The Untied Kingdom? - the British thread 2021

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  • The very thought of going to a dentist fills me with Dread, great big Cowardy-Cowardy-Custard that I am when it comes to someone poking around my teeth...
    :grimace:
    ION, the Nice Man phoned earlier to say that the Special Paint had been delivered, so I hied me to his Emporium to collect and pay for it, along with a tin of Cheerful Blue which he mixed up for me.

    The Blue has been applied, and although it seems to be a shade or two lighter than it appeared on the chart, it looks really good, though I say it as shouldn't.

    The rest of the Red Oxide will be applied as soon as I've finished drinking lunch.

    Unlike my Mechanical Man, the Paint Man's charges are quite high (although, of course, they're not set by him personally), and I came away from his Emporium just south of £200 lighter in debit card. Before anyone swoons, the two 5 litre cans of Red Oxide were £60 each - reduced by the Paint Man from £70 each, without my asking him! - and the tin of Cheerful Blue was nearly £30. Add to all that a few necessaries such as rollers, roller handles, white spirit, and VAT...

    It's been 3 or 4 years since I last bought this sort of heavy-duty exterior metal Paint, but my impression was that it hadn't greatly increased in price - fortunately! It lasts for years, so hopefully will not need renewing for some time.
  • Hardly any wonder that you need to drink lunch after a shock like that!

    I decided to have a day off today, well from paid work anyway. I went to the shops with my trolley and did quite a big shop (hopefully a barbecue on Friday evening), then did some clearing out of old CDs and DVDs from the lounge in preparation for a spring clean and furniture re-arrange.

    I think husband is out tonight at a work do. Elijah and I will have barbecue pulled pork with new potatoes in mustard dressing, and pomegranate salad. Profiteroles for pudding.
  • Actually, it wasn't that great a shock, even though it's some considerable time since I last bought such Paint. I don't manage figures very well in my head, but I do usually have a fairly good idea of what something should (or might) cost.

    It's a case of getting what you pay for - cheapo (ish) Stuff from D-I-Y outlets simply Will Not Do in the harsh environment in which the Ark exists...whereas the Special Paint will last for several years.

    I hope.

    Tea is Cottage Pie, with a mixed leaf salad.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    edited June 9
    A dulling, sticky day. I unwisely took on Mr F's study - less cleaning, more archeological dig (assuming any ancient culture went in for hoarding every sodding bit of correspondence/ book/CD/magazine/LP/ conference bag/computer peripherals/felt tip pen/data stick/business card/parking permit (2016)/ornament/desk toy/notepad/foreign coin/carrier bag/paperweight/video game/board game/STUFF then layering it on all available furniture). It is, apparently, all essential work-related material.

    Low effort dinner tonight: swordfish with mango salsa, followed by fresh strawberries.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    Sunny and pleasant here.

    I’ve seen the neurosurgeon today and I do need surgery, it’s called Anterior Cervical Fusion Surgery. He went through the MRI in great detail and showed me that I have two bulging discs, one pressing on each nerve which travels to the arms, plus bone spurs that are pinching the same nerves, which is why both arms and hands are affected.

    But it’s not urgent so he’s put me on his NHS waiting list. The wait is 6 to 12 months and he’ll see me in three months to check how I’m doing. It will be uncomfortable during the wait but it he says it shouldn’t get any worse.

    I feel relieved to know exactly what’s wrong and what needs doing.

    He showed me the stuff he will be putting on my spine (like scaffolding!) I feel like I’ve had a visit to the SuperVet!
  • Good to hear that you have a diagnosis and treatment, Boogie.

    Swordfish with mango salsa sounds great! I’m not having pulled pork after all, as I discovered what I thought was barbecue pork was a gammon joint too big for the two of us. So we are having kedgeree instead.
  • St EverildSt Everild Shipmate
    The porcine shopping trolley sounds wonderful, Piglet! I have one called a Clax trolley. It came from Germany, and you push it in front of you like a pushchair, rather than dragging it behind you. It folds flat.

  • St Everild wrote: »
    The porcine shopping trolley sounds wonderful, Piglet! I have one called a Clax trolley. It came from Germany, and you push it in front of you like a pushchair, rather than dragging it behind you. It folds flat.

    Ha! Attach sharp blades to the wheels, and you have an Engine for the efficient removal of Covidiots from your progress along the pavement...
    :naughty:
  • SarasaSarasa Shipmate
    So glad there is a plan @boogie, and I hope the wait is shorter, rather than longer.
    I went to Mass for the first time since August today (bad, bad Catholic that I am). I thought poking my head round the door of my new parish on a weekday rather than a Sunday was sensible during these times. Apparently you have to book to go in person for Sunday Masses, but there is live streaming. When I have broadband I'll do that and decide which one suits me, but so far I think this church is going to be a better fit for me than the very traditional (no female altar servers) one I used to go in London.
    In other news my husband has spent all day painting the spare room. It was the only room in the house that hasn't been decorated recently and the colour wasn't to our taste. We've gone for a minty green, and it now looks a lot brighter. He complained about the cost of paint, but it was nowhere near the amount @Bishops Finger has just shelled out!
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    Good to hear you have a way forward @Boogie .

    I had a walk with a friend this morning and Mr Nen and I sat in the garden for lunch and for our evening meal. It looked rather as if it might pour with rain this evening, but it didn't. We were prepared to pick up our plates and run for cover.
  • We're forecast to have fine dry weather for at least the next few days, so I might make a stupendous (or stupid) effort, and persuade my feak and weeble frame to paint at least a bit more of the Ark.

    Otherwise, I might just have to sit about and drink BEER, which is not conducive to good elf.
  • ArethosemyfeetArethosemyfeet Shipmate
    edited June 10
    We're forecast to have fine dry weather for at least the next few days, so I might make a stupendous (or stupid) effort, and persuade my feak and weeble frame to paint at least a bit more of the Ark.

    Otherwise, I might just have to sit about and drink BEER, which is not conducive to good elf.

    Indeed not. Elves are mean drunks. That's the real reason they don't get on with dwarves.
  • Hehe. I'm not sure Professor Tolkien would agree with you...
    :grimace:
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    Hehe. I'm not sure Professor Tolkien would agree with you...
    :grimace:

    Exactly my thought!

    I’ve got a wee five month old puppy visiting this afternoon, I’m looking after him for a week in July so I’m looking forward to meeting him. He’s called Milo. 😇

  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    Proper summer weather here. This morning we went to the market to procure the elements of Ottolenghi's charred tomato and chilli potato salad for tonight's dinner. I like Ottolenghi's recipes, but they often involve a lot of ingredients that aren't easy to get hold of. This one was fairly simple. I have also made my very first JAM - rhubarb and strawberry. Available for tasting once it cools down.

    This afternoon Captain Pyjamas is off to the nursery's party. There are going to be farm animals. It also means I get an afternoon of peace and quiet. My flip flops have disintegrated, so I think I shall go on an expotition to find a new pair.
  • Did you hear of the person with two left feet, who went into a shoe-shop, and bought a pair of flip-flips?

    I'll get me own coat...
    Boogie wrote: »

    I’ve got a wee five month old puppy visiting this afternoon, I’m looking after him for a week in July so I’m looking forward to meeting him. He’s called Milo. 😇

    How delightful! Enjoy!
    :grin:

  • SandemaniacSandemaniac Shipmate
    Did you hear of the person with two left feet, who went into a shoe-shop, and bought a pair of flip-flips?

    What do you call a Frenchman wearing sandals?

    Phillipe Phillop!

    Oh, hello, BF, are you getting your coat too?

  • Did you hear of the person with two left feet, who went into a shoe-shop, and bought a pair of flip-flips?

    What do you call a Frenchman wearing sandals?

    Phillipe Phillop!

    Oh, hello, BF, are you getting your coat too?

    Yes - after you through the door, I'll close it behind us...
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    St Everild wrote: »
    The porcine shopping trolley sounds wonderful, Piglet! I have one called a Clax trolley. It came from Germany, and you push it in front of you like a pushchair, rather than dragging it behind you. It folds flat.

    Ha! Attach sharp blades to the wheels, and you have an Engine for the efficient removal of Covidiots from your progress along the pavement...
    :naughty:
    You mean like Boudicca? :mrgreen:

    Mine isn't nearly as exotic as yours, St E - it came from Argos. It appears to do the job though.

    At the moment, I'm on a delayed train - it should have left at 5:08, and it's now 5:35, and I should already be home. :angry:

    Just as well I hadn't planned anything more elaborate than beans on TOAST for supper.
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    I had beans on toast as well. Food of the gods - mainly because of the minimal cooking required. Mr Nen and I have been out for the day to see a friend; we went out for lunch and I was fairly forceful about having something substantial so that I wouldn't have to cook this evening.

    Hope you're home now @Piglet and enjoying a glass of something refreshing, preferably alcoholic.
  • Wesley JWesley J Shipmate
    Sorry about your travelling woes, Piglet! :(

    In other, and very exciting news, the first swifts have arrived! Just a short stint, but we might see more of them as the summer goes on. Delight! :)
  • Piglet wrote: »
    Piglet wrote: »
    ...
    One of the things I absolutely don't miss about Canada is the summer temperatures ...

    According to a friend in Fredericton, it was 34° there yesterday ... <eek>

    Whoever is in charge of Canadian weather is doing a confoundedly poor job of it. It was quite reasonable here today at last - mid 20s - and we were outside entertaining friends. While we were out there my friend in Newfoundland (on Trinity Bay) called to say he'd just been shovelling snow.
  • Piglet wrote: »
    Piglet wrote: »
    ...
    One of the things I absolutely don't miss about Canada is the summer temperatures ...

    According to a friend in Fredericton, it was 34° there yesterday ... <eek>

    Whoever is in charge of Canadian weather is doing a confoundedly poor job of it. It was quite reasonable here today at last - mid 20s - and we were outside entertaining friends. While we were out there my friend in Newfoundland (on Trinity Bay) called to say he'd just been shovelling snow.

    I believe the relevant phrase is "go home summer, you're drunk" which I have been known to shout out the window when a sunny day suddenly turns into a vicious hail storm.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    Wesley J wrote: »
    Sorry about your travelling woes, Piglet! :(

    In other, and very exciting news, the first swifts have arrived! Just a short stint, but we might see more of them as the summer goes on. Delight! :)

    Marvellous!

    My brother has swallows nesting in his shed, I’m not sure if they’ve arrived yet as he is currently sailing somewhere off the Scottish coast.

    Now I love rats, I really do. I used to keep them as pets and I like watching them as much as I do the birds. But they breed and breed and they were overtaking the garden. So we’ve had to have the rat man round. All the bait has gone, so rest in peace my little friends. 😢 🐀
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    Things are opening up, and tonight we are going to a restaurant. It's been so long I feel like I've forgotten how restaurants work. :dizzy:

    In honour of the occasion, I am going to do something else I haven't done for ages and put on a Nice Dress. I might even wear a pair of heels depending on what means of locomotion we are using to get there.
  • Have a lovely time lver.

    I've done some pottering in the garden and a little work. This afternoon I get my second covid jab and then we might have a barbecue later.
  • Things are opening up, and tonight we are going to a restaurant. It's been so long I feel like I've forgotten how restaurants work. :dizzy:

    In honour of the occasion, I am going to do something else I haven't done for ages and put on a Nice Dress. I might even wear a pair of heels depending on what means of locomotion we are using to get there.

    What indeed is this *rest-au-rant* thing of which you speak?
    :flushed:

    It sounds exciting - have a good time!
    :wink:

    I shall dine frugally on Sardines on TOAST shortly, having spent a couple of hours doing some more Painting Of The Ark.

    I have only one complaint to make regarding the Special Paint - it is NOT self-applying. There is an opportunity here, I feel, for an Inventor...
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    I have a vision of Wallace and Gromit and a can of paint with a spray head moving to and fro in a not entirely well directed manner.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited June 11
    Penny S wrote: »
    I have a vision of Wallace and Gromit and a can of paint with a spray head moving to and fro in a not entirely well directed manner.

    Ha! Yes, I thought of Wallace, but he isn't always known for the success of his inventions...

    One which might have been useful during lockdown was the Shopper 13, designed to enable CHEESE to be obtained without leaving the house:

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=kB1dXzHcuQg

  • What indeed is this *rest-au-rant* thing of which you speak?
    We haven't just visited one (actually two) of them, but even had a night in an * hotel *.

  • :flushed:

    O brave new world, that has such places in 't!
  • Except it might not. We went into London yesterday, on the Tube and all, in the vain attempt to get my daughter vaccinated for the first time, and knowing where we were going, I had a map in my head of various places where it was possible to find GF & DF food safely for my daughter for lunch. Except none of them were there, lots of change of business or closed down cafés and or food bars. There were lots of branches of Pret a Manger but who trusts them with allergies? Not a lot else. Which did not add to the joy of the expotition. Note to Pret - if you do intend to make gluten free options, putting shellfish in the only labelled option is not helpful, nor is adding soy sauce to most of your other rice or potato options. (I use tamari at home instead of soy sauce, as soy sauce pretty much always contains gluten)

    Mask compliance on the Tube on the way in, in what would normally be rush hour, was fairly busy but not rush hour packed, with pretty much universal mask compliance. Coming home off peak, not so much.

    Have fun out at a restaurant la vie en rouge.
  • NenyaNenya Shipmate
    Coming up for air in between Zoom meetings - had one this afternoon and two this evening. The first of those two is our online wine tasting, so always rather fun although I'll have to dip in and out to time our meal to accommodate the next meeting (half an hour space between one ending and the next beginning).

    It's been more overcast today, with a brisk breeze, so a lot more comfortable when trying to Do Things while still being a good drying day. :smile:

    Curry for tea.
  • Penny SPenny S Shipmate
    Interesting discovery in my kitchen cupboard. Some time ago a dark brown sticky fluid had appeared, dripping down from the top shelf where I keep desserty things. It appeared to be associated with a bottle of maple syrup. I cleared it up and put the bottle inside a plastic bag. Today I was up there looking for an egg custard mix and found the glutinous mess was deeper in than I had thought, soaked stickily into the boxes and glued to tins and jars. It turned out to have originated in a tin of grapefruit slices in juice. Judging from the feel of the tin, there is now nothing in it, so where the fruit has gone is anyone's guess. The metal had been eaten through in one place. There is a tin of chocolate pudding which it appears to be eating as well, which I will need to check. Totally the wrong weather to eat the contents, if sound.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    The Grapefruit That Ate The Kitchen sounds like a promising SF/horror story.

    My weakness is for exotic sauces and spice mixes which don't really integrate that well into everyday menus. However, the Kung Po sachet will have its patch of glory this evening.
  • @Penny S - it sounds as though your Cupboard of Eldritch Horrors really could do with clearing out!

    Do not, though, be tempted (whatever the weather) to eat The Chocolate Pudding Possibly From Hell...
    :scream:

    One of my galley cupboards also exhibited signs of a Brown Sticky Mess a year or two back, and investigation traced it to a couple of tins of fruit (possibly strawberries, many aeons ago), whose use-by date was some considerable time previously...
    :flushed:
  • Wesley JWesley J Shipmate
    Penny S wrote: »
    I have a vision of Wallace and Gromit and a can of paint with a spray head moving to and fro in a not entirely well directed manner.

    Ha! Yes, I thought of Wallace, but he isn't always known for the success of his inventions...

    One which might have been useful during lockdown was the Shopper 13, designed to enable CHEESE to be obtained without leaving the house:

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=kB1dXzHcuQg

    I'd like self-cleansing cutlery and crockery and pots and pans, please!

    My parents occasionally used to quip 'Mary has her day off' when we were having to start the washing up - Mary being a fictional maid. It always made me laugh. :D
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited June 11
    *sings*

    Mary had a little bear,
    Whose like was hard to find.
    And everywhere that Mary went,
    You'd see her bear accompanying her a few paces in the rear.
  • shamwarishamwari Shipmate Posts: 48
    Boogie wrote: »
    Wesley J wrote: »
    Ah, them wee little Dinky Toys, I remember them well! (Not so much kale.) Oh, the fun we had with the little metal cars with their rubber tyres on really turning wheels, and the better ones even came with opening doors! Childhood bliss. Nothing of that plastic rubbish of later. :)

    NB. And the tragedy of losing one of the tyres, and the joy of refinding it, and remounting it on its wheel. But some were lost, and were not found!

    I’ve still got two of my toy cars!
    Boogie wrote: »
    Wesley J wrote: »
    Sorry about your travelling woes, Piglet! :(

    In other, and very exciting news, the first swifts have arrived! Just a short stint, but we might see more of them as the summer goes on. Delight! :)

    Marvellous!

    My brother has swallows nesting in his shed, I’m not sure if they’ve arrived yet as he is currently sailing somewhere off the Scottish coast.

    Now I love rats, I really do. I used to keep them as pets and I like watching them as much as I do the birds. But they breed and breed and they were overtaking the garden. So we’ve had to have the rat man round. All the bait has gone, so rest in peace my little friends. 😢 🐀

    Thou shalt not kill but needst not strive
    officially to keep alive.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited June 11
    Mrs BF and I, years ago, had a pair of Fancy Rats as pets - we named them (rather unimaginatively) Wallace and Gromit.

    Rather appealing little animals, I thought, but, O so short-lived, despite all the care they were given.

    There are wild Rats around here - well, it's a boatyard - but they're kept in their place by the local Cats. We did have a bit of a plague of Rats a few years ago, but one of my neighbours soon put paid to that with his Gun.

    (He usually used the Gun on Rabbits. Mmm...casseroled in a white wine sauce, with herbs, carrots, celery, and mushrooms...).
  • *sings*

    Mary had a little bear,
    Whose like was hard to find.
    And everywhere that Mary went,
    You'd see her bear accompanying her a few paces in the rear.

    McGonagall?
  • BroJamesBroJames Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host
    *sings*

    Mary had a little bear,
    Whose like was hard to find.
    And everywhere that Mary went,
    You'd see her bear accompanying her a few paces in the rear.

    McGonagall?
    Bowdler, I think!
  • *sings*

    Mary had a little bear,
    Whose like was hard to find.
    And everywhere that Mary went,
    You'd see her bear accompanying her a few paces in the rear.

    McGonagall?

    No, though I'm duly flattered - the adaptation of the last line is my own work, on account of this being a Christian Website.

    Delete accompanying her a few paces in the rear, substitute the word *behind*, and read it out loud - but not in front of the children.
    :innocent:
  • HeavenlyannieHeavenlyannie Shipmate
    edited June 11
    My father’s version was:
    Mary had a little lamb
    She also had a bear
    You always saw her little lamb
    But you never saw her bear.

    Btw, maids were traditionally called Mary so the mistress of the house didn’t have to learn their names - it also reinforced subservience. At Kentwell the manor’s maids are all called Mary but when I discuss my maid I call her the true name from the census (I’m a surgeon’s wife so have a different relationship with maids)

    Jab number 2 has been had this afternoon. We then ate a humongous amount of barbecued meat with homemade potato salad with mustard, and pomegranate salad, followed by roasted apricots and nectarines. This was accompanied by rhubarb gin with raspberries.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    The Kung Po chicken was very successful - but largely because I enhanced the sauce sachet with authentic marinade and a handful of dried chillies.

    I turned on the TV intending to watch Mr Don potting begonias or some such, just to catch the 3rd set of Djokovic vs Nadal. I'd seen the earlier semi final with young bloods Tsitsipas vs Zverev, but this is the (now) old stagers and there's a certain poignancy to their play. Yes, they're both incredibly fit, but you can see the cost more clearly.
  • Wesley J wrote: »

    My parents occasionally used to quip 'Mary has her day off' when we were having to start the washing up - Mary being a fictional maid. It always made me laugh. :D

    Some friends of ours actually had a live-in maid called - honestly - Mary, and 'You can clear now, Mary' became a family joke.

    When Mary grew old, she shared a room in the care home with these friends' mother (well, the chap's mother), which I always thought was rather sweet!

  • SojournerSojourner Shipmate
    Just as long as the old trout (mum) didn’t labour under the delusion that Mary still was the maid😂
  • It was lucky I came down for coffee at 7am as I saw my husband’s phone flash up a message that a Smart meter engineer was arriving at 8am! (Two meter engineers have failed to arrive in the last 2 weeks and I wasn’t expecting this one). We are having a new Smart electricity/gas meter fitted, much to the interest of my husband who used to design Smart meters.
    I had my 2nd covid jab yesterday but feel fine today and will do some pottering in the garden. This evening is the weekly online family board games.
  • BroJamesBroJames Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host
    We had ours fitted about three weeks ago. The distance and three walls between the gas and electricity meters mean that the gas part doesn’t work, so we still have to send in gas readings.

    While we were away last week, the unit in the house which tells us what we are using lost contact with the system, but following a phone call on Thursday they seem to have sorted that remotely.
  • I’ve read other people saying that online about the distance too. Husband says it shouldn’t be a problem here (famous last words).
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