I am indebted to Reg for this lovely Lumsdale shot. As I couldn't do the walk I asked if someone could get me a snap for the blog. But the light really was too poor.So Reg sent me this autumnal shot which shows how beautiful the place actually is. And "extra thanks" Reg, the water looks like water and not candy-floss.
Today has been a family-entertaining day and the forerib from the new butcher lived up to expectations. Moist, tender and flavoursome. But I'm not keen on his uptodate joint preparation which he persuaded me to try. It involved cutting down behind the ribs and readjusting the meat with string. In my opinion it made it harder not easier to carve. Next time I shall tell him to simply leave it on the bone, end of exercise.
However, I couldn't fault the meat. I trusted my meat-thermometer. The Yorkshires, roast potatoes (Maris Piper), and everything else was great. Followed by gooey, sweet, puds. Then cheeseboard and coffee.
A nap then for me, but Y kept trucking on ! Bless her ! All the favourite games were played, hide & seek, throwing the bean-filled juggling balls to mention just two. Pictures were drawn and finally I was awakened by three little faces accompanying Y with a mug of tea.
My 'wheels' contributed to the fun. A game was quickly improvised which involved lobbing the juggling balls into the bag I have suspended between the handlebars of my wheels.
Picture 2 is a close-up of our Iris sibirica. The wind has dropped from 22mph to 17mph and, even if I couldn't persuade the flower to stop wafting about, a fast shutter speed did the trick.After a sandwich, ham or cheese, plus crisps on the plate, and a large pot of tea, our guests left. Lisa texted when they got home safely and said 'thanks for lovely meal etc., and the kids were tired out, brilliant'.
And so were Grandparents.
We are going to David's in the morning, coffee time, to see them before they go on holiday. They are going to the Ferry Meadows Caravan Club site at Peterborough, which is one of the favourites. It is in woodland, and opens on to a country park with water. They are taking the small boat, the 'Topper' and I just hope that the weather is good enough for them to use it. The link is to a nice site. There was me thinking that David's Topper was a unique red ! They are all red !
Comments...... Jill .... You are quite right about the similarity between Rape and Mustard. In youth, whenever we saw a yellow field, we would confidently identify it as 'mustard' and nowadays with equal confidence we proclaim 'rape'. Are they perhaps related ? I think we should be told !
The main beef joint wasn't frozen - but I regularly do freeze all sorts of things from fish to lamb chops and sausages - without apparently harming their qualities. But of course, one doesn't have a control group to see if completely fresh would be better.
Y knows about your friendship with Debbie Bliss. Even though not a knitter, I know she is quite famous and an author of stuff about your craft.
But what an awful experience for you on the train and evacuating the station. You are quite right that there is not much that appeals about living in London.
I read the article in the Review and here is the link you requested for Bungus. This blog aims to please.
Bungus ....... John will be pleased at your praise for is pictures and Yes - they are taken on his mobile phone.
Keep knocking out the Haikus - I like them and they are fun. I had the idea that there must be 'Haiku' blogs. Google blog-search tells me there are - thousands of them but I couldn't find even one good enough to link you to.
Roy ..... As above to Bungus. John will be delighted at your comments about his pictures. Certainly no photoshoppery and it tends to prove the point that it is the photographer and not the equipment that produces good shots.
Thank you very much for the info from Cloughies Autobiography. Our readers will enjoy it.
And post e-mail - don't worry about the odd typo. Nobody else does. We operate under the old Chaucer dictum -
"The grettest clerkes ben not the wysest men"
Which will conveniently do for my Quotation slot. Sleep tight. Catch you tomorrow.
.
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4 comments:
I am writing this having just enjoyed the Johnny Cash biopic on Ch4.
The blue flower in a picture I recently sent you is also an iris, I am told.
In Mull, at this time of year, wild yellow irises bloom in quantity like Wordsworth’s daffodils which were also wild, smaller than the cultivated ones and now in danger of extinction.
Ferry Meadows Peterborough, is a site that was also a favourite of ours in the short time we were caravanners. We went four or five times in a couple of years; straight down the A1 for about sixty miles and turn left.
Even with the Austin Princess, which overheated every ten miles, it wasn't a bad trip.
It was there that Sandra commented on the beauty of the sunset until I pointed out that she was looking east not west (at the lights over Peterborough).
Pleased you like the haikus.
Who vas this Vilhelm artist?
He vas Danish.
Hammershøi? Yes I am.
His painting is more precise than mine; almost photographic?
I now seem to have acquired John’s latest photo as background to my desktop. That’s fine.
At full screensize, as one would expect, it does not have the sharpness of, say, your pics. That does not diminish it in any way in my eyes. As you say, it is the photographer…
Roy:
Being Portuguese, Ronaldo would not have a clue how to make tea, but Rooney should.
Personally, I wouldn’t ask Drogba.
Great photo - I do like water to look like water.
We haven't had a fore-rib of beef for years, not since I stopped cooking for multitudes. Roast chicken was good, with cocktail sausages (found in freezer, I think forgotten from Xmas, but am not sure which one!)and bacon, roasties, and fesh runner beans, carrots and cauliflower. Followed by British strawberries, worth every penny.
Visitors this morning who are staying with friends in Notting Hill for two nights. apparently it costs a fortune to park there and there will be congestion charge on Wed, so they left car here and Ro took them.
Anybody watch the Eurovision Song Contest? I watched bits of it (there was even some knitting in one of them) and the voting, it has become a travesty, think UK should pull out completely. They even took 'Dr.Who' off for it.
Time for tea and cake (no slop basin or sugar tongs though!).
I am delighted to report that, finally, I am able to post a comment from our caravan. Having bought the laptop and received the dongle we've had trouble getting it sorted. It seems a weak signal was at the root of the problem. Yesterday our friend Nick (see his pictures at fotoland.co.uk) visited us. He is quite knowledgable about the techy IT bits and advised a USB extention cable. We can now get the dongle up to the skylight and, hey presto, we are online.
It's good to dongle
Up in the caravan now
We've got a signal
I don't think I can better Bungus's Great Tits haiku so I won't try. I'm glad you have decided they are fun, though.
The truth about Trevor Francis making the tea was interesting but reminded me of the old adage, never let the facts spoil a good story. I reckon Rooney and Ronaldo would make the tea if told to; I'm sure if they tried to make out they were too important to do it a tea cup or football boot would be heading their way.
Rooney, "Tea?" Ronnie
"What is this very strange drink?
Madeira wine please."
Talking of tea, we favour Assam.
Jill's story of life in the underground made me think that maybe Gordon Brown needs a war or terrorist incident to allow him to show his leadership qualities. I remember from my schooldays one history teacher telling us that whenever a politician was in trouble you could bet he [sic] would get the country involved in a war.
Mention has been made of someone painting people from the back. There is a very famous portrait of JFK which shows only the back of his head and a plaque on the chair back that says something like "The President of the United States of America". It's a very powerful shot and I must google it to see who did it.
Work is largely a pension-enhancing, fund-providing exercise. I used to have jobs I enjoyed but I'm not sure such a thing exists anymore. Having been given permission, I may have the occasional whine about it.
This, in my opinion, is the best and saddest poem I have ever written. It was written after the end of a love affair.
So proud
I hung her on my arm
And said to the world
This girl is mine
But no-one has the right
To own anyone
And pride always comes
Before a fall
I love the Chaucer quote. I may print it out and stick it on my computer monitor at work.
Rob
I forgot, in my previous comment, to register my disgust with Chelsea Football Club and the sacking of Avram Grant. I don't believe anyone could have done any more than he did and, I suspect The Special One would not have done as well.
How on earth can anyone expect players to show respect to officials when no one from the top down shows any respect for anyone?
It reminds me of a Charles Buchan story. I think it was his autobiography that featured a chapter entitled "What the average Director knows about football". The chapter comprised a blank page.
I wish Chelsea no success whatsoever next season. And the season after, and the season... (repeat many times).
Rob
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