Always Fun with a 101!

Twenty years ago, Tanya and I had been together for a short while and it was a good time to go on holiday.

So we went to France.

Gads. We were so much younger then :-/

It was a bit of a whirlwind tour (Tanya will claim they all are) — fly into Paris, find a place to stay (place we supposedly had booked via a friend in France knew nothing). Take the underground (? can’t remember) around the back of Montmarte, check out the Sacré Coeur (270 steps), walk down via Pigalle and the Pompidou. Day 2, Louvre, walk up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe, Musée de l’Homme, the queue was too long at the Eiffel, by complete coincidence found the bust of Antoine de Saint-Exupery on Square Santiago du Chili on our way to the Rodin Museum, and by yet another complete coincidence ran into Alison April, a friend from Stellenbosch, at the D’Orsay. What else, o yes, Cluny, then check out the stained glass windows and the gargoyles at the Notre Dame (which was being refurbished, scaffolding all over the place). Supper somewhere in the Latin Quarter.

Did I mention we were younger then?

Day 3, train to Epernay (Moët) and from there to Strasbourg, where we hired a car.

And by complete coincidence (no, really) friends Pim and Thandie were at close to Strasbourg with their Land Rover 101 Forward Control (OK, the coincidence was the time and the place, I had planned the route to meet up with them there).

(Rest of the trip? Drove all the way down to Marseilles sampling wine all over the place, hung out at Domaine des Anges where a friend was the winemaker and my brother was helping in the cellar, and flew out of Marseilles in time to beat the kids back home at the end of the school holiday).

 

 

2022-10-05 by Cars Travelography 0

The Old Man

“I’m too old to fall in love, but I ain’t old enough to die. I’m too old to run, but I can outwalk you because I know how to pace myself. I know when to work and when to rest. I know what to eat and what sits heavy on my stomach. I know there ain’t any point in trying to drink all the licker in the world, because they’ll keep on making it. I know I’ll never be rich, but I’ll never be stone-poor, neither, and there ain’t much I can buy with money that I ain’t already got”.

2022-09-25 by Get Off My Lawn 1

Pörkölt and Lecsó

Having quite a lot of venison in the freezer, and having taken advantage of some Fruit & Veg special which left me with lots of green and yellow bell peppers, I made Pörkölt (Hungarian venison stew) and Lecsó (Hungarian vegetable stew with bell peppers). Both are heavy on the paprika, I shall have to stock up next time I’m in Hungary (which will be early August, assuming the world doesn’t again go mad before then).

For the Pörkölt, I used duck fat instead of lard, I still had some in the freezer. Did not add marjoram because that’s unobtanium at the moment, oregano had to suffice. I also didn’t add the 2 cups of stock but used a stock cube instead, because I stuck it in the Instant Pot (pressure cooker) for 20 minutes instead of simmering for 2 hours.

The Lecsó really does compliment the Pörkölt, so do them both. And rice. I like rice.

 

2022-06-22 by Foooooood 0

There is nothing as permanent as a temporary emergency*

2020-03-15

On 15 March 2020 President Ramaphosa declared a State of Disaster. He has just renewed it, officially into the third year.

The State of Disaster gives Government the right to make rules as they seem fit, and we went into lockdown from March 26, supposedly for 21 days — three weeks.

President Ramaphosa on Monday (23/03) announced the lockdown in South Africa for 21 days from March 26 to April 16, 2020, to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Yea, right. It lasted into May, when they eased it a little bit, but parts of it are still with us, two years later. And here we are. They’re not letting go of that sweet, sweet power.

There is obviously still some money left to steal.

* Robert A. Heinlein, The Man Who Sold the Moon.

2022-03-15 by Uncategorized 0

Flea Market Find

The Cape Town Amateur Radio Club traditionally has a flea market at the beginning of March. This year I didn’t take anything to sell, and strictly speaking I didn’t buy anything either — I said “ooh nice!” the fellow said “take it” so I gave him R20 and said “take it”.

“SEC” is probably Something Electronic Company, there’s a “JAPAN” sticker on the back.

Inside is fairly mundane, a tapped transformer, a selenium rectifier which dates it to the late fifties / early sixies, a pi filter with two caps and a resistor, a series light bulb “O.C.L.” and a couple meters and associated resistors.

It’s pretty, it’s going on the shelf.

 

2022-03-05 by Electronics 0

Easy mince curry

Let’s say you have some mince, and you feel like a curry. Get out your Dutch Oven.

  • Oil, onions, red or yellow bell peppers, quick heat, slow heat, leave onions to caramelise a bit. Maybe add garlic.
  • Add mince, heat, brown.
  • One or two tin(s) chopped tomatoes, one packet Ina Paarman Tikka Curry. Simmer for as long as you want to.
  • Maybe add halved baby or cubed potatoes, simmer until cooked.
  • Maybe stir in some frozen peas at the end.
  • Serve with rice, or wrap it in a roti, or stick it on a bun and call it a Sloppy Joe.

 

2022-03-01 by Foooooood 0

I blinked

Sometime yesterday. I only noticed when I reset the odo when I filled up. Yea, the price of fuel is going up again :-/

Next target, the second light-second.

2022-02-01 by Cars 0

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