Lovely lazy day here in Northern Italy. Went for a drive this afternoon (after naps) and then back home for a risotto that I made while looking at a wonderful double rainbow. If it wasn’t for being eaten by the flipping mosquitoes I could stay here and forget to go home.
We had a lovely afternoon with Archie and his mum, and No. 1 niece and Harvey, and then No. 2 niece, her partner and Larry the Labradoodle came round in the evening for a Chinese takeaway, making for a very enjoyable day.
It was a most frustrating Sunday. Having promised my finance director a set of profit targets by Monday morning, the network went down and I was unable to access the files I needed. I rebooted the computer every 20 minutes for a period of 13.5 hours from 9am onwards until the network finally connected at 10:30pm. I am now fairly frantic; just taking a few seconds in between tasks to post here and listen to Tchaikovsky's 'Hymn of the Cherubim' while the coffee brews.
Croquet is a strangely vindictive and pitiless game. I think that it's the contrast with the superficial gentility of it that makes the dark currents beneath so surprising and distressing. I played a bit for my college in university, and was initially taken aback by the gleeful malice of some competitors. Gin took the edge off for me.
It comes from being a middle/upper class game. They're always more polite on the surface than their working class counterparts but vicious underneath. Consider rugby union as opposed to football. Or how vicious lacross and hockey are.
Absolutely, Sipech - computer-related frustration sucks great festering gooseballs.
It's quite a nice day here, and after meeting up with my brother and sister-in-law to do a bit of admin stuff, I took an amble to the post office in the village to send off some more admin stuff (I had passports and birth, marriage and death certificates to send off in relation to D's pension), and it was really rather good ambling weather.
I woke up today with mild chest pain on breathing in, which then spread to my back. It clearly wasn’t cardiac so I assumed it was my lungs again but I’m not short of breath and have managed to walk 4 miles today so I’ve decided it must be oesophagitis or biliary colic. It responds to ibuprofen so clearly isn’t a major issue. But it is depressing, I’ve had enough health problems recently without getting random inflammations.
Younger son has been given a place at the sixth form he wanted so that is good news, studying maths, physics and computers, and possibly further maths (still being decided upon by the college).
Younger son has been given a place at the sixth form he wanted so that is good news, studying maths, physics and computers, and possibly further maths (still being decided upon by the college).
Almost what I did, 20 years ago (Maths, Further Maths, Physics, History and Computing was my starting set).
Few students here do 4 subjects let alone 5; only 15% of students at Hills Road do 4 subjects and that includes further maths. The rest do 3 and the extended project.
Few students here do 4 subjects let alone 5; only 15% of students at Hills Road do 4 subjects and that includes further maths. The rest do 3 and the extended project.
I was one of the guinea pigs for Curriculum 2000 which meant 5 subjects at AS plus key skills (groan). I remember getting gently told off by my form tutor for arguing over the grammatical conventions surrounding "which" and "that" because I was feeling insulted by being forced to sit through communication key skills lessons.
I did four A levels but they reflected my interests rather than any career ambitions - Art, Biology, Geography and General Knowledge.
It was a very, very free and easy school (1970s) - we chose whether to attend classes and teachers were not allowed in the 6th form common room, but smoking was.
I was often found in there sleeping off a hangover before considering popping over to the main school for a lesson. 🤣🤣
Your lives were very different to mine, lol. I don’t have any A levels and when I was 17 (1986) I was on a YTS scheme in a small residential care home cleaning toilets, wiping bums and holding people’s hands while they died (the latter being terrifying at the time but actually something I turned out to having a talent for; the ability to reassure and comfort people).
If I had done A levels they would have been English, English Literature, Sociology and History; I wanted to be an English teacher. My first degree is an Open degree of mixed subjects consisting of health, sociology and English literature. My second degree is a history degree (free study is a perk of OU teaching). Not going to college/uni led me to yearn to study and I’ve done part time study for 14 of the 29 years since I qualified as a nurse.
I’m off to Waitrose and then today is a study day and I need to work on the ethics submission for my research.
One of the privileges of being a Christian in the UK is that you can be considered young well into adulthood and middle age. About half my local church are of my grandparents' generation, most of the rest of my parents'. I'm the only adult under 50, I suspect.
When I was a probationer minister we were addressed by the then Moderator, John Miller, who pointed out that we were entering a calling which would have us seen as up and coming young talent until well into our 60s.... Sadly true.
I still have a couple of coasters in regular use from John Miller's time as Moderator. He stayed with my (Episcopalian) household as both a neutral venue and because of his interest in the work my household was involved in (if I recall correctly) as a basis for a Glasgow visit but, alas, I was already pre-booked to be away with other work so never actually got to meet him! (But, I did get written thanks for my pre-prepared share of the hospitality extended!)
I once went to John's church at Castlemilk, shortly before he retired. An unassuming man - it was only later I realised what a wonderful ministry he'd had. On his retirement the Council renamed the local school after him!
It was a ‘posh’ school too - King Edward VI Grammar School for Girls.
Me too.
I left in '61 - couldn't wait!
Gave the sixth form a miss, but suspect that in my time it was a bit more sedate. Not even sure a sixth form common room existed then, but am pretty sure that smoking and gels with hangovers would not have been tolerated.
High point of my time there was rock 'n' roll being allowed for the first time at the (single sex) Christmas party/dance.
I'm scratching my head wondering what's the point of a single-sex school dance ...
It's a filthy day here: rain, wind, with a side-order of dreichness. Consequently there won't be any amblage, but I got my exercise by cleaning the downstairs loo.
I may go and do some therapeutic bread-making - that would drive away the winter August blues, wouldn't it? Also contemplating the manufacture of a potato curry for supper.
It was a ‘posh’ school too - King Edward VI Grammar School for Girls.
Me too.
I left in '61 - couldn't wait!
Gave the sixth form a miss, but suspect that in my time it was a bit more sedate. Not even sure a sixth form common room existed then, but am pretty sure that smoking and gels with hangovers would not have been tolerated.
High point of my time there was rock 'n' roll being allowed for the first time at the (single sex) Christmas party/dance.
How interesting. You are the only one I know. We moved house a lot in those days (my Dad was a minister) and I easily lost touch with friends.
My memories are very blurry. I remember our ‘houses’ were Amethyst, Coral, Garnet and Topaz - very 1970s! I remember the headteacher, Miss Sargeant, a kind lady. The sixth form centre was in a kind of basement room with very modern furniture and triangular ‘pouffes’ you could arrange to make a sleeping place.
The art room was right at the top of the building, a very zany place - and you could get up on to a flat bit of the roof and do your work, or eat your packed lunch up there.
It's a filthy day here: rain, wind, with a side-order of dreichness. Consequently there won't be any amblage, but I got my exercise by cleaning the downstairs loo.
You should come down to south Wales, where we're experiencing real wind today (along with the dreichness, although I'm not sure if that's possible south of Hadrian's Wall). I did amble plod to Waitrose between gusts, though.
My memories are very blurry. I remember our ‘houses’ were Amethyst, Coral, Garnet and Topaz - very 1970s! I remember the headteacher, Miss Sargeant, a kind lady. The sixth form centre was in a kind of basement room with very modern furniture and triangular ‘pouffes’ you could arrange to make a sleeping place.
The art room was right at the top of the building, a very zany place - and you could get up on to a flat bit of the roof and do your work, or eat your packed lunch up there.
I'd say mine are even blurrier.
Our houses were named after Royal Houses, I think. As far as I recall, I was in Stuart, and our house colour was yellow. It was not the most successful House in any area of expertise.
Our headmistress was Miss Bamforth. I would not say my strongest recollection is of her being a kind lady.
I think the sixth form accommodation was built after I left. During my time there a new science block was built - I remember ogling the builders.
I remember the excitement caused by the arrival of the first male teacher in the school, even though he wasn't much to write home about,but his name has long escaped me.
We weren't impressed with girls-only dances. It was mostly country dance type things - groups, not really partners. The rock'n'Roll introduced in my last year was just a sedate choreographed demonstration by a group of us, me included, to Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat (don't know what we did about Fred). The following year, after I had left, actual R&R dancing was allowed for all.
I bet you didn't get the elocution lessons in the first term, to iron out the local accent. It didn't work - I still have traces, even having left the area well over fifty years ago.
I bet you didn't get the elocution lessons in the first term, to iron out the local accent. It didn't work - I still have traces, even having left the area well over fifty years ago.
I never gained the accent as we only moved to Birmingham when I was 15. I loved it the city ‘tho, I still do.
Fascinating to hear the old school reminiscences. I belong to a Facebook group for my old secondary school. I hated it, but loads of the ex-pupils seemed to have loved it.
Back home from out lovely brief trip to Italy. The first lot of washing is on.
Fascinating to hear the old school reminiscences. I belong to a Facebook group for my old secondary school. I hated it, but loads of the ex-pupils seemed to have loved it.
Back home from out lovely brief trip to Italy. The first lot of washing is on.
Flight was fine @Boogie, though disappointingly both flights were really full and the airports looked about as busy as usual, though I guess they probably weren't. It was a bit windy coming in, but I've been on worse. Despite all the practice I've been doing my Italian is still rubbish1
I suppose you'd have caught some of the folk coming back before the end of the English school holidays?
As the dreichity remains unabated, I made some bread this afternoon, and though the dough came out very sticky*, once it was baked it was really rather good.
* I don't think I'm measuring the flour right - I'm used to having a huge bag of flour, which is easily big enough to dig the cup measure into without getting the stuff everywhere, but with small bags I have to faff about filling the cup measure from a smaller cup. Also, I wonder if British "plain" flour is different from North American "all-purpose" and absorbs differently?
@Piglet, I don't know what 'all-purpose' flour is, but you wouldn't usually use British plain flour for bread which requires raising with yeast - for that you would need Strong flour which has more gluten.
The word from the old interweb is that Canadian all-purpose flour can be used for bread-making, but not British or US. You need strong flour - which is what we always use for bread.
The word from the old interweb is that Canadian all-purpose flour can be used for bread-making, but not British...
That's the received wisdom. However lockdown flour shortages forced me to test it and it turns out not to be true. You can make bread with British plain flour. The texture's very slightly different but it works.
When I’ve made bread from plain flour (because I have run out of strong/bread flour) it has tended to be quite dense.
I need to get my mojo back. I’m feeling better physically but finding it very hard to get down to work, not helped by not officially working/studying over the summer. But the study bit is my own endeavour and I need to get cracking. Today is the day I get back into a proper work routine.
Amazon (if you use them) was selling 16kg bags directly from caterers for very good prices. I bought one from the mill that makes Kingmill, apparently.
I get my bread flour from Shipton Mill online. I get organic strong white and wholemeal. It’s excellent flour. My loaves usually involve a mix of the two - half and half. I add a tablespoon of chia seeds too, they are good for you and add a lovely texture to the loaf.
I make a small one pound loaf every day and freeze what we don’t use.
@Firenze My recipe is the same but 1 tablespoon of sugar, not a tsp and oil instead of butter (one tablespoon).
If you bulk buy flour, mind how you store it. My mother - who ran a soda bread production line - kept it in a plastic dustbin under the stairs. Until she found the mouse droppings.
How are your gardens/pots this morning? I’ve just found the cover of my swing chair down the road, the toggle had obviously worked loose in the wind (the rope now has a knot in it). The runner bean frame is down.
Thanks for the flour advice - I suspect that Am*z*n is going to be the way to go, much as I begrudge Mr. Bezos any more money!
When we lived in Canada, we bought 10kg (or occasionally 20kg) bags of all-purpose flour from Costco and stored it in a plastic bin with a lid in the larder. We didn't have any mouse issues - at least not there.
Is it ever going to stop raining??? I really want to amble, but I hate being rained on ...
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My daughter is the same. She loves her autumn wardrobe.
Hitherto it has been my least favourite season, but I want to learn to appreciate it.
It comes from being a middle/upper class game. They're always more polite on the surface than their working class counterparts but vicious underneath. Consider rugby union as opposed to football. Or how vicious lacross and hockey are.
I hope all will go well, Sipech. Network problems like this are ghastly! Sorry to hear of your woes!
It's quite a nice day here, and after meeting up with my brother and sister-in-law to do a bit of admin stuff, I took an amble to the post office in the village to send off some more admin stuff (I had passports and birth, marriage and death certificates to send off in relation to D's pension), and it was really rather good ambling weather.
Younger son has been given a place at the sixth form he wanted so that is good news, studying maths, physics and computers, and possibly further maths (still being decided upon by the college).
Almost what I did, 20 years ago (Maths, Further Maths, Physics, History and Computing was my starting set).
https://butterfly-conservation.org/moths/large-yellow-underwing
I'll get my cardigan.
I was one of the guinea pigs for Curriculum 2000 which meant 5 subjects at AS plus key skills (groan). I remember getting gently told off by my form tutor for arguing over the grammatical conventions surrounding "which" and "that" because I was feeling insulted by being forced to sit through communication key skills lessons.
I did four A levels but they reflected my interests rather than any career ambitions - Art, Biology, Geography and General Knowledge.
It was a very, very free and easy school (1970s) - we chose whether to attend classes and teachers were not allowed in the 6th form common room, but smoking was.
I was often found in there sleeping off a hangover before considering popping over to the main school for a lesson. 🤣🤣
I bet things have changed there!
If I had done A levels they would have been English, English Literature, Sociology and History; I wanted to be an English teacher. My first degree is an Open degree of mixed subjects consisting of health, sociology and English literature. My second degree is a history degree (free study is a perk of OU teaching). Not going to college/uni led me to yearn to study and I’ve done part time study for 14 of the 29 years since I qualified as a nurse.
I’m off to Waitrose and then today is a study day and I need to work on the ethics submission for my research.
One of the privileges of being a Christian in the UK is that you can be considered young well into adulthood and middle age. About half my local church are of my grandparents' generation, most of the rest of my parents'. I'm the only adult under 50, I suspect.
Yup!
I left in '61 - couldn't wait!
Gave the sixth form a miss, but suspect that in my time it was a bit more sedate. Not even sure a sixth form common room existed then, but am pretty sure that smoking and gels with hangovers would not have been tolerated.
High point of my time there was rock 'n' roll being allowed for the first time at the (single sex) Christmas party/dance.
It's a filthy day here: rain, wind, with a side-order of dreichness. Consequently there won't be any amblage, but I got my exercise by cleaning the downstairs loo.
I may go and do some therapeutic bread-making - that would drive away the winter August blues, wouldn't it? Also contemplating the manufacture of a potato curry for supper.
How interesting. You are the only one I know. We moved house a lot in those days (my Dad was a minister) and I easily lost touch with friends.
My memories are very blurry. I remember our ‘houses’ were Amethyst, Coral, Garnet and Topaz - very 1970s! I remember the headteacher, Miss Sargeant, a kind lady. The sixth form centre was in a kind of basement room with very modern furniture and triangular ‘pouffes’ you could arrange to make a sleeping place.
The art room was right at the top of the building, a very zany place - and you could get up on to a flat bit of the roof and do your work, or eat your packed lunch up there.
I'd say mine are even blurrier.
Our houses were named after Royal Houses, I think. As far as I recall, I was in Stuart, and our house colour was yellow. It was not the most successful House in any area of expertise.
Our headmistress was Miss Bamforth. I would not say my strongest recollection is of her being a kind lady.
I think the sixth form accommodation was built after I left. During my time there a new science block was built - I remember ogling the builders.
I remember the excitement caused by the arrival of the first male teacher in the school, even though he wasn't much to write home about,but his name has long escaped me.
We weren't impressed with girls-only dances. It was mostly country dance type things - groups, not really partners. The rock'n'Roll introduced in my last year was just a sedate choreographed demonstration by a group of us, me included, to Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat (don't know what we did about Fred). The following year, after I had left, actual R&R dancing was allowed for all.
I bet you didn't get the elocution lessons in the first term, to iron out the local accent. It didn't work - I still have traces, even having left the area well over fifty years ago.
I suppose if one's attractions ran that way one might find it quite appealing.
ITTWACW!
I never gained the accent as we only moved to Birmingham when I was 15. I loved it the city ‘tho, I still do.
Back home from out lovely brief trip to Italy. The first lot of washing is on.
How was the flight @Sarasa?
As the dreichity remains unabated, I made some bread this afternoon, and though the dough came out very sticky*, once it was baked it was really rather good.
* I don't think I'm measuring the flour right - I'm used to having a huge bag of flour, which is easily big enough to dig the cup measure into without getting the stuff everywhere, but with small bags I have to faff about filling the cup measure from a smaller cup. Also, I wonder if British "plain" flour is different from North American "all-purpose" and absorbs differently?
Three quarter tsp yeast
400g strong white flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
15 g butter
280 ml water
(In that order) is my standard never-fail bread maker loaf.
That's the received wisdom. However lockdown flour shortages forced me to test it and it turns out not to be true. You can make bread with British plain flour. The texture's very slightly different but it works.
I need to get my mojo back. I’m feeling better physically but finding it very hard to get down to work, not helped by not officially working/studying over the summer. But the study bit is my own endeavour and I need to get cracking. Today is the day I get back into a proper work routine.
@Piglet you can get 16 or 25kg bags in the UK, but you’ll probably need to go to a catering supplier for them.
I make a small one pound loaf every day and freeze what we don’t use.
@Firenze My recipe is the same but 1 tablespoon of sugar, not a tsp and oil instead of butter (one tablespoon).
When we lived in Canada, we bought 10kg (or occasionally 20kg) bags of all-purpose flour from Costco and stored it in a plastic bin with a lid in the larder. We didn't have any mouse issues - at least not there.
Is it ever going to stop raining??? I really want to amble, but I hate being rained on ...
You'll have had your summer. And probably about Mar 2021 (unless we're lucky in late Sept/early Oct).