The Compers Inn (part 49)

indie

Morning, it's a shame the walks have been cancelled again Duncan. I agree with ff the new rules seem to contradict themselves. Just as we begin to understand them, they will change them again.I think we have a cat, or maybe fox in our back garden of a night as Charlie spends 20+ minutes sniffing all round first thing of a morning.We have small birds come in and go from the trees to the bushes.When Obi is allowed out he will be wearing a bell on his collar to warn any birds he is around.
I had a win on instagram over the weekend, a bamboo thermos, I may put it away for a chrissie present. We shall see.
Hope you all have a good day
Stay safe.

leanfun30

Good afternoon. Very warm and sunny here today.   DD1 came around at lunch time she isn’t working for two days and went to our local tennis club this morning and came here and sat in garden for lunch.   She brought some carrot cake she had made.  She said it was a Tesco recipe and had fruit in as well. Tasted quite nice.
Firefly pleased you made the apple scone I must make another one as it was so quick, we enjoyed it and it froze really well.  

Dunxcan I’d be very disappointed that the walk was cancelled.  I bet those who had planned to come are too.   As everyone says the new rules don’t make sense and all the changes are confusing to say the least.
indie well done on the Instagram win.  I’ve started to collect bits for Christmas.  

Take care all.

203846930

Good Morning
Well done on all the wins, I guess the reason why we don't win very often is because Dad just doesn't enter enough comps but then he doesn't enter unless it is something that he wants to win.
Xmas doesn't happen in this house, hasn't done for over 40 years so there is never any upheaval.
We checked out another walk yesterday and it was really nice with a walk alongside the river Leven for a bit, we now have 3 walks ready for when we get started again. One of the ladies has been in touch and asked if she could come out with Dad and me on one of our 10am walks so we may get company soon
Dad was baking again yesterday, oatmeal biscuits this time, really made the house smell nice.
Off to the shop today for the usual stuff the I hope to the park after that.
Have a good one.

leanfun30

 Morning.  It was very hot here too yesterday.  Both DDs now have problems with the children having coughs and colds.  DD2 GD had cold Monday and a bit of a cough. So she was at home.  She had a very bad cough when DD2 had virus symptoms in March so DD2 said she was sure now it was just an ordinary cold but school either wants a virus test or they all have to quarantine for 14 days.    She’s tried since Monday to get a test.  They walked to a walk in centre spoke to staff at the exit and was told you need appointment.   Also if someone in the queue near you tested positive even if you were negative you had to quarantine 14 days.  DD2 said people in the queue were not social distancing.

DD1 FaceTimed yesterday morning GS  had a cold and a slight cough.  He looked so miserable and frightened he had the virus. His temperature was normal and he could taste and smell ok.  DD1 is going through same farce for a test.  Her Doctor’s surgery are saying school should not ask for a test.    Just had him on FaceTime nine year old is jumping all over the place.

When they have all been isolating in bubbles for ages what do they expect when they go back to school.  Young children pick things up easily.  Really feel sorry for parents having to deal with all of this.

Duncan pleased to hear you and Dad will have company on one of your walks.  Oatmeal biscuits sound good.   We had a fish delivery yesterday.  Fishmonger had Scottish salmon on special offer so we are now well stocked up.  Have to say it’s delicious nothing like the salmon from supermarket.  I also ordered two lots of fish for fish pie and last night we had one and three for the freezer. 

We don’t go over board about Christmas especially with food but I like to have small presents for Immediate family.   I think over the years we have only spent three years not here and DH and I have never been by ourselves for Christmas.

Take care all.

203846930

Good Evening
Must be a nightmare with the kids at school but that is something that Dad thinks should have been going on all the time, there was no point in delaying the education system when you can't tell children to stay away from each other and as they were less at risk from complications as are the parents, those two groups should not have to worry about the covid virus for the long term and it would have been easier if it were just the older generation that were put into shielding.

Good day today for finding footballs, I found a total of 7 over the course of 3 walks, poor Dad had to find a way to carry them all home.

The oatmeal biscuits are really just baked porridge with added flour sugar and butter, full recipe and method available on request, they are another one of Dad's mum's creations, she was the real cook in the family, Dad just tinkers, his mum baked all sorts of things and did decoration as well, she was decoration wedding cakes well into her seventies.
Take Care

leanfun30

Thanks FireFly.  They still have no tests.  Duncan’s Dad the whole thing has been ill thought out.  We have not had a pandemic for hundred years so you expect something’s to go wrong but not so many all the time. 

Duncan great you found so many balls but the picture of your Dad trying to juggle them has made me smile.    Your Mum sounded like a great cook And cake decorator.  I can cook simple things but no good at decorating.   Yes please to the oatcake recipe too.  Recently I bought some oats thinking I’d add them to crumbles but haven’t yet.    I’ve had oat cakes in Scotland and liked them.  Porridge is a big no no for me.  I had a stepfather who made some concoction and put me off it for life.  

My friend of 93 has been in a small care home across the road from her daughter.  The daughter was upset she couldn’t do anything for her due to virus and the daughter’s family decided to have her home.  The youngest in the family is now 17.  (Four of their family had bad virus symptoms in March, although not tested.).   I made an apple cake and took it around there.  They wanted me to go in and I saw my friend.   She is very fragile and is not talking but tried to ask how we were. She somehow managed to get hold of my hand and would not let go.  It was good to see her.  She was the first person I met around here some 47 years ago and despite the age difference we we’re always good friends and did a lot together.  

Firefly I made the Mary Berry apple cake.  I added a lot more eating apples than the recipe said about seven small ones and added some sultanas, chopped dates and half a spoon of cinnamon to them.  I thought it was going to be too much but worked well.   Last week I made one for us and we liked it and it has frozen well.  It’s another one where there’s  a lot of fruit and not too much cake.  

Indie hope work has been ok and they are virus free.

Take care all.

203846930

Oat Biscuits

250g porridge oats

150g self-raising flour

100g sugar (50 white, 50 Demerara)

250g butter

pinch salt

pinch baking soda

 

Method:

Mix dry ingredients together

Melt butter and add to mixture stirring well

Spread into a swiss roll tin

Bake for 20 mins at 180C (adjust for your own fan oven as required)

When cool cut into sized squares.

 use an 8 x 12 inch baking tray and you should get biscuits about 15 mm thick, you can use baking marge instead of butter and it still works but taste is not as rich, Dad does not use salt and they are still OK.

203846930

Evening All
Great weather today, warm without being too hot and sunny without it being too burning.
A walk to the shop this morning turned into a bit of a trek as I was needing the toilet and I only 'go' on grass so Dad had to keep alongside grass verges until I 'went', it took a while with 4 false starts

Dad is sneaky when it comes to me finding footballs, he has started taking a bin bag with him on our first visit to the park, just in case and it certainly worked for him on Wednesday morning with 5 balls in the bag on one visit, we got the other 2 on later walks. We took 8 back to the coach this evening and told him that we are going to start charging them to bring the balls back, they cost an average of £10 each and dad said £1 each to bring them back, everyone laughed.

The guys are still standing about doing nothing most of the day at the testing station along the road, it seems that no-one is making appointments on the website.
Take Care

indie

Evening everyone, it's been very warm here and the nights are not much cooler. Thanks for the recipe Duncans dad my DS likes baking and he is going to have a go at them. DS and his GF are both at work tonight so i am on my own with Charlie and Obi. It's been a long time since they were both working the same evenings. Sorry to hear your DD's and kids have got colds and can't get a test leanfun. My workmate has had colds in her household and they were lucky to get tests for the hubby and kids (the home supplies hers) but the school wouldn't accept the kids back in without a negative test. Luckily they were negative. Our workplace has said, any cold symptoms and you stay off till you have a test. My friend gets chest infections 2-3 times a year so she knows that once the cold weather hits she will be off work more so than working.I hope they can get tests soon leanfun
I worked the morning shift today and now have a few days off, back on Sunday.
I hope you all had a good day
Stay safe.

leanfun30

Morning.  Thanks for the recipe Duncan’s Dad I will have a try. I need to buy a couple of tins as years ago when I wasn’t baking we turned out a lot of tins.  Duncan it’s amazing how many balls you are finding.  Agree there should be some reward for taking them back.  They seem very lax as balls are expensive.  Hope you have some fine weather for your walks this weekend.

Enjoy the baking Firefly.  DH always used to buy something sweet ie cake or pudding when he went to the shops so at least I think we are reducing the sugar intake and freezing means we are eating less.  

Indie enjoy your few days off.  Just had a message that DD2 her two have gone to school.  I don’t know how that happened school must have changed their minds about colds.  Its’s all a bit crazy.  Odd here as we are usually hands on involved especially with local GS.  

Hope everyone has a good day.