Extra Viginity

Of course I was intrigued by the title of Tom Mueller's book Extra Virginity. (I hope we are not going to be engulfed by a tidal wave of SMUT.  I will, of course, tender my resignation forthwith or with greater emphasis forthwidth... ED!!!)
It relates to the classification of olive oil in the highest category. A qualification  more recognised in the breach than the observance. (ARGHH...ED!) The other end of the quality spectrum is lampante, or lamp oil. The distance between the two leaves much to be desired and this treasure of a book leaves  little to the imagination. Olive oil is the derivative of fruit rather than the extract of seed. It can be produced by mechanical recovery whereas most other oils are chemically extracted by solvents. this has, it is claimed, huge impact on the condition and benefits of the product.  One way of looking at the oil is that it is miracle! You can only feel huge goodwill and gratitude to those who make it, cherish it, protect it and promote it. Be aware though of the opportunities for those who seek to exploit the product, they are legion and the tricks and trucos they employ are many and possibly dangerous.

If you are interested in the book, the oil, or sufficiently curious Truth in Olive Oil is the place for you.

Where are they now:- Rummy, No 93 in a series

I have been attacked, viciously attacked...
(There,  there, sit down on this chair, have some tea, strong tea, maybe a little sugar...Ed)
in an email or two.
(those electrons can be the divi'ls own to shake off, now don't upset yourself...Ed)

I thank you deeply for your concern!
In one of the emails the word 'UNBEKNOWNST' was flung at me  like acid in my face!
I ask you what manner of man goes around using words like that and this a family blog?
I was about to take umbrage, real umbrage, stamp my foot, look fierce and shouty.
Then I remembered Rummy, good old Rummy. I can tell you the thought of that ejit lightened my mood a good deal.
In fact, I thought why not return the serve over the net with..
" would that be an unbeknown, unbeknownst or a beknown unbeknownst?)
But of course in the interest of harmony, peace love and justice I did not.
Life moves on, doesn't it always.

No Mean Affair

The Book - No Mean Affair by Robert Ronsson is not my usual read but I thoroughly enjoyed it. My mother was born in the Gorbals so I have an interest in Glasgow in the later part of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. She remembered very little from her early years. Maybe she withheld a lot but she did describe finding a dead body, presumed murdered, after her brother had fled from the clugdie (toilet) where he had found it first! Not much detail in our 'oral history'. Mum can only have been 5 or 6, her brother Charlie was a bit older though having epilepsy and the results of polio needed  looking after, usually by his little sister. Ronsson paints a tough portrait of tenement life, the environment and the society. He has a very interesting  family connection to Red Clydeside through his grandmother and the possibility that the connection goes further. The historical figures drift in and out of the story, Maxton, Maclean, Mosely Ramsay Mac., the 'real' people live their lives in appalling circumstances and with impossible choices to make.