Another pointless thread

I'm being super-clever in reacting to news articles appearing about this being the smallest Wine production year for decades - I've just stocked up (with Christmas being the cover story) on a few bottles of Vino from my favourite supermarket

I've also taken some precautions in case of a hop production shortage and ordered a few cans from Vocation Brewery

I like to keep one stagger ahead of the rest of the field

It's a good point even though written playfully, The various hedgerow fruits have been completely blighted this year: blackberries, sloes, damsons, hawthorn berries, all shriveled up. Even the autumn leaves have been affected, not knowing what to do with themselves, half dead on their branches.

Not long now, the annual invasion of the house will be a little quieter this year.

Honesty and Co. ard staying in Lancaster, her other half's family took too long to take decisions so they've sorted hmselves out with freinds.

On the plus side there will be more trfle and beer for me...

At the same time?? Rather your stomach than mine!

Helped a friend entertain at an old folk's home yesterday - carols, Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer, that sort of thing, him on guitar, me on keyboard, both adorned with Santa hat and excessive tinsel. With their decorations, mince pies, sherry etc. etc., it looks like they're having a jollier time than me at the moment!

Steve

The annual pre Xmas meet up with oldest friends saw us drinking baby Guinness betwixt pints of Guinness...

I'm keeping John Smith company this evening, other friends may be invited to join us, Jack, Jim and Mr Jameson

All male company by the look of your guest list Barrie.

At least one of our guests was Maria.

Mrs L has not made any sloe (or any other flavoured) gin this year . So I'm working my way through a bottle of dry sherry randomly found on the drinks shelf. Takes me back to student years when a bunch of us rebelled against beer drinking culture and took up sherry drinking instead.

Steve

A previous life in 1982, saw me sat on my accommodation roof at night near Basrah watching fireworks heading East whilst drinking very large measures of Bristol Cream on ice. Other beverages were available but the HBC seemed to fit the mood at the time.

I hope that the sherry was unopened when you found it. Dry sherry really does not keep long once opened. I used to be able to detect a change in Tio Pepe once it had been open 2-3 days.

We used to have friends who would pour us a glass of sherry when we called on them around Christmastime. We always suspected that it was from the same bottle that they had poured us a drink the previous Xmas, as it had almost no flavour. They also served it in glasses so tiny that an Australian would have deemed them "the smallest liquid measure ever devised"

Unopened, untouched, unmolested until I started on it.

Steve

Happy New Year folks.

No celebrations for the HG house last night, we're having people around this evening instead..

Starting the year as we mean to go on.

And a Happy New Year to HG and all other forum members.

Just watched the Attenborough programme on the newly discovered fossilised pliosaur skull. Superb, watch it it you haven't already. It was removed from a cliff not far from me. And I had no idea that it had happened until seeing the trailers for the programme.

Steve

Aaaggghhh! The RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch starts tomorrow for 3 days. Today, for the first time in years and no doubt the last time for a few more years, a sparrowhawk called by and sat in the garden for 10 minutes (didn't see any small birds during that time!). And I can't put it on my list of birds for the Big Garden Birdwatch .... . Oh well, it will just have to be sparrows and pigeons (again).

Steve

Sadly I don't have a big garden in which to watch birds.

Yes, I know, there's always one smartass.