Yes Fruitcake, I shudder to think what my mother would do with a kindle were she alive today.
She used to make a kind of fruitcake, Gur cake it was called here in Dublin, it’s a very old traditional recipe. I’m not sure how it got it’s name, my guess is that when a lad ran away from home back then, usually for a few days with one or two mates camping rough in the many fields and hills that surrounded Dublin city at the time, these little escapades were called “Going on Gur”
The food of choice was not bread and dripping but Gur cake because it lasted for months, one could live on Gur cake and water forever, it used to be said that the Pyramids were made from Gur cake that’s why they are still there, bread on the other hand went stale after a day or two. Gur cake looked like a paler version of Christmas pudding, of course it had none of the fancier ingredients in it, the odd raisin here and there smothered in lashings of soaked stale bread that had been done in the oven for hours, but boy did it fill you up and never went off, the ’Sell by’ chaps would their work cut out for them if they had to put a date on Gur cake.
Some of the mothers would try to go one better with their Gur cake and have it between pastry, posh Gur cake, we never had that unfortunately.
Today some of the swanky eating houses in Dublin serve Gur cake and custard as a dessert after a huge plate of coddle, charge a bomb for it too.
Our eldest had a very forward thinking English teacher at secondary school. She told him everyone on this planet should read at least one Terry Pratchett book in their lifetime.
He read one, then a few, then a lot, then all of them. He got me interested as well and I have never looked back since, well except when reversing.
As for professing your love for me Pug, I am already taken. My Lovely Cousin knows who TP is/was, but has never read a single line of his compositions. She is more into Bills and Moon, as well as doctor/nurse and lady soldier romance.
She used to be a dental nurse, but I was never a doctor or a tooth doc, or even an eggy solderer for that mature. I came across her uniform a short while ago whilst I was doing some DIY on an ailing wardrobe. I don’t think the drool stains will ever come out.
I think I need a cold shower right now. Plesa ecxude the dodyg toeping.
I blame it on the moon Sweetie, I have you noticed plenty of moon pictures on the forum lately, love is in the air.
The trouble with Winter is that you have too much time on your hands, if you’re retired that is, I hate having too much time to think, it confuses me and makes me head hurt, besides too much thinking and no working makes Jack a pain in the arse, that’s according to the wife.;-)
There’s a lot of talk now on the space front about putting a man on Mars, and good luck to them. Of course I am just a layman (I lay whenever I can, especially when the gout acts up) and know nothing about such matters, thankfully we have experts who stand out in their own fields, no not farmers but specialists in all things space, for we all know that old Mexican saying “Though we are all made of clay a jug is not a vase”
May this humble plain jug offer a bit of advice to those learned men.
Would it not make sense to build a base on the moon first? I’m sure it would be great experience for the astronauts and far easier to launch a Mars ship from there, less gravity so therefore less cumbersome fuel to carry. Also it wouldn’t be so far to travel back home if one of the boys/girls changed their mind and wanted to go home to mommy.
The moon is out there for our use yet it’s neglected and just sits there idle. We dearly love our moon, it has been the inspiration for love and romance throughout time, and let’s not forget the torment of the unfortunate Werewolf "Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfebane blooms and the autumn moon is bright”
So please don’t shun it for greater glory, go there ye gallant men and caress it’s crust, cry in it’s craters , blossom in it’s beams, and give it a big hug from all of us.
“I see the moon, the moon sees me
shining through the leaves of the old oak tree
Oh, let the light that shines on me
shine on the one I love” (Jim Bickerman)
’Tis true lads, I always get sentimental round this time.
Firstly I am not retired, I do a lot of work online.
I do some volunteer work in a couple of care homes, for the poor souls that have been dumped there by their relatives, then NEVER get a visit!
It breaks my heart to see grown men cry when I have to leave! I will not dwell on that.
The moon yes that beautiful thing in the sky. I often say that everyone’s gone to the moon at the Candy Bar. I also like the old song ‘That’s Amour’
As for future generations living on other planets, I do think this will happen. Many a prediction has come out of Science Fiction - Wow that rhymes.
BTW Jem, do drop by the Candy Bar someday, as I know someone is planning a holiday in Dublin. Who better to advise than you.
To end - You can’t beat sentimental fools, not in my books.
Jules Verne made it to the moon, as did Bernard Cribbins who won his lady’s heart in the process.
Bernard is still alive so the boffins would do well to talk to him about space flight. He is a friend of Doctor Foreman, so knows a bit about the Tardis and time travel as well.
Yes it would make sense to build a base on the moon and blast off to the chocolate planet from there, but most of the work would have to be done at night as the moon isn’t around very often in the daytime.
Yes indeed Fruity, work would have to be done in the dark, but that problem could be easily solved by hiring experienced coal miners, them lads knows all about working in the dark and they would have excellent rates of pay and free travel home every ten years or so, the company were going to allow yearly trips home but felt sure the miners sweethearts would get pissed off getting the same souvenir every year, a bit of moon rock “But what else can I get you my dear, it is the moon you know, not Blackpool”
That’s great work you do with the old folks Sweetie, I admire you for that. I used to do hospital visits when I was younger, it would break your heart sometimes to see the way some sons and daughters treat their elderly parents.
Dublin city has changed so much over recent years Sweetie that I wouldn’t have a clue where to advise them to go, besides i’m terrible at giving advice, but Guinness brewery, Jameson’s whiskey distillery, the national art gallery and the two main museums, are worth a free visit anytime of the year, someone younger would know all the in places today, all my old haunts are gone now, victims of progress.
Thanks for the invitation to the candy bar, but it’s far too lively for an old lad like me.
Watching “Greystoke the legend of Tarzan” on TV today. (the leg end of Tarzan?:shock:)
Big game hunters on a boat in central Africa back in the early 1900’s, as the boat leisurely cruises up the river there is a big splash in the water, one eager chappie takes his rifle and shoots several bullets “Oh goodie! I got it” Another concerned chappie chips in “What was it?” “Don’t know, but it was something” Other chappie “Well now it’s a dead something” They all laughed and go on their merry way, it’s enough to drive a nature lover like me to drink.
shall I switch out the light now as me old Da used to say to us kids - if I leave the light on y’all be talkin right through’ the night in his best texan drawl - oft we would hear him fall down the staircase as he tripped in the dark!
what 'appens if ya take out the cork?? OK as a silly question - but I have a feeling that sweetie pie will have an intriguing answer that may lead us down a rabbit hole!!
My best advice about visiting Dublin is the same as any big city. Drive in to the centre or take the train, then get out and walk.
Look around, and look up. Make sure your camera batteries are fully charged and you have spares.
Eat and drink and join in with whatever the locals are eating or drinking or doing.
You won’t be disappointed.
done it in 2000 boat ship from holyoake to don laighre then train to central dublin - a walkin day out and then train back to beautiful b/l in don laighre and an evening in one of their locals [not one knee cap injury!]
WHAT!!! You don’t know the song!!!
‘Carry moonbeams home in a jar, and be better off than you are’ Do I have to teach you lot everyfink:-D
So sorry Pug, 100 is a very good age.
Dublin- I have been many times, and I will go again soon.
I was actually asking for Boozcruiser, but I will tell him.
I still have to learn the Irish Jig, I was being taught this in New York in the Irish Bar, but they kept giving me too much vodka, so I was mostly on the floor.
