Zen Mischief

World Goth Day

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:28:00 +0000

As every year Wednesday 22 May is World Goth Day — a day where the goth scene gets to celebrate its own being, and an opportunity to make its presence known to the rest of the world.

While it's true that most goths prefer night time World Goth Day lets them parade the black look proudly in the sunlight!

Goths are often met with criticism and fear. But despite their dress, they're just like everyone else and judging someone based on the way they look means missing out on getting to know some great people. Consequently because of the stigma attached to being a goth, many have struggled to get friends and family to accept them as they are.

World Goth Day is the day they come out in the light to proudly proclaim their way to the rest of the world, and to show us some of the fun things we're missing.

And there's lots more information over at http://www.worldgothday.com/.

Approaches to Life

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Sun, 19 May 2013 11:37:00 +0000

Here's another that I encountered meandering the interweb. It's something good to try to live up to.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.
Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either.
Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Word: tsundoku

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Sun, 19 May 2013 11:22:00 +0000

I met these two on the intertube this morning ...

National Vegetarian Week

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:16:00 +0000

Hot on the heels of British Tomato Week, 20-26 May is also National Vegetarian Week.

National Vegetarian Week, which is all about how surprisingly simple it is to go vegetarian, is the annual awareness-raising campaign promoting inspirational vegetarian food and the benefits of a meat-free lifestyle.

Despite popular misconception, vegetarian food needn't be dull, boring and tasteless; quite the opposite, good veggie dishes can be just as tasty, nutritious and fulfilling as any meat dish. As an example see my recipe for Veggie Crumble.

There are many reasons for being vegetarian from not liking meat right through to not liking to kill animals. For some it is a lifestyle choice; for others it is a matter of religion and for a few it is a medical necessity.

While I'm not veggie, and I doubt I could ever be 100% veggie, I do enjoy and we often choose to cook vegetarian dishes — and as regular readers here will know, we like our food! So I'd say that if you've ever even considered being vegetarian, then now is the time to try it. You might like it!

You can find details of National Vegetarian Week, including some more easy recipes, over at http://www.nationalvegetarianweek.org/.

British Tomato Week

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:56:00 +0000

British Tomato Week, which runs from 20 to 26 May, is a celebration of the range and quality of British tomatoes.

Sponsored by the Tomato Growers Association, British Tomato Week offers imaginative events but with a serious message: British tomatoes offer a fantastic range of healthy, wholesome fruit bursting with flavour and nutrients. And yet 4 out of 5 tomatoes eaten in the UK are imported.

Commercially tomatoes are grown in glasshouses to protect them from the cold and concentrate the sunshine they need. Amateur gardeners, of course, often grow tomatoes outside.

Tomatoes aren't just those round, red, golf-ball sized fruits you find in the supermarket; there is a wide range of varieties! They come in all sizes, from small, sweet, cherry-sized fruits to deliciously large beefsteak tomatoes the size of a large fist. And in a range of colours from very pale yellow to deep red and even green.

Added to which tomatoes are actually incredibly good for you. They are a good source of Vitamins A, C and E, the natural plant pigments beta-carotene and lycopene, and also flavonoids ... all of which have accepted health benefits.

Find more information on the British Tomato Growers Association website at http://www.britishtomatoes.co.uk/tomatoweek.

Walk to School Week

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:32:00 +0000

Monday 20 to Friday 24 May is Walk to School Week.

The aim of Walk to School Week, which has been going since 1995, is simple: to encourage all parents, children and young people to make walking to school part of their daily routine.

I know when I was a kid I lived a mile from my junior school and subsequently a mile in the other direction from my grammar school. And I walked to school; in fact for much of the time I came home for lunch so walked about 4 miles a day. (OK, I admit I was a lazy teenager and sometimes got the bus to school, but that depended on being in funds as I didn't get extra allowance for bus fares.)

Walking is good for us and we almost all walk far too little (guilty as charged!). Far too many children get taken, even short distances, to school by car. Parents get scared (usually unnecessarily) of kids being molested or abducted, parents are in a hurry to get to work themselves, or I'm sure in many cases they're just plain lazy.

But as always there are many benefits to walking: save petrol — and thus save money and the environment — improve health but getting more exercise; and parents walking children to school are spending quality time with their kids, and maybe even teaching them things about the world around them. Get into the walking habit and hopefully it will stay with you for life.

As always there is more information on the Walk to School website at www.livingstreets.org.uk/walk-with-us/walk-to-school.

Recipe: Chicken Liver & Pork Terrine

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Sat, 18 May 2013 13:12:00 +0000

Following on from yesterday's Food-day past, I though I should post the recipe for the terrine — which I have to say is extremely yummy — I've eaten worse in good restaurants!

This is what I did, but like most recipes around here you can vary it almost any way you like.

Just one word of warning: as you see in the photo, these quantities make a huge amount; ours over-filled a large Le Creuset casserole; so you might want to make a smaller quantity.

Chicken Liver & Pork Terrine

Ingredients
2x 400g packs (organic) chicken livers
2x 400g packs good pork sausagemeat
thick slice of bacon (or 4-5 rashers of back bacon), cut into 5-10mm lardons
large red onion, finely chopped
large packet stuffing mix
6 large cloves garlic, crushed & chopped
2 peppers, finely chopped
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 large handfuls fresh herbs (parsley, tarragon, basil or whatever is to hand), chopped
1 tbsp garlic paste
3 tbsp tomato paste
wine glass liquor (armagnac, brandy, whisky or wine, as preferred)
10 juniper berries, crushed
Worcester sauce
olive oil
butter (for greasing the casserole)
salt & pepper

Method
1. Well butter a large casserole or cake tin.
2. Tip the stuffing mix into a large mixing bowl and hydrate it with hot water as per instructions on the packet; but don't make it too stiff, slightly too wet is fine.
3. Sauté the chopped onion, pepper, garlic and juniper berries in a little olive oil until the onion is just going translucent. Add the chopped bacon and cook for a few more minutes until the bacon is almost cooked. Add this to the stuffing, juices and all.
4. In a little more olive oil sauté the chicken livers until partly cooked but still bloody in the middle. The idea is really only to make them a bit less yeuchy to deal with. Set them aside to cool for a few minutes.
5. While the chicken livers cool, add all remaining ingredients except the egg to the mixture and start mixing it together.
6. Finely chop the chicken livers on a plate (they will still be bloody); or if you're feeling really blood-thirsty blitz the livers in the food processor. Add the livers (with juices) to the mixture.
7. Add the beaten egg and mix everything together well.
8. Pour the mixture into the casserole and firm it down well.
9. Cover with a lid (or foil) and bake at about 160°C. (If the casserole is really full, stand it on a baking sheet.) To test if the terrine is cooked, insert a knife in the middle for a few seconds; if it is hot to touch when removed the terrine is cooked. I then gave mine another 10 minutes without the lid just to colour up the crust slightly. Overall mine took just shy of 2 hours.
10. Remove the casserole from the oven and allow it to cool for a little. Then press the terrine overnight as it cools (use a board or plate with a heavy jar as a weight); the more it is pressed the better.
11. Devour the following day(s) with good crusty bread and a glass of robust red wine.

There are an endless number of variations you can work here. Instead of (or as well as) the peppers use tomatoes, fennel, celery, aubergine, mushrooms. Use whatever herbs you fancy or have to hand; or replace the herbs with (wilted) spinach. Add (whole) kidney beans and maybe reduce the meat content. Use breadcrumbs instead of stuffing mix. It might even work with the addition of some (unsweetened) apple or apricot. Try it!

Food-day

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:53:00 +0000

No today isn't Friday, it's Food-day. It has been one long food-a-thon of a day.

We started off this morning with our usual jaunt to the supermarket; we were slightly late this morning and got caught up with all the urchins going to school. It goes as follows from arrival at Waitrose ... Look at the meat to see if there are any good bargains or reductions. Having done that off to the café for breakfast — tea and a bacon roll for me; coffee and sausage in a bun for Noreen — and a chance to wake up! Then we stroll round the store filling our trolley and ending with the fruit and veg.

This morning we struck lucky with the meat bargains. Short date chicken pieces reduced; and chicken livers. Same with duck breast roast. And sausage meat. And some lamb leg steaks. Hmmm ... OK ... lots of meat with short dates. No problem! Oh, there's no room in the freezer. Ah! OK! ... Hmmm ...

And so much of the good fruit and veg was also on "3 for 2" offer: Jersey Royal potatoes, English strawberries, English raspberries, blueberries (OK, they were Spanish), and English asparagus. We just couldn't lose today.

Finally home about 1115 for a quick sit down and a cuppa before lunch.

So after lunch we have to set to and deal with all this meat. Duck roast straight in the oven; done in 40 minutes and ready to be eaten cold, with asparagus salad, tomorrow.

Second. Make some yoghurt-y curry marinade for the chicken pieces. They're sitting in the fridge until tomorrow, when they'll be baked for cold on Sunday.

Then we have to deal with chicken livers and sausage meat. That means only one thing: an enormous terrine; basically a variant on my Game Terrine. Lots of chopping, messing and seething, but this is now sitting being pressed and cooling.

At that point we ran out of steam, and were in danger of running out of time too. So we had a clear up and another cuppa ... before rounding everything off with a lamb sag curry and a couple of beers.

OK, so we failed with the apple, strawberry and raspberry crumble. That'll have to wait until tomorrow — for a fresh supply of energy and a couple of dishwasher runs!

But that, to me, is a hugely successful day, as we have some great food lined up for much of the next week. Most of it at bargain prices! And all done by hand from fresh ingredients.

Something for the Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:44:00 +0000

A slightly risqué one (no change there then!) this week ...

Click the image for a larger view

Words: Gambeson, Habergeon, Hauberk

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:54:00 +0000

Gambeson

A quilted and padded, or stuffed leather or cloth, garment worn under chain mail in the Middle Ages and later as a doublet by men and women. A military tunic, worn especially in the 14th century, made of leather or thick cloth, sometimes padded; it covered the trunk and thighs, and was originally worn under the habergeon, to prevent chafing or bruises, but was sometimes used as a defence without other body-armour.

Habergeon

A sleeveless coat or jacket of mail or scale armour, originally smaller and lighter than a hauberk. A short, sleeveless coat of mail.

Hauberk

A long tunic made of chain mail. A piece of defensive armour (originally intended for the defence of the neck and shoulders but already in 12th and 13th centuries developed into a long coat of mail) or military tunic, usually of ring or chain mail, which adapted itself readily to the motions of the body.

Over time Habergeon and Hauberk seem to have become more or less interchangeable.

Random Huggers Day

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:44:00 +0000

In addition to everything else Saturday 18 May is Random Huggers Day.

We all like a hug when we're feeling down and giving people a hug is very special; it is a simple way of expressing love, care and friendship. And it can save lives.

Random Huggers Day was established in 2003 to spread some warmth, love, fun and all the wonderful energy that is in a hug; to spread that special feeling around the world.

There is no charity or corporation involved; Random Huggers Day is just about one human being giving another human being a gift, for nothing!

You can sign up to be a Random Hugger, or just go along to an event in a city near you. You'll find details oner at http://www.purplepathway.com/rh/.

International Museum Day

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Tue, 14 May 2013 11:27:00 +0000

This year's International Museum Day is on Saturday 18 May. Every year since 1977 International Museum Day, which is on Saturday 18 May this year, is organised worldwide to make people more aware of how museums contribute to enriching, and developing, our societies!

I remember being taken to museums when I was young and like most children I found just looking at objects boring. But later you come to realise that each of those objects is a piece of history and tells a wonderful story: of a hero, a king, the life of a farmer or slave, of an animal and its environment, of a different way of looking at life.

So one of the best, and most important things, about museums is how they link different cultures together: by displaying objects from different countries and cultures; and by making museums available for travelling tourists to learn about other places and people.

There's some more information on the International Council of Museums website at http://icom.museum/activities/international-museum-day/ or checkout you local museum to see what they're doing.

You might have missed ...

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:29:00 +0000

Another selection of links to stories you may have missed, in no order at all ...

It all starts with Walter de la Mare and becomes a discussion of how the strange and weird become memorable; how ghosts are more real than reality.

Apparently there is nothing which will actually convince you to change your lifestyle, so don't bother telling me!

Report on a visit to the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival.

How high can a human throw something? Would it be possible to throw a golf ball into space? What If? investigates.

Sex educator Emily Nagoski on how to be a sex educator for beginners. We all need to know this — parents especially.

In which Diamond Geezer reworks and updates the English class system. I'm not sure it's quite right, but the general drift is good.

The Guardian seems to think they can tell us all what rules of grammar we need to know. Kettle — pot — black?

Are boobs better without bras? From a male perspective, definitely. Anatomically, well it seems it's a possible maybe.

Archaeologists have been working on mapping the medieval Suffolk town of Dunwich which was lost to the North Sea. I thought we knew most of the map, but I guess it's about seeing what is still there.

Birds are descended from dinosaurs, right? Well actually they probably are dinosaurs. XKCD shows how a T. rex is closer to your average sparrow than it is to a Stegosaurus.
Chicken in a basket takes on a whole new complexion!

Now here's another interesting take on Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy. They're 60 or so years old, but can maybe serve as an allegory for the modern world.

We're all descended from Charlemagne. Well all Europeans are. At least statistically. Allegedly. Carl Zimmer investigates.

Finally it seems those brutish Neanderthals were somewhat more advanced than most of us realise. And of course Europeans are all around 4% Neanderthal. So just be careful who you insult!

More Quotes

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Mon, 13 May 2013 08:32:00 +0000

Another round-up of quotes I've met which were amusing, interesting or thought-provoking.

The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous, the sensible man hardly anything.
[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]

Any event in this world — any human being for that matter — that seems to wear even the faintest cast or warp of strangeness, is apt to leave a disproportionately sharp impression on one's senses ... Life's mere ordinary day-to-day — its thoughts, talk, doings — wither and die out of the mind like leaves from a tree. Year after year a similar crop recurs, and that goes too. It is mere debris, it perishes. But these other anomalies survive, even through the cold of age.
[Walter de la Mare, quoted at www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22380449]

The belief that the world is composed only of physical things operating according to universal laws is metaphysical speculation, not a falsifiable theory.
[John Gray, quoted at www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22380449]

The distinction between what's natural and what's not isn't as straightforward as it seems. The very idea of a law-governed cosmos may be a relic of monotheism, with natural laws serving the role that divine commands once did. Many religions don't distinguish between nature and the supernatural. For animists and polytheists, the natural world is full of spirits.
[John Gray (again), quoted at www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22380449]

Today’s scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality.
[Nikola Tesla]

The strongest leaders lead not from their anger and frustration and fear, but from their vision of the world as it could be ... See a world you want to move toward, and take just one step forward today. Take one more step tomorrow. And one more after that ...
[Emily Nagoski at www.thedirtynormal.com/2013/05/08/be-the-sex-educator/]

Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often.
[Mae West]

O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
My tables, — meet it is I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;
[Hamlet, I,v]

When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.
[Goodhart's Law]

Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.
[George Orwell]

Though Evelyn [Waugh] described his own grasp of Latin and Greek as 'superficial', he did not think the hours devoted to learning them were wasted because one learnt 'that words have basic inalienable meanings, departure from which is either conscious metaphor or inexcusable vulgarity ... The old fashioned test of an English sentence — will it translate? — still stands after we have lost the trick of translation'. Anyone denied this apprenticeship — 'most Americans and most women' — would always be at a disadvantage.
[Michael Barber; Brief Lives: Evelyn Waugh]

You can never plan the future by the past.
[Edmund Burke]

Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible.
[MC Escher, 1898-1972]

Weekly Photograph

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Mon, 13 May 2013 06:00:00 +0000

Actually this week we're actually going to have more than one photo. One morning last week we went for a little tour round some of our local old churches, mainly because I had promised to take a few record shots of them for the local family history society. It was a blustery, intermittently sunny, morning which kept threatening rain — and I think we all felt more like a duvet day than going out taking photographs. But we gritted out teeth and carried on.

One of the churches on the list was St Mary the Virgin, Perivale. I quite see why it was championed by Sir John Betjeman. It is a tiny gem, right on my doorstep, and I've never been to it before.

The church itself has long been decommissioned, although I think not de-consecrated. It is now leased and tended by its Friends organisation and used for small concerts etc.

Most of this I knew, so we didn't really expect to get access beyond being able to walk down the cycleway that runs alongside.

As we arrived, the sun came out; there were several people tending the churchyard and the church itself was open. Not wishing to impose too much on everyone's good will we had only a brief look inside and a longer stroll round the graveyard.

Except for those horrible red chairs the church interior reminded me very much of the small churches of the Romney Marsh, especially Fairfield; and also of Greenstead-juxta-Ongar in Essex. Although not really that similar to either architecturally it was the intimacy which was the key. Apart from the tiny chancel the inside is not especially ornate; it would be too much if it were.

But as you see from the photos the setting is a delight. It is surrounded by trees and Ealing Golf Course. And again, although small, the churchyard is a lovely peaceful oasis, just a couple of hundred yards off the busy A40.

Everything was fresh and green, the sun was shining and the birds were singing. You could easily have been in the middle of nowhere. What more could one ask?!

Book Review

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:45:00 +0000

Michael Barber
Brief Lives: Evelyn Waugh
(Hesperus; 2013)

When Michael Barber first told me he had a biography of Evelyn Waugh being published, my first reaction was "Why?". Why do we need another biography of Waugh?

But then when I got a copy I realised this isn't really a biography but more a dozen or so quick sketches of the man, for what Hesperus are doing is creating a series of "short, authoritative biographies of the greatest figures in literary history; written by experts in their fields to appeal to general readers and academics alike".

Given that this is the aim, then Barber and Hesperus have largely succeeded. This is a short work which is well and amusingly written, while remaining interesting, light, accessible and, I found, quite hard to put down.

Yes, the book lacks detail — but what does one really expect in 120 pages? However, although I am no expert on Waugh, it did seem to encapsulate the essence of the man and his life: idiosyncratic, snob, arriviste, poseur, spendthrift, drunk, intransigent bore and grumpy old man (even when quite young); but also both an excellent novelist (I'll except Brideshead Revisited which never worked for me) and often highly amusing.

As a bonus, at least for me, Anthony Powell gets quite a few mentions. Powell and Waugh, although in some ways rival writers, were friends and admired each others' work — both publicly and privately — often writing to say how much they had enjoyed the other's latest volume. Waugh always wanted to live to see Powell complete Dance, but sadly he died halfway through. Wouldn't it have been interesting to have heard his views on the second half of Dance? How the war trilogy compared with his Sword of Honour? And what would he have made of the denouements of Temporary Kings and Hearing Secret Harmonies?

As Anthony Powell so often did I shall conclude this review with two gripes. While understanding that publishers need to keep costs down, such awful cheap paper is horrid to handle and isn't going to stand the rigours of time; I would happy to pay an extra 50p to £1 on the price of a book if it meant more aesthetically pleasing paper.

Finally I deplore the lack of an index. I know this is a short work, but any non-fiction book without an index becomes unusable as a reference source. And that, to my mind, is inexcusable in an environment where we must do everything we can to encourage the use of books as a resource. Again I have to lay the blame on cost-cutting publishers, rather than the authors, most of whom I suspect would (privately, at least) agree.

An excellent introduction to the man and a highly enjoyable and interesting read.

Overall rating: ★★★★☆

Be Nice To Nettles Week

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Sun, 12 May 2013 10:58:00 +0000

15 to 26 May is Be Nice To Nettles Week, which looks nearer two weeks to me, but who's counting?!

What?! Shouldn't those nasty stinging nettles be destroyed? Well no, and in fact this is a relatively modern conception. In fact the humble nettle has played, and continues to play, an important role in the natural world: they are favourite place for ladybirds (which eat aphids) to lay their eggs, they are a favourite food plant for some of our more brightly-coloured butterflies and the young shoots can even be used in our kitchen much as you would use spinach — so our forebears actually cherished the nettle as an early Spring green vegetable.

So yes, we should continue to cherish the nettle as a valuable part of our ecology by leaving a patch of rough ground for them to grow in.

AS always there is more on Be Nice To Nettles Week oin their website at www.nettles.org.uk/.

Walk to Work Week

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Sat, 11 May 2013 12:51:00 +0000

This year's Walk to Work Week runs from 13 to 17 May.

It is generally agreed that in modern society we don't walk enough (guilty as charged!) because walking is a great way to maintain fitness and helps keep the heart healthy. For those who work outside the home, walking to work also saves on petrol and bus fares, and is better for our planet. OK, walking to work isn't feasible for everyone so as an alternative why not have a lunchtime stroll in the park or along the river?

You can always use walking to work as a way to raise money for your favourite charity, or just to be like Charles Dickens and Wordsworth who went on walks to get inspiration!

Find more information at www.walkingworks.org.uk.

Mislaid Pussy

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Sat, 11 May 2013 07:58:00 +0000

I've lost my pussy! Yep, somehow we seem to have mislaid a cat! Sally, our small striped tabby cat has been AWOL now for over 24 hours. She was last seen about 11pm on Thursday night on the upstairs landing, but didn't appear for breakfast yesterday, nor since.

We've checked all the known/vaguely possible, apparently (in)accessible, hidey-holes in the house and garden and there's been no obvious RTA. Noreen has talked to the immediate 15-20 neighbours. Sheds and garages have been checked where possible. There are no obviously empty properties, nor any building work, within at least a couple of hundred metres. However there are lots of inaccessible, overgrown and impassable alleyways.

What is odd is that Sal is a homebody. At 15 neither cat goes out a lot (especially given the tarty girl cats next door and their boyfriends), and Sal has never strayed very far from our garden even when young. And she's not allowed out the front door, although has been know to sneak out when we don't have an eagle eye open.

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot more one can do. We could put up posters around the street, but I'm never convinced how useful they are. And we ought to talk to the 6 or 8 houses in the next street that back onto us.

Obviously if she turns up we'll be delighted. But if not, then so be it. Sal was 15 and appeared in good health — even the vet when she was last there a few months ago said he would have thought she was more like 7 or 8 than 15! But we know that cats are often aware when their time is up and wander away to die peacefully somewhere on their own terms — and who should blame them!

Something for the Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:05:00 +0000

Matt's pocket cartoon on the front page of today's Daily Telegraph is another excellent one ...

British Sandwich Week

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:24:00 +0000

Also timed to coincide with National Mills Weekend and National Real Bread Maker Week is British Sandwich Week which runs from 12 to 19 May.

We have become a nation of sandwich eaters, and why not because they can be a wholesome, filling and nutritious fast food. Since (allegedly) invented by 4th Earl of Sandwich the eponymous snack has blossomed from the original beef between two pieces of bread into an endless range of varieties.

As part of this year's fun there will be an attempt on the World Record for the largest number of people simultaneously making a sandwich in the same place.

So why not celebrate the great British sandwich as well as raising a toast to the 4th Earl.

There is more information about sandwiches and British Sandwich Week over at www.lovesarnies.com.

Word: Petrichor

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:11:00 +0000

Petrichor

The sweet smell of rain on earth.

The pleasant, distinctive smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather in certain regions. Also applied to an oily substance obtained from the ground in which this smell was concentrated.

The term was coined in 1964 by two Australian researchers, Bear and Thomas, for an article in the journal Nature. In the article, the authors describe how the smell derives from an oil exuded by certain plants during dry periods, whereupon it is absorbed by clay-based soils and rocks. During rain, the oil is released into the air along with another compound, geosmin, producing the distinctive scent. In a follow-up paper, Bear and Thomas showed that the oil retards seed germination and early plant growth.

Petrichor was concocted from the Greek petros (stone) plus ichor (the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology).

National Real Bread Maker Week

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:07:00 +0000

11 to 17 May is Real Bread Maker Week which is Britain’s biggest annual celebration of Real Bread and its makers and is timed to coincide with National Mills Weekend.

The aim of Real Bread Maker Week is to encourage people to get baking Real Bread or buying it from independent bakeries to support their local communities.

In addition this year they are raising money to provide opportunities to help people who, for one reason or another, have a tougher time than most of us enjoy the social, therapeutic and employment opportunities Real Bread making offers.

More information can be found at www.sustainweb.org/realbread/national_real_breadmaker_week/.

There is nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread to get your taste buds tingling!

National Mills Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Wed, 08 May 2013 11:31:00 +0000

National Mills Weekend is Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 May.

National Mills Weekend is the annual festival of our milling heritage and provides a fantastic opportunity to visit mills, of all types, many of which are not usually open to the public.

Until the advent of the steam engine, wind and watermills provided the only source of power for many different processes — from making flour, paper, cloth to hammering metal and extracting oil. You can explore mills that produced, or still produce, these products — some restored to working order, some derelict, some still working commercially.

As usual there is more information on the National Mills Weekend website at www.nationalmillsweekend.co.uk.

Weekly Photograph

noreply@blogger.com (Keith (kcm)) — Mon, 06 May 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Suitably for a Bank Holiday weekend this week we have a photograph of the English seaside. This is a montage of shots taken almost 5 years ago (eeekkkkk!!!) of Lowestoft South Beach, looking south towards Kirkley from near the Central Pier. As you can see it was a miserable day, with heavy, squally showers blown onshore by a stiff breeze. Typical of England really!

Click the image for larger views on Flickr

Lowestoft Seafront
6 September 2008