Amazon exiles discussion
Don't Kill Snails with Salt ... Creme Eggs & Toasted Teacakes ... Biscuits & Bench Stories, Life, the Universe, & Everything!
"Quick, everyone in the car - we're off to Stockport!" :)
Grandson is not being cheeky - having been diagnosed with Asperger's, he is always very literal. We don't really notice anymore and he does have his manners - he did say thanks :)
Grandson is not being cheeky - having been diagnosed with Asperger's, he is always very literal. We don't really notice anymore and he does have his manners - he did say thanks :)
Awww, it really wouldn't matter if he was though ... he's young, it's only Chocolate and it's Easter! I wish we had some little 'uns racing around here sometimes ... but only sometimes! Thankfully, the older I have got, the less it has come to sadden me now that I missed out on having any of my own - and I still get to play daft games with other folk's children once in a while ;o>
Yeah? - this HUGE Turkey!!! ... Mum reckons she simply couldn't find a smaller one anywhere?!! ;oO
WoW?!! - M&D don't often buy me gifts - but when they do ... ! ;o>
After all that turkey, you won't have any room for that egg - you'll just have to admire it for a while longer :)
Ohhh, I won't open it for a day or two yet ... so I will just admire it for now ;o>We have already shared out one of the four Eggs that I bought for M&D ...
... and it was YUMMY!-YUMMY!!-YUMMY!!! ;o>
Another glorious Spring day today but thankfully cooler with a lovely warm and gentle breeze to it - it was just a little too hot for me yesterday. Not a bad day at all on Easter Sunday although Dad was in a mood and temper-tantruming quite a bit throughout and by Lunch time my Mum had given up in tears and then put herself to Bed to get away from it all for a couple of hours. Me and the little hairy woofers got the Dinner prepared and then sat out in the Garden and just left everything on standby until 7pm when everything and everyone was back to being calm and amicable again. I treated Mum and myself to three extra large Port & Lemons each during the day and ended up going to Bed much later than planned, after all of the late night clearing up, but feeling very blessed and a very happy bunny indeed - LOL!!! ;o>
The HUGE Turkey cooked so beautifully yesterday - and I've had a Brunch of some ice-cold Turkey Slices with a couple of small Sausages wrapped in Bacon alongside a big spoonful of Mum's Stuffing ... followed by half of a Crème Egg that I split with Mum ... Yummy!!! ;o>
I hope that everyone else had themselves a good Easter Sunday as well? ... x
Well, the last-minute Amazon bought Simply Delicious Cake Co Simnel Cake went down very well with everyone ;o> ... I'd prefer slightly more Spice and a little less of the distinctly buttery taste that predominates - plus I personally absolutely love Cherries and this Cake has got no Cherries in it. It was packed with other Fruit though, deliciously fresh-tasting (no long-life preservatives and additives to spoil it) and was exceptionally moist ... and so yes, we would definitely buy one again, if need be ;o>
Ohhhhhhh ... and today we have mostly been eating ;o> ...
and ...
Sounds like someone's got a bad case of egg envy :)
Hey? - that's 2 x 200g Eggs between the 3 of us and we still have a small bowl of pieces left over ... well, we did, but it seems Mum finished them off before Breakfast this morning ;o>
Grizzlygrump wrote: "Sounds like someone's got a bad case of egg envy :)"He's a ...
That banoffee one looks like dog food and the cherry one appears to have been eaten once already. Yuk!
Ohhh I give up! - I really do!!! ;o>
Had a lousy start to the week - didn't get much sleep Sunday afternoon/evening before going to work, mainly due to the heat so now I'm playing catch-up. By the time I got home yesterday and had dinner I was overtired so didn't sleep properly again. I'm hoping with it being a bit cooler today I'll be able to get a decent kip and put myself back on track :)
Total Easter egg count for me over the weekend?
Zero.
Total Easter egg count for me over the weekend?
Zero.
Lez wrote: "Good pics, Helen. Do you do the BTO butterfly counts? I do their weekly Garden Birdwatch but I’ve been too dizzy to put food out for a while.Last month on Talk Classical someone in South Californi..."
Helen wrote:
"No, i didn't know the BTO did a butterfly count! This work is for Butterfly Conservation Scotland (Highlands & Islands).
The Painted ladies (& Commas) have only been making it this far north recently. Painted lady mass migration influx varies from year to year, and it's been a few years now since we have been inundated with them up here. It never fails to amaze me that something so delicate and seemingly fragile manages to migrate such a long way from N & W Africa. "
On a recent walking holiday in Cyprus I was lucky enough to witness the phenomenon of the mass migration of Painted Ladies. We walked through clouds of them all day. They were so purposeful -well, as purposeful as such a fluttery thing can be- all headed in the same direction. Amazing to think they had come from North Africa, and still had such a long way to go. We were told they are expected in UK in May, and also that this was the largest migration for years.
aw! boof******hoo! get a grip on yourself, man, and stop whining! some of us ain't got no job - do you think i enjoy having a cozy nap whenever i like, or having to lounge around in this spectacularly sunny weather? eh? F****** right i do! PAAAAAAAAAAAARP! :)
nocheese wrote: "On a recent walking holiday in Cyprus I was lucky enough to witness the phenomenon of the mass migration of Painted Ladies. We walked through clouds of them all day. They were so purposeful -well, as purposeful....."Sounds lovely, nocheese, did you get any photos? Hopefully they'll make it this far north this year then. I didn't see any at all last year.
If anyone else sees any painted ladies this year then you can submit your sighting here:
https://butterfly-conservation.org/ou...
Helen The Melon wrote: "nocheese wrote: "On a recent walking holiday in Cyprus I was lucky enough to witness the phenomenon of the mass migration of Painted Ladies. We walked through clouds of them all day. They were so p..."They didn't stay still long enough! I did try, but they just look like specks. One of our party did manage to get a photo of one of them that landed momentarily on a bush. It was the most amazing sight though.
My apologies if I've asked this before - or if I missed posts relating to it - but... which day are Easter Eggs supposed to be handed out on? Jay and meself go through this every year; she says that it was always (and still should be) on Easter Sunday when she was a kid, yet when I was a little un, I got mine on Good Friday. Obviously the boss gets the final say and the kids have to wait a couple of days for theirs. : )Which one was/is it for you lot?
For us Easter Eggs are always given out and then begin to be broken into on Easter Sunday - but we eat any other Easter treats like Hot Cross Buns and Simnel Cake whenever we fancy them ;o>
Today we have been mostly enjoying the last of the Eggs I bought M&D ;o> ...
"which day are Easter Eggs supposed to be handed out on?"as heathens, blastro, we're barely aware of when easter is, but i believe, yes, that sunday is the day for egg distribution.
I guess it all depends on what day the Easter Bunny comes visiting? ;o>The Thrifty Easter Bunny usually tends to deliver on the following Tuesday ... when all of the Supermarkets have reduced all of their remaining Easter Eggs to even less than half price - LOL!!!
It must be at least 50 years since I last had an Easter Egg but I'm pretty sure that Sunday was the day for handing them out.
It was always Sunday for me as a kid but I don't know how you'd keep to that these days when chocolate eggs are available 365 days a year. Back then Easter was a religious celebration, these days not so much.
Ditto! Sunday morning after church and breakfast was always the traditional Easter. We always had palm crosses and Holy Week posters in the window having fastidiously observing, as good Christians, the whole six weeks of Lent, very religious my mum. She was born Protestant but converted when she married Dad and since then was more Catholic than the Pope! Haven't really bothered for some years since our two are now in their early thirties and no grandchildren as yet. When my mum and sister were still alive I always sent them proper Easter cards, complete with religious scenes and blessings.
In my childhood, Good Friday was a very quiet day in our house, as we weren't allowed to make certain noises before 4pm. By that I mean no singing, whistling, having the radio or tv on, or being generally boisterous. I've always put this down to a fairly strict Catholic upbringing but no-one I know ever did this. The egg giving was done on a Sunday in our house.Regarding Painted Ladies, I'm almost certain we get them down here but certain butterflies can look similar to other ones so I'll take some photos. I did once find a butterfly that was struggling to fly, so I managed to coax it in my hand and walked for about a mile with it before it flew off. Not suggesting I have magic healing hands, it was probably just resting.
The only thing we did differently at Easter was a family outing to the pictures on Easter Monday, a Western if possible. The last one I remember is 'The Tall Men' with Clark Gable. It had good music as Westerns often did.
Good Friday was the most boring day of the year for me as a child. The radio only played dirge-like classical music (or so it seemed to me) and I had to go to church (we were a Roman Catholic family but my parents never observed the requirements). The Good Friday service, including the Stations of the Cross, went for about three hours. Oh the tedium! And this was at the end of Lent when I had probably forsworn sugar for 40 days. Roll on Easter Sunday.
I suppose Sunday has to be the correct day really, considering the whole symbolism of the egg re The Resurrection and stuff; I guess I was just wondering if anyone got their eggs early, is all. I'm the only one? T'other half is pleased to learn this, I tell thees. Must have simply been a case of me being a spoiled brat or something. : )
Blastronaut Mk2 wrote: "Must have simply been a case of me being a spoiled brat or something. : )"Awww, but then again it could also be that you had chocoholic parents who could simply couldn't manage to wait until Easter Sunday to gift and treat you? ;o>
TheFoe wrote: "In my childhood, Good Friday was a very quiet day in our house, as we weren't allowed to make certain noises before 4pm. By that I mean no singing, whistling, having the radio or tv on, or being ge..."Yeah, I had a similar experience, we were allowed out to play but there was to be no loud noises, shouting out or laughing. My Nan used to tell me that it was a respectful way to have a kind-of a Wake for Jesus.
All the Eggs that were collected from the Chickens on Good Friday were marked with Ink and had to be shared out and eaten on Easter Sunday - so Nan would make Omelettes or Cakes for us all ;o>
TheFoe wrote: "Regarding Painted Ladies, I'm almost certain we get them down here but certain butterflies can look similar to other ones......."Hi Foe, yes, you'll definitely get them down your way. They'll be resting & refuelling after crossing The Channel.
Blastronaut Mk2 wrote: "I suppose Sunday has to be the correct day really, considering the whole symbolism of the egg re The Resurrection and stuff; I guess I was just wondering if anyone got their eggs early, is all. I'm..."Yes, Sunday for us too, Blastro. Don't remember anyone getting them on the Friday.
Helen The Melon wrote: "TheFoe wrote: "Regarding Painted Ladies, I'm almost certain we get them down here but certain butterflies can look similar to other ones......."Hi Foe, yes, you'll definitely get them down your w..."
I can't remember the last time that I saw one around Stockport but I rarely ever get to go out now and so that obviously could be the reason why. We mainly have hundreds of white and various off-white ones in our Back Gardens around here.
The last time I definitely do remember seeing several Painted Ladies was while having a Picnic Lunch sat on a Bench in Cley in Norfolk ;o>
Being as we are all talking about them but haven't posted any Pics ;o> ...
suzysunshine7 wrote: "I can't remember the last time that I saw one around Stockport but I rarely ever get to go out now and so that obviously could be the reason why. We mainly have hundreds of white and various off-white ones in our Back Gardens around here."The various white ones can be tricky to identify from a distance, Suzy. You have to get up close and have a look at the underside of their wings, by which time they have usually buggered off!
I usually stay on the Patio, as it isn't easy for me to get up and down the Steps and down our very large Garden without any kind of Hand Rail for support, and the Butterflies tend to flit on the warm breezes across the Lawns from Garden to Garden and Flowerbed to Flowerbed like sudden showers of Wedding Confetti. By the time that I've registered their presence and enjoyed watching them, then contemplated standing up to go and take a much closer look, they are often hiding amongst the Flowers or long gone! ;o>
Our Results for the 2019 Eating of the Easter Eggs ;o> ...Okay, all of the Easter Eggs are eaten and the Results are now in!
In joint First Place M&D &me have all very enthusiastically voted for ...
Chokablok Lemon Meringue Mayhem Egg (200G) ... which was a "Belgian white chocolate egg infused with lemon flavour crunch and popping candy, with lemon flavour decoration loaded with meringue and lemon flavour jellies. Pop goes the Pie - thick white chocolate packed with popping candy and a puddle of lemon flavour chocolate crammed with meringue pieces and lemon flavour jellies" ... as we all absolutely adored the sheer mouthwateringly rich and creamy lemony lusciousness of this one. It really was eggxtremely seriously yummy and Dad and me had quite a time in trying to persuade my Mum to share it out with us instead of running off and eating it all by herself! - LOL!!!
And Chokablok Cherry Bakewell Easter Egg (200G) ... which was a "Belgian milk chocolate egg with pink coloured decoration with flavouring, a cherry flavour jelly sweet, raspberry flavour jelly beans and white chocolate biscuit balls in the front and white chocolate biscuit balls in the shell. My sweet cherry pie - thick milk chocolate with a puddle of cherry and almond flavour chocolate crammed with raspberry flavour jelly beans and white chocolate coated biscuit" ... I'm not really much of a fan of Almond flavourings so I wasn't expecting for me to like this one - but even I was blown away by just how yummy and exciting this fantastic flavour combination was. Definitely a very worthy joint First Place winner!
Both of these Eggs were greatly enjoyed by us all for being absolutely delicious, having quite exciting and mouth-wateringly fantastic flavours, and they are the two (Tesco) Chokablok Eggs that we would most definitely like to see on sale and to buy all over again as an Easter Egg treat next year.
The very close runner-up was the Morrisons 'The Best' Ruby Chocolate Half Egg (310G) which was a "Milk chocolate shell lined with ruby chocolate and roasted pistachios, caramelised hazelnut nibs, candied orange peel and dried raspberries, finished with a gold lustred dark chocolate ganache egg" ... as it had extremely thick and full-flavoured, rich and creamy Chocolate and a delicious small seductively Dark Chocolate Ganache Egg with it.
We were SO looking forward to Shell Lining being as utterly fabulous as it sounded and also looked to be - but were left feeling rather disappointed by the lack of any real taste to the Nuts, Candied Peel with only just the odd sudden hint of Raspberry occasionally making itself known.
We think that the Nuts maybe needed much more of a roasting and caramelising to far better intensify their light and delicate Nut flavours and that it needed the inclusion of a lot more Candied Peel and Raspberry pieces - but despite this promised taste sensation lacklustre let-down - we still really did enjoy it simply for the excellent full flavoured and nicely textured Chocolate and could easily see that, with a few tweaks to the Lining recipe mix, this could truly have been an eggstraordinary eggstravaganza of an Easter Egg. The very last ones around are currently being sold for around a fiver and so M&D have just treated us all to another one (we only paid £3 instore due to extra local Store reductions) to enjoy over the next few days.
The two remaining Chokblok Eggs were the ...
Chokablok Banoffee Bonanza Egg (200G) which was a "Belgian milk chocolate egg with a banana flavour white chocolate decoration with dried banana chips, honeycomb pieces, butterscotch pieces, salted caramel flavour fudge and white chocolate drops in the front, and salted caramel flavour fudge in the shell. A blast of banana - thick milk chocolate with a puddle of banana flavour chocolate crammed with banana chips, caramel fudge chunks and golden honeycomb" ... except that it wasn't all that really as it was seriously lacking on the Banana flavour that we were anticipating and eagerly looking forward to. The puddle of coloured Chocolate wasn't actually Banana flavoured at all - and so the only Banana flavour came from just a few Banana Chips which (as all who have eaten Banana Chips will surely agree on) aren't really as full-on in a rich and creamy Banana flavour as you might be wanting them to be. It was a nice enough Easter Egg but it wasn't anything at all special to want to shout out about.
And the Chokablok Billionaires Egg (200G) which was a "Belgian milk chocolate egg infused with milk chocolate biscuit balls, decorated with honeycomb loaded caramel flavour milk and white chocolate, milk chocolate coated biscuit balls and a caramel flavour fudge pieces. Bang on the money - thick milk chocolate with a puddle of caramel flavour chocolate crammed with honeycomb, chocolate coated biscuit and caramel flavour fudge chunks" ... which was also very nice too, delicious in fact, but flavour-wise it was all too much of a similarity and sameness to again be anything at all special to want to shout out about.
Roll on Easter 2020! ;o>
Stockport County has won it's first League title in 52 years! ;o>And there have been Fire Crackers going off, Horns being sounded, and the sound of Music and folk all singing heard across the Back Roads and Gardens around here all day long - LOL!!!
suzysunshine7 wrote: "Stockport County has won it's first League title in 52 years! ;o>."
We'll say nowt about Chesterfield scrounging around for the odd point to finish around middle-ish of the fifth tier of English football. Bah!
Awww ... x It was just like there was an ongoing party in the background all day yesterday - and it was lovely sitting out in the warm shade of the Garden and listening to the pleasant sounds of such a celebratory, funny, and happy atmosphere coming together all around the Side Roads and Avenues.
Nothing too loud or in any way annoying - just lots of laughter and singing during Back Garden BBQ celebrations ;o>
No Breakfast Trays left out for me? ... no descriptions of delightful Dinners to be envious of? ... no hairy Yeti footprints anywhere? ... and no sign of an AWOL Grizzlygrump? ;o<
He'd better be back soon or he's going to find himself grounded until Christmas ;o>
Weirdest overheard Conversation of the Day ...Two rather elderly ladies in the Fracture Clinic were discussing and comparing their own Beauty Regimes to an Article on 'How To Get Meghan Markle's Pregnancy Glow'
I didn't want to let on that I was listening in so I was left almost beside myself with wanting to just blurt out the blindingly obvious thing that they were completely missing ... the fact that she is Pregnant and they aren't! - LOL!!! ;o>
No Breakfast Tray AGAIN?!! ... HELLO?!! - I'm starving here!!! ;oO
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I'm letting my Dad wrestle with the absolutely MASSIVE Turkey that my Mum has bought for us! ... it's a whopping 10kg in weight?! - and there is only the three of us!!! ;oO