Canny lass

We freeze mackeril! Whole, gutted, cavity filled with dill stalks. Dipped in iced water and frozen. Removed from freezer when frozen. Dipped in iced water again and refrozen. Remove and wrap in Heavy duty foil or polythene. Keep up to 3 months. It is, as you say, better fresh but this method gives a fair result. When I lived in London I was very fond of the east-ender's 'pie and mash with liquor'. The liquor was a luminous green fluid poured over the pie and turned out to be the water in which they cooked the eels -later to be jellied. I loved it , till I found out what it was! The polish vodka isn't a patch on the Scandinavian! One of the most interesting ways I've seen of serving potatoes!

Of course we don't make raw herring but we do make many home-made dishes using raw herring - in the same way that people don't make strawberries but do make home-made strawberry jam. The food in the Picture - Kalles Kaviar - is not cod roe. The Product contains about 40% fish roe, of which a small proportion comes from cod. The remaining 60% is mostly oil so I wouldn't try frying it. Youngsters here are the same as youngsters in any other developed country. Of course they like fast food. Problem is that it's hard to get your hands on fast food here because of the long distances to outlets. "Reindeer bland", "stock"?? I'm afraid you've lost me there!

Finlandia vodka! That must have been an all time first for a Finn! Everything- and I mean Everything - is home made here.

These herring are not like those in Holland. Pickling, from a Swedish Point of view, involves the use of only minute amounts of vinegar, The preservative effect comes from loads of sugar and salt. Vodka, plain or spiced, is a popular ingredient at Xmas and Easter. Then there are all sorts of Spices and sour Creams that add flavour.

Such sad news! We've had many a good laugh here thanks to Keith's sense of humour and his wonderful competitions. However, on a more serious note I have to thank Keith for sharing his interest in astronomy with us, and with such enthusiasm that even I can sometimes .find myself star gazing . A very sad loss indeed! Warm condolences to the family.

It really is good fun, Brian, and we get a bit of the Xmas food prepared. The following week we do something similar when we get together and pickle herring for Xmas. Thank goodness that it has to stand a week Before it's ready for eating. That way I get to avoid it! Sausages and raw herring - I bet your all just dying to try a Swedish Xmas dinner!

I make my own sausage. I started about 20 years ago. Sausage, Believe it or not, is an integral part of Christmas dinner in these part!. Every year on the second sunday in Advent the four generations in this family squeeze into my kitchen and make 15 metres of Xmas sausage. Not all at once mind you! Half of them make 600-800ginger biscuits while the other half make sausage. We make a day of it with games and competitions and round the whole thing off with a 'no talent' competition. Prizes for the person with the most 'no talent' and the team with best times for sausage making and most biscuits from a kilo of dough. Great fun. Then theres a simple/sample meal with the newly made sausage. I don't use anything wild in sausages either Vic but we do eat game. Elk and wild boar. These last few years I've stopped eating 'bambis'. They are so much more beatiful in the garden than on a dinner plate. Like your wife, I feed them at the kitchen door but only during the Winter. Rest of the year they eat my flowers from the garden. Getting soft in my old age!

Cow's tail as usual! Hope you had a good day Vic.

I remember Guinness being prescribed for "general debility" in some hospitals. In severe cases we could whisk an egg and blend it into the stout - revolting! I've Heard the term "invalid stout" used in the same context. It may have had something to do with those advertising Campaigns such as "Guinness is good for you". I remember that phrase was exchanged, at least in the nursing profession, for "There's a baby in every bottle" owing to the increasing birthrate during those years.

..... unless, unless, unless you've got dyslexia, ADHD (and a host of other alphabetical disorders) ..... unless, unless, unless you've not had a teacher or parent with good Communication/teaching skills Spelling and grammar are constantly changing, spelling more rapidly than grammar, and who's to say what 'sloppiness' is. Language is the tool of Communication and as long as the language used gets your message across the tool is doing its job. When that which is written, or spoken, becomes unintelligible due to deviation from the so-called norm then the tool is not working. That's been happening quite a lot lately.

Pilgrim, "is this a mass debate?" It's more like a sandpit debate (I use the last Word very loosely)! When will you guys learn that some things (and even people) are best ignored. I don't know how you can be bothered to encourage, let alone read it. Malcolm, as a linguist I'm all against language policing but in this case I take my hat off to you: Well said.

The joys of rural Life indeed! The Scandinaviens are ace when it comes to coping with such events. I was surprised on arriving here in the middle of a harsh Winter that the first thing my husband did was switch off the electricity and Telephone for 2 Days and he continued switching off the electricity and telephone for 2 Days every month until I learned to cope without it. I have to add that he worked out of the country 200 Days a year so it was a skill that was to come in very useful. Being without electricity and Telephone in the middle of the forest for up to a week is quite common but not a problem. I can recommend the exercise of doing without electricity for a week-end to everybody.

"he's a smart Young fella noo wi hi's adult plumage". Better get him locked up now HPW. The ladies will be after him!

Thumbs up from me as well HPW. Lovely stories and even lovelier Pictures. A tribute to what real love for animals can achieve.

Can't say that I remember the first one but I do remember the last one, smoked in the car park outside Bedlington Health centre. 30 minutes later i was sitting in the doctor's surgery being told I had cancer - at 38 years old! Obviously I was told to stop smoking. Threw the packet and remaining cigs in the docs wastepaper basket and haven't touched a cig, or even the packaging, since.

Smudgeinthebudge, what is "deed man's baccy"?

This is very late I know but I was out of the country and the Internet was not being kind to me. I hope you had a really nice birthday but did I read correctly - The Monkey? What happened to the Red Lion and table 26?

Couldn't agree with you more, HPW! We had a similar situation here in Sweden in September when the equivalent of UKIP became the third largest party in the house. Holding the balance of Power they knocked the proposed budget on the head. Chaos ensued and they were literally frozen out by the other parties. Talk about democracy! We ended up without a government for a while and a new election had to be planned for this Spring. It resolved itself, however with the leader of the party being put on the sick due to mental ill Health and the other parties working across boundaries to keep the 'unwanteds' out of Power. This is what they call politics! Thank God I don't have a vote here!

Could that be him who's holding Court and passing judgement on UKIP advertising? We'll find out in May if UKIP get in. There'll probably be vengence wreaked upon us with plagues and swarms of locusts.

As I see it, it's all about long term planning. Bedlington is never going to be a hub of industry. Would we really want that? However, it's got great potential as a commuter Town. Let's make it attractive enogh to make people want to live there or at least spend their liesure time (and Money) there. OK, if all that's said is true then the infrastructure , at the minute, is possibly not the best but it can be worked on. Once you've got sufficient people living there things like bus services and schools tend to follow in their Wake. It may even become attractive, and viable, for Investors such as Tesco. The real investment, however, is in the following generations of Bedlingtonians and that's where Projects such as Bedlington in Bloom are doing such a great job. Anything we ex-pats can do Malcolm? Seeds? fund a flower bed?, Adopt a tree? Plant a shrub? Buy a terrier bench? Get your thinking caps on guys!!

Fascinating Reading! Thanks Eggy.

The Bedlington in Bloom Project is fantastic! It show visitors, even those just passing through on a bus, and of course the local Residents that all hope is not lost. It also shows just what can be done when a small Group of enthusiasts sacrifice their leisure time instead of sitting around complaining about the present situation and what might have been if events had taken a different path. The Bedlington in Bloom Project has some very interesting and desirable effects. It's getting Young residents involved in their Community, instilling pride in the appearance of their Town, giving them areas to be proud of because they've helped to create those areas by planting trees and flowers which will be available for their Children - the next generation of Bedlingtonians - to see and be proud of. If that's not rejuvenation I don't know what is!

Hi Carolyn! I've no answer to your question about memorials but welcome to the forum.

Britain is not alone with the problem of decreasing standards in state education. Here in Scandinavia educational standards have fallen to extremely low levels. I understand from friends and colleagues in Spain that a similar situation has arisen there. The problem, here, is that all Children are deemed to be equal and should therefore leave school eligible for University studies. A wonderful sentiment indeed. Hpwever, while I agree whole heartedly that all Children are equal, I have great difficulty in beleiving that all Children are able to leave school eligible for University studies - at least not within the same time span - and I have even greater difficulty in believing that all forms of employment require University studies. The needs of the individual are simply not being met by the present state system. I have encountered, prpfessionally, many Children, sent to me for extra lessons in core subjects (maths, Swedish, English and sociology), These Children have completed their basic, state education and have been accepted for 2-3 year Courses of further education leading to University studies or to a professional qualification enabling them to take a job as an electrician, a mechanic, a hairdresser or a chef or even sit in the check out at the local supermarket. They have been accepted for this education despite the fact that they have not yet successfully completed their basic education in one of - and sometimes ALL of - the four core subjects. The Powers that be seem to Believe that these Children, with the help of a few extra lessons during the first year of their advanced studies, should be able to.complete their basic education while persuing further educational Courses. The work load for these Children is abominable! I have seen Children who have a 50 hour working week with school work! Psychologically they feel terrible, they lack the ability to concentrate and have no motivation. They know themselves that they have bitten off more than they can chew. They are weighed down by the burden of studies which they know in their hearts they are not capable of completeing successfully. The saddest fact is, however, that many do complete them successfully. Somebody gives them a piece of paper which says they are eligible for University studies. How can this happen? It happens because the educational bar has been set so low that nobody can go beneath it. In the academic sphere the problem continues. The bar is lowered again to make way for all the eligibles, who would not make the grade if the bar was left at the correct height. Why? Because universities need Money for research and research Money is proportioned according to the number of graduates passing through the academic portals every year. Further education is of course voluntary but the pressure from society, to persue it is very strong indeed. No further education - no job. The whole system need a good overhaul. Why should a Young man with a burning ambition to be a mechanic need to be eligible for University in maths and English? He'll learn what he needs of both by doing the job because there he will be motivated and the Learning will be relevant to what he's doing. Why does a Young women manning the check out at the supermarket need to be eligible for University at all? There are far too many Young adults suffering through 2-3 year Courses of further education just because it's the done thing and what society expects of them.

My sentiments exactly, Mercuryg! As with so many other things, there's no Point in wallowing in what it was or might have been. Concentrate on what it can be instead. There's plenty of go-ahead people with good ideas in Bedlington - not least here on this site!