UKRay

RDB, That sounds truly amazing... I'm on my way; but not 'till I've finished the pile of work that is sitting on my groaning desk. It should only take about 6 months... I'm interested to know what 'B&M beans' might be - is that a brand or a variety? We tend to get good 'ole Heinz or Cross & Blackwell over here. Tell me more about Brownbread - is it what it sounds like, i.e. brown bread or is this yet another regional delicacy I have to add to my list? A 'three pie' supper sounds to die for... in fact I would probably settle for just the pies! Funny you should mention sauces - We tend just to have brown sauce and red sauce over here. Brown is a piquant fruit sauce and red is the ketchup you are accustomed to. There are a number of specialist delicatessens that stock sauces in bottles but I can't say I am too impressed. Do you all make your own sauces for barbecues? Anyone feel like sharing a good 'cue' recipe with a poor sauce-deprived Brit? Forgive me for asking what is obvious to you, but when you have a barbecue how does it go? What is the form? What is it cooked on? How is it served? What comes with it? Who cooks? Is this more a beer or wine occasion? It is very hard to ask more without knowing what the questions ought to be... We don't really have a barbecue culture in the UK - although I know it is starting to happen. I think it has something to do with the weather over here... I need to ask about ranch dressing. We don't have this in the UK but I noticed on my various trips to your fair land that good ranch dressing is always available wherever you eat - east to west - except perhaps in McDonalds, and even they have a variation of it. What is it with ranch? I have worked in the UK with a number of guys from the US and they have all expressed absolute amazement when they weren't given the stuff with their salad. Talking of salads, we are getting a lot better in the UK these days but you may not recognise the Caesar Salad over here... we won't go into details, just don't get too excited if you see one on a menu. Trust me, it won't be the same as you are used to and it certainly won't be as big... Jordan, I'm assuming from your cooking and serving suggestion you come from the south....

Oh My! And is this a seasonal thing Mike? Do I need to re-arrange my trip dates? BTW: I'll ignore the suggestion that anything from the 50s is really old... There was a programme (program) on British TV about noodling recently - is that for real? Catfish? Underwater... but I'm fairly sure those guys didn't wear gloves... I just picked up on this seemingly random comment by Jordan in another thread that seems to fit well right here: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s...5223&st=100 - How would you cook a bucketmouth and what does it taste like? Luke: I'll need to find a spider to take home... we definitely don't have them over here! Tashabear: Apple pie for breakfast... Blueberry dumplings... Am I starting this trip at the wrong end of the country? You'll doubtless be entertained (and maybe a little envious) to know that I will be eating a boiled ham dinner tonight. Explanation needed: the word Yankee seems to be used in a number of ways, both in a positive sense and in a pejorative sense - I need to understand this better. If a person from the south says 'Yankee' they seem to invest a certain 'something' into it. If person from the north says 'Yankee' they seem to be intensely proud of it. Also, I really enjoy watching Steve and Norm build houses on TV and am fascinated by Norm working in the 'New Yankee Workshop' but have never worked out why it is called that. Is it a new workshop or is New Yankee one of those things that 'you have to be there' to understand? Have any of you tried black pudding?

I reckon that will be a trip to remember, Luke. My 'Smokey Mountains fund' is growing with every bit of leather I sell... I just have so much I want to see and do that I don't know where I'll find the time to fit it all in.

Billy P - Hog jowls fried in a bucket or boiled in a trough... Right! After reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitterlings I could barely hold myself back from jumping on a plane to the Carolinas... I hardly like to ask about your 'low country boils', TwinOaks, it sounds like a very nasty medical condition. Perhaps you should take yourself off to the vet? Kate - the saffron is traditional rather than essential. Medieval folk used to like their food to be brightly coloured (okay, colored) and, let's face it, stewed wheat just isn't attractive! see: http://www.history.uk.com/recipes/index.php?archive=6 Stelmackr - cricket is an acquired taste. The Aussies, Kiwis and South Africans have all got to grips with it (far too well in my opinion) and it is only a matter of time before the US realises what it has been missing. A bit like your conversion to proper football (soccer), it is a slow but certain progression. Sumo - who knows? It makes about as much sense to me as American football. Tashabear - you star! Your frumenty variation is superb; but what is 'hard cider' - I think I want some!

As I was saying, we do have some language problems... What are maws? What is a spider (in this context)? What is a wash pot? Just because I've stopped putting surplus letters into some words doesn't mean I understand American... Okay?

THis is one of those 'cultural' experiences I am very pleased we don't have to deal with in the UK - is getting 'skunked' a regular event for people in the US?

Droll, tres droll!

I was only trying to show off how much I had learned...

I wasn't very far under there... just keeping my head down... on reflection I deserved a chewing off, Dave. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I'll try not to say anything like it again ...though I might THINK bad things occasionally... <grin!>

It was not my intention to be patronising, Dave. Apologies if I offended anyone. I'll just crawl back under my rock...

I wholly agree with Billy on this point. LW does help us sell our products but in an indirect way. It helps us to find and utilise marketing strategies that have been tried and tested by others and found to work. It shows us how top leatherworkers finish their work and (I speak personally here) helps us to improve the standard of our own work thus making it more saleable. Now that is quite an achievement. In addition it offers a sympathetic ear when things go horribly wrong, advice when you get stuck and global friendship if you care to accept it. Unfortunately it takes a while before a newcomer recognises what is going on. They have trouble understanding why good people like Art would share their knowledge of sewing machines so freely, why superb carving advice is available from proven experts free of charge - they may also have trouble understanding TwinOak's sense of humor but maybe that is a different issue... Although I definitely wouldn't want LW to exclude anyone and I hate the idea of rules and regulations, I believe newcomers could benefit greatly from sitting back and listening for a good while before throwing themselves into posting. I also wish they would spend a bit of time reading the older posts as these are full of invaluable advice and acquired wisdom. As far as LW being a marketing tool goes, and leaving aside all the technical SEO stuff, I know that my cheapo blog website (check out the link below!!!!) which cost me nothing to build and costs me nothing to maintain has produced a very respectable amount of business this month. Not in direct sales as I don't have that facility, but in enquiries from people who liked what they saw. Now this is the bit that may surprise you, I don't advertise the blog anywhere and as far as I know I don't have any links from any other sites but this one. So where is the business coming from? Go figger! Right now I am building an inventory with a view to trading next year so I don't need huge numbers of sales as that would get in the way of my primary objective - however, I'm not going to turn anything away as long as I still set the deadlines around here! IMHO, if you want to sell your stuff Matt, then begin small and learn everything you can, work out a sound business strategy, write a solid business plan, develop a good marketing strategy based on anything you can pick up and use and build your business to last. Most of all, enjoy what you do 'cos it is a whole lot easier working at something that is fun. Just my 2p worth and you are very welcome to ignore everything I said... <grin!>

Thanks Art, most helpful. Okay, I think I have a tenuous grip on grits... I think we are talking about something akin to gruel. Is this stuff served 'wet' or 'dry'? How do you buy it/them: packets, loose, chunks, bottles? Does anyone know where we might be able to get it/them in the UK? Now one for you: How many of you have tried frumenty? http://www.history.uk.com/recipes/index.php?archive=8 This the stuff they built the Empire on... Boil it too long and you could build a skyscraper on it! Cracklin' is something we 'enjoy' here in the UK. It tends to be sold in pubs as it needs to be 'washed down' with a pint. Pubs also sell a range of crisps, peanuts (salted and dry roast), and what are loosely called bar snacks. In the main, bar snacks are either sandwiches (toasted or plain) or fried food - there is little attempt to foster healthy eating habits on pub clientel. The nearest thing most pubs get to healthy eating is a 'Ploughman's Lunch' - traditionally a chunk of cheddar cheese, a hunk of bread plus butter and pickles. In a posh place you might see a token wilting lettuce leaf and a curling slice of cucumber/tomato. Some hostelries have re-invented themselves as 'GastroPubs' - which name, apparently, has no direct links with the gastro-enteritis you risk by eating at some of them. The GastroPub idea of a Ploughman's lunch is Ciabatta or Focaccia, a green or mixed salad (but you can forget about the 'Ranch' dressing - another UK - US cultural connundrum methinks), a chunk of camembert or brie and a portion controlled pot of sweet pickle. No pickled onions because we all know they give you 'gas' (did I say that right?) and you don't want fetid onion breath all afternoon if you work in a small and crowded office (most offices in the UK are small and crowded because of the price of property which is at least twice that of the US). The average ploughman wouldn't be seen dead in a GastroPub! British pubs are famous for their warm beer, but do you know the difference between bitter, mild, stout and porter? You can often get locally made perry, mead, and cider but unless you know what you are drinking it may be best to approach these with caution. Be aware: getting unsuspecting visitors from overseas 'hammered' on local brews is regarded as a legitimate pub game... Being so close to Europe - please note: Brits do not necessarily regard themselves as part of Europe unless there is some kind of financial benefit such as a grant from the EEC - we also have a wide range of 'foreign' beers which we prefer to call lager. Some of it is drinkable... We also sell Budweiser (both sorts) and a few other US beers that I can't remember - anyone care to help here? Ferret, I think you have a working knowledge of hostelries don't you? What is available in a US bar?

Talking of Jeeves and Wooster, I have just watched a brand new, hour long BBC TV program with Stephen Fry touring the top right hand corner of America (New England and all that entails) and talking to people about what makes their part of the US different from the rest. The answers were fascinating and intriguing. He is heading for the 'deep south' next week - I won't be missing that one! Thanks for the info on grits, TwinOaks. I'm not sure I'm much wiser as we tend to just see sweetcorn over here and that comes in tins. I'm really looking forward to visiting the south next year and sampling all your delicacies. I'm told chitterlings are something to look out for...

, I love those old movie musicals too, but I generally keep it to myself round here... Here are a few links you might find amusing Kate. Just to explain, my grandmother lived and worked in and around the East End of London (she worked in Woolwich Arsenal, making ordnance, during WWII) so I was brought up hearing all kinds of East End (what some might call Cockney, I guess) expressions. My father (who has never even lived in London) is still inclined to use Gran's vernacular when he gets upset... http://www.stmarylebow.co.uk/?Bow_Bells http://www.cockney.co.uk/ Fans of Are You Being Served will enjoy this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/areyoubeingserved/index.shtml Click here for Last of the Summer Wine: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/lastofthesummerwine/ Mushy peas are a Northern institution, Crystal. You can get them almost anywhere they sell fast food and IMHO they are foul... however, here is a recipe. make of it what you will: Mushy peas Serves 4-6 475g frozen peas (I like Birds Eye) 65g butter 6 mint leaves Salt and pepper, to taste 1 Defrost the frozen peas in a large pot filled with cool water — this should take a only few minutes. Strain, shaking off as much excess water as possible. 2 Reserve about one-fifth of the peas.Place the remaining peas into a sauté pan, along with the butter and 50ml water. Cook over a medium heat until all the water has evaporated and the peas are cooked through. If your water is very hard, it would be best to buy some bottled water (or, even better, de-ionized car-battery water) to use when cooking the peas, as this will help to keep their colour bright green. 3 Place the cooked peas into a blender (or use a stick blender) and purée. While blending, adjust the taste by adding the mint leaves and the salt and pepper. 4 Fold in the reserved peas and serve. Yup, same things happen to us, Tashabear, those lifts and elevators, appartments and flats get just as muddled this side of the pond. My favorite is when the author has her Brit character say something that is so profoundly wrong that, despite being perfectly happy with the book up to that point, you wonder if she ever researched anything. Hugh Lawrie - I really couldn't say. Perhaps someone else has an opinion on this? The picture below is of St Mary le Bow Church - home of Bow Bells.

I do believe that if you are caught 'hidin' and hoardin' they lock you up and throw away the key...

Surely grit is for putting on roads and oatmeal is a type of biscuit (not cookie unless they are those homemade ones that are all spread out and have cinnamon and raisins or come in a packet marker 'Maryland' and have chocolate chips in 'em) but cream of wheat and hominey? What on earth is that? As far as porridge is concerned, I can't imagine how the Scots would survive without it. I'm partial to a bowl of podge with a sprinkling of brown sugar and a drop of cream myself - on a good day you might even get a shot of whisky to mix in... What on earth ARE grits? Deep fried Oreos might be too much of a good thing? Hmmm? We'll settle for deep fried Mars bars and chips (not fries) with curry sauce and mushy peas. No seriously, mushy peas... The dental thing is definitely worth a mention. Huge generalisation here, but British kids tend to have far more 'interesting' <grin!> looking teeth than US kids. IMHO (and i'm prepared to be shouted down by the other Brits) cosmetic dentistry is seen as more for those who lose teeth in an accident than for those who want to look good. Braces are more common these days but hardly prevalent. Walking is just part of British culture as you can never find a place to park... actually, I live about 4 mins walk from the market square in Ludlow and my favorite pub is on the same route. The nice thing is that pubs are changing character now smoking is banned. You can get a decent cup of coffee in most pubs now and the food has improved dramatically. hey, even a ploughman would eat in one now! I do envy you the diversity of culture in the US. The Mennonite or Amish religions are all but unknown here in the UK. Swan Vestas and fags need to be seen so here is a video clip for your enjoyment - just look at the typical British scenery. The trains are different these days and smoking is banned but many railway stations are exactly the same as the one in the picture.Sadly, the late Jack Wild wasn't a cockney, he was actually born in Lancashire, but if you liked the original film of Oliver just take a look at this video clip. It will bring back all kinds of memories: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9g99F_MSdk My Fair Lady was a cracker of a show, but generations of stage Eliza Dolittle's have contributed precious little to Cockney heritage. I can't think of a single Eliza who was actually born within the sound of Bow Bells (and that is another rash stament I could live to regret!) You were spot on with the spelling of shooting brake, Kate. I'm far from knowledgable about cars but would define it as a luxury two door estate car but some would say the old Morris Traveller was a kind of shooting brake and there is little in the way of luxury in an old Moggie. Wikipedia says: Shooting-brake is a car body style originally used to describe bespoke versions of 2-door luxury estate cars built for use by hunters [1] as well as golfers, riders, polo players and other sportsmen. In modern usage "Shooting-brake" generally refers to any 2-door hatchback with a squared-off rear, although some manufacturers have referred to other types of vehicles as a "Shooting-brake".[2] The body was usually custom built. An early manufacturer of shooting brakes was Albion Motors of Scotland. There are existing examples of custom-built Bentley S2, Mercedes 300, and also the Aston Martin DBS Shooting Brake. VG, a small US coach builder, offers a model named VGD Shooting Brake Too late Shirley, our Luke has already told me he likes 'Last of the Summer Wine' but what do the rest of you think? Does the lovely Nora Batty and her wrinkled stockings do it for you? Love that truck Clay!!!

No anti-anything intended I promise. Just a whole lot of very funny stuff that doesn't get aired anywhere near often enough. I can see that our use of the word 'fag' would amuse and entertain but what is all this about highways and freeways - are they the same or different? The letters S & Z can be an issue and we do tend to say 'zed' rather than 'zee'. Complicated isn't it? I'm delighted to discover restrooms but am disturbed by the idea of chicken and chips on newspaper - fish and chips on newspaper certainly, but chicken and chips in a basket if you please! That 'backhoe' is a JCB and the archaeology guy's name is Tony Robinson - did anyone see him as Baldrick in Blackadder?

Today is already half over for me but after breakfast I enjoyed a walk up to the town square to see the book and craft market and pick up a dozen yew wood pegs that I use as bag fasteners. A lovely old guy turns them on a lathe out of wood he picks up in Mortimer Forest. I like the idea of using local materials whenever I can. Just planted up some bulbs in the garden ready for the spring and spent a few minutes of pleasurable pontification elsewhere on the forum. I have a bag and a belt to complete then next stop the pub; but home in time for a new weekly TV program about all the US states - effectively a guy travelling through each state commentating on what he finds. It should be fascinating! 'Get rid of old ammo' day sounds like fun... We don't tend to do that sort of thing over here! <grin!>

I have no particular point to make here, other than I really enjoy UK/US cultural differences. A conversation on another thread led me to think about these and I wondered if, maybe, it worked both ways. We Brits see a huge amount of American TV and often see really exciting stuff and hear language that we simply don't understand or recognise. Does this ever happen to you? For example: I have absolutely no idea what the difference is between a freeway and a highway although I have travelled on both - we have lanes, roads, streets and motorways over here. We also have alleys but they tend to be for pedestrians and cyclists these days. You US guys have amazing huge pickup trucks that simply wouldn't fit onto our tiny roads. I even saw a camper that fitted onto the load bed of one of those trucks (in a film with Clint Eastwood) but it was years before I saw one in the UK. I have still only seen a handful over here and they still excite me and I want one so bad it hurts - but I probably couldn't afford to buy one and I have no idea where I could use it as it would probably require a wide load sign and a flashing light on top to make it street legal. You may be amused to know that when I first read about Hershey bars along with Twinkies and A1 Steak sauce, I put them on my list of very exciting things to see and do as soon as I made a trip to the US - in some instances, reality didn't come anywhere close to matching the expectation. How can anyone eat a whole Twinkie? I still don't know what Oreos and Cheerios taste like but I can't wait to find out! The 'bathroom' issue is one that is actually making a transatlantic leap as traditionally Brits have tended to use a number of words for the good old 'John' - top contenders are lavatory, toilet and loo. Unfortunately the word you choose often tends to give a clue as to your class; another concept that doesn't seem too prevalent in the US. Bathroom doesn't have any class connotations and so finds favour with those climbing the social ladder. Does class actually exist in the US? One thing I have noticed is that some Americans can get confused by the concept of Cockneys (people born within the sound of Bow Bells in London - further explanation available on request!). Using rhyming slang is not typical British behaviour. Dick van Dyke did us no favours with his painful portrayal of a cheerful cockney chappie in Mary Poppins and various notable US novelists have ruined otherwise excellent books by misuse of British English. Have you noticed any British writers doing the same to you? Spelling is another painful source of confusion. We Brits add the letter U to all kinds of words (colour, flavour etc.) not, as it may seem, to irritate Americans, merely because that is the way we have always done it and things take a while to change over here. What else do we do that irritates or entertains? What differences have you noticed? Are there British films and TV programmes that amuse you? Did you ever see: 'One man and his dog' which was all about working sheep dog trials or 'Last of the Summer Wine' or any Ealing comedy? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/281298.stm BBC 1 Man & His Dog DVD The first official footage of 1 Man & His Dog ever to be released by the BBC !! This 2 disc DVD features excerpts of THIRTY years of the best of One Man & His Dog from the very first episode with Phil Drabble to current day, also the 2005 Christmas Special on Disc 2. Fronted by Ben Fogle, also features "The Best Of ... including single, brace and young handler clips", Meet the Presenters, How to Whistle". 189 mins running time, highly recommended. Thirty years worth of working sheep dogs and instructions on how to whistle? Hmmmmm! What else do we Brits do, if anything, that makes you laugh or is a complete mystery?

Now that would be a carpenter's hammer right? I just had a feeling it could be one of those esoteric and faintly exotic words that one might only hear in the US and which we Brits find so fascinating - much like using the word 'gullet' when talking about saddles - that one fascinates me as well. Wassa gullet guys?

Now you've hurt my feelings, Davy... one minute I'm a legend and now I'm not. Have you any idea what stuff like that that can do a guy? ROFL!!!!

Please excuse my ignorance, RDB, but wassa 'hammer hock'?

They definitely aren't better than yours, RDB, But they are a bit different. I got a small order so I made a few extra cases to see if they would sell. For such a small item they are incredibly labor intensive and I can clearly understand why you made yours the way you did.

Thanks muchly, Twinoaks - this will do very nicely! (see picture) Not wishing to seem in any way ungrateful for the idea, but I would be very happy to see any other styles before I set about cutting leather... Is anyone making anything different?

Well said, Kate. Long live freedom of speech and thought. Now isn't it time for us all to move on to better things - what happened to all the lovely leatherwork? This pointless nonsense is using up valuable LW bandwidth!