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Post by jolovespiggies on Feb 25, 2017 13:17:52 GMT
A very mizzy day here love, overcast, windy with rain in the air.
We always make sure we go to places when the children are at school. As much as I love kids and cannot stand going somewhere and find it teeming, especially animal places where I just want to cuddle everything. The kiddies around here had their half term break a couple of weeks ago, the next one will of course be Easter. We are however hoping to visit a fairly local attraction called "Pennywell Farm" soon and we will go before easter. They have lots of baby piggies for cuddling and more besides. Paul will have to drag me away.
Yes it can be really nasty up north here Piggles hun. I remember living in the Midlands and the winters were definitely colder than they are here. I think we get off fairly lightly.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Feb 25, 2017 21:41:48 GMT
Temps hit 70 today. We went shopping, so if it got hotter, we weren't home to see it. We have the windows open, and the heat off. So nice. Colder weather tomorrow, but nothing bitterly cold for at least a week.
This is Daytona auto racing weekend in the US. The NASCAR truck series race last night was interesting. Lots of action, and more wrecks than we need. The race had to be stopped while all the debris was cleaned off the track. Now we're watching the NASCAR Xfinity series race, and they've stopped the race to clean off the track. I'm sure the Daytona 500 tomorrow will be just as bad. I think Daytona should be called the wrecking capital of the US! I love auto racing, but having wreck after wreck stop the race is getting to be a bit much, and we haven't even gotten to the top NASCAR series yet.
McLaren is returning to their old orange color for their F1 cars. They look really sharp in orange and black! This seasons Mercedes looks nice, too, and Lewis Hamilton seems to be in top form, waiting for the season to start in Australia, in March. UK is well represented. Haven't seen much about Haas racing, which is the US team.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Feb 26, 2017 14:10:28 GMT
Glad you are enjoying your racing love. A cold blustery day here today.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by bazookagoof on Feb 26, 2017 16:34:11 GMT
Just a general complaint- I can't wait until this addition is finally finished! We're making progress, and gradually things are starting to look up. But, I'm still sleeping on a twin bed surrounded by cabinets and dressers, and I have to keep moving the cages around, which means there's hay in every room. I never have any place to fold laundry, and now they want to finish the floors on a two-day plan, and want us out of the house for 48 hours. We've scheduled them to do it this upcoming weekend, so we'll be sleeping elsewhere when that happens.
Weather is all over the map here, yesterday it snowed all day but did not stick. Today is cold but sunny. Tomorrow is supposed to be much warmer, but temps are supposed to sink down the rest of the week.
Honestly, I don't mind this crazy weather for winter. Having the occasional 50 degree day sprinkled here and there is a nice change over constant snow and being 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Post by 3piggles on Feb 26, 2017 18:37:41 GMT
Ugh, Baz I understand why they want you out, as it's impossible to do the floors as long as someone has to walk on them. Still, the remodeling process is one I really don't want to go through. I have trouble with my routines being upset for a long time, and that's what remodeling does. We remodeled our first house, and while we did a good job, the stress of having my routines all out of sorts took it's toll. I hope your remodel is done soon, so you can start putting your lives back together. Complain all you want. We're here for you We had temps in the 70s yesterday. A cold front came in last night was wild wind gusts and torrential rains. Today is 40, but with winds up to 25 mph, so quite a windchill factor. Very different from the last few days. Starting to warm up again, tomorrow though next week, with rain late Tuesday into early Thursday. Only Wednesday will be a total washout. After that, temps are diving into the teens to low 30s, so we're on the rollercoaster, too I don't mind, either. I only mind the heat waves in the summer, when it's just too hot for me to function. I totally understand why people are attracted to following or forecasting the weather. I hope your cold, damp weather moves out soon, Jo
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Post by bazookagoof on Feb 27, 2017 0:23:35 GMT
Ugh, Baz I understand why they want you out, as it's impossible to do the floors as long as someone has to walk on them. Still, the remodeling process is one I really don't want to go through. I have trouble with my routines being upset for a long time, and that's what remodeling does. We remodeled our first house, and while we did a good job, the stress of having my routines all out of sorts took it's toll. I hope your remodel is done soon, so you can start putting your lives back together. Complain all you want. We're here for you It's exhausting after awhile, and yet I'm kind of used to it, too. Still, I'm tired of squeezing myself into spaces just to get comfortable and reminding myself it's going to be great once it's all finished. This weekend the family went shopping for furniture, and I think there might be some room in the budget for a loveseat or small couch for the basement, which features the movie-watching room. All these years I've only had a pile of bean bags for people to sit on, and two lounge chairs. The problem is that my projector needs to be higher so a couch won't obstruct the view. I think I have a solution, so we'll wait until everything else is done, re-check the budget and get something for downstairs.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Feb 27, 2017 9:32:33 GMT
We have absolutely no room here and I cannot say I am getting used to it, it is a pain. It would be lovely to be able to move without squeezing past everything. Thanks Piggles love but I am afraid it is a really awful day today, cold, dull and raining and I don't think it is going to change anytime soon.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by Bean on Feb 27, 2017 10:17:33 GMT
Hope the end to the work is in sight, Baz - I totally get how you're feeling! I was going to ask if you were going to use it as an excuse to have a family weekend away, but I doubt your wife will be happy to leave them to it altogether, and I wouldn't blame her!
Pancake Day here tomorrow - anyone partaking?!
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Post by 3piggles on Feb 27, 2017 19:57:14 GMT
Ooh, pancakes! Since I'm the only one who would eat them, and I don't need them, I'll skip it, once again I really do wish we could just go to the pancake house and have a real pancake meal. It's been eons since I've eaten there! Enjoy yours, Bean Ugh on the weather, Jo We still have bright sun a 25 mph wind gusts. Good thing I pin my hat on before I go to walk! The problem with tight quarters, especially as we get older, is that we bruise ourselves a lot bumping into things. We don't heal as quickly as we used to. We have sufficient space here, as we plan to stay here until we're too old to live on our own. That could mean wheel chairs or walkers, so we needed to be able to manuever. If we have to, we can move out a lot more furniture. We have way more than we need, but it's all from my mothers family, so I hate to part with it. I'm glad you can envision the end result, and it's going to worth all of the inconvenience, Baz. I'm glad you have an idea for raising the projector. It would be nice to have a really comfortable media room. The friend we had with a projector had his suspended from the ceiling. Not sure if he ever hit it with his head, or not? That's why we never got a projector TV. We didn't have high enough ceilings.
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Post by bazookagoof on Feb 28, 2017 3:17:26 GMT
I'm glad you can envision the end result, and it's going to worth all of the inconvenience, Baz. I'm glad you have an idea for raising the projector. It would be nice to have a really comfortable media room. The friend we had with a projector had his suspended from the ceiling. Not sure if he ever hit it with his head, or not? That's why we never got a projector TV. We didn't have high enough ceilings. I made my projector work well enough just sitting on a low table- you just can't have anything in front of it, though. The nice thing about the projector is that it helps recreate that movie theater experience without noisy crowds and sticky floors; the bad thing is that replacing the bulbs can be expensive. (My first projector's bulb would have cost $300 to replace it, but I replaced the projector before that happened. My new projector's bulb is still going strong after about 7 years, but I don't get to use it as much.)
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Post by jolovespiggies on Feb 28, 2017 9:41:25 GMT
I am afraid we have cheated Piggles hunni, Paul has bought some ready done pannies which take 30 seconds in the microwave We have just had some sun but it didn't last long. Picking up my pygmy hedgehog tomorrow, very excited. Wow Baz love, that must have been some bulb at that price lol! Hugs Jo xx
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Post by Bean on Feb 28, 2017 9:46:53 GMT
Enjoy your pancakes, Jo! My kids wouldn't let me off the whole tossing thing, but I can see a ready-made option would be a nice easy way to enjoy the occasion! To go on them we have lemon and sugar (my fave), syrup (my daughter's), jam and whipped cream (my husband's), chocolate spread (my son's) and caramel sauce. We're having vegetable and lentil soup first, to balance things out!
Great news about the hedgehog too!
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Post by 3piggles on Mar 1, 2017 17:52:34 GMT
I had to google pannies, and you wouldn't believe the meanings that come long before they get to pancakes. Not a word I would use in the US!!! It does mean pancake, just with a lot of vulgar uses that have nothing to do with the actual food! I've eaten frozen pancakes before, and when I'm the only one eating them, or I'm making them for a family meal, it's not a bad way to go. If I make even a small batch of batter, I can't eat it before it starts to oxidize, so I don't make them. I found a recipe on Facebook for banana cinnamon pancakes, which looks really good. Hubby won't eat them, though, so I doubt I'll ever make them. Ooh, your hedgy is coming home That must be so exciting I hope he or she settles in really quickly Lentil soup would definitely be a good compliment to pancakes. We're getting out of soup season, which was very short, as this was a mild winter. The one batch of lentil soup was made was really good, so I'll definitely make it again, if we get more cold weather.
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Post by Bean on Mar 2, 2017 9:10:48 GMT
I've never heard the word pannies before, but I have heard them referred to as pankies!
Is hedgie here, Jo?!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Mar 2, 2017 9:17:00 GMT
I loved my pancakes Bean hunni but Paul was naughty and didn't have any and now they are past their best. Lemon and sugar is my favourite too although as a child I used to occasionally have them with jam (jelly) on. Ha ha Piggles love, it is just my name for pancakes. You know what I am like for putting IE or Y on the end of everything LOL!! It never occurred to me that pannies was a vulgar word too, I do apologise hunni.
Timmy Tickle-Toes is here and he is gorgeous. A bit huffy and defensive at the moment but with lots of handling I have been promised that he will get out of it. I really don't want another Lewie.
When I lived in Stoke-on-Trent we used to have oatcakes which were like a savoury pancake, they were wonderful with cheese on. Unfortunately you cannot buy them anywhere else.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by Bean on Mar 2, 2017 9:32:24 GMT
Oh goodness, I love oatcakes! I have family down in the Midlands so we always used to get them when we stayed with my gran - we used to have them fried with bacon and tomato ketchup, so good! I did try them with cheese too and they were lovely, but the bacon was always my favourite - I know in Stoke they put cheese on everything though!
When I lived in Birmingham, you could buy them in Sainsbury's, but I've never seen them up in Yorkshire. I did make them myself once and they were nice but a bit heavy - I meant to try again, but haven't got round to it. Now you've mentioned them, I think I will be spurred on to have another go - I so wish I had a plateful in front of me now!
Glad Timmy is home - hope you have fun getting to know him and can bring him out of his shell (or prickles)!
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Post by 3piggles on Mar 2, 2017 17:05:04 GMT
Welcome to the Wheekers family, Timmy Tickle-Toes I'm glad he's home and getting settled. It takes all of us a bit of time to get settled, when our habitat changes radically. I'm sure he'll be a great addition to your household I found this online: www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/520634/scottish-oat-cakesIt doesn't say what type of oats to use, and we have so many different kinds, so I'm thinking it's just plain old oats like the ones used to make hot cereal. I would think some playing around with the recipe would get a liter, more airy cake, and if you look at enough different recipes for oatcakes, or bannocks, you'll probably see the difference in the ingredients amounts between the recipes. I've never had them, and Vic probably wouldn't be interested in trying them, that it might be a good way to get more fiber into him.
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Post by Bean on Mar 3, 2017 8:59:29 GMT
Ah those are Scottish oatcakes which are more like crackers made from oats (also quite nice - you can get rough or smooth types which relates to how finely the oats are whizzed before making them). Staffordshire oatcakes are more like a savoury pancake with oatmeal and yeast in, giving them a really distinctive (and delicious) flavour. They're soft and you can put fillings in them. I bookmarked a recipe yesterday so will let you know how I get on if I attempt making them again!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Mar 3, 2017 9:11:27 GMT
Yes Bean love, they are delicious with a fuel English breakfast although I used to enjoy mine later on in the day. It was certainly a very popular dish in Stoke. That dish looks wonderful and I would love to know what precisely where they are available and when you can no longer get them. I know it used to be just Stoke on Trent but they may have widened the availability area in recent years. I think I will be waiting a long time for them to be available down here lol!
Hugs JO xx
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Post by jolovespiggies on Mar 3, 2017 9:14:20 GMT
I meant to say thank you both for welcoming Timmy to the family. Unfortunately he is very huffy at the moment as he doesn't know us. I have been assured that this will change but it has made me unhappy. I can see me ending up with another Lewie and I really do not want that.
Hugs Jo xx
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