Messymascot's faith in humanity and ginger safe haven

[blue1948]

Good morning. Well where do I start? How about at the beginning. Picked Mr F up as arranged and went for our tea. We had been recommended a new place to try so we went. There was us in there and a Mum and a child. We approached the bar "Two carverys?" said the woman and before I had the chance to process the question she had rang them up and ushered us to a seat. Now, I like a roast dinner - home cooked, can't beat it. A carvery is probably my last option when I'm out for a meal. It was alright. Then Mr F scored the first of many own goals that night. He did not want a dessert!! What the actual.... Having consumed a mere 123 calories all day prior to going out I was not happy. I didn't want to eat on my own and look like a greedy pig I said "oh OK" and we left. Got to the Metro station. (about 20 minutes drive) Got on train going to St James's Park. Two stops in Mr F says "I need to get off, I'm bursting for a wee" The one pint of lager had worked its magic and he couldn't wait. We got off at Gateshead, couldn't find a loo, he found a dark corner of a car park. Got back on train. The wrong train. It did say "St James via the coast" Via the coast we discovered meant a 52 minute round trip to Whitley Bay and back to Newcastle. We got off at Jesmond and got another Metro back into Newcastle and walked to the ground.

Mr F then managed to get stuck in the turnstile. Don't ask I have no idea, I had already successfully negotiated the turnstile and only discovered this fact when the disabled gates opened and he came through. Honestly, it's like being out with a 4 year old! We took our seats, the wrong seats. We were a tier lower than we should have been, amongst all the flag waving hard core Geordies. Two bemused season ticket holders very politely booted us out of their seats about 5 minutes before kick off. Found our right seats which was immediately below where the Everton fans were. Oh My Goodness. So much hostility. Sitting in front of us was a Dad and his approximately 10 year old daughter. She had the face of an angel. She spent almost the entire match facing away from the pitch, giving V signs to the Everton fans and simultaneously shouting "w*nk*rs" at them. Dad seemed very proud and bought her curry and chips at half time. In my calorie deficient, no pudding, state I wondered if I tossed a few expletives out would he do the same for me.

And then there was the match. Same old same old I'm afraid although to be fair the two first half injuries absolutely scuppered us. Once Mina went off St Maximin ran riot, we had no answer to him. Through gritted teeth I have to say he is a class apart - far too good for them. Any tactical plans Frank had were probably ruined as well and, on a personal note, no chance to see Dom in action. We cannot defend set pieces at all, that needs huge improvement. Shelvey should have gone off ( not that the home fans agreed) Losing Gray took away a lot of our pace and Gomes wasn't at his best. Pickford survived a torrent of abuse for 90 minutes. Any positives? Gordon had a good game again, Richarlison never stops, he runs his socks off for 90 minutes. DVB and Dele Alli showed flashes of what they can do but it was very obvious that they have not played very much recently. Frank looked furious at the end, scowling in the corner of his technical area.

The bloke sitting on the other side of me attempted to hug me when the third goal went in. I resisted the urge to punch him. And then it was the end. I was so disappointed and have vowed that I am no longer spending money on Everton. Well, until the next time. lol We made our way out of the ground, back to the Metro and home without any dramas.....or McDonalds!

Better read than watching the match by far .Sorry you had a poo night .

 

[blue1948]

I'm just off out to the local shop to pick up some fresh tomatoes. I only have the little cherry tomatoes in the fridge. I like to use fresh one's in the stew rather than tinned, and I also put them in the lamb curry I'll be cooking next week. The Beef in red wine will do 3 meals, so I'll freeze one portion. As you say, 3 night tea in 1 pot, and it tastes nicer the next day too.

Anyway the reason i'm telling you all this is I had to get some proper clothes on to walk down to the village shop. I was just about to put on my jeans when I thought, Hang on, I've lost nearly 2 stone, why don't I try on a pair of old pants that don't fit me anymore. Anyway, I tried on a pair of pale green jeans that I used to love but had to stop wearing about 2 years ago because I felt like a sausage in them. Well they fit like a glove and I'm really chuffed with myself. I'm going to try other clothes on tomorrow.

"I'm going to try other clothes on tomorrow." Not doing the wife thing like me Fred? well done though .

 

[Barnfred 55]

Apparently somebody did say "nice handbag"

He must have seen the Calvein Klein logo?

 

[blue1948]

Good morning all mascoteers on this beautiful day .I hope the poorly ones feel a bit better today and the rest stay safe .Lots of Finns on the olympics this morning so quick run to the shops and back .Ice hockey at 11am our time is a must .
Have great day all.

 

[Barnfred 55]

Morning all. Weathers a bit gloomy down here today. The antibiotics are still working their magic as I continue to improve from my dental abscess. Zero symptoms at all now other than a touch of numbness in my gums. This mornings efforts to swallow the capsule (my 7th) was even more pathetic than usual, with pieces of the capsule getting stuck to my upper mouth thereby making me choke. I really really am a complete wimp. The contents of the capsule don't taste as foul as I remember though, which makes me think I may have had covid without realising and my taste buds are still affected by it. May explain why last nights beef in red wine stew tasted so bloody good.

How are you and the family coping @Methusaleh ? Is Mrs M coming round to the idea of accepting treatment for her condition?

How are you doing @Terrarian.? Still managing your situation?

@NeroCeasar. How's your family coming to terms with your MILs diagnosis?

There's a few others we haven't seen for a while in here that I'm missing already. @Bluetintedspecs, @larbert toffee, @Brett Angell Delight, @tommye, and @Harryflashman. Hope you're all keeping well and we hear from you in here soon. Edit. Plus Sassy of course but that goes without saying. Which is why I didn't say anything. lol

Hope everybody else has a good day. Having a smoked mackerel salad for lunch and a second go at the beef stew tonight. In between I'm going to try on a few more of my old clothes and see if anything else fits.

 

[Gwladysover]

Afternoon all. Just spent the morning home schooling granddaughter over FaceTime. Division this morning which apparently not done the same way as it was in my day (before the war eh @Barnfred 55 )so have had to learn the new method (using number counters and takes four times as long as it did before. I’m off to lie down in a darkened room. Hope everyone is well.

 

[blue1948]

Afternoon all. Just spent the morning home schooling granddaughter over FaceTime. Division this morning which apparently not done the same way as it was in my day (before the war eh @Barnfred 55 )so have had to learn the new method (using number counters and takes four times as long as it did before. I’m off to lie down in a darkened room. Hope everyone is well.

I have just watched a video on youtube showing this method as I had no idea .It can only be to get the kids to use equations earlier because as you said it was so long winded at least for the example they used 24/3 =y
We understand numbers much better than the kids of today and incidently I think Europeans too but the point is they don't need to understand the mathematical side as long as they can type .
This is progress , in the past a farmer could guess how much hay he had in the barn without counting so my maths wouldn't have helped him either .

 

[Barnfred 55]

Afternoon all. Just spent the morning home schooling granddaughter over FaceTime. Division this morning which apparently not done the same way as it was in my day (before the war eh @Barnfred 55 )so have had to learn the new method (using number counters and takes four times as long as it did before. I’m off to lie down in a darkened room. Hope everyone is well.

I know we say that they don't do things like they used to, but in education I don't believe we are wrong. My experience of younger people these days is that they don't have the same grasp of English grammar and simple arithmetic that we did. I refuse to believe that these youngsters are less intelligent, or that our teachers are not of the same calibre. It has to be what they are taught and how they are taught it.

Anyway, I've probably just upset half the posters in here with youngish children so I'll just leave it there before we get embroiled.

 

[jazzy]

Afternoon all ,

Had a busy morning cutting the grass.
Absolutely gorgeous here.
Your smoked mackerel salad sounds wonderful @Barnfred 55 .
Just about to cook a spicy bean casserole for tea as Mrs J in the Charity shop all afternoon.
Still can't believe that we are so close to the drop. Anyone remember the Wimbledon game at Goodison ?

 

[jazzy]

I know we say that they don't do things like they used to, but in education I don't believe we are wrong. My experience of younger people these days is that they don't have the same grasp of English grammar and simple arithmetic that we did. I refuse to believe that these youngsters are less intelligent, or that our teachers are not of the same calibre. It has to be what they are taught and how they are taught it.

Anyway, I've probably just upset half the posters in here with youngish children so I'll just leave it there before we get embroiled.

Having spent 2 years trying to teach law to 6th formers I have to say Fred that kids have a completely different mentality nowadays to what we had.

Of course there are exceptions but in my experience they just aren't bothered about their future careers and aren't prepared to put sufficient effort in.

Exam results have improved because the exams have been dumbed down and made much easier.

Bear in mind that I was teaching the so called cream of the crop!

 

[Barnfred 55]

Afternoon all ,

Had a busy morning cutting the grass.
Absolutely gorgeous here.
Your smoked mackerel salad sounds wonderful @Barnfred 55 .
Just about to cook a spicy bean casserole for tea as Mrs J in the Charity shop all afternoon.
Still can't believe that we are so close to the drop. Anyone remember the Wimbledon game at Goodison ?

Spicy bean stew sounds good mate. Why don't you pop the recipe in Sassy's thread. You don't mind if an old carnivore like me throws in a few smoked bacon lardons do you?

 

[Barnfred 55]

Afternoon all ,

Had a busy morning cutting the grass.
Absolutely gorgeous here.
Your smoked mackerel salad sounds wonderful @Barnfred 55 .
Just about to cook a spicy bean casserole for tea as Mrs J in the Charity shop all afternoon.
Still can't believe that we are so close to the drop. Anyone remember the Wimbledon game at Goodison ?

Do you eat fish Jazz.? I know some people who say they're vegetarian do. But given some of the fishing practices about these days I'd be surprised if you were one of them.

 

[jazzy]

Do you eat fish Jazz.? I know some people who say they're vegetarian do. But given some of the fishing practices about these days I'd be surprised if you were one of them.

I'm not a proper veggie.
I gave up meat over 24 years ago but continued to eat fish .
About 4 years ago I went completely veggie but lapsed two years ago.
Now I do eat fish but only if we are going out for a meal , so you can imagine I overdosed on fish in the Caribbean.
In fact you hit the nail on the head about fishing practices . It was the reason I gave up after I found a lovely turtle dead washed up in a net on a Greek beach. I'm sad to say my own weakness caused me to return to eating fish. .

 

[blue1948]

I'm not a proper veggie.
I gave up meat over 24 years ago but continued to eat fish .
About 4 years ago I went completely veggie but lapsed two years ago.
Now I do eat fish but only if we are going out for a meal , so you can imagine I overdosed on fish in the Caribbean.
In fact you hit the nail on the head about fishing practices . It was the reason I gave up after I found a lovely turtle dead washed up in a net on a Greek beach. I'm sad to say my own weakness caused me to return to eating fish. .

Not getting into an argument but there are farmed fish as much as farmed meat ,I watched Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall river cottage and he catches all kinds but a lot such as mussels are farmed ,we are by the way having mussels tonight as they come in fresh on Thursdays -from a farm in Denmark . I just mean there are many factors to consider and of course me and @Barnfred 55 will gloss over most.

 

[Barnfred 55]

I'm not a proper veggie.
I gave up meat over 24 years ago but continued to eat fish .
About 4 years ago I went completely veggie but lapsed two years ago.
Now I do eat fish but only if we are going out for a meal , so you can imagine I overdosed on fish in the Caribbean.
In fact you hit the nail on the head about fishing practices . It was the reason I gave up after I found a lovely turtle dead washed up in a net on a Greek beach. I'm sad to say my own weakness caused me to return to eating fish. .

One of the things I love about down here is that the fishing is nearly all sustainable and also most of the farming practices are organic and environmentally friendly. Most of the supermarkets will have their "local" section and all the village shops will have meat and dairy products sourced locally too, plus a lot of the veg. Most cafe's and restaurants that you go in source locally too. It's brilliant.