Ghost of Tsushima is my go to game at the moment. Absolutely beautiful world in the offline game and incredibly addictive and adrenaline fuelled online gaming. Just wish I had more friends to play online with as co op is vital to complete a lot of the online stuff.

Stihl. I use the smaller folding one in the pro range with the smallest, lightest ap100 battery. They also do a larger telescopic one.

Wow expected a bit more from the Dr Alice Roberts cameo. She was my uni lecturer over 20 years ago and everyone fancied her. Fav thing of all the Christmas viewing though and seeing lovely British summertime lifts my spirits every time.

Yes it happens every winter. Though I have got into gaming on PS4 recently which is helping shred several hrs most days. I spent 10 days really ill recently and was too ill to game or concentrate on tele. That was really boring.

Large Melton M pork pie with green tomato chutney, cornichon and sprout and bacon stir-fry as we have xs stuff to use up due to in-laws not coming.

Unbarred blackberry cobbler sour then Henney’s cider, then Aspalls imperial cider.

Radio 4 carols, then Giles Peterson, will do some Faithless later for a tribute.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Ah that’s sad. Good memories from nights in the naughties in Brighton and yes Somafunk…Homelands!

Water biscuits are the best for show casing cheese.

So what are you spending it on then?!

Have you looked around to check what’s available and at what price? That’s your 1st avenue. Is your rent currently much lower than what’s available? This effects your negotiation the most. 30 percent in one go sounds a lot.

What on earth is pourover? Lovely soothing story that though I’m not sure about cat tea towels being used in the kitchen even after washing. I had a cat until the Spring and even after many washes there are still cat hairs on clothes and blankets he was in contact with.

MIL and partner were meant to be flying into Gatwick this evening from Belfast for 10 days with us over Christmas but have had to cancel due to bad fever. Gutted particularly for my partner and his mum who don’t get to see much of each other and they are good fun. It would’ve been our 1st Christmas together in 3 years.

On the plus side I’ve only just got over being really ill for 10 days so takes the pressure off a little and means I don’t have to give up my ensuite or listen to the other half snoring after too much food and booze. Also last night at the pub we ended up inviting a friend who was going to be alone on Christmas day (before the cancellation)so now they’ll be plenty of food to go around.

This guy says you shouldn’t lag your indoor pipes as can reduce boiler efficiency. Any thoughts?

I resemble both those pictures above. Really loving aged Gouda at the moment and the rosemary version of the cracked black pepper crackers. I find they are all identical whether from Lidl, Aldi or ASDA.

As in, you didn’t know who they were or their acting was so good, you didn’t recognize them?

Ah apologies I actually thought it was a recent show as it wasn’t on my radar at all and a friend shared it with me.

I didn’t think I knew any of the other actors but now you say Patricia Arquette…of course!!! She was brilliant. I did watch altered carbon but don’t remember it well at all apart from the main dude.

Glad to hear others thought it was great as the other half was so so about it but I absolutely loved it. So nice to watch something utterly different and the title sequence is just gorgeous.

Has anyone watched Severance? Really something different and really out there. Very stylish. Leaves you guessing and thinking all the way through. Final 2 episodes were amazing and tense. Total cliff hanger ending so Season 2 hopefully. Didn’t recognise any of the actors apart from Christopher Walken.

Tried an episode of Wednesday. Very pretty but felt formulaic, like Harry Potter with an Adam’s Family skin on.

Ha, that’s a blast from the past. Anyone else also remember Heelas in Reading?

(Mum’s family from the Toon, I was born and brought up in Reading)

I do! Born and lived in Reading till I went to Uni.

Big

I can’t believe it still was compulsory frankly. Smiles are good.

I only use Facebook and Strava also. Personally I’ve moved through my phase of thinking Facebook is toxic and have joined a lot of Facebook interest groups (mushrooms, fermenting, horticulture etc) and have a core of groups that are well run and full of helpful, positive people with any snipping quickly shut down. Yes I can waste time on there but it’s only when I’ve got time to waste. If I had more exciting or important things to do I’d be doing those. I also love the memories and have family and friends across the globe who occasionally post up pictures so it’s nice to see a bit of their worlds.

Also I enjoy photography and find it a useful place to store my photos and share with friends. Could just as easily be Instagram but I had Facebook 1st and don’t want both.

Colournoise that sounds amazing. I’m a bit of a foodie but have found I when I go all out for Christmas when it comes to sitting down to eat it all I’ve lost my appetite through being too hot and bothered so have decided to pair things down slightly and also do more in advance so it can be more chilled on the day.

So I’ve done Jamie Oliver’s get ahead gravy and have also made sage, onion, apricot and hazelnut stuffing balls those are in the freezer already. Then picked a joint that will be quick and easy as we only have one oven so instead of the custom rib of beef we’re trying out a rolled rump of dry-aged grass-fed beef. Will have the usual potatoes, sprouts with chestnuts, red cabbage. Oh and yorkies. Christmas eve I’m cooking a cider, honey & juniper cured gammon so no need to cook anything on boxing day. Hmm… doesn’t sound that paired down now I’ve written it all down but the simple joint as apposed to a turkey or goose, like I’ve attempted in the past, should help a lot.

Plus one for shin,the connective tissue when it goes gelatinous is the best bit and boiling in water WTaf?!

Garlic in almost everything I cook. Bloody love the stuff and good for you.

Good quality meat (fatty cut is best), fried off, onion and garlic fried, stir in a tablespoon full off flour, fresh herbs, carrots or whatever veg you want in there, just covered with water, add in a Knorr beef stock pot, season and slow and low until tender and reduced. Keep an eye on the level of liquid incase you need to top up a little. Or use wine or beer instead of water.

Using the heating a lot this last couple of weeks and the log burner in the evenings. Set to 17 during the day if we’re in and all turned off upstairs as we seem to lose a lot of heat up there. Downstairs stays much warmer. Turn the rads upstairs back on before bed so we have an hr of heat in the morning. The bedrooms are chalet style so sit within the roof. The loft is insulated well but front and rear walls of the house seem very thin and flimsy with a hollow sound if you tap them. We used to have condensation run down these walls before installing a PIV as they are the coldest place in the house due to having triple glazing. The side wall of the house is cavity wall insulated. Any of you clever people know the best way to go about improving the insulation for this type of build?

Feels that way just now. Over 2 years without COVID or any other bugs then got COVID and was pretty poorly for a week end of July, another cold in October not too bad but annoying and now I’ve been knocked out since Friday with a horrendous cold, was sick one night and stomach cramps, tight chest and totally bunged up, tired and dizzy. Soooo bored now.

Got a PS4 pro a month or so back. Excellent bit of kit once we’d cleaned all the dust out the back to get it running quietly. Playing Ghost of Tsushima with 4k TV and I find myself just standing admiring the view. Beautiful game and excellent winter escapism.

Piv is the best solution for removing condensation from a house ime. It used to run down our poorly insulated bedroom wall as that was colder than the triple glazed windows. No condensation or mould since installing piv.

Facebook market place can be good for that sort of thing. I got an enormous perfect condition cousances casserole dish for £20 that would have cost £200 odd. I’ve given up on most of my non stick too and go for seasoning proper pans and woks now though do have one non stick for saucy things like curry.

I feel ya. Same kinda month actually year here. Cat died April, dog died October, shit bathroom installers **** up our tiling then put scare tactics solicitors on to us over the dispute, now the porch roof and extension flat roof are leaking and no-one has come back with a quote after several weeks. Also trying to sort out a crappy bathroom job done at my mum’s that’s failed after less than 2 years and the only tradesperson to reply to requests has turned out to also be rubbish and I had to work out why water was pissing out the brand new shower screen he fitted was because he’d put the door on upside down and left the rubber seal in the airing cupboard as it wouldn’t fit, also left loads of gaps in sealant. Garrrrrgh!!

No dishwasher here. No ideal place for it without losing cupboard space. Only the 2 of us so one cooks and one washes. Fairs fair. I seriously doubt it uses more power or even water. We’re very frugal and have nice low bills each month. 20 minutes max to wash up an elaborate meal and max 2 small washing up bowls if I’ve used lot’s of large saucepans and baking trays. Everything is lightly rinsed before air drying on the rack and no need to put everything away apart from big stuff. It’s perfectly tidy on the drainer until you use it next. Whoever said you have to wash up 3 times a day so use 3 times as much… seriously a couple of toast plates and mugs from the morning and those get done with dinner. If I do wash up just a small amount to be tidy it uses a couple of cups water max. Also washing up by hand obviously saves money in winter as you’re moving about more so saves needing the heating on as high during that time plus we’re on our feet so helping fight the obesity epidemic. Win win 😉

I’d vote for Malaga or Granada. Spent our winter there last year. Lot’s to do and see. Marbella is so tacky and full of fat Brits.

All made from bits of old decking and a summerhouse we pulled apart.

You couldn’t even pick up a slice without it breaking off. The boss last didn’t really want to hear it.

It’s not how I like my pizza but it is the style of the region and seems to be what the Italian pizza places in Brighton mostly serve and I’m guessing that’s based on demand. So complaining about that is off imo. For a thin and crispy pizza you can pick up in a slice I find it has to be homemade.

Made me think that perhaps a large majority of their clientele had never had a decent pizza or were perhaps too engrossed in their new nose piercing/hair (Cheesus.. Brighton sucks in all the dregs that Shoreditch can’t deal with…. It’s like Basildon, but for freaky hipsters….)

Cheers for that. Now you just sound like a Richard. Brighton is an amazing place for food but like anywhere with thousands of places to eat it can be hit and miss and the really good places are booked out weeks in advance on the weekends.

Not been there. I like Fatto a Mano though the pizzas can still be pretty sloppy but that is the way of most of these types of places. Too many toppings usually.

Where was it?. I live in Brighton and it’s hard to get a really good pizza. Actually eating out is a minefield these days with lack of good staff, rising costs causing businesses to cut back on choice or quality. I feel sorry for them tbh. I now go a few select places that I know will be consistently good and if I’m gambling on a cheapish place I’ll rarely bother saying anything but if it’s a proper restaurant and expensive I would give polite feedback.

This is in a microcosm shows all that is wrong with western lifestyles

Depressing isn’t it. Sod the environment don’t want muddy paws on the dog! Hate how many gardens must be tortured into an immaculate extension of the house.

I put my trv to the frost setting in the spare room but it’s just full on unless I turn off completely. The room was toasty so it seems to me it’s not working and is either full on or full off same as Fazzini’s problem there is no sensitivity with it turning on and off depending on room temp. Also the trv in my bedroom is permanently on even in the off position. Any ideas on a DIY fix?

Horrible stuff ends up in landfill. Gets hot, gets dirty, weeds grow in it, leaves turn to mush and get ground into it, could go on. If lawn not working patio, decking, bark area would be preferable. Or train dog to not tear up the lawn.

£165 for 1.4 cubic metre barn dried, local wood from forestry management and certified ‘ready to burn’ delivered to Brighton.

Pub down the road turned completely grey a few years ago. 🤣

Southern Spain. Good weather, cheap and lot’s of great countryside/beaches.