Clubhouse Grille (*** NO LIV DISCUSSIONS ***) (*** NO POLITICS/RELIGION ***)

[Reasonability]

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56 minutes ago, Conrad1953 said:

And Alabama v Ohio State 8 pm tonight on ESPN for the National College Football Championship. 

I may be the only one here but I will definitely be watching, lol.

 

That's 8 pm eastern time at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, FL.

 

52 minutes ago, miamistomp said:

 Enjoy the game !

   I  have not watched a college game since I graduated in 1973 and actually knew people on the team

 

Wife is going to pop the corn and I'm already lighting the fire!  I'll be watching Radro.  Yea, it's just a game.  A well struck ball is just a shot.  And pulling my finger is just a bio function.  Doesn't take much to make me happy. 🍿

 

Miami - Nice looking Gibson!  

 

Heading to northern Florida this weekend.  Son-in-law has us a tee time.  THIS will be the weekend I finally get that hole-in-one.

[scotee]

23 hours ago, Conrad1953 said:

When it's your time it's your time. A record falls and the Steelers are stunned. 

I enjoy a good upset!  What was that brown streak on Big Ben's backside?

[billh17]

On 1/10/2021 at 8:22 PM, Conrad1953 said:

Wow Bill, that's the most amazing play I've ever seen to start a game. I'm rooting for the

Browns anyway but wow what a gift! 

 

Edit for video

 

 

And then they get a pick and a few plays later get another TD. Great start.

lol   bless them....they tried to let the Steelers come all the way back...was a good entertaining game !

[tolmij]

Summer in Australia, mango season, the best fruit ever. these were $1:50 each when you buy 10. 
 

 

[nitram]

Love 'em. The first time I ever encountered a mango I was 20 or so years old and had a TDY at MCB Hawaii. There was a local guy who came by peddling mango's out of the back of his pickup. One of the guys I was stationed with talked me into splitting a case (2 dozen) with him for $10. I was hooked on the first bite. It was just so.....perfect. Anyway, I ended up eating 6 over the course of the day and yes, I foundered myself. Needless to say that night was a "purge". I spent more time in the head as opposed to my rack. Fast forward a few days and the weekend was at hand. I had a half dozen of the mango's left and so I ate one and was able to stop right there. However as dusk approached I was able to score some Okolehao (Hawaiian moonshine) and infused my remaining mango's with the liquor. After letting them soak for about 4 hours we ate the mango's while sitting around a fire ring, lusting for the beautiful girls. After consuming two of the mango's and fifteen minutes later I was reclining in the sand and listening to Pink Floyd on someone's boom box and I began to understand (for the first time in my life) what Roger Waters meant by 'Comfortably Numb'. I went to sleep there where I lay that night on the north shore of Oahu and awoke Sunday morning to the worst headache I've ever had in my life. Truth be told almost 40 years later I'd do it all over again. Ahhhh, the musings of a man getting older...

 

I never see a mango in the store or like @tolmij photo that I don't think of that story. The pleasure was definitely worth the pain.

 

 

"Hello? (Hello? Hello? Hello?)

Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anyone home?"

 

[tolmij]

1 hour ago, nitram said:

Love 'em. The first time I ever encountered a mango I was 20 or so years old and had a TDY at MCB Hawaii. There was a local guy who came by peddling mango's out of the back of his pickup. One of the guys I was stationed with talked me into splitting a case (2 dozen) with him for $10. I was hooked on the first bite. It was just so.....perfect. Anyway, I ended up eating 6 over the course of the day and yes, I foundered myself. Needless to say that night was a "purge". I spent more time in the head as opposed to my rack. Fast forward a few days and the weekend was at hand. I had a half dozen of the mango's left and so I ate one and was able to stop right there. However as dusk approached I was able to score some Okolehao (Hawaiian moonshine) and infused my remaining mango's with the liquor. After letting them soak for about 4 hours we ate the mango's while sitting around a fire ring, lusting for the beautiful girls. After consuming two of the mango's and fifteen minutes later I was reclining in the sand and listening to Pink Floyd on someone's boom box and I began to understand (for the first time in my life) what Roger Waters meant by 'Comfortably Numb'. I went to sleep there where I lay that night on the north shore of Oahu and awoke Sunday morning to the worst headache I've ever had in my life. Truth be told almost 40 years later I'd do it all over again. Ahhhh, the musings of a man getting older...

 

I never see a mango in the store or like @tolmij photo that I don't think of that story. The pleasure was definitely worth the pain.

 

 

"Hello? (Hello? Hello? Hello?)

Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anyone home?"

 

Hello back, 2:00am and cannot sleep. 
 

Those mangoes are called R2E2, they are a hybrid and grow much larger than the others, and we are also mango fanatics, in season we have them at least twice a day, they are addictive. Never tried them soaked in grog but it is a good idea, may try that soon.

 

Sudden quiet is a feature of the Grille, quite often find everyone going AWOL, they will wake up soon and start panicking, then look for a busy time😲 In the meantime cheers🍷🍷🍷.

Edited January 14, 2021 by tolmij

[tolmij]

We have a problem that solves a problem but is a problem, if you follow. In Australia we have termites, when they get into a wooden house frame, say goodbye house. If you do not catch it quickly they will literally eat you out if house and home, the cartoons are not exaggerated.

 

Ants are also a problem, but they eat termites, so where there are ants there are no termites. Now we have ants inside the main wall cavities, but ants like to walk, explore and generally be a pest, they have found a way into the house so we are currently being attacked by ants, they are walking round the inside of the walls and no matter how many times we clear them up they are back. Todays new approach, seal the bottoms of the walls with a tile sealant, we like our friendly ants as they save us money in the long run, but we do not want them as visitors.

 

Updates as the saga continues.🔙🔜

 

 

[Sean2]

On 1/11/2021 at 5:20 PM, tolmij said:

We have security cameras around the house 8 of them, they cover every angle. Using them we also helped a neighbour identify thieves.

We have a cat. She meows occasionally. 

[tolmij]

Outside work this morning, raking leaves of my DW walking path down to paradise valley, a little contemplation area we have created next to the forrest. It is full of rainforest trees that like to drop leaves in the summer if it does not rain, and so far this year we have been dry, the rain goes round us, so frustrating.

 

Did not stay out long as it is around 95c today.

 

Gus asked where you all are the food is going cold.

 

💱 Don't know what this means, just looked cool.🤨

[tolmij]

4 minutes ago, Sean2 said:

We have a cat. She meows occasionally. 

We have three cats, killer mode all day.🐆🐅🐆

[billh17]

12 hours ago, nitram said:

Love 'em. The first time I ever encountered a mango I was 20 or so years old and had a TDY at MCB Hawaii. There was a local guy who came by peddling mango's out of the back of his pickup. One of the guys I was stationed with talked me into splitting a case (2 dozen) with him for $10. I was hooked on the first bite. It was just so.....perfect. Anyway, I ended up eating 6 over the course of the day and yes, I foundered myself. Needless to say that night was a "purge". I spent more time in the head as opposed to my rack. Fast forward a few days and the weekend was at hand. I had a half dozen of the mango's left and so I ate one and was able to stop right there. However as dusk approached I was able to score some Okolehao (Hawaiian moonshine) and infused my remaining mango's with the liquor. After letting them soak for about 4 hours we ate the mango's while sitting around a fire ring, lusting for the beautiful girls. After consuming two of the mango's and fifteen minutes later I was reclining in the sand and listening to Pink Floyd on someone's boom box and I began to understand (for the first time in my life) what Roger Waters meant by 'Comfortably Numb'. I went to sleep there where I lay that night on the north shore of Oahu and awoke Sunday morning to the worst headache I've ever had in my life. Truth be told almost 40 years later I'd do it all over again. Ahhhh, the musings of a man getting older...

 

I never see a mango in the store or like @tolmij photo that I don't think of that story. The pleasure was definitely worth the pain.

 

 

"Hello? (Hello? Hello? Hello?)

Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anyone home?"

 

LOL  been there, done that sleeping in the sand  after   sampling  a bit  much of Kentucky's finest with peaches ! , though a little farther west than your location ! And I agree, the memory of the next couple days will forever be there !   I actually did not care for peaches 

before then, but after a year with no fruit, they were pretty darn good !

[NoTalentLefty]

Fresh produce  in central Illinois starts with asparagus, strawberries, black berries, sweet corn, peaches, apples , as well as new potatoes early of heirloom varieties, onions, radishes, lettuce, peas, and green beans. Where I live at , about 30 and 50 miles  away is some of the best watermelon and cantaloupe/mush melon you’ll ever eat. Sweet corn is as close as a neighbor away. The peaches are as close as 40 miles but about 70 miles away is the best peach country. Man I love the white peaches for eating right off the tree. 

[tolmij]

13 hours ago, NoTalentLefty said:

Fresh produce  in central Illinois starts with asparagus, strawberries, black berries, sweet corn, peaches, apples , as well as new potatoes early of heirloom varieties, onions, radishes, lettuce, peas, and green beans. Where I live at , about 30 and 50 miles  away is some of the best watermelon and cantaloupe/mush melon you’ll ever eat. Sweet corn is as close as a neighbor away. The peaches are as close as 40 miles but about 70 miles away is the best peach country. Man I love the white peaches for eating right off the tree. 

Love asparagus, unfortunately it does not love me and too much of it causes a gout flare up. 
 

In Northern Queensland we have a very large area dedicated to all types of stone fruit, at present though due to travel and overseas restrictions much of it is going to waste, millions of dollars worth of fruit is rotting on the ground. Normally the overseas back packers come to Australia and work on the farms, but now they are finding it difficult find pickers.

[Fellaheen51]

Perhaps most of us have close proximity access to fresh fruit and produce, and not wanting to sound provincial.  But we have an abundance of direct to consumer growers nearby.  Within our township alone, an apple orchard (that makes the best cider), u-pick strawberries (early June) and raspberries (September), a dairy farm that been selling their products direct to consumer since 1933.   Killer ice cream.  They entire presentation is very family friendly, petting pens for the kids, pumpkin patch, hay rides, etc.  Any number of places for fresh sweet corn in August.  A u-pick blueberry farm ~15 miles away that we hit a couple times per season.  We freeze them whole to use rest of the year.  Frozen blueberries on my morning bowl of cereal.  

 

Nearby, Howell melons (cantaloupes), Romeo peaches, couple farms that grow asparagus in June.  That requires getting there before  noon (they line up) to avoid the inevitable "sold out for the day".  Actually know of a spot near home that has wild asparagus growing by the side of a rural road.  But I'm not the only one that knows, someone else picked the patch before I got there this year.  

 

What's available before going to the plethora of Farmer's markets nearby.  Seemingly every community has a one on Saturdays.  Three growers show up to the one in town during the season.  Some items are just easier to buy from them than grow in the garden (beans, corn, all melons).  The large county market is open several weekdays in addition to Saturdays.  Easy couple of hours spent when we go.  It's kind of a scene.  

 

One of the benefits of living somewhat "out in the sticks".  Much abundance is nearby.  No mangos though.  

Edited January 16, 2021 by Fellaheen51

[Fellaheen51]

On 1/14/2021 at 9:38 PM, billh17 said:

LOL  been there, done that sleeping in the sand  after   sampling  a bit  much of Kentucky's finest with peaches ! , though a little farther west than your location ! And I agree, the memory of the next couple days will forever be there !   I actually did not care for peaches 

before then, but after a year with no fruit, they were pretty darn good !

 

Slept on a beach once.  On a small key outside of Marathon, Fla.  Yes, to much imbibing had occurred at some watering hole we stumbled into.  My buddy and I threw out sleeping bags and crashed shoreside.  Woke up the next morning covered in a "rash".  Itching like crazy.  Couldn't find a place fast enough to buy some calamine lotion.  Pharmacist (?) behind the counter said,  "Slept on the beach last night huh?  Sand fleas."  How come there wasn't any signage posted about this?  

[scomac2002]

Nasty buggars those sand fleas!  I think one of the kids had an experience with them at one point. 😵

[scomac2002]

Yes indeed; agree with everyone regards the advantages of being close to where the good stuff is grown.  Many vinyards and orchards in this area with peaches and cherries being the predominant stone fruit.  Our house was built in what was once a cherry orchard.  When we bought the property it still had one of the original sour cherry trees.  Had to remove it as it was full of rot from a lack of care.

 

There's a farmer's market in town every Thursday afternoon.  The next town has one on Saturdays so that looks after the produce for the most part for us.  Sweet corn we have to travel further afield.  Last year I got it from a roadside stand up near the course where I played which was about 45 minutes away.  I suspect I will be patronizing that stand again because there's nothing close for quality down near me.

 

Direct market dairy is interesting.  It's not allowed in Canada as in direct from the farm unless there's a federally inspected facility on site.  The closest thing we have is a small artisan cheese factory that uses local Guernsey milk to produce their cheeses which we will buy for special occasions.  They have several styles and it's exceptional.

[tolmij]

7 hours ago, scomac2002 said:

Yes indeed; agree with everyone regards the advantages of being close to where the good stuff is grown.  Many vinyards and orchards in this area with peaches and cherries being the predominant stone fruit.  Our house was built in what was once a cherry orchard.  When we bought the property it still had one of the original sour cherry trees.  Had to remove it as it was full of rot from a lack of care.

 

There's a farmer's market in town every Thursday afternoon.  The next town has one on Saturdays so that looks after the produce for the most part for us.  Sweet corn we have to travel further afield.  Last year I got it from a roadside stand up near the course where I played which was about 45 minutes away.  I suspect I will be patronizing that stand again because there's nothing close for quality down near me.

 

Direct market dairy is interesting.  It's not allowed in Canada as in direct from the farm unless there's a federally inspected facility on site.  The closest thing we have is a small artisan cheese factory that uses local Guernsey milk to produce their cheeses which we will buy for special occasions.  They have several styles and it's exceptional.

Love cheese, we always have a good selection in the fridge.

[Conrad1953]

When I was growing up in SoCal there were dairies everywhere with most having drive up stores where

they sold all their goods. The town next to us was named Dairy Valley actually. The real estate these

dairies were on became very valuable as the burbs grew and the dairy owners were sort of forced to

sell their land (and make $$millions) and move their dairies further inland. Most moved to rural towns

(at that time) called Chino and Norco. As Dairy Valley grew and changed the city council changed the

city name to Cerritos.....no dairies were left, lol, so that made sense.

 

As a kid I used to walk through the strawberry fields to get to my little league games. Farming and

Dairy were all around back then. Also ranching and we kids spent much time on horseback in those

days. There was a totally different culture in SoCal in those days. These days it's just endless burbs

with millions of people crowding everything.

 

Orange County, right next to us, got the name because of the endless miles of orange groves....

which are all long gone now as the land became too valuable and succumbed to suburban sprawl.

 

When I went to SoCal in recent years I felt like a stranger in a strange land. I miss what SoCal was

when I was a kid growing up but don't miss what it is now.

 

Not a lot of agriculture here In Bama. The soil is mostly hard orange clay and rocky and probably

just costs too much to amend on a large scale basis. There's some cotton fields still around and

some pecan orchards. The main commodity here I would guess is timber.

 

Cobi and I do container gardening for our home grown veggies and we have many fruit trees.

There is a fruit/veggie stand close by but they don't have much variety.

 

Now, when it comes to meat it's different story here. Lots and lots of chicken farms and lots of

fast food chicken places. They love their chicken down here, lol.

[tolmij]

Whilst we are talking fruit, picked these off our banana tree today. They are lady finger bananas, don't know if they sell them anywhere other than Australia but they are the sweetest you will ever taste.

 

pic 1 bananas

pic 2 Trees that require a little pruning. Banana trees only fruit once then die off.

 

This is a group of eight trees only one has fruited so far, these all came from one original tree. They grow several trees from the same root system every time a tree dies.

 

 

Edited January 17, 2021 by tolmij

[scomac2002]

@Conrad1953you paint a compelling picture of southern California in the 50's and 60's before development took over and created an endless sea of burbs.  I think I read somewhere that it was described as endless abundance in the words of Kruschev.

 

When I was growing up there were 13 diary farms on our road.  By the time that we had sold the property there were none left operating and in fact there were only 2 in the entire township when 5 decades before the number would have been well over 40!  Livestock don't mix well with suburban living at least anything beyond the scope of a pet. 

 

There was a rather interesting discussion going on FB in a community group that I belong to regarding the appearance of a couple of poop trees.  Apparently at least a couple of dog owners think that it's fair game to fling their bags of dog pooh into a tree as some sort of "natural" ornament! 🤨

[tolmij]

5 minutes ago, scomac2002 said:

@Conrad1953you paint a compelling picture of southern California in the 50's and 60's before development took over and created an endless sea of burbs.  I think I read somewhere that it was described as endless abundance in the words of Kruschev.

 

When I was growing up there were 13 diary farms on our road.  By the time that we had sold the property there were none left operating and in fact there were only 2 in the entire township when 5 decades before the number would have been well over 40!  Livestock don't mix well with suburban living at least anything beyond the scope of a pet. 

 

There was a rather interesting discussion going on FB in a community group that I belong to regarding the appearance of a couple of poop trees.  Apparently at least a couple of dog owners think that it's fair game to fling their bags of dog pooh into a tree as some sort of "natural" ornament! 🤨

Some people I think were born without any idea of normal behaviour.

[Fellaheen51]

@scomac2002  You came to mind when I spotted this buried amongst a bunch of riff-raff clubs at an estate sale yesterday.  Now a member of the Pittsburgh Persimmon Appreciation Society.  Wasn't going to buy (although cheap), but noticed it had a Ti (Sandvik?) shaft installed.  Never swung a Ti shaft before.  Waggle testing, feels x-stout.  Cleaned it up this morning, many sky marks on the top edge out on the toe.  Not surprising, have wood woods with larger heads.  Don't know what I'm going to do with it.  Fairway D?  (Who am I kidding).  A least stand a marginal chance of getting the ball in the air with 12* of loft.  Take a couple of swats with it at some future point, then stash it away is the more likely scenario.  

 

[scomac2002]

1 minute ago, Fellaheen51 said:

@scomac2002  You came to mind when I spotted this buried amongst a bunch of riff-raff clubs at an estate sale yesterday.  Now a member of the Pittsburgh Persimmon Appreciation Society.  Wasn't going to buy (although cheap), but noticed it had a Ti (Sandvik?) shaft installed.  Never swung a Ti shaft before.  Waggle testing, feels x-stout.  Cleaned it up this morning, many sky marks on the top edge out on the toe.  Not surprising, have wood woods with larger heads.  Don't know what I'm going to do with it.  Fairway D?  (Who am I kidding).  A least stand a marginal chance of getting the ball in the air with 12* of loft.  Take a couple of swats with it at some future point, then stash it away is the more likely scenario.  

 

 

Mine is now sitting in my classics bag along with a couple of Spalding Executive woods, a Stan Thompson Ginty, the Eye 2 clones and a Zing putter.  I'm actually looking forward to giving those a swat once again at some point this coming season.  

 

Still clinging to the idea of playing the Stanley Thompson designed heritage walking nine hole tour with vintage clubs.  No scorecards necessary.  Just a love of the game thing.  Don't like your shot?  Drop another ball and repeat. 😎

[scomac2002]

I just got an email this morning notifying us that the curling club has decided to close for the season.  Under current COVID restrictions it was going to be hard to imagine any scenario that would allow for play in late winter or early spring.  The decision was made to save expenses and no longer hold the ice to maintain playing condition.  Refunds of paid membership dues will be forthcoming on a prorated basis at some point.  DW and I were playing under a trial membership of $108 per person for 8 weeks which has expired.  We had intended to renew, but that will no longer be necessary.  The equipment is back in storage until next year.

 

------------------------

 

One further sad note is that my friend Walter passed away on Monday afternoon.  He was 86 years young and will be missed by all who knew him.  Our senior men's league loses one member every off-season.  This one will be a little more painful than the others have been.  One of the good guys!  😇

[Fellaheen51]

Ran across an entire set of ST Gintys at estate sale awhile back.  D, fairways, irons plus bag.  The irons had the "unusual" Ginty sole design thing.  Was only interested in the fairways, the purveyors wouldn't separate.  And were asking more than I was willing to pay for the entirety.  One of these days, need to try a lofted fairway Ginty.  

[Fellaheen51]

Condolences on both counts.  Especially Walter's passing.  Understand how it feels, the loss of an integral member of the group.  Happened with me last August.  A good friend for 50+ years dating back to high school.  One of the founding members of our Wednesday golf group passed after a 1.5 year battle with cancer.  Couldn't visit him the last couple months, just phone calls.  Couldn't pay my last respects at the family only funeral because of the Vid.  Not wanting this to sound trite, but we honor those who have passed before us by keeping on doing what we do.  And remembering all the good times that were shared.  

[scomac2002]

38 minutes ago, Fellaheen51 said:

 Not wanting this to sound trite, but we honor those who have passed before us by keeping on doing what we do.  And remembering all the good times that were shared.

 

Not at all as it is absolutely the truth!  🙏

[miamistomp]

9 hours ago, tolmij said:

Whilst we are talking fruit, picked these off our banana tree today. They are lady finger bananas, don't know if they sell them anywhere other than Australia but they are the sweetest you will ever taste.

 

pic 1 bananas

pic 2 Trees that require a little pruning. Banana trees only fruit once then die off.

 

This is a group of eight trees only one has fruited so far, these all came from one original tree. They grow several trees from the same root system every time a tree dies.

 

 

 Down here the are called manzanillas or apple bananas- very sweet but must be very ripe before eating

 The red skinned Jamaican bananas are also amazing

[scomac2002]

1 hour ago, Fellaheen51 said:

Ran across an entire set of ST Gintys at estate sale awhile back.  D, fairways, irons plus bag.  The irons had the "unusual" Ginty sole design thing.  Was only interested in the fairways, the purveyors wouldn't separate.  And were asking more than I was willing to pay for the entirety.  One of these days, need to try a lofted fairway Ginty.  

 

They are an acquired taste I would say.  May work better for you as you are a high ball hitter.  I found them to be low launchers which is a bit of a surprise with that heavy keel sole.  Probably one of the reasons I avoided the original Cobra Baffler woods.

 

What the Ginty does excel at is digging balls out of the rough/sand/divots.  It truly is a rescue club.  If I'm in the fairway however, I would much prefer to play the Executives as they launch really nicely.  They're a bit odd looking shape wise, I suppose similar to Ping in that regard, but they do seem to work.

 

I do have a 4W Ginty that I could send your way if you're interested.  Probably more than you would want to spend for shipping, but the club is yours if you want it.