We had a superb WoWday at Ilam Hall in Derbyshire. The light was terrific and my main picture purpose is to try to convey the grandeur of the place.If you open the link you will see a picture by Joe Cornish of a few trees set in grassland which could be anywhere. Whilst technically excellent, in my opinion, it says nothing about the Park.
Ilam itself has had a chequered history. As an Ashbourne lad I used to cycle round that area but at that time 1.e. 1940s and early 50s although the Youth Hostel was open, the grounds weren't anything like they are today.
The sun was great but it was windy and cold and it wasn't crowded. A fellow photographer from another club commented on ' the forest of tripods' I suppose that three looks like a forest especially as each one has three legs. Perhaps there should be a group term for tripods !These other people had with them an 89yr old photographer who is still snapping away and winning competitions. He had brought them specially, because he knew the midday sun would be on the back of the pampas grass. Please see Picture 3.
For our chip cobs we stopped at The Tiger at Turnditch just outside Belper but, as I could find a link with a picture, - sorry no link! Although a little touristy pricey they were extremely good. Plenty chips, real butter etc.. Yvonne had a good day and enjoyed her solitude and yet another sort-out prior to moving. Things are still looking hopeful.
And, as a result of reading my mount-board problems yesterday, AnonymousRob called in at HobbyCraft while at a Conference and got me some. Then, bless him, on his way home he called in and delivered it . Looking very elegant, in a dark well-cut proper suit together with shirt and tie. If I was 'setting-on' I would certainly employ a few ex-cons for him!
Comments....Bungus....I think, in view of your account of the situation, it would perhaps be best to give the 'leave it outside the gate' system a miss. When we lived near QMC we had conker trees halfway up the drive and overhanging the front lawn. We got so fed up with adult men bringing their kids onto the lawn to throw sticks up for the conkers that I decided to collect the conkers and put them in wooden seed trays at the bottom of the drive. Guess what? They took the conkers OK, and also the seed trays !I started out on my career as a 'Miserable Old Git' at about 40.
Jill...... I think Bob, or 'Bungus on Balmoral' is very sound on this boat. It will be interesting to see if it ever does sail !
Bungus.....You were so witty about Stephanie's injunction to 'finish what you had started'. It was laugh out loud time. Thank you. Y loved it too.
A semi-linked to the above Quotation.......
"If the fans don't wanna come to the ballpark, no one can stop 'em."
Yogi Berra
....I'm off for an early night because I'm done for. Super day though. The chaps were having a meeting tonight to decided WoW stuff for our EPS evening, ut they understood I wouldn't be there. Sleep tight and I'll catch you tomorrow......
....I'm off for an early night because I'm done for. Super day though. The chaps were having a meeting tonight to decided WoW stuff for our EPS evening, ut they understood I wouldn't be there. Sleep tight and I'll catch you tomorrow......
I've never heard of Ilam Hall but it has been a beautiful day (even from inside a chemo treatment room!).
ReplyDeleteHow about a 'rolph' or a 'harris' of tripods?
And I like the Pampas Grass.
Re 'miserab;le old git', I have always considered you well practised in the art.
I cannot clsim any credit for Stephanie's text. I presume it is something that is doing the rounds so you will no doubt see it again. But yes, it is very funny (Sandra forwarded it to David at Durban House who was greatly cheered by it).
City Hospital today. Appointment time 12.30. At 9.30, before I was dressed or had even washed, the driver had arrived to collect me. He said that whatever time the appointment. patients should be ready for pick-up at 8.00am (I had previously been told 2 hours before appointment time). I dressed hurriedly (no wash) and having picked up another patient on the way into Nottingham, we reached the hospital circa 10.20.
Having logged in and sorted things out, I was in the waitlng room by 10.30. Because of my hurried departure I had no money, no mobile, no credit cards. Luckily tea, coffee, biscuits, and even packet soup are provided and I had taken my own emergency supply of cranberry & orange Jaffa Cakes. I also had the Observer crossword (although I had to borrow a pen) and Zadie Smith’s ‘On Beauty’ which looks very promising.
I was called into the treatment room at 12.15 and came out about 1.30. After collecting my medication, etc, I made myself a drink and sat down to wait for my transport home. It arrived as I took my first sip of tea and, as sole passenger, I was home 40 minutes later. So amixed sort of day!
When I phoned to book transport for my next visit I was told that the ‘ready for 8.00am' is now the rule. I wish I had taken the 9.30 rather than 12.30 now!
Why is the transport always arranged to suit the driver and not the passenger? As if your time is less valuable than his. Are they volunteer drivers?
ReplyDeleteMeant to say I loved Stephanie's bit about inner peace too.
And I used to be very fond of Weiner Schitzel, and growing up we used to have a veal joint on Sundays, abd 'pie veal' in white sauce with chopped hard boiled eggs. Would that have been a fricassee?
Ro, son and grandson managed to heave our heavy suite down the end of the drive together with a non-working fridge/freezer (it looked good though) by 8.00 we had had two people come. one asking if they could take the fridge/freezer, the other one wanted the suite but had to get his mate and a van. He left notes all over it telling the dustmen to leave it, and duly arrived and removed it! I hope it has gone to a good home, it was very sturdy and comfortable, can't see the IKEA stuff lasting fifteen years. But then perhaps we shan't either!
That was a lovely photo, I liked that very squat solid-looking tower, looked as if it could withstand anything.
We are still negotiating with Fred Olsen, 50% may sound generous, but any agent offers 25% off, and if you book far enough in advance you can get about 40% off yourself, so they are not giving away much really. And we are restricted to 14 day holiday, leaving from Dover. We have been on ships where 400 balconies have been added to the existing structure and the ship has been lengthened by thirty feet. We never understood why they bothered, there are pleny of ships around with balconies.....Balmoral is now expected to sail on 13th Feb, across the Atlantic.
My guess is that the 'ready for 8a.m.' rule is not for the benefit of either the driver or the patient but worked out by some NHS 'manager' as the cheapest method. Elaine had a short period working for the NHS and wondered why they ever bothered to call it a 'service'.
ReplyDeleteRG's gracious comments on my appearance in a suit lead me to tell you he also made the remark (jokingly) that he thought I was a Jehovah's Witness. I only mention that so I can recount a Ken Dodd joke.
A man answers a knock on the door and finds a Jehovah's Witness standing there. "Come in", says the man, "come and have a seat."
"Thank you very much", says the JW.
"Let me get you a drink", says the man, "tea or coffee?"
"I'll have tea, please" , replies the JW.
So the man makes the tea, gives it to the JW and says "Now, what would you like to talk about?"
"I've no idea", says the JW, "I've never got this far before."
Rob
Some of the hospital drivers are NHS employees; most are volunteers who get paid a somewhat measly mieage rate. Unlike when Sandra and I did it (when it was run by the WRVS and was certainly patient orientated; although the mileage rate was only half that of employees) the volunteers now work a set two or three days a week and, as I understand it, are based at the hospital and are sent out therefrom. That said, I suspect this week's came straight from home, as he lives in Ollerton.
ReplyDeleteAnonRob is probably right. I have no complaints about NHS medical treatment. What annoys me is the lack of organisation, the fact that the left hand never seems to know what the right hand is doing (eg, a minor instance, sending me to pharmacy when the tablets were already at the clinic).
We sometimes had a veal joint 'at home' in the 40s/50s. I cannot say that I was very impressed. Holstein Schnitzel is the one with an egg.
Cruise ships always look top heavy to me and I picture them rolling over a la Poseidon Adventure.
Add-ons do not bring me comfort!