Health and Safety

Ray told me a funny joke the other day. I laughed so much I fell off my chair. As he fancies himself as a bit of a Health and Safety expert, he was suitably embarrassed :-)

A Riddle

Q: What do chickens and visually impaired people have in common?

A: Fear of boy scouts who insist on helping them cross the road.

They don't want to cross the road but modern scouts know better and anyway have a target to meet for "being helpful".

Disturbing Films

I've read a few reviews of "How to Train Your Dragon" that have picked up on some of the "messages" in the film. None of them noticed an alarming messages that makes this "PG" film entirely unsuitable for children. The heroine hits the hero - but wait, she kisses him afterwards so that's Ok.

Then there was "Fantastic Mr. Fox" where Mrs Fox hits Mr Fox and draws blood. It's just "PG" as well.

So, the message (young) girls is that it's OK to hit your man.

Can you imagine the uproar if a film promoted men hitting women?

Actually, there are such films but they tend to be called "horror", rated 18 and it isn't the hero hitting the woman.

Caraway Thyme

I've been growing this for years. Or more accurately, of the dozen or so thymes I've tried, this is the one that's survived and flourished. 

Useful in the kitchen - does what it says on the tin - you can tell it's thyme but it's also got a Caraway taste. Unlike some of the other fancy thymes, it's got some wallop and the flavour is still there when you get the chicken out of the oven. To be fair, if you incinerate your chicken rather than gently roast it that won't apply.

The botanists amongst you will of course know that it isn't a cultivar of Thymus Vulgaris but a separate species, Thymus herba-barona. For the gardener/cook who wants to try it, you won't find it in every Garden Centre but it's not rare either. The garden designers will want to know that forms evergreen mounds of grey-green leaves with light mauve flowers in summer.