New Sigma 10-20mm - New Ikea furniture

Picture 1 is Dorothea Lange's famous photograph from 1936 'Migrant Mother' and as soon as I saw pictures in the media of the woman whose daughter has been murdered in Goa my few remaining brain cells clicked into activity. When I showed Y - 'The Migrant Mother' - on screen she thought I was showing her a picture of the MacKeown woman. Picture 2 - the Telegraph picture converted to black & white so you compare like with like.

As Private Eye used to say..... "Are they perhaps related? I think we should be told"

All the things that were supposed to happen did happen. Brian collected the printer and made encouraging sounds about being able to fix it. The IKEA furniture arrived and the two men took 1½ hours to erect it (1 dining table, 6 dining chairs) so, at an ambitious estimate, it would have taken me one and a half weeks, together with the risk of hospitalisation. They look very nice and we christened them today by eating sausage & mash therefrom.

Then the 'volunteer bureau' collected the old chairs but rejected the table. After that I trammed into Nottingham to collect my Sigma lens. It was necessary to use the Moor Bridge station due to the awful traffic conditions on the A610. We were delayed 45 minutes on it on Tuesday. The explanation is the widening and strengthening of the M1 and the bridges but although 2 miles of cones, no apparent activity.

Jill has her operation today I believe and we all send her love and get well soon type greetings.

Comments...... Madeline.....Thanks for the quote. I also have 'Quotes of the day' on my igoogle home page at the moment. It is so easy to change content that, although some tabs are regulars I often change the others because the 'arty' ones become jaded I find.

AnonymousRob....... Whenever have I said I don't do requests? I'm assuming that the Rankin responsible for the photos on your programme last night is John Rankin. I guess it would be because he does 'celebrities' and you mentioned Zara Phillips.

I've only had the briefest of plays with my Sigma 10-20mm and WoW it is wide. Also worthy of note although I wouldn't hang a man on the evidence of 3 shots is that vignetting is less noticeable than on your 12-24mm. And of course you can borrow it.

Re Boleyn Girls' fancy pants. Wordsmithery is best left to Bungus in this instance because I can't make sense of it at all. Y says that your italicised sentence is baloney and was written by the same reviewer who wrote such rubbish about the rest of the film. She agrees with your following second paragraph completely. The 'Tudors' are her period and she points out that Anne was deliberately pregnant when they married, with Henry's connivance, because of his need for an heir and they wanted to be sure.

Thanks for your google re google research. To cut to the chase as they say I guess it means that my Radiogandy site is considered sound, and is visited a reasonable amount by reasonable readers.

Bungus...... You make a good point about the occasional and possible need for insurrection. What I was trying to say about Islam and Sharia Law is that I fully accept people's right to pursue that form of government, provided their pursuit is lawful, democratic, and non-violent. i.e. by candidates holding those beliefs, standing for election to Parliament and via the ballot box, rather than blowing up innocent folks.

What a brilliant idea of Sandra's (post Delia) to freeze left-over mashed potato. My position re Delia is comparatively unchanged. Her stated aims are to 'de-poncify cooking' and persuade people that it isn't difficult or time-consuming to cook nutritious meals on a budget. She is doing that and, were I a betting man, I would back Delia to triumph over her more nit-picking critics (I mean the media here, not our ever reasonable-minded contributors to this blog)

Quotation time....... I have known this quote for at least 6 decades without ever realising it was Kipling. In my local charity shop yesterday I found 'Collected Kipling' for 50p and bought it for Y. A snap may follow. I just happened to be leafing through it when.....

"I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

Rudyard Kipling

Burton Joyce day tomorrow for Y and EPS in the evening for me. We are sharing pictures where we have 'photoshopped to extremity' eight pictures we were given earlier. I wonder how our WoW-ers fared today in the stormy weather?

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Windy and changeable - Soup day

Barometer climbing back up - so I won't need a lower nail Bungus ! Windy but some sun and not really cold at 43F at the moment.

A busy busy day. We went shopping because we needed things and also it got us out of Karen's way.

Y and Joan went to see 'The Other Boleyn Girl' and Y says the critics are quite wrong because she thought the film first rate. Good acting, lovely costumes and she averted her eyes to avoid the beheading scene.

I meanwhile did what I wanted to do and that was - make leek & potato soup, or, if you want to sound posh - Vichyssoise - the recipes are identical. Mine is from my own tried & trusted book which as you can see is becoming a little dog-eared, or foxed, as the book dealers say. I always search under 'L' and then find that for some reason I originally called it 'Potato and Leek Soup' hence its place in the 'P' section. And I never remember !

Nevertheless a good 'un, and when Debra copied it because she likes it, she was charmed with my line 'if a skin forms, be glad - stir it in and the flavour improves'. Today's was no exception. When it comes to the blending stage, like Delia last night, I don't overdo it because we both like to discover the odd chunk of potato and strand of leek and I am not aiming to produce 'cream of ..... etc.'

Then I decided to deconstruct the dining table, because the new Ikea one, plus chairs are arriving in the morning and the men asked for plenty of room for assembly. Eastwood Volunteer Bureau rang to collect the chairs around noon, so it should all dovetail.

Brian is going to pick up my printer en route to collect Helen for WoW. I've every confidence. He is pretty good with these things. I rang round for my Sigma 10-20mm lens and tracked down the 'best buy' to London Camera Exchange on Pelham Street. They have one in stock so I bought it and will collect it tomorrow afternoon.

The Screen Print is to show you Radiogandy's Google page-rank but I suppose that all of you who have a google tool-bar will already know about it. I can't pretend to fully understand the system myself. But I suppose it is good?

Comments..... Such a lovely lot of interesting content which I have much enjoyed reading, as I am sure you all have too.

Madeline..... Y thanks you for your 'get well' wishes and although it is hard to say she is much improved she says a little box of tic-tacs got her through the film without being thrown out for disturbing the others. I can just see you and Chris with your torches against the risk of a power-cut. We can't have you sending a blog-comment by torchlight now, can we?

AnonymousRob.... Thanks for your support over the 'macho-suffer-the-cold' syndrome. But we note that Bungus was discussing a couple of decades earlier. And you are absolutely right - it was the 9d-s at The Elite. Is it to be DetSgt Rob now?

This oath-of-allegience stuff is nonsense. Although I am not 100% anti-monarchy I feel that a conscientious and firm-minded 'republican' is entitled to be a fully paid-up citizen of this country. It is abit like Voltaire and his "I disagree with what you say etc., but will defend to the death your right to say it" May not be word perfect but it's good enough. People are entitled to pursue any form of government they chose, provided they do so by lawful, non-violent and democratic means. And, before anyone asks, I would include Islam and Sharia Law.

Bungus..... Do watch Delia because I want to hear your opinion. Nigel Slater does nothing for me either. He writes well, but I don't think he cooks well. The rapid run-through of the stars of yesteryear was, as you remark, far to fast.

Jill..... Delia was a little too fast also. Too many recipes in too short a time. I've not yet had chance to check if the TV recipes are in her new book. I hope so. I agree with your points but she did provide 'food for thought' - ha ha! Y says thanks for her lovely newsy 'real' letter. And we all wish you well with your forthcoming operation.

Y points out that you and Ro have another Very Important Event coming up and she suggests I seek permission before blogging it to cyberspace and the world? She is an erratic blog-reader only but although I try to keep her uptodate sometimes I forget things. Its like peeling oranges - if I printed her a hard copy she would love to read it - but she doesn't like reading things on screen. Even so, she often looks at TV teletext to catch up on the news. Eventually she will get round to Information Technology even if only to exchange e-mails with grandchildren.

Quotation time.......... Still with Picasso.......

"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."

Pablo Picasso

Perhaps a little of an oversimplification, but I take his point. The site I have linked you too was chosen because of the wealth of his pictures therein, all clickable, and some surprises particularly in his 'Juvenilia'. A Portrait of his mother, pastel on paper, when he was 15, is a work of amazing maturity.

Sleep tight. See ya' all tomorrow.......

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Car passes MOT - Y has nagging cough

The threatened storms came, fairly gently to us East Midlanders but with a vengeance in the South and Wales here are some pictures from bbc.co.uk and they show some of the devastation and still people were daft enough to walk close to the sea edge.

The picture shows my barometer and I've never seen it so low. At least it proves it's working.

The car passed its MOT test only needing a new sidelight bulb which I hadn't noticed. The garage both collected and subsequently delivered the car. They are kind to us. I know we are good customers but this car is now 9yrs old so they don't keep making a quick profit.

Y was awake with this persistent and troublesome cough but is otherwise in good spirits. She intended to meet Joan for lunch but the cough and the weather persuaded them to cancel.

Picture 2 is another of our family pieces and was known at home as 'The Gainsborough Lady' and despite that grand title and her age, I don't think she has any great value. I put a £1 coin in the corner for scale, finding myself without the customary 50p.

The purpose is to let you know it is quite a small piece but very attractive. Hand painted on a slightly domed oval of porcelain. The framing is the original.

Comments......Madeline......still thinking of you and the storms. Hope you don't suffer any damage. And thanks for the 'mouse tips' - well worth knowing.

Bungus...... Your sensible dressing didn't stretch up the road to Sutton-in-Ashfield in the late 60s. The assembled throng of beer-fuelled youths led by 'Oss Nadin' would consider wearing any type of coat on a Saturday night a definite slur on their masculinity. Glad you managed to enjoy a little bacon irrespective of your chewing problem. Where would we be without bacon ? On Sunday when I roasted the chicken I laid 3 rashers of unsmoked streaky over it and pegged them in place with cherry sticks. When they were suitably crispy I served them as an adjunct to the slices of chicken. Quelle succès.

Yes. I obeyed the 'broth mix' soaking instructions to the letter and we have just finished it off. Very sturdy food for this type of weather.

Jill...... Just off now 8.20pm to settle down for Delia. I intend to see what she has to say for herself on the subject of 'frozen mashed potato' before I take a stance one way or the other. Now 9.10pm and I think she argued a sound case. Why keep potatoes to sprout and go soft in your vegetable tray when you can just take a few rounds out of the freezer? Nice to have Nigel Slater as a guest but I thought her upper lip and lower face looked rather frozen (to do with the rosti perhaps?). A good programme though, and an excellent TV idea - we both agreed we shall watch again next week.

Quotation time........Courtesy of my igoogle homepage.............

"Patience has its limits. Take it too far, and it's cowardice"

George Jackson

His 'Soledad' prison letters were compulsory reading for the left in the 70s. I think my copy must be hiding somewhere close to where my Collected Stevie Smith was. Haven't got the time or the inclination to reread it anyway.

The video behind this link is vaguely unsettling in its use of transitions and fades. But I could recognise far too many of the lady filmstars shown. Excessive time in the 9p-s on a Saturday morning at The Elite caused it..

Hope the wind and weather allows everyone to have a reasonable night's sleep and I'll catch you again tomorrow.

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Collect Y from Sherwood - Roast Chicken

This is a left-over from WoW at Breedon on the Hill and looks over the quarry - the quarry offices and yard is in the foreground and the Church is to my back. Two reasons for showing it other than general interest. I held my Casio aloft to miss the safety fence, and you will notice that the horizon is bowed. Easily fixable in PTlens but another of my remaining 'free goes' would be used up and the picture isn't worth it.

An interesting thing is that converting to sepia brings out the tonal-recessions ! Or more accurately the lack of them ! The procedure could be used as a tool, to check this aspect of normal colour snaps. Often with different colours I find it nigh impossible to discern strong tonal values from weak ones. It's a simplification of thegood 'ole zone-system. (thats enough about cameras - get on with it......Editor)

Picture 2 is when I dropped Y at the Tram last night.

BTW the show was excellent and the story still moving. The seats TJ had organised were probably the best in the house Y tells me, but I suppose, when it's your job etc....... Also when they left the theatre around 10.30pm and were waiting for a tram they were pleasantly surprised at the good behaviour of the young people. Indeed, as Bungus predicted.

Girls with apparently hardly any clothes on and lads being laddish with no coats and trying hard not to show they were freezing. Twas ever thus !

Cooked a proper roast chicken for main meal, plus all the tracklements except bread-sauce which Y doesn't like. I ought to buy some granules or something and just make a dollop for me. Please note we shopped for it very carefully and scrutinised the label. It was free-range, reared on an RSPCA inspected farm and fed a corn and vegetable material diet. And it stressed that the birds were grown slowly to ensure flavour and texture. Not cheap - but good.

Comments..... Jill.... I completely forgot the Culture Show last night. Probably be able to catch on it one of the 'pick 0f the week' things that Virgin give us. Your dislike of Cranach (elder/younger - doesn't matter 'cos their work was so similar) is understandable. They were very stylised of the period and often look over-worked. What was Andrew Graham-Dixon's opinion ?

The Lidl 'broth mix' instructed that it be soaked in cold water for 6/7hrs, or overnight, before making the broth in the normal way. We won't resurrect the 'thread' but I shall now, forever, call it pearly barley.

Madeline...... By trial etc... I've solved my extra mouse buttons. They do page-forward and page-back. The reason they didn't seem to do anything at first, was that I wasn't on a 'page' that had a next or previous page. Nipping forward to Rob and Bungus (please thank Danny for me) the device is such a cheap-skate thing there wasn't a driver or even instructions in the box. And not even a model number or maker's name thereon. It seems to be working OK but for how long?

Not sure about your bit of Wales particularly, but tonight and tomorrow certainly seems likely to be hit by exceptionally bad weather. The 'link' was the best one I could find but I'm sure your local media are covering it extensively. We shall all be thinking of you.

AnonymousRob........Well done you....and well done Elaine..... Have we perhaps another Lee Miller? I'm sure an example or two of her work would grace the blog. How resourceful of her too, to move the computer and get it up and running.

With my recent glitches I decided to spend time today on PC maintenance, cleaning my registry, giving CCleaner its head, letting loose Spy Sweeper etc., - it seems to be running faster and smoother. Just hope I can find all the passwords I've erased !

Memo to Sports Desk...... Keep up the good work. Debra's Andy (a dedicated Chelsea fan) is almost inconsolable Y tells me. Why is that then?

...... Ray e-mailed me this little fella. The space-man looks remarkably like his own avatar ! So I suspect he is the author of the 'gif'. If so congratulations - it's a cracker. Sleep tight all. Catch you tomorrow.

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Quiet Saturday - Y at Fiddler on the Roof

There seems to be a 'blogger-glitch'. It is a week or two since we had one but the result is my pictures won't upload. I've every confidence that it will sort itself out though. (it did -- ed!)

A quiet Saturday. All I've done apart from read the Telegraph, do the crossword, read the review, diasagree with their choice of the 50 greatest paintings, is cook griddled chicken for lunch, in a greek marinade, with veg. and then make the Lidl 'Broth Mix' which is delightful. Please see Picture 1. Very easy, after soaking for 7 hours, I tossed some chicken bits in it, boiled it up added a litre of chicken stock and then simmered for 30/40 minutes - I can't remember exactly, but till the peas, lentils and pearly barley were tender.

Y is going with TJ to see Fiddler on the Roof at The Royal Centre this evening so I took her to the tram just after 6pm. She gets off the tram in Theatre Square and just needs to walk around 40 yards and she's there. I'm sure they will have a great time. "I wish I was a rich man......eh?" Actually I don't. Wealth has never appealed to me and thank god, Y feels the same. Comfortably off is best. I saw the show with Alfie Bass maybe 4 decades ago and didn't like it then so, doubting that I would like it now, I opted out. Although Y is having a sleep-over at TJ's she will be able to report on the state of the city at theatre turning-out time.

Picture 2 is my new mouse and I need help with it. Perhaps Ray, or Madeline or David or Steve, or Rob or any other reader. The left/right click buttons and the scroll-wheel and the scroll-wheel click I'm fine with. But these 2 additional buttons have me foxed? I've clicked them etc., but nothing on screen seems to happen.

Can't say I'm too bovvered..... do I look bovvered? A left/right click facility plus scroll wheel is plenty for me and it was only £6.95p.

But I do like to know these things.


Comments.....Bungus.... My recall of accompaniment to tinned fruit was not Carnation but 'Ideal' milk which I still rate so highly I can swig it out of the opened tin. If Senior Management saw me do it though, there would be trouble. Wikipedia considered the topic beneath them but google images found me a picture of a tin. I'm sure it didn't used to look like this though but, better some picture than no picture.

Re pronunciations.... Kilometer.... My word is not precisely either of the ones mentioned. Mine sounds more like "Killum-eater". Does it matter really? Don't have an attack of the 'grumpy old men' syndrome Bungus.

The British Horological Institute at Upton, just outside Southwell (however they want to pronounce it) is well worth a visit. We went some years ago with a Heritage Society and had a fascinating evening.

Jill..... Count me in with Ro, as an ice-cream lover. But I'm not hooked up on a particular type. Anything from vanilla to chocolate and back. But I do like it to be going soft and abit runny before I attack it.

I don't think that to 'google' as a verb predated Google. The word came about apparently due to a misspelling of 'googol' which is a precise mathematical term meaning "the number represented by a 1 followed by one-hundred zeros". I am rather surprised at them being so precious about the use of the word as a verb. It is used as such and can't be stopped by curt memos. As Canute found, even without a memo!

Quotation time.......

"I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it"

Pablo Picasso

What a superb approach to life. The 'link' takes you to a photo and potted biography with links which I preferred to the Wikipedia entry. Not that Wiki is losing favour but it isn't always the best.

Sleep tight folks and I'll catch you tomorrow. I like the train 'line' so much to end with, I'm using it again.

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Eastwood Photographic Society - Audio Visuals

Whilst thanking Bungus for his Southwell Minster joke we actually wanted professional comment from the 'architectural desk' about the stonework in these upper arches.

Melbourne Church is 'Norman' and the interior has great beauty.

His comments would also be appreciated on these red fragments in the stonework shown in Picture 2. Are they as I suspect, pieces of 'roman tile' ?

Thursday evening's lecture was on the digital production of audio-visuals and Keith & Kate Brown were very good. We were shown some first-class work and their themes were often for 'church/school/mother's union purposes' and well received by our members. On a personal note I found their habit of fading multiple photographs into the same 'shot' rather difficult to comprehend at times. My slow old brain can deal with one picture dissolving into the next, but not 3 or 4. I readily accept though that this problem is mine and not theirs.

However, with two Churches on Wednesday and 'church themes' on Thursday I was beginning to feel a little anglican-ned out by the time I got home.

Comments..... Thanks to AnonymousRob for the apple list, - what a pleasure to read. We certainly get in the nooks and crannies in this blog. Re a suitable variety to go with his flashing mac in the British Museum the consensus is for Cox. But, as is remarked, 'Bushey Grove' makes a strong claim. 'Pixie' could be considered insulting.

AnonymousRob's - 'watch football on computer' method sounds most interesting. If anyone would like to take up his offer of further details, they can send me their e-mail address and I will forward it to him. It would be quite inappropriate for me to publish his e-mail address here. With his 'flashing in museums' propensity and an e-mail address he would prolly be getting viagra spam for evermore

Bungus....... Long exposure and 'flash' isn't a contradiction. AnonymousRob will explain it better. Basically you can decide on a long exposure (which will show movement) and end with the flash. Or 'flash' first then tailing off with a long exposure. This way, for instance, you can get vehicle lights trailing behind or in front of a vehicle. Best idea is 'don't worry about it'.

Madeline...... Thanks for the 'poly''ticks' quote. A gem indeed. I too love my igoogle homepage and we must exhange screen-prints sometime. Unfortunately trawling through 'add stuff' looking for promising content is both addictive and time consuming.

Jill..... I've no idea what cannery produced our tasteless 'fruit cocktail' but we will certainly give the Del Monte version a whirl - particularly the 'Tropical Fruit Salad'. Which ice-cream do you favour to go with it? Or is real cream better?

New readers ...... Pleased to learn of some new readers and the following notes may be helpful.

• Left click on a picture and an enlarged version will appear in a new window. After viewing click the green 'back' arrow, top left of page , and you will be returned to the body of the blog.
• Anything in orange and underlined will be a live link. If you left click it you will be whisked away to an appropriate website/page. To return to the blog follow the same procedure as for pictures.
  
• n.b. I publish no 'links' that haven't been given a 'virus free' health check by McAfee.
• If you want to leave a 'comment' (and they are always welcome) you need to scroll down the post, right to the bottom and click on the word 'comments' - again in orange and very insignificant looking.
• When you have the 'comments' window open scroll down to the comments box at the bottom of the page. Click the Anonymous button and write your comment in the rectangular box. It is much appreciated if you put a brief name or identifier (needn't even be truthful) at the bottom of your comment. Otherwise I become confused.

Hope you all have a good weekend and don't forget to 'batten down the hatches' prior to Monday which is supposed to be a really stormy session. Catch you tomorrow.

Collect Y from BJ followed by EPS night

A time and date 'holder' - I will return and write up todays 'post' later.

I've decided to leave this 'post' right there. It is gratifying that the single sentence attracted two comments.

Your blogmeister is happy when you 'commenters' happily chat amongst yourselves without me needing to be around.

Please see next day's post..............

WoW at Breedon-on-the-Hill, Melbourne and Shardlow

WoW was lucky again weather-wise and although cold was lovely and sunny and not too windy. Helen came with us and although all these elderly gents must be boring, no-one gets in anyone's hair and we do rabbit-on endlessly about photography and some other matters, like how appalling the government is. Another welcome new face was Kevin who I don't really know very well yet.

Our first call was at Breedon-on-the-Hill and the panoramic photo, looking over towards the Power Station is mine. Whenever one travels down the M1 an eye-catching view of the Church apparently teetering on a cliff-edge cannot be ignored. I learnt today that the cliff is in fact the edge of a quarry and it, or its forebears., have been teetering there since around 676A.D. Although I didn't go in the Church due to the walk involved the others reported a most unusual interior.

Picture 2 is one of Helen's. A statue of as recumbent skeleton is a 'first' for me ! Especially one that looks about to go into a CAT scan machine

I apologise again for a flight-of-fancy

but it does look a little like one 'dunnit?.

After that, down the road to Melbourne, another historic Derbyshire town and another interesting church, Norman this time.

Comments..... Bungus..... I'm relieved that Danny doesn't like touch-pads either ! It diminishes my 'old-fogey' self consciousness. Re Hospital and your possible 'extreme Islam' i.d. I want to be a 'tenacious fundamentalist'. Are you sure you heard aright? Perhaps she was querying your 'authenticity' rather than your 'ethnicity'.

You are right about the stock for the 'broth mix'. I was planning chicken or ham stock with a handful or two of chopped up meats bits. As promised - an update will follow.

Jake's funeral and cortege both sounds and looks impressive and thank you for the pictures. Hell's Angels funerals are nearly always striking and law-abiding affairs in which everyone acts with dignity.

AnonymousRob......Thanks as ever for your gentle humour. And keeping 'the sports desk' in order. In the scenario you envisage (of Bungus and Jill arriving at a Hospital Reception desk) there is little doubt about the 'Computer says No...' It would doubtless immediately 'Go down' and remain that way for a week or two.

Jill.... most of the male members of my family are 'lucid dreamers' and I was quite surprised to find so much about it in Wikipedia. Please persevere with the cheese at bedtime though because both Y and I would love to know more about our canal-side bungalow. How much more fun to have a 'mooring' than a garage.

Quote-less this evening because I ought to 'turn in' - whatever does that phrase come from I wonder?. I was absolutely whacked after WoW - but an hour (or two) lying down soon sorted that out. Y did a lovely meal - pork chops, mashed potato, carrots, purple-sprouting, and gravy. Followed by tinned 'fruit cocktail' and Greek yoghurt. I can understand why we haven't had fruit-cocktail out if a tin for 20 odd years. It was awful !


Catch you tomorrow..............................

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National Trust AGM - Y's Roses

Computer problems have bedevilled me all day but here goes, on about three cylinders out of four (more later). Not the same picture as yesterday but similar. These 'mother's day' roses were from Debra and I have given them the same setting as before. No serious photoshoppery - I use a large black cloth as background. Joan bought it cheaply for me from one of her fabric outlets and keeps her eye open for further varied pieces.

My computer problem has disabled my printer and my mouse and an annoying microsoft 'problem box' keeps flashing telling my of a USB attachment problem. Closer scrutiny reveals that I have two 'root hub' problems. Sounds bad but I'll tackle it tomorrow. System Restore worked OK but hasn't solved the problem. Doing my 'blog' without a mouse is tedious. My right hand automatically goes to the space on my desk where the mouse normally sits. To be restricted to touch-pad plus right/left buttons is most annoying.

The National Trust AGM went amazingly well ! Well done Chairman Peter, and Gordon & Sue, and Jean for delivering their pieces with such panache there wasn't a single hostile question - unknown in my many years of Annual General Meetings in different walks of life. Peter's Joan said she felt much better and wonders if her malaise could have been a 'difficult to throw-off' virus. It was good to see her looking quite chirpy.

Comments......What a super dream Jill ! and such recall of it ! I would love to live there and, if it wasn't too far from some shops, so would Yvonne. We would have to extend the seat to 4 though, so that you and Ro can visit and sit with us. Let's hope it was precognition and you can dream it again tonight for a few more partics. More cheese on toast at bedtime if you don't mnd.

Bungus......While hesitating to describe myself as a connoiseur my haddock preference is for the undyed version. But senior-management fancied the bright-yellow - which is after all the tradition. Whatever - it was delicious. The marrowfat peas are the sort we grew up eating in the winter - before deep-freeze had been invented and tins were readily available, as I remember.

Congratulations on your stoical acceptance of the problems encountered during your clinic visit. It sounds quite unacceptable to me, and I am sure to Jill also when she reads it. Surely they know all your details from last time - your ethnicity won't have changed will. it? Yellow-coat did her best, by the sound of it but (and I accept that it isn't easy for you) I suspect you will have to force yourself to be downright unpleasant. Print off Jill's modus and take it with you as a crib-sheet next tme you go. I'm glad though that your 5p pink grapefruit juice mollified you on your return.

Talking 'soup' now. Whilst in Lidl I decided to try their 'broth mix' It contains assorted dried pulses, lentils, pearly barley, some red bits, yellow bits and other things - I haven't got the package with me. You have to soak it overnight and there looks enough for around 20 portions. You will be ept informed.

I don't think AnonymousRob is likely to 'flash' in the British Museum. He hasn't got the right kind of mac. Perhaps you could lend him yours?

Quotation spot......... Appropriate or what?

"He is winding the watch of his wit; by and by it will strike"

William Shakespeare

From the Tempest I believe.

Helen (the author of the much praised Red Lion snap some weeks ago) is coming WoW-ing with us tomorrow. Don't know where we aim to go - but it is 'meet at Reg's as normal' at 9.30am. It's been really cold here today and similar is forecast, but the wind has substantially dropped. The barometric pressure has been very high so anything could happen. Already down to 30F outside. We could have snow - that would be fun.

Sleep tight - catch you tomorrow...........

p.s. We went to Ikea for breakfast, and bought a new dining table and six chairs. To be delivered and erected for what seemed to us a reasonable sum. More details and pictures will inevitably follow....................................

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Mother's Day flowers - Quiet day

These are some of Y's Mothering Sunday flowers and I decided on the black background in dutiful homage to the 16th/17th century 'still life' painters, like the Picture 2 by Ambrosius Bosschaert the elder c.1600 for instance.

I recently heard a camera club judge describe a still life against a black background as passé. It is, but I don't think he meant 400yrs passé, more like NEMPF passé i.e. they had seen a few of them a couple of years ago.

After I'd collected Y from Sherwood we called in at Bulwell Morrisons for essential supplies. The bright yellow smoked-haddock looked nice so we decided on some for lunch accompanied by poached eggs (by my fail-safe method) small potatoes and tinned marrowfat peas. We had forgotten how nice they are and shan't leave it 20yrs till we try them again.

Comments..... Well done Jill, on several fronts..... Pleased about the 'mast'. A house point for changing the ink cartridge. Plasticky things are usually tougher than they look but younger people aren't scared of them like us oldies. Mind you we do know about polishing shoes. It seems you have to be over 50 to have even heard about it being done, let alone do it.

Re; the artificial-flower air-fresheners and their perfume replenishment. I would provide sachets to squirt them with. Or, as son David suggests, they could need watering with artificial water, which could be the agent for re-ponging!

Congratulations too, Mrs Richards, with The Hospital. Chairs, consultant re-jigging list, and pre-assessment tests sorted. You definitely deserve the little fella - You've made the correct decision re the op. 60/40 is reasonable odds and I don't think one-armed knitting would be possible.

AnonymousRob. Thanks for trying with the collective noun for mothers (and Bungus too) but a real standout one eludes us. How weird to meet such local people during your Italy holiday. So pleased about your work news, and another year is another year closer to actual retirement.

Nice to see you at tea-time and I'm actually quite pleased you have reclaimed your wide-angle lens. Absolutely no reason now not to buy my own. It has been a valuable learning experience. Glad you liked the Duchamp "Nude descending......." and btw it is in the Tate Modern Exhibition till 26th May. If you open the link click on room 3. You are right about flash used in the beeb's pictures of the warriors - there's obviously 'patrician photographer flash' and 'plebian flash'.

Bungus....... You are right about people's love/hate relationships with hyacinths. I'm a lover and am convinced you can tell the difference between varieties. Blue or pink? - is easy. Re flowers smelling of cat-pee. Flowering currant certainly does. BTW we have some out - surely early?

I've e-mailed you about 'neither'. You had raised it in a blog-comment a few days ago and have obviously forgotten. And I know your 'large' portrait photograph of your great-great-grandfather Strutt. I thought you were talking about a different one which measured 2½ " by 1½" which was roughly carte de visite size - the error is entirely mine - I misread you!

Quotation spot........ This follows on from earlier paragraphs......

"All art is contemporary, if it's alive, and if it's not alive, what's the point of it?

David Hockney

Sleep tight ...... catch you tomorrow. It is a Karen day and we'll probably nip off to Ikea for breakfast and have a further look at dining tables and things. I regret to say that, now we are not moving in the immediate future we need to re-purchase some things we got rid of. Ah well !

Idea 6,329 - Artificial Flowers

These crocuses (I refuse to use croci, it doesn't look right) are fairly true to colour. The previous one wasn't and I coudn't fix it.

I took Y to TJ's prior to lunch for the gathering of mums - father's not invited. So I returned home and have messed-about all day. Maybe there is a 'group name' for mothers. Perhaps a 'loyalty of mothers'?

Now that AnonymousRob has returned from Italy he will no doubt successfully 'google' a list, where I have failed.

My Delia 'goulash' was even better today, as things often are, and overnight in the fridge seemed to tenderise the meat. I intend to cook it again , maybe even for guests - a sure sign that I rate it a 'tried and tested' winner. My jelly and ice-cream was good (how sophisticated my palate has become!). It is a welcome tradition that, if Y is going to be away, she makes me a jelly. When she goes to Palmers Green she is usually quizzed "Have you made Grandad Graham a jelly?"

I said yesterday that I had things to tell you.

It is my Idea 6,329

Artificial Flowers are so convincing nowadays that you sometimes have to touch them to be sure.

Well - we have some real hyacinths in Y's bathroom that have been emitting their gorgeous hyacinth aroma. It struck me that 'artificial flowers which send off the perfume of the actual flower' might prove popular as 'air-fresheners' and look more attractive than the anonymous/ugly shapes that they
now are.

A colleague once told me that, if I had avoided joining the Police, I would have had a successful career. A somewhat cack-handed compliment I thought, but I understood what he was saying. Someone else said I should keep my ideas to myself. But I've always felt that, if I did, the well would dry up and the 'good idea fairy' would fly away never to return.

Comments.....Bungus.... 'neither' can be all those. And in deepest Derbyshire, sometimes 'nayther'. The small portrait photo you describe, is probably a 'carte de visite' and they were very popular. Re period of gouache portrait? Aunty Polly was born in 1840 and in the painting looks around 20/30yrs. The Julia Margaret Cameron photograph is reliably dated at 1867 and isn't of a relative of mine but is currently hanging in the Stanford Exhibtion.

I'm completely in agreement about Duchamp's 'Nude descending a Staircase'. A powerful piece which looks as fresh and nteresting today as it did in 1912. A painting I have never seen because it normally lives in Philadelphia and if it is in the current Tate Modern Exhibition it's worth going.

And Yes. It is the same Duchamp.

AnonymousRob...... Welcome back and I'm pleased you had such a good time. Calabria sounds a very attractive 'neck of the woods' but a shame they only have white wine. Vino rosso could be a welcome change ! Ha Ha! I'm only joking.

I'm sure you are right about the 'no photographs' explanation. The National Trust are the same. Having undergone the underground trauma the Warriors have, it is difficult to believe that 2,200yr old terracotta would be adversely affected by the puny flash from my Casio Compact.

This link will take you to poems by Gary Geddes inspired by the Exhibition, which can be both listened to and read. And this link is to some BBC pictures which, while not great are better than 'nowt.

A great shame that you are going to have to stick it out at work, especially with a substantial pay cut. Nothing is ever set in stone though, and let us hope that things change for the better for you.

I had a lovely chat with David this morning. TJ intends to sound him out, and John, over Y and my 25th wedding anniversary in April. She is intending to 'do' it at Sherwood. Isn't she a brick?

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

Never 'budged' all day- Aunty Polly

Lovely quiet day again - just stopped at home and didn't 'budge'. Don't know whether that's just Erewash Valley for 'not going out' but that's what we did. Papers, books, radio, afternoon nap - the whole 'experience' in fact.

I cooked from my new Delia for main meal. Her 'Memories of Goulash' recipe - photo and ingredients to follow tomorrow. She suggested dessertspoons of 2 different paprikas 1. hot and 2. La Chinata or El Avion sweet smoked paprika. I hadn't got either but I will look in the supermarket. So I just used 2 dessertspoons of ordinary paprika.

The result was fine. Not good quality shin beef but cheap/undefined from Lidl, hence not quite melt-in-the-mouth but topmarks for flavour. Jill would have needed mopping-up bread and Debra would have used her desert spoon (to Bungus's horror). Followed by Xmas pudding and custard. Unfortunately we've now finished the xmas puds - till next year I suppose.

For lunch we had very fresh free-range eggs with soldiers. Again, Lidl eggs. and deserving high marks. Although described as 'medium' the yolks are in fact large and of a rich colour. They really try for authenticity by sticking feathers onto some of the shells.

Now to the Pictures. No.1. is one of two watercolours I have grown up with. They are more likely gouache but I have always been scared to unfasten the frames and mounts for closer examination.

The family tradition identifies 'Aunty Polly' and the background furniture fits. The portrait used to hang at the bottom of the stairs in the hall. Picture No.2 is around the same period.

Courtesy of my ArtDaily online newspaper, a Julia Margaret Cameron albumen print 1867 of “Julia Jackson” and hung in an exciting sounding exhibition which includes works by Peter Henry Emerson, Francis Frith, and Bill Brandt.

Unfortunately we can't nip in during the week, it's at Stanford University (just outside San Francisco). Highly rated in the Art History world. But to see those photographers all together would be great. As with Art I find 'retrospectives' of single artists abit overwhelming. I once paid extra to see a Mark Rothko exhibition at the Tate but by the time I was halfway round I was Rothko-ed out. Half-a-dozen would have been better.

We watched The Culture Show on BBC 2 and I felt it was first-rate and had a fun 'mash-up' interview with Marcel Duchamp by Andrew Graham-Dixon who is usually good. Y was less interested because she is less into conceptual art than me. Whatever - few people have had more effect on current art than Duchamp. So. Blame him - praise him ! You pays your money and takes your choice.

Quotation slot....... While we are in thought-provoking mode, how does this grab you?

"A photograph is always invisible, it is not it that we see"

Roland Barthes

Comments.... Bungus....Thanks for the 'puzzle' and thanks for the clues. I suppose we should have named Delia earlier. And your 'prize' sggestions for Mannanan sound about right. I might send him the latest Jackie Lawson 'chudliegh' e-card which looks fun.

Your bread & butter pudding made with panatone always sounds good. Not sure about one with dark rum as an ingredient though. I fear it would overpower the subtlety.

David..... Proud of you son! My sentiments exactly but I didn't feel up to an argument.

I've got lots of things to tell you all but Y says my 'blog posts' are too long and people will be bored. So best pace myself I suppose.

Thought the kids might like this animated line....... Sleep tight....Catch you tomorrow....

.

More Terracotta - Weekend Off

As photography wasn't permitted in the actual exhibition, I decided to take snaps of the postcards I had bought in the shop, which seems to sidestep any © problems. Picture 1 depicts a small portion of the army in situ. Emperor Chin's burial site occupies 7 square miles and there are 8,000 warriors. And civil servants, acrobats, horses, chariots and everything to allow the old boy to enjoy eternity. It hadn't previously occurred to us that China is derived from his name.

Each figure is rendered in detail and each is unique with a slightly different facial expression from his neighbour. They are so skilfully and sensitively crafted that a different personality emerges from each one.

Picture 2 shows more detail and originally each was hand-painted in bright, some say garish colour. Y said she preferred the terracotta colour and I think I do too but 8,000 in flamboyant techni-colour would have been breath-taking. I know I shan't remember for long but at the moment I can tell you the rank of each soldier all the way up to general. A 'link' to a replica of a painted soldier didn't yield easily to 'google' so you will have to use your imaginations.

No detail was too small or insignificant - detail in the hair and the topknot and even each individual hobnail in the sole of a kneeling archer's boot and even the folds in their scarves were realistic. With regard to the weaponry, crossbows etc., we were amazed to be told that much was mass-produced. Previously I thought that mass-production developed in Venice in shipbuilding and Gutenburg's bible in the 15th century. I had no concept of it dating back 2,200 years !

Comments...... So glad you have found a gardener Jill, but oh dear ! £25 per hour ! You could have three for that up here. Still, if it stops you both worrying about it, it's worth it.

Bungus..... there is no doubt that you have had an awful 6 months. We all admire your fortitude. To have cancer and write amusing monographs about your clinic-visits demands true grit. And then the other things, from Ralph's death to your stepdaughter's marital problems, would knock anyone sideways.

Let's hope the spring brings changes for the better. Once you are over your 'can't risk any infection' phase we ought to contemplate a day or two's jaunt somewhere.

Your 'game casserole' sounds mouthwatering. And obviously enough for several days. Were you able to cope due to your sore mouth and overactive taste-buds?

AnonReg.....and Mannanan..... I think it definitely isn't Anne Robinson (thanks for the proof Reg) and Delia seems to be most likely. Especially with Bungus's additional clues. As Mannanan was first with the name (if he is indeed correct) the prize should be his. I've tracked down a suitable Jeroboam of Champagne Premier Cru at a mere £399. And I am just now working out a way of sending it 'online'.

On Monday she was in Waterstone's signing copies of her new book and the queue stretched a good way round the corner and up Bottle Lane. Apart from already having my copy, I dislike the pretentious business of book-signing. I once spent a great three days at The Arvon Foundation with the poet Roy Fisher. He offered to sign my copy of his latest book and when I explained my aversion he opened it at Page 42, corrected a spelling mistake, and initialled it! No wonder I admire his poetry. Roy Fisher is great, like most good poets, at the telling detail :-

"The secret laugh of the world picks them up and shakes them like
peas boiling;
They behave as if nothing happened; maybe they no longer notice.
I notice. I laugh with the laugh, cultivate it, make much of it,
But I still don’t know what the joke is, to tell them"

It's not just in poetry is it? It's true for Art and Photography.

...Weekend off contines tomorrow. No real commitments. I aim to make a beef stew and have enough left over for Sunday while Y is over at TJ's being cossetted for Mothering Sunday.
.......Catch you tomorrow.

Camera Club - WoW went very well

The purpose of this 'post' is mainly to catch todays date, but I wanted to say what a success our WoW (Walking on Wednesday) evening was. Lots and lots of laughs and a few good pictures were smuggled in.

Your comments, as welcome and enlightening as usual, will be answered tomorrow. We are planning a 'quiet' day so I shall have plenty of time.

On Sunday 10th Feb I quoted Stevie Smith (out of the quotation dictionary in my head) on the subject of C.of.E bishops but didn't recall the exact wording. I couldn't find the book before but I now have it to hand - hence the picture. It wasn't a bad stab at the quote but my version lacked Stevie's finesse.

n.b. she doesn't mention Archbishops.

Of now, sleep tight and I'll catch you tomorrow.

St. Pancras and The Terracotta Warriors

My INR blood-test results arrived this morning and there is no dosage-change and no re-test for 3 weeks! That's only one sort though, I have others looming.

Today's pictures have nothing to do with yesterday's outing. They are from Y's nails day on Monday and my charity shop sortie.

Also I know that AnonymousRob's wide-angle lens will soon have to go home and I decided on a last fling even though the light wasn't good. He will be back from Italy soon.

Picture 2 is a tailor's dummy who stands just inside the door of the shop and I've always threatened a portrait. My guess is that dummy release forms are not needed.

Lets move immediately to our London outing. A splendid affair. The journey down went strictly to plan and, as Bungus recommended, a taxi from St. Pancras to the British Museum. (£5.25p - most reasonable we thought, and a courteous and helpful driver as a bonus).

Here is a Picassa Web Album of a selection of images. The link will take you to around 20 snaps you can zoom through. A better idea than dribbling them out a couple at a time in t'blog.

St. Pancras is breathtaking and so, so, worth the few quid it took to restore it. These things are of national importance and a marvellous showcase for visitors who arrive via Eurostar. A beautiful structure and shops and restaurants like an airport. One gripe - no waiting room ! Y asked about this and was told "they don't want you just sitting about, they want you spending money!" Sad 'innit? I can well guess what Betjeman would have though - and said.

The Terracotta Warriors Exhibition well lived up to our expectations. I'm glad I had pre-booked a wheelchair which I alternately sat in or wheeled round for support. My ankles and Y's hip stood up satisfactorily. Understandably there was 'no photography' within the exhibition area itself but they were quite happy elsewhere in The Museum. I managed a quick half-hour in the Art History section, with the 'Enlightenment' room (a favourite period) and we both enjoyed seeing The Rosetta Stone again, or at least a faithful reproduction. The original is so valuable it is stored in a special bullet-proof glass case guarded by No.45 Marine Commando and two platoons of Gurkhas ! As with most such places we could have spent a week in The Museum but around 4.30pm we decided to have Afternoon Tea in their posh restaurant (special occasion etc.,) and although amazingly expensive it was delicious. Next time though we are taking sandwiches - there is an attractive, light, airy, place to eat them.

After all that, the return journery. No probs. and a couple of night shots of St.Pancras to give a feel.

Comments....Thanks Bungus. I too favour the 'Zebedee' type WoW logo. The 'spring' by-the-way isn't my legs, it's my brain ! The only prob will be loading it onto the front of my presentation CD, in its animated format. Tackle it tomorrow I think. Along with reprogramming a new mobile 'phone. Mine was lost/stolen on the down train yesterday morning. So this morning I replaced it from Carphone Warehouse. Another Samsung identical to the old one with which I have been most satisfied. Then I must do an e-mail to everyone announcing the number change.

AnonymousReg.....Thanks for speaking up in favour of pork chops. When you say they "were 'proper' pork chops just like they used to be" - does that include the bit of kidney, in the eye? That used to be considered essential.

Jill..... Y and I both agree with you that the girl in the check swimsuit is probably Anne Robinson. A forbidding and rather unpleasant looking woman even at 20.

Quotation time.... Our railway journey reminded me of this :-

"People's backyards are much more interesting than their front gardens, and houses that back on to railways are public benefactors"

Sir John Betjeman

I've always found it impossible to to look, and to think that each room has its own unique story to tell of love and sadness and happiness and strife.


Last night there was an earthquake with the epicentre at Market Rasen in Lincolnshire and it disturbed people's sleep all over the country. It seems as if everyone but us felt it. We slept on soundly, recouping from our day's outing. As you know I seldom mention current news but I guess earthquakes merit a paragraph. I intend to catch up on outstanding jobs tomorrow and have a rest prior to our WoW presentation at the Camera Club in the evening.

......Sleep tight. No more earthquakes. Catch you tomorrow.

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr