SteveO

Happy to do my quiz next week, now that I am back in the land of the living, or at least those of the living with internet access. Thanks again Paul for filling the breach.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Thanks Paul, for stepping in at short notice. Cheers Steve

Oh dear, I now have to go "up North" to visit my mother on Thursday and I won't be back until Saturday. Unfortunately she doesn't have broadband so I won't be able to run a quiz from there. Options are: 1) we all have a rest from quizzing on Friday and I run my quiz on the 22nd. 2) Some kind person steps into the breach with a quiz they have already prepared. 3) Some kind person steps into the breach and runs my quiz, which I can e-mail to them, if they can pm me their e-mail address. If we have any volunteers for options 2 or 3, can you please make yourselves known via PM ? If not, we are stuck with Option 1, I'm afraid. Sorry about that but it can't be helped. Steve

If I had the remotest suspicion that a boat was possibly intending to cross my bows, I would hang back and let him go. You can't rely on anyone knowing the "rules of the road" whether hirers or owners, and so prudence is the safest policy.

We used to have stickle bricks - great for brushing your hair if you had lost your comb. A pal of mine had Bayco and we spent many a happy hour building houses with that. We also had something called Betta Bilda, which was made by Airfix. The bricks were white and made from polystyrene, Airfix's stock-in-trade, as opposed to cellulose acetate or ABS which was the case with Lego. They were similar to the one stud thick Lego bricks but more brittle and not compatible. Roofing tiles were made from green polystyrene and interlocked together to make a realistic looking roof.

Anyone remember that rather grubby old Mamod steam engine that I posted about last October? Well it has undergone what I would call a sympathetic restoration. All parts removed and cleaned, painted parts stripped, repainted and then all reassembled. Here is the result. Not too shiny, because some of the bits were too far gone for that, but a huge improvement on what it was nevertheless.

I was given the name of Mike Amiss Telephone 01603 812529 email - mikeamisssigns@btconnect.com I haven't used him myself yet but do plan to in the not too distant future.

By some miracle, and the narrowest of margins, I won yesterday's quiz, so will be QM next Friday. Unless I have a better idea between now and then, topics will be: Norfolk "n" good Hidden underground The car's the star Half-time break for T's P's and alcoholic libations Linkwords Pop lyrics Warmed up leftovers All welcome on Friday starting at 8.30-ish To join, log in at: http://www.nbnquiz.co.uk/chat/ Enter your username but do not enter a password.

Nik's birthday today so we are going out for a curry, but we are eating early and hope to be back in time for the quiz.

I saw this when it was screened on Armistice Day. It really brings the reality of WWI home in a way that I have not seen before. My Grandfather spent his war driving horses in the Royal Artillery -51st Highland Division , Dundee Battery. Fortunately he was quite badly wounded in action and was sent back to Britain, where he met my Grandmother whilst recuperating. Even then he was unable to walk properly due to shrapnel in his leg and he had contracted TB, so he wasn't sent back to the Army. When I asked him as a kid what it was like, he would always avoid talking about his experiences. An excellent, if harrowing, watch that I highly recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it.

If you type "wax polish" into Amazon search you will see a myriad range of polishes, some scented, some not, at a huge range of prices too. You pays your money and takes your choice. I always like the faint smell of lavender in a room where the furniture has been polished and that is a remark that should be taken at face value.

I would always be worried about what lies under the vinyl.

I lived in East Harling in Norfolk briefly in the mid-'70's. When I asked how often the buses ran to nearby Thetford, I was told "Tuesdays and Saturdays". Enough said, I soon bought myself a motorbike.

Interesting article, but I would hardly call Cromer a village. Having lived in villages most of my life, all I can say is that there are good ones and bad ones and you need to do your homework carefully. Some of the villages I have lived in were lovely, others downright unfriendly if not hostile, As a general rule I would say, the further North I went, the better my experience was. Increasingly, village life involves living in a "dormitory" where everyone commutes to work, with no shop, no pub and having to get in the car to get anywhere you might want to go, so it is important that you go into this with eyes wide open and not be seduced with the idea of a cosy social-life which may or may not exist.

Oh, most definitely spoiled, I would say.

Steve and Nik . Windmill Lady 18th definitely, poss 19th also

Happy New Year. Lovely and sunny down here in Kent too. Makes a change after all the gloomy weather we've had recently.

I always thought that a pizza was a glorified and overpriced toasted cheese sandwich myself.

I forgot to say that I made a nut roast for my vegetarian daughter: fine chopped onion, breadcrumbs, veg suet, chopped mixed nuts including chestnuts, walnuts, almonds, pecans and hazelnuts, grated nutmeg, chopped parsley, thyme, rosemary and marjoram from the garden, lemon zest and lemon juice, all bound together with egg (she's not a vegan). Served with vegetarian gravy, all the Christmas dinner veg and non-meat trimmings, she said it was excellent, so who am I to argue?

We had a large chicken and a turkey crown for the big day. Last crown I had was dry, so this time we put a layer of sausage meat under the skin and more in the neck cavity, which with an onion and a lemon stuffed into the main cavity and a layer of streaky bacon on top, kept it nice and moist. Boxing day we had cold meats, chips and leftover veggies and yesterday we had Mrs O's amazing Christmas Pie, which disposed of most of the remaining meat and trimmings (stuffing, pigs in blankets, bread sauce and cranberry sauce and gravy go in with the meat and a lovely flavoursome pie comes out. Today we will finish off the rest in a Chinese style curry stir-fry. Strangely enough, baked beans played no part in our Christmas festivities. Frankly, sprouts are a big enough risk on their own without introducing another high-sulphur food type. The chicken and turkey bones were boiled up and I will be using the stock to make a lovely big pan of veggie soup which will last us into the weekend.

Merry Christmas everyone, and a happy New Year to all.

Last night's quiz was well-attended and was eventually won by Bern, who will be entertaining us with the last quiz of 2018 next Friday.

NikO won last Friday's quiz, so is QM tomorrow. Topics will be: Cryptic Carols Christmas Films Going Underground Food and Drink Something Fishy General knowledge with an Christmas flavour. We will kick off at around 8:30pm in the chatroom:- http://www.nbnquiz.co.uk/chat/ Enter username (no password)click login. All welcome

I'll bet that Geordie chickens are still going out without their feathers.

Very sorry to hear of your sad loss. Sincere condolences from Nik and me.