Early Risers.

[iL Dottore]

Yes, it’s me again! Aren’t you lucky?!

 

Anyway, I just wanted to provide you with an update on my World Wide Single Malt Whisky Grand Tour: I am now in Japan. Later this afternoon I will enjoy the ancient ceremony of “cracking the whiskey bottle seal“.

 

i’m not sure which of the following I should sample first:

Two weeks ago I sampled the Yoichi with a Hibernian friend, whose sole comment was “it’s nae Scottish” . It was certainly eminently drinkable, but most unusual when compared to a traditional Scottish whiskey. Interestingly, the bottle of blended Japanese whiskey that I have (alas, almost completely polished off) is much more like a traditional Hibernian single malt than a blend like Johnnie Walker or Ballantines.

Please note, one and all, that iD is going green and is now alcohol powered!

 

Next stop India (Rampur Double Cask Single Malt Whisky at SFr 95) or Taiwan (Kavalan Solist PX Sherry Cask Whisky - at a modest SFr 459! [but it looks like it’ll have to be the Yushan Signature Bourbon Cask Single Malt Whisky at SFr 72 😪]).

Edited May 14, 2022 by iL Dottore
Typo/additions

[PeterBB]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

The nice helpful girl that used to be in the one I usually use was telling me that they rotate the staff between the branches which they all hate doing, so they leave.....but this is policy from the UK (Lloyds) apparently, who don't understand island life.  

Another one, like the food regulations that apply to exhibitions as well, that a 'one size fits all' policy/decree is totally inappropriate and causes unforeseen problems.  The same thing will apply if pavement parking is banned in the 'one size fits all' idea as I can name some roads that will become impassable (caveat - there must be enough space for a twin buggy to pass).

Edited May 14, 2022 by PeterBB

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis was at it hammer and tongs this morning but I drowned him with a long soak in the bath. Well that must be the explanation of the bubbles and the gurgling noise mustn't it?😇 However the hay fever is starting to kick off and this makes interesting reading,

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/reason-behind-years-hay-fever-explosion/?WT.mc_id=e_DM1562594&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Loy_Dig_Acq_Sat_7Dto14D&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Loy_Dig_Acq_Sat_7Dto14D20220514&utm_campaign=DM1562594

Apparently we are planting the wrong kinds of tree, instead of silver birch and similar trees we should plant insect pollinated trees such as apple and hazelnut.

47 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Next stop India (Rampur Double Cask Single Malt Whisky at SFr 95) or Taiwan (Kavalan Solist PX Sherry Cask Whisky - at a modest SFr 459! [but it looks like it’ll have to be the Yushan Signature Bourbon Cask Single Malt Whisky at SFr 72 😪]).

Shouldn't it be Whiskey as its a Bourbon?

[polybear]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Next stop India (Rampur Double Cask Single Malt Whisky at SFr 95) or Taiwan (Kavalan Solist PX Sherry Cask Whisky - at a modest SFr 459! [but it looks like it’ll have to be the Yushan Signature Bourbon Cask Single Malt Whisky at SFr 72 😪]).

 

Bear once visited a specialist Whisky Shop on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh with a work buddy; they had numerous Whisky's in there that cost so much they made Bear's eyes bleed......

 

Bear here......

Boots polished - and new liners fitted.  Tick.  The dregs of some of the lounge paint drained from the 5L tin into a convenient tupperware pot.  Tick.  Car tyres checked.  Tick.  Clever car battery charger hooked up to the Bearmobile to give it a top up - the stop/start is no longer functioning, which is a good sign the battery volts are a little low.  No surprises there, as I've only done 900 miles since it was serviced back in November....

Right, time to sort some paperwork......

Edited May 14, 2022 by polybear

[BSW01]

10 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

That's quite an accomplishment - to design a cutting plan that includes parts for a helix with minimal waste.

The helix plan is a relatively simple plan, instead of the traditional round helix, I’m using an oval helix, but with a twist, I’ve basically used an elongated decagon shape. The sheet of plywood is first cut into strips, these are then cut into identical trapezoidal shapes, which with the addition of 2 small rectangles, roughly gives me oval shape I want. The photos below will probably give you a better idea of what I’m trying to say. In all honesty, I can’t claim the idea as mine, I saw it described a few years back in a RM magazine. 

 

 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

A bright sunny day here in England’s northwest. Not a great deal happening here today. I collected Ava about an hour ago and after first having a drink and biscuit, she is now currently sat at the dining room table working on her sewing project. I shall busy myself doing some more layout planning, I still have to do a cutting schedule for the scenic section to do. 

 

Back later 

 

Brian

[Erichill16]

Polybear reporting for duty, sir!

 

[polybear]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Why does the image come to mind of a ramrod straight Bear, standing in front of a red-faced RSM who’s yelling “…you call those boots polished, you orrible little Bear…”?

 

But if Bear happens to be the RSM.........

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

…Shouldn't it be Whiskey as its a Bourbon?

Nope!
It’s still WhisKY but it’s aged in a wooden cask that once held Bouronn. Cask matured/aged whiskys are quite a thing. Port, Sherry, Bourbon and Rum casks have all been used for maturing whisky. One of the best (at least to my tastebuds) is the Balvenie Double Wood (i.e. aged sequentially in two different types of casks) and I have a Glenturret Triple Wood in my Whisky cupboard that I still have to try.

 

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Bear once visited a specialist Whiskey Shop on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh with a work buddy; they had numerous Whiskeys in there that cost so much they made Bear's eyes bleed......

They can get quite expensive indeed…

 

When I turned 50, so over a decade ago, I treated myself to a 50 year old single malt whisky (that’s 50 years matured in cask). It was slightly expensive, but not unbearably so (it’s rationed to a “wee dram“ drunk only on my birthday – so I still have some left). When I turned 65, I looked to acquiring a 65-year-old single malt whisky (that’s 65 years mature in cask) and the cheapest I was able to find was a £4’200 bottle of Sherry Cask Glen Grant. The Macallan In Lalique (hand cut lead crystal decanter) 65 Year Old comes in at £99’995.00 (but that includes VAT). And there are more expensive single malts out there (The Macallan Fine and Rare 60-Year-Old fetched a staggering $1.9 million USD at auction)

Edited May 14, 2022 by iL Dottore

[Gwiwer]

8 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

They can get quite expensive indeed…

Exhibit 1, m’lud. 
 

https://www.htfw.com/macallan-anniversary-malt-1928-50-year-old?utm_source=awin&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=559319&utm_content=Comparison+Shopping+Service+(CSS)&awc=27658_1652530140_6db16b41f8966a444cc65d4396356d58

 

By tradition and as I understand things it is always “whisky” unless distilled in Ireland (or perhaps elsewhere by Irish migrants) in which case it is “whiskey”. 

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

I was going to remind the Bear that he hadn't been in a whiskey shop in Edinburgh, but a whisky shop that may sell Whisky, from Scotland, or whiskey from almost anywhere else..

 

As it is I'm hot sweaty and horrible, so tis not a whisky sitting alongside me but a can of cider, not cyder, seidr or scrumpy. Just a commercial cider.. thatchers gold if you ask..

 

Three drawers completed except for sanding and painting.

Large part of jungle mowed along with all the grass...

Ben the I want my LONG walk Collie, took me all the way round, meeting a tricolour collie even older than him on the way..

Since there was a car with, Cymru stickers parked at the end of the lane, it may suggest he was Welsh although the accents of his slaves weren't..

 

Shortly I will set off for a voyage of discovery looking for some drawer slides... They're in the muddling shed somewhere...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Coombe Barton]

18 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

Exhibit 1, m’lud. 
 

https://www.htfw.com/macallan-anniversary-malt-1928-50-year-old?utm_source=awin&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=559319&utm_content=Comparison+Shopping+Service+(CSS)&awc=27658_1652530140_6db16b41f8966a444cc65d4396356d58

 

By tradition and as I understand things it is always “whisky” unless distilled in Ireland (or perhaps elsewhere by Irish migrants) in which case it is “whiskey”. 

My view

Get just as pi55ed but it costs an lot more

My inner voice - why?

[The White Rabbit]

26 minutes ago, TheQ said:

As it is I'm hot sweaty and horrible, so tis not a whisky sitting alongside me but a can of cider, not cyder, seidr or scrumpy. Just a commercial cider.. thatchers gold if you ask..

 

I think their 'Haze' is refreshing as well. (For anyone who doesn't know, it's a cloudy and still version, like the traditional cider but less powerful and with fewer 'unconventional' ingredients). 

 

[monkeysarefun]

53 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

My view

Get just as pi55ed but it costs an lot more

My inner voice - why?

Whenever I'm in the city I scoot into the local Dan Murphs in the eastern suburbs for a bottle of plonk. For some reason Grange is the only wine that they don't offer a discount for when you buy 12.

 

[The White Rabbit]

Afternoon awl,

 

A fine sunny day round here. I will risk commentators curse and suggest it's even going well. Several minor miscellaneous jobs done outside and one item of furniture collected. Another is due to be collected (and modelling tokens avariciously pocketed) tomorrow. Several more still to go (together with a smorgasbord of muddling bits) but the house is looking (slightly) more like a house and less like a warehouse. Another sale arranged for next week, so fingers crossed, that would be a big reduction in 'domestic clutter'. 

 

No other inspirations for rants, so long may that continue. I went for a walk up the hill earlier in the week, got things working again after the op. I blame my Celtic blood/DNA, despite being born and raised in the flatlands round Doncaster, I have an affinity for hills, whether the Dales, Wales or West Country coombes. There are other worries as yet unresolved but at least the body seems to be starting to work properly again. Apart from sleeping, that's still a tad 'iffy'. 

 

No sign of Harry's cousin round here I'm afraid. One would be most welcome. The blackbird has been hunting snails and smashing their shells against one or other of our (many) 'rockery pebbles' but for true pest control, a hedgehog is best. We did have a frog/toad in the garden some years ago but more recently all I've seen has been some frogspawn in the pond and a birdbath. 

 

Speaking of birdbaths, the bath attendant memoirs could continue into a second series... we do seem to be providing a much appreciated public service. As recent comments on ERs might have suggested, I've been trying to make some progress against the tide of paperwork and Kafkaesque nasties, so have not been 'kite-watching' as much as I have some weeks. But it seems every time I look out of the back windows, either a blackbird or a sparrow have been splashing around. There was even a thrush earlier in the week and it's been a while since I've seen one. 

 

The flowers continue to flourish; the starting gun has definitely been fired. A little more rain and they'd be sprinting. The first of the scabious seeds (provided courtesy of Kew G) has sprouted, so hopefully next year we'll have some of these picturesque blooms. The front has attracted favourable comment this morning from a neighbour and the table's purchaser. It's a colourful time of year. 

 

A pleasant lunch had, cheese omlet (see HG Wells for my spelling) and peas, with currant slice to follow. Probably not up to il D's standards but most palatable to this Rabbit's tastebuds. 

 

There's probably more but I can't think of it, so for the moment, that's all folks... 

[Tony_S]

25 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

a bottle of plonk. For some reason Grange is the only wine that they don't offer a discount for when you buy 12.

We don’t drink much wine now but Aditi was quite pleased with the discount of £10 off a bottle of Australian red she added to the shopping last weekend. It wasn’t $270000 though, just a half price introductory offer. 
Tony

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, The White Rabbit said:

I blame my Celtic blood/DNA, despite being born and raised in the flatlands round Doncaster, I have an affinity for hills, whether the Dales, Wales or West Country coombes.

Aditi loves mountains or if not will be quite happy with hills. She thinks it is due to her early childhood in  Simla where her Dad worked in a TB hospital. However she can’t remember anything specific  about that time. When she was four her father came to England and the family moved to Delhi but did go to the Himalayas on a pilgrimage which she does remember before they also came to England. We now live in one of the flatter parts of England so she appreciates her trips to mountains. 

[Coombe Barton]

... Boris on fridges - and admitting a possible work ethic problem ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2022/05/14/fridges-cheese-vaccinations-and-cases-going-up/

[grandadbob]

The day is turning out OK.  Spent about 90 minutes assisting with domestic duties earlier and multiple Brownie points earned.  Then, about an hour ago The Boss said "Are you going to watch the rugby?"  "No" sez I." No English clubs playing."  " Who are Wasps then?" sez she.  Oops.  "Thank you dear."  Watched that, disappointing, then decided to watch Leinster v Toulouse.  It's half time and not a bad match so far and I've just discovered Sarries are playing tonight so I'll record that one.  

Edited May 14, 2022 by grandadbob

[Tony_S]

The toad faeces I mentioned earlier may become famous! Well, not famous, sort of mentioned in despatches. My nephew works for Google (in Zurich) and I told him how useful it was to be able to search using Google to identify possible suspects and he said he would let the Google search team know.

[simontaylor484]

Afternoon all 

 

The impact driver has been used and saved us loads of time with screws and coach screws. Only problem is I have lost a 13mm socket and a T20 screwdriver bit pay. A couple of bags of sand and some topsoil has been bought as there is a 10k run on in Pontefract tomorrow so it may cause problems getting any where 

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Strangest event - there was a model railway exhibition at Ludlow racecourse today, and 30747 actually suggested that I should go - the quid pro quo being that we had to go to a car boot sale first, then a jumble sale - but I got there in the end.

 

Not a lot more to report.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[iL Dottore]

3 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

My view

Get just as pi55ed but it costs an lot more

My inner voice - why?

The idea, with any alcoholic beverage costing more than £50, is not to get “bladdered”*, but rather to sip it contemplatively, deliberating on the wondrousness of the universe - reflecting on one’s good fortune in being able to afford a £XXX bottle of single malt whisky….

 

A good cigar, the company of a like minded friend and wide-ranging discussions eruditely dissecting politics, science, art, theatre and the foibles of mankind are very much a welcome bonus.

I’ve never seen the point of getting legless - which does seem to be the province of the Anglo-Saxon and Nordic countries (the Swedes are renowned on getting onto the various Sweden-Germany ferries, taking advantage of the cheaper alcohol and binge drinking the entire weekend). Binge drinking is practically unknown in the Mediterranean countries). To be honest I don’t like loosing control of my faculties (and, yes, yes, I know the more unkind of you will be asking “what faculties?”).

 

As to food and drink - I may make a few observations after I’ve prepared dinner (homemade enchiladas).

 

* aka p1ssed, rat-ars*d, mullered, ossified, stukkend or otherwise “tired and emotional”

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I had a look at the prices of 50 year old single malt whiskys, ouch! Not that it matters that much to me as I am almost teetotal (the odd tot or glass of something at Christmas is about it). Its surprising how much booze I have in the house, dating back to when I did imbibe, mostly beers which despite their age should still be drinkable as they are fermented in the bottle beers, (Belgian 'Trappist' beer).

[grandadbob]

As most of you probably know I enjoy a drink or several but totally agree with Flavio (there’s unusual boyo 😂) about never seeing the point in getting legless and never have although I must admit to a wobble on a couple or more occasions.  🤪