31st December 2016
Oh well... here we are... it's time for out with the old and in with the new. Not that I can promise we'll be awake to see the New Year in. We've turned into first class party poopers these days and Bern can't keep his eyes open for long come ten o'clock. I've been reading about all the rituals associated with the New Year celebrations, especially those of years gone by. The further north you go the more bizarre the carryings on. Bern's always asleep well before twelve so my little ritual is to open a window to hear the hooters and fireworks and take a quick breath of New Year air, then quickly close it before the cold gets in... and I don't even have to put my party frock on. Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet, for auld lang syne (Robert Burns 1788). A second thought: I'll try to stay awake for the text messages - our lot usually jam the airwaves with New Year greetings and this year they'll come buzzing in from the Phillipines (Jon and Zara) and Estonia (Jay and Les on a short break). Suppose I'd better think about some resolutions... |
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28th December 2016
Anyone know what day it is? It's a funny old week - we're in limbo for a few days - Christmas done with and New Year hovering. I guess my head will straighten out when we get to January 1st. I'm easily muddled these days. |
29th December 2017
I'm struggling with cold fingers this morning - typos abound - I think that I've hit the keys until I see the gobbledygook on the screen. It's just as well I've nothing to report and you're spared from having to decipher a load of double-dutch. I'm going to the scleraderma society website now to see if I can find some of those gloves with silver in them, they're supposed to help with Raynaud's disease. |
26th December 2016
Whew! It's like coming out of hibernation as I finally raise my head above the pies, puddings, and wrapping paper. I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that Christmas is behind me. Not that I didn't enjoy it, on the contrary, we had a lovely time at Karen's on Friday and a fab time at Rajni and Andrew's on THE day where we met up with Carol, Gary, Chan, Haz, Neelam, Rakesh, Sunita and Anita. Poor Babba Jai was unsettled with all the excitement and noise - no wonder he's looking bemused. Jay and Lesley will be calling today on their way back from Hampshire where they've spent a couple of days with Lesley's family. [ Hi to you all in Greywell. ] I think we caught up with everyone at various venues. There was a Facetime session with Jon and Zara on Christmas Eve - loads of laughs across the miles. Now it's time to look foward and get through what's left of the year. |
Friends of Bilbrook: a hard working local community group, would be grateful for a helping hand on January 14th 2017 with a litter picking project. Volunteers are invited to turn up at Bilbrook Village Halls (Joeys Lane) at 10.00 am. They propose to litter pick for approximately 2 hours, suitable equipment will be provided. I quote from their website: "With your support we can help to keep Bilbrook a pleasant and welcoming village." I've been reading the website and see they have done some wonderful work in recent months i.e. tidying littered areas, several nature conservation projects, and a continued endeavour to make Bilbrook a better place to live. Google 'Friends of Bilbrook' to find them.
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21st December 2016
I see around 5000 people turned up at Stone Henge to celebrate today's winter solstice. I'd quite like to give it a go one of these days, it'd be quite a commitment though, getting there at the crack of dawn on a dark winter's day. It's on my bucket list - not sure I'll ever make it. |
This year the December solstice happens at 10.44 when the Sun shines directly over the Tropic of Capricorn. At the December Solstice, the North Pole points away from the Sun. The word 'solstice' comes from the Latin word solstitium, meaning 'the sun stands still'. This is because on this day, the Sun reaches its southern-most position as seen from the Earth. The Sun seems to stand still at the Tropic of Capricorn and then reverses its direction. The Earth Isn't farthest from the Sun during winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the Earth is actually closest to the Sun. Seasons occur because Earth orbits the Sun on a slant, with an axial tilt of around 23.4 degrees. Therefore different amounts of sunlight reaches the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, causing variation in temperatures and weather patterns thoughout the year. In fact, the Earth is on its Perihelion, the point on the Earth's orbit closest to the Sun, a few weeks after the December Solstice. Most places in the Northern Hemisphere see their earliest sunset a few days before the Solstice and their latest sunrise a few days after the Solstice. This happens because of the difference between how we measure time using watches and the time measured by a sundial.
SEE www.timeanddate.com |
A small flock of redwings arrived in the garden this week - they're busy eating cotoneaster berries. They systematically start at the topmost point and work their way down before moving on to pastures new. I'm wondering if they know something we don't, is colder weather on the way? They don't usually hang out in our garden until early January. It looks very much like a thrush but with a flash of red underneath its wings. Latin name is Turdus iliacus.
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20th December 2016
Had a nice interlude yesterday evening when the girls had finished work. Carol and Lesley came round with cards and flowers for our wedding anniversary. Gary and Jay were both working late - too many loose ends to tie up before the Chrimbo break. |
Another hospital appointment turned up today - Cannock Hospital this time, I've not been there before. I wonder why everything is so disjointed and worry if the consultants actually communicate. I suppose they do (fingers crossed) I'm seeing three different ones early in the New Year.
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19th December 2016
I've photographed Christmas - the bit of it that sits on the sideboard. I can't make up my mind if it's nice or naff. It's holly and ivy out of the garden - penny-pinching or prudent? Take your pick. I gave my den a good turf out yesterday afternoon - cleaned in the corners unearthed hidden dust, moved things around and put away all the clutter. This morning I can't find a flipping thing and my tidy desk looks back at me threateningly in case I mess things up. After that I watched The Snowman film (again) - because I love Raymond Briggs' beautiful drawings.
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18th December 2016
Hope no one has gone into a Christmas panic yet. Take a chill pill - it's only one day of the year. I've done a giant vase of holly and put tiny lights on it - that's Christmas done at our house!. Thank you everyone for the lovely cards. I like putting those up - I make a huge collage of them and hang it like a picture. I can't be doing with them all lined up like soldiers - they end up curly and fall over and trying to dust is a nightmare... if you've an inclination to dust that is. My leaning toward minimalism is not everyone's cup of tea - but I can't be doing with clutter. We've had a text from no. 3 grandson, Jonathan in NZ. He's en route to Manila in The Philipines for Christmas and heading for a place called Cebu. He was quite amused to find the chap sitting next to him on the plane is from Tipton. This is his second Chrimbo away from home since flying the nest.
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We've had another police message so don't fall prey to these chaps:
Please be aware of two suspicious males described as white mid 20's and of a stocky build driving around in a white transit type van with cage doors on the rear. They are offering to carry out tree surgery based work on properties and are believed to be rogue traders. If you need to reply regarding this message, click on this email address: [email protected] |
11th December 2016
I've done it, hurled half a rainforest into the system: i.e. we've forked out a king's ransom for stamps and posted our Christmas cards. I'm waiting until next weekend to bring in the holly, twinkly lights, put the cards up etc. I can't do with it hanging around for too long, nor do I wait until Twelfth Night to shove it all back in its box. Looks like I have to admit there still a tiny bit of bah humbug lurking in my psyche. Don't worry, I'll smile and "play the game" for the little ones. Here's a bit of festive bling to prove I'm trying to get in the mood. |
No more art classes until January, last writers' meeting on Tuesdy, I'm going to have to write a book or start a new picture to fill the coming weeks. There's always the vacuum cleaner and a tin of polish but something inside me says, nah!
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I've been reading about Christmas customs of the past, there's things we need to know to avoid trouble. e.g.
If every scrap of Christmas decoration is not removed from the church by Candlemas (2nd Feb) there will be death in the family occuplying the pew where a leaf or berry is left. (Suffolk 1864) In decorating the house wih evergreens care must be taken not to let ivy be used alone, or predominate, it is a plant of bad omen, and will prove injurious. (Northamptonshire 1851). If flies come into the house at an unseasonable time of the year, it portends death. (Staffordshire Folk Lore 1909) We'd better gear up for some fly swatting round these 'ere parts. |
What do you think of the jolly design on this card that leapt though the letterbox while we were at the hospital? It's by Gudrun Sjoden - a Swedish designer. It's a £100 gift voucher - wow! And it's my favourite place for buying stuff. A few weeks ago I entered a competition whereby you had to write in with a memory and photograph of a day when you wore something by Gudrun Sjoden. I sent this pic of Carol and me at Ian and Jenny's wedding last July. What a generous prize, I'm tickled pink!
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8th December 2016
We had a good end of term meeting this morning at our art class. Maggie took some pictures on her iPad, e-mailed them to me, but for some reason I can't get them onto here to show you. Technology defeats me again. But what a lovely day it's been - Bern went for his weekly walk this morning and spent the afternoon leaf gathering. We have to go to New Cross in the morning - they've asked me to come for blood tests etc prior to arranging an appointment with the kidney department (they gave it a posher name but I've forgotten what it is). |
I always buy printer inks online - not the real McCoy but what I call 'look alikes'. The real ones for my printer are £33 a set and the look alikes are £9 so it's a no brainer. Anyway, I'm always amused by the invoice that accompanies them. It says on it "Caringly packed by Adam." I wonder if they mean 'carefully'. Caringly is a bit OTT when it comes to printer inks - did Adam really cossett the cardboard carton and gently swathe it in bubble wrap, then tenderly touch the sticky tape into position and cuddle it all the way to the post office? On the other hand, Adam may well be a strictly pragmatic bloke and it's the lady in the admin office who is responsible for the creative wording... maybe she gets carried away with words, just like me. They're efficient if effusive - the goods arrive the very next day after ordering. Credit where it's due!
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7th December 2016
Only one word to describe the morning - murky. Colourless, boring, dolldrums of a day. Never mind it doesn't stop us chatting. I've listened to Radio 4 news and consigned it to the gloomy cateory - it was all about political squabbles, the Syrian war, and the 1941 happenings at Pearl Harbour. All serious stuff we need to know about but incapable of lifting one's spirits. I've flipped through my magic book looking for something lighthearted that happened on 7th December - all I can find is: on this date in 1889 Gilbert and Sullivan premiered their comic opera "The Gondoliers". This was the first Gilbert & Sullivan opera I saw - it was back in the late fifites when all the other kids were getting into rock and roll. I must have been born 100 years too late because I was enthralled wih The Gondoliers and all the other G&S productions I've seen over the years. To this day I don't own any pop music - not that there's anything wrong with it I hasten to add. It's great for parties, dancing, discos, etc., I just don't feel the need to own it. If anyone wants a taste of Chopin, Schubert, Shostokovitch, Satie, just yell. |
Calling Audrey in Hampshire: Lesley's mum just out of hospital and one of our regular readers. Get well soon Audrey - we're thinking of you and wishing you well. xxx |
It's our last art class of the term tomorrow. We take nibbles for a festive half hour at the end of the session. We'll have the big "reveal" when those who've created their own card designs will foist them upon each other. I call it "the great paper exchange". I'm as guilty as the rest even though I do worry about rain forests and the planet. I'm just one big hypocritical mess torn between "having a bit of fun" and "doing the right thing".
Fingers crossed: I've submitted a poem to the Staffordshire Poetry Collection. Brief: write about the county. Those chosen will be published on the their website and some will be displayed in libraries around the county. One for posterity maybe.
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5th December 2016
Brrr... the temperature remains hostile as far as I'm concerned... apologies for lowering the tone but I can't but help note how unfriendly our lavatory seat is on these chilly mornings. OK so I'm known to exaggerate, (I call it colouring the story), The picture on the right illustrates my point perfectly. |
We've already received a few Christmas cards which prompts me think about getting our's done. I must confront the ones for abroad today to ensure they're posted in time. This means it's time for my annual worry about global populations wanging mountains of paper around the world - together we must be shuffling an entire rain forest round the planet. I can't opt out of this exercise as it's so nice to exchange friendly greetings at least once a year.
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4th December 2016
It seems our new little blue fiver is in disgrace. I can't say I'm worried about the notes containing a bit of tallow - there's far more serious atrocitires going on in the world to cause concern. And anyway, I like its neat size, it fits my purse better. |
Ian and Jenny went to Twickenham yesterday to see England beat Australia - a europhic moment - what you might call "a good result!"
England 37-21 Australia: England winning their 14th consecutive match and will end 2016 unbeaten. A great year, winning the Six Nations Grand Slam, whitewashing the Aussies on Tour in the summer and adding another victory over them here at the end of a series of successful Autumn internationals. |
Do you remember The Dandy? It was first published on 4th December 1937. The final issue was in December 2012 - a long running record for a children's comic. My Gran used to buy it for us each week but we never got our hands on it until our Auntie Gert, who lived with my Gran, had read it. We also read The Beano - its sister paper. I can't remember which characters belonged to which publication but I used to love Desperate Dan and his cow pie, Lord Snooty, The Bash Street Kids, and Keyhole Kate. Hardly high-brow literature - just fun and probably exceedingly tame when compared to the stuff kids devour today. I'm not complaining - just observing that times have changed, or maybe I was easily amused some sixty to seventy years ago.
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3rd December 2016
Good morning - I'm doing a crack of dawn visit today - well... earlyish. It's window cleaner day. I was washed and dressed seconds before the faces popped up at the window. They've left a Christmas card so I can breath easy on Saturday mornings until next year. Bern's up and about too, I think I can hear porridge in the making so I'll be back later on. Ta-ra for now. |
Today's message says:
You can download the App to your smart device or register on-line by visiting www.staffordshiresmartalert.uk. Please encourage your friends, family and neighbours to register to start receiving information from us - together we can fight crime. |
2nd December 2016
What a lazy bones - I didn't quite make it here yesterday. I went to art class in the morning and we all realised it was the 1st so we did the "white rabbits" thing. Later, Bern and I did a bit of shopping, not Christmas shopping (we can say the word now) we were after oven cleaner and limescale stuff for the shower head - our excitement knows no bounds. Add to that my bouts of daydreaming and somewhere along the line I grabbed a tiny nap and the day was gone. I started on a pile of Braeburns at art class - nowhere near finished yet - medium is oil pastel. I think I'm the only one there who likes using this - it is a bit mucky and involves a lot of hand scrubbing after using it. |
26th November 2016
Looks like being a quiet sort of day today with nothing more exciting that a supermarket visit. The very thought prompts a gripe: already we have to wade through the chocolate mountains, boxes of mince pies and 'C' puddings to get to the sensible food. Then when you get to the checkout you're bombarded with wrapping paper, more chocolates and twinkly stuff. No wonder we're in 'C' overload before it arrives and I end up doing the bah humbug thing. It's still November and until next month I refuse to feel benevolent about it. Oh! Just remembered, next week's writers' group homework is to write a rant. I wonder what I can rant about - nudge nudge, wink wink. Actually, I was thinking about the homework a couple of days ago so I trawled through all the stuff I've written over the years and found several long forgotten vituperative, vitriolic, venomous, rants that shocked me. Seems like I've offloaded some dark thoughts onto the old computer in the past. And I love those expressive 'V' words, they say it all with virulence. |
25th November 2016
I'll never get to grips with the machinations of the NHS admin system - I've had a letter from somewhere in Bristol telling me I'll be getting a letter from New Cross New Cross, Wolverhampton, Renal Unit with an appointment and if the letter doesn't arrive will I ring to let them know it hasn't turn up. Convoluted or what? This is in response to my GP chasing up an appointment that didn't materialise last July. What can one do except say, "hey ho, go with the flow." |
Anyone galloping off to get some Black Friday bargains? I'm giving it a miss, cynical as ever, I'm not convinced that the offers are true bargains. And wouldn't it be awful if someone I know saw me scavenging with the marauding horde? - not that I have Hyacinth Bucket tendencies... or have I?
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oil on canvas 2ft x 2ft
haven't thought of a title yet. |
I've spent a good part of the morning fiddling with the tree painting for the last time - I've taken the distant tree down a tone and messed about with the slushy snow on the path as per Roland's instruction. Now I have to wait at least six months before I can add varnish or some sort of protective finish. It's a drawn out business.
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I've just been catching up on some e-mails to Denise and Thelma. I think it's important to keep in touch with friends, and especially so as you get older. Doreen, Ann, Peggy and Jose are on my list too, so brace yourselves girls.
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24th November 2016
I'm just about to buzz off to art class for a 9.30 start. I'm lugging the tree painting along for Roland to pass judgement. I know what he's going to say after telling me what needs correcting, he'll want me to add some figures in the distance. The day approaches when I have to try to paint people. Eek! See you later. |
Home again... Yay! Roland gave my picture a thumbs up - all I have to do is dumb down one of the distant tree roots. He said it didn't really need any people in it so I'm off the hook for now. Big dilemma: what shall I paint next?
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Not much else happening today I guess. We're into those short dark days before 'C' when everyone scurries home before the night sets in. Even the birds knock off early these days to cosy up for the night.
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If, like me, you're inclined to utter bah humbug at this time of year, cheer yourself up with a butchers at this year's 1st and 2nd class stamps. I like the designs - nice aren't they? Shame about the price.
I've just look at yesterday's site visitor stats - over 100 extra peopled popped in - welcome everyone, whoever you are. |
17th November 2016
Hi everyone, I didn't have time to pop in before I left for art class this morning. We had a good session; my tree painting was still very wet so Roland hasn't cast a critical eye over it yet but he said to bring it when it's dry enough to transport. Jose, Maggie, Jacqui and Toni were there (known to us as 'our table') we were totally engrossed. At coffee time everyone wanders round, mug in hand, to view each others work. When I got home Jay was here so we had a chatty lunch and laughs with a very busy teapot. It's getting blustery outside right now, the wind's tugging at the trees and they're letting go of their leaves. I love it when they're sailing in the air, I'm never in a hurry to sweep them up. I think there's something joyous and energising about dancing autumn leaves. OK so I'm waxing a bit lyrical - but for some strange reason they make me happy. |
Hello, back again, having now daubed the day away. My picture is still wet on the easel - I've taken a pic for you but fear not, I'm not in Van Gogh's league yet. As always - it hasn't turned out as good as the photograph I used for reference but never mind.
When it's dry enough I'll take it to art class for Roland to comment and to tell me where I went wrong. |
15th November 2016
We went out to look at the moon last night and it was big and shiny - splendid! Had a good session painting yesterday afternoon - not sure if it's going to be a success but I'll carry on with it for now just in case it improves. |
Bern's coughing and spluttering big time - he's caught my cold and turned it into man flu.
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14th November 2016
We had a nail-biting afternoon yesterday following the NZ earthquake news. No one had heard from Jonathan (No 3 grandson) who lives in Canterbury, Christchurch. We had a message around tea-time, ( Monday morning for him) to say he'd woken up when the rumbles began but he was a bit tired so he slept through the rest of it. That's typical Jonathan - the entire family are in a texting frenzy trying to find out if anyone has heard from him and it turns out he's asleep. I sent him a firm order to keep his running shoes on. Bad news is it's happening all over again today - Jon says they have no power at the moment so they can't work. Stay safe Jon. I found this pic on a NZ News website - the poor cows didn't fare very well in the earthquake when the land fell away from where they were grazing - hope they manage to rescue them before they run out of grass. |
Tonight's the night for the Supermoon - it will be at its best at its closest point to earth. We won't quite be able to reach out and touch it but will only be a mere 221,524 miles away. Jay and Lesley have just spent a long weekend in the Lake District. I look forward to hearing all about it and maybe they'll have some good photographs. Here's a funny little fact that happened on November 14th (1896) the first 'Emancipation Run' London to Brighton which later became the London to Brighton Car Rally took place to celebrate the increase in the British speed limit from 4 to 14 mph. I reckon it'd be quicker to walk.
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12th November 2016
It's Bern's turn to do the dying duck today - he's caught my sore throat and cold of last week. My throat is better but I have a sore nose. We've been keeping well away from Babba Jai under the circumstances. I'll be glad to be out of quarantine so I can munch the little man. Just popping out for a paper now - the Telegraph usually has a decent collection of Sudoku to keep Bern happy over the weekend. He'll pop a paracetamol and sit glued to his puzzles, probably muttering a bit when he gets to the tough ones. |
Back again: Codsall Co-op is still in chaos, it took me ages to track down a bag of sugar. It's like going on a hunter-gatherer foraging jaunt - I keep finding myself lurking in the wrong aisle and peering round the fenced off bits trying to pinpoint my prey.
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Time to get moonstruck.... over the next few nights, if skies are clear enough, we should be able to see the biggest supermoon in years. On the 14th November the moon will be closer to Earth than it has been since January 1948. (I was eight then, can't remember whether or not I saw it.) The moon won't come this close to Earth again until November 25th 2034. What’s more, the moon won’t come this close to Earth again until November 25th 2034. - chances are I won't see that one either! This year's November moon will be the closest and largest moon we've seen in a period of 86 years.
The correct term for a full moon is perigee - click on the link for more information. |
11th November 2016
Here we are - another Armistice Day full of sorrow, sadness, regret - and around the globe futile battles are raging. I don't get it. You'd think by now, after millennia of warring, the human race could learn to co-exist with its own kind. Surely we're intelligent enough to agree to disagree without killing each other. Obviously not... and we call it the civilised world. |
We've been to do a birthday visit to my brother this morning. We had a pleasant time chatting over coffee and for some strange reason ended up talking about our funerals. It all gets a bit disconcerting when you stop to discuss such events and what a topic with which to celebrate someone's birthday - we must be mad! Then we did a Sainsbury dash - well more of a shuffle - and then home again to get online to pay my car insurance. It was a fun morning until the conversation took a wrong turn. Good job he had lots of jokey cards and plenty of his favourite Toblerone. I've just remembered something I read the other day about Toblerone - I wonder if the birthday ones are new shape or old shape. They've changed the design to make them weigh less - I hope my brother's not too disappointed. Looks like they've scrapped alternate chunks.
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5.00 p.m. Back again: we're just back from a trip to Ikea. We went on a whim - did the walk - and came home again. But I did buy two bags of frozen meatballs from their shop - veggie ones for me and meat ones for Bern. Now what idiots would battle along the congested M6 just for meatballs? Must put the kettle on now, Carol's coming for an after-work cup of tea, maybe she'll fancy a meatball.
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9th November 2016
As you might imagine on this memorable morning of Donald Trimp's triumph, Facebook is buzzing with satirical comment and opinion. I just fell about when I saw this picture of the Statue of Liberty - well done to the Photo Shop whizz who created it. |
I got away with things at yesterday's writers' meeting - i.e. turning up with and reading an old piece for this week's homework. Having read my ghost story and fessing up to it being an old one, they said they didn't remember it. Which has me thinking maybe it didn't have much impact first time round. I've posted it on the Jottings page in case you fancy a story.
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Back again: I just nipped out for a haircut. At last I've found a hairdresser who will trim my hair at a sensible price. Other establishments in the village (I've tried them all) will give me a dry cut if I pay a whopping amount i.e. the cost of a cut, wash, and blow dry - in the region of £30 or more. I can't manage the backward sinks, the hot blower on the artery repair in my neck is a no-no. Tidying up my wispy hair hardly warrants that sort of price. Rene recommended Image Hair Studio - so now I have a regular appointment with Kerry. Of course they do all the posh stuff for those who need it - but I'm happy to have found somewhere to get a simple trim for a reasonable fee. You can find them on Facebook - Image Hair Studio.
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8th November 2016
Bit of a shock to the system this morning - haven't seen him for ages but he was certainly here last night. Jack Frost (aka Old Man Winter) has made his presence felt in these parts, giving me a sudden yen for warmer climes. What with the frosty garden and a letter saying it's time to cough up for my car insurance - I'm not on the sunny side of the street today. |
7th November 2016
Still feeling sorry for myself with a streaming cold - needless to say, the extra chilly weather isn't overly welcome either. OK so I'm a wimp and as I was lying low yesterday there's not much to report. Whoops! there goes the letterbox - it was quite a thump, another load of circulars and booklets all saying "buy me". They'll be in the recycling bin before you can say "no I don't want to buy your tatty wares." Considering we should be saving the planet the amount of needless paper shoved through our letterboxes increases. I could bang on forever, but they never let up, so why should I ? |
In the past November 7th has been a "disappearing day". In 1872 the Mary Celeste set sail from New York and was later found drifting and mysteriously abandoned. (The Mary Celeste later came to be known as the Marie Celeste). In 1974 Lord Lucan (alleged murderer) went missing. Both incidents remain unresolved.
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I haven't managed my ghost story yet for tomorrow's writers' meeting. Now shall I get stuck in or dig out an old one and hope no one remembers it?
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We're never surprised at what Rene gets up to. (Our 90 years old writers' group member). She's currently learning and practicing a Filipino song and dance routine to perform at her residents' group social evening - they're having a multi-cultural theme. Her great-granddaughter is from the Philippines and last Christmas gave Rene a lovely Sari which she'll be wearing to do her "turn". I wonder if there'll be a photograph.
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5th November 2016
Do you have your sparklers ready? Penny for the Guy? I imagine you're all out there dragging home a few logs, scraping up the burnable stuff from the garden. Bonfire night was so exciting when we were kids and we'd spend half-term week dragging stuff from near and far to build up a fire. I'm happy to hide inside these days and even happier not to have to fork out for fireworks - have you seen the ridiculous prices? |
We're in the middle of Diwali too - so Happy Diwali to Rajni, Andy and Jai and all the Chanian family. When little Jai is a little older he'll have Diwali and Bonfire Night to provide him with plenty of sparkle, twinkle, and bangs. I have to err on the side of Diwali, it's more spiritual than our Guy Fawkes night which marks what would now be called an act of terrorism. Diwali is the five-day festival of lights, celebrated by millions across the world. The festival celebrates new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness.
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4th November 2016
Profuse and abject apologies for failing to get back here after yesterday's art class. Brrr wasn't it cold? I've a nice little button story for you. James called in yesterday afternoon - well he appeared at lunchtime so you can guess the rest and afterwards we chatted and he and Bern sorted out the Wolves football performances. It was his rest day before doing an "on duty" weekend. He came armed with his rather nice blue Harris tweed jacket. He'd decided the buttons on it were old fogey-ish so he'd bought new buttons and would I sew them on. I asked where he'd acquired the new buttons and he said, online. I thought this a bit odd, but when you think about it there's nowhere in Wolverhampton where you can buy buttons - we no longer have well-stocked haberdashery shops and the sewing department in House of Fraser (Beatties) is closed. I'm still bemused as to what constitutes old fogey buttons, but the new ones do look very nice. I guess we all have our little foibles and I reckon he inherited that one from his Dad. Nearly forgot - here's my art class offering, it's one of my five-a-day, a Braeburn apple executed in charcoal. |
This button business reminded me of another button tale that intrigues me. It's about a Wolverhampton man whose signature is on the American Declaration of Independence. Button Gwinnett (1735-1777) was married in St Peter's Church. He settled in America and became involved in politics. He was made representative of Georgia to the Continental Congress and was the second of the signatories on the United States Declaration of Independence. He was also, briefly, the provisional president of Georgia in 1777. Gwinnett County, now major suburb of metropolitan Atlanta, was named after him. Gwinnett died in a duel - killed by a rival, Lachlan McIntosh, following a dispute after a failed invasion of East Florida.
Amazing isn't it - that a chap from just up the road should be called upon to sign such an historic document. Now I'm wondering if Button was his proper name - I suppose it's better than Shoe-lace , Belt or Buckle. |
2nd November 2016
It's an "oh dear" day - little Babba Jai is poorly with a touch of bronchitis. He's been checked at the hospital and is staying home to be calm and quiet. Rajni says he's not very lively at the moment. |
Police Smart Alert system has sent us a link - here it is
http://www.met.police.uk/docs/little_book_scam.pdf in case anyone wants to read about the scams that are currently happening. The link takes you to a Met Police booklet in pdf format so you can save it your computer or read it online here. |
The reason you were spared my prattle too early in the day is that it was such a lovely sunshiny morning Bern and I went out and did a bit more gardening. We finished off the bulb planting and did a bit of general tidying up. We also nipped next door to prune Alison's roses and sneak some bulbs into her pots. We thought they'd be a surprise for her next spring. It was pretty crisp out there and a bit of a cold shock to the system. Then I did my usual trick of falling asleep on the sofa after our mid-day ham sandwich. No stamina I guess - what a wuss! Is that still the word for wimp?
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We had a lovely Haiku afternoon yesterday at Codsall Writers' meeting. Loads of chat and laughs as we discussed each other's work. Here's one of mine...
Autumn treads softly Painting the woodland floor with perfect pigments |
1st November 2016
Here we are then - in what I think of as the Grey Month. Often shrouded in grey mist, darker days, autumn colour fading, and a bit early for the bright lights of 'C'. It's the limbo month of the calendar - the lull before 'C' kicks off. I think the shopping frenzy hovering on the horizon causes a death wish and I worry about the misguided who will max out on their credit cards. Aren't I the happy little bunny this morning? Perhaps I'd better change tack before we're all suicidal. Anyway, welcome to November - white rabbits, pinch punch first of the month, and all that rubbish. And while I'm on the superstitious stuff, "good morning Mr Magpie," he's hopping about on the garage roof. |
What's in the pipeline today? It's writers' meeting for me - we'll all be giving our Haiku a first airing. How very Japanese! I doubt we'll be able to impress dear old Basho.
I've just been out to the bin and there were no goblin footprints about - little spook did the biz last night. I've tucked him up and put him away until next year. |
Matsuo Basho (bah-shoh), pseudonym of Matsuo Munefusa (1644-94), Japanese poet, considered the finest writer of Japanese haiku during the formative years of the genre. Born into a samurai family prominent among nobility, Basho rejected that world and became a wanderer, studying Zen, history, and classical Chinese poetry, living in apparently blissful poverty under a modest patronage and from donations by his many students. From 1667 he lived in Edo (now Tokyo), where he began to compose haiku.
Matsuo Basho 1644 - 1694 www.poetryconnection.net/poets |
Richard's coming again today - a bit more computer sorting out required. I think computers have become something of which one can say, we can't live with 'em and we can't live without 'em - necessary evils these days and they always end up costing us more money than we planned to part with. Nowt we can but shrug and say "hey ho!"
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Maggie has just been round - it goes without saying that coffee and chat took place and we raided the "naughty tin" for something to go with it. She liked my autumn leaf picture so I've decided to let you see it but do bear in mind I wasn't aiming for realism. It was a test run for my new Caran D'Ache Neocolour II watersoluble- crayons.
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30th October 2016
The extra hour in bed hasn't given us bed sores so I trust no one else is suffering from them. Anyone listening to Alan Bennett reading the his latest published diaries? Radio 4 and repeated on Radio 4 Extra on DAB. He's one of my literary heroes and I admire his wry, unpretentious style. |
29th October 2016
Bliss... I didn't wake up once last night, it's a wonder my eyes haven't healed over. I slept so well (first time in yonks) it was nearly 10am before we had our porridge. Mother Nature has been busy, our flowering cherry is daubed with red, pink, rust and yellow; and the sycamore over the road seems to be covered in golden cornflakes. The spectacle of autumn colour never lets us down and deserves our applause. |
Tuesday's writers meeting homework has crept into my head this morning - we have to write a couple of Haiku. Autumn leaves might be a good starting point. Keats has already cornered the autumn market with his famous Ode to Autumn so it'll be difficult to find a new 'take' on the subject. This week I've been doing a picture with an autumn theme, it's not a realistic thing, more what they call stylised. If it works out I'll show it to you. Sorry about this autumnal overdose but right now the landscape is rather inspirational.
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Must remember to do the clocks tonight - back to Greenwich Mean Time - which, I presume, is proper time. Time has been messed about with over hundreds of years, I reckon no one really knows what the proper time is. I see the Russians are changing the clocks for the last time this year and staying put from now on.
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28th October 2016
Phew! what an achey night - I was glad to get up this morning. I had my radio earphones in all night and listened to a programme about Hank Marvin and The Shadows - so there I was, half awake, back in the fifties remembering our times at the Youth Club in Bilbrook Church Hall. The village bobby always called in so we pretty much behaved ourselves in those days. Oh to be the person I was back then when we considered anyone over 40 was on their last legs and never felt sympathy for elderly relatives who moaned about their arthritis. Maybe I'm getting my just deserts. Another little snippet I heard, can't remember what the programme was, but someone suggested that the punishment for chucking chewing gum on the pavement (horrible mess!) should be sticking it in the guilty person's hair. Good idea? - well I applauded it in the middle of the night when I was feeling grumpy. |
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Well, well, well, would you believe it? I've had a lovely surprise - we've just arrived home from what I thought was an impromptu outing - Bern decided it'd be nice to go for a ride. BUT... at the end of the "ride" we were at the Hollybush Garden Centre near Cheslyn Hay. I found a little crowd waiting for me to have afternoon tea - Karen, Carol, Rajni, Jai, Ian, Jenny, Jay and Olivia. Les, Andy and Gary couldn't wangle the time off work but there were enough fancy cakes over to take home for them.
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27th October 2016
Congratulations Candice Brown - this year's GBBO number one - the pout paid off, she held her nerve and came up with the goodies. She'll be cooking up fame and fortune now - good luck Candice. I thought the challenges were daunting. The one where they had to do 49 different items makes my once-in-a-blue-moon carrot cake look feeble. |
Codsall Co-op Chaos: I just popped to the shop and went round and round the shelves like a whirling dervish looking for a loaf. Where the bread used to be is now an area the size of a dance floor given over to booze. I finally found bread where the pasta used to be. I walked along the freezer section and found three different areas for chips. Where's the logic? They're either on a mission to exercise the oldies, or some scatter-brained organiser of Co-ops is off their rocker. Or, maybe it's a ploy to test our memories to stave off geriatric forgetfulness. I even met a check-out girl wandering round perplexed because no one knew where they'd stacked the dried onions. And if you're off to the Co-op yourself, toilet rolls are where the chocolate used to be, biscuits are where the toiletries were and the rest is anyone's guess. Happy hunting!
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26th October 2016
Today's the day - it's the Bake Off final. I don't have a favourite - will it be the Scottish engineer, the lipstick girl, or the older lady? It wouldn't surprise me if a cosmetic manufacturer offered the lipstick lady an advertising contract - she's quite pouty isn't she? |
UGH! Did you see BBC's 'Autumn Watch' last night. That Edible Dormouse gave me the heebie-jeebies. It's a non-indigenous species and proving problematic - another cute little furry thing that doesn't belong here and damaging properties. I've Googled to find out more about it and up popped several recipes for cooking it. "Not on your nelly!" I yelled . Even if we're down to bread and dripping - there's no way I'm eating mouse. Imagine it alongside your roast spuds and greens. Apparently it's been on the menu since Roman times - if you ask me, the Romans can keep it! There's always the burgher option - anyone for a Big-Mac-Mouse?
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25th October 2016
Techno problems again: Richard was here yesterday afternoon to fix things and install new anti-virus software. Since then some stuff is giant-sized and toolbars and menus are teeny weeny. I've fiddled bout hoping to resolve things and probably dug deeper into the doo-doo. So I now await another visit from computer-whiz Richard. I think I'm going to blame Windows 10 for the confusion. Putting all that aside, I've had a lovely day with birthday messages from near and far - lots of lovely visitors including Babba Jai - flowers, cards, gifts and during a lull in the happenings Bern and I nipped out for lunch at the garden centre, then there was a lengthy phone call from my sister in Caerphilly. Thank you everyone for your kindness, good wishes, and Facebook messages. |
24th October 2016
Jay and Lesley called in yesterday afternoon and Rene popped round this morning - it's lovely to see them all and chat. |
If you have stuff you need to take to the tip do it before 1st November - after that date certain items will be chargeable. Bern took the downstairs toilet fittings and was told had he waited until 1st November he would have been charged £12. I suspect such charges will increase the incidences of fly tipping?
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22nd October 2016
Nothing exciting happening today - we've done Sainsbury's, made a fruit cake, pegged the washing and now Bern's ironing the duvet cover. Hardly life in the fast lane is it? I was amused by an item on Facebook about the word 'trumpery' - can't remember the exact wording but I've looked up 'trumpery' and my dictionary gives the meaning as... 'worthless article, rubbish, showy but worthless, delusive, shallow' - I think it sums up someone I may have mentioned recently. A childish comment I guess and heaven forbid that I might... |
I think snigger is a horrible word - I wonder if snigger is stronger than smirk and sneer; all distasteful really. Perhaps I should settle for a smiling sweetly whilst keeping malevolent thoughts to myself.
We're into half-term so the pressure is off regarding writers' homework and art projects for the coming week. Plenty of thumb twiddling time then. |
21st October 2016
It's Trafalgar Day today - commemorating the 1805 battle and the death of Admiral Nelson. These days he makes a magnificent pigeon perch on his London plinth. It's also a day to remember the terrible Aberfan disaster in Wales (1966). Often life deals a cruel blow and all we can offer are words of sympathy because there's nothing to cure the pain. |
My friend Maggie is hotfooting to Heathcotes today (our trusty printers) to collect her 'C' cards. It's going to be a right royal paper exchange at the end of term when we foist our amateur artworks on each other.
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The sunshine tempted me outside for a quick flurry of garden activity. I planted a pot with orange tulips hoping it will brighten a dull morning early next year. There's nothing like getting ahead of yourself - we haven't done 'C' yet and already I'm dreaming of spring. Bern's had an energy burst too and attacked the garage door with brush and paint. It was a porridge morning today (oat cuisine) maybe that's what set our old bones in motion.
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I'm upstairs now communing with my computer. I've made a tentative start on the writers' group spring programme. Time now for a bit of Scrabble - I play it on Facebook - giving me a worthy excuse for nosing around to see what everyone is up to on my way to the Scrabble games.
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20th October 2016
Hello: sorry I didn't have time to chat first thing this morning... it's art class day so I had to dive off the minute I'd downed my Shredded Wheat. Anyone else a fan of it? I'm loyal to it because of all the cereals it has the least sugar, salt, and all things nasty that we're told to avoid. Mind you, it is a bit like tackling bales of hay. Anyway, fortified with my pitch fork fodder, I tootled off with a vague idea of doing something in charcoal, for the simple reason it's light to carry. |
Home again now - here's my picture - a bleak landscape in charcoal on cartridge paper. Roland told me to put some figures in it. I explained that I had but they'd walked on, and were out of sight round the bend. (like me) Thing is, I just can't draw people. I suppose I never will if I don't get and try... but that's a story for another day.
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19th October 2016
We've been to the printer again this morning to collect the 'C' cards - thanks to Matt for the swift turnaround and pleasing result. Maggie and Jose are getting their cards done too and probably some of the others in our art group - we all keep them under wraps until the end of term and on the last day we have the big "reveal" when we swap cards - the great paper exchange. Having said all this I guess I'm something of a bigot as I'm known to bang on about saving the planet and profess to worrying about trees and the unnecessary mountains of paper that proliferates around the globe these days. I console myself by topping up the recycling bin with every scrap of useless paper that comes my way. |
18th October 2016
I didn't realise it's three days since my last visit. I was a bit preoccupied yesterday as Brian (plumber) was here all day to sort out the downstairs loo. Prior to that I guess the weekend must have slipped by unnoticed. I think I had a few "off" moments following a couple of sleepless nights so I may have dropped off watched by the telly. Anyway, enough of all that. We're really pleased with the new loo and dinky wash basin. The toilet is not bottom shaped at all - more square if anything - in summary I suppose one could say despite it's pleasing aesthetics it's anatomically alien. But I still like it, and later on, when Brian had left, the commissioning ceremony took place, if you get my drift. |
No writers' group homework accomplished. I'm going to have a firm word with myself about resisting my propensity to run out of steam.
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There has been a report of a burglary in Alexander Road, Codsall. Sometime overnight on Monday 17 and today, Tuesday 18 October, unknown offender(s) have gained entry to the property by lock snapping the rear patio door. Offenders have then taken car keys to a vehicle at the property before making off in the vehicle, a white Audi S5 convertible. If you have any information which could assist Police with their enquiries, please call 101 quoting incident number 66 of 18 October. Please be on your guard and ensure properties are left secure at all times and keys removed from doors and windows. Please also consider storing keys to motor vehicles away out of sight and please do report any suspicious activity to the Police immediately. For more information and advice about crime prevention or information about your local policing team visit the Staffordshire Police website at www.staffordshire.police.uk. Please encourage friends and neighbours to sign up to Staffordshire Smart Alert via www.staffordshiresmartalert.uk – together we can fight crime.
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15th October 2016
Sunshine, not too cold, and seven magpies on the garage roof this morning. Haven't a clue what that foretells because the rhyme doesn't run to seven... oh well... que sera sera. We've washed the bird poo off the garden chairs and tables and put them to bed for the winter which means we've stacked them up behind the garage and put a green cover over them. What's the betting we'll get an Indian Summer now? |
Looks like the world's gone mad again - I just don't get the point of this creepy clown business that's happening right now. There's a lot of people out there with a malevolent streak who just don't think things through. And of course, we have the creepiest clown of all - the charming Mr Trump. I couldn't help but smile when I read a news item about a chap in Cumbria who dressed up as Batman to chase the clowns away. Or maybe he's as daft as the people dressed as clowns - I can't decide.
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Jay popped in yesterday evening on his way home from work - cups of tea, catch up time, pleasant interlude .
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We're just going to the printers now with the Yule card (can't say the 'C' word yet). Back later...
Home again - Jose decided to come along too - we had an interesting time watching Matt (the computer whizz at Heathcote Print & Design) scanning our paintings and setting up our cards on his Apple Mac. He was super efficient - we were soon done and dusted and the cards will be ready for collection on Wednesday. From there we went to Bell Plumbing to collect the new downstairs loo - Bern looked quite flushed after manhandling it into the car.
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Today is the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings - the French recorded their conquest on the famous Bayeux Tapestry which was commissioned by William's half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux in the NW France. William was crowned William 1st of England on Christmas day 1066. In various parts of England people rebelled against the Norman invasion but William managed to suppress the uprisings and the takeover was more or less completed by 1072. C'est la vie.
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13th October 2016
There were five magpies dancing on the garage roof this morning. I tried to remember the old rhyme... "one for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, and four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold." I consulted one of my numerous tomes "The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland. " It gives several versions of the ancient ditty and one versions says five magpies foretell a death. Mmm... I think I'll abandon that train of thought. I know lots of people dislike magpies but I'm quite fond of them, lovely colouring, and I like the hoppity-skippity way they move and their aerodynamic shape when in flight. |
12th October 2016
We've been on a lavatorial jaunt this morning - we popped up to Bell Plumbing (Gary's place of work) to order a new loo for downstairs. Just a bog standard white one. No doubt the world is better for learning that wee scrap of information. Our Gary is a smashing son-in-law so I took him a piece of cake to have with his morning coffee. |
I've decided to push the boat out and have our Yule cards printed at a pucker place rather than churn them out on my computer as I usually do. Just for once I've abandoned my cheap skate habit. Several people at our art class use Heathcote Print & Design so I'm giving them a go this year - I've an appointment on Friday morning to sort things out. It's the same little local company that prints our writers' group anthology. Those on my card list can look forward to posh naff rather than home made naff greetings this year.
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11th October 2016
Does anyone know how to deter squirrels from taking over the garden? We're plagued with them - little blighters! I planted some tubs last weekend and these maurauding monsters have dug up the bulbs and replaced them with walnuts. I don't know where the walnuts are from - they're still in their outer shell and they're being buried all round our garden. Lovely large ripe walnuts - someone's going to be disappointed when they come to harvest their nuts. I'd forgive them were they indigenous red ones but these greedy grey things are gruesome. |
Writers' meeting again - no homework done. Oops! I forgot to mention that Carol called in yesterday evening on her way from work - actually she has to take a detour as her office is in Telford. She comes over to Codsall to check out us oldies, then home to Shrewsbury. She looked quite tanned after their spell in the Spanish sunshine.
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10th October 2016
I feel sorry for the American electorate having to witness the tit-for-tat political shenanigans. The voters are between a rock and hard place with Donald's camp doing a "pillory Hilary" campaign whilst Mrs Clinton carries on in "Dump Trump" mode. The satirists are having a field day and who can blame them? I've not heard much about manifestos and policies - it's more a battle of personalities with top gun being the one who can dig up sleaze about the opponent and deliver it in a vitriolic manner. It's all become very tiresome and personally, I wouldn't want either of them for President after this undignified fiasco. I know our politicians can be puerile but this time the US wins hands downs on bad taste, tacky, and cringe-worthy. My cousin has posted this warning notice on Facebook. I've included it here just in case anyone hasn't come across it before, it reminds us that there's always someone trying to pinch our money. And to every dishonest someone I say, "Get a proper job you lazy thieving scammer!" |
8th October 2016
Good Luck to Ian (no 1 grandson). He's in Lisbon this weekend playing for England in the AFL Eurocup 2016. In case you're wondering - AFL is all about Australian Rules Football. I've watched him play a few times but it's quite a different ball game from the football we're used to (pun intended). Sometimes they hold the ball like in rugby - they have the weirdest goal posts and the pitch and the ball are oval. A goal equals 6 points and a behind equals 1 point. That's as far as I understand it - and I'm unsure what a behind is but it has nothing to do with the players' trouser area. |
7th October 2016
Such a lot of nasty stuff going on at the moment - the carnage in Syria, Hurricane Matthew, squabbling politicians here and in the US and that's only scratching the surface - it's a bad old world. In a few weeks time everyone will be raiding the loft for their decorations ready for the seasonal jollifications - angels, santas, reindeers and robins giving out their feel-good factor so we can pretend all's right with the world. I've mentioned before what a cynic I am so brace yourselves for my bag-humbug moments, they're looming. |
I had a disastrous art morning yesterday - another one bites the dust. Bern and I then had lunch in the Pattingham Café followed by a fab afternoon with Babba Jai - bottles, bottoms, burps, playtime with rattles and things, nursery rhymes, lots of kisses and cuddles - I'm saying this to make Carol well-jell - she hasn't seen him for a fortnight. I was surprised how quickly he's growing and no longer the little sparrow squeaks from his early days - the minute he decides he's hungry he switches off his smiles and all hell breaks loose with the liveliest paddywack known to mankind.
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Yesterday was National Poetry Day. Maggie has sent us a link to a TV programme screened to celebrate the day. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07yc9mq/railway-nation-a-journey-in-verse Here's another link - it a programme narrated by Rick Stein talking about John Betjeman - I watched this last night - enjoyed it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00792l4/betjeman-and-me-rick-steins-story I love this sculpture of John Betjeman by Martin Jennings. It is larger than life-size, over two metres high, and captures the old buffer beautifully. It is sited at St Pancras station and was installed following the 2007 refurbishment of the station in thanks to Betjeman for his campaigning efforts to have the station maintained. The poet had a lifelong love of railways and his favourite way to travel was, of course, by train. |
5th October 2016
We have a birthday girl today... ta-dah! It's Rajni... have a lovely day on your '0' birthday. Although... I think little Jai may have revealed your secret on his page and anyway it's all over Facebook now. Oh well... girls and their ages is always a touchy subject. Nothing we can do about birthdays but enjoy the cake and bubbly Raj. |
I have to pop to the Co-op now for milk and a brown loaf - back later all being well.
Back again: isn't it always the way when you go in a shop for a bottle of milk - you come out with piles of stuff you didn't know you needed until it called out to you from the supermarket shelf. Another of life's little mysteries I suppose. |
I guess Carol and Gary will be repacking their suitcases right now, ready to head home. I hate that feeling when you get back from a holiday - the lovely time you were having is quickly over, money spent, it's all in the past: and here you are back where you started before you went and nothing to show for it but a depleted bank balance and a phone full of photos. Not that I'm a miserable cynic... unless you know better!
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4th October 2016
Nothing much to report today. I'm still reading Maggie's book Everything and Nothing by Araminta Hall - it's good. I can't linger long this morning as I need to get ready for today's meeting - I've already bragged about having done my homework so I'll not bore you with that. It's also the day to collect my shed load of pills and potions - yes, I get potions as well for my shrinking skin caused by the scleroderma. My face is itching like mad this morning so I'll have to try not to be too twitchy at the meeting in case people think I have something contagious. I hasten to add that it's definitely not contagious. Do you like the pic? Animals say it so well - somehow there's bliss in a good scratch. |
3rd October 2016
Another lovely morning - washing pegged and flapping in the breeze. And, guess what, I've managed my homework for tomorrow's writers' meeting. Hallelujah! I can turn up with a clear conscience. We have to do a piece of flash fiction - i.e. write a story in exactly 100 words. It's quite difficult to squeeze a little plot into 100 words with a beginning, middle, and end and make it readable. |
It looks like the PM has put her cards on the table over Brexit. I don't envy her the task of unravelling all those EU rules and the numerous associated anomalies. An instance when we just have to "wait and see".
Jay and Les took advantage of yesterday's fine weather to do some outside painting - I think it was their new garage doors getting the treatment this time. |
Bern's ferretting about in his den chasing up money. We recently changed energy suppliers and he's yelling at the old supplier to pay back the amount we had in credit. That's the trouble with these companies; they're very good at hounding customers for money but reluctant to hand back overpayments. We all laugh because we know he'll go at it like a terrier. Go get 'em Bern.
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1st October 2016
Good morning - happy new month - albeit the spooky one. I've just been reading about the black moon that's been lurking in the heavens. If that's not spooky I don't know what is. Apparently it's a rare lunar event and in our part of the planet we had a black moon last night - damn, I missed it ! |
I'm really stumped for an idea for our Yule cards this year (too early to mention the 'C' word). It's become customary at our art class to design our own cards. Toni did hers back in March, Jose claims mission accomplished, and the rest of us are still floundering.
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We braved the wet murky morning to do the supermarket shopping - back home for a quick sandwich and then out again into the rain to get our flu jabs. Doreen and Brian were in the queue too - we only had time for a quick chat as it was like a geriatric convention at the surgery with a never-ending stream of one-sleeve-rolled-up oldies flabby upper arms revealed for the production line jab. I hate my aged arms - I think all oldies look better covered up. When we got home it felt like the sun had come out - Babba Jai arrived bringing his Daddy with him. Rajni was out with her girl friends for a pre-birthday lunch. She has an "0" birthday on Wednesday. We had a lovely couple of hours doing baby things before they left to collect Mummy.
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30th September 2016
So soz (that's teenage text speak for sorry) for having been incommunicado for a couple of days. The old rheumatics slowed me down blah blah blah - no good moaning everyone has their problems, so I've given myself a shake before September is finally spent. What's been going on? Er... nothing much. I went to writers' meeting on Tuesday, and Art class on Thursday and produced nothing of note on both occasions. Conclusion: productivity and creativity = zilch. I don't know about giving myself a shake I think I need a massive boot up the do-dah. It'll be October tomoz so I'll turn over a new leaf. Soz about the tomoz but I do love these daft words the young ones come up with. |
Carol and Gary are enjoying a little break in Southern Spain - they're lazing about in endless sunshine. Sounds heavenly. This pic landed on my phone and I responded by asking "is Gary having a Satsuma Moment?" - Carol replied "It's more Tangerine Dream." Time to sing, all together now... "Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling Clementine..." I remember an ad on the telly that said... the future is Orange. Strikes me the here and now is remarkably Orange too. And get the Arsenal beach towel - fancy waving that while wearing shorts in a Wolves' colour. That was a brief lesson in how to wind-up one's son-in-law in a couple of sentences.
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26th September 2016
Everything's' still quiet in our little world with nothing exciting to report. We're doing techno stuff at the moment to stop our Whats App messages getting plastered all over Facebook - apparently Facebook and Whats App are joining forces on Wednesday. It's beginning to feel like we're all living in a goldfish bowl with the world peering in at us - so much for social media, somehow it's beginning to lose its attraction. |
25th September 2016
We got quite engrossed in finishing off Bern's den yesterday - wallpapering. We agreed that this is the very last time we attempt to do it ourselves. We lack gusto these days - or whatever it is one needs to attack these jobs. It's the tiniest room but it felt like we were doing the Albert Hall. Not that I'm given to exaggeration you understand... but we're both a bit achey today after all the bending and stretching and slopping about with a bucket of gloopy paste. |
Sunday afternoon - there's absolute silence downstairs - I think Bern has dozed off in his big armchair - the one Jay has put his name on. It's a bit of a family joke that when we buy anything any of them like - they register first claim on it for "when the time comes" by being first to declare "I've put my name on it".
I've been sifting through the bookcases and found more defunct paperwork to shove in the recycling. No matter how many times I declutter I always find a paper mountain to dispose of. |
23rd September 2016
Late again - I can just about squeeze in a "good morning" before the clock says mid-day. I've been titivating both the writers' and the art group's websites - a little task that keeps me out of mischief and in so doing I frequently wander off at a tangent looking up this and that - it's so easy to lose an hour here and there. I've nothing stupendous to report - Bern's still messing about in his den doing a bit of decorating. Trouble is when you start moving things you unearth dust you didn't know you had. I think he's allergic to house dust as he's coughing and spluttering for England. Maybe I'd better offer to help. |
I've had a quick look at this morning's Wolverhampton Chronicle - I see that Bilbrook Post Office is closing on the 27th for a refurb, reopening on Sept 30th. After the spruce up it will be open 7 days per week from 6 am to 11 pm. Why? Strikes me such places, including banks, either withdraw their services completely or they hop into overdrive. Just the job for when I need a stamp at the crack of dawn or verging on midnight - imagine, just when you're thinking of putting your jim-jams on, you say, "I must pop down the road for a stamp."
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22nd September 2016
Here we are at the Autumn Equinox: as we're officially into autumn I've been looking round the BBC website to see what they have to say about it. I read one of their articles "facts about autumn" which says... "Women lose more hair in Autumn: they hold on to it in summer to protect their scalps against the midday sun." Just what we girls wanted to hear (not). If you want to know what other little gems they have come up with pertaining to autumn (aptly named Fall when talking hair I suppose) here's a link to the complete list: http://bbc.in/2cRWWT3 |
Forget about that pen I was raving about yesterday. I didn't have much success with it this morning - a considerable amount of drawing paper has ended up in the bin. |
I was amused by item 22 on the above list:
22. "Mists and mellow fruitfulness" The famous Keats quotation from his poem "To Autumn", was inspired by a walk in the water meadows behind Winchester College – a walk he only took to escape the racket of his landlady’s daughter practising her violin. |
So Mary's leaving Bake Off - what can I say except, "Crumbs!" Maybe she's going to 'turnover' a new leaf - news that really takes the biscuit. Maybe Mary has enough dough to retire now while Paul moves on to earn a crust with Chanel 4. Kneads be as kneads must, as they say. The world awaits the outcome but the proof of the pudding and all that...
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21st September 2016
Sometimes I look at Babba Jai and get the feeling he knows something I don't as he watches us with mild amusement. He's a sunny little soul but I'm sure he thinks he's been landed with a bunch of crazy adults who bore him with baby babble. We're all getting good at baby talk - I reckon he'll grow out of it before the grown ups. |
September 21st, along with September 14th, were once known as the Devil's Nutting Days. People were advised not to gather hazelnuts on these days as the Devil would be roaming in the woods. Both dates are holy days: Holy Cross Day and St Matthew's Day. It's thought that the church put out the story to discourage people from enjoying themselves venturing into the woods on a holy day. Back in the day (I hate that stupid phrase) they were good at putting the wind up people with tales of Old Nick.
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Time to stuff things in my art bag ready for tomorrow - big headache about what to take and what to do. If inspiration continues to elude me I'll have to settle for drawing in pen and ink - makes my bag less heavy too. I have a new pen I want to try out - it cost just over £2. It's a felt tip type pen designed for calligraphy. I saw a demo on You Tube about using it for drawing - when you brush water onto the drawing the black ink bleeds into interesting colours. I fancied giving it a go and it won't be an overly expensive experiment. I think it's not the calligraphy nib that's made it of interest but the way the particular ink it contains reacts with water. Can't wait to see what happens.
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20th September 2016
I managed to do my homework so I can turn up at today's writers' meeting without a red face. Prior to that we're going to a friend's funeral but I hope to get to the meeting about half an hour after kick-off. No news to report today - the family seem to have their heads down busily working. We didn't catch up with Jay and Lesley last weekend as they were in Greywell with Lesley's folks. Hi there Jack and Audrey - hope all's well in Hampshire. |
19th September 2016
Good morning everyone - we had visitors yesterday morning, then the sunshine called us outside - following that I started messing about with my paints, with messing being the operative word. A pathetic effort ended up in the bin. And now it's mundane Monday again - time to worry about homework for tomorrow's writers' meeting - I'll attack that in a minute. We have to write a piece entitled "What I Know". That's a strange one - I need to mull, ponder, contemplate... or simply think it through. |
A £5 voucher was in this morning's post in response to my gripe about Flash Spray Cleaner with Bleach. Over recent months I've had 2-3 bottles of this with a cracked plastic tube inside. Obviously this caused the thing to fail to spray. One morning I off loaded my annoyance via e-mail to the manufacturer. My £5 was accompanied by a patronising letter explaining that I should always ensure that the nozzle is in the 'ON' position. Flipping heck! It's the first thing any idiot does when the stuff doesn't squirt. I tried to squirt with the nozzle in every bloody position without success. I'm tempted to send another e-mail quoting my mantra... "OK so I'm old, but I'm not daft." Maybe I'll not bother, they did send a fiver. Talking of fivers... I've not had one of the new plastic ones... have you seen one yet?
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17th September 2016
What's App was buzzing in the early hours of this morning - it was late afternoon for Jon so he decided to send a picture of his new car. He calls it an old banger but it looks pretty swish to me. Not that I know much about cars - as long as there's a wheel on each corner, a hole to put the petrol in and it goes, that's all that matters to me. Congratulations Maggie: she's had a poem published on a popular poetry site. http://www.spillingcocoa.com/
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16th September 2016
We had an early morning text from Rajni - she's bouncing up and down with excitement - Babba Jai has beamed his first smile - what a happy start to the day. We don't yet have a picture to prove it because he refuses to do it for the camera - don't they always? |
It's the anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower today - in 1620 it set sail for North America and after a nine week voyage arrived at Cape Cod with an extra passenger - a baby was born during the trip and his mother named him Oceanus. ...and we think today's baby names are bizarre. The Pilgrim Fathers, as the travellers were called, finally settled in Massachusetts and established a settlement which came to be known as New England. The Pilgrim Fathers were Puritans who suffered persecution under James I. Seems to me they're a group of Britons who did a bit of early asylum seeking. I think I've heard that term in recent times.
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15th September 2016
I couldn't pop in first thing as it was our first art session of the autumn term. I'm no longer fleet of foot and bouncing with energy so it's shovel down the Shredded Wheat, do my mid-morning coffee flask, stuff things in my art bag and I just about manage to get there for a 9.30 start. There was much chat and banter after the long break - some had visited exhibitions over the summer - some had tried new media (including me and the Yupo paper) giving us lots to talk about. |
The other day I saw a view that gave me an idea for a painting. Cornfield stubble glowing golden in the sunlight. In the distance an interesting collection of tall pines, their trunks shining out from the darkness around them. Shapes and colours that might lead to a promising abstract or an attempt at Impressionism. This afternoon the mist finally cleared and the sun struggled into being - I tootled off to get a photograph for reference. I walked to the edge of the field and a great brown rat scurried past my feet - undeterred I got ready to "shoot" and realised that since I'd first seen it as a golden glow it was now freshly ploughed acres of dark brown soil which did nothing to set off the trees. Note to self: never procrastinate !
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14th September 2016
There's nothing exciting happening today - I walked round the garden first thing - well... it was more of a quick shuffle round our few square yards to see what's what - it was warmish and very damp following last night's thunder storm. We're going to Homebase this morning to buy another tub of brown stuff for the fence - how thrilling is that? Our little cyclamen are looking lovely again and they're spreading everywhere. I help them along by collecting seeds but they're pretty good at hurling themselves around the garden when the seed pods go pop. |
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There was amusing discussion at yesterday's writers' meeting. The homework for reading was to compile a "Desert Island Disc" list of music or books that you'd take to your desert island and give the reason for your choice. You might imagine the titles of stuff the younger ones and some older "rockers" came up with - I hadn't a clue what they were talking about. It's probably just as well that I'd reneged on this week's homework as they were spared my collection of Schubert and Shostakovich. Each to his own I guess. I liked Barrie's piece - his chosen music was "The Happy Wanderer" as it used to be sung at the Wolves' football matches at Molineux when he was a little boy, reminding him of his fortnightly trip with his Dad to watch the match. He said that afterwards they went to the UCP tripe shop for a plate of tripe and onions which he hated. But he suffered it because his Dad loved it. I remember that shop - it was opposite the old outside market near the town hall. I never went in - the tripe in the window always looked really scary to me - the food of nightmares. The top picture is uncooked tripe and below is a delicious dollop of cooked tripe. I wonder who the was the first person to say "let's eat some tripe". I hope said person was hung drawn and quartered.
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13th September 2016
It's plastic £5 note day today. They say it's no good rushing out to get your hands on one as it'll take a couple of weeks before they filter through. They are plastic (polymer) and 440 million of them go into circulation today. We have until next May to get rid of the current paper £5 notes - better check under the mattress then. |
Writers' Group today - haven't done the homework - hangs head in shame. Oh well... I'll just have to brazen it out and rely on my waffling skills.
A jubilant Jon has sent us a text from NZ to say he has wheels. He's bought an oldish car for getting to work. I replied with a granny-nagging about driving carefully - as you do. He'll roll his eyes, shake his head, and carry on as if I hadn't spoken. Jonathan!!! |
12th September 2016
You know the colourful Swedish clothes I like - well I was tickled pink to see Jo Brand wearing a Gudrun Sjoden dress on Friday's Great British Bake Off "Extra Slice" programme. How's that for a snippet of useless information? Pretty frock though. |
Jay and Les called in yesterday afternoon - they'd had a gardening weekend - seems like everyone is busily "tidying up for winter". Still on gardening - I read an article in Saturday's Telegraph that caused me great angst. Australian scientists have come up with the notion that trees can feel and scream. The noise they emit is at a decibel level inaudible to humans but apparently they yell when their leaves are deprived of water. Now I'm guilt ridden because we've just sawn a large branch off our silver birch - did the poor thing suffer pain?. How am I going to prune the roses? Mind you, the roses retaliate because I always end up with thorn torn hands.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qpgr/episodes/player The goings on in The Archers is hitting the headlines right now. Here's a link if you need to catch up with recent episodes. Just left click on the link above and then click the blue writing. This story has caused reactions across the country and highlighted many problems - as they say, it has "gone viral" (who coins these modern idioms?). I'm sure most people react in a spirit of fun but I always secretly wonder if there are people who think the fictitious happenings are real.
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10th September 2016
I've just been on the BBC website reading about a threatened invasion. I'm not too alarmed as I can cope with daddy-long-legs. A warm September combined with the amount of rain we've had means a record 200 billion daddy-long-legs are about to hatch and head in our direction. Watch out for them bouncing round your homes. Not to worry - they're harmless, non-poisonous, and they don't bite. They have a posh official name: Tipula Paludosa are the everyday ones and there is another type that can grow up to 4 inches long called Tipula Maxima. They're also known as crane flies. If we are besieged and you're apt to nod off in your armchair it might be worth a sticking plaster over your mouth just in case it sags open! |
9th September 2016
I didn't quite get here yesterday - sorry if you popped in to find me out. Bern had gone for his weekly route march and I'd nipped to the garden centre to look at the autumn bulbs. While I was there I saw the funniest thing (well I found it funny). I'd not seen one before but maybe you're familiar with them. It was a self service dog wash. I didn't see it in action but I saw a chap walking away from it with a damp and dejected dog in tow. It was big cage - I presume you shove your dog into it and then it gets shampooed and rinsed. It said to collect your tokens from the till just like at the car wash. I wonder what the dogs think - and is the water warm? I feel rather sorry for the dogs having to take a bath in public. I would think it feels like being put in the stocks on the village green while the world looks on and laughs. |
After the garden centre I went to give Babba Jai a munch. He was having a tummy-ache day so I ended up taking turns with the back-patting / gripe water / and cuddles. Apparently it's quite usual for premature babies to have what my Gran used to call "the colleywobbles". Gripe water brings back memories doesn't it. I didn't know it was still on the market. I bet we've all reached for a bottle of that in desperation.
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7th September 2016
We had a busy writers' meeting yesterday with 14 people turning up and enquiries from 2-3 prospective new members. I've just posted the pieces written for our Summer Challenges on the writers' website. Just in case you've a yen to read our amateur efforts you'll find the website link on the Home Page . It's our way of keeping the old grey matter up and running. |
I was waylaid by the secateurs this morning - once they're in my hand and I start snipping I never know when to stop. Before I know what's what I've generated a pile of rubbish enough to fill the green bin. I've also been collecting nasturtium seeds - another compulsion that I can't resist. I've not had to buy new seeds for years. I know they ramble all over the place and attract caterpillars but I like their brightly coloured trumpets which are much loved by the bees and we need to keep the bees happy these days.
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3rd September 2016
Good morning, Bern's busy with the wallpaper-getter-offer steamy gismo. Result! I'm keeping up the flow of coffee and biscuits to keep him in good humour. I've just been having a little worry about people who read their horoscopes and believe it. Thing is, over the centuries they've messed about with the calendar big time. In 1752 Britain switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar and changed September 3rd to September 14th. That means 11 days were lost. Loads of people had to forego their birthday that year, I reckon that if the planetary goings on have remained constant and the calendar dates have changed are they reading the wrong horoscope? |
1st September 2016
Firstly, I need to say that no, I haven't snuffed it (yet). During the last few days my back has been really painful and I couldn't sit to type. I manage the odd e-mail but that's all. Apologies for missing our chats and thanks to everyone who voiced their concern when I was AWOL - I'm much better now and ready to bore your socks off again. As it's a new month and new season I thought we'd have a new page. All the foregoing waffle is still available on Betty Blogs 5, 4, 3, 2, & 1 via the menu above. |
I quite like his time of year - the garden has almost finished doing its thing and the early autumn days feel peaceful - a pleasant interlude before the weather finally goes belly up and morphs into winter.
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If you fancy a lunchtime jazz concert I can recommend Saturday lunchtime at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury. We went last Saturday (the day before my back trouble began). It's a weekly event lasting an hour and a half - free - a different band each week. You can get coffee and/or a light lunch served while you listen to the music. Very pleasant. And then you can do the shops afterwards.
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