I've no doubt published similar before, at this time of the year when the late afternoon sun makes the trees at the far end of the football field so beautiful. But I felt sure you would enjoy them again.
We feel fine, post the soss-fest excitement - in fact much better than we thought we would. Everything was cleared up by just after 6pm so we watched 'Strictly come Dancing'. Y voted for Christine and Mathew while I, I suppose out of devilment, voted for John Sergeant again. I know he should go, and that keeping him in means that a better dancer is eliminated, but it has developed into a power struggle between the judges and the public. And I feel my place is with the proletariat rather than the judiciary.
Nice Sunday chat to David. They had been to The Theatre Royal to see Oliver and apparently it was super. They enjoyed the Opera and it was only when finding the link above that I realised how many well known and catchy songs there are in it.
Picture 2 is published because the Silver Birch tree in the rear garden fascinates me due to it's apparent 'brain'.I think we have discussed this before but, since Alex lopped the top third out of the tree about 3 yrs ago, the tree is trying desperately to grow back into the traditional silver birch shape. My problem is with the top two branches which, at the point of cut, are vertical.
The branches a few inches below them are growing outwards at a more normal angle. The picture I published on 7th November still had too much leaf to see the effect clearly.
Do trees have brains ? If not, how do these branches come to a decision to act differently from the others ?
If we have any arbori-culturist readers your comments would be much valued.
Steven will probably say that I "ought to get out more". But these things interest me.
There weren't many left-overs but we nibbled away at cheese and bread-sticks for lunch, followed by fruit-salad but for tea we plan 'beans on toast' while watching the denouement of Strictly.
I've e-mailed Jill with some explanatory pictures about changing her keyboard, and thanks to all of you who e-mailed us with thanks for the soss-fest. We are so glad it was so much enjoyed.
Comments
bungus ...... I'm so glad that you feel the outing and the 'food' had a therapeutic effect. You did extremely well and although I know you would have enjoyed more WoW-ers, and Bloggers exposure, I think you were right to leave while you were still ahead. Sandra was very brave but I could see she was flagging, poor girl, and not surprising in the circumstances.
It must have tired you both, but your 'kip' till 10.30am this morning will have "knitted up the ravelled sleeve ........." etc.
Sandra was correct about the veggie sausages. There were only 5 which must be due to metrication. The pack was covered in cardboard and I assumed six links. A little embarrassing really because I catered for 3 each for Sandra and Helen. We marked them accordingly because from past experience some non-veggie person thinks "Oh they look nice" and suddenly there's none left for the genuine veggies.
The title about sorting out Virgin was semi-written to elicit some response. All it referred to was our success with Virgin Media.
anonymousrob ...... You and Elaine were great ! And you did help even though I made a joke of it. And the floral basket Elaine brought was quite beautiful, and it meant alot to Y.
Glad you got to meet Bungus and Sandra at long last and he did look smart, in a jacket an 'all !
Glad to hear that the football teams did so well.
Also glad that you had such a satisfactory day at the NEC. Hahnemuhle paper always looks attractive and I mean to try it.
Worried though at your 'funny turn'. I desperately hope it wasn't a sausage from yesterday. If anyone else was affected I hope they will let me know so that, at least, I can apologise.
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The Classic Serial in Radio 4 is The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek. It is one of favourite books ever and is being read brilliantly. He always means so well but gets into incredible scrapes. Well worth a listen. Please click here to listen. When the webpage opens click next to the little loudspeaker icon.
There is a Wiki page please click and this illustration is typical Sweik
Quotation time ........
Just got to be a Shweikism.....
'And so they've killed our Ferdinand,' said the charwoman to Mr Švejk, who had left military service years before, after having been finally certified by an army medical board as an imbecile, and now lived by selling dogs — ugly, mongrel monstrosities whose pedigrees he forged.
There is a Wiki page please click and this illustration is typical Sweik
Quotation time ........
Just got to be a Shweikism.....
'And so they've killed our Ferdinand,' said the charwoman to Mr Švejk, who had left military service years before, after having been finally certified by an army medical board as an imbecile, and now lived by selling dogs — ugly, mongrel monstrosities whose pedigrees he forged.
"Sleep tight all - Catch you tomorrow"
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Just a quick thank you to Y & G for such a pleasant do. The sausages were a real treat and the breads weren't bad either. We don't experience so many different types usually since I make most of the bread here. Cheese is one of my favourite foods. Perhaps you were wondering why I kept sitting so close to it.
ReplyDeleteSo good to have the pleasure of meeting Bungus & S. I can see their faces as I type. I won't say they are as I imagined them but such pleasant people. Loved the pink check. Pink does suit such a lot of men.
Enjoyed seeing all the WOWers & spouses, looking forward to the Christmas do.
Seems most people enjoyed the Tiramisu & Fruit. Just in case nobody told you I always warm up my fruit salads with a drop of Cointreau. Not too much, just enough to take the chill off.
Himself & I went to another party last evening and met up with some old friends from our teenage years, even one of my ex's. Had a pleasant time chatting over old times. The food, however wasn't a patch on lunch. Made a proper meal for lunch today & Himself feels better for having eaten his pork chop with lots of different veg's stuffing & apple sauce. I no longer have any cooking apples.
Spent this afternoon form filling and we have to go to Mansfield tomorrow to be examined by yet another doctor. He's not touching my back, I tell you, not after what happened with the last one.
Byeeee....
Bungus looking smart in pink check and a jacket? I need to see a photo....it sounds as if a good time was had, with or without the veggie sausages.
ReplyDeleteSandra's arm - it seems as if she has to keep it in a high sling so it is nearly vertical, I had one like that on my arm earlier on this year when I had that op - it is more nuisance than anything. I found it ached though if I took it off for any length of time.
This time round I voted for John and Kristina too, even though the judges were not so harsh. I think they have cottoned on to the fact that the nastier they are to him, the more public votes he gets. Andrew Marr in his morning show today referred to this phenomenon, called it 'the buggeration factor'!
I watched that variety show too, Bungus, liked some of it a lot, some not at all. I didn't object to Rowan Atkinson on religious grounds, my objection was that he wasn't funny. I liked Robin Williams and Bill Bailey, and a coloured chap whose name I didn't catch - he had an initial between has Christian and surname is all I can tell you! And I liked John Cleese, and thought it was a splendid finale. Can't stand Joan Rivers.
I thought Char;es was a good sport too, and I don't dislike the picture. I would have preferred one of him in his garden at Highgrove though. Did you see that prog. about a year in his life? It was too long at an hour and a half, but it was interesting, he came over as a good chap (well, he would, wouldn't he) but he seemed far more relaxed and at ease in his garden. I was impressed with the way he had done his homework with all the different projects.
I know someone in mid-Wales who dyed silks/cashmeres in her garage, sold on internet, who got a grant from Princes Trust (although she is in her fifties) to buy equipment/build a small ?shed if she taught her skills to someone else. Duchess of Cornwall commissioned a silk knitted scarf from her, and when she met them both at some event in Wales they both knew who she was, what she did, and Charles apparently asked a lot of very pertinent questions.
Thanks G for the info about the keyboard - will e-mail you tomorrow. Mine goes into a port (?) at the back of the whatever-it-is called, not the monitor, the machine bit that works it all - is that a modem?
What a very nice photo; crying out for a chocolate box (compliment).
ReplyDeletePleased to hear that the party had no ill effects upon either of you.
Also pleased to hear that your old socialist values prevail even if it is only in respect of dancing votes. A dancing voter rather than a floating voter.
I was in the room while it was on. Everyone goes on about Cherie Lunghi’s legs but, for me, although lovely and long, they are too thin. I prefer something with a bit more substance.
I’ll be sniffy and point out that ‘Oliver’ is not an Opera but a Musical (it has spoken words as well as songs – and all the better for it in my view. I only really like Carmen and even then I sneakingly prefer Carmen Jones).
I take your point about the birch but if you ‘got out more’ you would see even more trees. Just don’t let it take over completely.
As I have already said, out birch is much the same but I think the willow is rather different. I know apple trees are more prolific if their branches are persuaded to grow horizontally rather than vertically – hence cordons.
I shall look into the matter and come back (with illustrations).
I don’t think Sandra sees herself as brave – more likely as wimpish for allowing herself to fade!
On the other hand I do deserve your sympathy. I felty lousy again this morning but now much improved. It’s probably nothing worse than man-flu (I’m told).
If I feel a need for a ravelled sleeve to be knitted up, I’ll ask Jill.
Pleased you’ve cleared up the metric sausage conundrum. I am sure you were correct in your reason for labelling them. Sandra was quite happy with two and Helen very considerately asked before taking the remaining odd one.
Sandra couldn’t resist the Stilton and, sheep-rather-than-lamb-like, also plunged into the tiramisu knowing she would pay for the dairyness later!
The ‘virgin’ was better unexplained but I can understand you not wanting to waste your wit!
I remember Švejk, although I don’t think I have ever read or heard it all. He is a model for many other literary characters – Lucky Jim springs to mind – although no doubt he has classical antecedents in such as Boccaccio, Chaucer and Shakespeare, never mind the Greeks.
Anonymousrob:
Sorry about the jacket. I removed it as soon as possible. It was only because I could not find an appropriate sweater without egg and tomato stains. Sandra told me that wearing the shirt outside the trousers looked ridiculous so I advised her that it was a good job it wasn’t her wearing it then.
Yes, the lads done good. Let’s hope it continues and that the Panthers pick it up – have they lost influential players?
Pleased Hull managed to take a deserved point.
Hope your special papers live up to the expensive expectations.
I wonder if 4Ticks indulges in Not-Pressed or Hot-Pressed Whatman or similar for her water colours?
I think your 'funny turn' is almost certainly due to eating what my dad would have called ‘foreign muck’, although he would have thought drinking water would do even more harm. Hope there have been no recurring ill effects.
Going to work is one of the disadvantages of being too young. Grow up lad!
4 TICKS
Graham used to be a great baker of bread but, I think, found it too time consuming (and too hard to stop eating?). I would have been happy to believe that the Saturday bread as we broke was homemade.
I shall carefully avoid reading anything untoward into the pink shirt reference. I was a bit iffy about the first one I had (from a friend who was in management at Viyella) but liked it so much that I have always tried to keep one on hand for the special occasion.
I did myself a proper dinner on Sunday (at 6.30). A beef stew from the freezer with a couple of Yorkshire puds, potato & swede mash, roast parsnip, carrots and calabrese – lovely!
Sorry you are out of apples. Had I known I would gladly have brought you some.
Good luck with the doc. I didn’t realise you were on your second back. Sandra, like Graham, is on her third, having had five vertebrae lamination and fusion. They don’t go away, do they?
Jill:
Photo on its way having rescued pink shirt form laundry. And yes, we did have a very good time.
I think it is usual to have to keep the arm raised after any hand op. I was so obliged, many years ago, when I sliced through the guiders in my thumb while cutting a paint rag in a circular saw. Some would call it an accident – I certainly didn’t do it on purpose and had to learn temporarily to draw left handed. Because of the inconvenience, Sandra let hers drop for a while on Friday and her hand turned navy blue!
The same John Sergeant syndrome occurred in the X-Factor too, until this week. Folks are what up here would be called ‘okkered’ (awkward) and Louis Walsh made such an issue of the particular singer’s inadequacy that the ‘buggeration factor’ came into play.
You are right that Rowan Atkinson’s routine was far from one of his best and I thought the shock ending inappropriate. I do not think he would perform a similar routine about Islam.
There was a black man and a brown man (Iranian), the latter better than I have ever before heard him, the former, I thought trying too hard and almost ‘Uncle Tomming’ it.
Re 'The Bright Side', I particularly liked the new lyrics for the occasion.
I used to like Joan Rivers but I think it is fair to say that she is paste her sell by.
Sandra, having held the royal hand, thinks he is lovely. She too was impressed with the fact that among a hundred others, he knew what she had done to have been nominated for her honour.
And a friend who briefly met Camilla on two occasions months apart was impressed that she was remembered.
I only know it as a ‘tower’ but I think it is probably called a ‘computer’.