BJ Baby-sitting - Ferry Boat meal

.Picture 1 is an anonymousrob suggestion for the definitive - 'A bit black over Bill's mother's' - type sky (I think). As an ex- camera club judge my only comment would be that it looks black over every-one's mothers rather than just Bill's and is therefore marked down for not 100% fitting the competition title. Nice photo though.

An interruption ............. Hannah says Hi ! ....... We are doing last minute baby-sitting duty at Burton Joyce. It is rather like Coleridge's marginal note on Kubla Khan - "interrupted by persons from Porlock" ....... unfortunately posterity didn't record who they were. We aren't really sorry about the baby-sitting because it gets us away from the post-carnival Fair. Loud music and thump, thump!

Picture 2 is also Rob's and continues the Cuba saga. His friend and now ours, Leonardo performing at the 'talent night' of which we heard tell.

This morning it was bright and sunny again and I tried some 'bees in flight' pictures. Mostly useless because, silly me, I was still on aperture-priority when I should have concentrated on a fast shutter speed.

I'll try again tomorrow.

Picture 3 is the best of a poor bunch.

Also before setting off I contacted Vodafone about my dongle problems. Re my having reached a 50mb limit, I was told that's just how they are sent out and it was easy, in settings>usage> to manually change the limit from 50mb to 3,000mb (same £15) simply by typing in the new value. I did that and my usage is now a tiny blue bar on a big bar chart. Very reassuring.

Burton Joyce hasn't been a strain because everyone is so well behaved.

We went to The Ferry Boat for an evening meal and had a table with a lovely view of the Trent a few yards away. Would have done you a link but couldn't find one with a picture. So I reckon they don't need the publicity.

Comments........ Bungus ...... Pleased Danny remembered Fathers' Day but we are all sitting on the edge of our seats curious as to what the present was? If it is something private, or contained under a plain brown cover, feel free to ignore my impertinence.

Re the Mansfield Bullfinches. The air-rifle was a deterrent. I never actually hit one !

What a strange Dictionary you have. Our Shorter Oxford has a large entry for 'gullible' and even Wikipedia holds forth thus >

The term gullibility refers to the state of being easily deceived. Someone who fits into this category is said to be gullible. There are several causes of gullibility. The person may be naive, have some form of learning difficulty or may display gullibility as a result of wishful thinking.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullible

I think I agree about the tanker drivers pay. But I haven't heard all the arguments ! And the employers may be having them over, not honouring previously agreed formulae etc., etc.,.......

anonymousrob .........I take on board that mobile broadband has some catching up to do speedwise with my Virgin Cable and a Belkin Router. So I might indulge myself and run both. The Vodafone facility will be ace when away from home for whatever reason.

Hope your Spanish meal goes well. And fancy Dennis being 65yrs old. When we saw him at Attenborough he didn't have a grey hair on his head and no wrinkles !

anonymous ....... Commenting on Saturday's .... Well done with RIANT. don't know when you actually solved it but I suspect Bungus beat you to it (see his comments).

Jill ...... On an earlier draft of today's blog post. I agree with you about the size of Bill's mother's house Ha Ha !

Re the apple-blossom devouring bullfinches. See David's recollection of the air-rifle at Mansfield, and my explanation today.

Springwatch was good we thought. Kate is good and she made powerful points about the plastic bag pollution. We never use them now and take a perverse pleasure in taking our sturdy Lidl reusables into Sainsbury's and Morrisons.

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No access to reference books for quotes etc., but this is from my igoogle homepage ...............

"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't"

Mark Twain

Sleep tight. Catch you tomorrow !

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Carnival - Fathers' Day - Tennis

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Some time ago Jill was interested in our local expression "It's a bit black over Bill's mothers" to indicate the likelihood of rain. The sky in Picture 1 is the sort of sky we mean.

However, other contributors are invited to submit definitive examples. At the moment there are plenty of such skies about.

Although I lost my £1 to Y yesterday because the weather remained dry, I won it back today by backing Nadal to win in the Stella Artois Tennis final

A most affable and sportsmanlike young chap and, on the day, the better player triumphed.

Fathers' Day was good and I had calls and cards from the full complement of offspring. We had Barnsley Chops for lunch, with carrots, sweetheart cabbage, roast potatoes (desirée) mint sauce and sweetcorn. Melon for starter and peach chunks and ice-cream for pudding. Everything worked well except that the melon disappointed us. I know one is supposed to depress the end and sniff, which I did, but it was still not ripe.

No gravy - we are trying to avoid sauces etc., and eat modest meals. And it's working - Y has lost some pounds and so have I.


Picture 2 is Mr Bullfinch, today accompanied by Mrs Bullfinch, sitting on top of the feeder while her husband is inside, scoffing ! Rather like being left sitting outside the pub ! This morning I managed to grab a tripod and a longer lens. From the closed bedroom window though because if I opened the window they would be off. As you say Jill, taupe and grey but with the same distinctive black cap as the male

Incidentally, aren't crows timid creatures really? They visit the appropriate feeder but if there's the slightest movement close to the window they vanish. And they look so scary you would expect them to stand their ground as robins do.

We feel lucky to be visited by the bullfinches because, as comments show, some people haven't seen one for years. This morning David reminded me of my scaring them off the apple trees with an air-rifle when we lived in Mansfield.

The final picture is Karen, the jackal god, waving as their float walked by. It isn't the hauliers fault, but apparently 'elf & safety and astronomic insurance prevents them providing the flat-bed trucks as floats. As they traditionally have done in villages for decades.

Too many killjoys and jobsworths about aren't there?

You can just about see Karen, centre right, near the frame edge. We shall have to be patient till Tuesday to discover if they won.



David and family are caravanning at the Blackwall Plantation and poor John was working and he tells me they are having trouble with fuel protesters and demos.

Comments..... Jill .... Clever you, and Bungus, to both get 'riant'. I was miles away and so was Y. The usual 'AC' for Bill ensnared me and wouldn't let go.

Bungus .... The answer to your question about the Carnival Day morning carboot sale "How did they find someone to take over the running? when Y stopped is simple. "They didn't. It just doesn't happen anymore".

Not so happy with my dongle now I've used it for some hours. The broadband it provides is very slow and clunky and, at 3am this morning, it told me that I had exhausted my permitted capacity! I researched it and found that although it is basically £15 per month, if I exceed my 'capacity' I have to pay per GB. I'll contact them in the morning but I feel it likely that I will send it back - there is a 14 day 'cooling off' period.

I'm sure you are right that blackcurrant attracts bullfinches but these things have always mystified me. Do bullfinches cruise around looking for black currants? A Metropolitan Police Inspector colleague once told me the strangest story. He and his wife had an eleventh floor apartment somewhere near Potters Bar, with a little balcony. They decided one year to grow a few broad beans in a trough. The growth was no problem but they got black fly !! How ? Are there swarms of black-fly reconnoitering North London, eleven floors up, on the off-chance of finding half a dozen broad bean plants ?

Tommy Cooper - Chic Murray - both great.

Quotation time ..... Spot on Ambrose (no - not the band leader).....

"There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don't know".

Ambrose Bierce

Sleep tight ! Catch you tomorrow ! .......................

Bullfinch - Vodafone Gadget - Fair

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I feel I must open today with a snap from Bungus showing the rose growing in his Bramley apple tree down the garden. Quite amazing ! The apple tree in question is, as you can see, a fully mature specimen and high and wide. At a distance the rose looks like Rosa Rugosa of some ilk but I've never seen one take over like that. Hope the apples will be OK because I've been promised some.

Yesterday I promised you more about the arrival of the Fair for tomorrow's Carnival and the picture on the left shows some that has already arrived.

More are arriving but I guess with the brilliant weather, if the showmen are doing well wherever they now are, there's no point in coming till the last minute.

The Annual Brinsley Carnival is a big village event and until a few years ago we were on the carnival committee and Y used to organise the morning car-boot sale. Karen our cleaning lady is on a float of Egyptian Deity, we think as Anubis the jackal - we shall just have to sit on the front wall to see the floats go by and cheer. Well, we cheer them all anyway - but extra special for Karen.


My other morning activity was installing my Vodafone gadget to give me mobile broadband. A straightforward insert Sim card, plug in, let the system find the drivers, click 'connect' and away. As you can see from the picture, it is only a small thing which connects to a USB port and provides broadband anywhere in the country where a vodafone signal is receivable. And at £15 per month instead of the £25 we have been paying Virgin.

Mark my words. Mobile Broadband will really take off and become the way to access the internet. And I hope none of you has shares in Wi-Fi hotspot companies like Cloud.

And my thanks are due to anonymousrob for marking the path.

I call it my 'Vodafone Gadget' because Y doesn't like the word 'dongle' !!

OK, it is slightly slower than my cable driven wi-fi router, but only slightly so. So I had great pleasure this afternoon telling Virgin I didn't require their version anymore. And while I was in mid grumble the helpful Virgin lady reduced our TV and Phone package from £50 to £35 per month (with talk unlimited thrown in). A worthwhile hour's work.

Picture 4 is an amalgam of 2 snaps of the same 'starling-proof' bird feeder. And the picture on the left of the two is a grabbed shot with a short lens, published solely for identification purposes. No time for lens changes or tripods.

My guess had been that the first customer would be the Robin but no, an exotic looking chap who my Collins reference book persuades me is a male Bullfinch. Wow. What a thrill - I haven't seen one for years. When he had gone I nipped outside and took the other picture to show you what the feeder actually looks like.

I think that is enough excitement for one day !

Comments.....Bungus ..... So pleased to hear of your adventure to Radcliffe on Trent to see your old pal, and that it worked out so well.

I know from old that you don't get bored, and neither do I. Probably 'fed-up' with the nuisance of it would have been a better phrase. Particularly the dentistry problem.

You are quite right as to children's acceptance of death as a normal event. All ours have been the same. However, when Mr. Johnson (the cat) was run over at Mansfield he was buried with due ceremony in the garden.

Just harking back to a previous comment of yours and the future possible demise of Sandra's Workshop due to the lack of new blood willing to take over. It always seems the same these days, no matter how much people enjoy and use such a wonderful service, they just expect it to be done for them. They won't get off their butts and actually make a contribution of work to keep the venture going. Sad 'innit?

Thanks for the Chic Murray quote. No doubt from the same source, I liked this one:-

"I met this cowboy with a brown paper hat, paper waistcoat and paper trousers. He was wanted for rustling"

Re Jill's previous comment about cryptic crosswords and problems with the new compilers. Steadily we are becoming accustomed to their fresh aproach and, as you can see on the right, only one clue defeated us today. 20.down. Brilliant Bill leaves laughing (5)..... R-A-T. I suppose it's going to be 'react' but I'm way short of proving it. Ideas will be welcomed.

And I do apologise for the state of the paper. A mixture of ink-smudge, butter, and tea I think.

I would have a strong guess that anonymousrob and elaine are caravanning at Tansley. And we all hope Maureeen's arm isn't too painful.

n.b. Brian. You were going to send me some pictures.

Fish tank time I think................................

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Friday Rest Day - The Fair arrives for Carnival

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I woke up this morning feeling a little 'off colour' and have remained so all day. So unlike me. However it didn't deter me from nipping into the garden to get the raw material for a Collage of Roses. Not all of them are included because the picture quality wasn't good enough.

With thought, we could probably tell you each variety because we, or rather Y, has planted them all.

It would be a great addition to Picasa's collage maker if, after loading the pictures, you could move them about within the frame for the best effect. Maybe you can do it in Photoshop.


Picture 2 was Y's concept. She thought that 'the old and the new' would be a good idea for a snap. So during our boat trip we passed an old sailing ship with its foremast conveniently framing The Spinnaker.

All I need now is to await an appropriately named monthly competition at the Club.

Virgin media continues to offend. This morning our bill was far too big. Originally we signed up for £30 per month for TV, Broadband, and Telephone, plus calls. Scrutiny of the bill reveals the £30 offer is long gone and my 4mb broadband alone is £25 per month.

It just happens that in WebUser there was a piece about Mobile Broadband, like Rob has with his dongle. Research shows me that Vodafone seems the best deal at £15 per month for 3.8mb broadband and the dongle is free. So I've signed up for it. Another advantage is that it works anywhere there is a Vodafone signal; so no more searching for Wi-Fi hotspots when I'm out and about.

Comments..... Bungus ..... I like your von Trapp family explanation for the sloping bench. But I guess Jill's 'horse mounting' is more logical. It was kind of you all not to endorse the notion that it was a result of my sitting on it.

Your 'drip-trip' title for your chemo clinic days is inspired. Glad to hear that the day was uneventful though. But you must be bored out of your mind by now. If you become bored with haikus you could move into clerihew country. Plenty of material in your hospital trips I think. The first couplet is half made with drip and trip. Nurse and no worse, and needle and wheedle, are jockeying for position.

Jill ..... Your green-finch account was quite harrowing. Still, I suppose it is 'nature'. At Burton Joyce the great tit nest and the webcam came to a sad end too. The chicks went down to 3 left in the nest, then 2. They fell out, so in the end none survived. But the children were quite impassive about it.

Having just read your comment I must tell you that 2 minutes ago Y poked her head round the door and announced that she was putting the central heating on.

I'm with R on high vantage points, provided there's a lift.

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Quotation time ............. I realise there are several quotes along these lines but this on is new to me:

"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone"

Henry David Thoreau

The Wikipedia link was the best one. As it is so often ! And if you scroll down to the bottom of a long entry there's a button for 'quotes' in the right hand corner.

p.s. I've just noticed that, in the title, I've told you about the Fair arriving and then not mentioned it again. Sorry. More tomorrow.

p.p.s. Memo to Sports Desk.... According to our Chelsea fan in Palmers Green. Everyone is delighted abou the new boss...... Editor.

It must be train time again. Catch you tomorrow.

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'Y at BJ' Day - Me ? Messing about.

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Picture 1 is the seaweed on the sea-wall outside Southsea Castle which I think I mentioned earlier.

It was so beautiful - as if, instead of being random nature, it had been designed. When I commented on it to a chap walking by, he introduced himself as a marine-biologist and explained all the different seaweed types and why they are as they are. I remember kelp and fucus but I finished up with slightly too much information.

It was he who pointed out the yellow buoy where The Mary Rose went down though. Everybody was interested in that bit.

Picture 2 is the gatehouse at Charlecote Park. As I said yesterday, it reeks 'Tudor' and we both loved it.

The Tudors are Y's favourite period.

As the picture shows it seems as if the National Trust, Mansfield Centre, is preparing to lay siege with swinging handbags.

For my snaps I was so lucky with the light - it kept being in the right place and almost nothing has needed the good offices of Photoshop. Some cropping - little more

I must share the picture on the right with you. The bench was on the grass verge about 20 yards back from there.

It does look rather as if your blogmeister has been sitting on the right-hand edge doesn't it?

Comments..... anonymousrob ...... Thanks for the 'poppy' praise. As per e-mail, the effect is due to f1.8. And that width gave me a shutter speed of a 4,000th sec which more than coped with the wind effect. All your suggestions are sensible and the position in the frame is easily rectified by a judicial crop. And Yes ! Det.Insp. Rob - I admit it - I had over-sharpened it. Now dealt with. Can I have the offence 'taken into consideration' please?

The poppy haiku is excellent. The last line however raises the question "Why is it still what?".

Jill ....... Sorry about your computer problems and I'm pleased they seem to be fixed. Most 'servers' have their problems. BT, Virgin, AOL, etc., makes no difference. My broadband from Virgin is mostly OK but the TV, which comes down the same cable, is a nagging problem. We have to regularly shut-down, and reboot the system, as if it is a computer going wrong. Usually it is fixable but the system isn't cheap and it should be more reliable.

My beak was indeed successful ! She kept me in order for the entire break.

Re the current crossword compilers. Steadily we become more in tune. Different mind-set to the last people but they produce some excellent clues and another week or two and we will be with it.

Thanks for the Tommy Cooper info. Very interesting. As is often the case with comediens of genius their lives are tinged with pathos. But a chap in a grey suit just wouldn't be able to 'do' it. Horace said circa 45BC.... "No great poetry was ever written by water drinkers" and I suspect that comedy is the same.



Bungus ..... Lovely story about the funnel count ! Clang ! or what?

The 'Ram on Toast' was just my follow-on to Reg's original 'toast in owls' during Maureen's Hospital stay.

How disappointing that the sketches weren't from the desert or something. I knew you had served in the East and I put two and two together and made four hundred and thirty. My imagination can be too vivid ! Mark Twain said "When I was young I could remember everything - whether it had happened, or not".

Your line of poetry “Do churches have a value still?" deserves the rejoinder "Of course they do. Spirits are distilled in them".

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Quotation time ....... This is funny, or not, when you see the glum people queuing for their lottery tickets at the Supermarket :

"I've done the calculation and your chances of winning the lottery are identical whether you play or not"

Fran Lebowitz

..... Signing off now. Sleep tight. Catch you tomorrow ......................

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WoW at Linby/Papplewick

.Although we went WoW-ing this morning there are still a few holiday snaps I would like to share. On the third day we decided to give Uppark a miss in favour of a boat-trip. A good value 45mins with an actual person talking us round our tour of the Harbour area. It was great to hear a real voice rather than a pre-recorded audio. He knew to the what was in and what was out etc., and Picture 1 is HMS Warrior. Sort of halfway house between sail and steam in 1860 this was a juggernaut of a ship. I was pleased to get this record-shot from our little boat.

Picture 2 is the famous Spinnaker Tower which at a height of 560 feet is visible for miles around. We went up, in the lift, and the viewing platforms (the bits at the top before the spike) have blue/green glass which isn't conducive to photography.

The views however, as you will see from the link, were amazing.

On the last day, during the trip home we visited Charlecote Park which is a charming place with a tudor gate house (snap tomorrow) and for me it was probably the most enjoyable. The site I have chosen to link you to isn't a Nat Trst one but lots of pictures in the hope you will pick up the feel. Then basically it was home.

A quiet recovery day yesterday and then off with WoW this morning. Beautiful weather yet again and there was only Brian, Helen and I. We went to the Linby/Papplewick area and had an excellent morning. I want to do some wildflower shots but as usual when I decide this, we had a stiff breeze.

However, I spotted this poppy on the edge of a field of rye (I think) and have three versions with different aperture settings so as to have differing degrees of background sharpness and I can't decide which one I prefer.

In the dim and distant past when a member of Hucknall Camera Club, I won one of their annual competitions with a poppy picture -- so who knows ?

I still have lots of pictures I want to share with you.

But I rate very highly the Bungus 'sketches on the back of an envelope' recording scenes when he was in furrin parts serving King and Country some years ago. They appear further down the page.

I will leave it to him to describe more fully, in the 'Comments' columns.

I've seen similar before and William Blake and Richard Dadd spring to mind. I'm sure it would yield to google but it is getting to be bedtime.

Comments..... AnonymousRob ..... Thanks for more Cuba; I for one feel I almost know Gilberto and Leonardo. And now - Miguel Antonio, the Anglo-Saxon History teacher !

Bungus ..... I don't know about Wellow weddings having a traditional end in fisticuffs. It used to be a tradition at Polish weddings in the 70s and 80s at Canning Circus and Hyson Green where there was a strong Polish Club. As members of the local fuzz we had a permanent invite for a pint or two. They considered our friendship a valuable commodity because barely a week passed without them needing us.

Thanks for the Tommy Cooper stuff. An excellent read.

The Scottish comedian whose name escapes you was Chick Murray. Our age-group had the advantage of seeing and hearing him although apparently there is little in any archive. Billy Connolly counted him as a major influence. If you open the link there's a button to click for quotations - bottom right corner. One not on the list that I actually heard him tell was -

"Yesterday I fell over and a chap said 'Did you fall?' I said, 'No I was trying to break a bar of cholcolate in my hip pocket'

I was the author of 'Ram on Toast'. Glad you enjoyed it.

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My 'googlemail notifier' tells me that AnonymousRob has already added a comment to this incomplete blogpost. I was called away and instead of clicking 'save a draft' I clicked 'publish' and blogspot naturally didn't realise I hadn't finished.

'Ram on toast' was a follow-on from 'toast in owls'. Nothing to do with Derby FC I'm afraid. It was just using Ram as a rather weak synonym for 'Butter'. Cryptic Crossword puzzles make you go potty in the end !

Sleep tight, catch you tomorrow !......................................

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National Trust Holiday to Southsea

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Your Blogmeister returns. I have started the Lister diesel generators and am transmitting on full power. Thanks to our loyal readers who kept things ticking over in my absence.

A simply great holiday and all our thanks go to Jean for organising everything so splendidly. The extra day was a success and to 'do' a house on the first day, on the way to Southsea, and another on the last day, rather than just heading for home worked out just fine.

The beautiful weather made a contribution. It was english summer at it's best - clear blue sky, sunny, mild breeze etc.. etc.. Our first stop was at Waddesdon Manor and Picture 1 is a detail at the rear. A Victorian replica of a 16th Century French Chateau, built for the Rothschild's and filled with stuff, was (I must stress that this is only my opinion) slightly on the vulgar side of opulent. In one room was a hideous 'secrétaire' which even the Baron himself had considered ugly. The formal gardens needed a capital F. I saw a bed at the rear being planted out and I'm sure the gardeners were using a slide rule and calipers.

On the plus side, there were some beautiful Dutch Golden Age paintings, 18th century books, drawings, textiles, and the place was pleasantly light and airy. It's a good job everyone's tastes are not identical.

When we arrived at Southsea we found we had been allocated a super, super seaview room. Overlooking the Pier and, in the distance, The Isle of Wight. If the picture looks a little hazy it's because it was on the Casio and through glass. p.s. the double glazing was efficient because on the 2nd night, we heard nothing of a boisterous wedding which ended in fighting.

On the Saturday morning we went down Southsea and visited the D.Day Landings Museum and saw the Tapestry of that event. The Overlord Embroidery tapestry was conceived as a modern version of the Bayeux Taspestry and is, in our opinion, a moving and powerful work of art. The link (a tricky google btw) show you all about its creation and has some excellent pictures. Photography in the exhibition is not permitted, so I haven't any of my own.

We could sit on the promenade and watch the ferries in and out of harbour and I learnt lots. Mostly from a Marine Biologist I chanced upon during my walks.

Picture 3 is obviously the Brittany Ferry but, right on the right hand edge of the frame you should be able to see a yellow buoy. This marks the spot where the Mary Rose went down and was recovered from. When I took the snap I was standing just in front of Southsea Castle from the battlements of which, Henry V111 stood and watched the tragedy.

I'm going to end there, for the time being, but will return tomorrow with a further itinerary.

Comments ..... Reg.... In future my toast must be served in owls. I feel sure the 'long eared owl' is favoured, as a sort of toast-rack. We all wish Mo well at the clinic. Will they be demolishing the 'scaffolding' or is it subject to Wednesday's examination. Give her our love.

anonymousrob ..... Thanks for the continued Gilberto/Leonardo stories and thanks to Elaine for her pictures. What a shame we can't all see the sombrero ! Great Haikus again !

Jill ..... You are quite right about 'depth' in Tommy Cooper humour. People considered him a buffoon but there was more than that. This one for instance :-

"So I was getting into my car, and this bloke says to me 'Can you give

me a lift?'

I said 'Sure, you look great, the world's your oyster, go for it."

We seem to keep missing Springwatch but grandchildren keep us informed. Bill Oddy is becoming a bit of a pain and if Kate is editing him so much the better.

Bungus ...... 'Ram on Toast' ? butter ..... geddit?.

And as you know, I actually enjoy typos and consider them a creative spur. We would have been denied 'toast in owls' without one. And many many more.

Your multi proof-reading though, whilst admirable, doesn't seem to have prevented Bingis as the author of your follow up comment of 10.52am. Perhaps a fourth or even a fifth reading is becoming necessary ? Or stop bothering about it ! I would recommend the latter.

Thanks for your description of the Community Workshop. It needs to be 'on the record'. And we all hope that soon your dentistry is soon sorted.

Talking of traffic directions - One of our Mansfield Sergeants, George Dunning, was asked for directions in Mansfield shortly after the demolition of the viaduct. He told a motorist to go down as far as the viaduct and turn left. The PC who was with him said "Sarge... The viaduct isn't there any longer" so George said "Go down as far as the hole in the sky where the viaduct used to be and turn left there".

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Thanks all for the good wishes for a pleasant holiday. It was ace. More tomorrow. Reg can't WoW tomorrow but Brian is game and Helen is keen to take advantage of what may be the temporary end of the lovely weather.

Quotation time ..... Having passed through and stopped in Shakespeare country I have decided on a line or two from The Tempest :

"On the bat's wing I do fly

After summer merrily;

Merrily, merrily shall I live now

Under the blossom that hangs on the bough"

William Shakespeare

At Charlecote Park (see tomorrow's issue) we were told the apochryphal story of William having been prosecuted for poaching in the grounds. He seems to have been caught poaching in every National Trust site or similar within a day's march of Stratford.

.... I'm signing off with the Droeshout engraving which is perhaps the best picture we have. What a pity there was no photography then. Sleep tight !..... Catch you tomorrow !.....

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Packed and ready to go - nearly

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Some difficult picture juggling is necessary this evening so bear with me.

Firstly this particularly evil looking wall-eyed crow. I promised Jill a picture but they seem extremely camera-shy and I'm sure I only got this fellow because he looks blind in his right eye. Even shooting through glass from the kitchen window, the slightest movement and they were off.

Gilberto's 'palatial' apartment is altogether engaging. And thanks Rob for these pictures. As you know, I love record shots for, as Roland Barthes calls it in Camera Lucida - the 'studium' - aspect of a picture.

The picture on the left (previously promised) is Rob's 'lucky peso' with Ché's head, against the 20p piece for scale.

And finally the picture on the right is Maureen's arm with what Reg accurately describes as 'scaffolding'. I can't really do better than paste Reg's e-mail -

G -Maureen is back home full of anti-biotics, three nights in hospital, will tell you the full story when I see you. Things reasonably satisfactory but this morning they had to have breakfast toast in owls, as the ward did not have any plates! Seems to me the Chief Exec. could come down a model of car and buy some, they are cheap enough at Ikea without using his massive purchasing powers.
Time does not exist in the NHS (except in an emergency) or if its a shift change. Your going home to day means later up to 23.59 hrs. Mo was told at 8 a.m.she was to have an X-ray before going home she went for the x-ray at approx 14:oohrs we got home at 17:00hrs. Pic attached all may be blogged. Reg.

It was remiss of me 2 days back not to mention Sandra's further trip to Buckingham Palace, this time with colleagues. I can only plead post-entertaining blues and inattention ! Again, I think it best to paste the appropriate bit from Bungus's 'comment' -

After several weeks of secrecy I can now let people know that The Dukeries Community Workshop have had a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service bestowed upon them for 2008 (I of 4 in the East Midlands, 1 of 79 nationally).
This means that Sandra will again be going to Buckingham Palace, this time accompanied by the three other longest serving volunteers, for a garden party in July.
On this occasion, presumably, she will get refreshments!

A high honour indeed and congratulations to Sandra. If she keeps going at this rate we shall eventually be addressing Dame Sandra !

Comments.....Bungus ..... I never liked Mansfield's keg orientated Director's Special Brew. The straightforward bitter was an excellent pint, in my recollection.

Yes. We licked all the envelopes.

I liked your little conceit of the 'white arrow pointing to the right'. At which point I couldn't resist using Matt's Telegraph cartoon this morning. It is ages since I borrowed one and I'm always meticulous about attribution. I had to issue a mild 'b***ocking' the other day to someone who uses them freely without even mentioning the author's name.

Madeline .... Great to have your comment. I'll tell you all about Southsea early next week.

It's all about personal choice I suppose. Jill says later that Waddesdon is her least favourite NT place while Joan and Chris wax poetic over it. We shall see, and your roving reporter will report back.

I'm absolutely sure you are right - 'Mati Hari' was Bungus-created.

Jill ..... The Cuba pics are smashing and I'm so glad, and I'm sure Rob must be, that you are all enjoying them so much.

If at Petworth it's a choice between interior/exterior I think Y and I will settle for the interior. Fot no other reason than J.M.W. Turner whose work we both love. We just hope the paintings that should be there, are there. You can never tell, with stuff being loaned to exhibitions etc. And also that the place has returned to normality after Anthony Blunt boggerred about with it. And I use the expletive advisedly !

Re your vari-focals. I have them at the moment and have never been entirely satisifed. My eyes need testing again and I intend to go back to bi-focals. Or even a set for driving and a set for reading.

I think the line-drawings man was Escher, without the 'L' but we take your point. Here is a link to Escher for everyone's benefit. You will recognise the pictures when you see them. My personal favourite has always been Drawing Hands. The concept of objects breaking the frame of a drawing was quite revolutionary.

Quotation time ...... I've drawn from Thomas Fuller before, and I happy to do so again -

"Some have been thought brave because they were afraid to run away"

Thomas Fuller

Our National Trust weekend-away starts early tomorrow morning and we are really looking forward to the break. We enjoy the company of our Mansfield Centre chums and we are going to be doing lots of interesting things. Please don't expect a blog before Tuesday at the earliest.

But please, as before when the blogmeister is away, feel free to chat amongst yourselves !

Sleep tight. And catch you sometime ...... ..

End quote ...... From Reg's fund of Tommy Cooper jokes -

'So I rang up my local swimming baths.
I said 'Is that the local swimming baths?'

He said 'It depends where you're calling from.'

Although a joke, it has a hidden ' depth' I feel.

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Recovered - Nat Trst stuff completed

I can only call Picture 1 "The end of an era" because Mansfield Brewery is being demolished.

We went to Littleworth (The LEA) to deliver the 42 National Trust letters re schools visits, for onward transmission via their mailing system, to Head Teachers. I think God has me down for an envelope stuffer. First for the SWP and now for The National Trust - that's ageing for you.

And this was the view opposite.

The number of pictures I want to share with you continues to grow leaving little room for my pretty flowers. There's Steve's Normandy Beaches, Rob's Cuba, and always a selection from Bungus - I don't know where to start. Steve's Picture 2 is more or less self-explanatory. He had a great time on the Normandy Beaches, particularly Omaha.


It's important for us fogeys to realise that, were there the need, our young men and women would be there to do it again. There is such a lot of silly talk about the younger generation !

For instance when I was a teenager I had quite a long knife in a sheath on my belt and I was quite proud of it. We all were - we were Boy Scouts you see !

Picture 3 is Rob's and is a view from Gilberto's apartment - faded elegance or what ? This is just one of the pictures Rob has kindly sent by e-mail and I'm hoping in his 'comments' he will tell you more, as I publish them. I promise his 'peso with Ché 's head on it' will appear, - probably tomorrow.

Tomorrow by the way will be the last blog until one day next week. It is our long weekend-away with Mansfield National Trust. We are going to The Royal Beach Hotel at Southsea and our outings are to Waddesdon, Petworth, Uppark and Charlecote. All separate links if you would like to have a look.

Comments.....Jill ..... Crowds of people tire me too, but Y seems not to worry. And she really likes her bit of socialising. A few people can be more tiring than many.

We didn't watch the Culture Show. We don't like Lauren Laverne's style at all.

We do care about the weather. It's been awful. Then all change - today has been good. I've researched Southsea though. And that's not good either. But we always have a great time with our Mansfield chums and are hoping to again.

Bungus ...... It is terrible the way the NHS operates over these multi diagnosis issues. Our friend Gordon tells me that he can only consult his Doctor about one issue at a time. If he goes to see him with knee-ache, and says 'I've also got a pain in my shoulder' he would be sent away to book another appointment.

To show you the Alan Clayden pictures as such tiny thumbnails was not fair either on him nor you. Y is not a photographer but she considered them remarkably good. And although my WoW group are photographers, their praise for them was as 'pictures' because few of the photographs followed current camera-club morés.

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I am publishing this link to ArtDaily because today's edition is rather good. There is much important photographic stuff but the video of The Klimt Exhibition at Tate Liverpool isn't worth the 'disc it was saved to' - in my humble opinion, that is.

Time-served blog readers will realise that we haven't heard from Madeline for some time. The reason is that she has been 'proper poorly' needing an operation and a 2 week plus stay in hospital. It is a pleasure to report that she is now back with us and intends to try and catch up on the blog ! Oh dear Madeline (Bungus used to all her Mata Hari for some reason) you mustn't overdo it.


Quotation time ................... I'd love to believe that this Yogi Berra quote really was spontaneous :-

"Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical"

Yogi Berra

Sleep tight. Catch you tomorrow ! Do you like my place-name sign ?

Or should there be a white arrow ?

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Busy - Blood - Bess- Boggered

There's always one ! This Iris isn't the first of another bed to the right - it's just there, a strag amongst the pale ones. Weather still foul. Better is promised but it doesn't happen.

A busy day starting with my INR blood test, then Y's dental checkup (all OK) then over to collect Joan and down the A60 en route to Hardwick Hall for our talk about Bess.

We called in at The Hardwick Inn for a snack lunch before our lecture at 2pm. First class lecture and excellent visuals. Obviously Mary Lovell had researched Bess very professionally indeed and the illustrations, and portraits, from everywhere - Windsor to The National Gallery, were spot on.

The audience was around 70/80 strong , in the Great Hall, and as Mary said, it was easy to imagine Bess coming in from hunting and standing in front of that actual fireplace on the right getting warm. The Hall had been kitted out to accommodate the people, at the far end where you can see a beautiful quarter-sawn oak table which housed the projector. The screen was at the far end and the seats in rows either side of the table. One felt that Bess had somehow managed to approve the arrangements.

Tea and biscuits followed and informal chat and we left around 4.30pm. Picture 3 is one of the side towers from the carpark and you can actually see Bess's initials on the top, all the way from the motorway. The E S is for Elizabeth Shrewsbury, as Countess of Shrewsbury.



After brief respite the rain started again and after dropping Joan off it was a real pleasure to get home.

Cheese on Toast was both our choice, followed by a Y jelly and Icecream.

I just learned from Reg that poor Mo has had to have her arm rebrokend and reset. What awful luck. But she is being cheerful about it. Brian's knee is due tomorrow I believe, Helen is camping, and Roy and the other WoW-ers all seem tied up. And I'm not bitterly disappointed - it will give Y and I time to catch up, and wind-down all at the same time.

Comments.....Bungus..... I'm sorry Jessica didn't actually win the competition. Her poem is excellent ! And thanks for publishing it.

Can't join in this football nostalgia, because I've never been interested. I have the proud boast that I have only ever been to football matches when I have been paid to attend ! That will fox the casual reader.

AnonymousRob ..... Ditto to above. The Cuba story continues to delight. Would a snap of a few peso's be possible? I'm sure the readership would enjoy them. Particularly the one with Ché's head thereon. If you still have it ?

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Another Tommy Cooper joke - courtesy of Reg's list yesterday :-

"I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I
couldn't find any"

Sleep tight and I'll catch you tomorrow. If I remember to get up ! We were both shattered today when we got home. Great day though !

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Entertaining over - for a while - just recovering gradually

The above panorama will perhaps give you an idea of Alan Clayden's Exhibition. My thinking is that to use single pictures would be a potential breach of Alan's copyright, whereas to do a panel-full should fulfill my purpose, i.e. to encourage people to go and see the exhibition for themselves. Until you are actually there, and at an appropriate viewing distance, you don't get anywhere near the true beauty and print quality.

When our guest finally went yesterday we both sat down and sighed. Ten mins later the phone rang. It was Pat. She said she had got as far as the motorway bridge and the M1 looked very busy. Could she come back with her map and work out an alternative route to Derby because she had decided to go that way to Birmingham. I met her at the gate and said there was no need to drive in, just carry straight on down this road to Heanor, where the signs to Derby are very clear. Y says Jill will get the picture.

Today was Y's 'nails day' and, as usual, we enjoyed our trip over to Carlton. I raided the charity shops but couldn't find a slop-basin or sugar tongs for Jill. Other things I succeeded with. A lovely Junior Oxford Thesaurus which Hannah will enjoy. An old Michael Roux book on sauces which looks good and a ladys' beauty thing which is just the right size for my new Vivitar 200mm, for 25p - I guess a proper lens bag would be several £s. And being bright yellow I'm unlikely to lose it. I can stand the WoW mickey-taking.

On the kitchen front we are still ploughing through left-overs. But they are rather more-ish. Y says my cottage pie (made from the forerib left overs when Lisa came) was probably my best ever. The flavour was traditional British Beef at its best and I can only thank the butcher, who I shall definitely buy from again with confidence.

Picture 2 is of a rogue iris, standing in a bed of powder blue cousins. I was all set up to snap the group when along came this bee.

His legs were so laden with pollen they looked like minature potato croquettes.

Isn't nature amazing ? The veining on his wings is so similar to the pale veining on the iris. I seem to remember something to do with Fibonacci numbers and Fermat's spiral. No time to do you links and it's not rivetting stuff anyway.

Sorry about the lack of any pictorial information in the background but I had to click before he flew away.

Tomorrow we are going to a lecture at Hardwick Hall about Bess. It is entitled "The first lady of Chatsworth" by Mary Lovell The lecturer has also written a book about Bess, with the same title and if she is good we shall probably buy a copy. The Telegraph review sounded promising. Bess is one of our favourite people.

Comments .......Bungus...... I don't disagree with you at all, or with Rob, about America. Not a pleasant or reassuring country to be wielding all that power. If I was in Iran I too would be pursuing a nuclear weapon programme. It's about the only thing that might give America pause for thought - and with Pakistan, China, Israel etc., all with nuclear weapons I would be thinking we'd better get them too. Leave politics alone - it's not your scene....Editor

You ask what do I say you are getting better at? ...... Sorry, I haven't a clue.

Quotation time ...... Jill will understand that this quotation has had quite a recent relevance in our lives......

"Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses"

Margaret Millar

Reg has sent me lots of Tommy Cooper jokes which are a delight. I shall keep dropping them in from time to time. This is your first :-

"Man goes to the docs, with a strawberry growing out of his head.

Doc says, 'I'll give you some cream to put on it."

The weather continues to disappoint. A pleasant morning and balmy but it is pouring with rain now and looks set to continue during the night.

I think the train is about due




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Still entertaining - sorry no blog yesteray

It's a pleasure to open with Bungus's 'poppy'. As you will see it is a very rare and much sought-after variety which grows 50p pieces !

I hope he will distribute some seeds later in the year !

Our entertaining-alon continues. After Derek and Betty on Friday for nibbles, last night we had Chris and Joan and cousin Kenneth ((whose company they love) and Pat, for a proper knife & fork meal.

Chunks of fresh pineapple for palate setting purposes - my signature sausage and mash (different varieties of sausage - pick your own), swede in the mashed potato and chopped chives, sweetheart cabbage, carrots - and of course, onion sauce, and gravy for those who prefer it. For pudding I did rhubarb and bramley apple crumble. Y did the crumble 'cos mine are hopless ( I meant hopeless - but it didn't contain hops either). This proved popular and seconds were sought, and provided till it had all gone. Basically I had done custard but Joan had previoously asked for Evaporated Milk, so a jugful was dutifully provided. Then cheeseboard and coffee.

After having fed everybody, my back/leg told me to go and have a lie down. Which I did, around 8.30pm. I set an alarm on my mobile for 9.30pm but slept through it and didn't surface till 2am ! I shall apologise to everyone in due course for being rude - but I'm reassured by Y that everyone was very undertanding and they had a great time anyway.

The Picture 2 moth was on a window this morning, and again - no magic. I just used photoshop's merge facilities to add the flipped indoor picture to the outdoor top one. Same moth and I suppose I should have enlarged/decreased one shot or the other, to match, but it was too much of a faff.

Pat eventually went circa 4.30pm and it has been a fairly demanding weekend. This afternoon we all went to Durban House because I wanted Y to see the Alan Clayden exhibition. As I expected she loved the pictures. Although not keen on photography Y is an astute judge of a picture and some of the work stopped her in her tracks, so to speak. It was very sad to see so few entries in the visitors' book after our WoW visit on Wednesday. Maybe some people who profess an interest in photography aren't really interested deep down.

Comments .....Bungus ..... All of our memory powers are on the wane I think (except perhaps Hannah) , and of course you also have powerful medication problems to contend with. But I don't think you should worry about Alzheimers. As all our readers would attest, there doesn't seem much wrong with your brain (I'd just typed 'your Brian' - who I've never had the pleasure of meeting ).

Your Haiku is now in precisely the right format. And better for it !

AnonymousRob ....... Pleased to hear that your dongle is so well placed and dangling properly. Sorry about the work conditions though. Things will be better when you join us/we happy band of pensioners.

As Jill says - keep the Cuba stories coming. Most interesting. Gilberto is fascinating. Maybe you should amend your Cuba photobook so as to include some text. And yes, please send pictures which I could blog for the readership's benefit.

I understand how highly qualified people are doing low-level jobs but it is their overall level of happiness that matters. And although I don't think you have spelled it out, we get the impression that Cuba is a happy if rather subdued place to be. I searched the blogs and found this quote :-

"This blog is about the dictatorship Castro runs over cuba and the Human Right Violations that denies Cubans their basic rights.All Americans, and our allies around the world to recognize that we all agree that the Cuban regime has betrayed its people politically and failed them economically.Cuba will be a safer,happier place when Castro leaves the scene, whether by natural processes or, as is the goal of U.S. policy, make your comments, speak-up,Cuba will be a happy place without Castro

Author: Alex
New York state.

The blog address is http://ihatecastro.blogspot.com but when I tried to open it I got a message saying 'this blog has been removed' by whom I wonder ?

American views of 'human rights' don't extend as far as a right not to be invaded by America; this is quite clear from post WW2 history. Their idea of how a Country should be governed seldom accords with the views of the indigenous population. In fact it doesn't even seem to suit the US of A all that well.

As every 'Order of the Garter' expert knows "Honi soit" is an heraldic fly-swat carried in the right hand. It is a device that symbolises "fxxx you" to Malcolm Y Pensense (you know - Chacun's cousin).

Jill...... As well as pigeons we are now getting lots of scary looking crows. A picture will inevitably appear.

Glad that you too are enjoying Rob's Cuba.

Wild China sounds good - fancy them finding a herd of Chiroo (as Jill says they were a blog topic some time ago). I sChirooe sure to watch future episodes and do my best to catch up on the existing one.

I was going to say something interesting about 'memory loss' but can't remember what it was !

Quotation spot ...... Although I take his point, I assume he is talking about people of pre-retirement age.

"Gardens are not made by sitting in the shade"

Rudyard Kipling

I've linked you to the Poetry Archive website where you can hear the old boy doing a reading.

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p.s. to Ray. I've only just read your e-mail in my old Yahoo inbox - I rarely go there. Shame about Brodsworth though. It would have been lovely to actually meet you. Perhaps sometime this summer we could meet you somewhere, and I could bring Bungus with me !

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Sorry I've rambled on but 2 days to tell you about Here is a picture of Rob and Elaine in their Caravan (close inspection will reveal Rob's dongle appear through the roof vent). And also for David and Helen who has just returned with their's. David described their weather as 'intermittent'...... They had sone sun and some of the other. Had a good time though.

Sleep tight ---- Catch you tomorrow.....

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