APRIL FOOLS DAY
Pixabay
Were you caught in any silly pranks on April Fools Day? Interestingly, the food loving French celebrate April 1st differently. Called “Poisson d’Avril (April Fish) the reasons are lost in history. Two suggestions are this date marks the end of Lent or this reflects the anger of the French in 1564, when King Charles IX (1550-1574) changed the date marking the beginning of the year. The citizens didn’t like him meddling with their calendar, but the reasons for paper fish celebrating April 1st as Paper Fish Day have been lost in time.
Nowadays, French children stick coloured paper fish on as many backs as they can manage and run off laughing and calling out “Poisson d’Avril! To celebrate this special day, the shops are full of beautifully wrapped chocolate fish.
So when I saw a report claiming the Eiffel Tower (330m high) had a baby and saw photos of the two side by side, I assumed it was a prank. The media worldwide enjoy publishing trick reports on April the first and I assumed this was a prank. Further research actually revealed the second, much smaller tower ( 30m high) came from Vendée and was ‘visiting’ Paris until 10th April for repairs. The miniature is next to the original Eiffel Tower on the Champs-de-Mars in the centre of Paris.
THE BREAD KNIFE
Do you have a favourite object that does a great job, but not as intended? Ours is the bread knife, which was sold as a watermelon knife evident from the colour and images on it! Actually, it is about 8 years old and the best bread knife we have ever used. We eat a lot of home made sourdough or bought artisan loaves so a good knife is imperative. And it’s easy to locate in the drawer.
VINEGAR
There’s a noticeable resurgence of sites online promoting white vinegar as a good cleaning product. This might reflect the rate of inflation and the squeeze on household budgets or a move away from highly aromatic, manufactured and expensive cleaning products. Vinegar is very economical, effective and the smell disappears quickly after use.
Vinegar is made by a process of fermentation, resulting in acetic acid. Vinegar is a blend of water, acetic acid and small amounts of minerals and vitamins. Most commercial products are also made of water with added harsh chemicals. Vinegar is edible and biodegradable and will not kill the good bacteria in septic tanks.
Despite all those good things, acetic acid will etch natural stone surfaces (granite, marble, limestone* as counters or floor coverings) and will eventually damage rubber, such as washing machine door seals, dishwasher seals and oven door seals. It will also damage the teflon surface on irons and the finishes on smart phones and computer screens. Don’t use vinegar on timber floors, either, as it will remove the protective finish and the exposed wood will be easily stained and damaged. Vinegar is great for cleaning glass shower doors, diluted and put in a spray bottle (try 1:1 vinegar /water mix) Otherwise, apply diluted vinegar with a microfibre cloth.
* The best cleaner for natural stone finishes is hot, soapy water and a microfibre cloth. Most natural stone sold for domestic use have been sealed with special finishes.
READING
Just finished Claire Keegan’s masterpiece,‘Small Things Like These’ Not a word is wasted in this novella about family life in an Irish town during the depression of the 1980’s. This story is about the Magdalene Laundries, run by Catholic nuns, the last of which was closed down in 1996. Now recognised for using girls and women as unpaid labour; these baby farms and laundries used the incarcerated women as slave labour. Records have been destroyed or concealed so the number of women and babies who died in these ghastly institutions is unknown, but the deaths are in the thousands.
Sorry about the terrible photo!
The activities of the convent become evident to a father of four daughters delivering coal and fire wood. Brought up by a single mother himself and treated kindly by his mother’s employer and other staff he is shaken when making a delivery to find a young girl locked in the coal shed, distraught because she is not allowed to see or feed her baby. The convent run by the Catholic Church is powerful, prestigious and prosperous and he is warned not to interfere.
Eventually, on Christmas Eve, he returns to the coal shed and rescues the girl, despite dire warnings from other people in the town. He takes her to his family. The title ‘Small Things Like These’ suggests small things can make a difference. This is a haunting but powerful account of an awful event in recent history.
EASTER
Easter seems to have arrived very quickly this year! Our son will be here and we will spend a day with my Mother. Limited decorations this year! Do you decorate and make special foods for Easter? I think it is different if you have small children involved who love the decorations and egg hunts, but mostly the chocolate.
Wishing you a lovely EASTER
however you like to celebrate!