Early Risers.

[Tony_S]

51 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Jeez, who's testicles were they?!?!

His and a good chunk of infected abdomen as well. When he had all the stitches removed I had to hold him facing away from me while he was sitting on my lap. The vet promised to not slash at me with the stitch cutter..

Edited April 20 by Tony_S

[monkeysarefun]

22 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

That brings back many happy memories of sunset feasts in Palm Cove north of Cairns.

 

Dave

The bit of coast from Cairns to Cooktown, is possibly the loveliest place in the  world!,  or this bit of the world  at least.*

 

I've spent many happy weeks up there in the Daintree rainforest. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Warning: may include cyclones, crocodiles, box jellyfish, Irukandji jellyfish, Sea snakes, sharks and overseas youtube influencers filming themselves. 

 

Edited April 20 by monkeysarefun

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, tigerburnie said:

I had my prostate lasered, it was described as like peeling an orange, but in reverse, they removed the inside and left me with just the peel(who only know why). Only side effect is I have been on anti-biotics for the past 12 months as an infection won't go away, so no alcohol, which is possibly a good thing giving my liver a holiday. I take no tablets for the prostate, just a statin and something for stomach polyps.

I've got a year of the tablets to go, only if they don't work will they resort to surgery. 

[Sidecar Racer]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

 

  He needs a dose of Judge John Deed.

 

 I think Judge Dredd would probably work better .    😎

[Tony_S]

We are east of the M25 so,I don’t know what that would get our culinary options rated as. I wouldn’t base what is served up on Southend seafront as typical of what is available elsewhere. Actually our nearest seaside caff down on the sea wall at Canvey is very good (and I do mean the cafe not the upstairs restaurant). Sitting in an Ove Arup building looking out at the ships going by, is probably the nearest I am going to get to Sydney Harbour.

We went to Yorkshire in November and we had no difficulty finding good food. 
Tony

[polybear]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

Ben would quite happily eat anything we gave to him, but he's not in a Labrador's league.

We are careful on what he gets, so "mixed" take away foods he doesn't get. Many human foods are toxic to Doggies.

 

 

Bear never realised that so many were iffy for doggies; bacon is on the naughty list - though it seems small "treat" amounts are ok.

 

https://burnspet.co.uk/nutrition-blog/10-human-foods-that-are-dangerous-to-your-pets/

 

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

When I was much younger my parents had an Irish Setter that would sit by the tea table watching us eat. Her drool  would gradually descend from each side of her mouth and eventually join up so it looked like she was wearing  a drool stethoscope. Then she would shake her head and cover us and our food in dog spit. 

 

Far, Far TMI.......  🤢

 

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

Bear's idea of Hell.....

Edited April 20 by polybear

[jjb1970]

The food scene in Britain is much more diverse than Singapore.  Singapore has superb local (Singaporean, Chinese, Malay, Indonesian south Indian and peranakan) food and the other SE Asian food options are superb, and there are plenty of excellent Japanese and Korean places. However looking beyond SE and East Asia people seem a lot less open to foreign food and it's noticeable that the three ethnic groups often stay within their own track. A lot of Chinese Singaporean people never eat Indian food for example. The usual multinationals are well represented (McD, BK, KFC, Pizza Hut, Nando etc) but good non-Asian food isn't that common. Our favourite is a Swiss place, marche movenpick which is very good.

[Tony_S]

4 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

Our favourite is a Swiss place, marche movenpick which is very good.

Aditi’s cousin opened a cafe  in Delhi serving European snack food like pizza, pasta dishes, and  quiche. She started it “for something to do” but it has proved popular. 

[monkeysarefun]

21 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

 

 

Bear's idea of Hell.....

 

You can order  chips with it if that helps.

[iL Dottore]

I must unreservedly and unhesitatingly profusely apologise to @Dave Hunt, @Barry O, @jamie92208, @Grizz et al.

 

It seems that I have been willfully, deliberately and egregiously mislead by my sophisticated and urbane acquaintances in Islington, Kensington and Hampstead!

 

They vociferously insisted that, with the exception of parts of Bucks, north of the M25 there is nothing but an intellectual, cultural, social and culinary wasteland until you get to the approved bits of Jockland (basically Edinburgh and the more sanitary parts of the Highlands and the Isles).

 

A part of the country which is a brutal, windswept and desolate area, populated by rude mechanicals and woad-daubed savages, bereft of any cultural and culinary merit. A population for whom "sophisticated" means putting dripping on a croissant - not bread, keeping coal in a scuttle and not in the bath, drinking lager instead of bitter and watching rugby union instead of rugby league. An area where, for the price of a shed in Islington, you can buy six or seven streets worth of back-to-back terrace houses.

 

I now realise, thanks to the kind words of education of @Dave Hunt, @Barry O, @jamie92208, @Grizz et al., that Britain is more than Islington, delightful little 3-Michelin star tapas bars, amusing Gran Crus from "our little man who deals in wine", colourful "Gor-Blimey" Cockney "characters"  and authentic Peruvian nose-flute concerts at the Royal Albert Hall.....

[Captain Cuttle]

On 14/04/2024 at 23:25, Winslow Boy said:

Think it's safe to say that spring has finally arrived.

Well it has in sunny Newton Abbot but as my Cornish mother would say..........its a lazy wind today!  Wisteria as in 2009 with our then elderly cat Rusty and in 2024,  still its at least thirty five years old. It didnt like Essex but happier here but not so prolific now. The acer is about fifty years old and had a large flowering cherry tree in front of it. The  torbay palm tree is a similar age and still growing well.

[monkeysarefun]

For a couple of weeks I watched this UK blokes videos of his travels down here to Perth and Sydney. His main aim seemed to be to find fish and chips that was like what you get in the UK. Which was  never going to work because we have different fish, and we don't do mushy peas and sliced white bread with it.

 

He found a place in WA called The British Chippie run by an expat which got his highest rating, but the whole concept was ridiculous, fish and chips here is whiting or flathead or barramundi served with chips and a salad, none of which he tried. IT is NOT cod and chips and mushy peas with bread and butter and a cup of tea, so  he wrote us off as a decent place to get fish and chips because he couldn't get it like he could back home.

 

In revenge, if I ever go to the UK I shall waste my time trying to find the perfect Aussie hamburger with beetroot, bacon, fried egg, and a pineapple ring  in it served with a Moove chocolate flavored milk and whinge for 5 videos that I cant find it and therefore the UK can't do hamburgers.

 

Embrace the local culture rather than expect to find yours everywhere you go!

Edited April 20 by monkeysarefun

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I've done it again, got the NY Times Wordl game in four tries, thats eight in a row. I have to go out shopping this afternoon as the hospital appointment meant I missed the Friday afternoon gap between the kiddies leaving school and the rush to get stocked up for the weekend. Saturdays depends as to what footie is on the box.

[Captain Cuttle]

5 minutes ago, Captain Cuttle said:

Well it has in sunny Newton Abbot but as my Cornish mother would say..........its a lazy wind today!  Wisteria as in 2009 with our then elderly cat Rusty and in 2024,  still its at least thirty five years old. It didnt like Essex but happier here but not so prolific now. The acer is about fifty years old and had a large flowering cherry tree in front of it. The  torbay palm tree is a similar age and still growing well.

The last three photos showed as not uploaded!! The palm in the first photo came from my mum and was just a small plant in her conservatory. When we had to sell her bungalow in Coverack to pay for her care, we inherited it. It didnt grow much for several years but is firmly established now. The aeoniums on the decking i recently repotted, they originate from West Cornwall and are called Zwartkop and the smaller cuttings in the side porch are some different varieties we have just bought. I like them and like coleus they are very colourful and easy to grow.

[monkeysarefun]

17 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I've done it again, got the NY Times Wordl game in four tries, thats eight in a row. 

 

 

Just need a bit more practice to knock a couple of points off then you can get your Canberra citizenship.

 

Canberra, Australia is the global city with the best Wordle average: 3.58 guesses.

 

The war memorial is brilliant, amongst heaps of other stuff  it has G for George lancaster and it has not succumbed to the @iL Dottore greatest museum fear of wokeness by for instance having "War is Bad!" fluff exhibits or  saying sorry to the Japanese Imperial Army for forcing them to  invade everywhere down here and for making them try to kill us all etc. .But even so you can only go there so many times.... 

 

Other than that you just drive round and round looking at the government buildings while  practicing your roundabout rules  - and your wordle skills for fear of being deported back there again, a wordle reject.

Edited April 20 by monkeysarefun

[TheQ]

20 minutes ago, Captain Cuttle said:

Well it has in sunny Newton Abbot but as my Cornish mother would say..........its a lazy wind today!  Wisteria as in 2009 with our then elderly cat Rusty and in 2024,  still its at least thirty five years old. It didnt like Essex but happier here but not so prolific now. The acer is about fifty years old and had a large flowering cherry tree in front of it. The  torbay palm tree is a similar age and still growing well.

 

 

I see you protected yourself from the Awl by wrapping thing up....

[jjb1970]

20 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

For a couple of weeks I watched this UK blokes videos of his travels down here to Perth and Sydney. His main aim seemed to be to find fish and chips that was like what you get in the UK. Which was  never going to work because we have different fish, and we don't do mushy peas and sliced white bread with it.

 

He found a place in WA called The British Chippie run by an expat which got his highest rating, but the whole concept was ridiculous, fish and chips here is whiting or flathead or barramundi served with chips and a salad, none of which he tried. IT is NOT cod and chips and mushy peas with bread and butter and a cup of tea, so  he wrote us off as a decent place to get fish and chips because he couldn't get it like he could back home.

 

In revenge, if I ever go to the UK I shall waste my time trying to find the perfect Aussie hamburger with bacon, fried egg, and a pineapple ring  in it served with a Moove chocolate flavored milk and whinge for 5 videos that I cant find it and therefore the UK can't do hamburgers.

 

Embrace the local culture rather than expect to find yours everywhere you go!

 

It still amazes me how many white people (and alas, they are invariably white) visit Asia and then whinge that everything has noodles or rice. Free advice to anyone out there who hates rice and noodles - SE and East Asia may not be the right place for you to visit. 

[Coombe Barton]

Leicester is rated the native curry capital, not over influenced by 'interpretations'. However the best curry place I know is the Taj Mahal in Penzance.  None of these are 'posh', just serving superb food.

 

Other nationalities specialities I don't really know about, but they certainly exist outside Maggie's Girdle (the M25). When  I used to travel for work I used a lot of different eateries, and really didn't have a bad experience. However, I'm not hyper critical.

Nowadays it's just me, so I'm not out much, preferring my own company.

[jjb1970]

I must admit, I do miss anglo-Indian food. The South Indian food here is superb but it's very different to anglo-Indian food which seems to be Northern Indian/Bangladeshi food adapted to local taste.

[Gwiwer]

29 minutes ago, TheQ said:

I see you protected yourself from the Awl by wrapping thing up....

And there was me thinking that was some sort of pizza delivery system covered but awaiting orders.  

 

 

 

[Gwiwer]

6 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

However the best curry place I know is the Taj Mahal in Penzance.  None of these are 'posh', just serving superb food.

I agree.  A good 'un.  I have long been a fan of, and friends with, Curry Corner atop Chapel Street in Penzance.  One of the very few places in the UK where you will find a female owner / chef / cook operating an Indian take-away food business.  Everything is cooked in front of you and in the shop window so you can see there is nothing to hide.  I do, being brutally honest, feel her cooking has become less consistently good over the years but it's still worth a visit.  

 

New-ish on the scene is Red Chilli which is also becoming respected locally.  Perhaps slightly cheaper than Taj Mahal and arguably slightly better but that could depend upon your individual taste and how things are on the day.  

 

All are within 15 - 20 minutes drive of the Distant (Signal) West meaning there is a choice of both eat-in and drive-away Indian meals close enough to hand.  

[monkeysarefun]

I was in the Eastern Suburbs yesterday and took the opportunity to visit Waverley cemetery. It is perched on one of the headlands south  of Bondi and the brilliant white of the marble monuments just glisten against the south Pacific ocean backdrop 

 

 

If I had to die one day , I'd like to be buried here!

 

 

 

 

It was a bit cloudy, apologies for that.

 

 

 

Edited April 20 by monkeysarefun

[TheQ]

Final bit for BM arrived, bag 400mm by 200mm  no packing materials it didn't need them.

 

Item inside 20mm by 30 mm.

[polybear]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

They vociferously insisted that, with the exception of parts of Bucks, north of the M25 there is nothing but an intellectual, cultural, social and culinary wasteland.....

 

 

Bear lives north of the Mickey two-five so that just goes to prove that iD's "sophisticated and urbane acquaintances" 🤣 were talkin' complete cobblers.......

[polybear]

Bear here.....

 

Several hours dismantling, cleaning & polishing Harry's 4 into 2 Exhaust System (well, those bits that aren't going to be sawn off); I've discovered that the chrome trim panels that disguise the areas where the two downpipes on each side join into one before entering the Silencer aren't going to fit without some sort of cleverness once the new Silencers are clamped on.  Poo.

Postie delivered the two clamps I'll need when fitting the new Silencers as well, so that's another Tick; the only thing awaited now is the new Oil, but that won't delay proceedings.

 

Today's din dins was Bear's legendary, home-built Curly Fry Pizza.  Huge Tick.

 

Bear gone.