In the last month or so I've taken up fishing with a rod from the quay. If sea gulls and porpoises are also around it's a good sign, and they often are. I usually catch at least one fish. When I'm finished fishing I take the catch of the day up to the basement to make it ready to be put in the freezer or made dinner of. But the next day I have to take the head and other entrails and throw it back in the sea before it starts smelling too much. While I'm there I usually find the fishing rod in the boathouse and fish for a while. I usually catch at least one fish. Etc.
Olley’s Fish & Chips, Brockwell Park, London. Their cod, chips and coleslaw are unbeatable, if you live near the Lambeth area I recommend this, wholeheartedly.
Fish and chips are available here and some of it is really good but it’s not the same as back in England. There is something quintessentially English about the dish, lashings of salt and vinegar on the chips, of course!
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Snow. That feeling of snow being crushed underfoot whilst wearing a heavy coat and scarf. I wouldn’t want it year round, just a couple of days a year would be fine, I prefer the warmth and sunshine in my old age.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
If you want to stay up all night morbidly fascinated and clicking on 'Next Page' then this Mumsnet thread about Rude Celebs that its members have met may be for you. Every so often Mumsnet throws up these threads about snippy stars and it goes the distance, I guess they have so many members the stories don't get repeated. BTW works best if you're British, as understandably most of the celebs mentioned are too.
I love these kinds of threads. I've seen a few over the years. It's funny how the same names crop up though. I read a fabulous one that cabin crew did about their worst celebrity passengers. Cilla Black's name always come up.
I will say that I think it's unfair when people base an opinion when they've just had a very fleeting encounter with someone. Everyone can have a bad moment.
Bookshops. Not surprising with my background suppose! I miss a good old bookshop, I know they are diminishing in England now but here they are virtually nonexistent. The National Book Centre shops do have a small amount but it’s 90% stationery in there. But most of all I miss the atmosphere of a shop filled to the rafters with books, I could spend all day one, especially a secondhand one!
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I'd totally agree with you there, @CoolHandBond. I too love a good long browse around a secondhand bookshop and have made many good finds there over the years. Like you I lament the sad decline of the secondhand bookshop in the UK. One of my favourite ones locally closed up a few months ago as the owner retired and an antiques shop has popped up in its place. That only leaves two secondhand bookshops in my local area. They are sadly slowly becoming a thing of the past.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Thousands upon thousands of books. It's as old fashioned a book shop as they come. The basement in particular is of another era where you can quite literally climb over all the surplus stock that can't fit on the shelves! A Fire/H&S nightmare, but oh so charming.
No, I haven’t. Another good reason to visit Scotland next spring! It sounds like Hay-on-Wye in Wales which is chock full of bookshops.
@The Red Kind That looks like a good example of a general secondhand bookshop. Mine was different in that I only specialised in book series and pulp genres, many of which I posted the covers to on another thread. @caractacus potts was asking for some pictures of my shop and I do have some physical hard photos somewhere in a box, along with hundreds of others from the past, I will post some when I get round to searching them out, I didn’t have a cellphone capable of taking photos until I retired so I haven’t got any on there, which would be much easier!
@Silhouette Man Sad to see that you only have two left in your area, a sign of the times, unfortunately 🙁
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
About 20 minutes by car, I would imagine. Battersea was my neck of the woods when I was living in London, Olley’s was a short drive away, always worth a drive there. Hope you enjoy it @Napoleon Plural
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Just wait for f*king snow shovel season in Canada.
I bet you‘re gonna miss the UK very soon 🤔
_______________________
in Victoria (and Vancouver) it snows maybe once every five years. The good news is therell be about a centimetre on the ground and the whole of civilization takes the next week of work because theres no snowplows. Very civilized attitude
I used to see roses blossom in January when I lived in Victoria: its because of the Pacific current which pushes warm equatorial waters northwards up the coast
@Sir Miles have you been to the west side of the island yet?
Hi caractacus, yes I’ve been over to the west side of the island…but not too far upland yet…I still think it’s crazy that there is only one highway on the island 🤣 but if that closes 🙈
YNWA 97
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
"Named after your mother, perhaps?"
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
As Super Typhoon Karding approaches the northern islands of the Philippines, above Manila, our thoughts are with everyone there battening down the hatches and we hope everyone stays safe. The after effects of our own cataclysmic event here, just before Christmas last year, are still being felt in some areas. We have heavy rain at the moment from the outer fringe of the typhoon, but that is all.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
The typhoon has passed and the body count so far is a low 5 and damage not as bad as feared, although 75,000 people are displaced at the moment. It could have been a lot worse.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
When I was a kid in the 60’s you could buy sweet cigarettes, a candy stick painted red on one end to imitate a glowing cigarette. These came in colourful packs with a collectible card inside. Something that was phased out during the 80’s, I think, to stop kids from going onto the real thing.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
You can still buy them but they're just called Candy Sticks and have no red tip. I used to love them in the winter when it was cold and you could pretend to be smoking and have a big puff of air when you exhaled. 😁
Back in the day people around here believed thunder was the sound of Thor driving his wagon across the sky and lighting was him using his hammer. Superstitious nonsense!
Thunder happens when God goes bowling and lighting is an effect of The Lord trying to get the bread out of the toaster using a fork. Fact.
Comments
In the last month or so I've taken up fishing with a rod from the quay. If sea gulls and porpoises are also around it's a good sign, and they often are. I usually catch at least one fish. When I'm finished fishing I take the catch of the day up to the basement to make it ready to be put in the freezer or made dinner of. But the next day I have to take the head and other entrails and throw it back in the sea before it starts smelling too much. While I'm there I usually find the fishing rod in the boathouse and fish for a while. I usually catch at least one fish. Etc.
It's a vicious cycle.
Things I Miss About England #1:
Olley’s Fish & Chips, Brockwell Park, London. Their cod, chips and coleslaw are unbeatable, if you live near the Lambeth area I recommend this, wholeheartedly.
Fish and chips are available here and some of it is really good but it’s not the same as back in England. There is something quintessentially English about the dish, lashings of salt and vinegar on the chips, of course!
Things I Miss About England #2:
Snow. That feeling of snow being crushed underfoot whilst wearing a heavy coat and scarf. I wouldn’t want it year round, just a couple of days a year would be fine, I prefer the warmth and sunshine in my old age.
😊
If you want to stay up all night morbidly fascinated and clicking on 'Next Page' then this Mumsnet thread about Rude Celebs that its members have met may be for you. Every so often Mumsnet throws up these threads about snippy stars and it goes the distance, I guess they have so many members the stories don't get repeated. BTW works best if you're British, as understandably most of the celebs mentioned are too.
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4622604-rudest-encounter-with-a-celeb-ive-ever-experienced?page=1
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I love these kinds of threads. I've seen a few over the years. It's funny how the same names crop up though. I read a fabulous one that cabin crew did about their worst celebrity passengers. Cilla Black's name always come up.
I will say that I think it's unfair when people base an opinion when they've just had a very fleeting encounter with someone. Everyone can have a bad moment.
Things I Miss About England #3:
Bookshops. Not surprising with my background suppose! I miss a good old bookshop, I know they are diminishing in England now but here they are virtually nonexistent. The National Book Centre shops do have a small amount but it’s 90% stationery in there. But most of all I miss the atmosphere of a shop filled to the rafters with books, I could spend all day one, especially a secondhand one!
Totally agree! Did you ever go to a town called Wigtown? It's in Scotland, but in the borders. Bookshop lovers paradise!
(NB- not to be confused, as I did once, with the similarly named Wigton which is not far away on the English side of the border.)
I'd totally agree with you there, @CoolHandBond. I too love a good long browse around a secondhand bookshop and have made many good finds there over the years. Like you I lament the sad decline of the secondhand bookshop in the UK. One of my favourite ones locally closed up a few months ago as the owner retired and an antiques shop has popped up in its place. That only leaves two secondhand bookshops in my local area. They are sadly slowly becoming a thing of the past.
For lovers of Secondhand book shops, I recommend this one in Carlisle;
Thousands upon thousands of books. It's as old fashioned a book shop as they come. The basement in particular is of another era where you can quite literally climb over all the surplus stock that can't fit on the shelves! A Fire/H&S nightmare, but oh so charming.
But... they'd all be in French!
Roger Moore 1927-2017
No, I haven’t. Another good reason to visit Scotland next spring! It sounds like Hay-on-Wye in Wales which is chock full of bookshops.
@The Red Kind That looks like a good example of a general secondhand bookshop. Mine was different in that I only specialised in book series and pulp genres, many of which I posted the covers to on another thread. @caractacus potts was asking for some pictures of my shop and I do have some physical hard photos somewhere in a box, along with hundreds of others from the past, I will post some when I get round to searching them out, I didn’t have a cellphone capable of taking photos until I retired so I haven’t got any on there, which would be much easier!
@Silhouette Man Sad to see that you only have two left in your area, a sign of the times, unfortunately 🙁
Am def to visit this, not far from Waterloo then.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
About 20 minutes by car, I would imagine. Battersea was my neck of the woods when I was living in London, Olley’s was a short drive away, always worth a drive there. Hope you enjoy it @Napoleon Plural
higgins said:
Just wait for f*king snow shovel season in Canada.
I bet you‘re gonna miss the UK very soon 🤔
_______________________
in Victoria (and Vancouver) it snows maybe once every five years. The good news is therell be about a centimetre on the ground and the whole of civilization takes the next week of work because theres no snowplows. Very civilized attitude
I used to see roses blossom in January when I lived in Victoria: its because of the Pacific current which pushes warm equatorial waters northwards up the coast
@Sir Miles have you been to the west side of the island yet?
Taking time off work because of snow? What a strange custom.
Hi caractacus, yes I’ve been over to the west side of the island…but not too far upland yet…I still think it’s crazy that there is only one highway on the island 🤣 but if that closes 🙈
"Named after your mother, perhaps?"
😂😂😂
As Super Typhoon Karding approaches the northern islands of the Philippines, above Manila, our thoughts are with everyone there battening down the hatches and we hope everyone stays safe. The after effects of our own cataclysmic event here, just before Christmas last year, are still being felt in some areas. We have heavy rain at the moment from the outer fringe of the typhoon, but that is all.
🤞
The typhoon has passed and the body count so far is a low 5 and damage not as bad as feared, although 75,000 people are displaced at the moment. It could have been a lot worse.
I'm sure it could've been worse, but 75 000 displaced sounds pretty bad.
From what little I've been able to gather, it sounds as if it wasn't as destructive as last time.
Fortunately, the typhoon decreased in ferocity quickly and so damage was a lot less than we had here the week before Christmas last year.
When I was a kid in the 60’s you could buy sweet cigarettes, a candy stick painted red on one end to imitate a glowing cigarette. These came in colourful packs with a collectible card inside. Something that was phased out during the 80’s, I think, to stop kids from going onto the real thing.
You can still buy them but they're just called Candy Sticks and have no red tip. I used to love them in the winter when it was cold and you could pretend to be smoking and have a big puff of air when you exhaled. 😁
There’s no equivalent over here, at least I haven’t seen any, anyway. I used to love pretending to be “grown up” 😁
Back in the day people around here believed thunder was the sound of Thor driving his wagon across the sky and lighting was him using his hammer. Superstitious nonsense!
Thunder happens when God goes bowling and lighting is an effect of The Lord trying to get the bread out of the toaster using a fork. Fact.
You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)