Twinky

I put a note in the topic in Open, the topic started by Brushie. It's just gone Bonfire Night (5 November) and no doubt people will be having bonfire parties over the weekend. Tis the traditional time for baked potatoes (done in the oven, but very traditionally done by wrapping up and placing in the bonfire embers) and bonfire toffee, thick, sticky and tough on the teeth. A good evening out: poking at the bonfire, letting off a few fireworks, then inside for hot drinks, soup, crusty bread and the baked potatoes. Then the next day kids go out and collect the rocket sticks, remains of bangers and other fireworks, and keep this smelly collection in their bedrooms till their mums have had enough and throw it in the rubbish. (This part does not have any traditional food accompaniments.)

The election result has been really well received in the UK. Black communities here have especially enjoyed it, and there is nothing like the polarisation of black/white here, compared to in the USA. One headline reads: "He's black, from a single parent, so what excuse is there now?" pulled from a longer quote reading: "He's a black man, from a single parent background, so what excuse do these kids [drug dealers whose excuse is that they are from single-parent black families] have now? Obama know what it feels like for people to say, 'You're no good' and to prove them wrong." It's not just the black community in the UK which is delighted with this result, lots of whites and Asians are, too. This man has so very much to deal with in the months and years ahead. Eight years of greed to sort out. War. Financial complications. International expectations. I do hope that the excitement at his election does not quickly turn to anger as he attempts to tackle the huge problems in front of him, to which there are no quick, let alone instant, answers. He and his prospective administration tem certainly need those prayers that Mark mentions.

Sorry, WG, my post earlier was a bit misleading. I know you didn't say those words, you were quoting from the book/book review and you were not advocating this wicked behavior. (Problem with words but no gestures...) Guess I should have said, "He WHAT????!!!!! to a child?????" (not "you what") Still though. No, I haven't heard of this particular abuser.

Hi NowISee. Yes, I've thought about a kitty aviary sort of thing. A sort of generously sized rabbit run might do it. Longterm goal is for them to be outdoor cats but they are so very nervous that if something scared them I am not entirely sure they wouldn't run off and not return. They cannot be caught except with great difficulty, and that's in any room in my house - never mind outside. Remember these cats are so scared that it was three months before I even saw one of them; life behind the fridge was The Best for her. Other spent three weeks behind the cabinet housing radio and other stuff before I caught a glimpse of her. Plan is to familiarise them with the outside of the house (smells, etc) for a while before I let them out. I will ultimately cut a cat door in the door so that they can get in and out at will. Holes in wall inappropriate, walls are 18 inches thick of solid stone. Hole in window inappropriate as double glazed, sealed units. I've used a water pistol with another cat when it misbehaved, like attacking furniture. However the "punishment" has to be meted out at the time of offence otherwise not associated, and I've only caught Tuxy physically in the act once. A success story with Crypto. Yesterday I thought I heard a miaow from her. Today I got a miaow at midday (demanding food) and another early evening (likewise). I responded immediately so as to encourage her. Then this evening I came in and they were milling around. I opened a sachet of cat food and they were both there, and many distinct miaows from Crypto. It seems so strange and slightly shocking, seeing this bright pink mouth opening and shutting in her densely black face. But definite noises, not her chirruping sounds.

You WHAT????!!!!! to a child?????

Am pleased about that. Landslide victory too. None of this recounting business. Here's wishing him well.

Somehow it's never occurred to me to put "love" and Chris Geer in the same thought. Huh, what a bizarre idea.

For goodness sake get rid of Bush wannabes.

Biological washing powder or liquid has enzymes in it that are supposed to break down organic material, specifically, body stuff like sweat, urine, excrement (kids or incontinence, anyone?) and will also remove everyday stains, fat and dirt more easily from the laundry. So perfect for dealing with kids and cats, as it should break down the urine and completely remove the smell and remove the temptation to do it again in the same area. They don't have any difficulty in using the litter tray. They do drink a lot so use the tray a lot and if it is not up to their standards, they will either wee directly in the bath (the tray is by their choice in the bath) or Tuxy will come and yell her head off at me until I work out what she wants and deal with it. As it's a white carpet I keep a square of some other carpeting on it just where a foot often goes to get elsewhere. One day I was in my kitchen and moved towards the sitting area and Tuxy moved away very smartly. I looked down and there was fresh wet on the little carpet square, which I found strange as I didn't recall spilling anything. It was only when I went to mop it up that I realised she had done it right there and then, practically under my nose. And then jumped away, looking all innocent. Grr!!!!! Any other suggestions, anyone?

Well you could always add some birthday greetings on the thread in Open.

Now I see, I put my recipe on your thread on In the Kitchen, too. It's dead easy.

GC, two interesting recipes. Both make the sauce separately. The recipe I posted includes it as part of the whole process so the pudding is deliciously sticky (as demonstrated at last year's Texas BBQ). Video Jug is pretty cool for recipes. They are usually simple and it's nice that they show you all the weapons you'll need to make the recipe. Sometimes they go into overkill and it's always worth a look at the comments underneath the recipe to see what others have thought if they have tried this particular method.

Sticky Toffee Pudding (This is a totally weird looking recipe, especially the bit about making the sauce. But "stick" with it!) The recipe is pretty good natured and flexible in the amounts. For Americans, please note 1 oz is about 25g and 500ml is about 22 oz liquid, rather more than a US pint. For the sponge: 100g dark muscovado sugar 175g Self Raising flour 125ml full fat milk 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla extract (I never bother) 50g unsalted butter For the sauce: 200g dark muscavado sugar 25g unsalted butter in blobs 500ml boiling water Preheat oven to Gas Mark 5/190deg C and butter a 1 1/2 litre (3 pint?) capacity pudding dish. Combine 100g sugar with flour in large bowl. Pour the milk into a measuring jug, beat in the egg, vanilla and melted butter and then pour over sugar and flour, stirring with a wooden spoon to combine. Put into dish. Sprinkle over the 200g sugar and dot with butter. Pour over the boiling water and transfer carefully to the oven. Set timer for 45 minutes, though pudding may need 5 or 10 minutes more. Top of pudding should be springy and spongy when it's cooked, underneath is a rich sticky sauce. ================================================ Comment: You will need a fairly large dish as the water on top stands proud before it's cooked; and the mixture rises quite a lot after cooking. We made this with chopped up dates mixed into the sponge mixture, which added a really delicious flavour. No doubt other fruits (sultanas?) or perhaps nuts could be added to give extra interest to the flavour. The vanilla essence could be substituted for coffee or other essence to complement other fruits and the taste of the sticky toffee sauce.

I put a recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding on this forum about a year ago. I will see if I can post a link. That's when I find the recipe.

Okay, here is my problem. Tuxedo likes to wee on the carpet. I had a nice red carpet that someone gave me, in the same area. I think that may have been urinated on by a previous animal. Anyway Tuxy started to creep behind the armchair and wee on it. I would clean it up as soon as I realised but she obviously did it a lot more than I'd noticed and eventually I had to throw the carpet away. I cleaned the area very thoroughly - surface is those plastic/laminate fake wood floorboards. I washed with floor cleaner, scrubbed and left to soak in biological wash powder, rinsed off and sprayed with bleach, rinsed off and sprayed with vinegar (to kill the smell of the bleach). So there shouldn't have been any residual smell. I now have a nice white carpet, very good quality, nice and thick. And she sneaks off and does a little watering of that from time to time. This carpet, though smaller, is heavy and would be difficult to wash. I could leave it to soak in the bath for a while but there are obvious difficulties in drying it. I don't think it is wool, but it probably has a proportion of wool in it. The slight smell of cat wee isn't inviting or pleasant on opening the door into the house. This has got to be a bit of a habit; it is not because she doesn't know where the litter tray is. She does, and uses it properly. This is either "marking" as the dominant cat, or stress (separation? boredom? fear?). If either of them is stressed, it ought to be Crypto, as Tuxy attacks and chases her for no reason other than playfulness (probably not perceived as such by Crypto!) but Crypto is not the culprit. No reason to suppose there are any health issues. Websites suggest putting a litter tray in the area but I don't want to do that because it is in the "sitting" area of my room and I don't want to encourage either of them to use it for a regular toilet. I put a strong smelling product supposed to deter cats down in the area and she just did it on top of the smelly stuff. I understand it might be a stress-related thing but she will sneak off and do it while I am there, not just when I am away for a few hours. Does anyone have any suggestions, before Tuxy (at least) gets turned into a pair of winter mittens?

Suggest you wash it well before using...the oregano, that is.

My cats are now two years old. My Halloween cats... that's when they were born. Crypto is still unhandled. Well, unless you count the one occasion when I picked her up and she was soooo scared and tore me up in her desire to get away. Yet she enjoys a neck scratch/fondle and loves to be near me. Tuxy can occasionally be grabbed and made to settle on my lap. She loves her neck being scratched and blisses out once she has relaxed. Once captured, she will eventually settle (ten minutes?) on my lap and then she will start "needling" my arm and purring. And then suddenly she realises she is enjoying it and leaps up to get away. Tuxy has the most persistent high-pitched mew when she wants something. This is accompanied by her peering intently into my face. Then it is a guess as to what she wants. Usually food, water, or to have the litter tray cleaned. Today, however, it was because she wanted to play. Crypto makes happy chirruping sounds which may or may not relate to what she is amusing herself with. But for the first time yesterday she gave a tiny mew when I was about to eat my evening meal. And tonight I heard a tiny shy mewing sound but it wasn't Tuxy's persistent whine, but rather deeper, so perhaps Crypto is finding a voice at last. I have had the harness on Tuxy one more time and left it on her for a while. I have not been tried to take her outside, perhaps that was too many new experiences all at once. She is not keen at all on the harness. She must be giving off bad "fear smells" - something I don't pick up on - but when she is nervous or frightened, she may remain still but Crypto will set herself off hissing and arching her back at me. Very odd. They have refused the food they usually eat (supermarket generic kibble) but devoured a free sample of the most expensive Purina One. So now they are on Go-Cat which they think is lovely. They eat three times as much of this as their other kibble. Guess I musta been starving them. Or maybe they have the confidence to be picky. What was nice recently was that a friend who I don't see often came round to visit, and both cats showed themselves readily and sniffed at his clothing and shoes. They wandered around with tails happily erect and not hiding at all. It doesn't seem much, but that's the yardstick that I have to measure by. My friend was amazed and said it was the first time he had really seen them; they have usually been rushing to the nearest hiding place. I have a problem with them which I will post separately.

Was fossicking around in Wikipedia tonight and by accident discovered that November 4 is the birthday of ... Craig Martindale. Whilst hesitating to wish him a happy birthday (much less, many happy returns :unsure: ), I thought it might be interesting to consider what one might say on such an occasion. So, Craig, if you're listening: Spend a few minutes of your birthday reviewing what your life has become, and asking yourself if you want the rest of your life to be more of the same. Give yourself a happy birthday by acknowledging in the depths of your soul how unhappy you became and maybe still are, and repenting of the evil you did. Use today to start afresh and (even though you hate New Year Resolutions and called them "a recipe for failure,") make some decisions about how you can make amends. For a birthday present: a big bundle of humility. You may get some compassion, too. Now the waiter will bring some fresh coffee and try not to spill it down your shirt.

Not pasties as such, but I have made meat pies. And apple pies. And lots of other pies. Some pasties have the "seam" along the top and some, along the side. No doubt there is a traditional way (Cornish=on top, I think) but hey as long as the content is good, so what, teeth don't have eyes to see where the seam is!

Bump for benefit of people joining in last few months.

Ain't that true! Feel free to vent. Write a poem about that, too. The "Event of Venting."

I visited at Gartmore several times. The people there were nice, but there was a funny sort of atmosphere. I hadn't been around places or TWI long so didn't recognise it for what it was. People didn't like to do things and always felt the need to refer back to him. This may be typical of the sort of thing that happened. Bear in mind that Gartmore is way out in the wilds of Scotland. It's a long way from anywhere. There isn't any public transport unless perhaps there is the odd local bus which trundles round various villages and thence to the nearest town. Believers from London used to go up to Scotland for the weekend. They would come up the motorway from London and zip up to Scotland (what is it, 800 miles?) sometimes calling in at Birmingham to pick up believers from central Birmingham. Then continue up the motorway. I lived in a little town 30 or so miles north of Birmingham. The motorway skirted round this town and there was a junction close to where I lived. It was about 1 mile to walk there. I arranged on several occasions to be picked up at this junction. What it meant was that the bus scooted off the motorway, pulled over and I jumped onto the bus, and it went straight back up the on-ramp. Not a big cloverleaf - just straight on and off. Very simple. Time delay: maybe 60 seconds. If that. So I would be waiting out at this junction at between midnight and 1am. Or later. Unworried, all alone, and it was dark. No problems. They would drop me off same way, straight off the motorway, drop me, and then straight back on. Minimal delay. I would walk home. Again, this would be maybe 1am. I asked for nothing special, just drop me off. Even though it was only a mile to my home and on major roads with no difficulties of access, I didn't ask to be dropped off there. No worries. I paid the same fare as everyone else, including those coming from London. One time I was up there. I became aware of a row that was going on. The WoW who was undershepherding me was getting very agitated, and eventually said I would be going home with someone else. Turned out that whoever organised this bus trip had now refused to drop me off at my M'way junction. No, they would not pull off. It would mean special treatment/favour for me and if they did it for one, all the others might wonder why and also want special treatment and to be dropped off at their homes. But - they would take me down to Birmingham and I could make my own way back from there. Birmingham? At 3am?? I don't even know if there would be a train service back to my town - and what time would I arrive there? And have to get home from the station? How to do that?? Crazy!!!!! Thankfully, a carload of believers - not sure where they lived, and I didn't even know them - went at least 50 miles OUT OF THEIR WAY in order to drop me at my mother's home where I planned to spend a little time. I believe half my fare was refunded to the WoW, who then gave it to the people who gave me a lift home. Not sure, he took care of everything. I find this utterly incredible. If the bus folks had said they were unwilling to do it NEXT TIME, well, that would be something to think about. But to "dump" someone way out in the boonies.., or take them off to some huge strange major city where the bus station is never nice even in the daytime, and dump them there at night... Not sure how many times I went up to Gartmore after that. I think there must have been one time, but a carload of believers picked me up and dropped me off. They stayed with me overnight, or we all travelled off one time and broke the journey in Manchester. Maybe they stayed with me on the way home - long time ago now. What has this to do with Chris Geer? Well, he was running all Europe from Gartmore at the time, and was therefore the head of the organisation. This is the kind of controlling directive that came down from there. Must do it same for all, or else. I don't know if he was directly involved, or if it was just part of the ethic of the time. I already thought CG was pretty arrogant and uncaring. This incident didn't help me feel any better about him. Somewhere - love and compassion had been left behind. Oh, this must have taken place some time between 1986 when they bought Gartmore and 1988. I think my WoW friend was in the E-Corps in about 1986. He didn't last long there. No details.

Brits do like pies and pasties! Did you see in the attached article, they used to be "dinner" one end and "pudding" the other? (I've never had one like that!) A good pasty is very good. A bad one is all pastry and no filling. Have you tried making any, GQ?

It is a man, right? Sadly I have no claims to fame. Or to rubbing shoulders with the famous. I just have some great friends.

Praying at the golden calf... :unsure: