Raffaello

Raffaello, who would have thought I would ever see it again!  Apparently the Russian like these.  They normally come in with the Ferrero's assortment, which these are.  I am very glad I have a easily accessible, willing recipient for them. 

Dried Milk

I got a tub of dried milk, at a discount.  It is very handy for a drink, much better than coffee's mate.

Hodgson Kippers

I have seen the Hodgson Fish van a few times, so when I saw a Hodgson kippers, I decided to give it a go.

It is very lightly smoked, not bad.

Cannon Hall II

We tried to go back to Cannon Hall earlier in the Winter, and due to adverse weather, it didn't quite happen.  The hall was shut, but everything else *just about* was open. 

One of the few places open immediately after Christmas.  On a sunny Sunday afternoon, the place was heaving!  We had a little walk in the country park, which was nice.  We got some sausages from the farm shop, and they were okay.

Ancient LAN Cable

I just pulled out and old LAN cable in the cupboard.  It is long and kinky, I was surprised that it still works.

Bye Pillsbury

Leslie loves Pillsbury, I have managed to avoid them all those years. 

Jus Roll Croissant was on offer, I took the opportunity to try it.  It was okay, it does feel very easy to make.  But after we read the ingredients list, we decided this would be our first and last Pillsbury Doughboy. 

Maud Foster in Bread Machine

We finally try to make Maud Foster with the bread machine. It turned out okay.  With so much brown bits and flakes, how could it still be flavourless?  Not all wind milled flour are good. 

Croissant

I only just worked out croissant 🥐 is just crescent 🌙 in French! 

Sluggish Flint

There was slug trail on Flint,  and her batteries was low and nearly didn't start!   I better set up a Winter exercise regime for her! 

Greatest American Invention in 20th Century

The greatest American invention in 20th Century is now computing,  that is British.

The greatest American invention in 20th century is the Polio vaccine.   Be proud.

Americans are still in line for the greatest invention of 21st century,  sars-cov-2 vaccine,  be brave,  be proud. 

Cockroach the Documentary

Just watching the trailer is enough to upset me. I hope it can move the message forward.

Uncombable Hair Syndrome

When I saw this on the news, I swore UHS was a joke.  Some sites said this affect up to 1 in 100, in that case, this is not rare.  If it is not rare, why is it on the news?

Val-des-Sources

A new town is born!   I have heard about how Val-des-Sources on the news.  And as of 17th Dec,  it is now official.   We will try not to commit "dead naming". 

Jackpot in the House

When I clicked on the story about some US couple found some very old whiskey in their house's hidden compartment, the first thing I noticed from the video is that this couple is probably gay couple.  So sufddenly this story has a heart warming feeling to it.  Congrats!

Gift Reassignment

Christmas is a concentrated gift giving times, and occassionally we would reassign gifts, usually to everyone's benefit.  I bought a little gift for my friend, anticipating her to be visiting this year, and obviously that is not happening.  So we have now reassigned this gift to 3 new homes, isn't that great!

Poundland No More

If things are not a pound in Poundland, they need to change their name.  If they are not a pound (or under), I will have to bring either my calculator or my brain to the store, which defeats the purpose of going to Poundland.

McVities Digestives Fully Coated

I thought I would try one of this new Fully Coated, what a mistake.  If you like digestives like I do, this is insufficient digestives, much like their "Thins".  I was trying to look it up from the website, they didn't even bother to update their website to show the new product worrying it may not survive the initial trials.  Who remember Boasters now?  Nobody.  Just stick with what you know!  The basics are great as they are, I am not trying their "fancy" biscuits anymore.

 

Christmas Lights Viewing

Growing up in Hong Kong, going to see the christmas light is a favourite family pasttime.  Unlike Hong Kong, high rises in Leeds don't get decorated, just the streets and a few trees.  Anywho, we want into the big city to look at the big bright lights.  On the way home, an area near my neighbourhood has lit up for the benefit of St Gemma, it is good that we have community spirits in our neighbourhood.

Chocolate Chestnut Cake

I was going to make a cream tart with chestnut puree like we had in Hong Kong.  Then the package is really big, I would have to have many cream tart, so I went all in for a cake.  

The chocolate chestnut cake is gluten free, and I read the recipe, it reassmbles a brownie, gluten free brownie.  The whipping made it much like a moose cake, which is light and nice, except the chestnut vanished into the chocolate.  Maybe I should just make a chestnut moose, next year.

Japanese Spams

Google has been letting a lot of Japanese Spams into my mail box recently.  It is good to know spam is a global problem?

Knoppers

I always thought Knoppers is just a flat Bueno.  I always wonder why all these German inventions were so similar.  We actually like Knoppers more, as they are less sweet.

Very Short Days

The day is noticeably getting shorter by the day.  This is always the case this time of the year as we approach the solstice.  This is more noticeable this year because all our outings are outside!

Thermostatic Cartridge Assembly

The shower started to drip, the plumb shop staff reckoned it was the cartridge.  Then I started looking for a replacement, everywhere I looked, "How much?!" can be heard.

I forked out over a hundred quid for the cartridge and an hour of fiddling, it is fixed. 

The way it was installed, I could not change the filters, oh well.  I still wonder what the glue was for, supposed for seals replacement, but it was not mentioned anywhere in the O&M and the video. 

Foreign Body in Food

I have complained about foreign body in food and complained.  This time I got a big stone in the cous cous, but I doubt Aldi would care.

Resurrecting Knackered S4 II

After the last failed resurrection, I had a new mission for the knackered S4, a dash cam.  So I wiped it, loaded a dash cam app.  It works, it fits on existing phone mounts, excepts the white back makes it very obvious and cannot be left on the dash. 

Batteries Sudden Death

Old batteries can be tempermental.  The MEWP's was playing up just the other day.  Then Pizza's decided to pack in on a cold snowy day.  The load test was showing 20A, when it should be over 400A!

Even when Kendrew's was checked the other day,  it was fine,  but I always worry the batteries over Winter.  In theory they don't like extreme temperatures,  so I should be equally worry in Summer,  but we probably worry more about the prospect of standing in the cold more.  Let's hope for a problem free Winter. 

Aldi Click and Collect

I have heard about Aldi Click and Collect.  I finally click on Aldi to have a look.  They want £4.99 for basket charge!  I am not sure you save that much from a weekly shop to justify this.

Fuel Symbol can be Wrong

Someone told me the nozzle on the fuel symbol indicates where the fuel inlet locates.  I found the first vehicle that contradicts that...  So we cannot trust the symbol afterall...

Monopoly Cheaters Edition

So after looking up the Sore Losers edition, I came across the Cheaters Edition.  I think this game will actually be shorter, for the fact you don't need to build houses before hotels, and there is no railways and utilities.  But there are too many new cheating rules, that can get confusion.  You might as well just play a normal Monopoly and just let everyone cheat.

Monopoly for Sore Losers

I was clicking around online and found this new game, Monopoly for Sore Losers.  I used to like Monopoly, but as a grown up, I think it takes too longer.  I reckon the sore loser element would just make the game last even longer...

Leeds Bread Co-op Miche

We went to the Leeds Bread Co-op and the Miche was not on show. We asked if they had one (or a quarter), and she said yes. 

At the first sniff, I detected rye. When we proceeded onto eating, there was definitely rye. It also tastes like the "sourdough" that I was fed when I was in Michigan.  Rye seems to make the sourness more prominent.  Not really my thing.