Early Risers.

[polybear]

Guess what?  Another flunked test to add to the collection.  Rattin' Piggin' Turdycurses.

Bear also made a discovery - the test kit I had in the cupboard (provided free by the Big House Testing Programme) has seven tests in it.  The same test kit from Boots (for nine quid....) has five tests in it.  Bear smells a Big Fat Rat.....

That's Bear still failing on Day 8 (possibly Day 9 in fact).  Poo

 

Right, where's that Gearbox?

 

BG

[jjb1970]

I am very disappointed in Polybear, selfishly hogging all those COVID virus whatever they are things, the ones that make nice soft toys. Remember - sharing is caring, the socially responsible attitude is to get out and share it with everyone.

[polybear]

22 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

I am very disappointed in Polybear, selfishly hogging all those COVID virus whatever they are things, the ones that make nice soft toys. Remember - sharing is caring, the socially responsible attitude is to get out and share it with everyone.

 

You could be right - perhaps I should be doing a tour of G.W. Muddlers.......🤣

 

 

[Winslow Boy]

3 hours ago, pH said:

I remember tripe (unfortunately). Once meat finally came off the ration, we never saw tripe again.

 

As kids, my wife and her siblings used to call tripe “boiled nappies”.

My father used to love tripe but unfortunately it got to be rarer than hens teeth.

[DaveF]

It looks like being a cold soggy day.  The rain began as I had breakfast, then it stopped.  Now it has started again and is supposed to rain all day with a cold easterly wind.  At least I'm not in  a yellow warning area.

 

Morrisons have delivered the groceries almost as ordered except for an extra punnet of strawberries as raspberries were out of stock.  

 

As it is going to be wet I do not intend to go far today, I have plenty of work to do on photos and models to keep me occupied, along with a bit of ironing and the Tour de France to watch this afternoon.

 

Meanwhile here a few more photos from yesterday at Amble to remind you of the summer which was yesterday.  The north sea was doing its impersonation of the Mediterranean sea.

 

Warkworth Castle from Amble

 

Fishing boat at low tide

 

Coquet Island seen from Amble.  A breeding place for terns etc, closed to the public but you can have a boat trip round it.

 

Amble harbour light

 

Alnmouth from Amble.  The foreground wall is the harbour's north breakwater.

 

Fishery Patrol vessel Robert Arkless MBE of the Northumberland Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority entering Amble.

 

David

Edited July 9 by DaveF

[jjb1970]

A couple of years ago my scatter brained sister in law got into trouble for having a sharing and caring attitude. 

 

When Singapore started allowing visitors without quarantine it was conditional on testing at MoH test centres at defined intervals and use of track and trace was mandatory. People were subject to restrictions according to the test schedule.

 

So my fearless SiL went shopping before one of the test results was confirmed. Next thing she had a call from the MoH - why are you outside, you're only allowed out to visit the test center until we get a negative result uploaded to our system. I'm not out! Yes you are, the track and trace system shows you were here, here, here. .....

 

She was told to return to our home immediately and if it happened again they'd decide whether to prosecute or just expel her back to Indonesia. 

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

I wouldn’t mind giving Umble Pie a go, starting with Venison Haggis (for the Deer offal) and going from there. It should be fairly straightforward to make and I reckon it’d be right tasty, especially served with a parsnip mash and washed down with a decent mead or a “small beer”

I wonder just how many people would just eat that if you didn't tell them what it was. Just told them it was a 'large sausage and meat pie'.

[Barry O]

Faith in people's ability to make sensible decisions. Restored.. our game is off today so no death Valley on the M62 to be visited...

 

Wooooopppppiiiidddddooo!

 

Baz

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

Ey up!

 

We may, or may not, bevteavelling to the wirral for cricket today. Its absolutely chuckinitdarn here.. and the forecast over the hills isn't great.Pah!

 

We await instructions!

 

Have a good day.

 

Baz

 

Depends on which bit, in this bit, its chuckinitdown and not that warm...

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. My mum served up tripe once, IIRC it was boiled in milk. I can't tell you what it tasted like because it didn't have any discernible flavour. I can eat any other offal except kidneys, I don't like the taste. I too would like to try umble pie if it is *venison, my favourite meat.

*As long as it is from culled wild herds.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

Typical, I’ve had a few day where the weather has been reasonable and I’ve been busy meeting family members etc or stuck doing things inside, today when my do to list is empty, it’s p!ssing it down, pah! Not sure what I’ll do today, possibly go to the big orange DIY shed and buy some wood, or maybe just potter about in the workshop. 
 

Back later.
 

Brian

[The White Rabbit]

Morning all,

 

It's a very grey and murky one here. The builders have finished the crash bang wallop stage, so no Radio One. Yesterday the renderer was going round filling in some holes and treating the walls with one of his magic substances to stabilise them. To clarify - not to stop them falling down or leaning but there's an issue with the paint not sticking to the walls. Probably due to the original painters not doing the job properly one way or another - we have several possible theories. Rain stopped play and looking at today's forecast, a day off outside work is called for. A prescription needs to be collected so a diversion to the butchers could well be added to the outing. Tripe will not be on the list. 

 

Parsnip and carrot mash was had yesterday, with a small portion put aside to add to some potato mash tomorrow, sausage and mash with a difference. Will still do onion gravy though. 

[Gwiwer]

11 hours ago, Barry O said:

11 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I think the Co-op deliver nowadays. Probably some sort of minimum order though. 

Round here the coop deliver using a small 6 wheeled "robot:.. quite fun to watch.

 

All the major supermarkets deliver if you are within range of one of their “hubs”. 
 

Ocado use large and mostly automated warehouses where bots pick and pack your order into bags which are then loaded into the crates for transport. Others mostly use human pickers at selected stores who “shop” from the shelves for you. 

 

It has been suggested that Ocado has a lower substitution rate than the others and that the subs are more widely accepted. We seldom had any problem with them. A friend here in Cornwall who uses ASDA regularly has to send back all sorts of odd subs; grissini (bread sticks) instead of sliced bread and a bottle of eau de toilette instead of toilet cleaner! 
 

Currently we are outside Ocado’s area being too far from Plymouth for their liking. The rest will deliver. 
 

Minimum order is usually by value rather than volume. There is also a maximum order; Tesco set that at 50 items iirc whilst the minimum with Ocado is £40.  This means you (or @polybear) can order just one bottle of a decent whisky or a goodly supply of LDC.  

 

Order size is not governed by the capacity, nor the number of, 100L crates used.  Our orders at the Hill of Strawberries were typically around £100 value but might require two, three or even four crates depending on how many larger or heavier items there were. 
 

We could have deliveries here but most shopping is done at the Co-op two minutes’ walk away. A bigger shop at Sainsbury’s in PZ happens around once a month. We understand the arguments that one van with thirty deliveries uses less fuel and creates less pollution than perhaps thirty cars all going to the supermarket. That is in favour of van deliveries. But as we are now and with no pandemic for the time being we support the local economy in person. 
 

 

[iL Dottore]

Coop have a minimum spend of £15 according to their website - this will allow you to buy 4.62 LDC. At 390g per LDC that’s only 1.8 kg of LDC.

 

It’s hardly worth picking up the phone for (especially if you consider that £15 of carefully chosen raw ingredients would make you, easily, more than 3Kg of LDC!)

[Gwiwer]

25 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

if you consider that £15 of carefully chosen raw ingredients would make you, easily, more than 3Kg of LDC

Correct but that removes from the cost : benefit equation the labour of making, packing, shipping and distributing the LDC.  

 

On the other hand it would also be fresher.  Stale LDC is not to be trifled with.  Not even in a lemon-based trifle.  

[Gwiwer]

Chews-Day report.  It is not as fold, doggy and camp as the seaweed-wranglers suggested it might be.  It remains quite brisk and breezy, nothing from the big golden glowy-thing whose name I now forget, but with nothing falling from the sky either and good clear visibility.  

 

Today was going to be a hiking day.  I caped that idea yesterday based on the wetter forecast.  When the alarm woke me at 7am I turned it off and went back to sleep.  The next thing I knew it was well past breakfast time and into the morning coffee era.  I now regret somewhat the choices I made last night and at 7 this morning as I can't complete the chosen section of coastal path in a half-day.  

 

There is enough to do here.  His Furship expressed his discontent at having four instead of two humans in his house all weekend by pulling the dirty laundry out of its basket, spreading it across the floor and widdling all over it.  That all now requires two hour-long cycles in the sloshing machine; one with soap and the spray used to neutralise the odour and the other with soap and fabric softener.  We seldom use the latter but are experienced in the ways of removing cat-wee aroma and this does the trick.  I'm still not a dog person! 

 

Sister and BiL are now in Sidmouth and are, as she says, "the youngest people in town".  On my suggestion they stopped off in Ashburton yesterday for lunch and a visit to the bottle shop from which I had sourced some very cheap, very nice single-cask whiskey two years ago.  And when in Ashburton it has to be Rafiki's for lunch; they hadn't been before and were very impressed.  A mostly-closed town but suddenly a totally different vibe, truly relaxed even when busy and with almost-authentic Turkish - Moroccan style menu.  

 

More humbly it is likely to be French Toast and Bacon for lunch here in a moment or three.  I just have to swap loads in the sloshing machine first ......... 

[TheQ]

Afternoon Awl,

Just had half a pork pie and a ginger beer for lunch....

That brings back memories, as far back as tripe for dinner, though it's industrial sugar free ginger beer these days, not home made ginger beer ..

 

Landrover emptied of rubbish, scrap wood, good wood and stuff for working on the shed.

Soon after it started soggying, not heavy but large blobbed continuous stuff.

 

Morning otherwise spent turning a unit of unmentionables into a three piece suite, the centre section once freed from the others had ambitions of becoming a banana, so that rapidly had to have new end  frames made.

Then more framing made as it's going to be a 4 piece suite..  all wood from stock, but don't have any of that sun from deal ah to match the originals, a hour of contemplation on a solution is called for, though that may be interrupted by eyelid inspection.

 

 

[Tony_S]

Went to the tip to dump,and recycle. Then on to do,a click,and collect of clothing items from the M&S food store on Canvey. Then we went to the Camping shop on one of the industrial estates. I wanted some NiKWax wash in reproofer. The one I bought some years ago finally got used up this week. I could have got it online but it was generally a lot more expensive either with free postage or cheaper but with pricey postage. As we were driving past it seemed sensible. It is an amazing store, just shelves and shelves of stuff to do with camping, caravans and outdoor pursuits. 
Aditi had hoped to get a fresh baguette from M&S for lunch but the freezer they keep the dough in had broken. Fortunately there was a parking space near the Co-op on the way home. I have tried to make baguettes but the result wasn’t worth the effort. We do make most of our own bread (in a Panasonic breadmaker)  otherwise. 
 Because I have done all my holiday packing, I have been given the job of going to Leigh on Sea to collect a John Lewis order from Waitrose. Aditi broke her electric toothbrush and delivery to Waitrose was quicker than having it posted. I have attempted to fix such toothbrush devices before but without success.  I will have a go at sorting the broken one, it could be a spare if I can. I know all the YouTube videos but I wonder how many they broke before getting a successful one!

[Coombe Barton]

Mum used to like tripe, dad and I couldn't stand the stuff.

[roundhouse]

Boiler warranty serial number now sorted after contacting the manufacturer. Turns out there are two serial numbers on the boiler, one that both me and the engineer had found was for the wifi module.

 

So, warranty completed for 7 years. Its an extra £180 for another 3 years. We have 30 days from today to consider that.

 

Beer oclock is fast approaching and its been chucking it down.

 

Earlier had to take Mum to Sainsburys for the first time since she came out of hopsital a few months ago. As usual a very muddled shopping list plus I had worked out some items that she would require that wasnt on it. On our way back home she said that there was something missing that I would know but she couldn't recall what it was called. That item still remains a mystery.

Edited July 9 by roundhouse

[Coombe Barton]

6 hours ago, Barry O said:

Faith in people's ability to make sensible decisions. Restored.

Completely restored or waiting for the next one?

[Gwiwer]

51 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

Mum used to like tripe, dad and I couldn't stand the stuff.

My maternal grandfather liked it.  No-one else in the family ever has.  Grandmother occasionally cooked it for him when we visited but made something altogether more appealing for the rest of us.  Often a steak and kidney pie in the days when I was young enough to eat kidney without protest despite disliking it.  The pastry would compare with slabs of concrete used in the construction industry but was somewhat softened by the "gravy".  That was very thin brown liquid which might have had an Oxo cube dissolved into a pint of boiling water on a good day.  

 

Grandmother was not a cook.  She taught her daughter all she could; mother was not a good cook either.  

[DaveF]

As expected it has rained all day.  The bin men came and went, reversing along the road at speed as usual.  They nearly came unstuck as a car came round the corner from behind himand the driver had to stop hurridly and pull forwards to let the car by.  I put the bin away along with some those of the neighbours and decided that was enough getting wet for one day so since then I've stayed indoors.

 

I've done a bit of modelling, having first managed to find all the things I needed as I haven't used them for a long time.  

 

Apart from that I've listened to some music, done a word puzzle, read a magazine and other not exciting but pleasurable things.  Tea comes next, chicken in wholemeal rolls followed by strawberries - though no cream while I avoid lactose and I don't like "imitation" cream made from plants.

 

This evening will be the Tour de France highlights and an enjoyable book again.

 

David

[DaveF]

I've just received an e mail from a bank I use offereing me a new credit card, it will give me 0.5 to 1% cashback on purchases - and they will only charge me £15 a month.  It would give me access to more than 1,300 airport lounges, security fast track at some airports and other offers.  

 

I have no intention of flying again at present, I hate the hassle at airports - and that just was with the experience the hassle up to 2006, the last time I flew.

 

I will not be taking up their offer!

 

David

[polybear]

Bear here.....

 

Buddy over the road picked up a squeaky new Covid test kit from the local drug dealer earlier (that's fifty jam donuts Bear won't be scoffin' 😢) - my current test kit went out of date at the end of March (close enough for Government work....).

Well I did a test with the new kit and it looked as though it was going to be negative - so whilst the sand in the egg timer was still doing it's stuff I did another test using the old kit so I could compare the two.

The result?  Well both kits gave double red lines after all - but the "Test" (T) Line on both old & new is fainter than it was this morning.  Could this mean the Wooflu is finally buggerin' off at long last?  Another test  in the morning...... 

 

ION.....

 

More muddlin' today - I now have a brass thingy with six round thingies fitted, along with a motor & gearbox.  That's a Tick.

 

And finally.....

 

This story was on the TV news at lunchtime - not a nice way to treat people (in particular those where the birth was in Oz):

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyr70ezev2mo

 

BG