Marty

Hi, Page!

Val doesn't know what she's missing!

So, of course, I just have to share this (one of my favourite songs from the psychedelia era): 🎶 When the men on the chessboard get up and tell you where to go And you've just had some kind of mushroom, and your mind is moving low... Go ask Alice, I think she'll know! 🎶

Not necessarily.... (And not that I am suggesting anyone tries eating it...) Commonly called Fly Agaric (Scientific name: Amanita muscaria), the Russians (amongst others) consider it a delicacy. "Apparently most people eat only the caps or the very young buttons. They must be boiled in a large volume of water for a period of time, and then you need to toss out that water. After that, most cultures will either fry them like normal mushrooms, or pickle them, or preserve them in oil; I happen to know that a certain set of Italians do this. The Japanese around Nagano eat Amanita muscaria as pickles, as do the Lithuanians, Finns and Russians." (Source: https://honest-food.net/eating-santas-shroom/) Make sure to toss out the water - it contains toxins that have been leached out of the mushrooms. It is also hallucinogenic, and is widely considered to have been the hallucinatory ‘shroom responsible for Alice’s trip into Wonderland. As I said, I wouldn't advise anyone trying this (indeed I considered putting most of the above inside spoiler tags...)

Here' a few more mushrooms... *evil grin*

The Westminster Government changed its advice to “stay at home” in favour of advice to “stay alert” last night... Please remember the No Politics rule if you decide to reply.

Not if I eat it first.

Sweet dreams, Mr B. And stay safe.

Here's the recipe: https://allourway.com/italian-peas-with-mushrooms/

How about both together...

Or posts a picture of some garden peas.

Or a butcher you whose meat you didn't want to handle?

He's only happy when he's complaining...

Hey, bro. I'm sure spring will arrive when it is ready to...

Good morning, young man.

Good morning, all Another morning that feels distinctly chilly here in the northwest of Ireland, at least in comparison to much of the past couple of weeks. Currently around 9°C (48°F), but feeling a fair bit cooler due to northeasterly breeze, Mainly sunny, though, with no rain forecast. Seems like that may be the pattern for much of this week. There's an area of high pressure in the Atlantic, currently to the northwest of Ireland, which isn't forecast to move a great deal over the next 4 days or so. It will maintain a pattern of cold, polar winds over Ireland, but should not bring any significant rain. The nights will be cold, though, getting close to 0°C (32°F) some nights, with a risk of grass frosts. I took my trays of runner bean seeds indoors last night and left them on a windowsill. They may have to stay there until the temperatures start to rise again. Thankfully, the seed potatoes I planted last week have no shoots above ground yet. Currently 45 of the 50 onion sets I planted on the 30th of April have sprouted, and I'm sure the others will push their little green shoots up out of the soil in the next day or two. Thankfully, onions, unlike potatoes, are not sensitive to frost. And I have beetroot seedlings starting to emerge. Hope all of you have a great Monday!

'Sakes, indeed!

Hi, Page Hope your day's going well.

Hi, Gary! And you have a great rest-of-the-day/evening.

Quite possible that both were... The Irish have a tradition of wearing kilts, as well as the Scots. There are some differences, most importantly being: (a) the traditional Irish kilt is the Saffron Kilt, which doesn’t form a tartan or plaid design, and is typically a mustard yellow in color, and (b) each Scottish Kilt tartan represents a separate Scottish clan, whereas the Irish kilt tartans that do exist were made to represent the different Irish districts and counties. https://www.kilts.com/scottish-kilt-vs-irish-kilt/

To go with Albert's YouTube link:

And I'm glad you did! An important message, and well worth watching.

And when I tried removing "blob:" from the start of that address, YouTube told me: And this is reply 40,000!

Hi, young Albert! I visited the Giant's causeway last October with my sister who was visiting from England. According to Irish Mythology, the columns are the remains of a causeway built by the Irish giant, Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool) who had been challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant, Benandonner. Fionn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two giants could meet. Different versions of the myth differ as to who was the eventual victor. In one story, Fionn hid from Benandonner when he realised that his foe was much bigger than him. Fionn's wife, Oonagh, disguised Fionn as a baby and tucked him in a cradle. When Benandonner saw the size of the 'baby', he reckoned that its father, Fionn, must have been a giant among giants, and fled back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Fionn would be unable to chase him down. The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption around 50 to 60 million years ago. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven or eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres (39 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres (92 ft) thick in places. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a national nature reserve in 1987 by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giant's Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea.

Good morning, everyone! Slightly cooler day here. currently around 10°C (50°F) with the predicted high to be only a degree more. Sun and clouds, but no rain forecast. Still, the slightly cooler weather may make garden work a little easier.