COLD DARK ROOM

[Tidgy's Dad]

Now that looks like what we would call bread and butter pudding. The bread is soaked in an egg custard?

I adore it!

Bleuch!

 

[Lyn W]

I played semi-pro football for Bath City on occasion (only the reserves)
I was in the top 1% of players in the country and was paid a tenner a game and a pint if I was lucky.
Wouldn't call that excessive or immoral.
The very small number of players in the world at the top of the game get paid a large amount of money as they have reached the pinnacle of their profession.
They are watched by millions and millions of people all over the planet, the most popular sport by far.
Would you prefer it that the money paid to them in the 10 to 15 years they get at the top be paid to the TV companies and advertising brands like Coke who make billions placing ads in the matches?
Or should we just donate all the money to charity?

Nope - donate it to me!!!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

It is bread and butter pudding. I have a recipe where you use sliced Pain au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissants) and spread it with orange marmalade ... place in the dish and soak in egg custard before baking.

Pain au chocolat.

We have them in Morocco but call them Pain sans chocolat as they have a tiny dot or smear of chocalate at one end at most to save money and effort.
In the South of France they are called chocolatine and this has now started an argument in the French parliament
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180723-whats-in-a-name-frances-fight-over-chocolate-pastry

 

[Lyn W]

Here we can still get Coke and other fizzies in glass bottles which you return and get a little money back as the bottles are reused.
No plastic bottles for me.
Single use non recyclable Plastic bags are banned.
People go through your bins every night to remove tins, other metal and anything that can be used or recycled. Of course, we call them the Wombles. Perhaps they are, as they are very rarely seen.

Morocco is more advanced than the more developed countries when it comes to plastic.
Good for them - they could teach the rest of the world a thing or two about recycling.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

There are 11 people in a team.


Both teams get two innings - like Baseball.

You have two batsmen on the pitch at a time each stood at either end of the batting strip in front of posts called a wicket. Bowlers bowl 6 balls to one end and then 6 balls to the other end in turn repeatedly.

If someone hits the ball, both batsmen run to the opposite end of the wicket and if they get there without being caught or stumped (the ball knocking over the wicket before the batsman reaches it) then they score a point called a run.

If the ball is caught or the batsman is stumped then he is out and a new batsman comes on. When everyone is out, the teams swap over and a new innings starts.

A single innings can take a very long time with 11 players in each team. When cricket was first played a couple of hundred years ago there were no time limits and a match could go on for a couple of weeks or more which is somewhat impractical!

So the game got time limits. For international matches it is 5 days and for county matches 3 days.

Club sides play much quicker versions of the game that can be played in one day (which is what we saw today) or just an evening. They are limited by the number of balls bowled.

Hmmmm.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Well, New Orleans had WAAAY too much excitement this weekend.
Saturday morning around 7:00 am, a keeper saw Valerio, the zoo's male jaguar, LOOSE ON THE ZOO GROUNDS. Jaguars are the 3rd largest cat in the world and THE largest in the Americas (Yes, bigger even than cougars and mountain lions). A mature male can be 2 feet tall at the shoulder and up to 6 feet long from nose to BASE of tail. They weigh up to 210 lbs.
The zookeeper followed the emergency protocol they had been taught: FIRST secure YOURSELF in a building then radio the situation to the central office. (Although, if faced with a wild jaguar, my FIRST step would have been to take a large poop in my pants, but I digress..)

The vet and zookeepers managed to locate, sedate and recapture the animal. They found he had killed 4 alpacas and mauled a 5th, which died overnight despite intensive medical attention; leaving the zoo with NO alpacas. He had killed one emu, killed a fox and mauled 3 others. One fox died overnight; one remains critical and the 3rd seems to be ok. The zoo remained closed all of Saturday but reopened Sunday.

The zoo staff said that Valerio is a normal 3 year old male jaguar who was just doing what jaguars do, and he will NOT be euthanized.
A search revealed that the roof of the jaguar enclosure "had been compromised" and repairs are rapidly under way.

Very sad about the other animals, but quite right, Valerio was just being a jaguar and I'm so happy that they aren't going to kill him. I get really mad when some idiot climbs into an animal's enclosure, gets mauled and they shoot the animal. Or a shark bites someone and they kill every shark in a 50 km radius. Or some pilchard is camping and gets attacked by a grizzly or polar bear so much retribution is sought.
Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

I am glad that they are not killing the Jaguar. As it was just doing what they do. Sad about the other animals though. Was it a man made compromise or natural I wonder.

It is possible some idiot was trying to 'free the jaguar'.

 

[Lyn W]

Caught up today's posts at last - don't know how Adam manages to read months worth!
I find it easier to start with the most recent posts and work backwards that way I don't repeat what others have said.
Hope you are all having a good weekend so far!
I may be taking my nephew to Cardiff airport tomorrow then spending some time at the nearby coast - maybe Barrybados!
(Usually known as Barry Island - or more recently renamed as Whitmore Bay)
We'll probably end up somewhere a bit quieter but hopefully there will be some sea breezes to cool things down - the heat has been unbearable here today!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Good afternoon/evening hope you've had good days so far.
I wasn't too impressed with the sanctuary.
I appreciate what they are trying to do, and provide a home to unwanted or found torts, and maybe I was expecting too much, but sadly there was a lot lacking.
There was a lot of overcrowding in very small enclosures. Especially for the Sullies and Leopards. They mixed species and the diet today for every species was cabbage and chunks of cucumber; they'd had a donation of trays of iceberg lettuce from a store so I assume that will be on the menu tomorrow. Not a weed in sight!
I didn't manage to ask any questions but I managed to point some soon-to-be tort owners in the direction of TTF so they could see the care sheets and find out more before their baby arrives.
I didn't stay long and I didn't become a member as from what I saw I wouldn't want to leave Lola there. Maybe I'm being unfair and they were busy with their open day so not as organised as usual, I will have to pop in another Sunday when it's quieter to see if it's better.

Set up a charity.
Make some money.
Doesn't matter if you don't have a clue as nobody will ever know.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

My weekend is almost done so sad[emoji24][emoji24]. But before i go here are some post cards. I also wanted to take a pic of the seagulls but they wouldn't stay still. There was also a small bird with blue and orange that I wanted to take a pic of but that one also flew away before I could take a pic[emoji21].
The 2nd pic is through the window of the lighthouse.
Some pics of the beach by woodbridge Island. And of the mountain by Claremont.
Rue climbing into the water bowl while enjoying outside time.
One of Kang going in for a bite.
One of Clark playing hide and seekView attachment 245184View attachment 245185View attachment 245186View attachment 245187View attachment 245188View attachment 245189View attachment 245190View attachment 245191View attachment 245195View attachment 245196View attachment 245197

Great stuff, Carol!
Rue is very beautiful and I love Kang and the hide and seek photos too!

 

[Lyn W]

I'll draw the line before I get to worked up.

With a pencil?
That takes us back to Lena's '2B or not 2B?'

 

[Lyn W]

Time for bed for me.
So Nos Da to you all and enjoy what's left of your Saturday!
Not see you soon!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hi EllieMay * waves *

Welcome to the CDR. I’m Linda and live in Kent in the south east of England.

I hope you have been introduced to the residents of the CDR. I have been a little busy of late, so haven’t been in as much as usual * tickles Montgomery on the tummy *

Have you been introduced to our armadillo coffee table? Montgomery is very friendly. So is the snow leopard... she eats carrots so is perfectly safe.

The wool spider, if she exists, who lives up there somewhere * points * is a little moody, but nobody has come to more serious harm than excess knitted underwear so far as we are aware

Some people have vanished, never to be seen again................................

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

How odd.
No mention of England's loss to Belgium in the Third place play off.
Virtually no mention of the final.
Congratulations to France.
(a little grudgingly) .
England's future looks bright.
Also , no one seemed to notice or celebrate the three year Roomiversary!
Three years of the Cold Dark Room!
Thanks everyone for making it such a very special community of very special people.
The personnel may change a bit over the years, but the heart, kindness and silly fun of the place remains always intact.
Bless you all.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Good morning Linda (and everyone else) ! I’m Heather. I absolutely love looking at all the different landscapes / sea scapes. I have a lot of respect for the friendship you seem to have here and of course the common love for your babies. Thank you for sharing with me!

Ah, Heather. Not EllieMay.
Is EllieMay a tortoise?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Ok, successfully back from Maryland’s Oxford on the Eastern Shore where we kayaked about 13 miles on some very calm waters in hot humid conditions. Temps in high 80’s.

The Route of our adventure
View attachment 245277

If anyone visits the US and wants a very scenic, quiet traditional on the water location to visit. Make a trip to very low key Oxford and a little more touristy St. Michaels (more shops, pubs, cafes) on Marylnd’s Eastern Shore.

A few snaps

Quiet Little Harbor
View attachment 245272

Typical Village Street
View attachment 245274

Lunch at a Sandy Beach
View attachment 245275

Paddling on the Trent River
View attachment 245276

Looks lovely.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Well, the comments seem to have just petered out, rather.
But thank you, carol for organizing the World Cup thingy, it was great fun.
And congratulations to Todd for being so good at his predictions to win the thing.
I operated a thread over on the Fossil Forum with a person representing each country in the competition and getting points for the results, predictions and games and quizzes and questions about football, fossils and even a few on tortoises.
I had thirty two players, one representing each country, a mix of males and females from about twenty countries with an age range from teenage to late sixties. Much more cosmopolitan than the real world cup! Lots of other people joined in too!
It received 4.658 posts and was viewed 41,622 times, the biggest thread in Fossil Forum history!
Here is the Tidgy emoji they made for me.

And :

Great, hey?

 

[Bambam1989]

With a pencil?
That takes us back to Lena's '2B or not 2B?'

I prefer charcoal.. 6B[emoji6]

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

It is a friendship without international boundaries and with a shared humour (or humor if you Americans insist )

We do try to have support each other as well as have giggle. Where else could you chat with a German with a sheep and cats as well as torts, a Russian who lived in Turkey moved to Denmark and is currently in Canada, a Welsh woman who uses her oven as a wine rack, a kayaking Marylander who possibly lives in his Kayak , a British paleontologist living in Morocco, an afternoon-tea loving Louisianan with a travel bucket list that will take light years to complete, a brai loving South African, a couple of shelled friends whose names suggests the opposite to their actual gender and many more.

We do like to share postcards. What you regard as everyday is novel to those of us not in your locality

Very good!
But talking of Americanisms, I'm a palaeontologist.

 

[Bambam1989]

Well, the comments seem to have just petered out, rather.
But thank you, carol for organizing the World Cup thingy, it was great fun.
And congratulations to Todd for being so good at his predictions to win the thing.
I operated a thread over on the Fossil Forum with a person representing each country in the competition and getting points for the results, predictions and games and quizzes and questions about football, fossils and even a few on tortoises.
I had thirty two players, one representing each country, a mix of males and females from about twenty countries with an age range from teenage to late sixties. Much more cosmopolitan than the real world cup! Lots of other people joined in too!
It received 4.658 posts and was viewed 41,622 times, the biggest thread in Fossil Forum history!
Here is the Tidgy emoji they made for me.

And :

Great, hey?

Those are adorable!