We had the Economy Seven tariff which we used for the washing machine and tumble dryer. Then we discovered that the electricity suppliers had set the clock round the wrong way, so we got cheap electricity during the day and the higher rate overnight (11pm to 6pm). We did the decent thing and told them but nothing happened.
Our situation wasn't so extreme but we did get the cheap rate till about 9am, so good for doing the washing!
Not such a good day here, as the Ark's macerator (despite having been mended last Monday) has decided to give up the ghost. Prayers were, alas, not efficacious this time, but the macerator was about 20 years old, so has done a Good Job during its long life.
Hey ho - a quick call to the engineer, who told me exactly what replacement to order, an equally quick visit to Mr E Bay's Emporium, and a new macerator is on its way.
Then it was out into the so**ing W*nd and Ra*n (AGAIN! Is there no end to it?) to the camping/caravan shop, to buy fresh supplies of the Special Fluids for use in the portable chemical loo.
I have to confess to rather enjoying seeing the wind and the rain at the mo, as it's the only weather I do get to see, working in a box where when the sun does come in it makes the screens invisible...
After the beauty (despite the cold) of yesterday, it was filthy today, and I got v. wet on a rather fruitless trip to the bank to try and open an account - fruitless because they wanted proof of my address here, but a v. nice bloke explained how I could provide said proof.
However, all was much improved by a decent Chinese takeaway in the company of my nephew, niece and Larry the Labradoodle, who seems to have a penchant for prawn crackers ...
Er hello. My name is la vie en rouge and am a teaholic.
Having caught Captain Pyjamas' snufflous complaint, I woke up this morning with a bad sinus headache. I took paracetamol and lay down until it went away but never had my morning tea. Come lunchtime the headache was back but this time I just had a cup of tea and 15 minutes later it was miraculously gone.
You could be addicted to a lot worse things than tea, La Vie!
It looks like a much nicer day today - sunshine with a bit of a breeze - although I haven't ventured out yet (spent the morning vegging in front of Saturday Kitchen, which may well become my new guilty pleasure).
Looking at the forecast though, it seems normal service* will be resumed tomorrow.
The pouring rain, and the hoolie, visited this corner of the Sad Southlands overnight, so are now on their way north, with our compliments.
Apparently, this is Storm Jorge, so christened by the Spanish Met Office. OK, but what happened to our English Storms Ellen, Francis, and so on? I demand an enquiry.
... what happened to our English Storms Ellen, Francis, and so on? I demand an enquiry.
So do I. Especially Francis, as the only Francis I know (Francis Jackson, organist emeritus of York Minster, now 102 and still going strong) is the loveliest, most unstormlike gentleman you could wish to meet.
D. would have been very amused at the idea of a storm being named after him (as, I think, would Francis himself).
Apparently Storm Jorge is coming from Spain, and therefore they had first dibs on naming it. Our next storm will be Storm Ellen, unless it too comes to us from elsewhere.
Just got back from Trinity Chapel where we listened to both Oxford and Cambridge University Wind Orchestras. The end rendition of ‘How to train your dragon’ was superb.
We had the first wedding of the year and the bride chose to wear a strapless dress Despite the heating running for 8 hours before the service it was a bracing 16 Celsius (60 F) in church and females of the bridal party were shivering throughout, plus all that exposed flesh looked odd when every other woman seemed to be wearing a padded coat
(The organ loft was a chilly 14 C, the Ecclesiastical Law being that warm air does not rise into a loft. In addition the door to the roof at the top of the loft staircase fits so ill that in a wind it rattles like a bridal-suite bedstead on a wall! )
We had the first wedding of the year and the bride chose to wear a strapless dress Despite the heating running for 8 hours before the service it was a bracing 16 Celsius (60 F) in church and females of the bridal party were shivering throughout [...]
Somewhat similar here for a wedding. Snow swirling outside, bridesmaids suitably sleeved and posh jacketed, and bride with bare, goose-fleshed arms. We can heat the sanctuary better that in @TheOrganist’s place, but when they went out for photos they quickly came back in!
Five days prior to my February wedding the church basement flooded, knocking out the electrics and the heating system. The electricity was back on in time for the wedding, but the heating wasn't. We had six three-bar heaters attempting to take the chill off in a large church. We did warn guests that it would be cold, and my own dress and the bridesmaids dresses involved no exposed flesh whatsoever! (long sleeves, full length, mandarin collar).
So do I!
It's a nice but blustrous day here, and we've just spent a nice couple of hours with my nephew, his wife and Archie the Adorable. We met up with them at the Indoor Climbing Arena, where they have a little play area for babies up to 18 months with big soft blocks, slides and suchlike to encourage them to crawl and pull themselves up. Archie was in his element, especially when he found a toy telephone with a receiver that he could use as a drumstick ...
Then off to Ratho Park for a Sunday lunch carvery, which was OK for a carvery. They're not really my favourite thing; I could have chosen from a menu, but as the others were going for the carvery, so did I. The roast beef was quite nice, and while I like my veggies underdone, the carrots were almost raw.
I think a Sunday afternoon snoozette might be in order.
A singing day today with the West Gallery Quire I belong to, with a wonderful bring & share lunch, and on the journey home a phenomenally bright and complete rainbow.
This evening I must plough on through my very long to-do list.
Just missed a soaking this morning.
After overnight visit from Jorge the morning was bright but blustery, just right for a walk before church. As I put my coat on Mr RoS suggested I look out of the window - from what had been a clear blue sky only a few minutes earlier driving, drenching rain was pelting down.
It didn't last more than five minutes before the blustery wind had moved it on, the clear blue sky had returned and I enjoyed half an hour's brisk walk in the sun.
At last we met our latest grandson, who is almost a month old. In addition to demands of w*rk Mrs S has had a cold which wouldn’t have been welcome, we had a weekend away planned (to see the Tutankhamen exhibition in London) and the evil weather isolated middle son & family thanks to landslide danger (uphill) and flooding (downhill). Anyway, we have met him and he is coming on a treat, despite his big brothers’ boisterousness.
The builders arrived at 7.55 and have removed oven, hob and supporting cabinetry. Outside they've started to dig out inside the foundations of the old, demolished lean-to building. I was expecting 4 people and we've got 6!
I'm off in the 4x4 to do a shopping trip for flooded neighbours.
House-guest Godchild provided everyone with coffee and bacon-egg-and-mushroom sandwiches at 9 and is in charge of lunch for us and the workforce.
Exactly - that's why he only invited those within staggering distance ...
It looks like a potentially decent day today, so I think I'll have a little amble into the village and possibly register with the local dentist (!). This isn't because I want to, you understand - I wouldn't normally darken the door of a dentist's surgery unless my teeth were actually giving me unbearable pain - but my sister will nag me until I do, and it may be a case of the lesser of two evils.
Either way, an amble will do me good, assuming the weather doesn't follow the example of Roseofsharon's.
I would have loved to be there but church commitments did not allow it! We did have a special St David's Day service in the morning. Hope you are on the mend,
And I've actually got my sheets hanging on the line to dry and haven't (yet) had to rush out and retrieve them!
I also have my sheets on the line to dry. At one point it suddenly poured with rain so hard that I didn't bother going out to retrieve them, as they were instantly soaked - I just waited for the sun to come out again, as it did pretty quickly. At some point I'll probably need to finish the drying indoors with the clothes horse and dehumidifier!
Lovely bright crisp day here, which is just as well, as the asbestos men have removed our garage roof, but there's no sign yet of the men who are going to put a tarpaulin over the roofless garage. New roof is being fitted tomorrow.
A fine afternoon here, too, with the Episcopal washing duly hung out to at least drip onto the deck - it will be put in front of the Stove later.
And - O Happy Day! - the new macerator has been delivered, and will hopefully soon be installed, when the engineer is available.
BUT - Is Outrage! - I see that the macerator was manufactured in FRANCE! Just think - TrueBlue English™ waste material (let the reader understand) must now pass through a Horrid Foreign Machine!
I implore Shipmates NOT to inform the Thought Police, or I'll be the one who has nothing to go on...
It being merely very cold I spent an hour in the garden, putting in a hydrangea, some monbretia and a sowing of calendula. Plus hunting down nascent buttercup and dandelion. Surprised to see a little clump of survivor daffodils coming up - I think the guys may have found them when they were digging over and replanted them since they're not anywhere they were before.
Beige dinner here, we had potato wedges, dusted cod, and mushrooms in creme fraiche.
I’ve had a productive day, I’ve done my Monday work tasks and finished a pile of marking that had been hanging around and even managed 2x 10 minute walks (still limited due to my broken toe).
I fancy doing some gardening tomorrow, today felt quite spring-like.
Ours was colourful too - sea bass in a cheesy-parsley crumb thing, ratatouille and green veggies with new potatoes and butter. I confess it was all from M*rks & Sp*rks - my sister is rather devoted to their food hall ...
However, I ambled down to the village Co-op in search of ingredients for a potato curry, and while their spice selection was rather limited, I got some reduced-price carrots and green beans, garam masala and crème fraîche, and with the potatoes we've got and possibly some chickpeas, I should be set (I forgot to look for red lentils ).
And it was a very nice little amble - a few more days like this and I'll be a happy piglet.
I didn't register with the dentist, partly becauae I wasn’t exactly sure where the surgery was (I have no sense of direction) and partly because the ear-drops are playing such comprehensive silly-buggers with my hearing that the prospect of having to converse with a stranger is really rather scary.
We have one here, and very useful it is, despite the limited selection of various things (for some reason, they don't stock Heinz Oxtail SOUP - my favourite - so I have to venture forth to a larger emporium...).
Maybe it's because it's a small 'corner shop', but I find the staff friendlier than some in the bigger supermarkets.
This one actually is the larger emporium: there are two branches of Scotmid (the Scottish Co-op) in Balerno, one really not much more than a corner-shop, the other slightly bigger, and a little further away, but still within ambling distance, as long as you remember you've got to lug your shopping home afterwards.
OK, I could take the bus, but it's hardly worth £1.80 for just two stops.
The aforementioned potato curry is now bubbling merrily on the stove, and I think it's going to be Not Bad At All.
I have a shopping trolley, I bought it over 10 years ago and use it for the weekly shop as Waitrose is 10 mins walk away. I can’t imagine being without it (alas it is at the stage where I need to replace it).
I always associate those with little old ladies (in my mind they seem to fall into the same category as those fold-up polythene rain-scarves that my granny wore), but with people using fewer plastic bags, maybe they're not such a daft idea!
I always associate those with little old ladies (in my mind they seem to fall into the same category as those fold-up polythene rain-scarves that my granny wore), but with people using fewer plastic bags, maybe they're not such a daft idea!
Mine is a modern upright one with psychedelic green swirls - quite un-old lady! It gets admiring comments.
We thought a Spanish dish of lambs' kidneys would be nice for tomorrow. I can tell you now I may has well have gone shopping for smoked unicorn. Our local butcher had only a couple: Sanderson's in Tollcross had none, nor yet Christie's in Bruntsfield, nor yet the Morningside Waitrose.
OTOH I came home with trifles, spinach dhal, steak, sausage rolls, paracetamol, capers, chutney, Brussels sprouts, Nasi Goreng spice mix, two sorts of chorizo and a new perfume.
Far from being only for Old People™ wheely shopping trolleys are used by chic Parisians of all ages. Only fifty percent of us own a car, and we all have to buy groceries and carry them home.
Our FatherInCharge has a wheely shoppy trolley thingy.
It is Black.
(He does drive, but only when on holiday - he doesn't own a car, so walks or buses all round the parish - which includes a big Asda! He reckons he gets to meet, and talk, with more local people that way).
I’m rather more eccentric misfit than chic Parisian (though probably not so eccentric in eco-friendly Cambridge).
I agree about it being social, I chat to loads of people on my walks across the village.
We thought a Spanish dish of lambs' kidneys would be nice for tomorrow.
Firenze - could you post the recipe for the Spanish lamb kidneys, please? I love kidneys! The recipe I 'know' is onion, garlic, tomato, thyme, and amontillado. Does that sound right? I already have recipes for unicorn.
Comments
Not such a good day here, as the Ark's macerator (despite having been mended last Monday) has decided to give up the ghost. Prayers were, alas, not efficacious this time, but the macerator was about 20 years old, so has done a Good Job during its long life.
Hey ho - a quick call to the engineer, who told me exactly what replacement to order, an equally quick visit to Mr E Bay's Emporium, and a new macerator is on its way.
Then it was out into the so**ing W*nd and Ra*n (AGAIN! Is there no end to it?) to the camping/caravan shop, to buy fresh supplies of the Special Fluids for use in the portable chemical loo.
Time to think about moving ashore, perhaps...
As @Baptist Trainfan so pertinently remarks, 'ashore' is now a somewhat abstract concept.
However, all was much improved by a decent Chinese takeaway in the company of my nephew, niece and Larry the Labradoodle, who seems to have a penchant for prawn crackers ...
Having caught Captain Pyjamas' snufflous complaint, I woke up this morning with a bad sinus headache. I took paracetamol and lay down until it went away but never had my morning tea. Come lunchtime the headache was back but this time I just had a cup of tea and 15 minutes later it was miraculously gone.
I am an addict
It looks like a much nicer day today - sunshine with a bit of a breeze - although I haven't ventured out yet (spent the morning vegging in front of Saturday Kitchen, which may well become my new guilty pleasure).
Looking at the forecast though, it seems normal service* will be resumed tomorrow.
* i.e. pouring rain and blowing a hoolie
Apparently, this is Storm Jorge, so christened by the Spanish Met Office. OK, but what happened to our English Storms Ellen, Francis, and so on? I demand an enquiry.
D. would have been very amused at the idea of a storm being named after him (as, I think, would Francis himself).
Talking of inclement weather, it's sn*wing again.
(The organ loft was a chilly 14 C, the Ecclesiastical Law being that warm air does not rise into a loft. In addition the door to the roof at the top of the loft staircase fits so ill that in a wind it rattles like a bridal-suite bedstead on a wall! )
The law of natural selection, perhaps?
I love his sardonic sense of humour.
It's a nice but blustrous day here, and we've just spent a nice couple of hours with my nephew, his wife and Archie the Adorable. We met up with them at the Indoor Climbing Arena, where they have a little play area for babies up to 18 months with big soft blocks, slides and suchlike to encourage them to crawl and pull themselves up. Archie was in his element, especially when he found a toy telephone with a receiver that he could use as a drumstick ...
Then off to Ratho Park for a Sunday lunch carvery, which was OK for a carvery. They're not really my favourite thing; I could have chosen from a menu, but as the others were going for the carvery, so did I. The roast beef was quite nice, and while I like my veggies underdone, the carrots were almost raw.
I think a Sunday afternoon snoozette might be in order.
We had a drinks party for our staggering distance neighbours then 7 of us had gammon with parsley sauce followed by crepes with hot chocolate sauce.
No snooze, just a short, brisk walk followed by list making of stuff required for the new extension.
This evening I must plough on through my very long to-do list.
After overnight visit from Jorge the morning was bright but blustery, just right for a walk before church. As I put my coat on Mr RoS suggested I look out of the window - from what had been a clear blue sky only a few minutes earlier driving, drenching rain was pelting down.
It didn't last more than five minutes before the blustery wind had moved it on, the clear blue sky had returned and I enjoyed half an hour's brisk walk in the sun.
I'm off in the 4x4 to do a shopping trip for flooded neighbours.
House-guest Godchild provided everyone with coffee and bacon-egg-and-mushroom sandwiches at 9 and is in charge of lunch for us and the workforce.
It looks like a potentially decent day today, so I think I'll have a little amble into the village and possibly register with the local dentist (!). This isn't because I want to, you understand - I wouldn't normally darken the door of a dentist's surgery unless my teeth were actually giving me unbearable pain - but my sister will nag me until I do, and it may be a case of the lesser of two evils.
Either way, an amble will do me good, assuming the weather doesn't follow the example of Roseofsharon's.
And I've actually got my sheets hanging on the line to dry and haven't (yet) had to rush out and retrieve them!
And - O Happy Day! - the new macerator has been delivered, and will hopefully soon be installed, when the engineer is available.
BUT - Is Outrage! - I see that the macerator was manufactured in FRANCE! Just think - TrueBlue English™ waste material (let the reader understand) must now pass through a Horrid Foreign Machine!
I implore Shipmates NOT to inform the Thought Police, or I'll be the one who has nothing to go on...
I’ve had a productive day, I’ve done my Monday work tasks and finished a pile of marking that had been hanging around and even managed 2x 10 minute walks (still limited due to my broken toe).
I fancy doing some gardening tomorrow, today felt quite spring-like.
However, I ambled down to the village Co-op in search of ingredients for a potato curry, and while their spice selection was rather limited, I got some reduced-price carrots and green beans, garam masala and crème fraîche, and with the potatoes we've got and possibly some chickpeas, I should be set (I forgot to look for red lentils
And it was a very nice little amble - a few more days like this and I'll be a happy piglet.
I didn't register with the dentist, partly becauae I wasn’t exactly sure where the surgery was (I have no sense of direction) and partly because the ear-drops are playing such comprehensive silly-buggers with my hearing that the prospect of having to converse with a stranger is really rather scary.
We have one here, and very useful it is, despite the limited selection of various things (for some reason, they don't stock Heinz Oxtail SOUP - my favourite - so I have to venture forth to a larger emporium...).
Maybe it's because it's a small 'corner shop', but I find the staff friendlier than some in the bigger supermarkets.
OK, I could take the bus, but it's hardly worth £1.80 for just two stops.
The aforementioned potato curry is now bubbling merrily on the stove, and I think it's going to be Not Bad At All.
Will report back later ...
OTOH I came home with trifles, spinach dhal, steak, sausage rolls, paracetamol, capers, chutney, Brussels sprouts, Nasi Goreng spice mix, two sorts of chorizo and a new perfume.
It is Black.
(He does drive, but only when on holiday - he doesn't own a car, so walks or buses all round the parish - which includes a big Asda! He reckons he gets to meet, and talk, with more local people that way).
I agree about it being social, I chat to loads of people on my walks across the village.
Firenze - could you post the recipe for the Spanish lamb kidneys, please? I love kidneys! The recipe I 'know' is onion, garlic, tomato, thyme, and amontillado. Does that sound right? I already have recipes for unicorn.