Canny lass

Thanks Vic! Is the term 'sprag' still used in mining today or has it been totally replaced by pit prop? I mean, when you say HPW set them only" when he first started working" do you mean that it's an old mining term or that this is/was a job for an inexperienced young man or an apprentice? Also, can it have any other meaning? The explanation I found went on at length about wheels and inclines but I didn't understand a word of it.

Here's one for you HPW - or anyone else who feels able to match the knowledge of our resident coalmining expert. What is/was a 'spragger'? Also, what is a 'sprag'? And, do we still 'sprag' in coal mines today? I found the word 'spragger' on a census form from 1911. It's clearly a piece of mining terminology. I´ve looked it up but I'm non the wiser for having done so. If you know what it is please explain - in simple terms.

That goes for me too - even if you are upside down!

Any information for us ex-pats on the plans for the market place?

Thanks Malcolm!

Did you say 'he'? Male cats with three colours are extremely rare. This one's called Prussiluskan but usually answers to' Missan', 'sausage', 'food' and 'get off that chair'!

Me neither!

Tell that to my cat, Malcolm! We've still got a few inches and it's still snowing a bit almost every day but it doesn't stay long.

Pre-edged? Do they still make wallpaper that needs to be trimmed? I haven't seen that for years. I remember it as a child - when papering a room was a real family affair. Everybody had a job to do even if it was just picking up the off-cuts and trimmings. That was usually my job, being the youngest.

Same here, Vic - but no t-shirt. Well, I tell a lie, there is a t-shirt under the other 5-6 layers of clothing!

You can't have too much of a good thing, Maggie!

I can't believe the price of wallpaper these days! I've just wood-panelled a third of all bedroom walls to save future costs.Today I can't paper one wall for what it cost to paper the whole room 10 years ago. What have they done with wallpaper that's making it so expensive? However, no complaints about service here. They even let you take the wallpaper samples home to see if you still like it in the room and once i was allowed - encouraged even - to take a 1½ square metres sample of tiled floor home for the week end to see if I was happy with my choice.

Hope you're having a good day Vic - not too much snow shovelling and plenty of time for celebrating! make it a good one!

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Thanks HPW. He made a good recovery and his face looks as good as new but under the skin there are a lot of metal pieces holding things together. When it's cold, which is very often here, he gets a lot of pain - the type you get when cold ice-cream touches the roof of your mouth. During the winter he has to cover his face as much as possible but he can't cover his eyes and a lot of the metal is holding his eye sockets together. It means that a lot of sporting activities are now 'off the menu' for him. There were plenty of witnesses so the court case was a doddle. The laser was confiscated and the lad got 18 months community service. He was also ordered to hand over his savings, all but 1 000 crowns (75 pounds) to my grandson. His savings were 16 000 crowns so my grandson got the princely sum of one thousand, one hundred pounds. It just about covered the cost of return visits to the facial unit for a year.

Denmark is still supplying plenty of pork to Germany. I wonder what they are doing with it?

That's the way I Heard it too! As you say, pity they don't do real history in school these Days.

Sir Walter Raleigh didn't actually bring pizza back from America! He only brought the concept. The actual pizza would never have survived the journey. I thought everybody knew that.

Maggie, it's difficult to be lighthearted about something that has 349 calories, contains 25 g fat and 1,8mg sodium per roll! I have a Dutch friend who swears that Holland is the homeland of the sausage roll.

Why not, Mercury! There's many a good idea that started out as a bit of a joke.

Don Lynn could probably knock up a 'Gooch Pie'. Greggs might be interested in doing a 'Gooch scone' and the Red Lion might like to serve 'Gooch Hooch. - only in the month of August of course!

I like the way you're thinking Malcolm!

I Think they look good too. I like the way they are sticking to a grren/gold colour scheme for the town.

Not before time, Maggie! It wasn't looking good.

Happy birthday 'youngen'. May there always be lead in your pencil! (not a euphemism).