Making 100% orange juice

 Most of Mays post are now on  http://nilelife.blogspot.com/
This was the sun going down over the Nile on what is now the May chamsin wind, that blows the sand and dust, its  not too bad here in Luxor city, but nothing the other side of the Nile is visible with the dust storm,
 and this is the weather for a drink of real Orange Juice, 

just been reading this  headlines in  Yahoo. 

If you want 100% juice you need to make it yourself. 

!8/5/10  I bought what I read as 100%  natural orange juice,

 Drank some last night and again for breakfast juice,

The fruit etc here is plentiful but the oranges have a season and its now the end of that season.

hence buying the juice in a carton,  also I thought no more squeezing oranges to get the juice for a few months makes for an easier life,

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Then on my walk about today  I found one market stall that had oranges  whole juicy oranges , so I bought 5 kilo the guy asked 4egp per kilo  and looked at me amazed  when I said,  5 please.  knowing I could get at least the equivalent of 4 cartons for the price of 2, after juicing. He also threw in 4 bananas for not haggling with him,   so here I am in my flat making juice once I  squoze  (juiced) 2 oranges I had a sip of pure nectar.

 and thought that stuff I bought yesterday was not real Juice, so I dug the empty carton out of the rubbish bin and read the side panel.

 And I wondered since when is 50%    100%  natural.   after the acids sucrose natural flavour from 50%orange and the rest of  the rubbish I had bought a carton  40%  of water,

 and there was me itching and thinking I had eaten something from a can that I was alergic to,

I am allergic to preservative additives  in cans  the only tins I use are corned beef.

 And that is one of the problems with us men we do not read things before buying.  all I saw was 100% natural. 

I have been juicing my own  since the 90s when I found out about my allergy . that was brought on by an overdose of yellow fever jabs, given by one of the nurses in the park road surgery in Newtown,

once I found out I was double jabbed  they said its no problem, sorry to tell them it was and still is a problem.

And this is where the lies come in. I can understand the mentality of The Egyptians who Lie as a matter of course,    or rather I do not understand why they lie as a matter of course,   maybe its because they think  telling the truth will bring Islam down,  I am actually listening in the background the channel mbc  action,  because one of my famous and who I consider the best actor is on,   you know the one, dirty harry? but this is Million dollar baby. Clint Eastwood,    and during the adds  we have first time on tv the new series of  Lost.  new series frig,  I have seen it on this telly at least twice. and my tv  is  only 2 years old, 

 back to juice, out of the five killo  I have put 4 whole oranges in the freezer  I love peeling them and have them as a ice lolly,  1.5 litre  of juice 4 ice lollies  and  another cup full  for tomorrows breakfast drink,

 sorry I can not show the bananas they got eaten on the way back. real dawdler me .

 I  know the oranges look off but  they are at their sweetest now,   they even use after they are dry and shriveled as long as the do not go moldy.

 so no more fake orange juice  mango are starting to come into ripeness and so are the Grapes  next month we will have the Pomegranate   both the latter I can juice in my Squeezer, mango  needs to be over ripe for juicing first the skin and stone has to be separated from the flesh then the flesh put in the blender.

 so you see I do not need to buy expensive coloured water,

Do you like the colours of my ice lolly makers  My wife bought them at  Lakeland plastics and if you need to see lakeland products go to http://www.lakeland.co.uk/

Allan Raynor started  lakeland  plastics his first venture was making seal-able bags for goat milk that came from the small holdings in the area, then made the polystyrene for green houses.the whole venture became a huge success  and the whole thing was moved to the lake district, another venture that started in a garage  workshop  in Wales a village called Aberhafesp, Nr Newtown, Powys,  the family was one of  our near Neighbours when we lived at Gethin farm  Aberhafesp Newtown

20 th May 2010   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/7767810/Lakeland-voted-Britains-best-shop.html..

The roof , restaurant luxor Egypt

After a day of pain and getting very bored at 17.30 I decided enough is enough and took some of my Ibuprofen 400  tablets.  took a shower  got spruced up  got the camera out and went out for a walk hoping there would be a nice sunset while strolling down the promenade, sounds romantic ! strolling down the promenade!  and that's as about romantic as It got, as soon as I got out the front door  the pain had been numbed by the pills. now its time to be careful . had a walk along the new paving by the temple and saw my favorite restaurant  , why not  I thought  no stairs to climb  3 steps and in the elevator to the roof. and that's where I went   first I ordered a nescafe they make the best in Luxor and I treated myself to a water pipe apple flavour,
the view up there is stunning  so I sat near the front rails. to enjoy the view and the sunset  , then the owner came over and said he had not seen me for a long time ( two years in fact) not that I have not been there, I go there almost once a month  especially when  my wife is here.  he thanked me for mentioning his place on my website.

 then asked if !   I put my hand up ,   I told him If  I get paid even in Kind . I have to put what you say on my story,   and I had told him before I do not put stories on my blog   if I get a bad belly from eating here it will be on the blog,  as most Locals he mistook my meaning and ask when you get a bad belly.  you think  i would be here if I had bad food,  after my pipe and coffee i ordered my meal  and as always it was good  and that's why I still say  the roof is one of the best restaurants for local food,  I also noticed they have wi fi.   and are going to put local Fish  on the  menu,  just because I  asked  , any  samak (fish)  today?  as a joke last time I was there. and if they do put fish on the menu I for one will be eating there more regularly,
 as I was leaving  after paying the bill   for one mixed grill with french fries and local salad and veg, 2 nescafe  2 bubble pipes, and a stunning view with no hassle whatsoever,  If I wanted anything I called the waiter over. a rarity in Luxor,   I hate waiters hovering around  taking dishes before I have finished and having to growl like a dog  if you try and take its bone,      the total bill was 68 egp. the owner asked if I would take some photos of the whole 3 floors   the building is called  Snack time and is run be 2 brothers one is snack time quick food similar to big macs,without the macs ,  but much better as they do not copy what you can buy all over the world  snack time have 2 floors  and the roof is just that  a place where one can go  and relax   have a pipe a coffe  or whatever they make nice fresh juices and Ice cream,  the just eating restaurant is on a lower floor,

and that is what he wants me to photo tomorrow, so i will give you the today's view  with more photos in the next 18 hours or so,  first shot from where I was sitting by the glass panel and rail,

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The view looking towards my flat marked in white,

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The Nile river Looking through the Temple of Luxor 

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From  last months blogspot,

 only difference is where the sun is setting,

The view of the Sunset , Nile and Luxor temple from my favorite restaurant   The Roof.  above Snack Time.

the roof is the best place for good "Egyptian food"  IE   mixed grill 55egp  the only part of the meal not cooked on the open grill are the chips (pomfries) , I try and treat myself once a month,  I am not one for eating out as I like to cook my own food, the view and the food is superb, so if you are in Luxor pay it a visit  just have a tea or one of the coffee's they make,  I do not put places to eat usually on my blogs, but the two I have  , I use on a regular basis for the past 3 years, Puddleduck's on Medinet street  being the other,  and always I get good food and no problems after, which cannot be said for most restaurants here in Luxor.

Camels and bubble pipes

The camels one of the more famous of the animals of Egypt is the camel throughout my blogs they have been featured in different poses one being  my logo photo. and the original shot that was taken in 2004 in the desert area of Dhakla oasis.

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This was one of the first photos I took  while on my first visit back in 2002.  me on the back of the  grumpiest beast I have had the pleasure of sitting on by the pyramids of Giza.

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 One of  my friends   who came with me on my first holiday to Egypt  photo  taken in daraw camel market December the 27th 2002,

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camels  loaded and leaving the Market  photo taken 3.3.2002  when I lived in Daraw volunteering on the eye ear and throat Clinic,

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This shot was taken on the 1st May 20010

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Kittens and camels. as the tourist see.

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Camels that have come all the way from China

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Even camels with batteries in, the only thing they need now is the camel shit to go with the shit that comes out of the stall holders mouths. this guy was a complete  shit wanted 5 pounds cos I took the photo of his stall,

whasup boy no sale today.

 

Some of you may want to know about the sisha pipe?   and maybe you do not wish to know,  so look away now.

Colour coded.

 the red marks are places where there should be no air intake up to the mouth piece

 aqua is the level of water the smoke intake is filtered through,

white is smoke intake drawn  in from the tobacco fire bowl

yellow is intake to the mouth piece..

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The pipe with the hood is for a windy day,        the stone

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Charcoal 

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 Date flavored tobacco.

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the different tobacco flavors  and the chemical charcoal  all on display for the tourist.

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The pipe i use is made from camel hide this does not add flavor to the smoke'

 plastic pipe is used for the tourist they came into use when the swine flue broke. they add a bad plastic taste to the smoke. 

 

these small pipes are useable but the tobacco stone  are useless once the fire heats them up the crack.

look nice for display.

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There must be 500 outlets in luxor for a pipe.

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The dead centre of Luxor

6.30 on a  Tuesday I try and get up early or rather out early to see if there is anything new on the local market stalls, I mean fruit etc,  I usually set off direct through the back lanes that lead to the railway line that has to be crossed to get to the market area. today I took a detour past the mosque to the rear of my flat.  outside most of the mosque's they have these body carrier's  not coffin but similar. and it made one feel its good to be alive,
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Even the tourist market  area was deserted. 

 

But I knew there was life about when I saw this guy fast asleep on the pavement . I knew he was not dead because of the noise he  made,   His mum must have told him never sleep with your shoes on.  most likely this guy got himself some oozo. and slept where he drank it.  lethal stuff  is oozo, brain killer once hooked  you are an alcoholic,  no such thing here in Egypt I here the people  saying, I have seen more alco's here in Egypt than I ever saw in the uk.  and most are Muslim, just like they say no prostitutes here  no drugs here .
as I came back from my walk around the sugar fields, I was watching a woman blow smoke down the poultry,  I know a thing or two about hashish like its used to keep Camels calm in transit on the back of vehicles, with that in my mind I asked A guy:  why was she putting the birds beak in her mouth?
 no fly away he said , and looked at me as if I was dumb,   so at that I thought this old gall has real bad breath or she is on the ganja, and  i got my pocket camera out to take a photo but the battery was dead, so its another must photo for next week, unless the cops raid the place after seeing this blog. they are having a clampdown on drugs here,  and if its true what the papers say  there will be more cops in Jail than thieves,


Hello and where are you off to to so early in the morning.  as I stopped to take this photo there was two in the window frame. you can just see the paw of the camera shy one.

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I just love these old houses and balconies  they all look so sad and unloved, like the people are dead inside of them.

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No open front entrance to this one they live around the back,

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One on a donkey four on a bike and they wonder why there are so many accidents.

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2 on 2 donkeys plus cart plus 2 ton of cement

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the kids will be late for school today, they have to help pull the balloon down.

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 this blog is carried on 

http://egyptswildlife2.blogspot.com/2010/05/birds.html 

Leatherjackets, peas and old wives tales,

This blogspot started from another blog I saw today,  leatherjackets,  no not Hells angels we are talking wildlife  no not hells angels, lets call it   worms,

 Adrians images well worth a visit.

As a child being  brought up on a farm in the 1940s/ 50s  one of my jobs was to clean the  bottom of the garden toilet, as was my Sunday morning chore before chapel my job to cut the weekly paper into 6” squares to wipe the bottom with  after doing ones business in said Toilet, we called it :- Ty bach, :- little house.

And this is where My knowledge of the leather jacket stems from,   my job in the spring was to dig the pea and potato rows, once the row for the peas was ready I had to put the waste from ty bach  in a thin layer to the bottom of the row then a thin layer of soil before planting the seed peas in a  row,  like so  :-:-:-: . ptotoes had manure from the cow sheds  again a thin layer soil and the seed potatoes put in a row 1ft apart, both would be then made into a mound  the peas with a flat top and spuds would be left in a spire.  Then Electric and mains water was brought to the farm in 1951 , and the ty bach  was transformed into a  ty Yr ardd :- garden house, or shed as the English would call it, gone was the days of traipsing down the garden path.  To have a crap.  And so too was the excuse to be by oneself for one reason or another.

 That year of no human manure to put under the peas I had to put  cow manure, at first the peas seemed ok then some  would start  dying off before the pea flowers had formed. As a  child I was quite inquisitive so up came one of the dying plants  and it had club roots. Nothing in them days to find out what caused club roots,  but me I put it down to cow manure. Not the usual thing kids do,  but I found out over that summer what was in cow manure.  And it came about during conker season,     explain:- Horse chestnut put on a string to play the game of conker’s .

And where does cow manure come into it?  My theory was,  find a new cow pat and put the conker in to harden  leave for a few days before making the string hole,  one year I had a tenner, that means I smashed ten other opponents conker’s.     now while sifting through the manure to recover my conker /conker’s. I saw a pile of  white tiny eggs.  And took them to school for the biology teacher  to view,  Ah”  he  said these are moths larvae. Will turn into leatherjackets in the soil and then back into a moth. Not sure if he knew exactly what he was talking about  but the teacher should know,   and soon after my farming days was over.     In the early seventies  we had our first council house and it had a huge plot of land . First we made a flower garden with a huge lawn for the kids to play on.  My eldest then 7 the same age as I was on the farm.  Took a pack of dried peas from the cupboard and soaked them over night ready for cooking into mushy peas, but he emptied the whole packet into a saucepan  during the  night they expanded and over flowing the pan  had to be picked up off the floor.  He then threw them in the garden for the birds, some took root  and some had club root  and my son found out the cause was leatherjackets.

 So I bought a gardening book on fruit and vegetables. And sure enough the cause for club root is Leather jackets eating the new forming roots  leaving the plants stumped, and eventually die off.   That same year we had lots of starlings in our new garden digging into the new laid lawn.  no not shovels!  beaks,  They were after the leatherjackets. The black bird would do a rain dance and up came the worms, thinking it was raining. Then  I phoned the guy who brought our soil the year before we laid the lawn,    where did it come from?           an old farm yard manure pile,  
and that was my  conclusion to club root,       and how old wives tales begin. 

Club root,  what is it,
Clubroot is a common disease of cabbages, radishes, turnips and other plants belonging to the family Cruciferae (mustard family). It is caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, which was once considered a slime mold but is now put in the group Phytomyxea. It has as many as nine races. Gall formation or distortion takes place on latent roots and gives the shape of a club or spindle. In the cabbage such attacks on the roots cause undeveloped heads or a failure to head at all, followed often by decline in vigor or by death. It is an important disease, affecting an estimated 10% of the total cultured area worldwide.

 and from that my theory could have  been right  about the pea,   but then I read this                       
 Do not accept soil from another plot unless it is certified club root disease free
 And read  books properly like,                           leather jackets eat the roots of succulent plants,
The cause of the pea club root  was because farm produce should be rotated , do not grow the same produce in the same plot year after year , 
 

The winds are upon us

I will not say the winds of change

 Hieroglyphs for the Valley of the Kings.

This weather is mentioned on the tablets found in the village of the workers. those who work on the pharaohs tombs rather than trek back from the Valley of the kings over the mountain built a small village on the  plateau

 above the VOK to stay overnight, during the chamsin weather,( winds) today people use this path for pleasure it takes almost 2 hours to trek from   Dier El Medinet     to The  Wadi Maluk.   
Photo taken from my blog  http://myegypttours.blogspot.com/
The path splits  leading to the Vok  and Hapshepsut Temple  my site has many photos of both these 18th dynasty places. built for the Pharaos,
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