More Prattle from Povey

  These can become addictive

  Zion and I were at Arlington Park (SRQ) this afternoon. Our walk  (and his poop) ended we returned to the parking lot. There we encountered  two thirty-something women with their Sheltie. The two dogs had a happy sniff-fest. One of the women said "So this is Zion". "Have we met before?" I asked  "No"  said the Sheltie Mum. "Then", I asked, "How do you know his name?" "It's your tee shirt" she said. DUH!

 

  Mini "snacking" Cucumber    The end, with no seeds. When I was knee high to a grasshopper it was widely believed that it was dangerous to eat the ends of  cucumbers -  those parts with no seeds. Is this true?     Answers please. If you died as a result of ingesting cucumber ends please let me know. Thanks     jmp

  Brenner Glickman is the Senior Rabbi at Sarasota's Temple Emmanu-el. At the Shabbat service on Friday 24th June 2022 he spoke of the Reform Jewish teaching about abortion.  Rabbi Glickman is a fine teacher.   He explores the nuances of  Reform  teaching , drawing from sources in the Torah, the Talmud and the Mishnah. It's a remarkably clear address.  Please don't miss it! It comes on at about minute 26.49 https://fb.watch/dT7wQ5m1LM/

  The nuances of teaching about abortion in Reform and Conservative Jewish traditions. No sound bites, but solid and thoughtful preaching. Watch the entire service, or only watch the Rabbi's address which comes in soon after 26.49 https://www.facebook.com/TempleEmanuelSRQ/

  When you buy a new Utility Knife (a.k.a. Box Cutter), but need a utility knife to open the clamshell packaging.

  The 'phone call came from England.   The rest of the day was a blur of tears.  Steve was the fourth of my parents five sons.

                                          Leftovers again. Stuffed Mushrooms, Bratwurst, Half of a Sweet Onion ( then chopped into quarters) , Mixed Veg from Frozen. Cooked in  ( get this!)  Kraft brand Creamy Poppy Seed Salad Dressing, (try it sometime) ; and surmounted with some leftover Trader Joe's Curry Sauce.                Necessity is the mother of deliciousness!

  Beginning to feel at home

  Nala, aged 18 months. Adopted today (in the U.K.) by Martyn and Wendy Povey. Welcome to the family Nala!

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex  made their choice to withdraw from the suffocating inner "Royal" family.  Good for them.  It was their choice to make. But the popular press on both sides of the Atlantic cannot let the story go.  There is more than a tinge of racism at work here. My home town newspaper, the "Bristol Post" ran this story.   https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/celebs-tv/meghan-markle-princess-anne-prince-7208697 What nonsense. Why does it qualify as news?

  We all scream?     Maybe not.   I like Ice Cream well enough but I'll never scream for it. It's low in my pantheon of favourite dessert treats. But then there is Sarasota's BIG OLAF Creamery in the Amish/Mennonite area. Big Olaf is one of the few local sources of SOFT SERVE Ice Cream (my favourite). but  'tis  too hard to eat in our super hot June days. A Cone (sometimes called  a Cornet in the U.K) is likely to deliver  more soft serve to my walking shorts than to my mouth. "Faint Not Nor Fear"  Big Olaf also offers Tub Ice Cream. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I bought a 64 oz.  tub of Big Olaf Ice Cream today; as a gift to my good friend Donna C She likes ice-cream.  She adores desiccated coconut. My gift had both.   64 oz. for $9 I sampled a bit before  giving the Big Tub to Donna.

  Charles R. Gallagher, SJ.  Harvard University Press, 2021 A vital story of the quasi Fascist/Anti-Semitic "Christian Front" in the U.S.A. from circa 1938 until circa 1942. Hear Fr. Gallagher as he talks about his book, at the Massachusetts Historical Society. https://youtu.be/9vzLKGkV0nQ Better still read the book (which I have done).  And be aware that right-wing "Evangelical Christian Fascism" is thriving in our midst.

Here is a bit about the Shriners Hospitals for Children.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shriners_Hospitals_for_Children The Shriners Hospitals were at one time the premier and only U.S.A. and Mexican  source of utterly free hospital care for very sick children. There are thousands of American and Mexican adults who owe their very lives, or the quality of their  lives because of Shriners. As the wiki article above shows, the Shriners Hospitals have changed their policies and practices to match the realpolitik of the U.S.A Health Care system.   Note that the Tampa Shriners Hospital is now closed, and that the Shriners system can no longer afford free care and must rely on Health Insurance (except in their burns hospitals which continue to offer free care). The Sarasota Shriners Lodge is on Beneva Rd. and Circus Blvd,  a mile from my home. It seems to be stretched for cash, so it has dubbed its main Meeting Hall as an Event Centre. Next wee...

My Coffee maker (a "Mr. Coffee" ) went on strike this morning.  It simply would not  turn on.   A morning without coffee is as bad as a morning without coffee. But, merciful heavens, there is a DUNKIN which I pass on the way home from my early morning walk with Zion at Bayfront Park. The Universe was on my side!

This                           Roasted potatoes and grape tomatoes To make this Roasted Potato Salad with Barbecue Dressing A yummy riff on potato salad. Recipe via the New York Times https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022481-roasted-potato-salad-with-barbecue-dressing

                                                                       Peoria Singapore Puna                                                                            Thailand                                                                Pomezia, Italy                          \\\                                   ...

The Teacher. a F/B friend lives and teaches in the  (Mass) Connecticut River Valley He writes: Many teachers are ready to call it quits. Some will. Some will hold out in hopes for better days. And others will just collect a pay check. I recently spoke with one teacher who said she can’t see doing this anymore. What is the “this”? That’s hard to explain. I have had many jobs and teaching is by far the most grueling. It’s a job where you can’t hide. You are in a classroom with anywhere up to 30 children day after day and they are waiting on you. There is literally nowhere for you to go. Sick, tired, cranky—it doesn’t matter. Those 60 eyes are watching you. It’s a job of immense responsibility. Some of your students are cutting themselves. Some of your students are being abused. Some of your students are using to escape. Some are suicidal. Some commit suicide. (During my career, three students whom I loved killed themselves.) Teachers are a sort of watchers that attempt to see, t...

   My first cousin Kate, a talented gardener and cook, today  posted a photo' of a dessert she had made.  ETON MESS I'd never before heard of it. It's called an "Eton Mess" since it may (or may not) have been created at Eton College in Windsor, U.K. In recent common parlance the Cabinet of the U.K. Premier Boris Johnson  is called an Eton Mess since many of the members are Old Etonians.  They are making a  mess  of governance.  Kate's Dessert reminded me of an American version called "AMBROSIA". I have a story about Ambrosia. Of course I have a story about  Ambrosia!   If I didn't I'd make one up!  This one is true. In 1984 I moved to Pittsfield. MA to become the Rector of St. Stephen's Parish in that City. For complicated reasons I spent my first year in a second floor rented apartment, rather than in a Church provided house. A parishioner named Bea lived just across the street.  Bea, a widow, lived ju...

  There is a small shopping plaza at the back of the Sarasota airport. It's   on Route 41 in Sarasota. The plaza has a "Subway" sandwich shop which we can ignore now and for ever.  The redeeming feature of the Plaza is two of my preferred destinations:  Captain Brian's Seafood Restaurant and Mama G's bakery I set out for the Plaza this morning. It's about four miles from my home on busy roads.  The traffic light gods were on my side - not one red light in the entire journey. I went there to buy fresh fish at Capt. B's Seafood Market.  Here the  piscatorial gods were on my side.   I was able to buy 1lb of Hake, my favourite cold water ocean fish   Hake is in the same taxonomic order ( Gadiformes ) as  cod  and  haddock .  It's hard to find it in this neck of the woods. Like Cod and Haddock, but with a richer flavour There are hake fish cakes in my future, with one or two to share with friends. Fish in hand I walk...

  SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY

  I saw and bought "Envy" Apples at Trader Joe's.  I bought them because they are small,  in a time when most apples are family sized. "The Ultimate Apple Experience" is a bit of advertising rhetoric.  I do not experience apples, I eat them. That being said they are good:  Crisp and Juicy.  I had one for supper the other day, smeared with a bit of no salt crunchy peanut butter.  Pretty durn good!

When Americans visit the United Kingdom or Ireland for the first time they are likely to order a "Full English" or "Full Irish" breakfast. They become confused about the bacon on their plate.  "What is this?" they think.  It's not a bit like the bacon we have at home. They have encountered "Back Bacon".  Here is a bit about it from "Jolly Posh Foods" of Chicago Illinois. What is back bacon? British & Irish bacon is traditionally called “back bacon” because it is made with pork loin, as opposed to American bacon which is typically from pork belly. The loin is much leaner and less fatty than the belly, resulting in a much meatier texture. Our back bacon is over 80% leaner than regular American bacon, and is also uncured. How do you make your back bacon? Our back-bacon is hand-trimmed, hand-rubbed and dry-cured to our authentic recipe that our owner, Nick, brought over from Yorkshire. Our back bacon is made with prime pork loin tha...

                                              This is a joke. Two years ago my annual auto insurance premium was increased by $200 - $300 per annum.  'twas surprising since I had not made a claim, and my Driver License designated me as a safe driver,  I called the Insurer and asked the basic question -"Why?"  It was because the population of Florida is increasing, hence more drivers and more claims. I called a well established insurance business  (Wallace Welch and Willingham".   They shopped around an found me a cheaper premium with a reputable Insurer.  Good work, for as long as it lasted. My 2022/3 renewal notice has arrived. I thought that the premium would be lower since I am still a safe driver and my Kia Forte is four and a half years old.  How naïve of me. The premium is up by $159, and now totals $1,410, i.e. about ...

  Yes, we can still purchase carbon paper.  Who'ld thunk so? Remember when you found a sheet of unused or semi-used carbon paper when you were a child?  What fun. Remember when you paid by credit card and the cashier/clerk had a little machine which made a carbon copy of your card, and you signed the top copy?  Remember how you made sure that the cashier/clerk tore up the carbon paper lest it be used for fraud. A common but silly punishment for minor infractions of  school rules was to be given "one hundred lines", i.e. to write "I must not talk in class" one hundred times.  What a chore.  Some wiseacre school children tried to cheat by writing fifty lines with a sheet of carbon paper magically creating one hundred.  D'ya think that fooled the teachers? -------------------------------------------------------------------- Today I had to write a letter to FPL  (Florida Power and Light) to protest an erroneous charge.   My computer pri...

My friend Lizzie C. in Bordeaux writes this about her husband John- Paul who is bedridden with Parkinson's Disease:   " I have a lot of people to see these days to arrange for Jean-Paul's care this coming summer.   You may have heard that here in France, hospitals and medical services are shutting down, and personnel is very difficult." "Hmm"  Not only in France.  The same issue is acute in the U.K., and in many parts of the U.S.A.  Oh Covid 19. We are a bit, but not totally shielded from this in prosperous Sarasota. I was in a Walgreens store  on Monday (5/30/2022) to get some photo's printed from my I-phone. It was outside my usual area of trade but in the fairly near Lakewood Ranch. The store was eerily quiet.  I asked the check-out Clerk about this. He told me that this was because the Pharmacy was closed for the day, for lack of staff. Today (Tuesday) I had my annual medical with my Primary Care Physician. All is well  She...