Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

Good afternoon.

We are back to the very wet, dismal, grey weather after a couple of bright days. The hosepipe ban has finally been lifted, but no doubt it will return when we need hosepipes the most.

I won’t be venturing out anywhere today. My prescription collection can wait until tomorrow, I’ve got enough medication to last.

I think I’ll probably read my book this afternoon.

 

Afternoon folks.

I am mostly relaxing but I do need build my strength back up so I’ve just had a potter in the garden (it’s actually sunny!) so pleased with that. My garden cat (not mine but she visits regularly) has just greeted me and is sitting next to me.

Take care all and keep away from the Flu bugs if you can.

 

Makes me miss my cats, they used to follow me about in the garden. One would also sit next to me on this large stone. All in heaven now.

 

Weekly shop today plus a detour to Gamme vert for some crushed oyster shells as the SM has stopped stocking them and I need them for the chooks. Back home for a late lunch which involved a raid on the veg patch for radicchio so they've had an early dose of tinned sweetcorn and black sunflower seeds. They're all eating well, exploring more and a lot fitter but still have lots of bald patches.

It's dry here and the sun is trying to break thru the cloud cover but not with any great success. When we were buying wine in LIDL I found some individual fored hyacinths in square cermaic Xmassy pots so I shall pop out to transfer them into better pots with some root room and use the fancy pots for Xmas candles and greenery.

Off out for lunch and an Xmas market at La Chaume tomorrow and hoping to find local goodies. Our forecast says dry for thext 10 days. Fingers crossed it lasts 11 as we're of fto Nantes Xmas market on the 23rd.

I'm afraid I have always disliked Nick Knowles so never watch anything he's in.

Keep up the good work @AuntyRach and lots of loving for indoor and outdoor pussies. Ditto for all of us with pets.

 

I have actually achieved things today and can tick them off my list (imaginary, but real!).
I do have a real list, but that is food!
Today has been a cheese fest quest. I have sourced some Shepherds Purse Buffalo Blue, (mortgage territory), local Welsh cheeses, Wensleydale (more cheese, Gromit?) and a few others. I already have my Sage Derby!
Some people buy chocolate, we buy cheese!

 

Good evening everyone. Boiler engineer arrived just before one and I am happy to say that the boiler required very little in the way of servicing but it has given me peace of mind for the Winter now and the reassurance that I can call on them if I ever do have any trouble. The engineer was a really nice guy and was asking me about the development that will be starting on the land at the back. He told me to put bat boxes up in the trees as it is against the law to remove them. Unfortunately those trees are already in my garden and there are none in the fields beyond my boundary. Good idea though. Gosh @Penny_Forthem I have to admit that Shepherds Purse Buffalo Blue is a new cheese to me. Obviously I know Shepherds Purse as the weed that plagues my garden at times and am I correct in assuming it is made with buffalo milk like mozzarella? I had never heard of Stinking Bishop until Wallace and Gromit either.

 

I am going to sign off now - will probably go to read after GW and record HIGNFY. Enjoy your evenings. BTW @Tui34 I love your picture of the rose in the bauble today!

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Chocolate for me @Penny_Forthem !

I find French cheeses all too pappy for me and I don't like any that can ooze off the cheese platter under their own steam or stinky ones. Brie and Camembert are everywhere here but, other than that the range is very limited both geographically and in terms of texture.

French hard cheeses are few and far between and can be very bland too - Emmenthal, Gruyère - so, for both eating and cooking I stick to mature Gouda plus good Parmesan and Pecorino if I can find it. Even goat's cheese is limited here but I did find some ewe's Tomme with black garlic I've bought to try and there's a local ewe's cheese producer but she's pricey.

I have a bat box to put up @Ladybird but hadn't thought of siting it in a tree. Good idea.

Dinner's almost ready - roast root vegtables with canellini beans and sage and onion stuffing balls. Smells good so far.

 

Evening folks, have you had time to watch the finale of Shetland yet @Obelix_Vendee? Ladybird4 asked me what I thought of the ending yesterday but I didn't want to spoil it for you.

We woke late so I headed off to Screwfix to pick up waterproof trousers for OH, which by a miracle fitted perfectly when I got home. The waterproof jacket didn't arrive via Evri last night, due by 9 pm so we waited up until 11 pm,then went out with torches to do a sweep of our boundaries in case it had just got chucked over somewhere, which it hadn't. Eventually this morning I had a text apologising for the non delivery which is being re-arranged, don't know when yet. OH was getting drowned sometimes on his daily walk to the papershop, his padded jacket being only showerproof so I decided he needed proper kit. Solves two problems, getting wet and his Xmas presie!

Oops, kitchen timer's just gone off so dinner is ready, must go.

 

Good old Evri! OH ordered himself a piece of electronics yesterday, just as he was about to pay, he noticed that the delivery had defaulted to Evri. Lucky he saw it in time, and paid a little extra for a Royal Mail delivery. Very surprised to get a DHL notification instead. However, the package arrived at lunchtime, within the two hour window. Very efficient.

I had one package containing a jumper left in a flower bed down by the road by Evri, and came home another time to find a hardback book jammed halfway into our metal postbox. I thought I was going to have to dismantle the postbox to get it out, but after much tussling, managed to extract it, only to discover I’d been sent the wrong book.

Lunch today at a seaside hotel with the village Women’s Group. Delicious braised feather blade of beef, perfectly cooked vegetables - including the sprouts!- and a chocolate and Baileys cheesecake to follow. OH made himself a ham sandwich and cooked some oven chips in the airfryer! Poor deprived soul!

 

Hello all, I'm late here today, but today hasn't been very interesting.

We did the weekly shop at Sainsbugs. Cedric was happy because I had a £9 voucher and we got another £11 off on various things with the store card.

It was a gloomy day weatherwise and I did admin sort of things after lunch and looked at ferry crossings to France in January.

 

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Hello everyone. @Obelix-Vendée I have a bat box on the side of my house and even though my Katsura tree at the bottom of my back garden is tall enough to accommodate a bat box, Cricket gets up it as easy as climbing up stairs so I daren't risk putting one there. I reckon he was a leopard in another life. Well its a quiet day for me today all I have to do is get the royal icing onto my marzipanned Christmas cake and get ready for my Ocado delivery later. Oh and I have a few more cards to get written. I want to get them all in the post on Monday. I did manage to get my parkin made yesterday. I usually prefer to get it made a week in advance of the tea/coffee morning but I don't know where my time has gone this week.

 

Hi everyone, another dull day weather-wise, yesterday and today. Spent yesterday doing little jobs like changing light bulbs tat had stopped working. Had to go and buy more, it must be me, but it's got so complicated now. Just trying to get a standard bayonet fit white colour bulb,. I'm all for low energy but so many combinations now too easy to get the wrong ones.

@Obelix-Vendée , is Comte available where you are. It's become more available here, it's been promoted by Raymond Blanc on a couple of cooking shows. (I believe it's his home regional one). It's quite mild but lovely flavour and a hard cheese. We only buy it when on offer as it's quite expensive.

 

Another dull, grey day here but mild. We're off to La Chaulme - the other side of Les Sables d'Olonne - for lunch and Xmas market and a raid for Xmas cards as we only have one in my cards stash and I need to get some posted.

@Allotment Boy I can get Comté but find it underwhelming. Prices vary depending on season. It's actually the biggest production of AOC cheese in France.

 

Good morning ladies & gentlemen.

A bright morning, but with a stiff wind (although nothing like a full-on storm). Rain forecast to come by lunchtime.

Slugs & snails have been decimating what I believe to be the leaves of foxgloves. I made free with the slug pellets this morning. The salt air on Tuesday seems to have finished off my borage, although it was remarkable that it was still (just about) flowering until then.

Stay warm & comfy inside @Blue arbour . You have my (ongoing) best wishes @AuntyRach .

Glad all went well boiler-wise @Ladybird4 .

Have a great day everyone whatever your plans are.