Managed a quick trip to Lidl this morning and there really are lots of bargains. The tin of Quality Street for instance at £2.89 is about half what they are elsewhere. The other things we just fancied. Thence to IKEA for breakfast.Eventually we went to Mapperley Hill Top because I needed to go to a decent card shop and while we were there I spotted some good-looking shin of beef in the Butchers so I bought a whole shin (4LBS +) for Xmas Eve - I intend to slowcook it for most of the day as a casserole. Hopefully it should turn out well, the piece of meat was going suitably purple at the edges. I also bought some Wild Boar Sausages from the same butcher. We have had them before and they were excellent. Then we drove home.
After lunch Y went back down town to meet Tracy for the Annual Carol Concert for all the local bigwigs, which Tracy has to organise each year, as part of her job. Traditionally they sing the "Twelve days of Christmas" and the audience are split so that each section has their own bit to sing. Y has been a 'maid a milking' and a 'french hen' amongst other things but has always had a yen to be a "Five gold rings". This year Tracy fixed it and Y has just texted me delightedly.
Picture 2 is the winter flowering jasmine which is doing well.But it deserves a better photograph, probably more from the front - I'll have another go tomorrow. But I was a little unsteady and with Y not being here I thought it best to come back indoors.
AnonymousReg rang and I'm hoping to go out WoW-ing tomorrow morning.
Even if I don't manage to walk very far I want to make the effort. Then we are taking the ladies to The Conservative Club for beef or chip cobs. We photographers certainly know how to treat our ladies ! No expense spared ! Unfortunately Y had long ago arranged to meet June C for lunch, so she is staying a TJ's till tomorrow. But she is looking forward to the post Xmas Walk at Rufford Abbey on the 29th December.
I'm enjoying some v.good hi-brow radio on Radio 3. A series called The Essay at 11pm and last night's was about Horace (the Latin Poet) who regular readers of these pages will know I am occasionally prone to quote from. The lecturers are usually eminent profs. from the better class of university ha ha! The aim is to give a guide to the foundation texts of Western Literature. I accept that this a minority sport and I shan't be at all offended if most of you decline to open the link.
As AnonymousRob and Bungus and Jill and most folks know, one of my ways of rating people is "Would I enjoy an hour in a pub with them?" And I think Horace looks a better bet than our current Poet Laureate - Andrew Motion. But perhaps I do him a disservice and should restrict my criticisms to his poetry.
Comments ......Bungus - So pleased Danny got your g-mail back together with all your past data. I was sure it wouldn't actually be deleted, but it must be a relief. And yes, please re-send the picture of the 1" Spitfire.
Jill - The Bar Keepers Friend sounds wonderful stuff and I have taken the liberty of making the title a live link for the benefit of others. And I'm glad you too found yesterday's quote a little maudlin. This is rather more robust :-
"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club"
Although his picture on his Wiki-page (behind the above link) is full face, I think he looks rather like Horace. Comments please?
Got to get moving in the morning. Sleep tight. Catch you tomorrow...............................................
There are now so many different varieties and sizes of Quality Street tins that it is difficult to compare like with like! But that cannot be a bad price.
ReplyDeleteProvided I and everyone else is (are?) well enough, I may feel tempted to ask for an invitation to the post Xmas Walk at Rufford Abbey on the 29th December. But please do believe that I shall not be offended if it is declared a ‘closed’ event!.
I may have mentioned before that I have a very small book (about 4" x 3") of Horace verse (in translation). Delightfully and elegantly bawdy much of it is too. He would fit in well at The Royal Oak in Radcliffe-on-Trent.
I believe your usage of the word ‘Latin’ may be an American abomination (and epithet). I think Horace was more correctly a Roman poet.
The Spitfire will be winging its way before you can say ‘Achtung’.
I was extremely disappointed with the start of Oliver Twist tonight. No Magwitch jumping from behind a gravestone to scare the pregnant girl. Then Sandra told me ….
Apart from that, it did not really grab me in spite of the star-laden cast. I felt too much was omitted and that there was a lack of excitement. Maybe I have seen it too many times before; or I was just tired.
I watched Panorama too. All about the state of Basra (by state I mean condition) since our troops have withdrawn. It was informative but not exactly surprising. Obviously nobody likes us either for being there in the first place or for leaving.
The ‘Little Iraq’ in Damascus was interesting; Sunnis and Shi’ites living together and nobody being criticised or killed for a degree of Westernisation. What surprised me most was that the reporter Jane Corbin, when invited to have a meal with a Muslim family, was so insensitive as to eat with her left hand. As Sandra said; even with her limited knowledge of Arab custom, she would know better than that! (I hope Ms Corbin did not show the soles of her feet as well!)
The breakfasts at IKEA are brilliant, and they're only about 2 quid.
ReplyDeleteNot a fan of quality street myself, Roses will always be the best ;)