The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 06

[oggbashan]

I've only seen dried figs in Colorado, they ripen so fast. Had to travel to Turkey to experience them fresh, right off the freaking tree. Worth the trip.

When we lived in Gibraltar, there was a large fig tree just in the only place that my father could park his car. We spent hours cleaning rotten figs off the roof and windscreen and had the roof repainted every year.

 

[NotWise]

I've only seen dried figs in Colorado, they ripen so fast. Had to travel to Turkey to experience them fresh, right off the freaking tree. Worth the trip.

They grow here. A friend of mine had a tree, and he used to give me a bag or two every summer. Absolutely loved them.

 

[Lori_the_Hoosier]

My neighbor has a lovely pair of Fig trees in her garden, but she doesn't harvest the fruit because her husband doesn't like figs, so every year, round about mid-August I get in a frenzy of fruit picking, pickling, preserving, sun-drying, and making fig cake (which is scooped-out figs finely mashed and mixed with sugar and boiled until it's thick and gluey, then rolled into bars wrapped in waxed paper to set and handed out as sweet treats), fig and date conserves, tarts and puddings, and being used to flavor jars of alcoholic spirit, the local equivalent of Strega they distil in some of the vilages further up in the Massif

 

[Haulover]

Today is our 49th wedding anniversary. Normally we would go to a restaurant - but we can't. We could have a takeaway meal but we have a supermarket curry instead.

We have missed meals out for my wife's birthday, mine, our 48th, and 49th wedding anniversaries, the anniversary of my proposal...

When we can eat in a restaurant again, we'll be out several times a week to compensate.

On our wedding day evening, we were staying in a grotty 'holiday' flat and the cooker didn't work. Our first meal as a couple was Fish and Chips.

Happy anniversary, Ogg!

My wife and I celebrated our 40th 3 weeks ago.

 

[NotWise]

Happy anniversary, Ogg!

My wife and I celebrated our 40th 3 weeks ago.

Our 40th will be later this year.

 

[TxRad]

Happy Anniversary, Ogg. May you have many more.

The evening coffee is early but drinkable.

Supper was early. Beef tips and broccoli on a bed of rice.

Now I'm stuffed and in need of a nap.

 

[NotWise]

We're getting close to dinner time for the cats. One is beside me and staring at me from the floor, and the other is sitting on top the printer next to me, so we're about eye-to-eye. I bet the girl is around the corner and out of sight, but keeping track of every sound I make.

Their tummy alarms went off early, and now their just being creepy.

 

[A_Bierce]

Our 40th will be later this year.

Our 60th was St. Patrick's Day. Makes it easy to remember, and I need all the help I can get (I did forget her birthday once, can't remember which one).

 

[NotWise]

Our 60th was St. Patrick's Day. Makes it easy to remember, and I need all the help I can get (I did forget her birthday once, can't remember which one).

Wow! Congratulations.

 

[NotWise]

I drove through downtown on my way home tonight and found one of the main streets closed. There weren't any location signs around, but there were film crew trucks parked all along the street. I'm glad to see the film crews working again.

There've been quite a few other instances recently where I've seen streets temporarily blocked by police cars parked across them. I think those too were probably for filming.

Now if they can just get the theaters, bars and restaurants fully open again, then life downtown might seem normal again.

Had what I thought was pretty cool news earlier this week. One of the founders of Etsy (who is from here) donated a downtown building to a flamenco company. I used to see flamenco performers practicing in a building near the university when I drove to work in the morning, and I loved it. Now maybe we'll see them working again.

Before the pandemic it wasn't odd to see flamenco performers on the streets, and there are at least three flamenco bars that I know of that can be re-opened when this passes. I want to see all that come back--all that energy that's been gone for the last year and has been slowly building.

 

[TxRad]

Our 60th was St. Patrick's Day. Makes it easy to remember, and I need all the help I can get (I did forget her birthday once, can't remember which one).

Congrats and my you both enjoy many more.

I hate to say it but the Cafe is sneaking up on 30,000 posts. I have no idea what the views are, for those keeping track of such things.

ETA: This close to 5k posts has close to 150k views so the math would be... 900,000 views

 

[Rustyoznail]

That's a lot of coffee. Virtual and real.

 

[sirhugs]

That's a lot of coffee. Virtual and real.

and a lot of reading

 

[PoisonPen33]

And a lot of coffee while reading.

 

[Handley_Page]

Our 60th was St. Patrick's Day. Makes it easy to remember, and I need all the help I can get (I did forget her birthday once, can't remember which one).

I always managed to get her birthday wrong, so I got her stuff early by a few days; the result of missing one of them was not something I'd care to repeat.

.
I'm glad to see the film crews working again.

There've been quite a few other instances recently where I've seen streets temporarily blocked by police cars parked across them. I think those too were probably for filming.

Now if they can just get the theaters, bars and restaurants fully open again, then life downtown might seem normal again.

With luck they'll have something to show when the lockdowns are over.

That's a lot of coffee. Virtual and real.

Better get to the suppliers, I fancy.
See here

Will someone please pass this on to Chloe ?

Meanwhile, following the rain, we got 'cloudy-bright'.
And a coffee.

 

[ecorche]

Our 60th was St. Patrick's Day. Makes it easy to remember, and I need all the help I can get (I did forget her birthday once, can't remember which one).

Wow! Congrats.

 

[NotWise]

I was writing this morning and forgot to eat breakfast. I realized that while I was driving to work, so "breakfast" was a handful of goldfish crackers after I got to the office. I may need an early lunch.

 

[Haulover]

Our 60th was St. Patrick's Day. Makes it easy to remember, and I need all the help I can get (I did forget her birthday once, can't remember which one).

Wow - great achievement! Congratulations.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Our 60th was St. Patrick's Day. Makes it easy to remember, and I need all the help I can get (I did forget her birthday once, can't remember which one).

Felicitations!

 

[Handley_Page]

I have the distinct feeling that I'll need to strip the paint from my new box; It's just not quite right. And the paint was rather thick (and cold).
Blast it. !

Any chance of a brew please ?

 

[TxRad]

I don't know about a brew but I will make fresh coffee.

Spent most of the day in the yard and the shop. Sold the 10' pointy nose wooden boat. A little fiberglass and some paint and I doubled my money.

I had some interest in the 16' Jon boat I have for sale. The price is firm so the guy trying to get it for a low ball was sent packing. Another guy is waiting on his stimulus payment. Time will tell.

 

[NotWise]

A 16' jon boat sounds like a lot of boat. There'd be room for the bait and the party girls. How do those things handle in wind?

My uncle ran a ranch on the SE shore of Lake Manitoba. It seems like waves on Manitoba and Winnipeg are choppy, and people can die in small boats just because the waves make them unmanageable.

Or maybe they just get dragged in by a big musky.

 

[TxRad]

A 16' jon boat sounds like a lot of boat. There'd be room for the bait and the party girls. How do those things handle in wind?

My uncle ran a ranch on the SE shore of Lake Manitoba. It seems like waves on Manitoba and Winnipeg are choppy, and people can die in small boats just because the waves make them unmanageable.

Or maybe they just get dragged in by a big musky.

Winds and waves are the enemy of all boats no matter the size. Knowing how much wind is too much wind is key and not pushing your luck. The larger the lake, the bigger the waves can get. I don't hit the lake in winds much over 10 mph. You also have to take in the shape of the lake and the direction of the wind. Going angular into the waves is the safest way to go. Knowing how much speed to carry is another thing. I've actually surfed boats in to safe water.

The 16' boat I have only has a 36" bottom so it is narrow. It handles well. If it had a 48" bottom it would be much better for higher winds. Jon boats were designed for rivers and creeks and shallow backwaters.

I've had one of my small 4x8' boats towed quite a ways by a large stripper or catfish.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Winds and waves are the enemy of all boats no matter the size. Knowing how much wind is too much wind is key and not pushing your luck.

The captain of the Ever Given knows all about that.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

Winds and waves are the enemy of all boats no matter the size.

Especially a ginormous cargo ship in a narrow canal, natch... *

Then there's the Edmund Fitzgerald and Lake Superior (it was Superior, or was it Michigan? )

*i see Russ beat me to it.