Chatterbox LXXXI - Rodney

[cyprusmoira]

Trouble is that the local hunters seem to be much better at hitting each other. 3 local deaths last hunting season

Sounds like Cypriot hunters but they are only after hare and partridge.
I believe that wild boar are getting to be a problem in parts of the UK

Moira

[StokeySue]

Evening
You've been quiet today
Sorry to here about your neighbour Rats, the only place I really like boar is on a spit! They are a problem in the Forest of Dean I understand
King Charles has been viewed, good exhibition, but I wasn't alone in wondering why they focused so hard on the painting that they told you the name of the sitter, but in most cases nothing about them. I will be sending off an email about a few flaws in their accessibility

[suffolk]

I've been catching up with correspondence, looking at online wedding present lists and doing all those things that one saves for a non-gardening day.

We've just had a smoked tofu stir fry for supper, OH has washed up and now we're flollopped on the sofa .....................

[Gruney]

looking at online wedding present lists

Don't worry - they've said they don't want presents; you have to make a donation to a charity, which I don't think they've published yet. You'll have to practise your curtsey though.

[TeresaFoodie]

Hi folks!

Have been without TV or internet for a couple of days! Deep joy. It's been horrible but I kept telling myself not the end of the world! Did feel like it though! Lots of catching up to do. I dread to think about the state of my email inbox!

[cyprusmoira]

Good Morning Wild Ones, the holiday is over but there is very little traffic outside. We were supposed to have rain yesterday but none appeared, I did notice that the clouds were streaming in from the east, very unusual here.
There was a lovely herbal smell when I took the recycling bags out last night, it was pine and other smells, the sort of air fresheners and the like try to reproduce but never succeed

Moira

[Zosherooney]

That pine smell is one of my fave Greek aromas, so much so I sometimes treat myself to a Badeadas (pine smelling) shower gel.

Nuther wet one here, we are meant to be having bricks laid, but I feel my phone might ring, like it did yesterday I made a very quick jar of lemming curd last night as the lemon was heading for the compost bin. Will have some on a toasted muffin for brekkie.

I have my eye on a rather lovely looking (2nd hand) rug on E'ay it will fit our dining area and will look better than the cheap Black Bushe market one that has been there since we moved in. Mr. Z did drop the George Foreman on it and made a slight burn mark.

[icelesley]

Good morning wild ones. No rain at the moment Today the car goes in for service and its first MOT under the new rules I hope it is ok. So I am at home until I get the call to collect it later.

[earthmaiden]

Morning all! It's raining cats and dogs here, I'm glad I'm off to bed!

[TeresaFoodie]

Morning all

Rain and cold here too. Yawn. Think I might get a spicy parsnip soup on the go soon. That'll cheer things up!

Keep warm folks. Brrr!

[liketocook]

Good morning everyone,
Still dull here but not as cold and miserable as yesterday.
Tezza, I made parsnip & ginger soup yesterday, it's gorgeous
I'm back to the Drs late morning for review so will just potter indoors until then. If it's dry later I hope to get a wee bit more done outdoors.
Lunch will be some of the parsnip soup with a mini pork pie and salad. For tonight I've defrosted a portion of spiced chicken & lentils which I'll have with mushrooms & red pepper and a greek pitta.

[Sloe-Gin]

Morning from a (so far) dry Wales.

I have to get some pictures ready today for a local art exhibition, but my heart just isn't 'in it'. Today's the day I must decide though!

[TeresaFoodie]

Parsnip with ginger sounds very nice!

[Ratatouille]

Afternoon everyone

Dull and damp here too. The locals are on the brink of revolt and the tourists in town freezing in their shorts and tee shirts are wondering why us locals are wrapped up in coats, gloves and socks, They are after all in the south of France, ergo it is wa
I spotted some rhubarb in lerclerc today and grabbed some but when I tried to weigh it the machine wouldn't work. Went to find an assistant who couldn't assist so called a supervisor, who proceeded to berate me for "unwrapping" it. It turned out that it was sold in pre-weighed bundles of 1kg - and only like that. Cost? €8.20 I told the lady where I would like her to put the rhubarb.

[liketocook]

Parsnip with ginger sounds very nice!

It is Tezza and really simple to make if you have a hand blender:-
1 large onion roughly chopped
500g parsnips peeled then chunked
3 large cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
5cm piece of root ginger roughly chopped
1tbsp oil or butter
About 1.5L stock (I used Marigold Veg Bouillon)
Salt & pepper to taste
A little milk or cream

Soften onions in oil/butter, add rest of ingedients bar S&P and milk/cream
Cook until veg are very soft. Blitz then add seasoning & milk/cream to taste.

It tastes much better than the sum of it's parts

[suffolk]

Oh how embarrassing!!! I could've sworn I'd said Good morning and told you all how I was going to be doing paperwork then going to the bank and the Post Office and then to Wrose to pick up fish for supper ............... and now I've done all that, and had some Wrose sushi for lunch and have discovered you lot didn't know anything about it .... I must've forgotten to press submit ... I'm obviously losing it ... I tried to pay for my shopping with my bus pass

[aero280]

Oh! You poor old dear! Time to just give up and let him push you about in your wheelchair!!

I met a man recently who tunes up mobility scooters though, if that would help ...

[StokeySue]

I met a man recently who tunes up mobility scooters though, if that would help ...

Now there's a 21st century vocation!

[suffolk]

Aero!!!

[jrc]

Bobs 70th today. I treated us to a spa morning which included a massage followed by lunch at Reads in Faversham.

We had the tasting menu. I will try and post some pictures but they may appear one at a time.

[jrc]

Top half of tasting menu

[jrc]

Bottom half

[jrc]

First course

[jrc]

Second course

[jrc]

Third

[jrc]

Fourth

[jrc]

More of fourth

[Pepper Pig]

Sounds and looks wonderful jrc.

[jrc]

Fifth.

[suffolk]

That looks fabulous ... I hope you both had a wonderful day

[Zosherooney]

Congrats JRC looks like a lot of lovely food.

What a day ! Few bricks laid...... I have to say there is far too much chat as far as I am concerned...... It never happened in the call centres I worked in.... these blokes have no idea????

Mr. Z has spent too many hours on the computer and on the phone to an Apple guy in Portugal sorting out iCloud and his phone which were not 'talking to each other'. The apple guy was superb and sorted it out over the period of 2 hours. He will get a feather in his cap when they send their feedback form.

A days work for Mr. Z tomorrow, nice late start at 8.30 I am having a blood test so I can get the OK for my half tooth removal on Monday !!!!

Did not get the rug it went for over £167 so I quit at £115. There will be others....

My latest bruise, Mr. Z missed the stake and hit my hand with a lump hammer

[Seatallan]

Ouch Zosh!

JRC- the food looks delish....

[suffolk]

Ouch! Zosh! What does he have to do to make it up to you? .........

[Zosherooney]

Drive me up to London for lunch at Quo Vadis for starters....... Mains and maybe a dessert if I have room !!!! I might put my arm in a sling for the rest of the week..... just to see what attention I can get......

[StokeySue]

Ouch Zosh!
I will be going for a starter, they look good

[jrc]

Sue we had everything on the menu. The only thing we had to choose between was between the lamb or duck for the main. We both went for the lamb.

[Grasshopper]

I'm obviously losing it ... I tried to pay for my shopping with my bus pass

You'll never guess what I did when I got home this avo.
Only tried to open the front door with my 'W' access card!

Grasshopper

[PatsyMFagan]

My latest bruise, Mr. Z missed the stake and hit my hand with a lump hammer

Could have been worse...... could have been your head !

[Zosherooney]

I think he was aiming for it Patsy but I sneezed and he missed !!!!

[TeresaFoodie]

I haven't caught up on all on here but just adding a reasonably easy subject. My 15 year old nephew has broken up with his girlfriend. I'm so distant but I know he's not alone but we've just a quite in depth text discussion about how broke he is. I wish I could scoop him up right now. Mind you, given his size, he'd probably scoop me up easier! Will text him in the morning. Teenage love. Sod that for a game of soldiers!

[cyprusmoira]

Good Morning Wild Ones, I hope that hand improves, Zosh.
I am trying to contact the Natwest Bank, I want to replace my debit card, they are not happy sending it to a foreign address and am asked to contact them. The original phone number given is a free phone number so not available from Cyprus. The other numbers are constantly engaged even at 6 00am UK time. There must be another method of contacting them, a chat room was of no use.

Moira

[TeresaFoodie]

Morning all.

Nothing happens much past 9am here Moira. Very annoying but we're stuck with it. I've just found Barefoot Contessa. She looks like my late nan! Hope your perseverance gets you where you need to be.

It's dull and grey here, again. I've got to continue to unpack and sort my TV unit out. Yuck but at the same time yippee!

Let's all have a wonderful day!

[musselsandfries]

For Moira
Nat West.......... they are currently driving me to distraction. I have UK account but live abroad, my mobile number is Belgian.
I can no longer do internet transactions as for security you no longer enter your password but get a code by text. A non uk mobile number can not be used.
On my last visit to London I went to bank, explained situation and all I got was blank looks.

Apparantly (?) they said it it was because they are no longer an international bank but have been downgraded to a national one.

Sorry bit long winded but someone else said that they cannot by law cancel accounts for overseas customers but can make it 'bloody difficult'.

I am now in possession of an english sim card /phone number in my old phone for when I am using pounds sterling for uk ticket buying online etc
good luck !

[icelesley]

Good morning wild ones. It's overcast here at the moment, but we are promised sunshine later. Food shopping is on the cards today, veggies are needing replenishing again Have a lovely day everyone

[Ratatouille]

Morning everyone

We are just about to go out and start building the ark. It has been raining since about 4.00pm yesterday and getting heavier and heavier so eventually the television and the internet gave up the ghost resulting in no Masterchef for me. Don't tell anyone who did see it,

Moira I have had a few runs in (run ins?) with Halifax over debit cards. I eventually got a new one and a pin but I can only withdraw cash because I have to use a Link machine to validate the chip and pin I have had several "interesting" conversations on the subject, The final straw was when a man witth a distinctly Asian accent demanded to know why I had a Halifax bank account when I live in ance and wanted to know if I have a French account and if so why didn't I just use that? I told him it was absolutely none of his business and wrote to my branch demanding to speak to a manager by phone. The reply? We can't make overseas telephone calls but I was given a direct line number for our branch manager.

We have had a French account since the 1980s. It was much easier to send money to it for our hoidays and save the hassle of travellers cheques etc. We didn't even have an address here then. I can't say they are wonderful either - you can only get a limited amount of cash out each week. The French tax people are very canny about paying people cash.

[dennispc]

Bank problems? Give up dealing with the monkeys, go straight to the Organ Grinder (CEO).

For RBS group, email

ewen.stevenson@rbs.com

Good luck.

[musselsandfries]

Thanks for th RBS e mail address, I may try that !

I was told that it was a temporary phase... until new security systems could be sorted.

I won't hold my breath....

(they also tried to make me feel like I was cheating them by having bank account in 2 countries)

[suffolk]

Good morning all
Sorry to hear about broken hearted teenagers and hard hearted bankers ... maybe introduce one lot to the other and hope a little rubs off onto each?
I slept like a log and didn't wake until nearly 8am most unlike me ... now I've had my shower, given myself a good 'going over', sorted eyebrows and toes and everything in between ... hair's a bit unruly tho' ... it's been due for a cut for a while but I'm trying to synchronize hair cuts with our holiday and at least one of the two family weddings in the next couple of months. You'd think that a brother and a sister would have more consideration for the rest of us than to get married four weeks apart wouldn't you?

[StokeySue]

I had my toes done and they are great now, need to go and get my brows done, they are getting furry. I'm getting high maintenance in my old age

[liketocook]

Good morning everyone,
Lovely looking food jrc
Ouch zosh

I had to make an unplanned trip to the Drs this morning as I've another horrible cold sore/herpes outbreak . I am very grateful for free prescriptions in Scotland as I dread to think what this little lot would have cost

Anti viral tablets
Anti viral nasal spray
Antibiotic nasal cream
Anti viral eye drops
Antibiotic eye cream

Hopefully this little lot will stop it in it's tracks as unfortunately the Dr thinks it's gone into my tear duct as well as the outbreak up my nose!


Breakfast was a quick slice of toast with some lovely Greek bitter orange marmalade made by my son's gf's Mum with bitter oranges from their own tree. As well as a massive garden they share a grove with a neighbour and grow their own olives and citrus fruit. I am seriously envious.....


Lunch will be a re-run of yesterday and will use up the remaining soup. For tonight I've defrosted a small tub of piri piri pork which I was going to have in a crusty roll but I think I'll have one of the spuds I baked earlier in the week. I'll make some coleslaw and nuke a corn cobette to have with that

It's still cold here but the sun is shining so I aim to get a bit more done outside after I've had a least one more