Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2024

F/U at doctors yesterday. healing well. 2 nd surgery to take out the plate on Dec. 20. then wrist therapy to begin.

 

Good afternoon,

Another bright day, though not quite as much blue sky as yesterday.

I went along to a local pharmacy to have my flu jab, having booked it on line via the NHS website. It was all confirmed, with time, location and a ref number and a request to let them know if I needed to cancel (which I didn’t). Got there only to be told they haven’t got any vaccines in stock, I’ll need to ring everyday, and that booking an appointment makes no difference to availability. So, I was somewhat annoyed, plus thought what on earth is the point of a booking service, being given an appointment, getting it confirmed etc, if, when you get there it makes no difference? No wonder uptake is at only 34% according to Dr Xand on Morning Live, if my experience is repeated up and down the country.

Beautiful sunrise photo @Ladybird4.

 

We have sun! Been out for a walk, and lunch (beef in red wine with winter vegetables and crispy kale) Then heading home to give my teeth a good clean before my dental appointment!

 

Lovely photo this morning @Ladybird4.

I've finished planting tulips, 70 of them. Hard to find room between the daffodils and everything else.

It was sunny this morning so I hung the washing out, waste of time as it rained this afternoon, not forecast. Now I'll have to hang it out again in the spare room, mostly bedding.

 

I went out this pm but came back in - rain that wasn't forecast! Not supposed to have any for 10 days. Cold too as the wind has swung to the north.

 

Hello folks,

@redstar Glad to hear your wrist is healing well, hope somebody else is going to your Xmas dinner for you though.

That's a shame it rained @Busy-Lizzie and @Obelix-Vendée, and especially annoying if not forecast. I trotted out with the (slight) intention of maybe pulling up some weeds but beat a hasty retreat because of the sudden cold wind this afternoon when I got back from my massage.
Thoroughly enjoyed that as my therapist unknots my shoulders and loosens my neck muscles.
Bought some semi-skinned milk as my son is coming to stay for 2 nights - he hates our skimmed milk stuff with a vengeance. He's also advised me I won't have to cook dinners for him as he'll be out with friends - good.

Lovely photo s @Ergates and @Ladybird4. You put me to shame with your Xmas cake making. I made two a couple of years ago but found it so tiring, I haven't bothered since.

That's unbelievable @Blue arbour - why can't we do anything right any more?

 

How very frustrating for you @Blue arbour. I would have been very annoyed.
@Ergates. I LOVE your picture. Thank you so much for sharing. Well done on the marathon tulip bulb planting @Busy-Lizzie. It reminded me of my marathon narcissus planting. Gosh but that seems ages ago now. Sorry that you had rain but I think it was your turn! Had a nice dry day here. Such a rare occurence, I've made a note in my diary!
I got my three Christmas cakes baked and I think I will need to hire an industrial strength cement mixer the next time. Like you @lizzie27, I found it very tiring.
I am signing out for this evening. There is little on TV to inspire me so I think I will be starting my evening reading earlier than usual. I hope you all enjoy your evenings and I'll catch up on the gossip tomorrow.

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Evening all. Just a note to those finding mixing Christmas cakes tiring: I worked in a commercial kitchen for a short while after leaving school, where the chef mixed her cakes using her hands (very well washed, of course) rather than a wooden spoon. It reduces wrist and hand strain very considerably. Whether you like the feel of raw cake mixture in your hands is a matter of personal taste...

 

@Liriodendron , I don't think I'd mind that - as long as I could lick my hands afterwards!

 

I can heartily recommend Delia Smith's Creole cake recipe. It's a simple case of bunging all the fruits with lots of booze in a big bowl and leaving it to soak for a week. Then you make just enough cake mix to hold it together, mix in all the fruit and bake. I use a Kitchen Aid mixer but hands would be fine too. Cool in tin then wrap well in tin foil.

Easy to mix, no feeding with alcohol and can be done a week to 10 days before Xmas. Ours tend to get left till spring when we come in form a stint in the garden and want a cuppa and cake. Too full to eat it at Xmas and January is full of endless galette du roi here and by February we've had enough and are on a cleansing diet.

Been out to dance class this evening. Goodness but the French make heavy weather of the English waltz! Complain it's complicated (it's not, just slow and technical) and then say how beautiful it is. Doh!

Nearly ran over a wild boar - huge beast crossing the ring road round Talmont, former haunt of Richard Lionheart who liked to hunt there. Unusual to see one on its own.

 

Good morning everyone. What an absolutely brilliant tip @Liriodendron and you suddenly opened a memory - my Grandma used to use that method to make her Christmas puddings. Thank you so much for bringing back that memory and I will certainly do that in future. Sanglier for dinner @Obelix-Vendée?

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Good morning everyone!!

Bleak here too with the rain and wind coming down from the North off the Massif Central!! Not cold for you up there, but a drop of 8/10°C - we had sun yesterday, but today is rainy.

I would like to get out into the garden too - as I read you all are planting bulbs and weeding, but it is really quite wet here - we do welcome it, so I mustn't complain!!

I still have a jar of mincemeat left over from last year, so that will come in handy for a few mince pies. I don't make Christmas cake any more, but I do like Christmas pudding, cold with a cup of tea!! I see Lidl have stollen on the shelves.

My big "American" fridge/freezer gave up the ghost last night of course!! It was a good 25 years old, so I can't moan, but now to get it out of the house and onto a trailer. So annoying to have to rely on other people. Never happens during the day. Luckily I have an old freezer in the laundry to transfer the goods to, and then my nice nurse neighbour, came over in the rain and brought in a small fridge from the garage which will have to suffice for the time being.

That would have been a surprise @Obelix-Vendée They damage the car something terrible!! Glad you missed it, though!! Not very nice to injure it and leave it to die in agony.

I must have my flu and covid jab this week too @Blue arbour - reminds me to check with my chemist or I can contact the lovely nurses who changed my bandage after the hip operation. The system is bad there it seems to get medical appointments. We can get them fairly easily, if you are patient - GP are usually the following week and specialists and scans etc can be well over a month - depending. X-rays not so bad.

I hope you all have an enjoyable day and get some washing dry!!!

 

Good morning @Tui34. What a disappointment for you but, as you say, 25 years is a remarkable age for a kitchen appliance. You have now had two unlucky occurences - your bike and your fridge freezer so you need to snap a matchstick (unlucky things happen in threes my Mum used to say) however I cannot vouch for this last item working!
I have to walk into the village today to pick up a prescription. The last time I did this, my surgery hadn't passed on the information so there was nothing waiting for me. Fingers crossed I don't have a repeat of that.

 

Another lovely morning, rather a chilly wind. There was a another wonderful sunset followed by a beautiful bright moon. By the time I went to bed there was a spectacular sky full of sparkling stars. Gooooorgeous!

I was very tired last night because I left the house at 11.00am to walk Rob, continued to the hairdresser, afterwards I called in B&M's to buy Rob and I a mini picnic, continued to club where Rob had a brief walk before I joined the committee meeting which didn't finish until 4.30pm.It was after 5.00 before we were home again and I was bushed.

 

Not sunny, but dry today.
Middle dog has been collected by the groomer (DiL's mum) and old dog is due a Librela jab this morning.
All this talk about Christmas cakes makes me want to make one, but it would probably be uneaten.
Not 'seen' @RowlandsCastle or @Badly_Maintained for a while. Hope all is OK.