In some Radio Nottingham stuff Bungus was kind enough to send me, there were pictures of "author's creative work-spaces" and readers were invited to send in snaps of their own.I didn't send this in but I thought, as a record, you might like to see my creative-space. My alternative creative place is my bed. But that wouldn't be an attractive picture due to the chocolate stained pillow, rumpled duvet, table festooned with a tangle of wires, and odd socks...... Y is a 'tidy' person but unfortunately I am not, and I am a constant problem to her. She 'sorts me out' and an hour later .........
Picture 2 is a straightforward 'old man's grumble'.
This box of chocolate biscuits (see re pillow above !) looked attractive, capacious, and most suitable for my bedroom.
When opened, I felt I had been conned. The black plastic bit which held the biscuits was mostly black plastic spacers. The biscuits all went in to my fairly small biscuit tin. A presentation box half the size would have been more appropriate. We still feel that firms like Fox's Biscuits are reputable traders don't we?Routine Blood Test this morning. My INR has been stable for a week or two now, so lets hope it still is. We went shopping and I felt groggy again - hope I'm well enough to WoW this week because, as you know, I enjoy it so.
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bungus ..... Please put us right about 435BC and 435AD. I know that from 435BC (the end of the Old Testament) and the arrival of John the Baptist are referred to as 'the silent years'. But other than that I am at sea.
Re Toasting Forks - Trust you to have a posh one !
Re Neville King - I draw a blank on YouTube too. What a pity - he really ought to have
some permanent record.Surprised re had trouble with 'lametta'. It is all over the place on the web. See picture on the right. They had it in silver, gold, and brown even.
Google has it thus:-
Thin wire or foil made of brass, gold or silver; now especially thin strips of metallic foil used as Christmas decoration
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lametta
Y is a keen John Harvey reader. His detective Resnick was based at Canning Circus Police Station for some time and his novels were based in the locality. Canning Circus is well known to me, having been stationed there from 1976 to around 1982.
John was almost at the beginning of the lift-off in his writing career when we met him. Plus of course, the irreplaceable Jack Trevor Story. I remember Jack telling us that although he wrote on a computer (PCW) when he had finished he used to retype them manually on an old Olivetti portable typewriter. complete with a few deliberate typos. He said "otherwise my manuscripts wouldn't be worth a bl**ding light. No university would be interested in them on disc" Typical Jack.
jill ...... I will ask TJ about the country of origin of her humourous bag. China or the Far East seem likely, but I wonder who designed it ?
For good measure here is the rear view.
Like you our home Xmas decorations are minimal but we both enjoy Y's Xmas Tree. You have to have somewhere to put people's presents - not least our own. And with the two families coming on Xmas Eve we need to look a little christmassy. And it is Sky's birthday which, poor girl, usually gets lost within all the Xmas shebang. I'll say no more about that because the blog does have a wide readership.
Ou cards go on some vertical hanging strips we acquired from Lakeland some years ago and have given us excellent service.
It is such a pity you are so far away - it would be lovely if you could just 'call in' wouldn't it?
We are missing the hyacinth scent. Our blue ones died and went unreplaced. I think that, with almost a fortnight to go, a bowl bought tomorrow would just about make it for Xmas.
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John just rang and told me up to date news. All seem OK and a nice bit about Laura's fella Joe. After his MA his 'Doctoral Proposal' has been accepted by Newcastle and while he is studying for it, the University are going to employ him tutoring. Very good, and I am very pleased.
Quotation time .........
"Platitude: an idea (a) that is admitted to be true by everyone, and (b) that is not true"
H. L. Mencken
His name is a live link and well worth a read. We would have had a good hour in the pub with him.
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ReplyDeleteTo Mansfield Specsavers tomorrow (Tuesday) for an overdue eye check (I wouldn’t go to them for a pasting table or a leg of lamb).
While there I might call in for a pint and something to eat at Wetherspoons in the market place.
BLOG COMMENT
It would be nice if my workspace ever looked as tidy and organised as yours.
Sandra hardly dare set foot as it would mean moving something and that, in turn, would throw my ‘system’ right out of kilter.
I think you have cheated just a little bit on the (missing) chocolate biscuit picture in that the ‘o’s should be ‘O’s. But deceptive packaging is unfortunate.
435BC and 435AD? I made it up. I wondered who would ask (or who would KNOW!). Are you just teasing about the OT too. Is it OTT?
I wish I still had that toasting fork even though no fire by which to make use of it!
Where did you get “I too well remember Neville King (with link)and 'Grandad'” from then?
I can only think that 'lametta' is too new for my 1991 dictionary. It is not in my Italian/English either although it is of Italian descent -
(Lametta \La*met"ta\, n. [Cf. It. lametta, dim. of lama a thin plate.]
- so I assume that it is probably American coinage.
And my 'lamella' connection seems relevant.
Jon(athan) Harvey was an established poet well before we met him at Eaton Hall. I reckon he had been publishing ‘Slow Dancer’ for at least 5 years by then.
Witty Hans Jean Arp
Jill :
I am not a great lover of profiteroles (although I like éclairs) but, as I think I have already said, the best ones I have bought have been from Netto; certainly NOT Tesco’s.
Sandra today bought me what Jessica heard as a ‘Yorkshire turd tart’. Not as good as they used to be although, as Dave Austin once said, "I've never been as good as I used to be."
Although Jon Harvey is from Nottingham, I think he has Polish ancestry. A large number of Poles, and other east Europeans, came here as Displaced Persons after the war, mainly to work in the mines. And I am pretty sure that his greatest creation, Resnick, was of Polish descent.
Pleased to hear that you light candles. It saves on the lecky.
And I am all for cards (ours are displayed in several different ways and I noticed today that all the ones I am sending seem to have been printed in China) as it shows that a few people still like me enough to buy a stamp (I just spent £10 on stamps for MY cards – we divide them up – and then had the gall to mutter about Sandra paying £25 for a Xmas tree).
We have never cracked ‘the children etc. have stopped coming here’ although, to be fair, Dan did have us over for Xmas dinner one year. It looks as though we shall be 8 for Xmas Day and potentially more on Boxing Day. It will be grand when it’s over.
I haven't read John Harvey but I watched Resnick when it was televised. They shot scenes in The Peacock on Mansfield Road, Nottingham and also the Polish club in Carrington.
ReplyDeleteWe went for lunch today at the Hardwick Inn (which I think was highly spoken of on this very blog!). Unfortunately there were only 2 veggie dishes on an otherwise extensive menu and the one I chose, vegetable chilli, was so bad it was largely inedible. Shame since it's such a pretty pub.