Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 20 October 2019

LINDY - I have had no problems cooking defrosted meat and then freezing in portions. Been doing it for years and still here ;-)
I've pruned more of the grapevine today, about halfway there, now. It is a pity to have to do it before Danish friends arrive next month as it all looks quite bare afterwards but leaves are turning colour and this year's growth will start to toughen up and be harder to chop. Other things in the back garden are showing lovely autumn colours and berries.

Annette: I meant to say that I'm glad you weren't injured in the supermarket crash! That must have been frightening when the windows buckled. Amazing that no one was hurt! Also, I know the fires are really bad again in California. I didn't hear about or see your county on the news, so I assume that you're safe (at least for now) and you have power. Take care!

DIANE/ANNETTE - I also heard about the ? Kincade and another wildfire last night. I think in the Sonoma wine region? And AQ has mentioned wildfires in Australia. I also heard about the new rules, AQ, regarding climbing of what we used to call Ayers Rock and now Uluru. When I hear about things on the radio, in the middle of the night, I make a mental note to ask my friends on here. And then, morning arrives and I forget most things!

Good evening, ALL. We were all exhausted after yesterday and slept until nine o’clock this morning! I never really totally woke up, despite a shower, but this afternoon, OH and I went to the Friday Fellowship monthly meeting at church. The speaker was the local hospital chaplain (who was there when I was in) and she was very interesting. One of the ladies sent cake home for J, as she frequently does!

AQ – your weekend trip sounds very interesting, especially the fossils. A shame about the wet weather when trying to use the camera.

LINDA – I too read about the embroiderers and quilters trying to finish the quilt started by the deceased lady – what a good use of the internet, to bring them together in this task. I hope your day improved and you will not go to bed grumpy!

LYNETTE – I hope the cataract removal went well for you!

HEATHER – OH agreed that we shouldn’t stay at Manchester airport, so we shall be back at the Trafford Centre when J is in hospital. We made it a flexible booking, so have just added an extra night based on extra information J received – we can cancel unrequired days at the end if they are not needed. Sorry your SiL made a mistake freezing the meat. It happened to a friend recently – the children messaged her to say they had received the delivery and frozen it, and she had to batch cook it all, but couldn’t be cross with them as they thought they were being so helpful! I agree with Linda that it is usually safe to refreeze after cooking at a high temperature.
Talking of high temperatures – our oven is cooking at a constant high temperature. It set off the smoke alarm by cremating our lunch, and then again by overdoing a pizza for tea – that wasn’t ruined as OH was standing by to watch it cook in 5 minutes instead of 10-15! Don’t know whether we need to go back to insurer with our complaint or contact the local company who allegedly repaired it.

OH has just had a look at the magazine proofs, so I have a few corrections to make and he will be printing it tomorrow. Next one will come around very soon because of the way the dates fall in November!

Hi all:  Had a generally okay day and nice but quick lunch with (working) grandson, then home. Was looking forward to relaxing this evening and used daughter's car to nip around the corner to pick up something from the supermarket, just two blocks away.  On the way home, car was feeling odd and lo and behold - a flat tire!  Arghhh.  Auto Club came within 15 minutes and put on the spare, but then I had to take the car back to Costco coz the tire was still under warranty.  Long story short, decided to put two new tires on the car (one of which was pro-rated due to warranty) but am now - at 7:30 p.m. waiting to go pick it up.  Not the evening I was planning!!  Daughter is packing up her stuff to leave bright and early; fingers crossed no other mishaps.

Sorry to hear that OG's oven is still behaving badly. What a pain!  And that Heather's daughter will spend the weekend thawing and cooking and then freezing all that meat.   Also a pain.  :-(   I thought that Uluru was already off limits, but maybe it wasn't a hard and fast rule.  It's about time it was.  Missed the story of the quilt lady in Chicago.  I think Diane's idea of a tiny house is super. Some of them are really lovely.

All safe here and no power shut offs on the horizon.

Anyway, I'm going to head off to Costco and hurry them along. Will wave daughter off in the morning and then Do Nothing for the weekend.

Take care all

Good Morning. Wrote a four paragraph reply/post last night at bedtime, but it didn't post.....bah.

OG you are having a bit of a nightmare with your kitchen appliances. Glad the pizza was saved.

OH is now glued to the rugby. We will probably go to Brodie later.

Forgot to say OH has Benson on his lap. He is after all an English Cocker Spaniel and has to watch the match.

dibnlib - Hope both the 'boys' enjoyed the match. What a fabulous result! Now we have to go through it all over again next week. Oh no - I'll be at a Conference and will miss it ...

PAT Indeed a great result, and unexpected. Very much hoping for an England v Wales match next weekend.