I regret the absence of a proper blog this evening.
A 'lurgie' has me firmly in its grasp.
Straying too far from the loo is not a good idea.
Thank you all for your much appreciated comments, which I shall take pleasure in responding to - perhaps tomorrow.
All the best - love G
5 comments:
hope you get well soon graham and thanks for that info Rob, I gathered my nieghbour had been arrested when the evening post reporter called and told me.
when asked if it woried me I said no, with all these policemen about I feel very secure.
KEVIN
Poor old G, hope it doesn't last long and that you feel better soon.
A good job we could not call in!
I know from what you have told us that you are quite good at being in bed (something I find uncomfortable unless in hospital) but feeling ill, especially when allied to being unable to eat or drink, can be worse than being in pain (although it is not a good choice).
I’ll echo Jill and Kevin’s good wishes for a speedy recovery, hoping that Dr Belafonte can do the trick.
DIARY
Sandra and I spent a very pleasant 7.00 till 10.00 pm of Friday enjoying dinner at the Rocking Horse.
The room was not filled to capacity. A dozen ‘Greasley Players’, one table of six rather serious ‘oldies’ and two others of two (one a young couple) but, unfortunately, another group of six, who had paid their deposit, failed to turn up. Pehaps they will be there next Friday?
We had crackers with paper hats and jokes (‘What is the currency in Chili? Peso’), rocket-balloon wars between tables, a crooner and pianist (‘A Touch of Magic’ – I had hoped it would be the lady with the red handkerchief) to entertain, and a couple of the GP’s (one on harmonica) gave us a little comic song based on old jokes (never fails) and there was a ’12 Days of Xmas’ quiz, eg:
Q. What does the partridge represent?
A. Dinner for one.
Q. What do the 4 colley birds stand for?
A. The National Anthem.
Q. What Feast Day follows Twelfth Night?
A. George Burn’s Night
Q. What Faith created the song?
A. Either Adam or The 12th Day Adventists.
Q. What old-fashioned name was given to the Monday after Twelfth Night?
A. Washday.
The GPs won by giving more conventional answers.
Also an 'art' competition in which Sandra came third for her colouring and I won with a ‘cartoon-style’ drawing (the judge was the artist half of the young couple (seasonably bright red-streaked hair and lively, well-filled seasonal maroon tights. Who said ‘She looked good too’?). The prize was a box of Ferrero Rocher (ubd 1635?).
My ‘golden rule’ is never (well, hardly ever) to order turkey as it is so often reformed and/or tasteless. But I do like to eat it once at Xmas and, as David was cooking, I trusted him to do a proper bird. He did not let me down. It was succulent and flavoursome, two thirds white, one third dark, with a whole berry cran sauce plus the other usual accompaniments and a good selection of al dente veg. I started with a good thick, cheesy onion soup and had an excellent ‘bite you back’ lemon tart to follow (plus coffee and little mince pies).
Knowing Sandra’s non-meat, non-dairy restrictions, David did not let her down. He came up with a couple of ‘specials’: warm goats’ cheese with a delicious (‘really, really was’) beetroot relish, pine nut dressing and salad garnish to start, then sea bass with lightly stir-fried veg flavoured with carraway seed. She finished with a good fresh fruit salad (from which I removed the whipped cream).
Earlier in the day I had received through the post an anonymous and unexpected gift (from Dan) of 2 CDs that he had downloaded. A great guitar, bass & drums ‘doobie-doobie-doobie’ (a bit George Shearing?) selection by Dave Cliff & Friends (I had never heard of him but he is good) and the other, not yet played, by Ronnie Scott (whom, I have to say, I personally treasure more as a comedian than as a ‘what-used-to-be-known-as-modern’ sax player). That was nice.
I also had an email from Dan with simple instructions on how to copy the Internet Explorer icon from my disappearing toolbar to desktop. That was very useful in the ‘avoiding irritation’ stakes.
Friday morning I thought that my computer had crashed completely.
But.
Some weeks ago, on Newark Market, I obtained foc from Newark & Sherwood DC, a ‘magic’ plug the use of which meant that turning off the computer also caused a shut down of standby and all peripherals thus saving energy. It worked very well.
These devices are also being offered foc by post, presumably to everyone.
Back to this morning.
I disconnected the ‘magic’ plug and everything worked again.
I am NOT saying don’t try the ‘magic’ plug – simply be aware of what might happen!
Calling Plumbing Consultant Incey-Wincey;
WC has a side operated flushing mechanism which has gone wonky. Obvious solution; replace it.
The problem is that the spindle is 6” long and the only replacements readily available are 2” too short.
It went wrong a few years ago and I eventually obtained a replacement from the manufacturers,’Armitage Shanks’. But it cost me £25 (I think, or maybe more?) which would have been OK had it lasted 25 years as did the original.
Any ideas please?
Jill:
It appears to be a standard requirement that pubs called ‘The New Inn’ should have been built prior to the 20thC.
AnonymousKevin:
Exciting times, hey?
My thought was that you might live next door to a stabber of gamekeepers?
We have had nothing like that since our neighbour climbed his holly tree to prevent the council reducing its height. And then it was only one bobby.
Before that, it was the time when our eldest, a teenaged learner driver at the time (and of Fire Appliances now), borrowed the Mini of a friend who had run out of coffee early hours, and parked it outside our house with headlights on full beam while he came in to liberate a jar.
The two officers who investigated were both overtly unsympathetic and unpleasant (bad cop / bad cop) and tried to persuade Simon’s friend to testify that his car had been twoc-ed.
And then they wonder why they are generally less popular and trusted than they once were.
anonymousrob:
You seem to have cleared up the Brinsley raid mystery.
I do think the Breweries did help to close their own pubs after the accountants had taken over their running from the brewers. And not just LARGE breweries; Mansfield (and others) started it before being bought out, although there was still something of the old ‘family feeling’ about Warwicks before John Smith, then Courage, took over. ‘Estates’ cost too much to run. Selling to supermarkets must have seemed less trouble and more profitable.
No doubt farmers felt the same.
And it is not just large PUBS and LARGE pubs that have been hit. Ever increasing numbers of small pubs in villages and backstreets are being boarded up and clubs are not suited to the dining which so many pubs now rely on.
Ollerton & Bevercotes Miners’ Welfare (the Palladium of the North) now has no more than a few dozen customers even on weekend nights, and cannot survive. It seems that they may have been lucky enough to have sold the land on which the building stands for development, which means they could possibly downsize to their ‘old’ (prewar) smaller building.
This week’s Newark Advertiser also featured Balderton Working Men’s Club which is under threat; 700 members (half what it was 15 years ago) but only about 80 go in at weekends and 20 during the week unless there is an expensive and unreliable special attraction.
And small pubs have always struggled to give their licensees a decent living – eg, the very smallest were traditionally run on a part-time basis, by the wife while her husband went out to work or by a smallholder or craftsman ‘doubling-up’.
There is no doubt that many of the closures are simply due to changing habits and other newer forms of entertainment. But part of the traditional pleasure was to go out for a drink and smoke with friends. That is no longer possible.
On which note, following your excellent example, I TOO shall finish.
Except to say that I have always had a soft spot for Man City whose support is generally within their city!
The Stags give an increasing impression of being doomed. 3-1 at home to a side that couldn’t win away! – what good is that?
Sorry to hear you're ill Graham, I hope you'll be better soon.
More or less on topic, Ro has been going to a Country and Western Music Club which met fortnightly in the hall of a British Legion Club, which is part of a large pub. It's been going for about 15 years, now it has to close because the Brit.Legion has had to put up the rent to a level where it is just not financially viable. And they have had to do that because the pub has put up their rent, as the pub is doing badly.....
Ro sad it is closing, it has been part of his life for so long. There is talk of someone else taking it over at a different venue, but they may find it hard to make ends meet, the bands nowadays want more mopney to cover increase in petrol etc. And there is a limit as to how much people will pay - at the moment it is £7 an evening, live music, and at the Brit. Legion one, slightly reduced bar prices.
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