Summerabbacat

Jonas' flirtatious behaviour is a double-edged sword for James; it is good for his ego and for bringing him out of his self-imposed "hibernation", but at the same time is causing him some anxiety, wondering if he is reading too much into Jonas' forward comments. I think Jonas will have to be blunt before James will risk indicating his interest in something more than friendship with him. Perhaps Alex will play matchmaker; now wouldn't that be deliciously ironic, especially if Keith became aware of it. I am liking the direction this story is taking @ChromedOutCortex.

Three in a row. Another weepy @Mark Ponyboy Peters. It seems several of my fellow readers e.g. @Quixo and @Steve Farner, got a little misty or had a cry. I had a flood of tears, worthy of the soon to arrive Cyclone Alfred. Like @Quixo, the choice of Leandro and especially Oliver as their best men, a very fitting choice. Although Grayson and Rafael may need to do a little smooth talking to mollify their mothers for denying them the opportunity to have organised a wedding, I think Pamela and Katherine will be tickled pink. I fully expect Philip and Richard will be too, Richard may even weep. I am particularly looking forward to what colour Travis' hair will be. Rafael's response to Grayson's proposal, Para Siempre. Perfect. I could have posted Sarah Brightman and Jose Carreras, but after this emotionally charged chapter, I felt the version by Norman Gunston and Effie a more appropriate choice. Truly awful singing at their appearance on Hey Hey It's Saturday, but I had to at least laugh a little (I even laughed when he sang Salute To ABBA in 1976). Unfortunately I was unable to post it as it is blocked, even a non-video version, presumably because it contains still shots from Hey Hey It's Saturday. I thought about posting (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty by KC & The Sunshine Band, which I adore, but could not find a decent version (no doubt much to @Al Norris and @Cane23's relief). Outstanding chapter @Mark Ponyboy Peters. You certainly pulled out all stops with this chapter. If your current IT job ever falls through, maybe you could launch a career writing romance novels, "bodice rippers", although you would have to add lashings of schmaltz and learn how to write "cheesy", but you have got a "romance gene" already (and I say this with all due respect).

Mmm. I am a little sceptical regarding Sarah's disclosures. She tells Mary, a woman she has never spoken to before although she is one she knows by sight, her deepest darkest secrets. Does Sarah know Solomon and she was just "fishing" to get the low down on Mary. Time will tell. Whatever the motive and its outcome, Sarah appears to be another whose mind is not her own. I found it interesting, and very revealing as to the type of person Mary is, that she expressed some sympathy for Solomon, indicating he was a victim too of domineering parents. I had wondered if he had been raised in a similar environment.

Alex and Sammy, both gender-neutral names. Both soon to be school ambassadors. Both hot (well I think it was mentioned in a prior chapter that Sammy was attractive). I think Sammy will win the "Alex sweepstakes" @Lee Wilson. Gerry may appear to be the silver medal, the consolation prize, but what are the old sayings - it's the quiet ones you have got to watch and good (big) things come in small packages. Gerry Cunningham, 158m tall, 46kg in weight, with a 28cm cock, balls the size of lemons and a tongue like Gene Simmons. Whilst I like Ms Shelton's idea in principle, how will it work if one or more students pulls a gun(s) on either the bullying victims or the bullies themselves.

There is nothing more beautiful, more wondrous, more regal than a well pampered and well cared for pussy @Cane23. Just ask Mrs Slocombe.

He is safe then, for now. My mother and grandmother were avid bakers too and made many of the things you mentioned, plus desserts of many varieties, invariably from fruit and vegetables grown in their own garden. As a child and young teen I loved watermelon as my grandparents grew them. They had seeds in them and they had taste. The seedless rubbish which purports to be watermelon nowadays, always already cut and wrapped in plastic wrap, has about as much taste as the plastic wrap. I never eat watermelon now. My grandparents also grew pineapples and my grandfather was like me and liked them on the sour rather than the sweet side. They were also delicious. I always have to remind myself what a Victoria Sandwich Cake is, what we in Australia would simply refer to as a sponge cake. I was never a big fan (too much cream), but my grandmother made them well. She also made the best lemon curd I have ever tasted as it was soooooo tart. I don't think I could eat it now though if she were still alive as I seem to recall it did have quite a few eggs in it and had a slightly eggy flavour which I can no longer stomach. Did you know that you can substitute chick pea brine for recipes which require egg whites? I have seen and tasted meringue made from chick pea brine and you would not know. Vegan chocolate can also be delicious.

“Moggie? Don’t tell me, you’ve got a cat!” He stared at me, “Why not?” I shrugged, “Fair enough, I suppose. Just not what I’d imagined.” “In fact, she rather adopted us.” “At your old place?” “No, here. She was around a lot when we were moving in. Hortensia started feeding her. Hortensia was coming by daily then, helping to sort the place out.” “Where was she living? The cat. Before she adopted you.” “I don’t know. She was a bit skinny. You might not see her, she’s still a bit shy.” “OK, by me. Look, should I be worried about disease and all that?” “Hortensia and her husband managed to coax her into a carrier and took her to the vet to be checked out and get her jabs. So, you can relax.” The jury is still out @Robert Hugill as to whether Graham remains on my Christmas card list, particularly after the question in bold. If Graham's concern is for Moggie's health then he remains favoured, if his concern is for his own health at the risk of "catching" something from Moggie, then he well may find himself exiled, persona non grata. In all seriousness, after what we as a species have experienced since 2020, catching potentially fatal diseases from other humans is far more likely than from a cat or any other non-human animal. Hortensia, another of those more unusual or forgotten names from yesteryear which you have chosen for some of your characters. Think Vern, Vera and Owain for starters. Hortensia, suggests a formidable, no-nonsense, robust woman of strong character. Naked tea, a time for quiet contemplation and discussions regarding hirsuteness. Vince's response to Freddie's question was surprisingly casual and rather amusing. Perhaps further afternoons with a gathering for naked tea may relax Vince even further. The most charming and delightful scene of this chapter though was the visit by Graham to the artisan bakery where Matt works. A simple gesture on Graham's part appeared to bring a great deal of joy to Matt, particularly when they met for coffee afterwards. Unless Matt has a yet to be revealed nasty side to him, I can see him become a favourite with your readers @Robert Hugill. And I have to ask, the question which begs to be asked, do you like cake as cake has featured in most, if not all, of your stories published to date?

I had forgotten devon and sauce sandwiches. I liked it as a child, but the thought of it now. Yuk. And who can forget fairy bread. Gross. It is a wonder we lived through shit like that. And disgusting things like Pluto Pups, Chiko Rolls, Fairy Floss and Toffee Apples. I was not a big fan of Tim Tams, but do like the dark chocolate ones. I have not eaten Vegemite for a long long long time.

Indeed.

OMG I almost chucked @Bft. Growing up in the 1960's and 1970's in rural Australia with grandparents on both sides who were of English or Scottish ancestry, my childhood was filled with all sorts of culinary horrors, lamb's fry and bacon, corned beef in white sauce with onions, bubble & squeak, and boiled pumpkin and potatoes mashed together. Vegetables were cooked and cooked and cooked in salted water and meat was cooked until it was tougher than shoe leather. Cheese was Kraft and came in a blue cardboard box-like container and had as much taste as the cardboard container (I cannot remember if it even had to go in the refrigerator). I remember the first time I had a pizza (and it was a frozen one), I was about 12 or 13 and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. As soon as I left home at 18 duck, pork and lamb left the foods consumed with beef and dairy milk not long after that. Chicken lasted until about 12 years ago and seafood until about 4 years ago, except for lobster, crab and octopus (which I particularly loved), which exited my diet a long time before that. I am a hypocrite of the worst kind though as I still eat dairy cheese (sourced from both cows and goats) as vegan cheeses are disgusting. Having "bagged" all the aforementioned food, I did enjoy much great food cooked by my mother and maternal grandmother. The most delicious home made cakes, biscuits, jams, custard (could not eat this now), jelly and any number of desserts, including the best fruit salad and pavlova ever have I tasted. I have cooked roasted vegetables on many occasions, albeit "exotic" vegetables like eggplant, zucchini and capsicum, and never have I ever been able to match anything like my mother or grandmother's roasted potatoes.

I bet you did not dream an oversight of combining bananas with jam would promote such discussion of bananas @Robert Hugill. I can only but imagine the outrage if you had combined chocolate with gherkins or ice cream with ox tongue 🤮.

I drink Oat Milk in smoothies and eat Nuttelex which is a plant based butter/margarine. It's the eggs though that make me squeamish.The smell and taste is so strong.

Wonderful @drsawzall. It reminds me musically, and with a similar sense of humour, as some of the songs on the Pointer Sisters second and third albums, That's A Plenty and Steppin'. A very underrated American group IMHO, with Ruth the only sister left.

I can't stomach pancakes @Bft. Eggs, milk and butter. Enough to make me 🤮🤮🤮🤮.

Character names are one of this story's many strengths. Gretchen Millenberg creates an image of severity; a woman who is immaculately groomed and coiffed, tastefully and expensively dressed, displaying a veneer of amiability, and the personality, skin tone and warmth of someone recently embalmed. Don't cross her or you will find one of her 3 inch heels embedded somewhere painful on or in your person. Blaisdell and Porter, dumb and dumber. "It was, ah, something. Something about…wind I think,” Porter said." The only zephyr Porter has any knowledge of is that emanating frequently from his odorous boss, Sheriff Concannon, whose many meals during the day constipate his mind, body and soul. Oscar Aristedes de la Renta, III. A slender 19 year-old twink who will shortly engage in a brief but financially rewarding career, starring as Dominica Culata, Fun Size Boys superstar, favourite plaything of 6'10" colossus, Marco Macrophallus. "She sucked her breath in through her nose, taking in the sweet chemical smell of gas mixed with oil, made more pungent with the aroma of rotting fish." A description almost as grotesque as the picture painted of what remained of the back of ?, 'The One-Eyed Man's' head and its contents "Against the wall, on the floor, and further down on the back of the chair, more blood and what looked like masses of cooked noodles". The description of Brighton Point as"equally ostentatious edifices that transformed the area from simple lakeside cabins occupied by regular folk into McMansions owned by privileged wealth.", absolutely hideous. I imagined its inhabitants, a myriad of 40 something made-to-order wives, the Real Housewives of Brighton Point, with botoxed booty's and bleached buttholes, sniping, bitching and lampooning the local residents who have lived there for generations, slandering them for their simple lives and acceptance of life's harsh realities. Bitches, totally devoid of class, individuality and an original thought. Their husbands, corporate sycophants who have kissed enough arse to rival a dung-beetle. Bored with life and trapped by their malignant Lolita's, they hanker for something less suffocating and expensive, more exciting and deviant than a new Ferrari, perhaps a tryst with Dominica Culata, he of the small stature and sizzling patootie. This story is blowing my mind @JLynch. The character names alone are enough to start a riot.

I like many of his films, especially Serial Mom, which I often reference in comments on stories on GA. Kathleen Turner singing along to Barry Manilow; perhaps my favourite scene in the entire film. Camp, camp, and then even more camp. This chapter reminded me of Twin Peaks because of the weather, the aquatic environment and your whimsical description of the disparate characters in the immediate vicinity after the discovery of ?, the 'One-Eyed Man' (he certainly does not "present" as well as Laura Palmer though). The apparent "mindset" of many of the characters and their names is what amused me significantly and thought they must be from the south, hence Alabamy, the contrast to those in Twin Peaks comical. Perhaps my view of some of the southern states of the USA as "redneck" is ill-formed or harsh, but the characters described in the investigation scene were such a contrast to the more genteel, cultured and seemingly far more intelligent Special Agent Dale Cooper (quirky though he is), Sheriff Harry S. Truman (gotta love that name) and Deputy Sheriff Tommy "Hawk" Hill. Only Ferris' cousin, Shamus Bueller, struck me as having sufficient intelligence to complete a 20 piece jigsaw puzzle, although perhaps Ed Concannon may be intelligent, if only he would lay off the "Luther" burgers. And I must acknowledge, an American I admire very much, Emmylou Harris, is a native of Alabama. You may "borrow" the quotation. I love the word frothy. It is so much easier to spell than effervescent.

Brilliant @drsawzall. This did not cross my mind at all, but this is just the sort of low Deirdre would stoop to. Given this speculation, I wonder if the recent holiday she took Toby on was a smokescreen, a ploy to obtain the type of information she obtained without any suspicion from Toby. As my late grandmother would say, Deirdre is as cunning as a 💩house rat. She is a nasty besom (Deirdre that is, not my grandmother).

Infectious?

Ferris' brother or cousin perhaps @JLynch. Another amusing chapter. I found myself amused, embarrassingly so, by: "Vern leaned a bit to the side to be sure. That’s when he saw it. A small spray of blood on the back of the chair. Taking one more tentative step, he realized the back of the man’s head was missing. Just gone. Against the wall, on the floor, and further down on the back of the chair, more blood and what looked like masses of cooked noodles." I thought the perfect vehicle for a John Waters film. His sense of humour would do it justice. The scene with the corpulent Ed Concannon (now that's a great name), Shamus Bueller, Harriet Leach and the bumbling, fumbling, stumbling deputies brought to mind Twin Peaks, well at least Twin Peaks (the "Redneck Remake"), set in Alabamy rather than Washington state. Instead of MIKE, the "One- Armed Man" we have ?, the "One-Eyed Man". I like my learned fellow-reader @weinerdog am wondering if the attack on C.O. and ?, the "One-Eyed Man" are connected. If the same perpetrator committed both attacks then C.O. was perhaps lucky to survive. I am posting this song, not the usual from Twin Peaks. Falling, the single and the soundtrack album were massively successful in my homeland, Australia, and sound as beautifully haunting now as they did 34 years ago. I have to say @JLynch, the pace of this story is frenetic. Humour abounds, albeit dark at times, keeping it light and "frothy", at least on face value, but it is very dense. Amidst the swirl of cleverly named characters (caricatures some, and I do not mean this as a criticism by any means) is much information to process and absorb.

No more grotesque than humans having their pets stuffed by a taxidermist or hunters mounting their "kills" on their walls or skinned on their floors. At least a stuffed Animal sex doll could prove an interesting "talking point".

I refuse to shop in Aldi @Mark Ponyboy Peters. Nine years to completely phase out caged-hen eggs. Not fucking good enough, even though I don't eat them. Perhaps Huge Hung Slugger could "wear" sss Shane Williams as a glove puppet. sss Shane is only 5'6" tall and Slugger has huge .......... hands which might fit very snugly in sss Shane's rear aperture.

You're a crafty devil @Robert Hugill. You had me, and quite a few of the other faithful Hugillites, convinced after the previous chapter it would be Noah's parents who called into question the relationship between Toby and Noah. Alas, it has proven to be the ever reliable (to cause trouble that is) Deirdre who has put the cat amongst the pigeons. Up to her old tricks again, making mischief to cause grief for Brian without any care of the harm it may cause their son. I don't for one moment believe she wants to be "saddled" with Toby, and certainly Jasper would not appreciate him being ever present in his world again. And what of Jasper following Toby and Noah? Clearly, Deirdre has put him up to it. He is not as clever as he thinks he is though. Hopefully Toby and Noah can turn the tables on him, perhaps have him arrested for stalking them or something akin to this. Denise is useful for more than just her cooking lessons to Brian. Her counsel to Brian and Gordon, although annoying, may save them and by default, Toby, a lot of grief if Deirdre tries to escalate her campaign. She really is a spiteful bitch. And I loved Denise's reference to Shawna's mum as a nosey bitch. I have to ask, Robert, who is the more annoying, a nosey bitch or a nosey besom? And Denise's mention of her friend Vera, whom she has often mentioned, brought to mind Vera Charles, the "great" actress and best friend of Auntie Mame, one of my favourite characters on film, and what a film.

Goddamnit! @Paladin cyber-stole all my tissues so I had to use my damn sleeve again. Rafael's reality check in the children's ward opened the floodgates, after which a tsunami of tears erupted when: "My parents called in a few times, initially with Olly in tow, whose response at seeing Raffa lying there helpless was that it shocked him to the core. That night he crawled into bed with me, and we talked for ages about exactly what was happening, and what lay ahead for Raffa. He cried himself to sleep in my arms that night, as he had never before seen anyone in such a state". I am so glad Oliver is going to get his own story one day; he continues to delight every time he makes an appearance. I too thought the story was likely coming to an end as many "loose threads" appeared to be wrapping up, particularly with the sentencing of sss Shane Williams. Like @weinerdog, I thought he got off very lightly, an 8 year sentence with a non-parole period of 5 years. Perhaps Big Bad Bubba's cousin, Huge Hung Slugger, might take a fancy to him in prison. Cumdump Williams, prison bitch to the "boner gifted". I also suspect there might be a wedding, if not Grayson and Rafael, then maybe Bryan and Chase (what colour will his hair be @Mark Ponyboy Peters?). And now just for you @weinerdog (actually for me too), we join Channel 69 for breaking news. Notorious rapist and thug, Shane Williams, has been found dead in the prison yard at Petersenville Prison today. He was found anally impaled on a very long thick flagpole with the flag of Portugal sticking proudly out of his arse. Police are treating as suspicious a person seen fleeing the prison at the estimated time of death. The person appeared to be of average height and weight, the unusual feature being he was naked, his body painted in multiple colours such that he resembled a macaw, and he was singing Do You Know The Way To San Jose? in a voice very much like Miss Warwick herself. Excellent chapter @Mark Ponyboy Peters. I loved it, but the mention of the children's ward and then Oliver's tears did it to me, which is quite strange as I don't like children generally.

Rod Sr has a very small penis and is acutely aware of this @weinerdog. He blames everyone for this "affliction" except himself. It has shrunk substantially due to excessive drinking since he was a young teenager. He also suffers from premature ejaculation, which is why Rod Jr is an only child. Mostly Rod Sr cums in his pants before he manages to even get his fly undone. This has never bothered Ellen as she derives sexual satisfaction from her battery-operated "friend" Virgil Plundercock, who has never soiled himself or almost drowned in his own vomit from excessive drinking. New to NBC, The Real Housewives of Savannah GA, written, produced, directed, starring and theme song sung by Lee Wilson (the Barbra Streisand of Georgia). Now, don't go getting all verklempt @Lee Wilson. Rod Sr. oozes charm like a dose of gonorrhoea oozes pus. What a particularly unattractive man. Methinks Ellen might finally fix him up good and proper. Perhaps he and Uncle Bob could commiserate together on the state of the good ole USA, gone to shit with 'dem faggots ruining everything. Brings to mind the wickedly funny Texan Love Song from Elton John's album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player. Excellent chapter @Lee Wilson. I am looking forward to Rod Sr's fiscal castration. I won't be at all surprised if Ellen is the one with the money though, and Rod Sr. has coasted along for the ride on her coattails.

Hopefully Solomon will file to divorce Mary before she files to divorce him otherwise he may well make it difficult for her to do so out of spite. Perhaps his dominatrix, Gladys, will insist he divorces Mary quick smart. Mary has finally experienced nirvana, firstly by her own hands/fingers and secondly by Ryan's touches and tongue.