The Night Mail

[monkeysarefun]

58 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

Useful if you are in a zoo and they ask you if you want to hold one!

 

 

They dont ask you if you want to hold one  - they say "that'll be $200 for a "Koala Encounter".

 

Which I think can only be done in Queensland now, all other states have banned koala holding. 

Edited June 2 by monkeysarefun

[J. S. Bach]

2 hours ago, AndyID said:

We get this very good and inexpensive jam from Denmark, except it is produced in Poland

 

 😀

 

This orange marmalade that I get at my local Walmart is a product of Poland:

Oranges are not a fruit that I would normally associate with Poland.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[AndyID]

3 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

 

This orange marmalade that I get at my local Walmart is a product of Poland:

Oranges are not a fruit that I would normally associate with Poland.

 

I suppose they must be importing the oranges. I grew up in Paisley, Scotland and Robertson's used to make a lot of Marmalade there too. I think the oranges came from Spain. The jam factory was right beside Canal Street Station and the aroma when you were waiting for a train could be wonderful 🙂

[polybear]

6 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Useful if you are in a zoo and they ask you if you want to hold one!

 

Here's some bloke holding one. Wouldn't be smiling if he knew.....

 

 

 

Mr Obama obviously isn't fussy about the company he keeps (and I don't meet the cute fluffy one).

[jamie92208]

8 hours ago, AndyID said:

Lorna is a member of the local art association. Their annual art exhibition was this weekend. So far she has flogged sold four of her creations and has been invited to exhibit in two local galleries. I'm hoping to get a percentage for doing the frames 😆

You are obviously an optimist. 

1 hour ago, AndyID said:

 

I suppose they must be importing the oranges. I grew up in Paisley, Scotland and Robertson's used to make a lot of Marmalade there too. I think the oranges came from Spain. The jam factory was right beside Canal Street Station and the aroma when you were waiting for a train could be wonderful 🙂

There was a jam factory on the road that we lived on in Chesterfield. That also smelled rather nice as we walked past.  I think it made strawberry jam. 

 

Jamie

[Winslow Boy]

7 hours ago, Tony_S said:

We have a dragon in Benfleet

Are you sure it's a dragon? Looks like a street light that's bent out of shape to me. But then again I do reside in Manutopea and we don't half get some weird things here and not all of them living.

[Flying Fox 34F]

7 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Useful if you are in a zoo and they ask you if you want to hold one!

 

Here's some bloke holding one. Wouldn't be smiling if he knew.....

 

 

I can imagine Barak had wished he’d handed the Fur Ball over to you know who, now!!!
Then again, perhaps he did?  One particular STD can lead to mental illness.

 

Paul

[iL Dottore]

5 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

 

This orange marmalade that I get at my local Walmart is a product of Poland:

Oranges are not a fruit that I would normally associate with Poland.

What worries me about that marmalade is that the label states that it is “made with real sugar”

 

Presumably other marmalade is either made with artificial sugar, high fructose corn syrup or unreal sugar (which is like real sugar but involves quantum physics).

[Tony_S]

16 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Are you sure it's a dragon? Looks like a street light that's bent out of shape to me. But then again I do reside in Manutopea and we don't half get some weird things here and not all of them living.

It is meant to represent the dragon prow of a Danish Viking longship and commemorates the site of the Battle of Benfleet.

[jjb1970]

One of the problems with most commercial jam I'd it is far too sweet for my taste. Yes, it should be sweet but a lot of it is like sugar spread with a bit of fruit. I sometimes buy fig jam imported from France, it's excellent and not too sweet.

[iL Dottore]

What I am about to say @Happy Hippo, @polybear, @Dave Hunt and others may find distressing.

 

You have been warned.

 

Once again iD is on a diet, which is my own fault… but anyway…. Mrs iD is away with the Wolfpack at the Holiday Hovel, so last night I indulged and had a “wee dram” or three. I must have overdone it because I was overcome by the munchies, my will to resist shattered, I had a piece of cake.

 

And it was……..     well……. ……..alright.

 

Pleasant enough I suppose, but certainly nothing more than OK and not much to write home about, let alone post about on TNM.

 

A step up from tinned baked beans (several steps actually), CAKE is, of course, better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick but definitely nothing to get ecstatically worked up about (let alone go into orgasmic rapturous rhapsodies about). I really don’t see what the fuss on TNM about CAKE is all about (now, a dark chocolate McVities digestive biscuit on the other hand…..)

 

Bottom line, if I am only allowed so many calories/day, then they have to spent on something a bit better than just alright

[iL Dottore]

p.s. A clarification on the above: in the interests of scientific accuracy, TWO pieces of cake were consumed: one – commercially made – from the co-op, and the second from a patisserie specialising in high-quality artisanal cake.

And both were…..    ….well…..   …….alright.

 

Perhaps the cake from the patisserie was the better cake, but both were enjoyable enough (and I can see them being consumed with a reasonable cup of tea), but nothing to go off your diet for.

[SM42]

23 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

What worries me about that marmalade is that the label states that it is “made with real sugar”

 

Presumably other marmalade is either made with artificial sugar, high fructose corn syrup or unreal sugar (which is like real sugar but involves quantum physics).

 

Real sugar out here is probably good marketing. 

 

Sugar is a general preference over sweeteners, which for a country whose main diet is carb heavy ( is there any way to serve a spud the Poles haven't thought of?)  should be an issue. 

 

However the vast majority have less meat on them than a butcher's pencil. 

 

What is noticeable though, compared to the UK, is that people are generally more outdoorsy and active. 

 

Having a lot of good weather, every second house owning a dog that needs walking and a lot of places where free exercise is possible without being mown down by a car or truck probably helps. 

 

Andy

[SM42]

A sneaky bit of cake eh? @iL Dottore

 

Buying a one off to eat, OK.

 

Eating into household stock  dangerous. 

 

You will now need to finish any cake and buy a replacement, making sure all details on the packet are the same, batch numbers, use by date etc. 

You must also replace it in the cupboard exactly as it was left with all things in the vicinity the same and don't forget about the single hair over the door, otherwise you will be found out when Mrs IL Dotorre returns. 

 

Andy

[Winslow Boy]

35 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

It is meant to represent the dragon prow of a Danish Viking longship and commemorates the site of the Battle of Benfleet.

So you get a Dragon Long Ship and we get the Big Bang which incidentally has had to be dismantled as bits kept falling of it. Sums Manutopea up really.

[iL Dottore]

1 minute ago, SM42 said:

 

Real sugar out here is probably good marketing. 

 

Sugar is a general preference over sweeteners, which for a country whose main diet is carb heavy ( is there any way to serve a spud the Poles haven't thought of?)  should be an issue. 

 

However the vast majority have less meat on them than a butcher's pencil. 

 

What is noticeable though, compared to the UK, is that people are generally more outdoorsy and active. 

 

Having a lot of good weather, every second house owning a dog that needs walking and a lot of places where free exercise is possible without being mown down by a car or truck probably helps. 

 

Andy

I noticed that in Japan as well.
 

Despite having a carbohydrate heavy diet (lots of noodles and rice), despite having an unbelievably sweet, sweet tooth (the high end patisserie in Tokyo are a sight to behold) and really chowing down on deep fried crunchy things, there are relatively few chubby (let alone obese) Japanese. Japanese Rikishi - sumo wrestlers - have to deliberately force feed themselves on a very high calorie diet to bulk up for their sport.

 

The Swiss are much like the Poles, inasmuch as they have a high carbohydrate and high calorie native diet (basically potatoes, bread and cheese) but are incredibly active. The country is criss-crossed with Wanderwege - which are well laid out walking paths (and you can, quite literally, hike from one end of Switzerland to another just by using the Wanderwege). And the Swiss do keep active well into their 70s and 80s; I don’t walk due to dodgy knees, but I do cycle and I do go to the gym on a regular basis - where the older generation is very prominent amongst the membership.

 

Interestingly, both Switzerland and Japan are seeing an increase of overweight (and sometimes obesity) in the younger generation as the under 30s have (unwisely) taken to the western “burger and fries“ diet 

[Winslow Boy]

7 minutes ago, SM42 said:

A sneaky bit of cake eh? @iL Dottore

 

Buying a one off to eat, OK.

 

Eating into household stock  dangerous. 

 

You will now need to finish any cake and buy a replacement, making sure all details on the packet are the same, batch numbers, use by date etc. 

You must also replace it in the cupboard exactly as it was left with all things in the vicinity the same and don't forget about the single hair over the door, otherwise you will be found out when Mrs IL Dotorre returns. 

 

Andy

I'd like to know who bought the artisanal piece of cake? If it was Herr Doctarrie that implies intent. If so that means he planned to consume the cake. So I'm beginning to suspect all this high follooting 'my body is a temple' and i don't eat anything with chemicals in is subterfuge. Herr Doctarrie is secret cake scoffer.

[monkeysarefun]

27 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

So you get a Dragon Long Ship and we get the Big Bang which incidentally has had to be dismantled as bits kept falling of it. Sums Manutopea up really.

 

 

 

The Big Galah was looking for a home a while ago.

 

 

 

Failing that, maybe come up with your own Big Thing, they are a license to print money  thats why there's heaps of them here - see how they draw in  the tourists. 

 

 You could have The Big Noel Gallagher, or the Big Rainy Cloud  just for starters. 

Edited June 2 by monkeysarefun

[monkeysarefun]

23 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

TWO pieces of cake were consumed: one – commercially made

Jeez! How drunk were ya!?

[iL Dottore]

12 minutes ago, SM42 said:

You will now need to finish any cake and buy a replacement, making sure all details on the packet are the same, batch numbers, use by date etc. 

You must also replace it in the cupboard exactly as it was left with all things in the vicinity the same and don't forget about the single hair over the door, otherwise you will be found out when Mrs IL Dotorre returns. 

Nah. Won’t need to do any of that.

I’ll just put the clean t-shirts in with the clean Polo Shirts and that will cause enough ruckus as to make her overlook any cake discrepancies (not that she would notice, the kitchen and its contents and food stocks hold no interest for her. As long as she gets her three squares a day the kitchen can remain my fiefdom…)

[iL Dottore]

9 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

I'd like to know who bought the artisanal piece of cake? If it was Herr Doctarrie that implies intent. If so that means he planned to consume the cake. So I'm beginning to suspect all this high follooting 'my body is a temple' and i don't eat anything with chemicals in is subterfuge. Herr Doctarrie is secret cake scoffer.

You’re way off the mark, Winnie Dear Boy. The cakes were purchased at the behest of Mrs iD for one of her afternoon soirées with her (lady) friends.

 

Otherwise Schloss iD is a cake-free zone! 
 

Edited June 2 by iL Dottore

[Happy Hippo]

10 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

Good job I didn't say anything about our glorious leader isn't it then.

That would be most unusual!

[pH]

We have friends coming into town this week, and they will have dinner with us one evening. My wife has decided dessert will be based around cakes from one or more of the artisanal bakeries in town. This has, of course, meant that research is required on the current (and currant) offerings of these bakeries. Here are samples of the products of two of them:

 

 

We have another sample to try later today (well, three at a time would have been a little gauche!), plus another bakery to visit before making a final choice. 

[Happy Hippo]

Now, if that plate was a 65' turntable (or bigger) then those would be considered reasonable samples.