Thursday, December 18, 2008

Burton Joyce day - 45F - Phew !

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Picture 1 is the same Greasley Church which was the subject of Reg's photograph yesterday.

Please don't imagine that I was doing acrobatics to take a snap with the camera at ground level. The churchyard is surrounded by a 5' perimeter wall and I was standing in the lay-by, poking my camera over the wall.

To carry on from yesterday, about Greasley, the village is right in the middle of Lawrence's 'Country of my Heart' and very beautiful it is too.

The house featured in Picture 2 is well up on my list of houses whose architecture I admire. Whenever we drive home by that route one comes round a corner and the house is nicely set, on the right. I've no idea of its heritage or who owns it and I hope they don't mind my featuring it on the blog.

Re yesterday's 'fogey's outing picture'. I think (thanks Rob for pointing it out) I have done Anne a disservice by saying she was missing because there she is, next to Roy. I had just imagined she was sitting on Roy's right and that I had missed her off. Sorry Roy and Anne - it will teach me to look at my snaps more carefully !

This morning I took Y to BJ because she needed to be there early, as Millicent was going to a party, as they always seem to be doing at that age. I managed to catch a few minutes with Steven and he lent me a VGA (laptop to TV) cable because ours doesn't transmit sound and we have to make do with the small speakers on the laptop. He sensibly thought to try his cable, and if the sound works, we know the fault is our cable. If not, 'further enquiries will be necessary'. Over tea (smoked salmon paté on crusty brown toast, topped with slivers of cucumber with the rind cut off. 2nd course - our cream cakes, courtesy of Lisa) we watched an old David Attenborough show about ladybirds which held our attention.

This evening Y sussed out the 'Catch up TV' commercial equivalent to BBC iPlayer because she wanted to 'catch up' on Desperate Housewives. I'm never quite sure whether it is 'desperate' or 'dangerous' housewives. Both adjectives seem appropriate from the few minutes I have seen.

I still haven't got round to working out how my Asus Eee free online storage works. It seems that owners have access to online storage which can be accessed from anywhere. The idea is to take pressure off the gadget's internal disc, and of course, items stored there are 'crash free'. Whether or not one can put useable programmes thereon I do not yet know. Watch this space !

Comments

bungus ...... Glad you all had a good time in McArthury Glenoutlet. And I am glad you finally have a 'goose breast' to eke out you meagre xmas dinner. Mince pies abound in Morrisons. Personally I prefer their flat ones which seem particularly good.

How ladies can spend an hour in M&S must remain a mystery to us simple men.

Glad also you enjoyed The Bold Forester again and your reporting of the meal prices amused me. Bavaria (the non alcoholic lager I drink) in Morrisons has been 2 four-packs for £2 for ages. I notice that the 'offer' has now closed and one four-pack costs £1.

Don't apologise for mentioning prices. This blog is a journal of record and I can see historians being very interested in these things in a hundred years or so.

Jill ...... Maybe I was stretching imaginations a little with the Willie Nelson likeness. It was the straggly hair hanging down over his ears. I hope you clicked on the link and opened it though because I thought the YouTube video delightful and so did Y. Thereon he has his hair tied back in a pony-tail.

I shan't emulate Bungus by cooking woodcock. No doubt I 'would-cock' it up anyway !

Don't care what you say ! We all think you were brave. Hope your day hasn't been too horrendous painwise. It will have knocked you up (not in the American usage of course) and after a few days you could feel very groggy again. How annoying about your glasses which you obviously rate. Perhaps as Rob says, you should just pursue the council for their replacement, and his point about household insurance is useful too.

But hey! bogger the expense. If you really like the glasses, they are well worth getting the same optician to sort you out wth them.

p.s. just read your recently received comment. Bad luck with the glasses ! Hope your optician can do them quickly, even if you have to go on holiday without them. Lets hope your holiday proves a better 'trip' 'eh?

anonymousrob ...... Talk about obscure links ! You can now say you know some people who are friends of Rob Lachowicz's grandmother. That should prove a conversation-stopper.

Thanks for pointing out my error about Ann and please see the apology above.

Another Woodcock for bungus's larder is Bruce Woodock. A popular heavyweight boxer please click but a little before the Sports Desk archives began I think.

Nice to hear of Incy Wincy. He is missing a lot isn't he? We all know about the 'sun'. But beef cobs in the conny club ...... well I ask you ?

You promised to let me have his e-mail address, for internet café use.

Quotation time ......

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work"

Thomas A Edison
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"Sleep tight everybody - catch you tomorrow"



p.s. for Roy's benefit. Above is a 'clicksmilies' smiley. Click here for the programme. Its virus-free etc and free !


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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

DIARY
Sandra learned tonight at the Dukeries College Concert that the school had recently had a surprise visit from OFSTED inspectors who carried out a targeted assessment of the Music Departmant and gave it an OUTSTANDING verdict. Apparently it is to be adopted as a national model.
Good one for the State System, hey?

BLOG COMMENT
I like the Greasley church photo.
A bit more threat in the sky and it would have a touch of the Exorcist or Dracula about it.
I presume the boundary wall is a retaining wall?

I am not sure that I would notice the house but it stands well and is nicely understated.
Not easy to date but probably postwar.

Re my comment on the venerability of the conservative club crowd,
Sandra did point out that I would not have said anything if they had been a younger gathering.

Your smoked salmon pate sounds tasty. I made a kipper pate, when I had more than I could manage for breakfast a few days ago, by adding cream, tartare sauce, onion and garlic. Jolly good too.
This evening I had bubble & squeak made with Brussels, topped with grilled cheese and a fried egg and accompanied by baked beans. Simple but satisfying.

I have made more use of ITV.com than of the BBC equivalent. I wish I could make time to watch more from both sides!
The housewives are desperate, dangerous and dippy.
And do-withoutable!

I got some Netto ‘not-deep’ mince pies today; perfectly good enough for the likes of me although not quite as good as the Aldi ‘deep-dish’ ones I bought a couple of weeks ago and which a visitor remarked were superior to the Mr Kipling ones he had bought.

You will have seen from the scan I emailed to you that The Bold Forester is also CAMRA approved.
That said, I did have to ask for my pint to be replaced yesterday.
I did it very diplomatically by saying that I know taste is a strange and variable thing and asking if the pipes had been cleaned that morning as I thought I could detect a hint of cleaning fluid. The girl I asked had cleaned them herself and, I think, was a bit impressed.

On prices, the large Lidl celeriac was 49p.

I remember from the days before we had heard of digital that my Florida son Matt sent me a photo of my head on Willie Nelson’s body.

It’s not just that I know some people who are friends of Rob Lachowicz's grandmother and can myself can claim relationship to Clint Eastwood and the Duke of Kent. But Trev’s dad had a wheelbarrow.

I remember Bruce Woodock well.
Listened to his fights on the wireless.
I believe he beat an ageing Tommy Farr just after the end of the war. To take the British title he defeated Jack London who was the father of Brian London who is best remembered for saying after several brave rounds against Muhammed Ali, “They said he was fast but they never told me he was bloody greased lightning.” Woodcock’s title fight win against the Light Heavyweight Freddie Mills was a terrific battle but he was badly beaten by the American Joe Baksi.

Jill:
I too find horses too big and very intimidating. I have never been on board one and do not intend to start now.

I don’t think anyone apart from
vegetarians should eat anything that doesn’t look as though it could eat them back.
All right; there’s a bit of hyperbole in there somewhere.

I am not surprised that you have stiffened up... so long as it doesn't become a permanent state!
I think we may agree about ‘bravery’. The Mansfield Chad constantly has stories about ‘brave’ children who are simply putting up with something they couldn’t avoid. That sounds harsh, I know, but, to me, ‘bravery’ is not putting up with something that has happened, it is deliberately going into something that is going to hurt and is avoidable (eg, crawling out into no-man’s-land under gunfire to drag back a wounded comrade or diving into a high sea to rescue someone who is about to drown).
I suppose one can bravely put up with something without moaning but that, to me, is not ‘bravery’.
It may not have been brave of you to do without alcohol but it was certainly strong-willed.

The kindness of people generally is something that both Graham and Sandra have also commented upon recently.

Prescription glasses can be purchased online and, I think, received in less than a week from www.glassesdirect.co.uk; single vision for as little as £15. I have a perfectly acceptable ‘distance’ pair and am about to order a ‘reading’ pair (bifocals and varifocals also available but they, of course, cost over £100). It is certainly a very good stop gap solution.

Although Sandra despises a walking stick (for her own use) and refuses to consider any other aid (being as vain or easily embarrassed as I am) she always finds a trolley a great help to balance and support inside supermarkets where the floor is smooth and level.

anonymousrob:
It may be urban myth but I too have heard tell of a minimum paving ‘stick up’. That said, I think Jill could wait a long time to see a CAB adviser with so many people encountering growing debt problems. And the house insurance probably has a £100 excess even if otherwise applicable.

Having watched the Stags descent (admittedly not improved by penalty points deduction) you are wise not to celebrate Panthers’ present success too enthusiastically.

Yes, I recall Woodcock on the wing.
As to my game eating, if someone would hang Ronaldo I could be tempted! (That is not especially anti-ManU, I can think of several others from Chelsea and Arsenal who are equally arrogant cheats).

No doubt RG will explain the difference between Internet Explorer and Firefox. And equally certainly I shall not understand.

Jill 2:
Yet another reason to always carry a 50p piece!

Anonymous said...

The house you refer to has been extensivly modied/extended in recent years The new walls were built outside of the old property and then, I presume, the old ones dismantled. The Stables etc are completly new. Comment was made that the shed had remained untouched 'had it got a preservation order on it?'
RG I believe Doug has a picture of it.
The Bruce Woodcock/Joe Baski fight was the sole topic of conversation in my fathers Barbers shop, even my totally non sporting parents being full of it. just like Strictly nowadays.Then he lost! I even remember hearing the commentory on the wireless 'light program?
Jill I think the pavement thing is actually 20mm (3/4inch) Have a go at the council,if you're late with your council tax payment they will have a go at you.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Reg for info on 'the house'. It helps to explain why my 'dating' was uncertain.
And you are absolutely right about the Woodcock/Baksi fight. Bruce was the great British hope waiting to be shattered by even second ranking American heavyweights. Lee Savold also taught hima lesson.

Just for Jill, from 'Glasses Direct':
"Your frame - our lenses
"Reglazing" is the process of fitting new lenses into an old frame. If you have a fabulous frame that you love and don't want to change, but you need new lenses, then this service is for you.
Reasons for changing your lenses might include:
Your prescription has changed.
Your current lenses are scratched or damaged.
You would like different type of lenses.
You have purchased a new frame elsewhere and need lenses fitted.
Our fee for Reglazing is £25 for fully-rimmed and semi-rimmed frames and £65 for rimless frames, including lenses."

Anonymous said...

Funny you should say that, G, I felt distinctly groggy today, more than just stiff, though that as well. Daughter says it is delayed reaction, at first the adrenalin kickc in, to make sure you survive, when that wears off you go 'down'. Other daughter says when you fall you instinctively tighten all muscles, then they get a bit strained when they relax again. So I have had a quiet day, not gone out, nor cooked much - smoked haddock with poached eggs and rice and frozen peas.

That photo of the church, if you added a couple of ravens and a bolt of lightning it would like a Hammer House of Horror.

Smoked salmon pate, I like that, might try and make some. R prefers it either fresh or tinned.

R has been allowed to read all the boxing bits. His hero was Freddie Mills, who died in somewhat mysterious circumstances.

I think it is only brave to do something that frightens you - trying to think of an example, if you pick up a snake, but are not at all scared of snakes, that's not brave. If you are absolutely terrified of handling snakes, it gives you nightmares, but you manage to steel yourself to handle one, then that is brave.

Bungus, I am with you as regards horses, I rode one once at a dude ranch we stayed at in Texas, it was very uncomfortable, I was scared of being so high up and the horse didn't do what I told it to. Though I did enjoy other bits of our stay there, the food was terrific, we had our own log cabin with patchwork quilt, and all mod.cons. And ate on big tables under the shade of the biggest silver birch trees I've ever seen, by a creek, the chuck wagon came down, and we rode back on a hay-wagon.....

Glasses - thank you all for your input. I paid £550.00 (no, that is not a typo) for them, I loved them immediately, best glasses I have ever had. R wanted me to have a new car previously, but I declined, I drive so little and having a new car would not make me drive any more.....That justified them in my book - I do wear them all my waking hours. They are rimless, side pieces go straight onto lens, that bendy sort. Optician said he had never heard of anyone breaking them before - they re not glass, but some super sort of ?plastic. They are very expensive because I have peculiar eyesight, one eye very bad, one good, if I had 'normal' cheaper glasses I would have one very thick lens and one very thin, this throws them out of balance and the only way round it is to have two thick lens. The ones I broke are both wafer thin, varifocal, are transitional (go dark in the sun-light) and anti-glare, and I qualify medically for a £30 contribution from the NHS..... It's going to cost about £350 to get them put right.... I am loath to go elsewhere, have been to these people for over 30 years...not a chain, an individual.

I think tomorrow is pavement-measuring day - watch this space!

Anonymous said...

Let's talk.