h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It's Saint David's Day today, and the first day of spring. Concerts and national language campaigns are carrying on across Wales...

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.org.sca/msg/a7df4f7a13cc6c60

...and everyone who's organised enough to get it together (not I) has pinned a leek or daffodil to their lapel in honour of our patron saint and our national day. My American Writer Friend started wearing her leek about a week ago, which I assume is because she's American and therefore more tuned into Welsh culture than your average Taff. The daffodils in our flowerbeds have been blooming all week, and by yesterday, the miniature ones were perfect for plucking and would probably have looked good stuck on my left boob. Today, they are buried under a couple of inches of snow.

The local schools closed today because of the hazardous roads. You know that episode in the Simpsons where Bart's looking through the window and seeing all the kids having fun in the snow? Well, that's what it looked like outside our window this morning. Children in hats and mittens, all red-cheeked and bright-eyed, were laughing and flinging snowballs at each other, or skidding around on the icy patches. Our neighbour's border collie was dashing after the snowballs and failing to find them when they landed, causing it to circle around and bark in an increasingly excited manner. It finally caught one and chomped it in two, looked stunned, and stood there for some minutes trying to lick its own tongue. The woman who owns the flashy sportscar a few doors down had her video camera out; she was taking panning shots of the rooftops as though it doesn't snow here every spring. Away from the action, a disgruntled rook was stalking across a patch of virgin snow, its leg sinking up to the hip every few steps.

Gothly ventured out for a walk and nearly got run over by a tiny tobogganist who was racing its friends down one of the side roads, at the top of which stood a cluster of mums clutching mugs of hot chocolate.

"You youngsters of today don't know you're born!" shouted Gothly at the receding backs. "In my day we had to make do with playstations!"

Who needs vowels?!

Its still clear and cold where we are, no snow yet.

Your description of the dog trying to lick its own tongue, reminded me of Nancy our gerbil, who was enthusiastic about her porridge the other day and it was too hot for her nose. So she wafted it with her paws, I have of course been checking I never give her porridge which is still hot in the middle sice.

Playstations!! Gothly is younger than I realised.

>>"You youngsters of today don't know you're born! " shouted Gothly at the receding backs. "In my day we had to make do with playstations!"



Happy St. David's Day! I must take a leek in honour of it.


Jab

Leek? As in the big stalky things you make soup from?
*imagines wearing 45 cm of vegetable on chest*


We had another 3 inches of snow today too. It is pretty, but we've had nonstop snow on the ground since Boxing day, so I feel it's enough...

Vivid description - I could really see things happening!

I wondered about the playstations myself, but didn't ask. Gothly's first computer was a ZX Spectrum. Perhaps the playstation phase occurred during the *second* childhood.

Happy St. David's Day to you too, Jabberwock. Shame this is the wrong way round, because it's the closest smiley I can find to a daffodil.

Yes, Milla, I do mean those great huge stalky things: they are our national symbol, for some reason I've never got to the root of. (Root. Do you see what I did there? Root. ) But the lapel ones tend to be much smaller and made of felt. And of course, many people use daffs as a convenient alternative.

Oh. Felt leeks. Makes for chewy soup then?

It is good to acknow... aqc... aknoletj one's roots. I will in april!

Chewy soup ('cawl') is one of our great national dishes, along with cheese on toast, seaweed, squashed scones, and bread made with used tea leaves. Don't knock it. Welsh cuisine is the greatest. In a manner of speaking.

How do you celebrate your national day, Milla?

Reluctantly...

Only the last years it has been officially our national day. Previously it was The Day of the Swedish Flag. There are flags given to different organisations (like scouts, or sports clubs perhaps) and sometimes fireworks, speeches by politicians. The King goes to different places each year and hands out flags.

I can't quite remember if it's turned to a public holiday... it used not to be, of that I'm sure!

No special food is consumed. Possibly a hot dog down at the hot dog joint/kiosk.

> "imagines wearing 45 cm of vegetable on chest"

Rhubarb might look good. I photographed some the other day. Lovely crinkly leaf just unfurling atop a succulent red stalk.

Hurrah! A country even more half-arsed than us.

Well; i bought some leeks yesterday; real ones, not felt (OK, i confess i fondled them a little) & plan on making some leek & potato soup for tomorrow's "Release of the New Improved Viking" He may have to battle through the snow to get it though, just started here again too.

Poor little gerbil blowing on its porridge! I used to give my hen Evelyn, Weetabix & hot milk in winter & if it was too warm there would be much disgusted shaking of beak & baleful clucking!

zdt

Would anyone be pleased for me that here in Buckinghamshire it's mild and the world's bathed in bright warm sunshine? Thought not...


Jab

I am. It's not sunny here, it's actually pretty overcast, but it's not that cold and we haven't any snow.

I love leek and potato soup. I love leeks, period.

Terri, you'd mentioned feeding your hen Weetabix (yum!!) before. Herman doesn't like Weetabix. He also doesn't like milk. He does, however, like macaroni & cheese and French onion dip. He does get pretty indignant if whatever he's fed is too warm or too cold- like when I scoop some moist cat food into his bowl when it's right from the fridge.

When I was a kid, I had neither Playstations nor toboggans, but I did have a cool round disc with handles upon which I could ride down snow-covered hills. Until I hit a tree and gave myself a huge shiner, at which point my dad confiscated the disc.

Thanks PC !

Hmmf.

Bet you get snow in July Jab! just when you've put all your jumpers away!

Yes, Yoda is also fussy about temperature of her food;"No, Mother, we do NOT eat it from the fridge, but during the summer months, neither do we eat it if it has been sitting around getting warm."

At the moment she has decided all she wants to eat is vegetarian paté and ham. And cream; i even bought her special cat milk 'cos i don't think cream is very good for her but she recoiled in horror.

We don't own them, they own us.

zdt

Are you growing rhubarb, SEF, or just photographing it? If the latter, I hope it's not snowing where you are, what with your nudist photographic tendencies. It's bad enough getting frostbite on the fingers!

Speaking of dogs / gerbils / hens / cats, I had some friends who liked to eat really hot curry and who, not having a dining table, tended to leave their plates lying around on the floor after meals. Their cat liked nicking the scraps, but never quite got the hang of curry. He would take a mouthful, decide it was too hot, leave the food for a while, then go back and try it again. This would continue until the plates got cleared up, which was usually the next day. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the box, that cat. But he always got the most comfortable chair.

I don't have any rhubarb growing on me, no. I merely snuck up on some which I encountered on my way to photograph something else. I've found that the plant subjectd don't run away as fast as the animal ones. Though they do waggle around rather a lot occasionally.

I knew a dog who had a love/hate relationship with oranges. He loved the taste, hated the juice. So he would sit drooling at the feet of anyone with an orange, eventually they gave him a segment. He would take it delicately with an expression of intense ecstasy; roll it around his mouth then visibly brace himself for the moment of truth when he bit into it; at which point he dropped it & ran round howling.

But he realised once he had pierced it, the thing was no longer harmful, so he tiptoed back & gobbled it up.

zdt

There's weetabix here?!

I haven't seen any....

Lots of snow here yesterday too, I skidded around in my car and then Geo came home early and gave me his 4 wheel drive and I skidded around in that too....

Great description Sr