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Of course, that's all academic as most of my shoes / boots are black anyway .

How many have steel toes? How many have spikes on their soles? Do any have heels so high that you have to rock your pelvis forward just to stand up? How many are dead flat? How many are absurdly tight in the toes as a fashion statment? Your footgear reveals your soul!

So, as we did with sleepwear, we are now all waiting to hear the details of Cat's footwear! Come now, Cat, reveal!!

Ok, but remember you asked! I have 10, I think, but until last month I only had 6. They are, however, mainly functional - and all have a sole that actually grips (I don't know how women can walk in shoes with soles like polished wooden floors). They're all non-leather too.

A comprehensive list for your viewing pleasure :

1 pair riding boots
1 pair brown walking boots
1 pair semi-formal sandals with small, blockish heel (given to me)
1 pair monk shoes
1 pair black clog-type shoes with platform heel
1 pair court(?) shoes that were given to me and I've never worn, but keep in case I need them for job interviews etc.
1 pair Derby boots (look like DMs, but can't get proper non-leather DMs anymore)
1 pair fleece-lined ankle boots for winter
1 pair suede-look ankle boots
1 pair calf-length ankle boots
(last two for wearing with skirts or dresses when my beloved clodhoppers won't do).

I really wanted this pair (note the link to a past bluffing game!) and this pair, but the former had the aforementioned polished soles and I couldn't justify the expense for the latter when I'd just bought another lace-up pair - maybe next year .

I bought the last four a few weeks ago, with a tax rebate I got last year. They're classic styles so, as long as they last as well as the walking boots (4 years so far, and still going strong!), I won't have to buy any more for ages - I'm not a fan of shoe shopping.

Cat, who doesn't do things by halves

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Originally posted by Cat:Lol - good job I know you're joking Doad, or I'd be on the next Northbound train with my self-refuting-argument-destroying hammer of doom! (Note I said hammer and not rolling pin, as I possess the former but not the latter).

That is quite an image you've given me Cat. Once I've been given a good seeing to with a hammer no doubt I would be trampled on with a variety of practical shoes.

I aknowledge that you are a 'new age' women in owning a hammer but I still find it sad that you don't own a rolling pin. There is symbolised the death of home cooking. Oddly enough (before I'm challenged on it) I do own a rolling pin and I use it more than my wife. I must be a 'new age' man who is 'in touch with his feminine side'.

There is symbolised the death of home cooking.

Surely the English themselves killed cooking sometime in their past.

Ah, you're really getting the hang of this now Jheem It's certainly a funny statement coming from an American citizen!

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There is symbolised the death of home cooking.

What, because a woman acknowledges not owning a rolling pin? Would you make said comment if Bob or RE had made the same statement? You're in trouble now! *Sharpens base of hammer handle for extra pain infliction*. For your information, Mr New Man, I cook all the time. And I used to bake a lot - I make a mean carrot cake!

I recently bought some new mixing bowls so I can get back to it. Which means, of course, that if I want to recommence making quiches and pies, I'll have to buy a rolling pin .

you're really getting the hang of this now

Thank you. I must show restraint though or I may very well alienate myself.

British food and cooking (like British public transport) is much maligned (usually by the British themselves) and it does not deserve it.

I have travelled extensively and I know from personal experience that it is just not true that we do not know how to cook. Some of our restaurants, serving traditional British food, stand comparison with the best that the rest of the world can offer.

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You're in trouble now! *Sharpens base of hammer handle for extra pain infliction*.

I've gone and put my foot in it again haven't I, now I'm really in trouble

Actually, I wasn't trying to make a sexist remark at all and certainly not making an attack on your good self Cat, I'm far too scared of you for that! I was merely pointing out that as more women have had to go to work, either by necessity or desire, it has inevitably left less time for those activities that were traditionally the role of the woman. That is not women's fault and I wouldn't want to chain them to the kitchen but it is a fact that in the majority of homes in this country more and more of the food we consume is ready made, pre-packed rubbish. I have very fond memories of all the wonderful dishes created by my mother and Grandmother who baked all the time. I wonder what memories our children will have when they grow up? Will thet fondly remember the Birds Eye beefburger and oven chips we heated up for them? I think not. That is why it is a shame and it is the fault of the way society has developed in general rather than anything done, or not done, specifically by women.

As for Richards point about the quality of British cuisine, I can only agree up to a point. It is certainly true that there are some British restaurants that serve quite superb food but I think that the important word in that sentence is 'some'.For a lot of people British cuisine is fish and chips at the local chippy, bland Mothers Pride white bread and various poor quality pork pies. Much the same could be said of America where there is also some excellent food to be found amongst an awful lot of rubbish. I find the food of the Far East of a much better quality in general and while I'm not a huge fan of French cooking I would concede that the general standard of what they produce is very good indeed when looked at objectively (or as objectively as anyone can).

Much the same could be said of America where there is also some excellent food to be found amongst an awful lot of rubbish.

Oh, I find most of what passes for cuisine in the States to be hideous. I must admit that the general cuisine in the UK has improved between my first visit in 1976 and my penultimate one in 2002. (As some of you know my last trip to Great Britain was quite short and did not involve any eating, just drinking.)

But I still remember some meals prepared at the homes of friends and relatives in the UK with horror: e.g., tinned spaghetti on toast and overly boiled cabbage and some kind of overcooked chop. On the other hand, when in London, as in San Francisco, there is a plethora of fine ethnic eateries: e.g., Indo-Pakistani, Greek, Italian, French.

Wait! Hold on! You 'use' your rolling pin more than your wife? Just how often, if you don't think it impertinent, do you use your wife? Did anyone else read that this way? Sorry.

Is steak and kidney pudding the same as steak and kidney pie?

Snake and pygmy pudding (as we called it as kids) is made with a suet based outside whereas in a pie it is made of pastry.

Much of the developed world has succumbed to the lure of McDonalds and similar kinds of fast-foods. It's not just Britain.

One important exception is France, where the tradition of good food, made from fresh produce purchased daily from local markets, is still very much alive. That is not to say that all French food is good; simply that, in general, the French take more notice of food - it is more than simply a necessity of life.

And incidentally, spaghetti, tinned or otherwise, is not a British foodstuff - albeit it is very commonly eaten. And jheem is right; London is now one of the best cities in the world in which to eat - as well as being the best city in the world in which to drink. And I'm going there in a few minutes!

Besides Jose Bove in France, there is the Slow Food Movement, which, though international, started in Italy. Also, good reading after a nice meal: Fast Food Nation; and, good viewing: Super Size Me. Bon appétit!

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Cat, I'm far too scared of you for that!

What? Little me?

Very good. Carry on .

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Originally posted by amnow:You 'use' your rolling pin more than your wife? Just how often, if you don't think it impertinent, do you use your wife?

Thank you Amnow, I laughed a great deal at that. Clearly the funniest things we say are the ones we're not aware of. In order to keep Cat sweet I can only respond that I never 'use' my wife at all because I have far too much respect for that worthy group of people categorized as 'women'.

Thank you for allowing me to carry on Cat, I am eternally and humbly grateful (tugs forelock, bows and backs away slowly)

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(tugs forelock, bows and backs away slowly)

[teasing]Where did you find a forelock to borrow, dearie?[/teasing]

Being folically challenged as I am it was clearly a metaphorical tug of the forelock to illustrate my lowly position in relation to Cat (at least while she has the hammer, boots and short temper ).

When I was in my early to mid 20's it really bothered me that I was going bald but it doesn't matter at all now. It's alot easier in many ways. Now, if I need to brush it in the morning I simply cut it instead and that's me sorted for a while. I also save a fortune in shampoo. I like to explain my baldness as due to the huge number of male hormones I produce, clearly making me a real stud muffin. This explains the need for my solar panel, because I'm an ecologically powered sex machine.