The days are growing longer and the temperature hit the 25*C mark today. It was our previous queen Juliana's birthday, and so a national holiday over here. Most people take this opportunity to litter the streets with rubbish in a sorely needed attempt to make a few spare pennies in times of crisis. What did I get? A can of lobster soup good until June 2016, some dutch military sew-on's to give to friends in Russia, a stolen "No Trespassing" road sign that I gave to my son, and an ancient minute cast-iron carpenters tool to mark degrees on timber. And a healthy sun-tan. Had my avocado tree been growing on the Sunny South Coast or in Cornwall or in Brittany, France I think it would have survived this winter like it did 12 winters already. Sadly, however an unexpected frost in February ruined my dreams of lying under an avocado to be struck on the head by a falling fruit and inventing a solution to the world's crisis. Stringed up the high E on the guitar again. It supposed to have steel strings but I prefer nylon. Sounds better and the steel ones cut my fingers. As for music check out Gomez. Seen them twice now at a 10 year interval. One of the best vocalists ever. Free download of the third of their live series: http://www.gomeztheband.com/liveseries/freela/ Planning to visit Russia again in a few weeks, as yet no idea how that will turn out. Over to you drum, greets, Mike.

25 c....! Lucky sod. We got a hosepipe ban plus lots of rain, and the snows come back further north. Bank Holiday this weekend......so forcast is north winds and more rain. . Yeah Gomez ok. Soak your fingertips in spirit (then drink it ), harden them up.

Are you fucking shitting me?

Hmmm....  Seems I've to visit Peachyforum to get educated.

Did not know we have a (sunny) south coast in Holland.  Or was Flanders flooded...?  News spreads slow in our area...

 

Rain, rain and more rain....methinks the hosepipe ban is a result of decades of out-of-date water maintenance and no investment, one area in which the dutch could be considered the best in the world. Either that or if there's not enough water simply blow up the dikes. So the dutch government fell, and judging by the signs there won't be a new one until September. Not as bad as Belgium of course, but in times of recession you need to be able to make decisions fast. I really who pays the politicians to take 3 months summer holiday? Ludwig van Wilders? Speaking of gardening, found recipes for nettle soup and dandelion butter. Will help keep the weeds down. That and KVAS to get rid of the old stale bread. Friend Alex has booked me for a role in the invasion of Korea in a few weeks. 1000 loonies from the US, China and Russia participating, using tanks, armed cars, amphibious vehicles and helicopters. Thanks Alex. To be safe I asked to a translator interrogating (female) captives. I guess I will have to learn how to use a Kalachnikov. Vodka, by the way is not allowed. Looking for a sponsor. Wonder what to fill in on the visa request form. Visiting UK SSC in the summer, prolly one week only, mit T and S and Jessi. Laterz....

Hi Hunter......I would never do that . Its a old trick, to toughen up skin, use surgical spirit on cotton wool just wipe gently daily, a lot of hikers etc used to do it prior to long expiditions. Many guitarists do the same. Drum

...or simply play more guitar ;) Today the fame-girls were offline, first time in more than several years. Server problems or maybe they did not pay the rent. Time will tell. So no updates. Their clandestine following must be 1000x larger than their members. Noticed you got enough rain to swamp the entire SSC, what the hell happened to it all? The reservoirs are still not full. I suggest you set up a water reservoir in da garden and connect to an irrigation system. Cancelled Russia. No time / money. Maybe in the summer. Been watching the UK political antics and the Olympic flame. Where on earth did they get the money from to send the flame from Greece to London? Or the fuel for that matter. European Union? Anyhows I guess it will make Boris happy. Updated Alex domain vandych today. He's not been online for some time now. No news from yg. 4 days holiday until Monday so maybe OB update. T sends her greets. S and Jessi still in bed. Mike... (Can someone tell me where the text-edit tools are hidden to parse the text and give them some colour? I'm using Google Chrome. Thanks!)

[quote user="mike_op18"]Can someone tell me where the text-edit tools are hidden to parse the text and give them some colour? I'm using Google Chrome. Thanks![/quote] The editor is not compatible with Chrome.  Just enter raw HTML in the box.

That's kinda hideous. I installed Chrome because my versions of IE, firefox and Opera did not work well with Peachy. Peachy does look ok using Chrome. Why is the editor not compatible with the supported browsers?

I do not have time to re-learn html for this purpose.

I shall try updated versions of firefox and Opera, but I really think this should be fixed forum-side.

Easy option would be to get rid of all those 'pirate' op systems you've installed over the years . Peachy in the main works fine mit Linux and Fox......but then i dont do 'strange' things ??. Hazy sun today, few clouds about, rumour has it that weather might improve end of next week. The flame is carried in a thing like a miners safety lamp, so a one pound tin of lighter fuel should do it, anyway the Princess Royal was a Girl Guide....must have a box of matches!.

I sent you a PM Mike, nope forum no longer shows when u get new ones. Maybe it can help you sort that out.

Thanks for the edit funky. Are you going to edit all my posts (regarding the colors?). I know basic html and can handle that perfectly, but I seriously do not think that is the way to make a forum user-friendly.

@drum: no pirate stuff here. Most people like me (and you as I have understood) do not use Linux, and firefox doesn't work 100% in the main either.

Again, I think this should be fixed forum-side, not user-side. my last penny on this issue.

mike=)).

Stinging Nettle Soup

Ingredients: one onion, two nurds of garlic, 2 potatoes, one liter of vegetable bouillon, 20 gram margarine, olive oil and two handfuls of nettles. Salt, pepper, sour-cream and one handful of faith.

Wash the nettle leaves carefully to make sure there are no bugs on the underneath. Nettles are particularly loved by klingons.

Put the margarine in a deep frying-pan, when hot add two small lugs of olive oil. Add the onions, shredded and bashed garlic. After 2-3 minutes add the nettles roughly cut and the potatoes in small peachy cubes. Add the vegetable bouillon (I make mine from the water left over after boiling other vegetables) and leave to boil gently for 20 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Blast with a staff-mixer. Add salt and pepper to taste and sour cream and enjoy!! :)

mike=)).

We usually add as well 2 chopped celery-stalks, a handfull of white rice, and above all fresh grated nutmeg according to preferred taste.

As garnishing chopped fresh parsley and springonion.

I just stuff them in the water butts to stop it turning green........that said I did make nettle wine in the past...Drum

OK, here's a variation: nettle quiche...

for the pastry: 150 gram of sieved flour (not self-raising), salt & pepper. Cut 75 grams of margarine (or butter) into small blocks, then work the ingredients into a ball of pastry. Add some luke warm water to make things smooth. roll out and cover an oven-proof piece of kitchen-ware. Prick holes (siq) in the base.

For the rest: 3 eggs, 25 grams condensed milk, 2 cloves of garlic, 100 grams of grated cheese (old dutch recommended, either that or fancy expensive Swiss Emmental or even better the even more fancy French expensive Gruyere or Italian Parmesan. Damn the Euro), two handfuls of your least desired stinging-nettles. Press the garlic, clean and shred the stingers. Whisk the lot together (keep some grated cheese) and pour onto the pastry base..

Oven, gas mark 5, approx. 40 minutes (check your local settings). Don't let it burn. Add some grated cheese during the last few minutes.

Currently preparing a T-shirt with logo for another forum. Model for the promotion stuff already selected. Shooting soon in NL. Any interest Peachy? Vat's his name? ;)

Hey Ho......Very nice weather for past week, got into the mid eighties. Stuff the nettles !, no really, roll a rolling pin over them to crush the spikey bits, then blanch and use as you would vine leafs to make dolmades etc. stuff quick steam and dose with olive oil and wine vinegar. Or if you live on the 'Sunny South Coast', pop down to the beach and tear off  a few sea kale leafs,(dont take the whole plant). More taste but needs longer steaming. Drum

im at a lower latitude then the Netherlands but a much higher elevation. Seattle rain brings Montana snow. its 8 degrees C or 47 degrees F, and slushy rain. at least its daylight till 10 at night. summer is coming

"The world is full of bastards, the number increasing rapidly the further one gets from Missoula, Montana."

Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It

Aaaand Dutch summer's over. Hahah. It was a great couple of days! :)