General Chat

Afternoon all
I have had quite a busy morning one way or another but all sorted now. Just waiting on my local courier to collect my cast iron pan which is sitting on the table on the hall. No sign of him yet!

I eventually got my blood test emailed to me just now. One is absolutely fine and the other is right on the borderline so nothing to worry about really.

Honestly, I sent a cheque to someone and they put it through on the banki9ng app on their phone, so imagine my astonishment when I checked my bank to see they had "bounced the cheque". I could see no reason for that at all. The reason I sent the person a cheque was because I don't have their bank details and it was for something specific.

So I tel the bank and all they would say is" the payee will get a letter with an explanation from the bank but not you." I said but its my cheque, so explain why you haven't paid it please. After 15 minutes of waiting, I was tf to the bank clearing section and after another 10 minutes I was cut off grrr.

Anyway, all sorted now as I managed to get their bank details and have made an online transfer which has all gone through. They then had to the cheek to phone me to complete a customer satisfaction survey....no chance!!

So what with sorting that out and a few other things, im quite tired tbh. I have done all my chores and house is nice and tidy again.

Its windy and heavy showers but the sun just now is trying to peep through but the clouds are heavy and dark.

Have to get some research done this afternoon as i am trying to work out a connection with a DNA match but no luck so far!

Hope everyone having a good day

Florence in the hebrides

It is cloudy here, but the rain is not due until later this afternoon. I have some washing out to dry, so I hope the rain holds off.
I use the NHS app and could see all of my test results going back twenty years, but since we moved here I can only see results from my new doctors. I know the pharmacist can see my previous results, so it is annoying that I can’t. I have extremely low white cell counts etc and like to be able to see the previous results, but the app doesn’t let you do that when you change doctors.

Morning all

Absolutely horrendous here as its chucking down and windy!!

So indoors it is. Just showered and washed hair and now to tackle the basket of ironing and before I know it, it will be lunch tiime.

I need to make a loaf in the breadmaker as when I looked in the bread bin last night, it had all gone mouldy!! I had only eaten about 3 slices since last week and none in the last few days so my own fault as I forgot to put half in the freezer. nevermind, I love a freshly baked bread and it will be ready for tea time.

Joan, that was good you got the tree cut down, so no worries if a storm comes about the branches coming down. The grandchildren were off help too bless them.

Just waiting for me blood tests to be emailed to me as they are back and as noone tel, I guess they must of been ok. So i asked receptionist to ask nurse to mail them to me as I like to keep a record in my medical file and I can compare results to last time.

Right off to be busy and shall look in later.

Hope everyone elses weather is an improvement on mine

Florence in the hebrides

Hello. it's been a nice day for us today, the sun has been in & out & it's breezy but no sign of rain so far.

Our nearby daughter her hubby were here to tackle a rather tall tree, that bothered me on windy days !
Son in Law managed to get it down for me in 2 stages, it was easier then I thought it was going to be, coming down exactly where we wanted it to, really happy to see it down,as it bothered me greatly.

Daughter & her 2 youngest children (13 & 5) made a good job of clearing up the logs & branches, just waiting for daughters friend to collect the logs for her wood burning stove.

The garden is looking quite good jus now after not being able to get outside for a while, the hedges are neat, the grassed areas have been cut & sheds & garden seats re-painted,
The various plants are in bloom,& looking lovely, except for 1 Potentilla & 1 Hydranga, both have grown & have lush foliage but they haven't flowered this year, strange.

What a lovely granny you are Linda, so good to your family, does it mean when they family go on holiday you will be able to take things easy ?

Well I must go & dry the pots,before settling down to watch an old film, I hope everyone has had a nice weekend.

Joan.

Afternoon all

Thats a great idea Linda taking esme out of the way so mum can do all the packing. Hope they have a nice time.

My dad is off to Corfu next month, same place every year a little village called Perivoli. They stay in same apartments and hire a car.He goes visiting friends he has made over the years and so gets invited for evening meals, saves eating out!

Today daughter & I are having a craft afternoon and I have been making a few xmas cards. I only had about 6 xmas cards I think left over form last year and so am making just 20 for the xmas fayre and see how that goes. I do have lots of birthday and blank cards so no need to make any more of those.

Kitchen table is like a bomb site with all the bits & bobs all over the place.

Its actually sunny & dry but still very very windy and so cant really sit or go outside.

Hope everyone else looking in is having a lovely afternoon.

Florence in the hebrides

Good morning, I am not usually ready so early on a Sunday morning, but I am taking Esme to the theme park today. They are off to Tenerife tomorrow, so if I take Esme out today, it makes it easier for her mum to pack. It is cloudy, but about nineteen degrees , so not a bad day. It doesn’t look like it is going to rain, but I will take my pac a mac just in case

Joan, I bought it from Amazon but we don't have Evri here so it is passed on to our courier who collect it probably from Glasgow as they have a depot there.

When i clicked on return, it only gave me the option to return via "Evri" or my local courier but they are closed today so will have to ring them on Monday.

Usually if its the PO, i get a form to return and free postage but this item was extremely heavy.

Joan it was 28cm wide so very large with 2 handles that do stick out either side. I have never lifted a lid as heavy before let alone the dish!

It was called Blackmore cast iron 28cm casserole. Think it was £39.99.

Anyway as I said I have found what i was looking for now so all sorted.

Florence, the new pan must be rather BIG for you not to be able to manage it, my casserole dish is a very neat size 20cm, with 2 very close very neat handles at the side, (not those big sticking out handles) only big enough for 2 people portions.

re returning yours, is there information regarding how to do this shown on the paperwork ?
I don't know where you got yours from but if I have to return an item to my catalogue (VERY) there is always info on how to do this & labels included, or how to return via ones own account on-line !
VERY use EVRI & they will collect.

Joan.

Well after trawling through lots of last years orders, I finally found the large black pan I bought. It was Cast Aluminium not cast iron!!

So I have now found a matching 28cm casserole dish in Cast Aluminium for half price from £59.99 to £30. What a bargain. The big one I have is great for large soups or a pan of curry to batch cook etc. This is casserole size at 28cm wide and half the depth of the large pan.

So glad its sorted now. :-D

I was surprised you had gone for cast iron Florence.

Have a look into cast aluminium - should be a lot lighter.

I had to buy a complete new set of pans when we got the kitchen because my old pans were not suitable for the new induction hob. My old pans were Pro Cook stainless steel ones, very old, but still in really good condition. I ended up giving them to my sister who is delighted with them. I decided to invest in another set of ProCook pans and went for their elite range. Goodness, I didn’t realise how heavy they were, the large pan is really difficult to drain. I bought a set of two cast iron casseroles from Aldi a couple of years ago to replace my old one which was past its best. They had very good reviews and have been good, but they are heavy as well. I also have a cast iron griddle pan for the steaks. They are all going to be a problem when I get older.

I'm not surprised you found it too heavy, Florence!

Many years ago, thinking I was being trendy, I bought a bright orange Le Creuset saucepan, with a lid and one handle, also cast iron.
They don't make that style any more - I've just had a look at their website.

I used it once, but found it so heavy that I couldn't tip it over to drain water from the contents.
Since then it has only been a colourful bit of kitchen decor, on top of a cupboard.

Still heavy rain here, off and on in sudden bursts.
And cold - I've turned up the heating, in spite of wearing my fleece trousers, and a warm jumper with t-shirt under it..
The heating's been entirely off on only a handful of days this "summer".

I'm sorry about your casserole dish, Florence. I was given one many years ago but I hardly ever use it now because of the weight.

I don't know about Evri, but Royal Mail Parcel Post collect from your doorstep. You arrange it all online, so it's very easy. You fill in the destination address and they bring the label with them. :-)

Morning all...just 11.57 be afternoon by the time I finish typing lol

Sadly the casserole dish is far too heavy for me as I can hardly lift the cast iron lid!

I really thought it was the same as the one I had but that was lighter and bigger. Not sure what metal it is but I can lift it in & out of the oven ok.

So I have decided that the cast iron one will need to go back. Not sure how i will arrange this as a courier delivered it not the PO. I shall ring them on Monday to see what i need to do. I'm hoping, I will print out a returns add label and the courier who delivers on behalf of Evri up here will come & collect it as its far too heavy for daughter to go on a bus with.

I shall have another look for my original pan and see if they sell the half size
casserole dish.

Well a shower came but the sun is trying to shine and its very windy but.... we managed to get some washing out & dried before the shower....bonus. :-D

Just usual chores to finish off and then not sure what the afternoon will bring, we shall see.

Hope everyone else having a good Saturday :-D

Florence in the hebrides

I have to order some chicken thighs as I saw one of the top chefs on tv doing a dish using this size of casserole dish. It is really heavy so have to make sure i dont drop it either on my feet or the cooker top or the floor as all would do a lot of damage lol

He put the thighs skin down in the dish to brown and crisp the skin then put them in the over to cook through. In the dish he had chopped onions, garlic and chicken stock with peas. then returned the thighs to finish off in the dish. i will probably add mushrooms and serve with new potatoes but it looked delicious.

Well how about that Joan living near Pitsligo, how coincidental and Linda, that's a coincidence too.

But for tonight's tea daughter is bringing me a chicken supper, comfort food and i cant wait for it. But she's not home until 6.30!

I'm so glad my polytunnel isn't being put up in this dreadful weather as it would have been a nightmare!

AnninGloucs, glad you had a nice time away in the lake District. It was my grandparent's fav place and they went to Ambleside and Keswick many many times. i kept the postcards they sent from the 1970's.

Well I feel the need for a coffee and a biscuit to keep me going until later on.

Florence in the hebrides

Oh how lovely Florence a new cast iron casserole dish. I love cast irons cooking pots & have a full set, they are lovely things to use & washing them afterwards is a doddle.

Pitsligo is not for from where I live Florence.

As for the weather it's soo changable isn't it,. on Weds here it was a real scorcher, yesterday it chucked it down for nearly the whole day, not drying up until tea-time. today it's cooler & the sun is in & out & it's rather windy.

Joan.

I lived in West Hartlepool for six years when I was young Florence

Afternoon all

Another miserable day here. Oh my when will the weather change?

Linda one of the relatives was born in Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire and married a lady from Easington, Durham. They had 2 children born in West Hartlepool. One of those has me as a DNA match. I think the connection is further back to the family of 7/8 kids.

Not so easy searching Scottish records but I have found a lot on the censuses so far.

Daughter away all day so very quiet here and no much in the way of chores as did all me ironing etc yesterday.

Im longing to get outside for fresh air as so desperately need that but unless the wind and rain stop, I am copped up indoors for now.

Linda, hope your eye is so much better now.

Ooh postie has just me brought a box which contains my new cast iron casserole dish. So cant wait to use it now

Florence in the hebrides

good afternoon. I have not really been on the boards much for a couple of weeks as I have been in the Lake Dstrict staying with my daughter. I have read most of the posts though but lacked time to reply. Linda I am sure that Esme will have enjoyed the theatre course as she loves to dance so is probably an extrovert. It must be good for her too.

How sad that some parents just dropped their children off when maybe it would have been something they could share with them. I suppose, to be fair they may know their children don't need them there, or may have been told so. And it was a welcome respite for them, especially if maybe they are lone parents.

I have Scottish DNA as well Florence. It is from a man who married into my dad’s side of the family in County Durham. All of his records simply give him as being from Scotland, but with a very common name I have never been able to trace him back. One day maybe a DNA tree match will turn up for him, but it hasn’t yet. There may be other people from Scotland in other parts of my tree who I haven’t come across of course who have passed on Scottish DNA as well.

I have a nice lazy day ahead of me, with no need to go out. OH is going to paint the two garage doors. They are the roller shutter type, he gave them a good clean yesterday while I was out. He was still cleaning them when I got back, there did seem to be a lot of dirt still coming off them , but he says he isn’t doing any more cleaning! They are white and look very grubby, so it will be a big improvement once they are done. They won’t have been painted since they were installed thirty years ago, as very little else in the house had been updated since then.