November 2021 chit chat

Erm. we're still in November, right?  How's everyone?  Alive and well, I hope?

US friends: ready for the annual turkey festival?

Not for what the price of turkey has risen to !!!!  Besides, the way the virus is jumping the vaccine, I'm staying home curled up on the sofa ( with a bunch of GTC dvds  )

Sounds like a good plan, there!

I've just made the Christmas cake.  I'm 'working from home' because I got pinged by test and trace for having been in contact with someone who's since tested positive for Covid, so I had a bit of spare time in the last 30 minutes of the working day.  That's one thing I won't have to do at the weekend now!

Admin wrote:I've just made the Christmas cake.  I'm 'working from home' because I got pinged by test and trace for having been in contact with someone who's since tested positive for Covid, so I had a bit of spare time in the last 30 minutes of the working day.  That's one thing I won't have to do at the weekend now!

Is that like our fruit cake,,, douse it with alcohol every day til Dec 24th????
  

I mean the cake, not the baker

  Why not both? It would make this weird holiday season more tolerable.

Katie - I hope your exposure doesn't lead to anything. Take good care. Wouldn't want you to get sick.

(Just watched "Suburbicon" again. This time I found the egregious amount of bloodshed surprisingly satisfying. Reminded me a lot of FDTD. Guess I was just in the right mood for it. Still don't love the ending and even more think that they tried to cram two movies into one.)

I'm with you, Lizzie.  Dowsing myself and the cake in booze regularly.

All good on the covid front here.  Finally got my negative test result and got back into the office on Thursday.

Katie - Glad to hear you're ok. IMO, being sick at this time of year is the worst. Even if you're up and around it's hard to enjoy things if your body is telling you to get back in bed.

Wondering if anyone else saw "Tick. Tick - BOOM!" on Netflix? It's the story of how Jonathan Larson (the guy who wrote "Rent") started out. It's directed by Lin Manuel Miranda and stars Andrew Garfield. George's pal Richard Kind is in it, too. I'd be interested to hear what anyone else thinks.

                  To everyone getting ready for Turkey Day on Thursday, don't forget to breathe!  One way or another it will all get done, so relax. The important thing is to enjoy the day and appreciate the good things in our lives.

Love it, Lizzy - Turkey Day!   (poor thing...)

Don't know how long you were grounded for, Katie. My daughters have both been pinged - but for different times! And I'm guessing someone has worked out that that time depends on cases in your area etc etc.

And we all know that it was some genius woman who worked it all out in the UK - and then of course went back to her proper job!

PAN - Don't feel sorry for those dumb birds (and they are dumb!). Feel sorry for all us poor folk who have to spend days shopping and prepping and cooking and cleaning - all for ONE MEAL! It's exhausting! And you just know someone will think the meat's overdone or underdone, too salty, too bland....and that's just the turkey! Forget about the side dishes..."This was better last year. Why didn't you make that?" "Why did you/didn't you invite.....?"

It's my favorite holiday (can't you tell?) but I'm glad it only comes once a year. Aren't you glad you don't have to go through this annual ordeal? Or do you have something else that is the equivalent stress-inducer?

Re: covid. If you're exposed how long do you have to quarantine? Does it vary from place to place? Why? That doesn't seem logical to me.

Oh dear Lizzy - not much of a rest for you! 

 I'm now at a point where the family have discovered that I'm not too good at this stuff and   I've proved it, so it tends to be what some might call a joint venture - but  they have mostly   taken over the menu - and of course they do a
 much better job and have their own ideas

  I've also managed recently to stop doing the several course type dinners - and doing help your
  yourself buffets and sit where you like. So a barbecue without a barbecue sort of. Also noticed
  that fewer people are eating meat and so always other options

 Covid. Haven't been pinged so far, Lizzie - but know plenty who have and everyone who goes into work has to do lateral flow tests everyday. Of course
 most people don't have to go into an office everyday any more but most people have the NHS app which alerts them when they come into contact with
 anyone who's got Covid and tells them to isolate for however many days is necessary...

PAN - As far as covid goes, it seems you're much more organized than we are. I guess it's partly because we're more like 50 countries than one, but it's also because we have more than our share of idiots. People are constantly being sent home from work or school because they've been exposed. It seems like this will never end.

As far as Thanksgiving goes, even if it's a buffet  - or a picnic in the park - you still have to have the turkey and all the trimmings. Usually it's a collaboration and some of the guests will bring something they've made. Others will bring wine or desserts. One of my friends is always asked to bring her "wonderful brownies" - which only she and I know are made from a mix, right out of the box.

You have the right idea. If you mess something up badly enough people will stop asking you to do it! Wish I'd thought of that a long time ago, Too late now!

I hope all our American friends will have a very Happy Thanksgiving.  Whatever you do and wherever you are. I’ll be helming the kitchen Thanksgiving for our mini feast.  Just the fully vaccinated family - some triple jabbed already.  I love Thanksgiving.  But it is a lot of work and planning.  
So love the holiday but always relieved when it’s over!
Enjoy!

No Turkey for me no one likes it but me so it's chicken and ham. 

I wish all those who celebrate Happy Thanksgiving.

 It's already started!Taking a break from prepping to check my mail and read a little of the papers. It's going to be a loooong day. 

I know Canada celebrates Thanksgiving, but does the UK have anything similar? (Not so much the reason for the day, but an all-out major celebration.)

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody who's celebrating!
Lots of turkey and other food and meeting up with beloved ones 

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate the day and the sentiment.

How is everyone?

We did salmon and chicken (in the Ninja Foodie, and I don't care what anybody says) :-) but otherwise traditional dishes cooked the old-fashioned way.

Food is put away, dishes and kitchen are clean. I am done. Wiped out. Already stretched in bed, and just turned on the heated blanket. I will cruise the site until it's time to call my mom, but other than that, minimal muscle movement for the rest of the night.

Happy Turkey Day, Way! Taking a break before putting away the last of the dishes and then I think I'll follow your example and crash. What a day!

Glad you're back. It seems like a long time since you posted. How do you feel about the schools George is getting involved with? Do you think it will help change things? I wonder if they'll affiliate with the studios - maybe an apprenticeship program? What do you think?

Hope you all had a brilliant time - and continue to have one through the weekend.

Lizzy - We have as you know, something called the NHS, and most of the world has similar so the bottom line is that county politics are not influencing decisions depending on politics - so the government, whoever they may be, take the advice of the scientists and doctors who know best. Really unfortunate too that you may have lost time because of someone called Trump..
Don't know how you're all doing on jabs. Here anyone who's currently 25 or over can get the third booster..........

And another strain now threatens.......

PAN - We're still into getting people to take the first booster and giving children their first shots. And, sadly, there are still plenty of people who refuse to get vaccinated at all. Are there many people like that in the UK? I'm not sure we'll ever get rid of this virus. As i said before, you're doing a better job of handling this than we are.

Re: Thanksgiving - Do you have a similar holiday that involves days of planning and hours of prepping with all sorts of expectations attached? Would Christmas dinner be a close equivalent?

Just saw a report about the storm that hit the UK this weekend. Hope all are well, safe and warm. I thought your weather was supposed to be milder than ours!

Any idea why the NY Post would recycle the story about George's motorcycle accident this weekend? They also mentioned the Tender Bar, but really only in passing. Just thought it strange to bring up the accident again.

Mm, lots of repeat stories around from The Tender Bar premiere in London and all the column inches that went with that - reckon it's Stan at work ahead of The Tender Bar release in NYC
on December 18th (?) maybe.......and awards season.......

The storms in the UK hit the north east of England the most and several thousand power lines are still down mostly because trees fell in the incredible winds and knocked out the electricity
cables like never before. Global warning is giving us some idea of what is to come.......

Christmas - ah, yes it's big. But I am very lucky because everybody from this house is so much better at the cooking and prep bit, and we've also got rid of the traditional turkey meal which they all find really boring now,  so much more tasty things with garlic and herbs etc

Oh, and Christmas morning usually consists of fizz..........

Often some of us who are awake might go to a Midnight Mass to sing the odd carol on Christmas Eve. And everything stops for the Queen's Christmas Day Message at three o'clock in the afternoon..........

PAN - "Fizz...."? Your Christmas dinner sounds like fun. I don't think we could get away with a Thanksgiving without a turkey. We can add other things - roasts, a ham, other things - but there has to be a turkey. It's  just expected.

Were you affected at all by the storm? I hope not. We're going through a stretch of dry weather, a little colder than normal but not bad. So far no snow. Fingers crossed.