CoTT 2 House of Cards

[Headstall]

26 minutes ago, Marty said:

A beautiful piece. Released last year, it could almost be a poem for today:

 

"Couldn't we do this differently."  Brilliant, Marty. Thank you.  

[Headstall]

4 minutes ago, Albert1434 said:

Aloha Dear Gary hope your still sane!

Relatively.   

[Page Scrawler]

5 minutes ago, Albert1434 said:

Aloha Dear Gary hope your still sane!

[Timothy M.]

33 minutes ago, Page Scrawler said:

Mont Saint-Michel. You can drive across a bridge, or walk across the sand at low tide, but the floodplain presents a quicksand hazard for pedestrians.

I visited a couple of years ago, it was really impressive.

[clochette]

1 hour ago, Page Scrawler said:

Mont Saint-Michel. You can drive across a bridge, or walk across the sand at low tide, but the floodplain presents a quicksand hazard for pedestrians. At high tide, the water level climbs to 14 metres/46 feet, making it a naturally defended position. Because of this, it went unconquered during the Hundred Years' War.

@clochette should like this bit: farmers on the mainland coast love to graze their sheep in the nearby salt marshes. The butchered meat comes pre-salted due to the saline content of their diet!   

Actually I'm not sure you can drive by yourself between the island and the mainland. You can walk, there's a define and secure path - though idiots often don't follow it - or you can take small tourist buses. Unfortunately you should be prepared cause its beauty is almost always hidden by masses of tourists and the rustic charm taken over by souvenirs shops.

Having sheeps grazing in salt fields is very common on the north coasts. The meat from the mont st Michel sheeps has an AOP (protected designation of origine). Same for those from the Baie de Somme https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prés_salés_de_la_baie_de_Somme

Edited April 19, 2020 by clochette

[Page Scrawler]

23 minutes ago, clochette said:

Actually I'm not sure you can drive by yourself between the island and the mainland. You can walk, there's a define and secure path - though idiots often don't follow it - or you can take small tourist buses.

You're right. When I said "drive", I actually should have said "ride".   

 

24 minutes ago, clochette said:

Unfortunately you should be prepared cause its beauty is almost always hidden by masses of tourists and the rustic charm taken over by souvenirs shops.

Sounds like Disneyworld: Overcrowded, overpriced, and underwhelming.

[dughlas]

18 hours ago, Valkyrie said:

I have a great recipe for seafood lasagna rollups.  It's so good.  I'll have to do some thinking and come up with a low carb alternative  

Can you sub zucchini slices for the pasta?

[Valkyrie]

Just now, dughlas said:

Can you sub zucchini slices for the pasta?

Yeah, that could work.  I also have a cauli crust for pizza or sandwiches that I"ve used to make lasagna before.  Those work too.  I wouldn't be able to roll them up, but I could make a nice lasagna out of them   The zucchini slices could probably be rolled up. 

[dughlas]

17 hours ago, Albert1434 said:

I love keeping you sane Gary its a dirty job but someone has to do it

You just like the "dirty" parts of the job ...

[dughlas]

Just now, Valkyrie said:

Yeah, that could work.  I also have a cauli crust for pizza or sandwiches that I"ve used to make lasagna before.  Those work too.  I wouldn't be able to roll them up, but I could make a nice lasagna out of them   The zucchini slices could probably be rolled up. 

I would try blanching them in lightly salted water first and then blotting them very well before making the roll ups. That should make them more limber and also release some excess moisture.

[dughlas]

3 hours ago, Marty said:

Greetings, Albert.

Here's a picture of Croaghaun Mountain, on Achill Island off the west coast of Ireland.

  Hide contents

(No, it's not one of my photographs.)

It's still lovely.

[dughlas]

9 hours ago, Marty said:

It's Sunday morning here, and currently overcast with a temperature of around 10°C (50°F), and a forecast high of 15°C (59°F).

There was a bit of rain overnight, but I think it was no more than an April shower, and it's promised to be a dry day.

I reckon I should go out and face the day. But I need my second cup of coffee first.  

Maybe those of us getting rain should fill this cup and return it to you.

Here the day started a bit chilly but with warm bright sunshine. It became overcast just past noon and started raining about 2:30. The forecast is for several different features to pass through between now and tomorrow morning. Each with successively more severe storms culminating in the potential of very severe winds and tornadic activity during the wee hours of the night. This is the thing I hate about Spring here at Mum's the extreme storms.

[dughlas]

2 hours ago, Headstall said:

Relatively.   

Relatively more or relatively less ... or ... more or less than your least sane relative, WQ's excluded, we already know their mental status.

[Headstall]

6 minutes ago, dughlas said:

Maybe those of us getting rain should fill this cup and return it to you.

Here the day started a bit chilly but with warm bright sunshine. It became overcast just past noon and started raining about 2:30. The forecast is for several different features to pass through between now and tomorrow morning. Each with successively more severe storms culminating in the potential of very severe winds and tornadic activity during the wee hours of the night. This is the thing I hate about Spring here at Mum's the extreme storms.

It warmed up here and the sun came out for about an hour. I had a great walk with Cookie. Now it's dreary again. You guys be careful.  

[Marty]

5 hours ago, Headstall said:

"Couldn't we do this differently."  Brilliant, Marty. Thank you.  

I'd never heard of Kate Tempest before last night, when People's Faces was played on Irish radio. To say I was gobsmacked on listening to it would be an understatement. I wasn't sure who I was listening to, so made sure to listen to the DJ afterwards to find out who was performing. I honestly thought it was a song written for the current pandemic but, when I Googled Kate Tempest, I was amazed to find it was from an album she released last October. What an amazing talent!

The full poem:

Spoiler

People's Faces
(Kate Tempest, 2019)

It's coming to pass
My country's coming apart
The whole thing's becoming
Such a bumbling farce

Was that a pivotal historical moment
We just went stumbling past?
Here we are
Dancing in the rumbling dark
So come a little closer
Give me something to grasp
Give me your beautiful, crumbling heart

Another disaster
Catharsis
Another half-discarded mirage
Another mask slips

I face off with the physical
My head's ringing from the love of the stars

There is too much pretence here
And too much depends on the fragile wages
And extortionate rents here

We're working every dread day that is given us
Feeling like the person people meet
Really isn't us
Like we're going to buckle underneath the trouble
Like any minute now
The struggle's going to finish us

And then we smile at all our friends

It's hard
We got our heads down and our hackles up
Our backs against the wall
I can feel you aching

None of this was written in stone
There is nothing we're forbidden to know
And I can feel things changing

Even when I'm weak and I'm breaking
I'll stand weeping at the train station
'Cause I can see your faces

There is so much peace to be found in people's faces

I saw it roaring
I felt it clawing at my clothes like a grieving friend
It said:
"There are no new beginnings
Until everybody sees that the old ways need to end"

But it's hard to accept that we're all one and the same flesh
Given the rampant divisions between oppressor and oppressed
But we are though

More empathy
Less greed
More respect

All I've got to say has already been said

I mean, you heard it from yourself
When you were lying in your bed and couldn't sleep
Thinking couldn't we be doing this
Differently?

I'm listening to every little whisper in the distance singing hymns
And I can
I can feel things
Changing

But it's so hard
We got our heads down and our hackles up
Our backs against the wall
I can feel your heart racing

None of this was written in stone
The current's fast but the river moves slow
And I can feel things changing

Even when I'm weak and I'm breaking
I stand weeping at the train station
'Cause I can see your faces
There is so much peace to be found in people's faces

It's not enough
To imagine we'll be happy, when we've got enough stuff
All this stuff is blocking us
I'm neat with no chaser
I'm all spirit but I'm sinking
Because the days are not days but strange symptoms

This age is our age
But our age is rage
Sinking to beige
And yes our children are brave
But their mission is vague

Now I don't have the answers
But there are still things to say

I stare out at my city on another difficult day
And I scream inwardly
When will this change

I'm beginning to fade
But my sanity's saved,
'Cause I can see your faces
My sanity's saved
'Cause I can see your faces

It's hard
We got our heads down and our hackles up
Our backs against the wall
I can feel your heart racing

None of this was written in stone
The current's fast but the river moves slow
And I can feel things changing

Even when I'm weak and I'm breaking
I stand weeping at the train station
'Cause I can see your faces

I love people's faces

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by Marty

[Albert1434]

Well my bread is working 

Edited April 19, 2020 by Albert1434

[Marty]

3 hours ago, Page Scrawler said:

Sounds like Disneyworld: Overcrowded, overpriced, and underwhelming.

Sounds like Las Vegas. I spent a night there around six years or so back, after a week in the Grand Canyon. It wasn't by choice, and I wouldn't deliberately go again.

[Albert1434]

4 hours ago, clochette said:

Actually I'm not sure you can drive by yourself between the island and the mainland. You can walk, there's a define and secure path - though idiots often don't follow it - or you can take small tourist buses. Unfortunately you should be prepared cause its beauty is almost always hidden by masses of tourists and the rustic charm taken over by souvenirs shops.

Having sheeps grazing in salt fields is very common on the north coasts. The meat from the mont st Michel sheeps has an AOP (protected designation of origine). Same for those from the Baie de Somme https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prés_salés_de_la_baie_de_Somme

The pilgrims on there way to the holy land would stop here to get a blessing at the church on top of the mountain. They are also known for there HUGE omelets they make! 

A fav of the Pilgrims Very medieval

     

Edited April 19, 2020 by Albert1434

[Timothy M.]

3 hours ago, Page Scrawler said:

You're right. When I said "drive", I actually should have said "ride".   

Sounds like Disneyworld: Overcrowded, overpriced, and underwhelming.

Yeah, we rode on one of the small coaches on the way out and walked back. There were a lot of people, but if you get there early enough in the day it isn't too bad. And the views over the landscape were amazing.

[Headstall]

I've just written 2200 words of another story. What the hell am I doing?  

[CassieQ]

3 minutes ago, Headstall said:

I've just written 2200 words of another story. What the hell am I doing?  

Want to write 2000 words of mine?  

[Page Scrawler]

20 minutes ago, CassieQ said:

Want to write 2000 words of mine?  

Hello, Cassie, my lovely queen.     

[Marty]

26 minutes ago, Headstall said:

I've just written 2200 words of another story. What the hell am I doing?  

Sounds to me like you're doing bloody good!

Edited April 19, 2020 by Marty

[Headstall]

32 minutes ago, CassieQ said:

Want to write 2000 words of mine?  

Lol. No thanks. My head is aching, and every word I type needs to be fixed. I don't think I can control the size of this one, so I may have to shelve it.  I have another story I should be working on.  

[Headstall]

12 minutes ago, Marty said:

Sounds to me like you're doing bloody good!

Maybe if I wasn't feeling so drained. I think I'm going to switch off and watch some TV.