Marty

Hi, Gary. It's 8 degrees C here, but cloudy. Forecast is for showery weather tomorrow, until Friday afternoon. Suggestion that the dry spell we've had for the past week or so may be coming to an end, but that rainfall amounts will be low. Enjoy your walk. Under current restrictions, due to me being over 70, I'm not supposed to leave my house or garden. I need to pick up a prescription from a chemist (drugstore) 20 miles away in the next few days. One of the problems of living in a rural area. I may not be allowed to, so it's either a case of getting someone else to do it for me, or ringing the chemist and seeing if they will either post, or home deliver. I'd probably need to ring them, anyway, if I were to make arrangements for someone collecting it...

Good afternoon, Albert Just on a break from garden work.

Sweet dreams, Albert.

Going to get an early night. Goodnight, folks!

I hadn't spotted the 1500 pages, till you mentioned it. Although they haven't announced a relaxation yet here in Ireland, we have been warned that if and when one does take place it may only be temporary. Sleep well, Master Tim.

Almost there, Gary. Almost there! Although once I get finished and everything raked up, I shall go over the main part again using the cord in the strimmer instead of the blade. That should result in a much neater finish. And, yes. I will share some before/after photos eventually.

Oops! My apologies, Page. At least I didn't call you Gary this time. I've gone back and edited the post. I blame it on me currently reading a story by @Dabeagle where one of the main protagonists is called Sage.

Hi, Sage, I mean Page!

Hi, young man Hope all's well in Albertville today.

"The astrophysicist told Guardian Australia he had ruled out further experiments with the magnets and face-touching, and would find other ways to pass the time while at home." Hilarious! Thanks for giving me a good laugh, Mr B.

Are you trying to give young Albert palpitations, Bucket?

Yum, indeed! I'm also partial to liver and bacon (strips of liver wrapped in bacon).

Here in the British Isles pigs in blankets are sausages wrapped in bacon...

Greetings, Page.

And it wasn't until I was in digs in Sheffield when I was at university that I found out that in Yorkshire itself Yorkshire pudding is treated as a starter. For Sunday dinner my landlady would give me a dinner plate with a large Yorkshire pudding on it drenched with hot gravy, before she gave me the main course of meat, potatoes, and two veg. And they don't leave tea to brew in Yorkshire. They leave it to mash. It was years later that, when I started home-brewing beer, that I came to realise the Yorkshire folk were being grammatically correct in this. In beer-making, the first stage is mashing the ingredients (extracting the flavours from the malt and hops in boiling water). The brewing only starts when the yeast is added to the cooled mash to convert the sugars into alcohol.

Here's a recipe for sausage rolls: https://www.seasonsandsuppers.ca/easy-homemade-sausage-rolls/ It's a Canadian website, which makes me think maybe the sausage roll is known there, at least. Sausage rolls can be eaten hot or cold, but to my mind they are best eaten hot. My mum used to serve up hot sausage rolls and cold pork pies (is that another delicacy only found in the British Isles, I wonder?) whenever any of us would visit her on a Saturday afternoon. Another favourite of hers was various types of cheese flan (basically what is now known as "quiche")

It seems like sausage rolls may not have made it to the good old U. S. of A. Here's a hilarious video of LadBaby on holiday in America last year desperately trying to find somewhere that might sell them: He has another YouTube video of him trying to find one in Ibiza as well that I've not actually watched yet, but makes me wonder if the sausage roll is maybe a delicacy that's only found in Britain (and Ireland).

Time for a bit of light relief Here's LadBaby singing a parody of "I Love Rock 'n Roll" for charity. Called "I Love Sausage Rolls" it was the Christmas number one in the UK charts last year. A must watch!

Hi, Albert! Sorry about the belated response. Was in the garden strimming again. Just popped in for a snack and a cup of coffee, before heading out again.

And, according to the BBC... "Coronavirus also claimed the life of country singer Joe Diffie over the weekend, while the family of Nashville legend John Prine said he was critically ill on a ventilator and being treated for Covid-19 symptoms." Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-52089768 The following song written and performed by John Prine ranks as one of my favourite anti-war songs:

I'm so sorry to hear that, B It is probably a wise decision on their part, but it must be very upsetting for all concerned.

At least Albert doesn't live in a remote village in Siberia...

I suspect that (in the case of Type 2, at least) the main reason it's a factor is because it's a lifestyle disease. Caused in a large part by lack of exercise, obesity, and eating all the wrong foods. When I was diagnosed 8 years ago, I made a conscious decision to turn my life around. I started eating much more sensibly, exercising, and lost about 3 stones in weight. I bumped into the GP who had diagnosed me about a year later (she had retired in the interim) and she said that she couldn't believe how well I was looking, and that I looked years younger. I told her that it was all her fault for frightening me with the diabetes diagnosis, to which she told me that I was a very strange man indeed. When I asked what she meant by that she told me that normally her male patients never listened to a word she said!

I'm assuming by that you mean that you are "thinking positively" about being careful...

I know, but thanks for reminding me. Type 2 - not the more dangerous Type 1. I had blood samples taken about 5 weeks ago. My GP was totally happy with the results. Blood sugar levels and cholesterol (both good and bad versions) are exactly where they should be. Liver and kidney functions perfect. He said that I am managing the diabetes that well that he wouldn't even know I am diabetic from those results (as he says after every six monthly blood test). I am currently on minimal medication.