Cambridge and Tourists

Are you going to visit Cambridge, England this summer? I hope you enjoy my lovely city but:-

If you are accompanying a group of young people please tell them to show respect  when entering churches and chapels

• Photography is generally permitted but not during services.Posing for photos in mocking positions in front of paintings or a cross may seem funny to you but is very offensive to Christians who worship in the churches-Japanese visitors please note this.
• It is the custom to form a line when waiting to be served in a shop or cafe.Pushing in front of waiting people  is considered rude.
• Crowding the entrances to streets and buildings, pushing  people off the pavement (sidewalk)is inconsiderate to frail older people and mothers with small children.
• If you hire a bicycle learn the traffic signs.

GRANDMA DAILY: News of The World -Vince Was Right

GRANDMA DAILY: News of The World -Vince Was Right: "See how easy it was for Murdoch to close down this piece of popular culture. You may not have liked the NOTW but a free and challenging pr..."

News of The World -Vince Was Right

See how easy it was for Murdoch  to close down this piece of popular culture.
You may not have liked the NOTW but a free and challenging press is part of a democratic society.He has taken this action to protect a small number of his favourites and their corrupt malign influence.Murdoch has had  little regard to the employees who have been instantly dismissed, the newspaper sellers and vendors who have relied on it for their income  and the public liked reading it.

I remember my grandmother enjoying this paper and I am seventy years old.

Our government must address the issue of BSkyB and halt the dealings for Murdoch to take it over right now.

Remember Vince Cable's comments a few weeks ago-- he was then banned from bringing his influence to bear in the matter. Vince was right.

Favourite Jams

Summer fruits are now as cheap as they will ever be.Dig out those glass jars you have been saving and save the taste of summer in them.
You do not have to make huge quantities as many recipes suggest.
A  sugar thermometer is a big help.

Sterilise the jars first. Give them a good wash in hot water ( or dishwasher) , stand them upright on a baking sheet and dry them in the oven for 30 minutes 100 C while you make the jam.
Put a saucer in the fridge.

Gooseberry and Elderflower Jam is my favourite. The trickiest one is Strawberry Jam. An easy one is Greengage.

Gooseberry and Elderflower Jam

2lb gooseberries
2lb sugar
half pint water
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoon Elderflower Cordial Essence

1. Top and tail the gooseberries.
2. Put them with the water and the lemon juice into a large pan.Simmer until soft and mash down slightly --use a potato masher if you have one.
3. Add the sugar and elderflower essence, bring to the boil, continue to boil until the temperature reaches 105 C or 221F.Test a teaspoon of jam on a cold saucer to see if it wrinkles and sets.
4. Cool the jam for 5 minutes .
5. Fill the warm jars with the jam.
6. Put a wax disc on the top of the jam and cover with very clean lids or cellophane covers.
7. Cool and keep in a dry place. Homemade jam is best eaten quickly .Fantastic on toast  for breakfast or scones for tea.

PHONE HACKING SCANDAL OVER MILLY DOWLER

I never thought I would agree with John Prescott but the view he expressed yesterday about  Rupert Murdoch controlling  BSkyB being a matter of grave public concern is right.
The alleged phone hacking and interference by one of Murdoch's employees into the phone of a missing 13 year old girl thus meddling with a police search  was beyond merely shocking.Her parents were given false hope of her being alive while in reality this child lay dead, brutally murdered.
Stop the negotiations with Murdoch immediately before this meglomaniac controls all our news.

Vince Cable was correct when he expressed similar concerns a few weeks ago.

Family Tree Magazine Article

My article about Great Uncle Fred Cockerill and his show girl wife Queenie Leighton has just been published. Very pleased with the way it looks. Queenie was quite famous in her day as a principal boy in many pantomimes.

CAMBRIDGE,ENGLAND, 18th June 2011

Visiting Cambridge on Saturday 18th June

A good place to visit  is St Botolph's Church in Trumpington Street, especially if it rains or you just want to sit down for a while.
This is one of the oldest churches in Cambridge

This Saturday there will be a friendly sale of

BOOKS

COLLECTABLES

TRADITIONAL CAKES and other refreshments

SOFT TOYS-- see the knitted Queen and corgies.Treat a little boy to a Spitfire .

Backyard Tomatoes

My back garden is tiny but three tomato plants have a warm sunny position by a south facing wall.
Growing these gets really exciting from now on as the yellow flower buds change into green pea sized fruits and swell into green and then red tomatoes to eat.
These plants must be fed and watered .They are of course the most expensive tomatoes you will ever eat by the time you have bought compost, plants,Tomorite and stakes.

But there is nothing like the taste and smell of a tomato still warm from the sun.
It takes me back to my post war child hood. Food was still rationed.
My Dad kept chickens at the bottom of the garden, he swapped eggs with Mr Benton next door for tomatoes from his green house.

It seems amazing now that all food was seasonal. No tomatoes or strawberries until the summer. No cheap imports and no supermarkets.

Ryan Giggs and Celebrity Behaviour

Hardly a day passes without the revelation of shallow deceitful behaviour from  so called celebrities. These cheaters know what they are doing is wrong otherwise they would not employ expensive lawyers to cover up their conduct from the public under the guise of protecting their privacy.

Wives, brothers, friends,colleagues, and especially sons and daughters have all been betrayed,so have the young fans who idolise them.

The selfish marriage wrecking tarts who only want a chunk of the grossly overpaid wages  their morally weak targets get are no better.

Whatever happened to loyalty?
What happened to personal reponsibility?


Sponsors please have the moral courage to cancel your endorsement of these crass individuals.
Do not buy their books.Boo them from the terraces.They are cheating you too.

E.coli and food handling

Sloppy handling of food can create an opportunity for food poisoning bugs to get a grip. Hand to mouth then to food spreads bacteria from the mouth and throat.Infection comes from faeces that get onto  hands after  wiping your backside when visiting the toilet.There is no polite way to put this.

Look around you at the gross habits some people have.

• Eating fast food in the street with unwashed hands 
• Food stores that allow customers to walk around eating food at the same time as they select goods from food containers
• Hotel buffets- just watch those people who drink and eat as they wander round the breakfast buffet
• Servers who eat as they serve food to customers in shops and in cafes
• Supermarket shelves overstacked so that food is not properly chilled.
• WASH YOUR HANDS AFTER VISITING THE TOILET AND BEFORE TOUCHING FOOD
• If you have touched raw meat or chicken wash your hands again and surfaces they have been on like chopping boards.