispose of the old one and other items. I arrived waving my confirmation piece of paper and ready to show my driving licence (Cardiff need you to show that you're not from outside the city); but, to my surprise, I was welcomed by name by a helpful man at the gate who'd clearly checked my number-plate off his list. Very impressive.
It's a warm, rather muggy day in Embra; I woke at one in the morning feeling very uncomfortably hot, but luckily managed to get back to sleep by sticking my feet out from under the sheet.
I bought some minced beef at the weekend with the intention of making chilli: I think I'll have to do it tonight as I out it in the fridge rather than the freezer. Maybe rather warmer than I'd have wanted, but no matter.
Ain't that the truth. I have red oxide fingers as I type...
The tin I've just used up was first cousin to the Cruse (or Jug) of Oil of the Widow of Zarephath, as there was far more in it than at first appeared. Happily, this means that most of the wheelhouse has been done, and what still remains will either be a contrasting colour, or (if necessary) a slightly different shade of red oxide!
A light lunch is called for, I think. Sardines on TOAST, with a watercress side-salad...and some more BEER, as it's quite warm and mugsome here today.
I’m preparing the PP for a friend’s wedding and have just popped on here for a break. 🙂🙂
Oh ... but ... I wound down the window ...
I've had a couple of happy Zoomies today and a nice walk after lunch. There's leftover stir fry and some red wine for tea.
I spent this afternoon filling in some incomprehensible research application forms.
I need to cook dinner but I need to apply for Greenbelt tickets at the dot of 7pm so it will just have to wait.
Piglet, I am puzzled how one ambles almost all the way round the loch. Did you swim across when you gave up walking?
Husband is making chick pea curry now and it smells good.
We started from a little way along the High Street, behind the Burgh Hall, and wound our way round to where the path turns off and leads to my flat, so it wasn't quite the whole way round.
I abandoned the chilli idea and put the minced beef into the freezer; it was really too warm to start faffing about with cooking meat, so I had a "meatless Monday" and did pasta with some tomatoes, mushrooms and a red pepper that needed using up, and it was rather nice. I'll do the chilli some weekend, when I can take my time with it, and maybe let the slow-cooker do most of the work.
The Met Office says it didn't get above 19° in Embra today, but it felt warmer than that - it was decidedly æstival.
@Piglet - we saw BEARS*! Four beautiful brown bears living in an enormous wooded enclosure with high-level walkways above, and nearby wolves and wolverines (though the lynx was missing, as usual). Plus gelada, cheetahs, giraffes, reindeer, lemurs, meerkats, okapi, African red pigs... sadly you can no longer go into the lemur enclosure because of the dreaded COVID, but you can still spot them at a distance.
I know some people disapprove of zoos on principle, but it still sparks wonder in me to see real animals such as those up 'close'.
* everybody's favourite, those bears
Especially with bears!
Looks like another warm day here in Embra; I didn't even bother with a lightweight waistcoat, and I'm quite warm enough.
The Nice Paint Emporium Man called to say that Large Tins of special paint will be delivered later this week, so hopefully I should have recovered some energy by then...
Hot sun, for sightseeing. Eating outside with possibly no shade!
Ground floor property so it may not be safe to have windows open at night?
I shall seek refuge in the cool of the cathedral as much as I can.
Why do broadcasters speak of lovely weather. Not everyone appreciates high temperatures. I wilt at 23 or above.
In other news, after much havering our attached neighbours have put their house on the market. Apparently they were upset at the valuations they got but the local estate agents all pointed out that the house is "tired". One of the drawbacks to selling is going to be the need to 'fess up to having no fewer than 3 applications to extend rejected.
I'm with you. Direct sunlight is the worse. It hurts.
I'm ok with the sun, generally, so long as the air temperature stays below 15 or so. Which is basically most of summer here so I'm fine. Visiting my parents in south Lincolnshire, on the other hand...
Probably moving to the south coast was a mistake.
One of the things I absolutely don't miss about Canada is the summer temperatures in the mid/high 20s (or occasionally even worse
According to the Met Office it was 18° in Embra this afternoon, which was just about right.
Supper was risi e bisi - I'm going to have to invest in some more ham, as that was the last piece from the freezer.
@Heavenlyannie you might be interested in the Zoe Covid study into long term effects -see link here
Tea was an unseasonal beef and mushroom stew with dumplings.
According to a friend in Fredericton, it was 34° there yesterday ... <eek>
In other news ... I've just been to the dentist and been fully serviced and repaired. Herself is there now. Dental charges in Wales are significantly lower than in England, too.