AS: Tea and biscuits and GIN, the British thread

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  • Piglet wrote: »
    As D. would put it, "I don't care as long as someone stuffs the Welsh". :naughty:
    Well, he comes from Essex. 'Nuff said.

  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    Hurrah for the Welsh :tongue:

    I am currently at my parents' house and my Dad is most pleased with the result.

    Yesterday we took baby en rouge to meet his 95 year-old great grandad. Much cuteness ensued.
  • But did he have his rugby kit on?
    Firenze wrote: »
    I made a soup of bacon scraps and root veg (potato, carrot, parsnip and onion) for lunch. What lifted it out of the ordinary was a large pinch of ras el hanout and a smaller one of chilli powder.
    Ras el hanout is useful for all sorts. I like it rubbed into the skin of a turkey leg before roasting.

    Am currently eating a delayed Halloween pumpkin pie made with a gingernut crust. Parkin-making will have to wait in line.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    ... Yesterday we took baby en rouge to meet his 95 year-old great grandad. Much cuteness ensued.
    There are some lovely pictures of my dad with his great-grandchildren. The pride in his face was quite touching, and the kids are cutely photogenic. :heart:
  • Found a lovely firework display to go to in one of the outlying villages, and rather bizarrely found myself standing next to the woman who I helped last week when she needed to catch her cat who had decided to take up residence in the local arboretum (after 4 weeks away from home he looked rather well fed - I think the rodent population breathed a sigh of relief after he left). We live around half a mile apart, but many miles from the firework display. It’s a small world.
  • Piglet wrote: »
    ... (Wales won 21-10 BTW).
    :cry:

    As D. would put it, "I don't care as long as someone stuffs the Welsh". :naughty:

    Well, it makes a change from 'Anyone but the English, I suppose!' I just think it's misleading for someone called Hugh Jones to play for Scotland :smile:

    Hard luck D!

    Mrs. S, rejoicing
  • la vie en rouge wrote: »
    ... Yesterday we took baby en rouge to meet his 95 year-old great grandad. Much cuteness ensued.
    Piglet replied:
    There are some lovely pictures of my dad with his great-grandchildren. The pride in his face was quite touching, and the kids are cutely photogenic. :heart:

    Oh dear! that does make me feel old! Yesterday I had a great day with daughter, two grandsons, and two great granddaughters - one a couple of months and very cute, and the other nearly 10 and all arms, legs and energy!
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Well we've had an interesting few hours. It was a filthy day for most of yesterday, p*ssing with rain and really not very nice. In the evening it eased off a bit; I put a batch of bread into the machine to do its thing and we went to do a bit of grocery shopping. By the time we got back, the wind had got up something awful, and it was blowing a hoolie, complete with green lightning*. Just as I was about to take the dough out of the machine, we had a power cut, which (mercifully) only lasted about half an hour, so the bread came out just fine.

    However, other parts of the town weren't so lucky, and when we arrived at the Cathedral this morning, the power had been off since last night, so we had to do a bit of jiggling round with what we were going to sing: instead of Schubert's German Mass we did Viadana's Missa l'hora passa, and instead of Give us the wings of faith the motet was O quam gloriosum (which we're doing at Evensong this afternoon, so it gave us a bit of a dry run). It was a nice, bright morning, and our clocks went back last night, so there was probably more lambent light than there might have been.

    As it happened, the power came back on during the Epistle, which was just as well ... :flushed:

    * No - I've never seen that before either - it was rather spectacular!
  • This is probably a Silly Question, but why would a power cut affect your singing of young Herr Schubert's Deutschemesse?
    :confused:
  • bassobasso Shipmate
    I remember a rehearsal in a hilltop church in SF during a rainstorm. The power was out and lightning was flickering around us.
    We sang what we could from memory and closed with the Lord's Prayer (in Russian). As the last notes echoed around us the lights came back on.
    Quite a memorable moment.
  • This is probably a Silly Question, but why would a power cut affect your singing of young Herr Schubert's Deutschemesse?
    :confused:

    Lack of power for the organ. I suspect that Fredericktown is out of small persons prepared to power the bellows, of which every cathedral township should have a ready supply....
  • Its that time of night on a hectic Sunday when we could all do with a pick-me-up: so tonight try this for size!
  • finelinefineline Kerygmania Host, 8th Day Host
    Thanks for that, TheOrganist. It entertained me. :smile:
  • Its that time of night on a hectic Sunday when we could all do with a pick-me-up: so tonight try this for size!

    <like>
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    This is probably a Silly Question, but why would a power cut affect your singing of young Herr Schubert's Deutschemesse?
    :confused:
    Thunderbunk has it right - you can't operate a pipe organ without juice! D. was quite pleased - he's not wild about the Schubert anyway.

    Evensong was really nice - a bit of Gibbons and O quam gloriosum again, which wasn't a bad thing at all. I know in my head that Give us the wings of faith is a good piece, but it's not really a favourite - not my preferred era, you understand.

    @TheOrganist - loved the crisps! :smiley:
  • O I see - presumably you sang a capella?
    :blush:

    Jolly well done, anyway....
    :grin:
  • Baptist TrainfanBaptist Trainfan Shipmate
    edited November 2018
    O I see - presumably you sang a capella?
    :blush:
    You should never have got rid of the West Gallery players (not that you ever had them in the Dominions). Just think what you could have done with some assorted viols, a sackbut and a serpent. (It would have been a noise, though not necessarily a joyful one).

  • Today I have been marking students’ reflections on their feelings about death and dying and it is quite beautiful and moving. I feel very privileged to read them.
    Anyway, break time now and today’s we have breaded veal burgers with mushroom and spinach rice.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    O I see - presumably you sang a capella?
    :blush:
    You should never have got rid of the West Gallery players (not that you ever had them in the Dominions). Just think what you could have done with some assorted viols, a sackbut and a serpent. (It would have been a noise, though not necessarily a joyful one).
    We did indeed sing a capella.

    Alas, we don't have a gallery, let alone any players to put in it. I think an assortment of viols, sackbuts and serpents would make a Very Joyful Noise indeed, but I like that sort of thing. :mrgreen:

    This afternoon we sang at the funeral of a lady who had once sung in the choir (long before our time - we didn't know her). It was a really nice service - Cranmer's matchless prose and the Authorised Version* and the Gibbons Nunc Dimittis.

    What more could a discerning piglet desire?

    * Our Sunday default is an inferior version. :(
  • Piglet, I thought of you last night while watching 'University Challenge'. One of the team from Emmanuel College Cambridge - who won with a score of 245! - came from Fredericton!

    I love Monday nights - puppet rehearsals, UC, and Only Connect - what joy...

    Mrs. S, yelling at the telly :smile:
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    Got an email this morning that made my day.

    I got pictures of Little C (baby en rouge’s roomie in the NICU) looking very healthy and considerably bigger than I remember him. His Mum (who, if you remember, got stranded in Paris after her waters broke during an airport transit) has had a rough time of it but they’re finally all back home in Canada.

    I was also kind of excited because I forget how much baby en rouge has changed on account of seeing him every day. Seeing Little C reminds me how tiny they both were.
  • Long may they both grow and prosper!
    :grin:

    ION, I had an interesting experience today, courtesy of my osteopath, as a result of a brief discussion we had whilst the Episcopal Lower Limbs were being palpated (if that's the right word).

    O, says he, had you thought of acupuncture to help with pain relief?
    O, says I, yes, I was going to ask you about it.
    OK, says he, we'll have a go this morning.

    Two minutes later, Four Needles in each thigh - to a depth of one-and-a-half inches! - and I barely felt a thing. Result - some noticeable lessening of the constant pain, though the ELLs still don't seem to want to work properly.

    I think messages and commands from my brain are not yet being received accurately by the ELLs, so more treatment is needed.

    Anyone else had acupuncture, and was it helpful? I do appreciate that, as the osteopath took care to point out, that it's treating the symptoms, rather than the cause, but hey - if it helps, I'm up for another go!

  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    edited November 2018
    If it works, don't knock it! My best friend in Newfoundland has a really bad case of scoliosis; her spine is basically S-shaped, and so badly buggered-about that her internal organs aren't in the right order. She has acupuncture at least once a week, and probably wouldn't survive without it.

    La Vie, that's great news about Baby en rouge's wee friend! Long may they both thrive!

    Mrs. S - good to hear of Freddy being well represented - University Challenge is one of the many things we miss about Proper Television™.
  • Whatever is this thing called Proper Television of which you speak?
    :confused:

    I gave up watching TV some 14 years ago, for reasons which would bore you all silly, but which may explain my detachment from Real Life....
    :grin:
  • I suspect it refers to a time before HD, cable, on demand, reality TV, and basically anything after say the 70s. Even University Challenge seems easier post Bamber Gascoigne. Oh deity of choice, I've turned into my mother.
  • Hehehehehehe

    I disagree, @Fredegund - I still find some of it wholly incomprehensible! But Mondays are the only evening we see anything in real time*; anything else gets recorded for later viewing.

    * apart from The Simpsons - we got into the habit of watching them as a family bonding thing when the children were teenagers, and have somehow never managed to shake it off :blush:

    Mrs. S (for shamefaced)
  • We bought a TV license last year for the first time (we’ve been married nearly 20 years) as we never watch live TV and I watch history programmes on iPlayer. We bought our first widescreen TV a few months ago and I think the only TV we’ve watched on it is Doctor Who, we just used it to stream films.
    I’m still swimming in a pool of essays, as I will be for the next 2 weeks, sigh.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    How did you get the I-player if you didn't have a TV licence? I always assumed that the reason the computer so rudely points out that "this programme is not available in your country" was because we didn't pay a British licence.

    I would happily pay the cost of a British licence just to get the terrestrial channels you get: BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and the various digital ones like Dave, Yesterday and so on, and give up all the rubbish that we get on cable TV over here. It would be about $250 a year, which is a fraction of what we're paying at the moment, and we'd at least get some decent programmes!

    After all the meteorological brouhaha* of the last wee while, it's not a bad day here, and very mild (15°) for the time of year, so I had a very nice little amble along the road after lunch - first one I've had in ages.

    * We had another power-cut very late last night, and wondered how long it would last, but it was back on about an hour later; we took a wee turn round the block to see how widespread it was, and they were working on the poles and wires, so presumably had turned it off to do that.
  • Up and till fairly recently, provided that you were not watching something as it aired, you could watch Iplayer material without a license. That has changed recently. I just stopped watching anything but short clips off the BBC website. The reason you get those notices Piglet is copyright law and different jurisdictions.
  • Piglet wrote: »
    I know in my head that Give us the wings of faith is a good piece, but it's not really a favourite - not my preferred era, you understand.
    I agree that there are better pieces than the Bullock but it does have a certain je ne sais quoi - and I love the way he shoves in a unison note virtually everyone finds hard to pitch after the phrase they with one united breath when for many choirs what can follow is pure discordant horror!
  • Yes, we bought our TV license when they changed the rules last year. But I would have willingly paid for it before to access iPlayer. I love the history and science documentaries, I’m always pointing my students to relevant programmes on health and social care.
    Just got back from friends’ house where we are doing a ‘parents of teenagers’ class. It’s a very practically minded Rob Parsons video series and it’s good to get together with other parents and chat through issues. Think I might have some wine now though!
  • Curiosity killedCuriosity killed Shipmate
    edited November 2018
    I bought my TV licence as the i-player rules changed as I haven't had a TV for years and was only ever watching on catch up. Although this year I've watched much more TV than I ever have before.

    My sister insisted on buying us a TV when my daughter was at primary school, much to my daughter's irritation, because she didn't want a TV, she wanted a computer, please and thank you. When that TV stopped working - ages ago, when the stations all changed - we didn't bother replacing it.

    At Guides last night we went on a night walk around a local forest, led by the nearest Guide campsite staff, followed by drinking hot chocolate round a campfire, and three of the girls making their promise. Normally when we do that we do a section in the dark listening to the forest noises, but no hope over the crashing and banging of fireworks in the distance.
  • Our widescreen TV is hooked up to our pc so is mainly used by my sons for gaming.
    Just got back from my yoga class (Iyengar yoga which is active, none of this sitting around meditating lark) and then coffee with the ladies. Now having a quick browse before cooking lunch for myself and my 17 year old son - chicken hearts with mushrooms and cream.

  • Anyone else had acupuncture, and was it helpful? I do appreciate that, as the osteopath took care to point out, that it's treating the symptoms, rather than the cause, but hey - if it helps, I'm up for another go!

    I have, for a knee joint problem, and there's reasonably good evidence that it works for localised joint/limb pain (though not for other things where they put the pin in your ear to help your kidneys or whatever!)
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited November 2018
    Yes, the practice nurse who did* my flu jab at the GP's yesterday said she'd had 3 sessions of acupuncture on her shoulder, following a car crash (the other party's insurer paid!), and that it had solved the problem.

    I appreciate that acupuncture may treat symptoms rather than cause, but, TBH, I'd rather have the needles every couple of weeks at £40 a go than free spinal surgery.....unless the latter becomes imperative.

    *The actual jab was done extremely gently, and professionally, by a medical student who looked young enough to be my granddaughter. She will do well in her chosen profession, I hope.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    What sort of "success rate" does the surgery have? If it worked, surely it would be better than having to have treatment every other week? Don't get me wrong - I totally understand your reluctance to go under the knife, but if it improved your quality of life, would it be worth it in the long run? YMMV, IANAD, etc.

    @TheOrganist - I'd never really thought about the cleverness of that bit of Give us the wings, but you're absolutely right. And yes - finding the unison note (in my case anyway) is as much a matter of luck as judgement! :mrgreen:
  • Piglet wrote: »
    What sort of "success rate" does the surgery have? If it worked, surely it would be better than having to have treatment every other week? Don't get me wrong - I totally understand your reluctance to go under the knife, but if it improved your quality of life, would it be worth it in the long run? YMMV, IANAD, etc.


    Well, that's a Good Point. My negative thoughts about spinal surgery were a bit knee-jerk, even though this has not (yet) been mentioned, and may not be necessary (or even an option).

    Odd, I suppose, considering that I had no qualms about them cutting a big hole in my head to get to my brain... :worried:

    Half-an-hour of acupuncture every couple of weeks or so really wouldn't be a problem, which probably proves that I need to get out more.

  • I had spinal surgery for, basically, pains in the legs and walking problems - I am now totally unable to walk without crutches, and there is absolutely no way anyone else is going to approach me with a scalpel! Never, ever, again!
  • QED.

    But, as I say, surgery may not be needed.

    {{Thomasina}}
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I hope not, indeed.

    D's organ recital today went down a storm: it had a sort of patriotic/remembrance theme, and he began with the Henry Wood Fantasia on British Sea Songs (as done at the Last Night of the Proms, but without the generously-proportioned lady singing Rule Britannia), and finished with Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1.

    I think he would have done Nimrod, but we had a recital last Sunday from a visiting organist, and he played it, but not very well* ... :neutral:

    * I hate it when someone butchers a tune that I really like!
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    Tonight I made SAUSAGE CASSEROLE. The world is now a good and happy place.
  • I made Lancashire hot pot, with added garlic, herbs and cream. My Lancastrian mother would have been horrified!
    We also had dumplings - yum! I don’t usually eat carbs and they were a treat.
  • Piglet wrote: »
    ,,, Last Night of the Proms, but without the generously-proportioned lady singing Rule Britannia), ...
    Such as Bryn Terfel? [Devil]

  • Mr Boogs made potato pie with crust - delicious!
  • Well, I made sweet potato chips, in the oven, plus a salmon fillet cooked therein inside a sort of parcel with a dollop of Greek yoghurt on top, plus one of those steam fresh frozen veggie bags. Delicious, and those frozen bags of vegetables are ideal for one. No good buying fresh veg, it just goes to waste. ( Perhaps I should also explain I have to get all my stuff delivered, so can't choose small amounts)
  • That’s how I make salmon parcels, Thomasina, and they sound delicious with sweet potato chips.
    The frozen veg sounds good and convenient, my go to frozen items are bags of soft fruit; I add a handful to overnight oats when I want an occasional carb treat (I usually low carb).
  • I've had acupuncture to tackle my persistent sinus problem. It worked, but was painful.

    We are off to a fabric swap with various pieces from the fabric stash for which we cannot plan any use - wrong colour, wrong composition, wrong length Some lengths are older than my daughter, most are over 20 years old.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Piglet wrote: »
    .... but without the generously-proportioned lady singing Rule Britannia), ...
    Such as Bryn Terfel? [Devil]
    I had a feeling someone would mention him (and his cute little Welsh dragon). :mrgreen:

    La Vie, any chance of posting the sausage casserole recipe upstairs?

    We were a bit wicked today - D. took it into his head to make potato farls*, which we had with bacon, eggs and tomatoes, and they were v. nice indeed.

    As it sn*wed last night (just a couple of inches, but a couple of inches too much) I'm contemplating the manufacture of SOUP. It's now raining, and the temperature is supposed to reach 12°, but then plummet again overnight, so I hope it rains enough to clear the sn*w before it gets cold again.

    * essential component of an Ulster Fry.
  • Wales beat the Aussies!

    That is all*

    * I have an absolute stinker of a cold, can hardly breathe (and was supposed to be singing with the worship band for the first time tomorrow *sigh*) am coughing like a diseased walrus - but I feel So Much Better!

    Mrs. S, Very Grateful Indeed
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Circus Host, 8th Day Host
    @Piglet: I used Hairy Bikers' recipe. Google "hairy bikers sausage casserole" and it comes straight up.
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