Leisurely Scribbles (part 5) (Part 1)

Hobbies & Pastimes Hobbies & Pastimes: Chat / Discussions
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Back to basic ideas for a lot of folks.
There were other uses for buckets in the old tenements years ago, but let’s not go into that.;-):slight_smile:

Speaking of tenements.
I remember the old folks talking about this particular chemist shop when I was a youth, it seemed everyone had great faith in this man.

Harry Mushatt was a native of Lithuania, he settled in Ireland and set up his “chemist” shop in Dublin’s poorest tenement district, known as the Liberties in the 1920’s. An excerpt from “Dublin Tenement Life” helps explain what the times were like back then.

“You never saw doctors.* You could go to a chemist and even if your throat was cut, he’d give you a cure for it.* He’d put a dressing on it.* Mr. Mushatt was in Francis Street-he was the masterpiece, for a bad chest, bad back……from north, south, east and west, people’d* come for them.* People trusted him as he concocted his own old fashioned medicines in the rear compounding room.* His lotions, potions, and tablets were thought to be the purest medicines.* People really believed in them, swore by them.”

And Harry Mushatt’s own words.

“We made our own medicines in the shop. My brother and I made up forty-four different preparations, from skin ointments, psoriasis ointments, foot pastes, stomach bottles, skin crèmes, tablets for kidneys, headaches, neuralgia….all different things. Oh, there was a bond of trust and they’d come into the shop and it would be packed out.* Tenement people, if one wasn’t feeling well, or met with an accident, Go to Mushatts!, they’d say…They came from all over Dublin”

Sure enough Mr. Mushatt was yer only man and all you had to do was tell him what was wrong with you and he would make you up something for it, and he was always on the ball. He also had a wicked sense of humour.

This event is true because the wife’s mother lived in that area when she was young, I have never known her to tell a lie God rest her, she told me that one day her father was on his way to work when he developed a severe stomach pain, he was right outside Mushatt’s and went in.

“Mr. Musheatt, I’ve an awful pain in me belly, It’s a big day in work today and I’m running late, can yeh make me up something in a hurry?”
“No problem Sir, by the way, the Pope was in here earlier with the very same complaint”
“Your havin me on, I don’t believe you!”
“Well you asked me to make up something in a hurry” :smiley:

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Jem, you are a popeless romantic.:wink:

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You can’t beat a good Herbalist and I’m not talking about these expensive ‘Alternative Medicine’ posh shops that try to emmulate the good old Harry Mushatts of this world :wink:

Being taken to the Doctors for me was always a hit and miss affair whether I survived the medicine prescribed …or died from the side effects (still the same today) and knowing that our old Scottish doctor wisely told my Mother “Lets see what the Herbalists can do first”.for which even at that young age I was extremely thankful for.

Herb treatment was quite acceptable and families had trusted ones they used for most aches and pains. You learnt your first lessons about being ‘dosed’ at the Herbalists…If it smelt orrid …it was…and when he said “If it taste bad it will do you good” that was pretty accurate as well…and what kid in those days didn’t dread going to school reeking of some herbal ointment that got worse as the classroom heated up. Deep Heat had nothing on our smells I can tell you…and believe me you have never lived until you have been literally smothered in camphorated oil :-D:-D:-D

Most of what did me good came from our old herbalist and I still stay with that method today where possible. Over the years the conventional medicine that I have been able to tolerate has been few and far between so I have had reasons to bless herbs many a time over.

Not only stuff you swallowed or slapped on but drinks too. Dandelion and Burdock wine…Nettle beer… home made proper like mind you …Non of this shop bought stuff comes close in taste. All herbal and does you a power of good at the same time…and no one breathing down your neck for drinking either. :wink:

A lovely clip on herb use.

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Fair play to you Solo, you know what’s good for you. Very interesting video that, thanks.:wink:

I was shocked to hear by phone that my old mate from childhood has passed away a victim of this terrible virus, he was the same age as meself 74 and a fine tall well built man, but had a heart condition and the last time I had a pint with him was Christmas Eve, he was a terrific friend to have and I’m not the better of hearing that bad news.
One of my first cousins is in intensive care with it too, she’s 71, it really drives it home to you when those you love have this cursed thing, so my apologies if I’m a bit down in the dumps.:frowning:

Just when you think things can’t get any worse I was out in the garden yesterday and I stood on the business end of a rake, yes that kind of thing you see in Laurel and Hardy films, I got a good whack of the pole end and I was left with a bad headache and the customary shiner.:smiley:
When I went inside the wife seen me and starting laughing when I told her what happened, but I can’t blame her, I would have laughed if too had it been her, it was so stupid.
Then to cap it off the internet went down and it’s been on and off all day long.

Look after yourselves folks in these depressing times.

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So sorry to hear about the loss of your childhood friend Jem, this virus is so cruel.:frowning:

It’s also sad to hear your second cousin is also in intensive care with the dreaded virus, I truly hope she will start to improve soon. Every good wish to her.

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Another clip on Herbs.

This time in the Forest.

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My thoughts are with you at this sad and troubling time Jem and I although I cannot lessen the loss of your long time friend I will hope for a speedy and full recovery for your cousin.

There must be a few of us on OFF who due to varying sheilding diagnosis are wondering if we will ever do or see normal things again…Quite a mindset to get your head around isn’t and each of us will have a different take on that. Me…well my take on it is I am going to go out into my garden and hopefully will do something as daft as you did with that rake as not only will it knock some of those thoughts out of my head but make me laugh at myself as well.:wink:

The beauty of our Leisurely spot is it is just that…Leisurely with no demands on your time… so whilst you have other things to think about and that shiner to heal know we are here when you are ready to scribble Jem.

Stay safe and remember Aprils distance means Mays existence

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Very kind of you Mags, many thanks.:wink:

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Thank you Solo for your lovely post, much appreciated.:wink:

God Spitty you’re a bit young to remember Herb Alpert & the tijuana brass, wasn’t it the 60’s when herb was popular?
By the way, did you ever buy the “How to play guitar in a day” book by Bert Weedon?, I did 60 years ago and I still can’t play a single chord. We were all conned, well and truly Wee’d on by Bert.:lol:

It’s an ill wind that doesn’t benefit some, I noticed the TV stations have greatly increased the amount of ads they put on, also the quality of some films they show have slightly improved, it’s a definite boost for them as they were sinking rapidly, less and less folks were watching TV, now they have a captive audience, most were switching over to the streaming net films where they can choose what to watch.

The wife got stuck into “Guess who’s coming to Dinner” today, resulting in me getting no dinner until it was over. She is a big Sidney Poitier fan ever since she saw him with Lulu in “To Sir with Love”. I always tease her by asking her what his surname is, she can never pronounce it properly (no more than I can, I never bother struggling with the French words I take the easy way out and just call him Sidney Potter) anyway I get a good giggle when she has a go at saying Poitier, “Po-dee-hay” is one, but “Sidney Potty-hair” is her best one.:lol:

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Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones… absolute classic film :smiley:

Those dear old Leprechauans must be smiling on you and fiddling with your TV knobs over there as we have so many repeats it’s like time travelling backwards…and by backwards…I do mean backwards big time. It would seems the TV companies are very reluctant to entertain us if it means losing viewing figures in the future. I see repeat and let my fingers do the walking till I hopefuly find something new to watch…and that is getting harder by the day.:confused:

Being a bit puritanical about my fresh food I have a thing about it being tampered i.e chemicals /wastage and so on… so I always look forward to the programme Food Unwrapped which gives a simple …no nonsense look at the way food is produced with more than a few surprises thrown in to shock or surprise the old brain box. Take for instance the green bean…when you see a packet of only straight green beans you know for sure something is amiss and some sort of monkeying around is taking place.

When I think of all the lovely nourishing soups I could make with those chopped off bendy bits…I could leap up and down beating my chest in despair.:shock:

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How would you know the sexual orientation of a Green Bean, just by looking.:-):wink:

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Gerra away wiv ya spits…No way am I spilling the beans :wink: :-D:-D

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Now shielding to me means I have a gorgeous looking gladiator type lurking in the background should I need him. One who is prepared to take a swipe at all and sundry to protect me…well my gladiator is not quite like that. In fact having received a message to expect a phone call…I did…and guess what…2 rings and because I didn’t sprint fast enough to answer…my impatient gladiator hung up !!! 2 rings…I ask you…Not even an Olympian gold medalist could have answered in time…:frowning:

and another thing… 6 months presciptions all in one go. What do they know that we don’t! Thats not shielding…thats temptation should you get a tad miffed at being given even more confirmation that you are not only old…infirm…and past it…and likely to be banged up for ever and ever…and everrrrr. You might go doolally but you won’t catch Cov19 theory.:shock:

I can feel the rebel rousing inside of me so I am going to beat the living daylights out of an innocent cream coloured bathroom mat…and don’t look that that either… it’s not shielded :wink:

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I wonder if you fed the bandy beans to Kangaroos would you get jumping beans?:wink:

Well I did say SOME of the films have improved, I can’t be criticising them all the time, not fair that.:wink:
"Six Days and Seven Nights” was on yesterday, that wasn’t too bad a film, then we had “Anne of a thousand Days” not bad either, and quite a few more I found that I’m too lazy to type out, granted all repeats, but with a fair sized gap between showings, that is a rarity these days (the gap between showings, it keeps getting narrower) but compared to the crap soaps they show from 30 years ago under laughable titles such as “CLASSIC Coronation Street” and “CLASSIC Emmerdale Farm” they are a breath of fresh air to me anyway, but the wife loves them, the word ‘Classic’ has been devalued greatly over the years, same as the word ‘Expert’
“Classic Coronation Street” how are yeh, pardon me while I double up laughing.:lol::lol::lol:

Ha ha Solo, it’s gettin to ya at last, don’t give into it, stand up and fight lassie!
God it’s a long time since I heard that word “Doolally”, fair play to you for reminding me.
I’m still holding out, but just about.
Six months prescriptions? well that tells it’s own story, it means the rest of Spring and the whole of Summer will have gone down the Swanee for us this year.:frowning:

In the meantime I have a problem someone might be able to help me with.
My little dog Rocky2 is badly in need of a coat clipping, he’s a terrier (I think, I know very little about dogs) and I have already cut the hair away from his eyes with a scissors, he was going doolally chasing flies he couldn’t see, poor thing.
I have an old hair clippers I used to do me own hair with, I was going to do him with it tomorrow, now my problem is, which end of the dog do I start on, the head or the tail?
Maybe I should I leave the task to the wife?:slight_smile:

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Start at the tail Jem, that way, if the pooch gets bored with proceedings, at least he can Lick his Ass whilst you finish him off.:lol::lol:

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I always thought terriers were meant to be scruffy and tatty as it is part of their charm. Makes you wonder how dogs coped before all this poncifying began and I bet you didn’t know this… that a haircut can leave a dog feeling embarrassed and depressed… and when that hair is gone from around the eyes they don’t feel like the same dog. Us humans have all had a bad haircut at one time or another and know how it leaves you feeling.

Now I have given you a good excuse to get out of doing the deed so it’s up to your good lady now.:-D:-D:-D

See what I mean :wink:

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Ha ha, yerman did a better job than I could do.:smiley:
Once I read that dogs get embarrassed and depressed I immediately transferred the job to the wife, after all he is her baby, I couldn’t sleep at night knowing me poor little mate was embarrassed and depressed downstairs, thank you Solo. :wink:

When I was a young man I always preferred the company of older men when I was having a pint. Each of them always had something new to tell you that you’d never hear from mates of your own age, I learned more that way than I ever learned with mates or in school. Listening and observing can tell you a lot about people and their habits.
I would observe for instance one particular old retired man come in for his pint in the evening, it was a sort of ceremony the way he did the same things every time he paid a visit to our local, he would take the newspaper out of his pocket and place it on his left side of the bar counter, take off his cap and put it in his right pocket, next he’d draw the barman’s attention “Soft auld day Con, the usual please” When the pint was placed before him he would look at it from the right then from the left, raised it slightly as if to weigh it, put it down again, it took on the reverence of a chalice, and when everything was to his satisfaction his right hand grasped the class and one unmerciful swallow was taken leaving the glass half empty, a gentle bang on the counter as he put it down again, a big Ahhhhh… and the handkerchief came out to wipe the cream off his white moustache, but (for him) the best was yet to come, he would proceed to the sacred ritual, that of the pipe, I won’t go through all that with you but all the old pipe smokers will know what I mean, preparing the thing for lighting is half the pleasure in pipe smoking.
I was sort of looking forward to becoming a happily retired old man like him one day, but alas, along came the bloody smoking ban and that kicked the pipe smoking out the window, I was so angry that time that I remember saying to the wife “I hope the minister responsible for bringing it in dies with smoke coming out of his arse” “Oh Jem! what a horrible thing to say”:shock:
I said it but of course I didn’t mean it, I’d never seriously wish harm on anyone.;-):slight_smile:

I’m thinking now of the peace pipe the Native Americans used and then that tragic tale of Running bear and poor little White Dove, I loved the record when it came out, but it was so sad.:frowning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/P615vAhkUlU

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The smell of pipe smoke can still invoke such powerful memories…My Granny (105) was a clay pipe smoker till the day she departed this earth due to her tripping on the home made rag rug in front of the coal fire where she had gone to light a spill to get her pipe going. She had some right stories to tell but she could never have imagined wanting a puff on her beloved pipe would be the finish of her.:confused:

It was fascinating to watch her smoke and twiddle the stem around her mouth whilst she told one of her tales and although a hearty cougher she never dropped the thing as she said it took too long to get a new pipe used to how she liked it so I guess there was an art to it all and she would have none of the fancy named pipes either as she said a clay pipe was ‘ladylike’ whereas my Father always swore by a Petersen pipe.:smiley:

Whilst he often wondered at how a cheap clay pipe could possibly give the same pleasure as a dear one it was obvious that price did not matter at all to the user…it was what you were used to and comfortable with using…and the many discussions on what tobacco mix to use was enlightment in itself purely for the fact Granny was a no nonsense flake user and had no time for any of your “so called fancy mixes”…her words not mine. :wink:

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This mornings Dog Walk.

https://i.ibb.co/5nT8b6N/2-BE2-DCA0-7055-41-C5-9628-6001212805-E3.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/cvBmZ4K/62-D4-ADFF-E0-A2-4284-8-EB8-3-A8482-F36-E89.jpg