{"id":1291,"date":"2018-09-08T14:31:54","date_gmt":"2018-09-08T04:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/?p=1291"},"modified":"2018-09-21T08:21:25","modified_gmt":"2018-09-20T22:21:25","slug":"dianes-newsletter-180918","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/dianes-newsletter-180918\/","title":{"rendered":"Diane’s Newsletter 18th September 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

 
\n<\/a>
\n\"\"is the 7th letter of the English alphabet.<\/p>\n

According to wikipedia the man who founded, or discovered, G<\/b><\/span> was Spurius Carvilius Ruga, a teacher, who lived in Rome around 230 BC. He decided that a letter was needed to distinguish the voiced C from the voiceless K, and he settled on what he called G<\/b><\/span>. K was anyway not being used that much, C doing the work of both C and K, and the time was obviously ripe for a new letter. It is said that he moved G<\/b><\/span> into a space caused when the letter Z was removed by Appius Claudius (who felt that Z was an unpleasant letter). Whether all of this is true or not is, of course, another question.<\/p>\n

From a numerological point of view, G<\/b><\/span> (especially as the first letter of a given name or surname) is most probably reserved and somewhat introspective. It can indicate a person who enjoys philosophical thought and discussion but who is also fairly secretive. Many people who have G<\/b><\/span> as the first letter in their name can be overly anxious and, at times, lacking in confidence. They can lose themselves in their dreams, even though most of them are capable of thoughtful analysis. They are usually people who enjoy their own company, but who often tend to be a bit lonely and who find it difficult to both give and respond to affection.<\/p>\n

The colour for G<\/b><\/span> is purple. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 
\n<\/a>
\nGrilled Sweet Potatoes with Feta Cheese<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

This recipe is based on a recipe in Svenska Dagbladet – Grillad s\u00f6tpotatis med getf\u00e4rskost<\/i>. I have, however, made a few changes. It is a great recipe for the barbecue, otherwise the potatoes can be grilled in the conventional manner.<\/p>\n

The following recipe is sufficient for 4 people<\/b><\/p>\n

3 large sweet potatoes
\nOlive oil
\nSalt and pepper
\nChopped, fresh coriander
\n100 g feta cheese
\n1 dl toasted, chopped almonds<\/p>\n

DRESSING<\/u>
\n2 tablespoons lime juice
\n\u00bc cup olive oil
\n1 finely chopped clove of garlic (optional)
\nPinch sea salt<\/p>\n

\"\"Peel the sweet potatoes and slice them lengthwise or on the diagonal into pieces about \u00bd centimetre thick. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill, either on a conventional grill or on a barbecue. Grill until the potatoes are cooked through and have the customary grill stripes (around 6-10 minutes each side on a hot grill)*. <\/p>\n

Place the grilled potatoes on a large plate. Top with diced feta cheese, almonds and coriander. Pour over the dressing. A great lunch recipe.<\/p>\n

* For anyone without access to a grill (either conventional or barbecue) the sweet potatoes can easily be grilled\/baked in a 200\u00b0 oven. Place the sweet potato on an oven tray covered with baking paper (after brushing the vegetable pieces with oil and sprinkling with salt and pepper) and leave for about 30-35 minutes. Turn at least once, during the baking process.<\/p>\n

It is also possible to first bake the potato pieces in the oven (200\u00b0) for 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are relatively soft, before grilling them. This method reduces the grill time. <\/p>\n

(Image is from Svenska Dagbladet)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 
\n<\/a>
\nGUERNSEY<\/b><\/span>
\n

\"\"
Image of St Peter Port from TripAdvisor<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nThere are a lot of countries that begin with the letter G: Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Gibraltar, Greenland, Georgia, Guyana. . . and many others, so I was hardly restricted when making a choice. However, after much thought, I settled on Guernsey, mainly because my great-grandfather was born there.<\/p>\n

As you probably already know, Guernsey is a small island in the English Channel. It covers no more than 65 square kilometres; its capital is St Peter Port; it has been settled for around 7,000 years; and it has a population of less than 65,000. Although the Romans called it Sarnia, the name Guernsey<\/i> most probably comes from Old Norse: the -ey from a word meaning island, and the first part either from the name of a person who lived there or from the Old Norse word for pine.
\n 
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Prior to 6,000 years BC England was part of the European continent, but then waters rose and land sank and England found itself on one side of the English Channel and France on the other. Several small islands – promontories that managed to keep their heads above water – became the Channel Islands.
\n 
\n

\"\"
A white building standing on the promontory rocks of Jerbourg Point. Image from AA<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Guernsey has weathered pirates, mercenaries, England’s Civil War, wars between England and France and England and Spain, and, during the Second World War, it was occupied by German troops for almost five years. At the end of the fifteenth century Pope Sixtus IV proclaimed Guernsey to be a neutral country (with excommunication for anyone defying the proclamation). Now, in the twenty-first century, Guernsey is in many ways independent. It is not part of the European Union (though it does have special trade agreements with the Union); nor is it part of the United Kingdom (though its defence and foreign relations are managed by the United Kingdom). It is, however, autonomous in everything to do with internal affairs (and some external affairs). Many people on Guernsey would like to become completely independent while others have suggested joining with the neighbouring island of Jersey for all foreign affairs and retaining independence for domestic matters.<\/p>\n

By way of interest, postal and telephone boxes are blue, and though there is no longer a railway there is a public bus service. Although English is the main language (up until the twentieth century most people spoke French), Guern\u00e9siais, the original Norman language is still spoken by a handful of residents.
\n 
\n

\"\"
Image from Daily Express<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Finance and tourism are now the two main occupations on the island, but in the latter half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century Guernsey was mostly known for its granite stone quarries. Stone quarrying had become important with the discovery of macadam in the first part of the nineteenth century, and by the middle of the century Guernsey was providing a large amount of the stone needed for roads. This is the point where my great-grandfather makes his entrance.
\n

\"\"
Image: Anne Miles Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n
\"\"
St Peter Port 1840. Image from William Denicher – WordPress.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nThe potato famine in Ireland had already taken a frightening number of lives; there was no food, no work and no future. Those who could were fleeing to places like Canada and Australia. My great-great-grandfather heard that work was available on Guernsey, and he managed to scrape together the money to get himself and his family from Tipperary to England and then from England to Guernsey. He and his oldest son worked in the quarries for about four or five years, then in October 1854 John Francis O’Brien was born, and a couple of weeks later the family sailed for Australia. <\/p>\n

\"\"
\nThe Queen of England<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Svenska<\/b><\/span>
\n<\/a>
\nGuest Post<\/b><\/span>
\n 
\nHUR MAN PRICKAR EN STINS FR\u00c5N ETT SN\u00c4LLT\u00c5G MITT I SN\u00d6IGA KALLA VINTERN.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

GUNNAR MOREAU heter jag och \u00e4r 83 \u00e5r.
\nHar arbetat i restaurangbranschen hela mitt liv med att koka mat eller servera. Uppe i luften (SAS) rullande p\u00e5 marken (TR\/SJ t\u00e5grestaurangvagnar) under vatten d\u00e5 jag var kock p\u00e5 u-b\u00e5t n\u00e4r jag gjorde lumpen (v\u00e4rnplikten)\u00a0m.m. m.m.<\/p>\n

Som jag n\u00e4mnde jobbade jag p\u00e5 t\u00e5g i restaurangvagnarna n\u00e5got \u00e5r. L\u00e4ngsta str\u00e4ckan var till V\u00e4nn\u00e4s inte l\u00e5ngt fr\u00e5n Ume\u00e5. Resan tog \u00f6ver tio timmar och det \u00e4r tveksamt om man f\u00e5r jobba s\u00e5 l\u00e4nge idag. Detta var 1952\u00a0 i Februari och jag var 17 \u00e5r och servit\u00f6r.
\n 
\n\"\"
\nN\u00e4r vi skulle l\u00e4mna V\u00e4nn\u00e4s klockan 7 p\u00e5 morgonen, d\u00e4r vi hade inv\u00e4ntat ett nattt\u00e5g med sovvagnar fr\u00e5n \u00f6vre Norrland, sp\u00e5rade loket ur efter 50 meter. Restaurangvagnen befann sig tursamt nog fortfarande vid plattformen. Hungriga nattpassagerare kryllade in som myror och vi slet som gal\u00e4rslavar. Dessb\u00e4ttre var stationsrestaurangen ocks\u00e5 \u00f6ppen. Man hittade en stor lyftkran, fick loket p\u00e5 plats och vi drog iv\u00e4g 6 timmar f\u00f6rsenade. Maten b\u00f6rjade att ta slut och vi beh\u00f6vde fylla upp s\u00e5 mycket som gick. Men hur kontakta n\u00e4sta station d\u00e4r vi skulle stoppa. Inga “nallar”, pc, faxar och naturligtvis ingen kommunikation mellan lokf\u00f6raren och n\u00e4sta station.
\n 
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

ATT VI \u00d6VERLEVDE P\u00c5 DEN TIDEN ???? OTROLIGT.<\/p>\n

Jag som har kork ist\u00e4llet f\u00f6r hj\u00e4rna kom naturligtvis p\u00e5 att vi skulle anv\u00e4nda ett vedtr\u00e4d som man eldade k\u00f6ksspisen med, och d\u00e4r s\u00e4tta fast en cateringlista. Jag f\u00f6reslog att vi skulle g\u00f6ra tre s\u00e5dana listor och f\u00f6rs\u00f6ka PRICKA STINSARNA SOM STOD OCH VEVADE MED SIN SPADE n\u00e4r t\u00e5get forsade f\u00f6rbi i 120\/km. timman. N\u00e4r vi kom in till n\u00e4sta station stod perrongen full med vagnar fullastade med mat ????\u00a0 Alla stinsarna hade sett vedtr\u00e4den och ringt p\u00e5 sina telefoner och meddelat v\u00e5r n\u00f6dsituattion. En stins hade meddelat att vi tr\u00e4ffat honom p\u00e5 ena l\u00e5ret…..och att han nu hade ett bl\u00e5tt l\u00e5r.
\n 
\n\"\"
\nJag, med mina 17 \u00e5r…… sade till k\u00f6ksm\u00e4staren VI TAR ALLT OMBORD..kaxig som vanligt. Sagt och gjort och d\u00e4r fanns mat vart man \u00e4n st\u00e4llde stegen. Men n\u00e4r vi kom till Stockholm efter 24 timmar klockan 7 fanns inte en matbit kvar. Kass\u00f6rskan, hon som satt i en liten bur och skrev notorna om Ni kommer ih\u00e5g, v\u00e5gade inte g\u00e5 ensam med kassan utan vi \u00f6vrig personal gick runt omkring henne f\u00f6r att skydda.<\/p>\n

N\u00e4r vi kommer in till personalchefen s\u00e4ger han GUNNAR DU VET V\u00c4L OM ATT DU SKALL \u00c5KA G3 TILL G\u00d6TEBORG KLOCKAN 16 ???? SKALL JAG….???? Javisst hem och sov med Dig nu, och gl\u00f6m inte att duscha…….!!!!!!<\/p>\n

H\u00c4RLIGA TIDER. STR\u00c5LANDE TIDER.
\n 
\n <\/p>\n

English<\/b><\/span>
\n<\/a>
\nMy name is Gunnar Moreau, and I am 83 years old. I have worked in the restaurant branch all my life, preparing and serving food – up in the air (SAS), on the ground (TR\/SJ restaurant cars) and under the water as chef on a submarine (military service).<\/p>\n

This is one of my many<\/i> stories: <\/p>\n

How to hit a station master from an express train speeding through a cold, snowy winter.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

As I have already mentioned I spent several years working in the railway’s restaurant cars. The longest stretch was (from Stockholm) to V\u00e4nn\u00e4s not far from Ume\u00e5. The trip took more than ten hours and it is doubtful if anyone would be allowed to work so long today. This was February 1952, and I was 17 and working as a waiter.
\n <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When we were about to leave V\u00e4nn\u00e4s at 7.00 in the morning, after having waited for a night train from upper Norrland with sleeper cars, the engine derailed after only 50 metres. As luck would have it, the restaurant car was still level with the platform. Hungry night passengers milled around like ants, and we worked like galley slaves. Fortunately the station restaurant was also open.<\/p>\n

A large crane was soon found, the engine was lifted back on to the rails and we set off after a six-hour delay. However, our stock of food was almost completely depleted and we needed replenishments. But how were we to contact our next stopping station? There were no mobile phones, computers, faxes and, of course, no way of the engine driver communicating with the next station.
\n 
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

It is unbelievable that we able to survive back then.<\/p>\n

Having cork instead of a brain, I naturally got the idea that we could take one of the logs that we used as firewood for the stove and attach a catering list to it. In fact, I suggested that we should attach three such lists to three logs and then try to hit the station masters while they stood, holding up their signals, as the train rushed past at 120 km an hour. When we arrived at the next stopping station the platform was full of trolleys packed with food. All the station masters had seen the logs and had then got straight on to their phones and relayed our emergency situation. One station master mentioned, however, that we had managed to hit him on the leg and that he now had a blue thigh.
\n 
\n\"\" <\/p>\n

17 years old and cocky as always, I told the head cook that we would take everything on board. No sooner said than done and wherever we stood there was food. But when we arrived at Stockholm twenty-four hours later there was nothing left. The cashier, that is the lady who sat in a little cage and wrote out the bills (as you may remember), was terrified to leave the train on her own with the kitty, so we accompanied her for her protection.<\/p>\n

When we met up with the chief of staff he said to me: Gunnar, you are aware that you’re on the G3 to Gothenburg, leaving at 16.00?<\/p>\n

I answered: Shall I. . . ?<\/p>\n

And he replied: Of course. Go home and get some sleep, and don’t forget to shower. . . <\/p>\n

Magnificent, brilliant times.
\n <\/p>\n

Images:
\nRestaurant car from PerrasMotorNostalgi
\nStinsen DigitaltMuseum
\nT\u00e5get wikipedia<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Politicians were subject to the whims of party leaders, contributors, pressure groups, and the media. As modern ‘celebrities’ they suffered all the moral and philosophical distortions of that class, too often taken with their own inflated personae on radio and television.” Martin Gross<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diane.eklund.abolins.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}