Monday, June 02, 2008

Entertaining over - for a while - just recovering gradually

The above panorama will perhaps give you an idea of Alan Clayden's Exhibition. My thinking is that to use single pictures would be a potential breach of Alan's copyright, whereas to do a panel-full should fulfill my purpose, i.e. to encourage people to go and see the exhibition for themselves. Until you are actually there, and at an appropriate viewing distance, you don't get anywhere near the true beauty and print quality.

When our guest finally went yesterday we both sat down and sighed. Ten mins later the phone rang. It was Pat. She said she had got as far as the motorway bridge and the M1 looked very busy. Could she come back with her map and work out an alternative route to Derby because she had decided to go that way to Birmingham. I met her at the gate and said there was no need to drive in, just carry straight on down this road to Heanor, where the signs to Derby are very clear. Y says Jill will get the picture.

Today was Y's 'nails day' and, as usual, we enjoyed our trip over to Carlton. I raided the charity shops but couldn't find a slop-basin or sugar tongs for Jill. Other things I succeeded with. A lovely Junior Oxford Thesaurus which Hannah will enjoy. An old Michael Roux book on sauces which looks good and a ladys' beauty thing which is just the right size for my new Vivitar 200mm, for 25p - I guess a proper lens bag would be several £s. And being bright yellow I'm unlikely to lose it. I can stand the WoW mickey-taking.

On the kitchen front we are still ploughing through left-overs. But they are rather more-ish. Y says my cottage pie (made from the forerib left overs when Lisa came) was probably my best ever. The flavour was traditional British Beef at its best and I can only thank the butcher, who I shall definitely buy from again with confidence.

Picture 2 is of a rogue iris, standing in a bed of powder blue cousins. I was all set up to snap the group when along came this bee.

His legs were so laden with pollen they looked like minature potato croquettes.

Isn't nature amazing ? The veining on his wings is so similar to the pale veining on the iris. I seem to remember something to do with Fibonacci numbers and Fermat's spiral. No time to do you links and it's not rivetting stuff anyway.

Sorry about the lack of any pictorial information in the background but I had to click before he flew away.

Tomorrow we are going to a lecture at Hardwick Hall about Bess. It is entitled "The first lady of Chatsworth" by Mary Lovell The lecturer has also written a book about Bess, with the same title and if she is good we shall probably buy a copy. The Telegraph review sounded promising. Bess is one of our favourite people.

Comments .......Bungus...... I don't disagree with you at all, or with Rob, about America. Not a pleasant or reassuring country to be wielding all that power. If I was in Iran I too would be pursuing a nuclear weapon programme. It's about the only thing that might give America pause for thought - and with Pakistan, China, Israel etc., all with nuclear weapons I would be thinking we'd better get them too. Leave politics alone - it's not your scene....Editor

You ask what do I say you are getting better at? ...... Sorry, I haven't a clue.

Quotation time ...... Jill will understand that this quotation has had quite a recent relevance in our lives......

"Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses"


Reg has sent me lots of Tommy Cooper jokes which are a delight. I shall keep dropping them in from time to time. This is your first :-

"Man goes to the docs, with a strawberry growing out of his head.

Doc says, 'I'll give you some cream to put on it."

The weather continues to disappoint. A pleasant morning and balmy but it is pouring with rain now and looks set to continue during the night.

I think the train is about due




.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Two things to be pleased about:

1) Jessica did not win the poetry competition (for which I entered her poems about me and Sandra) but had the latter accepted for publication.

My Gran

My Gran lives in Ollerton
She is getting old
She always wears coats and stuff
Even when she’s not cold

She works at the Community Workshop
She won an MBE
She goes shopping all the time
And normally buys for me

As I said she’s getting old
And a bit forgetful
She’s a bit loony too
And when she reads this I’ll be regretful.

By Jessica Tebbett , Age 12

2) After several weeks of secrecy I can now let people know that The Dukeries Community Workshop have had a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service bestowed upon them for 2008 (I of 4 in the East Midlands, 1 of 79 nationally).
This means that Sandra will again be going to Buckingham Palace, this time accompanied by the three other longest serving volunteers, for a garden party in July.
On this occasion, presumably, she will get refreshments!

I was not sure about the moth photo. I liked the underside through glass but thought the other view was too indefinite (I would not have recognised it as a moth).

It must be nice to have company. Ours has now been here weeks. But, seriously, they are about as good as they possibly could be.

What a nice bee and so hard working.

Yes, it seems totally irrational to me that America should think that their nuclear weapons are OK, and Israel’s, but not Iran’s.
Why shouldn’t you express political opinions? You talk about other things that aren’t really ‘your scene’ and acknowledge the fact.

The ’what am I getting better at?’ is a response to Rob’s ‘You must be getting better’.

Rob:

Not that you care, but l have now checked:

1946 Cup Final (not 1945);

Derby:
Howe was at right back and Nicholas (not Parr) at left back
Bullions played right half (not Ward) and the CF was Jackie Stamps.

Charlton:
Bartram, Phipps, Shreeve; J Turner, Oakes, Johnson; Fell, Brown, A Turner, Welsh, Duffy.

England 1966:
The two missing players were LB, Wilson; IR, Hunt

Robert Vaughan was the missing one from the Magnificent Seven

Anonymous said...

Bungus, every day in every way you are getting better and better. Wasn't Robert Vaughan also Napoleon Solo? I could have told you the missing 1966 World Cup winning players but we had technical problems connecting to t'internet last night. Thanks for the info about the dodgy Isambard; was he the one who gave rise to the expression 'Izzy or isn't he?'

Cuba has two systems of currency. The one for the locals' is the peso whereas the one for the tourists is the peso. The locals peso is also known as money nacional or something very similar. The tourist peso is known as the convertible peso; this was pronounced, very poetically, by Gilberto as con-ver-tee-bee-lee. One convertible peso is worth 25 nacional pesos so is in big demand with the locals. Most locals will sell you one nacional for one convertible; I was lucky and got a 3 peso coin (with Che's head on it) for only one convertible.

My 3 peso coin is my lucky coin. When in France last September we spent the last night near Calais and visited a hypermarche to stock up on wine. Whereas everywhere else in France you need a one euro coin to get a trolley there you needed a two euro coin. We didn't have one but I did have my Che peso coin which fitted perfectly. Elaine was amazed but, as I said to her, "Che is still supporting the workers against the capitalist machine."

What arrant nonsense to say Cuba has betrayed its people. I think if you remove the word Cuba and replace it with USA it will be a lot nearer the mark. Presumably the very stupid person who wrote that garbage believes Cuba was a much better place, for the Cubans, when the Mafia were in charge? The author has also missed the point that the Cuban revolution only became a socialist revolution after the Americans refused support. Fidel turned to the USSR who were only too glad to help. The rest is history.

As for nuclear weapons I'm all in favour of every country in the world having one or every country in the world having none. I feel less threatened by Cuba, Vietnam and North Korea than I do by the US who are famous for their friendly fire. I heard today, on Today, that Vietnam is the world's second biggest producer of rice. Turn your swords into ploughshears, Dubya. The world is starving and you could do something positive for people living in poverty.

Going back to my remarks of several days ago about Chelski FC and the sacking of Avram Grant. Ditto Inter Milan and Manc City. Thankfully the ManU board had the good sense about 17 years ago to give Fergie more time. You would think, given what he has acheived, it would be a model for all clubs. I understand Leicester City have had 11 or 12 managers since Martin O'Neill left about 8 years ago. Surely another reason to give people time?

Brilliant Alzheimers haiku, Bungus.

Comfy cord trousers
Keeping you company, and
Whispering your walk