BJ day for Y - Me messing about - Max 90F - little wind

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I took this around 4.30am, with flash, and thought that, as it was so distinctive, identification would be simple. Not so. I can't find anything remotely similar in my Collins.

Suggestions will be welcomed.

I'm beginning to think it doesn't really matter very much whether one knows the variety or not. It is a brown moth and I suppose that's good enough.

By 5.30am I was up-and-about and the light was gorgeous for photography. The rambling rose shown below is determined to climb the rowan tree. And why not ! ..... I continued working 'earlies' and went shopping before taking Y to the tram. My theory was that, after I had delivered her, I could just 'slump' and avoid the worst of the heat.

Alex has been here all day and has worked through it - he must have lost pounds - but he has shifted an incredible amount of jobs. The conifer hedge at the rear, clearing out the gutters, rotovating ..... to mention but a few.

During my shopping jaunt I bought a large pair of mole-grips, as being about the only tool which would grab the ring-nut holding the hot-water tap in place - underneath the wash-hand basin in Y's bathroom. My assumption proved correct and I was able to finish off that job.


While I was in B&Q I bought one of the little yellow duck watering cans for Jill.

See picture on the right. Either this evening, or tomorrow, I'll make a parcel of it and send it on its way to Chiswick.

We are having jacket potatoes and salad for our main meal and, while in the kitchen I dealt with the 3lbs of goosberries and have stewed them with some bramley apple. They are cooling now, and they taste good.

My responses to your comments

jbw .... Yours is the only comment so far John. I guess I am publishing a little early.

Couldn't agree more about Longfellow !

Jill ...... Good job I didn't publish then but 'saved' - I knew you would be along.

Re the bruising. Quite funny really considering the blood test was taken by the self-proclaimed expert. Anyway - she is such a nice girl I forgive her. It's worse today, but no picture - I don't want to have to impose a 9pm watershed.

Your waste-collection system, or lack of it, sounds horrendous. We shall all have to become Jack Russell owners.

Bob ..... There are certainly less insects than hithertofore. Last night I sat with the light on and my bedroom window open. In the 40s and 50s my room would have been alive with moths etc., but not so now. Just the solitary visitor photographed.

I'm afraid I don't see the point of humane traps. When you release the critters they simply return to where they wanted to be all along.

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Quotation time .......

"By the shores of Gitche Gumee By the shining Big-
Sea- Water Downward through the evening twilight
In the days that are forgotten"

Longfellow

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An early blog like this will free up our evening. We both want to watch the Hockney programme on iplayer. That's a link folks. Save you finding it yourself if you want to watch it.

"Sleep tight - catch you tomorrow"

Moorgreen Woods - 63F and 3mph S wind - Sunny !

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This morning Y and I ventured out for an hour and went to the woods in which Helen C had mentioned bluebells. We followed her excellent directions but then, having parked the car and, while following a path we bore left instead of right and went up this hard-core hill (see centre shot) unnecessarily. Eventually we retraced our steps and were amply rewarded by a lovely walk which we intend to revisit. There are so many good walks in the area and although I had several sit-down pit stops thanks to my wheels we covered quite a distance.

For the collage I managed to capture a female Chaffinch and a Speckled Wood butterfly. Across the top is today's mystery bird. Although it had a reddish head I'm fairly sure it wasn't a Goldfinch. Also it had a sweet and complicated song which more or less rules out a Woodpecker, and anyway, it wasn't quite big enough.

The day has been idyllic. The chilly wind has almost gone away. Merely a leaf-rustler which you can't feel at all in some places. Walking down the path in the central collage shot it was great to feel the sun on your back.

In my bedroom I have set the lay figure to guard my glass bottle-top. I had a nap this afternoon but not a lengthy one.

I haven't heard from the WoW-ers yet but I guess that wherever they went they would have enjoyed the lovely weather.

The Budget will not be discussed. As the Matt cartoon said this morning "Is it possible to be alarmed and bored at the same time?"

My responses to your previous comments

Bob ...... I couldn't discover much about Tomasto but I agree it sounds interesting. You and I both love words that sound as if they should be something else. Only this morning while looking for something to spit my prune stones into I had the experience with Ramekin. The word sounds as if it should be a little helper, like Santa's elves.

Tomasto incidentally is a large American family mostly in the New York area.

And I am firmly with Yvonne over the question of Christian names. Why should we be bullied into 'forenames' anyway when we live in a Christian Country, where the Church of England is The Established Church. As I have said before, with strangers I will settle for either Mr. Marsden or Sir.

I have noticed that Consultants for instance always get it right. It is only when we are being addressed by people from the shallow end of the gene pool, like hospital receptionists, that a rude informality creeps in.

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Quotation time .......

"Oh thou monster ignorance, how deformed dost thou look !"

Shakespeare - Love's Labour's Lost

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Moist Monday - Virgin sorted out - Hobby pictures

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Picture 1 is a '4 ticks' watercolour of Lumsdale, at this time of year. Often described as one of Derbyshire's little 'secrets' because it gets little publicity. Please click here to read about the derelict mills.

The painting does the place justice, lovely that it is, and too many visitor's boots would soon cause damage. If you remember, both anonymousrob and incy wincy have produced some good pictures there. So have others of course, but I remember publishing theirs.

Picture 2 on the right is Jill's 'mystery' blanket. Members of her group are provided with wools and ideas (I hope I've got this right) and they then knit a square/squares and send it on - it just grows and grows - I love the long-haired sheep second row down, 2 in from the left ! But don't worry fellas - I'm not looking for my wellingtons !








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Picture 3 on the left is from David's mobile phone and shows the Remembrance Day Parade at Long Eaton. The girls were involved in their separate ways although you can't actually see either of them.

David liked the two WW1 soldiers nearly at the front. Long Eaton seems very much in favour of parades and carnivals and things - and very nice too. they contribute so much to small town, English village life, so long as 'elf and safety can restrain itself from strangling them.

Picture 4 on the right is from John taken during their continental camper holiday. In boyhood we just called these 'little blue butterflies' but I haven't seen one for decades. Thanks John.

I've had a productive day. Virgin Media visited to fix our fault - couldn't ! So we now have a brand new set-top box only slightly larger than a hard-back book. More importantly it seems to work and. compared with the old one, it is fast. So at least I can watch Claudia and Strictly 'it takes two' this evening. John Sergeant stayed in, against all the odds and poor Heather went out. It annoys the judges that 'the public' keeping voting for John - because he is hopeless. But the judges don't seem to realise that their constant chivvying causes a backlash and people ring up and vote because they don't like being told not to. Do you think I ought to get out more ...........?

My car has been in for service but they haven't returned it yet. And I want to do a little shopping before it gets dark. I've registered Elements 7 and I've been researching the programme. A nice touch is a 'guided edit' . Effectively you tell the programme what you want to achieve and you are guided through it. Open this, click that etc., with an example at the side ! Very user friendly for photoshop thickos like me.

I hope this 'earlier blog' approach isn't too disorientating for everybody because it suits me better. No more head dropping onto keyboard etc. And I feel sharper !

Comments

Jill ..... Sorry the early blog caught you unawares but please see my remarks above.

The Telegraph supplements seem good at the moment. I like the tabloid Digital Life one and I try to explain to Y that it isn't just IT stuff. but she isn't keen.

I'm not watching Little Dorrit. Like Rob costume drama rarely appeals. I find it hard to 'suspend my disbelief' to the extent necessary for enjoyment.

Thrilled that your girls get-together was such a success. I've spoken to Y and she says you looked really well and were on top form.

I think that, at the sausage-fest a toast to 'absent friends' will be appropriate.

4 ticks ..... My word ! Haven't you been busy. Do I understand you correctly that you are now running a blog, and people are 'commenting'. If so - congratulations - please let me have the address and I shall enjoy reading it.

I'm sorry Reg is having unpleasant side-effects from his 'flu jab. Well worth it though because I understand that the strain due to assail us this winter is particularly virulent.

bungus ...... Alamy is a website of free images for people to use. You can only use it for ID purposes by sort of backing into it. If you think a bird is a red-kite for imstance. type it in and check the resultant images against the bird you have seen.

Don't be self-critical for reading your own prose with pleasure ! You are in good company. Wilde said he kept his Diary with him because "One should always have something sensational to read on the train"

I can find very little to disagree with you about this evening. Summats amiss.

Lanayana ....... I am confused. You have left a 'comment' on my blog-post of Thursday October 25th 2007 . It simply says "People should read this" which appeared in my gmail inbox at 15.01 today.

anonymousrob ...... I think it is an 'ethocardiogram' or something you pull on over your 'ethos' if is chilly due to the winter weather. Jill would probably knit you one !

The haiku is much appreciated.



Quotation time .......

"You must not think me necessarily foolish because I am facetious, nor will I consider you necessarily wise because you are grave"

The Reverend Sydney Smith

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Good Saturday - Y lunches with Sylvia

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A pleasant Saturday. I took Y to town where she was meeting Sylvia for lunch at The Bell.

While she was there I went to Carphone Warehouse and bought a new mobile. The minor defects in my existing Samsung - 'warning tone of impending appointment too faint' and 'not going off at all in some circumstances' finally reached irritation point. In any case Hannah quite fancies my exisiting one. So I have returned to a tried and trusted Nokia 6500 slide.

It will take me ages to work out how to use its wide range of facilities but I shall get there. The warning tone is loud enough even for my wax-full ears. Having them syringed on Friday 24th though, prior to our holiday. And Yes, I have been doing the warm olive-oil bit.

The Bell has undergone a major re-fit which Y tells me has been mostly downstairs and affected them little. Her last visit had resulted in a 20% off voucher which made the meal and drinks under a tenner. Sylvia doesn't really like The Bell, preferring the fawning waiters at Café de Paris, and in anycase she had forgotten her voucher.

Picture 1 is, as you can see, a snap of a Small Tortoiseshell aglais urticae and I'm quite pleased with the photograph. Probably Bungus will manage some constructive criticism but we are used to that n'est ce pas?

Picture 3 is to keep you uptodate with the Liquidamber which gets progressively redder. In the course of the next few weeks some leaves go purple and all sorts of other shades in between. One of which is a virulent dark green. Watch this space.

Before setting off for town I got down on my hands/knees and cleared a patch for the gooseberry bushes. I have one of those kneeling things with handles which makes it all possible. The plants looked healthy, with little buds just emerging. Far too early of course, but a good keen frost will slow them down a bit.

This evening we enjoyed Strictly come Dancing and there were some excellent performances. Those at the top - Cherie, Tom, Austin don't need our support. In the end Y voted for Heather Small and I voted for Jodie Kidd.

Comments

Bungus ....... Don't let the Moon/melon similarity worry you. It's only my over-active imagination anyway.

The full moon we have just experienced was the Hunters' Moon by the way.

You weren't supposed to SEE anything in the Shower. It was just that we have had a new shower fitted, complete with new basin, and I wanted to 'record' that boring fact. For me the whole purpose of my blog is for family and friends to have access to our routine lives, both now and for the future. Hence the 'record' shots. How do you feel it should be?

As I keep advising you - "Write your own blog and then you can have whatever content and whatever pictures you approve of".

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E-mail just in with this picture attached. Earlier in the day David rang for Delia's oven-baked winter vegetables recipe which I dictated to him over the phone.

As is so often the case with Delia, she helpfull says that the choice of vegetables isn't set in stone ! Use whatever you have.

He followed it and and was very pleased with the result, to accompany Jamie Oliver's Sea Bass á la Tony Blair but with Rainbow Trout substituted. As David says the trout is less expensive than the sea-bass and just as tasty. It eertainly looks excellent my boy! Congratulations !

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Baby-sitting at Burton Joyce tomorrow evening. But plenty to do before that.

Bit tired - so I'm closing there..... David's always loved this picture -



Good night and sleep tight
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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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Another beautiful day - family meet at Swanage

This lovely 'mackerel sky' was a couple of mornings ago. To be exact it was 06.47am on the 29th July, or so my EXIF data tells me. The amount of available info. can be daunting. Apparently cameras are in the offing which are fitted with the equivalent of SatNav to record precisely where the photograph was taken.

EXIF data is not a Nikon only miracle. Bungus sent me earlier today a photo of teasels which, apparently, were taken at 19.14 on 31st July. I can only assume that the clock in his camera is not set correctly. Not to worry.

We started the day with my blood-test and, as they haven't yet rung me from the clinic, I can assume I'm not hospital bound. The we went to Staples for some bits for our new office. Such helpful staff and a super store; wide aisles and so well stocked. All we needed were some stacking filing trays etc., the days of red wire baskets seem long gone. And when we reached the checkout a charming young lady asked sweetly "Did you find everything you were looking for today?" Obviously a stock (ha ha!) question but how nice.

Then to Sainsburys for minor reprovisioning. And yet again we both felt that it just has the edge on Morrisons. We shan't forsake our lovely Lidl though.

The butterfly looks suspiciously like some sort of fritillary but I'm sort of hoping that either Bungus or Jill is a lepidopterist as well as ornitholigist. I seem to remember that both have helped previously.

My shirt is almost winter weight and I'm too hot. Bt the forecast didn't say it was going to reach 72F and it was a cold morning. Certainly no intention of changing it now because next step is parjies.

Great thing happened this morning. Which Hannah rang on her mum's mobile specially to tell us. Steve and family are holidaying with friends in Swanage and David and family likewise in Weymouth. And they all met, by chance, on the beach at Swanage. Obviously they were clustered round the mobile because we heard David say "When we spotted them on the beach we tried to leg it, but they'd seen us" and we could hear Steve chortling in the background. I bet they had a great time and the kids would love playing in the sand together although perhaps at 10 there are things Hannah would rather be doing. I hope they took lots of pictures which we can see in due course.

Going WoWing with my photographers is not possible tomorrow because we have an appointment with the accountant and thereafter we are taking Joan out to lunch. She has returned from Southampton but still sounds so croaky and chesty and has been to the Doctor. She has never recovered from her 'flu jab. We also need to check out Wilco for a simple table to stand the printer on and, of course, I must raid the charity shops.

And today there's a quote in my Quotations Page which is quite good:-

"It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis".

Margaret Bonnano

She doesn't seem to merit a Wikipedia page, but google tells me she was a Star Trek writer.

Nice coffee now, and a Jaffa cake rather than the donut shown. Then my usual routine. Hope everybody sleeps well and I'll catch you tomorrow.