Marty

Greetings, Gary! And, yes, cold rice pudding is nice too. But I'd consider it more of a summer dessert than a winter one... One of the things we liked to put on our hot rice pudding when we were kids was a large dollop of jam. We'd then stir it into the pudding so that the whole thing took on a pinky-red colour. Yum! Not that we often had jam in the house, as it was an expensive item in those days. But mam would often make jam if we had managed to forage for wild fruits, like blackberries or damsons.

I always thought air conditioning blew air into the building. Although I suppose it has to suck it in from somewhere first... (And I'll say nothing about the fact that a comma might have prevented any possible ambiguity as to what Albert really meant in his reply.)

I didn't spot at first that you mentioned partaking of the Almighty Cod... Blessed be!

Greetings, young Albert!

Just a cold, miserable looking, overcast day here. Currently 2°C/36°F and not expected to get any warmer, with a risk of light snow overnight. If the day stays dry, I might get some work done in the garden...

I absolutely love baked rice pudding! I don't make it often enough these days. Hot from the oven it is a perfect dessert for these chilly winter days. ❤️ My Mam would often make it when I was a child. She'd sprinkle fresh grated nutmeg over the top. A 'skin' would form on the top of it, which would usually turn a burnt brown colour from the heat of the oven. Myself and my siblings would almost fight over the fact that one or another of us didn't get enough of that skin with our helping. It was also a fairly regular offering as dessert (or pudding as we called it in the north of England) with our school dinners. For some strange reason, a lot of the kids didn't like it. That didn't matter, though, as it meant I could go up for a second helping!

Well, if that's really what happened the other night, tell me this, young Timothy. Just what magic have you worked on your computer to enable it to leave reactions to other people's posts whilst you are sleeping?

Personally, I'd be cautious in pointing the finger at anyone. Particularly a quarantine security guard or a Uber driver, both of whom would probably be classed as essential workers. The real enemy is the virus itself.

Sorry to hear that, B. Hopefully the cases have been detected in time to prevent a large outbreak. Stay safe.

Well, it's now 12:30 am (might even be past it by the time I finish composing this), so I think I'll have my cocoa and head to bed. I'm going to leave you tonight with another offering from Ronny Drew. Partly because Albert seemed to like his Song For Ireland that I shared the other night - but also because the song came into my head when I was replying earlier tonight to a comment that someone had made last August on a poem of mine. Can't think how I managed to miss the comment at the time, but there you go. The poem was one I wrote back in the 60's, and was about a nuclear attack. Ronny's song has a similar theme. I'll put it in spoiler tags, because just a couple of scenes might be considered disturbing. So you have been warned. My poem? Here's a link to it if anyone's interested: https://gayauthors.org/story/marty/martys-poetry/3

Looks very similar to something my mam used to make when I was a kid. She just called it fruit bread.

Thanks for the kind words, @Bard Simpson, and my apologies for not saying so earlier. I don't know how I managed not to see your comment when you first posted it... I'm a fair bit older than you, so I'm not sure the threat seems greater nowadays than it did when I wrote it in 1965 (I wasn't in my twenties, by the way, but still a teenager). I'll admit that the world certainly still seems to be under as much threat now as it did then. But to my mind the current threat is climate change, and the apparent unwillingness, despite all the evidence, of the majority of individuals and countries to take any effective action to tackle it.

Hmmm..... That delicious aroma of home baked bread fresh from the oven.... Heavenly!

Hey, Gary! Interesting to hear about your Concert trip. Also glad to hear the kids are happy with the work you have done in the basement. Just don't hurt yourself moving that treadmill!

I'd reckon Minion will insist on going with clo.

I'm sorry, but I can't help on this one, @richs203. Your description rings no bells for me whatsoever.

And Albert's going to give you at least a green face for that comment. (If not a black one)

It's showing for me too! That suggests the problem must be at your end, Albert....

I had a thing for Eric Burdon back in the day.

Not sure then, Albert. Let's wait till others say whether it plays for them... (It was House Of The Rising Sun)

Greetings, Drew!

Try again, Albert....

Oh? That's odd. It's showing for me... I'll go back and edit it with another version....

Greetings, young Albert!

Sad news, indeed. Here's probably the best known hit: