Got to be worth a look at www.schaedz.com if you’re in the market (it’s a bit rainy in Dublin these days to worry about ‘em just now, but kids do love sunglasses !)

Ingredients : (All measures are approximate)

• 3 Cups (approx 700g) Plain flour
• 1/3 Cup (approx 75g) Caster sugar
• 250ml (1/2 pint) Buttermilk
• 2 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 170g – 200g Butter / Margarine
• 225g (generous cup) Dried Mixed fruit / sultanas etc

Utensils:

• Large mixing bowl
• Measuring cups / spoons / jugs
• Baking tray
• Dough cutter or highball glass
• Sieve
• Ideally – pastry / egg-wash brush

Method :

1. Preheat the oven to approx 180c
2. Sieve Flour, Sugar, Baking Powder, Salt, Baking soda into a large bowl
3. Mix gently by hand
4. Dice up the butter/marge and drop into the flour
5. Rub in the butter until the entire mix has a breadcrumb like consistency
6. (Use your fingertips and thumbs to rub the flour and butter together, take your time !)
7. Add in the fruit and mix by hand to ensure no clumps remain
8. Form a well and add in most (not quite all, leave a dribble) of the buttermilk
9. Use one hand to turn the bowl, and the second in a ‘claw’ shape to mix the dough to a consistent texture
10. (Keep the bowl turning in one direction only, and mix gently with the clawed hand)
11. (If the mix is too dry, try adding a bit more buttermilk, if it’s too wet, add more flour, you’ll know !)
12. Once the dough has a good texture, spread some flour on a work-surface and lift it out of the bowl onto the floured surface
13. Knead lightly for about 5 mins, and flatten to approx 1″ (2cm) thick
14. Scatter flour lightly and evenly on the baking tray
15. Dip your dough-cutter / glass rim into flour (to at least the depth of the dough) and cut out your scones, re-flouring cutter and re-kneading the dough into a usable shape as necessary.
16. Place cut scones onto floured baking tray
17. Brush small amount of buttermilk onto tops of scones (helps ‘em brown nicely)
18. Optionally sieve some caster-sugar on top
19. Place in oven to bake for 15 – 20 mins depending on the oven (they’re done before they burn, but after they stop being “squishy”)
20. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool
21. Enjoy !

There is, however, a rather interesting caveat: Citroen (and I believe their sister company Peugeot) have their head-units configured in such a way that despite having a CD-Changer button on the front, and all the right wires at the back – will not recognise an aftermarket cd-changer without a visit (at a cost, you understand !) to the local dealership – who will take the car, and connect it to a diagnostics machine and reconfigure the radio to accept a cd changer.

The mind boggles … if it weren’t for the very neat integration of the C5′s head unit with the higher-up on-dash display, and the steering-column remote control etc, I’d be very tempted right now to just swap it out for a nice aftermarket unit !

Until today though, I could only get either VoIP outbound or PSTN outbound to work, what I’d wanted to do was get it configured so that if I dial normally – I get a regular PSTN call, but if I dial a prefix (9), I get a VoIP call …

(999< :@gw0>|112< :@gw0>|<9:>x.|[0-8]x.< :@gw0>)

Is the dial-plan that worked !

What it means is:
Route calls to 999 (or 112) to gw0 (the PSTN interface), ditto any other calls beginning with the numbers 0 through 8

Any call with an initial digit of 9 has the 9 dropped, and is routed over VoIP

We looked at the options for insulating it, we peeked up after a few weeks in the house, and realised no-one had been up there since the place was re-wired in the 1970s. The insulation was ancient, and might as well not have been there. So, we decided to insulate on the slopes of the roof – to ensure the temp in the attic was reasonable all year-round.

Sheep wool insulation (www.sheepwoolinsulation.ie) seemed an obvious choice. It’s as good as, if not better than fibreglass, and doesn’t need all the protective gear. The guys in Rathdrum are really nice too – happy to talk (even though they’re overworked at the moment) and great to deal with, they even called me the day after the insulation was delivered to check that it had arrived okay !

So far the experience of installing it hasn’t been too bad – hardest part is the climbing around the attic … maybe we should have put the floor down first !!

Went mad on eBay within a week or so of getting it though (it’s a dangerous place when you’re looking for a few toys !) Ended up with three 35mm SLRs as well … One older Canon EOS 300, and two EOS 300Vs !! (One of the Vs was an accident I’ll admit – won an auction I’d thought I was losing due to the winner pulling out.) The 300V is quite a nice 35mm SLR, and makes a nice compliment to the 350D. They share the same lenses (well the 350D can take the new EF-S mounts too but that’s another story).

What really amazes me is that I got the three 35mm ones, for the price of the 300V body-only in some of the local shops. And they all included lenses ! Go figure !

Subscribed to “Amateur Photographer” a UK based photography mag, still haven’t got my first issue, but that’ll arrive soon enough !

Hell – I might even post a picture or three when I get around to doing something with ‘em !

Since we moved into the new house (we got number 10 – did I mention that !!) it’s been all go ! The electrics here were last done in or around 1975, so are a little antiquated … we were making do, until we got Sky+ installed (well worth the money !). The cowboy-installer threw cable up, over the roof (the dish is at the back) and down the front of the house, in through the wall at the front and around the living room! This wasn’t going to do.

So, in a fit of madness, I bought a reel of sat cable, and dug holes through the walls in the house and ran the cable internally. Then decided that network cables would make a nice compliment to the sat cables I was running, and sure, while I’m at it – let’s add a dozen or so extra sockets to the mix. End result being a lot of dust, plastering, hole digging (SDS drills with chisel bits are good !!), and general mayhem.

Getting towards end-game now though. The wiring is mostly done (only the power to the attic and the new bedroom sockets to go now !). Next job – attic flooring !

Wibble ‘s back from his honeymoon – Congrats man !

Michael’s started walking, so we’re in real trouble now !

Dear Friend,

I am Derek Davis and I represent Mr. Mikhail Khordokovsky the former C.E.O of Yukos Oil Company in Russia. I have a very sensitive and confidential brief from this top (Oligarch) to ask for your partnership in re-profiling funds over US$450 million. I will give you the details, but in summary, the funds are coming via Bank Menatep. This is a legitimate transaction. You will be paid 4% for your “Management Fees”.

Write back by email and provide me with your confidential telephone number, fax number and email address and I will provide further details and instructions. Please keep this confidential; we can*t afford more political problems.
Finally, please note that this must be concluded within two weeks. Please write back promptly.

Write me back as soon as you get this mail. I look forward to it.

Regards,
Derek Davis