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Post by onlyMark on Mar 28, 2024 19:05:06 GMT
I mention locks - but I’ll get to more description of them another time. They’re there to go up and down hills is the thing. With a large range of knowledge on the forum I’m probably repeating what some know but I hope also informing others. A few photos then. Drove through some nice Derbyshire scenery to get to my starting point near Stoke on Trent - I didn’t pick the boat up until mid-afternoon but then only cruised a few miles to get to a decent stop off to sort out my stuff and have a good look around and what I’d rented. This is capable of sleeping five, but any more than two would I’m sure be quite a pain. It’s not short, but not long either. Somewhere mid-range at 45ft (13.7m). It is also not a posh one at all. Quite basic and getting worse for wear. Not a bother to me because in the season they are quite expensive to rent. Before Easter as I have done they are taking everything into consideration, a reasonable price. Bear in mind I paid for the boat, went food shopping before I picked it up but then, unless you want to stay in a Marina and with mains electric hook ups, mooring at the side of the canal is free, water fill ups are free, there are no tolls, no campsite fees, fuel is included, gas for cooking is included, central heating be it by gas or diesel is included and the only thing you pay for is if you block up the toilet(s) and have to have them pumped out - but then the boatyard you got it from reimburses you. This was my first mooring spot. Nice and quiet - There are different styles/types of narrow boats with traditionally the bed being at the back, but ‘reverse layout’ ones are getting more and more popular and I would prefer that. Looking from the front there is a dinette(?) to the left, the kitchen area in the middle with a TV and radio, the toilet and shower/sink opposite each other in the corridor and the bed at the back. There are doors front and back - The cooker and fridge are normal domestic size (small freezer compartment in the fridge), standard sized sink and drainer - Shower and toilet, one each side - Looking from the bed back up to the front. The bed a generously called a double and is 1.30m wide and longer than I am tall by a few centimetres - More another time.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 28, 2024 19:02:17 GMT
Managed to get some photos sorted so I'll carry on for a minute but that will be all for today.
There are currently about 2000 miles/3200km of canals in England and Wales. They were built for the obvious reason of transferring goods from one place to another and were originally built somewhat piecemeal to join rivers or make a spur to a factory or mine. This preceded the industrial revolution but as soon as that came about, the system and design of canals increased dramatically.
The first “modern day” canal was built in 1757 but it was only the first step - “In the mid-18th century the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater built the Bridgewater Canal. Its purpose was to transport coal from his mines to the industrialising city of Manchester. It opened in 1761 and was the longest canal constructed in Britain to that date. Canal boats could carry thirty tons at a time; one horse could tow more than ten times the amount of cargo that was possible with a cart. The Bridgewater Canal reduced the price of coal in Manchester by nearly two-thirds within a year of its opening. The canal was a huge financial success and repaid the cost of its construction within just a few years.”
It wasn’t long though until a new method of transporting goods came on the scene. This provided the death knell for the canals. In 1825 George Stephenson connected the towns of Stockton and Darlington in England by rail. Both canals and rail ran in tandem for a while but gradually most canals fell into disuse. “The period between the 1770s and the 1830s is often referred to as the "Golden Age" of British canals. During this period of canal mania, huge sums were invested in canal building. The canal system expanded to nearly 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometres) in length.”
Shortly after the end of WWII, the leisure aspect of canals became prominent and many were repaired, refurbished, maintained again and so on until we have the situation we have today. The last recorded use of a canal to transport goods commercially though was in 1996. Canals tend to vary in width but one feature which became standardised, as with rail track width, was the width of canal locks. The first canals were built with an eye on the costs and the ‘newness’ of the technology and idea. So rather than go for something grand, they hedged their bets and made the infrastructure as small as possible but still practical for usage. Over the decades as more and more were built it was prudent to keep the same sizes for practicality.
This is why generally locks are 7 feet/2.13m wide - bear in mind also that in the early days everything was built by hand and an extra few inches here and there would easily add up. Also there was a limit to how long a boat could be and still navigate around bends etc. This determined how long a lock could be. If it fits in, all well and good, if you’ve built a lock an extra few yards/metres, you’ve wasted your money. A standard maximum length became 72 feet (21.95 m).
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 28, 2024 19:01:22 GMT
Foxes Afloat, yes I know, the other not. Foxes now have a house/land somewhere I seem to remember.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 28, 2024 17:32:40 GMT
bjd, there'll be a few photos in the report of them I tend to think. htmb, wouldn't happen to be Holly the Cafe Boat? And/or Cruising the Cut? K2, normally internet isn't such a problem unless, like I have, you moor in a cutting with high banks to block out some of the wind and rain. Often TV is also affected by this as you would expect.
I've tried again with some photos but given up. I'll have to see about it tomorrow.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 28, 2024 15:23:31 GMT
I’ve been slowing down my mode of holiday transport for the last few years and have progressed from cars (except last time in Mexico) and motorbikes to scooters, auto rickshaws, bicycles, on foot and after casting around for another means of getting around I realised I’d missed out on an obvious one. Canal boats, otherwise called narrow boats. There are plenty and numerous in the UK which has the advantage that I speak the language reasonably well, have a passing knowledge of the local food but, the weather is not the best. I also grew up in an area with them as a backdrop everywhere. I decided to brave it anyway and so for the last couple of weeks I’ve been travelling at walking pace in a long, thin boat along narrow man made waterways and at times in the rain, wind, cold but the odd rays of sunshine breaking through to warm my back. I made a mistake though. Tomorrow it should be about back to normal but it can be difficult to get a good internet connection and I never thought I’d be renting a boat that doesn’t have any power connections other than two USB sockets to charge my phone and Kindle. It means I have to rely on the pathetic computer battery and a battery pack I can’t charge up. Both of which are just about to run.......... Damn, takes me too long to upload an image, seriously, it's that bad. I'll try later but it might have to be tomorrow to continue.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 21, 2024 15:01:12 GMT
To split hairs maybe, it is Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 20, 2024 18:33:30 GMT
(But invented Pooh Sticks. One of the best games of all times when you have small kids. Or as an adult.)
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 12, 2024 13:02:59 GMT
Tod, there are large tilapia farms in Lake Kariba. My money would be on coming from there.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 12, 2024 6:29:58 GMT
Good to read a proper East Midlands slang word from Cheery. Brings back memories.
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Baking
Mar 11, 2024 16:49:05 GMT
Post by onlyMark on Mar 11, 2024 16:49:05 GMT
That'll be the answer then.
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Baking
Mar 11, 2024 6:12:19 GMT
Post by onlyMark on Mar 11, 2024 6:12:19 GMT
because the sugar in crumpets somehow covers up that biscuity flavor. I think it must be something else because the recipe I used for crumpets from the commercial manufacturer only has half a teaspoon of sugar in it to get the yeast going - 150g plain white flour 200ml water ½ tsp salt ½ tsp sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp dried yeast.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 10, 2024 15:46:40 GMT
Bixa, I tend to look down the list and if I have the stuff already then I can make it. It's quite rare I'd go out specially to buy something. It's like Shepherds Pie where I mostly have all the stuff anyway compared to Vietnamese Summer/Spring Rolls where I need to plan ahead.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 10, 2024 9:56:03 GMT
This salad instantly became a favorite meal! After about ten years of making meals for us that we really liked and could have them regularly - and then forgetting what they were - I started keeping a list. I refer back to it from time to time when I'm a bit stuck for ideas and at last count were were nineteen we would re-visit.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 9, 2024 15:35:56 GMT
Read that twice and don't get it. British sausages, when chilled and not frozen, couldn't be imported you say even when they were in the EU yet the info says no ban on meat products traded within the EU?
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 9, 2024 11:48:54 GMT
Tod, it's Yorkshire pudding batter. Nothing more than that. I can give you my recipe no problem but it is just a generic recipe you can find most places. I used a cake pan because it is the only thing I had big enough. I put some oil in the bottom and added the sausages and put it in a high oven. Whilst that was doing I made the batter than added it to the pan when the sausages were starting to brown. But I avidly watch the GBBO & retain many tips just in case. I shall have to start watching it if that is the case. In any case, there is too much pastry for me. It's Yorkshire pudding so technically it's not pastry. Pastry has butter in it. but those sausages are not English enough Yes. Try getting proper English sausages or anything like them in my local supermarket though. I was there just now with Mrs M and there is a big selection as you would expect in Germany. I asked her which would be suitable for frying instead of what I'd bought. She said, none of them.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 8, 2024 15:57:31 GMT
I'll try the dusting method next time then and see what happens. Thanks.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 8, 2024 14:14:14 GMT
Had some not the right sausages left from the sausage cobs and felt toad in the hole would be an idea. They seem to have floated to the top though - Added some mash, peas and gravy -
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Baking
Mar 8, 2024 9:25:07 GMT
Post by onlyMark on Mar 8, 2024 9:25:07 GMT
Flopped over a bit but perfectly edible - cheese scones -
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 7, 2024 18:14:55 GMT
off
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 7, 2024 17:12:57 GMT
I've always found different countries have different allowances and tolerances they account for. There's not an EU wide standard. One weird thing was up until recently you were allowed in Spain got go up to 20km/h above the speed limit to overtake someone. I think in France you are allowed 5km/h up to 100km/h and 5% over 100km/h. Germany is 3km/h and 3% and Spain is either 3/3, 5/5 or 7/7 depending on the camera being used. They are the main areas I drive.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 7, 2024 17:04:39 GMT
My photo all looks a bit pink on my computer. Never saw that when I posted it. Bixa, no, not made by me. It was a quick lunch due to a few other things happening and I keep a few packets of those half cooked rolls you stick in the oven for ten minutes. Funnily enough I said to my daughter I'd gone some bread in the oven and she was thought I'd made some from scratch. She was quite disappointed but then as quite happy to slap butter on a couple whilst they were still warm.
Edited - changed the photo.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 7, 2024 15:35:24 GMT
The conundrum is that olives were getting less and less payment on the market for the farmers so they were turning to a higher profit crop - but then in Andalucía there was less and less rainfall and average temperatures were rising resulting in more and more water restrictions and drought. So a crop needing more water is/was on the surface, a bad move. I can only imagine to change from one to the other takes ten years or so (maybe shorter, maybe longer, I'm not a farmer) and in the meantime the climate has changed plus the income from olives is returning to levels before they made the decision to do so. I'd need to ask when I'm there.
I do know, being there every summer, that ten years or so ago is was unusual to have temperatures of more than 40 C for more than in total about a week between June and September. It has gradually increased such that last year for example there was one stretch of about three weeks over over 40 plus numerous other days. It's at a point that me and Mrs M are talking about if it is worth selling the house as there is no way we can have aircon with our solar, prohibitively expensive to get a mains connection and would we want to be there anyway with those temperatures.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 7, 2024 13:30:48 GMT
Looked up sopa de la milpa. I'd like that I'm sure. Lunch today - two sausage cobs. Unfortunately the wrong sausages and the wrong cobs but the onion and ketchup were authentic -
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 7, 2024 6:59:01 GMT
I've read different figures for almond water usage and many can't agree how it compares to walnuts, pistachio etc e.g. "For context on water usage, consider the following: 1 almond = 1 gallon, 1 pistachio = 2 gallons, 1 walnut = 5 gallons, 1 orange = 13 gallons, 1 apple = 18 gallons, 1 pound of alfalfa hay = 100 gallons." My area in Spain, Andalucía, combined with Valencia province are the second highest producer of almonds after the US and have been there from before the Roman era. I have an unknown number on my land, no more than about thirty though and they grow wild. There are vast tracts of land I can see from the house that have been turned over in the last ten years from olive trees to nuts of one sort or another.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 5, 2024 21:42:12 GMT
The little devil on my shoulder is saying I'd like to see Trump get back in if only for the entertainment value. Which means that would be the only saving grace to him doing so. A bit like watching car crashes is also. There are a million other serious reasons why I wouldn't want him to get in. He is a showman, it is part of his persona. He says things for effect. Taking that aspect in isolation and he is a good communicator, he knows what people want him to say, he can manipulate a crowd. He knows how to entertain. He is, granted, very dangerous. He also displays the seven symptoms of a Psychopath.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 5, 2024 16:46:02 GMT
Today is the anniversary of in 1984 the beginning of the ill fated and divisive Miner's Strike, bullied into existence by the arrogance of the shredded wheat haired tin-pot dictator Arthur Scargill that turned families against each other, destroyed the livelihood of thousand of workers, led to many areas becoming economically depressed, destroyed communities and community spirit and propped up the gloating grocer's daughter from Grantham enough to be elected for a third term.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 5, 2024 16:03:44 GMT
Based on my life experience, I'd expect most older English men to be cheering Trump on. I only know one older Englishman, me, and Trump has no attraction.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 5, 2024 12:45:56 GMT
Two to five kilos.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 4, 2024 21:00:30 GMT
The little devil on my shoulder is saying I'd like to see Trump get back in if only for the entertainment value.
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Post by onlyMark on Mar 4, 2024 19:16:22 GMT
True enough. But then that would also be the case with old cars and open it with the key. I bet there's more than you'd expect who leave the keys in when they nip out for something, be it now or then, otherwise nobody would be locked in.
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