Before leaving the 'Carsington experience' I wonder if our ornithological department could pronounce on the identity of this feather please? It was around 2" long and was photographed on the background of Steven's sweat-shirt. The enlargement is to allow close scrutiny and the colouring is accurate (sorry B! with your monitor problem). Even to my lay eye it seemed to be an inner feather and perhaps a pheasant or something.It was nice to have your 'comment' Steven and I suppose that to your Mum and I anyone under 60 is a lad.
n.b. for other blog readers, we always welcome comments. All you need to do is go down to the bottom of the blog-page and click on 'comments' in orange. A box will open to put your comment in. First names or pseudonyms are best but 'anonymous' will do even though multiple anonymous-es become confusing.
Picture 2 is one of the artichoke heads; they look so dramatic at the moment. As I was taking the photograph I was reminded that my beard needs trimming. I received an e-mail yesterday from Amazon telling me that my new beard trimmer has been dispatched.There is currently running in Brighton a 'beard competition' but even at full straggle, I would not be anywhere near in contention. Don't some people have strange hobbies? Harmless enough though and they must be having fun.
All is well at Palmers Green. Y slept well, as I did (leg-ache excepted of course) and I didn't finally get up until 6am. Spoke to David on the 'phone - they are still at Carsington but leave sometime today. I have had a pleasant afternoon kip. Spoke to Steven on Google Chat (we use it in its 'instant e-mail' mode rather than actual spoken word) but it is a good service.
Picture 3 was from where I was sitting at The Knockerdown on Friday and I hope captures the warm and friendly atmosphere.It wasn't until I decided to use the picture today that I realised I was carrying such free-advertising for them. No matter, it was a pleasant meal at the end of a very pleasant day.
A quick refer back to a Jill comment a couple of days ago - It is almost a relief to find someone else having 'milk going off ages within due date' problems because I thought it only happened to us. But Waitrose ! Really ! At home my mum used to strain milk like that through very fine muslin to make a delicious cottage cheese. Things weren't wasted in those days
I've had a good and useful rest day. Caught up on e-mails, browsed my favourite forums, filed lots of photographs and moved the older ones onto my External Hard Drive. Sorted out National Trust stuff ready for committee meeting on Tuesday. Run my Spyware Sweeper and AVG and even managed a quick Stumbleupon and I have made that a link for anyone who might be interested. But be warned - it is addictive !
Debra likes the quotations, so here is one of a similar ilk:-
"Let not thy will roar, when thy power can only whisper"
Fancy that ! Blog finished by 4.30pm. Now for a bit of tea, catch up on the papers, have a read and listen to some radio. Sleep tight everybody.
2 comments:
I can't think of a British bird with such a brightly coloured feather. As you said, pheasant comes to mind but it is very orangey on my monitor as opposed to red, too much so for a pheasant? Are there any brought-in exotics at Carsington? There is a sort of very highly-coloured pheasant at Kew Gardens, brought in originally but now breeding and 'wild', called I think an Indian Jungle Pheasant. A possibility? Or there are some very bright ornamental ducks.....
The other possibility is that it is a dyed feather off some child's toy/hair decoration? Try putting it in hot water and see if any colour comes out!
Waitrose replaced the milk for free and returned our money as well, can't remember if I said. It hasn't happened to us with milk for years!
Had a very pleasant and reasonably priced meal at Cafe Rouge on Saturday - it's a chain, do you have those? I had poulet Breton, chicken strips with bacon/leeks in a white sauce with pasta, R had steak and chips, I had an excellent tarte tatin and R had a sort of brownie with choc.fudge ice-cream.
Everyone makes the occasional slip so I am not mickey-taking when I suppose that Steve must be a Roman old soldier (centarian)?
But in north Notts anyone male of whatever age may be addressed as ‘youth', as in:
“Ay-up youth a’ya on afters? Or aya gooin’ up bi’t rezza s’afto?”.
My colour perception is all out of kilter but my first thought was pheasant fevver.
The artichoke head looks quite ferocious. I wouldn’t want it on my pillow.
If you have any problems with delivery of the beard trimmer I now have two (one used for Jeater; Jessica’s King Charles Spaniel).
I saw the Brighton beards on telly. Some incredible creations. I shall remain litotes orientated, as is my custom.
My mum strained our sour milk through a silk stocking to make cream cheese (or Colwick Cheese as it is also known) although I never acquired the taste. My father was a hosiery framework knitter and brought spoiled samples home to use as rose ties (incredibly strong and elastic) as well as strainers.
But the milk we have now (not UHT I hasten to add) seems to last for up to a week beyond the use-by date. A pint usually lasts us about a fortnight as I don’t take it in tea or coffee and Sandra doesn’t use it at all because of allergic reaction.
To quote ‘These Foolish Things’, ‘The chains that bound us / are still around us’ but none of them are Café Rouge.
Steph and Sandra swear by one of an Italian chain (or ‘catena’) in Nottingham (there are at least half a dozen in central London).
Today (Sun) we visited Newark to look around the Food Fair on the market.
An enjoyable few hours with numerous stalls selling a variety of tempting goodies. Sandra, Dan and Emma bought assorted nuts and various dried fruits; I bought a large (ie, 2 to 4 portion) rabbit pie, 2 individual steak puddings (all ‘homemade’) and a selection of baklava. Sandra had a chick-pea curry; Emma, chicken curry; Dan a venison burger; and I had a white cob stuffed with 2 rashers of well done dry-cured bacon plus a sausage (with lashings of HP sauce) – all very good. Dan and I also had a pint each of real ale and while drinking it were greatly entertained by a chef-costumed rock trio (guitar, bass, drums) called ‘The Courgettes’ who were not only competent musicians but amusing with it; the whole of their repertoire was food orientated (eg, ‘I like that sausage roll music’). The bassist’s fingers were amazing, obviously long to start with but thickened and flattened by years of slapping; like a bunch of trodden-on bananas.
Coffee at Starbucks because the Newark Wetherspoons is ‘a bit rough’ (ie, great; a bit like Yates’s Wine Lodges used to be in the fifties and sixties; a ‘proper’ town centre pub).
I think we shall go again next year.
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