Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2024

MOT and service here too @AuntyRach. An expensive day.
Have you tried clootie dumpling yet @RowlandsCastle? Fab pics again. What lovely weather, too.
I have never heard of cheesy chips. Whilst I like both, perhaps not together!

 

Morning @AuntyRach and @Penny_Forthem. Fingers crossed you don't get any disappointing news from the MOT centre. Cheese and gravy - aaaarrrrghhhh noooooooo!

 

A frustrating day yesterday. Asked for chappie from a local charity group to collect my donations before 12.00 as I had a Drs. appointment at 2.00. He didn't turn up until 1.00. Dashed to the surgery and sat for an hour before being called because they had forgotten to register me as arrived. Not happy. The Drs.attitude was not pleasant. Irritated with dozey old OAP.
I have been booked for 6 weeks free NHS physio., plus an ultra sound scan, waiting time approx. 6 weeks. The ridiculous thing is, having physically seen the Dr. yesterday, I have to wait in this afternoon between 2.00 and 3.00 for a telephone consultation with her because they only allow 5 mins. per visit per individual matter for urgent/emergency matters.
The weather is horrible, low, thick, wet, mist. Dark, grey, miserable.
I have a load of blight stricken green tomatoes to prep ready to make chutney which will keep me quiet, between catching Rob to put his assortment of eye drops in for him.
I am going to make a bacon butty for breakfast to cheer myself up before walking Rob. I also have to get washed and dressed. Quite fancy a duvet day but needs must prevail.

 

We went "native" in Belgium and now the only way is frites mayonnaise. Grew up with chip butties with ketchup at a friend's house and chips with curry sauce at the chippy and someties a steak and kidney pudding and mushy peas - without the curry sauce! Northern Cheshire that was. Never seen in London.

It's a grey day here but warm and dry. I shall be planting brassicas this pm before getting cleaned up for dance class.

A couple of years ago Possum went to Edinburgh with a vegetarian Belgian friend and they treated themsemves to a superb veggie meal in one smart restaurant and veggie haggis in another. She says both meals were so good I'm not allowed to try and replicate them at home. Oddly enough she was not thrilled with my roast cauliflower steaks and spicy chickpea and tomatoes last night. Merely OK apparently.

5 minutes per patient sounds like a waste of time @Goldenlily26. Barely time to say hello and take your BP so all sorts of things will be missed and take longer to clear up later. I hope Rob is responding to treatment.

I hope the MOTs go well @AuntyRach and @Penny_Forthem and you get your baby garment finished to your satisfaction @Ladybird4 .

How long before you can cycle again @Tui34 ?

 

@RowlandsCastle look out for haggis pakora, a real treat.

 

MOT passed! Ordered a tyre to have done end of the week as part of the advisory but that’s it.

After a little walk in the Autumn leaves, I’ve made a nest on the sofa this afternoon - both serve to recharge the batteries.

 

Hello all.

We went to a second hand furniture place this morning and bought a bookcase and a brass plated container in which to keep kindling for the wood burner, better than a plastic bucket.

Then we went to W***trose for dinner for 2 days, veg and milk. Off to catch the plane for Budapest at crack of dawn on Thursday.

 

Service & MOT
Advisory for brakes, with estimate, to be done in November.
We're under a yellow weather warning for rain. Again.

42 years ago today was a Friday and we'd gone to good friends for a meal. I was 7 months pregnant, and not feeling right. We had beef stew and dumplings, followed by banana splits; my friend, Gill, suggested calling in at Chester hospital on the way home to Wales, just for a check up. Son was born just after midnight. Not every day you remember what you were eating 42 years ago!!
I've never been able to look at a banana split in the same way since!

 

Haven't had a banana split since I last ate in a Wimpy in the late 60s/early 70s @Penny_Forthem. Piccadilly Plaza in Manchester if I remember correctly.

@AuntyRach At Sally's last MOT chappy said her tyres had worn unevenly again and 2 needed replacing. Wasteful. One theory here is the recent proliferation of roundabouts making cars lean a bit. Daft! I suggested we get géométrie (tracking?) done when the new tyres were done. She runs a lot more smoothly now - no more wobbles at 120kph. Why anyone fits tyres and doesn't balance the wheels is beyond me.

Love 2nd hand furniture @Busy-Lizzie. Proper wood. We use a wicker basket for our kindling and small bits of wood. We've taken out the log burner in the living room now, tho we still get the odd sparrow coming down the chimney and needing letting out. Had one this afternoon.

Some brassicas planted and some potted on whil we get beds cleared for them. Lovely and mild out there. T-shirt weather.

 

We went to the west of Edinburgh today, and found this delightful little tower house - Cramond Tower.

 

Out for lunch, then topped up the green bins. Just full of leaves this week, but the grass is a lot clearer. The big field maple is almost bare. It didn’t go very red this year, but lost most of its leaves while they were green and yellow.
Someone has been nibbling my two hebes, could be rabbits, I suppose, but they’ve left them alone for months. Maybe the deer have passed through, and chomped off a few of the upper twigs. I’ve stuck those in water to see if they’ll root. Both the little shrubs were grown from little pieces sneaked off a big bush in a local car park.

 

Lauriston Castle, the grounds of which are open to the public, free of charge.





A cluster of chimneys.

 

Good afternoon
I'm feeling very pleased with myself as I've managed to beat some very resilient limescale on some taps. A toothbrush, a knife, some cleaner and a LOT of elbow grease - hurrah! Little things eh?
Also took down the bean poles this morning and transplanted lots of little white foxglove seedlings. And lots of other little jobs - it's been a productive day.

Good to see you @Ante1 !
Has anyone seen @PatE lately?
Glad you're on the mend @redstar but it must have been quite an injury.
And well done you for getting Rob the necessary diagnosis and treatment, @Goldenlily26 - hope he continues to improve.

@lizzie27 and anyone else concerned about bots and tracking and Big Brother, it's worth watching The Great Hack - it's on Netflix, not sure where else. Then consider that it was made in 2019 and how much things have 'advanced' since then... Eek.

Glad you had a good time in London, @Busy-Lizzie , don't blame you for bailing out of visiting St Paul's. I took the kids there when they were younger and soon found something else to do when we saw the entrance fee! I've since managed to visit for free through some special event. Looking forward to hearing about your forthcoming trip!

I'm intrigued by the cake, @Obelix-Vendée - might give it a try! We seem to be using chickpeas a lot these days. Last night we had a Delia Moroccan chicken and chickpea stew and I often make a harissa chickpea salad for family gatherings.
Right I'm off to make tomatillo salsa - one of the few crops that did OK this year.

Wishing everyone a good evening, and Happy Birthday to @AuntyRach this week

 

Our third castle of the day was Rosslyn Castle, and is mainly ruined, with a small dwelling attached.
Mrs R was going to book this place to stay in, but having seen the difficult access, and location, we're glad we are, where we are!!












A double height entrance bridge.

 

I wonder how comfortable those castles were to live in.

I'm very pleased with the second hand bookcase, solid oak but stained dark. It has polished up very nicely and it fits perfectly where we wanted it. It was sold by Tuttles of Lowestoft originally, which was a big department store started by father and son Henry and Ebenezer Tuttle in 1886. It closed down in 1981.