Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Chatting => Chatting on the Plot => Topic started by: New shoot on December 20, 2020, 19:37
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... or the living room, or wherever you want really. I’ll unlock it nearer the time, but this is going to be our chat thread for the big day.
If you have a specific time you want to start, pm me and I will start a list of who will be around and when. Anyone is more than free to hitch up a stool whenever they want of course. All welcome and just whatever you feel like chatting about. It is more about company and comradeship than any particular topic :)
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Aunt Sally told me we are allowed to start the party early so the Christmas cabin is open :)
I did my last day at work yesterday at job no 2. The customers were all pretty upbeat and happy buying a few extra treats for themselves. If we can’t do all the usual stuff while in Tier 4, I’m having that extra cheese, chocolate, box of... (add comfort food of choice) seemed the consensus of opinion.
Hunkered down now for the break. House is plenty stocked up, got pressies wrapped and the rest of the world is at a safe distance. Could be worse :D
How is everyone else?
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It’s a lovely sunny Christmas Eve this morning. Everything is bought and distributed to loved ones. So a relaxed day in the Gummage house.
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Lovely and sunny here as well :)
This year I made lots of Christmas cakes, large and small, all now distributed, but the last thing to bake was my choc and hazelnut bundt cake - which has stick fast in the tin *wry smile* I'll have to hack pieces out to eat it :D
Oh well worse things happen at sea! and at least it wasn't something I'd promised to make for somebody else.
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Some idiot said he'd clean the cooker ready for tomorrow..
I'd best get back to work :ohmy:
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Rash promise there John :lol:
choc and hazelnut bundt cake
Oh and here I am by chance with a freshly made cuppa.
Pass that tin over here please Mum. I am more than happy to help you hack that cake out. It sounds divine :D
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Finished work now till the fourth of January. All presents wrapped bantams etc all cleaned out logs in and wood burner lit. Greenhouse heater sorted so now I'm chilling with a glass of wine with my wife. Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a better New year :D :D
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Rash promise there John :lol:
choc and hazelnut bundt cake
Oh and here I am by chance with a freshly made cuppa.
Pass that tin over here please Mum. I am more than happy to help you hack that cake out. It sounds divine :D
Me too NS. Anything with the words; cake, chocolate or hazel nut in it has my vote.
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My vote too. It just saves you the trouble of having to cut it up :D
Nice day today here too, apart from the occasional snow flurries.
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My vote too. It just saves you the trouble of having to cut it up :D
Now I never thought of that. No embarrassment at the size of slice you have cut yourself, it just came out of the tin in that sized hunk.
Can I request a tin of my own please. As stuck in there as you like is fine by me :D
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I don’t know if a post has already been started or not. And hope Auntie doesn’t remove this post. :D
Wishing you all and your nearest and dearest a very Merry Christmas.
Hope new year brings a new and better challenge like growing loofas rather than the current challenges we are facing.
In our household we have removed the dreaded disease word. Hate it.
Topics merged by Aunty
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Merry Christmas everyone!
One of my favorite traditions is listening to the Choir of King's College, Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (on our local public radio here, I think courtesy of the BBC). For understandable reasons, they pared back plans and intended to broadcast the live performance, but without a live audience. As a last-minute decision, it was decided to cancel the live broadcast, also for health reasons. I can't blame them! Fortunately, they taped one of the dress rehearsals, and broadcast that today. It was still a wonderful performance, as always.
I hope they can resume the festival live next year.
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Merry Christmas Prakash. Forget about the bad stuff for a day or two and enjoy yourself :)
If you grow a loofah next year, that will be quite a thing to celebrate :D
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So we are all having a different kind of Christmas this year, but what is the one thing you have managed to hold onto that makes it for you ?
Could be a favourite food or drink, a special film you always watch or maybe something else. I always have to have a bottle of fizz for Christmas Day and it is going into the fridge very soon :D
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One of my favorite traditions is listening to the Choir of King's College, Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (on our local public radio here, I think courtesy of the BBC).
Strange to think that we were both listening to the same thing at the same time so far apart. I'd have liked to be sitting with a little drink at the time but I was cleaning the cooker.. which somehow is always my job and I've been promising to do tomorrow for a month :)
I believe it's only the second time it's not been broadcast live since they started broadcasting it in 1928, the chapel pre-dates radio a bit :)
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There are two different carol services from Kings' College Cambridge. As you say, there's the Festival of 9 lessons and carols on the radio which is usually recorded live today & broadcast on Radio 4 (90 minutes), and then transmitted again tomorrow (2 hours).
Then there was the Carol service (pre-recorded) that I was watching on TV this afternoon; it made me miss my Dad, who studied there and once played its organ. :(
They are indeed part of Christmas, and they still feel special - even if different. :)
Mum and I may listen to the radio one tomorrow.
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Our fizz, one bottle for breakfast :D and one for lunch, has to go outside the back door and take it's chance with the weather. I don't know why I bother pouring over recipe books in the run-up as we always end up eating exactly the same things on Christmas Day. It wouldn't be 'right' otherwise. Have a lovely day everybody and stay safe. Wighty.
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So we are all having a different kind of Christmas this year, but what is the one thing you have managed to hold onto that makes it for you ?
Could be a favourite food or drink, a special film you always watch or maybe something else. I always have to have a bottle of fizz for Christmas Day and it is going into the fridge very soon :D
It's just Mrs. Subversive, our 2 sons and myself, and our tradition is that I make a big breakfast (biscuits with sausage gravy, fruit, juice, coffee or tea). The boys will open gifts, Mrs. and I are donating to favorite local charities in lieu of presents (a.k.a. "stuff"). I've preferred the donations for a few years now, Mrs. decided to join me in 2020.
After breakfast, no one in our family cooks on Christmas! St. Nick says so. We see a movie together, then order Chinese food (curb side carry-out). It's an online movie this year of course; usually it's at the cinema. It's a fun, casual time with the family.
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Strange to think that we were both listening to the same thing at the same time so far apart. I'd have liked to be sitting with a little drink at the time but I was cleaning the cooker.. which somehow is always my job and I've been promising to do tomorrow for a month :)
I believe it's only the second time it's not been broadcast live since they started broadcasting it in 1928, the chapel pre-dates radio a bit :)
I've been told by the Mrs. that if I say "I'll do that in a minute" I will always forget!
I didn't have a drink while you and I were listening (small world!), but I'm having a small Kentucky bourbon right now. Cheers to all of you! :)
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Happy Christmas everyone. Hope you and the loved ones have a reyt gradely one.
Stay safe, get hammered and fall asleep.
Enjoy
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Merry Christmas, have the best one you can in these unprecedented times.
2021 just around the corner and Spring is on its way, gardening gloves at the ready and off we go.
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Morning everyone :)
Only me and the chickens up so far. OH still snoring.
Have the best day you can. Focus on the things that make you happy and don’t dwell on anything else. Right now for me that is a cup of coffee and feet up on the sofa :D
I am quite liking this relaxed Christmas so far :)
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It snowed here yesterday up till mid afternoon. The hills were all white and the valleys were all wet cos it rained heavily Monday. Not quite a proper white Christmas. Ice today and wind tomorrow.
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Good advice NS - I shall not worry about what I eat but will concentrate on investigating how one ounce of cake becomes one pound of weight :)
Merry Christmas Everyone!
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Just walked the dog. A surprising number of cars have appeared overnight, perhaps tier4 rules don't apply to everyone. It's crisp and sunny and I'm going to enjoy the day. My family are all in their bubbles and next year we will be in a big bubble together.
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Merry Chrimble everyone on this bright and sunny morning. Tea and Panettone and Christmas music on the TV - what more do I need right now :)
(A better internet connection for the Terrace, is the answer - it's playing up this morning! Too many people on at once, perhaps?)
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Good morning everyone and merry Christmas
Lovely and sunny here (minus 1C). Stayed up last night to watch a live stream from St Chads cathedral (Birmingham). Our son and his partner sing in the choir there, only 16 of them so we could pick out their voices at times and we could see them from the back. Seems strange not having them over but we're rather enjoying the change.
Enjoy your day :D
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That must have felt very special, Blewit.
Happy Christmas all. About to do a zoom with Mum to open our presents. Then online church. Then family zoom with my brother and family in Brussels. Then zoom with Mum to eat lunch. Then off to a friend's for the afternoon.
Different, but making the most of it.
Sarah Millican is doing her usual #JoinIn on twitter - use the hashtag to join in with a whole community of other people just having a chat and preventing loneliness.
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Just done the veg prep for lunch and there is a gammon joint in the oven for cold cuts later and over the next few days.
Pressies are opened. Mine is not here yet (sob) but will be a Geopod propagator with grow lights when it finally gets here - estimated time of arrival mid January. I got a bottle of handcrafted gin to keep me going in the meantime. OH got new clothes that he wanted and his usual sweeties. If there wasn’t a box of wine gums, he really would have felt hard done by :lol:
Scaled back with everyone else as it put too much pressure on others when they were not confident at venturing out to the shops, so just a few really good things swapped in household and then none of the ‘stuff’ that we don’t need anyway.
Now feet up again for a bit and relax :D
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I realised about 2am that I'd forgotten to assemble a little extra for my grandson. A couple of plate pages from old books - one of rabbits and the other of the gnome hairdresser (as in hare dresser) in the woods - both over 100 years old - thanks Ebay. Then I had to get frames and some card to back them. So first job of the day.
What a fiddle about but done now. I don't think he'll be too excited now but one day he may look at them and think fondly of us.
I will start on the veg prepping soon, we may eat by midnight :)
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I wonder this every year: how on earth have people managed for decades with only one oven? Cook X at 160 fan, cook Y at 200 fan, both at the same time? Argh. And when you google for help, you get so many different answers - none of which fit with everything else :wacko: ::) :D
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White Christmas in Atlanta, Georgia!
Merry Christmas everyone! Our Christmas morning is just getting started, but Atlanta got a rare winter surprise, a white Christmas! At least in the northern part of the city.
That might inspire a "so what?", but it's very rare here. I live in Athens, Georgia, about 80 miles east of Atlanta. Our last Christmas snow was about 10 years ago, and before that it was 125 years, only 20 years after our Civil War.
I'm not holding my breath, but a light snow could also happen here late today or tonight.
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There is snow here in the UK, but nowhere near me, so jealous of you SP :lol:
Years ago I was in a meeting at work and we were on the ground floor looking out onto the office entrance. One the people there was South African and all of a sudden it started snowing. Not much, but a bit of a flurry and he stood up and said ‘Could you all excuse me for a minute’. Of course we all said fine and off he went - we assumed to go visit the little boy’s room. Then we saw him running around waving his arms in the air outside :lol: :lol: :lol:
He came back and said it was magical as he had never seen snow before and couldn’t help himself. He was a rather standoffish consultant I used to have to work with a lot, but we got on so much better after that :D
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Typical Christmas - something had to go wrong, for somebody, didn't it?
email today -Dear EON customer,
Due to an IT issue, today we've taken some customer's Direct Debit payments earlier than we should have done.
We're sorry for this mistake and want to reassure you that we're working to refund this money straight back to your bank account. We aim for this to be in your account no later than Tuesday, 29 December 2020. If you're not able to wait for our refund, then please contact your bank directly to see how they can support you.
I did notice they'd taken the DD again on the 23rd rather than the 7th Jan, but was just going to keep an eye on it to make sure they didn't take it again, but I'm truly sorry for those on a really tight budget, leaving them short over the holidays, because of Eon's mistake.... :(
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The sun is shining and I took a few food bits round to Daughter, she groaned and said, I don't know when we are all going to eat this, and he won't eat that, its cream, oh and he doesn't like those either. Happy Christmas Daughter ::) ::). We are having lamb about 4ish. I have bought them that Sweggler Bird Box, after losing their blue tits in the heatwave early last spring. It is really heavy, so I shall stagger round with the box.
Last night I watch a compilation of "Have I got News for You". I haven't watched it for many years. I really laughed out loud when it was Angus Deyton in the chair after the exposee of him with a prostitute and drugs.
Nobody ever gets the better of Ian Hislop. Then it went on to being chaired by Bruce Forsythe. I laughed so much, I then went to bed and didn't go to sleep about about 5am, too much excitement. :lol: :lol:
This thread is such a good idea, it lovely to hear what you are all doing - next year Zoom !!!
Love to you all, Mrs Bouquet
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The Gummages wish you all a Merry Christmas. :D :D :D
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When I was a school girl (about 300 years ago) I lived in SE London and went to a school called ‘Dick Sheppard’
The Rev. Dick Sheppard was cannon at St Martin in the Fields during WWII. Every Christmas we were permitted to hold our 9 lessons and Carol service there. It was magical, we were a very musical school and although only a girls school we had 3 choirs and 3 orchestras and we had a fathers choir. The metropolitan police choir would also join us at St Maritins .
So a trip to the West End to see the lights followed by an amazing Christmas musical experience, we sang our lungs out. What could be better :D
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Merry Christmas from all the hens.
Let's hope there is light at the end of the tunnel.
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The Gummages wish you all a Merry Christmas. :D :D :D
I watched Wurzel, last night to see what he was getting up to. It is a good job he has got you to keep him in check. (He did remind me of Edward Scissorhands !). Mrs B
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Had lunch, a glass or two of fizz and watched a silly film, now getting that Christmas Day evening feeling. You know the one? On sofa and not sure I can be bothered moving.
The chickens had mealworms and grapes earlier and are already in bed, as is OH who went for a nap about 2 hours ago. Guess I had better wake him soon :lol:
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Yup! I got the 'if I sit here for a bit longer, I'm going to fall asleep' feeling... so I moved to the laptop in the hope it would wake me up :D
Went on Tw@tter and all the rubbish on there just made me even more weary ... yawn!
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Right I need some motivation, I am losing 2-1 in the annual Christmas Scrabble Championship, at least tomorrow we have decided to move on to another game from the cupboard. I might win nursery rhyme snap!
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Our dinner ended up being ready at 5.45, hubby put the prepared boned & rolled turkey in at 2pm with a probe in it, great idea but no clue as to when it will be cooked, fine since it was just the two of us & gave us the chance for a glass or two to of fizz, hic, dinner was lovely, don’t think I’ve ever served up so much variety of veg, very different when to just two of you, well 1 really as he only ate the peas,carrots & roast spuds & mash lol, his loss my gain :mad:, not had pudding as yet, I did poached pears & was to have a chocolate sauce but I put that 8n the oven when we turned it off & it got done a tad too much :unsure:
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Just got back from Daughters. Lovely leg of lamb, still a little pink, roasties, parsnips, red cabbage, brocolli,cauli, and I even ate 2 sprouts. ! One year old Christmas pud, a mincepie, and a selection of cheeses. We were socially distance all the time, even at the table.
Now just eating my 2 squares of very dark medicinal chocolate. A super day and they are delighted with the Sweggler Bird Box. I left them arguing about where to fix it tomorrow. :lol: :lol: :lol: Mrs Bouquet
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Glad it went well Mrs B :)
I’m more awake now and OH got up not long after I last posted, but we are still in comfy mode and content to be not doing much. The rest of the family is at much the same stage in their own homes and everyone agrees it has not been so bad after all.
It is dark and very chilly out and home seems a good place to be :D
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I think I ate a bit too much - or I'm about to give birth to the monster in Alien!
I was getting a little flustered with the meal so my daughter sort of took charge and it became a joint operation. It was lovely and easy then. We had chicken this year with stuffing balls, pigs in blankets, Giant pig in blanket a la Asda (special request from the grandson), battened carrots and parsnips roasted with a honey and maple syrup glaze, Orla potatoes roasted in local Wagyu beef dripping, cauliflower cheese, par-boiled sprouts finished by frying in butter and olive oil, onion sauce, redcurrant jelly.
Intensely aware how lucky we are and how precious life is.
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We’ve enjoyed our day, but we did get to see our children albeit briefly & of course the munchkins, 4 year old had opened everything at lightening speed whereas 2 year old still has masses to do tomorrow.
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That was one of the best Christmas days we've had. Cooking the meal with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson building a Lego dragon together, Val having an easy day - although she did do the onion sauce and cauli cheese in the morning before I was functioning on all cylinders :)
Tiring, but in a good way.
Called the neighbours up the hill to thank them for a rather decent bottle of Bushmills - very smooth and rich - and they were having a good day too. It would be nice to get together but bugs are bugs. Not a major sacrifice compared to those being made by many.
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For the first time, Christmas Day was such a doddle, that lots of habits just went out of the window, and Mrs Growster and I - admittedly with the after effects of a couple of sherberts, really lost the plot from about 2.00pm onwards!
We bought each other some DVDs, and one was 'A year in Provence', which is about 25 years old, and while we loved John Thaw and Lindsay Duncan, it took us back too far into the 'nineties, when we always went to France for hols with the girls, but hasn't life changed now!
So, it was another 'Foyles War', (Hastings is home town for me), and I even droppped off at the end of that for no reason than, as usual, the day is huge on the calendar, but this year, it was another Sunday!
What a great day, and I'm so pleased everyone else had a sort of fab day as well!
And it's 'bubble and squeak' today, which will be the biggest we've ever done!
Even fabbier!
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It was a lovely relaxing day and I am looking forward to a Boxing Day re-run, but with less cooking as we have leftovers! That is about my favourite bit :D
Christmas can be a routine sometimes and you feel you are rushing around too much to really enjoy it. Buying a lot less - food and pressies, plus just concentrating on making it as best as you can, really has something to recommend it. There is a happy balance to be struck there and I wonder how many people will have a re-think in future years.
As an added bonus, I have onion seeds to sow later on :)
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We had a lovely, relaxed day. Lots of phone calls in the morning. Lunch arrived when it was cooked, dog walked and then we read. Watched a couple of dvds, smoked salmon and fizz for the evening.
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And it's 'bubble and squeak' today, which will be the biggest we've ever done!
Even fabbier!
It would just not be Christmas without bubble and squeak on Boxing Day.
Wonderful :D
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Pleasant, unrushed day for us as well. The girls gave me a web cam so I can now see them whenever I want. The only downside was we had a power cut in the evening so another round in the Scrabble championship was played by torchlight. Nothing much planned for today either and, like Newshoot, I much prefer the leftovers than the main meal.
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Isn't it interesting that so many of us, me included, prefer the leftovers, the bubble and squeak etc. Maybe we should do our "Christmas Meal on Christmas Eve", the we would have left overs on Christmas Day, along with pate, cheese, cold Christmas pud, a few broken mince pies, a lump of cake and anything else one wants to hit on. :D Just put it all on the table and help yourself as and when, not forgetting the gammon. Mrs Bouquet
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Makes perfect sense to me but somehow I don't think I'd get away with it. :lol:
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It is a bit strange isn’t it. Everyone loves a buffet and meals where they can pick and choose what they want. Sit down Christmas lunch is nice as well, but there is something about rummaging in the fridge and finding treasures. It is just the time of year when you know they are bound to be in there, so you start looking :D
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Finding treasures...
...like a chocolate orange I'd forgotten!
Mrs Growster and I were musing yesterday, on what size turkey we used to have at Christmas.
My mum usually bought a capon, which did us proud, but apart from Boxing Day cold, I just cannot remember what she did with the rest of it, because there must have been a lot left over!
Nope...
Still can't remember - I'll have to ask my dear sister near Stoke on Trent...!
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I remember one year my dad won a turkey, it was huge, he had to wedge it in the oven with his foot, mum couldn’t lift it out lol goodness knows how long it got cooked for, I think they put it in before they went to bed, mind mums speciality was dry turkey :(
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a belated Christmas to all as i was not here on Christmas day back home before curfew had a few glasses of something or another missed Santa had another several glasses of I can't remember boxing night
now how did i get in bed? anyway getting back to normal today mite just have a couple of beers tonight if i can find the key to the drinks cupboard the wife said didn't you know we are on lock down in this house what does she mean i wonder :unsure:
sorry must dash have to find that key :D
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I remember one year my dad won a turkey, it was huge, he had to wedge it in the oven with his foot, mum couldn’t lift it out lol goodness knows how long it got cooked for, I think they put it in before they went to bed, mind mums speciality was dry turkey :(
When we were newly married, we worked in Mrs Growster's parents' pub, and Christmas Day was a hoot, as so many customers came in with all their families (Sunday opening was 12.00- 2.00pm)! We'd have lunch around 3.00pm...
We still chuckle about one lovely chap, who always told us that his wife has started to cook their turkey around 7.00pm on Christmas Eve!
Hmmm - dry...?
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Good grief, those huge old turkeys would just dominate wouldn’t they :lol:
My parents had a fascination with buying the biggest one they could. For days and days later you would be presented with ever more dry and unappealing versions of it and then when you finally thought it was safe to go back in the kitchen, the flipping bones would be boiling up for soup, like some dinosaur graveyard in a pan. They seeming loved it all, but us kids were turned off it for life.
No wonder turkey crowns are so popular now :lol:
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Even the mention of turkey brawn sends Mrs Growster screaming from the room...