General Chat

Hi everyone. Been a bit cool lately,, nice for me though..

Took John to the specialist and he upped the new tablet to the next level as it hadnet made any difference to his walking..Lets hope the new dose works a bit better..
Put a cut in half tomato in the tub with my lemon tree and it is now got little tomato plants coming up..Better go and get my new tubs for them..Cheap way to do it though,,, :-D :-D
Well all the kids have come and gone,It wore me out and has taken me a week to recover,,All the driving around was getting to me..never mind the cooking ..but it was lovely to see them..
Have a lovely weekend all..

Love Mary xxx <3

Morning all, This will be my 2nd try to post, first one has gone to cyberspace.
Our weather is now in fall mode so it's a rainy day. Will not complain as the earth needs it.After a hot dry summer the forest needs a drink too.
Hope Fred has not built himself into a corner in the kitchen :-D
Have made 2 of his soup recipes this past week and as usual shared them with others in the complex. Potato and leek is an absolute winner.
Will be off to the big city next week, for Christmas Craft show and stocking up for the holidays. I know it sounds early but it is easier travelling now than in late November on snowy/icy hiways. :-) When the snow comes I will be able to enjoy it,not having to drive long distances to shop.!!!
Your joke this a.m was indeed funny Mary, I sat here laughing to myself as I have actually seen this happen,a great way to start the day.
See where you had some better weather Les, hope it stays with you for a while :-)
Time for me to get on with the day so it's bye for now. Edith <3

Afternoon all ,Edith Les ,mary ,and anyone else who decides to pay us a visit.
Been very busy this last week ,what with ordering all the gear for the new look kitchen ,that is done ,and will be delivered on Tuesday of next week ,but ,as yet i dont' know wether it be am ,or pm ,until i get the phone call.
In the meantime ,the wife mulled over the idea ,of turning both the bathroom and seperate toilet into wet rooms ,and being female ,meant NOW ,lol :-P.
So ,off we went yesterday morning to a local carpet shop ,where we brought a largish piece of underlay ,enough to do both rooms ,in one piece ,and some lino ,enough to do the toilet ;-).
Coming home i realized that i hadn't checked to see if i had the tubes of silicone i needed for the job ,but luckily i had,so after a quick snack ,i set too .
Stripping the old carpet out ,and followed by the underlay ,i found the wood ,as good as the day it was put in ,ans so the job was easy ,and straight forward .
I used the old carpet to mark out the size of the lino ,and found it was big enough to do the job twice over ,not bad for an off cut.
I then cut the underlay ,and laid it followed by the cut lino ,put a bead of white mastic silicone round the lino to skirting board ,clear silicone round the base of the toilet base ,replaced the carpet gripper at t he door ,job done,and seeing as i got it done by 5 pm ,the wife gave me the rest of the evening off :-D .
The bathroom shouldn't be a problem either seeing as i still have the old carpet as a template for the cutting.
so ,so far ,no getting caught in the corner Edith ,but ,it's early days yet ,lol ;-).
Lovely afternoon here by the way ,so i hope it will be as nice tomorrow morning ,i could do with getting out front and get some more weed out of the front borders before the bin men come to empty the garden waste bin ,so that i have four weeks to get the rest of the rose cover plants out ,and clear out the greenhouse before they come again.
I take my tomato seeds from my sugar plum Mary so i can't wait until spring to plant them the way you do yours ,but ,hey it's the end result that matters ,and i know of lots of people who use the same method as you ,and it saves having to buy seed which is now pretty dear.
No arty stuff going on in Geordie land i'm afraid ,driftwood here is collected ,dried and used for firewood ,nope ,no artists here ,just firestarters he he.
:-).
Gonna sign off for now ,time to sort something out for the tea ,have a great weekend all ,Fred <3 xxx

Well I escaped this morning on my own...yea!! Went to Parksville to the English store to stock up on Oxo and Bisto gravy granules. Then off to the thrift stores where I bought three more cups and saucers....oh no!! I need help, I need cup and saucer therapy. Some that I have already acquired I now don't like so will sell them off. Norm hasn't seen todays haul yet....you may later hear him howling where ever you live!!!

Sunny again today, love these fall days. Gonna find a guy to come in and prune, cut the grass and rake ready for winter. My back has not really recovered since I put it out 2 months ago and so I will have to get some help. I have a doc's appt for my back at the end of the month altho we already know that I have disintergrating discs...bummer!!

I got some flat sheet fresh pasta today and so will make a lasagne and maybe cannelloni and freeze them. I will see how ambitious I feel. I have been off cooking for the last little while. I need some new tasty recipes....any offers??

We shall have to have some pics of that new kitchen Fred so that we can all drool with envy,.....I would kill for a new kitchen. OK I am off. have a great weekend. Lesxx

Good evening Les' ,i wish we lived a lot closer ,lol,i could GIVE you a full 1947 Foley dinner service ,complete with the 6 cups and saucers for your collection,immaculate condition ,done in gold paint on a deep yellow circle background.at the moment sitting in the china cabinet.
Also have a full Japanese tea service 1955 vintage done in best bone china ,so thin ,you can nearly see through it,come over and take 'em both.
The gear for the kitchen arrived this morning ,and i'm darned pleased that i live close to the B & Q store and am not out back and beyond like you ,lol.
This is because the worktop next to the sink arrived damaged and i had to let the seats down in the car ,and take it back,where they cut a new piece for me.
I also dropped a clanger ,ordering the wrong worktop end pieces,the ones that came were the wrong depth and would have blocked the undersink cupboard doors from opening ,ooooops.he he.
Anyway ,while i was there i saw a nice little [big] B B Q for sale reduced by £50 because the fitting together instructions were missing.
This new B B q has three main burners,and a side burner for a saucepan or frying pan,in that many pieces that it will take some putting together :-|,this being just the job for the wife ,who is brilliant with jig saw puzzles ,lol :-S,it will keep her busy and out of my way while i get on with the plurry kitchen ,he he :-D .
The cooker and freezer don't come for two weeks ,giving me plenty of time to loosen the bench tops ,strip the casing off the built in oven ,and dismantle the carosel in the corner so that the missus can give it a good clean before the new bench tops go on.
I was double pleased that we went to Curry's for the cooker because the insurance we took out on it in case of breakdown included it being cleaned by a professional team who do the job once a year ,yey ,i get off one cleaning job at least.
They also gave the missus a chit which enables her to buy any small kitchen appliance at 25% off ,great as she has her mind set on a new krupps bench top mixer ,chopper, blitzer, this wife of mine is as spoilt as the other female in the house :-| lol.
Noticed that the gas board is busy over the road now ,digging up the gas mains in front of the empty flats ,so i hope this means they will be demolished over the winter when the rain ,cold and snow will help keep the dust down ,a worry for me because of the wife's health because the last thing she needs is dust from the rock wool insulation on her chest,or laying all over the garden and roads like it did at our last address when the flats were demolished there.
Think i had better see the council and explain the problems that we had last time,the demolishers there made no attempt to damp the site down at all ,and lots of people in our street had sore throats and runny noses with the dust.
I cheat with the lasagne Les' buy it ready made cook ,cut ,and freeze it ,but the wife has found some lasagne sheets that are ready to cook straight to the dish ,so ,we too are open to a recipe,perhaps a good look on the net will turn something up or ,HEELLLLP Edith,Mary ,lol :-D .
I have already taken piccies of the present kitchen ,and will keep you updated on progress as myself and my son get on with the job ,starting tomorrow morning.
Have a good week everybody ,off to brew up some soup for the tea ,
Fred. <3 xxx

Save that china for me Fred...LOL
I am busy sewing and so that is why I am not here. I am trying to turn out 3 aprons a day as I procrastinated for soooo long.
Yesterday I went to a geneology seminar. It was a good day and they served up an amazing lunch. Topics were irish records, very interesting, and a couple of sessions on being a detective and looking for evidence. I had already taken a Legacy webinar on that very theme so this was enjoyable and just reinforced the concept. The last lecture of the day was on Google and I have to admit that I did not get much from that.
Mary I got a letter from Lost Cousins today and Ancestry has all of the Warwickshire parish records on line....was that where your brick wall was located???
Gotta run, that darn machine is calling me, especially as I took a day off yesterday.Lesxx

Morning all We have a lovely day but going to be to hot for me,, 35c..

Fred I have a lovely recipe for lasagna but it has a lot of cheese on it and might not be suitable for your diet,,I buy the instant sheets and just layer them with nice mince sauce and then top each layer off with a tasty cheese and a mozzarella cheese and then bought in packet parmesan cheese..then do the next layer.. Very easy but my grandies love it and hope that I make it when they come..they recon the bought stuff is nowhere as good,,Lovely grandies I have :-D :-D

Les Yes saw those records but now don't have any connection there..what a shame..Still hoping for more records to come on line..Are you back into the apron business again..good for you..

Edith You off having some retail therapy in the big city chops..don't bend the plastic to much..

Well off to the docs again but mainly for letters to the physio for John to get him started in that direction.. Just wish it wasn't so hot.. might have a swim when I get back,



Had a lady from the Motor Neurone Assoc. come and interview us and she is going to help where she can..There seems to be stuff out there that can help us in many ways..We are starting with a physio that understands Johns condition and then we have the clinic in Dec.

Dont know what happened to my post but all the paragraphs have been change about..hope you understand what I wrote..

Have anice day all..

Love mary xxx <3

Morning all, Yes, Mary I really did bend the plastic. We went to a Christmas Craft Show and the displays were amazing. Most booths had "new" ideas and some of the crafts were brilliant.
Got some cakes that were chock a block with fruit for very reasonable price.Our dried fruit etc. is very pricey so the cakes were a real treat. Managed to get most of the gifts as well. Just a few stocking stuffers and I'm done. HOORAY.
Our weather is cooling so that too makes me happy, Sorry Mary :-( I know how you feel.
Fred as usual you are up to your elbows in renovations. I am going through your soup recipes this a.m as I did manage to get some fresh veg on the way home.
Les, in over 500 exhibiters I did not see one apron, so was thinking of you and a wide open market!!!! :-) Lots of kitchen bits and pieces tho' and they were selling.!
Time for me to get some food in me so will say bye for now, Edith <3

I know, Edith, friends over on the mainland have told me the same thing but we live here and with one vehicle. I know that I could stay with the kids over there but it would be a hard slog to get everything there as well. Also the show in Vancouver that everyone says I should be in is anywhere from $1500 to $3000 for a space and our Emily has a wide exposure (??LOL)
I am going to run an ad on some of the local (island) sites in the hope that people will come from out of town. Fingers crossed and all that.

We have a bbq/smoked meats place opened up in town, a restaurant. We ordered a selection of meats and were very disappointed with it especially as it was all quite cold when Norm picked it up. So he complained and they offered us a selection free. We had that on Saturday. Certainly it was hot but "over smoked" if you know what I mean. The brisket and turkey was good but the ribs and chicken pieces were hard and the meat dried up a little. In any event this has reawakened our love of smoked meats and so we are going to try and convert the bbq to a smoker for the winter. Dau says that it is easy...we'll see.

And so once again it is off to that dratted machine. I keep meaning to look for a pic of Mike Baldwin to pin on the wall above it....just so he can cheer me on. :-D
Lesxx

Morning all ,time for a sit down after doing some home made fish cakes,and a pan full of soup ,a new one ,so i will let you know how it turns out Edith. :-).
This one is made with 2.2 lbs of swede,apples,onion ,cumin ,curry powder ,lentils,salt & pepper,the sugar i left out ,i can see no need for using that at all.there is enough natural sugar in the apple to start with.
Going to send on the old,new pics of the new sink unit ,and bench top today ,and the rest of the old gear that will be changed next week ,tomorrow ,and that way ,i only have to send the new pics on as it gets finished.
Please Mary ,lasagne recipe ,it is a real treat for me ,and after all ,i only get it a few times a year ,lol,which makes it taste all the better for waiting he he :-D.
Found that cooker pic Les ' and will send oit on as soon as i get it loaded,nearly broke my heart seeing it again ,sigh ,i had my heart set on it too,biut that two inch oversail into the door opening made it a no go grrrrrr :-|.
Hope your sewing goes well for you ,and you get a few good sales from your work,it must be hard living so far from the big towns where all the big sales pitches are ,what a bummer.
Doing yor own smoked meats is far better than buying the stuff in ,time after time we have done this and finished up with overcooked ,oversmoked meats and fish ,which tends to put you off in the long run.
Our eldest son is well into smoking his own sausage meat and fish ,having brought his own mini smoker and now makes his own brands of sausage including savaloy ,which he also smokes himself ,,and his smoked salmon ,and trout is to die for ,lol,kippers we don't do .the best smoked kippers and bloaters are made only a few miles up the road ,so we just buy those ,frequently ,lol.
This is one of the reasons why i chose this new B B Q of mine ,it has a smoker facility on it in which i can do enough meat and fish of my own to keep me going for a couple of weeks.
Put my order in at the farm this week for my 21 day hung brisket of welsh beef Mary ,leaving me 14 days to get it properly corned this year ,no need for the greenhouse now ,with the big fridge we have .he he,must have my special meat for Christmas day ,or the kids will have a fit ,lol.
Nice to hear that the powers that be are at last sorting something out for John, Mary,and both Liz and i hope that it will do him some good.
Off to do some dinner now ,but i will be back later,Fred.xxxx

Morning lovely people.. We have a lovely cool day today,,YYYAAYYY :-D

Decided it was time to reap my first harvest of silver beet last night so went out and cut a huge bunch for dinner.. Cant believe how much there was and I only trimmed the large leaves.. It was yummy and so fresh,,waiting on son coming around to fill up my new tubs for my toms which are growing around the base of my orange tree at the moment,,Not in a hurry as they are still a bit small to transplant yet.. cut a cherry tom in half and laid that on top of the spoil to so hope I will get some sprouting from there soon to.. :-D :-D
Fred.. Recipe for lasagna is so simple.. Make a nice spaghetti sauce,,,any one that you like..a bit on the sloppy side as the liquid is used up by the dry pasta sheets..
Lay a base of dried pasta sheets on the bottom of a oven proof dish,,
Then ladle some sauce over the top to cover it ,,
Then sprinkle grated tasty cheese, and then grated mozzarella cheese oven the top.
Buy a tub of commercial finely grated parmesan cheese,,not the real stuff..sprinkle some of that over the top of the other 2 cheeses,,
Then do another layer the same..you can do as many layers as you like..
Finish off with a cheese layer and put in a hot oven until top is lovely and cooked ...about 35 to 45 minutes.at about 180c
My grandsons always demand it when they come..love them kids.. :-D :-D

Les.. How are the aprons going..have you had any snow yet..I don't think I could cope with the amount of snow that you all get in winter..would be like a bear..hibernate for the winter and come out in the thaw.. :-D

Edith.. I have solved my Christmas gift worry,,My grandies all want money to spend in the holidays as it is the big holiday time around Christmas here in OZ..the schools are closed for 4 to 5 weeks, They like the money to go to the movies and buy something they would like..easy for me..LOL.

Hope all our absent friends are well..We have a appointment at the hospital to organise the physio for John and the doc in charge is one I knew when he did his internship at the hospital I worked at many years ago.Lovely chap so will be nice to see him again.

Have a nice day all..

Love Mary xxx

Mary, your lasagne sounds yummy. I have a low fat recipe that I use. I also use the flat pasta sheets, you can buy them fresh in the stores here. I use Norm's spaghetti sauce which I bulk up with extra veg like mushrooms, onions and zukes. I put a little sauce in the bottom to stop it sticking, then a pasta sheet, then a layer of the sauce and then I spread a layer of low fat cottage cheese over. I repeat those layers, usually about 3 or 4 and end with pasta which I cover with the remains of the sauce and then grate parmesan cheese over the top. Cook this for about 45 mins at 350....very yummy.

Fred, pics are great. Am looking forward to seeing the rset. The stove looked pretty nice. I would love to have two ovens...too bad that did not fit in your kitchen.

A man is supposed to come today and put the garden to bed for the winter. I just cannot bend to do it this year and Norm is exhausted from teaching these classes at the college. One day we may slow down...but don't hold your breath.

Bella needed to go out for a pee in the middle of the night...or so she would have me believe. The racoons visit the plum tree most nights and I guess she wanted to visit...LOL Anyway I went out onto the steps to stop her from waking the entire neighbourhood by barking and Ollie shot by my legs and down the steps. Now he is a house cat. So close your eyes and picture me in my jammies chasing the blurry cat to get him into the house. No shoes on my feet, yelling at the cat and the dog, middle of the night. Hmm! guess we know who might have woken the beighbours!!

:-D Lesxx

Morning all.. we have a lovely mild day..

Les.. Can just see you running around the yard chasing the cat in your nightie... :-D :-D :-D what we see when we haven't got a camera was probably what the neighbours were saying.. :-D :-D all this talk of lasagna got me making one for dinner last night,,I had in the freezer some sauce that I made a couple of weeks ago for the lasagna I made for when the grandson was here and so got it out and made one for dinner last night..it was yummy and as usual I ate to much of it..Still got some for another meal so its in the freezer.. :-D :-D
Fred.. I am confused at this kitchen job you are doing,,did you not just do up the kitchen..pics please when it is finished..sounds like a big job..
Am working at getting a disable unit in a holiday resort about a hours drive north of Sydney, and close to where my brother lives so that we can have a holiday..It is self contained and has a kitchen so we wont have to go out to eat all the time,,Am trying to get sister in law to come down and come with us. Working on Feb. next year as we are tied up with clinics and physios at the moment..

Hope you are ok Edith..have the bears gone to bed yet..I have polar bears on my screen ,,they look so lovely..I think you sent me a few pics of them a few years ago and I have been rotating them every so often.. ;-)

Have a lovely weekend all

Love Mary xxx <3

Morning all ,still freezin' cold here in Newcastle ,and piddling down with rain again ,grrrr ,no gardening today peeps ,so i am doing a bit of research indoors ,and playing cards on the puter ,lol.
Yep mary ,i did change the kitchen unit doors a while ago ,but now the worktops and sink unit ,cooker are looking a bit jaded ,so i am in the middle of changing ,cooker ,kitchen sink [done] and worktops.
I had hoped to have a range cooker instead of the built in one ,with the seperate hob ,but was a tad pi***d off when i found out that it was two inches too big to go in properly :-0 :-| so we have ordered a double oven stove which is free standing.
Having finished the new sink and matching worktop ,i am now about to start on the rest of the work tops by stripping out the oven casing ,and drawer underneath ,so that the cooker ,when it arrives will slot straight in.
The holiday unit sounds ace old Buddy ,just what you and John could do with ,and as you say ,pretty close to home for you both as well.so i hope it works out well for you.
I had a chuckle too at the thought of a crazy canadian Lady chasing Ollie round the garden ,it reminds me of someone of the opposite sex over here ,he he hmmmmm ,i could send Hissy over there so that Les can chase them both around the garden ,giving me a rest ,lol :-).
We are both looking forward to my sons Christmas treat and are looking forward to our trip down to the smoke ,[train picnic is in hand] ,and seats and table are booked both ways, so i hope it warms up a little to make it easier for Liz ,who struggles a bit in the cold weather with her breathing .
I think a return to Cyprus early next year is on the cards ,just what Liz needs to buck her up ,a couple of weeks break away from the cold.
The Lasagne is well in hand peeps ,and the wife is even going to have a go at Cannaloni next week using the same sort of sheets of Pasta so we will see how it goes.
We will have to bring the camping stove into the kitchen next week for a couple of days seeing as the new delivery date for the cooker is now Thursday ,leaving us with no hob for at least two days,so we will use the camping stove so that we can still use a couple of sauce pans and steamer for veggies
Sounds like winter camping of sorts ,a long time since we have done that ,lol
Off to see to dinner now ,but i will be back later this afternoon ,so ,have a nice weekend all,Fred. <3 ,xxx

Morning all, Just fine Mary, I'm all ready for the Halloween treaters, we get a lot of the wee ones here as we have a day care on either side of our building. They are the real cute ones as they get bigger not so much :-)
Don't know if the bears are in bed yet as our fall has been very warm.Also the berries were not too good this year as we had a lot of heat but not much rain!!Enjoyed our trip to the BIG city. Did a lot of shopping so have sorted all the gifts for Christmas and it will be easy to wrap and deliver them this year.The snow can arrive any time now and I won't mind one bit. :-D
Thanks for the pics Fred, you can cook up a banquet now hee hee. Tried the soup recipe, and I did add a bit of brown sugar. The swedes I used were quite bitter so it needed a little sweetener.Also tried another one with sweet red peppers,garlic, mushrooms, hot sauce and worchestershire sauce. Finely chopped chinese cabbage, carrots,celery,and leeks in a veg broth. Turned out well. As usual sent it around the complex for all to enjoy.
Les, all our Christmas bazaars are taking place and I have yet to see an apron?? Was in Dryden the other day and it was a large venue but again no aprons. Ask one of the women if they had any and she looked at me as if I were daft!!!!I was sorely tempted to take a picture and show her one.
Time to get the laundry done so will say bye for now. Edith

:-D :-D <3

Edith, what a thought. I could pack up the aprons, Norm and the furry kids and head off with the trailer to all points east selling my aprons...what a lot of fun that would be!!

Fred I make cannaloni/ manacotti quite often. I stuff them with the following:
I lightly poach a chicken breast in a little olive oil and spices and then chop finely.
Ricotta cheese is expensive and high in fat so I use low fat cottage cheese and add a beaten egg.
I lightly sautee half a chopped onion and lots of garlic cloves until tender.
Then in a bowl I mix the cheese and the egg, add in the chicken and onion mix. Then at the last minute I sautee a packet of previously frozen spinach to get the water out of it and then stir in as well. I add s and p and a little basil to taste and then dollop onto the pasta and roll up. Place in a baking dish, cover with your favourite spaghetti sauce and dust with fresh grated parmesan. Bake for about 45 minutes at 350......more than yummy. I have never made them with white sauce but I may try that next time using a nice parmesan sauce made from scratch.

OK off to the dratted machine...but....the rack is getting full of new pinnies so...whew!!...panic over.
Lesxx

Morning, Les, reading your post jogged my memory. :-0 When I was in Wpg. we went to a bulk barn.I was looking for pine nuts for my pesto's. Well, I almost fell over at the price, 37.95 per "pound" (not a kilo). Talking to the clerk I ask why so costly? She did not know but when told her what I wanted them for she had an alternative. Use canned garbonzo beans, drain well, place on cookie sheet with a bit of olive oil. Under high heat (450) bake until light brown.
put in food processor and pulse till small chunks. So I tried it yesterday and it really does work well. From 1 can I have enough for 3 or 4 recipes.
We have white rooftops this a.m so it looks like winter is on it's way :-D My time of the year so am ready for it.
Time for breakfast so see you soon. Edith <3

Helloooooo has everyone left town or what?????

I know Fred is on holidays but where are the others.??

Weather here is GREAT for this time of year, no snow yet and none in site according to the weather guy on T.V.
Hope to hear from you all soon. Edith <3

Sorry gang, I am on overload, first artisan show starts tomorrow and I am busy and busier.
Will catch up on Monday.
Lesxx

Hi all, Sad news from Newcastle. Our Fred has injured his back doing
the kitchen reno and has been placed on bedrest by the Doc.
Please take it easy Fred and we will wait for your return.
Les, you too, take some time out to smell the roses :-D see you when your
shows are finished.
So far no problems here but will proceed with caution :-)
Edith <3