Blood Test - Lawns mowed - Carol Ann Duffy

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The day started with my INR blood-test (the level is 5.1 - it should be 3) and then we went shopping. In Lidl, Y had a severe twinge of sciatica. Although it has happened elsewhere, it often seems to strike in Lidl. Poor girl - she had to hold onto the freezer cabinets for support.

Then we did Morrisons and then home. Although Y was still suffering she felt her planned swim at the Hayley Centre would do more good than harm, and so it proved. I insisted on offering transport both ways.

This dramatic fungi on a tree-stump near the barriers looked worth a photograph. We don't intend to try it ourselves but if edible, one could offer a meal to a large number of people.

Perhaps Bob could help us with identity and also culinary value.

Whilst at Ann and Roy's on Saturday Roy lent us this book of Carol Ann Duffy. Although described as children's poetry there is plenty in there to delight adults too. I'm on my second read through and Y is also enjoying it. She says that although not a poetry fan she loves this. Particularly the two poems about Elvis. I am glad Carol Ann is now the Poet Laureate. She is a premier league poet and fully deserves the honour.

Her thoughts flow with a beautiful lyrical rhythm. And what a well-stocked mind !

I don't know how our WoW people fared today. The weather has been good if they did eventually decide on Calver. A lovely spot with several excellent possible walks. No doubt I shall hear in due course and receive some pictures.

Appropriately, following our Haworth Trip to the Bronte Parsonage, Radio 7 are serialising Wuthering Heights and Heathcliffe is equipped with a delightful Yorkshire accent. Well he would be wouldn't he? Incidentally some of the costumes to be used in the new TV production were on display at the Museum.

My responses to your previous comments

Bob .... Someone told me that Nyger seed and Thistle seed were in fact the same thing.

All these grocery connections.

jbw .... Wowee ! Clever Grandma.

Yvonne ..... You were very brave today to go swimming ! I'm so glad it worked out.

Jill ..... I was glad that, in the end, we rendered your comment 'compliant with the rules'. I didn't want to miss out on an interesting comment but on the other hand ......

Buses are becoming more user friendly, albeit slowly. You would love our trams.

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Quotation time .......

"An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it."

Jef Mallett

"Sleep tight - Hope to catch you tomorrow"

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The gusty wind persists - 58F - a Rest Day

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Today's wet, windy, and cold weather makes us realise how lucky we were yesterday at Anglesey Abbey. Stormy during the journey but after arrival we had warm sun and everyone was able to see outside things as well as indoors.

Our route from Car Park to house was longer than the most direct but one of their volunteers recommended it and, thanks to my wheels, we managed it. And I'm so glad we did for the sight of these trees.

One of our ladies assured us they are 'Silver Birch ' but we doubt it. Most indigenous Silver Birch don't acquire this absolute whiteness when young, if at all, and we think this is one of those tree species that in the Autumn have a really attractive bark-peel. Does anyone know?

Inside the house the Art Collection was a high point for us. In one room was the last picture Richard Parkes Bonington painted and remains unfinished but delightfully bright perhaps in consequence. He has a special place for Nottingham people because of his birthplace in Arnold. There were other treasures - Holbein, Constable, Claude de Lorraine, Munnings, a Landseer or two, one of a Spaniel that looked as if it had been fed sugary sweets - awful!

The second picture is of Lode Mill which we didn't manage to pull in. This picture was from the closest point we reached. Y would liked to have gone down to it but I was flagging a bit by that stage.

The Mill is still functioning and people bought stone-ground flour and oatmeal etc.

The coach journey was good fun and we had lots of laughs. Peter G is still in his plaster cast (broken wrist from being knocked over on a crossing in London by a cyclist) but Joan has stepped into the breach by taking on the driving. On Friday we are going out with Peter and Joan, and Jean to celebrate Peter's and Jean's 80th Birthdays. They are an example to us all.

Tomorrow I have a blood-test, Y is having her hair done and then we are off over to Sherwood for a nails service. Charity Shops will beckon and I must keep an eye open for jigsaws for Joan G. While we are over there it would be nice to call in on Joan B but Yvonne hasn't managed to contact her yet.

Sports Desk - Y had a nice chat with Margaret M and her grandson 'Lachs' is doing extremely well. Although he is one of Nottingham Panthers stars his actual team is 'Lions' and recently he has had 4 other offers.

My comments on your comments

jbw...... Thank you for 'Rainbow Bridge' which I am sure will bring comfort to bereaved pet owners. For my taste it was rather sugary and cloying I'm afraid.

Bob .... As you know, I only have one actual 'field' but that can be located anywhere. On reflection, perhaps I have two. One is a 'field' and the other is a 'small enclosure'.

The fact that I could not find a bird feeder-stand anywhere was nature's way of telling me I prefer the feeders hanging in the Rowan Tree anyway. The fact that sometimes I can't see the birds clearly enough to photograph them is but a minor hitch.

Jill .... I hope you will enjoy your Morrisons. Like Debra you will be pleasantly surprised at the prices and also the quality and range of goods. It is our favourite Supermarket.

I can easily understand your reaction to Rainbow Bridge and my 'comment' above should not in anyway be interpreted as a put-down.

Helen C .... I think your comment will be much appreciated by both Rob and Bob. It is over a year since Ralph died but I know how much Bob misses him still.

Your remarks about the silliness of the 'dog rescue' 70yr limit are absolutely right. There are so many 40yr olds who are not fit to have a dog and many at 70+ who would be ideal. Often more so because they have the time and the commitment.

Tilly .... Great to have you commenting!

Thanks very much for the update on the Great Tit chicks. I guess that, by Thursday when I collect Grandma, the situation may have changed again. Lets hope there are no more casualties.

We would all love a picture of them outside the nest box.

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Quotation time ..... While I was looking up a quation for May I came across this old dictum, known to all Bee-keepers ........

"A swarm in May
Is worth a load of hay;
A swarm in June
Is worth a silver spoon;
A swarm in July
Ain't worth a fly."

The reasoning behind it is that a swarm (usually around 18,000) in July won't have time that year to grow into a honey producing colony. So you have to look after them, feed them if necessary, all for a nil return.

In the original Derbyshire version the 4th line read "Ain't come too soon"

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Sleep tight - catch you tomorrow


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Funny Friday - Fentanyl increase - 57F 2mph SW

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The view from the office window is beginning to look more summer-y I think. The tree in the top left corner is one of our favourites and is breaking leaf most attractively in the afternoon sun. To complete the idyll the birds are singing away lustily and I have a window open.

This morning I had an appointment with Dr. Barrett and she was complimentary on my progress in obesity-clinic terms.

Re my continued aches and pains she has prescribed another increase in my Fentanyl patches. They kill the pain but the morphine has a strong soporific effect. - we talked it through and she is very matter-of-fact. The choice is between "pain relief and feeling dozy" or "being sharp snd suffering". As a coward I am going for the first option. Unfortunately the increase will probably send my INR blood-level haywire again. Oh, the pleasures of getting old.

This blog will be short I'm afraid due to computer problems. I can't get onto the normal household broadband, and neither can Y on her laptop. But fortunately I have my dongle and I am speaking to you from it.

Picture 2 is our Kerria, the yellow flowered shrub centre frame. Not yet in full bloom. Bob's Sandra had recently been seeking an ID and I thought their picture looked more like it than anything else.

Jill ..... Re the hall-table narcissus. They were bought. I know it is silly but we are always reluctant to cut garden ones. They last so much longer in the garden and are happier there.

There is so much variety in the genus. I always think the multi-headed ones have a stronger scent.

As Y remarks, the Steak pie you describe is exactly the one we have. Just got a pastry lid, no sides and bottom. Lovely meal and we share one and have lots of vegetables.

Yvonne ..... I know that Ruby and Elli are always very concerned that you have made me a jelly. How sweet of them to keep you on your toes.

Helen C .... Even though there weren't many pictures at EPS, it sounds as if you had a good time. I certainly hope that one of yours was selected. Being published on a calender must be an accolade.

The Spaghetti tree April Fool's day hoax was in 1957. You are far too young to have seen the original and remember it.

Bob ..... If you see 'Funny Friday mark 2' you will know I'm in original title trouble. It isn't really a problem anyway.

Your 'Sisyphus' remark camus a surprise to me. A snap of the hall-table will be taken when the light is right. I'm not lugging it into another room. But I shan't forget.

I suppose you are lucky to havePeacocks over-wintering in the garage. But don't they make an awful noise in the mornings?

Talking of cartoons you won't be surprised to learn that Matt has been voted 'Cartoonist of the Year' - again ! ...... We Telegraphees are lucky to have him.

Rob ..... Oh dear ! Poor Rob ! Both Y and I have heard of this happening before. Doesn't make it any easier though. I know that eventually you will get it all back but nobody likes being co-opted into an involuntary savings-scheme.

I'm sure you will enjoy the Nimmo Brothers. I've linked to a Youtube clip of them. Obviously the YouTube embargo on Music hasn't yet come into play.

Thanks for Sports Desk update. You've crammed a lot of information into a small space there my boy.

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Quotation time - triggered by the narcissus discussion ....

"The flower in the vase still smiles, but no longer laughs"

Malcom de Chazal

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Typical Thursday - 49F - W at 9mph - Y at BJ

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The picture on the left is one of Yvonne's.

I had installed myself in the car and didn't want to get out again, just before we left the car park at Cromford Mill. So I asked Y if she would nip out and take a photo of the Church through all the shrubbery.

This was the result and I love it. It so sets the time of year with the daffs and just a hint of green on the trees. In a month you won't be able to see the Church at all for the foliage.


Likewise with picture 2 which is looking from Cromford Mill towards the distant hills. You can just see the hole in the wall where the gate was (centre bottom) and you can imagine the hundreds of thousands of people over the years who have been so happy to see this view at the end of a shift.

My viewpoint is high to exclude the atmosphere-wrecking cars.

Today has been a rest-day although I am going to EPS this evening. The NEMPF Exhibition is being shown and it will be an interesting evening. I know we have at least one member with accepted work. Y, as usual has been over at Burton Joyce and I dropped her at the tram this morning after collecting an undelivered package from the GPO place. We were quite let down when we discovered it was a pile of National Trust Secretarial stuff. Eventually it will end !

My responses to your previous comments

Pete ..... Thanks for your good wishes. My INR level has done this sort of thing before. It is usually associated with some medication change and I have recently had my Fentanyl patches strength changed. I guess it is that.

Bob ..... Unfortunately I missed Heston Blumenthal. I heard his name in the pub yesterday lunchtime and I guess it was that programme they were discussing. My ability to process 3 conversations at the same time is diminishing. Nowadays I can only manage 2.

Alyssum is unfortunately close to asylum don't you think ? I'm not going to set any this year, just in case.

I suspect I knew about the 'puffball' source of some vegetarian foods but hadn't associated it with Quorn.

Jill ..... You are right. Not even one chip - tempting though they were, served in a communal rectangular crock which was passed round.

The wall with the alyssum was very sheltered and seemed in full sun at midday.

I agree that the use of the word 'loin' in fish seems something of a misnomer, this linked picture shows exactly what they looked like though.

Witty old you - about the blackbird's off-spring. Logically you should, by that process finish up with a white blackbird ha ha!

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Quotation time ..... I often have this feeling too ....

"I don't necessarily agree with everything I say."

Marshall McLuhan

The latest from the MS website Squiffy

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"Sleep tight - Catch you tomorrow"
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Restful Day - 57F - Bumblebee appeared

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No apology needed for reproducing Rembrandt's "Night Watch" which hangs in the Rijksmuseum. The reason for reproducing it is that some art-historian has finally unravelled the identities of all the militiamen, 365 years after Rembrandt painted them. They were all prominent Amsterdam businessmen and politicians. Great painting and if ever you have the chance to see it, please do.

My day has been mostly in bed with leg/back ache but my own fault. Today was the day to change my Fentanyl patches. I took the old ones off, put the new ones ready, had my shower and forgot all about them. And I suffered for it. Drug-dependent I'm afraid.

My responses to your previous comments

Yvonne ..... Lovely to hear from you in London, via the blog. What fun !

Glad the girls enjoyed 'Wells Fargo', and Elli being very 'matter of fact' about her shawl being a memory of you when you've died. Kids can be very practically minded.

Bob ..... So people have a better idea of the 'hideaway' you discovered in the woods I am putting the picture you e-mailed me here, on the right.

I hope I'm not being obtuse but I was confused by your comment - 'teenage brothers (known for 30 years)" - how can this be ? I ask myself, and I haven't got Yvonne here to explain what is no doubt obvious to most people.

Jill..... I think many outlets favour the empty display box. DVDs and Computer Software nearly always. But there is usually a notice telling you to take the box to customer-services or similar to have the item put in your box.

I haven't watched the photography programme yet. It will be on BBC i player. I agree with you over most co-productions though. You reminded me of a colleague whose wife wanted him to read a book about racial-prejudice. "I'm not racially prejudiced at all" he announced and then, when she passed the book to him he said "I'm not reading that - its American".

However, I know you well enough to know you are not racially prejudiced at all. Being critical of an american approach to culture is NOT racial prejudice. Americans are, after all, of Caucasian stock. My blogger spell checker keeps telling me that american should have a capital A. An instruction I ignore by the way. "What insufferable cheek" I always think.

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Quotation time .......

" Prejudice is the child of ignorance."

William Hazlitt

When I was a boy I chanced upon a collection of Hazlitt's Essays and have been hooked ever since. What an odd boy I must have been !

"Sleep tight - catch you tomorrow"

For people who enjoyed the Wells Fargo smiley - here is the train



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WoW-ing at Kings Mill Res - 31F - Drifting mist !

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Almost in embarrassment, I publish yet another 'misty morning' picture. over the football field just after dawn. But I like them and it is my blog. Although I was staggering about on the road in dressing-gown, slippers and Nikon I was about 20 seconds too late for a better shot. Photographers and anglers have similarities and "you should have seen the one that got away" must be common to both tribes.

At the moment I'm sitting in the car-park at Kings Mill Reservoir. A nice website BTW. I've already had a little walk to the Strawberry Cafe which Brian H recommended and it seemed nice enough. But as I have brought my own flask, after a few bird pics I have returned to the car. Roger had travelled with me but Brian, Mike and Reg came a slightly different route and encountered road-closures and all sorts of hassle before arriving.

The fog between Eastwood and here was changeable and visibility varied from 100yds max there to clear blue sky here.

The chaps walked all the way round the Reservoir but I was perfectly happy, messing about. My Vodafone device is working perfectly and providing a strong signal and speedy broadband.

I thought that the best way with the bird pictures from the Reservoir was to do a 'collage' to give you a pictorial summary. There were lots of birds but my recognition isn't good and Roy wasn't with us. As you can see there were Swans and Coots, and the Mallard deserved a place on the grounds of beauty. They are common but that green/turqoise sheen on the neck is so attractive. Perhaps someone can help with the little black and white bird with the bright yellow eye (bottom left corner).?

Y and I had both slept well and are feeling, as David put it, quite 'chipper'.

For the statutory chip cob we went to the Bird-in-Hand at Blidworth. A long standing Inn and the chip-cobs were well up to standard, in my opinion. We sat at the window table which we like. If you open the link, the table is in the top right hand corner of the fourth picture down, in the right-hand column.

Today, even if one couldn't see far, the sun trying hard through the mist was pretty.

The picture on the right was on my Nokia mobile because I left my big camera in the car. It did a tidy job though.

I think there's a danger of my OD-ing on these misty pics though !

Yesterday evening Rob and I had a successful pre-battle strategy meeting for our joint Lecture on Thursday evening. Pictures copied to a memory-stick, some of Andy's on a CD (Andy is an old friend who now lives in Spain). As Rob was leaving he speculated as to how big an attendance we might pull. I said "Well Rob, there's a few who don't like you and there's a few who don't like me, so we shall just have to wait and see". It should be a laugh anyway.

My responses to your Comments

David .... It was a pleasure to dig out the stuff about your Pathfinder. As you know I can mess around on the net for hours. If you or Helen or the girls ever want something researching it I would love to do it. I've got more time than you.

Anonymous .... I'm afraid I have had to reject your interesting comment about the Panthers because it is in breach of the blog's house-rules for 'comments'. It is OK to use the 'Anonymous' button provided that you identify yourself at the bottom of the comment by your name or your initials or something. These words appear at the top of the 'comments' window.

Please restrict your comment to 200 words. Real names will be preferred. Using the 'anonymous' button is OK provided you later identify yourself. Comments from people using pseudonyms will not be published.

Yvonne ..... I now realise the above anonymous was you and you had just clicked the wrong button. So easy to do. It is quite good fun having insider info on such a rising star as 'Lachs'. As you have rejigged the 'comment' to show yourself as author I was delighted to click 'publish'. I intend to enforce these house-rules strictly and if anyway offends, wordcount-wise or whatever I shall simply click 'reject'.

Bob the fogeyman ..... I think your memory is failing you about the Arboretum Pond. It is just on the left when you go in through that bottom gate. Little fountain in the middle.

Jessica's 'Bramley Apple & Raspberry, Fromage Frais Brulee, with Caramel Shards’sounds great to me. Did she 'create it' or was it a recipe ? These young people are so talented..

I will leave you and Rob totally in charge of the Sports Desk, although it now seems that Yvonne will offer privileged snippets about the Panthers. BTW Nathan Arnold sounds as if he should be a poet rather than a footballer.

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Quotation time ............... This is spot-on relevant for tomorrow evening. I hope I remember it-

"I'm not trying to make paintings look like photos. I want to make paintings using photos as a reference, the way painters did when photography was first invented"

Peter Doig

The link isn't a video as such this evening but a link to one of his exhibtions at The Tate. And there is a video to open if you so chose. I know 'static' doesn't suit people who 'like to see their lips move'.

"Sleep tight - Catch you tomorrow"

As I said to David and Helen, it won't be long before you've got your caravan hooked up to your new Pathfinder. And Rob too. And Roy will be off and about. The one depicted in the smiley is a camper-van more relevant to John but the thought is there.





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2009 dawns - What can I say ? - All the best !

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A misty morning but at least I could see over the football field and beyond. And all those lovely tonal recessions. My D80's clock is still reading summer-time so my EXIF data is always an hour out. But it's hardly worth changing it is it? Bungus's has been showing 2009 for all of 2008, so I guess he is now on 2010. Picasa 3 is still, shall we say 'tardy' that a good word, but if you leave it to its own devices the pictures arrive eventually. I don't worry because from my camera, they go into My Pictures instanter, so I know they are safe.

Probably Roy would say, with regard to most of my pictures, does it really matter anyway ? Ha Ha ! I'm only joking Roy - you are not a cruel man.

TJ came to take Y to BJ for the day. I think speaking in code is catching. It also occured to me that, now that 'case' matters so little that the american poet e. e. cummings has finally been justified.

I opted out of the Burton Joyce trip knowing they would all have a good time anyway - and they did. Hannah's IT pseudonym is Tilly Balloon Juice. What fun. Y told me on her return that Hannah had made a movie, probably using the Microsoft Office we asked Santa to send her. Next time I see her she must show us how.

Picture 2 has just arrived, from our Old Market Square correspondent, and it's a 'cracker' isn't it. It looks as if Rob might have caught a couple of incoming meteorites too. I think NASA should be told.

They obviously had a good time although, from Rob's comment, neither our Notts residents nor the hostelries did much by way of welcoming in the New Year. Never mind, when you are young and in love, who cares about the cold and being alone?

Before I cover the 'comments' individually, let me say to all contributors - "Great. Absolutely Right, Just how I've envisaged them".

Comments

zorro ..... Do you realise that 'zorro said' is a close anagram for 'dozi sore arse' ?

bungus ..... I think your basic 'soup recipe' from your pro cook book is as good as any. Homemade soups are always unique anyway, however closely one foillows a recipe. Part of the charm.

I accept your superior knowledge re Sports Desk matters.

Re fights. Nothing new here. The old Idelwells/Outram Street junction at Sutton, and Mansfield Market Place were the regular scenes of fights at the weekend. The young 'bloods' considered it part of proving their manhood. And, shock/horror, the media are determined to show that gangs and knife crime are something new - they aren't.

Roy ..... Many thanks for the seasonal greetings. And, very witty, re bungus's hieroglyphs. Apparently 'Roy' as a hieroglyph comes out as the picture on the right. Not being a fluent hieroglypholigiserspeaker I must take Google's word for it.

I must say that the mouéed lips at the top, and the bird plus feathers are rather fetching but I haven't a clue ........

It would make a good watermark copyright sign for your pictures though ....

I will be delighted to save you an artichoke. Tomorrow I am taking Y to the tram to start her journey to London. She is going for a few days. I shall be here from around 11am onwards, and have no commitments till Monday morning. If you call to suit yourself you can select your artichoke/artichokes. We could also pull in a few computer bits. Obviously Anne is welcome, but Yvonne wont be here for her to chat to.

Jill ... As you say - welcome to TJ. You go back a long way don't you. And I remember Noreen finding her a little 'apartment'in her house when she got her first theatre-job. Seems a lifetime ago.

I know what you mean about the blackbirds unnerving clink, clink noise. There is a lovely Wallace Stevens poem about "Amongst 24 snowy mountains the only thing that moved was the eye of the blackbird". The quote might be inaccurate but that was the sentiment.

My googling for the Noel Coward lyric found several pages in whuch the song was referred to .... but now anonymousJBW below has found it for you.

Many thanks JBW.....

anonymousKevin .... I yield to your careful research about 'the foot of our stairs.' Like Rob, until I came to the Nottingham/Mansfield area, I hadn't heard it.

anonymousRob ..... Please see e-mail re my 'comments' on 'comments'. I feel now, as I have said above, that I am delighted with the present position, and little more need be said.

Re Sports desk and Steven Gerrard's bit of trouble. My first reaction was of sympathy for the chap. With his fame, and celebrity, I would doubt if he can go out at all, especially to a club without some lout trying to provoke him. He would need to be a saint, with nerves of steel to remain calm under all cirumstances.

anonymousJBW ...... Thanks for the New Year greetings. And thank you for the Noel Coward research. although I am sure Jill will thank you herself.

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Quotation time ....... I can't decide whether this quote is true, or completely false .....

"There is nothing more demoralizing than a small but adequate income"

Edmund Wilson

Ted old lad, far from 'demoralizing' I consider the state sublime. I shan't be adding him to my list of people to spend an hour in the pub with.

I hope David is feeling a little better. But those three lovely ladies he's got to look after him ..... even though 2 of them are quite young...............

That train be due to put in an appearasnce. I haven't used it for at least a month.




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Average Tuesday - Karen day - Lidl

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Another picture from our Nat. Trust trip and shows The Orangery at Belton House again, and to the right of it, The Church Of St Peter and St Paul the oldest parts of which date from the 13th Century with additions from the Norman, late Medieval, Georgian and Victorian periods. The Church doesn't belong to The National Trust by the way.

Picture 2 is from a WoW trip in February this year when we went to Wirksworth and had our chip cob at The Cliff Inn. The view is from the car park on the opposite side of the road.


Picture 1 was taken on my Nokia mobile-phone and Picture 2 on my Casio compact. I only mention this because I sometimes think the pictures I like best are taken on this 'point and shoot' equipment.

Karen has been, sorted us out, and given us a quick squirt of air-freshener. Not that we needed it I hasten to add. Y has gone to Nottingham on the bus because she and Tracy are going to The Carol Concert which TJ is responsible for organising each year for civic dignitaries, and school kids etc. Each year the audience is split into segments to sing The Twelve Days of Christmas and this year Tracy has promised her Mum that she can be in the '5 Gold Rings' section. Will it all work out? I ask myself.

Johnny Cash sings The Twelve Days of Xmas, please click for a weird video.

Comments

Jill .... I see what you mean about the 'flying-angel' xmas tree lights. Could be camera-shake or glare. You are quite right - it was unintentional.

The Xmas cake sounds excellent. And how nice to have proper 'royal' icing. And what a lovely surprise to have your blanket lined.

I gave up on Nigella a long time ago because I would be reduced to yelling abusive comments at the telly.

bungus ....... Poor Sandra. What an awful expedition.

Re Belton Lion. I just jumped to calling it a 'lion' - perhaps it isn't. Could be a sheep ?

anonymousrob ..... Interesting fact - Mrs Mulligan's grandson plays for the Panthers. His name is Robert Lachowicz. Apparently he has represented England too.

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Quotation time .......

"Painting is so poetic, while sculpture is more logical and scientific and makes you worry about gravity"

Damien Hirst

I'm going WoW-ing tomorrow which will be good. And then, around 1pm-ish, its 'beef' cobs at the Conservative Club with husbands and wives. Shame we have to meet at the conservative club, and I know others feel the same, but I have managed to eschew all political connotations.

Sleep tight - Catch you tomorrow

Chilly again - 35F - Sausages again

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This stone lion at Belton House, who features in Picture 1, had human eyes and the result was probably the saddest lion I have ever seen. Such a boring job anyway, regurgitating water into a seldom used water trough.

Picture 2 is of the lights in the oak tree outside Brinsley Village Hall and, concentrated in the lower branches as they are, produces an odd effect.

I can only suppose that Health & Safety ruled the higher branches un-useable. We may never know.

Mrs Mulligan's visit was a great success. She thoroughly enjoyed herself and so did we. And can I please scotch the rumour that I am only capable of cooking sausages!

For pudding we had 'bread and butter pudding with custard' but Y cooked that I s'pose.

It was a lovely day weather-wise too. Cold again but bright sun and little wind. We managed the Mrs M collection and delivery runs during daylight - but only just. By 4.30pm it was dark.

The BBC are in a real pickle with the Strictly come Dancing imbroglio. It was far too glib to reassure viewers that their votes on Saturday had not been wasted (because they are to be rolled over and added to the scores in the final - we were told). But those votes were cast for last week's dances and can only distort the voting this coming Saturday !

Comments

Jill ...... You may have a cavalier approach to your comments but, as editor-in-chief, I regret their loss. When the blog has been snapped up by Faber & Faber and we are all rich and famous, those comments will be sadly missed !

When you speak of your daughter-in-law having a "silver (real, dipped) tree" I assume that it was the silver which was real, not the tree.

I must wrap my presents tomorrow.

The 'Chiswick Home for the Bewildered' sounds fun. Are there any 'beds'? And are the bewitched and bothered eligible for vacancies too?

bungus ...... I join with you in admiring French disdain for petty rules. It harks back to the revolution.

Hope the Sandra Saga eventually reached a satisfactory conclusion.

I disagree about not checking anagrams. Most crossword puzzlers of my acquaintance automatically spot a problem. With your Obama example I immediately wondered where the 'k' had gone.

anonymousrob ..... Congratulations on this effortless multi-tasking !

Re The X factor. If Alexandra is a singer, I think I caught a few minutes on the telly. She is, as you say, very good indeed.

Not sure about the haiku. I'm assuming the reference to Mrs Mulligan "Might do sausages" is using the word 'do' as druggies 'do'.

If there is to be a McArthur Glen 'meet' you can rely on an invitation.

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It is a Karen day tomorrow. And we ought to find some excuse for getting out from uinder her feet etc. Or she can hoover round us - she won't mind.

Quotation time ....... This one appeals greatly .....

"Sometimes when you look in his eyes you get the feeling that someone else is driving"

David Letterman

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Shirebrook with Rob and Bob - b. cold 36F

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The 'meet' at Shirebrook with AnonymousRob and Bungus was a success.

Bitterly cold, plus wind-chill and other niggles failed to spoil it. Rob and I bumped into each other quite effortlessly and adjourned to the Taste-Buds Cafe on Market Street but Bungus couldn't find us.

To be fair, Market Street continued past the bottom of The Market and the Cafe was a little obscure.

Perhaps a good thing we left it to go and find him because the coffee was atrocious. It looked promising in small individual cafetieres but each used around 6 grains of coarsely ground coffee with a tasteless tepid result. The idea of a meal there became less than attractive due to an elderly woman at the next table clicking her dentures loudly and relentlessly.

We moved to a more promising cafe but it was freezing due to the door being wedged open. The fish and chips, and in Bungus's case mushy peas, looked around four days old. Mugs of tea were better, but not much. As Rob said, we shan't be writing to Egon Ronay recommending Shirebrook as the place to eat in Derbyshire.

A good chat was had though, and we must do it again, but perhaps not in Shirebrook.

When we left Cafe 2 and walked towards our parked cars I noticed a tree festooned with clothing and an old curtain. I pointed it out to Rob and he told me it probably meant that a fresh supply of drugs had arrived in town.

Well ! - you live and learn something every day. Perhaps Shirebrook people need some sort of emotional shield against the cold and foul coffee.

Comments

Jill ....... The blue/green tardis looking structures in yesterday's blog-post are Virgin Media junction boxes and they are, as you surmised, on the opposite side of the road.

Tesco are very cheap for electrical goods and they seem reliable enough. The electric kettle/jug in my bedroom cost me some ridiculously low figure like £3.99p and has worked without the slightest glitch for over 2 years.

The large store nearest to us, is two-levels and it's OK but not a favourite.

I think another bowl of blue hyacinths to carry us over to Xmas is called for because the existing ones are so gorgeous.

This evening the sky at the rear of the house was striking. On my Nokia again and I've discovered I can turn the 'flash' off and 'reduce the exposure' and there are other DSLR-type refinements I'm still learning about.

"Red at night, shepherds delight" bodes well for WoW tomorrow.

Shirebrook didn't tire me out and I'm looking forward to WoW-ing as I've missed a couple of weeks. I've already rung Reg, and I shall ring Helen after 'Strictly'.

Bungus ..... Interesting to hear about your boxing. Did you mean 'feinting' or 'fainting' ? Either would do I suppose.

I'm sure David will get it just right with JD. But I think you underate the level of your 'artistic judgement'. As an art-historian I've never known your opinions be other than 'sound' and 'fairly-reasoned ' from a substantial data-base.

Re our Derby Road neighbours (your cousin). Yes, I knew them, but I didn't know you at that time.

Like you, I would be pleased to acquire an ashmere pullover. I must look in our esco and see if there's a man's ersion ?

I am definitely in your gang over the question of towels. It seems a lady-thing to want nearly new towels that fail miserably in their intended role. Worn-out towels are infinitely superior if you actually want to dry yourself.

anonymousrob ....... You are quite right ! We must not embarrass Bungus. On reflection, I can't think why he didn't simply ask someone where the Taste-Buds Cafe, on Market Street was ? The chances are the person would be a local. I don't think that tourism is a strong feature of Shirebrook.

Anyway we met up eventually which was the main thing. And we had a laugh. Plus understanding your job better now. Maybe it is boring and poorly administered but nevertheless important to disabled people who don't want just to sit back and vegetate. It goes without saying that I will keep my ears and eyes open for possibilities - and will definitely mention it to Steve.

Quotation time ......

"Competence, like truth, beauty and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder"

Laurence J Peter

Y will certainly watching Survivors please click and also the Football if she can find it.

There must be PC and non PC jokes about the Police. I shall give it thought.

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Another cold day - 37F - Pleasant enough though

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Another National Service picture from 1953-ish in Germany, this time at a camp near Brunswick.

The vehicle is either the NAAFI wagon, or the Malcom Club ? I think the Malcom club was unique to the RAF but if it wasn't I'm sure I shall be put right. The chap in the gauntlets was 'Ginger' Stone but I can't remember the other man.

This camp had been a Wehrmacht base and we actually inherited one of their cooks. It was he who taught me to cook "Veege". A splendid fellow. We had no problems with him and he had none with us. It isn't ordinary people that have the problems is it ?

Picture 2 is self explicit and is:-

"Liquidamber tree
Still retaining some leaves when
Others have none left"

Roger called round and we had a Picasa half-hour, but I think he prefers other programmes. As he says "it all depends what you get used to". He is right of course. But Picasa 3 suits me well enough for most of my photographic and archiving needs.

Y continues to make progress with her laptop and Vista and this evening we have downloaded Google Talk so she can chat to Hannah and Miles.

We watched Claudia's "It Takes Two" show and Jodie and Ian were very gracious. Jodie is a classic English Rose although at 6'2" she is unusually tall. but so graceful and with such poise and obvious 'breeeding'.

For lunch I cooked some 'lost label' fish from the freezer. I had thought it Trout but now think either Bass or Sea Bream. Whichever, it was delicious and a joy to cook. The fillets easily lifted off the skeleton and the skin, but the flesh had remained moist and flavoursome.

Tomorrow morning Bungus, AnonymousRob and I are meeting for an hour in Shirebook and whether we visit a pub or a cafe will be decided around 11.30am when we find each other on The Market Place. This may be problematic. Shirebrook Market Place is almost the size of Tiananmen Square, and a quick google tells me it is market day. Resourcefulness will surely triumph however !

Comments

Jill ..... Nothing wrong with "a straight-forward photograsph" at all. I was only experimenting !

I seem to remember Y telling me that Ro was very fit and also a talented boxer in his younger days.

Although I was certainly prepared to be huffy about Strictly Come Dancing I actually quite enjoyed it. But my word - aren't the judges cringingly jumped-up and self important. I used to like Len but I'm going off him fast. Now Jodie has gone, my votes will go for Austin, unless he makes a right pigs ear of it.

I wasn't talking about frozen 'roast potatoes' - we've never tried them - it's so easy to pop a real one in the oven. What I was talking about was Aldi Oven Chips being cut from Maris Piper p0tatoes. The variety is also good for 'roasting' was my point.

Bungus ..... Hawthorn and Elderflower smell fine. The only real cat-pee smell is flowering currant !

I am sure that David will read your praise of JD's painting, and pass it on to him. He will be much encouraged.

Rostellen was indeed the house on Derby Road, Mansfield, opposite the Tech .... but atcually within the Sutton in Ashfield boundary. I had no idea that your cousin lived next door. When would that be ? The neighbours during our time were Wally on the Coxmoor Side and Harry Wakefield on the Mansfield side.

Lovely National Service reminiscences. Keep them coming. I consider it important to record these things while we are still around and 'compos' enough to write them down.

Thanks for your good wishes for the recovery of Sky and Brooke. Both have been off school today. It was good to exchange a couple of sentences with Sandra this morning and to hear her sounding so positive about her op. Excellent news.

Quotation time ..........

"The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not."

Eric Hoffer

"Tuck youselves in well - its going to be a cold night"

"Catch you tomorrow"

"Shirebrook here I come"

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Y at BJ - Me messing about at home

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Picture 1 is from Heidelburg and, as you can see, is a statue to the chap who invented the handgrenade.

Y bussed it back from Burton Joyce and we watched The Book Quiz on BBC iPlayer while we finished off yesterday's Spagbol. As always, by today, the spices etc., had matured and blended. Certainly if making a bolognese sauce to invite people to, I would make it the day before.

The Book Quiz final was good and Daisy Goodwin and David Aaronovitch were worthy winners. My problem these days is not not knowing the answer but being too slow to shout it out. Must be the ageing process I guess, like so much else. Y was very good particularly on the novels of Thomas Hardy. I was only quicker than them with Tom Stoppard - Kirsty got just as far as "Rosen..... ....." and I was there.

Mostly today I've been trying to reach the correct part of Orange to enable my phone to send pictures. I suppose I should say the correct segment of Orange. When I finally got there having waded through a morass of 'options' and 'press this' and 'press that' it was relatively painless. Another minus point for Carphone warehouse when I discovered my new phone had never been registered let alone 'enabled'.

This 'enablement' is the crux point apparently although I've no idea what it entails. Because, apart from the pictures, my phone seemed to be working quite normally 'unenabled'.

Far be it from me to put Bungus right in the body of the blog but Rob's description of the 'shirt' picture (not yet published) as sans pantalons is completely correct. The sans-culottes wore long trousers as a defiant protest against the knee-breeches (culottes) worn by the aristocracy.

The gloriously kitsch rendition on the right, in the style of the day, shows a proud flag-waving sans-culottes of the Revolutionary Army in the early days defiantly wearing his pantalons.

Comments proper

bungus ...... glad you enjoyed Reg's pictures and it was a pleasure to publish them.

There is indeed a v.good reason for storing your pictures on DVDs because they hold so much more than CDs. If you go down the Picasa path, when you start, having held the pictures in your picture tray (bottom left) and press the 'create a CD' button, it will tell you how many CDs or DVDs you will need to store them on.

In the thread about "trees same shape as their leaf" you make a killer point by mentioning the Horse Chestnut.

Even with my febrile imagination I find it impossible to succeed in connecting the leaf with the tree-shape.

So I am prepared to consider it yet another theory shot up the a***

Ah well !


Your amiable Shirebrook stories don't surprise me. I have very fond memories of their 'writers club'. And I would be very keen to join you and Rob there, some morning or lunchtime, but I don't actually know anything about it, do I? (That isn't being sarky by the way - because maybe either you or Rob have mentioned it and I've forgotten). I know I'm being cheeky but I see next Tuesday being mentioned. Can I invite myself ? It would suit me very well because Y is meeting June for lunch in The Bell. And, as you know, for me "Lunch times is Good" from then on I tail off, sometimes dramatically.

You are quite right that many police officers are very right-wing but, in my day at least, there were a good smattering that were'nt. As you say, in teachers, it is more worrying.

Jill .... So glad you enjoyed Reg's bridge picture. I shall try to prise a few more out of him because he is such a good photographer. As are all the WoW group. I shall work on it.

Your friends will enjoy Newark. It is a friendly place, and better in that respect than Southwell.

As you know I am of the same opinion as you re Strictly. Although Y's approach is more reasoned, I am very cross indeed. With the possible exception of Bruno the whole judging panel is far too high on the 'jumped up and self-important' scale for my liking.

I agree with you too about M&S and while we are so lucky to have Lidl, Aldi and Netto so close who needs a 20% discount? Did you see by the way the results of the blind-tasting of mince -pies in The Telegraph this morning ? Fancy Aldi and Netto beating Waitrose and Harrods by such a comfortable margin.

Quotation time ..... trying to be relevant again.....

"As I grow older , I regret to say that a detestable habit of thinking seems to be getting a hold of me"

H. Rider Haggard

I well remember reading King Solomon's Mines in bed, under the sheets with a torch, my Mum having insisted on 'lights out'.

"Sleep tight - Catch you tomorrow"



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Quiet but successful day - MP4 Player - And Computer work.

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Picture 1 is a Rhine Holiday shot from where we left the boat at Basel. We always used to pronounce it Barl, I think, but now Bazel is preferred. And who cares ? I'm happy enough with Bazel because we had no wish to give offence.

Picture 2 is some Beech Trees in Hardwick Park when we went to the Hardwick Inn for Y's Birthday meal.

If someone says they aren't Beech, with sufficient firmness, I shan't argue. Someone once told me that a tree grows to the same shape as its leaf. And I've always found it to be more-or-less true with mature trees. It's a little harder while they are still toddlers or teenagers.

My day of quiet achievement began with around an hour's work transferring files from 'My Pictures' on my laptop, to my external Freecom Hard Drive.

The reason for this is that I suspect that on this machine (my laptop) the hard-disc is beginning to falter. There is much jumping about and occasional disinclination to do what it's told. As Bungus said the other day I have given it much to do and perhaps 'hammered it' a little.

If it failed, it would be hard to bear the complete loss of many hundreds of pictures.

Brian is to be admired. He has got into the habit of, when returning home from a shoot, he immediately burns the pictures onto a back-up CD. A very professional approach which we all should emulate. One advantage of Google Mail is that your own computer can crash, but all your mail and anything else you've saved in google-mail, is safely on Google's big computer and you can access it from wherever you happen to be and on whatever machine you happen to be using. Likewise with Picasa Web Albums and my Blog.

I managed to move just over 6GB of information which left my hard-disc looking like the picture on the right. Much healthier amount of free space than yesterday and hopefully taking some of the strain off the disc. I'm afraid it is still on the blink though - but every little helps !

A worst case scenario would be my computer crashing and me forgetting or mislaying my password. Perhaps I ought to have it tattooed on my chest.

Another hour or so was spent transferring a goodly selection of Y's CD collection onto her MP4 player. We hit on the idea of laptops side-by-side. Y had her CDs and her MP 4 plugged into her laptop, while I had the Zen user-manual open on mine. Together we shuffled through. We even managed to create a Playlist and a setting of Random Shuffle for playing them. It's a great little machine - when you get used to it, it's easy to work out what to do, or find particular tracks etc.

Tomorrow we'll have a go at her picture collection !

Roger called in around tea time and shared a pot of tea with us. He only lives round the corner and it was nice. We talked about photographs, inevitably, and he is a fellow subscriber to Ephotozine.

Comments

bungus ...... Glad you sorted out your Supanet. Easier to talk about than sorting out Virgin. When I read your second para, due to your putting the exclamation mark right up to the word Change! I read it as 'Changel' - a useful word for charming young ladies with English accents who change things in your favour.

Re Jill's keyboard. I read too much into an e-mail from her about the subject. She said "I shall carry on........" which I assumed to mean she would 'carry on' using her existing keyboard rather than replace it.

Thanks for the photo. But wearing your pink shirt and jacket without trousers at all, is perhaps overkill as a method of avoiding the 'tuck in/or not' decision.

Jill ...... I am pleased that Ro is a tucker in ! Wearing them flapping about outside is for woofters.

See e-mail re Hereford and 'neat'.

If you insist - A modem is "A device that converts the digital signals used inside a computer to an analogue system that can be transmitted over the phone lines, and vice versa".

I'm with you 100% about carrying music around. To me most music is just noise. My MP3 player carries all talk programmes which I download from bbc.co.uk. in the form of 'podcasts'. Please click here for the relevant page. When on our Rhine Holiday I took around 20 hours of listening because I knew I would be denied Radio 4. Have a look at the page and if it interests you I would be happy to talk you through the system.

Please see above re my misunderstanding of your position about your keyboard. Sorry !

anonymousrob ...... Brilliant Haiku !!! You've got a gift there I think. I'm taking the liberty of copying it here into the body of the blog because not everyone opens the 'comments' box -

"Wear your shirt outside
Why bother tucking it in?
It's cool and trendy"

..........................................

Quotation slot ...... Time and inclination for a relevant quote tonight..... Benchley should never have put himself down like this - his prose was magic !

"It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous".

Robert Benchley

His name is a link to his Wiki page and, as you will see if you open it, a very interesting multi-faceted man. I have only read him in an anthology (not a book review Rob!) but he was able to make me guffaw while reading. Only a few humourists have managed that.

"Sleep tight - hope to catch you tomorrow"



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Quiet Sunday - Newspapers and Left-overs

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I've no doubt published similar before, at this time of the year when the late afternoon sun makes the trees at the far end of the football field so beautiful. But I felt sure you would enjoy them again.

We feel fine, post the soss-fest excitement - in fact much better than we thought we would. Everything was cleared up by just after 6pm so we watched 'Strictly come Dancing'. Y voted for Christine and Mathew while I, I suppose out of devilment, voted for John Sergeant again. I know he should go, and that keeping him in means that a better dancer is eliminated, but it has developed into a power struggle between the judges and the public. And I feel my place is with the proletariat rather than the judiciary.

Nice Sunday chat to David. They had been to The Theatre Royal to see Oliver and apparently it was super. They enjoyed the Opera and it was only when finding the link above that I realised how many well known and catchy songs there are in it.

Picture 2 is published because the Silver Birch tree in the rear garden fascinates me due to it's apparent 'brain'.

I think we have discussed this before but, since Alex lopped the top third out of the tree about 3 yrs ago, the tree is trying desperately to grow back into the traditional silver birch shape. My problem is with the top two branches which, at the point of cut, are vertical.

The branches a few inches below them are growing outwards at a more normal angle. The picture I published on 7th November still had too much leaf to see the effect clearly.

Do trees have brains ? If not, how do these branches come to a decision to act differently from the others ?

If we have any arbori-culturist readers your comments would be much valued.

Steven will probably say that I "ought to get out more". But these things interest me.

There weren't many left-overs but we nibbled away at cheese and bread-sticks for lunch, followed by fruit-salad but for tea we plan 'beans on toast' while watching the denouement of Strictly.

I've e-mailed Jill with some explanatory pictures about changing her keyboard, and thanks to all of you who e-mailed us with thanks for the soss-fest. We are so glad it was so much enjoyed.

Comments

bungus ...... I'm so glad that you feel the outing and the 'food' had a therapeutic effect. You did extremely well and although I know you would have enjoyed more WoW-ers, and Bloggers exposure, I think you were right to leave while you were still ahead. Sandra was very brave but I could see she was flagging, poor girl, and not surprising in the circumstances.

It must have tired you both, but your 'kip' till 10.30am this morning will have "knitted up the ravelled sleeve ........." etc.

Sandra was correct about the veggie sausages. There were only 5 which must be due to metrication. The pack was covered in cardboard and I assumed six links. A little embarrassing really because I catered for 3 each for Sandra and Helen. We marked them accordingly because from past experience some non-veggie person thinks "Oh they look nice" and suddenly there's none left for the genuine veggies.

The title about sorting out Virgin was semi-written to elicit some response. All it referred to was our success with Virgin Media.

anonymousrob ...... You and Elaine were great ! And you did help even though I made a joke of it. And the floral basket Elaine brought was quite beautiful, and it meant alot to Y.

Glad you got to meet Bungus and Sandra at long last and he did look smart, in a jacket an 'all !

Glad to hear that the football teams did so well.

Also glad that you had such a satisfactory day at the NEC. Hahnemuhle paper always looks attractive and I mean to try it.

Worried though at your 'funny turn'. I desperately hope it wasn't a sausage from yesterday. If anyone else was affected I hope they will let me know so that, at least, I can apologise.

............................................

The Classic Serial in Radio 4 is The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek. It is one of favourite books ever and is being read brilliantly. He always means so well but gets into incredible scrapes. Well worth a listen. Please click here to listen. When the webpage opens click next to the little loudspeaker icon.

There is a Wiki page please click and this illustration is typical Sweik

Quotation time ........

Just got to be a Shweikism.....

'And so they've killed our Ferdinand,' said the charwoman to Mr Švejk, who had left military service years before, after having been finally certified by an army medical board as an imbecile, and now lived by selling dogs — ugly, mongrel monstrosities whose pedigrees he forged.

"Sleep tight all - Catch you tomorrow"




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Free-wheeling Friday - Weekend Off

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To maintain some sort of order I decided to begin with this Carpenters Arms, Dale Abbey 'chip-cob' picture from Wednesday. And as you can see the cobs were quite respectable and the surroundings were most attractive. A nice looking, ivy-covered , proper Derbyshire rural pub. Good company, humour, and intelligent conversation - who could ask for more !!

I could have called today's snaps "Travels with my Nokia" because all three were taken therewith. And for record type grab-shots I consider them perfectly adequate. Rob and Elaine both have the same phone and I need to seek guidance over some points. But I am getting used to it and I like it.

Picture 2 is the view from the front door and the Liquidamber continues to 'redden' a little more each day. This year, the vivid green and purple seem to be missing - perhaps later !

Y's journey to London was uneventful and they were all so pleased to see her. My travels today have been within the house, walking from one room to another, interspersed with several lies-down. The big event was a visit from the window cleaner !

The weather has been wet and windy with some sunny spells and it has been fun watching the falling leaves blowing about.

I rang Julian to see how Helen is fairing with her cold and sore throat, only to learn she is still suffering ! She e-mailed me later but there seems to be 'lots of it about' and although Joan shows some improvement her cough certainly hasn't been cured. Lulu was on Woman's Hour yesterday and she is a great fan of 'ginger tea' which she claims to drink each day. Unfortunately she didn't disclose her recipe but I guess that google will find me one ! A task for tomorrow.

My final picture is the rear garden Silver Birch and it has been fascinating to watch the tree work away at recreating its shape since Alex cut a good third off the top for safety reaons. It is worryingly close to a public footpath and we wouldn't want to nobble a passing Brinsley-onian !

Were we to be living in Ollerton things would be different !

There is subject-blur in the picture due to the wind, and it was taken through window-glass but the exposure decision the camera reached automatically can't be faulted.

Comments

bungus ........ I am so sorry the boundary dispute has flared up again. Unfortunately I can think of 'naught for your comfort' because, in my lengthy experience, such things were never settled amicably and the Courts are your only defence.

Lets hope Sandra improves more soon, but I'm sorry your fungi-foraging failed.

You are quite right - "guffaw" is a strange word. My Etymological Dictionary suggests early 18thC and Scottish - imitative of coarse laughter. The only close word maybe 'chortle' I think.

When you say the Church may be RC - of course, at that sort of date it could be no other. All churches were RC until Henry V111 came along.

I enjoyed your Jesus joke. You certainly didn't telegraph the ending ! I chortled !

jill ...... I'm sorry your 'comment' suffered a google-glitch. Very frustrating when something you have crafted just vanishes.

The boat captain with his brolly is beginning to sound a little like Mary Poppins I think.

anonymousrob ....... Thank you for your welcome back. It is good to be back. It always is n'est ce pas ? Does anyone, ever, know who their MEP is ?

You are right. I should have mentioned Barack Obama, and Lewis Hamilton. Yes. They both did extraordinary well. And both events must achieve enormous good, in terms of race-relations.

Re your out of synch English Breakfast. "SOMERSET MAUGHAM once said that to eat well in England you must eat breakfast three times a day".

anonymousJBW ...... Thank you very much indeed for the info about Dale Abbey ! This is just how I like the blog to be. Different people contributing some interesting facts. (Or opinions for that matter - all grist to the mill so to speak)

reg ...... It would be really good if you could unearth an earlier picture with the tilted gravestones ! I suppose you dcould always tilt a few in Photoshop ! I speak in jest !

It would also be good to return soon in better light. And although I wouldn't be able to get to the Hermit's cave myself, I am very interested in it. As you know I have a powerful torch and some pictures of the crucifix you mention would be great.

...................................................

A little tired now - so no quotation - see you tomorrow


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