Wells next the Sea (Failed) - Blackberries

Little more than a 'bloggette' due to busy day and general tiredness. Been great though !

Last night we spotted this shaft of sunlight in the ruined church at Little Cressingham just down the road - but mine were blurry due to camera-shake so we returned this evening 'tripodded up' and succeeded with some sharp snaps.

On the opposite side of the lane were blackberry brambles (see Picture 2) and we could have picked 5lbs without moving the car. We 'grazed' . The picture just shows a 'clutch' - if you can imagine that repeated a hundredfold you will be close.

It has been nice to have messages from Y who seems to have mastered her new mobile, voice and text, and entries in phone book etc., and TJ has found and restored the family photo Y really likes. I'm looking forwad to seeing her tomorrow to learn all about it.

Earlier in the day we had toured Norfolk and tried Wells-next-the-Sea as Y and I have done before but there were so many people, and nowhere at all to park, so we gave up. We went to a pub in Swaffham and had a drink and I had a cheese sandwich but Bungus didn't fancy anything. Then we steadily returned to Grt Cressingham and had brief looks at Houghton Hall, and Holkham Tea Rooms and odd spots in between.

Then, I suppose we must pay attention to drains full of tree roots, and 'loss assessors' etc., I have a Dr's appointment on Tuesday morning and also my routine blood test. Poor Ray is on the 'blood test treadmill' too and doesn't sound to happy. I really hope he soon feels a lot better !

The Vines, where we are staying is absolutely first class. Breakfast this morning was lovely and the rooms are super - in fact we can't fault it. And access to t'internet is the icing on the cake.

Thanks for The Hell's Angels story Jill. Strangely enough, in spite of their fearsome appearance, they can be very nice people.

I wasn't going to do a quote but the Dr. Johnson quote on my igoogle page pushed itself forward :-

"It is better to live rich than to die rich"

All of our family would agree wholeheartedly !

........Sleep tight everybody.

Norfolk Photo-jaunt - Y with TJ

The reason for my enigmatic blog post of Thursday is that, for security reasons, I didn't want to make too much of my absence from Radiogandy Mansions on a weekend jaunt, predominately photographic, with Bungus.

On Friday we travelled as far as Holbeach and stayed with Norman and Gill at Elloe Lodge, where Y and I have stayed before. As always we were most welcome and it was nice to see them again. In the evening we tried a chinese restaurant we have visited before but it didn't work out. Atmosphere all wrong, drinks too expensive, that sort of thing. We managed a quick sunset snap before leaving for an altogether better chinese restaurant that Norman had recommended. Quite excellent this one. It is a pleasure to report that I slept well. You could expect my leg to be trouble, following the driving, but it wasn't. Our 'Full English Breakfast' was good, and I contacted Y around 9am, she was nearly en route to TJ's - they will have a lovely time and also sort out Y's new 'phone.

When we left Holbeach it was not too long a drive to Swaffham for the market, then Great Cressingham and The Vines. Please click for their website. It really is as nice as it looks. My bedroom is ace ! But I have banged my head on a beam three times already.

The reason you can read this, is that broadband internet access is only an extra £2 a day. Seems most reasonable to me. Especially when viewed against nearly 10 quid last night for a pint of lager for Bungus, and a Kaliber for me, at the upmarket chinese restaurant. So, I ran up a temporary aerial, cranked up the Lister diesels and Radiogandy was 'on the air'. Figuratively speaking of course.

Picture 2 is Bungus photographing the wonderful bridge at Sutton, so well known to A17 users. If Reg is reading I am 'inching forward' with PhotoShop but have loads of questions for him. I found a nice bookshop in Swaffham but my only purchase was a postcard to send to Colin and Lyn. The market, as Bungus predicted was very good and we copped for a lovely sunny day and a bright blue sky.

Lots of exciting things to explore in the neighborhood. We have already visited Castle Acre Castle which as you will see from the link was well worth a visit. What we need to do now is decide on an evening meal ! All this fresh air and excitement has given me an appetite.

Quote for the day. Didn't pack my usual reference books so, here goes :-

" Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep"

Piet Mondrian

We shall have to see what culinary delights the Swaffham area offers. Sleep tight everybody. Catch you tomorrow.

Follow up to Dudmaston - EPS tonight

A brief tidy up from yesterday.

Picture 1 is the lake at Dudmaston where we sat on a pleasant wooden bench and savoured the calm peaceful atmosphere. As I think I hinted in my last blog post, the exterior seemed more attractive than the interior.

Picture 2 is the Jenny Joseph I bought in the Much Wenlock bookshop and I hope the purple transmits satisfactorily. Such a popular poem but that doesn't mean it isn't good.

Our purchaser's surveyor visited this morning and was very thorough on the lady's behalf. I helped him to unearth the drain-cover at the bottom of the garden where, unfortunately, he saw tree roots growing out of the end of the drainpipe. The upside is that I at once rang our buildings insurers and was relieved to find it covered by our policy. The Lloyds TSB lady was most helpful and talked me through the claim. She filled in the form for me over the phone and will send copies today. Apparently a 'loss adjuster' will arrive in around 5 days, confirm that the work will be covered, and tell us how to proceed. They usually use DynoRod and from discussing it with the Surveyor and later with Reg, I didn't pick up that it is an unsurmountable problem. Lets hope not. I also rang our Estate Agent and told Dawn.

I won't 'blog on' too long because it is our weekly EPS meeting tonight, a lecture plus pictures, which just suits my 'a little tired' mood. I don't want anything too demanding. The 'tea-making' falls to me again, in the absence of Mike and I have the 2pts of milk at the ready. That is an enjoyable thing to do though, in my opinion, far from a chore.

Reg visited at lunchtime and sorted me out with Photoshop, so, over the weekend I shall be able to have a good mess-about.

n.b. The blog might be a little uncertain and enigmatic for a few days, for reasons which I shall explain later. But no cause for concern.

Bungus asked me to obtain 4 tins of Ralph's favourite sardines which he has for his tea, from Lidl. They are now, so to speak, in the can and I will deliver them tomorrow when I go over. Debra rang even though she remembered that Y is over at BJ, but it fits in with her schedule and it was nice to talk to her anyway.

I seem to be more or less uptodate so a kip seems like a reasonable idea. Neither of us slept well last night.

Quote for the day:-

"An idealist is one who, noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, expects that it will also make better soup"

H. L. Mencken

I have put a jacket potato in the oven on the timer for Y's tea, and I can't make up my m ind what to have myself. Catch you sometime over the weekend.

Nat Trt outing Dudmaston - Much Wenlock en route

On the way to Dudmaston (see previous days for links) we stopped in the Shropshire village of Much Wenlock, which was quite delightful.

Many beautiful timber-framed buildings. Unfortunately, rather a spoiler, I noticed at least one pseudo-timber framed building where the upper walls had been stuccoed, painted white and the pretend timber-framing painted thereon in black. Ho hum! as Ray would say. However, we had a first class meal in a pub and I found an excellent old book shop.

Y had walked ahead and was talking to Sue and Gordon and when I caught up I said I was going back for a browse. Much laughter. Apparently Y had said "G will not be able to walk past that bookshop". A lady who knows her husband indeed. Inside I found an early edition of Jenny Joseph's "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple". Couldn't resist it.

The sign in Picture 1 was attached to the wall of the Old Police Station and I have reproduced it in black and white because it seemed appropriate. Also, I have left the brickwork in to convey scale.

We then drove to Dudmaston which has much to commend it. I'm not publishing a picture because you all know what a stately home looks like.

Interesting Art collection and some v. interesting Sculpture including small works by Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore and a remarkable charcoal sketch for a sculpture by Lyn Chadwick. Both Y and I love sketches and preliminary drawings because they are so real and you feel close to the artist. Well worth going for ! Most of the rooms in the house seemed small and a little claustrophobic. They would probably have been better with a timed-entry system to prevent overcrowding. If you really want to see the house there are some pictures clicky here - not mine but their's.

I decided to do the fading dog roses instead.

As promised, a short bloggette only. I am indebted to Dr. Johnson (as so often) for my quote :-

"If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself alone. A man should keep his friendships in constant repair.

Uneventful return journey, conversations, Y back in time to catch the Football Match - England v Russia and it's 3 nil in our favour at the moment. An excellent match she tells me !

..... That's it for today. Not exhausted, but close to. Sleep tight.....

Busy day - Y's mobile - Nikon Ext. Rings

As predicted Karen took about 10secs to open the battery cover on Y's new Samsung mobile phone. She looked at the thing, grabbed it firmly and pulled and bingo! Y and I had been scared of breaking it.

Now we are steadily demystifying the gadget. Y can 'phone, send texts (we both prefer predictive) and also take pictures. I've worked out how to put a photo of the grandchildren as the 'wallpaper' instead of the Samsung poppy. Next step we'll enter numbers in the inbuilt phone book.

Around 9.30am London Camera Exchange rang to say that my Kenko extension tubes had arrived which was excellent because I didn't order them till yesterday. Jessops would still be thinking of writing the order down and maybe, in a few days, ringing the suppliers ! We decided to go to Nottingham (never a hardship) and collect them. after our customary mooch about we decided to lunch in The Bell and both our meals were first rate, from the 2 for £10 menu. And that link is pretty good too, a 360degree view. My Picture 1 was from our table looking out over Market Square.

While on the subject of pubs, beer springs to mind and following an earlier conversation Reg sent me this picture of hops growing in the hedgerow at Shipley Boat Lock. If you scroll down the revealed webpage the lock itself is picture 2. The Wikipedia page about hops tells me that the flowers are called 'umbels' because of their resemblance to 'nested inverted umbrellas'. Well I never ! You learn something every day.

Bungus had already mentioned some weeks ago about hops growing in North Nottinghamshire in earlier times - hence the Hop Pole Hotel at Ollerton.

Reg apologised for the photo not being sharp due to his hands shaking. Whether this was before or after a visit to the pub I don't know. Anyway, it looks sharp enough to me, and I looked at it plus 100%.

Must come to 'comments' now. Thanks Jill for your hopes and best wishes. And it is around 4 miles to Steven and 1 mile to Tracy, as the snow-goose flies (crows are boring) about 7 miles each to John and David and the usual 130 to Debra. Thanks Bungus for your professional input (for new readers - Bungus is a retired architect). And 'Aunty Etty' has now really blown her cover ! She lives there and loves the house. And thanks to her for explaining the demesne for everyone.

As mentioned yesterday, tomorrow is one of our National Trust outings, this time to Dudmaston Hall which sounds promising. Good art collection and Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth works in the grounds. Hope they aren't imprisoned in a courtyard like the poor War Horse at Chatsworth. Ray has e-mailed and he has a DVT episode and is wearing the anti-embolism white stockings. He is supposed to keep his feet up but 'computing' is tricky under those conditions, even on a laptop. Hope he is soon better.

Just a comment on the dreaded McCann case and the discovery of traces of blood in the car boot. As far as I am aware, dead bodies don't bleed. So what the implications are I don't know. I have felt from the start that there is something just not quite right about the whole business. But as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote in 1887 -

"It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery"

The blog tomorrow will be subject to ETA from Dudmaston. I might have lots to tell you or I might be coachtripped out. Sleep tight. Catch you soon.

Nottingham - Bourne Ultimatum - Jacket - Mobile

Picture 1 is our new Market Square on a lovely sunny September morning. Photography people will bleat about all the empty space in the foreground and hold straight edges up as far as I should crop it to.

All I an say is 'boo sucks' to you. I wanted to convey the 'piazza cum plaza' effect which the designers have achieved. I know there are critics but give it 50 years or so and you will all love it. Already it is well used and people sit happily on the surrounding walls and things and moan about the fountains occasionally failing. All working this morning by the way !

And in the case of men (mostly) watch the pretty girls walk past. Nottingham has always had a reputation for pretty girls and now of course, we import them from Vietnam, Korea, China, Poland, Slovenia not to mention the Caribbean et al. Splendid !

This Velocette was parked at the garage forecourt wall when I filled up with petrol. Isn't it glorious. I didn't hear it running but I can just imagine the deep throaty roar from such a long stroke cylinder.

Bikers never quite grow out of it. And that jam-pot suspension - so much sought after as a feature.

Anyway, what we were actually doing down Nottingham was going to the cinema to see The Bourne Ultimatum. It was alpha plus and as yesterday I posted a link to the official website and trailer this link please clicky is a load of stills which will give you some idea. To describe it as action-packed is an understatement. And if the CIA's surveillance facilities are a quarter of those portrayed we all have cause for concern. What I fear is that they were under rather than over stated. But an excellent film. The baddies were bad and the goodies were believable and the good girls were pretty - what more can you ask ? Albert Finney was first-rate as a baddy doctor/psychologist. Gosh - hasn't he aged since Saturday Night, Sunday Morning ?

After that we did some shopping. Spontaneously, a linen jacket for me from The Big Men's Shop and by design, a new Mobile Phone for Y from Carphone Warehouse. She settled for a Samsung with a 2mp camera - the only trouble is we can't figure how to open the battery compartment. But it is a Karen day tomorrow and she will know how.

How lovely to welcome 'Aunty Etty' to the blog. Her comment was such a nice surprise I hope she will add others from time to time. I am not going to 'remove her mystery' by identifying her. If she wants to do that she is more than capable.

For quote of the day I love this :-

"Mustard's no good, without roast beef"

Chico Marx

A busy week ahead. National Trust coach trip to Dudmaston Hall on Wednesday, unfortunately clashing with my Walking on Wednesday. And then Y to Burton Joyce on Thursday...................

Hope everyone sleeps well. And I'll catch you tomorrow.

Lon Eaton - Shopping - Naughty Lunch

Just one more picture from Somersby Road; from the dining area looking into the long lounge from where the views are.

Probably best if I stop 'banging on' about it because it might tempt providence. And that would be awful.. Everyone is thrilled for us, and it would be almost unbearable if it went wrong, again !

Lovely bright morning although it greyed over after lunch. We nipped down the M1 to Long Eaton at about 9.30am to return Sky's camera storage card. Helen made us a coffee and then we walked across the road to David's two lock-up garages. They are re-furbishing them and the roof was off, brickwork had been rebuilt and pointed and Picture 2 shows Sky getting on with it and handling a screwdriver with skill. Y and I were very taken with her 'safety gloves'. I'm very pleased that David and Helen don't have a sexist attitude to what girls should/shouldn't tackle.

Our trip was a short one because people were busy. Nearly everyone knows about the house sale now except John and Yvonne because they are away on holiday. But I spoke to Alannah who has been left in charge and she very competently took a message summarising the position.

Steven reports that his change of tablets and anti-inflammatory medication seems to be working and his knee is a little easier.

As it was Sunday, and we deserved a nice meal which was not necessarily 'good for us' when we returned at lunchtime having done the shopping, I cooked Picture 2. You don't need me to describe it. The sirloin steak (recommended by Reg) was from Lidl. It was a satisfactory colour and well 'marbled' so I took a chance and it was good. The butcher can keep his meat for the time being.

Bungus is interested in 'further and better' particulars as barristers say, so here goes. I phoned through my order on Thursday morning as I have done for years and agreed to collect it from their new 'farm shop'. When I got there, there was no order. Always before it has been put together and ready and wrapped and in a plastic bag for me to pick-up on Saturday morning. There was a large queue at the meat counter and Mrs. R was manning the till. She offered me a chair and said that P would go an get my order soon. Nothing happened. So I asked. P said he would have to deal with 'this queue' first. This queue now included people who had arrived after me. After about 10 minutes I left and when I got home I rang and asked if I could be given a time when I could collect my order. Apparently they were unexpectedly busy, and I should have gone and stood in the queue. I asked what was the point in phoning through an order and didn't get a satisfactory reply. So I politely told him to 'stuff the order'.

This quote took my fancy :-

"I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult"

Rita Rudner

Do you think it might be possible soon to have a MaCann free news-day ? Google News tells me that there are 4,428 news items about it. Our troops' hazardous withdrawal from Basra was the subject of 164 news items. I rest my case !

For Banksy fans only. Read about Banksy here - a major 21st century talent !

Tomorrow we need to go to Nottingham to buy Y a new mobile phone and we are also intending to catch The Bourne Ultimatum which has good write-ups and looks exciting. No doubt we shall use the tram and might taken sandwiches into the 11.50am performance.


......Nice quiet evening, coffee, read and plenty radio. Sleep tight folks.

Exhibition mounted - Somersby Road

Such a busy day ! Firstly I went to help mount the EPS Exhibition in the re-furbished Eastwood Library and that part of it was a great success. There was a good turnout and my contribution (as always) was holding the mounting-clips and passing them to the workers when required. Lesley took the photographs for Picture 1 from upstairs and all I have done is convert it into a Panorama. Sorry about the 'bowed rail' but I'm afraid it is in the nature of my panoramas. No doubt one of our resident photoshop experts can straighten it. But I thought it would give 'a feel'. The pictures are on a wall on the mezzanine floor between downstairs and upstairs. The Library staff were very complimentary and said what a great exhibition it was to coincide with their new opening ! Great credit to the Club !

My only reservation about I didn't really notice any structural changes. The floors, stairs and lift, enquiry and issue desk are exactly the same. Maybe there are more computer terminals but the shelving looked the same and the only real difference is that things have had a coat of grey paint. Perhaps one of the others is more perceptive and can list lots of things which have changed. After the exhibition I went to the butcher's new Farm Shop to collect my order and had to fall out with him.................... I won't bore you with details because there is so much more to tell you all.

Picture 2 is, hopefully, our new home in NG3. On the wrong side of the road to qualify as Y's sought after Woodthorpe. But she has decided that to live at the 'top of the hill' and overlook the Woodthorpe 'peasantry' will be OK. The view is magnificent and overlooks nearly everywhere. On a clear day one can see Crich tower (as we can from Felley) the brickyard chimneys at Watnall and it will take us several years to identify landmarks. A strong and well mounted telescope will be necessary. The boundary goes down the road to the lamp-post and up round the corner till you reach next-door. Romantic that I am, as soon as I saw it I thought "It has a certain castle-feel to it". The lounge windows overlook the view etc.., etc...., there is so much more to tell you and I will, but not all tonight.

Y and I were so thrilled that eventually we went round to Tracy's and she came back with us for another view. She loves it too and thinks it is amazingly right for us. Let's just hope the wheel doesn't come off ! But we have good grounds (which are not blog-material) for being hopeful.

I am not not responding to 'comments' but I am sure you will sympathise with my preoccupations. Fancy Jill having a golden-wedding looming ! We must make sure there is a suitable Jackie Lawson e-card ! Keep telling us about the 'arrangements' though. Asking £300 to use a car-park is unelievable.

Too excited to research a quote this evening. Sorry.

Plenty for family to chat about. Sleep tight. I'll catch you tomorrow.

'Nails' Day - Portrait of Ralph

It gives me great pleasure to publish this 'Portrait of Ralph' who, like the rest of us, is becoming quite an elderly gentleman. My lady readers are, of course, excluded from the designation, as are the young.

I think you can tell from his face, he is a super dog and we sympathise with his failing faculties and inability to leap around as he once did. If a dog ever deserved Portugese sardines, it is Ralph !

You wouldn't believe that 3 weeks plus has passed since Y's 'nails service' but it has and we went over to Carlton as usual. We gave Frantinis a miss but Y was in 'being done' nearly an hour, so I managed a detailed investigation of the charity shops. Apparently one of the nails-girls has had a baby who was carefully passed from person to person. Her name is to be Jennifer, which might seem odd for a Vietnamese child, but Y said it suited her and that she looked divine! Babies don't appeal to me I'm afraid - wet, smelly, fragile things who you can't have a decent conversation with. I think it is a lady thing.

The we nipped over to Mapperley Top to look into the Estate Agents and to lunch in the Cheesecake Shop which is very popular in the area for lunch. One isn't restricted to cheesecake and we had chicken soup with toasted ciabatta. Both were delicious ! The soup was more of a broth with vegetables rather than 'creamed' and the bread had certainly never seen the inside of a freezer. It was light and airy and even Y (not being a keen bread person) finished both of her slices with relish. We saw a chalet bungalow in one of the Agents which we both like the look of and we are going tomorrow afternoon for a viewing. But still ! Trying not to get excited ! We were favoured by a gorgeous afternoon. Ideal for house-viewing and it surprising that almost each time Y has had her nails done the weather has been like this. The temperature reached 71F and there was no wind.

Y then went further down the road to look in other agents and I found yet another charity shop where I bought 3 more poetry books. If you wonder why, at nearly 72 I am still buying poetry books, I will explain. When I was depressed following my heart op, I threw out nearly all my poetry. It is only thanks to Y's good sense in retrieving many of them, that I still have any at all.

I couldn't resist this John Hegley collection which I haven't previously read. He is an excellent performance poet who also comes over well from the written page. His sense of humour is of Roger McGough quality. And, as you will see from the title and the cover, we residents of a Christian country, do retain a sense of humour perhaps denied to certain other faiths.

We are actually going to look at 2 bungalows tomorrow afternoon and I will, of course, keep you informed.

Re 'blog pictures'. The glitch whereby pictures which I have used, seem to vanish when one researches past blog posts, is widespread.

I visited the 'blogger' forums this morning and people have been bemoaning this trait since July. Nobody from Google has emerged to give an explanation or suggest a cure. From fellow sufferers, it appears that if you shrink your pictures to around 600 x 600pixels it doesn't seem to happen. But most of us don't want to do that, we want the pictures to be big enough for readers to enjoy. I guess, as with other google-glitches, eventually it will resolve itself.

Picture 3 is yet another artichoke-head study. The thistledown type seeds were just hanging on by a thread so to speak and I was attracted by their etherealness ( if in fact that is a word)

Tomorrow we are mounting the EPS exhibition in the refurbished Eastwood Library which is not yet officially open. So we can all have a 'neb' and see what it is like. Then we need to go to Coney Grey Farm where the butcher has opened a farm shop. They are farmers as well as butchers and all their beef and lamb is grown on their own land, hence its undoubted quality. That also will be interesting because I have never been to the farm!

Then we need shopping and we will have to eat, so another action-packed day lies ahead.

And I learnt several useful wrinkles last night at our club night, so I would enoy an hour messing about with my pictures.

Lots of reading to do too. The crossword defeated us both today. We did maybe three-quarters but I like it to be completed. It is a sort of household challenge.

Yesterday's quotation on my igoogle homepage amused me :-

"Do not accustom yourself to use big words for little matters"

Samuel Johnson - 'naturellement' - ha ha!

..Not tired at all tonight. We both slept well last night. Lets hope we do so again. Hope everybody does. Steven rang to say thanks for the sticks. As predicted he liked the 'gadget' one. It is his pub quiz night tonight and he intends to walk. Hope he doesn't overdo it.

Eastwood Phototographic Society - New Season

Not really being idle but I was lying in bed last night watching the sunset and I had been sorting my Nikon out; having forgotten to re-set something. So I tried it out and Picture 1 was the result.

Picture 2 was from the Bridge at Holme Pierrepont yesterday and you can see how busy it was. The weather was lovely though and I suppose with the children all back at School, numbers could be excpected to be low.

Instead of collecting Y from the tram I drove over to Burton Joyce to collect her. Steven wanted to borrow a walking stick to use as an alternative to his crutch, and I decided to take over a selection. It pleased me a lot that I was able to find my folding one that fits in its own unobtrusive plastic bag. Lisa thought he would like that one because it is a 'gadget'. I'm pleased to be able to help.

EPS first meeting went extremely well. The room was a hubbub of conversation and I think people enjoyed it. My tea-making went OK too. There were about 30 folks there, could be more, and I guess I made enough tea for 50. Better to have some spare rather than not enough.

Lots of other things have happened during the day but I am a little tired. Pavarotti's death is sad because he has brought so much pleasure to millions. As you know I am not a music-buff but some passages from his work thrilled even me. There was one phrase in 'Nessun Dorma' where I used to think "if there is a God, he will have heard that".

That is quite enough for tonight. If there are things omitted commentwise, I apologise and will catch up soon. Y's 'Nails' day tomorrow so, charity shops, here I come. Hope you are all tucked up in bed by now it is 11.30p .

WaterSports Centre with WoW - 69F

En route to yesterday's NT committee meeting I went down Rosemary Street for a change. There was a new Fire Station and I quite liked the look of it. Somebody will probably tell me it has been there for over 10 years! It can be hard to keep up to date with changes to places.

Last Wednesday I tried to turn down a oneway street in Ashbourne because that was the way; only to be met by a chorus of "You've not been able to go that way for years" not without gain though because the aproved route now goes past Dr. Madge's old surgery which they have christened Madge's Corner. He would have liked that ! He also used to enjoy coming to our house, even for no reason, because my Gran always poured him a liberal whisky in a proper cut-glass on a silver tray with a little cut-glass carafe of water. For preference he had VAT 69 (my Dad told us it was the Pope's phone number and we all believed him). I don't know if you can still get it?

Today we went to The National WaterSports Centre at HolmePierrepont, where Y did her white water-rafting. The place was virtually deserted but we were met by this ridiculous notice prohibiting photography without the written permission of the duty manager. By what right do they utter such rubbish? The River Trent is a public place and I would imagine a bye-law would be necessary before anyone could enforce such a prohibition.

I rang the number shown and introduced myself by name and said we intended to ignore such tripe, but if the duty manager cared to come down and argue the point, I would be happy to meet him. No-one came ! All we wanted was some good water-shots, and we tried to capture blurry water (which I personally don't like). But it is harder than we thought and nobody caught a good example. We must try again !

Similar to Jill's comment about the absence of chairs in public places. Congratulations gal ! I'd love to see you sitting on the floor until a chair arrived, double quick. I once went into a shop where two assistants were engaged in a terribly important conversation about their weekend activities and oblivious of me as a customer. So I jumped up and sat on the counter ! The conversation ended immediately for some reason. I couldn't do it now though - No counters !

Glad Bungus's Armour trip went well but I can well understand how tiring it would be.

Picture 3 I think must capture the feel of the place. Indeed I hope so, because I would have been more than willing to use one of the others.

Re other 'comments'. I don't know why 'pictures' seem to vanish from 'posts'. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. When the absence of a recent one is apparent I have gone into 'edit' and put it back in.

I must visit the 'blogger' forum and see if others are having similar problems. Probably a 'google-glitch' which will sort itself out. I hope so because I think the pictures are important.

Y arrived promptly on the 4.20pm tram and it was lovely to see her. She was tired but happy and so pleased about the house-sale. Things are moving forward solicitor-wise and agent-wise I think we might dare to start looking at potential properties again. Thank you all for your good wishes and I will, of course, keep you up to date.

I think the stories about Ralph eating your sandwiches Bungus are hilarious, but when you and Sandra tuck into Ralph's tea, it is goind a bit far. I bet he was really looking forward to his sardines.

On our Wow outing today Roy announced that he was curious about where a particular lane led to. So today's quote is especially for him, from my igoogle homepage :-

"Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind."

Samuel Johnson

I hope that tomorrow will allow us to catch up wth ourselves. Y is off to Burton Joyce and it is our first EPS meeting. In Mike's absence I have offered to make the tea and must remember to take 2pts of milk with me. We are all looking forward to the new season.

As I mentioned, we are each taking prints for discussion, and I hope there aren't any ruffled feathers. Sleep tight and I'll catch you tomorrow - unless too tired.!

All commitments done - good news house-sale

This is nothing more than a bloggette to hold today's date.

Congratulations to the cartoonist Gregory who was responsible for Picture 1. The dogs are similar to the dogs in the Jackie Lawson e-cards, maybe he draws them too.

All my Mansfield jobs satisfactorily carried out. Found the folders I wanted in Wilko (where else?). The committee meeting went OK and I introduced Y's stuff about the outings and didn't forget anything. Lovely tea with Peter and Joan and their thoughtfulness, in saving me an additional return journey, was much appreciated. And those tomatoes straight out of the greenhouse...........

The Evening Meeting, a lecture with pictures about The Region, was also a success and thanks to willing helpers I managed to mastermind the raffle. Then I did the 'vote of thanks' to the speaker for an excellent evening. There are some extremely bright and competent young people leading the National Trust at the moment with the result that the organisation is strong and the atmosphere exciting. I felt that the above live-link was mandatory.

And ! When I arrived home there was a message from the Estate Agents saying that the lady had accepted our figure. There is still plenty of things that can go wrong but we are permitting ourselves mild excitement.


Sleep tight everyone. Hope to catch you tomorrow !

Printing jobs - House-viewer even warmer !

Thought we were due an early September collage of pictures from the garden. Things are just starting to 'go off' a bit but the second flush of roses has been beautiful. They seem so delicate and vulnerable at this time of year, but a joy nevertheless.

You might notice, far right - second row, some raspberries. The blackbirds feel they have had enough and allowed me to pick a bowl this morning; which I thought was sporting of them.

After I'd been for my blood test and a little shopping, the Estate Agents rang to say that the lady who viewed on Saturday wants to buy the bungalow and is making a offer. I consulted Y who is still in London and we decided not just to accept the offer, but to drop the asking price a reasonable amount. The agent has it in hand.

Then I did some prints for EPS on Thursday; everyone is taking something in to be commented on. The last time we did it, it was a successful evening which people enjoyed and found helpful. But before that I have National Trust committee meeting tomorrow at 2pm, normal evening meeting at 7pm, and I have to mastermind the raffle in Y's absence. I shall have helpers though and Peter and Joan have very kindly invited me for tea, so I don't need to drive back here in between the two commitements.

And not forgetting Walking on Wednesay ! We haven't decided on a location yet. And it gives me great pleasure to report much improvement in my walking, and a considerable reduction in leg/back ache. As usual, not attributable to anything in particular, but I shall just enjoy it while it lasts. Not that I feel quite ready for the boots and red-socks bit but I might try to be a little more adventurous than staying within 50 yards of the carpark.

Picture 2 is a Bungus picture from Sunday when they went to Newark Food Fair and in spite of a grey day had a great time. I think that 'Frere Quenelle' is what you say the following morning having over imbibed the stuff. The food sounds delightful.

As did Jill's at the Café Rouge which I have taken the liberty of making a live-link. Just click on those words folks and their very nifty website will open. I love the bubbles rising in the glass - just right, not over-stated. Sounds like our sort of place and I will ferret one out locally.

Re 'the feather' I can only say that the colour when it left here was accurate. Mind you my monitor needs calibrating, and monitors do vary a lot. I haven't tested the colour-fastness yet but when I do I will report back. The 'decoration' from a child's toy is a very astute possibility because the Caravan site during the school holidays does not suffer from a shortage.

Picture 3 is just a less fearsome Artichoke head than the one I used previously. A lady on my Ephotozine forum said it looked like a dragon! She liked it a lot though and I got several ticks and nice comments.

The accountant rang (I know it sounds pretentious because we are far from wealthy, but he sorts everything out) to say that the Inland Revenue had sent a cheque for the amount I had overpaid and it would be in our account by Wednesday. Thanks again Steven for the 'heads up' (that is current computer speak for advice).

As a quote for the day I would like to use this couplet from John Whittier:-

"Up from the meadows rich with corn,
Clear in the cool September morn"

John Whittier

......Thats me for today folks. Relaxing evening, early to bed. Hope everyone sleeps well.

Rest Day - Jobs caught up on - 66F

Before leaving the 'Carsington experience' I wonder if our ornithological department could pronounce on the identity of this feather please? It was around 2" long and was photographed on the background of Steven's sweat-shirt. The enlargement is to allow close scrutiny and the colouring is accurate (sorry B! with your monitor problem). Even to my lay eye it seemed to be an inner feather and perhaps a pheasant or something.

It was nice to have your 'comment' Steven and I suppose that to your Mum and I anyone under 60 is a lad.

n.b. for other blog readers, we always welcome comments. All you need to do is go down to the bottom of the blog-page and click on 'comments' in orange. A box will open to put your comment in. First names or pseudonyms are best but 'anonymous' will do even though multiple anonymous-es become confusing.

Picture 2 is one of the artichoke heads; they look so dramatic at the moment. As I was taking the photograph I was reminded that my beard needs trimming. I received an e-mail yesterday from Amazon telling me that my new beard trimmer has been dispatched.

There is currently running in Brighton a 'beard competition' but even at full straggle, I would not be anywhere near in contention. Don't some people have strange hobbies? Harmless enough though and they must be having fun.

All is well at Palmers Green. Y slept well, as I did (leg-ache excepted of course) and I didn't finally get up until 6am. Spoke to David on the 'phone - they are still at Carsington but leave sometime today. I have had a pleasant afternoon kip. Spoke to Steven on Google Chat (we use it in its 'instant e-mail' mode rather than actual spoken word) but it is a good service.

Picture 3 was from where I was sitting at The Knockerdown on Friday and I hope captures the warm and friendly atmosphere.

It wasn't until I decided to use the picture today that I realised I was carrying such free-advertising for them. No matter, it was a pleasant meal at the end of a very pleasant day.

A quick refer back to a Jill comment a couple of days ago - It is almost a relief to find someone else having 'milk going off ages within due date' problems because I thought it only happened to us. But Waitrose ! Really ! At home my mum used to strain milk like that through very fine muslin to make a delicious cottage cheese. Things weren't wasted in those days

I've had a good and useful rest day. Caught up on e-mails, browsed my favourite forums, filed lots of photographs and moved the older ones onto my External Hard Drive. Sorted out National Trust stuff ready for committee meeting on Tuesday. Run my Spyware Sweeper and AVG and even managed a quick Stumbleupon and I have made that a link for anyone who might be interested. But be warned - it is addictive !

Debra likes the quotations, so here is one of a similar ilk:-

"Let not thy will roar, when thy power can only whisper"

Dr Thomas Fuller

Fancy that ! Blog finished by 4.30pm. Now for a bit of tea, catch up on the papers, have a read and listen to some radio. Sleep tight everybody.

Carsington Water - Cold - House-viewer, warm !

Evenin All !

Picture 1 is a Dovedale Picture by Sky. They went on Thursday, as we had been on Wednesday and they had nice weather too. I love her intersecting diagonals and the path leading you into the picture ! And she managed a scale-conferring person in an important place (and wearing a red skirt to boot!)

I know I missed doing the blog yesterday but we returned from Carsington quite late and after a full day with 6 adults and 5 children I was 'done for' and beyond blogging. No bulletin necessary, just leg-achy and tired. Bungus's concerned e-mail however, was much appreciated.

And I'm not complaining about the day because it was absolutely terrific (I think 'brilliant' is in vogue). Some sun would have been welcome to alleviate the March type weather, but it all went so well. No tears and lots of laughs. Apart from being a beautiful nature reserve, even if man-assisted, Carsington is a great place for children. Loads of differently exciting parks and things to climb on and in one bit a thoughtful open-at-the-front wooden structure with picnic tables which were adult-friendly. We picked a table quite early and were able to drag the next one up to it so we had enough room for everyone. Each family brought their own picnic basically but dibbing-in and swaps were the order of the day ! I did a good deal with one of our cheese & pickle sandwich for 2 scotch eggs.

It was great that Steven managed it, crutch notwithstanding, but oh dear! the lad's knee and leg IS in a mess. He was told that when he has a shower he is to sellotape his knee-cap in place to stop it sliding round the back ! I said " it is good to hear of a consultant with a sense of humour, ha ha!" But Steven assured me that that was exactly what was said.

Picture 2 is one of the many play-areas and the children loved them. David is the tall one in the middle ! Hannah is in front and to the right and Steven, Helen and Y are watching somebody do something.

We went to the caravan for tea and a couple of mugs of piping hot tea were most welcome. Games were played, fir cone pictures were made and a good time was had by all.

After a full day and tea at David's caravan at the Blackwater plantation we all went to the nearby Knockerdown Inn for evening meal. It was all that the link claims, really nice meal, and yet more play areas. Plus Ostriches at the back. Even though they were in quite a large field my first impression was that they are exceptionally smelly creatures.

Picture 3 is Lisa and Sky playing swing ball and to my eye they both seem remarkably good at it. I transferred Sky's Dovedale Pictures to my laptop and inadvertently left her Kingston 256 MB SD card plugged in. When we reached home I took it out intending to put it in an envelope. So I slipped it into my shirt pocket and, shock horror - it went through an entire wash/rinse/dry cycle in the washing machine. Y found the card just prior to ironing the shirt. Full of trepidation I put it into the computer and 'glory be' there were the picture files, completely unscathed. Pretty rugged this digital storage ! I couldn't see a film surviving.

After the Knockerdown we drove home. And I needed my lights on - first time this year.

Comments:-

• I am sure Jill/Bungus that Lillian Hellman had a hand in the mayonnaise. She also lived with 'Dash' Hammet of 'Maltese Falcon' fame. He prolly initiated the 'dash' of tabasco. Incidentally we just bought some Heinz Salad Cream having enjoyed it at TJ's. It hasn't changed a bit and is infinitely preferable to that effete mayo stuff. About a year ago Heinz said they were going to cease production; whereupon everyone dashed out and bought the stuff and apparently the sales figures are now very healthy.
  
• Enjoyed Bungus's 'daily diet' column again. To paraphrase Rousseau or was it Voltaire ? -" I dislike what you eat but will defend to the death your right to eat it"

Highlight of the day, apart from Y going 'grannying' to Palmers Green, was a lady house-viewer who was really enthusiastic and asked all the right questions. Fingers crossed but not getting excited 'eh? I delivered Y to the tram and she has just rung to say she arrived safely but sans phone. She wasn't mugged or anything; just lost it. Oh well - she will have to have a new one now. Debra rang that they are just today back from Ireland and have had a great time. Girls in the sea every day in spite of the cold - Debra invited in but apparently said 'No way!'. I've sent her a memory-stick with the Carsington photos on it.

Debra tells me she likes the 'quotes' in the blog. So here is something a little different:-

"I think it is good that books still exist: but they do make me sleepy"

Frank Zappa

......That's it for tonight folks. Sleep tight and I will catch you tomorrow. Rest Day planned but I'm sure I can manage a quick blog.