Neither of us slept well. You would think we would, now the 'house turmoil' is over. Anyway, I decided not to go to Nottingham with the chaps, on the tram. but to drive down, miss out on the chip-cob and arrive back home early.I had only just arrived in the Square when Reg, Mike, Brian and Roy arrived. The light was lovely again and it is hard to select which pics do our Ferris Wheel justice. It is an impressive structure for a temporary one and Brian says it looks particularly good at night.
Picture 1 is courtesy of Rob's Sigma 12-24mm and although it depicts the scale, it looks a little odd with the seriously converging verticals.
An example of 'not knowing what you've got' because, during taking the picture and subsequently on the camera screen, I didn't notice the strange splatter shape on the buildings in the left-hand corner of the frame.
When I saw the image on my computer monitor it took me a while to recognise it as the shadow of the wheel itself.
Also in Picture 2 (Casio compact) I thought the bird near the top left of the wheel was a mark on my lens or sensor. I've no idea what it is, - it looks too big for a Slab Square pigeon.p.s. Don't know what anyone else thinks but I prefer the Casio version as a record-shot. Be interested to see what the others have made of the scene.
I nipped into Waterstone's for a Valentine Card and to browse their Stevie Smith collection - to trace the 'bishop of the Church of England poem' - But they had no Stevie Smith at all! So there ! I should have gone to Angel Row or Bromley House but by that time I was ................
For main meal I cooked a real hot Chili con Carne but, picking up on AnonymousRob's idea, I didn't use the customary can of chopped tomatoes - but a jar of crushed sundried peppers, diced smoked ham, beef mince, some passata for liquid content, a glove of crushed garlic, a diced onion (OK I actually diced it myself) button mushrooms, tin of red kidney beans and plenty plenty chili. The result was a genuine 'make your nose run' job but we really enjoyed it with plain white Basmati. Enough for tomorrow too.
Comments..... Bungus....I always make my own Yorkshire Puds, and the reason I make the individual size ones is they freeze extraordinarily well. And at a later date, popped in the hot oven from frozen, in 8 minutes produce a perfectly acceptable crisp pud without burning the edges.
What a pain - google changing the blogger 'comments' system. What was wrong with it I wonder! I intend to visit the blogger.com forum and see if others are moaning. And it completely disrupts my filing system. As well as appearing on the blog your 'comments' appear in my e-mail inbox and it has been so easy to file the comments, each in your individually named folder. Not to worry - I must be flexible and change my modus operandi.
AnonymousRob...... Your 'not guilty' plea to the charge of 'being a Delia fan' is accepted, and no evidence will be offered. Paul the Plasterer sounds great. Perhaps he should be the subject of a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem, like Felix the Farrier. Colin Fletcher always says that plasterers should be awarded doctorates because the skill and knowledge entailed is of a similar ilk.
The word 'oddy' for coin-change is completely new to me, as is 'shrapnel'. It certainly isn't common usage in these parts, or in the parts of Derbyshire that I know. The only parlance I know is 'loose change'. Perhaps Bungus, or AnonymousReg can throw some light. And Jill could perhaps tell us about any London expressions. Or, for that matter, Ray in Yorkshire, Madeline in Wales, Manxislander or any other reader.
Your reference to camera-club judges made me chuckle. And it's yet another episode tomorrow night I guess.
And I have decided against submitting anything this year for the Annual Exhibition, because the prints and projected images have to be submitted tomorrow. I'm afraid I lack the motivation to dig out file references for the prints and put it on a disc or stick (which is required this year). Some of the stuff is on my external hard disc (which I know was silly). My legs and ankles are so bad at the moment a day on my back tomorrow makes more sense than a day in the Radiogandy photo-archives.
Quotation time.......
"As the poet said, 'Only God can make a tree' -- probably because it's so hard to figure out how to get the bark on."
Ha ha! Different link. Not Wikipedia for a change. Don't want a boring blog !
.... No temperature but the general ambience is about right. Sleep tight.... Catch you tomorrow.......<<<<<<<<<<<<<!>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Fishcakes - no hard and fast recipe I'm afraid, as a basic rule I use equal amounts of poached fish to mash(and NOT Aunt Bessie's) and I do the mash with hot milk and a generous bit of butter, seasoning, and do it with an electric beater to make sure it is very smooth. Add chopped parsely. For two people I add one chopped hard-boiled egg, for three I added two but thought it a bit too much so ate a bit....If it looks as if it is not going to stick together very well (I do like to keep the fish in quite big flakes/chunks) I might add a little milk, but you don't want it too soft/sloppy. Rolled in flat cakes and it is helpful to put them in fridge at least half an hour. Dipped in beaten egg crumbs and (bought) breadcrumbs, fried in a mixture of butter/veg. oil. I use some smoked fish as I think it gives more flavour.
ReplyDeleteHave never found a commercial sort of mashed potato that we like. But have not tried Aunt Bessie's! I don't even like M & S prepared mash, tastes floury to me. And their swede/carrot mixture is so bland/sloppy, it's had all the giblets knocked out of it. Mine always has a few recognisable bits in it.
Your chilli would be too hot for us....
Is your Wheel as big as the London Eye? I wasn't at all keen to go on London Eye, but was persuaded and actually enjoyed it.
Off to Tescos this morning, we don't buy a lot of food there, have had bad experiences with their fish and meat. We buy electrical stuff, toiletries, detergents, kitchenware, that sort
of thing.
Happy Valentine's Day, All!
Bungus says:
ReplyDeleteI cannot compare the photos as the first one hasn’t appeared.
The Casio one is fine to my relatively untutored non-analytical eye. I reckon the bird is a helicopter – probably the ambulance one waiting for the wheel (much smaller than the London one) to collapse.
I am not a chilli con carne fan (I am generally opposed to mince so seldom eat it). And at the moment it would be far too spicy for my modified taste. I accept the use of tinned kidney beans (and others)however.
I tried a recommnended Lidl black pudding but, with my maladjusted taste, found it too herby (excessive pennyroyal, I presume). It was, however, less forceful when cold than when hot. I had given half to Alan, He had enjoyed it (uncooked) so I gave him the remaining quarter.
Apart from the excessive herbiness, I thought it a very gud pud – loads of pearl barley (presumably preboiled for safety) and fat cut so finely as to be insignificant to the eye.
I prefer part of a big Yorkshire to the daft little ones (although they're better than nothing). But I suppose I could do two from one egg and freeze half. Do you part bake it before freezing?
Why is putting stuff on an external drive a mistake? I have not yet bothered acquiring one.
I enjoyed AnonRob’s comments (is he also today's AnonAnon?).
I am a great fan of Delia’s basic cookbook – the one book that everyone should have and they can manage without any others (although I wouldn’t wish to).
I cannot like Ramsay any more than Worrall T although I think he was a better footballer. (no one has mentioned the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster. I watched the documentaries and was very touched. And what a man is Harry Gregg). Jamie I too like for his approach to life and some of his cooking. But some of his recipes seem a waste of time to me. His tomato consomme seemed particularly unnecessary.
I am so put off by Lloyd G that I could not possibly bring myself to buy anything bearing his name. Bolognese sauce (mince again) doesn’t need to be too tomatoey; you adjust it. I prefer my Parmesan finely grated rather than shaved – I regard it as subtle condiment rather than an ingredient.
For me the only appropriate accompaniment for pancakes is orange juice (preferably with a hint of lemon) and demerara sugar. But Yorkshire pud is good with golden syrup (‘at home’ we used to have it for pudding after Sunday’s roast beef and Yorkshire).
I buy admit to buying fishcakes (usually salmon) from Tesco or Asda.
Today we are having a fish pie (not reconstituted mash) which will include smoked fish (and a few mussels).
All the fish we have had from Tesco has been fine, even though off the 'reduced' counter. Their large freeflow frozen prawns in shell, sold by the part kilo, are very good. I rarely buy meat from supermarkets although I did have a Tesco Finest Slow Roasted Belly Pork (reduced) recently which was very tasty.
I suspect it wasn’t so much the soup as the 3 bottles of beer I had snuck into the trolley (Marsden’s Pedigree, Thwaites’ Thoroughbred Gold and Ridley’s Old Bob)that cause the age check at the Bargain Shop.
The idea of a plasterer in designer gear is intriguing as it is probably the messiest trade of all. My fireman stepson does it on his days off (having taken a course) as well as window cleaning – or he did until knocked off his bike.
He worked for a short time, in his late teens, underground at Bevercotes Coliery where he was known as either 'Designer Miner' or 'Chanel' because he insisted upon wearing all the safety gear and clothing that was provided (miners were notorious for a cavalier approach to safety procedures as they stopped them turning coal). Simon was big enough and good natured anough to deal with it (and appreciate it).
Incidentally, the new fire service shift patterns mean that he does not see his toddler son at all for a week. Since his accident, though, he sees him all day everyday!
I have never encounterd ‘shrapnel’ or ‘oddy’. To me it has always been ‘change’ or ‘small change’ or, as RG says ‘loose change’. Once on a 1940’s bus coming home from a dance at Sutton, a companion, whose turn it was to pay, gave the conductors a pound note. The conductor started giving him his change in shillings. “Why don’t you do it in ha’pennies,” said Col. So he did!
In the Radio Nottingham Culture Quiz I scored 7 out of 10 which apparently just makes me a highbrow.
My body temperature for the last 2 days has been 35C rather than its usual 36C. Sandra rightly points that I am therefore, literally, ‘one degree under’.
(Is 'spitting feathers' the same as being 'down in the mouth'?)
Bungus
I assume today's AnonAnon is Jill because of the fishcake information. Thanks, Jill, I'll give them a go sometime and report back, even though it may be a while.
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a fan of fish and don't eat prawns or mussels unless disguised in a fish pie. I quite like crab and the Old Ship Hotel in Seahouses, Northumbria does wicked (ie excellent) crab sandwiches. I once had some wonderful pike when on holiday in France. Elaine loves mussels and scampi despite once getting food poisoning at a fish restaurant in Nottingham.
Has anyone been to the Mussel and Crab at Tuxford? We went some months ago; it was excellent but very, very busy.
Bungus, I can understand you being put off by LG's name on the jar. I first used it as I felt Ragu and Dolmio were not up to scratch. We are having a new PVC front door; they all seem to be named after former USA Presidents which I find very strange indeed. I refused to have the Reagan model even though Elaine liked it the best.
Gordon was a better footballer than AWT and was on the books of Glasgow Rangers before a knee injury ended his chances of the big time. Even then he could have played professionally at a lower level but chose not to. He's also a better chef than AWT in my 'umble opinion.
6th February 1958 was a very sad day for English football not just manyoo. I heard a story that Bryan Robson once asked Ron Atkinson how good Duncan Edwards really was. "About 10 times better than you" Big Ron replied. I cried during the minute's silence before Sunday's debacle but all credit to the City fans for observing it.
I've heard 'shrapnel' used a lot around Nottingham for loose change. Intriguing that no one else has. Maybe Reg can come to the rescue.
And, finally, :
PAUL THE PLASTERER
The man is a plasterer and top of his craft
I believe he deserves a PhD, Professor Fletcher intoned
His knowledge is sound, his skills are honed
He’s done a great job on both walls and chimney shaft
The man is a man, not perfect, that’s true
Yet, for all that, reliable and honest as days are long
He fully admits there are many things he’s done wrong
He’ll tell you his stories when you make him a brew
Hearing him tell them, story upon story does follow
Live for today, no worries for the morrow
A rascal, a rogue, a scamp, how we laughed
Then seriousness sets in, the tone does descend
Despite all the merriment, it’s not all happiness at the end
But Paul is a plasterer and top of his craft
With sincere and abject apologies to Gerard Manley Hopkins and poetry lovers everywhere.
Rob
Just testing this new 'comments' system before uttering on blog.
ReplyDeleteA bit of nifty googling led me to www.peevish.co.uk where there is a dictionary of slang. This includes:
ReplyDeleteodds Noun. Loose change. Probably short for odds and sods. [Merseyside use]
Presumably this is where oddy comes from.
Rob
I/We don't think shrapnel is a local expession for small change. I'm sure its not Hucknall or Mansfield/Sutton I went to school there. Senior managment tells me its not a Newstead or Ilson (Ilkeston) expression.If I had been asked before reading Robs Merseyside suggestion, I would have suggested Cockney don't know why it just comes to mind having spent a year of National Service in London (Northolt) Reg
ReplyDeleteBungus adds:
ReplyDeleteTrue story from daughter-out-law, Emma who works with children;
Support worker: There's this new girl coming today. Don't ask her if she's artistic.
Emma: Why?
Support Worker: She's got Asperger's.
I've been to the Mussel & Crab a few times. Had one very disappointing meal but otherwise good but very pricey.
Sandra went there with three friends a few months ago but, having ordered their meals, they walked out having been stopped from smoking on the outdoor patio and referred to the car park. Only 2 of them smoke but the non-smokers were the more offended. So it is crossed off the list now.
Pete Mellors, the butcher at Milton, sells good stuff (they have their own farm). I tried one of his individual meat & potato pies this lunchtime (with mushy peas). The best I've had since my mother's (but at £3.50 a bit pricey).
What a pity there is so little footage of the Busby Babes, esp Big Duncan (the thighs on him!).
I too was wet eyed. And yes, the Mancunians present (and the Man U supporters) behaved admirably.
I entered my name (witout URL) and Lo!, it worked.
ReplyDeleteWhere were you at school AnonReg? I went to QEGS (where they have just chopped down the 100 year old limes lining the drive - see Radio Nottm website) from 1940 to 47, but my closest friends went to Brunts (where my maternal grandfather was one of the first pupils but sent his son to QEGS).
ReplyDeleteThis is also from the dictionary of slang on peevish:
ReplyDeleteshrapnel Noun. Money in the form of loose change.
It seems it's a widely known expression except in the areas this blog visits. Or maybe in our London-centric society it is cockney, as Reg suggests.
Can you tell I am totally absorbed in my work today?
Would Bobby Moore have got in England's team if Duncan had lived and continued to play? My suspicion is Ramsey might have put Duncan in midfield - he probably wouldn't have needed anyone else there.
Rob
I think Boobby Moore would have played. By 1966 Duncan might have become a 'centre half' and preferred to Big Jack. But would Nobby Stiles even have got in ManU's team, never mind England's. All conjectue of course.
ReplyDelete