Kitchen Garden Forum

We arrived yesterday morning. I'm loving it so far.

Had lunch in an upmarket Japanese restaurant - maybe the best I've ever been to but all very relaxed. Expensive, yes, but it was a celebration day. If we sell our house or take out a bank loan we might go back.

At least we have friends here (relocated from Kyiv, just like us) so that's better than being like a ghost in the middle of nowhere in Essex. We were met with a lot of grins and welcomes. Happy, happy day!

Top priority now is to buy another freezer because that naughty fishmonger we have in Kent gave (ie sold) us more than twice what I'd asked for. LOL!

Our departure was a bit chaotic - husband organised it. <sigh> So, we're trying to get a long weekend to go back and sort it.

I feel like a different person. There's still a lot of uncertainty but I think it's the isolation that makes me anxious and depressed.

How about you? What makes you feel particulary down or anxious?

Better still... what makes you happy?

Stravaig wrote:Better still... what makes you happy?

Reading letters like yours.

So glad you have found happiness at last, lets hope it continues.

I am glad it's worked out well, Stravaig!

Afternoon Stravaig, glad all has turned out well….

If someone needs help and I can’t help, gets me down.
If someone needs help and I can help, makes me happy.

Glad you,ve reached your new destination. Catching up with old friends always lifts the spirits.
Sounds as if you still have a lot of organising to do but hopefully now you can do it from a more settled base. Enjoy the rest of summer.

Are you planning to try and get all that fish over to a Warsaw? That should be an interesting experience with all the current flight delays ??

I'm glad you are happy Stravaig. I guess you are good with languages.

Hi Folks,

Stephen, I'm good with languages? ROFL! I can argue in a bazaar. I can throw something at a stall holder and shout "That's too expensive" and be offered a better price. But it would not be right to accept the compliment that I'm good at languages. Thank you anyway.

We didn't have a good trip back to Warsaw. My husband seemed quite ill (and getting worse all the time) on the way back, so by the time we got back to our Airbnb flat in Warsaw he tested himself for Covid. Positive. No surprise there. I didn't test myself - no point. I knew I didn't have it. A couple of days later... blimey, I knew I had it. But again why waste a test? Yeah, I understand the point of tests but I'm inclined to think I know if I've got it or not.

He's since tested negative again and I'm not showing any symptoms other than a head full of snot. Reckon we're good to go.

We had to move house (ie flat) yet again at the weekend. <sigh> But our man-with-van turned out to be a very cheerful and helpful Englishman so the move was fairly easy. Now we've been found something better, by the employer, than these little Airbnb places. We went to view one today. Oooh. I liked it. It's not necessarily what I'd choose myself but to be fair it was rather nice. If they can do a couple of small "reasonable adjustments" (ie grab rails and stuff for an old cripple) we'll be be delighted to take the place.

Yesterday evening I went for a nap and when I got up and went to get my sashimi, I discovered that Mr Fatso (my husband) had scoffed it. I was quite angry. But he has now agreed to replace it plus provide a portion of tiramisu as a peace offering.

Meh.

Lots of love to everyone, Kay.

You must be quite worn out with all these moves from place to place, plus a dose of Covid to add to the mix.
Time, I think, for some quiet relaxation to regroup for a while before your next adventures.
Think it might be a while before you're able to settle down to even growing anything indoors in pots though !

The landlord has refused to add a grab rail to the shower cubicle. (We did try the suction grab rails that we bought from Argos but they won't work on that particular shower cubicle for various reasons.) Apparently he doesn't want any holes drilled into his tiles. Really! This is very shortsighted. Could any landlord imagine a better, or more reliable, tenant than the British Embassy (who also agree to make good anything changed or damaged). It would be a good resource for the embassy to have an accessible flat too so they were very agreeable to the little changes I need. The landlord could have made a very good long-term relationship there.

I'm kinda stunned that the landlord is such a [word deleted] that he'd not agree to it.

Meanwhile, we'll stay on in this little Airbnb place. And I'll have to tackle some of the ten tons of Dover sole we unexpectedly ended up with. I thought I might try making potato dumplings (Nathan Outlaw's "British Seafood" book. Of course I won't follow the recipe, but it's given me an idea.) Might be nice with a Pernod and double cream sauce. Never seen double cream anywhere outside UK. Usually the best you can get is whipping cream. Well, I bought a tub and took it with me. It's now past its "best before" but I'm thinking it'll probably be OK.

My husband has now discovered that he doesn't have any suitable shoes for work. (Ha, ha. The boot is on the other foot so to speak.) He's gone out to a nearby shopping mall in the hope of buying some. (Some? I dunno. He only has two feet.) Next I shall get on with the job of making a glorious feast of Dover sole and whatever else we happen to have in the flat.

Well I sort of understand about the reluctance to drill bathroom tiles. If handrails need to be removed from tiles at a later date most damaged tiles simply can never be replaced as almost always they've become obsolete over the years and can't be replaced with identical ones, or indeed sometimes with the same sized tiles as fashions keep changing.

Having said that, we've had our "old fashioned" but immaculately fully tiled bathrooms for 45 years but finally due to age have finally had to have l hand rails drilled in tiles by baths to avoid slipping. However we're working on the fact that when whatever happens to us once our house finally has to be sold, the first rooms to be ripped out and replaced will be the Avocado Green and Pampas Green bathrooms with their coordinating tiles ! (They've grown on us over the years as moss does on an old roof !!) Could you settle for buying a shower stool instead if you're afraid of slipping?

Dover sole is a very nice fish so I'm sure, with your wide range of culinary skills you'll be able to find some nice receipes to use it up.

I too bought a hand suction grip for the bath/shower. Unfortunately having 4 inch tiles the suction pads didn't work.

I know somebody who used one of those suction pads, grabbed it when she slipped and the pad came away from the tiles along with the tile to which it was attached , giving her a nasty gash on the foot,so I suspect they can be a bit of an unreliable safety feature if the tiles are not firmly fixed to an equally solid wall behind them.