Nice People Thread No. 15, a Cyber Summer

chris_m

Pyxis wrote: »

Dormice, you know. "Edible dormice".
Strange that they're protected, as they are not a native species. Apparently they've only been here since 1902!
Muscardinus avellanarius or "Common Dormouse" is the native species.

AKA the Hazel Dormouse.

I wonder if the "glis glis" is also protected because the legislation only specified "dormouse" and didn't differentiate between species - or, maybe, to avoid accidental harm to the Hazel Dormouse through misidentification.

chris_m

oldandhappy wrote: »

jam is quite easy to make...small quantities can even be done in the microwave on a variable heat setting if your MW is high watts...not nice if if overflows though....pectin often needs to be added to set it or an apple will do...the preserving sugar will have pectin in it already but with standard sugar just add a bit if you want non runny preserves.....apricot jam plum jam and cheery jam I made last year...Cant beat homemade... large saucepan that does not stick the food to the bottom is ok on the hob if you have no preserving pans...

Thanks for that, I'm sure I will be experimenting - cheery jam sounds fun

Pyxis

Will this do?

PasturesNew

oldandhappy wrote: »

.... cheery jam I made last year......

I'll have some of that please

A nice cheery jam on my crumpets would go down a treat.

Did you post in the wrong thread, I didn't notice we were discussing jam ....

But your cheery jam's cheered me up no end

EDIT: Ah, I see the jam starter
Up to speed now.

chris_m wrote: »

....three icecream tubs....- must look up how to make jam, when I have some empty jars, that is.

Not sure if that'd make you short of freezer space ... as three ice cream tubs would fill half my freezer. But, there's some "middle ground" between fresh and jam.... if you know you're going to make jam with them, then why not smash them down a bit with a potato masher or fork, rather than storing them whole/pristine.

I use about 2 jars of jam per year, so no point ever thinking of making any myself.

Pyxis

They are very different, though. About as different as a red squirrel is from a grey..........
(All Wiki quotes......)


The edible dormouse is the largest of all dormice, being around 14 to 19 cm (5.5 to 7.5 in) in head-body length, plus a 11- to 13-cm-long tail. It normally weighs from 120 to 150 g (4.2 to 5.3 oz), but may almost double in weight immediately prior to hibernation. It has a generally squirrel-like body, with small ears, short legs, and large feet. Its fur is grey to greyish-brownin colour over most of the body, while the underparts and the inner surface of legs are white to pale buff; the line of demarcation is rather well defined.[4]









The hazel dormouse has golden-brown fur and large, black eyes. It is a nocturnal creature and spends most of its waking hours among the branches of trees looking for food. It will make long detours rather than come down to the ground and expose itself to danger.
The hazel dormouse or common dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) is a small mammal and the only living species in the genus Muscardinus.[2] It is 6 to 9 cm (2.4 to 3.5 in) long with a tail of 5.7 to 7.5 cm (2.2 to 3.0 in). It weighs 17 to 20 g (0.60 to 0.71 oz), although this increases to 30 to 40 grams (1.1 to 1.4 oz) just before hibernation. The hazel dormouse hibernates from October to April–May.

chris_m

PasturesNew wrote: »

Not sure if that'd make you short of freezer space ... as three ice cream tubs would fill half my freezer.

Nah, I have the fridge-freezer plus a 198 litre chest freezer - the one into which, many posts ago, I bunged my Herwick Hoggett.

But, there's some "middle ground" between fresh and jam.... if you know you're going to make jam with them, then why not smash them down a bit with a potato masher or fork, rather than storing them whole/pristine.

I'll consider that if I do get short of space - but not all of them, I'm sure I will want some whole for other things, like just eating

I note that my breadmaker has a "Jam" setting - will have to investigate, the manual doesn't say very much about it other than needing to take caution handling hot jam.

chris_m

Pyxis wrote: »

They are very different, though. About as different as a red squirrel is from a grey..........

More likely loose legislation then.
Rather like the fox hunting legislation which was poorly written and only bans (banned?) hunting with dogs - so at least one hunt tested it by only taking out the !!!!! (female dog) pack

edit - didn't spot that the censor had been at it above.

chris_m

PasturesNew wrote: »

Ah, loads-a-space then.

Oh yes

I measured mine once....
There are two full-sized wire drawers. Each is 14" square and 7" deep.
Then there is a half sized wire drawer, 7"x14" and 7" deep.

That's about the size of the freezer part of my fridge-freezer in the kitchen. I was restricted by overall height and couldn't get one with more freezer and less fridge IYSWIM, 50/50 was the best I could get.

One of the other 'troubles' of being a single person household is that even emptying the freezer is a slow process. If my freezer's bunged and I take out 3 fish fingers for lunch, it's not made much of a dent in it. Repeat that for 5 days and I'd have freed up the space of one pack of fish fingers.
I'm about to open the freezer to remove one crumpet. That won't free up much space

I'm single too, but I've had a smaller chest freezer as my only freezer for years. When that died the larger one was only about £20 more than a direct replacement.
I do tend to do my main shopping on a monthly or, sometimes, longer basis, so the small freezer gets filled, then almost emptied by the time I next do an order. The large one is for longer-term storage - like the Hoggett, no way I was going to consume a whole one in a month, nice though it is
I do also take full advantage of 2 for 1 or 3 for 2 offers, which I couldn't do if I didn't have the storage space.

silvercar

PasturesNew wrote: »

Bummer!

The thing with me is I know what to do .... I'm just too scared to do it as there's a film running in my head that's depicting the scene where it all goes wrong, water spurts out everywhere, the knobs drop off in my hand and I can't turn the water off ...

I run disaster scenarios in my head 24/7; even if I just walk into the kitchen and turn the light on my disaster movie's having the light blow, while spotting a silent leak/flood and smelling gas

It's like living a parallel life 24/7. It's omnipresent with potential disasters that are about to occur. Slightest noise, too, is a disaster I'm about to discover .... slightest different smell is a disaster I'm about to discover ... 24/7, non-stop, scenes running in my head, as well as a "second dialogue" of conversations I'd be having in that parallel life.

To set your mind at rest. (I suspect your boiler is newer than mine. Mine is from around 2004).

I've managed to over pressurise it. When the pressure hit 3 bars, some outlet automatically opens and water runs from a pipe outside the house, lowering the pressure.

I've managed to drop the pressure by bleeding radiators and by continuing to increase the pressure while there is a leak. The pressure drops back to 0. Your boiler will probably just flash a warning symbol and may refuse to operate.

In neither case will it implode, explode or otherwise cause you harm.

Of all the leaky joints to have, having one that can be easily spotted, that has leaked water only on to a tiled floor, is probably the most desirable.

Pyxis

Have just discovered wheelchair tennis!

Why did I not know about wheelchair tennis?

Wheelchair Wimbledon is on BBC2 at the mo.

I googled the rules.... They seem to be mainly the same apart from the ball being allowed to bounce twice.

Is the net the same height though?