Saturday lunch.

I've always been a 'Meat and One Veg' sort of person, or a 'Hearty Stew' person, or a 'Chuck it on the BBQ' person. But I'm slowly being educated.

This was only the second time I'd eaten at this Middle Eastern restaurant, with shared plates of various grilled meats, vegs, breads, and pulses. 

We also shared a couple of bottles of very good Argentinian wine with good friends who were over from Barbados.

The restaurant isn't too far from our front door (maybe 500 yards), and is basically 'Middle Eastern'; no specific nationality is given. Think Turkey, meets Lebanon, meets Greece. A wonderful mix of exotic flavours and aromas. A real assault on the taste buds. A very satisfying meal

If you happen to be in the area, the restaurant couldn't be more central, but is always quiet. No need to book. It's called Lavash and is in North St Brighton, right by the clock tower.

Above are 'before' and 'after' pix; we're very messy. Just say Cro sent you!

 

Sadness and Horror

 

On Thursday it was Yom Kippur; the most important day in the Jewish calendar.

So, 35 year old Syrian immigrant Jihad Al-Shamie (above), who just happened to be on bail for RAPE at the time, decided that he would kill some Jews. He drove his car into a group of people outside the Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester, then stabbed two others. Two of those he stabbed died, whilst three others are in 'a serious condition'. It seems that one of the victims was also accidently shot by the police when they killed Al-Shamie.

As with the terror attack of October 7th, such people demonstrate clearly that they are incapable of living in harmony with the people who, historically, have ALWAYS helped them. 

Starmer, as we saw on TV, returned at once to England to attend a COBRA meeting. What he thought he could achieve after such an event I don't know. Stemming the tide of antisemitism amongst the Muslim and left-wing population is almost impossible. 

Yes, of course the troubles in Gaza are shocking, but we should never forget that they were initiated by exactly the same type of barbaric behaviour as we saw on Thursday; only on a much grander scale. Such horrors will always attract warranted reprisals from the Israeli forces; but not, I'm sure, from the Jewish population in Manchester.

Sometimes I feel as if I'm living in another wartime Germany; but this time the enemy are the British people themselves, and the aggressors are those to whom we have given refuge. Just recently we saw a policeman tearing a 'Union Jack' flag from the hands of an English teenage girl, whilst Hamas supporting flags were flying all around. What sort of message does that give?

Antisemitism in the UK has become extremely worrying. I hear that after the Synagogue killings, the Muslim community were out on the streets of Manchester flag-waving and cheering.

Manchester has a population of around 550,000, of which 30,000 are Jewish, and 120,000 are Muslim. Just over 50% are classified as 'white'.

Two men and a woman have also been arrested in relation to Thursday's attack. Al-Shabie himself was shot dead by Police. He will no doubt be seen as a 'Martyr'.

We are living through extremely distressing times!

Winter comfort.

I know it's only the beginning of October, but I have already bought my annual bottle of Winter Cheer.

I've had a few disappointments with my annual bottles of Single Malt, so for the second year running I have plumped for a bottle of Rum instead. I'm not really a drinker of spirits, but during the colder months I do enjoy a small sip of something strong before bed. I literally drink a thimble-full.

So, I recently bought bottles of Sherry and Port, a bottle of Armagnac for cakes, puddings, etc. And a 1 litre bottle of Captain Morgan's finest 'Spiced Gold' Rum.

The Rum is beautifully smooth, and compares well to a good Single Malt Whisky. It's not exactly produced in some tiny jungle family-owned distillery in the backwoods of the Virgin Islands, but the flavour is superb, with very little 'bite'. It is just 35% vol.

I doubt if I will finish the whole bottle this winter; but if it gets VERY cold, I will try my best.

 

The one thing that is 'booming'.

 

The UK's only real booming industry is importation. We import lots of undesirable humans.

We send our 'Border Force' boats out into the middle of The Channel to bring them to our shores in their thousands, then we spend more and more money looking after them in nice hotels, etc. We also spend a fortune on lawyers who argue for their 'human rights' when we try to deport them.

Being an illegal immigrant is the only really true expanding business in the UK. The only one where there is no unemployment. The only one where the injection of cash seems endless.

The Labour Party have been holding their annual conference, and Starmer tells us that anyone decrying the seemingly endless invasion (especially Farage and his chums) are RACISTS, and that they "hate Britain". After such a disgusting outburst by a desperate Prime Minister, I am now seriously considering voting for Farage at the next election. 

Starmer old chap, I think it's about time you started to see the light. The British people have had enough; they are thoroughly pissed-off with you and your bloody woke-folk human rights.

STOP PRESS: We hear today that the Nephew of a well-known Taliban Commander has been awarded refugee status by an English Immigration Judge, and will be allowed to bring SEVEN family members to join him from Turkey. None of these people speak any English, and none have professions/jobs. They have no connection with the UK whatsoever, and no means of support! Can you imagine what that will cost us? It simply gets worse and wokey-bloody-worse.

Those who try to defend the Britishness of Britain are NOT RACISTS, nor do they 'hate Britain', as Starmer suggests. They are people who pay taxes for the likes of him to squander on pampering foreign illegal immigrants, and they find that very annoying. They are patriots.

And as for him sending in his 'Starmer-troopers' to tear union flags from the hands of teenagers (above), this will only make people more patriotic. He can tear down or confiscate as many of our national flags as he likes, but he will never destroy the British spirit.

If you can't see that, Starmer, then you aren't fit to run a bloody whelk-stall; let alone a whole country.

And, by the way, when you said "Stop the Boats", what did you mean? You are paying £500 Million to France for their assistance with stopping the illegal migrants; so how many have they stopped? Are we getting good value for money?

SOME TIME LATER: Starmer has now stated that Farage is NOT racist, and Lammy has apologised for accusing Farage of being a member of 'Hitler Youth'. They're really getting desperate.

Quick wash-n-brush-up.

We have to thank this man for the UK's love of Chicken Tikka Masala; his gravestone is below.

It was he, Sake Deen Mahomed, who in 1810 introduced Indian restaurants into England. These days it would be difficult to find even a tiny village that doesn't have an 'Indian'. We love them that much. 

I have no idea why, but whilst we were away in France, Mr Mahomed's gravestone at our local church has been cleaned and re-painted. Perhaps a distant relation has had the work undertaken. I hope no-one tries to modernise any of the other stones in the graveyard. I like to see the age of things.

                                      

Mahomed's gravestone has a peculiarity; it is double-sided. 

I don't think I've ever seen a gravestone before that was dedicated on both sides; this one mentions both his wife Jane, and daughter Rosanna, on the back (or is it the front?). As well as a son who died aged 12.

Sharp-eyed viewers will see that his wife Jane died aged 3 years. Unlikely methinks!

I'm waiting for some wag to spray 'sore thumb' on it.

It was bound to happen.

I have no need for Ironing Boards, but I did need an Office Chair (or so I was told).

Lady M has been berating me for years about the chair I use for all my 'office' activities. She insisted that I needed better support for my back.

I have mentioned several times about the huge amount of Ironing Boards and Office Chairs that are thrown out here in Brighton. We see them all the time.

So, when Lady M and Susie saw this 'Free to Good Home' chair outside a neighbour's house, they captured it.

It is in perfect condition, it's comfortable, and supports my back as desired. AND, it was FREE.

A bloomin' bargain!

Is my back any better? Not yet!

 

Soap.

 

Life is filled with pleasant surprises, as well as many disappointments, and they can arrive in the most unusual of forms.

For example, I like 'good soap', and I can't stand poor quality soap; what's the point in making poor quality soap anyway?

I always buy my soap in liquid form, I never buy solid bars. But occasionally one variety disappoints so much that it makes me fume. On the other hand occasionally I buy some that is so good that handwashing becomes a true pleasure.

These two above illustrate my attitude perfectly. One is rubbish, and the other is excellent. They probably cost the same, and the presentations suggest that they are both of equally good quality.

The one on the right, with the faux-classy name of 'Baylis & Harding', contains all sorts of wondrous ingredients; Jojoba, Vanilla, and Almond Oil. Sounds good doesn't it. It's RUBBISH.

The one on the left is 'La Corvette' Savon de Marseille. As it says on the bottle, it is Nature. No gimmicks, no nonsense saying 'Contains Zuxillio D47-S non-fatty* dermo-acids' etc etc. Just plain soap. It is PERFECT.

I want 'soapy' soap, I want a pleasant lather that feels nice. I also want it to clean my hands.

The Baylis & Harding contents will be thrown away, and the container re-filled with yellow good quality Fairy Liquid washing-up soap. It will then be used for hand washing either in the kitchen, or the outside loo.

p.s. I should mention that Jean Shrimpton once told me that she always used Fairy Liquid for washing her hair. What better recommendation than that! I now learn that she also happened to attend the same Secretarial College as my sister. The Langham in Park Lane.