CLOSED - THANKS to all customers for the last few years

Morning All and thanks as always to JJ for sorting out the feeding
of the 5,000's - how you doing JJ? We seem to have missed each other
recently in here.

Croissants please and some yummy blackcurrant jam....mmmmmmm

Lunch will be a haddock bake, topped with creamed potatoes & cheese
or steak and kidney pie for those who prefer flesh and innards ;>)
All served with baby carrots and brocalli.

A selection of cheeses and fresh fruit to follow - well you can't
eat stodgy fattening desserts all the time chaps!!!

> The next time you are washing your hands and complain because
>the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things
>used to
> be. Here are some facts about the 1500s:
>
> Most people got married in June because they took their yearly
>bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were
>starting to
> smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body
>odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.
>
>
>
> Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of
>the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other
>sons and men,
> then the women and finally the children. Last of all the
>babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone
>in it. Hence the saying,
> "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."
>
>
> Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood
>underneath.
> It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats
>and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained
>it became slippery
> and sometimes the animals would slip and off the roof. Hence
>the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."
>
> There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.
>This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings
>could mess up
> your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet
>hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came
>into existence.
>
> The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than
>dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that
>would get slippery
> in the winter when wet , so they spread thresh (straw) on floor
>to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they adding more
>thresh until when
> you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece
>of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a 'thresh
>hold."
>
> (Getting quite an education, aren't you?)
>
> In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle
>that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added
>things to the
> pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They
>would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold
>overnight and
> then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that
>had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot,
>peas porridge
> cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."
>
> Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite
>special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show
>off. It was a
> sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They
>would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and
>"chew the fat."
>
> Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid
>content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead
>poisoning
> death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next
>400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
>
> Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt
>bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top,
>or "upper crust."
>
> Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination
>would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone
>walking along the
> road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They
>were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family
>would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would
>wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake."
>
> England is old and small and the local folks started running
>out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would
>take the bones to a
> "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins,
>1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and
>they realized
> they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string
>on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through
>the ground and
> tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard
>all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone
>could be "saved
> by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."
>
>
> And that's the truth... Now, whoever said that History was
>boring ! ! !

Excellent piece of research Hilary. :>)

great post Hils!

brilliant - went very well with the coffee.

Bloody hell Hickey, wondered what you'd been upto!

Bloomin' evenin' classes will be the ruin of sexy women!

it's an edyakation cafe!

by the way if the number 13 is so bad, why is it reflected so many times on the u.s. $1 bill-- 13 levels in the pyramid, 13 stars, 13 arrows, 13 stripes, 13 leaves, and 13 olives? is it because of the original 13 colonies?

Afternoon all.

Hils ..... so there has been some progress after all!

Bunny - Yes, keep missing you. How's things and has the
computer had its rebuild yet!

Off to explore the new "powder room"...

JJ - we've managed to sort the computer now, reloaded everything
etc (snore) and so far it appears we are bug free, so there's a
notice on 'Don't' whilst on the 'net and the security settings are
now at the equivilant of full body searches - slightly frustrating
with stacks of security notices coming up all the time but necessary!
Otherwise, life is it's usual manic organised/semi-organised chaos!
;>)

Ooops. I didn't actually post anything! So I'd thought I'd better edit it to say so.

Prince froggie now don't disappear without saying hello!!!
:>)

Bunny has the post man been.

Certainly - he's dropped off a large sack labelled:
"Mr.D.Dazzler - private and confidential.
Not to be opened by any other person!
Huge sums of money enclosed!!"











But apart from that, nothing very interesting turned up really......
;>)

Like wise bunny.

Sorry bunny. How awfully rude of me.

"Hello"



I was always lurking in the tearooms but kept quiet. I don't drink tea. Now coffee and strange dutch cigarettes is something of a different matter ;-)

Well I handle the food & drink side of things Prince, you'll
have to see Spacie or Lambie for the Dutch stuff - it's better
that way really as my knowledge stops on anything 'dutch' at
Edam or Gouda cheese, so you're safer seeing them - back room
behind the bar, down the corridor, turn left, up the stairs,
turn left, along the corridor, turn right, up the stairs,
throug the door second on the right, along the corridor, first
left after the fire exit :>)



Oh don't worry about finding your way back out - most people
don't tend to worry or remember getting out again, but they appear
to manage it somehow! ;>)

Large jug of fresh lemonade for the StarFrog and fresh lemon tart is now ready to be eaten by anybody who wants some.....

There were a couple of lemons left over so there's a little Lamby Drizzle Cake for the Lemon!

Good timing Priscilla - lemon tart please, one of my favourites!
Lambykins will turn in to a lemon if he indulged any more.

Well done on the computer front bunny. Quicker repair
than I expected, so someone know's what they are doing.
How are you finding the new kitchen?!!

I would be careful about signing for DD's post :-))

LOL don't worry JJ I did shake it to find out if it was
ticking or anything first, and as I'm still here and am
not a Bar-B-Q'ed bunny I think it was ok.
;>)

i can't find the juke box. where is it? i'm sure there was one yesterday! or else what was i putting my money in? frightening place!
what sort of tart is on offer did you say?