Marty

Tell them you want a sharp needle not one of the old bent rusty ones 'cause you have to put up with a bunch of old bent rusty online friends and that's enough. Rusty and crusty!

Sleep well, bro!

Greetings, young Albert! Hope all goes well today.

My last GP when I still lived in England had the wonderful name of Doctor Leech. (I'd add a photograph of a blood sucking leech, but poor @Valkyrie might have a conniption fit)

Is his surname really Bacon? Still... whatever his name, if he's a qualified doctor I'm sure he's completely trustworthy.

And the mystery deepens... Next chapter... *click*

I can understand you being nervous, but please don't panic too much. ❤️ I had a biopsy around nine years back on a lump that I had found in my breast (yes, men do have breasts, and can even get breast cancer). To put your mind at rest, the procedure was very simple, and completely painless. (It turned out the lump wasn't malignant. The consultant's report said it was simply "excessive breast tissue". And, as I had gone on a diet around that time - as a result of my Type 2 diabetes diagnosis - it has now gone away.)

Last week, May 10th to 6th, was Mental Health Awareness Week (#MentalHealthAwarenessWeek) in the UK and many other countries. To raise awareness of this event, the Marsh Family put together this adaptation of The Cave by Mumford & Sons, which I would highly recommend.

Greetings, young Albert!

Yesterday evening I made myself a beef stew. Part of the ingredients included the last two potatoes and the final onion, from last year's crops. This year's potatoes haven't yet sent up shoots, apart from a few volunteers that grew from ones I missed when I lifted them last year (those have been dug out and disposed of, as they are in the area I am growing peas and beans this year). The onion sets I planted last October/November are starting to swell their bulbs, and hopefully I shall start harvesting those next month. But, apart from a few portions of runner beans that are still in the freezer, I have now basically used up all the produce from last year's vegetable garden.

The weather is still fairy changeable here. But I did manage to sow my runner beans today. Two seeds planted at the base of each of the 42 canes that make up the frame I assembled for them to climb up. I have a number of seeds left over, so I shall sow those in a few deep plant pots, to fill any gaps just in case any of the ones sown in the ground fail to germinate. I also hoed the weeds between the onions, and the parsnip and carrot seedlings. The beet seedlings are still too small for hoeing, as I can't yet distinguish them from the weed seedlings.

Question: What do you call two cabbages in the middle of the road? Answer:

Unfortunately, most of the claims about the beneficial effects of Epsom Salt to plants are false. Epsom Salt is magnesium sulphate (or sulfate) - MgSO4. Very few soils are deficient in magnesium, and sulphur is abundant in all soils. Magnesium is what is known as a trace element, meaning that only tiny quantities of it is necessary for plant growth. Excess magnesium is harmful to plants, to the soil, and to the wider environment (waterways and the like). Check out: https://www.flowerpatchfarmhouse.com/epsom-salt-for-plants-dont-go-there/ https://extension.umn.edu/manage-soil-nutrients/coffee-grounds-eggshells-epsom-salts

Hmm... Seems like the site has reverted back to normal...

Drew was logged into GA in the past hour or so...

I think he will be back eventually. He told us at the end of April that he needs some time to himself, as he was "struggling". But he also said that it was nothing dramatic. I'm sure he'll be back when he's ready.

Greetings, young Albert!

Seems very quiet in here. I'm wondering if people are suddenly finding it difficult to actually find CoTT 2 due to the fact that the site has changed and this forums no longer listed directly under the Forums Tab, but is now several more clicks away and people have to first go to Fan Clubs At Gay Authors, and then click on Headstall's Paddock before getting in here. But I'm sure @Myr must have a reason for making the change...

The YouTube version you shared wasn't available for me. But, having never heard of Loreena McKennitt before, I did a search on YouTube and found this version of hers which would play for me. I have to say that I actually found her voice just a bit too harsh for my taste. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izYzuG0Vh2k&ab_channel=DeanoEssex Personally, I really like the adaptation of the poem that The Waterboys did on their 1998 album Fisherman's Blues, with lead vocalist Mike Scott singing the chorus, and traditional Irish vocalist Tomás Mac Eoin speaking the verses. Perhaps I just feel that, having been written by a man, the poem should be spoken or sung by a male voice... I actually live very close to all of the places referenced in that poem of W. B. Yeats (and many of his other poems).

Greetings, Mr B

I've just noticed Albert's new signature... And, oddly, its reference to the future made me think of the following Leonard Cohen track... Although, looking at some of Leonard's visions for the future ("I've seen the future, brother. It is murder."), one could be forgiven for suspecting that he may have been talking about nightmares rather than dreams. (And one of the things I like about the version above is that it's not sanitised the word 'anal' into 'careless' as many of the online versions of the song have done.)

Good night, all! I'll leave you with this, and dedicate it to our own Tinkerbelle. You just can't trust those faeries.

There's a variety like that over here, called "cylindrica" (if I remember correctly). Haven't a clue as to their nationality, though.

Good stuff! I'm expecting my potatoes to start pushing shoots through the ground in the next week. The parsnip have finally germinated - as have the first row of peas I sowed.