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Rosalind, my smoked haddock WAS bright yellow !

If you were here, I could supply you with loads of small poplar branches/twigs - very good kindling!

Blackberries, I agree, Yummy Yummy ! What a job picking them up, but we used to freeze them and then around Christmas, we would make a blackberry pie, sometime mixed with some apples ! A luxury to have mid-winter and all the scratches from picking up the fruit was soon forgotten!

Never made jelly but made a lot of plum, apricot and peach jam - so many jars of plum jam in particular that I used to give some away to neighbours; not keen on eating the same jam day on day out.

Smoked haddock here is now only a very pale yellow at the edges! Ah well.
Best kindling I've found is fallen silver birch twigs and pine cones.
I dislike the woody seeds of blackberries in my teeth so I rarely eat them whole. There are masses of rowanberries and sloes this year- I've started two bottles of sloe gin, should be ready for Christmas.

Oh dear, Ros, that reminds me of school dinners at my school!
I was always getting in trouble for refusing to eat some rubbish food served up to us!
We had a teacher sat at the end of each table. One day she said to me " If you don't eat that , you and I can sit here all afternoon. What lessons do you have?"
I said "Double Maths with you, Miss".
I was allowed to leave the table!

Pigale! I love haddock, smoked or otherwise, but preferably smoked! Like Ros, I've only had it a palish colour though.
I like smoked mackerel, too!

Very quiet on here today. Mind you, I've been busy myself..... haven't even finished today's Times crosswords yet.

Have a good weekend all.

That must have been a wonderful moment, Elle.

Did you have to say grace? We did, and it was years before I understood what that was about! It just seemed like part of the curriculum, like assembly. One I like which still runs though my head is (sorry, Scots)

Some hae meat and canna eat
And some have none tha' want it
But we have meat and we can eat
So let the Lord be thankit.

Other than kedgeree, school dinners weren't bad.

Yes, it is one of my "treasured memories ", Ros!

No, I don't remember saying grace, but then you went to a convent school. didn't you?

I know that 'grace' - my Scottish relatives quote it!

Grey watery yet lumpy mashed potato wasn't too good!
and I hated milk puddings- rice , semolina, tapioca - with a vengeance !

Hi all
Been busy trying to catch up on chores and have 3 x words to do.school dinners were very varied the kitchen nuns had some weird ideas which were sometimes very palatable and others which were given to th e local tramps who came every day for a meal,but it was the soup I remember as on Monday it was thick like stew but by Friday it was almost clear and lukewarm and the milk puddings used to have Nutmeg on the top which I hated.I managed to buy some really peppery watercress yesterday so made some soup and and a batch of sauce very nice with Salmon We had very nice weather yesterday but after the weekend it is going to rain.Where did the summer go

Gosh yes- was it sago or tapioca with those large "eye" things? Yuk. Salad unheard of.

No, didn't go to a convent, it was a GPDST (Girl's Public Day School Trust). There was, as it happens, a convent next door where we used to take our Harvest festival offerings. I felt uncomfortable there and only volunteered once for that duty!

Sorry, Ros, I was obviously suffering from a temporary (I hope!) confusion!
Foggy here this morning! I hope it's clearer where you are - otherwise a rotten day for travelling.
My friend Lin tells me it's lovely weather in Spain! about 30C!
Have fun!

Morning, Doglet!
Did you realise that there are Athletics on Sunday? The Great Scottish Run in Glasgow. BBC2 11am till 2pm.

Hi rosalind
My sister went to a GPDST but because I got expelled from the grammar school (aged 12) I was sent to the convent the education was very good and because I wasnt a Catholic and my parents were paying the fees religion was not forced on me,and I did learn to sing plain chant.I am sure that being smacked is frowned upon now but no one in the fifties complained,in order to learn humility we had to serve the tramps food and it was hilarious when the nuns decided to use margerine on the toast in stead of butter.I got some blackberries from a friend who also introduced me to the Bullace which I gather is an early form of Plum.One of our Bulldogs used to pick Blackberries and eat them,mine are going into a cobbler and a pie

Doglet... dare I ask what you did to get expelled from the grammar school......?!