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"longer off topic comments" - Episode 25 Life Outside Ambridge
"longer off topic comments" - Episode 25 Life Outside Ambridge
Central Park, NY
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.
"New York, New York. What a wonderful place"...............amazing at any time of the year, but Central Park does autumn/fall very well. 😘
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely Fall picture Ruthy.
ReplyDeleteWoke up usual time this morning to remember the clocks have gone back to GMT for the winter here in the UK. Do you do that in the USA too Ruthy, or keep the same time all year?
I always remember the fall in America as we lived there in the late 80s. The colours were incredible and I had to be careful as I drove to keep my eyes on the road. The colours here are not so vivid.
ReplyDeleteRuthy. The picture is taking me on a wonderful autumnal walk, through the dry crisp leaves, kicking them as I trot along the path.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll join you Stasia 😉
DeleteReally beautiful Ruthy - I visited Central Park in the summer which was great, but autumn is my favourite season. Colours up in Yorkshire were lovely although I only had time to glimpse them from the car as we rushed about. Next year will be different I hope.🤗🏡
ReplyDeleteMy favourite season too Seasider!
DeleteA gorgeous sight ! It's like that here, but in Central Park, it really does look as thick as a pile carpet.
ReplyDeleteArcherfile, do double check on co codamol. Had a google this morning and from that it just applies to UAE. If it is OK in Dubai maybe advisable even so just to take what you need. That unfortunate lady recently imprisoned in Egypt took vast amounts of a forbidden painkiller for her boyfriend. Strangely I also found this morning that Benylin is not allowed in Zambia as it contains a sedative! Don’t worry unduly and just have a lovely time with your family! In the days when we were only allowed to take £50 out of the country my in laws came out to see us in Hong Kong. Father in law who was a law unto himself brought a tobacco tin crammed with sterling! We changed it into HK dollars! He had faked a bad back to be waved through customs!
ReplyDeleteOh, naughty father in law!
DeleteHoping I’ll be OK as we are only going for 17 days and I think you are allowed to take enough medicine for 3 months. The most critical things are Mr A’s insulin and my Thyroxine, which should be OK but we will fill in the forms anyway and keep fingers crossed .
Those were the days Ev. My parents went on holiday in Europe , he sent money to himself at various ports of call, only one went missing. I was working part time in New York and transferred money to give him when I joined them for a week. Panic stations on the way home, they had more money left than they should have taken out!
DeleteRuthy lovely picture! The Oak tree next door is poised to shed leaves all over my garden but this year I have a gardener who will clear them for me!
ReplyDeleteRuthy what a blissful Autumn scene I can smell the leaves from here 🤗 Thank you for your reply to my Halloween question it is not a custom we have followed although the displays of pumpkins etc put together in a Garden Centre can be fun to see but that's as far as it goes for me!
ReplyDeleteArcherphile - we will change back to EST next Sunday, after Halloween. So it will be dark at 4:30 pm before I get out of work. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteWonderful picture Ruthy.
ReplyDeleteJust got back in from a bit of a walk up our local forest. The colours were beautiful on a lovely sunny morning. Freezing cold wind though.
It’s a day for doing indoor jobs with the fire on and some good old comfort food. I’ll do something spectacular with some mince later....🤔😆
Is that one of your dogs with the new collar?
DeleteHow the hour change makes a difference. I was wide awake at 6.30am this morning, so "poddled" downstairs, made a cuppa, then back into bed, listening to R4ex. I then had a wonderful, hot soak in the bath - and I even put the "jets" on.
ReplyDeleteOnly one word to describe it - BLISS.
Forgot to add, my favourite Archers character is-Jazzer. I love that he is more prominent, well at least for the time being.
DeleteYes he’s my favourite too. I hope he finds the girl of his dreams after hankering after Fallon some time ago and now the awful Hannah!
DeleteMy fave too.
DeleteNo one told Gypsy about the hour change. She was all ready for dinner at 4! This morning she and Buddy woke me at 5.40 which would have been OK if an hour later! Maybe they will adjust!
ReplyDeleteHad the same experience with our 2 cats as well ! Followed up with a very early supper...guess it'll settle down tomorrow. I
DeleteRuthy....this was our first dog Boo.
ReplyDeleteWe had to have her put to sleep 2 years ago after she had elbow surgery for arthritis that didn’t work... she went off her leg altogether. She was 10. Men are deffo more soft than women regards this kind of thing. I had to take her to the vets...Mr PtbY couldn’t go. He kept tearing up for days.
We had her cremated and we still take her ashes to the pub to toast her on her birthday.
PtbY - after my beloved Harry died, and was cremated, I continued to take her on the walk I was doing in stages at that time, which was the Grand Union Canal. She was ten when she went.
ReplyDeleteMy cat was comfortable above my pillows this morning, until it was time to throw up a fur ' sausage' five inches long.
So it was a wash in the machine and out on the line this morning.
However he has come inside, voluntarily, in the last half hour. And settled to sleep.
I had a visit today, on which a great deal depends.
I hope to be able to share good news soon.
No questions please, but CowGirl and Ev and Suz might well guess.
Not wishing to be provocatively mysterious, but do not want to jinx my luck.
DeleteUnderstood. Fingers crossed.
DeleteHope it will lead to the outcome you want!
DeleteI am intrigued Mrs P!
DeleteHope whatever it is works out well for you.
Mrs P thoughts are with you, so know the feeling.
DeleteMy last 2 dogs are buried in the garden, with trees over them, as I sit at my French windows in my work room I can "see them "
Misty is doing well, though she has a serious lesson to learn, no chasing of hens or sheep. Boy can she run fast on her 3 little legs. Wont go into the gory details, but am 2 hens less.Hope the hens will now stay out of my garden and so stop digging everything up, they have acres to play with !
All our cats (except one) have their own special place in the garden - our little Pippin is awaiting his climbing rose. His brother Merry has got over the sulks but not the time change..
ReplyDeleteI have decided this year not to spend a fortune on sweets, and instead we are taking our neighbour out for dinner on Halloween. It has become tedious answering the door to children who stand there holding out their bags, already bulging with surgery nonsense. One year I went to the fruit farm and bought lots of apples and gave them instead, only one child thanked me and the next day thanked me again.
ReplyDeleteI am turning into one of those individuals who claim, " it wasn't like that in my day", and IMO it has definitely become the creeping Americanism of life.
Apologies to Ruthy and my close American friends.
This will make me sound like a mean old grouch, but I am very thankful that we live on an un-pavemented, unlit main road, a mile from the nearest village, and therefor do no get any children banging on the door at Halloween!
DeleteWhen my two were children we had never heard of this ‘tradition’ and they never took any notice of Halloween. There were certainly no rows of fancy dress costumes in the supermarket or stacks of pumpkins. In those days (70s -80s) the excitement was all about Guy Fawkes and bonfire night firework displays.
Where has all this Halloween nonsense and commercialisation come from ?
Stasia - no need for apologies - I feel the same. When my son was about 6 I sewed him a costume out of grey and white felt of a Grey shark with big teeth. It took me weeks to make it and it was the envy of all my friends. And my son absolutely loved it I wish I had kept it for old times sake. When he got older, maybe 10 or 11 (older than trick or treat age) day before Halloween is called goosey night or mischief night, he would go out, trying to hide it from me, a backpack with toilet paper. The intent was to throw strings of toilet paper on someone’s bushes or tree. He and his friend got a quiet reprimand and our friendly local police. And that was that.
DeleteMy daughter lived in Yorkshire for a while and they had mischief night when eggs and flour were thrown at people’s windows and doors. Apart from making a horrible mess it is such a waste of food when many folk don’t have enough to eat. I wondered at shops selling these things to them. We don’t have children knocking on the door at Halloween. The only experience I have had was when parents asked beforehand and we knew the children which is fine but it isn’t a good idea surely for children to knock strangers’ doors.
DeleteHere in Scotland we have had Halloween celebrations for hundreds of years! I loved it as a child and I love it now - went to our regular party on Saturday night (venue was decorated spectacularly) and was delighted to win the men's first prize for my dressing up efforts! We will be decorating our garden and house this evening and look forward to all the local kids turning up at the front door on Wednesday. And in the West of Scotland at least, EVERY child has to tell a joke or sing a song or perform a routine of some kind before they receive some goodies - with no exceptions!
ReplyDeleteThat actually sounds great fun - a full blooded celebration, inventive & colourful. Much better than knocking on doors & vandalism. ( Though must admit, I did rather like Ruthy's story about the draped toilet rolls...)
DeleteCarolyn, the concept of throwing eggs and vandalism on Halloween in these parts is very, very much frowned upon! And it has always been a badge of honour if your costume is home-made - long may that continue....
DeleteI have observed that more and more each year, advice is given that only the doors with pumpkins displayed should be knocked on. I approve of this.
DeleteI did take part in London, as I was known by many of the local children, but have not here, and will again have all curtains pulled closed early in the evening.
Like Archerphile it was of no importance in my childhood or my children's.
It is, I'm afraid to say, yet another American import, that the British retail business has locked onto with excess.
And the masses follow !
I remember last year visiting my daughter in Bath around the end of October.
They have a Cristian evangelical family renting next door, sent from the USA to ' seed ' a new church in Bath.
Yet there, outside the front door was a plethora of pumpkins with candles and other Halloween paraphernalia.
This seemed strange to me, since I understand Halloween to be at the very least ' attached ' to Satan !
So many events are now just commercial money spinners and most have been for some time, hardly one finishes than the next one is upon us 🙄
ReplyDeleteI am with you.
DeleteThere was the original "Mothering Sunday", which I remember purely as church service. Now there is Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Valentines Day etc. which are now so commercial, expected and entices too many to buy expensive gifts/flowers/chocs and so on, which many cannot afford. It is easy to show love, to those who mean so much to us, in a different way. What about:- a lunch out, an afternoon tea, a visit to a place of interest, a theatre trip (matinees are so cheap). There are so msny alternatives to the commercialism which is thrust upon us.
Got to admit I park our car at an angle at the bottom of our drive so no one can get up it. Luckily we are near the end of the village so not a lot of activity about.
ReplyDeleteI have grown into a grumpy old woman over this trick and treating.
We never had it when I was a kid.
It’s really just demanding with menaces.
Unfortunately I live in a little enclave of about 100 houses with only one way in and one way out. It is normally extremely quiet, but on Halloween parents from the neighbouring villages arrive with their children and send them out to beg, Trick or Treat. I'm sure many have no idea what the term means, so last year I asked what the trick was, and what was my treat. I think they perceived me to be a thorough spoil sport, even though I was wearing a witches hat and a green nose.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is also a tradition in Ireland it was an evening of making masks, playing games and dunking apples. A party of fun on the eve of all souls because the next day was a holy day of obligation.
In the Philippines on the island where my son is at present it is predominantly Roman Catholic and on All Souls the Church processes with ceremonial robes and many candles to the local cemetery where prayers are said, and then candles and gifts of food are left by people on their family graves. Apparently it is one of the favourite days for the poor, and there is much poverty there, and within an hour of the congregation leaving the food has all vanished, and it surely wasn't the ancestors that ate it!
DeleteMy daughter experienced something similar when she worked for a year in Austria, but there the families actually stayed and had a picnic at the graveside.
I am very lucky, as there are seldom "trick or treaters" where I live. The village school always does an event, as does the local "nature park" with a "ghouly/ghost walk" and serve burgers + hot dogs. I have bought a pack of "supermarket own brand kitkats", just in case.
ReplyDeleteI am looking to indulging them. Nov 1st. onwards.
Halloween celebrations are NOT an American import! Google it!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young my mother made me a turnip lantern to carry into the street with a candle in it. Turnips are swedes in the south and very hard to cut. No dressing up and definitely no knocking on doors - would have been seen as very cheeky. One year a friend’s dad took us for a walk in the grave yard on the cliff overlooking the sea - I was scared stiff but didn’t want to admit it.
ReplyDeleteI hated kids knocking on the door where I live now, even shouting “we know you’re in”. Thankfully people put pumpkins in their garden now if they are participating and otherwise folk pass by.
As children we used to go to the feed clamp and choose some nice big mangle wurzels, and hollow them out and carve a simple face and light a candle in it, and then creep round the lanes wrapped in a sheet or some such, bumping into others doing the same and generally scaring ourselves silly. They were hard to cut too!
DeleteOur nearest neighbour here now does beautifully intricate designs in pumpkins so we have a go as well. The only pity is that we live on a back lane so there aren't many passers by to see them.
Isn't the origin of halloween celtic and / or pagan? Then adopted / adapted by the Christian church as part of All Souls / All Saints festivals?
ReplyDeleteI remember carving pumpkins in the 60s and 70s.
I suppose it's the blatant commercialisation of it we see as an American import.
(Sorry Ruthy)
No need to apologize - no way to stop commercialism - even if you blame the US - Halloween candy/costumes/decoration showed up in the stores in late August. I went to a home decor store and Christmas and Hanuka stuff have already arrived. Every holiday is created and celebrated to sell more merchandise. What we here call Hallmark holiday - the worst one is Mother's day. Rather disgusting. I have a pact with my son - no Mother's Day gift. A call, a hug and "love you Mom" - will do.
DeleteHa....I told my son if I didn’t get a Mother’s Day card I’d cut him out of my will!!
DeleteI agree with you Ruthy
DeleteIt has become too commercialised.
When I was a child on Mothering Sunday at Church the youngest child in the family went to the altar to collect a daffodil to give to his or her mother.
Sometimes children gave a small bouquet to their mums.
PtbY -please do 100 lines.
"In the UK it is not Mother's Day but Mothering Sunday "
Not a bouquet -a small bunch of flowers
DeleteI grow a lot of different varieties of daffodils and provide our local Church with them for the Mothering Sunday posies, as did my great grandmother who also liked daffodils. My Mum used to envy a mum who had seven children as each child received a posy and she got lots of flowers! Nowadays with a smaller congregation everyone, including men, has a posy.
DeleteOriginally Mothering Sunday referred to the mother church as servants and other workers returned to their home parish which of course meant their home probably bearing small gifts towards the lunch their mothers would make on that day. You can’t blame the retailers for grabbing every opportunity to drum up custom but it does get tedious for us all! We went to a garden centre on Sunday to find a good deal of the floor space was taken up with Christmas decorations and the compost we wanted was not in its usual place because of the intrusion so we had to trek to the far flung end of the shopping area to get it having expected it to be near the till!
DeleteI've tried to stick with Mothering Sunday but I find fewer and fewer people recognise the term. I only realised this year it's Mother's Day, not Mothers' Day. I wonder which lucky mother has ownership rights?
Delete(I gather the singular mother is deliberate, to match Father's Day - named by its originator in honour of her widowed father. Less deliberate, I suspect, is the sign at the school some of my shoe-dwellers attended: Visitor's Car Park. Ditto the displayed quote from OFSTED proudly proclaiming 'Teachers' monitor pupil's progress ...' Not bad for grammar schools ; )
That's sad and it's bad! Love your end comment.😂
DeleteHallowe'en was once much more important than it is today. Much of the ... goings-on? ... got transferred to 5 November. 'Trick or treat ' in its modern form is no doubt imported from the US, but probably goes back to the Mischief Night shenanigans – a touch of chaos – recalled by some of our contributors. (Dimly recalled, I think, from 'Lore and Language of Schoolchildren' by Iona and Peter Opie.)
ReplyDeleteSeveral decades ago, I worked somewhere that had an American intern. He assumed that 'Trick or treat' ruled here also, and had provided himself with a store of small sweets. He wasn't troubled to release the treats, and so brought them into work the next day. We enjoyed them!
Had great difficulty posting again this morning, so downloaded Google Chrome as suggested by someone here (sorry, cannot remember who). Even that didn’t work! It seems I just have to wait a few hours until the orange B replaces the blue head symbol and my name appears.
ReplyDeleteThere is no rhyme or reason to this problem, but it is extremely frustrating! 😤
Was it Archerphile or Mrs P who mentioned learning a poem before Christmas?
ReplyDeleteSomebody mentioned that Giles Brandreth suggested doing so -good for the brain.
I am trying to learn "Night Mail." by WH Auden.
It was me LJ, after hearing the Giles Brandreth programme and discussing the subject with my granddaughter.
DeleteI confess I have not got very far.
Ok Lanjan. Wrists slapped over Mothering Sunday. 🤭
ReplyDeleteArcherphile...I’m still on chrome and it’s been fine. Got to admit I don’t know how I got onto it.
Don’t mean it as insulting, but have you got some young techie that could have a look at it for you. You know..... they are usually about 11yrs of age and will give you a roll of the eye as if you’re useless. 😆
Unfortunately all the possible suspects of my acquaintance are Windows users and know nothing about Apple devices. The problem only started with the latest IOS upgrade so I think I’ll have to book a techie appointment at the local Apple store and see if they can sort it out. Thanks anyway.
DeleteMy daughter is visiting with her two children. Children and grandparents were dragged out to Lyme Park this morning at 7.30 am to do a two mile walk in order to try and see the rutting red deer. It was very, very cold and I've never been more pleased to get in the cafe for a hot drink. We did did see the deer but they were very quietly and peacfully eating grass.
ReplyDeleteWe only need to go a couple of yards to see a heron because one regularly visits our pond which is covered by wire mesh fortunately..
DeleteNot one of my favourite birds I must say.
Oh I love Herons. Saw them regularly when in Putney as lived in the triangle of ponds, Barnes, Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common.
DeleteNow in the ' country ' ? Have only seen rarely.
Not long before I moved my neighbourand I had one sitting on our joint shed roof, and that was in tiny patio gardens only. We were both thrilled until the following day when we discovered the fish in our pond gone.
He had been staking us out the previous day !
Many years ago, my younger daughter and I were in Richmond Park, I suppose at this time of the year, and we watched two huge stags ' rutting' .
It was a magnificent and thrilling experience and I will never forget the sound of those antlers crashing against each other.
Oh dear !
DeleteHaving written my post above, I looked up ' Rutting Deer in Richmond Park '
Then watched a Visit Richmond Tourism video.
So many favourite spots and paths walked and recognised, I now feel very home sick and wonder why I left it all behind.
I was at college near Richmond and later lived in Putney. Many happy memories of walks along the river and in the park.
DeleteOur local park where we live now has a number of herons living on the island in the lake. One day a man with a large net turned up at our door saying one of the herons was in our garden and needed help to return to the park. By the time he got into the garden the heron was up the road. I think the heron moved itself on without his interference.
Mrs P I also noticed your stories about the hens in Greenwich and other places nearby. Very close to where I live now (when not up north of course).
Seasider - Hillcroft ?
DeleteYes, mum a Greenwich girl, dad in the Guard House up on Frances Street, he was in the R A.
One aunt in Kidbrooke another Plumpstead three others re housed in Chelsefield.
Mum and dad did their courting on Blackheath and Charlton, Manzies eel and pie shop, then moved to Catford, then we went to Southend Pond.
I was born in Woolwich at the famous maternity home.
I don’t know Hillcroft but I do know many of the places you mention.
DeleteA few years ago we were in the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park when a group of women passed us .
ReplyDeleteThey stopped shortly afterwards and I started to chat to them.
Each Wednesday they meet up for a walk in the Park.
They invited me to join them and for a few months I did so.
I enjoyed it but I was not as young as most of them and did not walk as fast and eventually I stopped going.
Richmond is indeed a lovely park.
A walk in Isabella with my mum and dad on a Sunday was the norm when my children were young.
ReplyDeleteMy parental home for 42 years was on the tenth floor overlooking Richmond Park in one direction and Wimbledon Common in the other, and looking down onto the cemetery on The A 3, where both parents went on their final journey.
My dauhter has a large painting of the deer in Richmond Park on loan to her. It is one of a set of four painted by a university friend who did them for her A level art project and, as they are so large, she has farmed them out to family and friends. The one that my daughter is looking after moved to Singapore with her, it's a lovely picture.
ReplyDeleteIs your daughter in Singapore now ,Cheshire Cheese?
DeleteMy younger son worked there for a time and I was fortunate enough to be able to visit him several times.
Such a clean place.
Just want to say that, after a long day's proofreading, which is an isolating pursuit, it's great to read all your comments and feel connected.
ReplyDeleteCan understand your comment bootgums. I think Ruthy has around 30-35 in her blogging family now 👏
ReplyDelete(Is your proof reading a varied affair or connected to a particular field?)
All academic – humanities and social sciences – Lady R, as I don't do real science (not qualified). The current book is interesting, being about the history of the family, but a translation from the French and so rather abstract and airy-fairy! They do philosophy at SCHOOL, you know!
DeleteThank you for your very interesting reply bootgums - yes it seems that school is a different ball game these days!
DeletePtbY - your idea of accessing these blogs via Google Chrome on iPad seems to be working now!
ReplyDeleteI have downloaded Chrome and booked-marked Archerfans Blog as you suggested.
Now when I go to Chrome, the blogs are there ready and waiting with my orang B and name awaiting me at the bottom.
What a relief! I think the problem was with using the built in Safari browser rather than the operating system itself. I never had any problems when using our PC which runs on Windows 10 with the old Internet Explorer browser, but I don’t use that computer very much - it means sitting upstairs in Mr A’s office rather than snuggling down on the sofa, or in bed, with my iPad!
So thank you for the advice, I think (hope) my problems are sorted now 🤞
Ah that’s good. Yes safari was the problem I think.
DeleteNot had one issue since changing to chrome.
Like you, I just keep both blogs open all the time and then refresh them so no probs in signing in and out.
Ruthy. We are aware that the US is having elections at the moment and since the shooting and killing last week it all sounds very scary.
ReplyDeleteMy friends in up state NY went to Kingston last week and met Joe Biden, they are great fans of his and wanted him to be President during the last election.
As I only listen to BBC news we are not hearing very much about the Democratic Pary and their position in the polls. The papers and media are fixated on Trump, and I can understand why, but is the fascination with him on the wane?
Sorry to bring up politics everyone, but when I heard that Trump was sending 16,000 soldiers to create a human wall on the border with Mexico I felt compelled to ask the question.
stasia - I too do not wish to discuss politics on this blog. But a quick answer - Trump is very popular among his supporters - and as a liberal democrat I really don't understand as he hasn't done much good for the lower and middle class. There are polls that are showing the Democrats will take back the House, and it is does it will be a slim majority (and since the last presidential elections - I don't really believe in polls - Clinton was polled to win up to election day.) If that happens there may be some checks and balances on what the republicans are pushing through Congress. As to the soldiers being sent to the border - that is just a show for Trump a week before the elections. The "caravan" won't even arrive until long after the elections next week. So spending more of tax payers money to justify Trump's supporters.
ReplyDeleteI guess this was longer than I intended - and I could go on.
The killing of the Jews in the Synagogue was very sad. My partner is Jewish and we have been weeping everyday since.
DeleteMe too Ruthy. Being Jewish myself I was horrified to heard the dreadful news of the shooting during Shabbat, and at a baby naming service into the bargain. We have been experiencing more and more anti-semitic activities over here too and problems with anti-Semitic views being expressed in certain political parties. Police guards have to be posted outside some synagogues and Jewish schools - in Britain, of all places!
DeleteIt beggars belief that 75 years after the holocaust we still have to put up with this going on in the so-called enlightened West. Sometimes I cannot understand the human race at all. 😢
If it’s any consolation, Archerfile, these views are held by a tiny minority. For myself the Jewish people I have known have my admiration. My husband and I went to stay with Jewish friends in New Orleans. We went to Synagogue with them and it struck me that the family feeling there was the same as in a good church. The service was followed by coffee and cakes and they were so welcoming. I can’t really understand anti Semitic views and wonder what inspires this hatred for other religions. In the name of humanity we need to be together and respect beliefs of the many and various people on our planet.
DeleteLadyR - I went back the last few posts and see there are 34 regular blogger! They have all become my blogger friends!
ReplyDeleteWell done - and its all down to you Ruthy 💐 it is obvious how much we all love both blogs, especially when any of us feels a bit down for whatever reason or have an enforced period of health restrictions or exciting news to impart we know our "virtual friends" are always at hand to encourage , support and share in our excitement
Delete👏👍🏼🌸
DeleteAnd..There may be those,like me, who rarely 'blog' but avidly read and enjoy, for one reason or another, the contributions posted here. I too appreciate these blogs...... so thankyou Ruthy from me.
Delete👍✔
DeleteGood grief. 34 mad archers fans
ReplyDeleteNow I have something to confess re the 34 bloggers....... I’m afraid I have a picture of you all in my head as.....little Miss Marples! 😱. There...I’ve said it. I’ll now await a lot of abuse to come my way.
Told Ruthy the same when we met up and maybe my face when we met told as much......very surprised look!
Not including you in this obviously GG. lol
So maybe we need to think about a badge for us London Waterloo meety-uppies. Just a thought.
Ps. A friend of mine said I ought to come to Waterloo with a life size cut out of David (having gone first via Birmingham bbc to pinch it).
Not insulted - Marple was some astute lady.
DeleteJust hope our dress sense is more (21 than the famous amateur sleuth's could have been..
.
Perhaps we can each make ourselves a discreet lapel badge.
DeleteAny colour but with a large A centred.
Then we shall be able to recognise each other.
When Stasia and I met up, we soon swapped our blog names for our actual names. We have, of course continued to use our blog names and I think, both still think of each other with those blog names.
That was not difficult between the two of us. However it might be confusing among half a dozen, for a short while at least.
Right well I’ll stop with my large banner plans and the wellies for PtbY identification then. 😆
DeleteLanjan: 31st @ 17.34. My daughter is still in Singapore, she has been out there for 2 years and doesn't look likely to come back for another 2.
ReplyDeleteHave you been there Cheshire Cheese or are you likely to be going to visit?
DeleteThe first time I went I saw "Les Miserables"and another time saw "The Pet Shop boys".
We last visited about 18 months ago and are planning to go in the New Year. I'm looking forward to a return visit to the botanic gardens.
DeleteNo abuse ,Proud to be Yorkshire,I too know what everyone looks like!
ReplyDeleteI have been told not to dress up so I plan to come in my bootleg jeans and red duffle coat with what Mr LJ calls my "Rooney" boots .
If as may well happen it is raining then it is plan B and it will be my long maroon mac.
If it happens to be a warmer day then I will no doubt be in my chunky maroon cardigan/coat (still jeans though ) which first saw the light of day as a very long thick jumper with bat like sleeves first knitted almost 40 years ago. and which I unravelled to make the cardigan about 15 years ago.
When I was in Sainsbury's years ago (when it was still a jumper) a bottle of baby bottle sterilising liquid slightly leaked onto it.
The Manager who saw what had happened was appalled and insisted on compensating me although I said I would be able to sort it which I did.
When I said I had knitted it she added more to the compensation amount.
Fab knitted garment story.
DeleteLove it.
I wonder how many of your "visions" would be correct Lanjan 😀
DeleteRuthy. Thank you very much for the reply. I am a very political person and grew up in a very political community. I shall endeavour not to make comments related to politics, but I can't guarantee not to do so if another blogger feels inclined to say something. The temptation would too great.
ReplyDeleteI am more of a Vera person, I think. I do have the hat. Miss Marples is a bit too prim and proper and tweedy which I'm certainly not.
When the temptation gets too great you could always do it at one remove and talk poetry instead - Yeats perhaps ? 😉
Delete"All is changed, changed utterly …"
DeleteI was watching a programme about the end of WW1; it's appropriate for that.
Yeats peppered conversations of my father and uncles. When I looked blank once, on hearing some lines, I was told "You must know it - it's Yeats!" as if I should have absorbed all his works by osmosis. Later, Yeats poetry was on my Eng. Lit. course.
Happy for you to see me as a little Miss Marple Proud to be Yorkshire, reality might disappoint though.
ReplyDeleteWho is your favorite Miss Marple?
ReplyDeleteJoan hickson.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. She was the original on TV, & had the spot on unsentimental, slightly acerbic tone & manner.
Delete👍
Delete✔️✔️
DeleteNothing will disappoint on our meeting. It’ll be an honour to meet fellow archer fans.
ReplyDeleteChanging the subject.... I’m sorry but I need a moan.
ReplyDeleteSo ....this afternoon we went to see bohemian rhapsody film at our local small cinema. We always sit on the back row cos I have a phobia about people kicking the back of my seat...flipping hate it.
At the end of the film, when the credits rolled, one half of screen was credits the other half actual film of Queen in concert. The people in front start to get up and stand there watching it whilst putting their coats on...,then still stand there. Aargh!!
So I loudly said ...could you please move along as others are still trying to watch.
Fair point I thought.
Woman from cinema (usherette) comes in and shouts at me to stop shouting abuse at the customers and to stop being rude.
I don’t think I was rude. I think it’s rude to be inconsiderate to other cinema goers....don’t get me started on people who talk through movies or rattle goodie papers constantly!!
I would appreciate the views of others.
Maybe it’ll turn out that I’m an obnoxious old woman instead of just grumpy!!
Inconsiderate people always lash back when confronted but why did the usherette have to intervene? I think you were quite right! Once my husband and I were on a cruise and a group in a singles party were talking through the performance of a group we regularly watched and enjoyed listening to. I turned round and politely asked them to tone it down. One of the men then asked if they couldn’t talk could they sing. Rude!
DeleteI'm completely with you, PtbY. What a nerve to tell YOU off. She should have backed you up or done nothing. Can understand you're still fuming.
ReplyDelete( My pet hates : people who have to be asked to move their bag off a seat in a speedily filling up train; not waiting to let people get off the bus or standing in their way; letting their child occupy a seat when adults are strap hanging )
Anyway, you weren't shouting abuse - it was a polite request. Grr.....
The usherette (is that still a word?) should have politely asked the standers-up either to sit down or to move away. That's always been a bit of a problem with film showings: as the actors aren't there in person to be offended, some viewers decide that when the film is over for them it's over for everyone. An added problem in this particular case that the standers-up found themselves wanting to see more and completely forgot there was anyone else present. I find sometimes that audience members think they're in their own living-rooms and only need to take their nearest and dearest into account.
ReplyDeletePtyB - I think you were perfectly entitled to ask others not to block your view is the screeen, and if the usherette was doing her job properly she would have seen what was happening and done something about it herself!
ReplyDeleteWe never actually go to the cinema these days. Think the last film we went out to see was Memphis Belle, about the American B45 bombers in the war, that must have been at least 20 years ago, if not more.
I would rather wait for films to be shown on TV and sit in the quiet and comfort of my own lounge; no parking to worry about and no noisy fellow audience laughing and jeering in the wrong places!
About Miss Marple, whom I absolutely love, far more than Poirot:- my favourite was also Joan Hickson - the quintessential Marple in my view. Though June Whitfield does a very good Miss Marple on Radio too. (Quite often repeated on Radio 4 Extra)
ReplyDeleteOh yes I like June Whitfield as miss marple.
DeleteI like any of these type of detective stories on the radio.
Got a store of Sherlock Holmes episodes awaiting my attention at the moment.
My favourite radio detective , first heard in childhood, is Paul Temple. That fantastic introductory music ‘Coronation Scot’ sets shivers down my spine and transports me back to my parents dinng room (where the wireless was kept), curled up in an old leather armchair waiting for Paul and Steve to solve another mystery! I still love listening to the repeats even though I could almost recite them word for word. My next door neighbour is called Steve because her parents were so in love with the programme when she was born !
DeleteI love the Paul temple stories. I painted my summer house to all the episodes of one this summer. It made it a pleasure, by Timothy!!!😊
DeletePtbY - you were absolutely right in what you did, and the usherette should have backed you.
ReplyDeleteI think you should complain to the cinema management concerning the incident and her action.
I have to say this is one of the greatest banes of my life.
Having been in film making in an earlier life I am a stickler for staying, and seated at that, until the very last of the credits.
Hundreds, sometimes thousands of individuals have been involved in the making of the film you have just watched, but most people do not give that a first thought, let alone a second, to the work involved for their pleasure.
In my opinion this is outrageously rude to the film industry.
I now drive a sixteen mile round trip to a small local cinema in another town in order to support independent cinemas. We have a multiplex here in Stroud, but I prefer a smaller intimate venue.
We also have a once a month film night locally which I also attend.
In both venues it is now recognised by the staff that I will be the last to leave my seat.
At the end of the film, I lean forward if those standing are close enough and ask politely if they would move as they are in my sight line.
Most people are surprised rather than offended.
If they are in rows too far in front I will move my seat.
If people in the same row as myself try to move past me, I refuse to let them and make it clear that I am still watching the film I have paid to see.
We now have a message at the beginning of the film to turn off our mobile phones.
I would like to see a similar message regarding respecting those who wish to view the credits.
PtbY - sorry for your bad movie experience. So how did you like the movie?
ReplyDeleteThe film was brilliant. The guy playing Brian May was really good...looked like his twin brother.
ReplyDeleteAnd Freddie, well , thought he was superb.
Saw Queen twice in concert, including what turned out to be Freddie’s last one, and they were fantastic. He was such a showman, really got the crowd involved. This really came over in the film.
Would recommend seeing it, if you liked Queen.
I've heard a couple of mixed reviews of the film but I think I'd like to see it for the music alone and maybe I'll be impressed with the rest too.
DeleteSame here Anneveggie. I think I might wait to see it when it becomes available for streaming. It’s gotten too expensive to see movies at the cinema.
DeleteRegarding blog identities and real names, I don't t have any difficulty separating MrsP's from her actual name. We have met up a few times now so that helps. I am using a fictitious name but it is the real me on the blog. Having said that, I am using my mother's name which I'm sure she won't mind as she is now dead.
ReplyDeleteSo now to reality and things to be done,
So I will arise from the sofa and go now
And go Tweksbury to an allotment shed
of wood and felt it is made.
three beans rows will I dig there
And a bed where the potatoes will be laid.
Sorry no hive for the honey bees.
It is against the allotment rules.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteLovely bathos in the last line.
DeleteBrilliant Stasia! I'm sure you could make it "nine bean rows" if you worked hard.😊
ReplyDelete"And I shall have some peace there, and peace comes dropping slow" a lovely line, and one that resonates with me as I always feel peaceful when in a garden.
ReplyDeleteJanice. Thank you, I was only responding to your comment about Yeats and my temptations. He was of course an ardent Republician and steeped in The Celtic twilight.
DeleteI have been to his grave "Under Ben Bulbin Yeats is laid" a wonderful place to be buried.
I've visited his house. I enjoyed your poem, Stasia. One of my uncles used to announce his readiness to go home by announcing "I will arise and go now".
DeleteHere we go again with a week’s worth of fireworks! This is my first November 5th or thereabouts for many years with dogs in the house. Gypsy is spooked and Buddy not sure. It wouldn’t be so bad if it were only one or two nights but it does go on. They are both currently in my bedroom as they can’t settle in their space as they usually do. Maybe I am a grumpy old killjoy but I can’t see why these disturbances have to go on for so long.
ReplyDeleteI heard you can ask your vet for some medication for your dogs to help keep them calm. Also shut curtains (if you don't already) and put on some happy/dancing music to muffle the noises of the fireworks. I know some people use thunder vests with success but I have no personal experience of them. My little dog doesn't even seem to notice fireworks luckily.
DeleteIn my day ;-) Bonfire Night was Bonfire Night. There's been a firework display this evening near me: is this for All Souls'? A large public display takes place every year not far away, always on a Saturday no matter when Bonfire Night falls. A few years ago BN did fall on a Saturday. The firework display happened on a different Saturday 🙄.
DeleteIndeed. Bootgums.
DeleteBonfire night each year was held at the Vicarage on 5th November.
The WI made toffee and Parkin I think
Someone else did the potatoes.
We Girl Guides did something I am sure
Perhaps the Boy Scouts did the fireworks.
Where I live now we also have fireworks for Diwali .
It seems endless.
Last night Percy who is scared of every noise going ,hid under my large desk.
Fireworks are really expensive now.
None of your 3d bangers or 6d Caherine Wheels.
Rockets cost an awful lot and we often find used ones in our garden.
Guy Falkes has a lot to answer for.
Bonfires were compulsory as a show of loyalty. I don't know when the directive lapsed. Blame the government (the one on 1605). We don't commemorate defeat of the Spanish Armada or of Jacobites. The Restoration of the monarchy used to be celebrated on Oak-apple Day in May.
DeleteArcherphile - how is your rehab going?
ReplyDeleteVirtually back to normal now Ruthy, thanks. Still use one stick to walk outside as I feel a bit wobbly on uneven ground, sense of balance is not very good, but fine indoors. Cannot stand for very long either as both legs get very achy, but hoping to put off the knee replacement of my other leg for a year or two yet!
DeleteAnd joy of joys - I am now able to get in and out of the bath on my own without any aids or contraptions, so I am a very happy lady!!
That's really good news about the bath, Archerphile ! The hospital wasn't optimistic about that, were they - glad they proved to be wrong.
DeleteWell done Ruthy for asking Archerphile.
DeleteEvery night for the last week, as I hauled myself up from the water, I thought I must ask Archerphile how she was doing. Now you have asked, I am so pleased.
Very good news Archerphile, and I would like to remind you that you had said, on this forum, that you had been told that you would never be able to bath again.
So....... Well done Archerphile....... for persistence !
Thanks Mrs P, though some might describe it as pig-headedness! 😄
DeleteArcherphile - Goggle “synagogue soliitarity”.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.npr.org/2018/11/02/663655483/americans-of-all-faiths-plan-to-attend-shabbat-services-in-solidarity-with-jews
DeleteWhat heartening news. I think that shooting really woke people up to the fact that anti-semitism is still very prevalent, even in the 21st Centuary. And meanwhile, over here, the police are now looking into incidences of it in one of our major political parties.
DeleteOne day please God, one day, people will stop attacking minorities of any description, being it of religion, race, colour or anything else.
Hear hear Archerfile
DeleteMy mother after liberation, spent her adulthood worried that her experiences would happen again , especially to her children.
DeletePoliticians in particular like to create scapegoats, and now social media has given them and other unpleasant individuals a voice to vent their bigotry and hatred.
Peace and and tolerance are key to enhancing our knowledge of, and acceptance of those who not share our beliefs and ways of engaging with each other.
Archerphile, like you I always hope that the world will be a better place.
I love fireworks! Tonight we are heading down to Ross Priory on the shores of Loch Lomond (where we got married...) for their annual display. There will be dinner, drinks and most importantly - an ENORMOUS bonfire! Hurrah for the joyful things in life!!!
ReplyDelete😃 yes !! I reckon you'll have a great time, & what a glorious setting !
DeleteMy cats were cool about firework explosions last night. They love it when we've visitors, & perched companionably whilst we nattered away, & drank a bit...
Sounds lovely GG.
DeleteEnjoy !
Will the display be over water ? If so, even better.
Poppy is spending his second evening under my big desk-right at the back of it.
DeleteWe live between two parks and so he gets the noise from both the front and back rooms.
Poppy sleeps through the noise.
Loved bonfire night but always hated fireworks unless I was watching from afar
GG sounds wonderful. Have a good time! I am not against fireworks but as a pet owner just wish they were restricted to one or two nights!
ReplyDeleteAgree with all the complaints about fireworks.
DeleteBUT ...... agree with GG too.
A firework display in a large open arena, with safety well under control is a wonderful experience.
I love that too.
However in small back gardens, a few fireworks at a time, intermittently let off, sometimes after bedtime at Diwali and continuing night after night, is ...................ANTI SOCIAL and should be banned.
Fireworks should be sold to responsible community events only, and not to individual members of the public.
I would like to see that become legislation in the UK.
That is totally my view too.
DeleteAnd for those that let them off at midnight ....well they want sending to prison. 🤭
Agree with Mrs P. Recently they've become part of some birthday and wedding celebrations. Midnight fireworks are restricted to New Year and Chinese New Year.
DeleteDid anyone else listen to ' Point of View ' with Howard Jacobson last night ?
ReplyDeleteAbout appearances and dressing for an occasion.
It led me to thinking about our meeting at Waterloo in December and some of the conversation around apparel.
Waterloo meeting will be here before we know it.
DeleteI’ve just booked a ticket for the Klimt exhibition at the royal academy for the Sunday afternoon when I arrive. Going to explore the alleyways between oxford street and Piccadilly and browse the posh shops on Bond Street before our meeting on the Monday.
Just got the Tuesday morning to fill now.
Apparel.....not given a thought yet.......might find a gem to wear in Bond Street!!!
Lol.
Hey am I going to be the only one who is not going to be poshly dressed at Waterloo?
DeleteI don't have to wear my jeans .
I don't have to wear my duffle coat .
Is there going to be a dress code?
I was in Bond Street yesterday ,P tbY.
I also popped into Benugo to check it out.
I was told that Monday at 1pm is usually quiet.
There are two larger tables but folk prefer the smaller ones apparently. so we should be OK .
Of course the Yorkshire lasses could wear a white rose each.and Bootgums and I could wear red roses.
I have a large straw hat with red rose on -no I think not .
Now had we been meeting in the summer........
Don’t worry Lanjan. I won’t be posh. Jeans all the way.
DeleteI won't be wearing jeans as I do not possess any.
DeleteWhat is ' posh' dressing in this context, please ?
Does it mean looking smart or trim ?
If so will I be unacceptable since I am invariably considered to be smartly dressed. And I wear hats.
Thanks for checking out Benuga LJ.
Good to know we can probably sit together at a large table, and that Monday is a quiet day.
I heard Howard Jacobson on "A Point of View". It was about reactions to a previous opinion piece. He was referring to dressing up for formal occasions such as opera or going out to dinner and particularly disparity between efforts of the sexes.
DeleteThe display is indeed over water MrsP! When it's calm the reflections are truly beautiful... They have not allowed Chinese lanterns to be launched for a few years, but I remember one evening when dozens were set adrift over the Loch and it was a magical sight!
ReplyDeleteOur house in Glasgow is perched atop a hill looking towards Ben Lomond and the panoramic view we get of dozens, if not hundreds, of firework displays is just amazing. And Pi, our cat, doesn't seem to mind the noises in any way thankfully...!
My dad, a Glaswegian, reckoned that Glasgow like Rome was built on seven hills! I can remember streets which were so steep that there was a rail you could clutch on the way up! I was born there but have lived in England since I was 18 months old and my mother was English. I reckon I might have to apply for English citizenship if the Scots get independence! Was miffed that I couldn’t vote in the referendum where many folk of varying nationalities could if living in Scotland! I think Scotland would find it very hard to be independent and doubt whether the EU would accept their membership if it was applied for.
DeleteWell done, Pi, you are braver than Gypsy and Buddy!
DeleteFireworks over water adds to the glory of a display.
DeleteHope you have a wonderful evening GG, and thanks for replying.
3 or 4 years ago we were returning from a visit to our family in France on the evening of November 5th. As we crossed the south coast and were flying towards London we had the magical experience of being up in the sky looking down on hundreds of bonfires and exploding fireworks.
ReplyDeleteAll the way into Heathrow we were treated to the best Guy Fawkes display ever!
The firework parties were still going on after we landed, so on the way home along the M3, we were treated to more fireworks, but at ground level. An unforgettable evening!
Many years ago I went to Manchester from Crewe where I lived by train. On the way back there were bonfires each side of the tracks and fireworks so that was magical too! Travelling along makes you more aware of the scale of the activities on bonfire night! The fireworks have just started again and the dogs whilst not fussing are glued to Katy and me! Maybe they will be used to it by this time next week!
DeleteRuthy - are you guys across the pond aware of Bonfire Night?
ReplyDeleteI hope next door’s cat is OK. He’s quite a jumpy chap and he came over this morning to tell us he is on his own. Next door in darkness. Constant bangs and cracks for three hours now.
ReplyDeleteThere’s a huge display up the road every year but it is so crowded and I don’t like the bangs. Love the colours though. Stayed near Richmond one year and had almost a 360 degree view of fireworks in the distance. Last time I went to a display I got over excited running outside, missed my foot on a step and sprained my ankle. Spent the next morning at A and E when I was supposed to be on a drawing course.
Re the meeting, I probably have an Archers addicts badge somewhere or could carry a copy of Who’s Who in the Archers to wave about under the clock.😉
Poor cats.
ReplyDeleteThere was a bit of a break in hostilities and Percy went out and now the wretched fireworks have started again.
I have called him but he hasn't come in.For how many more nights will this be going on?
It must cost a fortune.
Cats cost a fortune too!!
DeleteOther people's fireworks are much less of a neighbourhood nuisance than other people's cats, which foul gardens all the year round whereas the fireworks are only seasonal. I can usually find a use for a dropped rocket stick, but removing sticky messes from gravel, or putting your hand in them accidentally when weeding, is deeply unpleasant.
I have just checked.
ReplyDeleteDiwali is not until 7th November so we are likely to have at least another 4 nights of fireworks
It isn't as bad as New Year though when we are always awake day midnight by the loud bangs.
Re the meet-up: I've located my 'Nuclear-free Ambridge' badge, but it's a bit subtle. I could pin it to a red beret.
ReplyDeleteAre !
DeleteAnother hat.
Yes do Bootgums.
I’m a hat person too. Depends on the weather as to which I’ll be wearing.
DeleteThe entire ensemble depends on weather, as ever.
DeleteGG - bonfire night is not a celebration we have here.
ReplyDeleteRuthy not sure now but as kids we would make an effigy of Guy Fawkes and put it atop a collection of wood etc and then set fire to it. Around that we would have the fireworks. Now it tends to be organised communal events rather than small communities getting together. It was a good way of getting rid of rubbish!
DeleteAs long as you check there are no hedgehogs lurking at the bottom of the bonfire before it is lit, of course.
DeleteI think there are fewer back garden firework celebrations these days because it has been made harder for the public to buy the fireworks. When I was young, children could buy them from any corner shop. But after years of accidents and people getting burnt (or in the case of my brother in law, permanently blinded by a firework exploding in his hand) the law about the sale of fireworks has been greatly tightened up.
Large ones can only be used by licensed organisers and are usually limited to big events. We have a friend who does this and preparation for a large firework display can take takes to prepare and the safety precautions are very stringent.
I have not seen children with their home-made guy begging for ‘penny for the guy please mister’ for many years, whereas it was commonplace when I was young.
Sadly, we live in a different world today where such activities be too dangerous to allow children to do.
Guy Fawkes is not celebrated where I come from. Instead a certain faction of the community Commemorate their anti Catholicism on 11/12 July , with Pope burning. All very nasty stuff although I'm sure the majority of children have no idea about the historical significance of Nov.5th.
ReplyDeleteI suppose like many other 'celebrations' the original meaning gets lost in time.