Pool Of Light

Looking south towards the Bay of St Malo and the coast of Brittany in France

The tower is an old observation tower built by the Germans during their occupation of the Channel Islands in WWII. Now owned by the Jersey Heritage Trust, it can be rented as a holiday home.

Weird and Unusual

The Daily Telegraph today has a round-up of what they describe as the world’s weirdest animals.  Many of these I’ve seen before, some are entirely new to me, some are entirely new and pretty creepy.  I’m not going to put the pics of the creepier ones here – go on over and see them for yourself…starting with the ‘star-nosed mole’ from North America … a little chap who I’m afraid draws an immediate shiver from me (although I’m quite sure I don’t do much for him either)!

The Blobfish, which hovers just above the sea floor, gobbling edible matter that floats past it.

(I love the ‘face’ of these fish – they look distinctly fed up with their lot in life)!

Rescuing Bibi

I must admit that I find human beings frustrating, complex and often simply beyond my comprehension.  We sometimes do such unspeakable things to those around us.  However we are also capable of such kindness and selfless courage in order to help not just fellow humans but also helpless animals.  Today’s Mail Online has a story that covers the rescue of Bibi, a tiny Maltese schitzu. Bibi was blown by a strong wind into the ocean and might have drowned had it not been for a brave and kind-hearted member of the public, Raden Soemawinata. Positive news stories like this are a joy to see.

Caring for glassware

Dishwashers are wonderful, time saving devices but unfortunately do no favours at all to precious glassware.  If you find that your  glasses are losing their sparkle and becoming cloudy it may well be because of the action of the dishwasher – a combination of the softeners that are put into many water supplies, coupled with the high temperatures and the detergent we use in the dishwasher.  

Delicate crystal or precious glassware is therefore best cleaned by hand.  If you don’t want to tackle the washing up straight after you’ve used your glasses, do at least give them a quick rinse so that wine or other liquids aren’t sitting in them for any length of time.  Wash individually in hot soapy water – ordinary washing up liquid will do – and then rinse straight away in hot clear water.  (Don’t rinse in cold water because the change in temperature may make the glass shatter).  Place on a draining rack and then dry with a lint free cloth.  (I usually dry with kitchen roll and then shine with a lint free cloth).

If you have items like narrow vases that are difficult to clean, use denture cleaning tablets to do the work for you but only leave for the recommended length of time.  Rinse and then dry.

Glassware that has a cloudy or milky appearance may be restored to a sparkle by wiping gently with vinegar on a soft cloth.  However, it’s worth saying that liquids can actually permanently etch the surface of glass, giving that same milky appearance. 

The moral of the story is simple: Never leave liquids sitting in glassware for any length of time.

Thawing a frozen turkey

THE GOLDEN RULE: Never thaw a frozen turkey at room temperature.

By far the best method is to thaw the bird in the refrigerator (set no higher than 40F)  and, be warned, this will probably take 3-4 days, depending on the size of bird you are dealing with. 

To do this: Leave the bird in its original wrapping and place on a tray in the bottom of your refrigerator.  Allow 5 hours per pound of bird – so for a bird of, say 14lbs, you would be looking at 70 hours (or just over 3 full days).  Be sure to keep an eye on it during that time because you will periodically have to empty liquid out of the bottom of the tray … you don’t want to flood your fridge with raw turkey juice!

Quick method: Check that the turkey is in leak-proof packaging.  If it is, put it, in its original wrapping, in a sink of cold water, breast side down.  In the same way that ice cubes transfer their low temperature to a drink, so your frozen turkey will lower the temperature of the water.  In other words, you’re going to have to change the water in the sink every half hour in order to maintain a consistent temperature.  Allow half an hour per pound of turkey so, for example, the 14lb bird mentioned above is still going to take 7 hours to defrost.  Cook as soon as you have completed this process. 

I wouldn’t recommend using a microwave.  The nature of microwave ovens means that the bones will become hotter quicker and the meat immediately around them may effectively start to cook, causing potential health hazards.  If you feel you absolutely must use a microwave, follow the manufacturer’s instructions precisely and, again, aim to cook the bird immediately after.

Here are a couple of charts which may help when calculating thawing times:

Refrigerator thawing (weights represent a whole bird)

8 – 12 pounds ……… 1 to 2 days

12 – 16 pounds …….. 2 to 3 days

16 – 20 pounds …….. 3 to 4 days

20 – 24 pounds …….. 4 to 5 days

Cold water thawing times

8 – 12 pounds ……… 4 to 6 hours

12 – 16 pounds …….. 6 to 8 hours

16 – 20 pounds …….. 8 to 10 hours

20 – 24 pounds …….. 10 to 12 hours

Miss Bright Eyes

Our eyes are often the first area of the body to reflect poor health and tiredness.  While there is no substitute for good nutrition, there are a few herbal and alternative remedies which may give a boost to the system and help to maintain beautiful eyes.  Herbalist Jethro Kloss advised taking the juice of a lemon in hot water, one hour before breakfast each day to help cleanse the system. 

Cider vinegar which is rich in potassium (fundamentally involved in so many of the body’s processes), may also be helpful.  Take one tablespoon of the vinegar in a glass of water each morning,  with a tablespoon of honey to sweeten if you like.  It has a cleansing and energizing effect.

There are many, many topical quick fixes that you can try.  Here are just a few:

Cucumber is well known to tone up the eye membranes and cools and soothes tired eyes.  Simply use two slices as eye pads, lie down and relax for 15 minutes.

Witch Hazel on pads of cotton wool can be used as an alternative – better still if you keep the bottle in the fridge. 

Tea bags – allow the tea to brew for five minutes or so, remove the tea bags and allow to cool then use in place of eye-pads.

Finally, if you have access to the revered old herb of ‘eyebright’ (named to obviously reflect one of its many virtues!), make a strong infusion, decant into a bottle and keep in the refridgerator.  Again use the cool liquid on pads of cotton wool, lie down and relax for 15 minutes.