We've done our Out for the day: a birl round Aldi, mainly to replenish chocolate supplies and everyday wines. That and a bag of Camembert and Rosemary crisps.
It is now raining heavily and I need the light on though it's only midday.
Those socks sound like they do a grand job, and I love the dog drying coats! After the hosing down, the perfect way to end a good walk! They also look adorable wearing them :O)*
It was trying to dry the dogs' paws that got me! Front paws, no trouble. Back paws you'd think i was trying to kidnap them and tie them up! We never dried ourselves until we'd managed to get the dogs dry!
Do miss them, though!
Yes, living alone after having had cats or dogs is a big change :O/
They have lasted four years so far, no sign of wearing out. So when my boots start to let in water, as they all do eventually, it doesn’t matter - the socks do the trick! It means I don’t have to spend so long on boot care, dubbin etc. [...]
Oh, Boogs, you are a font of (outdoor) wisdom! And with wearing those socks, I'd even less mind tipping my toes into said font - coz lack of wettitude!
Excellent advice there!
Question: how do you yourself re-waterproof, after extended wearing, your GoreTexes et al? - I used to have things from the Storm Waterproofing brand, recommended by very good outdoors emporiums here, but Storm had problems of sorts a while ago, and I haven't seen them since on the shelves in Continental WesShire! I'd always found their products very reliable and non-aggressive, but I appear to have to use the much bigger Nikwax brand now, who are everywhere these days.
And then only if you gobble them all, too quickly...
(Not Guilty, m'Lud - I ate two at lunch-time, and two at supper-time).
You could eat the other two at going-to-bed time. Seems a shame not to.
Alas, it was a pack of four...and, to serve as a Judgement on me for trying to buy them on the Sabbath, the local *small* Co-Op doesn't stock them. I shall have to make a special journey (tomorrow) to the *large* Co-Op, where they are available, and where I purchased them. I think a bout of panic-buying stockpiling is in order...
Church today was less than inspiring: priest had the wrong readings and then almost drowned out the visiting preacher with harrumphing, nose-blowing and general fidgeting - presumably the PP disapproved of a thoughtful sermon on fixed attitudes, LLF, etc.
Journey home was enlivened by counting large numbers of roadkill: 2 deer (1 muntjac, 1 roe), 1 badger, 2 each foxes, squirrels and rabbits 😱
I can't comment on today's service, having led it. However the rain the usual after-service socially-distanced car park conversations impossible, so people dispersed very quickly!
I can't comment on today's service, having led it. However the rain the usual after-service socially-distanced car park conversations impossible, so people dispersed very quickly!
If only mine would manage to be socially distanced at any time out of the pews...
Indeed. Not doing in building on a Sunday yet, but three midweek services. And at one of these last week I had to remind people in words of one syllable that if they couldn’t come in, sit in the assigned seats and not move from them, far less hug each other we would not be able to continue to meet in person at all. So I felt terrible.
Sounds OK, though - and, post-Brexshit, we may well become accustomed to eating *native* food (yes, I realise that the grey squirrel was not originally native, but it is now...).
I foresee oven-ready hedgehog, squirrel etc. on the supermarket shelves, along with cuttlefish (a sort of squid? There are recipes on Google) and mackerel, caught by The True-Blue Fishermen Of England in our sovereign waters.
Not to forget herring, which turn nicely into KIPPERS (not the Farage variety, happily).
Question: how do you yourself re-waterproof, after extended wearing, your GoreTexes et al? - I used to have things from the Storm Waterproofing brand, recommended by very good outdoors emporiums here, but Storm had problems of sorts a while ago, and I haven't seen them since on the shelves in Continental WesShire! I'd always found their products very reliable and non-aggressive, but I appear to have to use the much bigger Nikwax brand now, who are everywhere these days.
Ta!
I use Nikwax - but the socks don’t need it, they just stay waterproof!
Not quite so extreme, but it’s not much fun reminding people not to sing the hymns they hear played.
That is exactly why I have refused to play any hymn tunes.
There was a lot of pressure when we first returned to the building to do so. "Just play the hymns when we'd have them" I pointed out no-one would be able to resist singing, and I was not going to be the cause of that happening. This is a small, mostly elderly congregation, no choir and every report I've ever written includes something along the lines of strongly supporting the congregational singing.
Plus, none of them like being sung at/to/for, so we've not gone down the line of a cantor.
When we can all sing again then, and only then, will sung music return to our worship and great will be the rejoicing.
I am quite enjoying playing my less well-known organ pieces and improvising to fill the liturgical gaps for the time being.
I certainly couldn't do the necessary butchery, gutting or whatever - I have to leave that to the professionals.
It's been a dreich, wet and miserable day here, and I haven't been over the door except to put a bin-bag in the bin (and that's just in a store-room adjacent to the front door).
I made a start on writing Christmas cards this afternoon, but rather lost heart when I realised I'd need to put in some sort of missive with my new address on it. As I haven't got a printer, this may have to be done surreptitiously at work, unless I can order one from Mr. Bezos (and if I did, it would have to be delivered at the weekend). I'd also need to know that it'll fit into the only suitable space I have for it - the shelf where a DVD player would go in the TV cabinet thingy.
Food has been a bit random today: after having a decent brunch (smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and TOAST), I grazed on mushroom pâté and crackers in the late afternoon, and then had a long Facebook Messenger chat with a friend in Canada, by which time it was gone 7 o'clock. I didn't want to start cooking something at that point*, so I just made a bacon sarnie for supper.
* I'm actually about to start making a beef casserole for tomorrow's supper - I'll get the meat browned and put in the slow-cooker with the veggies, stock and whatnot, and set it on "low" before I leave in the morning. If anyone wishes to open a book on whether I forget to turn it on, feel free ...
Not quite so extreme, but it’s not much fun reminding people not to sing the hymns they hear played.
That is exactly why I have refused to play any hymn tunes.
There was a lot of pressure when we first returned to the building to do so. "Just play the hymns when we'd have them" I pointed out no-one would be able to resist singing, and I was not going to be the cause of that happening. This is a small, mostly elderly congregation, no choir and every report I've ever written includes something along the lines of strongly supporting the congregational singing.
From "Hansard" - the transcript of a House of Lord debate on Covid and church worship on November 3rd.
Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: "Over the last 10 weeks, I have either led or attended acts of worship in three different churches, and meticulous attention has been given to all aspects of proper behaviour in such circumstances. Methodists are even reduced to not singing our hymns: we are reduced to humming behind our masks or, indeed, some kind of Trappist silence".
Our congregation have been very well behaved, but then a polite handshake is the extent of physical contact even in "normal" times. I've not heard anyone attempting to sing along with the hymns (we've no organist so I pre-record hymns, occasionally singing in harmony with myself). We're also still in a vacancy and can't really have visiting ministers so our services are led by our interim moderator's head projected onto a screen like the Great and Powerful Oz.
Yesterday I had the privilege of legally singing in church as the choir recorded a service of lessons and carols. The readers were the only other people present.
As two readers were choir members and another was also doing the recording, there were very few in the congregation. Although I am not one to advocate breaking the rules, there seemed to be no logic in forbidding them from singing. They were sitting even further apart than the socially distanced choir.
No plans to get together in our independent church, we haven’t met in person since March but meet via Zoom. We are having an interactive Zoomtivity next weekend.
Zoom church today followed by a nice chat in a breakout room. Usual bread, cheese and olives for lunch, tiramisu in the afternoon followed by family Mario Kart tournament on the Switch. Supper was Malaysian fish and veg curry with coconut rice, courtesy of Mr Heavenly.
I haven't been over the door except to put a bin-bag in the bin
Interesting turn of phrase - is it particularly Scottish? Here in England we (at least I) would say something like, "I haven't set foot outside."
I made a start on writing Christmas cards this afternoon, but rather lost heart when I realised I'd need to put in some sort of missive with my new address on it.
I'd just write my new address in each card with a note (maybe in red pen) saying "Please note my new address." I'm all for making things easy.
Good luck with remembering the slow cooker - I do hope you do as one of the nicest feelings while you're at work, and on the way home, is remembering that the meal is all sorted and will be ready as soon as you get in.
Sundays are very Zoomy in our house and I also made a delicious casserole with roast potatoes and broccoli for lunch and skim-re-read my book for tomorrow evening's book group. I meant also to clean the ceiling in the downstairs cloakroom but it wouldn't do to be too efficient.
I'm not sure whether "over the door" is Scottish or Northern Irish (or even Newfoundland) - I can't remember where I picked it up!
I'm unlikely to forget - the kitchen's very small and the slow-cooker takes up most of the bit of counter where the toaster is, so I'll turn it on as I'm making the toast. If that fails, I've left a note under my keys ...
<snip> I made a start on writing Christmas cards this afternoon, but rather lost heart when I realised I'd need to put in some sort of missive with my new address on it. As I haven't got a printer, this may have to be done surreptitiously at work ... <snip>
IME lots of small corner shops will do a bit of photocopying for about 10p per A4 sheet.
As to text, why not borrow from Stella Gibbons and put something like I've moved: the white wings of my girlhood are now enfolded by my new flat at ...
The missive will probably need to have more than just the new address - it's been quite a year for Things Happening, that I'd want to tell people about. I'll look into the corner shop idea though - I wouldn't feel too guilty about only printing one page at work.
You'll be delighted to hear that I did remember to turn on the slow-cooker, so beef casserole will await me when I get home.
In other news, don't you hate it when you wake at 3:30 and toss and turn until it's time to get up?
@Piglet
I love getting round robins with Christmas cards so I can catch up with people's news - especially if a couple of hand written lines are added at the end to personalize them.
I'm sorry about the insomnia Hope you feel okay today.
In other news, don't you hate it when you wake at 3:30 and toss and turn until it's time to get up?
Yes. I used to do it a lot, especially when I had work the next day, and still do now if I'm particularly worried about something. I hope your day keeps you going with busy-ness. Just think of that delicious beef casserole waiting for you!
Of course you'll have a lot to tell people and I hope getting the letter done is ok. With not working I've had time to do one this year (just one side of A4) and we've put some nice pictures of the family in it, which I hope people will enjoy even if they know most of our news. I agree a couple of handwritten lines on each one makes it nicely personal.
That doesn't matter - I couldn't get out if the house without them, so I have to find them.
I had a panic the other morning when they weren't where I always leave them; something had made me put them in my handbag instead of on the hall table, and I went into full panic mode until I told myself they had to be in the flat because they couldn't possibly be anywhere else!
As work was very quiet this morning, the letter has been written and copied (shhh!), so my cards might actually be sent out before Christmas!
There aren't very many, so I'm not going to beat myself up about it.
If you don't have the delightful NHS issue "eco beige" paper at work, no-one will be any the wiser.
I have been to the doctor's with Dragonlet 3 for her vaccinations this morning, then got home to a text from school to the effect that Dragonlet 1 needs to isolate for a week again due to Covid in his class.
I've had a satisfactory foray to the local garden centre, got a few stocking fillers and some other things I needed and got back home again before the place started filling up with parents taking their children there after school.
I've got my book group discussion this evening, we've only had one since March and I think I might push for giving the whole thing a break as no one (including me) is particularly proactive about keeping it going.
Going back to roadkill etc, the airport on St Mary (Isles of Scilly) sold squirrel pate some years ago. A farmer friend reckons you need a pair of pliers when you are trying to skin a squirrel.
I was once offered a roadkill deer by a colleague but by the time he'd butchered it there was only a fist-sized piece of venison that was salvageable.
Today I walked over to a post-office-in-a-corner-shop to post the few parcels I can't hand deliver, but decided I didn't agree with the shop keeper's approach to "only 3 customers at a time" - even though there were already 5 in the PO queue and 3 browsing the groceries he was still telling us to go inside. Not impressed at all.
Well, I expect he's happy - an extra week on the Christmas holidays! My boys' school currently only has 2 absences, they say, neither covid related, so I am devoutly hoping that that stays the case for the rest of this week.
Why on earth would parents take their kids to a garden centre after school?
The beef casserole was really quite decent, washed down with a nice glass of Merlot, and there's enough left over for tomorrow.
There's definitely something to be said for cooking like that; I couldn't believe it was only 7:30 when I'd finished eating!
Glad you got the letter sorted @piglet and that dinner was good. We have boxes from Mindful Chef every couple of weeks and yesterdays and todays meals were very much in the vegan Christmas Dinner mould, so I feel we're gearing up for the holidays.
We were supposed to be going to a festive wine tasting tomorrow, but with London moving into tier three the day after and my husband heading off to spend a couple of days looking after his mother on Wednesday it felt a bit too risky to go, so we've cancelled. As it is I'm a bit worried about my shift tomorrow in the very small but very popular local charity bookshop.
Why on earth would parents take their kids to a garden centre after school?
To occupy that awkward time of day with younger children between the end of school and tea time, often taken up with allowing them to play on play equipment in the school playground while parents have a chat or having their friends round to play and stay for tea. Neither of these options is possible at present. Plus it's that time of year when extra buying needs to be done. It's a nice garden centre with various gift and clothes departments. In fact, some gardening friends of mine never go there for plants.
My book group discussion went ok - only three of the five of us showed up but we're going to continue into the new year and see how we go.
Early out of bed for me tomorrow for the weekly grocery shop.
Comments
It is now raining heavily and I need the light on though it's only midday.
Those socks sound like they do a grand job, and I love the dog drying coats! After the hosing down, the perfect way to end a good walk! They also look adorable wearing them :O)*
Yes, living alone after having had cats or dogs is a big change :O/
Oh, Boogs, you are a font of (outdoor) wisdom!
Excellent advice there!
Question: how do you yourself re-waterproof, after extended wearing, your GoreTexes et al? - I used to have things from the Storm Waterproofing brand, recommended by very good outdoors emporiums here, but Storm had problems of sorts a while ago, and I haven't seen them since on the shelves in Continental WesShire! I'd always found their products very reliable and non-aggressive, but I appear to have to use the much bigger Nikwax brand now, who are everywhere these days.
Ta!
Alas, it was a pack of four...and, to serve as a Judgement on me for trying to buy them on the Sabbath, the local *small* Co-Op doesn't stock them. I shall have to make a special journey (tomorrow) to the *large* Co-Op, where they are available, and where I purchased them. I think a bout of panic-buying stockpiling is in order...
Journey home was enlivened by counting large numbers of roadkill: 2 deer (1 muntjac, 1 roe), 1 badger, 2 each foxes, squirrels and rabbits 😱
Squirrel, I imagine, would taste a bit like rabbit, if nicely casseroled with herbs, and some vegetables, in a white wine sauce.
Not sure about badger or fox, though.
Good *English* fare, too, so no need for Johnny Foreigner to come and try selling his snails or frogs' legs here...
If only mine would manage to be socially distanced at any time out of the pews...
Yes, yes, I know - it doesn't always happen...
Squirrel actually tastes surprisingly like pork, rather than wabbit, though you do need one per person, not a lot of spare flesh on one!
Sounds OK, though - and, post-Brexshit, we may well become accustomed to eating *native* food (yes, I realise that the grey squirrel was not originally native, but it is now...).
I foresee oven-ready hedgehog, squirrel etc. on the supermarket shelves, along with cuttlefish (a sort of squid? There are recipes on Google) and mackerel, caught by The True-Blue Fishermen Of England in our sovereign waters.
Not to forget herring, which turn nicely into KIPPERS (not the Farage variety, happily).
The one downside is that you do have to pluck and gut the beastie yourself when you recover it from the side of the road.
However, did your Dad find it all worthwhile? Pheasant can be very tasty indeed...
(Which reminds me of a certain Inn a few miles away which used to serve a very, VERY, toothsome Game PIE...).
That is exactly why I have refused to play any hymn tunes.
There was a lot of pressure when we first returned to the building to do so. "Just play the hymns when we'd have them" I pointed out no-one would be able to resist singing, and I was not going to be the cause of that happening. This is a small, mostly elderly congregation, no choir and every report I've ever written includes something along the lines of strongly supporting the congregational singing.
Plus, none of them like being sung at/to/for, so we've not gone down the line of a cantor.
When we can all sing again then, and only then, will sung music return to our worship and great will be the rejoicing.
I am quite enjoying playing my less well-known organ pieces and improvising to fill the liturgical gaps for the time being.
It's been a dreich, wet and miserable day here, and I haven't been over the door except to put a bin-bag in the bin (and that's just in a store-room adjacent to the front door).
I made a start on writing Christmas cards this afternoon, but rather lost heart when I realised I'd need to put in some sort of missive with my new address on it. As I haven't got a printer, this may have to be done surreptitiously at work, unless I can order one from Mr. Bezos (and if I did, it would have to be delivered at the weekend). I'd also need to know that it'll fit into the only suitable space I have for it - the shelf where a DVD player would go in the TV cabinet thingy.
Food has been a bit random today: after having a decent brunch (smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and TOAST), I grazed on mushroom pâté and crackers in the late afternoon, and then had a long Facebook Messenger chat with a friend in Canada, by which time it was gone 7 o'clock. I didn't want to start cooking something at that point*, so I just made a bacon sarnie for supper.
* I'm actually about to start making a beef casserole for tomorrow's supper - I'll get the meat browned and put in the slow-cooker with the veggies, stock and whatnot, and set it on "low" before I leave in the morning. If anyone wishes to open a book on whether I forget to turn it on, feel free ...
Lord Griffiths of Burry Port: "Over the last 10 weeks, I have either led or attended acts of worship in three different churches, and meticulous attention has been given to all aspects of proper behaviour in such circumstances. Methodists are even reduced to not singing our hymns: we are reduced to humming behind our masks or, indeed, some kind of Trappist silence".
As two readers were choir members and another was also doing the recording, there were very few in the congregation. Although I am not one to advocate breaking the rules, there seemed to be no logic in forbidding them from singing. They were sitting even further apart than the socially distanced choir.
Zoom church today followed by a nice chat in a breakout room. Usual bread, cheese and olives for lunch, tiramisu in the afternoon followed by family Mario Kart tournament on the Switch. Supper was Malaysian fish and veg curry with coconut rice, courtesy of Mr Heavenly.
Here they are singing the Hallelujah chorus (old but still wonderfully fun - at least I like it)
I'd just write my new address in each card with a note (maybe in red pen) saying "Please note my new address." I'm all for making things easy.
Good luck with remembering the slow cooker - I do hope you do as one of the nicest feelings while you're at work, and on the way home, is remembering that the meal is all sorted and will be ready as soon as you get in.
Sundays are very Zoomy in our house and I also made a delicious casserole with roast potatoes and broccoli for lunch and skim-re-read my book for tomorrow evening's book group. I meant also to clean the ceiling in the downstairs cloakroom but it wouldn't do to be too efficient.
I'm not sure whether "over the door" is Scottish or Northern Irish (or even Newfoundland) - I can't remember where I picked it up!
I'm unlikely to forget - the kitchen's very small and the slow-cooker takes up most of the bit of counter where the toaster is, so I'll turn it on as I'm making the toast. If that fails, I've left a note under my keys ...
As to text, why not borrow from Stella Gibbons and put something like I've moved: the white wings of my girlhood are now enfolded by my new flat at ...
You'll be delighted to hear that I did remember to turn on the slow-cooker, so beef casserole will await me when I get home.
In other news, don't you hate it when you wake at 3:30 and toss and turn until it's time to get up?
I love getting round robins with Christmas cards so I can catch up with people's news - especially if a couple of hand written lines are added at the end to personalize them.
I'm sorry about the insomnia
Of course you'll have a lot to tell people and I hope getting the letter done is ok. With not working I've had time to do one this year (just one side of A4) and we've put some nice pictures of the family in it, which I hope people will enjoy even if they know most of our news. I agree a couple of handwritten lines on each one makes it nicely personal.
I had a panic the other morning when they weren't where I always leave them; something had made me put them in my handbag instead of on the hall table, and I went into full panic mode until I told myself they had to be in the flat because they couldn't possibly be anywhere else!
As work was very quiet this morning, the letter has been written and copied (shhh!), so my cards might actually be sent out before Christmas!
There aren't very many, so I'm not going to beat myself up about it.
I have been to the doctor's with Dragonlet 3 for her vaccinations this morning, then got home to a text from school to the effect that Dragonlet 1 needs to isolate for a week again due to Covid in his class.
I've got my book group discussion this evening, we've only had one since March and I think I might push for giving the whole thing a break as no one (including me) is particularly proactive about keeping it going.
Today I walked over to a post-office-in-a-corner-shop to post the few parcels I can't hand deliver, but decided I didn't agree with the shop keeper's approach to "only 3 customers at a time" - even though there were already 5 in the PO queue and 3 browsing the groceries he was still telling us to go inside. Not impressed at all.
The beef casserole was really quite decent, washed down with a nice glass of Merlot, and there's enough left over for tomorrow.
There's definitely something to be said for cooking like that; I couldn't believe it was only 7:30 when I'd finished eating!
Errr ...
I don't think any of the recipients work for the NHS, so I hope they won't notice. It was 15 sheets - hardly the crime of the century!
We were supposed to be going to a festive wine tasting tomorrow, but with London moving into tier three the day after and my husband heading off to spend a couple of days looking after his mother on Wednesday it felt a bit too risky to go, so we've cancelled. As it is I'm a bit worried about my shift tomorrow in the very small but very popular local charity bookshop.
My book group discussion went ok - only three of the five of us showed up but we're going to continue into the new year and see how we go.
Early out of bed for me tomorrow for the weekly grocery shop.