Evening Emptybox.

Chilly today, ice on my Water test dish, max today 1.9c sun for 2.9 hours, dry but wind is 12.

Didn't do much outside, put the leaves that were in the wheel barrow into a container in the gazebo to keep them from getting more wet.

Just had grilled cheese over tomato on toast for brekkie, didn't know what to do for tea so decided on a tinned Steak Pie, so tasty.

Been watching TV most of the time, apart from making cups of coffee, no point in being outside if i don't need to.

I didn't bother to watch the closing ceremony, too boring for me as it could have lasted too long.

I see they had snow in Rome, i saw a few flakes this morning but don't think they even reached the ground.

I will just have to wait and see what letter etc hmrc send me next, it's all automated so it could be anything, with my pension going up 3% the government will want their cut.

Yes, that £82 was including vet but i never found out what it was for.

where did Mollie go?

both xxx

Emptybox

yes they do seem to be overdoing the weather forecasting lately, maybe because the met is privatised now, they get a nice paypacket every time their mugs appear on tv? Yes it is cold, but it is winter after all.

Yes I agree Lidl does get very busy, but that is because of the keen pricing. So I try and time my visits for early morning and when mums go and pick up kids from school around 3pm.

And I also agree, all the supermarkets use made up names for their produce, From what I remember, the out of date chicken scandal that tescos got caught out for recently came from somewhere with a nice name on their packs, but it was actually out of date chicken that had been returned from elsewhere and repackaged! I have never had chicken from lidl that doesn't last well, some of it from other places, I have had to throw on the actual use by date as it stank!

I bought son 2 a packof 2 plain t black shirts from there for £4 and he is happy with them. I resisted buying any clothes myself this time though! (but only because I have bought a lot of stuff in the sales recently!).

Glad you found a nice choccy treat there, my family too likes their choccy and think it far better than Cadbury. That is handy if your beer is cheaper too.

Hicky

Good idea to put your gardening on hold till it gets a bit warmer.

I too hadn't heard of paneer cheese. Interesting it doesn't melt. Is it tasty or quite plain?

Gosh £82 was expensive to pay for your luggage, especially when it has not even been made clear what it was for!

Sorry your HMRC stuff is still so confusing, they are a damn nuisance, they don't understand what they are doing themselves I think!

Had lots of housework/paperwork to catch up with after spending most of the weekend in the theatre.   But I did enjoy it, as did my 2 friends who came with me on two different performances. In addition to the usual drama students, there were also a couple of young ballet dancing boys, and they looked petite, but were so strong, the way they picked the girls up. did handstands  and jumped around. Reminded me of Billy Elliot.

Son was tired yesterday after being out till the early hours, but managed to go to a charity event for his drama group at a hotel in the afternoon, where they sang a few songs from the show. But not many of them turned up, so I was glad he went.

Another nice sunny day today, despite the cool wind, and all my washing dried lovely.

I have to put all my paperwork together tomorrow ready for the solicitor on Wednesday.

I reckon our recent earthquake and cold weather could be connected to solar minimum that we are in right now. What do you reckon? Emptybox...Did you learn about that at Uni?

Looking forward to Collateral tonight.

Will watch 24 hours in police custody on C4 plus 1.

Did anyone see Gogglebox Friday? Good to see a new series back and it is them that reminded me of Police custody being back.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening.
Very cold cloudy day. A few flakes of snow, but nothing lying.

Hicky.  At least you were able to do a little outside.
Yes, the closing ceremony was a bit boring, but it finished the Olympics off properly.
I doubt it's the last you've heard from the HMRC right enough.

Mollie. I have noticed you need to pay attention to the use by dates at Lidl, as they can be quite short.
Haven't really seen any clothes there, but I did buy a pair of workboots from them a few years ago. Have got the last couple of pairs from the Factory Shop though.

 That's good that your two friends enjoyed your son's theatre production.
Nice that your son made the effort to go to the charity event.
Hopefully you've not too much more paperwork now, before you hand it over to the solicitor on Wednesday?

Don't know about the solar minimum, although I think I've heard of it. Remember it was Biology i studied at Uni.
Think it's something called sudden stratospheric warming that is causing our cold weather. The air above the North pole is warmer than usual, and has caused an unusual wind pattern that has brought us this Siberian weather.
But there might be some effect from the Solar minimum?

I watched Collateral then Electric Dreams on CH4.

Evening Both.

Pretty cold here today, -2 to +1.3, a few cm's of snow when i woke, will include picture at end of post, winds at 15.

Had a wonder around the garden, not worth doing anything.

Had a nice brekkie, hash browns, bacon, black pudding, burger and fried egg.

Wasn't sure what to do for tea so ended up with one of my curry freezer meals from another day, with it i did a pack of fried rice, added some egg to the rice and some chilli to the curry,

Just watched TV for most of the day, always plenty to watch.

Ordered mor stuff today, Tandoori Masala powder, a Chinese uncoated Wok, a Wok Strainer/Skimmer, a Wok Spatular, Mustard Powder, and Ginger Paste.

Mollie, I haven't had Paneer cheese, i have had a cheese that doesn't melt though, i'm sure, think i can get it from a supermarket though, when i search it, i just wanted to try out the recipe i wrote down.

Yes, hmrc are so big now and so complicated with thousands of web pages from hundreds of departments, it has got out of hand and each section doesn't know what the next section is doing, and with 95% of it being computerised then the staff don't really know what is going on unless the public ring them.

The bad weather is coming from Siberia, it's not going to be nice, not sure who we upset to deserve this.

Yes, your lad will be worn out after all that singing and partying, i would be as well, glad you enjoyed it though.

No, didn't see gogglebox, so much on tv these days.

Emptybox, I think my gardening work will have to wait for a while, it's Spring in 22 days though.

I am saving up so i will be able to pay the bill when hmrc send it, but i have a feeling the automated system won't have caught up with the real world, i wonder if i will be getting all the self assessment info all over again next time.

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If you right click on image and select, 'open image in new tab' then go to the next tab you should get a bigger picture, try it.

both xxx

Emptybox

hope you still have plent of oil left as it looks like this cold spell continues?

I wonder if that means your usual grass cutting timetabel will be delayed by a couple of weeks this year?

I find the Lidl chicken is good quality and better than other supermarkets because it does not contain so much water as others seem to, so goes further. (not that I'd eat it but I just noticed when I cook it for the dog or family).

Hicky

how lovely you at last got some snow, your garden looks so pretty.  

All we got was a few flakes, son was in a Uni class at the time and the students ran outside all excited and filming it, they were so disappointed when it stopped after 5 mins without even sticking!

That is good you found a nice meal you could use from your freezer. I had the rest of my cauly cheese, as I make 2 lots to last a couple of days. I made the family a roast dinner, so was able to enjoy a few yorkshire puds with my tea too.

No wonder it is cold if the weather is coming from Siberia, not that  I have ever been there though. Have you? I thought they said it was from Russia, so perhaps it is from both places? I think they are both cold places in winter though, so maybe close to each other?

Reenforces my belief all this global warming is a rubbish theory just invented to tax us more and jobs creation for the top knobs.

Yes wouldn't be surprised if you get all that self assessment rubbish from HMRC again.

I am watching 100 years younger in 100 days, quite interesting....and rather amusing so far.

Sandra from Gogglebox, said she don't cook , but eats a take away every day, and has done for 30 years  ... West Indian, Chinese, kebab, chip shop!! she had them all.    "I don't do no exercise" she said! Her body is in a state of premature decay they said!

Another day with lots of sun today, quite warm in the sun, but a cold breeze. Got all my washing dry again though.

Got all the paperwork together I could today ready for the solicitor.

Barclays have been useless ! Left me hanging on 25 minutes again before they even answered, and I have rung them about 3 times and been into see them twice, and weeks later, still don't have the final accounts off them! I was assured again today they would send them out.

Hopefully I have enough now for the solicitor to get started on it, and I can always scan or post off the rest to him when it arrives.

I also watched the 100 year old drivers.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening both.
Woke up to a covering of snow. About the same amount as Hicky, judging from his pictures, but there's a lot more forecast for tomorrow and Thursday.
Hope I don't get stuck in. I don't have to go anywhere for a few days, but will want to get out at the weekend.
I've set up the heater in the back kitchen again for tonight, as it's supposed to go as low as -9.

Hicky. Hope the things you've ordered don't get held up by the weather.
I think gardening for everybody will have to wait.
Who knows what you will get from HMRC. They are a law unto themselves.

Mollie. Yes I should have plenty of oil.
Usually when we get snow at the beginning of March it does delay the start of grass cutting till April, but if we got a warm spell later on in March it might get the customers phoning up.
I haven't even tried to sort my mowers out yet, so I'm in no hurry.

Siberia is in Russia Mollie. They're not different places. Siberia is in the far east of Russia.
Didn't see that 100 Years younger prog, but doesn't surprise me that 'Pot Noodle Woman' lives on takeaways.
Pity Barclays are being difficult with you. Hopefully you can leave them to the solicitor to deal with now?

I was looking forward to watching Shetland, but it was replaced by some stupid football match. I watched 24 Hrs in A&E instead.

Evening Both.

Pretty cold today. a max of below zero, some sun though of 5.5 hours, winds of 16 making it feel worse.

Didn't do any gardening, had a walk around though, the gardener was cleaning next door patio for 3 hours, he's trying to get a few jobs done before it gets busy.

Had bacon and tomato on toast for brekkie, for tea boiled some salad spuds and had some for tea with a cook in the bag piece of cod, saved some spuds for brekkie.

My Wok came today, only ordered it yesterday, with a 10 year warrantee, got to season it as it's uncoated, the non stick lark is a joke, it's only any good as long as you don't use the pans, the Chinese takeaways don't use non stick Woks do they, a shear waste of money.

This one is Carbon steel, same as the one the other place said wouldn't work on Induction, well this one was the same price, £12 and said it did, and it does, will ring the company and tell them they could be losing orders why saying stupid things about Carbon Steel.

The new series of Supervet starts tonight at 8pm on Channel 4.

Mollie, Most of the snow has melted now with 2 days of weak sun, it does look nice for a while though.

Siberia is part of Russia now, they took it over in the 1600's or so, and the temperatures are about the same.

Thats good if you can get your washing done and dried.

Wonder why you are having problems with Barclays, you can do without getting messed about.

Emptybox, Yes, if the waether gets bad it could hold up some of the deliveries, i ordered so much.

My 2mm Allen screws came today from Hong Kong, the 20 screws and nuts are so thin i thought the envelope package was empty, it took 3 weeks to get here, and that was by air.

It will be interesting to see what my next mail from hmrc will be, hate to think.

  both xxx

Emptybox

thought you'd need that back heater on again, best to be safe as you don't want frozen pipes. Good job you don't have to go out as it is so cold, and you don't have to start your gardens yet.

Shame you missed out on Shetland. I hate it when they do that! Replace a fave programme with blooming football!

HIcky

gosh 3 hours to clean the patio, that must of been some dirty patio!

Hope you enjoy your new wok, but should be a good one as it has such a long guarantee.

Gosh 3 weeks to arrive by air, that does seem a long time, but good they turned up in th end.

Took loads of paperwork to solicitor, he was surprised how much stuff I had already sent for, he said he could of done it. But I said I may as well of done it whilst I was waiting for him to sort executor out, as it was already coming to me any way as I did power of attorney. I gladly handed him all the HMRC stuff. He is hoping it will be straightforward as he thinks mum's tax from her pensions was paid at source, but if not, he will bring in an accountant. (he is charging a fixed fee, so this won't increase the fees for me).

Emptybox...what did you and your brother do with nick nacs? eg jewellery? furniture? Solicitor said they are not so important unless really valuable. If we think old jewellery worth anything we could get it valued, and include it in the estate, but it rarely gets much at auction. 

Son has had a real couple of busy days at uni and has assignment work to do too. He was not looking forward to going tomorrow for lectures from 9 till 4 tomorrow too, so he was thrilled to get a text today saying his college is closed along with all the other schools in this area for 2 days.

We were surprised as we only had a very brief snow flurry here, even though it is very cold. They said they are closing because of weather warnings.

I thought Siberia was near Russia, but didnt' realise they were part of Russia now. But I guess I can't give the excuse the take over was only recent, if it was in 1600.

Watching 1£ house now, these poor people, it souned ideal but they have not had an easy ride.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening both.

Heavy snow here all day, and blowing too. An afternoon 'high' of -4.
About 7 inches lying when I went out at 5pm to measure it, and more due tomorrow.
So I'm effectively snowed in for the time being. There was nothing moving on the road, and i didn't get a paper delivery, so I don't think any snow plough came along the road, but i guess they'll wait for the worst of the snow to be over.
Don't like my chances of getting to the supermarket this weekend. Good job I've plenty in at the moment.
Luckily the power has stayed on so far, fingers crossed.

Hicky. Your gardener was lucky that he could get some work done today, but i think the east of the country has had the worst of it so far, but that may change with storm 'Emma' coming up from Spain? Not sure if that's bringing snow or rain though?

That's good that your wok and allen screws came.
Yes, my wok thing doesn't have a non-stick coating either. Don't think it's traditional.

Mollie. That must be a load off your mind, now you've taken the paperwork to the solicitor.
Luckily, as I'm living in the same house, we didn't need to get rid of furniture and ornaments etc. We did have everything valued for the estate though, but as you say, it didn't amount to much.

All the furniture belongs jointly to me and my Brother, but he's happy for it just to stay here. We did sell a few things; various tools that were my Dad's, and any money was split evenly. We may sell more later. I was trying to sell an old cement mixer on Gumtree a while ago (can't remember if I mentioned it?), but i didn't get any offers.

That was a bit of luck, your lad's college being closed. Maybe something to do with this storm Emma that's coming?

I watched Shetland tonight. (postponed from yesterday), then I watched the £1 House on +1. As you say, not such a good deal as it looked at first.
I then watched the new Benidorm series that I'd also recorded.

Evening Both.

Pretty cold today, just had a wander around the garden, not got above freezing though, very cold last night, -5 today max of -0.9c slight sun, snow flurries and gales or at least 20 to 40.

Seasoned the Wok this morning, washed it first as they say, then fried onion in it for 10 minutes, pushing the onion and oil around the sides, then thew the onion away and coated the Wok in nut oil, then put it into the oven at 200c for 15 minute, 

I then used the wok to fry my spud slices left over from yesterday, took spuds out added bacon pieces, then heated a thing of microwave beans, it made a nice brekkie, love Woks, 

Was watching a video from Ray, the one who posts video's every week from the USA, he posted a video of him making a Meat Loaf, it looked very nice so i made it today, i had all the ingredients so it wasn't a problem, i had it with 2 baked spuds but made a little gravy as i don't really like dry food.

Had another delivery but it was only a bag of Tandoori Masala, getting quite a selection of spices now, more expected Monday, but they often come before they say they will.

Had some more of the plain Yogurt i made, added some jam and a little syrup, have about 1/4 of it left, will have to make some more if i keep eating it.

Mollie, Before the gardener used the jet wash on the patio he used a wire brush to clear the weeds from between the flags, the flags are about 400 square, so an awful lot, it is a big patio and he does a good job, and of course with the wash he had to do each flag separate.

Your Mums tax from pension will probably be paid at source by the company using her tax code they get, tax will not be paid at source on state pension as they don't take any, you have to pay it yourself, they are only allowed to take up to 50% tax from a private pension, but if it's big enough it could pay any tax you owe, my private pension is so small it can't pay the tax i owe.

Any jewellery etc from you mum should be checked to see what is gold or diamonds etc, never assume.

I brought all my mum left from the care home in the white bag they gave me, i told them to dispose of the clothes etc, i left the bag in a safe place, one day i was looking for it and as i wanted to go through and see what was in the bag, couldn't find it, asked o/h if she had seen it, told her what bag it was, she said, it probably got thrown out if it looked like a bag of rubbish.

Emptybox, Wow, 7", thats a lot, best stay in, don't want to get stuck outside this weather.

I think Storm Emma is bringing Snow, from what i can see.

We just had a few flakes but with the strong winds it just passed by.

With the Woks without non stick are traditional, you would never get a Chine chef with non stick.

But you need to take care cleaning it, don't use soap of any kind, it should just be rinsed with a cloth and hot water but it must be dried after use, with cloth or kitchen towel and preferably heated on the stove to make sure it's dry.

I am waiting to hear when the utensils for the wok are being dispatched as i like the Wok shovel and the Wok strainer tool, makes life so easy, and now i can make more of the recipes i have because a lot use a Wok, so much better to use than a frying pan, never seen a Chinese chef using a frying pan.

Hi Hicky.
More snow here and very high winds. 
The snow wasn't as heavy as yesterday, but there's now more than 8 inches lying in my yard and on the lane up to the road.
At the back of the house there are drifts over a foot deep.

They have now had a snow plough along the road, but that doesn't help me, as I can't get my van along the lane to reach the road. The farmer usually brings his tractor and clears the lane, but he hasn't done so yet, so I'm still stuck in.
The postie didn't venture out today again either.

That's an elaborate procedure for seasoning your wok? What does that do for it?
Glad the meat loaf you made was a success.
Lucky you, being able to receive deliveries in this weather.
Must be very satisfying for the gardener, cleaning all the muck off a patio with a jet wash.

That's unfortunate that your Mum's belongings were disposed of before you had a chance to go through them.
Good policy of your OH's, to throw away anything that looks like a rubbish bag?
Don't ever wear a plastic Mac. That's my advice to you.

Wonder if Mollie is being hit by this storm Emma? Think there's a red warning for her area from 3pm today?

Not much on TV tonight that I can see? I'll probably watch 'Married at First Sight'.

both xxx

Emptybox

Gosh 8 inches, that is some deep snow. Good job you are well stocked at home and don't need to go out. Hopefully the farmer will turn up soon when the snow eases off. You have enough to go and make a snowman now.

Yes red warning here, but we only had light snow this afternoon, but it does seem to be coming down a bit more now. They reckon the winds due later will make it worse.

Trains and buses cancelled after 6pm, shops closed early, even in Cardiff, and St David;s day parade in city cancelled.

Lucky, like you, me and the family can stay home tomorrow as we don't need to go anywhere.

How did you value stuff for the estate? Solicitor said if furniture is not of much value, (which I know the furniture isn't, it got damp and horrible being in storage so long), then he comes up with a nominal acceptable figure to add to the estate. Most of mum's stuff in her flat was nhs stuff, eg chair, and bed, which we sent back, and the rest went to charity. The bed was real expensive so it was good the nhs loan them out. It was a remote control one, bottom and top lifted independantly, and the bed rose up and down. OH has been able to value some small stuff via internet, eg cut glass bits, but I think solicitor said he can come up with a collective figure if we list it all, as auction figures are low. Yes I do remember you trying to sell the cement mixer. OH has tried to sell the wheelchiar we bought, but with no luck, and it was hardly used!

So is valued stuff added to an estate figure even if it is not sold, or intended to be sold?   eg the furniture in your house?  I don't really understand what this estate figure is? Is it worked out because of tax? Solicitor said mum's estate was well below the inheritance figure. (he said it was as high as £650k before she would reach inheritance tax figure as my dad had an unused allowance), so that was not an issue. 

You are right, tv boring, 2 sides cancelled stuff to show us the snow!

Hicky

glad to hear you are pleased with your wok. I bet you will make some nice original brekkies in that now.

That is good your gardner did a nice job on the patio. Sounds like he is never short of work.

Yes I guess I should check some of mum's old jewellery, a lot of it looks like old junk but might not be.

What a shame your mum's stuff went missing. But I guess this often happens. We found bits and pieces of my mums wrapped in toilet roll and cotton wool, so we could of easily thrown stuff ithout realising it. The carers told me dementia people often wrap stuff up like that.

I am watching a recording of bbc2 "Back in Time for tea". I think HIcky would of enjoyed this show, if you want to find it on catch up. I have got to the 1960's now and what they ate and how they lived then.

Here it is....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09rdv80

Didn't do much today, stayed home, as it was so cold.

Cooked tea, did a bit of housework.

I;ll let you know how the red warning has gone tommorrow. 

Goodnight both xxx

Hi Mollie.
Glad you got off quite lightly from the snow today. Hope not too much falls tonight.
Yes, it's the wind that's the worst here, swirling the snow about all the time. makes you not want to go outside.

My Brother has been down South on business this week, and he was supposed to fly home this afternoon. But Glasgow airport has been closed all day, so either he's had to stay down there an extra day, or perhaps he got a lift up by car? I'll ask him on Sunday.

All the possessions form part of the estate for tax purposes and should be valued. But I guess if there's nothing of any value, and there's no question of the estate needing to pay inheritance tax, then a rough valuation may be adequate?
They won't necessarily form part of what you have to divide up for the will, but it depends on how it was written?

Because there are some antiques here the solicitor arranged for a professional valuer to come, who also happened to be an antiques dealer, and he went round the house valuing everything that belonged to my Dad (not just the antiques). I think he charged a couple of hundred pounds for his service?
As it turned out, everything in the house only came to about £5000, so nothing to get excited about.
We also had to get his car and motorbike valued. For the motorbike we wrote to a vintage motorbike society to get a rough valuation, and for his car we just went on one of the online valuation sites.

I watched a repeat of 100 Years Younger. That Shaun Ryder just doesn't want to co-operate, does he.

Evening Both.

Only had a little snow last night, strong winds kept it from most places, nothing on the roads by me, think the main roads clear, schools still open here.

Didn't bother to go outside, no point really, my shopping came at about 11am, got my Paneer cheese to make that meal, also got a big Cauliflower to make the Cauly meal and a lot of Tomatoes needed for a few of the meals.

Had bacon black pudding and egg with fresh bread for brekkie, was going to make the Paneer Butter Masala for tea but i am short of the Bayleaf and the Fenugreek Leaf, have ordered them so will see if they are going to come quick or not first, if not i will leave them out, i do have Fenugreek seeds and powder.

I am going to finish the Meat Loaf i made yesterday instead, have so many options now, love it.

Have ordered a spiral bound 80 page hardback A6 sketchpad to put my recipes in, also bought, Cashew nuts, Bay Leaves, Waterproof markers, and Kasturi Methi which is Fenugreek Leaf.

Mollie, I just love using the Wok, the one i had at the other house was in use all the time, but with having a lot of us there of course it was different.

The patio the gardener cleaned was next door, as my patio is decking.

Couldn't believe o/h would throw a white bag out without checking what was in it, it was all her personal stuff she had with her, photo's, watches jewellery, rings, but not to worry, i suppose leaving it all in a big white rubbish bag wasn't ideal.

Just had the Meat Loaf with a baked spud, made a gravy to go with it, added some chilli powder, Turmeric and Paprika to make it more interesting.

I now only 2 well how they fared in the 1960's, as i came out of the military about 1962/3 and was working on contract when they were building the Factory at Ellesmere Port, it was the Vauxhall car factory, it was the Winter of 1962/3 that was about 15 below freezing for weeks and weeks, and i was working outside installing lighting on the carpark column's 30ft or so in the air with a steel ladder to get up to the platform, omg you can imagine.

That red alert sounds scary, certainly not worth going out, or driving without a 4x4.

Emptybox, Now is when you need the 4x4, if everyone had 4x4 the country could probably keep moving, strange they never say that, they just say thank you to the drivers of 4x4's that are taking the nurses to work.

I don't have a lot of sympathy with those getting stuck as it's pretty obvious that rear wheel drive can be a disaster, front wheel is better but in snow and ice without 4x4 you should stay in.

The Wok needs to be seasoned as Carbon Steel will rust, although the steel can be hardened if you don't season it when you wash it it has more chance of rusting, the more you use it the thicker the protection gets, then you end up with what they use in the takeaway.

The only Antique in this place is me.

both xx

Emptybox

Gosh your brother won't have had an easy ride if he got a car back from South yesterday. I should of thought he decided to stay. If he did, did the airport reopen today?

Thanks for the estate info, that makes sense now. That is interesting what you say about the house and antiques valuation coming up with £5k for the whole lot. Just goes to show how low valuations come in for things like this. Solicitor told us this, that old jewellery/furniture never gets much back on it in auction.

Yes Shaun certainly was not keen on 100 years younger. I enjoyed that show overall though.

Hicky

glad to see you are busy with your many recipes and enjoying your meat loaf. (I always think of the band with that name when I hear that!).

Gosh that must of been tough working outside in the worse winter of 62/63!

Yes they have had 4 x 4 volunteers to take medical staff to work round here the last couple of days. Snow has been thick, but as drifts from the strong winds. So really odd, reached to the top of my legs in places, then none in other parts of the same street. The drifts in the valleys were 6 to 9 feet!! Sounds like it is going to get milder over the weekend though.

Me and the family went a short local walk in the snow, then built snowmen in the garden    OH was the best, he made a bunny on the wall one, and a dog one. Mine was rubbish , looked more like a ghost. But OH did do art at college.

Watched Gogglebox tonight and recorded Jane and her cruising.

Goodnight both xxx

Hi both.
No more snow today and a little milder. Well up to 0 degrees anyway.
The neighbour managed to get her car out on to the road, so I got out a shovel and wheelbarrow and dug my van out of the snow. I piled the snow in one corner of the yard.

I didn't go anywhere, but I can probably get to the supermarket on Sunday now, if there's no more snow. The neighbour said the roads aren't good though, with a lot of snow piled up either side.

They seem to have changed the forecast a bit, and where before it was saying snow on Sunday, it's now saying rain, so i think the really cold temperatures have passed quicker than they expected.

Hicky. That's a good idea to put all your recipes in one notebook.
Hadn't heard of Fenugreek so looked it up.
Oh didn't realise the bag of your Mum's possessions included rings and watches etc. That was a blow to lose those.

I remember the winter of 62/63. We built a snowman in February and it was still standing at the beginning of April. I was only 3 though.
Must have been bitter working outside then.

Yes I guess I could do with a 4x4 (as I say every year). They are almost all diesel though.
Luckily this weather is rare enough for it not to be a big issue. 
My 'wok' doesn't rust, but it probably isn't carbon steel. Mind you it probably isn't a proper wok either.
The one I use has a flattish bottom. There is also a round bottom one in the cupboard, which is more like a proper wok, but I've never used that for cooking.

Mollie. My Brother wasn't at home this morning, judging by a Facebook post by my SiL, but Glasgow Airport is open again now, so he might have got home tonight.
The £5000 valuation didn't include any electrical items, which were owned by me, and he didn't look at my Dad's tools but just made a rough estimate of those. But yes, the 'antiques' didn't include anything that would be worthy of Antiques Roadshow.
Pity your snowman wasn't up to standard of your OH's.

I watched Jane McDonald tonight as well.

Evening Both.

We had some snow overnight, o/h had to clear it off her car at 6.15 this morning, but when she came home at 11am it had all gone, forecast says for the next 7 days no more frost, today had a high of 2.7c dry with light winds dropping from 18 to 13.

Had a walk around the garden, could have done a few jobs, but why bother, they will keep.

The Wok utensils came and the minced ginger paste, had bacon black pudding and egg sandwiches for brekkie.

Fancied making the Chicken Pakora (crispy) as shown in one of Grandpa Kitchen video's, i had everything needed for the recipe, was going to use one of my many chicken breasts from my freezer but i asked o/h if she was going to have the other half of a chicken from yesterday and she wasn't so i used that, Wow, never had anything like this before, it really is fantastic, with using the wok i don't need so much oil as i can push the food through the oil, the wok has a flat base of course but the base seems to be big enough to work on the large or small induction are, i have only had half so will have to keep the rest in the fridge and heat tomorrow in the oven.

The Crispy Chicken Pakora  i made today.

And Paneer Butter Masala, will be making this soon.

I have worked out how you scale down the recipe from cooking for a few dozen to cooking for 2, easy peesy, you lay out the main ingredient, say chicken or cauliflower, or fish etc, the are it covers flat governs the amount of all the other ingredients because you cover the main ingredient with the spice or whatever it is so you end up with the same recipe as on video but scaled down to any size you want, and it works great.

Mollie, Yes, working outside in that 1962/3 winter was certainly a challenge, the biggest problem was the cable was Pyro which was an aluminium sheath with aluminium cores and filled with a compressed powder, it is totally fireproof and can't be damaged by crushing or flattening, the dear version is copper sheath and copper core, the inner powder must not be allowed to be left unsealed as it absorbs the moisture from the air, it is a night mare to work with and when it's freezing you can imagine.

I heard another call on the tv this morning for 4x4 volunteers to transport people to and from hospital.

Yes, if it snows in a strong wind it just collects giving areas with no snow at all, sounds like you were lucky you didn't have the 9ft drifts like in the valley.

Sounds like your o/h made a good job of the snowman/dog etc, you should have taken a picture.

Emptybox, Glad you dug your van out, mind you i think it's warming up, it is here.

Yes, in that bad winter i used to go by motorbike to work, probably 20 miles or more, the roads were a sheet of ice so to go around a bend i had to ride in the gutter so the wheel had a bit of a ridge as the rest had camber, stopping was a problem as sometimes i had to lie down as the bike wouldn't stop.

Why you say the wok may not be a proper wok, flat bottom ones are for certain hobs, the round bottom one is probably for a gas hob and some hobs have a wok burner built in, you can even but an Induction free work top hob for a round bottomed wok.

This is the Wok i bought, £11.99 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kitch...-Black/dp/B000IKS7WA

There is darts on tonight, have been watching some this afternoon on ITV4, the Voice tonight as well. 

Forgot to post a picture of the 2 clusters of Alaska King Crab Legs that he had for tea, the picture should be be side on really, but you can see how big they are, and in Oz they are half the price i would pay here.

And look what happens if you are parked in the unlucky place that has a water leak, omg.

both xxx

Emptybox

Glad it is milder there now, hope you can make it out to the shop on Sunday for supplies. It snowed again overnight here, but melted quite a bit this afternoon, so my snowman's head fell off.  The forecast was a lot milder. But oddly they changed our forecast too because they have just put a yellow warning on the area for ice and snow! So not sure where we stand, but I need to go food shopping tomorrow morning too.

Looks like your brother flew back then as soon as the airport opened again.

Hicky

yes as you say, your garden jobs will keep, and spring is just round the corner.

Glad you enjoyed your crispy chicken, sounds like you are going to get good use from your wok.

Wow, those recipes are huge, you could feed all of the Wirral with those! As are those crab legs.

That photo of that frozen car in incredible! I wonder if it has damaged it at all?

WAtched the Voice and Ant and Dec.

Rainy day today on and off and sleet , so hung washing on indoor airers to dry.

Goodnight both  xxx

Hi both.
A bit of a nothing day here weatherwise.
Cloudy all day and cold. No more snow, but no thaw either, so all the snow is still here.
Freezing rain is what I'm worried about tomorrow. I'll have to be very careful going down for the paper.
I haven't seen hide nor hair of the postie since Tuesday, and he's supposed to deliver my daily paper. I guess they haven't been allowed on to the rural roads?

Hicky. Glad your wok utensils came, and the ginger paste.
The wok I use for stirfrys is a little flatter than the one in your link, but the other one I have is almost exactly like the one you bought. Maybe I'll dig it out.
Well done working out how to scale the recipes down. You'll have great fun making all those meals.
Those crab legs look great. But as i said on Twitter, a bit prickly on the way down?

It must have been very hairy, riding a bike in the Winter of 1962.
That picture of the frozen car is unreal.

Mollie. Yes they keep revising the forecast. I guess we've got storm Emma bringing warmer weather, and the Beast from the East bringing the cold, and it depends which one prevails?
Still not sure if my Brother got home safe. I'll find out tomorrow I guess. 
Pity your snowman got decapitated.

Watched some of the indoor athletics earlier, and tonight I watched Troy.

Good Evening Both.

Not bad today apart from the drizzle, it was about 7c max with light rain and winds of 8.

Had one of the video recipes for brekkie, the Special Scrambled Eggs, very interesting, did it in the Wok, fried chopped onion and tomato, put some spices on the made a parting in the middle and added 2 eggs, cooked that then added chillies and another egg, it was very nice.

Was going to make the Crispy Cauliflower dish but had some of the Crispy Chicken left from yesterday so will do it tomorrow, finished the Crispy Chicken tonight.

I found a video for Prawn Curry & Vegetable Biryani so wrote down the recipes for that.

I found another utensil for the Wok, i knew what i wanted but didn't know what it was called, it a Wok Skimmer, i have a Nylon one but it's this i wanted really but couldn't find it.

This is similar to what i bought, and for £2.99 with free delivery it's worth getting. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STAI...d:g:b2oAAOSwNSxVVGnb

Vegetable Biryani, unbelievable how he does it, but it's easy to follow.

Crispy Cauliflower.

Mollie, Those crab legs my lad had are so good, if they didn't cost so much here now i would get them all the time.

I don't know what damage the car could get with all that ice, of course if water gets into confined spaces it could expand on freezing and maybe damage equipment.

Emptybox,  I saw your mention on twitter about the spikes on the legs, thought it funny, i still can't believe we lost $100 worth by leaving them at a taxi pickup point, i have heart broken as you can imagine.

Be careful you don't go out in freezing rain, that could be rather nasty, not expecting more frost here as forecast for the next 2 weeks says above freezing.

Dancing on ice now, been watching the Darts on ITV4

both xx

Emptybox

hope the freezing rain if it did come, gave you no trouble going out today.

Nearly all the snow has gone here now, we had some rain that melted most of it, then a bit of warm sunshine.

Hopefully the mystery of if , when and how your brother got home will be solved when he rings you today. Does he phone you every Sunday?

Hicky

glad you had an enjoyable brekkie thanks to your new wok and video recipe.

Hope you enjoy the prawn curry when you try that recipe.

I can't get over the huge sizes of those bowls in the recipe videos.

Your skimmer was a good price, I am sure it will come in very handy for you.

It's a shame the crab legs are too expensive for you over here. Have you checked in Costo? I noticed today they had some huge lobster legs in the freezers. Yes I am sure you were not happy at all about leaving $100 dollars worth in the taxi pickup area!

Thankfully we too don't expect below freezing here either. Let's hope the real icy weather has moved on now.

We went to costco today to get a bit of food shopping. As we went in the guy on the door was telling everyone they had no bread or milk. Some people must of been ransacking the shelves, which seems daft as the roads have not got a problem now. Luckily I didn't need any anyway. By tomorrow there will probably be an oversupply in the shops.

I had a few free food samples in Costco, very nice.

And we had lunch there, I had a huge jacket potato with cheese and beans for £1.50, not bad at all.

Watched Dancing on Ice, now watching C5 show about Churchill.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening both.
A little warmer here, up to about 2 degrees I think.
We had some rain and sleet. Not the freezing rain thank goodness.
Some of the snow has gone, but most of it is still here.
For some reason the snow round the back has gone quicker than the stuff in the front. I think it's because the wind was stronger round there.

Got down for my paper this morning and to Lidl this afternoon without problems.
The roads were clear, but with walls of snow either side that the snow plough must have made. The lane to my house is passable, but a bit slippy still.
My Lidl was more or less out of bread and milk as well Mollie. Don't know why people stock up on those?

Seemingly my Brother's flight was only cancelled at the last minute. He'd already gone through security at the airport when he found out.
He decided to hire a car to come back on Friday, because although Glasgow airport was open then, all the flights were booked. He said the roads weren't bad.

Hicky. I'll have to watch one of those recipe videos. Don't think I could be bothered to make them though.
You're making good use of the wok anyway,
That was a good value utensil that you found.
Oh yes, I remember you leaving those crab legs behind.

Mollie. Yes, my Brother phones every Sunday. I guess we should really take it in turns, but the original idea was that if I phoned he might be putting the kids to bed. But as the 'kids' are now 22 and 19 that doesn't really apply anymore.
But it still seems to suit him to phone me rather than me phone him.
He gets free weekend calls anyway (as do I) so it doesn't cost.

Lucky you didn't need any milk or bread today, with the shelves being bare. I was wanting to buy cream, but there wasn't any. I also wanted frozen peas, and that's another thing they'd run out of.
That was a good value jacket potato.

I watched Top Gear, then a prog about Capital punishment in the USA.

Evening Both. :

Not a bad day here, warmer at max of 8c but miserable woth drizzle again, some sun with winds of 11 down to 8.

DOI is being ruined with them making the contestants dance on their own, they can't skate was whats the point, it's a dance show, they should be dancing together, the directors want sacking, the show is down by millions of voters, no wonder, they are spoiling it for the fans, if i wanted to see people practice on the ice i could go to a skating rink.

I just had a couple of bacon and black pudding sandwiches.

Made the Crispy Cauliflower meal for tea, only used half of the cauliflower as it was massive, got all the ingredients and spices ready as the recipe calls for it, it worked out exactly as it did in the video, was so pleased, it made enough for 2 meals so just had half, didn't know Cauliflower could taste so good, and of course you can't buy most of the food shown in the video's so it's really an experience i would never get, and it was one of the video's i posted yesterday, if you watch it tell me what you think, i didn't add anything in that wasn't shown on the video.

Mollie, The Wok is great, just like the old days, so much easier than using frying pans.

Yes, he has massive bowls and the size of his Wok, wow, but of course he needs it cooking for all those, see haw much rice he makes.

For the price of this crab cluster on the link in Oz you could get 2 clusters, so we are paying double here.

https://www.finefoodspecialist...7jupN3BoCQvoQAvD_BwE

Yes, emptying the shelves of any foods is just greedy, then some have to go without, why do people do this?

That price for the baked spud, cheese and beans is good, we don't stay long enough to eat there now.

Emptybox, Not even a sign of snow left here, it goes so quick, and if the sun is out it's even faster.

At least you got to the shops so all is not bad, 

You wouldn't be able to make those recipes unless you invested in the spices etc needed, it certainly is worth it for the experience, just love them.

Don't know how on earth they can sell a wok skimmer/strainer for £2.99 postage paid, and it's stainless steel, and the beauty of using uncoated Woks is that you  can use cheap utensils, and i hate the other plastic ones anyway.

I watched mainly the Darts yesterday, watched DOI i feel they are ruining it, making people that can't dance dance on their own, what idiots the directors are, they are down by 2 million viewers, no wonder.

both xxx

Emptybox

that is good it is warming up there, and you managed to get to the shops.

Shame you missed out on the cream though.

I went to tesco with daughter to get her some underwear, and bearing in mind we live on opposite sides of the country, how odd...., all of the frozen peas had gone from the freezers in our tescos. Why on earth would people stock pile frozen peas because of a snow storm? And of course there was not a single slice of bread, ,or any milk, even not one pre-made sandwich on the shelf. I had been to asda earlier and they had milk and bread, but had no pineapple juice!   But they had lots of shelf fillers working hard to get stuff on the shelves. Tescos had no shelf fillers, just empty shelves. I think tescos only tend to stack at night though. One day of snow and the country comes to a standstill!

Gosh, can't believe your brother had gone through security before they told him the flight was cancelled! The drive back must of taken some time, as it is such a long way. Good job he had no problem on the roads though. But I guess the same happened to my son when he tried to come back from Frankfert, then was told his flight was not going anywhere because of the fog.

Hicky

glad you got it warmer too. All we need now is for some sun and the rain to clear.

Yes watching them on DOI dance alone, did not make easy viewing.

That's good the cauly recipe was so good for you, I'll watch the video tomorrow as I love cauliflower.

Yes it is amazing how some things such as the strainer on amazon are so cheap and even free postage.

Went shopping today, and had coffee/cake with daughter in dunelm as she was studying there. She is really struggling with one part of her studies now...the statistics bit! Hope she can manage to get a pass.

Watched last episode of that drama on bbc2, bit disspointing I thought with too many characters who were pointless, and I didn't realise understand it anyway.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening.
Milder again today and cloudy. Quite a big thaw here with a lot of the snow going. But my lawn is still covered, and there's a lot of snow about yet, especially on the hills.
The postie made an appearance at last.
He gave me Wednesday's, Saturday's and today's papers, but no sign of Thursday's and Friday's. Hope i don't get charged for them.

Hicky. Pity you had drizzle today, but quite a bit warmer than me.
Bacon and Black Pud sandwich sounds good. Never occurred to me to put black pud in a sandwich.
Glad the cauliflower meal turned out well. I think I will watch that video now.

Mollie. How strange the shop near you was out of frozen peas as well.
Maybe people think it's an easy thing to have as a backup in the freezer, in case they go short of fresh food?

I think my brother was due to fly from Birmingham to Glasgow, but hired a one-way car instead. So he took the car to glasgow Airport and collected his own one that he'd left there.
Not sure how long it would take him? Maybe 5 hours? But he's used to doing that anyway, as he drives down as often as he flys.
He's hoping to get the money for the flight back. But it's all on his firm's expenses anyway.
Oh yes, I remember your son getting stuck in Frankfurt.
Hope your daughter works out the Statistics part of her course.

I watched the last episode of Collateral as well.
I liked it, although as you say, the ending was a bit unsatisfactory. Wonder if they'll have another series?
Afterwards I watched Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams.

Evening Both.

Not bad again today, 7c but cloudy, light winds10 down to 5.

Went out for brekkie, o/h was off today, went to Carr Farm, just had a 4 item one, sausage, beans has browns and fried egg, got some bacon bones on the way out, they have quite a big farm butchery section, no butchers, just packed meat, but you can get 3 packs of ribeye steak for £10.

So had bacon bones at 4pm, then put the other half of last nights meal in the oven, but did add a few more cashew nuts and green peppers, fried them a bit first.

More items came today, the cashew nuts and the Kasturi Methi which is Fenugreek leaves, will have to sort out what meal to make tomorrow, getting quite a lot of options as i get more spices and ingredients.

Was watching a video of Grandpa making a desert dish, one of the ingredients i had to google, it's Khova and made for Milk, so i know how to make that now, it looks very nice and the children liked it.

Mollie, Items like the strainer could be cheap because so many of the home Woks are now non stick and you can't use utensils of stainless steel, but i am delighted, it will match my stainless Wok shovel, normally they are Aluminium but stainless even better.

I enjoyed finishing off the Cauliflower meal, it's amazing what a few spices and some flour can do, and when fried in the Wok it really comes to life and with the main food of course he adds the bits and pieces like cashew nuts, onions which really makes it fantastic as some of the dish at the end is caramelised and becomes sticky with the corn flour and so some sticks to the cauliflower florets.

Glad you managed to get a coffee/cake out with your Daughter, thats a bit worrying having your daughter struggle with the statistics section of the course, can you get her some help as trying to figure things on your own make it worse.  

Emptybox, Never heard of a postman delivering news papers before, maybe he can't carry too many, strange but at least he's coming back, maybe Thursday and Friday never got to your area.

Yes, had black pudding on toast many times, it is pretty special, mind you i have been getting the slices of black pudding.

Tell me what you think of the meals made in the videos, i will probably work my way through all of them, and loving that sort of Indian food, my method of using the area covered by the main ingredient as a spice measure seems to work, if i am adding spices to cover an area of food i now put the spices into the spice shaker which distributes it fine, he uses about a cup of each spice and i use about a teaspoon.

Hi Hicky.
Rainy here today. A lot more of the snow is gone, just a few patches left on the lawn, and a pile I made while digging out my van. There's still a lot on the hills around though. When that melts the road to the village will likely flood.

Been doing some more cleaning, because my visitors are coming on Saturday. The place is still mostly clean from the last time though, so not so much to do.

Glad you enjoyed your brekkie out, and that some of your nuts and spices came.
I watched that video of the old guy making the spicy cauliflower dish. Very impressive on such primitive equipment.
Didn't like to see him putting it into the boiling oil with his fingers though. Thought he was bound to get burnt.  
I see why the wok sieve would be essential for fishing the food out of the oil.

The postie has always delivered my paper during the week (and Saturday). Mind you, the delivery cost is almost as high as the cost of the paper, so I'm not sure it's really worthwhile. I've been thinking of stopping it for a while.
I should think the Thursday and Friday paper deliveries never made it through to the Newsagent, as there were a lot of roads closed. But i shall be looking out for my bill to see I haven't been charged for them. Bad enough that I'll be charged for Wednesday's paper, even though i only got it the following Monday, so was useless.

Watched Shetland tonight.

Evening Emptybox.

A glorious but pretty cold day here, 8c max sunny spells, dry light winds of about 11.

O/H was working today instead of yesterday, and we were expecting a visitor to look at the rising damp in the corner of my office, so stayed in until o/h came in at about 2pm so lost all that time when i could have been outside, and he never turned up, it's o/h's brother as well.

My Bay Leaves pack came, also the A6 spiral back book, but as the pages are blank as it's a sketch book i am printing lined sections that i have drawn using a drawing program, that lets me have 2 lined columns on each page, i will fasten the sheet to the page with magic tape, will have to rewrite all the recipes but will show the ingredients at the side.

I had a tin of tomatoes and sliced up bacon for brekkie, for tea i have made the Paneer butter masala, tasted a bit of the Paneer before i made the meal, no taste at all, very strange, the masala ended up very nice, took a while to do, got enough for another meal as well, next time will substitute Prawns for the Paneer.

13 days till Spring, doesn't time fly, love the way the nights are getting lighter.

Quite a lot of plants etc starting to open buds, Raspberry canes, the summer ones which will fruit this year but grew last year, the Hardy Kiwi is getting ready, some pear trees are getting ready as well.

Going to move the bug hotel, going to put it into the sun, it doesn't get sun where it is, i thought originally it should be in the shade.

Yes, when it all melts you may have a problem with the run off, not much you can do though.

A quick clean will do as you say, most will be clean but dust is in the air so will drop onto surfaces.

It's a wonder Grandpa doesn't cut himself as well, he chops up a vast amount of veg etc, each time he seems to have a different knife, i noticed in a lot of the comments under the video on the web pages they write that they would love to supply him with new utensils etc but they don't have an address.

Yes, and he doesn't burn himself, he produces some lovely food with such simple equipment.

I see what you say about your papers, think they will only charge you for what was delivered, i have read or bought a paper for years, think i stopped even before i finished working, i just use the web now.

both

must of forgotten to press reply yesterday as I remember reading your posts!

Emptybox

glad the thaw has worked its way to you. Let's hope the flooding doens't give you problems now. That is good your cleaning has lasted well, so you are nearly ready for your visitors Saturday.

Don't blame you for thinking of cancelling your papers, maybe you could just get a Sunday one when you go to get your shopping. Think of the money you could save over a year! You could treat yourself to some nice sales clothes ,or maybe more techy stuff would be more up your street? You can read most papers online anyway now.

Hicky

what a shame you wasted so much outdoor time waiting for someone who didn't turn up.

You sound organised with your recipe book.

Yes Grandpa is amazing what he produces with such basic stuff. I am sure he would be delighted with new equipment, but a shame they can't work out where to deliver it to.

Going food shopping tomorrow, wonder if the food shelves will still be empty?

it was just ridulous earlier this week how there was nothing there and we only had one day of snow!

It was really warm in the garden yesterday, I sat for half hour on swingchair and had to take layers off to sit in my vest top! Today was also sunny, but cooler with a breeze and the doggie sat out for about half hour with me too.

Still getting post to sort for mum, but hopefully it wont' be much longer getting sorted.

I am not looking forward to my 1st Mother's day being motherless as I always spent time with my mum, so OH is taking me away for a few days on Friday to see his family in North Wales, we love going up there, and will stay in Llandudno. Son and daughter want to come too, and other son has offerred to stay home with the pets.

I watched One Born Every Minute , babies so sweet. But gosh you do realise how dangerous childbirth can be. One lady tonight could of easy bled to death tonight, she had to have an emergency op to stop the excessive bleeding. I am glad this show wasn't on when I had my 3, it might of put me off! I never even thought of how dangerous it was, just got on with it!   And was lucky to do it my way..... natural with no intervention and no pain relief other than my TENS machine. I think those broad child bearing hips of mine came in very useful at the time.

Yes HIcky, these light nights are just lovely, and spring is just round the corner.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening both.
Not bad day here. A high of about 5 degrees and a little sun.
More thawing, so there is only a little snow left now.  The river is quite high, but no sign of flooding yet. Perhaps because it's taking a few days for the snow to melt? Or perhaps because there's still snow on the hills.

Hicky. Pity you had to wait in for your BiL, and he didn't show. Hope the rising damp isn't too bad?
But at least your Bay leaves and notebook came.
Doesn't sound like you were all that impressed by the Paneer cheese?

Hopefully not too long till real Spring. The snow doesn't seem to have stopped the daffodils here. They are well above ground now. If next week is nice I'll have to try and get my greenhouse tidied, and get my tomato seeds planted.
Yes, it's light till after 6pm now.

Mollie. I think I would still go down for my Sunday paper at the village shop (they don't deliver), and I would still want to get the weekly local paper, if only to see if any of my customers have popped off that week.
Mind you, I've been saying I'm going to cancel my daily paper for years, and have never done anything about it.
But you're right. It would save me £25 - £30 a month.

I'm going food shopping tomorrow as well. so I also hope the shelves aren't bare. No reason for them to be now though.
Glad you got some warm weather today.

Hope your break in N. Wales takes your mind off Mothers' Day.
Take it from me. You do get used to being an orphan after a while.

Watched Supervet then Benidorm.

Evening Both.

snowing this morning when i got up, the place was white, the temperature was soon 7c and the sun came out so bye bye snow.

Quite nice today really, my new Wok skimmer hasn't arrived yet, most annoying, all that came are 2 indelible marker pens for writing the garden plant labels.

Had bacon and black pudding on toast for brekkie as i have plenty of bacon in.

Decided to only have the spicy food every other day  so my body doesn't get overpowered by the spices, so i had a cook in the bag salmon portion with 2 baked spuds and 2 fried eggs.

Might make the Prawn Curry tomorrow, have to do the shopping list as well, was going to do some jobs outside today but stayed in this morning as i was hoping the delivery would come and o/h was out so didn't bother, i have 10 jobs on my list of things to do.

Mollie, If you didn't press 'Post Reply' then the post would still be there waiting for you to press it when you next looked at the page.

You shouldn't have any problem getting food, the forecast can and does create panic buying, such a waste.

It's so interesting watching Grandpa making those meals, the amount of veg etc he has to chop/cut up, but he sure knows what spices to use for each meal.

Good idea to get away for the weekend, you sure deserve a break, went to Llandudno often when we were travelling along the west coast, Rhyl was one of the favourite places, lost one of the lads there once, it's awkward when you have 3 children as each notices one that walking at their side, when one is in a pushchair it's easy for him to slip away while we look in a shop, when we looked in the pushchair it was empty, so we went into the nearest arcade centre and he was sitting in one of the driving games pretending to drive, he must have seen it as we passed.

Emptybox, Hope you don't get flooded anyway, as you say there is probably lots of snow yet to melt.

I do remember a remark about the Paneer cheese, i think it's used because it doesn't melt and also because it absorbs the spices and so will just taste of the spices used.

Spring is only 12 days away so the weather should be getting better soon, the plants and trees that are sprouting buds don't seem too bothered about the snow.

Yes, you really should clean out the greenhouse, you should have lit one of those smoke insect killer things to fumigate it as well.

The daytime temperatures till Spring are ok but the night time ones are between 4 to 6c  which isn't so good.

both xxx

Emptybox

glad to hear the weather is improving and no floods.

How nice the snow didn't stop those daffodils. Round here they are just starting to come through, so a bit later than normal I think.

Gosh think of what nice treats you could get for £25 to £30 a month in savings! But I can understand you wanting the local and the Sunday ones.

Hope you get your food ok. Much to my surprise some tescos shelves were looking rather empty. Far less choice in bread/rolls etc, at least there was plenty of milk though.

Have you sorted the menu yet for the visitors, or are you going out for lunch?

Hicky

sounds like it looked very pretty by you this morning.

Maybe the skimmer is slow coming because it was so cheap, so they have to use cheap delivery?

You were busy with 10 "to do" jobs on your list.

Funny you should remember Rhyl, we intend going there Saturday, daughter wants to visit the comic shop there. I like the big seafront there, and the town centre. Gosh fancy losing one of the kiddies, typical of a lad to get distracted by a car! I too remember what hard work it is watching 3 youngsters at once, especially if you are somewhere different.

Yes it is a matter of days till real spring now, but still chily at night. I feel I still have to pack my wooly jumpers and layers for this weekend.

I will call in here if I have internet access, but if not, I will be back on Monday.

Goodnight both xxx

Evening both.
Quite a nice sunny day here. I saw 8 degrees on the car thermometer when driving to Lidl. There was still quite a lot of snow at the side of the roads though, but looking very grubby now.

Mollie. The shelves in my Lidl seemed to be fairly well stocked. I got my frozen peas anyway. The only thing I couldn't find was the skimmed milk that my SiL takes, so she'll have to make do with semi-skimmed.
Think I'll be giving my visitors roll mop herring and salad for lunch, and my home made casserole for supper. That's the plan anyway.

I'll probably get round to cancelling the papers one day.
Hope you manage to call in here while you are 'up north'.

Hicky. Strange that you got some more snow today.
Hope the spice every second day suits you.
I thought at first that you said the marker pens were inedible rather than indelible.

Don't know about an insect spray for the greenhouse? I have gravel trays, and I should think there will be loads of insects in those, especially woodlice (or 'slaters' as they are called in Scotland).
I usually empty the old grow bags from last year into the patch that I grow potatoes in.
Think it's supposed to be below zero here again tonight, but then for the next few days it's 2 or 3 degrees, so a little warmer.

Evening Both.

Another reasonable day here, 9c sunny spells, dry with light winds of about 11.

My new Wok Skimmer came, i'm glad i was hoping to use it today, all my orders are here now, till i start again.

Decided on the Prawn curry for today, takes a while to get it all ready for the off but i find it so rewarding, now i appreciate more what they do in the Indian restaurants to get your meal ready, wow.

My shopping came so that was good, i now have even more items to help me with meals.

I am making a table to go at the side of the chest freezer so i can take some stuff out and it's awkward to take a handful out without a table, i have loads of wood and am using a an old wooden crate that the glass for the greenhouse came it.

The forecast for the next 2 weeks says day temperatures between 9 to 11c, it says tomorrow is 13c.

I have decided on how and which recipes to put in my book, i will only have 1 of each typw of cooking, so instead of having say 6 different curry's i will have one and put the main meat/fist etc down as ????, the same for Biryani's, Masla's, Crispy dishes, Egg dishes, Cheese dishes, Corn Dogs, French Fries and Fried rice dishes, that way i don't have to write multiple times dishes that are similar.

Mollie, Rhyl was like a magnet to the children when young, they also liked Blackpool, but any seafront with arcade games under cover would do.

Yes, it will be cold at night for a while yet, i set the night temperature for the heating to 17.5c which seems fine, i have altered the daytime setting to 06.30 am to 19c and from 6pm to 10pm at 20c.

Hope you can get the internet where you go, don't see why not but you may have to pay.

Emptybox, No, the greenhouse treatment for the winter isn't a spray, that wouldn't work, it's a canister that you light and it fumigates inside the greenhouse.

The problem being that the creepy crawlies are not to be seen, they are far to clever.

The lows here for the next 14 days will be between 3c and 6c which isn't too bad.

Hi Hicky.
Quite a nice sunny day here. Frosty start though.
Didn't do much apart from last minute preparations for my visitors.

Glad your wok skimmer finally arrived.
I think that's great you making a prawn curry from scratch. I love a prawn curry, but just use ready made sauces or pastes.
Good idea for writing out the recipes. Will save you a lot of repetition.
That's enterprising, making a table to go beside the freezer. Hopefully the OH will think it passes muster.

Think my forecast for the next few days go up to about 7 or 8 degrees, so colder than for you, but better than of late. Hopefully it'll mean I'll use less oil, as I've fairly been getting through it lately, with the very cold spell.
I'll have to burn a lot tomorrow though, because if the house isn't warm the SiL spends the whole visit sitting next to the radiator.

The problem I always have with my tomatos is slugs appearing to eat holes in them, as soon as they ripen. Not sure where they hide? If I actually catch one on a tomato I throw it outside. I guess they come in through the vents?

Watched Jane McDonald and Friends. It was OK, but not as good as the Cruising prog.

Evening Emptybox.

Not bad today, 14c but some light rain showers, some sun as well though, winds light at 8 to 14.

Was able to get in the garden, didn't need a coat either, i made the table to go next to the chest freezer in the garage, then i moved the bug hotel to it's new location, a bit of a struggle on my own, but used the luggage trolley to carry it to the new site.

O/H said i could have the other half of the chicken she got yesterday, so thought, what if i make it more interesting by making a spicy batter and frying it in the Wok for brekkie, well, i did that, it was fine but far to much so could only eat half, tonight i had an idea to use the rest of the fried chicken, so decided to make a curry sauce to go with the chicken, and then decided to make the spicy chips that Grandpa did, so cut the chips, par coiled them them fried them in the Wok in veg oil, then you sprinkle the chips with salt, masala spice powder and chilli powder, all very nice anyway.

Had a text today, my lad and his Mrs in Oz are expecting a little one, how exciting, i know they were going to try for one.

Had a phishing email today saying it was from BT and that my payment hadn't gone through etc, but when you hover over where it came from it was obviously fake, it came from Japan, forwarded it to BT as usual, got an automated reply thanking me.

Love this new Wok skimmer, ideal for me, just what i wanted, only got the other one because i didn't know what you call them so with calling them strainers it limited my search.

The table is great, have loads of wood, many different sizes and lengths, so handy, not much you can't make from wood.

My Hive remote wireless thermostat goes off every now and again, it's a pain as it means i have to go through a sequence to get it talking again to the receiver, also have to reprogram the transmitter with all the on/off times, if it keeps happening i will change it for a wired one, they cost about £80 but it would stop me having communication problems, had this problem for years, it only happens every few months, no idea why.

Yes, you better get the house warm for your visitors, mind you it's not going to be very cold anyway.

I haven't had slugs eating my tomatoes, isn't that strange, mind you i put slug killer pellets down everywhere, also be careful of the watering, they love moist soil etc, try to let the top of the soil dry out, as the slugs don't like dryness, and don't water at night as the soil stays wet.

Planted my peas, put 48 peas down, with a 2" space between them, i use a template with holes in to drop the peas through.

Just remembered, have been changing water on another piece of salt cod for the morning, yummy.

My Lad in Oz sent me a picture of his brekkie this morning, very nice, he eats well.

Hi Hicky.
Raining most of the day unfortunately.
My Brothere said there was still a lot of snow on the higher ground on his journey across.
Although it was quite mild here, I still had to have the heating on and turned up all day, as they are used to a modern, well insulated house.

Visit went well, and they seemed to like the grub I made them. Or they were too polite to say, if they didn't.
Just the two of them this time. They didn't even bring the dog with them.
My Brother took away some of my Dad's tools (ones I don't use), as he has taken up selling motorcycle parts as a sideline, and needed some things to help him strip the bikes down.
We also discovered that the rain has been getting in and rotting some of the timbers in my garage, so I'll have to do some work on that at some point.

Ah I see. The table you are making is to go in the garage? So not so neccessary to get OH's approval.
Well done moving the heavy bug hotel on your own.
You seem to find many ways to use up the leftover chicken.
And many congratulations to your lad and his missus on their happy news.
A Granddad again eh?

These phishing scams are becoming far too common. You can never really trust any phonecall or email nowadays.
Pity you are having bother with your hive gadget.

It's very difficult getting the watering for tomatoes right, because if they get too dry then the fuits suffer, but if they are too wet, as you say, it encourages slugs.
I suppose as long as they don't take too many.

Nice cooked brekkie for your lad. I postponed my cooked brekkie from this morning, because i didn't want the place (or me) smelling of frying, when my visitors arrived. I'll have it tomorrow though.
My beer and spag bol will have to wait till next Saturday though.

When my visitors were here we watched some of the Scotland Ireland match, then watched the Para Winter Olymics highlights then Crufts.
This evening I watched Troy.

Evening Emptybox.

Not bad here today, dry with cloud and some sun, 11c though and wionds of 9.

Had my salt cod for brekkie with bacon and poached eggs.

did some work in the garden, marking out for the rest of the holes needed for the fruit cage posts.

One of my lads came with some flowers for o/h but she was at work because her hours are moved.

Have ordered the cornmeal i need and some more spikes that i use in the frame of the raised bed posts for support lines, and 2 more jars of Jalopeno Chillies.

I was looking outside where the damp inside is and there is a gas meter brick cupboard and i can't see the damp course in it as it bridges the damp course of the building, so that could be the problem, will have to see.

Glad the visit went ok, worth putting a little extra heating on.

You don't want the garage rotting away, if water can get in it sure will.

O/H made a Sunday roast when she came home so had that, saves me cooking.

The Hive transmitters are around £100 but you get the receiver as well, which i may not need, the wired ones are the same price.

These are the slug pellets i use and wow, do they work, use them every year. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eraza...keywords=slug+pellet

My automatic watering seemed fine last year but am changing it a bit this year, trial and error i suppose, buy good drainage is the secret, over-watering kills most plants rather that under.

 One for Mollie.

Had to show you this, 3 year old children cooking a big fish for about 20 adults, so cute.

Can't see this happening in the UK though, we don't have those sort of knives.

And 3 year olds cooking and serving Fish Curry and Rice.