[Digi box standby]

A few times while I've been watching TV, and a few times when I've recorded something .... a message comes on the screen saying "digibox is about to go into standby, press enter to cancel this' ..... fine if I'm watching TV, but when I'm recording something, I'm not there to see the message and the box switches off part way through the programme.

Any idea why it's doing this?  Is the box on the way out maybe ... I have had it a few years now (3-4 years).

[Chanel 5, fiver etc off air]

I'm quite glad that fiver & US five have disappeared off my tv ... I' had just 'discovered' CSI (about 10 years after everybody else) and have been recording it every night!  Three programmes a night.  For about two weeks  [:-))]

EDIT ... well, I couldn't help myself could I!  I had to go and do it!   Followed the advice on this thread, unplugged the box and now the bloody channels are back.

*secretly pleased, but also a little worried about addiction to CSI*

[UK telephones]

My very expensive French-bought Siemens phone is really getting on my nerves with it's many faults (possibly due to being dropped on the floor too many times!! [:$]  ) ... it works, just about - but I really need to get a new one.

Which I can do much cheaper in the UK .... so, will a UK-bought phone work in France?  If so, what sort of adaptor-type-thingy will I need?

Thanks folks [:)]

[Are you still spending?]

[quote user="Furry Knickers"]We are spending like mad things here! We even bought two rhubarb tarts yesterday and we only needed one. We never even gave it a second thought, and we would do it again too![/quote]

Thank you .. that gave me a lovely laugh!  [:D]

[veg plot]

great idea of weed surpressant ... but may I recommend fabric instead of plastic... it's get's mighty hot here ... I had some things with plastic surpressant and they perished, just got too hot ... whereas the varieties protected by fabric mesh were fine.

[veg plot]

you can plant loads of stuff!   When are you going away?

Right now you can sow;

carrots

cabbage

broccoli

parsnips

celeriac

brussel sprouts

potatoes

onions & shallots, but too late for garlic

go and have a look in your local seed seller and check out sowing dates on various packets.

[cheap seasonal recipes]

[quote user="Patf"]

I have a recipe for cabbage stuffed with bread crumbs, onion, pineapple and walnuts then baked slowly in the oven in a tomato sauce.

[/quote]

Let's have it then [:P] 

*drooling*

ooops!

[cheap seasonal recipes]

[quote user="Patf"]

I have a recipe for cabbage stuffed with bread crumbs, onion, pineapple and walnuts then baked slowly in the oven in a tomato sauce.

[/quote]

Let's have it then [:P] 

*drooling*

[A Sad Day]

Wishing you strength for what will be a very emotional time.

If you will be with Jean Claude at the time, with the vet, try to remain as 'cheery' and calm as you can be.  Have his last memory be of his beloved friend talking to him and stroking him as if it was any other day and nothing at all is amiss. 

You will have lots of wonderful memories of you friend.  You've shared life, fun, walks, laughs and silliness with Jean Claude - I hope soon you will be able to think of those times with a smile rather than a tear.

Best wishes x

[Do you care where your food comes from ?]

[quote user="Dog"]

At no point had I denied being a vegetarian. The discussions were

mainly on fish and meat which account for more animals being killed. I

have no wish to draw you into a prolonged discussion into your ethics

and exactly how you run your life. I have never said I was perfect we

all fail at times.

As I am sure you realise you can only start with the basics and work your way along the path. How long have you been vegan?

In India there is an argument for keeping cows - what are your thoughts on the vedic tradition?

I apologise for only beging vega - 98% vegan. I have not eaten meat

or fish for over 30 years - now I have to remove the 4 or 5 pints of

milk a year and the odd cheese in the summer, I don't wear leather.

I do check for isinglass, gelatine and rennet. As I hope you do. I

would be surprised if in all honesty you can say you have been 100%

vegan throughout ?

I think if I had sat back and not made counter arguments in this

thread you would not have made the effort to. At what level do you

consider you can agitate or comment?

My temper is zero - my colourful language is mistaken - I can only be myself it's useless pretending to be someone else.

[/quote]

I've been vegan for close to twenty years (vegetarian for some years before that), so I know pretty much what to look out for in products to avoid.  Yes, becoming vegetarian is a beginning to a path ... but's it's not helpful  (or healthy) to have that path include the aggression and hypocrisy that you've shown in this thread.

I have no thoughts on the vedic tradition - not something I'm familiary with.... possibly because I don't live in India, or know anybody who follows the vedic tradition.

You seem to be intrestested in having a prolonged discussion into the ethics

of how others and how they choose to live their lives in this thread.  In my view, you've done so in an unecessarily agressive way.

I'm not meaning to attack you personally - I'm sure you're an absolutely smashing fella, who I would enjoy eating a meal with and sinking a bottle or two ... but you have come across as really high-handed and quite unpleasant in this thread. 

Passion is a wonderful thing, but it can sometimes send one a bit overboard.  I think you could have used different language and the thread could have been a really interesting debate and sharing of information, perhaps previously unknown to some.    

And to the meat eaters  .. there really are better things to eat than

fish or meat .... please do so with a thought to what you're eating and where it came from.  And you don't have to eat meat/fish every single day.  Times are tough financially for a lot of people right now ... what a great way to save some cash, eat less meat! [:P]

Anyway, I shall now drop out of this thread now - what seemed to start out as a thread about the ethical sourcing of foods has long turned into something else. 

Enjoy your dinner tonight Dog, I'm sure it will be delicious - and try to be a little less aggressive, who knows, you might even make some converts then [;-)]

[cheap seasonal recipes]

Cabbage Goulashy-type-thing  (tastes much nicer than it sounds!)

This will make a large pan - enough for 6 people I'd say .... or leftovers for next day

• Slice a couple of large onions in half .  Slice each half thinly.  Saute with a clove of garlic if you can't bear (like me!) to have something garlic-free.

• Let it cook good and long and get coloured, this will add to the taste greatly.

• Cut three or four large carrots into big chunks and add to the pan.  Throw in some chunks of courgette if you have any left in the freezer from last year.

• For cheap protein ... tip in some beans ... I love aduki beans, but you could used kidney beans, whatever you have lying around. Give it all a good stir.

• Now add a very large cabbage (or two small ones) which has been washed and chopped.  It will wilt a lot, so really cram it in.

• Top with two cans of tomatoes and enough stock to make stirring easy (which shouldn't be too much).

• Now stir in a load of paprika.  Don't go overboard, but don't be stingy.

• Add whatever other flavourings you think you'd enjoy in it - bring to the boil and simmer on the hob for about 40 minutes  (or chuck the whole thing in a casserole and in the oven).

It's cheap, tasty and healthy.  Lovely with mashed potatoes or cous cous.

[my silly dog ...]

[quote user="Barbel Bob"]My silly dog eats her dinner every day this way.......takes each individual biscuit to the back door mat and then goes back for another after she has eaten it!! It takes her some time to eat![:D][/quote]

Ah, but I bet she enjoys every mouthfull.

[my silly dog ...]

Aren't we daft with animals!

I once had a cat who lived with me and she was poorly (not ill, just a bit poorly) .... so I gave her some tapioca or semolina or something like that, which she had a taste for.

But I was sitting on the floor next to her while she ate and was turning the saucer around so she didn't have to overstretch her little neck to the other side of the saucer when she's eaten what was on the closest side. [:$]

Imagine if somebody had walked in and seen me ... what could I possibly say, except the truth.

[Do you care where your food comes from ?]

So when you accuse others of hypocrisy, you can put yourself well and truly in the same boat.

I find it irritating that you use such high handed language and attitude, and put yourself on a pedestal, when you are contributing towards terror, pain and wastage just as meat eaters do.

If everybody in the world was vegan, there would be less waste of water, less waste of energy, less suffering and misery (for humans and animals)  and less illness.  But they aren't.  Don't attack meat eaters in such an aggressive manner until you put your own house in order.

I belive you are HARMING the vegetarian cause by speaking in the manner you do. Especially the hypocrisy

Hands up everybody who has been irritated by Dog's words?

Now hands up everybody who intends to eat less meat or fish as a result of them.

Come on Dog - temper your agression.  Nobody is perfect, including yourself.  Don't be hypicritical - your words will have much more value then.

(edit .. what a lot of spelling and typing errors!!   .... I'm tired!)

[Do you care where your food comes from ?]

[quote user="Russethouse"]

Mr Russethouse was a veggie when I married him, my working day was longer was his, I made it clear I wasn't going to give up meat and I would only cook one meal. His principals only seemed to allow for someone else cooking for him [:)] That was the end of him being a vegetarian. I did the same to my kids, if they wanted something different to eat then they had to cook it. (they did!) So harsh.....[;-)]

[/quote]

Didn't that put you off him a bit?  That his 'principals' could be cast aside so easily?

(I'm sure he's turned out to be a wonderful, caring, steadfast, loyal, exciting husband ... but at the time weren't you a bit, well, not concerned, but you know what I mean?)

[Do you care where your food comes from ?]

Dog - here's some reading for you. 

www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=98

You remain coy about answering whether you're vegan or not (although asked three times by two people! ... If you did answer and I missed it, then I apologise)

..... but it seems you're not, since other posts of yours refer to enjoying cheese .

I'd welcome your thoughts on the factsheet.

[my silly dog ...]

 ... has started taking a chunk of (dry) food out of her dish .... walking around the settee, onto the rug, where she eats it.  Then goes back, gets another bit and does the same.

It was really funny when she first did it, but I don't want her eating her grub on the rug!

(they don't normally get fed in the living room ... they have on occasions, but she's never done this before).

Any ideas?   Serious or otherwise?? [:P]

[Do you care where your food comes from ?]

Then why mention it???  [8-)]

There are lots of thing people can't make up their own mind about (without penalty) ... murder, theft, abduction, chasing and ripping animals to pieces, etc, etc

[Do you care where your food comes from ?]

[quote user="JSA Aude"]Sorry, re foxes -  they are vermin and no-one (least of all Dog) will speak to me now 'cos I used to work and ride first horse for a well known hunt in the UK!!!!!!![/quote]

Yuk, how unpleasant. 

Happily that sort of thing is no longer tolerated.

[unusual printing of letters]

It's the title... the author is Mrs Gaskell   (how quaint!)

[unusual printing of letters]

It's an Everyman paperback   ... Dent Dutton (printers?) ... not much publising info

"first included in Everyman's LIbrary 1906 - last reprinted 1964 .................. No 1083"

 ......... so my copy is from 1964 .... what a long time ago, maybe it's worth something????        It's got that lovely old book smell to it.

Flicking through ... the ligatures are also used when S meets T (though that isn't as off putting) .... can't see any others.

[unusual printing of letters]

I said already ... Cranford.

I'll pop upstairs and get it and find the publication date.

[unusual printing of letters]

I did actually work in publishing for the best part of a decade ... so I should know this.  Although I didn't get much involved in the actual printing.

my partner's dad was a printer - it can cause a passion can't it, the written word.

[small question]

[quote user="Pads"]Oh dear how out of touch am I ....I have only heard of 3 of them .... but couldnt tell you any of their songs ....[8-)][/quote]

Which three?? [:D]

[unusual printing of letters]

ah ... that's the one ... in the second article .. the text in the pink box.... it looks perfectly fine there as a graphic, but as you say not so good in a book.