What’s on your mind?

[The-Real-Deal82]

I headed into the city to collect my French bread and was very impressed by the Hallowe'en cakes that the French bakery had on display.

They had pumpkin tarts - which resembled a toffee coloured version of their splendid French custard tarts, and a stunning pumpkin, passion fuit and mango cake, with a chocolate knife - (dark chocolate for the handle, white chocolate for the blade) resting at an angle on an ominous puddle of what looked like blood but was probably raspberry and passion fruit puree on the top of the cake.

Gorgeous.

I have a day tomorrow carving pumpkins and making two Halloween gingerbread houses with the kids. Arguably the most stressful event on the calendar for me. It is possibly the only day of the year where my eldest daughter thinks it’s a free pass to ask to play with an extremely sharp knife.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I have a day tomorrow carving pumpkins and making two Halloween gingerbread houses with the kids. Arguably the most stressful event on the calendar for me. It is possibly the only day of the year where my eldest daughter thinks it’s a free pass to ask to play with an extremely sharp knife.

Teach her (when you think she can handle it, literally and metaphorically) how to use it.

Sharp knives are wonderful - invaluable when cooking - once you know how to control them (and have confidence in the fact that you can do so.)

 

[Apple fanboy]

I have a day tomorrow carving pumpkins and making two Halloween gingerbread houses with the kids. Arguably the most stressful event on the calendar for me. It is possibly the only day of the year where my eldest daughter thinks it’s a free pass to ask to play with an extremely sharp knife.

If that’s your most stressful event this year, you’re doing okay!

I recall making things with my daughter when she was younger. Happier times.
I still have some of those things in my study.

Enjoy the time you have with your kids. It will be gone soon enough.

 

[SteveManila1960]

If that’s your most stressful event this year, you’re doing okay!

I recall making things with my daughter when she was younger. Happier times.
I still have some of those things in my study.

Enjoy the time you have with your kids. It will be gone soon enough.

I can testify to that. Four daughters 33, 13, 9 and 2 it is frightening how fast the time passes. Enjoy the time it will never return.

 

[chown33]

I have a day tomorrow carving pumpkins and making two Halloween gingerbread houses with the kids. Arguably the most stressful event on the calendar for me. It is possibly the only day of the year where my eldest daughter thinks it’s a free pass to ask to play with an extremely sharp knife.

Wait till she starts asking to use power tools.

 

[SteveManila1960]

During a video chat today with me in the UK and family in the Philippines we got into a debate about something me the wife and the 13 year old and 9 year old. Their focus was on me but I could see everything that was happening in the living room.

The two year old disappeared out of shot, came back with her plastic halloween candy bucket and zeroed in on the bucket of candy my wife had left open behind her.

Catalina shovelled candy into her bucket until it was full and made a hasty retreat to the other side of the living room.

I said to my wife 'have you any idea what our daughter did behind you' hahaha

Gotta love our children. Resourceful, cunning, devious and absolutely wonderful.

 

[SteveManila1960]

I said it 'candy' uugghhh the 13 year old and 9 year old tease me all the time.

Its an elevator not a lift

Its a stroller not a push chair

Its a trunk not a boot

Its a hood not a bonnet

In the UK I talk to so many people including my 33 year old daughter. They are desperate to go west. Never interested me I always looked (and worked) east. Taiwan, China, Japan, Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam.

The culture, the people it is so vibrant.

 

[Lioness~]

Wait till she starts asking to use power tools.

That we don’t ask fathers about, older brothers are great at showing us such things imo.

 

[SteveManila1960]

Damn what do I do? Four daughters no older brothers???

 

[SteveManila1960]

Don't say try again for a younger brother my wife will kill. The last daughter was naughty. C-Section and my wife ended up with uric acid arthritis (gout) at the age of 36. Not fun. She says if I get her pregnant again I should dig my own grave...............

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I said it 'candy' uugghhh the 13 year old and 9 year old tease me all the time.

Its an elevator not a lift

Its a stroller not a push chair

Its a trunk not a boot

Its a hood not a bonnet

Lift, push car, boot and bonnet are my words and are from my world.

Yes, I know the others, but they are not my vocabulary, and, while I know them, recognise them, and understand them, I will not use them unless I am communicating with Americans.

As are footpath, waistcoat, aubergine, courgette, and café au lait.

In the UK I talk to so many people including my 33 year old daughter. They are desperate to go west. Never interested me I always looked (and worked) east.

I'm with you on this; east is so much more fascinating, rich, and interesting, both culturally, and historically, and, in terms of cuisine, as well.

Taiwan, China, Japan, Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam.

The culture, the people it is so vibrant.

Agreed.

 

[KaliYoni]

Its an elevator not a lift

Its a stroller not a push chair

Its a trunk not a boot

Its a hood not a bonnet

lift, push car, boot and bonnet are my words and are from my world.

As are footpath, waistcoat, aubergine, courgette, and café au lait.

And cafetière <=> French press

Here in North America, café au lait isn't uncommon...but Starbucks has made latte–even though what is made there should really be called a hot milkshake, not coffee-with-(steamed) milk–the most used term.

 

[SteveManila1960]

And cafetière <=> French press

Here in North America, café au lait isn't uncommon...but Starbucks has made latte–even though what is made there should really be called a hot milkshake, not coffee-with-(steamed) milk–the most used term.

Each to their own I am OK with that. My comments were just tongue in cheek

 

[SteveManila1960]

The thing is as much as I was at home in Asia I could not stand Tofu. I don't mean stinky tofu that is obviously nasty, any tofu. Bring on everything else chickens feet, duck bill, scorpion, cockroach but not tofu!

I think it started with my hate of tapioca, semolina etc. Its not the taste its the texture ewwww

 

[SteveManila1960]

Cockroach. Big mother ****ers grilled on a BBQ and slapped in between a baguette with butter at a road side fast food venue.

I got half way through it before the guys taking care of me on a holiday in Turkey told me what is was.

Actually they really didn't take care of me they felt sorry for me I had agreed to take my (at the time) 17 year old daughter on a holiday with her 17 year old friend. I would not allow her to go abroad on her own until she turned 18.

I had never met the friend before we left to go on holiday I was separated from my wife at the time. I first met her outside her house when we turned up in the taxi to go to the airport. Mother of god she stood 6 foot tall, size 8, big boobs, blue eyes and blonde. We stood at immigration in Turkey for a life time while the immigration officer sweet talked my daughters friend.

The very first night they rocked up to go into town my daughters friend was wearing a skirt that would have made a better handkerchief and a boob tube. This was a 17 year old I was supposed to protect being entrusted by her parents. Baptism of fire!!

To say the holiday was eventful would be an understatement but the funniest story was several months after that.

I went to a local pub with my brother for a drink. Said daughters friend turned out to be a barmaid in the pub. Me and my brother sat next to three young horny guys staring at the barmaid. She came over to us and said to me 'hi Steve you remember when we went on holiday together it was so great'.

You should have seen the look on the faces of the young guys at the bar and my brother hahaha priceless

 

[Chuckeee]

Why do we have to choose sides? I do not want to start any kind of thread for what is going on in the world right now but it seems there is a culture that says we must choose sides. I like to think I take a balanced point of view. See the perspective from both sides and don't judge. At the end of the day the only thing that matters is the innocent men, women and children.

I often hear the reaction “both side cannot be right”, but people tend to overlook “that both sides can be wrong”.

 

[SteveManila1960]

Oh I left out the part of the story where my daughters friend hit on a local guy in a bar and flashed her boobs in front of his girlfriend and I had to break up a girl fight. I say again this was a 17 year old in my custody entrusted to me by her parents. Jeez it was tough! The following morning we had a heart to heart!

 

[SteveManila1960]

Throw into that mix we had a 9.0 earthquake at 5am in the morning which moved my bed three feet across the bedroom and my daughter and her friend were so drunk they didn't even notice it! They surfaced at 12 Noon looking like **** and collapsed on sun beds as though nothing had happened

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Tonight the clocks go back (are put back) an hour; for me, this is possibly the single most depressing date in the entire year, as it announces the arrival of winter, and heralds the onset of dark evenings, with light leached from our lives for the coming four months.

 

[Chuckeee]

with light leached from our lives

Very poetic.

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

What puzzles me is that with every time we switch to Daylight Saving, and then switch back to Standard,
Kitty (avatar <--, see left) Tummy Time advances one hour, regardless of which way the clocks are being adjusted.
Are we being conned here?

 

[Lioness~]

My state of mind and/or mood are not affected at all of Daylight saving, and not by the seasons hardly at all either, due to meditation, these days.
All season have its pro and cons, that's pretty much it.
I could be without the snow though, just because it’s messy. But I'm sure a lot of kids would be sad then. I know myself that I liked the winters more earlier on, and was out skiing quite a lot during winter. Me and friends enjoyed downhill skiing quite a bit and had holidays together at ski resorts. Can’t say I'm that drawn to that nowadays.

The deeper sleep during the winters are not to underestimate either, it absolutely have its positive health affects to give the bear in me som more space during winters.

 

[HDFan]

we had a 9.0 earthquake at 5am in the morning

in London? a 9.0 would likely level it. I assume most buildings don't meet current earthquake standards.

 

[mtbdudex]

Throw into that mix we had a 9.0 earthquake at 5am in the morning which moved my bed three feet across the bedroom and my daughter and her friend were so drunk they didn't even notice it! They surfaced at 12 Noon looking like **** and collapsed on sun beds as though nothing had happened

Past 30 days above 6.0, where you ?

 

[Apple fanboy]

Tonight the clocks go back (are put back) an hour; for me, this is possibly the single most depressing date in the entire year, as it announces the arrival of winter, and heralds the onset of dark evenings, with light leached from our lives for the coming four months.

Not a fan either. But I have several other dates that are far more depressing. Sadly the worst of which is fast approaching, closely followed by the next two.
I do hate this time of year.