Early Risers.

[New Haven Neil]

Far be it from me to comment that Puppers' old ditch pumps need keeping dry to actually run .....LOL, Hodna joke.     All in jest, Puppers!  

 

I follow a bunch of young Americans on You Toob ('Cleetus McFarland' - no it's not his real name, just the market he appeals to and therefore pay for his toys - see iD comment about marketing!) who are becoming successful drag racers and race track owners, they have much the same thing going on with US made cars vs 'imports'- doesn't matter where from, just 'imports'. I'm not sure they're really bothered in real life, but their audience love it - yeehaa types.  Think Dukes of Hazzard.

[TheQ]

Of Foreign foods, I was in need of more horse radish sauce yesterday.

I inspected "ocean spray " "horse radish sauce" 16% horseradish the rest, vinegar, filler and chemicals.. Colemans 36% Horse radish.. Need less to say I bought the Colemans..

Looking up Ocean Spray  they are an American  company who contributed $387,100 to a $46 million political campaign known as "The Coalition Against The Costly Food Labeling Proposition, so they don't want to let you know what's in it..

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

I have a parcel to prepare and post then I will walk down to the surgery. 

 

 

 

It seems the Royal Mail are now offering free parcel collection until the end of May:

https://www.royalmail.com/collection

- though Bear does tend to get parcels collected via a courier cos' it's cheaper (though anything of any significant value does get the RM treatment)

 

25 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

Far be it from me to comment that Puppers' old ditch pumps need keeping dry to actually run .....LOL, Hodna joke.     All in jest, Puppers!

 

Ding Ding!  Round One......

Wall painted, now it's door skimming time....

[Barry O]

Prefer to go a walk to the Post Office, so much nicer to get fresh air.

 

Baz

[jonny777]

Dry and sunny here in North Somerset. I'm going to have to cut the grass again if this keeps up. 

 

It is strange how much money is wasted by house-movers (and by that I mean the people who move in, have many thousands of £££s work done and then put the house up for sale). Our new-ish Greek neighbours have asked if the front garden fence between them and us is theirs (Yes, but apparently not marked on their deeds) and would we mind if they replaced it (Not at all). 

 

During this exchange I noticed that they had just turfed the whole of their front garden, which must have cost a few quid. Little do they know that the previous occupants spent thousands digging up the entire garden, including the grass and covering the whole area with gravel, on which they parked various little used cars with noisy exhausts, and then moved away a couple of years later. 

 

However, when the previous occupants moved in they spent about £30k ripping out all the downstairs features, internal walls which the occupants before them had spent probably about £30k putting in. The dining room, which had once been the garage became the garage again, but positioned slightly forward to facilitate a downstairs lav; and the kitchen, which had once been a kitchen diner became that yet again. 

 

I have been here 35 years, and am convinced the amounts spent internally next door over that period add up to as much as the house is worth now. Good business if you are a builder, kitchen/bedroom fitter I suppose. 

 

 

[Erichill16]

Morning All,

we have a large garden which needs much digging over. The only way to manage it is to do a small amount every day regardless of other jobs. My back wouldn’t allow me to do it any other way as the soil is very heavy. It’s better to keep it under control with regular short sessions rather than try and ‘blitz’it in one mammoth session.

Swmbo getting restless so better get a move on.

Robert

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

The sun is shining, but it’s quite cool, currently 4C but supposed to get into the 20’s by t

late afternoon. The plan today is to get a first coat of undercoat on the 2 chairs I started yesterday and then spend a few hours in the garden after dinner. 

 

I was giving the turntable a bit a bit more thought last night as I was lying in bed and suddenly remembered that the waste disc is too big to go under the turntable well, so I’ll have to reduce the diameter. This isn’t a problem as will make finding/making a drive belt easier I think. 

 

Anyway, time to go, those chairs (unfortunately) won’t paint themselves. 

 

Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. 

 

Brian

[grandadbob]

Good morning all and sundry,

The sun is shining, the sky is blue and a warm day is forecast.

I have returned from my self imposed exile to nowhere.  Haven't been too good lately but currently feeling OK.

First thing today we went for our second AZ jabs so that's approximately 9 weeks after the first.  Got there at 7.45 and parked OK. We were fourth in the queue and doors opened promptly at 8.00, jabbed at appointed time of 8.10 and back home by 8.35.  All very efficient and really cheerful NHS staff still doing the business!

Not much of note been happening here at GDB Towers although there was an incident 3 weeks ago where we ended up in A & E for 3+ hours.  Wasn't me this time,  The Boss managed to dislocate a toe climbing into the shower.  However by the time she'd hobbled into A & E from the car park it had relocated itself.  After X-ray to check nothing was  broken her toes were strapped up and she was told to keep off her feet for a while.  Fat chance of that happening....and it didn't. 

Our cruise which we'd rearranged for the 3rd time from last April for September has been cancelled (not sorry about that) and we've now re-booked for next April.  Digits will be crossed. 

We have decided to cancel completely our big Golden Wedding Anniversary party which was postponed from last year to early June and would now have to be re-arranged again and quite frankly we can't be bothered.  Smaller local celebrations with family and friends will replace it.

There has been some G-wording and will be more later this morning but still no M-wording.

Enjoy the sunshine while you can, knowing my luck we'll probably have fog, rain, hail, snow, thunder and lightning Easter Monday when kids and grandkids are due to visit for a BBQ. 

Have a good one,

P. Essimist.

[tigerburnie]

Morning all, suns out so off to do a bit of the "G" word, enjoy the warmth and stay safe all.

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

The horse in next doors garden didn't appear to be offended

Sounds like a good “neigh”bour.

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It is sunny here. It may even be warm later. Nothing exciting happening, unless parcels via Royal Mail and Parcelforce counts as exciting. The Parcelforce package is stuff to keep the washing machine and dishwasher happy. The washing machine gets naggy if you don’t run a hygiene programme when requested.  Aditi’s postie parcel is “stuff” from John Lewis and mine is a tool for bending bits of etched metal. 
I finally finished my course of antibiotics this morning so I hope it will soon be safe to venture away from the loo soon!  They have worked doing what they were supposed to however. Aditi’s Dad started practising medicine in the late 1940s, antibiotics must have been such a boon to medical science. His first job after qualifying was as a refugee camp doctor. The camp was so big he had a motorbike (Royal Enfield) to do visits.  
Tony
 

[Coombe Barton]

21 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Sounds like a good “neigh”bour.

Groan button please, even a little one.

[Simon G]

I had hoped that today might actually be slightly warmer than  usual and with a bit of sun - not so as yet!  The wind has dropped to just a mild cool breeze, and it is about 10 degrees here.  The sun is forecast to make an appearance, at which point I will hopefully head up the garden to do a little digging.

 

Before doing any digging, I dont want to miss the postie, as he should be bringing me a Google Chromecast, which I recently purchased online.  My so-called Smart Sony TV does not appear to be very smart at all.  One by one all the apps that came on it have ceased to function, and the TV is unable to update them.  The final straw came when BBC iPlayer didnt work, with a google search showing that it now doesnt work on a whole raft of Sony TVs from around 2014-15.  I used to get Channels 4 and 5 on the TV, but dont now.  The only useful apps on the TV now are Youtube and Netflix and the way things are going, those wont work soon!  Hence the Chromecast, so that I can also use the iPad and mirror the screen onto the TV.  

[jonny777]

I suppose I was fortunate in the 'foreign' food area because during 1972/3 I shared a house with a person a few years older than me who had hitchhiked around Europe. The only country he did not see much of was Albania, because the border inspectors said his hair was too long and wouldn't let him in. 

 

Anyhow, he saw his mission as attempting to wise-up the shy and timid 19-year old me. So in the space of a few months I was taken to various eateries, including Chinese, Indian, pizza and KFC. I didn't really want to go, and my parents had warned me against what they termed as "foreign muck". But, he insisted; and I must say that once eaten I was a convert to those forms of food. I became obsessed with Chinese and then pizzas, not so much Indian and KFC in those days. 

 

Soon I shall be looking back on half a century of munching through these delights, although the last time I had a KFC it tasted nothing like my memories of the 1970s version; and I have spent years trying to re-create the original chicken chow mein and prawn foo yung in my kitchen, and have only just got there via a lengthy experiment with various sauce and five spice combinations. 

 

 

[The Lurker]

Greetings all from Sidcup where the sun is shining and it is warming up nicely.

 

Good to see GDB back now that he has had his second jab (you can't get Covid from ERs you know...  )

 

Mrs Lurker dislocated her toe a few years ago, and took herself to urgent care. The doctor asked if she had had children. When she replied yes, he just pushed the toe back in...

 

She has also dislocated a knee. That was a bit more drastic!

 

Food; I think I am lucky that I grew up in an adventurous food eating house; while there was the usual run of bland meat and two veg (I particularly disliked cold meat leftovers on a Monday, especially the beef which my Dad insists is well done) , we did also get home made curries and chinese style cooking and pizzas as well as pasta dishes and other interesting food. When we lived in Singapore, my Mum (playing the role of bored expat housewife) did cookery class for both Indian and Chinese cuisine (and yes I know these are both wide ranges and should not be classified as such). I also remember that Nasi Goreng was a favourite of mine back then. 

[Erichill16]

1 hour ago, grandadbob said:

 Digits will be crossed. 

 

 

Don’t dislocate them!
Glad to read that ‘you’re back’ as Arnie would say.

Sorry to hear about your cancellations. We’ve also got a cruise booked for September too.

Back to the g word.

Robert

Edited March 30, 2021 by Erichill16
Text missing

[Gwiwer]

9 minutes ago, The Lurker said:

I also remember that Nasi Goreng was a favourite of mine back then.

Wasn’t he an emperor?  The one who built the Great Wall to keep the rabbits out?  Because there were too many rabbits in China. 

[jamie92208]

Safely and quickly back from the surgery. Beth and I got jabbed together. I wonder if the trackers get confused. Lunch is now being prepared and then some more chicken wire to put up this afternoon.

 

Great to see GDB back.

 

Jamie

[Andrew P]

Great to see Bob @grandadbob back this bright and sunny morning.

 

My back is quite a bit better so another short walk to get the joints moving again.

 

Wifey thing off for her 2nd Jab at Lunchtime.

 

Have a good and safe day one and all.

[Coombe Barton]

15 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

jabbed together. I wonder if the trackers get confused. Lunch is now being prepared and then some more chicken wire to put up this afternoon.

Be careful of side effects that you won't notice until they creep up on you. Unless you want to be an apprentice GDB.

[polybear]

2 hours ago, jonny777 said:

It is strange how much money is wasted by house-movers (and by that I mean the people who move in, have many thousands of £££s work done and then put the house up for sale). Our new-ish Greek neighbours have asked if the front garden fence between them and us is theirs (Yes, but apparently not marked on their deeds) and would we mind if they replaced it (Not at all). 

 

 

When my Boss's Aunt died he and his wife spent the next few months driving up to Harrogate (IIRC) from Hitchin every weekend so he and his wife could completely refurb & re-decorate the (run-down) house - plus new carpets, curtains, sort the garden etc. etc.  Then the house was put on the market.  The new owner immediately bulldozed it for the land.....

 

 

2 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Morning All,

we have a large garden which needs much digging over. The only way to manage it is to do a small amount every day regardless of other jobs. My back wouldn’t allow me to do it any other way as the soil is very heavy.

 

 

Sounds like you could do with a rotovator....

 

1 hour ago, grandadbob said:

Good morning all and sundry,

The sun is shining, the sky is blue and a warm day is forecast.

I have returned from my self imposed exile to nowhere.  Haven't been too good lately but currently feeling OK.

 

 

GDB's back!!

 

In other news:

Planing of the bathroom door took place...a nice easy job....normally.  Except that Bear ran out of bottom rail to plane (it's one of those pre-finished hardboard grained six-panel doors); it had a pretty good clobbering, sorry planing when it was first fitted (it needed shortening a fair bit as the original door frame had been lined with a new frame to smarten it up).

All of a sudden the bottom rail became as thick as a sheet of balsa and started moving.  Turdycurses.

So it was find another piece of timber from the "that'll come in handy one day" pile in the shed that was very close to the original size and then plane it a bit so it was a snug fit between the door skins, then glue it in.  Job done

[PhilJ W]

Greetings again from Estuary-Land. I was hoping some of the G word would get done today but hay fever has put paid to that. The M word might get done if I can find my mojo. Here is something for cake lovers, a local delicacy from Essex and Suffolk. https://www.visit-burystedmunds.co.uk/blog/2020/how-to-make-suffolk-kitchel It is still produced by some independent bakeries and served up in a few pubs and restaurants.

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, The Lurker said:

 

Good to see GDB back now that he has had his second jab (you can't get Covid from ERs you know...

Only if you meet an infectious one and are unlucky enough to receive ..... 

 

Welcome back to the Member for Sutton. GDB amongst us once again. 

[The Stationmaster]

G'day all,

 

Doorstep completed yesterday and fully opened to the felines this a.m, humans will have to wait a few days although I do know where to step so am making occasional use.  Finishing that job in blazing sunshine was not fun and we too are forecast a high of 20C today.  Great to see GDB back amongst us - regrettably we too can forget trips at sea for this year although we are thinking seriously about next year (if there is any room left on the ship on its St Kilda voyages).

 

On other matters the garden might be in luck as the GD has 5 days free from duty coming up so she can catch up on her digging.  Not sure if it will also need the rotovator as the soil looks to be in reasonable condition.  Mention of hotel bookings reminds me of 'The Crewe Arms' - which is right next to the station and which had a habit of putting any people booked by the railway into rooms on the railway side of the building.   However when i was working for Trainload Freight our team organiser was a wizard when it came to hotel bookings even getting a very nice sea view for me when a couple of js stayed in Exmouth for a few days to get a special project job cleared up away from the hurly burly.  She was also excellent at picking good hotels and managed some very good ones for us in Bath and Shrewsbury.

 

Now food and I think nowadays - unless we are very lucky in this area - you can get some excellent food at various places..  But although some chefs are [;acing a far greater emphasis on seasonal foods and menus I'm still waiting to find one who really takes advantage of the game season in the way you could so often find on the European mainland;  even the SNCCB staff restaurant at Brussels Midi used to come up with some good stuff during the game season.  But one thing I do find in this country is that it is not easy to get a properly cooked rare(r) steak so it's a dish I tend to avoid unless it happens to come uncooked along with an extremely hot stone on which you do it yourself in a way which suits you (as in one of our local restaurants).

 

I do wonder about 'peasant food' as mentioned by Flavio because for many country people without a meat supply a common meal was bread and cheese with a meat dish perhaps once a week if they were lucky.  Game was of course another thing you could enjoy as a country meal particularly around harvest time when hares tended to hide in the middle of a field whoch was being cut and appeared when there was no cover left and a long way to run.  But instead I do think there is a tradition, not entirely vanished, of various urban foods which were cheap for people living in the growing towns - such things as pies, and obviously  fish & chips which was a child of the railway age.  But the worst trait of the British can still occasionally be found, alas - vegetables cooked down to to mush and all the flavour boiled out of them.

 

Have a good day one and alll and stay safe - which probably also means stay clear of outside places as the litter mountains start to grow.

[PhilJ W]

Is there an echo here on ER's? Anyway welcome back GDB.