MrsDoyle

Get yourself a couple of onions while you’re buying potatoes. Gently cook a sliced half onion in a bit of margarine until it’s nice and soft, then add your chopped up potato, a bit of salt and some herbs (see below), pour water in and cook gently until the potato is done. Soup!

Ideas for getting fresh herbs: trickiest one is visiting a garden centre that sells herbs and casually nipping off a sprig. Rosemary is very tasty and pungent, you don’t need much, thyme is also good. Is there a botanic garden or similar near you? Learn what various herbs look like and go scouting. If you see someone gardening ask if they have herbs, and would they mind letting you have a twig. Again, you don’t need a whole lot. But it makes a big difference to flavour, and is nicer than dried herbs.

I did a lot of shameless scrounging when I was young, including sifting through vegetables discarded by retailers but still ok to eat, but I realise not everyone is up for this kind of malarkey. So think about investing in a packet of basil seeds. Very tasty herb. All else you need is some dirt and an empty margarine tub. Easy to grow basil on your window ledge.

I kissed the blarney stone once, disgusting business. I lay down, half my body hanging out under the parapet, while a man held on to my legs. Reached up my head and put my lips on the stone. What was I thinking?!?

It’s an upper crust thing. A bit old-fashioned as well.

Scotland too: “hen” to women, “pal” to everyone.

Ah. Maybe work up a few phrases explaining your situation ahead of the trip?

Be open, humble, friendly, listen more than you talk. Try and learn a bit about the country you’re in, not to have opinions about it, but to better understand the people you meet. Happy travels!

Brian Cox shows ball and feathers falling together in vacuum: https://youtu.be/E43-CfukEgs