Leisurely Scribbles (Part 2)

[Jem]

Glad to hear you weren’t badly hurt Fruity, you’re right to take a rest though.
That reminders me to check me own step ladder,it’s one of those wooden things that weigh a ton, it was Phyllis’s fathers, I think her brought it home from the trenches back in 1918. I use it when trimming the hedge, which needs doing now.

---

Biscuits have always been a favourite of mine, especial ginger nuts.

What have they done to the ginger nut?
I bought a packet the other day and I had to give it out to the birds, all sugary and oversweet, the flavour was lost

Have you noticed the little trick they pulled with the coconut creams, mikado, and the fig rolls?
All one third smaller.

I understand that costs have risen substantially because of covid, the war, China, lockdowns, and the devil knows what, there’s always a story and God knows they allways have a story lined up.

Fair enough, but what bothers me is them messin’ about with the size and ingredients as from the original, I remember as a kid one ginger nut biscuit would burn yer tongue the ginger was so strong, now one can’t even taste the ginger for the sugar. No more for me.

I’m praying they don’t mess around with Oxford lunch fruitcakes, love them too.

Then there’s the oily oversweet crap they call chocolate, I won’t get started on that, I’ve said me bit for mankind. BRING BACK THE ORIGINAL GINGER NUT!

What’s the betting someone will report in the news shortly that the price of ginger has tripled?

A piece of ginger nut, ugly thing isn’t it, does it deserve to live?

[spitfire]

Priorities could cause a rift.

[gumbud]

the asiastics will pay you a fortune for that!!!

the young fella came over this w/end to check in on his old Da but I can do more checking on him then he believes! he was supposed to bring a few of his brood but they declined for better offers at friends parties etc and two are working part time whilst finishing school years. and with me living in a forest there is nothing for them to do really [ well there is plenty but they don’t understand nature!!]

my son can cook as well as his thai wife so he wined me and dined me on asian cuisine with a bit of large roast pork thrown in for luck/ He has discovered baronia all uovo [ no not rude] infused with herbs and spices and served on ice at 18% alc/vol a fortified wine if ever I saw one and to be sipped slowly - will knock out a lady at three paces. I’ d love to see us boys on that one together! somehow he buys it at wine prices which is lower than high alcohol beverages [ it is like buying a port or muscat] entries of giant prawns purchased frozen ; defrosted and warmed to body temp and dip them in what you want! so just a laid back event with a bit of town touring and shopping thrown in and that was it ; we even forgot to play all the old favorite tunes!

he’s got a souped up torbo charger thingy now so can get here quite quick apart from the gravely road works that slow things down. so a real boysies w/end with good asian food and a little booze!

[gumbud]

wot a retired enginaneera skilled in the art of all vectors walkin up a rotten ladder just because he thought it had magic properties?? - ye gids lads wots the world cummin too?? - the good worksman always checks his tools each day before commencing usage - including ladders of course!! - hmm??

[Jem]

We were looking at old repeats of ‘Bargain Hunt’ on TV this evening.

Now although Phyllis has a great sense of humour, she never cracks jokes, says she can never remember them.(this is why I was so surprised)

Charlie Ross (the best character on that show IMO) was examining a Toby jug from the 1700’s, nice item but it was ruined by a big crack from rim to bottom, he didn’t buy it, wise man that he is.

Then from across the room blurts out the wife.

“Jem” says she. “You know that jug reminded me of you?”

“How come love?”

“Well it’s old, ugly, cracked and not worth much”

Well ain’t that a diabolical liberty! after 55 years of treating her like royalty that’s what I get.

It’s stuff like that that keep things rolling along merrily, we had a good laugh.

I’m taking herself and a sister of hers out for a drink now, there’s an old Dublin crooner on tonight they want to see in the local.

Foster & Allen (Bunch of Thyme) Live in 1995

[Fruitcake]

Well here I am again, humbled by those with the “hiddlins a-knowin’” as the late great Sir Terry Pratchett was wont to say.

I was worried that if our RCCB (residual current circuit breaker), or whatever they are called today, ever tripped whilst we were without, or asleep in our beds, we could lose all the food in our freezers.
What with three of our household being clinically vulnerable, I decided afore covid stalked the land to change the home electrickery such that the freezer and fridge in the garage would be on a miniature circuit breaker but not on a RCCB.
Unfortunately when I changed things over, the RCCB kept tripping and knocking out everything else in the garage, so I had to bypass it, defeating the point of having an RCCB on the rest of the wiring.

Today, Alec(trician) paid us a visit and sorted out the problem. I had put the live and neutral feed wires in the common rails when they should have been connected direct into the circuit breakers. Problem solved within half an hour.
What I did was theoretically not wrong; it just wasn’t right either.

Now I can safely wire in my dreadmill within the newly completed torture chamber.

I like a hint of ginger, a modicum even, but I don’t want it to burn my delicate taste buds. I don’t know what brand my Outlaws buy, but they tend to burn my gullet when I eat them, so I normally decline now, even if I have the opportunity to dunk them in tea aforehand.

I like a tasty curry or meal of Asian origin, but not if it is too hot. The main problem I have these days is with the excess of salt I find in these meals, to the point that I can no longer eat some of my shop bought favourite dishes.

I try to replicate these meals from recipe books. Chilli con carne I have got down to a fine art, but I have yet to produce a curry that tastes anywhere near as good as those previously bought from my local takeaways.

[Fruitcake]

Aye, I admit to my own failings. I should have checked R Dad’s old stepladder afore I started.
I generally refer to DIY as “self harming” due to the number of cuts and scrapes and bruises I have accumulated over the decades.

[Fruitcake]

I have never heard of baronia all uovo, but it appears to be a fortified wine.

I like a sweet dessert wine myself such as a marsala or muscatel, but my favourite is a North American Ice Wine. Canadian Ice Wines are my absolute favourite, but there are some very good Ice Wines produced in north USA.

Then there is Vice. Vodka and Ice Wine. It will blow your socks off. My Lovely Cousin and I got stopped by border guards when we tried to bring some Vice, and some liquorice, into the the USA from Canada.
I am still not sure which one caused the problem.

The guard was a decent chap, and understood that although there was no intent to deceive since we declared everything upon arrival at the border, we were still in breach of the rules.
Did I say he was a decent chap? He let us through with our contraband, and but a warning not to do it again.

I have since made my own Vice at a ratio of about 40% vodka to 60% Ice Wine.

Bearing in mind that Ice Wine only comes in 375ml bottles or smaller, the resuklts are wagu mumfht a hun.

[gumbud]

muscat is my tipple of choice a fortified wine also but haven’t come across the ice wine - sounds interesting. however as I live in an area of high alcohol cosumption by some there are special measures permitted which is one bottle per day of spirits and fortified wines! and persons bringing in by car from say the capital can be stopped for " sly grogging" and fined heavily, so we are a region within a state with special measures

[Fruitcake]

I have a sore elbow. When I fell the other day, I was sure I landed on my backside, but now I’m beginning to think that my friends and former colleagues were right.
I don’t know my arse from my elbow.

[spitfire]

Fruity, I hope you wipe your elbow after visiting the Toilet!

[Fruitcake]

Yes, on my arse.

[Jem]

Civil servants here are a tightly knit bunch, governments come and go but the good old civil servants will always remain, they know how to look out for one another too, I know I’ve got a daughter in the service, they are like coppers in a way, kick one and they all limp.

A few years ago I was overpaid a weeks pension by mistake, not my mistake I hasten to add, nor was it the mistake of the girl in the post office, but some civil servants mistake in the welfare office.

Like the honest idiot I am I went up to the social welfare office to give the money back, luckily for me I had to ask one of the attendants where to go about the mistake, he listened to my tale then called me aside out of the main corridor. He told me to keep the money, trying to fix the mistake would only cause trouble for someone in the job, best to keep it and let the Hare sit, that’s the unspoken policy more or less, says he.

Well he didn’t have to tell me twice, I was off like a shot and my conscience was clear. One does not rock the boat where the civil service is concerned, if they want to give you a present and then say they’re right then let them, besides me granny always told me never to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The simple lesson here is that no matter how honest you are, when the government gives you something for nothing take it and enjoy it, seldom is wonderful.

---

Torture chambers, arses and elbows, ice wine (that sounds good), great variety there lads, maybe some instrument of a painful nature could be devised to cure those who can’t tell the difference between their posterior and one’s arm joint?
Here’s an idea for you Fruity, I believe this toilet was salvaged from a condemned town pub, were all the big knobs USED to hang out.

[gumbud]

is that for sitting on or peeing on?? - either way there is a head gonna get chopped for sure!

there was a old fella from crewe
who staggered from bar to the loo
he was lucky he had droop
just got splashed when it swooshed
but it whistled and sprinkled the loo!

[gumbud]

I’ve still got this mental picture stuck in my head of fruitcake whistling away as he climbed his wonky ladder - whistle while it hurts : whistle while it hurts I came down much faster buttons flying off my shirt!!

[Jem]

“It’s very nice to go trav’ling
To Paris, London and Rome
It’s oh, so nice to go trav’ling
But it’s so much nicer to come home”

Truer words were never spoken, especially when one is old, as in that ancient Irish proverb “There’s no fireside like your own fireside”

We had a lovely few days in Mullingar with one of the wife’s sisters.

Oh a word of caution for anyone thinking of coming over for a holiday here, make sure you have your accommodation secured first, hotel rooms just can’t be got, the government has made deals with them to put up Ukrainians first.
There was a beautiful little Italian girl on the train coming home with her parents, she sang a song for the folks didn’t know a word of what she said, but she sang like an angel, made me day. Reminded me of an old Sam Goldwyn quote:

“Can she sing? She’s practically a Florence Nightingale.
Samuel Goldwyn”

I know Dublin ain’t exactly West Virginia, but it’s a nice song about home.

John Denver ♥ Take Me Home, Country Roads (The Ultimate Collection) with Lyrics

[gumbud]

well Dublin, Kentucky , is a community in the Bluegrass State’s Graves County, then:
dublin Ohio ; Dublin California and probably another half dozen at least ?? but I believe they’ll be sorta pronounced diffairent probably? oops and there ya go thought I’d find one in Oz:

Dublin is a small town on the Adelaide Plains in South Australia , located 60 kilometres north of Adelaide. Situated on Highway 1, the town is surrounded by farmland and rural industry.

[spitfire]

Blimey gum, 60 kilometres, that’s 37 miles.

[gumbud]

we turn your miles into smiles all the time!

[Fruitcake]

That reminds me of the place in Ukraine where a nuclear power station had a disaster. Men were warned not to go there otherwise, “Chernobyl fall off”.