Picture 1 is courtesy of Reg and shows St Mary's Church at Greasley. Super snap Reg, great depth-of-field, sharpness, and the detail retained in the middle-distance. And the Derbyshire Hills on the sky-line. Thank you.Please click here for info about the village, and surrounding villages (including Brinsley). Due to our planned get-together with spouses at The Conservative Club we decided to WoW locally. And Greasley was the chosen spot.
After my miserable lion at Belton House, I thought this scruffy horse at Greasley sort of followed on.
The animal's face reminded me of Willie Nelson the Country and Western singer. I think it must be the haircut.
Sorry Willie ! How rude of me. Because I really rate your voice, and you.
Both Y and I had slept well and breakfasted together. When dawn broke, the sun and the weather were excellent. Still cold though and, according to the Telegraph, this year has been the coldest start to a winter since records began.
All went to plan, the walkers arrived early at the 'Conny Club', Julian collected Y as planned, Pauline arrived, and eventually Brian and Audrey turned up. Brian had been delayed at the hospital. He had a post-op (knee replacement) appointment with his consultant and things are going well. Brian had been concerned that his ability to bend his knee was not as it should be. But the surgeon put his mind at rest, and more than 90 degrees could take at least a year to achieve. He has just got to exercise it apparently.
Picture 3 shows more or less everybody. Some faces are unfortunately hidden and I am the space on Reg's right, due to me taking the photo, and Roy's wife Ann seems to have been cut off from the right hand side.The cobs (cobs is the bread bit Jill) were beef for change and they had been buttered, unless you specifically asked not.. Doreen said she thought that chip-cobs were a must on a Wednesday.
They are, but we have to be flexible n'est ce pas? It didn't seem 'right' though.
Comments
bungus ...... I think you have managed to make the woodcock sound just about edible. You must count me in with Jill. Thanks, but no thanks !
Re 'point & shoot' cameras. You might be right about the spontaneity. But it isn't only that because I can spend a lot of time deciding on a picture and view-point etc. Maybe its more due to a slight softness of image. I'm certainly not about to abandon my Nikon though, because for so much work it is an ideal and rewarding tool. Horses for courses ........
Jill ...... Oh dear ! Poor Jill. What a terrible thing to happen and it sounds as if you have been very brave. It was the right thing to go ahead with your planned lunch. If you had 'bailed out' and gone home you would have felt even worse. You will be stiff, and it will be painful - if you were closer I would give you a couple of my Fentanyl patches. They would take the edge off. You will have to wear your black-eye with pride, like a duelling scar.
I realise that you 'speak in jest' about needing a set of wheels like mine. But honestly, don't completely rule it out. If you feel at all unsteady, they create a firm base made up of the wheels and ones legs. Using mine, I am much much more confident about moving about.
Yes my word. A Nottingham Waitrose. The 'in crowd' can't wait ! Please click here to read all about it.
Quotation time ......
"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock"
DIARY
ReplyDeleteI took Sandra to MacArthur Glen to meet her closest niece Karen who, considering that she has had 3 back operations in the last few months apart from other ailments, looked remarkably well.
After coffee, I left them to shop and went back into Sutton to visit Aldi, Lidl and The Bargain Shop (after filling up with petrol at Morrisons).
I got most of the things I wanted, most importantly a goose breast to add to the whole goose which will not be big enough on Xmas Day. But no mince pies anywhere apart from very expensive ‘luxury’ ones (in Aldi?). There was, as usual some very keenly priced, high quality veg in Lidl (eg, a large celeriac for 49p).
I then went back to collect Sandra but had to wait while she spent an hour in M&S where she acquired some real bargains – she also got a great pair of boots from Clarkes. She thought them a snip at a half price £40 but to me a pair of good shoes should cost 29/11d.
I had a pot of tea at Thornton’s while waiting – a nice brew but just one (very large) cup for about £1.60 although there was a delicious complimentary chocolate (coffee cream, one of my favourite centres).
On the way home we called at The Bold Forester to eat.
They are no longer doing 2 meals for £8...
BUT the fish, chips & peas (petit pois, no less or should I say no more?), as well as several alternative main courses, are now £3.99. There is plenty of choice in the £5 to £10 range, and the starters and puds are also very reasonably priced. Really good value. And a decent selection of draught beers.
I do mention prices a lot, don’t I? Not because I object to paying but more as a matter of record in view of the rapid rise in prices in the last 6 months or so (esp food), which has very recently been reversed (except for bread?).
I exaggerated the price of the tea in Thorntons by the way. It was £1.57; I have just found the receipt.
BLOG COMMENT
I have always expected Greasley to be an unpleasant place although it obviously isn’t. If it wasn’t for the ‘l’ it would be Greasey; that’s why. Don’t they have a brass band?
Great red horse.
I cannot say that I have felt the cold much. Perhaps because I tend to stay indoors?
Dodgy knee. Post-op or post-hop? (ie, hopping from post to post).
Was it hot beef in the cobs? If so, no butter (although some people like ‘dip’).
If cold beef then I would want he bread buttered.
Hot or cold, either horseradish or English mustard essential.
I see from the Codgers' Tea Party photo that you had chips WITH the cobs!
I am inclined to the view that, if possible, one should always try food as traditionally intended (provided it does not involve eating fat or savoury jelly). And the woodcock DID work.
I agreed with you about ‘point and shoot’ and I am not about to argue with your continuum. I bow to your greater photographic knowledge.
You present a good argument for your wheels although, personally, I would rather stay at home and watch TV!
To paraphrase your photographic comment, ‘courses for horses ...’
Jill:
Most important thing first.
So sorry to hear about your fall. There is no doubt that as one gets older one falls more heavily. Good on you for taking such a positive attitude and not letting it stop you eating!
I suppose the bright side is that you didn’t break any bones.
I hope that it won’t cause too much consequential anguish and spoil your Xmas.
Now your other less significant points.
I am sure I mentioned the Woodcock, which I had allowed to hang for a week since being brought to me straight from the shoot together with a hare (my favourite meat) which needs a further week at least before being skinned, gutted and jointed.
Woodcock is much like Snipe - ie, they look very similar except that the Woodcock is a couple of inches longer than either the Great Snipe or the Common Snipe (and appreciably bigger than the Jack Snipe) - and in culinary terms they are treated identically, especially in that neither should be ‘drawn’ but allowed to release its innards into the cooking pan whence they should be spread on the slice of toast upon which the bird is traditionally served (I demurred). Their non-stomach, diet and feeding habits are such that this is ‘acceptable’, of which I am now convinced.
Having long bills, they are easily trussed, the legs being folded up and the head bent round so that the beak can be used as a skewer.
In spite of RG’s reservations, I see no sound aesthetic reason for not serving it so prepared when one would happily accept a fish whole on the plate.
Having tried roasting it thus, I think that next time (if there is one because it is ten years or so since I last had one) I may remove the guts (even though they do add to the piquancy) and casserole the little bugger.
We have a Waitrose in Newark (not a baby one, though not huge) but I seldom shop there (although Dan and Em do) because it is expensive and, in my view, not generally significantly better than Tesco, Morrisons, Lidl or Aldi unless something specific and exotic is required.
I think the Credit Crunch will hit them harder than most.
SPORTS DESK
I note that the Panthers continued their improved run last night.
That is indeed a lovely photo of a place with a less than lovely name. As soon as I saw it I could see that it was good, but not why it was good, until you made the salient points about foreground etc.etc,. Those are the sort of things I don't know about.
ReplyDeleteHe's a nice-looking horse too, though can't see the W.Nelson connection. I have never known any horses, think I would like them more if I had. They all seem a bit on the large side to me.
Thank you for the culinary details, Bungus, I still would say no to woodcock though. And I don't like a whole fish on a plate either!
I am very stiff today, must have strained/banged bits of me that I didn't realise. Face not too bad though, not too swollen, a delicate shade of lavender underneath my eye and a slightly darker shade above....Chemist sold me double-strength Nurofen (a new one on me) which works well.
I wasn't being brave yesterday, I had the option of being with old friends, chatting and knitting, and then out to lunch, or coming home (I was offered an escort) to an empty house, I knew R was out. No impairment in my appetite either, though I did keep off the alcohol!
R very keen to see where it happened, if the paving stone was sticking up etc, think we may go and have a look tomorrow, and I want to thank the people in the cafe who were so kind to me. I think you have to have a cast iron case to get anytning out of Council nowadays!
I went to Opticians this morning, it is going to cost a fortune to get my lovely six-months old glasses fixed, dammit.
I am going to another knitting group tonight at Waterloo, very easy journey in train from across the road, R wants me to take a stick, I have been trying it out, but think I am liable to trip myself up with it, it isn't as if I had a bad leg/hip. If you lived nearer I would be borrowing your wheels, I found the super-market trolley a great help today - usually that is R's job.
Jill, really sorry to hear about your trip over the paving stone - hope you are improving. I have a vague recollection of someone telling me that the paving stone/slab must be sticking up more than an inch for the council to be liable. I don't why that should be so and it may not be true. I think you should have a go anyway; they might pay for your glasses at the least. CAB or a local solicitor who does a free half hour advice session might be able to help if you want to go down that road. You may be able to claim on your house insurance for the glasses as often such items are covered when away from the house.
ReplyDeleteBungus, thank you for noticing Panther's very important win at Basingstoke last night. It keeps them in touch with the leaders and makes the Christmas games against Sheffield interesting. Having said that, though, there are still 29 league games to be played so plenty of time for things to change.
RG, thanks for the info about Mrs Mulligan's grandson, Rob Lachowicz. I understand he is a promising talent - let's hope he develops into a top player.
Wow - I'm turning you all into ice hockey fans!!
Picture 3, to me, shows Roy's wife Ann second right just behind Roy and masking someone who, I guess, is Helen. Oops! Sorry to be picky; I've gone into NEMPF judging mode. Beef cobs and chips sounds good though. How Incy Wincy must be rueing his decision to go to Spain! I had an e-mail from him the other day; they've had some 'bad' weather which I take to mean the sun didn't shine for a few days. Oh dear! He claims he hasn't taken any photos yet but he says that every year.
Didn't Woodcock play for Forest a few years ago (1980s?) before moving to Germany? Have you cooked and eaten any other famous footballers Bungus?
Latest sports news; ManU reach the final of the World Club Championship.
IT news - following the problems with Internet Explorer I've downloaded and am using Firefox. Erm, what's the difference?
Rob
Rob
Rob, I rang Insurance company but my glasses are not covered, I can't claim for accidental damage to personal property outside the home. Pity, I took them back to opticians and I have to have a new lens and a sidepiece, going to cost a fortune. I do have a spare pair, but the ones I broke (second pair I have broken in 60 years!) are my favourites of all time, both for vision and appearance (and they double as sun-glasses). I shall be lucky to get them back before we go away on Jan.4th, nothing seems to get done over the Xmas/New Year period.
ReplyDeleteSomeone else told me that the paving stone had to be out of true by the height of a 50p. piece....