Thursday, December 11, 2008

A quiet day - as promised - still cold at 36F

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A very quiet day, plenty of naps, reading, radio and all the things I promised myself yesterday.

Y has gone to Burton Joyce and insisted on 'bussing' it both ways so I got a rest. I've really appreciated it but I don't like to think of her standing in the cold and dark waiting for busses. It doesn't seem a proper husbandly role for me to play.

The two pictures are from virtually the same spot and well demonstrate my searched-for 'snow bones'. The top one was on the Nikon and the bottom one was on my mobile phone through the windscreen while sitting in the car. Stationary, I hasten to add.

I am going to rally in a few minutes and cook an evening meal but prior to that I want to catch up on the 6pm news.

The meal was a success - gridled chicken and potato gratin, followed by my cream cake from Lisa. Always on Thursday when Y arrives back from BJ, Lisa has sent me a cream-cake which is never less than delicious. Today it was a cream horn covered in those unique large sugar granules.

Appropriately, in iPlayer, we watched a Stephen Fry programme about his 'guilty delights' one of which is Farleys Rusks with some cold milk to dunk them in. Nice programme. He is a very engaging fellow and so talented. He is also game to admit that he loves Abba and also Delia .......

Before we leave the matter of the cold weather I want to show you a collage I have made of 2 pictures Bungus sent me of his car with the roof covered in frost.

I put the uncropped picture plus the enlarged crop (on the right) together to make the detail more understandable.

Nature is an artist of overwhelming genius ! And she keeps popping in little thumbnails where you least expect them. As I discussed with Helen only yesterday, photographers love beauty and that love makes them look at things with great care and enjoyment.


Comments

Jill ...... I'm so pleased if the photographs give you a 'feel' for our local countryside. As the crow flies we are only a mile from Derbyshire and a half-hour drive takes one deep into the touristy and non-touristy spots. Reg and Roy are pretty expert on deciding whereabouts would be a good place to head for.

We ought to catch up on Boris Johnson - particularly now you have given his current 2 parter the thumbs up.

Ro's plan of action for the C&W in Harrow, sounds sensible.

bungus ........ Whether or not the illustrated hillock is mad-made or not, I don't know. Roy might. It certainly isn't a spoil-heap.

If you were to decide on a MacArthur Glen sortie, and we are free, we or I would be pleased to join you for coffee.

anonymousrob ......... So pleased to hear about Andy and Christine. I don't know where they are staying but it would be great to see them.

It will be good to see some Andy Snaps again at EPS in due course, or here of course if you both would like to drop in.

Quotation time .......

"Learning sleeps and snores in libraries, but wisdom is everywhere, wide awake, on tiptoe"




"Sleep tight - catch you tomorrow"


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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

DIARY
I asked Sandra if she knows what lametta is.
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘That is.’
It turns out we have a house full of the stuff. But at least Jessica had never heard of it.
‘It’s like tinsel,’ I said, ‘No it’s not,‘ said Sandra, ‘That’s tinsel.’
So I took a small piece of tinsel and juxtaposed it with a piece of lametta and could immediately see the difference; thelametta is nearly 10% wider than the tinsel.
We always had tinsel on the tree when I was a child. It was just like lametta. But a bit thinner?

BLOG COMMENT
There is certainly a difference in the colour range between the Nikon and the mobile photos.
But, when enlarged, the ‘snow bones’ are well illustrated.

I enjoy Stephen Fry’s QI. (Alan Davis is always good value and so are many of his irregular guest such as Bill Bailey and that other fellow who had a brief series where he lived in a tower block).
I didn’t like his American trip much though; not enough detail, too hurried but somehow largely uninteresting.

Thanks for publishing the frost pictures. Not entirely original, as they were ‘inspired’ by something similar I remember not from where.
It was only when looking at the blog that I saw the face of ‘catwoman’ at the very top of pic 2, just right of centre.

The man-made (or even mad-made) spoil-heap hill is the one on the Mansfield /Sutton border at the back of the Rezza as you look from Morrisons.

I hvae ecruntenoed the frist & last letter slepling phonenomen borfee. It does seggsut that crecort slipleng is upnomitrant which goes agisant the gairn showmeat (I gellerany do look at ervey letter and corcert miksteas).

Rob:
I find it interesting that, especially In some of our more popular papers, much is made of ‘spongers’ on the dole (I think grossly exaggerated) whereas, apparently, the Spaniards have a more relaxed and generous attitude.
On the other hand, there seems to be evidence that they are more forgiving of racial abuse at football matches.
But I too found that I was just as well off on benefit in this country, after having been made redundant, as I had been in work (although that employment was admittedly on Community Programme, albeit in a relatively highly paid managerial position).

Anonymous said...

Hiya Graham.....love the photo of the frost. Nature is indeed a marvel;ous artist and as for snow bones I've never heard it before but I will use it in future.

Anonymous said...

I've never heard of 'snow-bones' either but it is very appropriate and your photos illustrate it exactly. And a marvellous 'frost' picture too.

I've also come across the Cambridhe University reading thing too. I find it irritating....

A good Christmas party last night at the knitting place, about fifty people, most of whom took a plate of home-made food. All sorts, sweet and savoury, people from overseas (we had 14 different nationalities) were asked to bring something they would have at home at this time of year, which made it interesting. I tasted most tnings, enjoyed some more than others, but the rather eclectic mix resulted in acute indigestion later......but it was worth it!

And there's a Christmas lunch in the posh restaurant in Peter Jones tomorrow, with five friends. Such a social whirl!

Postman woke us up this morning at 6.50 a.m. to deliver a parcel, no chance......shall have to collect it from P.Office tomorrow before I go.

I hope you benefitted from your quiet day yesterday - I think we all need one of those sometimes!