A bit early but here’s this week’s photo. It’s another of Harry the Cat, who is now getting on for 15. Here he is on Friday night sleeping beside me on the bed, and totally oblivious to me taking his picture with my mobile phone. Note the slit ear and rather beaten up countenance.
Click the image for larger versions on Flickr 
The Old Warrior
5 April 2013
We’ve not had a recipe for quite a while, so here’s the reult of tday’s experiment. And an excellent meal it was too …
Cold Roast Beef
Mixed Salad a la mode
Homemade Oven Chips
Why have I never thought of doing my own oven chips before? It is so dead easy and much better than deep frying (which we never do).
Homemade Oven Chips
Pre-heat the oven to about 220C.
Cut enough potatoes into chunky-sized chips and boil or steam them for 3 minutes or so. Drain them and allow to cool a little so they’re handleable.
In a ziplok bag or bowl put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and some freshly ground black pepper (optional). You can also add salt, herbs or garlic if you wish.
Toss the chips in the oil and transfer then to a baking sheet. Spread them out so they’re in a single layer, so use two baking sheets if needed.
Roast in the oven until done — about 25 minutes — turning them once.
It is so easy. And although they’re oiled at least you can control the quantity of oil and you’re using “better for you” olive oil. It is no worse than doing another of our staples, garlic roast potatoes.
I foresee this will become a regular addition to the repertoire.
If sometimes you feel a little useless, offended or depressed, always remember that you were once the fastest and most victorious little sperm out of millions
Crenellate
To furnish with battlements, embrasures or loopholes.
Hence crenellated, embattled.
May be spelled with either one or two ‘l’s.
From the French créneler.
Contrary to my previous post about Tartan Day Scotland, International Pillow Fight Day, which is also on 6 April, seems to be purely about having a bit of fun.
Yes, that’s right, on Saturday 6 April, there will be massive pillow fights in cities around the world! There may be one near you there are happenings in cities across the globe from Amsterdam to Zaragoza!
All over the world, groups like [the Urban Playground Movement] organize free, fun, all ages, non-commercial public events. From a massive Mobile Clubbing event in a London train station to a giant pillow fight near the Eiffel Tower in Paris to a subway party beneath the streets of Toronto, it is clear that the urban playground is growing around the world, leaving more public and more social cities in its wake. This is the urban playground movement, a playful part of the larger public space movement.
One of our goals is to make these unique happenings in public space become a significant part of popular culture, partially replacing passive, non-social, branded consumption experiences like watching television, and consciously rejecting the blight on our cities caused by the endless creep of advertising into public space. The result, we hope, will be a global community of participants, not consumers, in a world where people are constantly organizing and attending these happenings in every major city in the world.
On Saturday April 6th we will once again celebrate World Pillow Fight Day with a massive pillow fight on [London’s] Trafalgar Square. It’s the most fun you can have on a city square and on this day, it happens in hundreds of cities around the world.
Because this is supposed to be fun the rules are kept to a minimum; there are just two: Don’t hit anyone with a camera and don’t hit anyone without a pillow.
What a shame that at the time of writing the only UK event listed is the one in London, but as usual there is up to date information on their website at .
Saturday 6 April marks Tartan Day Scotland and the start of the eponymous 10 day Festival. It is not so much a celebration of tartan but more a celebration of all things Scottish:
Tartan Day is a celebration of Scotland. Our vision is to see Scotland at the heart of a global Tartan Day celebration, bringing to the world’s attention our creativity, our innovation, our heritage, our business success — and our people.
Tartan Day marks the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320 at Arbroath Abbey. This historical occasion sowed the seeds of modern day democracy and was used as a basis for the American Declaration of Independence. Tartan Day was inspired by this historical occasion to celebrate all that is good about Scotland — its people, its heritage, its history, its culture and its amazing legacy to the world.
The Tartan Day Scotland Festival takes place at the beginning of April each year. The Festival is a 10 day programme of very special events which commemorate all that is best about Scotland and the Scots, home and away. Find out more about why we celebrate Tartan Day, read about famous Scots and keep up-to-date on news stories from around the world.
Tartan Day is also celebrated in the USA, Canada and I suspect many other places where there are people with Scottish roots.
There’s a lot more information at www.tartandayscotland.com.
Being Eastertide here is a lot on this week and Friday 5 to Sunday 7 April sees the Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering. As their website says:
In September 1966 a modest concert of Northumbrian music and song was held to raise funds for Morpeth Antiquarian Society. It was the inspiration for a one-day Northumbrian festival in March 1968 which evolved into the Morpeth Gathering.
The festival includes a vast array of competitions including crafts, performance and writing. Events of local interest have been added to the programme of concerts, singarounds, barn dance, storytelling, theatre and street performance which includes a young people’s pageant as part of the Border Cavalcade.
The emphasis of the Gathering is firmly upon the native traditions of Northumberland and, whilst there is plenty of scope for traditional music from all over the British Isles within the festival, the wealth of local culture is well to the fore.
For the curious the guy on the left, playing the pipes, is my godfather!
More information at www.northumbriana.org.uk/gathering/index.htm.
Paris in the Springtime … A quiet square at the western end of Ile de la Cité. This was taken on a warm Friday lunchtime. Noreen and I were sitting outside the café having a delightful lunch with our friend Allison, who was a student in Paris at the time. All the while, just visible in the middle distance, there was a group of Parisian workmen playing boules.
Click the image for lager versions on Flickr
Montage: Place Dauphine
Paris, May 2006
Yes, I kid you not; this isn’t an April Fool! Thursday 4 April is International Carrot Day.
Indeed you may well ask, “Why?” I did.
Well as it says here …
Carrot Day was founded 2003 to spread knowledge about the carrot and its good attributes around the world. [It] is celebrated every year on April 4th and is the pinnacle for carrot lovers all around the world. It is the day when the carrot is celebrated through carrot parties and other carrot related festivities.
More information at http://www.carrotday.com/.
There’s even a list of Carrot festivals and a link to the Carrot Museum.