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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.
*** FROM PREVIOUS BLOG ***
ReplyDeleteArcherphile April 14, 2020 at 4:37 PM
Just had a go at putting our wedding day photo on my profile to share with you all, but it’s so tiny there’s not much point!
Archerphile April 14, 2020 at 4:38 PM
So I might try to find something a bit more suitable, if I can.
What a good looking, happy couple, AP ! It's lovely.
DeleteIt's perfectly clear if we go on to your profile & enlarge the photo
I can see it and you are both looking lovely.
DeleteArcherphile - do you have my email address? If not, is there anyone on here that DOES have it that you can get it from? If you sent me the photo I would then happily post it as the header on this blog later...
ReplyDeleteNo, I don’t, but I’ll try PM-ing you from Facebook, if I can find your comments on the Archers Conference.
DeleteMay I add, to this page, the contents of a post, from the previous one.
ReplyDeleteThe poem:-
"Time For Us Girls"
by Pam Ayres.
It is too good, to be missed.
Thanks for your Happy Birthday Miriam, but my birthday isn't until August, it is just Mrs P's today. 🎂
ReplyDeleteWell that was the first, of two. Xxx
DeleteI woke up (early) and feeling agitated, this morning. The reason - it was my weekly shopping day - and I used to enjoy going out shopping. How times have changed.
ReplyDeleteI was back home, by 9.10am, with all I needed + wanted and just what was on my shopping list.
How strange to think, that's me now, not going out for another week. I feel relieved, in a weird way.
Mrs P,
ReplyDeletemy first time looking at the blog today,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🎉💐🎉💐
I hope you and Lady have had a lovely day.
Walking near the Severn sounds wonderful, today in not too far away Bristol, we have sunshine, blue sky, but a cold wind.
Enjoy your evening.
Archerphile. You can blow up your picture after pressing on your name. It’s a lovely photo. What a handsome chap Mr Archerphile is. You look very happy.
ReplyDeleteArcherphile that’s a lovely photograph of a very beautiful happy couple. Wow, look at you, so trendy! Thanks so much for sharing this. And how was Saturday? I hope you managed to enjoy it somehow in amongst everything that is going on. We all need some cheer right now and it is even more important that you marked this milestone.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your lovely comments. Yes Mr A was very good looking back then. 6’4” with lots of dark curly hair. Sadly that has now gone and he is balding with whispy grey hair, glasses and a beard - honestly you wouldn’t recognise him, our children and grandchildren didn’t on Zoom on Saturday! The main change In me is awful bags under the eyes and general drooping of the face - I could do with a facelift!
DeleteSeasider - Saturday turned out fine, very unusual, but fine. We had a long Zoom session with all the family here and in Dubai. My daughter had made us a box of ‘gold bars’. Delicious shortbread fingers sprayed with edible gold paint, packed in a glamorous box and left on the doorstep.
In the evening, after a meal steak, bought by son-in-law in the week, we held a ‘gate-party’ with our neighbours. Them 2m back from the gate on their side, and us on our side.
We shared the raspberry cheesecake I’d made with last year’s frozen fruit and a bottle of Asti Spumante, they toasted us and shot steamers through the gate and we got a bit squiffy before it got too dark & chilly and we went back indoors.
A very strange Golden Wedding party but something we’ll never forget! 🥳🤩
What Wonderful memories, but not as you had origionally thought.
DeleteI hope that you had some 'photos taken, to remember your very "Special Day" of 50 years of marriage.
They might not be great, but just a reminder of this day.
I have decided I need to do some baking.
ReplyDeleteI am soaking mixed dried fruit, in Earl Grey tea, overnight, to then make into a fruit tea-loaf tomorrow (using some of my flour, which I cannot still replace).
It is a Mary Berry recipe, simple but oh, so tasty.
PS I sadly have no muscovado sugar in the cupboard, so I am having to use "soft brown" instead.
DeleteI don't think it will make, a lot of difference, in the end.
Well Archerphile you look absolutely lovely in your wedding photo and what's a few bags between friends!! 😏. As I tell my daughter when she looks at me with a certain amount of distain "I too was a 34B, fitted easily into size 10/12, with long unblemished legs and caught the eye of many a good looking academic". Unfortunately I probably won't be around to enjoy any sense of schadenfreude when her time comes in the future.........by the way I do love my Dawt dearly, it's just that the young (as I too saw it) believe we will be eternally youthful and old age happens to others. 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much,Janice for introducing me to Hauser and Sulic.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of the two cellos before I listened to your choices
of music.
I particularly loved the Pas de deux from The Nutcracker played by Hauser.
(I know The Nutcracker is a ballet but I could have done without that ballerina wafting round the cellist on U tube I just wanted to watch him play )
They accompanied me when I did my ironing this afternoon.
Hauser playing Hallelujah is wonderful too.
I also played Amy Winehouse “Back to Black” which Parsley introduced me to.
My son was impressed and possibly surprised. that I thought she was so good .
He was saying ,as I think was mentioned by some of you ,that there was something on Netfix about her and that she had such a sad tragic short life.
We don’t have Netfix.
Actually now there is no sport we rarely turn the TV on so I am looking forward to hearing the next lot of choices.
Maybe I will discover another new person who I want to listen to a lot.
Thank you ladies.
Zoetrope in Bristol, we can't get any nearer to the river up here than you can down there.
ReplyDeleteToo many mudflats and very unstable, but it was a lovely afternoon all the same.
When I walk up at Haresfield as I have been over the last week or so, I can see all the bridges across the Severn down in Bristol. And on these bright sunny days the sun reflected off the water and the mud is to me magical. And it was just as magical to be beside it today.
I've just finished Face Time with my daughter and grandchildren and have seen that my son in law has grown a beard.
Thank you all, I've had a very nice 78th birthday.
( can someone please tell me how I got this far ? )
A Happy Birthday from me too, Mrs P
Delete🎈🎈🎈🎂🎈🎈🎈
I think we all know that feeling Mrs P (even those of us who are a handful of years behind you) I guess it’s like everything else just now - surreal 😳
DeleteGlad you enjoyed your day!
Miriam....with regards to flour....read today that if you blitz porridge oats you can use that as flour in the same quantities as normal flour.
ReplyDeleteMaybe worth a try.
I’m still having deliveries from the farm shop and have made an order for 28th which includes flour. They seem to have it in stock albeit a bit more expensive. G.F. is about £2.30 where I usually pay about £1.80 but at the moment worth it! Maybe worth a try if you have a nearby farm shop which delivers.
ReplyDeleteI usually buy mine from a local mill in North Yorkshire, when I am up there. Sadly I didn’t buy any last time. Mind you it’s too heavy to bake on its own.
ReplyDeleteJanice, Hauser and Suli, sublime 😍. (The music isn't bad either 🤭)
ReplyDeleteI have got a 3lb bag of flour here if someone would like it .
I don’t bother with sell bys
This one has August 2019 on.
My daughter and I have found it absolutely impossible to get flour from any supermarket or even the village shop. As she says, this is really annoying because baking is a good way to pass time when you are stuck at home all day.
ReplyDeleteI shall tell her about the porridge oats idea and see what she comes up with.
We make our own bread, cakes and pizzas & only have enough flour for the next week - it really annoys me that I just KNOW that there are now millions of bags of the stuff sat in people's cupboards and they will NEVER be used in the vast majority of cases! Thankfully we have enough pasta flour to last a while.
DeleteGrrrrrr!!!
Archerphile I have followed ptby’s instructions and have now been able to view your Wedding photo properly it is a wonderful picture 🤗
DeleteI still think you are looking in the wrong mirrors (the woman you describe yourself as now is not the one I met albeit briefly last Autumn)
Mr A has matured nicely too - oh dear that makes him sound like a cheese or a bottle of wine 🤣 a very special one of course!
Lady R, Mr A would be very flattered to be compared to a maturing cheese or bottle of wine - his two favourite comestibles in the entire world! 🧀 🍷
DeleteMany thanks Miriam for the nod to Pam Ayers (Lockdown) poem “Time for us girls” 🤣 such talent ! I will be passing it on that’s for sure 👏🏻
ReplyDeleteMrs P, I was in two minds whether to choose “A history of the world in 100 objects” by Neil MacGregor as my DID book!
ReplyDeleteAnd my son has also grown a beard!
Miriam, the fruit tea loaf sounds good. I do sometimes add sultanas to ordinary bread when I make it but a proper recipe should make it even better. I will try and google it.
....Just read the Pam Ayers poem. Spot on!
I have just done what P tb Y suggested .
ReplyDeleteYour wedding photo is lovely Archerphile.
I love your hairstyle .
Thank you Lanjan. I have to confess that all those curls piled up on the top of my head were thanks to a hairpiece being pinned on. Hairpieces were very fashionable back in those days (if anyone remembers) and mine was actually made from my own hair which I had had cut from very long - much against Dad’s wishes - and kept.
DeleteStrange, really, that I had wanted short hair for so long, then had some pinned back on for the wedding! 🤨 😂
I had a hairpiece which I used to have set into curls at the hairdressers when going to a Naval ball. By the end of the evening the curls had drooped and my own hair had frizzed! By then though who cared?!!😁🥂
DeleteSeasider.....you can’t have both!!! I’ll take hauser and you can have suli. 😉
ReplyDeleteMr PtbY stopped shaving when the pubs were shut. Will start again when they open he says. Well.....judging by what has grown I’ve told him not to bother cos then he can get a job being Santa this Christmas. 🎅🏻
This selfish hoarding of Croatian cellists is just that - selfish. What on earth are the rest of us supposed to do? It's a disgrace....😋
DeleteAbsolutely! 😉
DeleteMoon River was one of the last pieces my adult cello ensemble played before I retired. 😪❤️
Gary, I bake my own bread as well, and witnessed someone emptying the flour shelf the other week. Apparently it’s the flour bags that are the problem, so if you want a sack of it straight from the flour mill you can have it.
ReplyDeleteApparently the same applies to eggs, not enough people to package them, the hens are not on strike.
DeleteGary, I tried sending you a personal message via Facebook last night but am not sure if it worked.
ReplyDeleteArcherphile I did what PtbY suggested and saw a happy couple with lots of family and friends.
Delete👏
AP - no message received this end!
DeletePtbY, and Gary, looks like we’re going to have to fight for them!! Did you see Hauser with Lola “performing” the Moonlight Sonata? Ooh matron!
ReplyDeleteJust watched it Seasider.
DeleteAy Carumba!!!
Talking of hair ,as you were a few posts ago,Archerphile,I decided to try to cut mine this morning.!
ReplyDeleteI should have listened to my own advice
When in doubt
Do nowt.
Lanjan, it'll grow out, mine looks great after home improvisation.
DeleteA video appeared this morning in my local paper online
ReplyDeleteYoutu.be/7zlyMusafQg
The consequences of the lockdown. A Brown bear walking through the deserted streets of a village next to mine.
,y problem is..he wasn't wearing a mask and it looked as though he had just paid a visit to the local co-op for a stash of flour..no doubt to prepare some goodies for one of their rowdy teddy bear picnics.
Where's the justice...they're out of hibernation and were still in.
😂😂😂🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻
That's a small y in the link for youtube
Cannae find it - the link disnae work!
DeleteTry this maybe I copied it down wrong..youtu.be/7zlyMusufQg
DeleteThanks Autumnleaves, that's the right link - got it now!
DeleteHow terrifying if you were wandering back from the pub or out for a quiet stroll and you bumped into that!
Don't worry Gary everything has been closed for weeks.
DeleteBut these are the Brown bears "orso bruno" that were reintroduced into trentino from slovenia about 15 years ago.
Unfortunately it's not safe to go walking in the woods anymore and there have been numerous incidents of people coming across them and being attacked because the mother is protecting her cubs.
They are beautiful creatures but very dangerous especially when they are with their young. A friend of mine was trapped in her house because there was one in her garden and she had to wait for the Guardia Forestale.
I used to love to go walking with my friends in the woods..but I don't do it anymore.
Re the Bear walking the streets.
ReplyDeleteMy G daughter tells me that she has seen a report of the deer coming out of the parks in West London.
I would think it's easier for them to escape from Bushey rather than Richmond Park.
LanJan .? Have you heard anything ?
Archerphile and Ev. I remember having a hairpiece rather like the one in APs wedding photo when in hospital having first baby ( to make me look presentable)
I think it was the first 66 and not the second 69.
Googling the deer walking the streets ( its in Harold Hill E London) I came across information of food supply companies who have stocks to rival supermarkets, and who are doing online deliveries.
ReplyDeleteI will post the list later but must get on now.
Not seen any deer or bears round here yet ,Mrs P.
ReplyDeleteMy son actually spotted a baby bear walking down his stairs !
In fairness that was not near Bushey Park.
Bit worrying though
We were on a cycle ride near his home once when he told me not to stop but ride like mad .
He had spotted a bear .
That’s the trouble with reintroduction. Although I admire the sea eagles, our smallest dog, Buddy is about the size of a rabbit and could be carried off while sunbathing in the garden! Not too likely but you never know. I think too we would be aware of an eagle being around. I do know that farmers here were worried about their lambs but haven’t heard of any instances so far.
ReplyDeleteMy normal "look in" time today, and so worth it.
ReplyDeleteI had a bad day yesterday, but that feeling has now passed.
I think, that this was why, I decided to do some baking.
My fruit tea loaf, turned out well, and smelling it cooking, and cooling, was enticing. I will freeze half.
I did use up, some of my now, limited, flour supply, but was worth it.
Seeing wild life in streets, reminds me of something I saw in the BBC News. I found the link.
This was in Llandudno in N.Wales. The goats from the Gt. Orme, have invaded this, now seaside town, empty as all the hotels/B+Bs, are now closed.
Goats were seen, invading gardens, eating hedges, standing on garden walls eating garden shrubs etc.
Not quite the same as bears, though!
And there was me thinking I was giving you all a musical treat!
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree PTBY MY Hauser can just stop being unfaithful with that strumpet. She does play well but an evening gown would be far more becoming, tempting a man like that is just plain unfair. 😉
At least the latest world-wide CV deaths, are still lower, than the Tsunami in 2005(?) .
ReplyDeleteThis will change, of that there is no doubt!
Can't help thinking that all the animals are breathing a huge sigh of relief that we humans are less evident. I do hope that as a result of this awful crisis we can realize more fully the impact we have on wildlife and find ways to help nurture it.
ReplyDelete✔️✔️✔️
Delete👍👍
DeleteHere's hoping!
DeleteHer name was Lola
ReplyDeleteShe was a showgirl
With yellow feathers in her hair
And a dress cut down to there
Is that the same one at the Copacabana
Yes....she deffo had a frock cut down to there.
ReplyDeleteJanice....duel at dawn for him???
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete🙄 One minuet comment not there- then twice!
DeleteI have just had a quick chat with "Big Sis".
ReplyDeleteShe lives in a hamlet in N.Wales, only 23 miles away from me (so near yet, so far).
They have no shops, no bus service, just homes and a community.
Today, they had community police around, for the 1st time ever. Curiousity was aroused, and with keeping social distance, they learnt:-
These were CID police, with not much to do, wearing high viz jackets, and told to do some community policing.
In other words, they were just enjoying a day out, in the fresh air, with nothing to do!!
I am sure, that they should have been better, going into the nearby towns.
DeleteOn a lighter note.
ReplyDeleteBaking today, but it is Gardening tomorrow.
Need to keep active and motivated, though this is getting, so much harder. 😣
Keep Safe, All. 😀
I know the feeling Miriam. All too well!
DeleteFor the first time in many, many years, I went for a walk today and thoroughly enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteThe fields across the road from us rise steeply up to a 100acre wheat field at the top. Mr A encouraged me to take my daily exercise by accompanying him up the hedgerow to the very top and half way round the field before returning.
It was beautifully warm & sunny, I used both walking sticks to help over rough ground and we saw loads of butterflies (orange tips, green-veined whites and brimstones mainly), bumble bees, a red kite quartering the field and heard skylarks singing. But best of all, no traffic noise. Even the nearby M3 was strangely quiet. At the top I could look down to our cottage nestling at the bottom of the hill and it looked so tiny!
Do you know, in the 38 years we have lived here I have never done this walk before and today it felt like taking a country walk a century ago - just how the countryside used to be before modern life intervened.
I shall do it again tomorrow and try to get a bit further.
Sounds Wonderful..
Delete😁
It sounds idyllic, and nice to know there was lots of wildlife.
DeleteI hope you enjoy it even half as much tomorrow AP! What a positive post....
DeleteDawn is a bit early for me. Would 10 a.m. be okay? According to duelling etiquette the person challenged has the right to choose the type of weapons so I would like to choose cellos. If unfamiliar with this type of duelling you could look at 2cellos "Eye of the Tiger". Shall we ask Parsley to referee this as she is familiar with the cello?
ReplyDeleteI think we are all appreciating the quiet! Great to hear about your walk, Archerfile. Good physical exercise for you as well as the calming influence of nature. Maybe this respite from the hustle and bustle will do us all good. Hope so!😊
ReplyDeleteThe official video of it to get the full impact.
ReplyDeleteI'm damned sure this respite will do most of us good Ev.
ReplyDeleteArcherphile, I am delighted to hear about your walk.
ReplyDeleteI shall be even more delighted to read your post some time in the future telling us that you have been able to get out of the bath. It distressed me to hear that after three months you are still not able to have your weekly Sunday morning Bath.
Did I ever explain about the hooking of the good leg to get out.
Even if I did, I would be willing to repeat it if it would help you.
I too have done something today that I haven't done for more than one decade.
I've made Archerphiles Oliver Chocolate Pudding. And a rice pudding and cooked some chicken.
So I've used the oven ( I'm frightened of modern domestic appliances even though I was ahead of the game fifty years ago) and my liquidiser and mouli mixer which I bought at an ideal home exhibition around 1960. And they still do the job.
Yes please, Mrs P - I had forgotten about your getting-out-of-the-bath strategy so would be very grateful to hear it again. Every time I have a shower I make a few tentative attempts to turn it into a proper bath but am still very nervous about getting out again. Our bath is quite deep and we have no grab handles, so short of Mr A hauling me up by the armpits (what a horrid thought ) I still haven’t managed it!
DeleteDelighted to hear you made Olivers Chocolate pudding - hope it worked OK
I’d give anything to be able to get hold of some flour, any flour. Brown, white, plain, SR, anything would be welcome!
Here is the list of wholesalers currently offering delivery services.
ReplyDeleteThe two marked with an asterisk deliver in the Manchester and wider northern area.
They all offer delivery. Some next day, some click and collect. I'm sure they will all have websites with more information
Bedford
Birchalls Food and Drink
Brakes Food service
Butlers Larder. *
Creed Food services
Dumpsters Farm Food. *
JJ Foodservice
New Covent Garden Market.
I hope this is of use to some who are having difficulty getting groceries.
Sorry, didn't check before I sent it.
ReplyDeleteBIDFORD. and DUNSTERS FARM FOOD
I’m finding the farm shop deliveries invaluable and they always include everything ordered. You have to be prepared to pay a bit more but generally spend less not being able to get out and about. Have ordered flour and no indication that it isn’t available. I have a reasonable amount and made some pastry yesterday for a Homity pie. Katy and I found this delicious years ago at Cranks, the veggie restaurant! The filling is cooked potatoes, onions and cheese. I had a sack of potatoes in my last order as feared a potato famine! As they sprout at this time of year will need to use them!
ReplyDeleteOoh, Cranks! I had their recipe book - I wonder if I still have it ...?
ReplyDeleteI used to love their cheesejacks - cheese flapjack.
You can find the recipe online. Filling also includes milk, parsley and garlic. Google Homity pie and the Cranks recipe will come up. Presume, Zoe their other recipes will be there if you can’t find your recipe book! Another one we liked was from a veggie restaurant in Dorchester. It was pancakes filled with cooked spinach, sautéed mushrooms and cream cheese.
ReplyDeleteJanice....cor blimey. Eye of the tiger!!!!
ReplyDeleteI prefer MY Hauser suave and sophisticated rather than “I’ve just come out of the ‘hood” look.
Decided 10 o’clock is a touch early for me in these lockdown times. More of a cello at noon person I think.
Parsley....deffo referee. (I’ll bung you a fiver to win Parsley). 😉
Janice and PtbY: Blimey indeed!! I can see you two have edged me out of the competition - disgraceful! I think I will just slip away with lovely Will from The Repair Shop...great programme, which I think Lady R recommended and now on Wednesday evenings it’s a perfect tonic for the moment. Makes me cry every week.
ReplyDeleteArcherphile I loved your walk and well done with your convalescing knee. I imagine it’s been slow progress given how bad it was. How special to experience the walk in this quietened time, and just after your anniversary celebrations.
I know Seasider! They're acting like predatory cougars - but they don't stand a chance. I shall be on a grassy knoll with my sniper gun while the two of them face off. Then it's between you and I. Hand to hand contact - no hair pulling, no biting....
DeleteSeasider - you cant have lovely Will, he’s mine!!
DeleteDidn’t he do wonders with those angels last night, so much patience.
(If you google him you can read about his lovely furniture repair business. It seems he does some really interesting private jobs at his workshop in London and has lots of recommendations. I think I might just take him my antique Moroccan table which badly needs repair - after the lockdown 😉)
Well seasider we can still duel when I’ve dealt with Janice!!! Gary....sniper gun! That’s just cheating.
DeleteArcherphile. Lovely photo.
Your LadyshipR.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any influence with those in the Higher Echelons of Waitrose?
I can get lots of bread making flour from the local farm shops, but guess what they don’t stock?
Can you pull some strings, please? 🥟🦪🥫☕️🍺🍶
Oh my goodness, that is a pasty icon! We are suffering from pasty deprivation here, all the usual sell- pasties-to-visitors shops are closed, and enough flour to make them is like gold dust. I'd trade a lot for a pasty right now. 😊
DeleteStasia I remember way back you mentioned a kale variety that you thought tasted good, but I didn't write it down. Do you remember what it was? I am getting my energy back and have begun planting some seeds in the raised borders.
DeleteMrs P
ReplyDeleteIn case you miss it, my reply to you bath info offer is further up under your post of 10.57 last night
*** DESERT ISLAND DISCS ***
ReplyDeleteAnd the next name out of the hat is.......MrsP! Enjoy!
Ah, just caught up, some lovely comments. Re the 2 cellos - they just made me laugh, cheesey or what?
ReplyDeleteI have been reading 'Ulverton', about a Berkshire village changing over 200 years. Archerphile's country walk reminded me of it. sometimes it is lovely to get away from people, even in these times. I used to like the 'Miss Read' books, but haven't seen them for years.
My schedule has gone out of the window, I'm doing tiny bits of jobs as not concentrating on big tasks, then remember to think of 3 positives every day, so far so good. I too am going for the Mary B intellectual look, no difficulty at all. I have ordered some headbands which can double-up as bandanas when at the shops.....
No flour here, but toilet rolls aplenty. No pudding rice either, but Mary Berry, whom I do not resemble, she is far too elegant, said that long grain rice will do if cooked very slowly.
Did not make the chocolate pud yet, but did an enormous apple crumble as I had some bramleys to use, but I am looking forward to it next week. Great to bake, Mrs. P. Did you enjoy it enough to continue? I am now going to sit outside with my book and breakfast, and think about painting the door, creosoting fences etc etc, and possibly have a small snooze.....
I like the idea of thinking of 3 positives every day. My first one is going to be the lovely sunny weather again today so I can potch around in the garden.
DeleteMistral - I still have every single one of the Miss Read books, both the Fairacre & Thrush Green series, if you’d like to borrow them?
DeleteParsley as we have been taking your name in vain as referee I thought I would tell you something you might find interesting. The husband of our lovely neighbour with the chickens is a long distance driver who has a refrigerated large van which he uses to transport food produced in Cornwall all over Britain (including Harrods) and in normal times to Europe as well. He saw an appeal from a lady on Facebook for help getting her cello back from a friend in Cornwall to her own home in Somerset. Lockdown had prevented her getting it. She apparently has several and restores them, keeping her favourite ones. So he transported it for her but nearly dropped when he realised how much it was worth. Apparently it was made in the 1700's, and just the bow alone was worth many thousands. Good job he didn't have an accident on the way!
ReplyDeleteP.s. for those who like chickens next door have just had 6 new little chicks born. They have a cockerel, but she decided she would like to add a different rare breed into the mix and bought in some eggs. So these are Totlegers, a 400 year old German breed and should be very pretty.
DeleteLovely stories about the homing cello & chickens, Janice ! I hope the resident Cockerel won't have his beak put too out of joint when the chicks emerge, grow feathers, & look nothing like him !
DeleteWell, you’ve seen the glamourous (?) young couple of 50 years ago.
ReplyDeleteHere is the update, balding husband and definitely bags under my eyes. Taken during our Zoom session with the family on Saturday.
Once everyone has had a smile I will remove this and replace with something more uplifting!
Nowt wrong with that pic AP! Nowt at all!!
DeleteStill a good looking couple, AP, no question !
DeleteBags under the eyes, so what ? You're not a freak of nature, AP - it would be creepy if you hadn't a few signs to mark the passage of 50 years.....
👍 a great picture Archerphile thank you for sharing 👏🏻
DeleteI think you are both looking great.
DeleteI agree. You both look lovely.
DeleteI like your 3positives idea,Mistral.
ReplyDeleteI write down one thing in my diary each evening that has really pleased me that day but my son in Canada tells me he has a Happiness List.
At the moment both he and his wife being in the medical profession are having a hard time of course but when he feels a bit low or tired he says he looks at his list and does something that makes him happy like taking the dog for a walk in the beautiful if remote lakeside area where he lives
Archerfile, still both gorgeous but where is the hairpiece!?!!
ReplyDeleteGood question Ev! I think it got lost in one of our house moves! 😂
DeleteI think the same thing happened to mine!!🤔
DeleteI saw some elegant birds soaring overhead this morning and Katy having sharper sight than me, I asked her what they were. The rude reply was “Shitehawks”!! That was my husband’s name for seagulls, no doubt, Pierre, a good old earthy Naval term! We once went past some workers sitting on a long beam outside an industrial building smoking all in a row. His comment was that they were like “shitehawks on a boom!” Sorry if the language offends but it was quite funny!😂😁
ReplyDeleteShitehawk is used as an everyday word in Scotland Ev, don't worry about offending me...
DeleteWhat a lovely couple you are ..complimenti
ReplyDeleteWell, some catching up to do! PtbY & Janice, I'm honoured. No pressure!! 🤣🤣
ReplyDeleteReminds me of an old Avengers episode from the 60's where the baddy was discovered "spiked" by his cello.. 📍😉
Interested to hear your tale Janice, no wonder he nearly dropped it.. I never let anyone else carry mine, he's called Cyril.. 🤣 !! slightly more recent vintage (1839), & valuable (in the 20,000's...😮)
Love your photos, both of them, AP! & love your walk, how wonderful. Hope you find a bath solution.. can't do without mine, now I've rediscovered Badedas.. 🛀🛀
A very handsome couple Archerphile.
ReplyDeleteI went to the chemist today (first time out after 5 weeks) and got some masks and gloves as I am going to do my own shopping tomorrow. It was very strange as there weren't many people around and, those that were, all had masks. Unfortunately it is probably something we will have to get used to seeing.
Regarding seagulls they are becoming more and more audacious and have been known to pick up small animals including small dogs.
DeleteLast year we witnessed a man being attacked by one in the town centre because he was eating a sandwich on the bench...Hitchcock comes to mind.
They love pinching Cornish Pasties!!
DeleteWent to the Dr 's & pharmacy last Friday, very ill - at - ease.... No masks to be had, folk are making their own, used an eye - mask from last long - haul flight, worked a treat! 😎😷
ReplyDeleteArcherphile, marvellous, still crazy after all these years...
ReplyDeleteMy highlight for today are two very stylish, striped black & white face masks made by my sister.
She posted them yesterday, by a drone?!
We had some masks delivered to our house by the local volunteer fire service on Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteWe have now been on lockdown for over 5 weeks and up until now we were told that masks were useless..now the tune has changed and we cant leave the house without them.
I had some flannel material so a couple of weeks ago I made several masks to send to my daughters in New York and Glasgow.
Gary if you see a young woman with spiky red hair and a blue mask with teddies on it..her names Anna say hello.😊😊
First nightingale of the season heard today, beautiful ❤️
ReplyDeleteLots of nice positive things to read on our blog today! Lovely!
ReplyDeleteIf any of you fancy a light-hearted fifteen minutes, the Ted talk on YouTube called “On laughter” is good and has a couple of very funny jokes. The one at 3’50” about a restaurant, if you don’t have time (.!??!) to listen to the whole talk, is hilarious.
Have just listened and am still chuckling. Thanks Hilary.
DeleteAnd in case you missed it since we've been so busy on here today...
ReplyDelete*** DESERT ISLAND DISCS ***
MrsP! You're up!!!
My positive thing today is that on our trip to the shop yesterday we got ourselves loads of treats for a big buffet blow out - so tonight (and tomorrow, and probably lunch the next day!) we are setting the dining room table with fancy cheeses, salmon, anchovies, olives, pickles, sun-dried toms, loads of nuts & crackers, chorizo & salami, Parma ham & mortadella & chocolates & lots of wine!
ReplyDeleteGasp ! Save a tiny morsel of everything for me, Gary, & I'll float up there & partake ( in my dreams....)
DeleteCan I come Gary? Those are a lot of my favourite things. 😋
DeleteYou are all so lucky to be able to find fresh food. We are now in our 6th week of lockdown and we haven't been able to leave our own towns for shopping. This means we can't go down to our usual supermarket where they have very good range of fresh fruit and vegetables at reasonable prices.
ReplyDeleteInstead for the past 5 weeks our only option has been the local shop that sells rubber carrots and overipe bananas as enormously inflated prices...not to mention the extremely unpleasant woman at the cash desk. I haven't shopped there in years and by God it'll be a cold day in hell before I shop in there again.
Gary, that sounds delicious, keeping up one’s spirits with good food is vital at times like this. Treats certainly form part of my essentials shop.
ReplyDeleteAutumnleaves, I hope your daughter in New York is coping alright, it must be hard having her so far away. Gianna, pleased to hear you were able to get out.
Autumnleaves. I do feel your pain, the local shop here is also awful but perhaps that’s the downside of living in the sticks. The farm shops here are ok but expensive. Maybe we should move to Parsleyland, they can order lovely meats, fish, veg, wine, aperitifs and all on the clic of an iPad. 😪
ReplyDeleteJust had big order of wine delivered from Majestic so we are now well stocked. Unfortunately they don’t supply cornflour.
DeleteWe're just biding our time until we can hopefully have a little more freedom at least to go to the next town.....4th may that's DDay.
DeleteWine is no problem we can order it online...thank God for small mercies.
Autumnleaves, I feel for you - I really do. If I could invite everyone to my house tonight I would!
DeleteHang on in there, and soon you will never have to visit that bloody awful local shop ever again....
An expert on mindfulness gas given me the following advice whilst having to stay in lockdown.
ReplyDeleteWe should all be focusing on our inner ☮️ peace.
To achieve this state of mind we should always aim to complete our targets, This will provide a boost to our ego which will I still an inner calmness.
Always start with little tasks such as completing chores you had started but abandoned to do something else.
For example, I looked in the kitchen and spotted a Chardonnay already opened, so I finished it off.
Then I discovered a half empty boddle of 🥃 whiskey and the dregs of some wumbum and bags oh cwirsps.
I didn’t haf fel fablus and sfiffig. I am teluming evryon I luvum.
Naw to bred.
If I cn gt up strs.
😁🤣🤣😂
DeleteTee - hic!
DeleteStasia, you have really made me laugh - THANK YOU
DeleteStasia 🤣🙄🤣🙄🤣🙄✔️
DeleteTee hee!! Love this!! 🤣🤣
ReplyDeleteThanks Stasia..you really cheered me up💕💕
DeleteNow we know that "Lockdown" is extended for 3 more weeks. I, just hope, that this doesn't give another spike, in panic buying.
ReplyDeleteHow I feel for Autumnleaves.
At least we can shop, as long as we follow the ongoing guide-lines, and there is plenty of meat, fruit + veg. to buy.
I am almost relieved, for this continuation, but I am getting "cabin fever"!
PS Love that radio show...😂
I meant of course - "Cabin Pressure".
DeleteMiriam, Arthur is currently self-isolating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhTBp1DRfx4&t=1s
DeleteI've only just discovered these little gems so I'm rationing my watching.
In the interests of (in)sanity, OMiaS has been instructed to buy a lemon next time he goes shopping. Plenty of places to hide it in our shoe.
Autumnleaves + Gianna.
ReplyDeleteI wish our Italian residents - every Good Wishes.
😍😍🤗🤗
Who knows, when I can visit Italy again, a country I love.
Our first trip after this is going to be Italy. It's going to be so good - walking and eating and drinking. And counting our blessings!
DeleteMiriam..in the newspapers today the governors of Lombardy and Veneto (the hardest hit in this crisis) are pushing the government in Rome to start letting people go back to work on the 4th may. They are of course talking about a gradual process.
ReplyDeleteSchools have already been suspended until September.
As with everything the cure seems to be worse than the disease..especially when we have the president of the eu.saying that the elderly should be in quarantine until at least the end of the year.
I have made a controversial statement at the end which I will not apologise for..Gary feel free to delete if you feel necessary
ReplyDeleteI ain't deletin' 'owt!
DeleteDid you know that many if not all libraries are giving free access to Ancestry UK ?
ReplyDeleteI have “played” with this before and it is addictive.
Spent the afternoon “playing”
The maddening thing is that when you think you have got somewhere and then your great grandfather with the impressive name of William Hay Scott (Gary ,I am awaiting you to say “Not THE William Hay Scott?”) - only has to have a father called John.
How many of those are there in Scotland I wonder?
Gary - apologies for having to ask me twice.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to spend less time on the IPad so have only just looked in today, and as you say, a very busy day.
Will try to have it ready for tomorrow by tonight.
Archerphile - will try to answer later this evening re the bath.
By the way, I baked your Olivers Pudding last night but left it in the oven too long as it didn't appear to have set. The result being, no sauce. It's still a chocolate pudding though and when asking for my shopping yesterday I asked for and got, cream.
Oh no worries MrsP, I only put it up twice because I was just a tad concerned that you wouldn't see it as the blog has been wonderfully busy today! There is no mad rush. Enjoy!
DeleteAutumnleaves.
ReplyDeleteThat was not controversial, well to me.
Lives + Times have changed, both now and this will continue, in the future.
It is just doing... what is best for us all, be it a single person, a couple or a family, at this time.
Take Care All... 😍😍🤗🤗🤗
Mrs P.
ReplyDeleteI am so looking forward to your DID choices.
As our wonderful GG has said - no rush.
Just post them, when you want to.
I hope things are well with you.
Miriam Xxx
How Wonderful that some are resourcing their "family tree"
ReplyDeleteMy youngster sister, has done this, and I have a wonderful copy, going back centuries.
She produced a wonderful, family book, and all family members, were given a copy.
This is the family history, relating to my late parents and their family, from 1900 onwards.
What she had found out, along with items from family archive items + members, is amazing
and so insightful.
It always reduces me to tears, when I try to read it. I still haven't read it all, even now.
When "lockdown" finishes, I am off to Llandudno in N.Wales.
I have relatives (not quite sure who they are, but they have my surname), buried in the cementary, on the Gt.Orme.
It is fascinating, learning about past family.
We also had a Great Aunt, who was a schoolteacher. She was engaged to a german man, before WWII, and so spoke fluent german.
DeleteAt the outbreak, she went into Holland, and arrived home. She carried on teaching, but then disappeared for many weeks, to suddenly reappear again.
Both Little Sis + I, are convinced, that she was involved in EOS work or work as a translator some-where.
Sadly, in spite of extensive research, nothing has been found, so it is still a mystery.
We are still convinced, she was a "player" of sorts, as she spoke fluent german.
This will never be known.
My younger brother did family research and found my Scottish grandfather was one of several children of his father’s second marriage. The youngest of this family was a sister called Robina who met presumably an American and went with him to the USA. She was never spoken of in the family and we will probably never know the full story. We think she went to the New York area.I wonder how many families have secrets like this!
DeleteEv, my oldest friend's mum passed away on Mon - it was only 10 years ago that she found our that her father had another two daughters from a previous, previous marriage! She is 50!
DeleteI was also in the garden as a teenager when my next door neighbours were having a MASSIVE argument and we all found out that the youngest son was actually the son of the eldest daughter at the same time as he did!!!!
Clarification - my oldest friend is 50! Her mother knew about the other 2 daughters but never saw fit to tell her children - as you say Ev, how many families have so much information/gossip/scandal to tell but don't?
DeleteOnce our Desert Island Discs is done I am tempted to ask everyone to us tell theirs....
No takers for my slightly out of date bag of self raising flour which I was offering free to a good home.
ReplyDeleteNever mind ,there is always EBay or maybe when I can find the time and inclination I can use it myself eventually.
It is nearly 8.00pm.
ReplyDeleteI have my saucepan + spoon ready, to bang loudly outside, so to give my support to:-
The Wonderful NHS.
What a moving few moments.
ReplyDeleteNeighbours cheering and clapping, saucepans being banged loudly - all for the NHS.
I feel quite tearful.
....except my
Deleteimmediate, troublesome neigbours. That was their choice though.
When we go out we can just about hear applause, we live a bit in the middle of nowhere, and I find the birds are louder than the applause.
ReplyDeleteWhen Mr Nuts goes for his daily constitutional he has, as he puts it, a whole OS map square (normal walking scale) to himself.
Being in Lockdown with my babes daughter means all our hair is fine, apart from hers, she doesn’t trust me for some reason.
Us too, KP. Our next door neighbours and us stand at opposite ends of the little lay-by outside our cottages and clap, ring bells and bang saucepans to the pigeons, rabbits and pheasants in the fields around! Not a single car came past and we are too far out of the village for else to hear! But we did our bit ....my clapping was for Captain Tom Moore.
DeleteOWIAS, thanks for the "Cabin Fever" link earlier on today! Will do as you are doing & ration my watching of these. It took me a second or two to get the lemon reference, but then I remembered...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhTBp1DRfx4&t=1s (In case anyone missed it)
Went out at 8 but like Miriam found it very emotional. Someone at the back was playing the National Anthem and I wondered at what was happening to our country. I love being British and really hope we can get through this.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from 🌈🥂🐌 Parsleyland (the snail /cagouille is the symbol of Charente) Today I clicked on the next Leclerc Drive order of hedonistic delights to be collected on Tuesday & not before, if you please... 😕😉
ReplyDeleteMy Desert Island Discs
ReplyDeleteAll of my eight could be taken up by Bach, Handel, Purcell, Byrd and endless baroque.
I've tried instead to take something from each chapter of my life, but Gary might I suggest that when we've all had our first choice, that we have a second opportunity to engage with the pieces we had to leave out on the first round.
1: Jewels of the Madonna - Intermezzo 2 - Wolf Ferrari ( must be the second never the first)
I was dancing to this as soon as I was stable on two feet as a toddler. I still dance to it in my head, and this piece will open my funeral service. It is the essence of me.
2: Kathleen Ferrier - Blow the wind southerly -
Sublime and with me since the age of 12. Looking back I suspect our music teacher was very progressive. We were introduced to amazing pieces of music that later in life I discovered that others didn't come to until much later in their lives. And this was a secondary modern in south London.
3: Dave Brubeck - Blue Rondo a la Turk
So much to choose from my teenage years, this one wins.
4: Shostakovich 5th - Mravinski - Leningrad Phillamonic
The next chapter, an intense period of reflection as a resident in a therapeutic community. Russia's pain mirrored by mine.
5: Gershwin playing Gershwin- Rhapsody in Blue
Timeless ecstasy
6: The Hallelujah Chorus - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Too much Bach and Handel to choose from so the Ultimate Glory to represent all the work.
7: Elgar Cello Concerto - Jacqueline Du Pre - Daniel Barenboim
Shared with great love in my first significant relationship and the balm to the grief at the end of my second.
8: Purcell- Dido's Lament - Jeff Buckley
Why this version ? So raw.
To be played as I am laid in bare earth in a simple shroud.
My book
Sarah Dane by Elizabeth Gaskell
Inspirational
My luxury
A double bed, duvet and feather pillow, please.
The music I would save - Jewels of the Madonna. I will always be able to dance if only in my head.
Thank you for allowing my indulgence
Love the Gershwin Mrs P, a long time favourite of mine. Will have to search all the others!
DeleteArcherphile - the bath technique
ReplyDeleteMost bathrooms have one side of the bath against a wall. If you are fortunate to have a free standing bath then which way you face will not matter.
When you've read this, if you don't think your arms are strong enough, then work on your arm strength until they are, because your upper arm and your thigh strength are the key to this technique.
So..... in order to get out you need to be able to put your good leg over the side of the bath.
If you will be facing the taps, to get in put R hand on R tap and L on L . Lift the right leg into the bath followed by the left. Hold your hands and lower arms on the edge of the bath and lower yourself into the water. ( you could practice with your clothes on in an empty bath until you are confident. I suspect it is lack of confidence that is holding you back, as you say you are still using sticks. )
When you need to get out..... put the good leg over the side of the bath having laid the towel along the edge of the bath. This gives you extra grip. Now push that leg as far out and over as you can shifting your bottom as far to the side of the bath as possible.
Now with the other arm on the side of the bath push, and the arm on the side of the new knee pull with all your strength lift yourself up and sideways until the leg that is out of the bath touches the floor, using the towel to soften you as you slide over the edge of the bath.
If it doesn't work and you fall back into the water, do not panic. I still do this sometimes if I am very tired. Try again, and if you can't make it then just let the water out and lay in the bath with the towel round you until you have the strength to try again. Sometimes I stayed there for half an hour until I could try again.
I do hope you feel capable of trying this soon Archerphile and if some of it isn't clear, just say so. I shall not mind.
I don't have leg troubles but I still find our current bath a pain to get out of as it doesn't have handles. My solution is to roll over so I'm kneeling in the bath. Then it's quite simple to stand up and step out of the bath.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if that's any help if you've got dodgy hips, but I find it a lot easier than getting out from a sitting position.
Mrs P.
ReplyDeleteI will have to investigate your choices. I did nearly choose rhapsody in blue myself.
https://youtu.be/dW5NaHGJzAk
ReplyDeleteAmbridge true crimes....Kathy come home.
Spot on!!! 😆
Janice. The kale I grow is called Cavolo Nero. It is a darker version with long leaves. I do grow others types but this is my favourite.
ReplyDeleteYou buy the seeds on line.