No Association Whatsoever Thread

[AuntDaisy]

I've been struck lately by the close similarity between dead-heading the cranesbills and mahjong.

Can you expand on that? (Afraid I've only tried the ancient Windows version of Mahjong.)

[Nick Armstrong]

Makes us glad we live in the middle of a metropolis, eh? Me, anyway.

I was thinking the same. Thirty-two years so far without even an attempted burglary, touch wood…

[Nick Armstrong]

Did someone get you a Taylor Swift ticket, frank?

(Underrated comment! )

[french frank]

Can you expand on that? (Afraid I've only tried the ancient Windows version of Mahjong.)

I can. As the cranesbill flowers fade the dead heads assume distinctive shapes. First the petals begin to wither and fall, then the sepals gradually spread out to form a characteristic star shape, finally the long characteristic 'crane's bill' seed pod forms. Examining the bushier species (like Geranium sanguineum) I systematically start cutting once the petals have faded. If I've left it for a few days the dead flowers have reached the various stages and I look for all of them - petals, stars, cranesbills. Once I think I've removed everything I cast a final look at the plant - and there is a HUGE cranesbill pointing out like a sniper's rifle. How did I fail to see it? So it's like looking for the different patterns on the tiles (circles, bamboos, winds, dragons, &c) which have to be matched.

Playing mahjong is good practice for deadheading; and vice versa.

[AuntDaisy]

I can. As the cranesbill flowers fade the dead heads assume distinctive shapes. First the petals begin to wither and fall, then the sepals gradually spread out to form a characteristic star shape, finally the long characteristic 'crane's bill' seed pod forms. Examining the bushier species (like Geranium sanguineum) I systematically start cutting once the petals have faded. If I've left it for a few days the dead flowers have reached the various stages and I look for all of them - petals, stars, cranesbills. Once I think I've removed everything I cast a final look at the plant - and there is a HUGE cranesbill pointing out like a sniper's rifle. How did I fail to see it? So it's like looking for the different patterns on the tiles (circles, bamboos, winds, dragons, &c) which have to be matched.

Playing mahjong is good practice for deadheading; and vice versa.

Thank you - that makes a lot of sense.

BTW, when you found the HUGE one, was your first thought bloody cranesbill?

[LMcD]

In the middle of the Suffolk countryside between two villages and just off the road that connects them, fairly remote and not helped by his long absences on his boat. Almost everything he now owns at the age of 86 he has bought at local auctions having been stripped of all inherited furniture, pictures etc.

Anybody who's watched Lovejoy knows that rural Suffolk is a hot bed of crime.

[gradus]

Anybody who's watched Lovejoy knows that rural Suffolk is a hot bed of crime.

Could well have been 'fenced' through Long Melford, epicentre of antique dealing when Lovejoy was made.

[french frank]

BTW, when you found the HUGE one, was your first thought bloody cranesbill?

[gradus]

Don't get into a conversation with someone who knows what is happening in AI if you want to sleep soundly, it feels like the lock on Pandora 's box has now been picked.

[Serial_Apologist]

Pencil vain ear

Pencil for writing crosses on voting slips rather than seizing power in a putsch.
Vain refers to how personality politics is coming to replace politics of ideas.
Ear should be obvious from yesterday's near assassination attempt on Trump.

[gradus]

I wish I could find a recipe for Cucumber pickle that keeps them crunchy and tasting nice a la Vadasz.

[oddoneout]

I wish I could find a recipe for Cucumber pickle that keeps them crunchy and tasting nice a la Vadasz.

It's to do with prior salting I believe. Whether that's because it draws out a lot of the moisture(which also saves diluting the pickling vinegar) or because there is some process( eg enzyme inhibition) at work I don't know. Commercial pickles use calcium chloride as a "firming agent"
This gives some idea https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/...kled-cucumbers
I haven't made this sort of pickled veg - the closest I get is thinly sliced cukes in good quality vinegar, and the best version was my grandpa's home grown cucumbers and home made pear vinegar. It was meant to be pear wine from what I think was a perry pear tree in the garden, but it turned into the most delicious light fruity vinegar both times he tried. I used to drink it by the spoonful while helping to prep the dish for tea.

[Serial_Apologist]

Works at Retired.

[gradus]

Where are the insects? An almost clear windscreen having driven over 800 miles in 5 days.

[smittims]

I've seen very few wasps in the last few years . We had a wasps' nest in our shed last year. but they seemed to abandon it before August. And we've had far fewer flies in the house. Many birds rely on catching insects for their food , so the bird and insect population is declining. This has a knock-on effect in the pollination of plants. It's all part of the great change in nature. Almost incredibly, thetre are still some people who deny that humanity is to blame.