Our house buying and selling seemed to be progressing nicely till this afternoon when we were told the person whose house we hoped to buy had died. We're waiting for further details from the estate agents, but it's all a bit of a bugger.
@Sarasa, that happened to us the other way round when the Dowager died two days before we were due to exchange contracts on her house. Because I was selling it under Power of Attorney, which ceases upon death, we had to call the whole thing off until probate could be obtained. At least we had the advantage that we had an agreed value for the house, as your vendor will have - the estate agent's valuation doesn't count, and surveyors are backed up to the rafters with people wanting valuations. Good luck, anyway!
And is that the weather we're getting tomorrow and Thursday? Because I'm not sure I want it either.
Thanks for asking
Captain P is fine, although still not in a hurry to talk.
Reminds me of the story of the child who didn't talk despite every effort on the part of his worried parents. Then at age 6 he announced 'This porridge is cold'. 'You can speak - why haven't you said anything?' 'Up to now, everything has been satisfactory.'
And yes, my best friend's grandson - also a preemie - was slow at language, due in large part they discovered to hearing issues. Five years on he perfectly voluble and comes home from school looking like Just William.
And is that the weather we're getting tomorrow and Thursday? Because I'm not sure I want it either.
Thanks for asking
Captain P is fine, although still not in a hurry to talk.
My friend’s son didn’t talk at all until he was four, apart from lots of Japanese sounding noises, he got quite frustrated that he couldn’t make us understand. He was fine and no one was worried about him. He’s now a chartered surveyor and has no trouble talking!
My son was selective mute until he was eight. He now chats confidently in three languages and studied and works using his second language.
When children are bi or tri lingual they are often slower to talk. Many of my son’s friend’s children are fluent in two and three languages but they didn’t ‘sort them out in their heads’ until they were about five years old.
Agreed for tinned stuff. I never worry about Best Before dates, as long as it smells and looks ok. Use By is another matter. Yesterday I discovered an unopened pack of Brie, well out of date. It grieved me to have to throw it out.
Cheese rarely actually goes off, especially if the packet is sealed. I bought 5 camembert about 6 weeks ago that were on their use-buy date and it took me until last week to finish them. Nothing wrong with the last one other than being a little ripe. Yoghurts are another one where I ignore the dates unless the Wrong Kind Of Mould can be seen growing. I'm more careful with meat and only risk a day or three after the use by date unless it's cured and in a sealed packet.
Captain Pyjamas will be three (real age - remove 3 1/2 months for his adjusted age) at the end of February.
AFAICT a couple of things are going on with him. One is related to his having spent several months as a very tiny person with a tube in his mouth. He hated the tube and tried to remove it repeatedly. He also took much longer than most children to tolerate lumpy food and still isn't a big fan. Case in point: this lunchtime he refused point blank to eat his broccoli and pasta (in his defence, going to the hospital yesterday messed about with his naptime and I think he was overtired and in the mood for revolution). Being brought up in a bilingual household accentuates the other mouth-related issues. His hearing's fine and he understands what you say to him, including complex instructions.
Has he eaten broccoli before? I know our children's tastes changed when they were quite small - and not eating broccoli was one of the things. Even now our boys (26 and 23) quite happily eat broccoli and our girls (20 and 14) are much more reluctant.
That's probably a fair point, BT - weather quite often comes from the west*, doesn't it?
* unless it's the Beast from the East, obviously
I've just had a rather decent paella for supper (what an easy thing that is to make - half an hour from start to on the table, and before you ask, it was done from scratch - none of your ready-made nonsense!), and there's enough left over for another day.
Has he eaten broccoli before? I know our children's tastes changed when they were quite small - and not eating broccoli was one of the things. Even now our boys (26 and 23) quite happily eat broccoli and our girls (20 and 14) are much more reluctant.
Captain P has issues with textures, rather than tastes. At teatime the broccoli reappeared puréed and he ate it . I resist puréeing his food as much as possible, but sometimes I just get the calories down him.
A rather drizzly afternoon and it looks like we might get some sleet tomorrow.
Not too bad a day, I managed to attend a doctorate lunch get together and got some study done. This evening was another tutorial but my co-tutor kindly led.
Has he eaten broccoli before? I know our children's tastes changed when they were quite small - and not eating broccoli was one of the things. Even now our boys (26 and 23) quite happily eat broccoli and our girls (20 and 14) are much more reluctant.
Captain P has issues with textures, rather than tastes. At teatime the broccoli reappeared puréed and he ate it . I resist puréeing his food as much as possible, but sometimes I just get the calories down him.
This was an issue for our older daughter particularly, and there are still good textures she prefers to avoid.
We now have snow in The Other city to the West... it's changed from rain when I got up to snow by the time I had to walk to work. There wasn't enough to make YakTrax useful, but was enough to make the pavements a tad slippery. We'll see what it's like when I go home...
Ha, we have about a foot! And nasty wet, heavy snow it is, not good for shovelling. I am expecting a delivery of a mattress today and had the drivers on the phone asking what our weather was like. "Fine," says I, with Highland aplomb, then realising they might have a different definition of fine added "Well, it has been snowing all night but the roads are open."
I asked where they were coming form, meaning which direction, and the reply was "We're coming down from Sheffield." "You're coming up from Sheffield" was my correction which got a laugh. At that point they were in Hamilton, so I guess they had encountered @kingsfold's snow.
It’s been raining all night but now we are getting huge flakes of snow. I will be togging up shortly to take the puppy out. He’ll still need hosing down when we get back as there’s mud a-plenty on our free-run field. He doesn’t mind it too much, he stands in a resigned manner then envy’s his treat afterwards. 🐕
My son bought me a large painting-by-numbers kit of a family photo for Christmas. I’ve started it and it’s very relaxing, rather like doing a jigsaw without having to think at all!
We got togged up in all our wet weather gear and went for a wet walk this morning. Rather nice as there were far fewer people about. I'm now about to have a relaxing hour or two doing my new jigsaw before lunch.
No sign of snow in this bit of South-West London.
A damp walk this morning and it's rained all day.
A relaxed study day today, I've just completed this month's module with a section on data collection and storage. I'm about to go into join a meeting of a nationwide special interest group on mental health in education. I'm a newbie to all this networking lark.
Lunch was a fried spam and omelette wrap and very good it was too.
I did venture out at lunchtime, to buy SOSSIDGE & CHIPS from the local chippy, but will now stay below decks until tomorrow.
Meanwhile, FatherInCharge wants me to record the Gospel Readings for the next few Sundays - he sends out 2 of the Sunday readings as sound files with his weekly e-mail news bulletin - so that's a little job for this evening.
I definitely fancy something with chips but suspect Mr H won't want to go out in the rain. But they do deliver...
No, I will be good and make the cheese and spinach risotto I had planned.
We had very cold, nasty sleety stuff this morning, and slushy pavements, and the train was a bit late, leading to a very cold, damp wait at the bus stop.
Not quite so bad now; I left work a little early as I had an appointment for a hearing test (which I think I failed - I've to go back on Monday, and there's a fair chance I'm going to need hearing aids).
On the way home now - hope the weather in Linlithgow isn't too horrid.
Leftover paella and a glass of WINE awaits for supper.
@Firenze - smoked salmon goes very well with champagne.
Pudding tonight was a bread and butter pudding made with a pannetone (reduced after Christmas) and the remains of the brandy butter. Darllenwr made it last night so it held together well, and “nuked” slabs of it tonight.
It was extremely nice, and the other half will be pudding tomorrow night.
Agreed for tinned stuff. I never worry about Best Before dates, as long as it smells and looks ok. Use By is another matter. Yesterday I discovered an unopened pack of Brie, well out of date. It grieved me to have to throw it out.
Cheese rarely actually goes off, especially if the packet is sealed. I bought 5 camembert about 6 weeks ago that were on their use-buy date and it took me until last week to finish them. Nothing wrong with the last one other than being a little ripe. Yoghurts are another one where I ignore the dates unless the Wrong Kind Of Mould can be seen growing. I'm more careful with meat and only risk a day or three after the use by date unless it's cured and in a sealed packet.
I do break the rules for cheese in general and brie in particular - indeed, I view the "use by" date on brie as the "starts to be nice after" date; usually on the "use by" it can still bounce back when pressed which is definitely underripe.
Another damp day here. We did get to the park with Captain P's waterproof trousers on, but left after he tried going out of the gate by himself and got In Trouble (it's hard being two)
I made my Dad's chicken en papillotes tonight (with ham, apple, shallot lemon zest, thyme, butter and white wine), followed by an orange-chocolate marble cake. I did the wine pairing myself, and got it right with a Saint Veran. Usually husband en rouge is the sommelier around here, so I felt quite chuffed about finding the right one.
I don't see why you shouldn't say that at all - you were Doing Your Bit for the local economy, and probably having a delicious supper into the bargain.
I don't know about you folk, but I'm ready for a spot of Spring.
Don't hold your breath. The 2018 Beast from The East was the very late Feb/early March...
Over in the West, we may get few more nice crisp days, possibly another cold snap. There may be the odd week of dry & sunny in March, but mostly it'll be grey and overcast and raining, usually until about May. Last years sunny spring was most unusual! There'll be a couple of nice weeks in May, then back to the rain until the start of the school term in August. Some nice autumn weather in late Sept/early Oct, then back to your regularly scheduled grey, overcast and raining....
I think it's very sensible to get hearing aids now @piglet, assuming that you do need them. Your brain will learn to adapt, and if you get to the stage where you need to wear them all the time you'll find it much easier. Hearing aids for mild hearing loss (which is what I assume you have) are very small and discreet so won't be noticeable, not that that has ever bothered me. I'm very happy to play hearing aid fairy if you want any advice.
Hope Captain Pyjama's trouble wasn't too major @la vie en rouge. I seemed to spend half my life in playgrounds when our son was small.
Today my writing class starts again after the Christmas break, so things are really getting back to normal.
Another damp day here. We did get to the park with Captain P's waterproof trousers on, but left after he tried going out of the gate by himself and got In Trouble (it's hard being two)
I made my Dad's chicken en papillotes tonight (with ham, apple, shallot lemon zest, thyme, butter and white wine), followed by an orange-chocolate marble cake. I did the wine pairing myself, and got it right with a Saint Veran. Usually husband en rouge is the sommelier around here, so I felt quite chuffed about finding the right one.
I quite like Saint Véran. It also brings back memories of a very romantic picnic...
The cake you describe is something which in Finnish has the very fun name, "tiikerikakku" - "tiger cake". I'm not much on sweets, but it's very good.
It's very cold here today. I did some exercise in the lounge this morning with the help of some YouTube videos and am not much inclined to go out for my daily exercise walk, although it's good to get fresh air. I guess I could do a whiz out later, in between a couple of Zoom meetings I've got.
We have our weekly online chat and wine drinking with friends this evening, which is always a pleasure. Conversation can be anything from politics to spiral dynamics, but always involves discussing what we're drinking as a couple of the people there are real wine experts. I usually say something like, "So this was on offer at Tesco's" and proceed to read off the back of the bottle.
Cold here, too, with sn*w forecast for early tomorrow...
The effect of the frore air outside was ameliorated here below decks by the consumption of Irish Stew, accompanied by a baked SPUD. And a glass of WINE, of course.
As their use-by date is today, there will be KIPPERS for tea.
Tomorrow's sn*w may mean that no-one except Father gets to church for the morning Mass - even Madam Sacristan stays safe at home, rather than risking driving on icy roads...
Comments
@Sarasa, that happened to us the other way round when the Dowager died two days before we were due to exchange contracts on her house. Because I was selling it under Power of Attorney, which ceases upon death, we had to call the whole thing off until probate could be obtained. At least we had the advantage that we had an agreed value for the house, as your vendor will have - the estate agent's valuation doesn't count, and surveyors are backed up to the rafters with people wanting valuations. Good luck, anyway!
Reminds me of the story of the child who didn't talk despite every effort on the part of his worried parents. Then at age 6 he announced 'This porridge is cold'. 'You can speak - why haven't you said anything?' 'Up to now, everything has been satisfactory.'
And yes, my best friend's grandson - also a preemie - was slow at language, due in large part they discovered to hearing issues. Five years on he perfectly voluble and comes home from school looking like Just William.
My friend’s son didn’t talk at all until he was four, apart from lots of Japanese sounding noises, he got quite frustrated that he couldn’t make us understand. He was fine and no one was worried about him. He’s now a chartered surveyor and has no trouble talking!
My son was selective mute until he was eight. He now chats confidently in three languages and studied and works using his second language.
When children are bi or tri lingual they are often slower to talk. Many of my son’s friend’s children are fluent in two and three languages but they didn’t ‘sort them out in their heads’ until they were about five years old.
Plenty of time for Captain P.
Cheese rarely actually goes off, especially if the packet is sealed. I bought 5 camembert about 6 weeks ago that were on their use-buy date and it took me until last week to finish them. Nothing wrong with the last one other than being a little ripe. Yoghurts are another one where I ignore the dates unless the Wrong Kind Of Mould can be seen growing. I'm more careful with meat and only risk a day or three after the use by date unless it's cured and in a sealed packet.
AFAICT a couple of things are going on with him. One is related to his having spent several months as a very tiny person with a tube in his mouth. He hated the tube and tried to remove it repeatedly. He also took much longer than most children to tolerate lumpy food and still isn't a big fan. Case in point: this lunchtime he refused point blank to eat his broccoli and pasta (in his defence, going to the hospital yesterday messed about with his naptime and I think he was overtired and in the mood for revolution). Being brought up in a bilingual household accentuates the other mouth-related issues. His hearing's fine and he understands what you say to him, including complex instructions.
Sister: Can you say "mum"?
Nephew: Mum
S: Can you say "dad"?
N: Dad
S: Can you say "peanut butter sandwich"?*
N (after some thought): Yes
* his favourite food at the time
* unless it's the Beast from the East, obviously
I've just had a rather decent paella for supper (what an easy thing that is to make - half an hour from start to on the table, and before you ask, it was done from scratch - none of your ready-made nonsense!), and there's enough left over for another day.
https://metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/press-office/news/weather-and-climate/2021/amber-snow-warning-130121
I think a warning about The Beast From The East Mk2 was in the Grauniad a day or two ago.
Captain P has issues with textures, rather than tastes. At teatime the broccoli reappeared puréed and he ate it
Nope. Not us. We had rain this afternoon, but not "horrid, sleety hail". And currently clear & dry this end of the M8
Not too bad a day, I managed to attend a doctorate lunch get together and got some study done. This evening was another tutorial but my co-tutor kindly led.
This was an issue for our older daughter particularly, and there are still good textures she prefers to avoid.
https://theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jan/12/beast-from-the-east-weather-might-return-next-week-says-met-office
I asked where they were coming form, meaning which direction, and the reply was "We're coming down from Sheffield." "You're coming up from Sheffield" was my correction which got a laugh. At that point they were in Hamilton, so I guess they had encountered @kingsfold's snow.
My son bought me a large painting-by-numbers kit of a family photo for Christmas. I’ve started it and it’s very relaxing, rather like doing a jigsaw without having to think at all!
No sn*w yet, thankfully, though next week perhaps?
No sign of snow in this bit of South-West London.
A relaxed study day today, I've just completed this month's module with a section on data collection and storage. I'm about to go into join a meeting of a nationwide special interest group on mental health in education. I'm a newbie to all this networking lark.
Lunch was a fried spam and omelette wrap and very good it was too.
I did venture out at lunchtime, to buy SOSSIDGE & CHIPS from the local chippy, but will now stay below decks until tomorrow.
Meanwhile, FatherInCharge wants me to record the Gospel Readings for the next few Sundays - he sends out 2 of the Sunday readings as sound files with his weekly e-mail news bulletin - so that's a little job for this evening.
No, I will be good and make the cheese and spinach risotto I had planned.
Trout and asparagus tomorrow: steak'n'chips Saturday.
Monday being The Birthday I haven't decided yet what to have. It will have to be something that goes well with - or after - a champagne.
Not quite so bad now; I left work a little early as I had an appointment for a hearing test (which I think I failed - I've to go back on Monday, and there's a fair chance I'm going to need hearing aids).
On the way home now - hope the weather in Linlithgow isn't too horrid.
Leftover paella and a glass of WINE awaits for supper.
@Firenze - smoked salmon goes very well with champagne.
It was extremely nice, and the other half will be pudding tomorrow night.
LARGE!
Supper is SOUP - steak & potato - with CHEESE and celery to follow.
Yum! 😋
Today I had several almost-diy jobs finished by a carpenter friend, including one that has been waiting for over 20 years.
I do break the rules for cheese in general and brie in particular - indeed, I view the "use by" date on brie as the "starts to be nice after" date; usually on the "use by" it can still bounce back when pressed which is definitely underripe.
I made my Dad's chicken en papillotes tonight (with ham, apple, shallot lemon zest, thyme, butter and white wine), followed by an orange-chocolate marble cake. I did the wine pairing myself, and got it right with a Saint Veran. Usually husband en rouge is the sommelier around here, so I felt quite chuffed about finding the right one.
It wasn't - there were a few little patches of sn*w, but none of treachery, although I wouldn't place bets on there not being any tomorrow.
I don't know about you folk, but I'm ready for a spot of Spring.
I say, bon appetit!
Over in the West, we may get few more nice crisp days, possibly another cold snap. There may be the odd week of dry & sunny in March, but mostly it'll be grey and overcast and raining, usually until about May. Last years sunny spring was most unusual! There'll be a couple of nice weeks in May, then back to the rain until the start of the school term in August. Some nice autumn weather in late Sept/early Oct, then back to your regularly scheduled grey, overcast and raining....
Hope Captain Pyjama's trouble wasn't too major @la vie en rouge. I seemed to spend half my life in playgrounds when our son was small.
Today my writing class starts again after the Christmas break, so things are really getting back to normal.
I quite like Saint Véran. It also brings back memories of a very romantic picnic...
The cake you describe is something which in Finnish has the very fun name, "tiikerikakku" - "tiger cake". I'm not much on sweets, but it's very good.
So far today's not been too bad - still no patches of treachery.
So far ...
We have our weekly online chat and wine drinking with friends this evening, which is always a pleasure. Conversation can be anything from politics to spiral dynamics, but always involves discussing what we're drinking as a couple of the people there are real wine experts. I usually say something like, "So this was on offer at Tesco's" and proceed to read off the back of the bottle.
The effect of the frore air outside was ameliorated here below decks by the consumption of Irish Stew, accompanied by a baked SPUD. And a glass of WINE, of course.
As their use-by date is today, there will be KIPPERS for tea.
Tomorrow's sn*w may mean that no-one except Father gets to church for the morning Mass - even Madam Sacristan stays safe at home, rather than risking driving on icy roads...
Embrace the cold.
There's always the option of sunshine, temperatures above zero and a howling gale.