In the Mood for Paddy's Day

Wendy baked some lovely, delicious, green shortbread shamrock cookies.

Who would have thought I would actually be Irish for Paddy's Day?

Wendy even found some Irish socks for this special day.
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21 Grand Irish Slang Terms For You to Dekko

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with these words and phrases straight out of the Emerald Isle.
(from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader)

CLICK HERE to go to John's Bathroom web page

Irish Slang

Cat: Something terrible or annoying. Not that the Irish hate cats; it’s short for cat malojan, a Gaelic corruption of an old English phrase, “cat on a melodeon,” which is a type of organ. (Indeed, cat walking across an organ’s keyboard would be very annoying.)

Work away: The Irish equivalent of “carry on!”

Culchie: What in the United States we would call a country bumpkin.

Pup: A derisive term used by old people to describe over-confident young people.

The Pale: The greater Dublin metropolitan area.

Norn Orn: Northern Ireland.

Rugger hugger: A girl from a nice, upper-crust family who likes to date rough-and-tumble rugby players.

Gurrier: A hooligan or criminal.

Holy Joe: A self-righteous individual.

Dekko: Inspect.

Make a right hames: To ruin something. (To “make a bags of something” means the same thing.)

Waster: Someone who is utterly incompetent.

Grand: In American English, if someone asks how you’re doing or how something was, a generic, bland, proper response is “fine.” Similarly, in Ireland, a lot of people say “grand.”

Leg it: The act of running away very quickly

Bad dose: A very bad illness.

Donkey’s years: A very long period of time.

Earwinging: Eavesdropping.

Gaff: Home.

Black stuff: Guinness.

Jacks: The toilet.

Now you’re sucking diesel!:  “Now you understand what I mean!”
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An Irish Specialty - Irish Champ.

I never knew it was called Champ, but I always enjoyed this simple dish. With St Patrick's Day coming on Saturday, I thought you might like to join me in making some Irish Champ.

CLICK HERE to travel to the blog of an "Irish American Mom" to see the full recipe for this Irish national dish.

Sure, twill be grand!
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Brooks Manufacturing Co. 1911

My "artsy" pic for today is a re-intro of a picture lifted from an old black and white ad in Hampton's Magazine published in 1911.

The copyright has long run out so I feel free to bring it up to date with my own colour interpretation. Printed on rice paper yet!  Hope you like it.

 Here's the original ad. (above) You can click on it to enlarge it.

A more stylized version.
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Spring Is On The Way!

On Sunday Wendy and I drove down to Port Stanley Ontario. Wendy is still trying to get over her cough and cold so I thought I'd get her out of the house for some fresh air. For me it's any excuse to visit Mackie's on the beach for some fabulous french fries!

Most of the ice is gone from Lake Erie and the sun dancing on the water reminded us that Spring is on the way.
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Barking Like A Dog.

Wendy has had a couple weeks of coughing incessantly. Day and night her unproductive, nagging cough has worn her down and kept everyone awake. Fortunately the rest of the family has been thus far immune to this laborious affliction. I came across this home remedy for a Cough Suppressant and since Wendy cannot take medications that might interfere with her other meds, I thought this natural way might be worth a try:

My Version of a Miracle Cough Suppressant:

    1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    1⁄2 teaspoon ground ginger
    2 tablespoons honey
    2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
    1 tablespoon water

Mix ingredients.
Take by the teaspoon as often as needed for cough.


CLICK HERE for the web page I found.



I doubled the original recipe and reduced the amount of water to make it a little thicker so it would line her throat better. To our great amazement the mixture worked like a miracle. She slept all night with a minimum of interruption and the cough seems to be disappearing. Whether it would have gone away by itself is the question, but it seems coincidental that this potion, given after two weeks of constant coughing actually marked the end of her condition.

Try it yourself next time you can't stop coughing.

P.S. It tastes better than Buckley's!

NOTE: Most "honey" purchased in the supermarket is really not honey at all! CLICK HERE to read this disturbing US article about honey, especially honey from China, diluted with inexpensive high fructose corn syrup or 13 other illegal sweeteners or containing illegal antibiotics.

Be sure to buy honey only from a recognized Canadian apiary.
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MullBain Winter Fun (and Eats) 2018

Click on the picture for a spectacular view.

I cheated and added a young deer to the picture.

Saturday Pete cooked up over 130 delicious chicken wings, medium and honey garlic. I think they were the best I've ever had!

Cooking al fresco.

Several batches kept him busy.

Knowing what was on the menu, I wore my Chicken Wing socks that Erin gave me for Christmas. Nice touch eh?

There is never a shortage of great tasting food at MullBain. ...but there's never much left over either.

Sunday I put a pork butt (shoulder) on the rotisserie and finished it off in the oven.

Walking in a winter wonderland.

One cottage on our walk had a very interesting display in the window.

Games later. Good conversation and fun.

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Baby Wyatt Stole The Show at MullBain Lodge.

On our recent visit up to MullBain Lodge, the star of the show was Cheryl and John's little grandson Wyatt. He even gave me the "thumbs up" on my pulled pork.

I composed a couple of drawings that I felt kind of tells the story of two very proud Grandparents.

Two HANDSOME guys!
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Who's Harassing Who?

Where are their other hands?

Answer: In our wallets.
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Happy Valentine's Day My Sweety...

My Dear Wendy. xxx ooo xxx.
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What To Buy With Our Wynnefall?

Our OAS (Old Age Security) cheque just hit an all-time high!  I see it's up $1.17 over last years' monthly amount. NOW THE QUESTION: Where, oh where, are we going to spend the increase?

Even though OAS comes from the Feds, Wynne gets to tax it back. How generous!

Wendy and I discussed the issue and decided that an additional 2 cans of cat food per month would more than use up the surplus.

Of course the Mariner's Catch will be "clawed back" as income tax. But hey! Who cares? Buying votes with our own money is always popular with the crooked politicians, especially the  Liberals.
 

Anyway, you can see Benz is ecstatic.
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I Think We Have A Deal.

Okay I'll take it... but for that price, can you to throw in a spare?

DONE!
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The Olympics Revisited...

In 2004 we took our first cruise aboard the Westerdam. It was a 12-nighter in the Aegean Sea with one of our stops at Katakalon, and a bus ride to Olympia, the site of the original Greek Olympics.

We met a veteran traveler, cruise table mate and soon to be... very good friend Bernie, with whom we have kept in touch to the present.

Wendy's off and running.

A crowd forms at the finish line.

Wendy's moment of glory. The one-woman, 100 yard trot nearly 14 years ago.

There is now even evidence that there may have been woman participation in the Ancient Olympics. CLICK HERE to read more.
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Benz Has A Front Row Seat.

 "Hey Squirrel, watchout... I'm a Cat!"

"Those claws don't scare me, Mr. Cat."

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More Beautiful Snow... To Cool You Off, Wherever You Are!

Benzy and I never tire (so far this season anyway) of looking out our window at the new fallen snow and the golf course beyond.

Dining room looking west.

This year, as last, the snow has come in waves, oscillating weekly between cold arctic blasts from the north and warmer southern systems from the Gulf. This allows the previous accumulation to melt off and then treat us to a new, clean, refresher coat.

Dining room looking north-west

There is just something about the new snow that evokes a feeling of peace and quiet.

Living room north view

As long as we can stay inside and warm, the views are quite relaxing, don't you think?

Front door view

From bedroom looking south-east

From bedroom looking north-west.

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