Tea And Bikkies With Sjoerd

This guy is new to us...but you are too right that he is fun, and he has made so many vids. Thanks for your comment here.

 

It’s time for tea and bikkies, so I am ready for something sweet by the tea.

Usually it is bikkies, but it could be anything sweet like a slice of pie for instance, not a savoury pie like what Cayu made, rather an apple or cherry or mousse pie. It is the season to be jolly now, so we will have a couple of those seasonal, round appelflappen made the old- fashioned way.


When I saw Cayu’s tasty-looking pot pie, it’s roundness caused me to recall another sort of pie— pi...you know, the 3.14 type of pie.


This sort of pi goes back some 4,000 years when the Babylonians and Egyptians had crude approximations for this important constant. Some 2,000 years later the Greek, Archimedes refined the value even further.

The Greeks were known for their accomplishments in construction and of course, Athens alone has so many monuments still standing that are a testament to their wisdom with numbers.

A symbol of wisdom is the owl. It is difficult to pin down an exact date when and why the owl became associated with wisdom, or intelligence, but Greek Mythology may shed some light on this.

For instance, the scientific name for the stone owl ( “Little Owl” in english ) is Athena noctua. This particular owl has been stamped into old coins.


Let’s think about this a moment...you can immediately see the connection with Athens in the Latin name and also in the name of the mythological figure, Pallas Athena, right?

This Pallas from the mythology is frequently depicted with an owl, which she would send out to fly around the world and then come back and tell Her everything that was going on. Take a look:


The little stone owl’s range is spread right the way across Europe, thus also in the Netherlands. The little beast’s large round eyes sort of brings us back to the circle, or to the discussion of things round.

What do I mean? Well, in the old centrum of my city here, there is a red-coloured circular stone on the ground on the central square. In fact, the square is called, “ the Red Stone”. Also in the cobble stones of the square, you can see darker stones placed to show the outlines of the old town hall, I guess you would call it. The building had several functions...for instance, trials would be carried out there. The Red Stone was handily positioned then, being located just outside the courthouse-like building. Handy because when the punishments were of a corporal nature, amputations or decapitations they took place on that red stone.


The original stone is in pieces and now resides in the West-Fries Museum located over to the western side of the square. It had to be removed because it was in pieces sort of like that pie crust of Cayuga.

Well, we have been on quite a journey haven’t we. We began with Cayu’s golden pot pie the diameter and circumference of which we didn’t know; however, the formulas using pi could help us.

The pi took us to Greece and where the wisdom of the Greeks was symbolised by the little stone owl. The stone owl takes us then to a certain stone in the Netherlands, a red stone with a deplorable history.

However, we have seen that what goes around, comes around and we have come back to that delicious, albeit fractured, pot pie of Cayuga’s. Something that I would not mind getting around to eating, frozen or fresh.

 

Thanks for that Sjoerd! A mini history lesson. The red stone is quite gruesome, but every country has its own history with corporal punishment. (Actually, we still have current history with it).

Sounds like the stone owl was like a modern day drone..... Surveying all and reporting back.

I would gladly send you a savory chicken pot pie, were a stone owl available for delivery.

 

I am glad you liked it. It is interesting to me to look for connections, origins and relations in life. That is what I was trying to accomplish on this chat. Weak attempt, I see that but my mind works like that sometimes.

You are right when you see the connection between steenuil’s and modern day drones. That is a good thought.

Oh, wouldn’t a pot pie be tasty right about now. Yumm. Well, with no uil at hand, perhaps a drone then? Heh, heh, heh.

 

Steenuil=stone owl? I have no idea how that is pronounced, but in my head out sounds like the English 'stone owl's.

 

You are quite right, Cayu. Steenuil = stone owl.
As for the pronunciation— steen is as stayn . Uil has no equal sound in english. Owl is close enough for the internet.

 

Okay then

 

Welcome, come on in and shed those thick raps. Have a seat. I have put the kettle on.

Up north, the weather has gone south.


The weather station above is a reflection of this:


The snowing is fine and not all that much...it is the cold and the wind! Burrrrr. The wind sort of blows the precipitation around from one place to another. It sort of reminds me of the winter weather up on the north slope of Alaska. Low humidity percentages and low temps with wind.

Here, it is the wind that is our constant enemy and it is always present (except in the summer, ironically). In the lottie hard winds blow our arches so hard they sometimes tilt, when the ground is soft. Yeah, that is not wished for, but correctable. The more serious problem happens when very hard wind blows alongside the greenhouse. The positive space pressure in the greenhouse is weaker than the negative pressure outside the greenhouse...so what happens then? The glass panes get sucked out of their frames. Sometimes they break before they are sucked out. We found that if we left openings at opposite ends, the internal pressure becomes a little more equal.

Here you can see an example of the wind force and why it works. You have the wall, then an almost snowless gully, finally a drift. It is taken from our balcony, directly above the gully.


The wind blows so hard that no snow can build-up. It is this remarkable force that literally pulls the glass out of its frame. Greenhouse panes are not all that secure.

Well, these weather conditions are nice to observe from the pleasant comfort of out apartment, but there may be probs in the lottie. That, me bucko’ s , will be check out in a few days. Now it is tea time, and what do we have today? Take a look:


Can’t see the box, you say? Here we go then:


This a new one for us— dark chocolate marble with a soft centre.
Please make yourselves at home, we’re all sitting good aren’t we.
We have done our Telly exercises, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow......

 

Sjoerd, my dear husband brought home a bag of Lindor chocolates called "chocolate truffles". Delicious! I am not overindulging and only having two a day, but it ain't easy to keep my hands off.
Glad you are warm, safe, and having a bit of an indulgence.

 

Wow I did not know that about strong winds sucking out greenhouse glass panes via negative air pressure. You have described the problem very well.

Fingers crossed for your lottie. In the meantime, enjoy your tea & chocolates!

 

Oh Jane, I have seen those. I must try some. Kudo’s to you for your strong character to resist such a weighty temptation. We have all earned a bit of indulgence, don’t you think? A little chocolate marble is not too excessive is it? Chuckle.

Cayu, yes the wind thing has cost us several panes until I bought some doweling and cut several pieces to size ( a tiny bit longer) and placed the dowels transversely between right and left window frames. It keeps the panes from flying out. But I thing what does the most is having two open places so that the pressure cannot build.

There was a neighbour lady here that used plastic panes but they were so flexible that not only did they suck out but blew so far away that she never found them back!

Normal wind is no problem, just the hard wind.

Thanks very much...We are sitting here having tea and a different sweet sort. I am writing here and the Bride is helping a girlfriend to make an e- card. They are on the fone and the Bride is telling her step for step. It is comical to hear because the girlfriend is on speakerfone. It is lol. Lol is a dutch word, not laughing out loud, but the meaning is sort of similar.

 

Lol, well that's convenient!

 

So, here we are again. Yesterday the big grocery delivery came. Unfortunately there were a few things missing. Not a big deal until I discovered that one of the items was bread. We had ordered five loaves, enough to last us a month. They say, “One cannot live by bread alone”; this situation was sort of the opposite of that. I don’t know about you guys, but I eat some amount of bread every day...so then, this was a mini-disaster, you could say.

Normally if they are out of an item then you are given the opportunity to select an alternative before the orders are picked. I suppose that they did not know that the warehouse supply was empty of this item. Well, not to be outdone, we simply went to one of these bakeries in town. You normally just go to the bakery and stand in line to get what you came for. Now in these covid times one can call in an order then go there and pick up the order.

Now our logic here was that because we were put to such inconvenience, we would not choose just any bakery, we chose the best one!

Right then, the bread. Since we were going anyway, we thought why not a couple of extra things. Things like breakfast cookies, an Easter bread and...something for with the tea. It was nearing teatime (15.00 hours).

I went simple—apple pie with whipped cream, the Bride however; went down a more exotic path— “Red Velvet Cake”. I blame the British and Australian “Masterchef”, reality series...because that is where she saw it.
A layered red cake dyed with beetroot juice or food colouring. It had a layers of cream cheese and white chocolate...with a sprinkling of red sugar balls which looked like red-dyed cilantro seeds. Take a look:


It was delicious and did compensate for the disappointment of the missing bread order. Heh, heh, heh. We have a saying here which goes, we “turned bad luck into a celebration”.
We were looking for an excuse to eat something a bit special. Normally, people do not eat things like this, on their own. It is more for when you invite someone over. Usually we have some sort of bikkie, or gravel cookie as I called them as a child, so this was a real treat. A treat which was appreciated at least four times as much as normal because of the corona restrictions.

In a while it will be time for a simple supper of fries and halal friktandels. We are festive and have a long evening planned to watch the unfolding results of our national elections. Seeya next time.

 

Sounds really great Sjoerd. And I really like the idea of turning bad luck into a celebration. I think I'll keep that one in my back pocket!

 

It’ s been more than a year since I have sat down to write a word on this thread. It is mostly because there has not been much to chat about lately. Today is no exception; however Monty and Christine have begun making sounds on the other side of the channel and my Bride and I have been busy in the lottie.

I had a different method this year with how I approached the garden...and boy was I lucky that I did. I removed all the clematis growth from all racks and arches early this year. We always get hard wind storms in late fall, in the winter and spring here. This year the hardest wind storm recorded in our little country blew in on us. Actually it was three storms, onnnnnnne after the other.

Because the kilometres of Clem had been removed, the arches and racks did not list. More than they already do, that is. It is their legacy from storms past. I can't get them perfectly straight anymore. I lie to myself, telling me that it looks quaint and charming. They have been stabilised with extra tree poles, and that keeps them secure.

The early spring bloomers have come and gone and now the daffs are thinking about calling it a day. Not to worry though because the next wave of colour is already beginning to bloom. Myosotis, plum and apple tree blossoms, Exochorda racemosa, Hyacinthoides, Corydalis and dandelions as well as some smaller blooming weeds.
I have a planting scheme that gives blooms from february through october.
Here the most recent daff to open:


I like colour, but I have to say, these white ones really stand out at dusk. So pure white except of their hearts of gold. Sometimes simple is the most beautiful.

They say the path to hell is lined with good intentions, it has been time for me to remove some of those good intentions. We have been working on the path edgings, but inside the path liners, at the edge of the woodchips, weeds blow-in and grow. Sometimes the ground elder sticks it’s head up just between the path’s edger stones and the edge of the underlying root cloth. This problem is best corrected by hand. Too bad I didn’t take a ‘before’ pic.


I have been checking bird boxes and one has a nest in it—Great tits. One little fellow that has come by was this Robin, not to be confused with North American Robins.
He was over there checking out the paths for worm bits.


Before the weather changed, we made our little beetroot bed with three types of beetroot. The green string is not to make straight rows, but to show the inside edge of the bed. More things have to go into this bed besides beetroot, Swiss chard and spinach you see.


Do you recall that my Bride and I planted daffs on either side of the path leading into the path outside our building? Well, they came up, and people have been picking them, sometimes before they even bloom. It has been discouraging to see and impossible to figure out. I mean, the bulbs were planted so everyone could enjoy the blooms, but yet some folks were a bit selfish and decided that only they would enjoy the flowers, but in their own home. I have seen some flowers just picked and discarded. Tja, I will never figure out this sort of behaviour. Perhaps better luck next year, although I do not believe that folks with a personality disorder can be cured.

We are thinking about planting out sugar snaps soon as well as transplanting toms into the next sized pot. We have had to alter our plans because of recent weather changes. Last week, I was knocking-around in the lottie in my shorts on and without a shirt, now there’s snow.


Well mates, the tea ‘n bikkies is over and we can get back to doing the house chores...and start thinking about supper and a little telly entertainment.

Thanks for dropping by.