Movies that make you think

Jesus Christ Superstar  - the early 70s when I saw more films than ever before! My room mate and I were in digs and a short bus ride away there was college; and also a fabulous cinema which is now a supermarket. JCS was an amazing film, like no other seen before with David Essex in starring role. The audience left afterwards in awed silence...
The Way We Were...a lovely weepy film with memorable music; starring the gorgeous Robert Redford.
Spool thro' the years, and it was not until the likes of Harry Potter and the LOTR trilogy that I began cinema going again. I enjoyed the Potty Harry films and adore LOTR; but then the latter has been part of my life in book form, followed by tape cassette, video cassette, DVD and now Kindle edition for many years.
Fantasy films, enchanting scenery and music ... what else? I viewed them in Dublin!


Many thanks to Sayre for rendering first aid and putting life back into Fun Monday.

Autumn

or as friends in the US would say 'Fall'... Time to have to wipe the car windows before setting off as they drip with condensation. A beautiful day, foggy in some places, but as the sun climbs in the sky it clears away all traces. Then there's a slight chill to the air even in the sunshine. A time for memories...perhaps because for many years the beginning of September was also the start of the Autumn term. No more netball, but hockey instead. Running circuits of the hockey pitches to warm-up before the lesson began. Three pitches side-by-side and you have to go around the outside, no cutting corners. Boots caked in mud and a divil to clean...dashing thro' cold communal showers at the end of the game; no toiletries apart from talc and deodorant. 
Remembering the long walk to school in the Autumn sunshine, viewing a temperature inversion shown by clouds as taught to us in a recent geography lesson. Looking ahead at the view of Pendle that dominates the area for miles around.
As Autumn progressed more and more leave dropped from the trees. So many copper beeches and tree-lined avenues. Oh what fun to kick your way thro' tumbled leaves!

Just an ordinary day?

Awaken, get up and dressed then let the dogs out into the garden. Feed them. Yes, they have two meals per day. In fact quite a lot of the day revolves around them.
Guess who forgot something quite important! Tomatoes! In fact going to open the greenhouse door wide every morning, checking on the toms, feeding/watering them and harvesting the newly ripened ones!
I'm coming to the end of my studies for this year (February to October inclusive). Things are rather fraught as I have 2000 words to find for a report. Then there's a series of web pages to construct using an antiquated user unfriendly program with the unlikely name of Web Wizard. It's a course about the environment and my topic is Fracking (hydraulic fractioning). I've given myself till the end of the week to complete the report.
So, after breakfast I settle down to read, make notes and think thro' the project. After a couple of hours it's time to let the dogs out to as my friend M says 'make them comfortable. Settling back to my studies until about 2.30 pm... Now it's time for their 'constitutional' an old-fashioned term meaning to go for a walk. I put their leads and OH goes our with them. Suddenly there's peace and quiet...time to use the vacuum cleaner without being challenged by z-dog who seems to think it needs a 'seeing to'.
The threesome return...all noise and bustle.


Almost forgot to say "Thank you" to Sayre for posting the topic. She very kindly gave everyone another opportunity to take part in Fun Monday.

freshers

B has gone to uni in Scotland and this week is Freshers Week. Time for stirring memories to the surface...
Spool back some 40 years and I left home for college.
What a contrast...B was chauffeured by her Dad from door to door. 
I went by bus. No car only as Dad would say 'Shank's pony'.
The journey took 3 hours as the bus zig-zagged west and then south; one that these days is 40 mins door-to-door.
B has her cell phone and laptop and uni will have internet access as standard for students.
In my day correspondence was by letter and I wrote regularly to friends and family. No phone at home only at Dad's work so he'd phone once a week. How I treasured hearing his voice!
Contrast today's student in constant touch with her social networks.

interconnectivity

Earlier in the year I received an email from someone trying to get in touch. Being rather wary of 'bolts from the blue' I mulled it over before replying. Months passed and no other contact so it went to the back of my mind as such things do.
August and another email this time with more detail - the daughter of a friend of my father, who'd been best man at his wedding. So now my curiousity piqued. Sent replies and received none, but the correspondent had set a deadline for the end of August.
Time to practise web searches and I found some details, address and phone number that seemed to fit the bill. Phoned the other week and no answer, so I determined to have one last go and then forget about it.
August 31st and I phoned the number...someone answered...but the connection kept failing. Tried by landline and 'success' she was who she said she was!
Yesterday evening she phoned and we spent over an hour chatting.
So now my very sparse personal history has fewer gaps...
And still her words resound in my consciousness...

hmm

Schools no longer teach Home Economics nor Domestic Science but something called Food Technology. Supermarket shelves 'groan' with relatively cheap unhealthy foodstuffs. Few have the time or inclination to read labels. They home in on the latest adverts for easy ready this and fast that, urged on by the pester power of their offspring.
I knew one family whose Mother 'lived on' cigs and coffee. Their dad was away at sea for weeks on end. Okay so she 'cooked without salt' but...food prep began soon after the elder two went to school. Potatoes peeled, cut and left in a pan of water until the end of the school day. Her favourite foods for the kids was sausage rolls and crisps.
Then there's a neighbour (male) who exists on microwave meals from a 'top end' supermarket. Yet, his elder brother who moved to S. Africa some eight years ago is a chef.


I'm no health or diet fanatic (heaven forfend)! But, in recent weeks I have begun to read food labels to compare level and types of sugars, amount and types of fat content. Why? Because I have friends who are diabetic.

new term - new uniform

As stores and TV stations rev up in the hope of increased sales, it's time for the annual expense known as school uniform.


How things change! Today, supermarkets vie with each other to offer value deals on uniforms. Harassed parents with truculent or excited offspring in tow scour the isles. 


Yesteryear when I left Junior school and headed for Grammar school things were a lot different. A letter arrived detailing what had to be worn and where to buy from. No supermarkets in those days. Instead we crossed the threshold of one of the most expensive dress shops and headed up stairs. 
Colours - navy and gold, not yellow. Navy blazer (wool) with school crest badge to be sewn on at home. White cotton blouses, navy v-neck jumper (wool) Knife-pleated skirt and gabardine raincoat. 
Oh the effort that went into pressing those knife pleats to keep them 'just so'! How happy we were when in our second year they brought out Courtelle blouses in blue or gold. No need to starch them and far more comfortable to wear. They were warmer in winter than cotton.
Not forgetting sports wear - must have hockey boots and plimsolls (no training shoes in that era) and a wrap around games skirt. The letter even detailed undergarments. Shoes and socks too had to be regulation. 
Girls in the Lower and Upper 3rd were only allowed to wear knee-socks or ankle-socks. Stockings and suspender belts were for Upper Fourth onwards.
We made our summer uniform skirts in needlework lessons. Pale blue poplin 3 yards of 36 inch wide material; to be made into a hand-gathered and mostly hand-sewn skirt with 3-inch waistband.
How we envied the sixth form whose skirts were made the same way but in delicious coral or marine blue.


What provoked this blast from the past? Two things Sayre of Sayre Smiles shared a photo of her son in his school uniform. How cool and casual his apparel looks. 
Then this morning an article in a newspaper caught my eye.  'School skirt ban'

It seems that in order to focus more on studies and less on the rebellious nature of teenage girls the school skirt has been omitted from many uniform lists.


And to think that at one time,  girls had skirts, dresses or shorts no trousers. That is until the advent of the trouser suit. My first was a three-piece - jacket, trousers and matching skirt. Hooray for designers like Mary Quant and their influence...but that's another story!

To think that there are prestigious schools today whose pupils still wear uniform – breeches, yellow socks like those worn 450 years ago! 

all aboard the charabanc!

charabanc [[shar]-rab-banɡ] a coach for sightseeing taken from the French meaning a wagon with seats
A word I came across long ago, sometimes used by my father. Now according to the Collins dictionary it's obsolete. Yet, to my father a charabanc was part of his childhood. A horse-drawn wagon with slatted sides and seats. Later, the word took on a similar meaning 'to go out for the day' this time by old-fashioned coach.
When there were far fewer vehicles on the roads and to have a car was unusual, days out were by coach. Sometimes we took a packed lunch, or hoped to find a café.
An early start and walk to the railway station, not to take the train but to board the charabanc.

second Thursday in August

is 'results day' for 'A' level examinees. Similarly, the third Thursday in August is GCSE results. Every year there's the same hype. Results are always 'better than' previous years. News stories about the results follow a similar pattern. They focus on the 'achievers' with their great results, their A* and collections of high grades.


But what about the ones who do not achieve? If I dredge thro' the vaults of memory, I was never an 'achiever' but I have empathy which is a better skill than any results record can confer. Then there's patience and stickability.


As Lord Chesterfield said...
"Wear your learning like a watch and do not pull it out merely to show you have it. If you are asked for the time, tell it; but do not proclaim it hourly unasked."

going back in time

Found out that one of my on-line friends used to be a librarian we contrasted today's libraries with times past.


1905 erected by Andrew Carnegie...so reads the inscription in stone on the front of the Clitheroe (Free) Library.

© Copyright John S Turner and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence


I have no idea how old I was when I first crossed its threshold, but I went there numerous times. I dread to think what it has become! July 2011 marked the 21st year since the library was refurbished.
"Clitheroe Library was built in 1905, with money from the Carnegie Trust. The original gold key used for the opening is now in the Clitheroe Castle Museum. Previously a library had been run from the front room of a house in Parson Lane since 1838."

© Copyright Alexander P Kapp and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
I've cropped the image to focus on the upper storey which housed the Reading Room.


Oh the pleasurable hours spent in the Reading Room, first with my Dad and later on my own.


Eight O'clock by A. E. Houseman


He stood, and heard the steeple
Sprinkle the quarters on the morning town.
One, two, three, four, to market-place and people
It tossed them down.


She sat at a long oak reading desk, one of several spaced across the room from doorway to clock case.


On entering the room, she felt a
Silence so deep it held cobwebs of memories
She heard
The occasional flutter of a page turned carefully and quietly
She saw
Gleaming, lustrous carved woodwork
Magazines, each in their cases chained to the reading desks
Newspapers laid out carefully, to be perused, refolded and replaced as tho' no-one had touched them.


By one window, a glass-sided case containing an illuminated tome. Each day someone opened the case and turned to the next page. The passer-by could stop to read the illuminated script.


The quiet, steadily reassuring tick-tock from the Town Hall clock whose innards and workings stood revealed behind a huge glass case at the front of the room. Fascination as on each quarter and then on the hour...


The clock collected in the tower
  Its strength, and struck.

where angels fear to tread

Can't help thinking I ought to say my two penn'orth about recent events. My bent is towards Science... sociology and sociologists make me heave. I find their endless apologist ramblings nauseating to say the least.
In my early days of teaching (1970s) when the cane was in regular use, I thought 'if you can't get in thro' the head, get in thro' the hide'. Very Naive of me, but I was a lot younger then. With time comes experience, with experience growing maturity and hopefully some common sense.
When the cane was abolished from the classroom, people forecast anarchy in the classroom. Then I came to realise that talking was more important than issuing a threat. Here I must say that I never struck anyone, nor had any authority in the matter. 
Time moved on (1980s) and another government rolled into Parliament. This one had a new agenda...'divide and conquer'... 
Governments came and went and the EU brought out its 'Human rights Act'...they might as well have dubbed it 'human riot act'.


Did you notice Dear Reader that in Japan, after the tsunami, rioting and looting were conspicuous by their absence?


In Japanese culture it is 'the good of the many that is better than the good of the one'. Not the 'Devil take the hindmost'.


So where are my musings taking me? To Literacy and the idea of Talking and Communicating...of 'getting in thro' the mind instead of the hide'.


I'd like all those that appear in front of magistrates as a result of the disturbances to be tested for literacy and numeracy. To have their educational background investigated. To look for their shortfalls in learning and have them addressed.


As I heard Michael Morpurgo (children's author) say today 'Literacy is empowerment'. 

MJM

After our gallivanting by bus into 'town' the other week and M and I visiting the beautician; things have been rather quiet.
Then, this morning M rang to ask after OH and I seeing as no-one had met up for a while. She also invited us to go round and view her new bedroom.
When living in a bungalow it's a lot easier to re-designate rooms and their uses. M had been using the room in the rear as a bedroom because previous inhabitants had left built-in wardrobes. Then she realised that she was missing out on the lovely view of her garden. In the couple of years she's lived here, it has been transformed from patio, lawn wilderness into a productive garden. It'd take too long to list the things she is growing. Suffice it to say her shopping bills for fruit and veg have been whittled to almost nothing.
With help from OH one of her front rooms has become a pleasant, relaxing bedroom. In the next few months M intends to turn the former bedroom into a lounge to enjoy her garden vista.

 

not my words, but I had to borrow...

When my page is blank, you don’t know that earlier I was full of ideas.

When my house is a tip, you don’t know that yesterday I cleaned all day and that it looked nice for ten minutes.

When I say something stupid, you don’t know that the last time I opened my mouth I spoke insightful wisdom.

When I am quiet all day, you don’t know how I love and long to sing.

When I cry, you don’t know that this morning I smiled.

When I write badly, you don’t know that last week I wrote brilliantly.

When I burn the dinner, you don’t know that yesterday’s meal was delicious perfection...

When I seem weak and easily controlled, you don’t know that I have had a long fight and am tired.

When I am shallow, you don’t know that I am really deep.

When I am grumpy, you don’t know how patient I have been for so long.

When I ask stupid questions, you don’t know that tomorrow I will have all the clever answers.

A Voice Released [blog]

By Rachel Carter 

celebrations

2nd August our younger GSD was 3 years old. Time flying again! Goddaughter's aunt and uncle have had another child...10lb 10oz...that family always have large babies. Fortunately Mother and baby are well and doing fine. 

awol lol

Taking a hint from a lovely friend...here be me!
The two Ms and I plus OH went carpet hunting...OH bought a carpet remnant 80% wool. The two Ms kept on looking. That was last Wednesday and the carpet arrived on Thursday. Looking at the 6m x 4m roll dominating the hallway I wondered what we'd let ourselves in for.
It must be 10-15 years since we last fitted a carpet and tempus fugit has taken it toll. Things do get harder as you get older...
Suffice it to say the carpet battle commenced on Friday with clearing as much of the room as practical. By the evening a couple of worn out people were finally able to view their completed efforts. I warned OH that if he has a similar scheme planned in the future...I will not be fitting any carpets; but will pay someone else to do it!

when

someone has a driveway and front 'garden' and the road either side of their dwelling is empty of vehicles...
Why must they insist on parking on the pavement in front of the house across the road!

 The people over there have been keeping the local builders merchants busy for months; ever since they moved in. 

But they have also been dumping their large car outside our place when there's been lots of room on their side of the road.
OH opined that there's nothing to be done about it...but I wanted to do something.

So, when the vehicle reappeared this morning I took my camera and photographed it and the view of the opposite side of the road.

Later OH reported the vehicle was now parked on 'their' side of the road.

appt

Andale Vets
This is today's 'must do' as elder K9 needs to see Michelle because she's been holding her head lob-sided and shaking it from time to time. I blame z-dog probably because he's been too boisterous and may have done some  mischief.

Returned home from seeing Michelle, who greeted Lady like a long lost friend! She gave her a good check over and apart from an ear problem, a good bill of health.

Result, Lady has antibiotic tablets to take and some drops for her ear. She has an ear infection, but with antibiotic tabs and drops should be back to 100% soon.


As for z-dog it's no food for him after 8pm (Tuesday) and an appt at the vets on Wednesday morning!

best laid plans?

oft go awry...
Phonecall this evening and I did not recognise the caller's voice...
After a while it became clear that it was my theatre going friend's son. No wonder I didn't recognise the voice!
Bad news; my friend is in hospital resting having fallen/blackedout and no-one knows if it's an on-going problem.
He gave me her mobile number and I had a brief chat with her. Typically, she was concerned that we can't go to Manchester this Tuesday to visit the museum.

All I want is for her to be on the mend and back to her usual self.

and a lovely time

was had by all...

Goddaughter was technical manager for the performance and had reserved seats for us. So we had a good view of the performance.
The Kidz did a grand job...some were as young a 4 years old and a couple of them stole the show when they were on stage. Others were teenage/early twenties.
For an amateur set-up they did remarkably well.

Their aims include

•  to have fun, 
• grow in confidence, 
• stay out of trouble
• enjoy learning new skills
• form friendships
• raise money for local young people's charities

 I came home with 'Nemo' a large cuddly toy won in the raffle and now heading to raise more funds for another charity. I have no photos of the performances as it's not allowed in the theatre.

anticipation

Saturday I'm heading north to Rishton and then to Preston whilst OH remains behind to dog sit.

Kidz 4 Kidz Community Theatre Company put on shows twice a year at the Charter Theatre in Preston.

Tomorrow night they celebrate their tenth anniversary...

Kidz 4 Kidz present 'Ten' a celebration of their ten-year anniversary.

"For a night of audience participation, fun, laughter, drinks and being merry... (and possible BBC interest) please join us for our big 10 year show Saturday 9th July @ 730pm. xx "

A theatre/dance group my goddaughter helps out with.

wordless Wednesday (July)

OH idea of a note or list on whatever comes to hand!

We have roadworks with contra-flow and pipe-layers causing chaos

Kale fresh from the garden!

I love the way the colours change on hydrangeas

Tis variegated and pink but its name eludes me

At long last I too have them in flower

Campaign

misc

The past few days have seen me in grumpy mode; must be the weather!
Broadcasters have as the saying goes 'got my goat'.
How and why?
There was a news story from the area where I was brought up. The railway line crosses the valley on a majestic-looking viaduct.
In my youth I went over it by steam train. Later, after Mr. Marples had been an 'Ena Sharples' and closed the local stations my journey was by bus and I saw how impressive the viaduct looked.
(Ernest Marples was minister of Transport when the Beeching act closed railways).
Move on to another century, and it's in need of repair. The irritation came for me that several broadcasters couldn't pronounce the name 'Whalley' properly.
Okay, I know in Manchester they have an area called Whalley Range pronounced wally, and onother called Whaley Bridge, pronounced wail-ee.
But the one in Lancashire is pronounced wall-ee.

Earlier today on the radio, presenters did an item about rude/obscene language written on t-shirts worn by youngsters in Newquay.
The town becomes a 'hell-hole' this time of year as it's invaded by post exam students. Teenagers age 16+ going totally alcohol-fuelled dolally in sun, sea and surf...
To some, Newquay is the SW 'answer' to Blackpool; but to me it's a downmarket Blackpool, all slease.

Another summer of anti-social behaviour beckons in Newquay...

Pirate fm news (local radio)
"Lewd t-shirts are being banned too in the latest bid to clean up the resort."

The Independent...
"Newquay has tried to shed its image as the binge-drinking capital after two teenagers died as a result of drunken nights out two years ago. Around 20 drunk and incapable under-age holidaymakers were sent home last year and 1,000 cans and bottles of alcohol confiscated.

as Dylan Thomas once said...

"The sun declared war on the butter, and the butter ran".
And OH is out doing gardening! Experience might come with age; not not commonsense!
24C indoors, goodness knows what it is outside...but out I went to crop raspberries, not my fave to pick but nice to eat.

how different

today is from yesterday...
Yesterday I was volunteered by OH to go with neighbour H to help him buy ready-made, lined curtains and new curtain track. H is nearing 70 and as they'd say in the old days 'a confirmed batchelor'. This makes conversation difficult at the best of times. So trying to explain the ins and outs of curtains and window dressing didn't go down well. Eventually he agreed 72" drop and possibly 66" wide...
The only time I got anything approaching a conversation from him was when we saw Starlings in the car park. He then volunteered that sparrows were nesting under the eaves in his house. So, over an hour later I finally got him the buy some curtains.
On our travels I found out the hard way that he's a slow, methodical driver. He's had his secondhand car for 3 years and almost done 3000 miles! From time to time I had to ask hilm where he was going and even to tell him several times to change lanes so we could reach where we needed to go!

By contrast today MJM went shopping and what a laugh we had, taking the mickey out of each other and generally enjoying a good chat. We had sandwiches, coffee, tea and chocolate in the supermarket café. Browsing up and down the aisles of the various shops, stopping frequently to describe items to M so she could decide on what to purchase... Deciding whether to treat ourselves and what to buy.

wordless Wednesday

Apols to Sayre

since the Blogger 'outage' I've become an intermittent blogger. That and the increasing pressures on my time thro' OU studies. 3 hours 'wasted' today attempting to do an online exercise that uses a programme from last century, a most temperamental programme to put it mildly.
Eventually, in a vain attempt to save my sanity and make some progress, I resorted to inputting random answers so I could access the 'feedback'.

I've hit the wtf time in my present course, 3 assignments submitted out of 6, so 3 more to do. Awaiting the result for assignment 3, but not hopeful as it turned into a 'publish and be damned' exercise. One where having reached the end of my tether, I hit send...regardless of what I think of my efforts.

and tomorrow is

father's day...

how does your garden grow?

Fun Monday cookery

Sayre asks
What is your favorite cook-out food and/or recipe? OR What special dish are you known for at gatherings of family or friends?
First of all I needed to find out what a 'cook-out' might be! Then I realised it might be connected with what over here is known as a BBQ. Hm...haven't been near a BBQ for many a year. But...I do have a series of cookbooks from Australian Women's Weekly.
They are a 'mine' of useful inspirational recipes.
Better still, they can now be found online

Layered garden salad

1/2 lettuce
250g (2 cups) frozen peas
2 hard boiled eggs
250g mushrooms
125g tasty cheese
250ml (1 cup) mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons French mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6 shallots, sliced
1 tomato
4 rashers bacon
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Place coarsely shredded lettuce in salad bowl. 

Sprinkle uncooked frozen peas over lettuce

Sieve eggs, combine with finely sliced mushrooms spread over peas and top with grated cheese. 

Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, lemon juice and shallots, pour over cheese. 

Cover, refrigerate several hours or overnight. Chop bacon finely, fry in pan until crisp, drain. Top with tomato wedges, bacon and parsley just before serving.

unavailable

error messages telling the Blogger is inaccessable again!
At least I've had fewer distractions for a day or two.
Our 'Summer' weather is more like Autumn; cool temps with heavy persistent rain. In these conditions it's good to have a microfibre towel for the dogs.

The hedgehog has put in an appearance several times lately; the big problem is to prevent younger dog from finding it and marching round with a prickly ball in his mouth. 

wordless Wednesday

changeable that's us

Yesterday Fun Monday's topic was about prolonged sunny Summers...
That's something which occurs rarely over the UK.

The Met Office charts help understand our mixed weather patterns.
without going into details...Low pressure in 'in charge' of our weather just now. Low pressure weather systems have winds circulating and they bring scattered showers.
There's a lovely area of high pressure just off Greenland; if it were to travel our way and deplace the showers we'd have some fine weather. Better still would be if the Azores high grew and came north; then we'd have Summer weather!

Fun Monday

The lovely Sayre has taken up the challenge of providing topics for June. She asks about coping with the heat!
Guess across the 'pond' the weather is a lot different...
Yes, here in England we had a couple of days of 'flaming June' weather...then as is often the case it changed.

It's true what they say about our changeable weather! Yes, we can appear to have all the seasons in one day; or in a week. We've gone from 70F to 61F in a few days; from glorious cloudless skies thro' overcast to sunny spells. Temperatures yo-yo from day to day.
Just occasionally, our fine weather 'sticks and stays' and then the good old pessimism begins again. Newspapers headline with stories about the weather. Guess that's what's good about here, we rarely get extremes.

To find out what others have to say, please visit Sayre smiles

toms are coming on

wordless Wednesday

mid week

and yet again we have been back to the quacks... OH received a phonecall asking him to come in to have a chat and BP check. So, we did our usual shopping, I left him at the surgery and went home put good away.
A short while later, I drove back to the surgery, parked up, got out a puzzle book and pen to pass the time.
Half an hour later OH joined me, none too happy with having been in 'there'. Now there's an acknowledged 'white coat syndrome' aka white coat hypertension... Both OH n I are prone to it...i.e. BP rises when in a white-coat environment.

If anything's guaranteed to raise BP it's this... Look at what neighbour was up to earlier!!!

Toms

Today's the day for gardening in the greenhouse.

 The tomato plants are in and on even has come into flower!

There was sunshine today...

so the mesembryanthemums opened their flowers (Livingstone daisies).

well it's Monday and

there's another Fun Monday topic...but...
It's many, many, many years since I watched the TV series Perry Mason and I've no idea I've never heard of Denny Crane.
That was option one set by Roger
Option two mason or crane, would I prefer to be a bricky or crane driver?
Neither!
However, tweaking the topic slightly, I know someone who as they say 'eats, drinks and lives cranes'.
So much so that if you are in his company you soon realise how involved he is. On a recent trip to Dublin we admired the various cranes dominating the skyline and bemoaned their inactivity.
They were certainly an impressive site.

Bricky? A most definite No! No! Why? It's a skill I wouldn't even attempt, as it's much more difficult than it appears. We built an extension a few years ago so I saw bricklaying done at firsthand.

imagine...

if you will the heady perfume of roses filling the air...
Both gardens are a delight with roses in bloom. Ramblers/climbers three in all wend their way along the side of the garage. Mrs blackbird has favoured us by nesting there.
Today and yesterday squabbling starlings arrived. I missed them yesterday but saw them today. They had discovered the mealworms (dried) and were vying with one another. There were four fledgelings adding their raucous calls to the din.

Now black clouds are overhead amd the wind is up. OH has left the greenhouse door ajar so robins can flit in and out. He had to take down the feeder that held the mealworms otherwise the starlings will guzzle them leaving nothing for the robins and blackbirds.

muddling thro'

Hayfever season is in full swing and today there's bright sunshine... At least MJM got together for coffee this afternoon. Lots of laughter and banter to do us all a world of good.
On a more serious note, just because someone can answer thw phone does not make them sighted. One of the Ms dislikes it so much when menus tell you to press such and such a button. Then there are call centre staff who even when told the person they are talking to is blind; carry on blithly as tho' talking to a sighted person. Okay, I'm a lot more aware now I've got to know M. But, the other M dislikes it when told someone will fax, email or text her because... well that's a no brainer.

mizzle

word made by putting together 'mist' and 'drizzle'. Locally, in Cornwall it's referred to as the 'Fret' which is such a good descriptive word for those weather conditions.
The air is still, cold and damp. Land's End airport cancels all flights, so too do BI helicopters. The Isles of Scilly loses all air transport links with the mainland.

What has set me musing?
News reports this morning from Land's End. Visibility restricted by mizzle and people standing and getting soaked whilst every so often the plaintive note of Longships lighthouse could be heard.

Then OH laughed at the presenter in the studio and I couldn't believe my ears cos the presenter talked about hearing bells in the background!!!

Another reason not to be in Cornwall now; especially as the days when the Fret is in can turn into weeks on end. More precisely, there have been times when it has stayed in for months...

A muppet Fun Monday

Roger
from a screed in time asks about Muppet characters... 
We're talking Muppets! Yes Muppets, those lovable furry creatures from Jim Henson's imagination, so what I'm looking for is which Muppet character is your favorite and why

Rowlf is one of my faves, but then I love canine companions. He's always cheerful and happy-go-lucky.
But with Muppets it's impossible to have only one 'like'.
 
Fozzie bear is another cutie...
I can see a theme here! Both characters are animations of some of my favourite animals.

Statler and Waldorf the two grumpy, funny curmugeons are my fave Muppet people.

stunned but in a good way

In a moment of 'madness' you might, like me have signed up to a site making connections with folk you might have known.
Sometimes connections are made and friendships renewed. Often the whole thing is a flop so you ignore it.
Recently I had an email saying there was a message, but I didn't recognise the name. Eventually curiousity got the better of me...

Stunned, I needed to read the email several times before it made sense.

Then memories of long ago came flooding...
Sunday afternoon walks across town to have tea with friends of my father. A vague memory that they had two children much older than me. The daughter trained as a teacher and her college uniform was purple and white.

Many years later, I too went to that college, but by now the purple and white was no longer a uniform but optional sweatshirt and scarf. It was no longer girls only, but co-ed.
So, who's the mysterious email correpondent? The grandson of the couple I had Sunday afternoon teas with so long ago!!!

let there be

blogging...
Until something you take for granted becomes inaccessible, you don't really miss it.
How I've missed being able to access the postings from my online friends!

We're still having sunshine and showers as tho' May is trying to be April 'with its showers sweet'.

This cooler weather is good for the roses, still mostly yellows with a few reds.
One of the Ms has a Blue Moon rose, and her front garden is becoming the rose garden again as more blooms appear.

gloomy

weather, more like April than May. Also, no sign of M after her visit to the hospital yesterday. I'm hoping for a phonecall from either M with an update.

It's been a long, anxious wait, but M's been on the phone. Yet more blood tests have been ordered, but at least her insurers have agreed to cover them and the next appointment. I know we have the NHS but quite a few people are now semi-private. NHS for most things, but private for others.

OH has promised to cut a few more scented roses to give to M tomorrow. I prefer my flowers in the garden, but with M's loss of sight it's good to let her have some roses to perfume her house.

mixed

That's what today's been - sunshine, showers, blustery winds, thunder and lightning.
There are more and more roses (flowers and buds).
Chatting with the M's over coffee this afternoon I found they've really been struck by the gardening 'bug'. In one garden there's some 20 different fruit and veg being grown. The other has a greenhouse 'stuffed' with seedlings and a well-stocked veg garden.

after the rain

showers have passed and we're back to sunshine; so there was an opportunity to do 'some of what seems like a 'mountain' of washing.
OH got busy next door with his chainsaw cutting wood for H next door.
Being a Sunday, there was no sign of one of the 'M's as this is her day for taking what she calls her horse tablets; which knock her for six.
I took advantage of the opportunity to shop online; nothing exciting, just food for the dogs and some sunflower seed hearts to put in the bird feeders.
Next week i.e. tomorrow sees the start of a data collection task for my OU course. Bird watching and noting down how many if 10 specific species you see.
Fine, but I do wish they'd update their course. Starlings are in decline, so too are greenfinches and of course house sparrows. Strike 3 off the list.
At least I know we have robins and blackbirds. But, all it'll take is a visit from our local sparrowhawks...and...go figure!

365

miles each way; plus all the getting sorted means I'm feeling tired today.
It's turned cooler and we have rain so no need to water the garden. More roses are opening daily. Have you noticed the yellows always seem to appear first, just like crocus.
One of the Ms has been busily organising her greenhouse...with growbags ready to take the tomato plants when they are big enough.
On the way home we picked up a copy of the local newspaper in the SW. It seems that whereas we've had lovely sunny weather throughout April and into May; the far SW has had rain and flooding!
So much for them having 'better' weather than us.

Another brief announcement made me re-read it with astonishment. I hadn't realised that scrapping aircraft carriers would impact on amyone I knew. The brief announcement had a photo so I recognised the person by their picture.
When we knew him he was an armaments artificer. I'd forgotten he'd been onboard an aircraft carrier. It must be 3-4 years since he'd conversed with OH in the local 'watering hole'. Now his picture's in the local weekly paper...why? He's attained a degree with the OU...BA(Hons) in....Health & social care management.
As the saying goes 'what a turn up for the books'.