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Greenwood Hobbit
Valinor
May 3, 4:15pm
Post #1 of 35
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*pushes the door open* (really must oil those hinges) It's Friday so it's Fiesta!
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Welcome to our May Day (well, close) Fiesta!
We're a couple of days late to that particular party, but in the Northern Hemisphere it's a time for rejoicing in all the new spring growth, watching the pollinators get busy on the blossom, seeing the first butterflies on the forget-me-nots and looking forward to long summer evenings outdoors – and picnics! My hawthorn tree is dropping its tiny petals everywhere - looks like confetti or dandruff, depending on your mood!
It's sandwich night at The Green Dragon buffet, so help yourselves to the selection of freshly baked breads (gluten-free options available) and fillings and tell us about your favourite sandwiches while you put your feet up and relax with a glass of ale to wash them down! Beer and butties (as we call them hereabouts) - an ideal combination.
For me, nice crispy bacon and tomatoes make a perfect breakfast sandwich, but a good crumbly white cheese (Lancashire, Wensleydale, Cheshire or Caerphilly) and pickle hits the spot too. How about you?
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dernwyn
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May 3, 4:45pm
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*gets oil can* Hm, do you have any cider?
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To go with a nice BLT - bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, please, on toasted rye bread would be a treat!
Happy May Day! It was a soggy morning for our Morris Men and Mystic Garland dancers to celebrate at a local college: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PZVjneuUEs
My lilac and catmint and bugloss and sundry others are starting to bloom. I've got some nasturtium seeds that have sprouted, so I've got to get those in the ground tomorrow and see if they'll be happy!
Are you planning any picnics with the grandsons?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Greenwood Hobbit
Valinor
May 3, 5:04pm
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A pint of Thirsty Farmer coming right up, at home with any sandwich! I didn't drag myself out at dawn this year to watch our local Mersey Morris and Mockbeggar Morris dance; if the forecast had been clear I might have made it, but it was grey and damp. I know, I'm a wuss! My daughter has a lovely deep purple lilac at the front of her house; my laburnum is starting to show a sprinkle of yellow. I would love to grow catmint, but I don't want to encourage the local cats! My garden has been tailored to the needs of the birds for 35 years. Nasturtiums are great fun; a real example of 'treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen'.Too much food means plenty of leaves but not enough flowers. The grandsons have a busy weekend ahead with football, rugby and a birthday party; I doubt I'll see them.Enjoy your weekend!
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Kimi
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May 3, 9:41pm
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What a lovely word-picture (well, except perhaps for the dandruff :)) of spring in your garden, GH!
On the dot of six (yes, it actually began as the six o'clock alarm was sounding) a volley of shots reminded me that duck hunting season has begun. Not my favourite time of year, except that we do get even more ducks than usual hanging out close to the house. Neither the Mr nor I will be going for our usual early morning runs for a wee while - don't quite trust all the hunters to think about who might be just behind those ducks they're shooting at.
The first Open Home for our much-delayed (for all sorts of reasons) apartment listing is today, so fingers firmly crossed. Two others are for sale in the same block - one has been for sale for many months, which is not encouraging. Ours has a less fancy kitchen than the other two, so we're hoping we might get interest from people who can't *quite* afford the others. The location is brilliant, but there's a lot of uncertainty in the market at the moment.
Apart from that: a lovely, crisp autumn morning, and the first loads of washing are on the line. We planted a small grove of trees with autumn colours in mind years ago, and they're looking lovely just now, especially against the contrast of our native evergreens. We've just about finished our crop of persimmons, the feijoas are past their peak, but still have guavas, which I share with the native pigeons. Next treat will be the loquats, which are flowering like mad.
Duck with cherries tonight, followed by creme brulee. Looking forward to it.
Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend.
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
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Greenwood Hobbit
Valinor
May 3, 10:04pm
Post #5 of 35
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Not a good way to be woken up! You and the ducks staying close to home seems to be wise. Good luck with your apartment sale - it's always a worrying time, I hope there's a buyer out there who will find you soon. Sounds like you have a good fruit harvest there! Tinned guavas used to be popula rwhen I was a child, but I always found them to have a rather granular texture. I imagine fresh ones would be much nicer. I'll have raspberries, some apples and a few blackcurrants if the new bush takes alright. Oh - and the inevitable tomatoes! I need to plant some salad greens - I'm late to the party on that. Have a great weekend!
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dernwyn
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May 3, 10:18pm
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And there's hunters in your area? Hm, you wouldn't happen to be cooking a freshly-culled local duck, would you?
Best of luck with the apartment! Any "bites" yet?
I've never seen loquats around here - probably far too cold for them! Don't they taste a bit like apricots? Do you usually have enough to freeze?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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dernwyn
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May 3, 10:29pm
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At our age, soggy mornings are best spent tucked up warm in bed - especially if it's raining hard enough to hear it (without the hearing aids in).
Laburnum? Isn't that what they once made a very potent pain medicine from?
I love the aromas from catmint and my planter of peppermint - I was once told to make sure the peppermint was contained, or it would spread quickly.
I'll be putting those nasturtiums in an area that gets a good dose of morning sunshine and drains well. We'll see how they fare!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Kimi
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May 3, 10:59pm
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Which, given that sunrise is not till after 7 a.m., I did consider a bit much. Their enthusiasm will probably wane after the first weekend, though - I hope so.
The canned guavas were almost certainly the tropical guavas, which are much larger (and require a warmer climate). These are the little so-called strawberry guavas, which used to be found in every New Zealand garden. Small and deliciously tart, and they make the loveliest jelly - very tasty and quite beautiful, with its clear, ruby colour. I freeze them until I have enough for a batch of jelly, eating a few fresh as I go, then they're a useful addition to the wood pigeons' diet when things get lean coming into winter.
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
(This post was edited by Kimi on May 3, 11:04pm)
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Kimi
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May 3, 11:04pm
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I didn't make that link! (Posted in haste re tonight's dinner). No, this is free-range domestic duck (not our own), not hunted wild duck.
The apartment's only just been listed, but I'm sure the agent will let us know what interest there is in the open home. Fortunately we have good weather for it, so the courtyard garden and the park it looks out over will both look at their best.
Loquats have a mild but pleasant flavour. Nice and juicy, though the large seeds take up much of the fruit. We just eat them fresh (and the sheep love them - as do the birds).
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
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cats16
Half-elven
May 4, 6:15am
Post #10 of 35
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We're in a nice spring weather phase here, in the low 70s with plenty of sunshine. We're going to a Dodgers game this weekend, so plenty of outdoor relaxation is on the way.
Oh hmm, sandwich night? I've been craving a meatball sub - plant-based meatballs if you've got any, pretty please. 
Work's been crazy and exhausting, and since the job hunt's still been radio silent, I'm having a friend's boyfriend (who does resume workshopping) take a look at mine to see if there's any improvements that need to be made - which I have no doubt is the case.
In other news, we saw a glimpse of a furry rodent friend in our loft area the other night...sigh. I think this one was actually a mouse given the smaller size. Apparently there was already some mesh wire up there (blocking off some hole or crack the landlord has never acknowledged is up there, I'd imagine), so they tightened that up and added some traps next to it, but my hope is the mesh wire blocks them from even getting to the trap. Still no sight of them on ground level, at least. We can never quite get past this annoyance, I guess.
Wishing everyone a happy May weekend!
Join us every weekend in the Hobbit movie forum for this week's CHOW (Chapter of the Week) discussion!
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cats16
Half-elven
May 4, 6:23am
Post #11 of 35
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...ran a story about feijoas and New Zealand a few weeks back. It had a bit of a clickbait-y headline, but I think it was more or less a dispatch from a writer in New Zealand talking about the fruit's ascendance in Kiwi food culture over the past century.
I've never had one before, so I'll have to try to find it in a juice or jam in the off season when I'm there later this year!
Join us every weekend in the Hobbit movie forum for this week's CHOW (Chapter of the Week) discussion!
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Greenwood Hobbit
Valinor
May 4, 12:35pm
Post #12 of 35
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Given the date, maybe I should have called this a Star Wars fiesta, in a very peculiar crossover! Plant-based, GF, you name it, the virtual buffet has it - enjoy! Good idea to have someone cast an eye over your resume - can't hurt, might help. Good luck with the mouse situation, too! Eek...
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Greenwood Hobbit
Valinor
May 4, 12:46pm
Post #13 of 35
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I found when I was in hospital
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that if I lay with my left ear to the pillow, things were rather more peaceful; hadn't realised until then that my left ear was better than my right. As far as I'm aware laburnum is poisonous in all its parts, but some plants poisonous in large quantities can be beneficial in small, for example digitalis from foxgloves, tamoxifen from yew etc. Hah, mint will take over the world if you let it! Smells gorgeous but boy, does it travel!
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Greenwood Hobbit
Valinor
May 4, 12:50pm
Post #14 of 35
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Those strawberry guavas sound cute!
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A well-made jelly is a joy, the way the light shines through it. I used to make blackcurrant jelly which you can't really see through, but one year I made redcurrant jelly and it glowed, the colour was so rich!
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dernwyn
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May 4, 1:40pm
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They're having a good season so far, aren't they! Who will they be playing?
I hope the resume workshopper can give you good pointers on key words to put in, or ways to rephrase, or things to put in that you might never know should be in there. If your resume has been going through the automated cullings (IMHO those should be illegal), those could be crucial. Fingers crossed!
Hm. Keep looking for the bits of mouse droppings, that's the best way to know if they're being kept at bay.
Remember your sunscreen at the game!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Kimi
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May 4, 9:23pm
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what was probably the same article in The Guardian recently, and it did describe That Fruit's place in Aotearoa very well. Including what strong reactions the flavour can arouse!
You might struggle to find commercially produced jam, but juice is probably available. There's also a commercial feijoa wine, under the Lothlorien (yes, really) label. We've made our own feijoa wine, but I've never tried the Lothlorien one.
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
May 5, 2:14pm
Post #17 of 35
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Spring is moving into Summer :D
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It can slow the process down just a tetch, imho. But I definitely am so happy to have the cold weather tucked away until... ohhhh... December ;)
All is going very well here :) Daughter is slowly healing, all bandages are removed, and starting today (Sunday 5/5) she'll be spending a few to several hours at her home each to see how well she can handle everyday things. If, by the end of the week, she's able to take care of meds, bindings, foods, kitty love (her 2 cats LOVE to cuddle), etc. I think she'll be ready to move back home. I'll still be stopping by each day (at first) then several times a week until we're sure she won't lose any ground. Also doing cleaning, shopping, etc. She has other ailments that limit her mobility, but she's misses being in her own nest, and getting my recliner back where Pickle and I can lounge again will be nice! Our last Visiting Nurse check-in and sign-off will be in the next couple of days.
Meanwhile, my poor yard is screaming for attention! I've got a bunch of weight to work off from this month-long journey with minimal exercising; but all will settle down soon :)
SO... that bacon sandwich sounds so good! When I'm in my bacon-sandwich phase, I like to stack 2 layer of strips into a square... like Lincoln Logs... onto some foil and bake them in the oven until crispy. That way I can just lift a square of bacon and set it onto the toast/bread as one piece. It also doesn't fall apart much at all when cut or munched on. I can add a fried egg on top for breakfast, or some sliced chicken/turkey for lunch :)
Thanks for taking such great care of us, m'Dear! :D
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
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dernwyn
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May 5, 9:27pm
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So wonderful to hear that news!
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Oh gosh, she's been so patient, being a good patient and doing what must be done for everything to heal properly! And you've been a saint to take such good care of her!
But as they say: there's no place like home (especially if it's got a little furry or two that want so much to cuddle).
I imagine your grass is now getting long, and longing for the mower! 
And one can never have too much bacon, of course...give you energy for the outdoors-work!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Annael
Immortal
May 6, 4:50am
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I was out of town all weekend. Went to watch my great-nephew row in the Southwest Regionals. Alas, they missed a spot in the nationals by about 1 second. He was very upset, as were all of the boys in his boat - many of them were crying. We pretended not to see.
But other than that I had a nice time with his two younger brothers who are now almost a foot taller than me. We took a picture together and it made me realize that I am a little old lady now!
As for sandwiches - my favorite is a BLTA: bacon (crispy), lettuce, tomato, and avocado. On toasted sourdough bread with a lavish amount of mayonnaise.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Annael
Immortal
May 6, 4:52am
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you're thinking of laudanum, a tincture of opium? Laburnum is what we call a golden chain tree. Very pretty, very poisonous, very apt to spread freely.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Greenwood Hobbit
Valinor
May 6, 8:53am
Post #21 of 35
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and appropriate! Mine is starting to look good now.
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Greenwood Hobbit
Valinor
May 6, 8:59am
Post #22 of 35
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Glad things are going well for your daughter
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and she can start to spend sometime in her own space. Dealing with cats who don't understand that there are bits they shouldn't touch might be ouchy for a while! I like the bacon lattice idea, might try that. Hope all goes well in the week ahead.
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Greenwood Hobbit
Valinor
May 6, 9:04am
Post #23 of 35
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Bless 'em, you can't win every time -
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better luck to them next time! I'm a little old lady too - I was 5'2" but last time I measured I'd shrunk to 5'1". My older grandson (14 in July) is already 5'9" and heading for 6'+! Avocado doesn't like me, unfortunately - it makes my lips go uncomfortably tingly. Pity, because it's very nutritious!
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dernwyn
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May 6, 4:05pm
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Laudanum. Thank you!
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"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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dernwyn
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May 6, 4:11pm
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That would be like adding a tasty mayo texture! I need to try that.
Those near-misses can be so hard to take, especially after all that hard work! I feel badly for them all. Next year!
Yeah, I also keep shrinking...down to 5'1" now. Do you find that the younger generations are actually getting taller?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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