'Owt else or Any Other Business

[Wendyf]

My thoughts have all been about snow for the last couple of days Stanley!

[Stanley]

Hunker down Wendy, it will be thawing fast by weekend!

[Tripps]

The FA Cup is a knockout competition where all the matches are chosen by a random draw.

Yeah right. . .

Arsenal v Manchester United
Manchester City v Salford City
Liverpool v Accrington Stanley

Show me as not totally convinced.




M

[Stanley]

You're a suspicious old bugger David! What's wrong with those draws?

[Tripps]

ou're a suspicious old bugger David!

Correct. . .

Two top teams against two no hopers (City beat Salford 8 - 0) who happen to live fairly nearby, and for whom the gate money for the match will secure their financial future.

They nearly came unstuck with Tamworth against Tottenham, who needed extra time to get through.

The draw for the next round seems random at first glance.

[Stanley]

[Tripps]

I joined the M11 this afternoon. It only has two lanes and was very busy. A huge lorry with two layers of huge old fashioned individual packages, wrapped and well tied down, moved aside to allow me in. I gave him a cheery thank you wave as I joined the motorway. He passed me and I flashed my lights briefly to indicate it was safe for him to resume lane one. He returned the compliment and flashed his indicators each side to say thanks. A brief moment of nostalgia - it was like driving used to be decades ago. I enjoyed the moment.
.

[Big Kev]

How it should be

[Stanley]

I can rememeber when letters were written to the papers discussing the mysteries of the lorry driver's light code!

[Tripps]

Whe any published Government statistic is said to have varied from the previous period by 0.1% (up or down ) you can confidently ignore it. I say it is impossible to measure anything to that level of accuracy - of one part in a thousand - especially something as amorphous , enormous, and constantly changing as inflation, or the gross national product. They are saying they can differentiate betwen 0.999 and 1.001 of a quantity.

[Stanley]

Dead right David and the same thought always crosses my mind when the spin doctors grasp these very thin reeds to 'prove' things one way or another. Look at the way there is a revision when the 3 month figures are published later.
Still, at the moment Ms. Reeves will be grateful for anything she can get!

[Tripps]

I mentioned the fact that my young lad bought a water colour painting of the good ship Juan Sebastian de Elcano - well Google knows now and keeps sending me videos like this one.

This is Spanish navy cadet - Princesa Leonor of Spain bravely climbing the mast. before a world wide training voyage.

"Que bonita".

[PanBiker]

Look at all the safety equipment and harnesses. Nowt like our Navy rating lads who used to do the mast manning at HMS Ganges. 142 foot high basic kit and plimsolls, "button boy" to complete the topping out. Having said that 53 ratings died during its use until it was retired and became a protected monument.

Maybe this is why we saw of the Spanish Armada back in the day.

HMS Ganges Mast

[Stanley]

As for 'seeing off the Armada'..... A good bit of PR but it was a bunch of privateers and the North Sea weather that did most of that , not a national Navy.
So Well done the Spanish Navy and the Princess! Thanks David.

[Gloria]

Where do those old sayings come from?
People used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & Sold to the tannery.......if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor"
But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot......they "didn't have a pot to piss in" & were the lowest of the low
The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.
Here are some facts about the 1500s:
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June.. However, since they were starting to smell . ...... . Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting Married.
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!"
Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof... Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a thresh hold.
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old. Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would Sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.
England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive... So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.
And that's the truth....Now, whoever said History was boring?

[Cathy]

Thanks Gloria, that was a good read.
And I learnt about Thresh hold, Peas Porridge and Upper Crust.

[Stanley]

[Tripps]

I like a bit of marching me. . . watching , not doing you understand.

This happened in London a couple of days ago. Quite a change from the usual marches there these days. The first 8 minutes or so are good - putative Jocks of all shapes sizes and ethnicities, then back to the usual stuff. Quite stirring I'd say.

[Stanley]

My eyes are bad David so I can't be sure but it seems to me the male 'Putative Jocks' hadn't gone so far as to adopt the kilt. They stuck to trews and left it to the ladies to provide the kilts.

[Big Kev]

This is a different concept, the live stage show is no longer touring and we don't want to travel to that there London...

It's being shown at the cinema
Les Misérables: The Staged Concert Live! (40th Anniversary)
Sunday 02 February 2025 | 14:30
Burnley | Screen 6

Filmed in 2019 at the Gielgud Theatre with a cast of Michael Ball, Alfie Boe, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Matt Lucas and more.

[Big Kev]

Bought a bottle of Aldi's finest

IMG_20250123_181344~2.jpg

to use in the kit I got for Christmas

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It has smoked oak chips, dried orange peel and a vanilla pod in it. I need to leave it for 14 days now before I filter the bits out. There's enough in the kit to do a second bottle.

[Tripps]

Bought a bottle of Aldi's finest

Me too. Great minds think alike. Looks like we both could do with a 'top up'.

whisky.jpg

[Big Kev]

It's not too shabby for a supermarket blend is it?

[Stanley]

I'm just about teetotal these days, a bottle of whisky will last me about 4 years I reckon and I have two bottles in reserve in the Vatican cellar.
So I'm still a purist, 16 year old Lagavulin. I see it's around £70 a bottle but all mine were free as they date back to the good old days when the BET editor used to give me a bottle of whisky of my choice every Xmas. I think it will probably see me out!

[Tripps]

I'm watching thr rugby Union Ireland v England. Mainly seeking the rare event - where the side putting the ball into the scrum do not win it.

I was impressed by the haircuts of the players - mainly bushy beards and bald heads - and the contrast between the two anthems.
England -
"God save our gracious King,
Long live our noble King,
God save the King:
Send him victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us:
God save the King".


Ireland gave us two -official and unofficial. Both quite belligerent -
The Soldiers Song -
Soldiers are we,
Whose lives are pledged to Ireland,
Some have come from a land beyond the wave,
Sworn to be free, no more our ancient sireland
Shall shelter the despot or the slave;
Tonight we man the Bearna Baoil
In Erin’s cause come woe or weal,
‘Mid cannon’s roar and rifle’s peal,
We’ll chant a soldier’s song.

Then for good measure we got -

Ireland's Call
Come the day and come the hour
Come the power and the glory
We have come to answer our country’s call
From the four proud provinces of Ireland
Chorus
Ireland, Ireland Together standing tall
Shoulder to shoulder
We’ll answer Ireland’s call
Verse 2
From the mighty glens of Antrim
From the rugged hills of Galway
From the walls of Limerick and Dublin Bay
From the four proud provinces of Ireland
Verse 3
Hearts of steel and heads unbowing
Vowing never to be broken
We will fight until we can fight no more
For the four proud provinces of Ireland


Ireland have won the match.