Early Risers.

[New Haven Neil]

As the sun shone and the rain hid, we had a ride on something running on steel three feet apart, then another three foot six apart and very steep.  It was still sunny!  Only went half way as there is a very good cafe (used to be a kind of place Q worked in) that does superb home made pies there - the one at the summit is rather poor fair.

 

 

 

[Coombe Barton]

... If you’re thinking we're descended from Pirates you’d probably be right. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2024/05/01/rwanda-and-civil-servants-resits-a-new-addition-to-the-extended-family/

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. The seaweed twirlers say we might have thunderstorms and it feels like it, very muggy tonight.

[PhilJ W]

5 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

... If you’re thinking we're descended from Pirates you’d probably be right. ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2024/05/01/rwanda-and-civil-servants-resits-a-new-addition-to-the-extended-family/

I'm possibly descended from a pirate as well. Unfortunately a lot of the relevant records were lost in the fire of London in 1666. My fathers side of the family were watermen going back several generations based at Gravesend and were almost certainly involved in smuggling.

[New Haven Neil]

Shh...

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 1 by New Haven Neil

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

The weather finally what it wanted to do, so I had a great day in the garden, the sun shone and it was pleasantly very warm. We did get a bit of rain around 4:30 this afternoon, it was quite heavy, but didn’t last long. 

 

But I get another 2 sets of seeds planted, I also administered the nematodes to the garden in an attempt to stop slugs. I even managed an hour in the workshop after dinner. But I packed up early so that I could get my ears lowered. 
 

My left hip has been bothering me for a day or so, so, after I’d had my hair cut, I too a brace of paracetamol, which do seem to have helped. So tomorrow I’m going to take it easy and do a bit of building construction. 

[BSW01]

Goodnight all 

[pH]

Yesterday I took the winter tires off the car and replaced them with the all-season tires it runs with for the warmer months. Today, I drove the car some distance with the all-seasons. I had forgotten how much quieter the car is with those tires on, compared with the winters.

Edited May 2 by pH

[roundhouse]

18 hours ago, Barry O said:

Ey up!

Nice day at Driffield .. excellent teas, warmer weather but... my colleague made a couple of major screw ups wch badly impacted the outcome of the game.

 

Very late home as the A64 eas closed for overnight roadworks...pah! Today its off up the A64 (again) for a game near Malton. I had been asked to umpire games on thursday and Friday but I am off the a show in Bristol on Thursday.. and.. I am a semi retired umpire...

 

Have a good day if you can!

 

Baz

My old layout 'Appledore' will be there with some of our usual crew but not me this time.

[BR60103]

We had the plumber in today.  On the weekend SWMBO noticed water liquid seeping out from under the toilet.  I called Monday morning and Bob said that he was just back from holidays, but I got an appointment for today afternoon. When he lifted the fixture off its mounts, there was a break in one of them and the washer thing (about 6" circle) was life-expired. New mounts and a new washer of wax instead of foam. Shims under the base -- looks like the floor has a slight hump.

 

I've now seen it done; I think I'll use a professional next time as well.

 

 

[pH]

1 hour ago, BR60103 said:

New mounts and a new washer of wax instead of foam. Shims under the base -- looks like the floor has a slight hump.

 

I've now seen it done; I think I'll use a professional next time as well.

Don’t be afraid of doing it yourself. I’ve repaired one toilet, then replaced that one several years later, plus replaced two others. The most difficult bit is being able to lift the bowl high enough to clear the wax ring and not deform it. You  can get wax rings of different thicknesses, or actually stack wax rings to take account of some unevenness in the floor. (And I’ve never heard of foam gaskets before!)

[Ozexpatriate]

7 minutes ago, pH said:

And I’ve never heard of foam gaskets before!

Something that permeable doesn't feel like it would function properly. Wax is the standard.

 

A quick search came up with this which compares wax and wax-free options.

[TheQ]

Foam used in such tasks isn't permeable, it's closed cell foam.

Wax rings in the UK are very rare, I've never come across them, though it seems they are available.

Most UK systems use some sort of rubber seal.

 

 

Mooring Awl,

 About 5 hours sleep, not enough, just can't get back to sleep. 

The forecast for the weekend has improved, looks to be dry for Saturday's boat show.

 

MRC this morning.. fitting a sink for dirty brushes etc...

 

Suns up Ben's snoring, so should I.

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Busy, busy, busy..

 

Getting picked up at 10 ish. Then off to the club to load van. Then trundle down to Bristol.

 

Hopefully we will have a good weekend.. 

 

Misty this morning ( the sun didn't burn through it until lunch timeish yesterday.)

 

Time to get up and eat.. I may be gone gor a few days so.. behave.... the awl flinger will be watching

 

Baz

[jamie92208]

6 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Something that permeable doesn't feel like it would function properly. Wax is the standard.

 

A quick search came up with this which compares wax and wax-free options.

All this talk of wax got me wondering if it was a Brazilian toilet. 

 

Good moaning from the Charente.  Still cool enough that we have keep the fire lit. The nurse is due this morning to change dressings. I will be on coffee making duty. Then a fish pie take for consumption tonight. 

 

Jamie

Edited May 2 by jamie92208

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Dull start here and apparently it was very damp with thunder and lightning in the night which I didn't hear.  I did hear the  torrential rain and hailstones which woke me at 04.50 but I managed to doze off again for another hour.  5-6 hours sleep is the norm for me.  I do sometimes doze off for about an hour after lunch if I stay in the armchair.

A cloudy day is forecast with more heavy showers and the chance of thunder.  12°C rising to 18°C.

Bin lorries have already started their parade but no Ocado delivery this week.  We're using up part of the various supplies that were possibly bought for some sort of siege and will pop out for any fresh stuff required.

Still no Sim card.....it's in the post!!!  I did ask Nicki's fiance Darren  where it was (He's a postie) but for some strange reason he seemed unable to tell me.  🤪

Abbie and James are on holiday in Malta visiting his grandparents.  Their Instagram photos start early each morning with a shot of a gym and both of them in there.  This is followed by photos of sunshine, lots of drink and huge meals....that may be why the gym is being visited. 😁  Jealous? Moi?  The gym not so much although there was a time way back in the dim and distant recesses of my forgettery © ChrisF that I would have enjoyed such a thing.

Window cleaners have just arrived. They were due over a week ago but sadly the old boss and dad of the current boss died a few weeks ago so unsurprisingly they had more important things to deal with.

They've been doing our windows for about 20 years and changed from ladders to long poles and hoses just before the pandemic, the main reason given being the insurance costs.  Must admit I was sceptical to start with but they are good lads who do a great job and it saves me having to do it.  Better go and open the back gate for them.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

A bit of an overcast start to the day so far,  it the sun looks like it’s trying to breakthrough the clouds. My first task will be to drop Sheila off at the church hall for her Zumba class, after which I’ll return home to try and tackle setting up our new digibox recorder thingy, this should be fun! Once that's (hopefully) done, I’ll carry on with the micro layout buildings which I’ve made a start building. This will get packed up just before dinner, as Charlie is due round this afternoon. 
 

Back later. 
 

Brian 

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, from a dry rock at 12c with more promised, indeed almost a given.  Wonders.  Breezy to windy though.

 

We're off on a little bike ride this morning, as Mrs NHN wants one (!) of her other bikes out of winter storage and another to be put away for a few months.  So the white bike needs a good run to charge the battery before laying it up.  The blue one will emerge from a chrysalis like a flutterby, it hasn't been ridden for a couple of years.

[iL Dottore]

Portuguese Custard Tarts (or more properly Pastel de Nata).

 

Although the original (and some say only true) recipe is a closely guarded secret (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastel_de_nata), all recipes I’ve seen call for flour, butter, egg yolks, cinnamon, vanilla extract, cornflour, lemon zest and water.

 

The highlighted ingredients tend be avoided by commercial manufacturers due to reasons of cost (butter, cinnamon, vanilla extract) or shelf life (butter) or ease of preparation (lemon zest). Butter, especially, is frequently replaced by margarine (or a pseudo-butter) as items made with butter can quickly go rancid. For a home baker, the cost difference between using real ingredients as opposed to synthetics is marginal, but for a company mass producing thousands of Pastel de Nata each day a one or two pence difference (or more) between real and synthetic ingredients soon mounts up to a big wodge of cash*.
 

Furthermore, even with the financial advantages of bulk purchasing and mass production, using “real” ingredients could well increase the price per unit to a point where those who care more about price than quality will no longer buy your product.

 

Let’s be honest here: how many on ER would spend £5 for a hand made, all natural ingredient Pastel de Nata from a small baker?

 

* one US site quotes $6.19 an ounce (about 30mL or 6 tsp) for a pure vanilla extract and $0.12 an ounce for synthetic vanilla. So if a batch of tarts (12) requires 1 tsp of vanilla, then a mass production of 12000 tarts would require about 2000 fl oz of vanilla for a total of about $12000 for the real stuff or $240 for the synthetic version.

[Dave Hunt]

I don’t know the detailed recipe for the pastel de nata from our local deli but they appear to be made in batches of about 30 or so, are scrumptious and cost £1.50 each.

 

Dave

 

 

Edited May 2 by Dave Hunt
Got the price wrong

[Hroth]

Actually warm and sunny with a light breeze today, temp due to rise to 20deg by this afternoon!  S'pose I ought to grub some more weeds out before they rocket up...

 

Edited May 2 by Hroth
typpo...

[Winslow Boy]

19 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

I don’t know the detailed recipe for the pastel de nata from our local deli but they appear to be made in batches of about 30 or so, are scrumptious and cost £1.50 each.

 

Dave

 

 

Think I'll stick to my custard slice if you don't mind. Two for £1.50. It's my Friday afternoon treat.

Edited May 2 by Winslow Boy

[jjb1970]

Someone needs to introduce the mighty Hokkaido cheese tart to blighty.

[Dave Hunt]

2 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Think I'll stick to my custard slice if you don't mind. Two for £1.50. It's my Friday afternoon treat.

 
I don’t mind at all but for a difference of 75p for a once a week treat my personal choice is the pasta del nata. Each to his own; an ‘influencer’ I am not.

 

Dave