Thanks again to both of you for your sporty encouragment!
I earlier rang our local pool in this 'ere Continental WesShire, and they do have special measures in place like yours do, such as the oft-quoted one-way system.
Luckily, you don't need to book a time slot here. You can just show up, as I've found out. There is an access limit of 90 people however, but which they say they've only reached once so far - in fact, I daren't imagine 90 people in there, all together, at the same time! That would be terribly crowded, as they only have a few lanes for swimming, plus a water play area and pool for kids. - Maybe the number includes the small restaurant and the (pay-extra) sauna and 'wellness' areas?
As to pre-swim showering, their website clearly states that you have to shower before you get into the pool - and they have a very clever system: there are not only some shower cubicles (supposedly for after swimming and de-chlorinaton - a lower number in use currently), but there are also some open showers, close to the pool, and staff normally check that you shower, i.e. get yourself properly wet before you swim. Makes sense, I think.
Now, I only ought to get up there, and actually do some lengths!
I haven't had a bath since the last time I visited David's sister, and that was only because she doesn't have a shower. I hate baths with a passion normally reserved for Donald Trump.
It's a cool but sunny day here, so I'll amble in a wee while. I've been occupied this morning with trying to figure out the best provider of broadband for the new château, but not really succeeding - why does one provider give you 11Mbs of broadband for £20 a month, and another can give you 36Mbs for only a few ££ more?
And what's an Mb anyway?*
* I assume it's a megasomething, but what does it actually mean?
Zoom et al seem to take up quite a lot of cyberspace - I've noticed that even on a one-to-one Zoom session, I occasionally get a warning about the lack of bandwidth.
Quite what I'm supposed to do about it, I know not...
We have super duper bandwidth here, which Mr Heavenly is in charge of. I need it to be really reliable for teaching online, Mr Heavenly has a business to run/VR games to play and younger Heavenly has college tutorials/first person shooter games to play. We are sometimes all simultaneously in meetings. I get them to turn the games off when I'm teaching though.
Knackered here after several evening online lectures and student phone calls alongside full working days. I'm signing off work to go and do some gardening now.
I haven't had a bath since the last time I visited David's sister, and that was only because she doesn't have a shower. I hate baths with a passion normally reserved for Donald Trump.
I'm totally with you on that, Piglet! The only time I've taken a bath in the last 55+ years was when I had eye surgery and was not allowed to shower for a couple of days. (And, of course, I agree with you about Donald!)
Certainly at something around 5 foot 10 I hate'space-saver' baths as I can never get enough of me in the water. My favourite room in our previous house was the huge bathroom, which seemed to have an extra long bath, but our current one is fine, although primrose yellow suites are somewhat out of fashion these days!
A day of sunshine and showers here, and looking forward to our usual Friday evening Zoom with friends and wine. Off to see Nenlet1 and son in law tomorrow and really looking forward to that.
I wish I was getting taller! At 4 foot 11 I don’t generally have problems with baths but I’d love a huge deep bath.
Today’s Friday takeaway is Nigerian. I’ve ordered 3 goat curries with rice and plantain as our mains, with a fish and fufu dish as a fun taster, yam, bean pudding and okra as extras (a treat for my husband as I hate okra). And puff puffs (doughnuts) for pudding. Far too much food but we can eat leftovers tomorrow and I know my husband will really enjoy a Nigerian feast as when he lived in South London he ate African food all the time - a lovely friend was from Sierra Leone and she used to mother him. His Baptist church was very culturally mixed and the highlight was the monthly church cafe which used to serve goat curry followed by jam roly poly to the local community.
Dip into the Middle-eastern cookbook for dinner: poussin stuffed with couscous, apricot and courgette. Tomorrow the traditional Saturday steak, Sunday Sole Veronique.
Pleasant as it is to go away and dine out, I really like being back in my own kitchen.
All the food was lovely, even the okra dish, except for the fish which was utterly vile. The okra dish and fufu was just like Celestina used to cook for us.
We’ll be ordering again from them but perhaps stick to the goat curry and side dishes.
Now having a Hazy Jane beer
I haven't scaled any culinary this evening as we had church youth club (which went very well, outdoors). I came home hungrily and had microwaveable chilli con carne.
I had a steak with potatoes, tomatoes, chanterelles in garlicky butter and a glass of something red, followed by some oatcakes with Morangie Brie and some more red, and very nice it was too.
I'm coming to the conclusion that steaks don't need to be cooked all that fiercely: I did it over a medium heat for about 3 minutes on each side and then rested it until the potatoes were cooked, and it came out just right.
[...] I'm coming to the conclusion that steaks don't need to be cooked all that fiercely: I did it over a medium heat for about 3 minutes on each side and then rested it until the potatoes were cooked, and it came out just right.
I know this isn't a cookery thread, but may I still be allowed, please, to ask what sort of pan you are using? I only have non-sticky ones, coz easier to clean, but regular ones are said to be better for high temps, and things like meat.
Just curious.
In other news, rainy weather hath returnéd here, to Continental WesShire, after two days of sunshine, with temperatures of up to 18°C; now it's dampish and somewhat autumnally miserable again. Ach well. Light therapy lamps, here we go - make me happy! (They really do!) And it's nice and warm inside with the bit of heating that has come on.
It is nearly midday and I have been to Waitrose, put the shopping away, attended a study seminar and done an errand for a neighbour.
No-one else in the house is up yet 🙄
... may I still be allowed, please, to ask what sort of pan you are using?
It was a non-stick-coated ridged, lightweight pan, somewhat thus-ish.
Sticking with the food theme, I've just had the most wickedly delicious lunch/brunch - fried Proper Bacon™, a sliced Portobello mushroom cooked in the bacon fat and a slice of TOAST topped with a couple of microwave-baked eggs.
It was heaven on a plate.
It looks like a nice day, so amblage will follow; I think S. is planning to Do Something in the garden - she wants to have it tidied and a few things planted before the winter. I know I ought to offer to help, but I'm a total non-gardener, and really wouldn't be of much use.
What I really need to do is start making lists of what I need to do (and buy) before I get the keys to the flat.
Having spent several hours in hand-to-weed combat with the garden, had a lunch of sag aloo, tomatoes roasted with anchovies, and Dundee cake. As one does.
Mm, sag aloo.
We’ve planted out the main bed and put bulbs around other beds, topped up the feeders etc.
I’ve just heard the ringing bell (old skool) of the rag and bone man. He no longer picks up rags and bones, of course, like the Victorian ones but is a scrap metal merchant. He still shouts rag’n’bone though. He went past the other day when my husband was in a work call and my husband had to explain what a rag and bone man was to a younger worker.
Rags were picked up in the Victorian times to make a cheap cloth called ‘shoddy’, hence shoddy meaning inferior. Bone was for fertiliser. No problem with recycling in those days, they would think us so wasteful.
I've been fairly virtuous as, following the advice of St Monty (Don), I've forked over the entire lawn - it's not very big and it was like a sponge! I also went swimming. My wife had an online Welsh class all morning, this afternoon we (inevitably) went to the garden centre and bought (more) hellebores, some wallflowers, crocus bulbs and nice CAKE in the farm shop (some of which has been consumed).
I'm afraid I've been a Lazy Old S*d for the past two days, venturing out only for a few essential groceries (including BEER), and spending much of the rest of the time reading detective novels...
My excuse is that I'm conserving energy for Church tomorrow - the Parish Mass is to be followed immediately-ish by that Anglican horror story, the Annual Parochial Church Meeting...
It may not be too bad, though there'll probably be a bit of angst regarding £££ - we, like all churches, have had our usual income reduced by Ye Plague. Various victims willing volunteers have, thankfully, come forward to act as PCC members and Deanery Synod representative, but we will need a new Churchwarden.
If the Archangel Gabriel is reading this, would he please get in touch with me via PM?
We are perhaps unique among parish churches in Britain that since lockdown began our outgoings have fallen further than our income, so we actually have a modest financial cushion going into the winter.
We probably have some reduced income from not being able to let the hall (aka small warehouse big enough for a small conference or training day with meeting rooms) but we would have reduced some overheads and most of our giving has been done electronically for years so that won’t have dropped much - we don’t even have collections other than gift days and that is usually pledges.
What did you have to mention him for???
As it's a nice day (13°) and Not Raining (yet), I have ambled, but I'm keeping an eye out, as S. put sheets out on the line to dry before she went out (walkies with Larry and one of his humans), and I wouldn't want to let them get re-wet.
I think a tomato risotto with a few prawns might be an idea for supper.
If the Archangel Gabriel is reading this, would he please get in touch with me via PM?
What, via Boris?!!!!! Don't hold your breath ...
Well, quite.
As I had received no reply from the Archangel by 10am today, I dipped out of the APCM, leaving it to the Faithful Few. I really don't DO meetings any more...
The retiring churchwarden promised to email me later today with any news, if the said Archangel failed to turn up.
I did a Silly Thing. When we got home from church I couldn't find my wallet, containing (among other things) my church keys and mobile phone. Drove back to church hoping that someone was still there - no luck. Drove on to a Deacon's house to borrow some keys, then back to church ... still no wallet.
Then I Saw - it had been on the back seat of my car all the time (bit not, in mitigation, very obviously). Oh dear.
I did a Silly Thing. When we got home from church I couldn't find my wallet, containing (among other things) my church keys and mobile phone. Drove back to church hoping that someone was still there - no luck. Drove on to a Deacon's house to borrow some keys, then back to church ... still no wallet.
Then I Saw - it had been on the back seat of my car all the time (bit not, in mitigation, very obviously). Oh dear.
My deepest sympathies. I have done similarly - including the re-tracing my steps to the bus stop find my work ID which I remembered getting out of my bag as I left the bus, but not putting on... I couldn't find it, resigned myself to owning up and getting a new one, (and the possible reprimand) then found it round my neck as I took my coat off to get the new photo taken. Luckily, the dear soul in charge of such things at the time just smiled at me and said he was glad I hadn't broken my record of not losing my badge as there were very few members of staff at the time who hadn't. (He didn't count the time we decided I'd lost so much weight I was unrecognisable. Then I got one with an updated photo.)
We saw Nenlet1 and son in law this weekend, which was an absolute joy and wonderful not to have to cook a meal last night. This evening I am doing stir fry, the weekend's staple fare, and while it's a lot of chopping and fiddling about I do enough to last us two evenings. It will be washed down by a nice glass or two of red.
I've been fairly virtuous as, following the advice of St Monty (Don), I've forked over the entire lawn - it's not very big and it was like a sponge! I also went swimming. My wife had an online Welsh class all morning, this afternoon we (inevitably) went to the garden centre and bought (more) hellebores, some wallflowers, crocus bulbs and nice CAKE in the farm shop (some of which has been consumed).
Our nearest Garden Centre (meaning a proper one, not a DIY merchant with pretensions) is unfortunately on the other side of the Great Divide and cannot be reached without a souped-up starship. More prosaically, it's about 100m past the city boundary, the crossing of which is not allowed under Welsh lockdown regulations without a 'reasonable excuse'. Being a well-behaved sort of person, I will not be creating such an excuse so my bulbs will have to await instructions from Cathays Park.
Today has seen the first winter outdoors visit to my parents, to be repeated until the same instructions appear. I'm not looking forward to such trips when the weather is more traditionally Welsh!
I planted out a whole bed of cottage garden plants over the weekend, and loads of bulbs - I must go and water everything later.
I’ve just finished a two hour lecture on poverty and young people (and discussed the related assignment). I’m currently relaxing with a cup of tea and a pork pie and might go for a walk before resuming my work.
I'm contemplating an amble, but it's been alternating between Dreich and Actually Wet today (currently the latter), so it may have to wait.
I've just had an e-mail from my solicitor saying that he noticed scaffolding outside the potential château Piglet, and asking if it had been there when I viewed it (it wasn't).
Hmmm ...
I really don't what everything to go pear-shaped with this!
Hope it's nothing serious @piglet. Lots of viewing but no offers yet here. The road is really putting people off I think, even though the house would be £50,000 more in a quiet road. The two places we saw and liked last week are still there, so I hope we get a buyer pronto. Husband is thinking of going to see his mother this week, so he could do a detour to have a second look at them if we were in a position to put in an offer.
Last night we had vegan burgers and all the trimmings and they were surprisingly yummy.
Rev per Minute, there is a lovely garden centre with a nice cafe on the outskirts of the town from which our area takes its name. Said garden centre is even named after that town, and we’ve always assumed it was in our council area. We’ve now found that the county boundary runs along the middle of the access road, so I confess to having breached lockdown on Saturday to have lunch out ☹️
On the other hand, our church is in yet another locked down area, but has reopened fortnightly. Our vicar has pointed out that as Darllenwr is licenced to that parish, if he is asked to do something specific is a service, it is counted as “work” ans so we can cross the boundaries legitimately.
Comments
I earlier rang our local pool in this 'ere Continental WesShire, and they do have special measures in place like yours do, such as the oft-quoted one-way system.
Luckily, you don't need to book a time slot here. You can just show up, as I've found out. There is an access limit of 90 people however, but which they say they've only reached once so far - in fact, I daren't imagine 90 people in there, all together, at the same time! That would be terribly crowded, as they only have a few lanes for swimming, plus a water play area and pool for kids. - Maybe the number includes the small restaurant and the (pay-extra) sauna and 'wellness' areas?
As to pre-swim showering, their website clearly states that you have to shower before you get into the pool - and they have a very clever system: there are not only some shower cubicles (supposedly for after swimming and de-chlorinaton - a lower number in use currently), but there are also some open showers, close to the pool, and staff normally check that you shower, i.e. get yourself properly wet before you swim. Makes sense, I think.
Now, I only ought to get up there, and actually do some lengths!
It's a cool but sunny day here, so I'll amble in a wee while. I've been occupied this morning with trying to figure out the best provider of broadband for the new château, but not really succeeding - why does one provider give you 11Mbs of broadband for £20 a month, and another can give you 36Mbs for only a few ££ more?
And what's an Mb anyway?*
* I assume it's a megasomething, but what does it actually mean?
I would go for as much bandwidth as you can afford.
Zoom et al seem to take up quite a lot of cyberspace - I've noticed that even on a one-to-one Zoom session, I occasionally get a warning about the lack of bandwidth.
Quite what I'm supposed to do about it, I know not...
Could have a less bigly parade, I suppose...
BF and BT, fetch your own coats!
Knackered here after several evening online lectures and student phone calls alongside full working days. I'm signing off work to go and do some gardening now.
@Piglet - I'd get my coat, but the cupboard door seems to have unaccountably jammed ...
Besides which, I like the sensation of running water. My ideal shower would double as a crowd control measure.
You've been growing taller???
Today’s Friday takeaway is Nigerian. I’ve ordered 3 goat curries with rice and plantain as our mains, with a fish and fufu dish as a fun taster, yam, bean pudding and okra as extras (a treat for my husband as I hate okra). And puff puffs (doughnuts) for pudding. Far too much food but we can eat leftovers tomorrow and I know my husband will really enjoy a Nigerian feast as when he lived in South London he ate African food all the time - a lovely friend was from Sierra Leone and she used to mother him. His Baptist church was very culturally mixed and the highlight was the monthly church cafe which used to serve goat curry followed by jam roly poly to the local community.
Pleasant as it is to go away and dine out, I really like being back in my own kitchen.
We’ll be ordering again from them but perhaps stick to the goat curry and side dishes.
Now having a Hazy Jane beer
I'm coming to the conclusion that steaks don't need to be cooked all that fiercely: I did it over a medium heat for about 3 minutes on each side and then rested it until the potatoes were cooked, and it came out just right.
Just curious.
In other news, rainy weather hath returnéd here, to Continental WesShire, after two days of sunshine, with temperatures of up to 18°C; now it's dampish and somewhat autumnally miserable again. Ach well. Light therapy lamps, here we go - make me happy! (They really do!) And it's nice and warm inside with the bit of heating that has come on.
Making the most of it before we return to (it feels like permanently!) locked down Manchester.
No-one else in the house is up yet 🙄
Sticking with the food theme, I've just had the most wickedly delicious lunch/brunch - fried Proper Bacon™, a sliced Portobello mushroom cooked in the bacon fat and a slice of TOAST topped with a couple of microwave-baked eggs.
It was heaven on a plate.
It looks like a nice day, so amblage will follow; I think S. is planning to Do Something in the garden - she wants to have it tidied and a few things planted before the winter. I know I ought to offer to help, but I'm a total non-gardener, and really wouldn't be of much use.
What I really need to do is start making lists of what I need to do (and buy) before I get the keys to the flat.
We’ve planted out the main bed and put bulbs around other beds, topped up the feeders etc.
I’ve just heard the ringing bell (old skool) of the rag and bone man. He no longer picks up rags and bones, of course, like the Victorian ones but is a scrap metal merchant. He still shouts rag’n’bone though. He went past the other day when my husband was in a work call and my husband had to explain what a rag and bone man was to a younger worker.
My excuse is that I'm conserving energy for Church tomorrow - the Parish Mass is to be followed immediately-ish by that Anglican horror story, the Annual Parochial Church Meeting...
It may not be too bad, though there'll probably be a bit of angst regarding £££ - we, like all churches, have had our usual income reduced by Ye Plague. Various victims willing volunteers have, thankfully, come forward to act as PCC members and Deanery Synod representative, but we will need a new Churchwarden.
If the Archangel Gabriel is reading this, would he please get in touch with me via PM?
As it's a nice day (13°) and Not Raining (yet), I have ambled, but I'm keeping an eye out, as S. put sheets out on the line to dry before she went out (walkies with Larry and one of his humans), and I wouldn't want to let them get re-wet.
I think a tomato risotto with a few prawns might be an idea for supper.
Well, quite.
As I had received no reply from the Archangel by 10am today, I dipped out of the APCM, leaving it to the Faithful Few. I really don't DO meetings any more...
The retiring churchwarden promised to email me later today with any news, if the said Archangel failed to turn up.
Then I Saw - it had been on the back seat of my car all the time (bit not, in mitigation, very obviously). Oh dear.
My deepest sympathies. I have done similarly - including the re-tracing my steps to the bus stop find my work ID which I remembered getting out of my bag as I left the bus, but not putting on... I couldn't find it, resigned myself to owning up and getting a new one, (and the possible reprimand) then found it round my neck as I took my coat off to get the new photo taken. Luckily, the dear soul in charge of such things at the time just smiled at me and said he was glad I hadn't broken my record of not losing my badge as there were very few members of staff at the time who hadn't. (He didn't count the time we decided I'd lost so much weight I was unrecognisable. Then I got one with an updated photo.)
Our nearest Garden Centre (meaning a proper one, not a DIY merchant with pretensions) is unfortunately on the other side of the Great Divide and cannot be reached without a souped-up starship. More prosaically, it's about 100m past the city boundary, the crossing of which is not allowed under Welsh lockdown regulations without a 'reasonable excuse'. Being a well-behaved sort of person, I will not be creating such an excuse so my bulbs will have to await instructions from Cathays Park.
Today has seen the first winter outdoors visit to my parents, to be repeated until the same instructions appear. I'm not looking forward to such trips when the weather is more traditionally Welsh!
I’ve just finished a two hour lecture on poverty and young people (and discussed the related assignment). I’m currently relaxing with a cup of tea and a pork pie and might go for a walk before resuming my work.
I've just had an e-mail from my solicitor saying that he noticed scaffolding outside the potential château Piglet, and asking if it had been there when I viewed it (it wasn't).
Hmmm ...
I really don't what everything to go pear-shaped with this!
Last night we had vegan burgers and all the trimmings and they were surprisingly yummy.
I expect your solicitor, now he knows it wasn't there when you viewed, will check it out for you.
On the other hand, our church is in yet another locked down area, but has reopened fortnightly. Our vicar has pointed out that as Darllenwr is licenced to that parish, if he is asked to do something specific is a service, it is counted as “work” ans so we can cross the boundaries legitimately.
Back at the end of November for her first birthday - Covid19 allowing!