Early Risers.

[chrisf]

26 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

 

Have a look for one of these , maximum of two meals .

 

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/287128001

 

 

 

That's a good thought, thank you.  The snag is that I plan to make it last for four days!   Day one is Christmas Eve, as a homage to the European tradition of having the main meal on that day.  After dining out on Christmas Day, at a price of course, it will be back to the British tradition of leftovers for three more days.  That at least is the theory.  I look forward to finding out what is actually available when I go shopping.  At the moment I am torn between baked gammon a la Baz and pot roast on a bed of vegetables as per Delia.

 

Back down to earth now - it's bangers, mash and beans today.

 

Chris

[PhilJ W]

The parcel I received this morning contained this:-

Its one of a series of models commissioned by Shell Oil, Hong Kong and sold by them through their filling stations. Its to 1/76 00 scale but some of the others are different scales. They come in a nifty metal 'oil can' container.

I have ordered another model from the series, a recovery truck which might just reach me by Christmas.

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Sorry . again mucho skipping due to having to use the PC for "proper" purposes.

 

Was actually going to post some images of the doll's house at last, but couldn't get them to download to this laptop - a new camera is now in order and on order - I will try to download them to the old laptop, then post them from there - wish me luck.

 

Other than that not a lot happening - will take Lily out for a walk while the old latop fires up - takes about 15 minutes now, and may revisit later.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

 

 

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

 Collection of previously mentioned items went well. The electric screwdriver seems to be taking charge, I'll check it next week to see if the batteries are ok or need replacing.

Did some of the battening out of the ceiling before my upper back said no!!!. 

So after that I attempted to cut some clear plastic to double glaze the old sash window section now installed in the garage. Like the old window, this plastic was old too..brittle, didn't cut well. I'll be able to cover up the broken edges..

 

The dust vacuum system was extended to the main workbench. Now I need some flexible hose to extend it from there to the tools.

 

i was intending to turn the keel over and work on the bottom, but with my back playing up, I just did the top..

Ben started taking for the long walk, but after about 1/4 of the route, the guns started again, so he wanted home, we turned round and came back. The wind was already increasing  though not yet at the forecast 25,mph gusting 40mph. Felt darn chilly ...

 

The bathroom heater is on .. shortly I'll go for a long soak..

 

 

 

 

[45156]

Well with apologies for the quality as the flash decided not to work - new camera should arrive in Argos tomorrow.

 

[45156]

Oops

[Andrew P]

Boiler sorted, many problems found but many parts replaced and a major full service done by an Ideal Boiler Engineer.

Now happy warm and will be having a shower after lunch.

[Simon G]

Afternoon all,

It is wild windy and wet here.  Given that, what sort of idiot would go out for a walk today?  Well, we did this morning, when it didn’t seem to be raining quite so hard, to post some letters and cards.  Having posted them, we decided to walk a bit further and got well soaked, even with wearing full waterproofs.  In addition, one of my walking shoes decided that it no longer wanted to be waterproof, so I had a pretty wet foot by the time we got home.

 

On returning home, a large batch of soup was made, using chicken stock and loads of vegetables, lentils, soup mix etc.  On first tasting, the result seems pretty good, and it tends to improve after a day or so.  Now waiting for the Exeter v Glasgow rugby match to start as my afternoon’s entertainment.

[Sidecar Racer]

2 hours ago, chrisf said:

 

That's a good thought, thank you.  The snag is that I plan to make it last for four days!  

 

 

 Buy two !!!!!     

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, chrisf said:

The snag is that I plan to make it last for four days!

Gammon freezes nicely. So if you think the joint you have cooked is too big for four days, after cooking slice off the surplus and freeze it in portion sized boxes covered with some gravy. Defrosts perfectly for meals during 2021. 
We have got more organised about labelling stuff in the freezer. Though we no longer have home made dog treats stored there. 

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, chrisf said:

- it's bangers, mash and beans

Aditi did ask what I would like for Christmas lunch. I said to be perfectly honest I would like egg and chips. This will only happen however if the food deliveries go very very  wrong. I suspect menu plans B, C and D are already present in some form or another. 

[The White Rabbit]

No plans for C*****mas lunch yet, as I don't know what's happening. If it's just me, it could well be egg & chips...

 

It never rains but it pours, both literally and metaphorically. Another gloomy day (at least according to the clock) in this bit of Yorkshire. The seasonal duck-ponds are back in the back garden. A quick trip to the postbox, managed to walk rather than swim but definitely a little bit of paddling involved. 

 

One 2021 calendar bought, I will probably have a go at a DIY photo calendar next year and maybe go shares on getting a few done with some friends if I can tempt them. The delivery time for this year (as of last weekend) would put it in the middle of Christmas week and I've not got all the photos I would want to use immediately to hand. So I've set a reminder for next autumn. This year I went with Steam Railway's issue. And E-bay tried to interest me in a calendar of Kim Jong Un. If that's based on my browsing history, then they must be drawing some rather strange conclusions! 

 

BALLADS - what with one thing and another, I forgot to explain yesterday, sorry. Belated Arrivals Leaving Late Always Delay Simon. We were often the last stop of the week, both for reps and regular customers, a lot of people used to like to end their week with a trip to us, so Friday afternoons could be seriously busy. It was rare I used to be able to get away punctually, though it wasn't usually a particular hardship. One snag could be I'd stay dealing with someone/something past closing and someone else would arrive, having "just caught you". When they were spending money it wasn't normally a problem, though I could get a bit crotchety after about an hour after official closing. No POETS days in retail!  

 

On the subject of clearouts and decisions, I think this is best illustrated:

 

Edited December 13, 2020 by The White Rabbit
miss Spellung

[Tony_S]

Chris F mentioned Delia’s recipe earlier. One of her cake suggestions is cooling at the moment. This was from her original Christmas book. There was a new edition of the book that Aditi purchased, She gave the old one away. Then she found it didn’t have the Dundee Cake with whisky recipe. Fortunately it was online. Delia suggested using malt whisky to feed the cake. I suspect we won’t use malt whisky. I know some of you like whisky, is there a considered opinion on such use?

 

[The Stationmaster]

Are you fed up with one type of computer not supporting another sort.  Here is one simple answer - how Mac can support Windows

 

 

 

[Tony_S]

6 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Are you fed up with one type of computer not supporting another sort.  Here is one simple answer - how Mac can support Windows

 

 

 

But it only allows Mac Air in....

[The Stationmaster]

16 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Chris F mentioned Delia’s recipe earlier. One of her cake suggestions is cooling at the moment. This was from her original Christmas book. There was a new edition of the book that Aditi purchased, She gave the old one away. Then she found it didn’t have the Dundee Cake with whisky recipe. Fortunately it was online. Delia sggested using malt whisky to feed the cake. I suspect we won’t use malt whisky. I know some of you like whisky, is there a considered opinion on such use?

 

 

I don't drink much in the way of spirits nowadays but it sounds like a waste of proper whisky to me.  However if you want a cake which tastes of peat you could use  Laphroaig. which gives you a very nice strong hint of peat from the water they use.  Talisker would very definitely, and appallingly, be totally wasted in anything other than a glass from which you take a drink.  

 

A blend might be an alternative (and cheaper of course) and Bells would be nice, albeit misused, if put into a cake.  But whatever you do don't use Teachers - unless you want your cake to taste of TCP

Edited December 13, 2020 by The Stationmaster

[Joseph_Pestell]

I can't think of any cake that would be improved by whisky and certainly not a rich fruit cake.

 

ISTR that Dundee had some connection with rum and I think that would be a much better addition. Sadly, I have had to give up rum completely as diabetes has got worse.

[simontaylor484]

My Gran (Dads mum) was an exceptional cook. If i could make Yorkshire Puddings like she could i would be a millionaire. 

She always did a gammon joint for Christmas with a home made breadcrumb crust fantastic.

 She made trifles with scotch not sherry and you could get pi$$ed on it and her Christmas cake. She was an alcoholic and liked to feed the cake and herself it was white horse whisky from threshers she used

[Coombe Barton]

... COVID case rise, alarmingly, and teaching Excel through interpretative dance ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/12/13/sounds-of-the-season-14-advent-3-st-lucia/

[Tony_S]

13 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

... COVID case rise, alarmingly, and teaching Excel through interpretative dance ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2020/12/13/sounds-of-the-season-14-advent-3-st-lucia/

This is where we were on this date last year. 

[iL Dottore]

14 hours ago, BSW01 said:

...a documentary about ‘The Shadows’ started, I’m not a great fan of them and I wasn’t going to watch it until I spotted David Gilmour was on, so but I watched it. It was quite Interesting to see just how many guitarists were influenced by them. 

Influenced not so much by The Shadows, I would argue, but by Hank Marvin. Hank is the perfect example of - in music - making the easy bits look hard and hard bits look easy. His playing was also a departure from both skiffle and the blues (much early “rock n roll” was rehashed and diluted down blues).

Hank was also the first person in Britain to own a Fender Stratocaster (courtesy of Cliff Richard). Hank played a Burns guitar before he got the Strat (Burns Bison, maybe?) but somehow I can’t see either David Gilmour or Eric Clapton with a Burns something-or-other in their hands...

8 hours ago, chrisf said:

...I am obliged to Baz for the thought of baked gammon.  Delia covers it in her worthy tome but on the basis of a massive joint that would last me for something approaching an eternity.... 

 

...I never thought that I would say this but I have come to enjoy "Strictly" this season...  

Have you considered baking a ham? Hot, with boiled potatoes, cabbage and mustard; cold: in almost infinite permutations (it also freezes well, so you can cube it and use, from frozen, in soups [e.g. pea and ham] or for enlivening gumbos, jambalayas, risotto and the like).

 

As for your second point: you really haven’t had a good 2020, have you? Lowbrow entertainment can be fun (and “Trash TV” can be so bad that it becomes good [Naked Nun Mud Wrestling anyone?]) , but Strictly?

I’ve never understood the Great British Public’s enthusiasm for Strictly, East Enders, X-Factor, Snooker, Darts and the like...

7 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Do they market this heavily in the UK as Pinot Grigio? I am more familiar with it as Pinot Gris. (Very similar - the same grape - though there are Italian v. French subtleties in style.)...

On the subject of Pinot Grigio in the US, many decades ago as a graduate student in Virginia, I used to pop in to a local wine store to get a bottle or two of wine for the week. One week they had a whole bin of “Elvis Presley” wine on sale for something like 50 cents a bottle. So I bought one to try. To my surprise it turned out to be a decent Pinot Grigio del Alto Aldige, so I went back bought something like 24 bottles - which then spent 24 hours in the bath: soaking off the hideous, garish, labels

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

..as it was A rated...

Now that brings back memories: the U, A and X film certificates for films. I think that the first A certificate film that I saw was 2001 - A Space Odyssey in 70mm at the Odeon Leicester Square with my father (late 60s or so, I dimly recall).

2 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

...need to have a discussion with the vet about alternatives to Iboprufen...

May I suggest you talk to your GP (rheumatologist?) about switching to diclofenac (a.k.a. Voltaren). Ibuprofen no longer has much effect on me, I’ve switched to 75g Diclofenac Retard b.i.d. (“Retard” is the slow release formulation) and that manages to keep me comfortable enough (I do have some leftover tramadol from my last surgery that I keep for those DEFCON4 moments, but to date haven’t needed to use it).

[Tony_S]

11 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

I’ve never understood the Great British Public’s enthusiasm

Well, many of the programmes you mention are not my favourites either but today’s top rated Swiss TV programme seems to be about Aunt Maria believing she can hear her Grandfather’s voice coming from the radio....

Edited December 13, 2020 by Tony_S

[Barry O]

10 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Do they market this heavily in the UK as Pinot Grigio? I am more familiar with it as Pinot Gris. (Very similar - the same grape - though there are Italian v. French subtleties in style.)

More commonly, I see Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.  Lovely with shellfish.

Yes.. mislead by her indoors it is Sauvignon Blanc. But look out for wines from Bladon Reisling .. much better than the German variety as it isn't that sweet ..

 

Baz

Edited December 13, 2020 by Barry O

[Joseph_Pestell]

3 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Yes.. mislead by her indoors it is Sauvignon Blanc. But look out for wines from Bladon Reisling .. much better than teh Germa variety as it isn't that sweet ..

 

Baz

 

Sweetness has nothing to do with either grape variety or nationality. Plenty of good dry Rieslings from Germany - but expect to pay for them.

[Barry O]

6 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

Sweetness has nothing to do with either grape variety or nationality. Plenty of good dry Rieslings from Germany - but expect to pay for them.

A couple from Germany were on the same wine tour in Marlborough. She had to be forced into trying the Reisling .. and she said it was very good and not sweet..  The New Zealand uses the same Grape Variety.. indeed we talked to the man who owns Bladen vineyards abut how he got the grape vines he wanted. It was not a simple task. German Reislings have suffered a bit in the UK wheer the sweetness is used to counteract the acidity in the wines.  I prefer the Marlborough Reisling..

 

although they can't make Double Eisewein.. they don't get good enough frost.. now that really is sweet!

 

Baz