The Lockdown Gang - still chatting ?

Grammaretto - well done on your choice - that quince is just beautiful. Great to have a tree that is both beautiful and useful. I hope that your worktop arrived (pic?), and that Cushie is installed, zoider in hand, and not feeling the cold too much.
Doodle - have you been obeying instructions and staying put and quiet today? When you have finished putting your place to rights, and have had a rest, then how about thinking of the trip Down Under, so that you can come and sort out both Kaimoana and me? Fancy you being a multi-boat owner! What a lot of work. I have such happy memories of sleeping on our little boat, tied up to a tree on Lake Rotoiti. There are hot mineral pools that you can access only by water, so we used to soak in the hot water by moonlight, then jump into the lake, and straight into bed in the boat.
Nfk - Yum...Norfolk blackberries! All through the hedgerows at Holkham and beyond. How lovely to be preparing the boat for the summer on the Broads. But such energy! You must be exhausted! I hope you are taking care.
I just went out to feed the chickens and quail. Suddenly, there was a swoop and a flutter, and down came a dove, brushing my head, and landing on the post right beside me. She was tapping her feet, and giving me the "look" - "Where's mine?"

Oh Grammaretto you sneaked in again while I was typing.
I hope Cushie will be more companionable and a help to you.
That’s a lovely photo. Beautiful blossom. I hope you get some nice fruit.

I’m so excited. DH and I got the semantics word today in 33 goes. I’m amazed. ?
I think I overdid things yesterday which has brought on my tinnitus. It is very bad in my left ear and sound is muffled. I’m hoping it will wear off during the day.
Shouldn’t be complaining really not with all the tragedy going on in the world at the moment. So sorry for the people of Ukraine and those in Russia who don’t want this war. So many lost lives for no reason.

Kaimoana I don’t think I’ll need nailing down. I plan to take it easier today and have DH keeping a watchful eye over me.
Oh I love sweet and savoury. I prefer savoury to sweet but a combination of the two I really enjoy.
I don’t use soap on my face as my skin is quite sensitive. I use a water based product. My skin is very dry so I tend to use cream based things a lot too.
You got Wordle right twice on the first go ?. That’s amazing. Must be a record surely.
I remember Mary Whitehouse too although I used to get her mixed up with the sit dog lady Barbara Woodhouse.
Grammaretto I think I read on the GM thread that you were at a conference at the weekend. Hope it went well.
At least you got to buy some plants. I like honeysuckle. Do you have a lot of work to do preparing the ground after the builders trampled it? Have they finished now by the way?
Fancy you both meeting Nuns with such good skin. Perhaps as you say it’s the life they lead.
Boadicea good luck with the Membrillo. Will you show us a picture if you make it?
Wow you had a whirlwind day yesterday. Wish I had half your energy. You certainly deserved that Prosecco.
You might be right about the serenity.
Nfk blackberry jam is one of my favourites. Your larder sounds a bit like the one my mum had. Always a treat delving into the shelves and coming up with some forgotten preserve.
Oh I envy you your boat trips. I have fond memories of our boat owning days. I also remember all the cleaning and preparing it took at the start of every year to get it clean and fresh smelling again. We had two that used to be taken out of the water for winterising but our last one was a bigger and stayed in the water. That needed much more cleaning.
It’s only 8.25 in the morning (according to your post) that’s early for us.
Yes with the news of Ukraine being so much in the forefront of all the papers, it’s easy to forget all the troubled affecting the rest of the world.
Hope everyone has a good day. The sun is shining brightly here but I think it’s cold outside.

G'day Gang,
What has come over you all! You are hyperactive.
Despite your various health issues, you seem to be able to achieve a million things.
I will mop my brow just reading about your days.
The poor planet is not in a happy place. Flood and drought, melting icecaps and poisoned seas. Pollution everywhere and a pandemic and now another war!

We just have to carry on.
I hope the worktop will come today and Cushie of course. I have made up her bed and put on some heating in her room.

Yes NfkD you can cook and eat the quinces from your garden.
In autumn I collect basketfuls from the end of the garden of a church as nobody besides the birds bother. This tree I have bought is also an ornamental but I am assured the fruit are small but edible.
chaenomeles x superba. knap hill scarlet
Japanese Quince

Enjoy the boat.

Gosh you lot have all been busy. Love the quilt, and the hair do and the thought of quince jelly. Can you make jelly from the decorative garden quinces? I've got one which produced quite a few last year but I didn't know what to do with them. I do love jam making and am inclined to go a bit overboard. I discovered a jar of blackberry at the back of the cupboard - dated 2018 - and its lovely. The neighbouring jar of 2020 gooseberry however was fermenting - to the benefit of the compost heap. DH being diabetic I cut the sugar down drastically so perhaps that was the reason. I wish I'd done chemistry at school!

Yesterday, DH amazed me (and I think himself) and got up early. By mid-morning we'd been over to the boat and put the fenders back on ready for her going back into the water this week (summer is coming!) and he'd cut the grass (summer really is coming) and I'd cleaned through and even washed the floors! In the afternoon we went over to DD2's house to finish cutting up and bagging up the enormous ex-hedge and carting some of it to the recycling centre since she's not allowed bonfires. Not a patch on BJs achievement (I hope you haven't overdone it BJ) but a lot for us. This morning, he's still in bed!!

I read a Facebook post from a friend in New South Wales and she was collecting stuff to make up emergency packs. I immediately assumed it was for Ukraine, but no. Much closer to home for her are the horrendous floods and home loss. It seems the rains have got stuck over eastern Australia.

Have a good day everyone.

Oh Doodle! Sorry I didn't see your post before I posted. You have been so busy too - I hate reorganising/sorting/condensing stuff, and admire your tenacity. You definitely deserved your wine after that work-out. I hope you're ok now, and over the exhaustion.
I too knew a nun with perfect skin. She left her order at 37, when I first knew her, but looked 18. Maybe it's serenity that does it...

Grammaretto - thanks for the thought about membrillo. For some reason, I'd assumed that it was very faffy to make, but found a recipe that makes it seem so easy! I'm going to make some as soon as one or two more fruit fall from the tree. I wish I could whizz some to you by air, but sadly, HMC would nab it.

It' s been a really busy couple of days, catching up with everything after being crook for two weeks. So many people up here have this same virus, assume it's omicron, but have negative RAT results. Yesterday I burned heaps of garden rubbish that won't go in the compost. Then washed and waxed the car- in a disgraceful state, and took me an HOUR! - did a huge load of washing, made another batch of fig chutney, hoovered the whole house, scrubbed the bathrooms, fed the chickens, quail and doves, rescued Maureen and Doreen from the cats, who love rounding them up, chatted with my cousin, made kumara chips and stir-fried veg, finished my book and started another, read the online papers...of course I deserved that prosecco, don't you agree? I haven't had alcohol for weeks, so must be getting better.

I did Doodle. I managed to escape after the conference to the garden centre and bought 2 blackcurrant bushes twigs
one honeysuckle, one quince tree and a couple of herbaceous plants with Latin names. I should have checked with BoadiceaJ first...

You have been so busy. You deserve a rest.

I met a nun with the most beautiful skin once Kaimoana.
DM picked her up on a cross channel ferry. DM was chatting to her and, noticing her accent, told her she had a DD in Scotland. The Nun {sister Margaret?) said she would love to stay with us and so she turned up. She had been released from a silent order in Liverpool after a lifetime of service, to go out into the world and had just returned from a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Lisieux.
Anyway the point is, she had the most youthful skin and when she told us she was in her 80s, I found it hard to believe, but wondered if a life without the daily grind and worry meant you got no wrinkles. Too late now!

Doodle it sounds as if you are the one who should be nailed to the chair for a day or too. Tell you DH I still have spare nals

When I was in Paris, I had goat's cheese with conserves and although I don't usually like sweet with savoury (pork & apple; turkey and cranberry etc) I found that delicious indeed.

The one person I ever knew with noticeably beautiful skin, was a nun of 67.

She told me she'd had a life-long habit of bathing her face in rainwater (no soap).
It certainly helps my plants

I got Semantle in 121 yesterday - gave up on the first two I played.

Must be playing Wordle wrong as I got it first go both times I played.

Watched an old skit by Ronnie Barker in which he referred to "Mrs Hairy Whitemouse"

I remember Mary Whitehouse and how hard she fought to stem the (inevitable) tide of vulgarity and profanity on television. Poor soul.

Grammaretto I’m glad you tracked down the missing coffee pot. Have you tried asking on the family WhatsApp if anyone has your deeds?
I have never heard of Membrillo or quince cheese. Is that the red stuff in the picture. It looks like a slab of raspberry jelly.
Still enjoying Semantics. Have given up on the last two as I seemed to be going round and round in circles.
When spring comes will you be planning your new planting? Anything other than the quince tree you have your eye on?
I’ve been in reorganising mood today. When you live in a flat every corner has to be made use of. I’ve been trying to clear some space for all my sewing bits and bobs by moving things from one cupboard to another. Got so caught up with it I didn’t realise how exhausted I had become and suddenly felt quite queasy. I had to sit down before I could make dinner. Post dinner and wine I feel much better but my legs ache from all the bending and kneeling down.
More to do tomorrow but I have promised DH I will take things more slowly. He will be checking ?

I love quince! you have reminded me - I shall buy a quince. I have money compensation money from when the builders next door trampled all over my garden and then buried it beneath scaffolding for a year to spend on plants so that will surely be one.

Membrillo, quince cheese, is the most delicious food in the world.

I called the AA today. My wicked df asked if it was Alcoholics Anonymous or the Automobile Association.
All I am saying is that once my car was going again I poured myself a stiff gin.

My DMiL has been going on about me having her beautiful silver coffeepot. I thought her memory must be fading a little but I solved the mystery today. I asked on the family chat if anyone knew anything and DS1 tells me he has it. It was given as an engagement present almost 20 years ago.
I don't think she wants it back - just to know where it is will be enough.

Good evening all. DH and I went for a walk today and both of us were complaining of aching legs. I don’t think we’ve walked enough recently and consequently have seized up a bit.
Grammaretto thank you for the link to Semantics. I am quite enjoying it and have roped DH into helping to. Having said that I gave up today. I got reasonably close but would never have got the answer from the choices I made.
muse your hair is such a lovely colour. That’s a lovely photo. We did a helicopter ride over the Alps once. So exciting.
Boadicea fig chutney sounds delicious. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted quince. I do however like olives. I’m glad you’ve found someone who will take them and not only take them but collect them too.
That’s a lot of juice from 4 oranges. Do you have a juicer gadget or just one of those plastic things and do it manually.
Kaimoana I’m with you on the chutney.
Hope your family are in the mend now and perhaps you can meet up next week.
We had a lovely evening with son and family last night. I still can’t get used to our DGS being so big and grown up. Poor DH looks so small by comparison to his sons and grandson……..actually to his granddaughters too. I think we’ve both been washing too much and have shrunk.
Have a good weekend all.

Thank you for the research, Kaimoana! Fortunately, I was nattering with my cousin down the line this afternoon, and she happened to say that should I not want the olive crop, she would be very happy to take some off my hands. She's a very experimental foodie and has long wanted to try preserving olives...and what's more, her GS will come and pick/gather/shake them!
My German friend's husband would like a few of the quinces - he loves to make jelly -.maybe I can persuade him to take the lot so I don't have to --do lots of extra faffing--see them go to waste.
And bien sûr, there is chutney with your name on it! I'm going to make some more tomorrow. I discovered a fig stash in the back of the fridge, in an egg box, that MrJ had disguised with a lettuce.
Muse - What a brilliant photo...and a helicopter trip for your birthday! That's an amazing present, and an experience you'll treasure, I bet. St Ives looks positively Mediterranean.
Grammaretto - I thought you were a natural ash blonde! Yes, the sun can be very harsh on hair, can't it. The sun here is so bad for skin, so very ageing. I love the feeling of the sun on my skin, but always wear a hat and sunscreen. I always made my DC do the same, until my DD was diagnosed with a Vit D deficiency in Australia! She has exquisite skin, but goes to show you can be too fussy. My English Granny always wore a hat, and had a beautiful complexion right into her 80s. She had lovely red hair up till her death - she hated it-her generation would NEVER dye their hair, and everyone assumed that her colour wasn't natural. She used to say "Why can't I be grey like everyone else's Granny?" Hmm...

My neighybours, who grew olives on a strictly organic farm used to put sheets on the ground around the trees and hen shake them (the trees not the sheets).

They too had to send their olives away (you can't process them for oil yourself) but were shocked to be told theirs would join many other crops, possibly spray-grown and they wouldn't get their own back, just an amalgamation of the whole pressing.

They accepted but then sold the oil and wouldn't use it.
This NZ site may help:

lifestyleblock.co.nz/lifestyle-file/rural-people-a-issues/gardening/item/811-preserving-olives#:~:text=Harvesting%20of%20olives%20in%20New,colour%20when%20ready%20to%20harvest.

Try Auntie Beeb for quince ideas.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/quince-recipes

The chutney sounds delish.

It's starting to cool down a little here, thank goodness. Rain last night revived the parched earth to some extent, and refilled the irrigation tanks. I have a tree full of quinces, and have no idea what to do with them, other than to make quince jelly. Any ideas? Jelly-making has always struck me as being very labour-intensive for moderate return. I used the last of the early figs to make chutney yesterday, and it's absolutely delish! Next problem is how to deal with a dozen olive trees and their crop...Our previous neighbours used to send theirs off to a press further up the coast, and make their own oil. Lovely, but such a lot of work to pick the darn things! Not long now till the first citrus - it's great to have them ripen duing the winter. This is MrJ's squeezing of the last FOUR sweet oranges before Christmas - almost half a litre!

?134 Doodle. Well done. I could shift up from getting 17 for ages. Yes - that's my natural colour now.

Mamissimo. Great taste in music your DS. I have a Muse tour gig t shirt but gave it to my GDD1 when it shrank I got too large for it. I look forward to seeing the runner. This photo of St Ives was taken by me from a helicopter (my 70th birthday present). We all need a happy place.

Boadicea that made me laugh. Your son has a lovely sense of humour. Hope he is healing well. Do the tiger figs taste different in any way?
Grammaretto yes I wear a hat too…..often ?
Has Sparky finished yet or is he coming back again to meet Cushie?
Well I did Semantics in 59 again today. Must be my lucky number. Go on tell me your score. ?
Muse is that your natural hair colour then? It’s lovely. I think I should move to Cornwall and be bleached by the sun. Mine is currently brown due to going rusty in all our rain.
Nfk nice to hear from you whenever you pop in.
Hope you and yours keeping well. It’s easy to get sidetracked on GN isn’t it. Always a title that catches your eye.
Mamissimo what brand of energy drink are you on ?
You are certainly on the go these days.
You wait till your daughters see their brothers quilt and they both want one too. ?
Ah I see you are doing a bed runner. Will that be to a pattern or a design of your own?
Er…..have a lovely time with the ? ?…..rather you than me but then I’m not a gardener.
Have a good day all.
Panache we miss you and hope you are ok, x

Good morning ?

I've been charging about this morning - spare bed stripped yet again, washing on, drying sorted, dishwasher emptied, Sainsbugs delivery in and away.......and Mr M has just come down and asked me what's for breakfast. The frying pan ? just missed the back of his head ?

Thank you for the comments about the quilt....Muse the 'albums' are the fronts of DS's gig T Shirts. I made illusion blocks to bring some unity to it. Bands on it include Muse, Foo and the worshipped Biffy. I had to mount all the T shirt fabric so that it didn't stretch and ....next year he's having a gift voucher ?

Next project is a bed runner for DD2 of St Ives, in a mixture of patchwork, appliqué and embroidery. Mr M says I'm insane but needlework is a happy place.

In other exciting news DD1 has emptied her hotbin in preparation for the house move and has invited me to collect it all for my garden. Yippee.....she showed me a photo of the lovely ? worms. I'll get the trailer out shortly.

Hope you all have interesting days ahead........

So glad you're not dead Nfk what would we do without our delicious dumpling?

Morning All

I just popped in to say I'm not dead yet. Just very busy. I can't believe I was last here on page 6 and here you all are on page 10. I did open GN last week, got sidetracked by another thread and then interrupted again. I don't know why everything (appointments, visits, etc) has sort of heaped up.

I will read back and find out what you've all been up to. See you later!

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202203/medium-263412-figs-1.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202203/medium-102534-figs-2.jpg

And these are tiger figs:

Sorry, Mamissimo, I cut and pasted the previous post, but omitted the first part, which was about you!
This is what I wrote:

Wow, Mamissimo! That is an absolutely stunning piece of work! Your DS is one lucky young man...how will you follow that up for his 30th??

Fantastic quilt Mamissimo. I'm really curious and fascinated on how you did the album covers. I think that is what they are. I recognise Biffy Clyro. Seen them play.

My hair colour used to be brown until my 40s and the grey crept in. Colouring continued until I retired and I decided to let the grey take over. I think the Cornish sun has bleached it quite a lot.

All that fruit BJ. I'd love to chance a fig but fear the frost would get it. We have friends in Devon who have a large one growing up the side of a barn but it is in a very sheltered spot. I shall read up about the tiger fig. It sounds a very established fruit orchard you have. Hope you are well recovered now but sorry to read MrB has it. Good luck with the blood test and no long wait this time.

Take care Lobstars.? Hope we hear from Panache soon. Miss her.

The quilt is really spectacular Mamissimo I don't know where you find the time to make such a lovely present!
Your boy looks happy enough BJ I hope he is healing well.
Doodle the semantics was pure luck today. It's taken me over 300 tries before
Sparky is a good 'un but I am not sure I should trust his taste.
I'm sure your hair looks great. I just wear a hat

Originally photo was prefaced by a picture of the stitched cornea, with the label problem, followed by this one, solution. DS2 has an unquenchable sense of humour and optimism.