yvan - Network

Ah, SANZA have it in stock from Cadbury Australia: https://www.sanza.co.uk/Cadbury_Jamaican_Rum_and_Raisin_King_Size.aspSo I guess it must...

Ah, SANZA have it in stock from Cadbury Australia: https://www.sanza.co.uk/Cadbury_Jamaican_Rum_and_Raisin_King_Size.asp

So I guess it must still be a thing back'ome...

Hmmm... I'm about due a SANZA order I reckon... for my slab of VB... 😅 nah, actually for my regular hit of Promite.

Is Rum & Rasin simply not a flavour that exists in the UK? Primarily thinking for chocolate, but also ice cream.Used to have it back...

Is Rum & Rasin simply not a flavour that exists in the UK? Primarily thinking for chocolate, but also ice cream.

Used to have it back home in Australia as a kid, and every now and then I get an urge for it... but can never find it when I remember to look.

I'm sure I could find it online, but in Australia it was a standard stock item in shops.

I wonder if it still is?

#Allotment Postcard #20 — yet again we fail to complete the damn greenhouse! Potting on, and other shenanigans....

#Allotment Postcard #20 — yet again we fail to complete the damn greenhouse! Potting on, and other shenanigans.
https://youtu.be/Emd-RTHhyOo?si=l2e8zlzQFYr6z46d

New espresso machine at work.I'm definitely in the right place. 🤤🤞🏻I shall have some fun dialling things in tomorrow morning I...

New espresso machine at work.

I'm definitely in the right place. 🤤🤞🏻

I shall have some fun dialling things in tomorrow morning I reckon.

Second time working from home and I worked from 07:30 to 20:30... 🤦🏻The key problem with WfH is not having the distinct motivation to...

Second time working from home and I worked from 07:30 to 20:30... 🤦🏻

The key problem with WfH is not having the distinct motivation to GTFO... and when I am hacking at a problem, in the groove so to speak, I have a tendency to get stuck in it.

If I'm going to do this every Wednesday I need to exercise some stricter discipline really.

Trying to work up some enthusiasm for my first post-beer-industry beer-festival. Cambridge next Thu/Fri... as a totally normal member of the...

Trying to work up some enthusiasm for my first post-beer-industry beer-festival. Cambridge next Thu/Fri... as a totally normal member of the public. I must admit I have some trepidation about the whole idea. But I've booked a day off, and a Travelodge, and I'm damn well going to do it.

Definitely not going to the trade session, I don't want to be lynched, though it's not a "craft beer" event so I may be safe...ish.

Then we have Hitchin in June.

It's going to be a bit odd I think, especially without my own bar of actually good beer at a proper cold temperature.

"island of strangers"Fucksake. Words I would expect from the idiot bigoted pub bore who thinks he's some sort of intellectual.

"island of strangers"

Fucksake. Words I would expect from the idiot bigoted pub bore who thinks he's some sort of intellectual.

Has anybody quantified what the ongoing Co-Op issues are costing in lost revenue? It must be huge.

Has anybody quantified what the ongoing Co-Op issues are costing in lost revenue? It must be huge.

Right, fucksake... if, like me, you've been puzzling at why the discount codes advertised on the Suttons website and socials aren't working...

Right, fucksake... if, like me, you've been puzzling at why the discount codes advertised on the Suttons website and socials aren't working for the 20% discount note that the one from the link in their list email this morning IS working: SUSN2851

#GYO #GrowYourOwn #allotment

Well, really annoyingly the Suttons discount code seems to have stopped working properly prematurely. :(

Well, really annoyingly the Suttons discount code seems to have stopped working properly prematurely. :(

Ah, but the regent is "despatch by the end of June"... I kinda want more instanter gratification than that.

Ah, but the regent is "despatch by the end of June"... I kinda want more instanter gratification than that.

Hmmm... or maybe Regent instead of Boskoop Glory.The Cab Sav I'm kinda set on for the nostalgia...

Hmmm... or maybe Regent instead of Boskoop Glory.

The Cab Sav I'm kinda set on for the nostalgia...

Right, haven't missed the Suttons sale... but cutting it close...Trying to decide on two grape varieties for the greenhouse... currently...

Right, haven't missed the Suttons sale... but cutting it close...

Trying to decide on two grape varieties for the greenhouse... currently it's maybe Boskoop Glory and Cabernet Sauvignon. Main motivation is winemaking, but the Boskoop is supposedly pretty good as a dual-purpose.

Anyone got any experience/recommendations for UK-growing of red grapes for wine-making from this range: https://www.suttons.co.uk/vegetable-fruit-plants/soft-fruit/grape-vine-plants

#GYO #Allotment #GrowYourOwn #WineMaking

@rooftopjaxx it's good for a little bit of the grim reality to leak through... I mean, whatever efforts I might make there's no avoiding it...

@rooftopjaxx it's good for a little bit of the grim reality to leak through... I mean, whatever efforts I might make there's no avoiding it really. Work is keeping me blissfully distracted from most of the doomscrolling now anyway, and my car doesn't even have a working radio so I can go 10+ hours without hearing or seeing an iota of "news" for over half the week now... bliss.

IDK how supermarkets* make chicken so bloody wet. (I've complained about this with beef recently too.)If you've ever processed chicken from...

IDK how supermarkets* make chicken so bloody wet. (I've complained about this with beef recently too.)

If you've ever processed chicken from scratch you may be aware that it is generally pretty dry. You can break down a half dozen birds and not have a puddle on the bench...

So how does 300g of chicken thighs in a supermarket pack come with a puddle in the tray? Then it manages to leak out twice as much puddle again when you attempt to fry it?

The whole thing is a rort.

* As a general rule we don't buy supermarket meat, especially not chicken. But a couple of weeks ago the local Co-Op (back when they still had food on the shelves) had a few trays of thighs very CLEARANCE reduced and I went for the deal... I kinda regret it now. But it'll be OK... I've fried it out until dry and then browned it a bit, and it'll make a good chicken adobo regardless. We will stick to the local smallholding chicken in future, as we usually do.

A little bit of #allotment es-scape-ism on the way home from work.There's a dynamic to the shape of these that reminds me of prawns. And now...

A little bit of #allotment es-scape-ism on the way home from work.

There's a dynamic to the shape of these that reminds me of prawns. And now I have a hankering for garlic prawns... dammit. I grew up with amazing massive super-garlicky garlic prawns, one of the perennial specialties of my parents' restaurant... sizzling in ceramic dishes of oil, loads of garlic, a hint of chilli... the special crusty old "garlic prawn pot" on the stove in the kitchen. Big slices of mum's bread soaked in garlicy prawny oil. This sort of thing made me what I am today... a fat bastard who likes good food. 😂

These are going to go into a fish of Filipino "adobo chicken" I am about to make for dinner.

The colour of this peony bloom seemingly oversaturates my camera or phone screen. It looks a bit mad, but in real life it is a super rich...

The colour of this peony bloom seemingly oversaturates my camera or phone screen. It looks a bit mad, but in real life it is a super rich deep coloured bloom. A beaut welcome onto the new plot.

This is one Kat rescued from the new #allotment plot before we want all scorched earth on its ass. It is certainly showing its gratefulness, in spades.

This bloody greenhouse is the bane of my #allotment productivity life right now. Another weekend... ending yet again with an incomplete...

This bloody greenhouse is the bane of my #allotment productivity life right now. Another weekend... ending yet again with an incomplete greenhouse.

1. I tried three times cutting the glass today and it just will not play ball for me. I'm blaming the shitty old greenhouse glass. My last attempts at glass cutting seem to have given me a false sense of glass cutting expertise 😅

Solution: cutting spare perspex to size with the angle grinder to replace the base boards rather than glass. Works pretty well actually.

2. The tall end pieces are not fitting in properly, there is a skew, I tried to correct the skew but it makes the other side worse. There is no solution. I tried all the perspex in all the spots and still.... nope.

Solution: cut perspex base boards as above but 20mm higher than the originals and then trim the tops of the tall perspex panels to fit the angle.

So… new problems encountered, but new solutions devised. A plan of attack in place for the next attempt. 🤞🏻

WAIT!! It actually turns out the drink holders in the VW Fox are the absolute perfect size for a bottle of Hendrick's. 🤯*sips gin...

WAIT!!

It actually turns out the drink holders in the VW Fox are the absolute perfect size for a bottle of Hendrick's. 🤯

*sips gin mojito*

Wow, standing outside potting on the cucurbits and for the first time this year a sunny day outdoors really feels "summery" to me,...

Wow, standing outside potting on the cucurbits and for the first time this year a sunny day outdoors really feels "summery" to me, despite there being a good breeze blowing.

Of course it's only May 11th so it doesn't have that much right to feel like summer, given it is very much still spring.

Decently toasty out there.