I'm delighted to report that I've accepted an offer for a little more than the original one, and with a closing date of 20th January, which will be a bit less fraught than the 13th.
It's still going to mean a very busy week when I get back to Canada, but they've said they're happy for me to take whatever furniture I want, and leave the rest for them to either keep, sell or otherwise dispose of, which is absolutely brilliant. I have two Orkney chairs and a mock Charles Rennie Mackintosh chair which are coming with me, but all the rest of the furniture (and anything electrical, which won't work over here) can stay - it would cost less to replace it than ship it over the Pond. Some crockery, cutlery and small kitchenalia will come with me too, plus a few shelves-worth of books and, of course, the remaining teddy-bears.
I imagine @Piglet may be wanting to sort an employment before locating. Though when I see her on Thursday I shall be trying to sell her the Southside which, I contend, has all the human frame requires.
I imagine @Piglet may be wanting to sort an employment before locating. Though when I see her on Thursday I shall be trying to sell her the Southside which, I contend, has all the human frame requires.
I shall indeed be looking for gainful work; if I can find something that pays a living wage, I should be able to put down a decent deposit* and take out a small mortgage (I'd rather not go back to paying a mortgage at my time of life, but needs must ...).
As to actual location, I may not have that much choice: it'll depend very much on what I can afford, and the relative location of the aforementioned gainful employment.
* Unfortunately the current relative values of the pound and the Canadian dollar are not in my favour - thank you people who voted for B*ris.
Oh, I'll have some! And you can also get us some of the Canada snow, if you like. It's been inseasonably warm again in parts, up to the low and mid teens C, and I've encountered not one, but two buzzing flies... in this 'ere mid-December! Ghastly.
Hope all goes well, Piglet, over here now, back there then, and finally Olda Scotia again, for real.
I wonder how LVER is doing? Did she ever get to Fois Gras Land?
Meanwhile on my end, the <expletive> <expletive> <expletive> strikers claim that they are going to keep it up through the holidays. <Expletives>. So no foie gras land for us then. Booooo. New plans: my parents have managed to change their (plane) tickets to come to Paris instead so we are going to stay here for Christmas. Which is not so bad for us but kind of sucky for my inlaws. We also need to review the menu. We were planning on goose but with only four of us we don’t think it’s a goer anymore. I think we might be headed for some sort of game bird instead. Pheasant, maybe. Well, we have to make the best of the situation .
I think the unions’ position could badly backfire on the strikers actually. Even in the most grievous strike in living memory (the famous walkout of 1995) they had the decency to call a truce over the holidays. AFAICT they already don’t really have public opinion on their side and now they’re going to put the entire country’s backs up. People are very, very annoyed. (And it rained again for my hour’s walk to work – after I left the best part an hour late because the nanny got stuck halfway to my house when someone passed out on the tram.)
O well. Happy Christmas, anyway - some sort of game bird sounds good! Casseroled in a red wine sauce, with herbs, vegetables (NOT sprouts!), and spices. Will the Captain also be partaking?
I recall a BBC Radio 3 programme about Erik Satie, who, I gather, at one stage in his life, walked to work in Paris every day from Arcueil to the bars in Montmartre, where he played piano...
Oh well. Should have been sprucing up to go out to Messiah at the Queen's Hall about now. But Mr F caught cold in London and is howking and sneezing. He blames the long tramp through Bermondsey in the rain. I think it comes of being out and about in a city of eight million people, several of whom probably possessed of a cold virus.
If it's any consolation, there are some fine renderings of Messiah on YouTube, and you can, at least, swig GIN whilst listening (should you be so inclined).
I have finally begun my Christmas shopping; I've been using "not being in the mood" as an excuse, but when my sister suggested a trip to the Gyle I couldn't really put it off any longer, so pressies have now been purchased for my nephews and nieces and the littlies.
And cards*, wrapping-up paper and gift tags.
* I'm not sending many, but there are one or two people who ought to be informed of my change in circumstances.
Presents for the littlies have been wrapped; SOUP is bubbling merrily on the stove; and more wrapping will ensue later.
I'm not sure I'll ever get used to cooking on gas; I've never used it before, and it seems quite hard to keep it to a gentle simmer without the flame going out altogether.
It's a cold, but partly sunny day, and my niece and her choir are putting on a concert this evening, which should be very jolly.
O well. Happy Christmas, anyway - some sort of game bird sounds good! Casseroled in a red wine sauce, with herbs, vegetables (NOT sprouts!), and spices. Will the Captain also be partaking?
I recall a BBC Radio 3 programme about Erik Satie, who, I gather, at one stage in his life, walked to work in Paris every day from Arcueil to the bars in Montmartre, where he played piano...
Was that when he was eating white food to the exclusion of food of any other "colour"? I believe he only wore white clothes for a time too but that could have been when he lived on the coast, rather than filthy Paris.
Presents for the littlies have been wrapped; SOUP is bubbling merrily on the stove; and more wrapping will ensue later.
I'm not sure I'll ever get used to cooking on gas; I've never used it before, and it seems quite hard to keep it to a gentle simmer without the flame going out altogether.
It's a cold, but partly sunny day, and my niece and her choir are putting on a concert this evening, which should be very jolly.
Ha! Ever tried cooking on coal, and/or wood? The Rayburn in the galley of the Ark is a friendly Dragon, but it is rather difficult to control the amount of heat he puts out - which reminds me, I must check on my Toad-In-The-Hole...
It was fine - just right, and is being devoured now...
Wow, well done @Piglet! All the best for the coming sale and move xx
We are in Heidelberg and enjoying Omi and Opa duties. Mr Boogs is doing lots of cooking meals and I’m doing lots of dancing with baby Anuka in the evenings when she’s unsettled 💕
Niblings' presents packed and posted and in the final stretch of Christmas prep. Tomorrow is my Jelly Coworking Christmas do and Thursday is local Churches together carol singing at Sainsbury's. Fingers crossed for dry weather at least.
My primary job as freelance indexer wasn't keeping the lights on so I'm working relief at our main library. The extra hours have been kicking my ass a bit, but I do get to take out extra library books and do not get fines. Can you guess my plans for the Christmas period?
Presents for the littlies have been wrapped; SOUP is bubbling merrily on the stove; and more wrapping will ensue later.
I'm not sure I'll ever get used to cooking on gas; I've never used it before, and it seems quite hard to keep it to a gentle simmer without the flame going out altogether.
It's a cold, but partly sunny day, and my niece and her choir are putting on a concert this evening, which should be very jolly.
You need a simmer pad. The link is to a posh modern one. Ours is made from some mineral material similar to asbestos encased in wire screen,, and works a treat on the gas cooktop.
Back from the concert, and having a very Proud Auntie moment - the choir was excellent, and my niece is an awesome conductor.
Pity they had to sing O holy night, which I loathe with a passion, and which made me cry* - I don't think I'm quite ready for Christmas music yet!
* probably because I was thinking how much D. hated it too ...
Might have agreed at one time, but we had in our congregation a very fine baritone, a Scotsman who sang it like no other. He died recently from oesophagal cancer, so that song is seen as a kind of monument to him around here.
I'm not sure I'll ever get used to cooking on gas; I've never used it before, and it seems quite hard to keep it to a gentle simmer without the flame going out altogether.
Most modern gas hobs have a switch-on mechanism that can be confusing to those who haven't cooked on gas before. I suspect you have to give it a quarter (perhaps half) turn before clicking the ignition button. To turn the flame down common sense would leade one to assume that you turn the knob back towards the OFF position, but most now have a means of safe flame regulation that means to lower the heat you turn more ON (if you see what I mean). So thinking of the control knob as a clockface and you move the knob anti-clockwise, if 12 noon = OFF and 9 o'clock = full ON/IGNITION, then 6 o'clock = lowest flame.
Also the easiest way to get a simmer is to move the pan to a smaller gas ring. I bring to the boil/simmer on whatever is biggest (but not too big) and then move to the smallest ring, which saves gas too! I much prefer the direct heat and cool of gas than electric rings which keep heating when cooling, if you get my drift. But we like what we are most used to!
Miss S, used to having an induction hob, had to deal with a gas hob when they moved into their cottage. Her solution was simply not to clean the hob until it was replaced by another induction hob - more controllable than gas, much easier to clean, and stops heating instantaneously. Magic.
I had an'interesting' experience this morning - going out for lunch with friends, I thought I'd wear (shock, horror!) a skirt. Which meant tights. So I extracted my faithful opaque brown tights and shoved my right foot in. 'Hmm', I thought, 'that feels prickly, I wonder if a dead leaf has got in there?'
Luckily, I looked, rather than simply putting my hand in, because what was there was the biggest hornet I had ever seen I screamed, flung open the window, and threw the tights out on to the terrace.
Kind Mr S took them and put them in the dustbin <eurgh>
Well, stuff this for a lark - the "buyer" of my house (who was to be buying it for her sister) apparently can't get financing (where have I heard that before?) and the sale has fallen through.
F*ck.
There's another viewing tomorrow, but I've decided hope is a luxury I can't afford.
I am at Heathrow just about to board the first of three flights to go to be with our eldest and her family for Christmas in New Zealand. A long,long journey ahead but worth it to be reunited. 😊
The language school I work for had it's Christmas party this evening. Because I have an hour's drive home, which costs about 6 euros in motorway tolls, plus petrol, and I'm working tomorrow back here in Clermont, Mr D and I decided it would be easier if I stayed in a hotel overnight. Which is fine, as it meant I could drink a bit...but the party finished much earlier than I expected (8.30) so I'm back in the hotel, feeling a bit as though I've wasted money. Mind you, it's very windy so the drive wouldn't have been much fun.
@Boogie I had a great success the other evening with a vegan starter of thinly sliced beetroot carpaccio and a balsamic dressing. Very simple and it was a cold starter (I'm in the southern hemisphere): I boiled young beetroot until tender, sliced them finely and set out slices on a decorative platter, chopped some toasted pecan nuts and a little rocket with red onion rings, drizzled over a balsamic vinaigrette.
Beetroot is wonderful and versatile! There are many who recoil from them, but any number of veggie recipes use them to achieve body with flavour but without dryness.
Comments
It's still going to mean a very busy week when I get back to Canada, but they've said they're happy for me to take whatever furniture I want, and leave the rest for them to either keep, sell or otherwise dispose of, which is absolutely brilliant. I have two Orkney chairs and a mock Charles Rennie Mackintosh chair which are coming with me, but all the rest of the furniture (and anything electrical, which won't work over here) can stay - it would cost less to replace it than ship it over the Pond. Some crockery, cutlery and small kitchenalia will come with me too, plus a few shelves-worth of books and, of course, the remaining teddy-bears.
Crikey, it's going to be quite a few weeks!
I shall indeed be looking for gainful work; if I can find something that pays a living wage, I should be able to put down a decent deposit* and take out a small mortgage (I'd rather not go back to paying a mortgage at my time of life, but needs must ...).
As to actual location, I may not have that much choice: it'll depend very much on what I can afford, and the relative location of the aforementioned gainful employment.
* Unfortunately the current relative values of the pound and the Canadian dollar are not in my favour - thank you people who voted for B*ris.
Talisker??? I'd use that to polish the headlamps on the Pigletmobile ...
Hope all goes well, Piglet, over here now, back there then, and finally Olda Scotia again, for real.
I wonder how LVER is doing? Did she ever get to Fois Gras Land?
Meanwhile on my end, the <expletive> <expletive> <expletive> strikers claim that they are going to keep it up through the holidays. <Expletives>. So no foie gras land for us then. Booooo. New plans: my parents have managed to change their (plane) tickets to come to Paris instead so we are going to stay here for Christmas. Which is not so bad for us but kind of sucky for my inlaws. We also need to review the menu. We were planning on goose but with only four of us we don’t think it’s a goer anymore. I think we might be headed for some sort of game bird instead. Pheasant, maybe. Well, we have to make the best of the situation
I think the unions’ position could badly backfire on the strikers actually. Even in the most grievous strike in living memory (the famous walkout of 1995) they had the decency to call a truce over the holidays. AFAICT they already don’t really have public opinion on their side and now they’re going to put the entire country’s backs up. People are very, very annoyed. (And it rained again for my hour’s walk to work – after I left the best part an hour late because the nanny got stuck halfway to my house when someone passed out on the tram.)
I recall a BBC Radio 3 programme about Erik Satie, who, I gather, at one stage in his life, walked to work in Paris every day from Arcueil to the bars in Montmartre, where he played piano...
That's probably correct, anyway. I blame Boris.
If it's any consolation, there are some fine renderings of Messiah on YouTube, and you can, at least, swig GIN whilst listening (should you be so inclined).
I have finally begun my Christmas shopping; I've been using "not being in the mood" as an excuse, but when my sister suggested a trip to the Gyle I couldn't really put it off any longer, so pressies have now been purchased for my nephews and nieces and the littlies.
And cards*, wrapping-up paper and gift tags.
* I'm not sending many, but there are one or two people who ought to be informed of my change in circumstances.
I'm not sure I'll ever get used to cooking on gas; I've never used it before, and it seems quite hard to keep it to a gentle simmer without the flame going out altogether.
It's a cold, but partly sunny day, and my niece and her choir are putting on a concert this evening, which should be very jolly.
Was that when he was eating white food to the exclusion of food of any other "colour"? I believe he only wore white clothes for a time too but that could have been when he lived on the coast, rather than filthy Paris.
Ha! Ever tried cooking on coal, and/or wood? The Rayburn in the galley of the Ark is a friendly Dragon, but it is rather difficult to control the amount of heat he puts out - which reminds me, I must check on my Toad-In-The-Hole...
It was fine - just right, and is being devoured now...
We are in Heidelberg and enjoying Omi and Opa duties. Mr Boogs is doing lots of cooking meals and I’m doing lots of dancing with baby Anuka in the evenings when she’s unsettled 💕
(*ALE)
(wheat beer)
Niblings' presents packed and posted and in the final stretch of Christmas prep. Tomorrow is my Jelly Coworking Christmas do and Thursday is local Churches together carol singing at Sainsbury's. Fingers crossed for dry weather at least.
My primary job as freelance indexer wasn't keeping the lights on so I'm working relief at our main library. The extra hours have been kicking my ass a bit, but I do get to take out extra library books and do not get fines. Can you guess my plans for the Christmas period?
Edited to fix code - Piglet, AS host
Pity they had to sing O holy night, which I loathe with a passion, and which made me cry* - I don't think I'm quite ready for Christmas music yet!
* probably because I was thinking how much D. hated it too ...
You need a simmer pad. The link is to a posh modern one. Ours is made from some mineral material similar to asbestos encased in wire screen,, and works a treat on the gas cooktop.
Might have agreed at one time, but we had in our congregation a very fine baritone, a Scotsman who sang it like no other. He died recently from oesophagal cancer, so that song is seen as a kind of monument to him around here.
Most modern gas hobs have a switch-on mechanism that can be confusing to those who haven't cooked on gas before. I suspect you have to give it a quarter (perhaps half) turn before clicking the ignition button. To turn the flame down common sense would leade one to assume that you turn the knob back towards the OFF position, but most now have a means of safe flame regulation that means to lower the heat you turn more ON (if you see what I mean). So thinking of the control knob as a clockface and you move the knob anti-clockwise, if 12 noon = OFF and 9 o'clock = full ON/IGNITION, then 6 o'clock = lowest flame.
Anyway, just a thought ...
I had an'interesting' experience this morning - going out for lunch with friends, I thought I'd wear (shock, horror!) a skirt. Which meant tights. So I extracted my faithful opaque brown tights and shoved my right foot in. 'Hmm', I thought, 'that feels prickly, I wonder if a dead leaf has got in there?'
Luckily, I looked, rather than simply putting my hand in, because what was there was the biggest hornet I had ever seen
Kind Mr S took them and put them in the dustbin <eurgh>
Mrs. S, still shaken
In other news ...
Well, stuff this for a lark - the "buyer" of my house (who was to be buying it for her sister) apparently can't get financing (where have I heard that before?) and the sale has fallen through.
F*ck.
There's another viewing tomorrow, but I've decided hope is a luxury I can't afford.
But, it fits.
Every silver lining has a cloud...but the next offer may be better.
Thank you for the correction. It seems the word I meant is 'embuggerance', according to the Discworld website.
Whatever.
Hope you'll have a good night's sleep, and a safe trip back on Saturday!
Rats (or other four-letter words).
I did, however, have a lovely Shipmeet with @Firenze and @Dafyd this morning - thank you for your company!
There is no such thing as mincemeat, Christmas pud or Christmas cake here in Heidelberg.
So we have brought the cake and pud over. Yesterday I made mincemeat and mince pies. They were delicious!
More have been requested.
Another resource is the Guardian website under Lifestyle/Food/recipes. They have regular columnists who are veggie and vegan.
We always have a cheese fondue on Boxing Day.
I love cheese fondue @Firenze 🙂
Sounds amazing!
Beetroot doughnuts really are rather good.