Povey Prattle

I like bean sprouts, mostly 'cause they look like healthy food (even if this is not the case).  Also because they have a decent "crunch". They are sold here in wee plastic packets. But unless I use them all in a stir-fry, they soon begin to rot and decay.  No one likes decaying bean sprouts  -  at least no one that I know. FEAR NOT  I have devised a solution to the cosmic problem of rotting bean sprouts. I place them in a bowl, and then mix in a wee bit of mayonnaise. ("Duke's" brand in the U.S.A. is the best). Then I add some finely chopped green onions (in the U.K. they are called  spring onions). Good crunchy food, with the onions providing an unmistakable flavour (which the bean sprouts do not have). They last for days, and make a good side dish to accompany cold meats, or home made  savoury sandwiches. My good Bristol U.K. cousin Janet was at my home for lunch today with her partner Steve. They scoffed the bean sprout and gre...

I was awakened at 2:45 a.m. this morning (Nov 21st) by the sound of my junior cat Adelaide as she trotted along the keyboard of my piano, (our so I thought). But when I became fully awake I remembered that I do not own a piano. What I had heard was the nine fold (three quarter hour)  chimes of my mantle clock. And I heard those chimes again:  at 3:00, 3:15, 3:30, 3:45, 4:00, 4:15 and 4:30. I am certain that I was dozing/sleeping in between these quarter hour chimes. But by 4:30 a.m. I'd had enough. It was the time to get out of bed, and then to greet and enjoy a new day. That I have done, but now (almost sixteen hours later) I am more than ready for bed and a good night's sleep. "Night,night Sleep tight Mind the bugs Do not bite"

I will be preaching this Sunday at the 7:45 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. Eucharists at St. Boniface Church on Siesta Key in Sarasota FL. This is my first Sunday gig since May 2014. I will preach from the assigned passages (Ezekiel 34:11-24 and Matthew 25:31-46). I've been studying and musing on the passages and on the sermon possibilities for at least three weeks. I began to craft the sermon today, using the notes which I've made in recent weeks.  It's taken me about half an hour to craft each paragraph, after which I've taken a break to walk with my dog, or to eat, or to nap. So it's been a whole day effort. Now I have a full text. It is very far short of a C- marking.  So I will spend much of Friday, and some time on Saturday to try to bring it up to a B, or maybe a B+. I fear that it could be nothing more than a gentle rant,  rooted in my religious hobby-horses. So I am trying hard to craft something which is cogent, and is also faithful to the ...

I looked at the photo' from my gathering with cousin Janet, her partner Steve, and my friends Ron and Char after our Sarasota dinner on Tuesday 18th Novr. 2014       I wondered "who is that old and over-weight man on the top left of the photo?'   The truth must be told.   I am old and over-weight.   DAMN.  I thought that I was 50 years old, and slim.

My Bristol U.K. cousin Janet and her partner Steve are on their annual visit to SRQ.  We kept up the tradition of having dinner with our good friends Charlotte and Ron, this year at the Shakespeare's English  Pub on South Osprey Avenue.      

My friends from the Greater Boston area will understand why I was so pleased to receive this shopping bag today, as  a gift  from my dear friends Ron and Char.         Non Greater Boston friends must do a Google search for Arthur T DeMoulas in order to understand.

Dead rat on the outside paving stones     When I took my early morning cup of coffee out to my Lanai this morning (Sunday 16th November 2014) I saw this dead rat on the rug.  I scooped her/him up with a broom and a dustpan, and deposited him/her onto the paving stones by the lanai door.   One of my good cats  (probably junior cat Adelaide) had caught said rat sometime during the night. Good Cat!   That same cat also killed the rat (a bit of blood here and there).  Good Cat!   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   The previous Povey Home Rat Kill was when my "not so well" next door neighbour (now in a nursing home) had all manner of opened bags of junk food, and half eaten pizzas, in every room of her rat-attractive home.   On that occasion I heard a kerfuffle in the early morning hours.  A neighbour rat had entered our domain ....