Povey Prattle

  A few weeks ago I wrote a Blog/Facebook piece  (it was meant to be amusing) about those Pink Flamingo garden ornaments. Within a few days I received an anonymous Amazon Prime gift of a mini Flamingo  table decoration. I could not figure out who might have sent this to me.  It was only when the donor  ( A.A. a woman who had not entered my oes!)anonymous gift radar) asked me if the Flamingoes had arrived. A couple of days ago I wrote a Blog piece about Gooseberries (as  one does!) and Gooseberry Jam. The Gift Fairy immediately sprang  into action.  This arrived today  (v ia Amazon Prime again ). Too funny!  Again I have no ideas as to the donor. (A. A. assures me that she was not ir-responsible. Now I have two jars of goosegog Jam.  I'll give one to the English woman who lives nearby for her breakfast toast.

This time with a recipe. https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/potato-leek-soup.html#tabbox   Enough to feed a   US Army rifle squad, so you may wish to use half measurements,  or  freeze half  without the cream; it can be  added when the half batch is de-frosted. N.B.  This are U.S.A. not U.K. measurements.

I  very much like Gooseberries (pronounced Guzzeberries); in the U.K colloquially known as "Guzzegogs".   They are great in Gooseberry Fools: or in Gooseberry Pies. They are superb when eaten straight from tnglisjhe bush. Unmolested they can grow as large as Quail Egg and get slightly pinkish. Then you have sweetness itself  [- straight from the bush. I've never seen them grown in the U.S.A. So I've had to satisfy the lust of my taste buds with the above; ordered from England, and delivered today. Gooseberries in Syrup - good enough for a pie or a cobbler. Gooseberry Conserve - wonderful for breakfast on hot buttered toast, or an English Muffin. Not quite Nirvana, but headed in that direction! See   https://www.britishcornershop.co.uk

  I recently had to purchase a new set of Saucepans; and a Skillet. The large saucepan which one might use to cook spuds, other fresh veggies, or pasta  has a very clever lid. A pan with a strainer in the lid. What a good idea!  Maybe this kind of lid was invented one hundred years ago, but it's a first time for me. Begone Colanders!  

  Especially to Anne Rowthorn, Kathy Bozzuti Jones, Mary Caulfield, Regina, and Nancy Travis (via Bill) I commented on a wonderful photo' of a blade of grass which Anne R had posted.   The next day I realized that my comment had subconsciously been inspired by a long and  powerful poem by William Blake (below).  It's a poem which deserves to be read aloud in a small group  (isn't that true of all poems, and of the Bible?!)   Just say no to the privatization of poetry, prayer, and scripture!. Blake was a poet and a mystic. His written canon reminds me of the heritages of Christopher Smart and of Gerard Manley Hopkins. In England, Blake is remembered by "Tyger, Tyger burning bright", and by "Jerusalem" (an unofficial ENGLISH national anthem") What about those "dark satanic mills"?  Hardly the cotton mills of Lancashire and the woolen mills of Yorkshire. Blake was more or less pre-Industrial revolution. My High School English Lit. teacher ass...

  Mussels  (yeah)  with Edamame Pasta. Crazy about mussels (but sorry to see that these were farmed in Chile); Pasta was  O/K.  but not marvelous.

William Pitt the Younger.  Respected by many Colonists in what became the Thirteen American States. Pittsfield MA was named for him.   THE PITTSFIELDS IN MASSACHUSETTS and NEW HAMPSHIRE I lived and worked in Pittsfield Ma 1984-2000, at St. Stephen's (Episcopal Parish). I also knew about the Pittsfield in New Hampshire which by happenstance also has an Episcopal Church dedicated to St. Stephen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsfield,_Massachusetts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsfield,_New_Hampshire I discovered today that there is also the small town of Pittsfield in Vermont (no Church!) Here's a bit about Pittsfield VT. PITTSFIELD VERMONT Granted on November 8, 1780, the town was chartered on July 29, 1781, to Samuel Wilcox and 129 others. Pittsfield was named after Pittsfield, Massachusetts, which itself had been named in honor of William Pitt. It was first settled in 1786. The town proved suitable for grazing livestock because of its mountainous terrain.[4] Indee...

 ....    when I thought I was buying a Cauliflower Crust Pizza/ Life gave me just the crust, (I didn't read the label carefully) so I made a Pizza.   with cut up German Brats, Heirloom Tomatoes, and Grated Tillamock brand cheddar cheese.

In downloading Web Root (my trusted virus/malware etc. protection source)on my new Laptop I learned how to by pass the Microsoft warning that (according to them)  would lead me into parts unknown. In so doing I learned the "trick" which allowed me to down load OPERA  my preferred Search Engine. Life seems to be almost normal again.  Gov De( ath  ) Santis be damned!

  My faithful Lenovo laptop died the other day in the presence of its nearest and dearest.  MOI There was little time to mourn.  Without disrespect I replaced the old with the new. To purchase a new lap top is easy.   To set it up for use is as difficult as having a colonoscopy and an appendictomy on the same day. So many false leads; so many password resets. So much moving between the computer and a mobile 'phone to get new codes. It was a three and a half hour task.   As you might guess Microsoft and I are not friends.   You'd think that a company of that size (a near monopoly) could make the task more simple. AND ANOTHER THING!    I like to use OPERA as a search engine. Microsoft makes the downloading of OPERA  all but impossible. DO ANY OF MY MORE LITERATE COMPUTER FRIENDS  know of a hack around the Microsoft cr-p.

  I grew up in the radio era  -  no television in our home until I was about sixteen years old. Of course it was old fashioned radio medium wave/a.m. (but  no f.m. -  that came later).  Long Wave too,  a wave length that could broadcast to just about the entire United Kingdom.  All the programmes emanated from the B.B.C.  (Auntie Beeb!)  One old radio had short wave.  I rigged up an aerial/antenna and with great daring tunes into Radio Moscow. It's little wonder that I am a radio person to this day.  My home and car radios are tuned to public radio. NPR  (National Public Radio)  gets a bit "samey" Monday to Friday, with "news" on the hour every hour.  I say "news" because the hourly newscasts are little more than a regurgitation of the early morning news. MY LOCAL public radio stations (Tampa or Naples) come into their own at the weekend.  Here are some of my favourite weekend programmes - well worth the tim...