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"longer off topic comments" - Episode 18 Life Outside Ambridge
"longer off topic comments" - Episode 18 Life Outside Ambridge
Great Smoky Mountain, Tennessee
Life outside Ambridge
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Life in Ambridge
THIS POST IS CLOSED "longer off topic comments" - Episode 14 Life Outside Ambridge Have a seat and let's chat.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteMorning Ruthy. What a wonderful picture. Now I could sit there with a cuppa and look at that view all day long. 😊
ReplyDeleteYou have wonderful scenery in the States, Ruthy - beautiful photo!
ReplyDeleteFinal (I hope) dispatch on the hip saga....
now back at home and blissful to be back in my own bed! They virtually chucked most of the patients out for the weekend and the orthopaedic wards had dealt with 80 patients last week of which 35 were hip or knee replacement procedures!
Am hobbling around on crutches, armed with dozens of different tablets and a laxative ! (to counteract the effects of morphine) I must admit to being in considerable pain and it is difficult and very slow to manoeuvre but am hoping this will improve soon if I manage to do the exercises.
For the moment I am just grateful for our wonderful NHS and the care and attention being lavished on me by Mr A. I don’t know how single people can cope with all this difficulty without the help oh family or friends
Thank you everyone for your support - it has been amazing to have many friends out there whom I have never met.
The End!
Things will slowly but surely improve Archerphile. Keep going with the excecises they really do help. I read a lot of books in those first few weeks!
DeleteArcherphile home and back in your own bed 🛌 great news ⭐️
DeleteBeing my local hospital too especially interesting for me to read all the facts and figures you quoted.
Indeed we are so very lucky to have our NHS. I had Whooping Cough at 6 weeks old - in the year before it was launched thankfully my paternal grandfather with whom we lived paid for the Dr, when I turned blue my mum just naturally blew down my throat now known as the kiss of life of course. That is why I was so pleased to be able to care for her when later in life she had dementia able to take her out practically daily from care to garden centres etc and to health appointments to save staff from the Care Home having to be spared. Mr R was a marvel too, and mum almost always a happy lady which helped and was lovely to be able to give her so much pleasure. Not always easy as some people would comment without realising her situation.
Would still like a blog diary on your recovery as and when will do! Get plenty of rest alongside your excercise regime and you will return to D Floor in 2 weeks?
Yes, Lady R in 2 weeks, then 6 and finally to see Mr Stranks in 3 months when he has promised I can see an X-ray of my new joint which is apparently a combination of titanium and plastic! I should just like to add that the physio therapy and occupational therapy staff at B&NHH were exceptional and couldn’t have been more helpful.
DeleteA young female professional footballer was admitted with a really bad injury to her knee while I was there, they created new ligaments from her hamstring muscle and the physio staff were amazing with her, working many times a day to get her back on her feet again. again. They are all a great team, we are very lucky to have them.
wow what a view!
ReplyDeleteSecond that Ruthy ✔️✔️
DeleteYes a lovely view, and from the grand entrance to a mansion I suspect.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ruthy.
Archerphile, very pleased you have made it home for the weekend.
Keep moving and doing your exercises and you will recover, perhaps as quickly as I have. But remember to give in to the tiredness, and rest whenever you feel the need.
And lucky you to have a partner to help you through it all.
Thank you Mrs P. I was really worried for they lady in the next bed to me - going home on her own with nobody to help her. I don’t know how she is going to cope, though the OT staff have supplied her with lots of gadgets to make recovery a bit easier. I am truly grateful to have my helpmate!
DeleteI just want to say how much I enjoy all of your posts. I usually manage to get back to England once or twice a year so reading about your trips and cooking recipes is a delight. I also enjoyed the record of Gary's honeymoon trip. Good luck in your recovery Archerphile and to anyone else with health problems. Thanks Ruthy.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you Gianna, it is lovely to hear from you too 😃
DeleteYou sound so pleased to be home, no place like it as they say, despite the good care you received in the hospital. I hope you have some effective pain relief, to take over from the morphine, during these very early stages of healing, & some absorbing but not too demanding reading matter to hand - such a comfort between trying to get some sleep, struggling through exercises & managing the crutches...
ReplyDeleteHello bloggers. I made a mistake on the title photo. It is not located in Montana, but rather the Great Smoky Mountain in Tennessee. I have been to both and they are both very lovely. This is a big country and needs a lifetime to see just a fraction of it.
ReplyDeleteIt looks beautiful. My brother and some friends when young travelled through America and then down to Florida to stay with another friend studying there. He was amazed at the vastness of the country, and it was an experience that he looks back on with much fondness.
DeleteArcherphile, I am so pleased that you are home. I think that these days, patients go home, much earler, to help prevent hospital aquired infections.
ReplyDeleteMy younger had a hip replacement, when still in her late 40's, done privately via hubbie's work place health scheme. Her's was a ceramic replacement.
should read, My younger sister ..
DeleteMiriam how well did your sisters ceramic hip last. Did she ever have to have that one replaced again ?
DeleteJanice: if it helps, both my hips are ceramic. When I asked the surgeon if they would ever need to be replaced his reply was, 'Only if you live long enough'.
DeleteApparently my new hip joint has been cemented in place. They only tend to do that if you are over 70 and are unlikely to need a new one, so my surgeon said! Younger patients do not get them cemented so that they are easier to remove and replace if necessary.
DeleteThat put me in my place. 👵🏼 !
Archerphile, when I went for my six week check up for my knee, my surgeon said, 'it doesn't get better than that, last you twenty five years, '.
DeleteTo which I answered, ' that's longer than I want to be around thanks '.
I'm not at all sure I want to be around at one hundred and two !
Me neither, Mrs P 😧
DeleteThanks Sarnia. 😊
DeleteAnneveggie.
ReplyDeleteWhen you looked up Minchinhampton Common did you do an ariel view ?
Minchinhampton Common itself is the highest point before the North Sea.
And near to the winter quarters of the Highland cattle is the quarry that the stone for the Palace of Westminster was taken.
And from the two commons it is possible to see miles north east and west.
Furthest west beyond the river Severn is the Forest of Dean backed by the Welsh hills.
Deep valleys with forested sides and hamlets and villages all in stone trickling down the hillsides and straggling in ribbons along the sides of the valleys, to the North and East.
And because rivers and streams flow through these valleys, mists rise in drifts at certain times, creating beautiful effects.
It is stunning and thrilling
Stroud itself is the centre of five valleys
Several of us on here live close by.
Jinner and me here in Stroud
Suz, lives in the Forest of Dean but used to live in one of the villages, a particularly pretty one.
Stasia lives further North but close enough to visit.
Come and visit yourself.
Thank you for that lovely description Mrs. P. I would certainly love to visit your part of England and see it for myself. Who knows, I may just do that one day.
DeleteAnd that's a stunning description, Mrs P. I can picture it. The mist aspect makes me recall other, less spectacular landscapes, transformed into dreamscapes.
ReplyDeleteNever seen your vista, but have often been across the Severn bridge which I greatly admire, so elegant, & changing character on the approach roads, according to time of day & weather conditions (could do with paint work being touched up, only seen close up from a car, if anyone's brave enough...)
Carolyn from some points a little north east from here it is possible to see the bridge.
ReplyDeleteBut we can't see it from this area due to the topography of the land.
I remember crossing for the first time sometime in 1971 I think.
Haven't crossed it in very recent years.
Belated wishes Archerphile for your continued recovery. I am so impressed how quickly you got out of bed and then home, and how cheerful you are which I am sure aids recovery if one can pull it off.
ReplyDeleteI am just catching up on folks’ lovely blogs as I decided to look in on Home Front as some recommended and it has taken over my life! I am doing a bit of family history around the edges to excuse myself for my new obsession and I have also cracked on with tidying the garden and a lot of cleaning but it is like a good book I can’t put down 😯🙂
Glad you love Home Front Seasider. The great thing is that you can still listen to the entire series from 1914 to the latest episode on BBC iPlayer. I intend to listen to the whole lot again as I shall feel lost when it ends in November.
DeleteYes apparently it will be available for ten years so it says on the website. I am up to January 1917 so expect to be up to date when the last series begins!! It gives a lot of food for thought. Right better tear myself away and get some sleep.
DeleteI know what you mean,Seasider.
DeleteI don't know when it is coming back to radio 4.
I imagine it will be the final series sadly.
I have joined Seasider re "Home Front" much talk of it here and on my return journey from my recent hospital appointment I heard an episode on the car radio and the fact that Seasider and I can listen to it an Omnibus at a time 👏
DeleteI will join anybody's campaign to have "Home Front" continue but I fear that the moment my name appears at Broadcasting House the shutters go down!
DeleteLike Archerphile I intend to listen to the whole lot again -I didn't pick it up at the start anyway .
There are far more likeable characters on that programme in my opinion than there are in Ambridge.
There is a Home Front Facebook page which I keep an eye on and many, many people are asking that the series carries on after the Armistice. (Apparently the final episode will not be on 11th November because that is a Sunday, it will be on Friday 9th)
ReplyDeleteSo many interesting stories could be followed up : the great flu epidemic, men returning from war and the effect on women’s jobs and families, unemployment etc etc.
It would be good to learn what happens to each of the families after the war too, but so far the BBC are adamant that the series will end with the Armistice.
Perhaps another campaign is needed ! 😉
👏🏻 The characters are as much a part of my life as the Archers characters and I will miss them. I agree that there are so many post war stories to tell. I think I mentioned previously that my paternal grandfather suffered severe shell shock and spent the second half of his life in an institution. My mother’s father died young and as an engineer in a steel works was in a reserved occupation and worked in a munitions factory. After listening to Home Front I read how people suffered lowered immunity after working there so now I’m wondering if this contributed to his early death. He also had recurring bouts of malaria from being an engineer in the merchant navy before the war.
DeleteI have so enjoyed watching the BBC1 programme, from The Edinburgh Military Tattoo tonight,
ReplyDeleteI just love The Pipes and Drums. I know many do not like the sound of bag-pipes, but I think it is wonderful.
Why did that "wee scottish" rascal and resident of Ambridge, spring to mind, aka. my favourite character, Jazzer! Was it the sight of a kilt, or the sound of the bag-pipes.
My youngest daughter's fiance was playing the bagpipes in the massed pipes and drums in the Tattoo. He has played every evening during the festival apart from Sundays.
DeleteI shall have to see if I can get the Tattoo on my IPad.
DeleteI always promised my mum I would take her to the Tattoo.
And I did manage it once.
Wonderful experience.
What is your favourite piece Mirium ?
I sometimes wish I had Scottish blood, just so that I could have a lone piper at my funeral.
CC - your youngest daughters wedding should be wonderful - full highland dress I should imagine and an escort of pipers! Do tell us all about it when the times comes.
DeleteThey have decided that they are having a very small wedding, no kilts or pipes. Big ceremonies isn't their style and they only want family and a few close friends to attend what will be a very informal occasion.
DeleteLoved the Edinburgh Tattoo.
DeleteMade me proud to be part Scottish
I have to say though that the chaps from the USA were amazing.
Lovely programme.
You have a sensible daughter ,Cheshire Cheese.
DeleteGood for her.
All the best to her and her fiancé.
Well done to your youngsters CC.
ReplyDeleteGoing against the grain.
Best wishes to your daughter, CC. When I was married over 40 years ago, my husband had been divorced as his first wife left him for another man. The C of E would therefore not marry us. Rather than trek around other churches we opted for a register office. Strangely we were allowed a church blessing! I always remembered what the vicar said to us that we must always communicate or we could end up as an old man and old woman sitting on each side of the fireplace with nothing to say to each other. Well, we always did and second time around the marriage lasted nearly 43 years until he died. We only had 12 people at our wedding but I never regretted it or wished for more. The marriage is far more important than the one day and too much money is spent by some many of whom do not later persevere with day to day living. I know I was very lucky and do wish every happiness to your daughter for the future!
ReplyDelete✔️ Bravo Ev ❤️
DeleteThank you for all your best wishes for my daughter's wedding. Date not final but probably next spring.
ReplyDeleteEveryone should have the marriage ceremony they want, that suits them, I now think, without any reference to family opinions or anyone elses. Privately, when son & d in law married in July, I thought what a lot of hassle & money for ONE day, other everyday life priorities put aside .On the day itself, I turned around, as it made such a mark, the couple so happy, & everyone routing for them. Not what I'd done for myself, but so right for them.
ReplyDeleteI have lots to tell about my big family week-end, with my latest Gt. Nephew (My Monty) and his parents; neice No2 and partner from Oz plus Neice No3 plus husband from London, plus many more family + friends. Things did not go as planned, as I had a massive screw embedded in a tyre on my car, so was imobile, lost my "glasses" and was 'ill'" i will do a long, probably, very boring post tomorrow. Be warned.
ReplyDeleteNow you've intrigued us, Miriam ! When you're ready, do tell....
DeleteI'm all agog Miriam 😮 although very sorry to hear that "life" got in the way of your plans!
DeleteMe too Miriam.
DeleteBake off & Strictly must be nearly Christmas 😂
ReplyDeletePopped into SCD blog..... already getting nasty imo so I won't be bothering with it!
I think that I might give SCD a miss this year, for the very first time. I only know about 3 or 4 of the ‘celebrities’ and have no knowledge of, or interest in, the rest of them. Even though it is bound to be as entertaining, glittering and controversial as usual, I think I need to have some interest in the individual contestants to really enjoy the programme. The only ones that appeal are Graeme Swan the cricketer and Kate Silverton the news reader.
DeleteSame here Archerphile (in terms of knowing who the contestants are) but will be interested to follow Kate Silverton's progress) I always think of Natasha Kaplinsky when I see her - and she won the 1st series with Brendon of course. There does not seem to be an "obvious" partner for Anton 🙄 this year?
DeleteWonder if that could be Susannah Constantine ? Or perhaps they’ll give him somebody who would really have a good chance of winning for once - instead of the usual comedy turn. Love Anton!
DeleteAre you implying that dear Anton is OLD, Esscee? I am shocked! 😮 😉
DeleteAnton is still super fit and he and Erin tour each year and their dancing of every genre is exceptional. A few years ago Mr R and I saw them at "The Anvil" Basingstoke and the show was superb (with plenty of banter as you can imagine) and of course his young twins also keep him on his toes 😉 🙄
DeleteI would like Anton, to not have a partner this year. I just think that his talent could be used differently.
DeleteI am So sorry, as this is a TA site, and I have gone so "off topic". Please accept my sincere apologies.
My sister and her best friend have tickets to go to SCD. She was very excited, and whilst I was pleased for her (it is her favourite TV programme) the very idea of watching it does nothing for me. No doubt I will be regaled about her experience for ever and a day. 😁👯
ReplyDeletePleased for your sister though stasia I can imagine her excitement all those costumes viewed up close and getting to see how the live show itself is conducted. I believe it is quite a long haul for the audience, getting in place followed by the warm up and then the wait to record the Sunday night show, but she will be fascinated by it all I am sure. Hopefully you will let us know how it goes 🤗 ?
DeleteLady R. I'm sure I'll never hear the end of it, and will have to eventually resort to the "you've told me that already". When I get the feedback I will let you all know.
DeleteI'm going to spend the next few days with her and husband in Cambridge, and will ask when she is going and where.
We had to learn dancing at school, I hated it especially when we had to waltz with Mr.M who everyone fancied. I didn't mind the Gay Gordon's as (to me)it resembled running rather than dancing.
harking back to a previous conversation - Valentine Warner's recipe for courgette cake
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/courgette_and_caraway_84359
Parsley 16, thank you. I found a recipe (BBC good food) for courgette loaf, with cinnamon, sultanas and walnuts. It is absolutely delicious, and gets better as the days pass. (Made it last Thursday). I was going to make another tomorrow, but will try this recipe instead. My courgettes just won't stop growing....
DeleteIf I were ever to win a pair of tickets in a raffle either to a SCD Show or Bake Off or be given complimentary tickets to either , I would give them to the first one of you who could meet me under the Clock at Waterloo.
ReplyDeleteGenerous to a fault I am!
Please don't get me started on either SCD or Bake Off,. I get so addicted to both these programmes, but this year I want to try and sit back a bit. Here's hoping, but I did enjoy Bake-Off last night!
ReplyDeleteI have been very good, in that I have not ventured onto the SCD Home-page, well not just yet! It's a bit like trying not to bite your finger-nails, difficult but it is for the best!
Ah but the darker evenings are on their way now Miriam reckon that's why we get drawn in (no pun intended)
ReplyDeleteLast nights "Bake off" Wagon Wheels were a delight 😂 though the weather probably didn't help. I am not into cooking / baking more than needs be (Mr R was our chef for many years but has had to curtail his kitchen duties since his op's) so I always feel two faced if I criticise these brave souls but I do love the programme and so glad Channel 4 did not mess with the format and the ads are a chance to visit the bathroom, make a drink or most likely of all get something to eat - watching B.Off always makes me hungry 😀🍰
Sent from my iPad
I agree with someone on last night’s program that W W’s are smaller nowadays. I have never thought of making them but what a faff it was, far simpler to buy!
Delete✔️ 😀
DeleteI always thought Wagon Wheels were revolting, home-made ones would not tempt me.
DeleteI always thought they looked disgusting, so have never tried them.
DeleteNever will !
Lan Jan
ReplyDeleteI think you might be interested in the afternoon play on R4 this week.
Tuesday today and part 3 tomorrow.
Written by Val Mcdurmid, a thriller.
It is about the repercussions following a break out of a sickness that antibiotics cannot contain.
You and others have written about this more than once and I would like to draw your attention to it.
Thanks Mrs P.
DeletePlan to listen.
Last day of heatwave. Most of my potted plants are brown and dead. Will be planning to pot some fall flowers soon. Summer is sadly almost over.
ReplyDeleteJust catching up with yesterday’s conversations.
ReplyDeleteLady R: lucky you, seeing Anton at the Anvil. I tried to persuade Mr A to take me but he is only interested in their Classic concerts, to which we go frequently.
Esscce: agree Anton should have been elevated to judge when Len left. Don’t like that Shirley Ballass at all!
Stasia: perhaps you could get your sister to write an account, with all the sequinned details for us and post it on here? 😁 💃
Wagon Wheels: never liked them as a child, the chocolate never tasted quite right and the biscuit part was too dry. Much preferred some little round chocolate biscuits called YoYos which came wrapped in different coloured silver paper according to the flavour of the filling
Ah, nostalgia bites again!
I can't wait for her reaction when I suggest she write an account for Archer lovers!!
DeleteI totally agree. AND don’t get me started on that Claudia bird.......equally as unfunny as Brucie was.
DeleteCan't stand any of them especially the one with black hair who is one of the BBC's highest "earners" who peers through her overgrown fringe.
DeleteAs for Bruce Fordyce......
Totally agree Essdee.
I did watch one or two when it was first on and liked Len Goodman but the others............
No thank you.
Mentioning Strictly reminds me of an earlier outing I had this year - after I last posted on the BBC. As Archerphile mentioned my outings, I'm using that as an excuse to have a catch up on one. This year, the Royal Ballet staged a new production of Swan Lake, and I found it was totally sold out for the whole run. However, by persevering on line, you have a chance of getting returns, if you are quick. I couldn't believe my luck when two first rate seats came up for the opening night - I pounced immediately. I've never been to an opening night of a new production, and I had been wanting to see Swan Lake again for years.
ReplyDeleteIt was truly a magical evening. Being "all new" the set was glittering, the costumes all fresh, quite amazing, and the you could hear the audience exclaim when the second act curtain rose to reveal all the gold and filigree designs of the palace. Marienela Nunez and Vadim Muntagirev where sublime in the lead roles and the rest of the cast, beyond perfect. In the interval my experience was complete when I bumped into the choreographer and shook his hand, and then met two "insta-friends". One was a longer term heroine of mine, Daria Klimentova, whom I saw in my first Swan Lake - it was she who "turned me on" to ballet 8 or 9 years ago.
At the end, the curtain calls were accompanied by showers of white carnations thrown by (I guess) "professional" flower throwers - a first night tradition. Altogether, an evening I will never forget, nor be able to repeat!
I saw Swan Lake in St Petersburg but the Russians had tampered with the ending and the swan didn’t die! Very disappointing as a tearful ending is much better!
DeleteI saw Swan Lake in Leningrad and was disenchanted by the thumping of the dancers' feet on the wooden stage. I came over faint halfway through and was taken backstage to recover which was mulch more interesting!
DeleteWe Brits booed the baddie and my American friend said we weren’t at the pantomime now to which I replied we’re Brits and it’s what we do!
DeleteNot all of us!
DeleteAh FOSO, your account brings back memory's for me.
ReplyDeleteWhen a young nurse at a Kensington hospital I had a patient who had been involved in a very bad road accident. He was a principal dancer at Covent Garden and in due course I became a friend of his wife, also very badly injured.
I spent a great deal of time with her and friends from the Royal Ballet and met many 'stars ' of the day, including ' Madam ' and attended a first night at the Garden.
As they say "It's an ill wind which blows no one any good" and you had a little luck from their sad event. It must have been quite thrilling to meet people like that. I'm not so well in with the RB, so I do not usually meet them, but being involved with the ENB I meet the dancers there, which is always a great treat.
Delete✔️
DeleteFascinating discussion on ballet this evening. I am sorry to say I have never been to a live performance but would love to do so. Most if our outings are to Classical concerts, Mahler, Bruckner and Shoshtakovitch being our favourite composers. We are lucky enough to have a superb concert hall in our nearby town so no longer have to travel
ReplyDeleteup to London to hear top rate orchestras and soloists.
The only ballet(s) I have ever seen are those by Mathew Bourne, which I love. Have seen his Swan Lake twice, but my absolute favourite was Lord of the Flies, which was so gripping that I felt overwhelmed by it. He had boys in from local schools were it was touring, so both entertaining and educational. I like the comedic aspect in a lot of his productions.
ReplyDeleteVery lucky that we have the New York City Ballet and the ABT also nearby. Though NYC is my favorite. Go every year, especially for Mother’s Day. Paul Taylor died today. He was one of my favorite modern dance companies. Just glad to have access to cultural events so nearby. Last Sunday we went to the Museum of Modern Art and saw a Brancusi exhibit. His Bird sculptures are exquisite.
ReplyDeleteRuthy.....I’ll be in New York for the last 3 days of my hols in Oct. Just wondered which galleries you would recommend visiting.
DeleteI did do a bit of the Met museum last year and quite enjoyed that but I do like a quiet wander round an art gallery.
I ised to think ballet was the most sterile of art forms, based on nineteenth century classical ballet - I changed my tune when I encountered the work of later twentieth century choreographers at Covent Garden, both American and British. Some of the work by contemporary choreographers such as Wayne McGregor and Christopher Wheeldon is truly amazing. For a good read on the subject, I recommend Judith Mackrell's Reading Dance (she is the Guardian's leading dance critic). I think it's out of print now but probably obtainable online via abebooks.
DeleteI still prefer opera - or straight drama, best of all!
P tb Y, Ruthy already mentioned MOMA, also Metropolitan ( huge - be selective, if only time for one visit, as I had, like the Louvre & other major national collections), the Guggenheim & the Frick ( lovely building, pre (20 art, if I recall correctly). That's for a start - there's bound to be less well known gems !
ReplyDeleteSorry, you already mentioned the Met.
DeleteRuthy, wonder if the Brancusi will come to London ? Sometimes, major shows do. At Tate Modern (London, south bank), they had a beautiful, uplifting Brancusi show, this century, which cured me of a niggling backache for the duration !
Alas, neither classical ballet nor opera would do that for me. Each to their own.
Thanks Caroline. Yeah the Guggenheim is on my list. There is also a brownstone house that is dedicated to some Russian artist and the curator lives in it. Deffo going to that so I can have a good nosey round a brownstone.
DeleteI did the Egyptian section of the Met last year but it was full of kids on school trips!! Wasn’t a relaxing wander...
Sorry...Carolyn. 🤭
DeleteMaryellen .....ballet does nothing for me but I do like opera and a good play. So it’s really good that we live not far from a town with an independent cinema that show a lot of live screenings of plays and operas. I saw a performance of carman live from Sydney last year....absolutely stunning, and a live performance of Frankenstein with Johnny lee miller and Benedict Cumberbatch...that was fabulous. In fact they took it in turns to play each other’s part so we went one week to see Johnny as the monster then the next they showed the performance with Benedict as the monster.
ReplyDeleteI saw “Witness for the prosecution” at London’s county hall a couple of weeks ago. I can really recommend that. The setting was beautiful too, and performed in a theatre in the round.
Archerphile - I responded to you photo comment on the other post. How are you feeling?
ReplyDeletePtbY - October in NY should be lovely - maybe you'll get out of the city and see the Fall foliage? For galleries, since you've been to NY, you know they are very busy. MoMA was packed last Sunday. Whitney Museum moved to Chelsea a couple of years ago and it's nice in conjunction with a walk on the High Line (also will be packed) and along the Hudson River. If you can get out of the city, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens has Henry Moore sculptures on their grounds. With fall weather that might be a lovely walk. Frick is a good choice, art is good, small and you can meander around. The Morgan Library is also nice, on Madison Avenue mid-town. Check out what is on their exhibition schedule. I only have time to visit on the weekend as I work full time, but if you are here during mid-week the crowd might not be so bad. Guggenheim is already mentioned - another good choice - but I would also check out what is being exhibited.
ReplyDeleteFor a really moving visit, you can go to the September 11 memorial and museum.
Lastly, the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City (Queens). (The Met has one of his pieces on their grounds outside.) https://www.noguchi.org/
There are more if you would like to hear.
Thanks Ruthy. Carolyn mentioned the Frick too. Will look into that. Will check out all you suggested to see what’s on.
DeleteWe did the 9/11 museum a couple of years ago. It was just brilliant. Very very moving. Think mr PtbY is going to go there again this next time.
We will be there Monday to Thursday so hoping it won’t be too heaving with folks!!🤞
Carolyn - I don't know if the Brancusi will be on tour. Most the pieces on exhibit were from MoMA's collection. The exhibit was comprehensive but small. It was the first time I have seen "The Fish". Have you seen that? So lovely.
ReplyDeleteRuthy, thanks for giving me a reason to dig out the exhibition book - dated 2004, I see. As I remembered, mostly heads, torsos & birds.Not a fish, though one of two pictured in the intro. Hard to get much idea from that, but his concept was to bring out movement, fluidity, rather than fins & scales, which he certainly achieves with birds, as I see looking back now at the pics. What I mainly remembered were the heads, some sleeping. I doubt if the show you enjoyed will make its way over here. In 2004, it was done in partnership with the NY Guggenheim.
Deletecarolyn: this is the MoMA fish:
Deletehttps://www.moma.org/collection/works/81795
As with all sculptures, you have to see it from every direction to get the full effect.
Archerphile Iike Ruthy I was about to ask how you are feeling now that you have been home for a week. Also how are you finding your excercise regime? (Back to Basingstoke next week I believe.)
ReplyDeleteDid Mr A master the cooking before you went into hospital? 😀
Gosh, forgotten it's already a week, Archerphile. Hope you are acclimatising, & it's slightly less uncomfortable & painful now ?
ReplyDeleteThank you both for asking! Still in a lot of pain and have to take a strong painkiller half an hour before doing the obligatory exercises. Had to move into spare bed because ours is too high for me to get into, but at least Mr A is getting a better nights sleep now and I am more comfortable there. Yes, back to the physios on Thurs for progress check. Have got dressing & doing the stairs down to a fine art now, couldn’t manage without my ‘grabber’, it’s funny how quickly you adapt to new circumstances. I think I am improving slowly though and have manage to walk to the end of the (long) garden and back a few times.
ReplyDeleteMr A still a very reluctant cook but I sit in lounge and shout instructions. We managed a roast chicken between us the other night, then a chicken curry the next day - wasn’t too bad considering!
Best news for me yesterday was getting an email with photos of my grandsons travelling to and arriving in Dubai, followed by a phone call.
They looked super excited to see Dad again and really enjoyed being pampered on a business class flight (paid for by my son’s company, I hasten to add). “Grandma, we watched THREE films and had special ice-creams and a proper bed to sleep in!” Don’t think we’ll get that treatment when we eventually go to visit next year. 😂
Thank you for your update Archerphile what painkiller are you using was it provided for you by the hospital? I often hear how essential the grabber is, one friend said "I never realised how many things I drop before...."
DeleteHad to smile at your supervising of meals from your chair in the sitting room 😂
What a special & fun flight to Dubai for your grandsons, that's the way to do it for sure. When will you go in the Spring?
Hosp supplied a mixture of high dose cocodamol, paracetamol one 30mg codéine which I mix and match according to pain levels. Try to avoid too much codeine because of side effects though.
DeleteTrip to Dubai probably in Feb due to too expensive to fly at Christmas, should be cooler then and eldest grandsons birthday. Also depends on them having found a house by then and not still living in the aparthotel . Son has to get residency permit before they can buy/rent a property.
That should have read “and 30mg codeine” not “one”. Should give up trying to post using the iPod, the letter keys are too small for my fat fingers!
DeleteGood that you have been supplied with a range of pain relief Archerphile that you can control accordingly, and nice to hear that you are back to enjoying your jigsaw. What does the picture consist of characters and or village scene?
DeleteFrightening how quickly Feb will come around but something lovely for you to look forward to in the meantime.
Weather Forcaster wise today is the 1st day of Autumn 🍂🍁🍂🍁 do hope it is a spectacular one 😀
Archerphile: have you found the magnet on the bottom of the grabber? Dozy creature that I am, I'd got to the second hip before I realised that all those dropped hairpins could come back to mother of their own accord!
ReplyDeleteLady R: mine's a Tramadol as I can't take Codeine.
Oh yes, it’s such a useful aid , picks up dropped pens, tv controllers and even jigsaw pieces! (Actually got back to doing my Vintage Archers jigsaw yesterday). But most useful when helping with dressing, reaching down to pull up clothes etc.
DeleteWELL! Sarnia we are with you Mr R has had a number of op's since 2010 (hopefully no more) but never realised there was a magnet for use on the bottom of the grabber of which we have two and still use at times. Thank you for pointing it out I have been dropping bits and pieces for the magic of picking them up - how sad am I 🙄
DeleteHowever when I do join the hip club I shall be particularly grateful to you!!
I just picked it up one day and wondered why it had a hair grip on the bottom! Has its limitations weight-wise, though; it couldn't cope with fishing out the set of keys dropped between the organ pedals - they kept falling off each time just as I got it above the frame.
DeleteRather like years ago on the machine at the fair (or seaside) where the crane picked up a soft toy or a big bar of chocolate and would carry it within spitting distance ot the shute and then bang drop the item at the last moment 😢
DeleteRuthy, I've caught the fish ! Can see why you were entranced by it, despite the fact that I can't walk round it... Gorgeous watery coloured marble (also the bird sculptures, which were in the 2004 show here). Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteWrong blog, but Elizabeth could do with being in the presence of some uplifting & calming Brancusi right now. Felt really sorry for her tonight.
I am gloating tonight, as here "up north", only 26 miles from Manchester, with no flat caps nor strange accents (a link to the other Ambridge chat), I have picked a massive runner bean crop. With the rain, sun and warmth, the beans are proliferating so well. I am off to learn how to freeze them.
ReplyDeleteAt last my lawns are much greener, are growing but I still have some bare patches. Still the lawn firm I use, is coming on Monday to "weed + feed" it, hopefully this will help.
My veg patch has done well this year apart from the broad beans. We have frozen a lot of French beans even though they aren't as nice as fresh ones.
DeleteIn our neck of the woods it is our Fig tree that is abundant with ripe fruit this year. So some good has come from the interminable sun and heat, if not global warming though! 😌
ReplyDeletePlums and tomatoes here.
DeleteGoodness, so many interesting discussions since I last read the blog three days ago. I had to learn ballet as a child using my two left feet (also Irish dancing) and we we had to entertain our parents with a production of Swan Lake. 😖 I went to my first real ballet at the Oxford Playhouse, presented by Ballet Rambert, it was my first introduction to modern ballet, fantastic.
ReplyDeleteRegarding museums in NY, I found the Cloisters interesting, it is devoted to medieval art, artefacts and building all imported from Europe when we weren't looking after our heritage. In terms of social history, the two Jewish Museums are extremely worth a visit as is the Tenement museum.
Thank you for some more New York suggestions. I will be making a long list to check out thanks to you all.
DeleteIn reply to Lady R about my vintage Archers jigsaw - in the centre is the famous map of Ambridge and district with all the villages, farms, big houses, rivers, lakes etc named. Around the edge are 12 lovely little paintings of various Archers properties; Brookfield, Home Farm, Grey Gables etc and you can tell it’s is old because there is a picture of Nelson’s Wine Bar and Arkwright Hall!
ReplyDeleteIt was quite a difficult puzzle to do but I completed it this afternoon. I actually found it for sale On Ebay (put Ambridge or Archers jigsaw in search box) and there were a few different ones up for sale. I paid a little extra for mine because the box has been signed by Judy Bennet and Charles Carrington!
Just looked on EBay and there is one like mine for £44.99!! FAR more expensive than mine, but it is still unopened and cellophane wrapped. Originally produced in 1996 apparently. There are also several more modern ones using those cartoonish pictures of Ambridge landmarks and buildings used by the BBC fairly recently. They are much cheaper, each one shows 4 different pictures and there seem to be a set of them.
DeleteI have the same one, Archerfile with Nelson’s wine bar. My daughter picked it up in a charity shop. I have only completed it once but hopefully in the long winter nights....! It is a lovely jigsaw and especially like Jennifer’s dining room, too early for her new kitchen of course!
DeleteVery interesting Archerphile. From all that you describe it the jigsaw must have many pieces, do you take a picture of your achievement before you break it up? My elder sister (only by 6yrs 😉 ) always has a jigsaw on the go to tackle in the evenings!
DeleteI too have done this jigsaw. Only thing is that once I start doing a jigsaw I just can’t stop........just one more piece....
DeleteYup. I know that one.
DeleteI am another jigsaw lover and I only tend to do them in the winter months. I don't buy from a charity shop, as I don't know who has handled the pieces previously! This sounds a bit OCD I know.
ReplyDeleteI always do 1000 piece jigsaws and am upgrading to 1500. I have bought some expensive boards, which can be folded up, into a case like an artists portfolio, so the puzzle is kept intact, as are the smaller boards with sorted out pieces on.
Miriam, are you prepared to tell us where you bought the boards from, supplier, manufacturer etc.
DeleteI have tried all sorts of ways to preserve a part done puzzle but have never been sure where to buy a board, or whether they work well enough.
Interesting blogging about jigsaw puzzles. There is a movie called Puzzle, just released in the US. I haven’t seen the movie but watcher the trailer on my computer and got me thinking about getting a puzzle to do myself. Agree, maybe in the winter months when I am indoor bound.
ReplyDeleteWe have a 1000 piece puzzle on our dining table at all times, unless we are expecting guests for dinner (very rare) or at Christmas. We do them on a board called a PORTA PUZZLE which has a slightly velvety surface to hold the pieces in place. There are two wings that open out each side to hold the ones you are trying to place - easier than picking them out of the box. If we need to move the puzzle we just fold the wings over, secure the Velcro straps, and you can carry it around without disturbing the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure our model Porta Puzzle is still available - as Miriam said they tend to come with separate boards now, rather than wings, which is a bit more versatile. You can buy these boards at Hobbycraft, any good toy shop that sells puzzles, or online.
Our favourite puzzles are classic paintings (Monet, Klimt, Van Gogh etc) which tend to be very difficult, or the Wasgij series, cartoonish drawings where the picture on the lid is not what you are trying to achieve, it’s just a clue to the finished result!
Here endeth the lesson on jigsaws!
Thank you Archerphile
DeleteI have a puzzle board like that with the two extra boards to put the pieces on. You then just put them on top of the jigsaw and fold the rest of the sides etc over them. It is like an artists portfolio. A friend got me it for Christmas but I know they got it off amazon.
DeleteIt’s just right for a 1000 piece puzzle.
Ruthy....seen that trailer for the film puzzle. Thought I’d deffo go see it. My husband was a deffo “ not going to that”. So it’ll be a nice outing on my own.
I like a puzzle that is an actual photograph of something rather than a picture. They seem clearer, brighter. I have one of 100 stunning images of the world and did have all the flags of the world (leant it to someone, never got it back)
There is the Yorkshire jigsaw shop in Easingwold near york. It has hundreds of jigsaws. It’s like dying and going to heaven. They are on the internet and ship jigsaws all over the world. It’s worth having a look.
Welcome back GG. You’ll probably be recovering for a while after all that excitement!!
I have a 3-D jigsaw of the Sistene Chapel that has, apparently, a hinged roof you can open up to reveal the ceiling in all its glory. I first opened the box 9 years ago. It looks just marginally less complicated than constructing and landing a fully working Mars rover. Maybe this winter.....
ReplyDeleteGG welcome home!
DeleteYes, welcome home to Blighty, Gary. Hope you don’t find it too boring here after all your travels !
DeleteThat puzzle sounds magnificent. Love to come and help piece it together, keep me happy for weeks I should think. 😉
Welcome home GG, with a wonderful honeymoon behind you now, time to settle down to that jigsaw puzzle.
DeleteIs there something in Archer listeners DNA that steers them to similar activities? I am also a jigsaw fanatic, as is my sister. Yesterday I arrived home with 12 which she has collected from charity shops.
ReplyDeleteI picked up an Archer jigsaw sometime ago that was a map of Ambridge, and wish I had kept, it was a bit difficult. Haven't seen any since, my sister didn't want to do it, so it went back to the charity shop.
GG, welcome home, and to nice weather.
I wondered the same Stasia, when I too admitted my love of puzzles after reading of everyone on here liking them too.
DeleteWe do seem to have a number of things in common as a group.
Suspect plenty of differences though if we dug deep.
As to my jigsaw boards.
ReplyDeleteThe 1500 is a "porta puzzle" as mentioned by Archerphile, but I do not like the "spongy" feel, but I use it.
My wonderful 1000 board came from a firm called "Jigsorts". I bought one for my father, and one for myself, many years ago, and they were costly then! Goodness knows the cost today. I have been using mine since 2011, and it is still perfect. When my Dad passed away, his "board + extra's" went to my Big Sis, and is equally well used to this day. We swap jigsaws, as I do with a niece.
Autumn is starting, as I have picked up my knitting today! I have a jumper on the go, which I put down in April.It will be finished by October, hopefully.
I use a web-aite called jigsawpuzzles direct. It is not a cheap, cost price site, so pay full price. The range is enormous and interesting, with a quick delivery (via a courier, for 2 or more).
DeleteThe customer service is also extremely efficient + helpful, if ever needed. Just thought I would pass on what I do.
PS I avoid puzzles by Eurographics and House of Puzzles (HOP), as these use wierd shaped pieces, but that's a personal thing.
DeleteMiriam. I love these different shaped jigsaw puzzles, they tax the brain cells. Very good for those who are getting older, and of course wiser.
DeleteI am glad, Stasia, that you like them.
DeleteI too love HOP puzzles precisely because they DO have odd shaped pieces! Makes putting the puzzle together more interesting and difficult. The Eurographics brand are beautifully produced and the pieces fit each other very precisely, giving no doubt that you have them in the right place. I have several of their fine art puzzles, reproductions of famous paintings, and they are of an exceptionally high
Deletequality.
I just remember my son had a 3D Big Ben puzzle (his name is Ben). I wonder if I still have it?
ReplyDeleteOne Christmas I did a 3D of Tower Bridge. It didn’t open like the real one though! I love jigsaws but tend to get engrossed when I should be doing other things!
DeleteEv. I am the same,
DeleteA quick 30 minute go, turns into hours. I then see the dust, the ironing pile, the kitchen/bathrooms which need cleaning and so on
Do I worry, not even slightly, as there is always tomorrow..
Which of course as we know Miriam " never comes" �� so no need to worry about the dust / ironing / housework. Of course that is when someone will come to call but that's life! Just keep on enjoying your leisure pursuits - only here once ��
DeleteDone it again the two lots of ? marks should be a face crying with laughter and a winking face at the end. Happens if emojis added before signing in should alter before publishing!
DeleteI was so pleased to recently see my 4yr old Gt.Nephew, doing a 65 piece jigsaw. He just loves them.
ReplyDeleteWow impressive 👏
DeleteHad a horrid experience tonight. Sleeping on my own in the spare room (due to recent operation) I was woken up at 4am by the sound of frantic fluttering behind the curtains. I thought it was pigeons doing what pigeons do up on the roof outside my window.
ReplyDeleteBut the fluttering got lounder and even more frantic, so I put on the light to find two bats emerging from the curtains and then flapping dementedly all round the room ! Quite unnerving. Roused Mr A who came to shoo them out out but they have disappeared somewhere in the house and we can’t find them till morning. Still awake now at 5am, hearing the odd flutter and totally unable to sleep! 😴
I bet - unnerving ! Please let us know the outcome, AFTER you've had some sleep, & recovered from unseen flutterers
DeleteOh dear Archerphile, that must have been pretty alarming.
DeleteWell, we have looked all over the house. Especially up high on the beams, curtain rails, light fittings etc. but can’t find them anywhere. I’m hoping they have escaped out of a window because I certainly don’t want a repeat performance tonight ! 🦇🦇
DeleteCarolyn you should have replied I BAT.....🙄
DeleteI had an awful experience overnight too. Got up to go to the loo, put light on in the bathroom. Even without my glasses on I could see something large in the bath. Dashed back to put specs on. OMG a huge spider, I mean really huge. Looked like in had tap dancing shoes on the end of each leg. Anyway all my fussing woke up Mr PtbY and he came armed with a shoe. No way was he putting it outside for it to come back in again.
ReplyDeleteSo....the moral of this story is.....I won’t be going for a wee without my glasses on ever again!! 😱🕷
That is horrible !! I shuddered. Hope you snat he'd some sleep afterwards ..
DeleteI would have left him there. I gave up battling with spiders fifty years ago.
DeleteCC, BB, LJ, mango chutney this afto - well, peach...
ReplyDeleteMy "awful" moment was this morning. I came downstairs, to find too massive piles of cat "vomit" on the carpet, streaked with fresh red blood. I dashed upstairs to find my cat, who was messing about, and then saw the remains of "something"!
ReplyDeletePanic Over - as it was obviously a regurgitated rodent -Messy.
Kind of you Esscee. Yes Ido use an iPad and should have learned by now that when it says comment or reply as google account I am not signed in if it says Lady R then I am. I don't sign out on this screen it is because I clear down regularly from settings plus swiping away from a double click of the button all open tabs. If I write not signed in the after I have done so I have replace the ? with the emoji before I press publish Oh dear sounds very confusing when written down 🙄 Thank you again for your thoughtfulness 🌻
ReplyDeleteUgh, I don’t envy you Miriam. I think I’ll stick to chatting up the neighbour’s cat in the garden. It’s as much as I can cope with when he eats our grass and regurgitates it in front of me. At least you know your cat isn’t poorly, which I imagine is a relief.
ReplyDeleteIt is! No emergency dash to the vet's, well this time.
Deletegot back from the vet's for our one remaining cat's yearly booster - just finished cleaning the carrier after said cat was sick in it on the way home...
DeleteWhat awful times some you have had overnight and into this morning. All agrhhhhh events in my book 😮
ReplyDeleteLike Jolene, I am also planning my autumn/window "flower" box. I do not know yet, what I will buy, plant + when.
ReplyDeleteMy current "box" is now going stragly and won't last much longer.
All my various tubs, chimney pots etc are the same, Miriam. Can’t expect expect Mr A to keep everything trimmed and watered up to my standards, when he is doing so much else for me. It is breaking my heart to see all the work I put in earlier this year going to waste now and being unable to get out to buy spring bulbs and plant them.
DeleteOh well, I’ll just have to put up with a fallow spring and start again next year. 🌷🌷🌷
Pleased to report a 🦇 free night - so far!
ReplyDeletewe have a small bat population that roosts in our barn. :)
DeleteI was busy working in the kitchen this morning, when I smelt something not nice. I couldn't work out the source. The penny dropped a few minutes ago, whilst putting a curry I cooked last night into portions for the freezer.
ReplyDeleteIt was the "cat vomit" I scooped + cleared up
yesterday, which was an "undigested something". This was still in a bag in the kitchen, and was starting to decompose. It is now sorted, and the kitchen window is wide-open. The bleach bottle is ready, as are the "marigolds".
PS I will risk eating the curry, as I have a portion in the 'fridge for tonights meal!
DeleteHopefully, I will be OK!
Oh dear "yuk" Miriam - the bag of the unmentionable (not your curry 😂) Enjoy that and post later so we know you are still with us. What a week everyone is having and not half way through yet 🙄
DeleteI don't like September.
ReplyDeletePuss Cat has to have her annual check-up and vaccinations, my car needs its MOT and be taxed, dental appointment due, as is the window cleaner + lawn treatment service. I also become a year older and I have my hosp.appointment to try and sort my cataract/glaucoma problems out. Nothing serious!
Just a lot of extra exspence, in one single month. When I go for my hosp. appt I will have to use taxis, as I will not be able to drive afterwards. Costly, but I don't want anyone else to give up their valuable time.
DeleteLady R - yes, what a week and only Tuesday. I will open a new post - maybe we will turn a corner and all have a better second half of the week.
ReplyDeleteMirium, I have made a friend since I moved up here, who has, in the last six months been registered as blind. She is in the process of losing the last vestiges of sight on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that she has always been a very independent person, and as such myself, I have a deep respect for that. She has also been widowed in the last eighteen months and although her two daughters and their families live reasonably close and are as supportive as possible, she is doing her best to remain as independent as possible.
However having to use taxis all the time whenever she needs to leave the village, expenses are becoming a worrying subject for her.
Yet she is finding it very difficult to accept help, because she believes, like you, that others time is more important than helping her.
I was allowed to accompany her to see a specialist in Birmingham recently, but she will not ask for any other help from me or anyone else.
And believe you me, I offer on a regular basis.
My time is as valuable now as it ever was, but there has never been a time when I was unable to hold out the hand of friendship to someone needing support or practical help.
My friend is depriving me of what I consider to be my duty to 'God, the universe, a higher authority ' call it what you wish, as a human being to serve others. Not before myself, I'm not a saint, but certainly alongside.
I remember my mother having a friend who would only allow her to help if she was paid for it. My mother felt that she wasn't allowed to be a true friend, but was rather a servant.
You too may find that although others time may well be valuable, they might still be able to find some time, now and then, to help you get to one of your appointments.
Give them the chance to be the friend they might wish to be.
Lan Jan..... how are the cats ?
ReplyDeleteDo you know what is happening to the elderly neighbour in the hospital?
Can you bring us up to date.
MrsP - what a well thought out comment you just posted. I wished I live nearby and can be one of your friends.
ReplyDelete