Picture 1 is 4 Tick's Apple Cake. Both the cake itself and the photograph thereof are hers.Congratulations on both - and if they taste as they did before, they will be delicious. (the recipes can be found if you search the blog for cooking)
Y had her nails done at her Eastwood Hairdressers this morning which saves a trip over to Carlton and she seems satisfied with them. Y declines 'Nail Art' but the hairdresser told her about an 82yr old who has hers 'decorated'.
We did some bank jobs but put off getting our euros till later in the week. Several things ordered on the net arrived this morning, but I am still waiting for my Photoshop Elements 7 which I intend to install on the PC. Having the full programme on my laptop is there to fall back on if I need to.
This afternoon we both tried to have a nap but were interupted by no fewer than 4 'spam' calls offering us free cruises and free invites to a party in Limoges. Supposedly we have a scanning system on the phone to protect us from such intrusion, but it must be on its holidays.
Still having problems with my Nokia 6500. I can call other people but people trying to ring me receive a rejection message. Queried it with Orange who told me I needed to register my new phone (wouldn't you have thought Carphone Warehouse might have dealt with that?) and the girl at Orange said she needed to refresh my settings. It will take 24hrs before it will work properly. Oh dear !
After tea David and family visited, to bring my birthday present. They advised me to open it because I might want to take it on holiday with me.And I certainly DO.
Picture 2 illustrates it. It is a Gorilla Pod which acts in lieu of a tripod and you can attach you camera to all manner of solid objects. Ships 'rails' for instance.
In anycase it was lovely to see them all and Sky and Brooke were super. Apparently 'farty' jokes and 'bum' jokes are considered cool. We thought it was just boys who thought these hilariously funny but apparently it has now extended to girls.
David also managed to get the DVD player to work. Great. It hasn't worked properly since we had the new telly.
Comments
incy wincy ..... Sorry about the language! You seem to be coping pretty well whatever.
Thank you very much for your words of praise about the moon pictures. Very encouraging for me because I thought they were OK too.
Hope you can manage WoW tomorrow ! If you can, it is 'meet at Reg's at 9.50am'.
bungus .......... Glad you liked the wider view of the Wollaton Hall roof. It was only 'less gaudy' because I couldn't brighten and saturate it any more without spoiling it.
The mobile number I e-mailed you is the correct one.
Titan Holidays have warned us that the Rhine can be nippy at this time of year so we shall dress accordingly. In anycase I have decided against my Leder-hosen.
4 ticks ...... Wollaton Hall is certainly worth a visit. They don't seem to have actually got rid of anything, merely repositioned it. That black gorilla that used to be halfway up the stairs is in a display case somewhere.
Sky, my granddaughter who has just visited, is a fellow spider/web lover. As they left there was a super web under the porch, front illuminated against the black sky.
I know your damaged arm is still troubling you and I think you do very well to knit at all ! A rest after 2 rows doesn't sound unreasonable. Our resident expert Jill will surely comment when she gets back from holiday.
Quotation corner ...... A quote from the boss-man himself ...........
" The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place; from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web"
Pablo Picasso
The link is a great bit of footage in my opinion. Better than words in a potted biography.
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Hullo all, I'm back! Did I or did I not tell you to play nicely while I was away? Some people will have to go and sit on the naughty chair.....
ReplyDeleteI have read all the blog I missed, and comments, but feel it is a bit late to go back on it all.
While in Bristol I watched a prog. by that Hugh something-something, him at River Cottage - I was dozing off nicely then I realised he was picking pounds of hawthorn berries - somebody on here was asking about these berries? Anyway he made his into a bitter sauce to accompany roasted duck. Think I would prefer orange or cherries with mine, though.
Nouns into verbs - on the whole they annoy me. The one highest on my annoyance list is 'incentivise' used by the BBC.
While away I tasted a new fish - pollack. It didn't look very appetising, very grey flesh, but it ate just fine, large flakes. Not a lot of taste, which presumably why it came with a cheese sauce!
We were staying in Bristol as himself was taking part in a zydeco music festival, he went out at 10.00 in the morning, two days, and I didn't see him till the following morning, as I was asleep in a huge king-size bed (I would have happily taken that home with me). One day I met up with friends at the largest yarn shop in the UK, we went out to lunch, etc.etc and the next day I took myself off to the City Museum and Art Gallery - small, but good - and a huge Borders. Nuseum had a great cafe too.
It was a Marriott Hotel, next to the Cathedral on the green, and we were very comfortable there, the staff were really attentive and friendly and helpful, I ate dinner there on my own, I don't mind that. I was glad I was eating in hotel, we were in the student area, the air was heavy with the smell of pot, they were openly passing around 'cigarettes', and there were chaps on street corners openly dealing. I didn't fancy going around there looking for somewhere on my own to eat....
Though I did miss something - on the Friday and Sat I saw council workmen erecting plastic urinals - 4 of them - all along the green, for 6 people at a time - no screening or anything, R saw them in use and he was a bit shocked! Perhaps we've lived a sheltered life? I suppose it was to protect shop doorways/cathedral doorways.
I forgot to take my camera - sorry! And when we got home R realised he had left his bag containing his camera, tapes, mobile phone, etc.etc in the hotel room - we rang and they have parcelled it up and sent it special delivery, hopefully it will arrive tomorrow - no charge to us. Good service?
Today. owing to a technical hitch on son's part (he cocked it up) we did another Golden Wedding treat, a tour of Kensington Palace followed by tea at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane. I could write a guide about hotel teas...we have now done Fortnums, the Wolsey and now Grosvenor House (Still have Browns to go...) Not that I am complaining! It compared well with Fortnums, though no sugar tongs or slop basin, but lovely china and napery, an interesting flower arrangement on our table (one lily with pebbles)and we sat by window looking up/down Park Lane, and over to Hyde Park, the sun shone and trees just turning. Their scones were better than Fortnums, cakes and sandwiches etc. about the same. They knew it was our Golden Wedding and we got a small chocolate cake with gold candles (3) and gold decorations, and they packaged it up beautifully for us to take home.
4 ticks - two rows at a time is the way to go - I had an operation on my arm earlier this year (nothing as drastic as yours though) and that was my limit for a week or two, but I found if I swapped knitting, i.e. went from socks on small needles and fine wool to bigger needles and thicker yarn and a different stitch, this helped a lot. It seemed to be the repetitiveness that mde my arm ache? Hope it improves.
Normal service is now resumed....
The cake looks good.
ReplyDeleteIt must be the Bath cake, I think (it is different proportions to the West Country one that I made to the recipe).
The wife of my wildlife guru has had a photo of a seal pup published in Practical Photography Nov 08. Scored 12 out of 20 for both Creativity and Technique.
Both your landline and mobile stories lead me to the thought that 'phone' should be spelt with an ‘f’.
I’ve never liked the bloody things anyway (managed to avoid having one until 1970).
I remember asking your view of the Gorilla Pod some months ago. I didn’t bother; now I might (it’s called ‘keeping up with the Marsdens’).
But will you trust it on a ship’s rail?
I was shocked by a tee shirt of Jessica’s, the back of which reads ‘Don’t get too close I’ve just ******.’
I find that ‘f’ word far more offensive than the other.
We are having ongoing problems with our new telly. Never know from one day to the next whether digital programmes will be accessible. The weather plays havoc with it.
But the DVD player works very well. I have only had time to watch one though!
I don’t think it is just a lack of ‘boggering about’ that makes the wider view of Wollaton Hall roof more acceptable. I think it is the preponderance of natural material, ie, wood. The decoration assumes a lesser role.
4 TICKS:
I have never been to Wollaton Hall!
I think blackcurrants are too difficult. I love them but I’ll let someone else do the cultivation.
At best they attract bullfinches which eat all the fruit (I have one for that purpose but it hasn’t worked).
Goosegogs are no bother whatever if you don’t mind the pricks (have you noticed how medical persons now say 'Just a little scratch'?)
Jill:
I saw Hugh F-W too, and took down the recipe.
Strange how often, when something is mentioned, it crops up again the next day.
Less strange are the cases when something is mentioned and you never hear of it again for 15 years.
Not just me then, who gets upset by Nouns into Verbs?
I presume ‘pollack’ is ‘pollock’ which has long been used in the cheaper fish fingers, etc (as has coley). I find it OK but not in the same street as haddock or even cod.
Is it Marriott Hotels that are plugged by not Ainsley Harriott, you know, Dawn French’s husband, that’s it, Lenny Henry?
I recall an open-air Jools Holland concert where the air was heavy with draw. My only experience of it I am sad to say. Nobody ever offered me in the 60s.
There were compensations though.
The exposed urinals remind me of le Mans (1960s again; the year of the Rover jet-engined car and Ferrari running away with first seven places or something).
The toilet block, a pleasant timber structure, had 2 entrances; ‘Hommes’ et ‘Dames’.
But when you entered you met each other inside!
And urinals were mounted on the walls all round the OUTSIDE. Great!
Hi Jill.. Welcome back.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you enjoyed your Hol.
I like eating Duck with an Orange Sauce but find it just as enjoyable with good Plum Sauce made with real plums which friends have given to me, although Sharwoods one is rather good.
BBC staff annoy me with with their extremely bad English these days and the thing that really gets me hopping is, 'and also'. I could happily call the office and demand their dismissal. Oh! won't the real BBC please come back.
We eat Pollock in the hope that, eventually, the Cod & Haddock stocks will increase. If only the foreign factory ships would stay away and give them a chance. I make various sauces to accompany it. Last time it was a Parsley and Mustard one. Yummm.
You really should get a King-size Bed. Loads of space. We have a King-size Water Bed... aaah Heaven.
Thanks for the comment re:-knitting
but I find that if I'm trying to work on 2 projects at the same time, I don't get either of them finished.
Bungus...
The cake is, in fact, the West Country version with the honey & sugar topping.
Sorry your telly is playing up. Extreme weather conditions will interfere with sattelite systems. For instance the signal can't penetrate heavy rain storms. They have a long way to go before they will come up with anything better than the analogue system. Ours annoys me when the sound and vision are out of sync'.
You should go to Wollaton Hall, the park is pleasant for picnicking, although there is an eating place indoors,and the collections on display seem to interest almost all visitors. As a child I always had to be dragged away from the rock collections. They fascinated me then and still do.
Blackcurrants aren't too difficult if you don't have too many and if they bring Bullfinches into the garden, who cares.
Lenny Henry advertises 'Premier Hotels'. I imagine they are just like the 'Travel Inns' etc.
Better go - the comment in passing was, "Are you blogging AGAIN".