The Untied Kingdom? - the British thread 2021

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  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    We have a smart meter. It works, but the readouts mean nothing to me. 🤔
  • BroJamesBroJames Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host
    Ours can be switched between current usage in £p/hr, and usage so far in the last day/week/month.

    When I spoke to our energy supplier (Octopus) about the display not working, and mentioned that the engineer had been unable to get it working for gas, the agent said she thought the three walls were the problem, more than the straight-line distance between the gas and electricity meters.
  • kingsfoldkingsfold Shipmate
    So what's the point of the energy companies pushing you to have a smart meter installed if, once they're there, they don't actually work?

    My supplier is sending me emails trying to persuade me to have one installed, but I'm ignoring them currently. The meters are in very close vicinity to each other (though not in a straight line - on either side of a corner), but they're right in the centre of the flat, about as far away from an external wall as they can be, and where, in my experience, the signal is weakest (leastways the mobile signal is). And it's a tenement flat with stone walls, so I wouldn't be in the least surprised if it were to turn out that they didn't send readings to wherever, and still had to be read manually...
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    The restaurant was a very pleasant affair. It was a Franco-Tunisian outfit. For the entrées I had shakshuka and husband en rouge had octopus cooked in squid ink. We got the same main course - veal meat balls with couscous, and then for dessert he had rice pudding with lychees and coconut, and I had "Tunis delight" which turned out to be moulabieh (a North African milk flan with orange flower and pistachios). A nice Chiroubles 2018 washed it down and left me walking a little bit crooked back to the bus (in the end I didn't wear the heels but I did Do My Hair).
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited June 12
    Gosh - what an exotic-sounding menu!

    I think I might personally have drawn the line at eating octopus. I know it's completely irrational, given that we (Humming Beans in general, that is) devour equally intelligent creatures without a thought, but...
    :grimace:
  • TheOrganistTheOrganist Shipmate
    We're getting the garden ready for an open-air full choir singing afternoon. This will be the first time we've all been together since March last year. Supplies of coffee, tea and CAKE are ready for half-time refreshment.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    We're getting the garden ready for an open-air full choir singing afternoon. This will be the first time we've all been together since March last year. Supplies of coffee, tea and CAKE are ready for half-time refreshment.

    Have FUN!

    🙂🙂

  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    We kept fancy rats for some years as well and I loved them to bits, but they are very short-lived and heartbreak every 18 months or so is hard to take. :disappointed:

    We have friends coming over to a meal tomorrow evening so I had to do a live shop this morning (as opposed to an online delivery). It's much more easy to overspend in store - "Oh, there's that, I'll just take it." £90 later... :flushed:

    It is hot, hot, hot and we've got the parasol up over the patio table in readiness for lunch and dinner outside. Coffee and cake outside has already happened. :smiley:
  • Wesley JWesley J Shipmate
    Gosh - what an exotic-sounding menu!

    I think I might personally have drawn the line at eating octopus. [...]
    They are very versatile. Some even find them quite energising!
  • Wesley JWesley J Shipmate
    edited June 12
    On Friday, on way my home, I found a branch of my favourite supermarket slash lots of their sushi concotions' prices by half, and so I got rather a few of those there and then; I'm eating a bowl of salmon poké, as we type!

    Sushi is a nice food for hot weather in my opinion, and with the current heatwavette of 27°C (forecast up to 30°), it is a light, yet most pleasant culinary feast for the Wesleyan palate. :)
  • Another sushi fan here, and I do like octopus (and squid).

    We had leftover barbecued chicken and salad for lunch in the garden. I spent the morning weeding the veg patch and it’s looking much more presentable now, though there are bare patches where the cabbaged did not thrive. Husband has gone to pick up a cupboard from his parents and then we are having a spring clean and sort out of the hall.
  • Personally, I prefer raw salted herring, wot is et in The Netherlands (and elsewhere, I daresay).

    It is the ideal accompaniment to a lunch of BEER (with a nice ice-cold Oude Jenever as well).
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    Rollmop herring is very popular round here and seen for sale in jars at the Chippy.

    The name "rollmops" is German in origin, from the words rollen (to roll) and Mops meaning fat young boy. The form Rollmops is singular, and the plural is Rollmöpse.

    🙂🙂

  • SarasaSarasa Shipmate
    After a morning spent putting the spare room back together, including lugging various things to the shed we took ourselves off to nearby pretty town with very large church and various cafes. I failed as a vegan (again) by having goats cheese salad. Husband went for the falafel and dips. Both were nice, but I think he got the best option. Couldn't see inside the church as a wedding was about to happen, but had a nice mooch round the outside.
    We're pleased with the way the room has turned out, even if we seem to have accidently painted it the same colour as our new car.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited June 12
    Boogie wrote: »
    Rollmop herring is very popular round here and seen for sale in jars at the Chippy.

    The name "rollmops" is German in origin, from the words rollen (to roll) and Mops meaning fat young boy. The form Rollmops is singular, and the plural is Rollmöpse.

    🙂🙂

    Thanks @Boogie!

    The word *Rollmops* was sort of in my head, so to speak, but I wasn't sure if it existed.

    I may have heard it in German lessons over 50 years ago - at my Skool, the German lessons were conducted entirely in German...so odd bits of that language are still tucked away in my brain, even if they're not labelled...
  • Husband likes rollmops and the local corner shop sells them (from Eastern Europe). I must admit they are not to my taste.
  • Husband likes rollmops and the local corner shop sells them (from Eastern Europe). I must admit they are not to my taste.

    :lol:

    Yes, they need to be Very Salty Indeed, and accompanied by copious draughts of BEER.

    I'll have a look for some (rollmops, that is) next time I'm in Tess Coe's.
  • Ex_OrganistEx_Organist Shipmate
    Husband likes rollmops and the local corner shop sells them (from Eastern Europe). I must admit they are not to my taste.

    :lol:

    Yes, they need to be Very Salty Indeed, and accompanied by copious draughts of BEER.

    My Eastern European friends in a previous parish used to consume them with copious shots of VODKA.
  • Wesley JWesley J Shipmate
    edited June 12
    Boogie wrote: »
    Rollmop herring is very popular round here and seen for sale in jars at the Chippy.

    The name "rollmops" is German in origin, from the words rollen (to roll) and Mops meaning fat young boy. The form Rollmops is singular, and the plural is Rollmöpse.

    🙂🙂

    Thanks @Boogie!

    The word *Rollmops* was sort of in my head, so to speak, but I wasn't sure if it existed.

    I may have heard it in German lessons over 50 years ago - at my Skool, the German lessons were conducted entirely in German...so odd bits of that language are still tucked away in my brain, even if they're not labelled...
    Just imagine what would have happenend language-wise if they had won the war! Even worse! (which is in German: noch schlimmer!)

    (I'm saying this is the spirit of Fawlty Towers' The Germans. :) )

    Möpse, of course, also has a rather different meaning. But let's not get into that. Ehem. :blush:
  • Husband likes rollmops and the local corner shop sells them (from Eastern Europe). I must admit they are not to my taste.

    :lol:

    Yes, they need to be Very Salty Indeed, and accompanied by copious draughts of BEER.

    My Eastern European friends in a previous parish used to consume them with copious shots of VODKA.

    Indeed - any Fiery Spirit will do nicely, though BEER is better on a hot day.
  • Wesley J wrote: »
    Boogie wrote: »
    Rollmop herring is very popular round here and seen for sale in jars at the Chippy.

    The name "rollmops" is German in origin, from the words rollen (to roll) and Mops meaning fat young boy. The form Rollmops is singular, and the plural is Rollmöpse.

    🙂🙂

    Thanks @Boogie!

    The word *Rollmops* was sort of in my head, so to speak, but I wasn't sure if it existed.

    I may have heard it in German lessons over 50 years ago - at my Skool, the German lessons were conducted entirely in German...so odd bits of that language are still tucked away in my brain, even if they're not labelled...
    Just imagine what would have happenend language-wise if they had won the war! Even worse! (which is in German: noch schlimmer!)

    Möpse, of course, also has a rather different meaning. But let's not get into that. Ehem. :)

    O I dunno. Make a clean breast of it...
  • Wesley JWesley J Shipmate
    Don't rub it in!
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Groceries and WINE have been purchased and conveyed to the château in the trusty trolley (you were all quite right - it really is a vast improvement on lugging one heavy bag on my shoulder and another in my hand).

    I'm reviving myself with a few cubes of chilled watermelon, which must be one of the most refreshing things known to man.

    Laundry is birling around in the once-again functional tumble-dryer and it's an absolutely beautiful day - 16° with a nice little westerly breeze.

    I must put the steak in to marinate for supper shortly, and I'm going to try Nenya's oven-roasted chips to go with it.
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    Piglet wrote: »
    I must put the steak in to marinate for supper shortly, and I'm going to try Nenya's oven-roasted chips to go with it.
    Oo - do let us know how you get on.

    I've been baking chocolate chip cookies and flapjack this afternoon. Last week I did the cookies with milk chocolate drops (a bit on the sweet side) and this week I managed to get dark chocolate drops, which I think is an improvement.

    We have the usual stir fry and red wine later.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    The trouble with looking up a classic recipe - in this case veal stroganoff - on t'web is that a load of things with little in common bar the main ingredient and the name. I shall fall back on the gravy-splattered pages of a cookbook I've had for 50 years. Except half-fat creme fraiche for sour cream.

    Bright but very breezy day here - called in on friends and did one of those esoteric local trawls resulting in, inter alia, ice cube trays and Alphonse mangos.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    The potatoes came out really rather nicely; Nen's temperature (160°C) seemed a little lower than I expected, so I put it up to 180°, tossed the wedges in a little oil with salt, pepper and a few thyme leaves and they were about right. It was also a really good steak, one of two I bought in Sainsbury's last week, and even cheaper than the Tessie's ones.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Cocktail Hour would have gone better had I not knocked over one of the glasses and swamped the worktop with a mixture of vodka, Rose's lime cordial, orange juice, Grand Marnier and Liquor 43.

    Ironically the cocktail was called Best Year.
  • HelixHelix Shipmate
    Firenze wrote: »
    Cocktail Hour would have gone better had I not knocked over one of the glasses and swamped the worktop with a mixture of vodka, Rose's lime cordial, orange juice, Grand Marnier and Liquor 43.

    Ironically the cocktail was called Best Year.

    Oh Lord - that would have seen me lapping up on the counter like a cat - regardless of how clean or not it might be. I hate waste!
  • We're off to see Master S and the Little Redheaded Welsh Cousin today, at St Fagan's Museum of Welsh Life. It's to celebrate his 40th, so we're taking TIG#1 and a picnic, and I've made what I think is Master S's favourite among my cake repertoire, Cherry Bakewell Blondies. It was only as I put the tray in the oven that I realised it would have also been wonderful with raspberries *sigh*

    It's far too much exertion - on a very hot day - for my very pregnant DiL, though, sadly...
  • SandemaniacSandemaniac Shipmate
    For some reason, my laptop tends to disconnect from our wifi when it sleeps. Much like me from reality, I guess. So I have the fun of reconnnecting it and seeing which other local networks I can see. There's one called Aspi Clan which wouldn't be a bad description for this household, and another called In This House Benjamin, which I am intrigued by.

    This morning I encountered one called Virgin Mary - has something happened that I've missed?

    (spoiler - I suspect it's the local church, as that's an SMV)
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    edited June 13
    Piglet wrote: »
    The potatoes came out really rather nicely; Nen's temperature (160°C) seemed a little lower than I expected, so I put it up to 180°, tossed the wedges in a little oil with salt, pepper and a few thyme leaves and they were about right. It was also a really good steak, one of two I bought in Sainsbury's last week, and even cheaper than the Tessie's ones.
    So glad it worked for you. I have a fan oven so probably tend to underestimate temperatures a bit.

    @The Intrepid Mrs S I hope you have a lovely day. I'm sure we must have taken the Nenlets to St Fagans when they were small but I confess I can't remember anything about it.

    We're due to have coffee with friends later this morning and I've been up early to do lots of food preparation for other friends coming here for a meal this evening. Feeling a bit Domestic Goddess-ish, à la Piglet.
  • AravisAravis Shipmate
    Unfortunately visitors aren’t allowed inside the houses at St Fagans at the moment, so it won’t be anywhere near as interesting an experience as usual, but the grounds are still pleasant.
  • Wesley JWesley J Shipmate
    Aravis wrote: »
    Unfortunately visitors aren’t allowed inside the houses at St Fagans at the moment, so it won’t be anywhere near as interesting an experience as usual, but the grounds are still pleasant.
    Grounds to be joyful indeed - have fun! :)
    Firenze wrote: »
    Cocktail Hour would have gone better had I not knocked over one of the glasses and swamped the worktop with a mixture of vodka, Rose's lime cordial, orange juice, Grand Marnier and Liquor 43.

    Ironically the cocktail was called Best Year.

    Still, it's a better name than 'Swamped Worktop'? - Although this might have prevented that! :)

    It's another one of those hot, actually nice, but grasspollen-multiplying summer days here in Continental WesShire, thankfully with a refreshing light breeze; most of the day will be spent indoors, as further marking needs to be done, with further deadlines in the not too far distance.

    This is always the point when I see whether my tests make sense. Sometimes the studentses come up with solutions I hadn't thought of, so I have to carefully consider if this gets a point, or not. Some tests I design as multiple choice, which - once they've realised that only ONE answer is possible (which it says on the paper, and they were repeatedly told before) - makes for fairly swift marking.

    I wonder where the swfts have gone, by the way - only heard them on one day. They're mostly around in July and August, so it's possibly a bit early for them here. Breakfast today is tea and some more sushi... mmmmh...! Oh, and a bit of mozzarella di bufala Campana DOP, more of which goes into a bowl of mixed salad, later. :)

    Have a lovely Sunday, all!
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    I went to church this morning, for the first time since the beginning of the Plague, which was quite novel. I'm not planning to go every week at this stage, because so far they've not been able to provide anything for children.

    I came home to husband en rouge's tarragon chicken.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited June 13
    I went to church this morning, too, and yes, it was a novel experience (first time since last October!).

    The lack of children was apparent - there are usually a few youngsters around - but activities for Small People are suspended until September, when they hope to begin fortnightly Sunday School and monthly Messy Church again.

    No chicken, though - lunch was Ham and Mashed Spuds (with Pickle). Some fruit and CHEESE will follow a bit later.
  • HeavenlyannieHeavenlyannie Shipmate
    edited June 13
    I did the church Zoom service but once husband is second jabbed I want to go to the new evening service (until we resume usual morning services). I think it will make me very anxious when it first happens but that is something I need to face.
    I guess providing children’s activities is causing some dilemmas as they will not be vaccinated and social distancing is more complicated. Volunteers might consequently be reluctant to come forward.
    Bread and cheese for lunch in the garden in brilliant sunshine with a cloudless blue sky.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited June 13
    <snip>
    I guess providing children’s activities is causing some dilemmas as they will not be vaccinated and social distancing is more complicated. Volunteers might consequently be reluctant to come forward.

    I'm sure you're right.

    Common-sense is prevailing, however much churches might want to restart children's activities.

  • Wesley JWesley J Shipmate
    [...] I came home to husband en rouge's tarragon chicken.
    I briefly pictured husband en rouge, Monty Python-like, entertaining Captain P with various chicken impressions, and Captain P staring at him in utter bewilderment. :)

    I am certain though that the tarragon chicken left a nice impression on all of your tastebuds. Anything that went with it?
  • We had an absolutely fab day, and you can now go into two of the Merthyr terrace houses (where I tend to embarrass Master S with cries of 'oh, it's just like my granny's house in Dowlais!') and the shops, and the prefab. Had a super picnic under the trees; and then went back to Master S's so the LRWC* could have a sleep and Master S could open his presents.

    Miraculously, all the timings worked out - I'm always cautious with journeys involving the M4 - and we fetched up at M&S just in time for the food pickup.

    TIG#1 worships his uncle, who was very like him in many ways at that age, and he and the LRWC just adore each other, so a Good Time Was Had By All. And he stopped talking after M&S, for once, because he had a cake magazine to look at :grin:

    *Little Red-haired Welsh Cousin


  • Baptist TrainfanBaptist Trainfan Shipmate
    edited June 13
    Aravis wrote: »
    Unfortunately visitors aren’t allowed inside the houses at St Fagans at the moment, so it won’t be anywhere near as interesting an experience as usual, but the grounds are still pleasant.
    The website says they have re-opened. We wouldn't be going otherwise.

    Had a pleasant afternoon at a local open garden (National Gardens Scheme), with Pimms (for me) and G&T (for her). Icecream on arrival back home!

  • AravisAravis Shipmate
    Oh, I hadn’t realised that! We may book a visit next weekend.
  • I'll let you know how it goes.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I've had a lovely day too: I got the bus to Kirkliston to visit my niece, her husband and Rosie, who gets more adorable every time I see her. My sister and brother were there too, and we spent the afternoon in the garden, with a barbecue for supper.

    I even got to give Rosie her pudding (apricot yoghurt, since you ask), and she seemed to like it. She really is a wee cutie. :heart:
  • We had an absolutely fab day, and you can now go into two of the Merthyr terrace houses (where I tend to embarrass Master S with cries of 'oh, it's just like my granny's house in Dowlais!') and the shops, and the prefab. Had a super picnic under the trees; and then went back to Master S's so the LRWC* could have a sleep and Master S could open his presents.

    I have to go back to great-grandparents but, yes, some of the cottages are very familiar from my long-lost youth. Worse, though, is the 1980's cottage which, when I first saw it, felt modern and now causes hilarity amongst our kids for looking utterly ancient!
  • The general store at the Black Country Museum is so uncannily like My Old Dad's shop (which he owned around 1960) that I expected to see him behind the counter.

    The visit took place in 1986, not long after Dad's death, so perhaps it wasn't surprising.
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    There is an old farmhouse on the Faroes, which looks like places I visited in Sussex in my youth. Do you remember those boring visits when the adults are talking nineteen to the dozen and there is nothing to do?
    I worried about the Faroes example, though. It had just been left as was when the owners left, not curated, and I wondered why, and how. Had they suddenly had to be taken to hospital, or a care home?
  • Baptist TrainfanBaptist Trainfan Shipmate
    edited June 14
    I guess providing children’s activities is causing some dilemmas as they will not be vaccinated and social distancing, Volunteers might consequently be reluctant to come forward.
    Our small children's/YP team have been working hard each Sunday, both via Zoom during lockdown then "live" since February. Their main difficulty is of having 10-15 each week but with a wide age range. They also have to do intensive cleaning after each session, including mopping the floor, in preparation for the Playgroup which comes on on Monday. At a church meeting last month they said that they felt a bit neglected (as they operate "invisibly" in the church hall at the moment) and also exhausted; in fact that they couldn't go on for much longer without help. They made an appeal for volunteers and were almost overwhelmed with the response.

  • Penny S wrote: »
    There is an old farmhouse on the Faroes, which looks like places I visited in Sussex in my youth. Do you remember those boring visits when the adults are talking nineteen to the dozen and there is nothing to do?
    I worried about the Faroes example, though. It had just been left as was when the owners left, not curated, and I wondered why, and how. Had they suddenly had to be taken to hospital, or a care home?

    I remember an occasion when Mrs BF and I took My Old Mum to visit my Auntie Ethel at Brighton.

    Their talk quickly evolved (after lunch) to *Deathbeds I have known*, so Mrs BF and I fled as quickly as we could into Brighton, spending some productive hours in bookshops...

    As regards the house in the Faroes, it may well be that the owners had had to leave in a hurry, but that there was some legal question over who should be looking after it.
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    We also had a lovely day yesterday - coffee with four friends in someone's garden in the morning. That group of friends, who Before Covid used to meet in a coffee shop after the Sunday morning service at Our Place, is one of the expressions of church for us that has life in a way that the services didn't and is one of the reasons Mr Nen and I are considering our position when it comes to returning to in-building services.

    In the afternoon we had friends over, for a similar lovely occasion - sitting on our patio with tea and chocolate chip cookies (baked by my own fair hands) and then followed up with a meal.

    Today's another beautiful sunny day - one load of washing already on the line and another going in the machine.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    edited June 14
    We have a showery day today so the washing will be indoors on the rack in the utility room. Without heating on it takes longer to dry, so I have a heated airer on the landing which it will progress to later in the day.

    I have three cats to paint today for our cottage industry. One tabby, one tabby ginger and one brown and black. It’s a four piece tea light holder, the fourth being a white dog. I’ll post a link to a picture when it is done.


    🙂🙂
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