2011年11月の記事一覧 | Jeremy and Junko in Stratford - 楽天ブログ

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2011年11月の記事

全30件 (30件中 1-30件目)

1

Wish list

Here is a real wish list, of one item. I dream of owning a Dualit toaster. These toasters are expensive, made in England, toast well, are made from brass, stainless steel and nuts and bolts. You can take them to pieces and repair them. Amazing. Here is another Christmas basket that Junko has made up, this one, I think, is going to my sister. If you were to buy this in the shops it would cost twenty pounds, I bet.I am planning on making some of that curry sauce into a potato and chick pea curry. It’s been a very long time since I made this particular curry, so that will be good. I usually make dalls, chicken tikka masala and spinach and potato. Now, thinking about it, I ought to branch out and try another sort. I’ve just looked through my curry book. How about ‘keema peas’? There was another frost last night, just again on the greenhouse glass, nothing on the standing water in the patio, so it can’t have been very cold. But I’ll bet the untreated roads were icy as it rained late last night. Black ice.Quiz 700“I know what I like and ……………..”a) I usually have it for breakfastb) it’s not tripec) what about you?d) I like what I knowYesterday’s was b)

2011年11月30日

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Ring pull misery

Ah, things didn’t go that well with a couple of cans of chopped tomatoes I planned to use in the curry sauce I made the other day. I needed to liquidise them, and, as you recall the liquidizer has broken, but that problem was solved as we had a spare machine. No, the problem was the ring pulls. How old people manage these things is completely beyond me. On the first can I just couldn’t lift the ring. Most people would have ruined a kitchen knife (possibly cutting themselves in the process)trying to lift the ring from the lid, but I value our cutlery so I searched out a pair of long-nosed pliers. I managed to grab the said ring with them, and lifted it. Fine. But then I pulled it back and the whole thing just snapped off, leaving a bump in the middle of the can and the ring in the jaws on the pliers. OK, I thought, just use the electric opener. Well, that was fine until the can rotated to the bump, then it just jammed solid. I couldn’t get the can off the opener! It was a quarter open, so I managed to get a screwdriver into the gap and make the hole big enough to get the tomatoes out. Then I rinsed the can with water so as not to get tomato juice everywhere and eventually managed to get the mangled mess removed from the can opening machine. And then onto can number two. Very carefully I got the ring lifted and my finger in it so as not to pull too vigorously as I thought that this had been the cause of the first fracture. But no, can number two suffered the same fate, ring failure. Back to the can opener. Can inserted easily, top cut off nicely, full can of tomatoes suddenly drops from the machine tips up over the worksurface, splashes trousers and shirt and then rolls onto the floor. Oh my God, what a mess, it wouldn’t have been such a mess if they had been whole tomatoes, but that fact that they were chopped made matters far worse. And all of this before breakfast, what a start to the day. However, eventually the curry sauce turned out well, so at least that was good. I didn’t use the tomatoes which had been on the floor, I hasten to add.This is the wisteria as it was yesterday. Note the spikes that the leaves are on, these are difficult to sweep up. The water pipe is part of the water saving system, you can’t usually see it as it’s hidden by the leaves.We went to the bootsale this morning. I was surprised not to see Stephan. When we saw him the other day he had the beginnings of a cold, I hope it hasn’t developed into something very nasty which prevented him from braving the freezing winds which always seem to blow across the airfield on bootsale day.Quiz 699Who is usually ‘under her thumb’?a) Mick Jaggerb) a husbandc) a sond) a father in lawYesterday’s was b)

2011年11月29日

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Easter eggs

Junko and I went shopping to Morrisons, one of the local supermarkets, yesterday evening. We needed some lemon juice and some canned chopped tomatoes for the curry sauce I am in the process of making. While we were there Junko decided to get a loaf of French bread (well the British version of French bread, I don’t suppose the French would recognise it as bread themselves, but we call if French bread – it’s long, that’s about all). While we were in the vegetable section Junko’s phone rang so she went to the bread section and picked up a loaf of the old French stuff while talking on the phone. Meanwhile I whizzed round and found some canned tomatoes and the lemon juice. I had a bit of trouble finding Junko once more, but finally did at the end of aisle eight. She was still on the phone. As I reached her and turned to talk to her, a ten foot high cardboard display shelf full of Easter eggs and chocolate rabbits came crashing down around my ears. I must have touched it with my arm as I turned, but really I felt nothing at all. It was a very flimsy construction and it was blocking the aisle, as many things are in supermarkets these days, so I am not really all that sorry I knocked it over, if indeed it was me (and I have my suspicions that it was a lady who was close by, in fact). As Junko saw the whole thing collapsing, she spun round to try and stop something falling, and the two French loaves in her basket flew out with the centrifugal force, split their bags and skidded along the dirty floor ending up underneath the fish counter. My fault, again. But you know, when people are on the phone they are not fully concentrating on what they are doing.And then again, why are Easter eggs on sale now? It isn’t even Christmas yet.Junko made this basket up for mother, just as a little present.We had the second frost of the year the night before last. Again it was just on the greenhouse, a tub of water on the ground nearby didn’t have even the tiniest covering of ice, not even at the edges.Junko tells me that there has been fifty centimetres of snow in Aomori. Wow.Quiz 698“Where there is a will there is a ………”a) roadb) wayc) relatived) department storeYesterday’s was c)

2011年11月28日

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Oh the problems

Our wisteria is an excellent thing but it is extremely high maintenance. This is the sequence in which patio has to be cleared up after some kind of event. Firstly there are the flower cases, small but masses of them. Then there are the flower petals themselves, lots of lovely colourful bits of natural something, but it can be a real mess, especially if it rains while they are on the ground – the patio needs to be swept daily for two weeks when these flowers are dropping. Next the stalks which the flowers are on fall off – these are about six inches long and difficult to sweep up because they are so thin and get stuck in the cracks in the paving. Now we are into summer and the leaves and new shoots grow rapidly – these new shoots need to be trimmed very regularly otherwise the whole bush gets completely out of control, I would say that I take a large compost bag of clippings to the dump every week throughout the summer. In the autumn the leaves begin to fall, and they are falling from October right the way into December, more bags. Finally the stems on which the leaves grow drop off, this seems to happen all the way through the winter – they are similar to the bits on which the flowers hand, long and thin and difficult to sweep up. And of course throughout the year bits of dead wood are constantly falling. It’s a big job keeping this bush in check, but it is definitely worth it for the lovely flowers it bears in spring and for the shade it gives us during the summer and autumn. Our liquidiser gave up the ghost today. Just like that. I was liquidising four hundred grammes of garlic for the curry sauce I am making, and there was a sudden cloud of smoke, a flash or two from inside the base, a nasty electrical burning smell and a horrible grating sound. Then there was silence as I quickly turned it off for the last time. Luckily we have a spare. The old one had lasted us for more than five years, I don’t suppose it’s bad really, but just how much we actually used it I am not sure – it didn’t have very heavy use really, and I have to say that I would have expected it to last a bit longer. It was a good quality one, not the top of the range, but not the cheapest either, far from it. Oh well that’s another thing to take to the dump.These are some Victorian machine made bricks in a house in Stratford. They are laid in English bond.Quiz 697“The mind is willing but the flesh is ……………”a) tiredb) not so tastyc) weakd) rottenAnd the answer to yesterday’s. Numbers 1,2,4,5 and 6 are things that shouldn’t be done.

2011年11月27日

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Netbook success

I have managed to switch off the screen on Junko’s netbook so that she can close the lid and use the big monitor without the whole thing instantly going to sleep. There was some manufacturers proprietary thing that was interfering with Windows. All sorted now. I blamed Windows unfairly, but it is the kind of thing that they do these days in the basic versions. I’ve still got a bit of a runny nose from my cold, and this morning I cut up four kilos of onions to make a basic curry sauce with. I had just finished putting the onions in the pan ready to boil them up, my eyes were streaming wildly, when the phone rang. I can’t imagine what I sounded like, snuffling from both the cold and the onions, it must have been awful!You know, I think there are more people, just a few more but more nonetheless, who are starting to realise that the quality of almost everything (cars and electrical equipment generally excepted) has declined so dramatically over the past ten or twenty years so as to make many things that we buy almost totally useless. As a consequence we will have to start to pay a bit more for a quality product that actually does the job required of it and lasts more than five minutes. Cheapest is not best, certainly not when it comes to quality.It has been quite some time since we had guacamole for breakfast. But this morning Junko used this very nice looking avocado to make some up. Sadly, like so many things, the exterior was good, but what was inside was very definitely second rate. We had waited a week until this fruit was apparently nicely ripe but although it was just about the right texture, the flavour was almost non existent. “Beauty is only skin deep,” so they say. What a pity.Quiz 696How many of the following things should you not do when eating in Britain?1. Make a noise when drinking tea2. Put the knife in your mouth3. Finish your food4. Talk with food in your mouth5. Start your dinner before your host6. Say to your host that you are coldYesterday’s was c)

2011年11月26日

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Wet and windy

Yes, it was very wet and windy yesterday. Warm, though, which was good. But very windy, the sort of day that you want to use an umbrella because of the rain, but as soon as you put it up, it turns inside out.Now I’ve got a better keyboard, a slimmer one – not a shorter one (although it is a little shorter than the one I had before), I seem to be having fewer problems with my mouse being so far away. It’s because I can put the mouse in front of the keyboard, I think. Anyway, my frustrations have just melted away without my really noticing them. That’s good. So I don’t think I will get another board, but I am still after a nice camera.And on the subject of computer equipment, I bought Junko a monitor for her netbook. I felt so sorry for her peering into that tiny screen and typing about two inches from her nose! Now she can use the netbook just like a desktop as she’s got a mouse and keyboard too. Only problem is, I can’t get the machine not to switch off when the lid is closed. I know how to do this, as I’ve get the same thing set up on my machine, but the problem with Junko’s is that the options are greyed out and there seems to be no way to get them active. I expect you have to pay more; it’s the way it goes. I am still snuffling a bit. My nose and throat are still congested.Junko has just defrosted the freezer. Water everywhere!This is an Old Hall serviette ring, from the 1960’s or early 1970’s.Quiz 695If you open Pandora’s box …………a) she won’t be happyb) you will find some hairspray in therec) you are sure to have a lot of troubled) be sure to close the lid when you have finishedYesterday’s was b)

2011年11月25日

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Bust up

Bill has had an almighty row with Sid. It looks as if they won’t be talking for quite some time! Good. On the other hand, perhaps it isn’t so good; I hope Sid doesn’t turn his attentions on me!The night before last was the coldest that we have had so far this year. There was a thin layer of ice on the greenhouse roof first thing this morning, but it seems that it wasn’t that cold because the young runner bean which germinated on its own in the autumn is still quite happy. Normally, runner beans perish at the first sign of frost, so clearly it was just cold things, like glass and metal, that got very cold. It’s very nearly December, so we must expect this sort of thing. So far it hasn’t been nearly as cold as last year, let’s hope it continues like this.Seiko is suffering from slugs on the allotment. I came across this tub of environmentally friendly slug pellets the other day, so she can have them. We don’t use anything like this in our garden. Apparently, this brand of pellets kills the slugs but doesn’t harm the wildlife, or so it says on the label.Aspi has suddenly woken up. Hey, it’s good to hear from you, mate. Hope to see you soon.My cold is taking a while to finally die off. There has been no noticeable improvement in the past twenty four hours.Really great rock track – “Willin’” by Little Feat. 1972Quiz 694If something is your ‘bread and butter’ it’s …………..a) what you have for breakfastb) how you make your livingc) very importantd) unimportantYesterday’s was a)

2011年11月24日

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Food tasting

It’s a pity, but I won’t be going to the food tasting thing. It has been oversubscribed and so, as a newcomer, I have been excluded. Oh well, next time maybe.It was very windy last night and a few more of the wisteria leaves have fallen, but there are still some left as a covering for the bare winter branches. My cold is very much better today, thank you. However, my nose is rather itchySid has been very quiet of late; I think he was a bit shocked when Bill told him to mind his own business when he commented that Bill should think carefully before doing something personal. Bill can be quite stern when riled. We frequently get telephone calls for taxis, for an estate agent and a tattoo parlour, but yesterday we had a new one. A lady wanted to speak to the vet about her cat!! Goodness me, the sun is so low in the sky even at midday these days. Still, I suppose it is not that long before we are at the shortest day. There are a lot of berries on the trees this year. Old people usually say that this is a sign that there is going to be a hard winter. I’m more inclined to think it means that there was a hard winter last year (which there was). Can a tree forecast the weather? Quiz 693If something is ‘a piece of cake’ it’s ……….a) easyb) difficultc) cheapd) expensiveYesterday’s was a)

2011年11月23日

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Cars

Oh dear, my brother in law has just put a tank full of petrol in his car. This wouldn’t normally be a problem of course, aside from the actual price of the petrol itself, but his car runs on diesel. Luckily he realised his mistake before he started it up so it only needs the tank emptying out, hopefully. Nonetheless it is a great inconvenience. He had to leave the car at the filling station and get a lift home, fuming all the way no doubt. To make matters worse he has, of course, to pay for the petrol that is now mixed with diesel and completely useless. Oh dear.And staying on the subject of cars, the last time I passed by the end of the road that Stephan and Sharon live in, I could not see their car parked on the pavement in front of their house, stranded like a beached whale, so might it be that it is now up and running once more? I hope so.My cold has improved; I’d say that it was almost gone except that I feel worse now, late in the evening, than I did a few hours ago. But at least I am not sneezing, and wheezing so much, and not getting through quite so many bits of tissue paper.What’s going on with the food tasting?This was the garden as it was the day before yesterday. Still holding up well, isn’t it? Though it won’t be long before we’ve lost all the leaves off the wisteria. It is time to put a net over the purple sprouting broccoli, before the pigeons attack it.Quiz 692If something is ‘meat and drink’ to you, it’s …………..a) easyb) difficultc) cheapd) expensiveYesterday’s was c)

2011年11月22日

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More about the food tasting

I have emailed my acceptance of the food tasting for next week. I have said that I will go at one o’clock on Tuesday. I’ve not had a reply yet, I wonder if I have been rejected? Why did they ask me in the first place if they were going to reject me?There was a fantastic drama on the BBC in 1985, “Edge of Darkness”. I never saw it. I bought the DVD of it the other day, for two pounds. This DVD consists of six fifty five minute episodes and some other bits an pieces. The soundtrack is something of a gem, too, Eric Clapton. I watched the first episode earlier this evening. I now realise why it was so highly regarded. I shall have to set the video player up so that Junko can watch this first episode on her television, and then we can watch the rest together.My cold is a little bit better today, though the improvement is hard to measure. I’m hoping I’ll be OK tomorrow.I took mother to a farm shop this morning. I couldn’t face going to a supermarket what with my feeling not very good. I saw these eggs there. The big egg is a goose egg, the smaller ones are duck eggs. Apparently the yolk of a goose egg is a very dark yellow. Have you ever tried one? It would have to be pretty tasty to be worth £1.50, wouldn’t it?They are rather nice colours, those duck eggs, aren’t they? Duck egg blue, well one of them is anyway. Pity it’s not a good picture and that I can’t see the colours. In the shop I thought they were all white, but now I can see they are coloured, I was quite surprised. Oh what a world I am missing. Actually my eyes are quite good this evening, I have just noticed that something else is blue, too. Perhaps having a cold has something to do with it!Spitfires used to be painted ‘duck egg blue’ on the undersides of their wings, I believe. A beautiful plane, and a beautiful colour.The happy hopper is very well today, thank you.Quiz 691“Out of sight, out of ………..”a) reachb) luckc) mindd) cashYesterday’s was c)

2011年11月21日

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A stinker

I have got a really bad cold, an absolute stinker. Yesterday I woke with a dreadful sore throat, which eased during the day and I thought I might escape with just that, but no such luck. Today I am sneezing and snuffling almost uncontrollably, and have consumed half a roll of kitchen towel blowing my nose. My eyes are streaming and my voice has gone all strange. I wonder what tomorrow will bring? If I were a whiskey drinker, and if I had a bottle in the house, I might feel tempted to warm a large glass and gulp it all down in one go, but since I hate the stuff and don’t have any anyway, I shall have to give that a miss. Maybe a bottle of Marston’s Pedigree would be a good idea? Is real ale good for colds? Oh to hell with it, it’s sure to make me feel better!I have bought my sister’s Christmas present. Don’t tell her, but it cost me fifty pence. I don’t feel bad about it though, as it is one of those hard to find CDs that you would pay ten pounds for on eBay or Amazon. Better still, which is totally amazing, it hasn’t been opened.The weather is still very mild for the time of year. It doesn’t even feel cold when I’m not feeling well, so it really must be OK.Quiz 690“Shanks’ pony” is ………..a) a slow horseb) a fast horsec) walkingd) a kind of dogYesterday’s was d)

2011年11月20日

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It's a pickle

We went out for an Indian lunchtime meal a few days ago. A buffet. I tried all the various main dish curries, sides and bread type accompaniments. The result was, I am afraid, that I was disappointed. I don’t make side dishes (onion bhajis and that kind of thing), so I can’t really comment on them, they were OK. And the naan bread and popadoms were good. But the main dishes I don’t think compared well to what I make. However it was a nice change and good to get the chance to see how other people’s creations taste. I think even Junko thought that what I make is superior. And continuing on the food line, next week I am going to do some food tasting. I am on a food panel and every now and again I get called to eat something and tick a few boxes. Well, I think that is what happens, next week is my first time. I’m going to be tasting twelve different things: three different sorts of meat dishes, two fish dishes, two different kinds of ice cream, two ‘oriental’ dishes and some different sorts of vegetables. It should be interesting. I thought I had lost my gloves this evening. I took mother to the doctor’s and then went to the pharmacy to collect her medicine. When I got back to the car my gloves were nowhere in sight and I was quite distressed, but I soon remembered that I had deliberately left them at mother’s place just in case I got confused and flustered while with mother, and put the said gloves down somewhere unusual.A china sugar bowl. It the same maker as the cup, saucer and plate that I posted yesterday, but a different pattern. Not bad for twenty pence, though.Quiz 689“Good things come to those who ………….”a) have a lot of moneyb) are born into a good familyc) work hardd) waitYesterday’s was c)

2011年11月19日

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Cow soup

You would be thinking that this soup had something to do with cows, but it doesn’t. It’s a Welsh vegetable soup which takes its name from the Welsh word meaning soup! Although it’s mainly vegetables you can use bacon or lamb in it, and the version that Junko made this morning used bacon. Cabbage, spring onions, potatoes, carrots, leeks, vegetable stock and oats. Plus the bacon, of course. Junko saw the recipe on the TV the other night. Very nice.My favourite variety of potato is Nicola, but you rarely see them in the shops, and in fact I haven’t seen any for almost a year now. But the potatoes that were used in the above Welsh soup were ‘M.Peer’ and they were quite nice. Not floury and quite flavoursome.There was a frost in Bidford last night. Bidford is about five or six miles from Stratford. But here the night must have been warmer as there was no ice or anything on the cars first thing this morning. But it’s a sign of things to come, unfortunately.Another vintage cup and saucer. This one is ‘Regency china’, violets. Made in England. 1970’s I should think.I am trying to get hold of a small piece of flyscreen mesh, but failing. Aspi says this mesh is easy to buy in Australia, and Junko says it is common in Japan, too, but here in England we rarely use it, as there are no mosquitoes. But this means I can’t buy any for the little sieve that I want to make. I suppose I would exchange not being able to buy a small piece of mesh for the lack of mosquitoes, though.Ah, it is nice to have my gloves ready for action in the cold weather.Quiz 688“Never say ……………”a) can I have a cup of tea?b) I’m coldc) neverd) NoYesterday’s was d)

2011年11月18日

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Label misery

We bought some plant pots from the garden store the other day. The intention is that Junko buys a few nice bits and pieces and makes them up into pots for Christmas presents. Getting the price labels off our newly-acquired pots proved to be an extremely difficult and time-consuming task, which almost resulted in the breaking of one of the pots and did result in the scratching of the surface on another. In my attempts to remove the labels I first used water, then white spirit. Next I tried Servisol (which is a solution for cleaning electrical contacts) and finally WD 40. But nothing would shift the glue. I ended up scraping these labels off with a sharp knife. Very irritating and so unnecessary – I almost dropped one pot while I was cleaning it, too. Why can’t the shops use sensible easy-remove labels?But, after that misery, I do have some good news. My gloves are found!! They were mixed in with the shoes. I wonder how long it will be before I lose them again?Why are beer bottles made of such thick glass?This is the garden as it was this morning, after some heavy rain. The leaves are still on the wisteria, which does indicate that we haven’t had a frost yet. And as for the rain, after a dry spring summer and autumn we need it. Overnight we had about ten millimetres.Quiz 687What colour was The Beatles’ submarine?a) redb) blue c) greend) yellowYesterday’s was b)

2011年11月17日

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Sugar

Japan’s annual per capita consumption of sugar is extremely low at about 18 kilograms, ranking Japan 95th among 155 countries (2001) and well down on the list among industrialized nations. Here in Britain we consume about 28 kilograms per year, while in the USA they get through a whopping 71.5 kilograms.Do you remember the sugar dredger that I bought a few weeks ago? This is it.The amazing thing about this is what before I bought this I had not seen one previously, and I have been looking for this particular brand of stainless steel for years. What do you think I should find at the bootsale on Sunday? Another one. The first one hadn’t been used and is satin finish stainless steel. The second one, the one below, had been used; it came complete with sugar, and is polished stainless. Both are items from the 1960’s.They always say of London buses; you wait ages for one and then three come along together. It’s obviously true.I suppose you are now wondering what a sugar dredger is used for. Well, I’m really not sure, but I guess it’s used to sprinkle sugar over breakfast cereal or things like fruit salad, melon and the like. We don’t use them now at all, and in fact I had never seen one at all, of any kind, until I spotted the one in the first picture. The fact that they haven’t really been around in my lifetime would seem to indicate that we used to use more sugar than we do now, or perhaps it is just that we rarely eat fruit salads nowadays and that much of the cereal we buy these days is heavily loaded with sugar during the production stage, so there is no need for us to add it.Quiz 686What does a ‘bad penny’ always do?a) falls through the hole in your pocketb) comes backc) buys poor quality goodsd) brings you bad luckYesterday’s was c)

2011年11月16日

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Walking stick seat

And here is another thing that we keep in the back of the car. This one is made of aluminium because it’s the sort of thing that you take to a horse race or a cross-country race where you have to stand for a long time and then there is a bit of action when you can stand up and cheer. Of course if you have this particular thing you can sit down whenever there is nothing interesting going on. I might add that I have never been to a horse race meeting neither have I been to a cross-country race. So you might wonder why we have got this thing. Well, it’s just useful to keep in the back of the car; you never know when you might have guests! It’s rather elegant, don’t you think? It folds up flat for convenience. Made in England, so it must be quite old, you’d never get anything like that made in England now. It’s a quality thing, actually. It needs a new padded bit to the seat, though, but that’s not terribly important for the time being.Still no sign of the gloves. This is the second time I have lost them; the last time was last winter, naturally. When I lost them last time, I found them in the basket of mother’s walking machine thing.It was rather foggy last night, and today it was misty until midday. Not very nice, but at least it wasn’t cold.Quiz 685A “mare’s nest” is …………a) another name for a stableb) usually found in oak treesc) an exrtremely complicated situationd) at the top of the mast on a sailing shipYesterday’s was d)

2011年11月15日

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Four-legged tripod stool

So, here we have it, a tripod stool with four legs. Very sturdy. Much stronger than those little three-legged aluminium things you see about. This one is made of steel. We keep it in the back of the car for picnics.The weather is still holding up, not too cold yet, which is just as well as I still haven’t found my gloves. I fear they are gone forever.Bill called today, moaning about Sid. Fortunately Sid has not troubled me recently, I’m keeping my head down.Junko and my sister made a Christmas cake over at my mother’s house today. Quite exciting. Unfortunately they made it to the wrong recipe and forgot to add lemon juice and zest. Oh well I’m sure it will be fine, especially as it has to have half a pint of brandy added a spoonful at a time over the next six weeks.And talking of Christmas, the town was busy this afternoon; it must be the sort of first weekend that people are thinking of doing their Christmas shopping. Good luck to them.I think that Stephan is still having trouble with his car. Oh dear. I thought we might see him this morning at the bootsale, but we didn’t.Quiz 684“The harder I work, the …………. I get.”a) richerb) more frustratredc) poorerd) luckierYesterday’s was c)

2011年11月14日

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Bananas

I was pleased with myself the other day, I managed to finish the ‘Times’ crossword. This is quite an achievement for me, I am not sure if I have ever done it before.And to celebrate I had a bottle of “Old Golden Hen” ale. Very nice. Unfortunately it’s a rather expensive ale, but there you are, you get what you pay for, sometimes. And a special occasion deserves a special beer. Are these wonderful speciality beers available in Japan I wonder?I bought a book about brickwork on eBay three or four months ago. I saved the search before I bought the book and waited until one came along. The first one located by the search was very expensive and in only average condition so I didn’t buy it. A few weeks later another one was listed on eBay and I was notified by email that one was for sale. This one was a much better bet than the first one, it was in better condition and much cheaper, only half the price if I recall. It was ‘Buy it Now’ so I took a deep breath and clicked. It duly arrived and I was very satisfied. At the time I thought I had had an OK deal, it was a fair price. But now it seems that I did well as I have not seen this book again since I bought it, for any price. (I still have the search saved, you see, and I don’t seem to be able to delete it!)Junko has made this little pot up for Christmas. Hyacinths. Should we be keeping them in the cellar until they flower?Quiz 683“Blood is ……….. than water.”a) heavierb) more expensivec) thickerd) redderYesterday’s was b)

2011年11月13日

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Still no news

seatOh dear, there is still no good news about the gloves. A number of cupboards have been searched, but still there is no sign of them.It was a nice day today and so Junko and I took mother out in the car for a bit. We went a few miles away, to Shipston, parked the car on a hill with a good view, made sure she was comfortable in the front seat and all locked in, and then went for a walk. I’d noted this spot before and had said that the next nice day we’d try and take mother there for a bit of an outing, so I was pleased that we had some nice weather so late in the year. Actually, the weather has been really good recently, not at all cold.Remember Junko’s artichokes which grew about ten feet high? She harvested the roots and this is one of them cooked. It doesn’t look wonderful I will admit, but once peeled it’s really tasty. And artichoke roots are good for something, I’ve forgotten what. Might it be diabetes?Even though it was a nice day today it was dark at half past four. That’s pretty horrible, isn’t it? Mind you, it’s only just over a month until it’s the shortest day and then things start brightening up, so that’s good. Mind you, they might start brightening up, but they don’t get any warmer!Quiz 682If you temporarily can’t speak well, perhaps because you have got something small stuck there, you are said to have a …………. in your throat.a) horseb) frogc) bananad) whistleYesterday’s was c)

2011年11月12日

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Gloves again

I expect you think that this picture relates to the gloves that I had lost and found. Well, it doesn’t, I’m sad to say. Well, I suppose it does because these are the gloves that I have lost, but I haven’t found them, I posted this picture last time I lost them! It’s still not cold enough to need them, fortunately.My stock of quizzes is 79 now. How did it get to be so many? I wish I could say the same about my photos. Now that I have to rely on my phone I don’t seem to take so many. Aspi tells me he has got a very nice bike, but he doesn’t ride it much. That’s a pity.We bought one of those tripod stools today, but this one has got four legs. It’s rather sturdier than they usually are, I think it’s steel rather than aluminium. We will keep it in the boot of the car for when we go picnicking, which, of course, will now be next spring at the earliest.Quiz 681“The bigger they come the harder they …………”a) workb) tryc) falld) setYesterday’s was a)

2011年11月11日

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Missing gloves

Oh dear, oh dear. I have got four pairs of winter gloves and they are all missing. They were packed away at the end of last winter and apparently haven’t been seen since. We have had several massive clearouts since the spring and I do hope that they haven’t been pitched away with so much other rubbish. I shall be upset if this is the case. It would have been an accident, but upsetting nonetheless. I shall have to get another pair. It’s very strange, but all of Junko’s winter things are safe and sound.Bill was supposed to be visiting us this afternoon; he’d been to a sheepdog competition somewhere locally. Unfortunately the dogs he had with him were rather muddy and so he felt he couldn’t bring them to the house. They could have stayed in the garden, but he didn’t seem keen on that idea. It was a pity too, as I had shaved specially.I am still having keyboard problems, but I am not as frustrated as I was previously. Did I mention that I had ditched one keyboard (not the small one, a full sized one) because it was just too big and the keys were lumpy. The one I am using now is slimmer, narrower, shorter and has a better touch, so that is an improvement, but there is still fourteen centimetres on the right hand end of it that is completely unnecessary. So I still want a Happy Hacking board as this will mean that I can use the mouse closer to the centre of the desk. These Happy Hacking boards are made by Fujitsu. I’m thinking of getting Junko to bring me one back with her when she next goes to Japan. And on that subject, I have started to eye up a nice camera. I wonder if they sell this particular one at Yamada Denki?This large yellow tub arrived in the greenhouse yesterday. I wonder where it came from? Perhaps Junko brought it from Bidford on the bus. Surely not.Quiz 680“Never judge a ………… by its cover.”a) bookb) sofac) songd) coffinYesterday’s was a)

2011年11月10日

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You know it’s all over when they add uillean pipes

Ah, how many good rock musicians have ‘searched for their roots’, discovered the uillean pipes and gone downhill from there onwards. It’s a great pity. I must not be so cynical.Junko is preparing a few Christmas plants. She’s been saving baskets and nice containers throughout the year and has now bought a few plants to put in them, along with a bit of potting compost, some moss and some rather nice scatterings of white gravel. Nothing finished yet, though.I saw Stephan in his van this morning, we were both driving, it was on the roundabout near the Shell garage close to my mother’s. I was stopped so could wave my arms frantically while he passed in front of me on the roundabout, but he just drove serenely by without noticing me.I also saw Sharon in Morrison’s car park. She’d been shopping, as had I, and was putting the groceries in the back of Stephan’s other van, not her usual car, which would seem to indicate that Stephan in still having trouble with the car. Hope it’s soon fixed.This is the old railway bridge just outside Stratford. The railway was last used in 1975, and since then the track has been a cycle path. It’s an impressive bridge, isn’t it?Quiz 679“The buck stops ………”a) hereb) therec) at a red traffic lightd) when it is exhaustedYesterday’s was c)

2011年11月09日

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Salt

Here in the United Kingdom those that know about these things recommend that our daily intake of salt be limited to six grammes. This is about a teaspoon, I think. It’s difficult to tell how much salt Junko and I actually have per day, but I believe that it probably is less than this. As we make most of our food we know how much salt it contains, but it’s difficult to tell how much salt there is in things like bread. All I can say is that a 100 gm packet of salt lasts us months, if not years!We know, though, that our breakfast hummous contains half a gram of salt per person per day. On top of this for breakfast we have three olives and a couple of pieces of bread. And two cups of coffee each. When I make curry I don’t put much salt in at all.I bought this cup and saucer the other day, second hand though it has obviously never been used. Made in England between the 1960’s and 70’s. I thought it might do as a Christmas present for mother. It was hard to take a photo of because you can’t see the pattern when the cup is on the saucer because it’s such a wide shape. And the fruit in the design is coloured, hand painted not done with a transfer, though you can't see it well. Not quality hand painting, just colouring, but better than nothing. Mason’s is the company, they didn’t make china, they used their own special kind of clay. Quiz 678“When one ………….. closes another opens.”a) windowb) cinemac) doord) eyeYesterday’s was c)

2011年11月08日

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Good news for the Live Lobsters

Live Lobsters is my mp3 playlist of favourite live music tracks. The good news is that I found another great track today. ‘Statesboro Blues’ by The Allman Brothers Band, from the 1971. I bought the CD which this track is on at the bootsale the other day, for fifty pence, and this is the best (in my opinion) track on it. So, like Private Pike, it has been added to the list.I found this rather nice little box the other day; I thought it might do to keep my woodcarving chisels in. Or something else, perhaps. The bottom opens the same way. I have to get Junko to stick some material inside it to make it a bit more presentable. It used to be used for keeping slides in.Junko has bought some watercolour paints, and says she is intending to start a new hobby. That will be interesting.It is quite difficult to tell the difference between a solitary bee and a wasp, isn’t it? But there is one thing for sure that when either of them buzzes past your head, you mustn’t wave your arms about and try to frighten it away, if you do this you will more than likely get stung as this arm waving they interpret as being aggressive behaviour and will attack you to defend themselves. The best action, undoubtedly, is to remain calm and the thing will fly away as it isn’t the slightest bit interested in biting humans.Quiz 677The “Steffen Effect” is ………..a) a method used by plumbers to ensure your water is hot at all timesb) what happens to you when you eat too much fruit cakec) an efficient way of boarding an aeroplaned) when two fluorescent lights ‘harmonise’ their flickering giving the effect of water droplets on the ceilingYesterday’s was b)

2011年11月07日

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Shoeshine boy

And when you have cleaned your shoes with saddle soap or something else, you can polish them with this vintage shoe brush. I wonder how old it is? Fifty or sixty years I should think.One of mother’s friends, who has known me since I was a baby, called my Jeffrey the other day. I don’t know, what with some people calling me Graham and others calling me Jeffrey, I will soon be having an identity crisis! And talking about identify crises, I wonder how Aspi is getting on these days?Mother did not enjoy her visit to the dietician the other day, which was bad news for me.Although the days are currently short and gloomy, it seems to be dark at half past four in the evenings, the garden is still holding up quite well. The leaves haven’t dropped off the wisteria yet, which is strange. Shouldn’t they have fallen by now? The purple sprouting broccoli seems to get ever bigger and is looking really green and healthy. We shall soon have to put a net over it to stop the pigeons from nibbling the leaves (well, more than nibbling, actually, they will strip the plant bare if they get the chance!).And continuing about the garden, it seems odd, but the geraniums are still in bloom. I would almost go as far as saying that they are better now than they were in the summer! Very strange. Quiz 676“First come, first ……………”a) in lineb) servedc) finishedd) serviceYesterday’s was d)

2011年11月06日

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A bit of a laugh

More than ten years ago I bought a particular cassette. It was by quite a popular singer/guitarist; well he was popular at the time. It was dreadful, so dreadful that the twice I listened to it I could hardly control my laughter. I used to joke about it quite frequently with my colleagues at the time (and one in particular, who is now dead). Subsequently I had felt rather guilty about our merciless destruction of this piece of music, and whenever the artist’s name comes up I always wonder whether the album was as bad as we made it out to be at the time. I disposed of the cassette years ago and so could not listen again, but on Sunday I saw the CD for sale at the bootsale so, for the sake of my late friend, I thought I’d give it another listen. Well, dear friend Keith, it has not improved with age. In fact, it could be even worse now, not all of it, just two or three tracks, but they are just so dire as to be unbelievable. But those who judge me, please do consider that I have given it a second chance. I think what I shall do is just delete the dreadful tracks from my computer and imagine that they never were, is that a good idea? Sadly I will always smile when I hear the artist’s name and never be able to take him seriously again. We had this rainbow a few days ago. Nice, isn’t it?I must be going mad, I tried to change my trousers this afternoon because I needed to wear a clean pair to take mother to hospital to see the dietician. It was a real struggle to get them on, but it took me quite a few seconds to realise that they didn’t fit me well because I had not take off the pair that I was already wearing.Bill and I both think that Sid has got a full set of false teeth.And talking of teeth, Junko is having problems with hers: she says they are all loose.Quiz 675A person who comes from Canada is called a …………a) Canadeseb) Canadishc) Comediand) CanadianYesterday’s was b)

2011年11月05日

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Clean boots

Ages ago I bought a small plastic chest of drawers complete with its contents. If I remember correctly, what I really wanted was the electric drill which was in there, but there was a lot of other stuff too in the drawers, meaning it was a real bargain for five pounds. Amongst the goodies was this tin of ‘saddle soap’ which is useful stuff for cleaning and conditioning leather. I did my nice leather boots with it yesterday, and Junko’s walking shoes. Excellent. I’ll bet that this tin is years old, but it doesn’t matter as it never goes off – being old it’s probably better quality anyway!You might be wondering why it’s called ‘saddle soap’. I suppose it is really used to clean horse riding equipment, reins, bridle and saddle etc.I saw a bike for sale the other day, a really nice one. It was lightweight, had adjustable handlebars, front suspension, a luggage rack, rear suspension in the saddle tube and a really lovely and very comfortable saddle. Unfortunately, though, it was a hundred and fifty pounds. It might be worth that, but that’s too much for me to spend on a bike. Of course Sid has a fantastic bike, with a hundred and twenty seven gears and that sort of thing. Multi rake handlebars and carbon fibre double rimmed wheels, duo ventilated super sprung saddle and hi-viz alloy frame. Sure to be the case.Quiz 674“He who pays the …………. calls the tune.”a) drummerb) piperc) plumberd) pianistYesterday’s was c)

2011年11月04日

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Top ten selling cars in the United Kingdom in October

1. Ford Fiesta2. Vauxhall Corsa3. Ford Focus4. VW Golf5. Vauxhall Astra6. BMW 3 Series7. VW Polo8. Vauxhall Insignia9. Nissan Qashqai10. Honda JazzNow then, here we have an Old Hall sugar dredger from the 1960’s. A very classy object, though I have to say that it isn’t really to my taste. The shape in real life is rather nicer than it seems in this picture. The top unscrews for you to fill it with sugar. Beautifully made. Very heavy for its size, which indicates quality in this kind of thing (but excessive weight often indicates poor quality in things like furniture, tools and porcelain).We are still eating the tomatoes from our garden. Junko has a small cluster of them ripening on a shelf in the greenhouse. And there are still some on the vines in the garden. I suppose they can stay there until the first frost. Ah, when will that be? It’s the same with some chillis – they are hanging in the greenhouse, slowly turning red. Quiz 673If, as a child, you leave a door open when you leave the room, your father is quite likely to say to you …………..a) “Do you think we are made of money?”b) “Look before you leap”c) “Were you born in a barn?”d) “Cavemen live in caves, we live in a house.”Yesterday’s was b)

2011年11月03日

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Keyboard

You will recall that I am very seriously considering buying a ‘Happy Hacking’ computer keyboard. Unfortunately they are not easy to find in England, but the main problem is their price. The top of the range model is about two hundred pounds and the cut down version is about fifty. Mightly expensive, don’t you agree? I bought a cheap small board some time ago, but it’s really only a laptop board in a flimsy frame and a USB connector, it’s not that good to type on. I want a small computer keyboard for two reasons. Firstly it just takes up less space on my desk. Secondly, I want the keys I use to be in the middle of the keyboard, not to the left side as they are with a normal desktop style keyboard. I always find that the keyboard kind of centres itself on the desk, which means that my hands tend to settle on the wrong ‘home keys’. I also seem to have to put the mouse a long way to the right of the desk, just to miss the edge of the number pad, so I end up using it at arm’s length, which is not good. I never use the number pad so why do I need it? It’s bad enough having to use the keyboard at desktop height anyway, it’s far too high really. A shorter keyboard flexes less, too. Having said all this, my current keyboard is an improvement on the previous one. It is slimmer and generally less lumpy, and it has a nice feel. Not as good as my old IBM one, though, which broke years ago. That had a lovely smooth touch to it, and it was really quiet. The keys kind of bounced back when you touched them, and it didn’t rattle at all. It was probably a very expensive one. It was a full sized board, but it didn’t seem to be as big as the ones you get nowadays. And it was strong, it didn’t flex at all, I am sure. Keyboards seem to be yet another thing the quality of which has gradually reduced over the past ten or twenty years.I researched a bit about Royal Albert china last night. Yes, it’s no longer. The original company would now be part of Doulton, and nearly all Doulton china is actually made in China. It’s a tragedy. Sadly there doesn’t seem to be much quality to china made in China, it’s odd, isn’t it?This ten kilo bag of onions was two pounds ninety pence. Soon I shall be making a curry sauce with four kilos of them. Mmm, nice.Today was a truly miserable day regarding the weather. Grey clouds and drizzle, pretty well all day. Not particularly cold, just horrible. Quiz 672Which numbering system (0 – 9) do we use in England?a) Indianb) Arabicc) Americand) ChineseYesterday’s was d)

2011年11月02日

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Guacamole

I went shopping for mother the other day. She made a list out for me. Before I went to the supermarket I went through the list with her to make sure I understood everything on there. One item caught my attention. Guacamole. I said to mother that I thought it might be a bit spicy for her, but she said to go ahead and buy it. I added that shop bought guacamole was not that good, just cream cheese with green colouring and bits of unripe avocado in it. But she reassured me that what she had written on the list was OK. So I bought it. The next day she said that having tasted the guacamole I had bought the previous day, it indeed was pretty disgusting in the ways that I had mentioned, and would I take it home and use it. Well I took it home and we had it for breakfast this morning. It was awful. Just as I described it above, weak green cream cheese with lumps of unripe avocado in it. Horrible.A rather classy Royal Albert cup and saucer from the 1960’s or 70's I should think. Made in England. I wonder if Royal Albert still exists, I don’t imagine so.We went to the bootsale in Studley, but it had been cancelled due to the ground being wet. That’s a pity. And even more so because that there won’t be another one now until the spring. That’s it for the year.It has been a lovely sunny day. It makes a change and the evening didn’t start quite so soon. We had planned to visit my sister but she went out as it was a nice day. Then I thought we could take mother out, but she was cooking a chicken. So we stayed home and I cleaned out the dishwasher – which took five minutes!And talking of things in fives, here are five great music tracks.Helpless – k.d.langHot dogs and hamburgers – John MellencampFirst we take Manhattan – Leonard CohenAicha – KhaledLate for the sky – Jackson BrowneQuiz 671“To finish first, first you have to …….”a) pay an entrance feeb) do your bestc) start d) finishYesterday’s was a)

2011年11月01日

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