I remember picking winkles from their shells with a pin, and then popping them straight into my mouth. Normally a holiday treat, and done while walking along the prom at various seaside resorts.
And whelks, too.
Do people still do that?
I don't like winkles and whelks enough to do that. We used to collect them and other shellfish and make a sort of one pot mix of shellfish and rice on a camping stove on the beach. Limpets are like rubber, not worth the effort.
Rather late in the day, but I'm glad the trek into London for the medical appointment was worthwhile for the kitten @Curiosity killed .
I spent quite a few summer holidays with my grandparents in their caravan in Whitstable. Collecting winkles seemed to be a regular activity, not that I remember actually eating any.
La Vie, can I please ask a favour? Mr S has a new pair of boots, which he refers to as his beetle crushers, and I would dearly love to know the literal translation (not what a French person might call a pair of boots with heavy soles, but literally!)
It's a sort of family joke thing and my French has sadly faded away since my A-level
I would go for écrase-scarabées.
@Doublethink's translation is not wrong as such, but coléoptère is less common than scarabée. Concasser is mostly a culinary term (think pineapple or tomato) rather than all-purpose squashing (écraser).
Sorry, just had another thought: I reckon you need to go on a mission to translate this expression into as many languages as possible.
A university friend of mine did this with the phrase "Luke, I am your father". They pasted up some big pieces of paper in their toilet and left a couple of marker pens, and people would scrawl it up in all the languages they knew. I think she got up to about forty in the end .
Sorry, just had another thought: I reckon you need to go on a mission to translate this expression into as many languages as possible.
A university friend of mine did this with the phrase "Luke, I am your father". They pasted up some big pieces of paper in their toilet and left a couple of marker pens, and people would scrawl it up in all the languages they knew. I think she got up to about forty in the end .
"My hovercraft is full of eels" is the standard for this, I understand. Or should be.
We used to have a game in The Circus, using Google Translate to mangle hymns. It died: either because we ran out of hymns or because Google became less mangling.
Sorry, just had another thought: I reckon you need to go on a mission to translate this expression into as many languages as possible.
A university friend of mine did this with the phrase "Luke, I am your father". They pasted up some big pieces of paper in their toilet and left a couple of marker pens, and people would scrawl it up in all the languages they knew. I think she got up to about forty in the end .
"My hovercraft is full of eels" is the standard for this, I understand. Or should be.
*My postillion has been struck by lightning* also springs to mind...
I have been pinged by the Tous Contre Covid *app today telling me that "round about" 7th July I was in contact with someone who tested positive. As I have only been in longer than a minute contact with one person that week, I think I know who it was (I wasn't told, "to preserve their anonymity")
Anyway, the upshot was I had a test - results not received yet, although as I've been double vaxxed I'm not too pessimistic. My friend the retired doctor who has been helping out with vaccinations says I will still need to self isolate even if I'm negative; my friend the district nurse who administered the test says I won't have to. I'm going with the doctor; it seems prudent.
I'm out this evening for my book group and the hostess is feeding us which is lovely. I'm leaving Mr Nen something microwaveable. It's a beautiful evening and as I'm not driving I'm hoping there might be Pimms On The Patio or something equally delightful.
... *My postillion has been struck by lightning* also springs to mind...
That was what sprang to my mind too.
It's St. Swithin's Day today, and I'm happy to report that there's been wall-to-wall sunshine in Embra without even the merest sniff of rain. It remains to be seen whether the old saying will come true ...
Grey here, but no actual rain and quite a bit of sunshine, so I'm hoping that St Swithun will not be upset. Although, as a message today told me, it only really applies to Winchester, as he was quite happy lying in the grounds when a later bishop decided he had to be buried in the cathedral, and that's what caused the rain.
We got out and removed a geocache from where it has been encouraging some geocachers to take a non-existent path and break a hole in the hedge. It was on a perfectly good footpath and I had hoped the drivers would spend time looking at the pretty church and arrive through the gate from the churchyard, as quite a few of them did. Sadly, as I've found, a significant proportion of the car drivers have not spent no time in the churchyard and have decided that as the footpath runs parallel to the carpark they cannot possibly walk back up the track to the churchyard, just the edge, not up as far as the church, to find the entrance to the footpath and have taken the shortest but illegal route.
I'm about to replace the cache in such a way that they are damn well walking all around that church yard finding information to be able to discover where it is going to be hidden this time. And upping the difficulty rating significantly. Sadly, because there's another cache quite close, I had to place this cache 150m away from the church. Now the idiots have stopped me using the first footpath leading from the church, the next is significantly more overgrown and challenging.
Sorry, just had another thought: I reckon you need to go on a mission to translate this expression into as many languages as possible.
A university friend of mine did this with the phrase "Luke, I am your father". They pasted up some big pieces of paper in their toilet and left a couple of marker pens, and people would scrawl it up in all the languages they knew. I think she got up to about forty in the end .
"My hovercraft is full of eels" is the standard for this, I understand. Or should be.
*My postillion has been struck by lightning* also springs to mind...
When Master S was in Poland for a semester, he did this with 'L'elephant boit son lait'. This phrase originated with my brother, who spent a year living in France as a teaching assistant for his degree, and lived with a lovely family who'd been our other brother's exchange partner's family, IYSWIM. My brother for some unknown reason took to pretending his arm was the elephant's trunk and extending it over his glass of milk, intoning 'L'elephant boit son lait' the while. Perhaps it reminded him of the useless phrases he'd been taught at school, in the vein of 'My aunt's camel has fallen in the mirage'.
Anyway, Master S took advantage of the international nature of his course to collect translations thereof...
Thank you, La Vie and others for reminding me of this
Sorry, just had another thought: I reckon you need to go on a mission to translate this expression into as many languages as possible.
A university friend of mine did this with the phrase "Luke, I am your father". They pasted up some big pieces of paper in their toilet and left a couple of marker pens, and people would scrawl it up in all the languages they knew. I think she got up to about forty in the end .
"My hovercraft is full of eels" is the standard for this, I understand. Or should be.
*My postillion has been struck by lightning* also springs to mind...
To which the reply is "Please thank the postillion for saving my life."
Another semi-miserable day in Continental WesShire.
But wait! I can see some blue-coloured patches in the heavenly realms! Hurray! And might we even perceive that big round and yellow sky thing again, which (so they say) brings warmth and joy and happiness?
Parts of Continental WesShire land are being quite affected by flooding at the moment, but no one seriously injured so far. I guess we have been lucky. (I myself don't live in a area of immediate threat.) We'll see if the flood protection measures, which they've upped in the past few years, are suffcient. So 'only' material damage for now.
The scenes in Germany and Belgium look terrible, such a tragedy.
Gloriously sunny here, with temperatures expected to reach 24 degrees. I've been to Waitrose and am now doing so work on my research study. I must go and water the garden at some point.
Another semi-miserable day in Continental WesShire.
But wait! I can see some blue-coloured patches in the heavenly realms! Hurray! And might we even perceive that big round and yellow sky thing again, which (so they say) brings warmth and joy and happiness?
Parts of Continental WesShire land are being quite affected by flooding at the moment, but no one seriously injured so far. I guess we have been lucky. (I myself don't live in a area of immediate threat.) We'll see if the flood protection measures, which they've upped in the past few years, are suffcient. So 'only' material damage for now.
Hm... <eyes skies skeptically>
Unfortunately it's clear blue sky here and already too warm. I fear it's going to reach the upper 20s this afternoon. I don't do upper 20s.
Unfortunately it's clear blue sky here and already too warm. I fear it's going to reach the upper 20s this afternoon. I don't do upper 20s.
I wouldn't quite label it "unfortunate" but Mr Nen and I attempted morning coffee on the patio and it was Far Too Hot (the sun, that is, not the coffee) - for me, at least. Mr Nen thrives in the heat. I was going to take a walk before a Zoom meeting this afternoon but I'm rethinking that idea.
@Wesley J - I was thinking of you and Continental Wes-shire when I read about the floods - glad to hear you're OK, if rather damp.
More un-Karl-friendly (and un-piglet-friendly) weather in Embra - currently 22° but to go up to 24° later.
I think the air-con in the office must have finally kicked in, as I'm actually quite cool and haven't opened any windows. I expect it'll hit me like a ton of bricks whenever I leave at around four o'clock.
It'll be quite a wet brick @Piglet. It is more than somewhat humid.
Currently prepping food for this evening, when we are having friends for wine'n'nibbles in the garden. Saussies are roasting, focaccia is proving, presently I will need to stand over a frying pan and make frittata.
Well done with all the Cook Ing (Firenze) and Paint Ing (BF). I should think that by now, the temperature would be perfect for drinks and nibbles in the garden or on the foredeck. It wasn't quite as scorchio as I was expecting when I left work - there was just enough breeze to make it bearable - but it's jolly warm in the flat, even with the windows open.
My nephew, niece-in-law and the Adorable Archie have now moved into their new house*, so I'm toasting their health to enjoy it with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.
* What is it with house-moving and extreme weather? We moved into our Belfast house on a very hot July day, moved out of it on a very hot August day (eight years later) and (several more years later) into our Fredericton one with a foot of snow on the ground ...
Well that went swimmingly. We got through a bottle of Urziger Wurzgarten, Vinho Verde and Burgundian Pinot Noir. The focaccia turned out particularly well.
Well that went swimmingly. We got through a bottle of Urziger Wurzgarten, Vinho Verde and Burgundian Pinot Noir. The focaccia turned out particularly well.
I suspect you wouldn't actually have noticed if it hadn't...
We celebrated my eldest’s last day here, before moving into his house share, with a Middle Eastern feast and the pink champagne I received for my birthday. We sat on the patio to eat in the glorious sun.
BUGGER. What passes for a government in the UK has just reimposed quarantine on arrivals from France. I haven't seen my parents since Christmas 2019 and I don't know if they'll be coming any more. I want to cry. Also my Grandad is 98, no longer in a position to leave his village, and I honestly wonder if I'll see him alive again.
Comments
And whelks, too.
Do people still do that?
My father was buried in his old winklepickers
Busy day today, I'm in a training day from 10-3 and then a meeting at 4pm.
I spent quite a few summer holidays with my grandparents in their caravan in Whitstable. Collecting winkles seemed to be a regular activity, not that I remember actually eating any.
I would go for écrase-scarabées.
@Doublethink's translation is not wrong as such, but coléoptère is less common than scarabée. Concasser is mostly a culinary term (think pineapple or tomato) rather than all-purpose squashing (écraser).
Here endeth the French lesson
A university friend of mine did this with the phrase "Luke, I am your father". They pasted up some big pieces of paper in their toilet and left a couple of marker pens, and people would scrawl it up in all the languages they knew. I think she got up to about forty in the end
"My hovercraft is full of eels" is the standard for this, I understand. Or should be.
*My postillion has been struck by lightning* also springs to mind...
Anyway, the upshot was I had a test - results not received yet, although as I've been double vaxxed I'm not too pessimistic. My friend the retired doctor who has been helping out with vaccinations says I will still need to self isolate even if I'm negative; my friend the district nurse who administered the test says I won't have to. I'm going with the doctor; it seems prudent.
*Everyone Against Covid
I'm so 1960s. You should see my record collection.
It's St. Swithin's Day today, and I'm happy to report that there's been wall-to-wall sunshine in Embra without even the merest sniff of rain. It remains to be seen whether the old saying will come true ...
It was 25° when I was coming home - that's hot. 🌞
We got out and removed a geocache from where it has been encouraging some geocachers to take a non-existent path and break a hole in the hedge. It was on a perfectly good footpath and I had hoped the drivers would spend time looking at the pretty church and arrive through the gate from the churchyard, as quite a few of them did. Sadly, as I've found, a significant proportion of the car drivers have not spent no time in the churchyard and have decided that as the footpath runs parallel to the carpark they cannot possibly walk back up the track to the churchyard, just the edge, not up as far as the church, to find the entrance to the footpath and have taken the shortest but illegal route.
I'm about to replace the cache in such a way that they are damn well walking all around that church yard finding information to be able to discover where it is going to be hidden this time. And upping the difficulty rating significantly. Sadly, because there's another cache quite close, I had to place this cache 150m away from the church. Now the idiots have stopped me using the first footpath leading from the church, the next is significantly more overgrown and challenging.
When Master S was in Poland for a semester, he did this with 'L'elephant boit son lait'. This phrase originated with my brother, who spent a year living in France as a teaching assistant for his degree, and lived with a lovely family who'd been our other brother's exchange partner's family, IYSWIM. My brother for some unknown reason took to pretending his arm was the elephant's trunk and extending it over his glass of milk, intoning 'L'elephant boit son lait' the while. Perhaps it reminded him of the useless phrases he'd been taught at school, in the vein of 'My aunt's camel has fallen in the mirage'.
Anyway, Master S took advantage of the international nature of his course to collect translations thereof...
Thank you, La Vie and others for reminding me of this
To which the reply is "Please thank the postillion for saving my life."
But wait! I can see some blue-coloured patches in the heavenly realms! Hurray! And might we even perceive that big round and yellow sky thing again, which (so they say) brings warmth and joy and happiness?
Parts of Continental WesShire land are being quite affected by flooding at the moment, but no one seriously injured so far. I guess we have been lucky. (I myself don't live in a area of immediate threat.) We'll see if the flood protection measures, which they've upped in the past few years, are suffcient. So 'only' material damage for now.
Hm... <eyes skies skeptically>
Another fine summer's day here - albeit a degree or two cooler than yesterday. Still hot though.
Now, try saying that fast after having had a couple of glasses of the local Ahrtal (or any other) wine! A rather pleasant tongue-twister, as it is!
NB. It's pouring down again...
Gloriously sunny here, with temperatures expected to reach 24 degrees. I've been to Waitrose and am now doing so work on my research study. I must go and water the garden at some point.
Unfortunately it's clear blue sky here and already too warm. I fear it's going to reach the upper 20s this afternoon. I don't do upper 20s.
Today we are popping over to Wales for a walk near Tintern Abbey and a look round Kingston brewery. No doubt some ALE will be purchased.
More un-Karl-friendly (and un-piglet-friendly) weather in Embra - currently 22° but to go up to 24° later.
I think the air-con in the office must have finally kicked in, as I'm actually quite cool and haven't opened any windows. I expect it'll hit me like a ton of bricks whenever I leave at around four o'clock.
Currently prepping food for this evening, when we are having friends for wine'n'nibbles in the garden. Saussies are roasting, focaccia is proving, presently I will need to stand over a frying pan and make frittata.
Still, there's a nice breeze today, Paint for the swift Dry Ing of.
😅
All cooking done. Rewarding myself with a banana and raspberry smoothie aka lunch.
CHIPS? Yes, please - I have Fish Cakes to go with them...
My nephew, niece-in-law and the Adorable Archie have now moved into their new house*, so I'm toasting their health to enjoy it with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.
* What is it with house-moving and extreme weather? We moved into our Belfast house on a very hot July day, moved out of it on a very hot August day (eight years later) and (several more years later) into our Fredericton one with a foot of snow on the ground ...
I suspect you wouldn't actually have noticed if it hadn't...
I'm off for a good wallow.