Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon from Estuary-Land. Not a lot to report but RMW appears to be OK at the moment. Just had to chase the foxes out of the garden interrupting their love making. Over the next few weeks I will have to stop the vixens from making any dens. Loveable as fox cubs can be they can make an almighty pong. Time for lunch, be back later.

Edited February 3, 2022 by PhilJ W

[tigerburnie]

Access here still poor, pretty much given up on the place at the moment, so if I disappear it is by choice, no need for a search party. Had a nice but windy walk, the weather not me, round the fields, farmers ploughed the stubble ready for tattie planting next month, so back to the path dodging dog muck, if I find the person who bags it then leaves the bag on the path, I may just make them eat it(I think that is definitely a rant, must calm down and think of my blood pressure).

[zarniwhoop]

11 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Regarding: "pecorincino", I'm guessing this is what is called pepperoncini here in the US (actually friggitelli).

It was my spelling. What I meant was what iD referred to as spaghetti olio, aglio e peperoncino although I've only ever seen the garlic placed before the oil in the name.

[zarniwhoop]

7 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Why do some veggies have a downer on cheese?  Isn't the farmer actually doing Mrs. Cow a favour by feeding, caring for and milking her?

 

Bear uses chilli flakes for DIY chilli oil.  Great for giving the pizza or pasta dishes that certain "kick"....
 

The 'uphill both ways' was because the route from home went up a hill, then descended before emerging onto the road where the school was. So coming home also had a significant uphill.

 

For cheese - some of it uses rennet, which is what is off-limits for true vegetarians.

 

I used to have some chilli flakes, but (like everything else in recent years) couldn't get any when I had used them all up, so got the dried chillies.

[polybear]

34 minutes ago, 45156 said:

Caloo Calay - at long last, my mortgage offer has been corrected and issued for the fourth time - the one we got last evening still had a major error how the hell can a major lender get the address of the property that they are taking as security wrong? 

 

Now that could have some real benefits - you stop paying the mortgage and someone else gets their house re-possessed....

 

21 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

......so back to the path dodging dog muck, if I find the person who bags it then leaves the bag on the path, I may just make them eat it

 

We'll be most disappointed if you don't video the event as it happens.  Bear predicts it'll be a Youtube sensation.

[Joseph_Pestell]

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Ooooh yeeeessss. 
My delivery has arrived. 

 

Direct from a tiny 15th Century stone outbuilding behind the Blue Anchor pub in Helston which has arguably the longest unbroken history of brewing its own ales in the UK. 
 

Not the everyday “Middle” either but the potent “Special” at 6.6% ABV.  Puts hairs on your chest, this stuff. Which may be why I have a few

 

I shall enjoy one of these later. I’ll be back dreckly for more. 
 

 

 

 

Visited the pub about 40 years ago. I don't think they did bottles back then.

 

The draught beer came with about 10mm layer of yeast in the bottom of the glass.

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

I looked at the same osb board in our local Wickes and I have decided to use that for mine although it comes out at £17ish compared to the £14ish of chipboard its lighter and according to the sheet of paper tgat was in the pack it can hold more weight even though its 3mm thinner

The Wickes osb board that I got is 18mm x. 300mm x 1220. £17 per pack of three. No other choice really as I am not going to shops. The osb makes the house smell like a forest in Austria! We once bought some pine woodshaving stuffed cushions from a farmers market in Austria. The seller said if they lost their smell we should just put them in a sauna for a while. 

[Ian Abel]

I'm BBBBAAACCKKK

 

Great vacation in Phoenix, and will attempt at some later point to provide a few details/pictures.

For now, here's something fun and of interest to most here I'm sure ;

 

Of course, returning wouldn't be the same without some flustercuck to deal with - again the health care industry strikes, so I'm up to my ears in merde trying to simply get my prescriptions transferred/renewed at the new pharmacy. Their APP sucks, gets me all the way to "Submit" then says call Customer Disservice.
Customer Disservice says, oh, we can't help with that you need to call the pharmacy directly   Sod shi!t P!ss buqqer more time to waste <sigh>

 

Later will be heading to a schola rehearsal, so long as I don't freeze on the way.

In weather news - -24 and sunny here (really doesn't matter when it's this cold!!) with a whopping -15 for the high later 

 

Onward...

 

 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, zarniwhoop said:

For cheese - some of it uses rennet, which is what is off-limits for true vegetarians.

 

Also for some the slaughter of the male calves that are produced when the milk cows produce young is also an objection.. All sorts of milk substitutes get fed to the remaining calves so milk can be produced in quantity for humans. 
I asked Aditi’s Dad what happened to the male calves in Hindu culture. He said they were not slaughtered but kept as draught animals. Aditi’s Mum’s family kept a buffalo for milk instead of a cow but at one stage had specially purchased a brown cow which was thought better for one of her sisters health.  

[Tony_S]

23 minutes ago, Ian Abel said:

some later point to provide a few details/pictures.

That will be great. I was going to ask about one of your Facebook photos but couldn’t find it again. You were visiting somewhere and included a photo of a rare wolf. Was that a stuffed exhibit in a museum or a live one in an animal park? It looked quite alive!
Welcome back.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Tony_S

[45156]

Back again - site still appears to be working a lot better than it was - one thing that I have found is that going back to "content I follow" takes a lot longer than any other page - when I check the little log at the bottom left, it appears to be scrolling through the ads before taking me to my chosen page - I do use uBlock origin in Firefox, and it is very effective but it can't stop the site from searching them.

 

Oh and my printer's fixed - there were several problems which I could never have detected without help - one was that yet again, a MS WIndows 10 update reset all the paper sizes to US letter size, which is a couple of mils out from A4 in length.  Then the MS update managed as well to corrupt the print driver, and unloading and reloading just got the same corrupted driver back - a complete reload from the HP website was needed in order to get a newer and non corrupt version - and at last, my scanner is also working - and that for the first time with this printer.  I will miss the lad when we move - he charges me a tenner to come up and sort the problems - a lot less than an IT professional - and he was very near to getting a degree in the subject when he decided not to continue with his uni course

[PhilJ W]

Hello again from Estuary-Land. Those pesky foxes are at it again, but at least this time it was a quickie, about ten minutes tops. Will have to collect my new glasses tomorrow, two pairs virtually identical. My old ones are still doing their job, there has been little change in the prescription for years but the frames are getting very loose so they have to be replaced.

[BSW01]

6 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Ooooh yeeeessss. 
My delivery has arrived. 

 

Direct from a tiny 15th Century stone outbuilding behind the Blue Anchor pub in Helston which has arguably the longest unbroken history of brewing its own ales in the UK. 
 

Not the everyday “Middle” either but the potent “Special” at 6.6% ABV.  Puts hairs on your chest, this stuff. Which may be why I have a few

 

I shall enjoy one of these later. I’ll be back dreckly for more. 
 

 

 

I'm, jealous, very jealous indeed. It's been a long time since I've had one of those. They didn't sell it in bottles last time I was there, but, if you took you own in they would fill it for you, so I took a few with me! 

Edited February 3, 2022 by BSW01

[Tony_S]

I just had a look at my phone and there was an invitation to attend the local clinic for another Covid booster. I have had two Astra Zeneca, one Pfizer booster and this will be another Pfizer. Going on Friday week. Should have finished the loft by then. Actually I hope I finish it this weekend, I did a lot more today than I thought I would. 
Tony

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, Ian Abel said:

I'm BBBBAAACCKKK ...snip... For now, here's something fun and of interest to most here I'm sure ;

 ...snip...

Onward...

BTW, my "applause" rating is for the train ride, nothing else.  I find multi-subject posts hard to rate so I usually rate the part that I like the best, or IMNSHO is the most significant. Based on your video, I would like to ride the VVR if I ever get out that way.

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by J. S. Bach
To correct a punctuation error.

[Gwiwer]

3 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

Visited the pub about 40 years ago. I don't think they did bottles back then.

 

1 hour ago, BSW01 said:

t's been a long time since I've had one of those. They didn't sell it in bottles last time I was there, but, if you took you own I, they would fill it for you

 

Kim introduced bottles some time after she took over the Blue Anchor from long-time landlord Sid.  I like a pub where I can turn up after several years and be on first-name terms with the landlord!  She's been there for around 30 years herself now.  

 

I was just saying, over a carefully-poured glass of the afore-illustrated ale, to Dr. SWMBO that at one time you were allowed virtually free-reign in the brewery which is in what amounts to a stable block at the back of an already tiny pub.  That had to go when rules were tightened up; not only are the floors all 15th Century flagstones with six centuries of wear and tear on them but food (and drink) hygiene requirements now prevent open-access to such places.  Instead they usually keep the door open and invite you to look in.  It's that small that you can see it all anyway. 

 

Time was when if you were known to the head brewer, or if you seemed the right sort, you could wander into the brewery having by-passed the bars and ask what was ready.  The response was a pint poured straight from the nearest tapped barrel with no payment required!  

 

My first visit would have been in 1972.  They never queried your age.  We were on a school geology field trip which, as they always did, required copious amounts of alcohol to sustain the students in cold and tedious outdoor conditions.  At that time your pint was scooped up in a dimple-mug from an open dustbin behind the bar with plenty of brewing detritus in it    The hand-pumps came a little later.  It is a sweet brew with plenty of sediment though has been refined over the years to be clearer and is filtered to remove some of the gunk these days.  

 

On Flora Day you can be served behind the locked door from very early in the morning; the door is unlocked at what ever time the licence allows but usually 10am for a special day.  I think I crawled out of there at about that time one morning having had a few on an empty stomach.  The things we did in our youth, eh?  

[monkeysarefun]

6 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Collingwood never win either but at least Carlton fans have more than one tooth! St. Kilda, on the other hand, celebrate a spike in the local birth rate nine months after every win

I have a story that contains both those teams! (and both won enough games once to play each other in a Grand Final...) Are you comfortable then I shall begin. 

 

Whenever US software experts come over we take them to a few standard Australian style experiences -patting the kangaroos at the Euroka camp ground  down the road from work, a hamburger with beetroot in it and a Rugby League or AFL game.  

 

One time two (both ex Marines) came over and we took them to a Sydney Vs St Kilda game at the SCG.  After explaining the rules (kick it between the two big posts and don't get caught with the ball) they were set.

 

One guy watched with an air off bafflement for the whole game at lack of protective clothing  but the other one had an epiphany. It was like he'd found God after a life in the wilderness.

 

He couldnt believe this game existed without him being aware of it and his whole life before was wasted because there hadnt been AFL in it.

 

He returned to the US with armfuls of St Kilda merch, (he chose  St Kilda because he preferred their colours to Sydney)  and started a US chapter of the St Kilda fan club. Got involved in spreading the AFL message  among the unconverted US like a missionary amongst the heathens and convinced enough curious people that he got a small comp going. 

 

He still keeps in touch with us, and he returns here every year for the St Kilda preliminary game and has been devastated by the Covid retrictions stopping him for the last two seasons.

 

  He returned here for the 2010 final  - St Kilda against Collingwood and got to go twice since the first game was a draw so he extended his stay so he could attend the replay a week later. 

 

And as a fairytale ending to the story he appeared in a crowd scene on the TV coverage of the first grand  final after Brendan Goddards mark that put St Kilda ahead briefly. He is the guy in beard and sunnies the camera sweeps past at the 26 second mark. Of all the 100,016 spectators there it was a miracle he got on the telly and now immortalised on youtube  and he still talks about it.

 

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[BoD]

This post from elsewhere is an interesting take on the earlier discussion on the new Highway Code rules.  Something I would never have thought of.
 

Can I please point out that those of us working Assistance Dogs and Guide dogs have our dogs trained to wait at kerbs until NO cars are present. Our dogs won't cross with us until cars drive on past. This new rule means drivers will stop and try to wave us across. Please be aware we won't cross the road and you will only hold us up. Best to drive on past if u see a vested working dog knowing this is more helpful to us. Thank you. 

 

I’m not sure how accurate this is (how do dogs deal with parked cars) but if this is the case it’s negligent that those thinking up the new rules have missed it…. unless it us covered somewhere in the new rules but has been ignored by the press et al.

 

Can anybody with more knowledge of this than I shed any light on this?

 

 

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by BoD

[Gwiwer]

20 minutes ago, BoD said:

the new Highway Code rules.

Old or new the Highway Code, which is not itself law but interprets and is supported by the many laws pertaining to road use, requires that drivers of all vehicles SHALL STOP when persons are waiting to use a marked pedestrian crossing unless there are lights to indicate that vehicle traffic may proceed or otherwise directed by a constable in uniform.  

 

That covers all kinds of crossings from the now less-common Zebra and its even less common (and widely misunderstood) cousin the Toucan and other variants through to complex intersections where several roads meet and where a pedestrian phase is normally incorporated into the traffic lights.  

 

"All vehicles" includes pedal cycles, unpowered scooters, powered cycles and powered carriages of any kind when using the roadway and would if updated probably also include skateboards and powered scooters if in the road.

 

Permitted exemptions include emergency service vehicles travelling under blue lights and sirens and any vehicle which is so close to a crossing that to stop and permit pedestrians to cross would be likely to cause a road traffic accident.  Basically you can still go if a light turns yellow right in front of you but the onus in upon you to check the footpath when approaching Zebra and other "uncontrolled" crossings; if someone steps into the road to cross from the footpath they have right of way no ifs or buts.  

Edited February 3, 2022 by Gwiwer

[Gwiwer]

5 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Just had to chase the foxes out of the garden interrupting their love making

Oooooohhhh my ears   Not something we look forward to.  Soooooo noisy and such an awful sound.  They're worse than drunken students in the car park at 3am  

[Ian Abel]

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

That will be great. I was going to ask about one of your Facebook photos but couldn’t find it again. You were visiting somewhere and included a photo of a rare wolf. Was that a stuffed exhibit in a museum or a live one in an animal park? It looked quite alive!
Welcome back.

That was a pair in an enclosure at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum . Hardly a "museum" we decided as it's really an outdoor exhibit collection with walking and hiking trails, some paved some unpaved/gravel. The unpaved are further out into the desert and you're quite likely to see coyotes, javelinas (a wild pig/boar) as well as anything that flies and crawls - if you're lucky. They have a very few endangered animals in enclosures, including the Mexican Gray Wolves you are referring to.

 

Here are both of them, one relaxing in the rocks another on the prowl.

 

  

 

Also, a mountain lion who was napping right by the glass atop one end of its enclosure, decided to get up and stretch/look at us while the volunteer was giving details.

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Ian Abel

[Grizz]

Good Evening All / God Aften Allesammen….

 

After many many many years research I have finally concluded that scratch build railway modelling is so much more enjoyable when indulging in alcohol. 
 

Tonight’s endeavours are sponsored by ‘Willesmoes’, a brewery in Vestfyen. Bloody lovely, and probably my favourite Danish brewery…..at the moment. The weakest is 5.2% and the strongest is 7%…..taken slowly over the evening they are like nectar. And this coming from a good ol southern boy brought up on Harveys Ales and Best Bitter…..
 

Technically I’ve nearly run out this evening, but there are some Royal Exports I’ve been adding in just so I can spread it out a bit. 


 

 

SKÅL…..

 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. The foxes are quiet now, they've either finished or gone elsewhere. Their favourite place for a den seems to be old rotten tree stumps which the vixens dig out. I had a couple in the garden but I filled them with broken tiles and they didn't come back. Now to tackle Farcebook, be back later.

[pH]

48 minutes ago, Ian Abel said:

That was a pair in an enclosure at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum . Hardly a "museum" we decided as it's really an outdoor exhibit collection with walking and hiking trails, some paved some unpaved/gravel. The unpaved are further out into the desert and you're quite likely to see coyotes, javelinas (a wild pig/boar) as well as anything that flies and crawls - if you're lucky.

We visited that place in 2013 and found it very interesting. Apart from the ‘exhibits’ you describe, the humming bird enclosure was fun - being ‘buzzed’ by several of them. 

[NGT6 1315]

E'ning all. So glad to have a day off coming up:

 

I'll need to pick up a prescription tomorrow and to buy some food. Other than that, good question, though I still have that desk mod to complete. I say "complete" because I actually installed one of the two flush USB hubs this morning in a more or less successful attempt at breaking me out of that spell of bleh after that poor night's sleep.

 

I'll also need to do some more laundry. Oy vey, livin' on the edge here…

 

But now, I think I'll commence mattress listening duty. Ta...