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Hello, Elle!
Going out sometime after 11.10.
Miss O finishes work at 11.00 and shall collect La Bamba and me.
Should be good!

Hi, Rusty!
Great! Have fun!
I'm just away out to feed the fish.....
I haven't killed it off yet.....

Hello, Elle!
Was at Pine Cone.
Had a nice time!
They have erected another wooden building adjacent to the cafe for folk with dogs.
It has large water bowls etc for the dogs to drink from.
Very doggie friendly!
The Times puzzle seems a bit easyish today?

Hi, Rusty!
Good to hear you enjoyed your outing with the girls!
The Pine Cone goes from strength to strength, doesn't it?
That is an excellent idea to have a dog -friendly section - I should expect it to bring in a lot more custom?
We could do with that here!
Yes, I thought the Times 15 x15 very reasonable today - but then, strangely, I always do on Saturdays, don't I?
I wonder why this is?
All filled in, but three (I think it was) to parse fully.
I shall worry at them for a while, though, before seeking help!
The Jumbo GK was also easy! Very disappointing!

Hello, Elle!
Yes, a good idea for folk with dogs.
There are photos of the family dogs on the walls.
It is unusual!
I had a blether with the lady in charge.
She hopes to expand the kitchen, too.
The Pine Cone is a wee gem out in the countryside.
My granddaughters love it, too!
(They had toasties, today)
I thought the Times puzzle was too easy for a prize crossword.
But, your skills are improving too, Elle!
You'll soon be rattling through them.
"Pay through the nose?"
Where did that come from, I wonder?

Apparently rusty, it came from a Viking punishment for those who wouldn't or couldn't pay their taxes, splitting their nose the full length. Not sure I believe that, though.

Paying on the nail was just that, they had a post or table in corn and perhaps other exchanges, like wool, with a large nail hammered in and people literally put the agreed sum on the nail.

No messing with them Vikings, Rosalind!
I shall hunt out my trusty Brewer's to see what they reckon.
Was there some sort of payment "on the barrel"?
Seems to be floating about at the back of my mind.

Apparently Balor the Giant in Ireland did the same thing for the same reason. Didn't know people had to pay taxes 1,500 BC!!

Hi, Rusty!
I like toasties too! especially cheesy ones!
I had a look in Brewers, but Ros was, of course, spot on with her info about "paying through the nose!!
I could find noting new to add to that!
Nor anything about "paying on the barrel"......in either Chambers or Brewers.
But I did uncover this by googling......
"Cash on the barrelhead" - very similar indeed to what you were thinking of - is a term surmised by lexicographer Charles Earle Funk to have originated in the days when upended barrels served as both seats and tables in bars, and customers were required to pay for their drinks immediately, literally putting their money on the top (head) of a barrel.
How about that? Your "inkling" was correct!
I am now going to do some tennis viewing......then later I shall watch the Lausanne DL Highlights.
What are you up to?

Investigating cut noses further, I found that "cutting off your nose to spite your face" (yuk!) may have originated from nuns cutting off their noses to prevent their being raped when barbarians as it were, were at the gate. So they got locked in the church and set on fire. But they did die virgins, as they'd wanted.
Ye gods!
How could anyone cut off their own nose?