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2009年12月の記事
全31件 (31件中 1-31件目)
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Avo
220 million iPods have been sold since they first went on sale in 2001. I’ve got one of them, though I rarely use it now, I prefer my phone. With my phone, which isn’t anything to do with Apple, I can just drag and drop files into the music folder. Very easy. I can also buy a bigger memory card for it if I want to, and a new battery, too. No need to use ephPod or iTunes. It is a pity to throw fresh mango skin away. Nadheer, our office boy, always used to eat it, so we have decided to incorporate it in a salad. Probably, as is the case with potatoes and apples, the best of the fruit is in the skin.Avocado norimake – gooooood.I am getting very depressed thinking that I have achieved absolutely nothing in my life. Nothing. I haven’t worked hard enough, and I haven’t tried hard enough at anything. I have never had the courage of my own convictions. And the result is that there is nothing to show for all my years. And it’s too late now.This is the top part of the ‘split bridge’ that I showed a photo of yesterday. See the cast iron plates. And the split. The rope passed between the two plates. And you can see my shadow, too! I couldn’t get far enough away to show the whole of the plates and the split, the bridge is too small!A forgotten album: ‘Borderline’ by Ry Cooder, from 1980.“Least said soonest mended.”
2009年12月31日
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Split bridge
This split bridge is over the canal near Stratford. It was built around 1812, so it’s nearly two hundred years old, no wonder it needs a little bit of attention. The span itself is cast iron, two big slabs of cast iron which don’t quite meet in the middle. This ‘split’ allows the rope from the narrowboat to pass through. This is significant because it meant that the horse which pulled the narrowboat didn’t have to be unhitched at this or any other bridge, saving time and the need for another crew member on the boat. You see, there were lots of very good and simple (the emphasis being on both simple and good) ideas years ago.My state of self confidence is so low that I even doubt whether I can go to the toilet successfully.I think I remember the first pair of trainers that I had, it would have been around 1980. I bought them at Marks and Spencer. They were good quality ones, with proper soles, but it didn’t take long before the quality dropped and all you could get was those ones with hollow heels, you know, the rubber wasn’t solid, somehow it had a kind of box construction inside, just ridges of rubber, and when the surface wore away you were left with no heel at all. Damp and uncomfortable. But this kind of trainer seems to have long since gone now, thank goodness. Even good ones are quite cheap these days.“In every trade there is a trick.”
2009年12月30日
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The blame game
As I am not very good at doing anything in life I often make mistakes and get blamed by all and sundry. It’s very depressing. I have decided on a new course of action. I am not going to do anything. This way I will only get blamed for one thing.We all make mistakes, I just make more than most.I was with some people for lunch over Christmas. Junko had made some norimake to nibble on before lunch. While we waited for lunch there was the usual chit-chat while we were nibbling. Christmas time is supposed to be a time of good cheer and light hearted talk, but not at this gathering. One person was particularly hard to deal with. Every conversation topic ended up with some political or economic conspiracy theory. And when this person said that we English always cooked our food in sewage I had just had enough. I went outside and waited for lunch to be served. Luckily the lunch table I sat far enough away from him not to have to bother with his talk.A tumbledown and rather picturesque shed. Interesting. "Good things come to those who wait."
2009年12月29日
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Unwanted presents
How carefully do you consider a person when you get them a present? It appears that most people receive more unwanted gifts than ones which they actually do want. Clothes rarely suit, music is a no-no, books are often the wrong taste, kitchen things are just excess to requirements, ornaments and dust collectors are simply a damn nuisance. And so it goes on. Personally, I am happy with a can of shaving cream, a bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream, a music token, a lump of Parmesan cheese or just cash. And please don’t wrap it up.UK retailers take 25% of their weekly income on a Saturday. Tesco sold 625 bananas per minute on 26th December. This fact in itself is quite amazing, but more amazing is that the shop can tell exactly what it is selling, and when and where. I suppose it is vitally important for it to know such figures.This is the joke I got in my Christmas cracker: ‘What is yellow on the outside and grey on the inside?’‘An elephant disguised as a banana.’Homemade lentil soup, I think.Perhaps my favourite Rolling Stones track: ‘Sympathy for the devil’. From about 1969,“A rolling stone gathers no moss.”
2009年12月28日
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Horse food
When Junko first came across* muesli, she said ‘horse food’. Now she rather likes it, though not the variety which includes peanuts. It has to have almonds in it, or walnuts or Brazils. For some reason peanuts don’t suit the taste.* to come across = to encounterFor many years, almost ten, we used to bake our own bread in a bread machine. The first one we had was an old ‘National’ one. It didn’t have too many settings to make things other than bread, which was good – it was a bread machine, we didn’t want to make cakes or waffles in it. Anyway, you just put the mix in, set the time and then ate the bread. We used it every day. The belt broke and we got a new one, the key under the pan broke and I got a new one made. The key in the paddle wore round, so I had that re-machined, and the non stick coating wore off. But it worked fine for seven years. Until the seal in the pan just gave up. Nothing could be done about that as it was made of some heat-resistant space material. We bought another machine, a ‘Sunbeam’. It was useless, totally useless. Cheap and plasticky, even though it was an expensive brand. It was just weak. That lasted only a year and was then disposed of. We were so disappointed that we didn’t buy another one. But now it has got hard to buy nice bread, what with supermarkets selling only soggy sliced white loaves. So we have been thinking that we might get another one. My sister had one. Like most of these machines, it was used a few times and has spent the last five years collecting dust in the back of one of her kitchen cupboards. I wonder if she still wants it?These are the Brussels sprouts that my sister picked and cooked for Christmas dinner. Well, she cooked some of them. The plants should have more leaves on them than this, but the muntjac deer she had in the garden the other week ate them. You see, they aren’t so silly; they don’t like Brussels sprouts either!“The quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
2009年12月27日
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Celebration
You know how some footballers celebrate when they score goals? Some dance, others punch the corner flag, and still more do back flips, somersaults and handstands. I read the other day of a strange case where an Australian soccer player was fined ten thousand dollars for his particular celebration after scoring the winning goal. And what did he do? Apparently he dropped his shorts and urinated on the penalty spot in his opponents’ half. Amazing.Why do they homogensise milk? Doesn’t this make it bad for you in the fact that the fat molecules are broken up into tiny pieces which can pass into your bloodstream more quickly? Apparently, according to the supermarkets, this is what we want. I think not.Who determines what we want, the marketing people or the public? I guess you know what I believe!Aspi sent me this photo of some clouds, the big towering one in the middle is called ‘cumulonimbus incus’. It’s quite spectacular, isn’t it? Apparently this kind of cloud often has tornadoes associated with it. I remember my mother said that she had seen one of these clouds at the same time as there was a severe tornado in Birmingham (about twenty miles from Stratford).“The shoemakers’ children go barefoot.”
2009年12月26日
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Famous disappearances
William Shakespeare disappeared for five years or so early in his life, after he left school and before he turned up as an actor in London. This was before he wrote his plays and poems. It quite intrigues everyone and these missing years are an absolute academic gold mine.Agatha Christie disappeared for a fortnight, while writing one of her well known detective novels. It was quite a mystery in itself at the time: amnesia and a mental breakdown or a publicity stunt?Robert Johnson disappeared for about six months while he learned to play the guitar. During this time he famously sold his soul to the devil in exchange for receiving his magic playing ability. What really turned Mr Johnson from an average singer and guitar player into the father of modern guitarists?Junko got lost in the shopping centre this afternoon, searching for some organic fly spray. Somewhere in aisle 14b there is black hole. Really?These are Viners Profile splayds, from the 1960’s. They look very sixties, don’t they?“The pen is mightier than the sword.”
2009年12月25日
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Father Christmas
Have you noticed that every Father Christmas that you see in a store with kids on his knee is wearing white gloves? This is all something to do with preventing him from abusing the children. Father Christmas must always keep his hands in view. What is the world coming to?Junko put her glasses into one of those glasses cleaning machines some time ago. It scratched the lenses so badly that she had to buy a new pair!What happens if your friend asks you how they look? And they look awful? Everybody else thinks they look awful, too, but they say how wonderful the new outfit is. And then, everybody talks behind her back about how awful she looks. Does this ever happen? Are people so two faced? More than two faced, perhaps, three or four faced, depending on who they are talking to!Cottage pie."In the quietest water swims the ugliest fish."
2009年12月24日
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Handmade
We’ve often seen food labelled as handmade. Doesn’t handmade imply that it has been lovingly made by a dedicated craftsman in a wooden hut on the banks of a lake, overlooking snowcapped mountains? Well, that kind of thing! However, clearly much of this ‘handmade’ produce is made in a factory, so how come it can be labelled ‘handmade’? I suppose a hand has touched it somewhere in the process. I often worry about the labelling of things as ‘organic’. What exactly does this mean? Different things to different people, no doubt. Much of it is just a sales gimmick, I am sad to say. It is supposed to be monitored, but is it? You would think that wholemeal bread was made with wholemeal flour, wouldn’t you? Not a bit of it. It’s made with ordinary flour with ‘added’ wholemeal. We get back to oranges being being sprayed with an orange dye to stop them having green skin, which is why your hands get stained orange when you peel them. Hens being fed some special chemical to make their eggs have yellow yolks. Meat being injected with water to make it heavier. Melamine being added to milk to make it have a higher protein content. Tofu being made by adding gelatine and transfats to soya milk. Guacamole being green yoghurt with 5% avocado lumps being added. The list goes on and on.I’m tired of it all.Old Hall salt and pepper pots from around 1952. Very nice.“The higher they stand, the quicker they fall.”
2009年12月23日
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Cotton wool kids
Studies have shown that children in the UK are less fit than they were ten years ago. And this is nothing to do with the obesity problem. The children that were tested were not overweight at all, but they could not run as fast etc etc. And the cause of the problem? Not enough play. Children rarely do anything with each other these days, so they do not walk and run in a natural way, hence they are unfit. And I thought this isolation of children just affected their ability to socialise. Oh dear, we are breeding a generation of weak monsters!Junko bought me some foam shaving cream for Christmas. Thank you Junko.What is the difference between ‘display until’, ‘use by’ and ‘sell by’ dates?Aspi sent me this photo of mamatus clouds. Aren’t they unusual?“Caught between a rock and a hard place.”
2009年12月22日
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Hot, hot, hot. Very hot
You might think that I am talking about coffee, the weather, a Indian vindaloo curry, the sun or even soup. But no, I am talking about a television! Junko and I went to an electrical shop the other day, to look for a netbook computer. We had to pass through the TV area to get to the computer section, and it was while we were walking past some gigantic screens that I felt the heat coming off them. One in particular, I can’t remember its brand, was quite spectacularly hot. Standing eighteen inches from the screen you could feel the heat coming from it, and when I put my hand on the screen it was almost too hot to touch. I was totally flabbergasted. It was giving off more heat than our central heating radiators! How much energy is that consuming? Do people realise that these things are costing a fortune to run? And what is more, in summer you would have to keep the air conditioning on twenty four hours a day just to bear being in the same room as one. It’s a disaster. We didn’t get a netbook computer, though Junko would like one, I suspect. So would I, but we don’t really need one. Next year, maybe. I can tell you, though, that we definitely won’t be getting a big flat screen TV!Ahhhh garlic, ‘the friend of the onion’, what would we do without it?Sheep.“Ignorance is bliss.”
2009年12月21日
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A world record?
The world record for eating Brussels sprouts is thirty one sprouts eaten in a minute. The sprouts must be at least an inch in diameter, be cooked for no more than nine minutes and eaten at room temperature. I can’t imagine how anybody could eat so many as that in a lifetime!I bought a Chinese bicycle bell the other day, just for the name. It’s called ‘Charming Hippo”.Pete tells me that I should look for the clumps. Why? What clumps? Where might I find them? What are clumps anyway?A classic track: “Supper’s ready” from the 1972 album from Genesis. Twenty three minutes of amazing stuff.Walnuts.“An army marches on its stomach.” Not if it has had Brussels sprouts for lunch it doesn’t!
2009年12月20日
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Germ
Despite being the most valuable part of any kind of cereal, the germ is removed from nearly all grains before they are sold. Yesterday I wondered why. Now I believe I know. It is because the germ contains oils which go rancid over time and spoil the flavour, slightly. It’s really all a question of supermarket shelf life though, in the same way that homogenising milk extends its shelf life. The bran is removed from rice purely for cosmetic reasons. It is a moot point as to whether its removal improves the flavour; it certainly changes it. In addition to the flavour and nutrient change, the texture of rice with the husk still there is different, too. The rice becomes rather crunchier; as a result it takes somewhat longer to eat, which is good. I think that brown rice also takes slightly longer to cook. Are there artificial flavours added to rice before it gets to us consumers? Alanis Morrisette’s album “Jagged Little Pill” from around 1995 is a good one. Though you have to be in a bright mood to appreciate it, and it’s a once only listen. Once a month. Basic stuff, edgy. Maybe once a year, but when you do listen to it you think ‘Wow, that was good!’This is some rubbish we found in our front garden on Sunday morning. Isn’t it just disgraceful?“The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”
2009年12月19日
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The bridge that goes ‘kerchunk kerchunk’
Not far from us is a long bridge, made of concrete. As you drive over it, the wheels go ‘kerchunk kerchunk’. The noise is caused by the rubber or similar material used in the expansion joints.Junko is going to make some norimaki for Christmas, avocado, smoked salmon, cucumber and firm spicy tofu ones. Should be nice.Why is the germ removed from a grain of rice before it is sold? Isn’t the germ the best bit? All the protein and the vitamins are in the germ, no? I can understand why the husk is removed because that affects the flavour and appearance, it’s nevertheless a pity that it is so because there are nutrients and of course fibre in this part of the grain. Polishing also removes the fibre. Brown rice may be the best. This bridge is in the centre of Stratford. It is called “Workman Bridge” after the person who built it. It is close to two hundred years old. The road goes over the canal, which is still used, though only for pleasure cruising. Mind you, it’s very popular for that, with hundreds of narrowboats passing under it every year. This is not the bridge that goes ‘kerchunk kerchunk’.“Cometh the hour, cometh the man.”
2009年12月18日
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Master plan
Whenever I hear the term ‘Master Plan’ it makes me smile broadly. There are master plans for all kinds of things, from park redevelopment to company restructuring. And what do they mean? That a whole load of pen pushers allocate themselves jobs and perks for several years. And what do the rest of us get out of it? Usually absolutely nothing as the plans are usually shelved just before completion! We don’t even get to see what these highly paid officials have been doing with our money. And why are the plans shelved? Because they have taken so long to do anything that they are now out of date! And what is the response? Another Master Plan!!! Two more years of bunce for the same people! And so it goes on. And on. And on.Which is better, fifty tea bags for a pound, or a hundred tea bags for a pound?Pie and eight vegetables, with tomato ketchup.Sorry about yesterday’s diary, I did the same one twice. It’s the different dates, you know, it’s a day behind here when I post the entry. That’s my excuse anyway.“Beam me up, Scotty.”
2009年12月17日
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Addictions
We are all addicted to many things, aren’t we? We hear of the problem addictions such as drugs, caffeine, nicotine, money, alcohol and, in Tiger Woods’ case, sex. But I didn’t realise that one of the reasons we are addicted to junk food is its salt, sugar and fat content. I’ve always been puzzled by why the ‘western’ diet seems to sweep aside other forms of traditional cuisine once it gets into a country, so perhaps its addictive qualities are part of the reason.I think Junko has decided to give up meat. Even if this is only temporary it is fantastic news.Is ‘nadir’ the opposite of ‘zenith’?Thinly sliced boiled and then fried potatoes from the garden, with garlic, fennel and olive oil. Nice or what?“What the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over.”
2009年12月16日
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Addictions
We are all addicted to many things, aren’t we? We hear of the problem addictions such as drugs, caffeine, nicotine, money, alcohol and, in Tiger Woods’ case, sex. But I didn’t realise that one of the reasons we are addicted to junk food is its salt, sugar and fat content. I’ve always been puzzled by why the ‘western’ diet seems to sweep aside other forms of traditional cuisine once it gets into a country, so perhaps its addictive qualities are part of the reason.I think Junko has decided to give up meat. Even if this is only temporary it is fantastic news.Is ‘nadir’ the opposite of ‘zenith’?Thinly sliced boiled and then fried potatoes from the garden, with garlic, fennel and olive oil. Nice or what?“What the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over.”
2009年12月15日
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UV rays
Can you get sunburned if you are behind the windows in your home? I don’t believe that you can. There are two kinds of UV rays, A & B. It seems that sunburn is caused by UVB rays. UVB rays are stopped by ordinary glass. UVA rays aren’t. But UVA rays don’t burn, they cause wrinkles. The windscreen in our cars prevent UVA rays, but the side windows don’t. Tinting the side windows stops some UVA rays, but is completely unnecessary on the windscreen. But it seems that the long and the short of it is that you don’t get sunburned in a car.Describing something as ‘ordinary’ used to mean that there was nothing particularly remarkable or special about it. It was kind of average, not unusual. These days when you describe something as ‘ordinary’ it means that it is rather bad. Not good at all. It’s amazing how the meanings of words change .We had mushrooms on toast for breakfast. Sliced mushrooms fried with garlic. And the bread was nice brown wholemeal. And why did we have this rather than guacamole or hummous, our usual breakfast fare? Well, we’ve got plenty of avocados (the main ingredient for guacamole), but none are ripe yet.An easy-pull plug for those with arthritis or similar. My mother finds these very useful.
2009年12月14日
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To kill or not to kill
There are lots of Canada geese in Stratford, on the river. Personally I rather like them, but even I have to admit that there may be too many. They are noisy, they crap everywhere and make the grass by the river too muddy to walk on. So, what can be done about them? The town’s politically correct answer is to chase them away and hope that they go onto our neighbour’s patch to cause a similar problem. We can’t kill them, even though they are a nuisance.There are lots of cows and sheep in the fields around Stratford. They stand there all day just eating and minding their own business. They never stray out of their fields and are not in any way a nuisance. (except that the cows generate huge amounts of Co2) Folk look at them and say how nice it is to see them happy in the fields. But these happy and inoffensive creatures are merely waiting in line to be slaughtered and then served up on our dinner tables.I cannot see the logic of this. The birds, which are a nuisance, we are not allowed to kill, but it is perfectly OK to kill the harmless and rather friendly beasts in the fields. Madness.I was walking the other day, when I felt something uncomfortable in my shoe. I couldn’t shake it free, so eventually had to stop. I took off my shoe and shook it. I put it back and continued on my way, but the irritation was still there. I took off my shoe once more, and then checked in my sock. I could feel something. After I’d removed my sock I discovered that what I had been walking on was a large couscous grain!I wonder where this old lock came from? It turned up down in the cellar the other day.“I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.”
2009年12月13日
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Christmas tree
A plastic Christmas tree, in its creation, transport and disposal, generates 48Kgs of carbon dioxide. A real tree, which of course takes CO2 out of the air, generates only 3Kgs of carbon dioxide. Interesting, and very relevant.We have a plastic Christmas tree, it is years old. Each year we buy a few new decorations to replace the old ones. Junko says that we need to buy a new fairy, as the one that we have currently got is getting a bit moth-eaten, her wand is broken and her dress is a bit shredded. Ah well, that’s something for next year, if we can remember.Junko bought some napthalenes from the fruit shop. Actually they were nectarines.Junko has been bitten on the bottom by a wasp. We sat her in a large bowl of warm salty water for about ten minutes. Should the water have been cold, or is warm OK?Another lady’s umbrella from the 1930’s.“One swallow doesn’t make a summer.”
2009年12月12日
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Mackerel
Junko bought some fish. Squid and mackerel. I am afraid that I didn’t really enjoy either. Oh well.In the United Kingdom, children received an average of £6.24 a week in pocket money during 2009 - a slight increase on the previous year despite the recession, research has showed. Children aged between 12 and 15 given around £7.44 a week, while children aged between eight and 11 got £4.80 a week. Those living in London got slightly more than those living in the north of England.There was a monster Thursday on at K-Mart yesterday (Thursday). I bought a DVD player.One of the problems with buying tools these days is that all but the very best are poor quality. My answer to this is to buy old ones, which were well made when they were new. This chisel must be quite an age, because it was made in England. It cost me twenty pence. It’s much better quality than a new one.There’s many a true word spoken in jest.”
2009年12月11日
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Local kitesurfer escapes serious injury
A local kitesurfer escaped with nothing more serious than a broken arm in a freak accident at Sutton’s Beach, Redcliffe on the weekend. Chris Robinson, an experienced surfer, was on the water on Saturday afternoon at the local family beachspot, and was approaching the beach at speed ready to turn offshore, when a rogue gust of wind picked him and his board up, carried him fifty metres over the beach crowded with astonished sunseekers. Robinson’s freakish trip ended when he was deposited twenty metres above ground in one of the many Norfolk pines which line the beachfront. Mr Robinson, who broke an arm in the impact with the tree, was unable to disentangle himself and his kitestrings from the branches and had an anxious thirty minutes wait while local firecrews and paramedics stabilised him before completing the tricky operation of removing him from both his kite and the branches. Speaking as Mr Robinson was taken to Redcliffe hospital, crew chief Bill Bodmin told our reporter that it seemed the injury was not as serious as at first though, adding that Mr Robinson was lucky that the strings on his kite had held him during the ten minute wait before the fire ladder arrived. Mr Robinson was not immediately available for comment.I should think that he should enter the lottery this weekend. That was a lucky escape! These firecrews are more used to rescuing cats from trees than kitesurfers! Or perhaps it is just in our imagination that firemen rescue cats.“No pain, no gain.”Some old scissors which we use every day. An interesting design. Only the cutting edge is high quality steel. Made in Sheffield. You don’t see that nowadays!
2009年12月10日
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Fish
Junko decided to buy some fish for dinner. I drove her to a large local fishmonger’s. I am rather sensitive about eating dead animals etc, so I stayed in the car outside while she made her purchases. My ankle is much better, not right yet, but on the mend. I soaked it in cold salt water for fifteen minutes twice yesterday, and did the same this morning. I am sure that this helped.I have a sneaking suspicion that the advanced economies have missed a trick when it comes to China. I reckon that they will very shortly be very far in advance of all of us in the major growth area of the next twenty years: green technology. Here in Britain have made almost no investment in this field. I mean, we don’t have any electric cars, wind farms or alternative energy sources up and running on a major scale. And this is strange because we have no resources of our own. We just fall in line with what the big American oil companies propose. It’s a bit pathetic really.We always use our own shopping bags when going to the supermarket, instead of the plastic ones which the supermarket provides. I would say that most people in Britain also use their own bags. That doesn’t seem to stop the rivers and hedgerows being full of bags blown by the wind, though, but I suppose it’s better than nothing.“What goes around comes around.”
2009年12月09日
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Twisted ankle
I got off my bike to press the button at a traffic light, to cross the road. And the next thing I knew was that I was sprawled under the bike half in the road. I had managed to step on the join between the pavement and a piece of grassed area and gone over on my ankle. The grassed area was a couple of inches lower than the pavement. It shouldn’t have been so, I am sure. The resultant twist was very nasty. Extremely painful. And miles away from home. It took me about half an hour to recover enough to get back onto the bike and make a slow return back to the house. I am very cross.I saw the Chinese car again today; the brand is ‘Great Wall’. I remember when all Chinese products had weird names like Happy Popo (an exercise book), Jolly Jimmy (a pair of pliers), Blue Onion (a kitchen knife), Lucky Hitter (a tennis racquet). Actually, I am beginning to think that there are two of these cars about. Today two, tomorrow two hundred! But I am sure that with their advanced green technology it is a step in the right direction. How do they make them so incredibly cheaply?“A new broom sweeps clean.”A silver plated ladle, fifty or sixty years old, maybe even a hundred. We use it to dish out curry.
2009年12月08日
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A significant day
The British currency consists of coins and notes, as everywhere. We have notes for 5, 10, 20 and 50 pounds. Owing to regularity of use, a £5 note only lasts in circulation for a year before being too damaged to use. The lifespan of a £50 note is usually five years or more. Thinking back to yesterday’s diary, it isn’t only apples that are tasteless these days. Garlic also seems to have lost much of its flavour. We have tried most sorts, from the most expensive to the cheapest, but it all seems to be the same. Weak.Note this day well. For the first time today, I have seen a Chinese car on the roads near our house. It is, I suspect, the first of many. It was an SUV (4X4). It was not a beautiful thing, but no more ugly than all of the other 4X4’s that are about. I have seen it advertised on TV. It is 25% cheaper than its competitors. As I said, I suspect it is the first of many.Anlother useless pumpkin that should have been grey/brown and bell shaped!“I’ll go to the foot of our stairs.”
2009年12月07日
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The problem with apples
I think Junko has gone mad, she proposed that we have cold spaghetti sandwiches for dinner this evening! Actually she had got sardines and spaghetti mixed up. It happens sometimes, but it gave me quite a turn for a while!12 million new cars are registered every year in China.Question: How difficult is it to get really nice, crisp, juicy and sweet apples?Answer: Almost impossible.I really like apples, but it seems years since I tasted a nice one. I know that they are months or even years old when they get to the shops, but they never used to be so tasteless as they are now. I’m fed up.“Kind words butter no parsnips.” And these are parsnips, from my sister’s garden. Lovely.
2009年12月06日
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More hot water cylinder woes
I opened the door to the airing cupboard to get a clean shirt out, and there, on the floor, in the middle of the floor, right at the bottom of the cupboard, sitting there like it owned the place, was a large puddle of warm water, smirking at me with a horrible grin. Oh dear, another call to the heating engineers to fix it. Thank heavens for the insurance that we have on this system. Mind you they installed the cylinder only four or five months ago, in April I think, so they should fix it. Anyway, they are coming this afternoon to see what is to be done. At least the water is not cascading down the stairs or something!And returning to milk bottle tops (part of yesterday’s diary). We used to have glass bottles, remember those? With aluminium foil tops. I don’t remember if there were colours for skimmed milk and semi-skimmed (red and green respectively), but there were silver tops for ordinary milk and gold ones for high quality cream laden Jersey milk. We used to save the tops for recycling even then. Aluminium has always been quite a prized commodity, hasn’t it? And today I see the price of it at 1850 US dollars per tonne. Isn’t the price of gold amazing. I wish we had some! 1165 US dollars an ounce.I have recently had a birthday, and I am now the same age as my father was when he died. This is a frightening thought.Needs a bit of work doing on this shed to make it good again! “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down.”
2009年12月05日
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A flowery smell
We were walking the other day, when Junko said something like: “Don’t those flowers smell lovely!” Actually, it was a tree that we were passing. I went up to the tree to smell its flowers, but they had no smell. Odd. Then I saw a little flower on the verge. I smelt it, but again it didn’t have the same strong smell that was all around us. And then I realised. It was a worker cleaning the nearby public toilet! He must have sprayed the area with some perfumed deodorant when he finished. Oh well, at least it proves that his can of spray chemicals do actually smell of spring.For the past nine months, the Ford Fiesta has been the best selling car in the UK.We had a lot of trouble with our pumpkins this year. They were really useless, and I know why: it was something to do with the seeds. We bought a packet of rather expensive ‘hybrid T 1’ seeds, there were only six seeds in the packet, which cost almost thee pounds. I had great hopes for them. But something had gone wrong with the hybridisation process and the plant reverted rather than went forward. As a result the crop was strange. We should have got a kind of bluey grey bell-shaped fruit, but we got this yellow lemon shaped one as well as other round green and orange ones. None of the plants grew well, and were generally pathetic. If I had kept the packet I would have complained because, as I said, they were not cheap seeds. A case for Sherlock Holmes to solve, maybe.“Elementary my dear Watson.”
2009年12月04日
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Brussels sprouts
Do you know this vegetable? They are popular in the UK around Christmas time, and in fact we used to have them with the turkey on Christmas day, for the family dinner. But I never liked them much, and I still don’t. My sister has got a few plants in her garden, if they haven’t been eaten by a rampaging herd of deer (3 animals). I shall see if I can get her to send me a picture of them. They are a winter vegetable, which is their main attraction. Years ago, along with parsnips, turnips and cabbage, they were what British people lived on in the dark days of winter. Of course vegetables are no longer seasonal in such a way as there are freezers and other countries from which to source things which won’t grown in your own country. But I’d eat what is in season. Mind you, as I said, I don’t really care for Brussels sprouts, and I have to say that I don’t really like turnip either. Parsnip is pretty good, though.While the rest of the world has finally started to buy more fuel-efficient compact cars, sales of gas-guzzling SUV’s has recently surged in Australia. Not only have sales of this type of car skyrocketed, sales of smaller and more efficient cars has fallen dramatically. Oh dear. Bruce Hornsby’s 1988 album “Scenes from the Southside” is another of my favourites. “Out of the frying pan into the fire.”
2009年12月03日
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Which is preferable?
What would you prefer, to be a big fish in a small pond, or a small fish in a large pond? As I generally lack confidence in my own ability I think that probably when I was young it would have been good for me to be a big fish in a small pond. This would have boosted my confidence, no doubt about it. But these days I am not interested in being a big fish at all, I just don’t want to get caught!We got a couple of avocados the other day, it must have been writing about them which spurred me on to buying them. They are hard, so let’s hope that they riped within the week and we can once again have some lovely guacamole. It’s been a long time since we ate it. The weather has turned much colder. Almost frosty. That will put an end to any slight growth that there has been in the garden. Still, the purple sprouting broccoli have done well. They just need to rest now, and avoid the ravages of the local wood pigeons, until March, when they should start producing their lovely sprouts.A rather classy lady’s umbrella which I guess is from the 1930’s. Junko bought it the other day. Nice, don’t you think?Pink Floyd’s live album “The Delicate Sound of Thunder” from 1989 is another of my favourites.“I’ve bigger fish to fry.”
2009年12月02日
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Avocado problem
It is very difficult to buy nice avocados. I am not sure where the ones we get in England come from, possibly Spain or maybe Israel. Avocados cannot survive when there is frost, so we can’t grow them anywhere in the UK. Actually, the seeds do germinate, and we have had several small trees in our vegetable garden, which come from the organic rubbish that we put into holes in the garden. I did post a photo of a rubbish hole once, so you may remember. These seedlings germinate in the spring and get to about 30 cm tall by autumn, but when the first frost hits them they just keel over. It’s a pity. Anyway, back to the original topic. It seems to me that most avocados that we buy just never ripen. We often keep them for weeks but they remain hard and very bitter. Or you can buy soft ones. These are no good either as it appears that they are soft because they have been kept at a temperature below the ideal one during their journey from a distant land. Once over-chilled, the flesh becomes black and pretty nasty, as I am sure you know. Coffee and guacamole on crisp quality toast is a breakfast alternative in our house. And this is one of the jugs we use in which to heat the full cream milk. Makes me hungry just writing about it!I was thinking how big a two hundred and fifty tonne mountain of gold would be. Well, actually, it’s not that big at all. I am not sure how heavy gold is, very, I think, and certainly heavier than water. Fifty tonnes of water is fifty cubic metres, so if gold is twice as heavy as water then fifty tonnes would occupy twenty five cubic metres, which isn’t a large volume at all. So, two hundred and fifty tonnes would be a volume of 125 cubic metres. Five metres by five metres by five metres. It’s a pity I don’t have any in the cellar! I could keep a lot there.Another of my favourite albums, this one is from 1973, I think. Jackson Browne: “For Everyman”“A watched pot never boils.”
2009年12月01日
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