Quite a foggy and overcast morning here in Milton Keynes when I took Alfie out for his routine walk around Eaglestone Park. We veered off the usual circuit and went off through the estate and ended up on the Redway. Alfie decided to do a whoopsie on the Redway. I always do my duty and picked it up. I always make sure I carry black biodegradable bags for this very purpose. There are no red bins to dispose of dog waste so I had to walk back into the park and put the bag in the nearest bin. So I decided, as we were there, to walk back around the park and came back home the way we come out, along Griffon Close. I'm afraid there are those dog-owners who still refuse to take responsibility for their dogs and do not clear up when they mess. It spoils the park and the surrounding environment that this is the case. It doesn't take much effort to clear up after their dogs, but then there are some people who will still ignore any sort of regulation, regardless, whether it's conforming to traffic speed limits or clearing up after their dogs. As it is, it makes an unpleasant environment and I have seen notices to this effect, because it means that events planned and run around the park for children have had to be cancelled because of the health risk. It's a shame that those who don't comply don't get caught and fined.
I've been doing some ironing. Don't laugh. Men doing ironing? What's wrong with that? I'm pretty good at it. I think I must have been shown the best way to iron a shirt, for example, when I was working in stage management somewhere or other, probably by one of the wardrobe staff, or I watched whilst they did this and asked how to do it fast. They could wash and iron for goodness knows how many people, because if a show was running for a certain length of time, it was necessary to keep shirts and items washed, ironed and back in the actor's dressing rooms ready for the next performance.
Anyway, I use a steam iron. I try to use distilled water in the thing because if you put ordinary tap water in a steam iron, around this area at any rate, where the water is hard, it can build up limescale which can block up the inside of the iron and the holes where the water comes out as steam soon clog up and you can get horrible deposits of limescale on the clothes you are ironing. Anyway, I needed to get a fresh supply and went to The Range yesterday afternoon, which is where I got the last supply, but none to be found. I then went to Homebase, across the road from The Range, and, again, none in stock. Today I went to Morrisons, where I'm almost certain I saw some the last time I was in there, but none to be found. Why is this? Is it because people who own steam irons don't bother with distilled water in their irons? Or is it that distilled water isn't considered to be an important enough item to stock, taking up valuable shelf space and not making enough profit to warrant selling it? Seems odd. It was always used in car batteries, but presumably modern car batteries don't require the occasional topping up with distilled water. I don't think modern car batteries have the little plastic caps which you had to undo in order to put in the distilled water. The cells inside had to be covered in order to make the battery work efficiently. I don't know what my dad would make of this. He would always tell me, whenever I was going anywhere in my car, 'make sure you check the oil, have you topped it up? Are the tyres correctly inflated? Have you checked the battery?' and so on. Even to this day I have to go through this routine whenever I go for a long journey in my car. It sounds crazy, but I suppose he was right. I can't think what he would make of modern cars, with things like SatNavs, computerised systems which tell you to do this and that, how to drive the car, when to have it serviced and goodness knows what else. Alarms for all manner of things, if you haven't put on your seatbelt, or closed the doors properly. Mine even tells you when to change gear!
Sorry, I digress.
I've been making scones. I have made them before. I used Delia Smith's recipe. They taste great but don't look particularly brilliant. Not going to win any prizes but I made the batch just as a sort of test and then make another lot and hopefully they will be better. Is it scone or scone? How do you pronounce the word. With a short end or long? To rhyme with gone or cone? I suppose it depends where you come from, north or south. Does it really matter? What ever the pronunciation, they taste great with cream and jam! Best with clotted cream.
I've been doing some ironing. Don't laugh. Men doing ironing? What's wrong with that? I'm pretty good at it. I think I must have been shown the best way to iron a shirt, for example, when I was working in stage management somewhere or other, probably by one of the wardrobe staff, or I watched whilst they did this and asked how to do it fast. They could wash and iron for goodness knows how many people, because if a show was running for a certain length of time, it was necessary to keep shirts and items washed, ironed and back in the actor's dressing rooms ready for the next performance.
Anyway, I use a steam iron. I try to use distilled water in the thing because if you put ordinary tap water in a steam iron, around this area at any rate, where the water is hard, it can build up limescale which can block up the inside of the iron and the holes where the water comes out as steam soon clog up and you can get horrible deposits of limescale on the clothes you are ironing. Anyway, I needed to get a fresh supply and went to The Range yesterday afternoon, which is where I got the last supply, but none to be found. I then went to Homebase, across the road from The Range, and, again, none in stock. Today I went to Morrisons, where I'm almost certain I saw some the last time I was in there, but none to be found. Why is this? Is it because people who own steam irons don't bother with distilled water in their irons? Or is it that distilled water isn't considered to be an important enough item to stock, taking up valuable shelf space and not making enough profit to warrant selling it? Seems odd. It was always used in car batteries, but presumably modern car batteries don't require the occasional topping up with distilled water. I don't think modern car batteries have the little plastic caps which you had to undo in order to put in the distilled water. The cells inside had to be covered in order to make the battery work efficiently. I don't know what my dad would make of this. He would always tell me, whenever I was going anywhere in my car, 'make sure you check the oil, have you topped it up? Are the tyres correctly inflated? Have you checked the battery?' and so on. Even to this day I have to go through this routine whenever I go for a long journey in my car. It sounds crazy, but I suppose he was right. I can't think what he would make of modern cars, with things like SatNavs, computerised systems which tell you to do this and that, how to drive the car, when to have it serviced and goodness knows what else. Alarms for all manner of things, if you haven't put on your seatbelt, or closed the doors properly. Mine even tells you when to change gear!
Sorry, I digress.
I've been making scones. I have made them before. I used Delia Smith's recipe. They taste great but don't look particularly brilliant. Not going to win any prizes but I made the batch just as a sort of test and then make another lot and hopefully they will be better. Is it scone or scone? How do you pronounce the word. With a short end or long? To rhyme with gone or cone? I suppose it depends where you come from, north or south. Does it really matter? What ever the pronunciation, they taste great with cream and jam! Best with clotted cream.
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