Saturday, January 13, 2007

Much recovered - tablets, hot-pad, rest

Pleased to be able to report improvement. Loads of tablets, hot-pad, changing between 'standing up' - 'sitting-down' - 'lying-down' - standing up' again, about every ten minutes. Or thats how it seemed yesterday. Plus, of course, lots of TLC from Y, and the occasional "Poor darling" and I feel OK.

I was allowed my statutory 'playtime' in the kitchen this morning and decided on beef-casserole, or stew as we used to call it. A lb and a half of excellent shin from Peter (little more than 2 level tbspn of trimmed off waste) plenty winter veg. and it turned out first rate.

Had a nice chat to Steve and he acknowledges he owes me a £1 bet, over who was the author of some software. But I shan't take his £1 because I was 100% certain of the answer. It has been a life-rule only to take winnings when there was some doubt about the issue. If you absolutely KNOW you are right, it seems too much like theft to accept somebody's money.

Picture 2 is included because I did it for a photographic forum, where there had been discussion about a very expensive Nikon lens with which it is possible to selectively focus and blur the rest.

Henry's portrait was published to demonstrate how easy it is to achieve a similar result in Picasa, with just a couple of clicks. Didn't go down too well and it was pointed out that the actual lens had other facets too. I replied that at my age I was into cheap (if slipshod) solutions.

Bob rang to see how I was, which was very thoughtful of him.

"Watchman, how goes the night?" -

(Shakespeare) but I'm not sure which play. You can look it up yourselves.

We also had a call from Tim Drapers who are taking us to Llandudno to say we would be picked up at 8.50am. Lovely time of the day and we shan't get the feeling we are setting off in the middle of the night. It will be well light. And isn't it great that it is now noticeably lighter? It gets to 4.30pm before dusk falls.

Nice sandwich again to look forward to, but I don't think there is a 6pm news on BBC1 on a Saturday to go with it. There is aways BBC 24 though, which we quite like. By the way, I had a good letter from the BBC dealing with my complaint about the 'execution' and they made excellent points. I was also referred to BBC 24 editor's blog, in which he had discussed the pros & cons in some depth and explained his thought-processes. Everybody is at it ! David tells me that a whole quarter of people who use the internet now run blogs ! I somehow sensed this would happen and am pleased that I was an early starter.

.... This is me tomorrow. Well - perhaps the day after...............

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Although frequent and regular cups of tea are useful rehabuilditation tools and the occasional sandwich shouldn’t do any harm, I do hope that Yvonne won’t overdo the TLC. As some famous woman (?) once said (Elizabeth Fry?, Florence Nightingale?, Eleanor Roosevelt?, Lenin?) and I paraphrase:
“Practical assistance is what is needed. The giving and receiving of excessive sympathy is to be discouraged as it so often provokes self-pity.”
Sandra is a brilliant exponent of that tenet, in both directions. Swiftly tacking; following laboratory analysis of a blood sample, her allergies have been more clearly defined. No venison, no cereal except oats and rice*, very few pulses (no soya), nothing from cows' milk, no cod or sole – but mussels and prawns are OK as is pasta (*durum wheat apparently slips through) and potatoes and all veg and fruits apart from pineapple and grapefruit. I made a rice pudding (Sat) using coconut milk (no butter) and she quite liked that, as I did, although it was far too sweet.

I think all gambling debts should be paid/collected. I say that because one cannot ever be absolutely sure. For many years I would have willingly bet anyone hundreds of pounds in absolute certainty that Glen Ford Starred in ’12 Angry Men’. I still see him when I think of it, even though I have had it proved beyond doubt that it was Henry Fonda.


If I ever need to know how to blur most of a photo of a vacuum cleaner I will seek your advice. I remember learning how to do it in Photoshop at Northern College but have never felt the need to practise the skill. But you never know!


Macbeth, I thought, or possibly Hamlet. But then, I would gladly have put money on another quote (’… as through a glass darkly’) being from the former - until quite recently when I found it is from the bible. And guess what?
"Watchman, how goes the night?" -
not quite:
"Watchman, what of the night?" (Iasiah, Ch 21, v11)

After our telephone conversation, I am a little surprised that you didn’t mention the fat dog. You make a good point on the chicken/egg aspect of the story.
Ralph, having been a very moderate eater for over 12 years is now constantly on the lookout for bags or boxes of chips or chocolates or biscuits or bread; and those Labradors are notably ‘dustbin dogs’ anyway.
Ralph has also become a destroyer of newspapaers; any left lying around on chairs etc are regarded as essential nest building material.


I would be interested in seeing your letter from the BBC (and your letter of complaint).
I complained to them today for showing people dancing the ‘Hokey-Cokey’ in 1915 (episode 1 of ‘Lilies’ on BBC 1, Friday night) when, in its modern form, it was unknown until the 1940s (according to all references I could find on the net).

If everbody else is going to be blogging, I shan’t bother.