12.20.06
Posted in Chaucer's posts at 3:02 pm by Chaucer
Another day of lethargy, another day spent surfing the web. Our favourite story today was this one.
Most people don’t know that back in 1912, Hellmann’s mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York. This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost. The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day. The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as . . . . . . Sinko de Mayo.
Yoelson and I enjoy eating mayonnaise, we put it on almost every meal. We know it’s not healthy but it is something we just can’t say not to. I don’t think we need to worry though because, apart from mayonnaise, we do eat very healthy diet, and we drink lots of water too. In fact it’s time to go for some more of our favourite drink now.
Permalink
12.19.06
Posted in Yoelson's posts at 2:39 pm by Yoelson
Chaucer and I spent a couple of hours reading today, but the irresistible pull of the computer had us surfing the web once again. We found so many funny items, this newspaper article made us chuckle the most.
Irish police are being handicapped in a search for a stolen van, because they cannot issue a description. It’s a Special Branch vehicle and they don’t want the public to know what it looks like!
Not much else to write today, Richard has made the mistake of leaving an open bottle of wine within easy reach, so that’s two glasses of a fruity local red for two, delicious.
Permalink
12.18.06
Posted in Yoelson's posts at 2:12 pm by Yoelson
Chaucer and I are having a nice relaxing day today, actually most of our days are relaxing as we are lucky enough not to have to go out to work. I have been reading some more of Laura’s books and Chaucer has been trying to improve his French language skills. Not much else to say, I’m off to make some tea, here’s a joke before I go.
A woman rushed home screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house. She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Honey, pack your bags. I’ve won the lottery!” The husband said, “Oh my God! What should I pack, warm weather or cold weather clothes?” “Doesn’t matter,” she said. “JUST GET OUT.”
Permalink
12.17.06
Posted in Chaucer's posts at 3:10 pm by Chaucer
I think Yoelson and I are feeling even stranger today than we usually do. We feel very sensitive and in need of love.
We might not be able to bring about World Peace, but why don’t we all do at least one nice thing for another person today.
It probably won’t mean much to you, but it really could make someone else have a much better day.
Be nice.
I’m going to be nice to Yoelson by making him one of his favourite snacks, some toast and a nice hot cup of tea.
Permalink
Posted in Chaucer's posts at 3:09 pm by Chaucer
Once again Yoelson and I have been happily surfing online for hours. We love the world wide web, there is so much information to be found. We get so engrossed we can ‘Bearly’ tear ourselves away most days. We find it a struggle to use the computer as much as we would like though, because we have to share with Laura and Richard. Our favourite gem today is this.
A selection of replies from contestants on the t.v. programme ~
FAMILY FORTUNES
1. Something a blind man might use? - A Sword
2. A song with the word Moon in the title? - Blue Suede Moon
3. Name the capital of France? - F
4. Name a bird with a long Neck? - Naomi Campbell
5. Name an occupation where you might need a torch? - A burglar
6. Where is the Taj Mahal? - Opposite the Dental Hospital
7. What is Hitler’s first name? - Heil
8. A famous Scotsman? - Jock
9. Some famous brothers? - Bonnie and Clyde.
10. A dangerous race? - The Arabs
11. Something that floats in a bath? - Water
12. An item of clothing worn by the Three Musketeers? - A horse
13. Something you wear on a beach? - A deckchair
14. A famous Royal? - Mail
15. Something that flies that doesn’t have an engine? - A bicycle with wings
16. A famous bridge? - The Bridge Over Troubled Waters
17. Something a cat does? - Goes to the toilet
18. Something you do in the bathroom? - Decorate
19. A method of securing your home? - Put the kettle on
20. Something associated with pigs? - The Police
21. A sign of the Zodiac? - April
22. Something people might be allergic to? - Skiing
23. Something you do before you go to bed? - Sleep
24. Something you put on walls? - A roof
25. Something slippery? - A conman
26. A kind of ache? - A fillet of fish
27. A jacket potato topping? - Jam
28. A food that can be brown or white? - A potato
29. Something sold by gypsies? - Bananas
30. Something red? - My sweater
There sure are some funny people in the world, not sure if we are laughing with them or at them though?
Time for some refreshment now.
Permalink
12.16.06
Posted in Chaucer's posts, Our Photos at 5:03 pm by Chaucer
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat,
We don’t celebrate Christmas, so that’s enough of that!
Richard and Laura don’t celebrate Christmas, neither do we. We are not religious, maybe if we were we would get into the Christmas spirit, although I know you don’t have to be religious to celebrate Christmas. For many people in Britain Christmas is a celebration of greed, gluttony, and inebriation. We think this is great, if that’s what makes them happy, or should that be Merry? Maybe Christmas has always been like this, but wasn’t it once a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ? Or did that event occur sometime in May? I’m too tired for a theological debate. I am happy we are living in France because Christmas has apparently been cancelled in Britain. Here in our area of France Christmas doesn’t seem so commercial as in Britain. Although over the few years we have lived here we have noticed it getting more and more like Britain. What a shame, France will follow Britain as Britain has followed America (in too many things, which is another topic). In Britain it is not politcally correct to call ‘Christmas lights’ by that name, now they are ‘Festive lights’, you must be careful not so wish anyone a “Merry Christmas”, incase you offend ethnic monorities, you can say “Seasons Greetings”. It’s all crazy, the British press are blaming the Muslims for the demise of Christmas. I am not naive in thinking that there are not some who would like to abolish Christmas. However the majority of decent, hard working, Muslims in Britain are more than happy for others to celebrate Christmas, (aren’t they?), complete with Christmas Lights, Red Father Christmas Hats, Mince Pies, and the usual orgy of debauchery that makes a typical British Christmas. Maybe the people who feel that Chritmas is being eradicated should concern themselves less with the consumerism of it all, and remember the religious context of Christmas. I hope Christmas is always celebrated in Britain without compromise. Britain should not pander to ethnic minorities, they should appreciate and embrace living in a wonderfully culturally diverse country which allows everyone religious freedom. After all no one is forced to live in Britain. If you don’t like living in Britain ~ leave. Britain is a Christian country, The Queen, The Head of State, is a Christian. Christian beliefs, holidays, and celebrations, should and must surely come first. The majority of people in Britain identify themselves as Christian, 72% of them. But the U.K. has one of the lowest levels of public worship attendance in the world, apparently less than 8% attend any form of regular worship. This isn’t necessarily significant, I don’t think you need to go to church to be a good Christian, a building where you pray once a week doesn’t make you a better Christian than someone who chooses to worship outside of the church. The one thing we do like about Christmas in Britain is the fact that people everywhere seem to be so much nicer to each other, it’s just a shame people can’t behave like that every day of the year. Stop trying to hurt and/or kill each other, why can’t people just be nice? Considering we are Teddy Bears who are not religious, I do seem to have rambled on with all this religious stuff for longer than I intended. It’s all crap, but I won’t bother hitting delete, I need something to post today. So much for the Christmas Spirit. The only spirit we are interested in is Vodka, and Gin, and Pastis. Pastis is very popular in our local area. Absinthe was banned in France in 1915, so Pernod, and Ricard (the major producers now merged as Pernod Ricard) reformulated their drink without the banned wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) component. With a new recipe focusing on the heavier aniseed flavour from star anise, sweetness from sugar, and a lower alcohol content, Pastis was born. The most popular way to drink Pastis here is with cold spring water. We like the way the water changes the colour of the Pastis, from a dark clear yellow to a creamy milky soft yellow, it’s yummy. Right, I have a headache from staring at the computer for so long, so no Pastis for me, a lovely cup of tea will do nicely.
Cheers, and a very Happy and Merry Christmas to all of the God botherers and Heathens alike!
Permalink
12.15.06
Posted in Chaucer's posts at 5:24 pm by Chaucer
We haven’t been up to much today, it’s too wet to venture outside. We have spent most of the day surfing online where we came across this, it made us laugh and we thought it may make you smile.
A Marine stationed overseas recently received a “Dear John” letter from his girlfriend back home. It read as follows:
Dear Peter, I can no longer continue our relationship. The distance between us is just too great. I must admit that I have cheated on you twice, since you’ve been gone, and it’s not fair to either of us. I’m sorry. Please return the picture of me that I sent to you. Love, Jenny.
The Marine, with hurt feelings, asked his fellow Marines for any snapshots they could spare of their girlfriends, sisters, ex-girlfriends, aunts, cousins etc. In addition to the picture of Jenny, Peter included all the other pictures of the pretty gals he had collected from his buddies. There were 57 photos in total in the envelope….along with this note:
Dear Jenny, I’m so sorry, but I can’t quite remember who you are. Please take your picture from the pile, and send the rest back to me. Take Care, Peter.
I think we need a break from the computer now, so I am going to make some delicious hot chocolate for us both.
Permalink
12.14.06
Posted in Chaucer's posts at 3:41 pm by Chaucer
Laura made a very tasty Apple Strudel today. Apple Strudel (Apfelstrudel) is a delicious traditional pastry of southern Germany, and also many countries that belonged to the Austro-Hungarian empire, Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia. The kitchen was a bit untidy whilst Laura was preparing the strudel, but the aroma that filled the house whilst it was bubbling away in the oven made it worth all the mess. Thankfully Laura had to clean it up, not me or Yoelson. Apple Strudel is usually an oblong strudel pastry case filled with lots of sliced apples, raisins, sugar and cinnamon. Obviously you can add other ingredients to customize the recipe to suit your cravings. Laura left out the sugar, because she and Richard like it to be tart, and she added lots of healthy blueberries. The pastry must be very thin and elastic, each single layer of pastry should be so thin that you could read your love letters through it. I like that ‘reading love letters through the pastry’, I’m sure just that thought makes the finished strudel taste even better, nice and warm straight from the oven. Yoelson and I like eating blueberries, they make our tongues change colour. Must go now, time for some cool water, we are feeling much better since we started drinking lots of the wonder liquid.
Permalink
12.13.06
Posted in Chaucer's posts at 3:01 pm by Chaucer
I am beginning to think that Yoelson and I have developed an unhealthy love of the computer. Are we Internet Addicts? We only ever intend to go online for a short time, but before we know it several hours have slipped by. I think we may be obsessed. Or are we? Maybe the cold weather is really to blame, we don’t like going out in the cold, so we have been spending more time at home on the computer. This morning I delayed going online for as long as I could. Inevitably I secumbed and once again the hours just evaporated. After we dragged ourselves away from the computer I thought that Yoelson and I could go for a walk, but it is too cold, even with our lovely thick fur we still shiver, and we are feeling lazy. The sun is enveloping our house in a wonderful warm embrace, so I guess it’s not all bad. I thought that if we were not going to exercise our bodies, we should at least exercise our brains. So we spent a couple of hours reading some of Laura and Richard’s books. We really enjoy William Shakespeare, we particularly liked this quote.
Beauty is all very well at first sight; but whoever looks at it when it has been in the house three days? William Shakespeare
I’m not sure that this made us feel any less lazy, or warmer, but we like it. I know what will make us feel warmer, if only temporarily, a nice cup of hot chocolate.
Permalink
12.12.06
Posted in Chaucer's posts at 3:14 pm by Chaucer
It is hard work trying to think of things to write on this blog. The cold dull weather is not helping, we don’t even want to set paws outside. We are happy to stay at home and surf online. When it’s dull and depressing we like to find things to make us laugh, this is the best we found today.
The Birds and The Bees
Robbie says: Daddy, how was I born?
Dad says: Ah, my son, I guess one day you will need to find out anyway.
Well, you see your Mum and I first got together in a chat room on MSN.
Then I set up a date via e-mail with your mum, and we met at a cyber-cafe.
We went into a secluded room, where your mum agreed to a download from my hard drive. As soon as I was ready to upload, we discovered that neither one of us had used a firewall, and since it was too late to hit the delete button, nine months later a little Pop-Up appeared and said:
You’ve Got Male!
Now I am going to make us some toast and a nice cuppa.
Permalink
« Previous entries · Next entries »