Objection, m'lud. The weather can only be dreich North of the Border*. South of it, it's simply dull, dreary, dismal and drizzly, not to mention damnable.
(*Unless pronounced thus by a displaced Scotsperson, such as my wife).
It might be dull, dreary, dismal and drizzly, but I'm a happy bunny. My erstwhile neighbour was finally formally evicted on Wednesday - and I didn't have to appear as a witness; tick 1. The landlord put the builders in yesterday, although they didn't have access to the key until late on, and cleared the flat today: contents loaded on to a flatbed truck and I suspect delivered to the nearest dump*: tick 2. I've also got my hands on my hospital notes from the burns unit and put the last bits of my criminal injuries claim in: tick 3. I don't think I'll get much, if anything, but I'll get some expenses repaid. So that incident is pretty much closed, I hope.
* Her social worker has had access to the flat for months to remove anything needed, and a few others have been in to repossess stuff, so anything there was obviously not needed.
That's a load off your back, Curiosity - glad to hear the faffing-about is nearly over.
It's been snowing here since about 8 o'clock this morning; D had to do a bit of shovelling to get the Pigletmobile out of the drive, and although it was a pretty filthy morning, we got in safely.
There were only five in the audience at the recital, but they had deep pockets, so we didn't have a wasted journey.
After lunch of The Sausage Thing, the rest of the day (and possibly most of tomorrow) is going to be spent Not Going Out.
CAKE might ensue later.
With regard to the fortification of cocoa, I'm not sure that GIN would be the right spirit - I think the flavours might not like each other. Whisky or Bailey's might be a better prospect.
Piglet, I've been thinking of adding my blackberry gin to black coffee to give it a bit of a kick, though also not sure if the flavour would go with coffee. But I have all this blackberry gin and am thinking of things to do with it - in addition to drinking it as it is.
Yes Piglet, you're right about the GIN. I used pale (not white) rum as that is what was to hand. We use cocoa powder, not hot chocolate, which needs a little sweetness so an inherited bottle of Glayva (whisky liqueur) has proved useful as has a jar of malt non-alcoholic nights.
CK, that's wonderful news. I'm very pleased for you.
IMHO one of Life's Little Mysteries™ is why Drambuie is the nectar of the gods, but Glayva just sort of isn't. Must be the high proportion of Highland Park.
Fineline, if you really have more blackberry GIN than you know what to do with, get some smallish bottles (say 37½cl or half-bottle size), some pretty labels and give it away as Christmas presents - your friends will love you for ever!
Make sure the recipients know it's basically neat GIN though - we did it with damson GIN one year and had to explain to one of the recipients (who happened to be D's boss) that you drink it like a liqueur and not like a wine ...
eta: devil's food CAKE has been manufactured - help yourselves!
Yesterday I made slight inroads (a glass) into the 2010 blackberry gin, and I think there older brews to try too, including Rhubarb, black currant and gooseberry. It’s part of a long standing decluttering project, sped up slightly by the need to empty the booze cupboard to identify the source of a dodgy whiff. Whiff not identified (something behind the built in cupboard perhaps? I should know as I built it in) but the extent of the decluttering needed is either worrying or something to be looked forward to on those long winter evenings.
I agree about giving little bottles of berry gin for gifts, Lakeland used to do kilner condiment bottles, must be about 150mls, and I’ve used them for gifts of blueberry gin before. You can presumably get them online.
We’re off to Cambridge for a university interview for my eldest son. No time to linger there unfortunately as we have to get back to Cambridge this evening to pick up my youngest from a school trip.
We give out damson gin for presents. I've a bottle of last years that got lost and never made it to the intended recipient. It's going to be tricky not opening it ourselves. None got made this year as the weather was appalling when I was at my MiL's this autumn and I didn't fancy going out and harvesting any.
CL - that is good news about your neighbour's flat. I hope you get a good neighbour next.
Lazy sort of day here - lunch was leftover paella with some extra chicken and prawns added, and I'm currently waiting for some bread to happen.
@Heavenlyannie, have you any idea how envious I am of you being able to spend a day in Cambridge? Coffee in that nice little café near King's, some retail therapy, the Cambridge Sprint* and then dinner in Cafe Rouge or Côte - absolute heaven!
* Evensong at King's, then a quick sprint along the road for Evensong at St. John's
When I was taking photos on 365, I followed someone in Cambridge and was jealous most days. These days I'm going there regularly but don't get time to wander either.
@Heavenlyannie, have you any idea how envious I am of you being able to spend a day in Cambridge? Coffee in that nice little café near King's, some retail therapy, the Cambridge Sprint* and then dinner in Cafe Rouge or Côte - absolute heaven!
* Evensong at King's, then a quick sprint along the road for Evensong at St. John's
My post was written in a hurry as we left and had a big error in it - we were driving to York for the day. We actually managed to get back with only 20 mins to spare as my youngest got back 2 hours early from his trip to Belgium.
I am lucky enough to spend every day in Cambridge as that is where I live
Just back from my first stint of stewarding at the local Big Church (an Abbey), for an inspiring concert where the local county youth orchestra (very high standards) performed with a German school choir (equally high standards) with a programme that included Mozart’s Requiem. I don’t usually enjoy choral very much, but this was beautiful.
Went to see a highly enjoyable Dara O Briain live show a couple of weeks back, he'd already been here in early 2017. What a formidable chap, one of my favourite stand-uppers, and very learnéd of course. (And making a couple of jokes about his own supposed sucking up to Brian Cox... ). Good stuff. Friend from oop norf (UK) and with roots in Ireland, and over here for a stint, very much enjoyed it too.
Dylan Moran should be here some time in 2019, so looking forward to that, and a couple of minor prophets (stand-up comedians).
May Shippies and assorted populace and pet-ulace have a most enjoyable, blessed and relaxing Sunday!
Just back from my first stint of stewarding at the local Big Church (an Abbey), for an inspiring concert where the local county youth orchestra (very high standards) performed with a German school choir (equally high standards) with a programme that included Mozart’s Requiem. I don’t usually enjoy choral very much, but this was beautiful.
I went to a wonderful performance of Mozart's Requiem at our local Cathedral last week; it was preceded by Haydn's Little Organ Mass. A truly wonderful and inspiring evening!!
I am lucky enough to spend every day in Cambridge as that is where I live
Now I think about it, I think I knew you were from round there ... Lucky old you!
It's a beautiful, if rather chilly (-4°) day here, but at least the white stuff has (temporarily) stopped falling from the sky. No point in getting excited though - the forecast for Tuesday just says "snow". This is as opposed to "light snow" which can mean anything from a wee flurry to what you folk would probably call a minor blizzard. When they just say "snow", we can bet it's going to be quite a lot of it.
And it's only the middle of November. The roads and pavements already look like it should be January: D. shovelled out a little space along the deck yesterday, and the heap that it produced is already about a foot high, and if it carries on like this we'll be running out of places to put it before Christmas.
I've spent the afternoon cooking two different curries, an aubergine and green bean one and a potato one. I'm going to be serving them with chick pea pancakes, but there seems rather a lot, so help yourselves.
I hope the snow b*ggers off pronto Piglet and doesn't come back till the New Year. I guess you don't want to know its been rather a lovely day here in London.
Just coming here to put this link up - it's a link to the site for booking (free) tickets to be in the audience to the Radio Kent Carol Service at Rochester Cathedral. If you follow the links there are other things with tickets, loads outside London: including Glasgow, Belfast and Leeds
Just back from my first stint of stewarding at the local Big Church (an Abbey), for an inspiring concert where the local county youth orchestra (very high standards) performed with a German school choir (equally high standards) with a programme that included Mozart’s Requiem. I don’t usually enjoy choral very much, but this was beautiful.
I went to a wonderful performance of Mozart's Requiem at our local Cathedral last week; it was preceded by Haydn's Little Organ Mass. A truly wonderful and inspiring evening!!
Sigh. If I ever make it to the UK, my evenings will be filled with beautiful choral music.
I saw a You Tube vlog of a couple who were taking a big Brit holiday. They were in London and happened to be near St. Paul's Cathedral at 5PM. They were invited in (no fees!) if they wished to just sit quietly and listen. They called it a "concert"; I don't think they knew from evensong, but they were in awe and I don't think they are even choir music fans. Lucky, lucky them!
Thanks for the link, CK, though I'm not 100% sure I like the idea of having to provide photographic ID to get admission to my local Cathedral!
(Mind you, my current passport photograph depicts a most Grumpy and Undesirable Character. Back in the 1970s, when I sported Hair on my head and a Che Guevara Moustache on my upper lip, I could have passed for a South American terrorist/gunman/drug-runner......delete as applicable).
ION, Piglet may be comforted to know that today's weather here has been a mixture of low cloud, heavy showers, and a most dire and doleful East Wind (direct from Mordor) howling around the Palace towers and chimneys. again.
Just back from my first stint of stewarding at the local Big Church (an Abbey), for an inspiring concert where the local county youth orchestra (very high standards) performed with a German school choir (equally high standards) with a programme that included Mozart’s Requiem. I don’t usually enjoy choral very much, but this was beautiful.
I went to a wonderful performance of Mozart's Requiem at our local Cathedral last week; it was preceded by Haydn's Little Organ Mass. A truly wonderful and inspiring evening!!
Sigh. If I ever make it to the UK, my evenings will be filled with beautiful choral music.
I saw a You Tube vlog of a couple who were taking a big Brit holiday. They were in London and happened to be near St. Paul's Cathedral at 5PM. They were invited in (no fees!) if they wished to just sit quietly and listen. They called it a "concert"; I don't think they knew from evensong, but they were in awe and I don't think they are even choir music fans. Lucky, lucky them!
They would so love our local Cathedral choir, then - they are truly marvellous!
I love going to English cathedral Evensongs; one of the nicest was a very ordinary Tuesday in Bury St. Edmunds when about half a dozen of the lay clerks and the organist sang a plainsong service. There were about 15-20 in the congregation and it was lovely.
It was made even nicer because we went for a pint with the organist afterwards ...
I love going to English cathedral Evensongs; one of the nicest was a very ordinary Tuesday in Bury St. Edmunds when about half a dozen of the lay clerks and the organist sang a plainsong service. There were about 15-20 in the congregation and it was lovely.
It was made even nicer because we went for a pint with the organist afterwards ...
St Edmundsbury is a lovely Cathedral, so light and airy. I'd love to go to Evensong there!
@Bishops Finger - the photo ID was introduced to prevent abuse of these tickets. There were a few people who were using many, many email accounts to apply for free BBC tickets so managed to get tickets to everything and share them around. One of that group was banned a few years ago, but he was rumoured to be using tens of email addresses, maybe a hundred, even the dog had their own account. Another couple of people I know were doing something similar weren't banned, but were much lower key.
I might even consult the bread book and see if I can make some naan bread to go with it.
Piglet, if you have access to the Madhur Jaffrey BBC curry cookery book, there's a
naan bread recipe in that that works amazingly well in a breadmaker - I use it often!
@Bishops Finger - the photo ID was introduced to prevent abuse of these tickets. There were a few people who were using many, many email accounts to apply for free BBC tickets so managed to get tickets to everything and share them around. One of that group was banned a few years ago, but he was rumoured to be using tens of email addresses, maybe a hundred, even the dog had their own account. Another couple of people I know were doing something similar weren't banned, but were much lower key.
Yes, I thought that maybe there was some sort of scam going on! Fair enough, if the scam has been stopped, which presumably it has.
I love going to English cathedral Evensongs; one of the nicest was a very ordinary Tuesday in Bury St. Edmunds when about half a dozen of the lay clerks and the organist sang a plainsong service. There were about 15-20 in the congregation and it was lovely.
It was made even nicer because we went for a pint with the organist afterwards ...
St Edmundsbury is a lovely Cathedral, so light and airy. I'd love to go to Evensong there!
Not only lovely, light, and airy - but also quite modern by UK standards! That new tower, for all the criticism of it, and the expense - though much of that came surely from (IIRC) Dykes Bower's legacy - is a truly beautiful addition to the already beautiful Suffolk landscape.
We’re in York and were planning to visit the Minster, but it’s closed for graduations. If we head out early on Friday we may get a visit in before our train goes,but it would be a push and we’re both getting on a bit!
Did visit St Helen’s this morning though which has a spectacular green roof and organ.
... That new tower, for all the criticism of it, and the expense - though much of that came surely from (IIRC) Dykes Bower's legacy - is a truly beautiful addition to the already beautiful Suffolk landscape.
You're right about it being paid for at least in part by Dykes-Bower's legacy (IIRC the cost was something like £12 million), and even more right about it being truly beautiful - it's an absolute work of art, and manages to look as though it's always been there.
Worth every penny IMHO.
* * * * *
I didn't make the naan in the end - it needed yoghurt and I didn't have any, so I copped out. I did, however, make rather nice spiced rice to go with it, and it was really rather good. I'll see if I can find a link to that Madhur Jaffrey recipe; I think there's a copy of her book in my parents' old house, but that's un fat lot de bon.
We’re in York and were planning to visit the Minster, but it’s closed for graduations.
Surely Evensong is still conducted? Attending that - which you may do just by joining the queue for admittance to the choir stalls at the appropriate time - is IMO the best way to appreciate the building. This sort of thing is, after all, what’s it’s for.
Piglet will be pleased to know that, on Monday's "University Challenge", Emmanuel College Cambridge fielded a team which include one Connor Macdonald, hailing from a certain cathedral city in Canada.
My parents’ friend was a residentiary Canon at St Edmundsbury, and our honorary auntie, and we used to stay with her for a few days each year. She was single but lived in two fantastic houses in the churchyard (at different times) which to us as young children were just brilliant for exploring. One visit was just before my first ever piano exam and she arranged access so I could practise the piano in the choir school room in the cathedral. The grand piano and setting was perhaps a little OTT for a nine year old doing her Grade 3... I had completely forgotten about that til these posts do thanks for the nostalgia trip! “Auntie” M died over ten years ago now.. I haven’t been that way for years.
In other news, Winter appears to have started rather quickly.. I got five* loads of washing dry on the line on Saturday but yesterday was that cold drizzle which sleeps into your bones, turns everything grey, and is a gloomy precursor of What Is To Come.
We may finally be close to moving house, and prompted by an extortionate removal quote, as well as that horrid weather, I started decluttering. I’m aiming to rid the house of forty bags of Stuff (one per day on average til the end of the year) and am already three days ahead of target...
Piglet will be pleased to know that, on Monday's "University Challenge", Emmanuel College Cambridge fielded a team which include one Connor Macdonald, hailing from a certain cathedral city in Canada.
Thinking of St, Edmundsbury: we were at Evensong there a couple of years ago. Lord Tebbit (former Cabinet Minister under Mrs. Thatcher) and his wife were seated opposite us - they live in the town. I cannot abide the man's politics, but was touched to see how tenderly he cared for his wife, who was terribly maimed in the Brighton IRA bomb attack thirty years ago.
It's heading towards a frost down here tonight. I'm curled up at home sorting my desk out and getting distracted by the Ship, whilst Sandemaniac is at a cricket club Christmas meal. Think I have the better of the deal - I don't have to cycle home late in the freezing cold!
@Piglet if you need a copy of the Madhur Jaffrey naan recipe, I have a copy of the book.
The Palace stove is duly coaled up ready for the night.
One real blessing of my current situation is that I simply do NOT have to get up early any more - though I tend to surface briefly at around 6am to take Pills, and to top up the stove. First appointment tomorrow, so to speak, is brunch with a friend at 11am!
Good to hear someone's waving the flag for Freddy, BT - well done to them!
Fairly quiet sort of day here - although we got a little more snow last night it wasn't unmanageable. Lunch was bacon, lentil and tomato SOUP (made by me) and ciabatta (made by D.) and rather nice.
ION, Canada Post has decided now would be a good time to go on strike, and are saying that post that's already in the system probably won't be delivered until January. Guess who had sent off some forms for early-release of her pension (which she really could do with) last week? No matter - the nice gentleman at the pension place said I could e-mail the forms after all, so with any luck the Finance Monster will be at least temporarily outwitted in a couple of weeks.
They prefer snail-mail as you have to give them bank details, but honestly, it's a risk I'm prepared to take, as our post would currently be outpaced by a geriatric snail with arthritis.
Not sure that anyone's going to get any Christmas cards though ...
First frost of the winter in Zooport this morning. Took ten minutes to clear the screens so that the car was safe. I think this is due to our new home being almost at sea level where there are lots of reens and consequently more water vapour in the air.
I usually emerge after any frost has melted, but this morning I was ushering for the schools performance in the Big City so spent a while scraping the car windows. It was worth it with around 400 junior school kids enjoying the show (Billionaire Boy).
Comments
*pats self on back*
(*Unless pronounced thus by a displaced Scotsperson, such as my wife).
* Her social worker has had access to the flat for months to remove anything needed, and a few others have been in to repossess stuff, so anything there was obviously not needed.
It's been snowing here since about 8 o'clock this morning; D had to do a bit of shovelling to get the Pigletmobile out of the drive, and although it was a pretty filthy morning, we got in safely.
There were only five in the audience at the recital, but they had deep pockets, so we didn't have a wasted journey.
After lunch of The Sausage Thing, the rest of the day (and possibly most of tomorrow) is going to be spent Not Going Out.
CAKE might ensue later.
With regard to the fortification of cocoa, I'm not sure that GIN would be the right spirit - I think the flavours might not like each other. Whisky or Bailey's might be a better prospect.
Just my 2p though.
Piglet, I've been thinking of adding my blackberry gin to black coffee to give it a bit of a kick, though also not sure if the flavour would go with coffee. But I have all this blackberry gin and am thinking of things to do with it - in addition to drinking it as it is.
Cook with fruit, add to fruit salad, serve with duck and frozen blackberries or other game birds.
(It will keep, you will be able to drink this in a number of years.)
CK, that's wonderful news. I'm very pleased for you.
Fineline, if you really have more blackberry GIN than you know what to do with, get some smallish bottles (say 37½cl or half-bottle size), some pretty labels and give it away as Christmas presents - your friends will love you for ever!
Make sure the recipients know it's basically neat GIN though - we did it with damson GIN one year and had to explain to one of the recipients (who happened to be D's boss) that you drink it like a liqueur and not like a wine ...
eta: devil's food CAKE has been manufactured - help yourselves!
We’re off to Cambridge for a university interview for my eldest son. No time to linger there unfortunately as we have to get back to Cambridge this evening to pick up my youngest from a school trip.
CL - that is good news about your neighbour's flat. I hope you get a good neighbour next.
Lazy sort of day here - lunch was leftover paella with some extra chicken and prawns added, and I'm currently waiting for some bread to happen.
@Heavenlyannie, have you any idea how envious I am of you being able to spend a day in Cambridge? Coffee in that nice little café near King's, some retail therapy, the Cambridge Sprint* and then dinner in Cafe Rouge or Côte - absolute heaven!
* Evensong at King's, then a quick sprint along the road for Evensong at St. John's
When I was taking photos on 365, I followed someone in Cambridge and was jealous most days. These days I'm going there regularly but don't get time to wander either.
I am lucky enough to spend every day in Cambridge as that is where I live
Dylan Moran should be here some time in 2019, so looking forward to that, and a couple of minor prophets (stand-up comedians).
May Shippies and assorted populace and pet-ulace have a most enjoyable, blessed and relaxing Sunday!
I went to a wonderful performance of Mozart's Requiem at our local Cathedral last week; it was preceded by Haydn's Little Organ Mass. A truly wonderful and inspiring evening!!
Spencer (Guide Dog Puppy) is sponsored by Marks and Spencer there and we are taking him for his photoshoot
He’s growing fast!
It's a beautiful, if rather chilly (-4°) day here, but at least the white stuff has (temporarily) stopped falling from the sky. No point in getting excited though - the forecast for Tuesday just says "snow". This is as opposed to "light snow" which can mean anything from a wee flurry to what you folk would probably call a minor blizzard. When they just say "snow", we can bet it's going to be quite a lot of it.
And it's only the middle of November. The roads and pavements already look like it should be January: D. shovelled out a little space along the deck yesterday, and the heap that it produced is already about a foot high, and if it carries on like this we'll be running out of places to put it before Christmas.
I hope the snow b*ggers off pronto Piglet and doesn't come back till the New Year. I guess you don't want to know its been rather a lovely day here in London.
Sigh. If I ever make it to the UK, my evenings will be filled with beautiful choral music.
I saw a You Tube vlog of a couple who were taking a big Brit holiday. They were in London and happened to be near St. Paul's Cathedral at 5PM. They were invited in (no fees!) if they wished to just sit quietly and listen. They called it a "concert"; I don't think they knew from evensong, but they were in awe and I don't think they are even choir music fans. Lucky, lucky them!
(Mind you, my current passport photograph depicts a most Grumpy and Undesirable Character. Back in the 1970s, when I sported Hair on my head and a Che Guevara Moustache on my upper lip, I could have passed for a South American terrorist/gunman/drug-runner......delete as applicable).
ION, Piglet may be comforted to know that today's weather here has been a mixture of low cloud, heavy showers, and a most dire and doleful East Wind (direct from Mordor) howling around the Palace towers and chimneys.
Well, chimney.
I'm contemplating the manufacture of curry too - in my case with leftover rotisserie chicken (I know you're a veggie - sorry about that!).
I might even consult the bread book and see if I can make some naan bread to go with it.
They would so love our local Cathedral choir, then - they are truly marvellous!
It was made even nicer because we went for a pint with the organist afterwards ...
St Edmundsbury is a lovely Cathedral, so light and airy. I'd love to go to Evensong there!
naan bread recipe in that that works amazingly well in a breadmaker - I use it often!
Mrs. S, salivating
Yes, I thought that maybe there was some sort of scam going on! Fair enough, if the scam has been stopped, which presumably it has.
Not only lovely, light, and airy - but also quite modern by UK standards! That new tower, for all the criticism of it, and the expense - though much of that came surely from (IIRC) Dykes Bower's legacy - is a truly beautiful addition to the already beautiful Suffolk landscape.
Did visit St Helen’s this morning though which has a spectacular green roof and organ.
Worth every penny IMHO.
* * * * *
I didn't make the naan in the end - it needed yoghurt and I didn't have any, so I copped out. I did, however, make rather nice spiced rice to go with it, and it was really rather good. I'll see if I can find a link to that Madhur Jaffrey recipe; I think there's a copy of her book in my parents' old house, but that's un fat lot de bon.
Surely Evensong is still conducted? Attending that - which you may do just by joining the queue for admittance to the choir stalls at the appropriate time - is IMO the best way to appreciate the building. This sort of thing is, after all, what’s it’s for.
In other news, Winter appears to have started rather quickly.. I got five* loads of washing dry on the line on Saturday but yesterday was that cold drizzle which sleeps into your bones, turns everything grey, and is a gloomy precursor of What Is To Come.
We may finally be close to moving house, and prompted by an extortionate removal quote, as well as that horrid weather, I started decluttering. I’m aiming to rid the house of forty bags of Stuff (one per day on average til the end of the year) and am already three days ahead of target...
And they won, a second time, very convincingly!
@Piglet if you need a copy of the Madhur Jaffrey naan recipe, I have a copy of the book.
The Palace stove is duly coaled up ready for the night.
One real blessing of my current situation is that I simply do NOT have to get up early any more - though I tend to surface briefly at around 6am to take Pills, and to top up the stove. First appointment tomorrow, so to speak, is brunch with a friend at 11am!
Fairly quiet sort of day here - although we got a little more snow last night it wasn't unmanageable. Lunch was bacon, lentil and tomato SOUP (made by me) and ciabatta (made by D.) and rather nice.
ION, Canada Post has decided now would be a good time to go on strike, and are saying that post that's already in the system probably won't be delivered until January. Guess who had sent off some forms for early-release of her pension (which she really could do with) last week? No matter - the nice gentleman at the pension place said I could e-mail the forms after all, so with any luck the Finance Monster will be at least temporarily outwitted in a couple of weeks.
They prefer snail-mail as you have to give them bank details, but honestly, it's a risk I'm prepared to take, as our post would currently be outpaced by a geriatric snail with arthritis.
Not sure that anyone's going to get any Christmas cards though ...