As promised, a picture of my ex-flatpack Ikea computer desk. At the moment it looks uncomfortably tidy - for me! But, give it time - give it time.Its name is Goliat, and the bookcase is Billy. I do hope they get on.
Our first commitment this morning was Y's eye test at Spec Savers and she reports that they were meticulous. After checking the charity shops while she was 'done' I helped her choose frames and then left her to go down town while I made my way over to the Council Offices to do my first stint of Exhibition sitting. The final display, of both Art Club and Photography Club, really looks good and before it is taken down I will try a 'record shot'. I thought I would be sitting single handed and took radio, newspaper, book etc but in fact I was double-crewed with Reg - and Alan from the Art Club arrived too. So a fun time and good conversatrion was enjoyed by all and we atracted 27 visitors, all of whom genuinely seemed impressed. I've a sneaking fear that that is a 'split infinitive' or something.
Picture 2 is Echinacea, or 'purple coneflower' and we have quite a large clump which are just starting to flower. It has a quality whereby the centre seems to glow. If that doesn't come over I shall try again in better light. Around 5am would be ideal - so I must remember in the morning.I know they are the basis for a popular herbal remedy. Should we chew them, brew them or stew them I wonder? And what would it cure us of?
Madeline corrected her 'negroids' to 'nigroids' and I am reassured that she also, considered them to be 'sweets'. During the war real sweets were virtually non-existant. I remember some, name unknown, about an inch long which looked like coloured blackboard chalk. The texture and flavour was like that too.
While we are on the subject of 'comments' Jill gave me permission to 'blog' her e-mail about their house-sitting in the New Forest. I am pleased that she is willing for me to do so because it is a lovely account and my view as 'editor' is that the comments and other people's contributions add enormously to the 'blog' and prevent it deteriorating into a sort of 'Hi' letter. (Jill's letter can be found in the 'comments' column).
From my Office window I have a clear view of the Wednesday evening motor-cyclists who I understand all meet at The Boat at Shipley. Although I don't get a clear or close view I can see enough to spot some gorgeous and potent machines. I suppose - once a biker etc.....
Nothing from the house re-viewers and potential hagglers so I think we can assume that they found a dfferent place which suited them better. Not to worry. I am going over to Boughton to see Bungus tomorrow lunchtime, and then collect Y from Burton Joyce. Then on Friday I am Exhibition sitting again. My new Logic DAB radio is great. Mono - but as I only listen to the spoken word the absence of stereo concerns me not at all. In fact I suspect that one bigger speaker is better than 2 little ones? Madeline will have a view because she is defininitely into 'heavy metal' and the like.
A 'smiley' for Madeline. Sleep tight everyone. Catch you tomorrow.
Dear Yvonne and Graham,
ReplyDeleteWe really enjoyed our rural retreat for three weeks, but would NOT like to live there - a five mile round trip to get the paper every morning would put us off for s start (life is not the same without the D.Tel.). We gorged on raspberries from the garden, plus peaches from the greenhouse. Visited stately homes - gardens at Motisfont are gorgeous, there are some interesting paintings in the house but no info about them, they are not made much of. Kingston Lacey has huge grounds, very impressive house, both do good lunches. The day we were there there was a group of school children being shown how to wash clothes in a tub with a wash-board and Reckitt Blue by a lady in traditional (not sure which) costume, the children were fscinated, we heard a boy say 'I didn't know you could do it by hand, I thought you had to have a machine'.... Both places did very good lunches. Somerset pork in cider with interesting veg, hot beetroot and broad beans (neither of which I like) in one and a very decent chicken/ham/leek pie in the other - a proper pie, with meat cooked in the pastry - in pubs twice we had steak pies with consisted of braised meat with a separate disc of pastry. That is NOT a pie).
We have friends Jean and Ben who live about 15 miles away, we saw a lot of them which was a bonus, usually only a couple of times a year. We met up in these various places, pubs, Ringwood etc.etc.
Cottage was most comfortable with excellent lighting (our children seem to go in for the 'dim' approach). I enjoyed the tennis - I wanted the Serb to win, Dokovic (?) skipping quickly through your blog (I know, I know, it deserves to be read very thoroughly but I had a lot of catching up to do) I see that Y enjoyed watching him play too.
I think I could eventually learn to love the Aga (only thing to cook on) but it would take time.....I did make some decent casseroles, a roast, a rice pudding, but it was the timing of the veg that I got wrong, and I seemed to spend a lot of time moving hot heavy things around, 3 ovens (very hot, hot and simmer) and two hot-plates (hot and simmer). With no temperature controls you just moved these special v.heavy pans about. The beast was on 24/7 (oil fired) and gave out large amounts of heat all the time, seemed a waste (except on chilly mornings) and when it was warm it made the kitchen (large, farmhouse sort) so hot I could see why they needed an air.con. unit. And I missed a grill. But you could leave a casserole in there all day in the simmer oven, it didn't dry up (if anything it improved) which has its uses. I wouldn't want one now, but when there were six of us at home eating at different times etc. it would have been good, and I was younger then and wouldn't find all the moving about so arduous!
Thank you for your last e-mail - Mac continues to improve, I now have to have a gen anaesthetic and stay in hosp. overnight, op. has got bigger/take longer than first envisaged. 27th is the day.
Sorry to read about Steven - pneumonia is a nasty thing, lays you low for weeks (months in my case, but Steven is young!) and I think more vulnerable to another infection, so do tell him to be careful and not overdo it.
I took lots of photos, will get them into computer hopefully this week. A bonus with the cottage was the bird garden, a separate part about 40 ft. by 20 ft, given over to bird/insect loving plants, three bird feeders, a bird table and two birdbaths, and a little feeder thing that fitted onto the window - you could sit there and watch the small birds from about 18 ins. away. The usual sorts of birds, blue, great and cole tits, chaffinch and greenfinch and goldfinch, house sparrows, starlings,. blackbirds, robin, song and missel thrushes, a pair of greater spotted woodpeckers looking very exotic, a nuthatch, a pheasant, and one day while I was sitting watching a kestrel zoomed into the garden heading straight for the window to grab a feeding blue tit, at the last minute the little bird shot into the thick beech hedge and the kestrel swerved away - they are jolly big close to, and I thought he was coming through the window.
Incidentally you may forward any or all of this to Bungus, on or off blog......
am off to see Posh Beckham, am fascinated by her.....
Love to you both, Jill
Having hunted high and low, we have, between us, run down Melloids, Imps, Nigroids and Tabu (from Italy); all apparently similar products but some no longer available; Aah!
ReplyDeleteThat said, I cannot accept that Iron Jelloids were EVER considered as sweeties.
Let not RadioG think he is the only one capable of research.
I would not wish any readers to think that I am partisan or prejudiced. Therefore, as my old dad would have said, I ‘loooked in the boook’ and discovered (in the spirit of Tuesday’s quote):
THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE VEGEMITE GANG
A disproportionately large number of early ‘immigrants’ to the east coast of Australia hailed from East Staffordshire. Undoubtedy homesick, the two things they most missed, apart from oatcakes, were Bass and Marmite (the brewery and factory being next door neighbours in the centre of Burton-on-Trent).
The only substitute for the first was Weasel PPP Lager (the initials believed, by gentlefolk, to mean ‘Pretty Painfully Poor’). The surplus yeast from this inferior product of the Botany Bay Brewery was all that they had with which to attempt a simulation of their beloved breakfast spread.
In the erroneous but common belief that Marmite also contains a proportion of decaying ‘Rutabaga’ (better known as ‘Swede’ by Waitrose customers, ‘Neeps’ by inhabitants of the wild lands to the north, and ‘Tonnips’ to Mansfield folk) they also introduced a considerable variety of rotting native root vegetables to the mix, although the recipe has evolved somewhat over the years.
It was better than nothing, and several of them survived. Publicity and Sales were handled on behalf of the manufacturers by the persuasive Edward Kelly, which led to a rapid gain in notoriety and popularity, although the advertising slogan ‘My Cobber Vegemite’ did not have the ring of ‘My Mate Marmite’ and never really caught on.
In those days, as older readers will remember, even the criminals were honest and early Vegemite labels bore the label: ‘A PPP Imitation’.
Aussie proselytisation for Vegemite is akin to the insidious American promotion of ‘Cream of Wheat’.
I used to think,
“That Cream of Wheat sounds delicious. I would love to try it”.
Fortunately, before it ever reached my mouth, I had discovered that it was nothing more than Semolina, that foulest of WWII school puddings (we only survived those darkest of days on the promise of something better).
TO TODAY'S BLOG
Goliat looks a bit impressive. But what does David think?
I don’t think “all of whom genuinely seemed impressed”, is a 'split infinitive'. I think “all of whom seemed genuinely impressed”, could be. But I think "Of whom, all seemed genuinely impressed", might be better.
I am not convinced it is worth worrying about. Better to boldly go….
Echinacea certainly sounds as though it should be a medicine. Something like Bile Beans or Iron Jelloids perhaps? I suggest you try making a tea. But let someone else drink it first.
See my opening remark for 'nigroids' etc. The substitute sweet I remember best is ‘chewing wood’ (ie, licorice root). Richmal Crompton’s (Just) William (Brown) made a drink from it. I think we all tried and it was foul. And just before the war we had ‘Tiger Nuts’ and ‘Locust Podge’ which were traditionally scooped up from under the cat in the window bottom of the shop. They were very dusty, but sweet and tasty.
I have commented directly on Jill’s letter which I greatly enjoyed.
I never knew that you were a biker!
I have only ever ridden pillion.
I don't know about one bigger speaker being better than 2 smaller ones. I use 5.1 surround sound on here, turn up the volume and the place really rocks! Great for Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Metallica et al! I also use a smaller, portable radio/CD player which has built in stereo speakers and an excellent base boost, again excellent for heavy metal listening as well as for some classical music - orchestras can be very loud!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the smiley, it's lovely!
I had a motorbike accident, years ago before helmets were compulsory. Fortunately, I'd borrowed a helmet from a lad at work, but felt very guilty handing it back to him with a large dent in it! Could have been my head though; sometimes I wonder if it gave me 100% protection! I was riding pillion by the way. On another occasion, a different boyfriend terrified me by doing 104mph up the M4 with me on the back. I've never been keen on motorbikes since then.
Glad I don't live too close to Madeline!! There's not much worse than other people's music.
ReplyDeleteNot that i am questioning her taste although my predilection is for jazz and swing. But I only put something on about once a quarter; sertainly not more than once a month. Currently it's Amy Winehouse. I play it while at the PC if I think about it.