test please delete

[NickFitz]

The slow-cooked chicken turned out very nice and was falling-off-the-bone tender

[ladymuck]

Lunch was a burger - I had some patties in the freezer that I thought I ought to use up (in that "I could be moving in six weeks" line of thinking) so had defrosted them and then realised I really shouldn't refreeze them.

Turned out nice. I did the proper thing and put a lid over the frying pan to steam cook the meat after it had been browned and melt the cheese on top. Had a few buns stashed in the freezer too.

The problem is, a large lunch means I'm not in the mood for much dinner and I have three more patties to use up.

[xoggoth]

I have three more patties to use up

I'll have 'em. CUK pattie donor box at top right.

[xoggoth]

Total *** up today. Creative Writing group arranged for tomorrow morning and late this afternoon the lady whose house we were meeting at said we couldn't as she has flu.

[NickFitz]

Tonight's only telly was a new episode of Traffic Cops, featuring not one but two people whose jobs involved driving but who nonetheless had chosen to take their cars out while under the influence, which seems very shortsighted of them

Then some light reading: The Darkroom by A. J. Hewitt, which was published today. It's her memoir of many years spent working as a Forensic Photographer for the Met, so lots of murder scenes and postmortems involved

I'm starting to suspect that I must have some kind of lurgy, which would explain the headache. Not shivery or anything, or not yet; but I'm feeling a bit achy, increasingly out of sorts, and inordinately tired

Still: Friday tomorrow!

Goodnight all

[NickFitz]

Morning denizens

Grey start after quite a rainy night. Currently 9°C and getting to 13° this afternoon; the barometers are up at 999/1007mB

Did I mention that the pink blossom has started to appear on one of the trees along the front this week? And looking out of the other side, white blossom is burgeoning on a couple of trees in next door's garden

The other week, I was gazing out of the study window at next door's garden and noticed that there were a lot of smaller birds in one of them, so I went and got the binoculars. Some of them flew over to the garden beyond that as I got back but even so, just in that tree at that moment, I saw three blue tits, a great tit (though it was obscured by a bit of branch), and two goldfinches. And I was only having a quick look - there are definitely lots more of that ilk hanging out there

[DoctorStrangelove]

^^^I noticed that a couple of trees were full of pink blossom a couple of days ago.

Morning.

Friday.

Damp.

Dreary.

Grey.

Hints of blue sky.

Wanly sunny in parts.

Chilly in here at 14 deg, 12.5 deg in the kitchen, 12 deg in the leanto.

1011 mBar, 29.855 in Hg, 758.3 Torr, 14.663315 psi, (up from 1004 last night), 75% RH (GDR hair), 68% RH (Lidl electric).

Meanwhile on Friday 30th of August 2019 there was much discussion of "waste disposal" via concrete blocks, zip ties, and depth of water, whereas NF had a discussion regarding wheely bins with a landlord from further along his then road (or carriageway).

More daffs, trees in bloom and snow drops & crocuses observed this morning.

Walk (abbreviated) walked wearing one fewer layers than yesterday.

Lunch: scrambled egg etc.

Entertainment: five minutes of the eco thing on R4 <click>

NZ customs thing. Smuggling spirits in cases of beer: NZ$3M duty avoided: gaol time.

Canadian customs thing. Dumb Australian with knuckle duster and a slingshot in his luggage and a great liking for assorted dope: back to Oz he goes. AWOL serviceman: back to septicland he went. Couple returning from China with the usual bags full of "food": declared so no fines, just confiscated.

Oz customs thing. Lots of "food". Shedloads of ciggies.

Freecell score: 80%, running average: 86%.

Tea: soup etc.

Entertainment: UFO hunters: alien fallout: the Cash Landrum incident.

Vanished Wales: Dunraven Castle. Bangor. Lovell's Sweets Newport.

Portillo in Cornwall & Devon.

Blaze: cracking the code. JN25 this time.

Spanish customs thing. Lots of cigarettes. A 40 foot containerful. Usual Gib smuggling. Tonne and a half of weed from Morocco by boat. Shedload of shish tobacco in suitcases. Dangerous trailer seized due to dodgy welding & no MOT (or whatever the Spanish term it).

History's greatest mysteries. The Holy Grail.

[ladymuck]

Morning all

Damp from overnight rain. Bright, blue sky visible between the patches of fluff scurrying past. Minimal breeze at ground level. Currently 10 degrees with a high of 14 expected. Barometer up to 1014 mBar.

Haven't noticed blossom on the trees near me yet but lots of buds. My miniature daffs are flowering and the hyacinth bulbs survived whatever was insisting on digging them up last year and are growing nicely.

[WTFH]

Morning all
Blue skies and sunshine. On our walk earlier I didn't even need a head torch.

[Dactylion]

Within a pretty small radius:
a) Some Pink blossom - but some trees totally devoid, not even buds
(NB Yes I mean the same sort of tree - not some random other tree)
b) Some White blossom - but some trees totally devoid, not even buds
(NB See previous caveat)
c) Lots of snowdrops
d) Some Crocus (Crocuses?? Croci??) - Budding/almost open - Some/majority not even budding
e) Some daffs/narcissus (narcissuses??/narcissi??) budding/almost open - Some/majority "just" budding
(NB A single daff in the middle of a decent "crowd" was actually fully open!
f) Many tits/finches and other small birds flitting about - some clearly investigating nesting sites

Also (unfortunately) several weeds popping up between gravel on drive/paths :-(

Most obvious sign of "Spring in the Air" - MrsD hasn't turned the heating up from default settings for several days!