Another Ramble

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle 

will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. Buddha

Having sorted ornaments, Partner-who-loves-tea and I are now starting on the hundreds of candle / tea light holders and candles that are around the house.

One of the first we came across was the Wee Willy Winkie one that belonged to my parents.

The original text of 1841 was written in Scots but by 1844 there was an English version:-

Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Up stairs and down stairs in his night-gown,
Tapping at the window, crying at the lock,
Are the children in their bed, for it's past ten o'clock?

I’ve just been purchasing a DVD recorder. The main reasons are to transfer stuff that is clogging up Rich’s Sky’s hard drive because he wants to keep it, family videos and Rich’s camera tapes onto DVD. Having settled on what seemed , by the Idiot’s Guide description, to fit the bill I turned to the more technical data. The first sentence read “By interpolating video data using proprietary algorithms, SD format data is up-converted to 1080 x 1920p HD format video data.” Duh! I’m just hoping the Idiot’s Guide was adequate to take the decision.

 While sorting the loft I investigated all the pictures that were up there.  One of them got brought down to be displayed - Picasso's Sleeping Woman.  It needed cleaning up so I took it out of the frame and behind it I found a picture I'd been seeking for ages.  I thought we must have got rid if it and yet I knew I wouldn't have done so intentionally. 

It was done by a student at one of the Liverpool colleges or schools and Jo bought it from them for charity.  The artist was Sarah Jones and I think it's fantastic. We had it on the wall when we lived in a big Victorian house with tons of wall space for pictures but somehow it then got hidden behind Picasso.  For the moment it has gone back there but I aim to have it out soon.


We are not fans of Tesco but I called in there the other morning because I fancied a cake and I wondered what they had.

I found they had doughnuts. Much as I dislike extolling the virtues of  They’re-Taking-Over-the-World-Tesco, the doughnut was wonderful. It reminded me of the doughnuts that used to be made by the Doughnut Shop at the end of my parents’ road. The only difference being that those from the Doughnut Shop were freshly made and still warm.

 And if that hasn't made your mouth water how about this (with apologies to Helen and Ian and other veggies).

Rich sometimes makes me a dinner.  This one was worthy of any Michelin star restaurtant.  The sauce was made with saffron, chillies, leeks and all sorts of exotic ingredients.  It infiltrated the chicken skin and was so delicate yet tasty.  The roasted garlic was super and the roast potatoes were to die for.    I think the carrot and swede was one I made earlier taken out of the freezer so I can take a tiny bit of credit for it... Just looking at that photo makes me want it again. Where are you, Rich?