Don't Kill Snails with Salt ... Creme Eggs & Toasted Teacakes ... Biscuits & Bench Stories, Life, the Universe, & Everything! Showing 9,051-9,100 of 9,227

[Val]

Done! Thanks nc!

[Derek]

nc, I'll have a look at this next week when I'm back in the UK. I've sent you a PM by the way.

Cheers,

Derek

[TheFoe]

Hi nc, thanks for the kind invite but I don't use Facebook. Sorry to hear about Greysuit, he was a good bloke.

[suzysunshine7]

Autumn Snails ;o> ...

[suzysunshine7]

"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness"

[suzysunshine7]

Hiyah everyone! ... x x x

I hope you are all keeping well ;o>

[Isabella]

Fine, thanks, Suzy. Hope you are doing well yourself x

[suzysunshine7]

Isabella wrote: "Fine, thanks, Suzy. Hope you are doing well yourself x"

Still doing my best to make the very most of a life less lived ... x

How are your wonderful garden plans coming together? Have you managed to do any more major landscaping this year? ;o>

[Helen The Melon]

suzysunshine7 wrote: "Hiyah everyone! ... x x x

I hope you are all keeping well ;o>"

Hi Suzy. Only just seen this as the "new" post notifications for some of the threads still aren't working for me - this is one such thread.

Hope you're keeping warm.

[suzysunshine7]

Hiyah Helen ... every time I see a Spider these days I always think of you! ... LOL!!! ;o> ... x

Yes, one of the unexpected benefits of now having a Cat is that we have to keep any open windows made safe and secure with the window lock mechanism so that they are barely open at all ... and we have discovered the house suddenly seems to be staying much warmer during the day than it usually does at this time of year ;o>

[Isabella]

suzysunshine7 wrote: "Isabella wrote: "Fine, thanks, Suzy. Hope you are doing well yourself x"

Still doing my best to make the very most of a life less lived ... x

How are your wonderful garden plans coming together? ..."

I put a photo of a newly planted bit of the garden on my profile. Gez the gardener cleared a lot of brambles etc and we planted it up last week. Fingers crossed it all grows, there's a lot of rocks and branches to try and keep the soil in place and clearing stuff has left the rocks exposed so it provides a background when the plants grow. That's the idea, anyway.

How are you enjoying life with a cat, Suzy? Has she settled in, now?

I've got the same problem with notifications, a few work but most don't.

[Anita]

Suzy,lovely to see you back on herex

[suzysunshine7]

Isabella wrote: "I put a photo of a newly planted bit of the garden on my profile. Gez the gardener cleared a lot of brambles etc and we planted it up last week. Fingers crossed it all grows, there's a lot of rocks and branches to try and keep the soil in place and clearing stuff has left the rocks exposed so it provides a background when the plants grow. That's the idea, anyway."

It looks and sounds like really hard but worthwhile work. I love all the photos showing how your beautiful garden is coming together ;o>

Yes, Pixie is settling in beautifully and her character is also continuing to be as loving and playful and companionable as she came across on the first day we met her attempting to jemmy open our neighbour's small closed Bathroom window on the second floor of her house by climbing the drainpipe and hanging off barely a few centimetres of window sill by the tiny tips of her claws!

I still feel shocked and sick to my stomach just remembering what she was desperately trying to do that day! She must have had a Guardian Angel looking out for her to make sure she didn't fall and kill herself! ;oO

She continues to bring such warmth and joy and laughter to the house at a time when it is SO very badly needed by me and my Mum as my Dad is now sadly reaching the very end of his life. I feel absolutely sure that she was 'sent' to us to give us the strength to keep on going through such dark and difficult days ;o>

[suzysunshine7]

[suzysunshine7]

[Isabella]

So sorry to hear about your Dad, Suzy, these things are hard to cope with but it sounds as if you have a helping hand with Pixie. Cats are brilliant when you need them.

[suzysunshine7]

Thank you, Isabella ... x ... yes, sadly, the last four months have been an incredibly hard and harrowing time and it doesn't help to live with the knowledge that the very worst of it all is still to come.

I love the way that Pixie simply fits in around us and also how she contentedly sleeps so much too as it helps to free up a lot of time during the day that I don't think we would have been able to have if we had chosen to adopt another dog.

When she first came, I did sometimes feel I was missing the kinds of interaction that we were more used to when we had dogs ... but once again, Pixie has surprised us by frequently carrying her favourite things around the house and taking great pleasure in bringing them to us. She clearly understands the word "fetch" and always greets any visitors at the door with a friendly and welcoming "Meow" ... ;o>

It really does feel meant to be that she is here with us now ;o>

[Collette]

I'm really sorry to hear about your Dad Suzy. I'm glad that your beautiful Pixie is bringing some much needed comfort to you and your Mum. xxx

[suzysunshine7]

Collette wrote: "I'm really sorry to hear about your Dad Suzy. I'm glad that your beautiful Pixie is bringing some much needed comfort to you and your Mum. xxx"

Thank you, Collette ... x x x

Yes, it really was perfect timing that our lovely little Pixie came to live with us just 6 days before my Dad got his terminal diagnosis.

[Helen The Melon]

suzysunshine7 wrote: "Hiyah Helen ... every time I see a Spider these days I always think of you! ... LOL!!! ;o> ... x"

I have had some absolutely whoppingly huge house spiders this summer and autumn. My mum and dad have had ginormous one's too. Someone's been giving them growth hormones. Yuk.

I had dinner at m & d's on Sat night and just as I was leaving, my mum and I could hear my dad tap dancing in the bathroom whilst repeatedly going "aaargh", "aaargh". Yes, he was trying to catch a demented house spider. It was another whopper.

So sorry to hear about your own dad, Suzy. I'm glad Pixie is providing some light relief and distraction for you and your mum.

[suzysunshine7]

Ohhh Helen! ... I am sat here falling about with laughter at the image you have created of your Dad in the Bathroom engaged in a battle (to the death!) against a House Spider! ... LOL!!! ;o> ... ;o> ... ;o>

[suzysunshine7]

[Anita]

Suzy ,how scary to see pixie hanging from your neighbour by her claws.She certainly does sound a character,it's nice to just smile sometimes over our pets especially when in when we're in a sad situation with your dad.Im sorry I haven't emailed you ,everything up in the air at my end .We have a new baby at work ,,three boys ,gosh itll kill me .nameless at the moment.Ive had my. rother in hospital for a month,first critical up at St George's tooting ,but now lucky to have him back at Tunbridge Wells hospital.Ill email you at the weekend .All the best to you and your mum .

[suzysunshine7]

Awww Anita ... x ... I am SO sorry to hear about your brother being ill and hospitalised. It sounds like his condition has improved since his first admission was to Critical Care and I hope he makes a full recovery from whatever ails him ... x

[suzysunshine7]

Beautiful Autumn ;o> ...

[suzysunshine7]

My favourite time of year ;o> ...

[Anita]

Thanks Suzy.

[suzysunshine7]

Lest We Forget ...

[suzysunshine7]

I hope everyone is coping with Storm Bert. We are just having a few downfalls of heavy rain with very strong winds starting to build up momentum while whooshing and whistling all around the back garden ...

[suzysunshine7]

It's definitely a big bowl of hot creamy Porridge for breakfast kind of day today.

... with a big dollop of Apricot Jam! ;o>

[suzysunshine7]

Posting on here and also on the Today thread too as no-one else, except for me, seems to use the Chat threads anymore ... and I really would value some recommendations for a Lemonade that is made only with sugar and no sweetener please?

Sadly I don't think we will be celebrating Christmas here this year, due to the way that things are with my Dad, but I suddenly decided late last night to take advantage of a bargain of a price on Warninks Advocaat on Amazon.

I rarely ever buy anything for myself but I simply couldn't resist buying a bottle as a very special treat and now I need to find a delicious zingy and zesty full flavoured Lemonade (with no nasty sweetener aftertaste) to use as a mixer so I can enjoy a few lovely large Snowballs over Christmas time ;o>

I've already done a Google and so far I've come up with two I have never tried out before ... Belvoir ... and Franklin & Sons 1886 Lemonade ... has anyone on here tried either of these?

[Val]

I doubt I'd be much help Suzy as you have so many different brands to us. I really only know good old Schweppes and Fever-Tree. Over here, I mainly drink Kirks but i think it's Australian only.

[suzysunshine7]

I blame you for my renewed love of Snowballs, Val ... (laughs) ;o>

I had somehow forgotten over almost a decade just how wonderful they are until you so kindly sent me that fabulous Christmas treat a couple of years ago ... x x x

Almost every soft drink here is sugar-free and packed with sweeteners to avoid the need to place a Sugar Levy on them and I, unfortunately, am someone who really can't get past the absolutely horrendous bitter chemical taste of most sweeteners.

I read an article explaining it was all down to tastebuds in some people not able to recognising sweeteners as being sweet and it suggested experimenting with trying different types of sweeteners to see if it makes any difference. And it turns out that I can actually enjoy the blend of sweeteners that is used in Robinsons soft drinks as being quite pleasantly zingy yet sweet enough ... Sucralose and Acesulfame K

I used to buy a really great Lemonade from Sainsburys that was only made with Sugar but the year before last they upped the price and at the same time reduced the Lemon Juice content by so much that it eventually became just a bland syrup flavoured fizz and soon after that it became discontinued.

[suzysunshine7]

Val wrote: "I doubt I'd be much help Suzy as you have so many different brands to us. I really only know good old Schweppes and Fever-Tree. Over here, I mainly drink Kirks but i think it's Australian only."

I had already had a look at Schweppes and Fever=Tree on Amazon as you really can't beat the website for their Customer Reviews but it seems they both contain sweeteners. We may have many brands but they all seem to have the same complaints over the heavy use of sweeteners or complete lack of zingy Lemon flavour.

[suzysunshine7]

Oooh ... it seems Amazon UK did sell Kirks previously but not currently ... what a shame! ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kirks-Lemona...

[Isabella]

The sugar levy is another example of the problem of unintended consequences. I don’t have a particularly sweet tooth, so lots of products are too sweet regardless of sugar/sweetener content. I often radically reduce sugar in recipes because of it. There’s also still, I believe, some debate over how safe sweeteners are long term but I may be wrong about that.

[suzysunshine7]

Sweeteners, hidden sugars (disguised in a variety of different names), and the utterly revolting and mind-blowingly stomach-churningly gloop of Glucose Syrup seem to be in absolutely everything these days including even savoury products too ;oO

I still keep being amazed at just how much sweetener and sugar is used in Breads, Sausages, Soups, Salad Dressings and Sauces, etc.

I guess we are all now so used to this steady and decidedly secretive increase in sweetness that most of us don't tend to notice it as much anymore? It has become an addictive fix of sweetness that most people prefer and somehow seem to think is also much better and far healthier ... to eat lower fat and higher sugar food products these days instead of eating the higher fat and lower sugar food products of a few decades ago.

[Isabella]

It’s even true of fruit and veg if you think about it. No additives in the fresh stuff but plant breeders have been selecting for sweetness for years, carrots, tomatoes, peas etc.

[Val]

When fat became the bad guy we were inundated with low-fat products (yes, yoghurt, I'm looking at you) but a quick perusal of the contents (and we have very good laws about their display here) showed the sugar content almost doubled. And they wonder why we have an obesity and diabetes problem!

[Val]

I had a look to see what UK products I could find here in Oz and came up with Barrs (Scottish??) but it seems to have both "sugar" and Aspartame, Acesulfame K. And Fentimans Victorian lemonade (and rose lemonade) which contain steviol glycosides from stevia. You probably had ruled them out already.

[Isabella]

This is a personal thing, others will differ but I tend towards a higher fat, lower carb diet simply because I like it. For my age, my weight and fitness are fine but I accept that some of that is down to my particular constitution. I do resent having to check the ingredients on so many things. No palm oil, on principle, no gelatine, no sweeteners, no hydrogenated fats etc. It would be even worse if I were vegan instead of vegetarian!

[Sera69]

Interesting. The sugar content in things reminds me that Subway bread has so much sugar it's actually classed as cake and not bread.

[Isabella]

Sera69 wrote: "Interesting. The sugar content in things reminds me that Subway bread has so much sugar it's actually classed as cake and not bread."

I didn't know that!

[Helen The Melon]

I haven't drunk lemonade for years and was going to suggest Fentimans as it used to be delicious, but it appears that they too have succumbed to the sugar tax and added Stevia to their recipe. I have no idea what it's like now.
Belvoir used to be good, but again, I have not had it for years so it may be different now. Sorry.
It seems to be that most soft drinks have had some, or all, of the sugar replaced with sweetners.

As an alternative...
My sister gets cans of Whole Earth's sparkling soft drinks - Ginger and she loves the Lemon and Orange. She hasn't tried the Lemonade. They are sweetened with agave syrup and concentrated apple juice.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whole-Earth-...

Sorry I can't be more helpful.

[suzysunshine7]

Val wrote: "I had a look to see what UK products I could find here in Oz and came up with Barrs (Scottish??) but it seems to have both "sugar" and Aspartame, Acesulfame K. And Fentimans Victorian lemonade (and..."

I did try Fentimans a few years ago but I always found it a bit odd in flavour ... sweet and not quite Lemony enough with a chemical aftertaste and a hint of Ginger even though Ginger was not listed as being an ingredient. I have been trying to price check for any bargain buys on Belvoir but it seems to be extremely expensive everywhere I look.

However, while I was looking, I also looked at Lime and Lemon 'ades' as well as Lime always adds a lovely extra fruity zing to a Snowball and I discovered there were consistently excellent reviews for 7up Regular Lemon & Lime. It contains Sugar and the sweetener Stevia and Amazon is currently offering a 2 Litre bottle for just £1.48 with S&S (making it cheaper than Supermarket prices) so I think I'll give it a try ;o>

[suzysunshine7]

I really love Fentimans Rose Lemonade ... especially in Summer I find it goes so well with a nice piece of Cake ;o>

I tried it out with some Advocaat though, out of curiosity, and while it was drinkable it wasn't the kind of Snowball I really enjoy as a treat.

[suzysunshine7]

Sera69 wrote: "Interesting. The sugar content in things reminds me that Subway bread has so much sugar it's actually classed as cake and not bread."

WoW! ;o>

[suzysunshine7]

Helen The Melon wrote: "I haven't drunk lemonade for years and was going to suggest Fentimans as it used to be delicious, but it appears that they too have succumbed to the sugar tax and added Stevia to their recipe. I ha..."

That's extremely helpful, Helen ... x ... I was looking at the Whole Earth range yesterday. I will go with cheap first and try the 7up but I'll be looking at experimenting with other brands if the prices are reasonable and the 7up doesn't hit the spot as a good mixer ;o>

[suzysunshine7]

I can't remember if Stevia is a sweetener that tastes okay to me or not but I'm prepared to try it out at £1.48 a bottle. I definitely know that most sweeteners like Aspartame and Saccharin tastes exactly like how I would expect Petrol mixed with Vinegar and Battery Acid would taste! ... LOL!!! :o>

[suzysunshine7]

I've never bought anything fizzy from Amazon before?!! ... I hope it won't explode during transit or on delivery! ... LOL!!! ;o>