So bizarre !

[Spamar]

Yes, I did, Amethyst. She tried to use it, then I tried. It didn’t work. So she searched in another drawer, but there wasn’t another! We managed with small knives. If it was thrown away, I have to get another one!

I was thinking just now, no, it didn’t hurt the brain two much! But I’ve had three night in the last 7? That I be slept 10 /11 hours. That’s unheard of! And I haven’t been late the other nights. I usually sleep 7/8 hours. Maybe it’s the horrible weather. Yesterday had a some rain, also overnight. Meant it see a bit of sun today, and temps of 11 C. Tonight it is forecast to go up to 13C. Really weird.

 

[Slugsta]

Evening all,

Sparmar, the lack of daylight at this time of year does tend to cause excess sleepiness. I hope it is just that, rather than you coming down with something (((hugs))).

Amethyst, you gnat comment did make me laugh, thank you I really hope your life changes to allow you some down-time soon, no-one can be on duty 24/7 without paying a price in their own wellbeing (((hugs)))

Ann, I hope that MIL's skin tear heal well and that she seems much more mellow when you next see her.

The idea of a 'hide' for bird photography sounds great, I hope it helps you to take even better pics

I spoke to my son on the phone this afternoon but, at times, could hardly hear him as it was so windy where he was. I think he ended up putting up his hood and holding the phone within it to try and block out noise of the wind. It is mild and damp here, much more like autumn than winter.

 

[Amy in the US]

Ann, here we would call it a "blind" for you to conceal yourself in, to take your bird photos. (If you Google it, be aware that some people shoot the wildlife with cameras, and some with firearms.)

I would imagine you're not the first photographer to want to put one in your garden!

I'm sorry to hear about MIL getting a skin tear and hope it heals without complications. I well remember your difficulties in dealing with that sort of issue.

I'm also not surprised you fell asleep when you finally had time to relax on the sofa!

We had snow overnight, at least a couple of inches, the fluffy sort, to look at it. I haven't been out in it yet and there's no urgent reason to go anywhere today, so I may not find out anytime soon. I can hear neighbours shoveling. La la la, I can't hear that! My back won't take snow shoveling any more, and my OH hates it, as he grew up in a place with lots of snow in the winter and has had his fill for a lifetime. Usually snow doesn't last long here, but we are due for some cold weather, so we really ought to clear our pavement. We will see!

Hope everyone is warm, dry, and healthy.

 

[Amy in the US]

Spamar, can you get Oxo Good Grips kitchen gadgets in the UK? I love their peelers. They have a serrated blade one which is great for soft items (peaches and the like) as well as apples. I can peel apples so much faster with those.

 

[Spamar]

Oh yes. There is a shop near me that keeps a good stock of the Good Grips range. Pricey, but worth it! I went there this morning and bought one. Then had a coffee and cake and a natter with the manageress of the cafe I used, as I know her from way back. One of OHs carers used to take him there quite often so had to swop updates!
It’s a lovely complex, by a river, concert hall, three cafes, a pub and lots of quirky shops! Heaven!

 

[DollyBird16]

Oh yes. There is a shop near me that keeps a good stock of the Good Grips range. Pricey, but worth it! I went there this morning and bought one. Then had a coffee and cake and a natter with the manageress of the cafe I used, as I know her from way back. One of OHs carers used to take him there quite often so had to swop updates!
It’s a lovely complex, by a river, concert hall, three cafes, a pub and lots of quirky shops! Heaven!

What a lovely morning hope the rest of the day matched it. X

 

[jugglingmum]

I'm slowly catching up with this thread, and all the others I follow on here, so will try to post a bit more later.

Ann - so sorry to hear in the change in MIL, I do agree with the sentiment of we prolong life for no benefit, and post Shipman it seems to have swung too far. My mum, whilst happy and able to do prepare some food and make tea, is far from the person she was, and I suspect wouldn't like to be who she is, that said she still enjoyed Christmas with the kids in the family setting, and apart from deafness was her old self.

Amy - I certainly keep mincemeat from one year to the next, but I don't make mine, just buy it, in 2lb jars which all supermarkets sell in the run up to Christmas. We are nearly out of mincepies so I made another batch of pastry yesterday which is sitting in the fridge. The first jar I used this year had a best before date of 2015 and I'd half used it last year and then put it to the back of the cupboard. The currently open jar was bought last year and had a BBE date of Oct 2017 I think.

If mincepies are not common over there what do kids put out for Father Christmas, as judging by my facebook posts everyone here puts out mincepies.

 

[Amy in the US]

Mince pies are virtually unknown here. I had never made them before and nobody (except a friend who is an excellent baker) knew what they were. But they were delicious and everyone loved them.

If I'd planned ahead I might have been able to buy mincemeat, but it was a last minute thing and I would have needed the Internet or a specialty store, and I had almost all the ingredients, so I just made some. I couldn't get beef suet, though. I am sure I can get it from my butcher, but it's not an ingredient I have seen anywhere, ever. It's just not a thing here? The only suet I ever see sold commercially is for feeding birds, not human consumption. So we used butter instead (it was either that or lard, bacon fat, or duck fat). I found a Mary Berry recipe that used butter so figured it was okay. I'm assuming the butter will shorten the storage life of the leftover mincemeat. I have it in the fridge. It's tasty in oatmeal.

JM, what kids leave out for Santa varies, but the standard offering is cookies (biscuits) and a glass of milk, and maybe a carrot for the reindeer.

If I were Santa/Father Christmas, I'd rather have a mince pie and maybe a whisky. There's a lot of houses to visit.

JM, glad your mum was able to enjoy Christmas. Hope you did as well?

 

[Spamar]

I followed the NORAD Santa for part of his journey ( sad, I know). Just made me realise how bad my geography is, especially places like Africa!

 

[Amy in the US]

No, Spamar, that's not sad at all. I love the NORAD Santa tracker!

 

[Ann Mac]

Morning all,

Another Norad fan here! My kids are all pretty grown up, but still, every Christmas eve we follow it

Glad your Mum enjoyed Christmas, JM - Mil (I think) sort of enjoyed our visits, but she has lost all idea really of what Christmas is, and so it was no big deal to her - just a brief intermission in her day, which she no doubt forgot about within seconds of us leaving.

I use veggie suet, which is readily availble here, Amy I remember being thrilled when I first discovered it, several years ago, because it meant that when I made a veggie stew, I could finally have home made dumplings again I'm going to have to put some planning into my 'blind', I think - the decking area, which is under shelter, and just outside my patio doors, is about 8 feet widde and maybe 12 feet deep, so not the biggest of area's. Beyond it I have a patio area, which is where all my bird feeders are. I need something big enough to accommodate my tripod, camera and a stool for me to perch on - will have to go online for inspiration I think, to find the best material and the best way of rigging it. No snow here - thank goodness - but this morning a really strong wind which is causing all sorts of bangs and noisies - hoping that we haven't lost any roof tiles!

Spamar - that does sound like a nice day Hope that you are feeling OK, and that you are still lurgy free!

Oldests BF went home yesterday, but she is staying till the 2nd, so I have a couple of days left to enjoy her. Yesterday morning, before he left, we made a visit to The Grosvenor garden centre - we tend to do this just after Christmas most years, because they sell the most beautiful Christmas decorations, which are usually quite pricey, but you can pick up some bargains in their sales. My haul this year included a lovely rustic santa tree topper, a gorgeous little ceramic teddy bear, several nice tree ornaments, and 3 free standing ornaments - two snowmen, and a wintery fox, dressed in a tartan scarf. I also bought some soaps (that smell like chocolate!) and wax melts - I do love to have my wax burner going and fill the house with nice smells

After dau's BF had left at 4, we headed out again - OH wanted a couple of things, and I needed some bits and bobs for the house (back to reality - floor cleaner, laundry liquid and loo rolls running low!). I then used the last of my Christmas cash to buy a lot of new bird feeders - some of my old ones have been a bit battered, especially by the starlings, and I also wanted a couple of feeders that would ensure the smaller birds got a good share of the goodies - I like having the starlings, the pigeons, the jackdaw and - now - the jay visit, but they are greedy and don't leave much for the smaller birds - so new hanging feeders that won't take the bigger birds weight should solve that problem. While we were out, we made a last minute decision to eat out - another lovely break from cooking for me, and we enjoyed a really nice meal in F&B's.

No plans to celebrate the New Year with anything grand - a visit to Mil this morning, an early tea before oldest goes out to a party with an old school friend, and just youngest, OH and myself - all of us will probably struggle to stay awake to see the New Year in, lol!

I doubt I'll get back on here later, so just want to wsh all of you all the very best for 2018 - may it be peaceful and kind year to you all xxxxx

 

[Spamar]

Another thing I struggled with on NORAD was the relationship of US States to one another! Didn’t realise I was so ignorant! ( don’t tell Amy!).
Glad mil was at least OK with it all, Ann. It does make things easier, even if everything is forgotten in the blink of an eye.
I don’t think I’ve got the lurgy, just sleeping sickness! Went to bed about 21:00 ( early for me).slept solidly until 01:00. Couldn’t sleep, got up, went back at 02:00.slept until 07:00, usual getting up time. Got up, had breakfast, played iPad a bit. Felt tired, went back to bed, it seemed irresistible! Woke up at 09:45!!! I haven’t done that for at least 35 years! It isn’t as if I did a lot yesterday!
Maybe the weather, as Slugsta suggested. It just raining a bit, grey and dull, nothing to get up for! Maybe it’s because I can? But I’ve been able to for nearly three years and I haven’t.
Oh well, let’s see what happens.

Must wish everyone the very best of ?New Years and I hope things go well for you all.
Thanks for helping me to make it through as well. You all have no idea how much you help me, even now.

 

[jugglingmum]

Still not caught up (partly because I've been playing the games on NORAD site).

Spamar, that sounds like how the lurgy we've had plays out, just exhausted and needing to sleep.

Amy - we leave Bailey's out for Father Christmas and I think many children leave out their parent's favourite tipple. And suet as Ann said is readily available in veggie and beef options. We always make suet dumplings when I make a beef stew. I have used butter for dumplings when I've run out of suet and it has worked. Suspect you're right and mincemeat won't keep with butter in it. It would have kept with lard in maybe, but sugar is the preservative. I have used it in fairy cakes/muffins using a victoria sandwich mix before, but kids say I might as well add raisins as they don't think the flavour has come through properly.

I've been out on bike a bit, but not managing very far or very fast, absolutely knocked for six by bug. Been playing late night scrabble after kids are in bed, Christmas series score is currently 2.5 to 1.5 to me (we've no idea how we managed a draw and I often get thrashed). Not sure when series will end, didn't play last night, and I am back in work for one day on Tuesday (will work from home for other day) and OH not back until 8th so think we will keep going for another week.

Made it to the outlet village to buy my Christmas present handbag last night, I@m rather partial to Radley. And we also got a new 'everyday' dinner service, we had a very cheap one that had broken and chipped, and one before that was BHS we got when we married, so we got a Denby set. Pattern OH liked wasn't on sale and was more expensive than other sets not on sale, and was as much as our porcelain Wedgewood set we use for best (birthday's xmas and new year type of best) so we got Imperial Blue, just taken labels off and washed and dried it. Now need to find cupboard space as we've bought more than the set it was replacing.

I'll update on xmas day and visit to MILs at some stage, but might not be today.

 

[Spamar]

Oh no! I don’t want it, honest!
How long does it last? I need an excuse not to go somewhere next week!

 

[Amy in the US]

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy (as much as possible) New Year!

 

[2jays]

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy (as much as possible) New Year!

You too

You get into 2018 before or after us?

Can’t wait for 2018, 2017 wasn’t great

wish it was tomorrow

Oh it is starting tomorrow

xxx

 

[Amy in the US]

@2jays, it will be 2018 for me before it is for the UK!

We have very light snow st the moment, but also some sunshine is peeking through the clouds. Works for me.

I have gathered from my UK food magazine and cookbooks (and Bake Off!) that you have beef and vegetarian suet available there, maybe even already shredded in packets?

We have shortening, like Crisco brand, that is available and vegetarian and neutral tasting, but it's generally full of chemicals and I don't like to use it. I'd rather bake with butter or even oil, canola (rapeseed?) if I need a neutral flavour.

We also have margarine, which I don't care for at all and never use.

But I'm guessing that neither of those is the same as vegetarian suet? I might do some further research.

I do know those mince pies were DELICIOUS and everyone loved them. Why wouldn't Santa/Father Christmas want a mince pie instead of some stale Oreo cookies and some lukewarm milk?

 

[Spamar]

No it won’t, Amy. It’s 2018 already in Australia and NZ, so 2018 is spreading westwards. Another 6 1/2 hurts for us. Not sure which time zone you are in, but New York is 5 hours behind us

 

[Amy in the US]

Ah, silly me l, I did the time difference backwards! Failing grade on geography and possibly maths for me!!

I'd rather chalk it up to my lack of spatial awareness. Does that work? Anyone buying that excuse?

 

[Amethyst59]

Nope, definitely weak on Maths. We phoned a friend in Maryland today...at 2pm it was 9am for her. I’m really hoping to be asleep when everyone is celebrating...so please accept my good wishes now!!