General Chat

afternoon all ,time to sit down at last ,been a busy weekend ,but we are both now done bar the clearing up.
We decided on Friday morning when i came back from the xray clinic ,to organise ourselves for a soup making weekend ,and so went to Morrison's and brought a lovely bacon joint [smoked] ,some carrots ,reduced to 22p per kilo, and some nice tatties.
I cooked the bacon in the oven ,in one of the big roasting tin's ,placing the bacon on a trivet ,adding three pints of water ,and sticking the lid on .
two hours down the line i put some roast potatoes in a tin with the first two of this years parsnips,a halved onion ,and a couple of sweet potatoes.
the football [large cabbage ] i took out of the veggie patch ,went into the steamer ,part of lol,there is enough cabbage left to do all next week and the weekend what's left weighed in at to and a half kilo's.
We had a nice tea with two slices of gammon,and i put the cold gammon into the fridge Friday evening.
Saturday i sliced up the rest ,four portions ,six slices in each ,and put them down in the freezer,keeping the drained juice for the soups,and made a large pan of country style soup ,leek ,carrot ,lentils ,a tad of barley, a bay leaf,and some herbs and spices,did another pan of country carrot ,and a carrot and Corriander pan as well .
The large slice of gammon left which i couldn't slice any further because of the spikes on the caving dish hitting the knife blade,i blitzed ,enough left to make a frittata for Sunday dinner ,with tomato's from the greenhouse ,a green pepper ditto .and Rosemary ,sage and parsley from the back garden ,along with fried tatties left from Saturdays lunch.
There is still enough blitzed gammon for a nice pan of pease pudding and some small pizza's made by slicing some oven bottom muffins in half ,spreading the pieces with tomato concentrate ,chopped olive and red onion ,sprinkled with a mixture of gammon and cheddar cheese with a little hendersons relish.
hows all that from a £4-50 piece of gammon ,he he ,tight assed scot's descendant ,he he ?
I was going to do the big hedge top this afternoon ,but while i was taking the rubbish to the bin i noticed that the hedge was still rather wet ,so i decided to leave it until next week,[ that's my excuse anyway] ,lol.
I should be so lucky Mary ,i wouldn't mind being some ones sugar daddy ,but i never get any offers ,too old even for that i reckon.
We were both fed up with the acer keeping freezing and generally being a pain while in Fleetwood,that we went to Curry's yesterday and brought a nice little £ gig memory ,360 gig hard drive ,Toshiba laptop on offer at £390 instead of £500,so we have an early Christmas box,the acer ? i spent tewo hours on it last night putting all our important files and documents into it ,and it is now upstairs as a backup.
Our new tumble dryer arrives on Tuesday morning ,so there will be no more wet washing on the clothes horse in the dining room to make the air damp,and having finished doing all the windows has helped no end ,this may help Liz' chest problem,which by the way seems to be improving with the new tablets ,we both had a much better night,in fact ,i was soooo ruddy tired when i went to bed last night ,that instead of waking up at 5 am ,i woke up at 8 am ,wow ,some sleep in for me.
I hope this new doc ,will finally do something for John, Mary ,it's high time you both had some good fortune and closure with his leg problem.
I was sent for an e-ray on the right hip after finally bringing it to the notice of my doc' and got a right lambasting for not going to see him a lot sooner,but ,hey ,i wasn't feeling too bad with it up until a few weeks ago.
Me too Mary ,the cake sounded lush to me as well ,but i wouldn't DARE under Liz's eagle eyes ,he he ,i would get my head in my hands to play with.
I havn't tried my new halogen oven yet ,after finding that the roasting pan for it didn't fit my model ,but i swapped it round with the one from the microwave which fits smashing .
Work is in hand for the spring too [Groan] here she goes again ,he he ,she want's all the bench tops upgraded ,and a new free standing halogen cooker [ double oven] fitted in too ,which ,fair comment will lower the energy usage ,plus ,she won't have to bend over so far to get to the top oven it being well big enough to do a meal for two or three,and big meals for company are left to me anyway which is fine.
This coming week i will get those three doors upstairs sanded and painted ,then that's it ,the decorating tools can go away until next year , yippee,the hall and stairs ,and the lounge to go ,magic.
Well,time to go and put my feet up for a change ,catch everyone later ,Fredxxxx

Well its all cooking in this house....must be a bit of an obsession for the moment and then it will normal service (whatever that is!!) On friday I made pizza sauce from scratch. It was very yummy altho not as red as store bought stuff. Then Norm made pizza dough in the Kitchenaid. It calls for a one hour rise but I gave it one and a half. Great dough!! Enough for a 14 inch deep pan pizza, then the sauce, ham, pineapple, peppers, mushrooms and anything else that looked interesting. I topped it with grated half fat cheese, baked for about 30 minutes and then we shaved a little fresh parmagiano over the top. Yummy and even more yummy.
The trick with the ice cream cake is to make sure that you have guests to eat it with you!! I only had a small slice. I think next time I would forgo the chocolate and peanut butter chips and perhaps use a couple of "Flakes" if I can find them. Might have to go to the british shop. I did use half fat ice cream...LOL....my daughter laughed herself silly over that.
Did I tell you about the bread and butter muffins??? We were having a coffee somehwere and they had bread and butter muffins. I asked for the recipe and they said....NO!! So after a bit of a search on google I found a recipe that only uses egg white....they , too, were very yummy.
Fred have you ever grown celery. I planted six. They are nowhere near as tall as store bought and very, very green......dunno what to do with it...suggestions???
The stew, BTW, was good and I think I am going to use my slow cooker at least twice a week. It is so nice to get all that prep done in the morning and then just sit back and enjoy a glass of red and a nice meal....with no effort...later on.
Mary, hope John gets some relief soon. Had to take Norm to the Emerg yesterday morning. He had severe abdominal pains. The doc tried to tell him he had swallowed a chicken bone...but hey!! pretty hard when you haven't eaten any chicken..LOL They gave him some heavy duty meds but it will be off to his Doc come Monday....and so it goes!!
Off to sew. Lesxx

Hey All

I am finally retired!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like you are all still cooking up a storm. Got to make that ice cream cake next time the grandkids are coming - infact they can help me and choose what they want to put in it.

Been a tough year, I will be glad to see 2010 go. Diagnosed with agressive Rheumatoid Arthritis throughout the whole body - not nice. Keith had to dress me and drive me everywhere for about 2 months until the meds started to kick in.

If that wasn't enough - the meds caused me a problem that had me house bound and after that nasty test, I was diagnosed with Ulcerated Colitis.

Now I take 15 pills a day but I can function.

I had to go to UK 5 times this year. keiths Aunt died ageed 95, the end of an era and then my mother had to go into care. Just got her settled and she had a stroke. She finally died in August. Meanwhile I had a house to empty and sell - All done.

One daughter is unemployed (aggain) and the other has seperated from her partner of 7 years. She and the 2 cats moved in today while the house she has bought gets its floors done.

Keith is fully recovered from his quad bipass and although supposedly retired has 4 contracts he works on which pay him handsomely. We are going on a Panama Canal cruise in February.

Fred - I will wave to you on December 7th as I wisk through Newcastle enroute to Edinburgh, Keith has a business trip to UK and I am going up to Inverkeithing for a few days.

Hope you are all keeping well

I saw Michael in Canadian Tire a few weeks ago, he seemed reluctant to stop and chat!

Luv to all

Veronica in Dundas

Morning all, Blessings Veronica, how great to hear from you!!
May the new year treat you more kindly.

Fred, I pulled out all the soup recipes you sent and went on a frenzy over the week-end. Made 3 pots up and portioned it out for some of the "inmates' here. They can all have one feed now and one more to freeze for later.
Our weather has been fabulous but I see snow over the prairies so it will soon end. Even the birds are loving the warm days.
I put a suet block out and they had it gone in a week. Usually lasts much longer. They must be bulking up for the cold weather as well.

Les, my husband grew celery, planted it in a ditch and as it grew he filled in around the plants. When he pulled them up the bottom half was blanched. I think he tied them at the top as well.

Looking forward to a shopping trip to Winnipeg next week. With Christmas on it's way and no stores in our small town it will be a real treat to spend, spend, spend. Like putting a kid in a candy store hee hee.

Time to get some breakfast, so stay well all, see you soon. EdithXXXX

Its a beautiful morning in Dundas, cold but with a clear blue sky. A few minutes ago the Lancaster Bomber from the Canadian Warplane heritage mueseum did its annual fly by. It flys over all the local Rememberance Day ceremonies in the area between Burlington and Grimsby. What a sight and sound particularly as it echoes around our Dundas valley. Keith an I where brought up in Lincolnshire, home to many Lancaster and later Lincoln bombers so the sound is etched in our minds.

Hope all is well with everyone. I am having a very good day today.

regards

Veronica

It's good to have you back, Veronica. You have had quite a year or two....hope all stays better for you.Dunno about Michael, didn't you see him in Canadian Tire a few years ago with the same result???

Sewing like crazy this week. Fair starts tomorrow. I have more aprons than you can imagine so let's hope that there are lots of sales!!

Cold and damp here, including the wood that Norm is shoving into the wood stove. Ollie's latest trick is to sit with his nose two inches from the glass door until it gets hot. Then he backs off to his favourite chair....a real toasty boy. This morning the wood was very spitty and some sparks landed on Bella....also a fire worshipper. I had to give her a good rub otherwise I might have had a real hot dog!!!

Off to the salt mine.
Lesxx

Morning all.. We have a lovely sunny warm day..

Veronica It is so nice to see you back,, Hope the next few years will be better than the last,,Good to see I am not the only one who had boomerang kids..mine came and went quite often until they married and then they settled...enjoy your trip to the Old Country, and wave to Fred for me also when you pass by...LOL

Les,, Celery is very popular here in oz,,it goes into all stews and savoury minces and and soups,,just slice the stalks and the green tops if you want and shove them in..some people like to fill the hollow with cream cheese and serve as finger food,,cut them about 2 inches in length..and fill..
Hope you make lots of money with the aprons..

Fred.. You are the best food manager I have ever seen,,all those soups ready for the winter..do you make your own bread,,I am thinking of going back to making mine,,I have a bread cooker and have forgotten how to use it..

Edith Enjoy your trip and the retail therapy..does one good to get out and spend up a bit,,and Christmas is a good reason,,LOL

My daughter is arriving tomorrow morning to spend the day with me..so looking forward to that,,she goes home on Sunday..a pity she lives so far away,,41/2hours drive or 5hours by train..
A lovely train trip and a tiring drive...

Stay well all..

Love Mary xx

Morning all,from a veeeeery windy and wet Newcastle where i am now sitting down with a coffee after painting those three doors again [two coats to go ,another this afternoon].
Fred has been smit by Gerty the genes gremlin yet again ,after two days of trying to add notes on here ,only to see them go whoosh as i was about to click enter ,i got sick and changed to another computer ,only to have it happen again ,so ,it has to be genes itself .
Nice to see you back Veronica ,and am pleased to see that Keith has made such a good recovery.
we have a busy day ahead of us ,first to the clinic to get my feet seen to ,and then to the shops so that i can buy The grandson the activa fryer he wants from Santa Claus ,he he.then it's home again for another coat of paint before the rep' from the loft insulation people turns up to check the loft for us.
I may even get the final coat of paint on the doors before we go to bed,which would be nice ,which would leave the three other doors to touch up where i have pared some wood off the tops and edges so that they will shut properly,then it will be bliss to put the rollers and brush away until spring.
Did a load of Scottish Angus beef mince up last night ,so later this afternoon i will make up a Shepherds pie ,and a beef cobbler,putting one down in the freezer ,and keeping the other for tomorrows dinner.
Today we are having the other half of the cheese pudding ,with the rest of yesterdays veggies ,ideal because we can heat the lot up in the tiered steamer,which means a lazy cooking day.
We are still only half way through this football of a cabbage ,despite giving some to the son to take home ,he he ,we will take on a greenish hue if this goes on much longer ,lol.
Well ,i am going to do a shoot before Gerty strikes again ,see ya later ,Fred.xxx

eye eye ,said the blind man ,looking for a hanky,time for a few minutes sit down with my coffee before starting the last coat on these plurry doors .lol
I went to the doc's as requested after the phone call about the ex-ray results,ooooer,the news wasn't too good darn it.
I have def' got arthritis in the right hip .as i thought ,but it seems i have it in t'other as well ,though not as bad.
The shocker was being told that i have osteo porosis in the lower spine ,and i thought it was just a bit of stiffness ,grrrrr.
The doc'asked if i wanted top be referred to the hospital for surgery ,but i said no way,how in heck can i leave the missus to fend for herself for weeks while i get over surgery,nope ,i told him that that is the last resort,and i will carry on as usual ,until the pain gets that bad that i have to succumb.
He then said that the hip replacement would solve the problem,and i said ,don't think there is any chance of the hospital doing that surgery on me with P V D in my legs ,he he ,the most they could do is rework the hip by taking the rough edges off the bone ,no thanks to that ,lol,i will refuse to let the joint stiffen ,and exercise it ,and carry on regardless.
The rep from the Home Warm Front arrived yesterday at 2 pm ,and had a look in the loft ,and it seems i am right ,the change in the regulations means the lagging i have in the loft so far ,is only half as thick as it should be ,so they are coming out to thicken it up within two weeks.
The garden is going to take some sorting after the high winds ,he he ,the table and chairs [the heavy metal ones ,landed up next to the greenhouse.it stripped the cover off the B B Q without ripping it [clever that ] ,and overturned the bird table .
I saw on the tv last night that some old lass had her greenhouse picked up and thrown bodily over the other side of the garden,,luckily it was one of the pvc variety so no smashed glass to replace,but over here we have had a lot of flooding the other side of town,so we this end have been lucky again.
Thw missus has been getting steadily better ,and managed yesterday to use some apples off our tree ,to make me four little individual apple crumbles,all i need to do now ,is find room in the freezer to get them in .
that's it for now ,the boss is up and about ,so i am off to get this painting finished ,see ya later ,Fred.xxxx

Morning all, Fred, I can sympathize with you. My diagnosis was the same 2 yrs. ago. As you have I decided against surgery and so far have been able to keep the pain within limits. Exercise is the key I find and am soon reminded by the "bones" if I don't.
As busy as you are you will be able to work it out I'm sure.
These "golden years" soon turn to lead don't they???
Winter seems to be closer every day, the temps are slipping down and the skies are grey, all we need is the white stuff and it will be here for sure.
Guess that's why Mary is warming up, the sun has headed "down under" hee hee.
Would love to have a wood stove like Les, the heat is so comfy compared to our electric baseboard heaters.
Oh, well that's my moan for to-day. Off the soapbox and on with the day.
Stay well everyone. Edith XXXXXXX

And I am off for my second day of the "fair". It was pretty slow yesterday and bloody cold in the Glenwood Centre. You'd think they would have the heat on at least 24 hours before an event like this but no!!
Anyway standing in a cold hall on a concrete floor has done my back in even this morning after a cozy night in bed, my back is twinge-ing...this is not good.
Hope I sell aprons today.
Keep well and warm you guys.
More later.
Lesxx

Morning all We have a lovely sunny day...sorry to mention that to all you poor peeps suffering from the cold...hee hee hee,,,

Les Do hope you sell lots of aprons..drape them with
Christmas tinsel so as to make people remember their Christmas list of presents they have to buy...

Edith. Do keep warm and now is the time to start those soups..before the white stuff arrives...

Fred What strong winds you have had..do you live in the arctic circle...PMSL...Glad Lizz is feeling better and butter about your ex-ray results..Hope my Chalet survived the winds unscathed..You talk about turning green with all the cabbage you have been eating,,I should turn yellow with all the carrots I eat,,just love them..

Was lovely having our daughter here with us yesterday.. She came down for a 50th birthday party of her best friend and spent the day with us before she went,,I do miss my girls..

Well its gonna be a hot one today so better put something cool on..have a lovely weekend all..

Love Mary xxx

Morning Mary,and Lesley,and of course the local joke queen ,our Edith [loved the one about the Talaban on strike ,lol,sent far and wide already ] i nearly fell off my chair laughing at that one ,he he.
Yes Mary ,the worst winds we have had for two years ,and i was half suprised to find my roof in one piece in the morning.but i'm afraid your chalet suffered a minor hit ,nothing bad ,but i need to change the glass in the skylight after it cracked as a stone hit it.and i can't chance it coming in on Liz while she is working on her seedings can i ?.
Had a bit of a mishap yesterday afternoon while i was putting the big curtain rail back up,doing one thing i always told my site lads never to do while on ladders [overstretch] resulting in me coming backwards off the sterpladder and landing up on the floor in a heap,lol.
No damage to myself luckily ,but as i fell back i grabbed the window handle to try and break my fall ,but all i broke was the handle .lol,so i have to phone a local firm in a few minutes to see if they can fit a new handle for me ,the broken one is still attached to the window ,and the window still closes properly ,but it no longer locks [bu***r] so i reckon the pawl inside the window has gone walk about as in broken ,he he.
If it can't be fixed ,it is either a new opener,or even a whole new window frame ,so i may be yet claiming for accidental damage on the insurance.
Plenty of carrot cake Mary?,and some nice Carrot and Corriander soup,or even Carrot and Swede? we love our carrot too ,in any shape or form.
I made up a lovely hotpot yesterday which will do us two hearty meals ,lots of carrot in there ,shredded cabbage,swede,leek ,onion liver ,beef skirt and even a bacon steak,all done in a rich gravy with course sea salt and fresh ground pepper,the pre cooked new tatties can be added as it comes back to the simmer.
Glad your daughter brought a little light to your weekend Mary ,i am so much luckier ,living far closer to my bairns ,we normally get to see one or the other at least twice a week .
Hope you do well with your fare Les' and get a load sold to help with the costs of fuel and other stuff over the winter,am i glad i went in with the british gas price freeze again until 2012, their prices going up another 7% this month,this home heating is getting darned expensive these days isn't it?
Have to take the wife to the Metro centre this morning [Christmas box time again] so i will catch you all later ,Fred.xxxx

Sad day for us. Probably our closest friend, young tho he was, was killed in that explosion in Mexico today. Just married on the beach three days earlier, a lovely wife and the gorgeous one year old Audrey. Norm and I are numb. We cannot believe that we were just there in Nanaimo, eating, drinking and goofing around as always.
Say a prayer.
Lesxx

AHh VP such a tragedy Love to you both

Happy Birthday to dear Fred, blessings wished for your day adn year ahead JA

Les How sad.. and so young..big hugs for you and Norm..

Fred HAPPY BIRTHDAY.. Have a lovely day and don't climb any ladders or you might not be here to celebrate another...LOL..Poor Lizz bet she had a fright..as well as you...LOL

Lovely cool day here which is my sort of weather..nothing much planned so am having a quiet day..

Stay well all..

Love Mary xxx

Morning all you over the pond,in both directions lol,and many thanks for the birthday wishes,which were well recieved ,and appreciated.
The news of Les's loss of a friend so close ,must be difficult to get to grips with ,specially one so young and newly married,tragic to put it mildly.
I heard via Yahoo [oz] this morning of that terrible mine explosion in New Zealand as well ,and that is a real bummer ,coming from a mining area ,that hits close to home,and we have ex miner family members to boot.
Lets all hope that there is no more loss of life in this disaster ,one is more than enough.
Not much doing here today ,liz is doing her emails and playing the morning lotto games ,after which we are going to have a sort out in the back bedroom,tons of clothes we no longer need ,some never worn ,so we are going to bag the lot and ask the local bairns hospice to pick them up for the shop in the town ,where they will sell them on to make some much needed pennies for the hospital.
Hope everyone is well ,and looking forward to the weekend ,including the new retiree ,lol,who is no doubt finding out that being retired means in reality that she is going to be busier than ever ,[such is life]
Catch everyone later ,Fredxxx

What have they done to these boards yet again....or maybe I am really thick and don't know how to set the threads so that they show last post first???? It took me forever to get to this point...grrrr!!!
Happy birthday Fred and thanks for the card.
The Celebration of Life for Malcolm is on Monday. Heather has asked Norm to do the video tribute which has been heartbreaking as he wades thru all the many,many photos taken over the years.
Don't mind me if I am quiet for a bit longer.
Lesxx

And where is my name????