Post a good thing that happened in your life today

[Betty LaRue]

4 hours ago, John Morrison said:

 

I feel a twinge of sadness… but the Romahome is a vehicle, not a person or a dog (or a parrot!). Having a campervan as my sole transport doesn’t seem to make sense any more; I’m happy to put money in the bank, and for someone else to get full use of the van. I’ve also decided to prioritise writing projects, and cut back on stock photography. I’ll upload pix to Alamy now and again, to ‘keep the pot boiling’… but the rewards for my time, effort - and diesel - are now too meagre. Every time my pix are sold for pennies, my motivation takes another hit…

You have a nice big portfolio that should continue bring some decent sales along with the penny ante ones. I hope you are buying another means of transport if only to get to the grocers.

[gvallee]

Hubby and I attended Aboriginal cooking lessons and dinner, part of The Tastes of Kakadu Festival. 10 out of 10.

 

Set among pandanus in the forest surrounding the Warradjan Cultural Centre, holes had been dug in the ground for cooking. We were shown how to stuff a barramundi with silver eucalyptus and lemongrass and cook it on embers.

 

Next came the demo of how to make a salad of water lilies, star fruit and green ants. Our participation was required to chop the ingredients and to catch the green ants! A long yam from Arnhem Land was proudly produced and cooked over the fire. Buffalo meat simmered and a damper was also baked. The result was superb.

Wine was flowing, relaxed conversations were held across the long table. So many different people, nationalities, lifestyles, stories.

We were shown videos of Aborigines gathering the food for the meal, in particular one wading through a billabong collecting the water lilies: he could smell a croc!!

 

Incredible day! Such clever people.

[Allan Bell]

Not sure if this is a "good thing or bad thing".

 

At the gun club this morning and someone picked up a plastic something and said "What's this?"   An experienced member told him it was the wadding from a "Batten round" like the police use.  Then proceeded to say that there was an instruction that they were not to be fired at someone who was running away in case the round hit the ground behind them and disappeared up their arse.

 

I said  "Rectum".    He said "RECTUM!  Damn near killed him."

 

Allan

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by Allan Bell

[Mr Standfast]

On 21/05/2022 at 01:24, Michael Ventura said:

It's always a good day to have one of your kids graduates from college and today was that day for my son.  Camden is on the autism spectrum, he has always had a passion for maps...his grandfather on his mom's side, was a mapmaker.  He just earned a degree in Applied Geography (cartography) so he can hopefully get a government job where they always have a need for people who know the GIS program, the standard program for mapping.  Ever since he was very little, he just absorbed maps and had a great sense of direction.  Instead of doodling in school, he would draw pretty accurate maps of places all over the world.  Autism has its benefits at times.  There were times that I didn't think he would go to higher education but one day, while he was a senior in high school, we took a tour of a local college and we walked past a classroom with sign next to the door saying "Cartography", and that was it, I made an appointment to meet with the woman who ran that department and she promised he would be a great fit there, and she was right!!

 

Thats smashing news.  AS is normal in our house. 🙂

[Betty LaRue]

On 20/05/2022 at 19:24, Michael Ventura said:

It's always a good day to have one of your kids graduates from college and today was that day for my son.  Camden is on the autism spectrum, he has always had a passion for maps...his grandfather on his mom's side, was a mapmaker.  He just earned a degree in Applied Geography (cartography) so he can hopefully get a government job where they always have a need for people who know the GIS program, the standard program for mapping.  Ever since he was very little, he just absorbed maps and had a great sense of direction.  Instead of doodling in school, he would draw pretty accurate maps of places all over the world.  Autism has its benefits at times.  There were times that I didn't think he would go to higher education but one day, while he was a senior in high school, we took a tour of a local college and we walked past a classroom with sign next to the door saying "Cartography", and that was it, I made an appointment to meet with the woman who ran that department and she promised he would be a great fit there, and she was right!!

That is so wonderful! I would imagine Camden will be better at his eventual job than most of us were at ours. An absolute fascination with something puts him ahead of most who waver in what they want to do in life.

[John Morrison]

On 22/05/2022 at 00:05, Betty LaRue said:

You have a nice big portfolio that should continue bring some decent sales along with the penny ante ones. I hope you are buying another means of transport if only to get to the grocers.

 

Thanks, Betty. I'm mobile again. Grocers here we come...

[spacecadet]

We had dinner at the Fat Duck on Friday.

[Allan Bell]

49 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

We had dinner at the Fat Duck on Friday.

 

I first read that as "We had dinner with the fat duck on Friday."

 

Where is the Fat Duck and is it any good or worth the journey from Lincoln?

 

Allan

 

[spacecadet]

3 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

I first read that as "We had dinner with the fat duck on Friday."

 

Where is the Fat Duck and is it any good or worth the journey from Lincoln?

 

Allan

 

Bray as in Studios near Maidenhead.

Not to be obtuse but it's fair to say that unless you're a fan of Heston Blumenthal and prepared to drop a couple of hundred for 11 mostly very small dishes over 5 hours, possibly not.

It has 3 Michelin stars. One to look up. Quite an experience.

I was hoping someone here would have heard of it.

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by spacecadet

[Ognyan Yosifov]

25 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

Bray as in Studios near Maidenhead.

Not to be obtuse but it's fair to say that unless you're a fan of Heston Blumenthal and prepared to drop a couple of hundred for 11 mostly very small dishes over 5 hours, possibly not.

It has 3 Michelin stars. One to look up. Quite an experience.

I was hoping someone here would have heard of it.

 

We all know Heston - the weird guy with the scientific weird dishes. N.B. I've seen his work only on TV, though ...

[Mr Standfast]

1 hour ago, spacecadet said:

Bray as in Studios near Maidenhead.

Not to be obtuse but it's fair to say that unless you're a fan of Heston Blumenthal and prepared to drop a couple of hundred for 11 mostly very small dishes over 5 hours, possibly not.

It has 3 Michelin stars. One to look up. Quite an experience.

I was hoping someone here would have heard of it.

 

 

 

Heard of it, but after dining at his services on the M4 I would'nt bother...🤪

[spacecadet]

11 hours ago, Mr Standfast said:

 

 

Heard of it, but after dining at his services on the M4 I would'nt bother...🤪

Oh dear. Well the Bray-Maidenhead bit of the M4 was closed at the weekend, so...........

[Bryan]

Planted out the sweetcorn two days ago, then saw on the weather forecast that strong winds were coming. So yesterday I built temporary windbreaks around the planting grid and earthed up all of the plants. As of last night the plants had all survived the battering from the wind, so, fingers crossed, they should be OK.

[Betty LaRue]

A lot of Kansas is in drought, not where I live, though. We’ve been getting rain across the state for several days, and my rain gauge shows over 4.5 inches and it’s still raining lightly.

My son has been trying to move into his new place, and can’t get anything done because of it. It started raining Sunday evening. A lot of rivers/streams are at flood stage, especially where I grew up south 100 miles. So good, drought-breaking, bad in other ways.

A good thing is I have a new washer and dryer coming next week. The set I have is front loading, and it’s especially hard for me to take the wet, heavy clothes out since surgery. It takes a while to get a load out. The door is really low to the floor.  So I’m getting a top loader again and can’t wait. The dryer is manageable because the clothes are dry and not heavy, and it just takes a quick scoop to unload. But I want matching, so….

I listed my present set last evening and had it sold in 30 minutes. The couple came, saw, bought. They are leaving them with me until the new come, since they don’t need them right away. Good for all.

[sb photos]

In our garden we have a bird table that's currently very popular with mainly starlings, and now even more so with all the new fledglings. They have nearly got through a large 1.5Kg tub of meal worms in around 3 weeks. Earlier this morning it was feeding frenzy time. Will photograph the next feeding when the bird table is lit by the sun. Looks a nice day now, but likely to become cloudy soon. Shame I need to stay in for a few MS Teams sessions. Will make it out later for some scheduled photography and familiarise parking and the area for one of the Platinum Jubilee events next Thursday. Also finalised 3 days away in Lincolnshire next month, mainly for photography.

Edited May 26, 2022 by sb photos

[NYCat]

I thought the little robin that had been trying out two nests in our garden had given up on both of them. Yesterday I saw her in the original one where we have one almost every year. I did get photos one year but they definitely look taken in a city.. not nature.. so I haven't had any zooms or sales on them until a zoom today on this one...

 

Robin in nest with babies.

 

Paulette

[sb photos]

Back in 2018 I was driving into an industrial estate and I was hit by another car cutting a corner through a car parking area. The damage to my car, an old diesel VW Bora, didn't look that bad but it was written off. I received my payout and was sorry to see my courtesy car go back. What I thought was a straight forward case of the other driver at fault dragged on until today and was finally settled in my favour. After a 1 hour 55 minute MS Teams session the lack of enthusiasm in the opposition barrister when she got around to cross examining me was obvious. As expected the judge found 100% in my favour, all costs paid by the other insurance company. I was surprised the other drivers insurer didn't admit liability long ago. Another reason for annual insurance premiums rising each year. Now to take some photo's and have a beer when I get back. 

 

More good news. My wife had thyroid cancer, and the thyroid was successfully removed some years back. Due to Covid she didn't have any annual tests the last 2 years. Today she was signed off after ultrasound scans today in Oxford, all was well. 

[Betty LaRue]

1 hour ago, sb photos said:

Back in 2018 I was driving into an industrial estate and I was hit by another car cutting a corner through a car parking area. The damage to my car, an old diesel VW Bora, didn't look that bad but it was written off. I received my payout and was sorry to see my courtesy car go back. What I thought was a straight forward case of the other driver at fault dragged on until today and was finally settled in my favour. After a 1 hour 55 minute MS Teams session the lack of enthusiasm in the opposition barrister when she got around to cross examining me was obvious. As expected the judge found 100% in my favour, all costs paid by the other insurance company. I was surprised the other drivers insurer didn't admit liability long ago. Another reason for annual insurance premiums rising each year. Now to take some photo's and have a beer when I get back. 

 

More good news. My wife had thyroid cancer, and the thyroid was successfully removed some years back. Due to Covid she didn't have any annual tests the last 2 years. Today she was signed off after ultrasound scans today in Oxford, all was well. 

Wow, two great things in your and your wife’s favor. Happy it all worked out!

[Betty LaRue]

6 hours ago, NYCat said:

I thought the little robin that had been trying out two nests in our garden had given up on both of them. Yesterday I saw her in the original one where we have one almost every year. I did get photos one year but they definitely look taken in a city.. not nature.. so I haven't had any zooms or sales on them until a zoom today on this one...

 

Robin in nest with babies.

 

Paulette

Years ago, when hubs worked for a gas company, he shot a robin’s nest with babies stretching necks up, beaks open. The nest sat on a bunch of large gas transmission pipes. It was a wonderful film photo, and won a few photography contests.

The softness of the babies against the hardness of metal was great. Buyers should pay more attention to these kinds of photos.

[sb photos]

11 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Years ago, when hubs worked for a gas company, he shot a robin’s nest with babies stretching necks up, beaks open. The nest sat on a bunch of large gas transmission pipes. It was a wonderful film photo, and won a few photography contests.

The softness of the babies against the hardness of metal was great. Buyers should pay more attention to these kinds of photos.

 

My wife works in an Oxfordshire garden centre. They regularly have robins nesting in the strangest of places. I'm photographing there tomorrow, but have likely left it too late to photograph them.

[gvallee]

As part of the Taste of Kakadu Festival (Northern Territory, Oz), we attended a magical event: Dining under the Stars. Glamour bush tucker I'd call it, was the fabulous Aboriginal food for the night.

As stars appeared in the sky, we joined the guests following the flaming tiki torches to the beautifully laid out sparkling lights of our dinner setting. With a glass of bubbly in hand, we filed past a small fire to get tenderised by the smoking ceremony.

 

Once we were seated at a dozen tables, each with a huge bucket of ice and a limitless supply of beer and wine, the fun began.

First up was a delicious assortment of cheeky yams (the toxic ones which need a lot of cleaning), whitebait, bush tomato pie, all served with special bush plant sauces and spices. Next came an array of spiced barramundi, smoked croc, emu and kangaroo with side portions of Davidson plum confit and water lily stems, other tasty bush plants and delicate local herb sauces. The desserts of panna cotta with Kakadu plum coulis and a bush creme brulee were ultra yummy.

We paused our chomping briefly for the lights to be turned out and a big burly local Bininj man took the microphone and a laser pointer to show us the stars as seen by Aborigines. Rather than define by lights in the sky as we do, they name the dark shapes between the lights, such as the emu below the milky way.

Back on earth, we then listened to a small Indigenous group play short bursts of didgeridoo.

What a night to remember: the superb food, the animated talking at the tables mingling with humming didgeridoo, the clink of glasses, and the scent of woodsmoke whilst the stars shone down on the Bush as they have for aeons.

 

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by gvallee

[Allan Bell]

4 hours ago, gvallee said:

As part of the Taste of Kakadu Festival (Northern Territory, Oz), we attended a magical event: Dining under the Stars. Glamour bush tucker I'd call it, was the fabulous Aboriginal food for the night.

As stars appeared in the sky, we joined the guests following the flaming tiki torches to the beautifully laid out sparkling lights of our dinner setting. With a glass of bubbly in hand, we filed past a small fire to get tenderised by the smoking ceremony.

 

Once we were seated at a dozen tables, each with a huge bucket of ice and a limitless supply of beer and wine, the fun began.

First up was a delicious assortment of cheeky yams (the toxic ones which need a lot of cleaning), whitebait, bush tomato pie, all served with special bush plant sauces and spices. Next came an array of spiced barramundi, smoked croc, emu and kangaroo with side portions of Davidson plum confit and water lily stems, other tasty bush plants and delicate local herb sauces. The desserts of panna cotta with Kakadu plum coulis and a bush creme brulee were ultra yummy.

We paused our chomping briefly for the lights to be turned out and a big burly local Bininj man took the microphone and a laser pointer to show us the stars as seen by Aborigines. Rather than define by lights in the sky as we do, they name the dark shapes between the lights, such as the emu below the milky way.

Back on earth, we then listened to a small Indigenous group play short bursts of didgeridoo.

What a night to remember: the superb food, the animated talking at the tables mingling with humming didgeridoo, the clink of glasses, and the scent of woodsmoke whilst the stars shone down on the Bush as they have for aeons.

 

 

 

 

A three times in a lifetime experience.  Well you are going back again, aren't you?

 

Allan

 

[sb photos]

19 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

 

A three times in a lifetime experience.  Well you are going back again, aren't you?

 

Allan

 

 

Deleted

Edited May 30, 2022 by sb photos

[Allan Bell]

Deleted.

 

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by Allan Bell

[Ed Rooney]

 

There were thousands of people in red shirts gathered down by the River Mersey last night . . . and Liverpool lost the big match on Saturday. What would it have been like had they won?