What have you been doing today?

[noseall]

Had another bugger of a time getting the Golf's frozen tailgate open this morning despite going out last night and making sure the seal was dry. Eventually got it open using one of Mrs Motties boot pulls - I hooked it under the bottom lip of the tailgate and gave it a good pull. When I tried to shut it, it wouldn’t latch and I thought I’d buggered the latch but looking closer, it appears it's been the latch that’s been freezing so I’ve been outside fiddling about until I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore, stripping off the hatch panel, freeing off with WD40 and then squirting oil everywhere. I’ll find out tomorrow morning if I’ve been successful.

Get the missus's hair dryer next time.

 

[Murdochcat]

Yes it was a bit chilly

 

[Brigadier]

View attachment 368813

Yes it was a bit chilly

Don't catch 'em thin, or you'll not feel the old bell ringers for ages afterwards

 

[Mottie]

Had to attend to a frozen waste pipe on our macerator in the downstairs bog. After a bit of advice on here, I ran my heat stripper gun along the pipe and that cured it. That panicked Mrs Mottie so we had to go round to her mums house to check pipes etc. All good as we had left the heating on low. Tonight we went out to somewhere we haven’t been to since the kids were in their teens - Pizza Express. Had a code to get a second pizza for a quid so I treated Mrs Mottie to any pizza she wanted - from the Romana or classic range! Actually the Romana ones with a thin base were really nice. Best bit - two pizzas, a wine and a beer, £33.90! I haven’t eaten that cheap on a Saturday night since the kids were in their teens.

 

[crystal ball]

Packing the motorhome ready for a week in Keswick, weather is looking wet and mild so the bus passes will get some hammer

 

[securespark]

Reminded me of the time when I had a Maestro VdP and I managed after a lot of squirting with antifreeze to get the drivers door open. But then the burger would not shut. Despite the vast amount I had used to get it open, and the immense quantities I used to try and free the mechanisms once they refroze after I had managed to open the flipping thing, they would not budge, so I had to drive to work holding the bloOdy thing closed.

 

[Mottie]

Woke up to thick freezing fog this morning. Mrs Mottie couldn’t chance walking with me this morning due to those conditions have previously brought on an asthma attack so I went on my own. No more than 20 minute/5 miles away and it was like I was in a different country. Beautiful sunshine. I checked on my phone and we were 80 metres above sea level. Our house is 14 metres above sea level so I suppose that was why.

Went home just after an hour later and I drove back into freezing fog.

Just got back from the allotment where I went to dig up some spuds for our Sunday roast but the ground was too frozen so I spent my time barrowing loads of wood chippings from the chippings pile and mulched between all my beds. Bought a boot full of them home to mulch the community flower bed up my end of the street.

 

[Mottie]

Up early, pulled the car off the drive and waiting for the mobile dog groomer to arrive. 7.00! Business must be booming - that was the only slot she had left in the next month!

Update:
Not long finished. She took three hours and ten minutes and charged me £55! £55 for someone with a skill and a fully fitted van to come to your house to do something and that’s not including her travelling time. No wonder she’s fully booked, seems way too cheap. Did a nice job but either the woman is in the wrong job or she’s massively undercharging. Only thing I don’t like about all these groomers is they cover the dog in perfume afterwards and, as a mate of mine used to say when he got a whiff of someone wearing too much perfume, she's smelling like a millionaires mistress' minge!

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

£55 for someone with a skill and a fully fitted van to come to your house to do something and that’s not including her travelling time.

Around 10 years ago, we used to take ours, to a local one, charged £20, took around a couple of hours, while we waited. It was a rough set up, in a farm building, of a farm in the next village, but she ended up clean, tidy, and fresh, though not very deep. Problem is, border collies have and over-coat, and under coat. The under-coat can matt and tangle. Since then, we found it easier, less stressful, to do it ourselves. A little, and often.

 

[Mottie]

Our dog is on a bland diet so she's been getting white fish and chicken to supplement her hypoallergenic kibble. I buy 2kg of thighs from the supermarket, skin them, boil them, remove the bone when they have cooled and then freeze until needed. I’ve just skinned 2kg and I thought I’d throw the skins over the back fence into the alleyway between the backs of the gardens for the foxes to eat. No chance! There's a right kerfuffle going on between crows, magpies and seagulls. Never seen so many - the word has got out - they must be starving!

 

[MNW67]

Helping some of our neighbours with their bins. The council have made it very difficult to find the changed schedule which was required because of the snow last week and most round here had not been informed. Everyone's bin was bursting and they were all so pleased.

 

[Mottie]

On our dog walk this morning, our friend brought along one-eyed Olive. She bred her and is looking after her while her owners are on holiday. She got a grass seed in her eye at 5 months. It was removed the same day but some pieces had gone round the back of the eye, caused an abscess which detached the retina so it had to be removed. Doesn’t seem to have affected her one bit.

 

[Mottie]

Just made a big batch of Bolognese sauce. Added my usual ingredients - meat, onions, garlic, chopped toms, tomato purée, oxo cubes, dried mixed herbs, finely diced celery and carrot, sugar, salt and crushed black pepper but today I've added two extra ingredients. Worcestershire sauce and dark chocolate. It’s bloody lovely! Made enough for four double portions. We'll have one tonight and I’ll freeze the other three.

 

[Brigadier]

Just made a big batch of Bolognese sauce. Added my usual ingredients - meat, onions, garlic, chopped toms, tomato purée, oxo cubes, dried mixed herbs, finely diced celery and carrot, sugar, salt and crushed black pepper but today I've added two extra ingredients. Worcestershire sauce and dark chocolate. It’s bloody lovely! Made enough for four double portions. We'll have one tonight and I’ll freeze the other three.

A brave man.

As a rule of thumb, I try to not experiment when batch cooking.
As, if you aren't keen on the result, you've either got to wade through it a number of times further or, if you've really made a Horlicks of it, bin the lot.