Barbra Streisand made a shocking confession last week, says Giles Coren inThe Times. The 81-year-old star told an interviewer: “I haven’t had much fun in my life.” This is the same Barbra Streisand who worked alongside Robert Redford and Omar Sharif, won countless awards, sold hundreds of millions of albums, played Las Vegas and married multiple “hunky film stars”. If she hasn’t had fun, who has? But she’s not alone. Pop star Robbie Williams says no one in the extreme fame game comes out of it “well-adjusted and happy and mentally well”. Even Monty Don – a “twinkly Oxbridge toff whose job is just pottering around the garden” – says he is leaving the “remorseless treadmill” of Gardeners’ World.
I think these guys might be on to something. What really brings Streisand joy, she says, is time spent with her family and dogs, and I couldn’t agree more. The standard definition of “fun” has always involved dancing, parties, festivals, fashion, fame, sex, and “brightly coloured plastic things” – none of which I enjoy, so I have always believed “I am not having a fun life myself”. But what the misery of these celebs shows me is “what enormous fun my own life really is”. Tomorrow, I will finish my book in bed with the cat in my lap, “hustle the family out for a walk”, watch my kids fall off their chairs laughing at the television, iron some shirts and be asleep by 10pm. “And I will never have had more fun in my life.”…” https://link.newsletters.theknowledge.com/view/60433d32e2c3c71ae92d5964jw2ab.fh0/0ab5439a
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I enjoyed a drive along the Pentewan Valley with the colours of autumn in the trees. Not as good as some years but lovely nonetheless. we had the beach almost to ourselves so really energising and refreshing even if a little selfish.
Fun for me, is visiting castles, spending hours sorting through vintage postcards in bric-a-brac shops, finding a bargain print of a castle, being with family, playing Scrabble or Upwords, or doing Sudoku. Watching endless episodes of NCIS (yes, really), pottering in the garden, and listening to the silence.
Oh, for a day that contains JUST those - punctuated with eating and sleeping. 😊
The content isn't exactly a RTBC but the headline made me laugh. It read "Putin will call for general mobilisation after winning 2024 election". No if's or but's, just 'after he wins'.
Mine is much more prosaic but pleasing and less frightening.
I made rough puff pastry for Cornish pasties - first time for pasties and haven't made pastry of any kind for over 30 years 'cos when we moved to Belgium I discovered ready made, ready rolled shortcrust, sweet and puff pastry made with butter and even a local baker who'd sell me puff pastry by the metre when I needed lots for entertaining - canapés and so forth.
Anyway, pastry and pasties both a huge success.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
My RTBC today, is that, in aiming to clear the freezer out, my wife found a Salmon Wellington from Aldi.
Okay, so it was best before May 2023, but it was delicious, with a generous portion of salmon. I don't know whether they still sell it, but if you like salmon, and have an Aldi nearby (and can eat pastry), I recommend it.
What fun, @rowlandscastle444! Please post again in two days to let us know if you have any negative outcomes! I regularly freeze fresh stuff from Waitrose, and use it months later, despite the recommendation on the boxes usually stating use within a month. @Hostafan1 wouldn’t hesitate, but I suspect he has a cast iron stomach ( apart from the recent post holidaybugs)
I'm also not too bothered about how long things have been in the freezer for. If it looks OK, smells OK and tastes OK when it's defrosted/cooked, we eat it. No ill effects yet. We don't eat fish though (except OH's fish finger sandwiches 🤮).
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Posts
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I’m so glad I’m not a celebrity
Barbra Streisand made a shocking confession last week, says Giles Coren inThe Times. The 81-year-old star told an interviewer: “I haven’t had much fun in my life.” This is the same Barbra Streisand who worked alongside Robert Redford and Omar Sharif, won countless awards, sold hundreds of millions of albums, played Las Vegas and married multiple “hunky film stars”. If she hasn’t had fun, who has? But she’s not alone. Pop star Robbie Williams says no one in the extreme fame game comes out of it “well-adjusted and happy and mentally well”. Even Monty Don – a “twinkly Oxbridge toff whose job is just pottering around the garden” – says he is leaving the “remorseless treadmill” of Gardeners’ World.
I think these guys might be on to something. What really brings Streisand joy, she says, is time spent with her family and dogs, and I couldn’t agree more. The standard definition of “fun” has always involved dancing, parties, festivals, fashion, fame, sex, and “brightly coloured plastic things” – none of which I enjoy, so I have always believed “I am not having a fun life myself”. But what the misery of these celebs shows me is “what enormous fun my own life really is”. Tomorrow, I will finish my book in bed with the cat in my lap, “hustle the family out for a walk”, watch my kids fall off their chairs laughing at the television, iron some shirts and be asleep by 10pm. “And I will never have had more fun in my life.”…” https://link.newsletters.theknowledge.com/view/60433d32e2c3c71ae92d5964jw2ab.fh0/0ab5439a
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Oh, for a day that contains JUST those - punctuated with eating and sleeping. 😊
I made rough puff pastry for Cornish pasties - first time for pasties and haven't made pastry of any kind for over 30 years 'cos when we moved to Belgium I discovered ready made, ready rolled shortcrust, sweet and puff pastry made with butter and even a local baker who'd sell me puff pastry by the metre when I needed lots for entertaining - canapés and so forth.
Anyway, pastry and pasties both a huge success.
Okay, so it was best before May 2023, but it was delicious, with a generous portion of salmon. I don't know whether they still sell it, but if you like salmon, and have an Aldi nearby (and can eat pastry), I recommend it.