Monday, January 08, 2007
Kabanosy
Now had second and what turned out to be final bonfire. Suprisingly how little all the rain over the previous couple of days slowed things down. Bit more smoke but there was a good breeze and all went swimmingly. Willow twigs must be fairly waterproof and the breeze must take off the surface water pretty quickly. Also cleared away sundry combustible rubbish from around where the willow tree used to be. Somebody had been busy digging up brambles and clearing up debris from previous allotment holders.
Sadly we were full up with roast lamb and did not feel up to going for the full twist experience. Maybe we will get around to that next time.
Chopping the kindling was a bit of a voyage into the past. All kinds of bits and peices of old furniture, some of which had been recycled more than once. Some of it may have even dated from Warwick Road jumble sales oif thirty five years ago. Rather like paper, each time one recycles it, it finds itself in smaller and smaller peices and eventually winds up in the bonfire to be recycled nature's way in due course. I dare say the eco-police would rather one minced the stuff up for mulch but I am not convinced. Apart from the oil cost of the mulching, mulching only delays releasing the carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by a year or so. Landfill site would be better with a much longer delay.
Visited Sutton over the weekend. Long straggling high street with stubs off. Pubs, restaurants and estate agents at each end, posher at the top of the hill near the station. More important, discovered a Polish grocer at the bottom of the hill. Boiling rings and kabanos about half the price of Waitrose. Boiling ring seemed identical to the Waitrose product, the kabanos were more orange than brown, maybe fresher (they are pink and soft when new but go brown, dry and hard as they get older - some prefer them young, some prefer them old) but maybe also lower grade meat. But quite edible with more than a whiff of caraway seed and no doubt we will visit again if the shop survives - which by the look of the place it won't unless they a paying a very modest rent.
FIL has had a central heating failure. He faught his way, despite being rather deaf, through to the gas people, who turned out pretty quickly because of his age, but they took the opportunity to explain that he needs a new boiler and wouldn't it be a good idea if he bought one today from them. Salesperson will turn up this afternoon. (We only got taken for a £40 carbon monoxide detector - clearly the son of the smoke detector scam). All strikes me as a bit predatory, reflecting their being a lot more commercial and pushy than they were in the bad old days of nationalisation.
Baker must have been listening after all. Chelsea buns turned up after a long absence on Saturday. The baker version of mars bars but good. Which reminds me that Christmas is a very expensive way of putting on weight: maybe a modest ten pounds out for several hundred pounds in. I would not do very well as fat stock.
Sadly we were full up with roast lamb and did not feel up to going for the full twist experience. Maybe we will get around to that next time.
Chopping the kindling was a bit of a voyage into the past. All kinds of bits and peices of old furniture, some of which had been recycled more than once. Some of it may have even dated from Warwick Road jumble sales oif thirty five years ago. Rather like paper, each time one recycles it, it finds itself in smaller and smaller peices and eventually winds up in the bonfire to be recycled nature's way in due course. I dare say the eco-police would rather one minced the stuff up for mulch but I am not convinced. Apart from the oil cost of the mulching, mulching only delays releasing the carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by a year or so. Landfill site would be better with a much longer delay.
Visited Sutton over the weekend. Long straggling high street with stubs off. Pubs, restaurants and estate agents at each end, posher at the top of the hill near the station. More important, discovered a Polish grocer at the bottom of the hill. Boiling rings and kabanos about half the price of Waitrose. Boiling ring seemed identical to the Waitrose product, the kabanos were more orange than brown, maybe fresher (they are pink and soft when new but go brown, dry and hard as they get older - some prefer them young, some prefer them old) but maybe also lower grade meat. But quite edible with more than a whiff of caraway seed and no doubt we will visit again if the shop survives - which by the look of the place it won't unless they a paying a very modest rent.
FIL has had a central heating failure. He faught his way, despite being rather deaf, through to the gas people, who turned out pretty quickly because of his age, but they took the opportunity to explain that he needs a new boiler and wouldn't it be a good idea if he bought one today from them. Salesperson will turn up this afternoon. (We only got taken for a £40 carbon monoxide detector - clearly the son of the smoke detector scam). All strikes me as a bit predatory, reflecting their being a lot more commercial and pushy than they were in the bad old days of nationalisation.
Baker must have been listening after all. Chelsea buns turned up after a long absence on Saturday. The baker version of mars bars but good. Which reminds me that Christmas is a very expensive way of putting on weight: maybe a modest ten pounds out for several hundred pounds in. I would not do very well as fat stock.
# posted by Jim @ 2:48 AM 
