Quick daily posts

[Serinde]

@ Richard. Plant the potatoes in the cat trench. How helpful they are, when they themselves don't eat spuds!

@ Steve. Fix it. Fix it NOW. (Once upon a time we had a rotting rodent under the floorboards and inaccessible. Not nice -- that sweet but wrong smell -- and LOTS of flies, which were also very not nice, no precious they were not.) Summer is coming. Did I suggest that you FIX IT?

My OA piece to be mounted on its frame today awaiting the course's start. Otherwise bread and editing, plus some edging work in the garden. That's the plan, but we'll wait to see what actually happens.

[richardandtracy]

Steve,

Good thing you found the leak. If it's at a joint then you may well be in with a chance of doing it yourself.

On a lot of UK kitchen waste pipe plumbing, the pipe is PVC and has one of three fixing methods. Solvent fix (really needs replacement of the joint section if part of the joint has failed and a segment of pipe grafted in), push fit or screw/clamp. With the latter two it's usually possible to dismantle the joint and recondition the rubber sealing element with a bit of cleaning and jiggling to make it the right shape. Assembly can be eased with washing-up liquid. If that doesn't work, a judicious application of silicone rubber sealant can help. Then re-assemble the joint and you have a fix that may last indefinitely or a few months, either way probably long enough to survive until you can get a plumber if you feel the need for one.
With the solvent fix, you may be able to use silicone sealant as a temporary fix. To get it to last as long as possible, dry the joint as well as possible, apply the silicone and do not use the waste pipe for 24hs. Then support the cured silicone tightly with duct tape or similar in the tried & tested 'There I Fixed It' manner. It may last long enough for the lockdown to end.

The 'There I Fixed It' site is really well worth a visit, to find what happens when DIY ambition vastly outstrips ability. And it links to the 'Lolcats' site which is the best internet site without question.

Regards,

Richard

[Podolyanka]

Have a nice day, everybody.

[Mabel Figworthy]

Otherwise bread and editing

You have bread flour ?????

The flour aisles in the various shops I have been to over the past few weeks have all been empty, plain, strong, self-raising it's all gone, not even buckwheat flour or any of the heritage grains at £5 a small packet.
I have one 1.5kg packet left, plus one rescued from Youngest's room which, how shall I put this, may be a teensy weensy bit beyond its Best Before date....
However, news has reached me of an artisan baker in town who will deliver bread flour, though not to our village - but a friend who lives a 10-minute walk away (past the field with the lambs) is in the catchment area and is happy to order for e and leave it on the doorstep for me to pick up. Happy days!

Hoping to have a Zoom baking session with a friend who is in complete isolation (husband is in separate isolation within the house; she is trying to cope with that and two very energetic children, one of whom has special needs) - a nice distraction especially if we can get the children involved.

[Mabel Figworthy]

Richard, thank you so much for your report on your cats' help and assistance made for a very cheerful start of the day.

[wendywombat]

@ Richard,
Cats digging trenches!! Well I never!
That did remind me of our lovely German Shepherd, Sophie. She was the gentlest of dogs. She loved catch and fetch with a ball.
I was planting some bulbs in the garden and Sophie wanted to play. I had to keep stopping to throw the ball for her.
Eventually Sophie got the idea of how to attract my attention....she would remove the bulb from the hole and drop her ball into the hole. Several days later she couldn't find her ball and dug up the entire flower bed looking for it!

@ Steve....If you haven't fixed the leak.....well you know the answer!

I have ants in the bathroom!! Just before going to bed last night there they were!! A procession of ants coming from somewhere around the window frame and down the wall behind the bidet. A quick squirt with fly killer sorted out the lot but today we are going to have to find the source. We had them coming out from under the bath a few years back but D/H fixed that.

[Serinde]

Yes, Mabel, I do have flour. Thanks to the cooperative I belong to -- NeighbourFood runs a local market for local produce -- so milk, yogurt (and other dairy), meat, 3 different bakeries, dry goods, fruit & veg and, now, both flour and dried active yeast. It's been a godsend. Especially as I've had to bin all my old bread flour (the operative word being "old") as it had flour mites... despite being kept in a sealed container...

[richardandtracy]

Flour mites = extra protein.

Regards,

Richard

[richardandtracy]

Wendy, I love your GSD problem. Gorgeous, soppy dogs usually, and I can just imagine my Parents GSD doing that when they were at the farm.

Regards,

Richard

[wendywombat]

Yes, Mabel, I do have flour. Thanks to the cooperative I belong to -- NeighbourFood runs a local market for local produce -- so milk, yogurt (and other dairy), meat, 3 different bakeries, dry goods, fruit & veg and, now, both flour and dried active yeast. It's been a godsend. Especially as I've had to bin all my old bread flour (the operative word being "old") as it had flour mites... despite being kept in a sealed container...

The way to keep Flour mites out of flour is to put Bay Leaves in the container.
I have a bay tree in the garden and replace the leaves regularly, fresh ones are the best (washed of course) but dried do the job too!

[Mabel Figworthy]

That's really useful to know, thanks Wendy!

[Serinde]

I wondered what to do with all the leaves (actually limbs and branches) from my bay tree, flourishing in the front garden where it was planted and SULKED (understandably, given our climate here) for several years, and then obviously decided, "oh, well, what the heck, why not", and has never looked back.

And the bay doesn't taste the flour at all?

[richardandtracy]

It would be good to find something our Bay tree was good for. At the moment it simply drops its leaves on the lawn, and they get between the grass plants and create an impenetrable thatch that the mower doesn't pick up and we can't rake out. We end up having lazy afternoons in summer picking out partially decayed bay leaf thatch from the lawn.

Must trim the Bay thicket too, it has grown up around the three power cables running down our street.

Regards,

Richard.

[wendywombat]

I wondered what to do with all the leaves (actually limbs and branches) from my bay tree, flourishing in the front garden where it was planted and SULKED (understandably, given our climate here) for several years, and then obviously decided, "oh, well, what the heck, why not", and has never looked back.

And the bay doesn't taste the flour at all?

No not discernibly. After all it is sweet bay. I use it a lot. There's a Spanish potato dish I make where it is essential. I can give you the recipe if you like.

[Serinde]

Yes, please!

[Serinde]

Flour mites = extra protein.

Regards,

Richard

Oh, Richard, behave!!

[wendywombat]

Yes, please!

Email sent with recipe

[rcperryls]

Reading the previous posts was so delightful. It was like sitting near a group of friends and listening (not eavesdropping )to the conversation. Since I am the proverbial brown thumb, I can't join in the gardening discussion but I loved your story Richard how the cats helped you to get the garden ready. And your story, Wendy, about your Shepherd in the garden. I can empathize about the ants though. We are cursed with fire ants here. One of those species that came in to the US from a cargo ship years ago and made their way up from Alabama, killing most of the native ants on their way. They build big mounds all over the place, but what is worst is that if you unknowingly step in a fire ant next, you end up with painful blisters that itch and burn and sting. They can put you in the hospital. I hope the ants you are talking about are not dangerous, just annoying.

On a better subject, I get a daily brief email from CNN with current news, including some fun news as well. Today one of the topics listed was "return to cross stitching and other crafts". Evidently there has been a rise in the activity of the craft world. I've had a few non stitching friends or a few who used to but don't stitch much now, ask me for the names of some good websites they can look at for supplies. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts once we have gotten through this crisis.

Waiting on my grocery delivery in an hour or two. Advice is to sanitize each item before putting it in either pantry, cupboard, refrigerator or freezer. That should keep me busy for a while.

Carole

[richardandtracy]

Oh boy.
Rooster has just come back with his kill of the day. A Pygmy Shrew. Body about 1" long, tail 1/2" long. Doesn't even cover the pads on his front paw. But he is so pleased with his kill.

Naturally it's an endangered species (though that one is so endangered it's past any help) and protected from molestation by all the force of the law. Fortunately for us, Rooster is a cat, so we are not liable for his actions, otherwise we'd be facing down the wrong end of a £1000 fine.

Regards,

Richard

[poppy]

Thank you Richard : I had never heard or seen a Pygmy Shrew before. I googled it : It is a quite cute little thing. Oh dear!

Reading the previous posts was so delightful. It was like sitting near a group of friends and listening (not eavesdropping )to the conversation

I feel the same Carole. I am not very eloquent but love reading what everybody has to say. I am also glad to know that if people are posting, they are OK

What feels strange is the lack of constant pressure ( I need to do this or this before going to work, etc...)
My DH is pretty fluent in French as we have been married 38 years but I never taught him the French Grammar. He gets a 2 hours lesson with exercices to complete every day. ( not under duress, I must add )