I can’t see the point of going to the shops if you can’t try anything on. I mean after all these weeks you’d have to buy 2 of everything in different sizes....just in case.
Now this is not political....but these demonstrations are driving me mad. We’ve social distanced for all this time and then these daft sods are coming together in huge crowds. No doubt cramming into public transport to get to wherever. I’m interested to see what the COVID figures will be in 3-4 weeks.
GaryGilday - June 15, 2020 at 9:55 AM
JRT - D'oh!
And I agree with you PtbY - it's not political for us to to be worried about people spreading infection. I don't have the answers to how people can vent their frustrations and make a stand for whatever valid/invalid issues they rightly or wrongly feel incredibly angry about. But my gut instinct tells me it's very foolish to gather in huge crowds & go about on public transport. (Well, my gut instinct & my common sense to be perfectly honest with you!)
But I have a feeling that if there IS a big spike in a few weeks time, then ALL the blame will be put upon protesters rather than what the government has (or HASN'T) been doing for the past 4 months...
Ditto second sentence. Not so sure about the first though. We once lived next door to a Jack Russell, called Jack!, and we more or less gave up using the garden because it barked continuously if we went out there. It bounced up and down like a little Jack in the box barking all the time and never seemed to run out of energy or go hoarse. It had two nice middle aged owners who spoiled it rotten but I suspect it didn't get enough exercise. Mistral's does look sweet. I suppose not all of them bark constantly.
I think that 2 metres is a lot (if it were one then I'd know how to keep people at a kick out length) BUT people usually drive slightly above the speed limit, so if it's officially 2, then they'll keep to 1. If anyone says, you won't get it from me if I come too close, the answer is, how do you know I don't have it?!
Now my unrelated dilemma is where to tell you about "mondine" : Outside or In Ambridge? It is agricultural but I suppose definitely not IN Ambridge! So, on a non coronavirus note, here goes! The rice fields are now acquiring a pale green tinge as the rice starts to grow and until the 1950s in the fields one would have seen dozens of "mondine" (women rice weeders). They would have been working in a long line, knee deep in water, bent double, pulling up weeds. They wore wide-brimmed hats and had a cotton handkerchief over their faces to protect them from the .mosquitoes. They worked from dawn till dusk, their songs mingling with the buzzing of the insects and the croaking of the frogs. These women came from all over the north-east of Italy and stayed for about six weeks, sleeping in large communal rooms in the farmhouse or barns, locked in at night. Moderns pesticides mean that mondine are a thing of the past but two films were made about them. One in 1949 called "Riso Amaro" (Bitter Rice), The other was made in 1956 and is called "La Risaia" which means The Ricefield but its English title is in fact " Rice Girl". .
Janice, Flump can be barky, but it's good for me because I usually don't hear people at the door, (always composting....) Her worst performances are kept for the postman, whom she hates. In fact, anyone wearing red will set her off. She sits in the front bedroom window and keeps a look-out for him, and races downstairs to snatch the post as it is pushed through the letterbox. I had another dog who never stopped though, it did get wearing at times.
Dudley’s favourite game is demolishing cardboard boxes which have to be freshly delivered! He loses interest after a while but it does entertain him and stops him barking every time a car goes past! The recyclers must think we have rats in the house as the boxes are in tatters.
Hilary. I've found the later film on line and will watch it in bits. Can't understand the language but get the drift, which is enough. Loved the singing in the opening with the girls arriving on the carts.
Archerphile- orchids....... Mr A would love a walk across Rodborough Common. The pyramid orchids are going over now, but are still there in abundance. I found some yellow ones on another common I visited with Lady last week. I must look them up.
From the rice paddies we're back to films. I looked up Silvana Mangano who like Sophia Loren was raised in poverty and they both became stars; their husbands collaborated in the film industry.
A Few of My Favourite Things (films in no particular order):-
1. Brief Encounter 1945 I have loved this from the first time I saw it. The story takes place in such a different time from now. Celia Johnson's narration adds so much, as does the beautiful Rachmaninov music. I know it word to word and it never disappoints. 2. Far From the Madding Crowd 1967 version with the gorgeous Alan Bates and Terence Stamp. Beautiful countryside and score too. 3. American Beauty 1999 Once again the narration adds so much plus a haunting Thomas Newman score. Memorable. 4. The Graduate 1967 Unforgettable and brilliant. 5. Whistle Down the Wind 1961 When I saw this as a child I wanted to be Hayley Mills. Loved it so much. Again featuring lovely Alan Bates before he became famous. The theme is haunting too.
A pot of Earl Grey with a toasted teacake or alternatively a traditional Ploughman's Lunch with a strong ginger beer.
Thank you Gary for picking me out of the hat and I hope some of you will also enjoy my choices.
Thank you Anneveggie - you've already got me playing Simon & Garfunkel!
Do you know, I've never seen Brief Encounter. Scandalous isn't it? Love me a bit of Terence Stamp (who doesn't?), and Whistle down the Wind scared me as a child for some reason.
A good Ploughman's is hard to beat - I hate it when places get it all horribly wrong & add weird things that don't belong on the plate...
Anneveggie - The only one of your films that I don't know is American Beauty, Madding and Graduate both on my longer list. Never really sure about Whistle but was well into adulthood when I saw it, so watched it from a different perspective to yours. I've been moved in different ways throughout my life in the times when I've watched Brief Encounter.
I am expecting LanJan to have Far from the Madding Croud on her list too, if she chooses films.
So many things I should be doing..... instead I've been watching La Strada. Must save the rest for later and GET ON WITH MY DAY. I blame Hilary !
Anneveggie, the only one I've seen is The Graduate. I've heard so much about Brief Encounter that I don't think I want to see it. Tea and toast is always welcome.
I love Earl Grey Tea and toasted teacakes. This is so tasty, but has to have blackcurrant jam on it. No other jam will do. The other thing I love, is toasted raisin bread (with the same jam). But then there are crumpets, with butter + golden syrup or honey....
Remember all the films from Anneveggie with her lovely choice.
Remember "the girl with a curl, in the middle of her forhead". I have far more curls than that, so I will be doing a Tony, ie the scissors will be coming out very soon.
Thanks Anneveggie, very much admire some of your choices though missed both American Beauty & the earlier one, Whistle - maybe I should rectify.
Far from the Madding - superb, AND the best version, surely - a book adaptation that does justice to the novel, imo. So impressed by The Graduate, witty, sharp, painful, moving, joyful. What a film ! Brief Encounter ? So well done, very watchable, but I fear I'd view it nowadays in order to giggle, as it's so dated & the 'ECCENTS' hilarious. Also, angst ridden though they are, the two main characters are, in essence, no more interesting than the so characterised 'boring' husband at home ( again, just 'imo' !)
Thanks carolyn. Yes BE is so dated but that's part of its charm for me. Accents too. I find all the characters interesting including husband at home who is so devoted and the ladies in the station tea room.
I love the older films. It is the accents, the social standings, the fashions etc. These are so different and I actually like it. Blythe Spirit, is another film I enjoy, for similar reasonings... Dressing for Dinner, pre-dinner drinks, etc.. How times have changed. I do realise that these films only represented a certain type of living. This is why I am loving the series "A House through Time" which shows how other lives were.
I was brought up in a 2up 2 down house, late 50's, but there was an inside toilet. The only heating, was the coal fire in the front room, where we bathed in a large tin bath! Fun ...not really.
As I have said before, and say again, I am amazed how many films I have watched and recall. This is thanks to you all.
PS Ev, on the closed page mentioned Sabrina. I so preferred the original Audrey Hepburn version. It is dated and in b/w. Sometimes different more modern versions don't work as well. The Money Pit vs Mr Blanding Builds his Dream Home, is another example. I hope I have got the titles right, as posting without checking 😣😶
Love Brief Encounter. Also love the Harrison Ford version of Sabrina. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Graduate. Must sort that out. A toasted tea cake with proper butter and a mug of strong tea.....best things ever after a dog walk.
The Graduate..so clever, love it. Can't watch BE now without Victoria Wood & Celia Imrie.. 🤣 Haven't seen Whistle down the wind for ages, remember finding it disturbing, Far from the Madding crowd is wonderful, perfect cast.. TS, AB, mmmm 😍
Carolyn - Your description of your feelings about Brief Encounter has made me realise why I find myself unsure about it. You describe it perfectly. Thank you for your insight.
I've received my National Gardens Scheme email today and there are several gardens open nearby within decent driving distance, but due to Covid must be prebooked. I've managed to check that dogs on leads are allowed in a garden in Tewksbury so am going to book my slot there. Still to find info on dogs in others. Visiting a large and beautiful garden will be such a treat after three months of lockdown.
When it is my turn I am going to choose books but Mrs P is quite right, if I had chosen films "Far from the Madding Crowd " would have been on my list. Definitely the Terence Stamp,Julie Christie,Alan Bates version. What a beauty Julie Christie was. Loved Brief Encounter too even though she made the wrong decision. That music..........
Whistle down the Wind with that lovely little boy spotting who he thought was "Gentle Jesus" Haven't seen the other two films but I bet they are good. You can keep your EarlGrey tea though Anneveggie though I do like a nice toasted tea cake.
Gary ,do try to watch "Brief Encounter" Yes it is dated but it still moves me to tears. Filmed at Carnforth Station , so when you next come to London by train you will pass through it . When Mr LJ and I were married I was asked to bring a CD to play whilst people were sitting waiting. I took a tape with lots of lovely film music on but all I heard was the Rachmaninov . The Registrar was asked by her assistant why she kept playing that as she thought it wasn't appropriate in the circumstances. Her reply was that she liked it and she thought everyone else would too. Well I did!
You're very welcome Lanjan. I do, however, have to disagree about her choice. I think it was the right choice for her and she could not have lived with herself if she'd broken up her own marriage plus her beau's one. Each to their own of course.
I don’t think she made the wrong decision as she would have been eaten up with guilt given her character and the norms of the time. She also had her children to think about as well as her dull but steadfast husband. The dilemma was meeting her soulmate too late and that’s the tragedy of it.
You are right of course Ev but I did still want her to go off to Africa with the doctor even though I didn't really like Trevor Howard -she did though.
Know what you mean, Lanjan! I think because they were two quite ordinary people the fact they were caught up in this whirlwind was even more extraordinary. Yes, the romantic in me wanted them to be together!
Anneveggie The Graduate, one of the few films I actually watched way back when. And I fell in love with Dustin Hoffman and came out of the Granada Cinema in Slough in tears because he was unattainable! He had a really electric effect on me and I have loved him from afar ever since! 😍
As you all know The Graduate was on my longer list but won out to Midnight Cowboy. Dustin Hoffman, a very small man with a huge personality and talent, can still attract me, as PtbY described Alan Rickman. It takes all types. But in Midnight Cowboy D H was phenomenal. As was Jon Voight. And together they created a loving relationship, whereas in The G although a wonderful performance from Hoffman, Anne B (?) was superior in her performance and the relationship was one of superior experience over naivety rather than collaboration.
Of course as soon as I've pressed publish her name will come to me.
Far from the Madding Crowd was definitely on my list if I did films first. Loved it, and very much identified with the scene where poor Alan Bates' sheep were driven over the cliff. We never had as big a catastrophe as that but occasionally an out of control holidaymakers dog would chase a sheep over the hedge of the cliff fields where there was a public footpath and over the edge. After my father's time my brother stopped using those fields for sheep.
Parsley - I have put the Victoria Wood parody of Brief Encounter at the top for everyone to enjoy! Like you, it's the first thing I think of when someone mentions the film. I very much doubt I would be able to watch the real version without laughing!
Must admit, after seeing Brief Encounter (on TV) as a teenager, it was Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto that turned me on to classical music and for that, I shall be eternally grateful.
It was lovely yesterday lunchtime to be in my armchair in the sitting room with the window open, and at last listening (and seeing) the children eating lunch and playing on the playing field at the back of my house. Not happened since last summer as they don't use the field in the Winter/Spring. We had wondered why there had been four large boxes painted on the field over the weekend a They are being used for social distancing as the children sat on the lines in a square about 2 metres apart. Each class seems to be about 15 children in total. Anyway they were all happy and I assume the parents were all happy for them to be back in school. Also yesterday I got a text from my hairdresser to say she was taking bookings from July 4th onward. I usually go to her house. She tells me she will be masked and has converted a room to be her salon. As she used to work in a proper salon for three days a week for over twenty years I was astounded when she said she had lost her job. Now I am in a dilemma as I had decided that I may go grey and not spend about £ 10 a week average, colouring and highlighting my hair. Now I feel guilty about halving what I pay her every six weeks. Oh decisions, decisions! Of the films chosen by anneveggie I have only seen BE and Whistle. But I can't remember much about the latter. I remember I saw it at the cinema so must have gone with a boyfriend and sat in the back row (if you get my drift! 😁) Youngest son and fiance 'visited' yesterday to collect a garden swing seat I bought Spring 2019 but have never unpacked. I have an old one which is a bit rusty but will do me now. I also asked him if he could keep a lookout for jars of white pasta sauce as they are not available for at least the last three weeks. Anyway they bought some in Maidstone and then added pasta, eggs, SR flour and two bunches of small tulips. All these deposited on the doorstep while we chatted. As rain was due they didn't stop but will return on Thursday for a cup of tea and cake in the garden. Oh well off into the garden for an hour or so!
Spicy. So glad you are sounding a bit more upbeat and enjoying watching the children play. Having your hair done might be a real boost, even if it is a cut and blow dry.
Perfect, Gary 😂🤣🤣 Almost as funny as the original.... Remember seeing this whenever it came out - every part, the script, End the EC-cents - great send up.
I remember it Gary - such talent and Victoria is still sorely missed! Loved the film itself still tears me apart when I see it and the music makes it even more emotive 😪
I've just spent a delightful half hour to the sound of the pouring rain which I smelt before I heard it, the background sound rather than Rachmaninov - I watched 07 Still Life on Youtube, adapted from Noel Coward's Still Life 1936 on which Brief encounter is based. It starred three couples, Jane Asher as one with the grit in the eye plus the doctor, a waitress and platform boy very keen on each other and Joan Collins, the café manageress who is paired off with the station master. He happened to be my former neighbour, now sadly gone; once we got talking about JC for some reason and he said that there was a season of plays with her and I realised I'd seen them on TV, so there, thank you for bringing back memories, no need for the real thing really.
Anneveggie. For me it has to be ‘Far From The Madding Crowd’. Definitely the 1967 version with Julie Christie, in a lot of beautiful pastoral scenes. It’s interesting how these old films (BE) remain popular despite no colour, some ham acting and awful accents. Victoria Wood spotted something to satirise. I certainly would not have married the Graduate knowing he’d slept with my mother. An Oedipus complex by association. Loved the S&G music. WDTW. I felt sorry for the vagrant man. I have never seen American Beauty. Must look it up. No Earl Grey tea. Love 💓 a ploughmans with lots of red wine. Thank you.
I agree with you about FFTMC stasia. I saw the 'new' version and it was not a patch on the Julie Christie one. I also felt sorry for the man hiding in the barn in WDTW.
Anneveggie, I love your film choices and have seen all of them several times. Several also on my film long list, and 1 and 5 would probably have been in the top 5.
Earl grey is my favourite black tea and toasted tea cake, for me was best made by toasting at my Gran’s open fire on a fearsome toasting fork. They would fall into the fire if you weren’t careful, and getting them toasted, not burned, was quite an art, but I have not tasted better. They were always served with just butter, but I do like them with cinnamon as well.
Crumpets toasted over an open fire can't be beaten! We used to toast them with a toasting fork at my Nan's too. Luckily she lived next door in a row of Council houses so I watched many of the old films with her while Mum and Dad were at work. Loved the slightly smokey taste to the crumpets too and they retained the squashy middle much better than being cooked in a toaster! My favourite tea actually was Broken Orange Pekoe when I was first married back in the 70s. Then we went to Australia and when we came back it seemed to have disappeared from the supermarket shelves. I know it can be bought from specialist tea traders but is very pricey! Next favourite is Darjeeling 'the champagne of teas!' But for every day I drink Yorkshire Tea. Introduced to that by my cricket club when they nominated me as a 'special tea lady.' I received a lovely gift hamper from Yorkshire Tea of tea bags, apron, oven gloves, tea towel etc. Love the taste. I spoke to hairdresser this morning and tentatively booke 20th July. Told her about going natural and she suggested trying a lighter shade first otherwise I'm going to have really, really short hair! I have about an inch of grey roots at the moment! Youngest son sends me a joke every day via fb messenger. Today's offering;
"I just sold my Homing Pigeon on ebay - for the 22nd time!" Boom boom!
When we lived in Cornwall a pigeon staggered into our kitchen and I made the mistake of feeding it! It was a homing pigeon gone off course and through the ring we found the owner who didn’t want to know as it seemed to have bonded itself to us. Katy and I took it over to Plymouth and released it on the Hoe hoping it would reorientate to original owner. We went back home to Torpoint by bus and ferry only to find it on the roof of our shed! Sadly she subsequently died but we did get quite fond of her! Sometimes we took her down to the pub and released her to give her a flight!
Spiceycushion, your conundrum. You could with her advice do less to your hair regularly and allow the grey to ' grow in' and at the same time continue to support your hairdresser by paying her what you usually paid her for, say, the next three months as a contribution to keep her going. Just a suggestion, but I would agree with Basia, enough chemical already !
When I was going grey, I became a model at Henna Hair. They had decided to address the understanding that henna could not be used on grey hair and were experimenting with how to use henna in that situation. Three different model types, one full blown grey, one pepper and salt, and one just starting to go grey. I was in the third cohort. It worked brilliantly for me. I was stopped once in the beauty department in Selfridges by a woman asking where I had my fantastic highlights done. I did happily go completely grey in due course and with fine straight hair and a very good cut, my hair was a lovely silver grey. I do miss having hair, however ballsey I may be about it.
Like others have said Spicy, its good to hear you feeling a little better. Good luck whatever you choose to do.
I feel rather as if I have just stepped, blinking, out of a cinema back into reality. I have just watched Far From The Madding Crowd non-stop from start to finish!! The last time I saw it was in the cinema in 1967! I hope you have seen the rest of La Strada now, Mrs P!
I took the ✂️✂️ to my "fringe"today. I only cut a bit, about an inch off, and it looks a bit amateurish, but is so much better. It will grow again before getting to a hairdresser. I have heard nothing from mine. I am going "au naturel" (due to cost) and it looks OK, as I still have a natural blondish hue, mixed in.
I loved Victoria Wood. I still have on my HDD, the series of programmes made, after her sad demise. I will look back, to see if the BE sketch is there (I do remember it). I hope so. It was a good parody, Victoria Wood style.
I have been going "au naturel" for 2 years now, and I haven't regretted it, as it is going slowly. I do, though, use a thick, luxurious purple shampoo ( which I buy from the salon - but cheaper than highlights etc). This is gorgeous, and accentuates the silver, plus my still normal colour, and is cost-effective. A litre bottle lasted 2 years - and though costly - it is far cheaper than colour treatments, done 5/6 times a year!
Another storm is now brewing - there was a massive one last night, and so dark, I had to put lights on at 8.00pm.
I did my normal weekly shop today. No problems, everyone was being so sensible and it was almost, fully stocked. I know Monday night is the big delivery, so at 8.30am when I go, I can get all I want + need - even wholewheat pasta! There was also a shelf, full of hand gel, but I have plenty. I took a mask with me, but at no time did I feel I needed it, even when picking up my eye drops, from the Pharmacy. I felt calm + safe.
I am very relieved and thankful to have had a letter from Boots Opticians today, inviting me to make an appointment for an eye test - something I have needed since last October. They apologised for the long delay due, to COVID19 of course, but are now ready to see overdue clients again, strictly by timed appointment only. So I made one straight away for June 29th, have to go on my own, taking own face mask and pen(!). My eyesight has deteriorated a lot this year - Mr A says it’s too much iPad screen-time, he might be right! I can no longer read subtitles on TV or tell if it’s a rabbit, hare or bird in the field opposite and have taken to wearing a pair of specs from 10 years ago which seem to be better than my last prescription. So big expenditure coming up but at least I should be able to focus again, hopefully. 🤓
Such a wise decision. Eyesight is so important. It was an optician who picked up my high eye pressures, and I am so thankful, as they are now so well under control. You know my cataract story, and even now, I still cannot believe the difference (even 9 months later, on waking up seeing so clearly, without glasses/contacts). Forget the cost - it is so important.
Storms seem to be a daily event at the moment. Tonights was really bad + it frightened me. It has gone now - thank goodness. I have hot, humid weather in the day, but with cloud, and then the storms start in the late afternoon. There is a weather warning, for the same tomorrow. All I want is to try + mow the lawns, but they are still so soggy. At least my plants, scorched by the fence fire, are now sprouting again due to the rain. I am glad I trusted my instinct, and didn't dig them up. A lovely purple heuchara, is sprouting so many new leaves + flower buds. 😀
On Saturday a lovely young RAC man put a new battery in our car which has not been driven since 23rd March, Yesterday we ventured out for a short local drive only stopping to post some letters and swapping drivers. I really do admire all of you who have been shopping. I asked my personal medical advisor from almost 5000 Miles away what sort of gloves I should get . He told me that.he recommends cotton ones which can then be washed and apparently he has ordered some for us from Amazon. I have made us both a face mask . I would have thought they would have been mandatory since the main reason for anyone wearing one is to stop that person from contaminating someone else rather than being shielded from the virus.
It is scary LJ but I have got used to it all. I keep a close eye on those shopping near me, and if necessary avoid those who I think, are not abiding by the rules. These are few + far between though. I always have hand gel with me, plus a mask, but I haven't felt the need to wear a mask, just yet. This might change. This is the new normal, which I am adapting to, whilst still being cautious. Others are doing the same.
PS I have had lovely chats with people, whilst queing to go into a couple of local shops, whilst still keeping social distancing. It is possible, to keep safe, but it does depend on each individual.
We took the dogs to Quarr this afternoon and passed a an on his own sitting on a seat. Had a chat with him while Gypsy made her slow painstaking amble past him but not closely of course! It was nice to speak to him and he might live alone. Also today Trev delivered our latest food order from the wholesaler. Trev used to work for DPD so I know him from way back. We tut tutted about the folly of the queues at shops. I think people thought they would get some bargains but suspect not! So it was nice to see and speak to Trev. Angela the cleaner came today too so I was able to do some painting, a portrait of Audrey Hepburn as simple portraiture is part of my watercolour course. Doesn’t look a lot like her but not bad and taught me some new techniques. Katy went back to work but was only gone for two hours. The boys went out with their dog walker this morning having not seen her since before lockdown and they were overjoyed to see her again! On return were so excited they did two circuits round the table I was sitting at breaking the record for speed. Two happy boys, and a fun packed day for all! Am a happy bunny!😁🐇 ,
It’s an online course with London Art College and there is a folder to work through with seven assignments you have to send to your tutor. Sadly have only done two with a year over since I started. You can complete in a year but can go on to two and apparently can buy extra time on top of that. Have decided I have to get down to it! At the end you get a diploma but am doing it just for the experience. You would enjoy the island, Gary and maybe you could fly from Glasgow to Southampton to cut down travel time or meander down by car. Katy went on a dig in the Orkneys several years ago and went by car having tow stopovers on the way. We have a lovely country to explore!
We have been shopping throughout lockdown, and I did feel nervous at first. Most people around here have been very careful though. We have learned when are the quiet times at the supermarket so we don’t have to queue. Mr S does the main shop in the car and I walk around another day to pick up a few extras, or we go to a little greengrocers in the village up the road. Several of the shops up there sell things at the door rather than letting you inside.
I haven’t felt the need for gloves but I wear a bandana around my neck which I could use as a face covering, but again, I haven’t yet. I don’t touch anything I am not going to buy.
I have cut my fringe a couple of times but I do that anyway between cuts. I don’t dye my hair and the bandanas can double up as a headband if needed.
There’s always one, Esscee. If you do pick up these ignorant ones inevitably you get rudeness in return. Even if this man is COVID free he could get it by standing close to others but that’s his problem! You were unfortunate to encounter him.
I have not been doing my own shopping, but relying on others who have offered, but those offers have become few and far between in the last two weeks. As a result I have been thinking a great deal about just biting the bullet and going myself. But I've come to the conclusion that I am scared of doing so. This is an emotion I rarely feel and don't quite know how to approach it. The above, and in response to the posts immediately above, my lady who is in hospital, daughter arrived from Germany this evening and most of her phone call was taken up with how different it all is here. She needed to describe her journey from Frankfurt through to Belgium and the warnings about compliance to expect, ( eight people in the carriage through G and three on the Eurostar) repercussions if requirements not observed only to discover at Paddington dozens of uniformed personnel standing around with few travellers to observe, plus her usual disapproval of anything we do here in the U.K. And then there were the people in London to complain of, not social distancing, nobody masked etc etc. As far as she is concerned we can do nothing right here.
We too had a massive storm at the same time as Miriam's in Cheshire. I sat at my bedroom window watching it sweep down the valley opposite, with the water flowing down the road from up the hill behind me. It continued with rumbling thunder for over an hour. Took Lady for a walk immediately it had cleared up and watched the drifts of mist over the valley below slowly dispersing. The cows didn't look as bedraggled as I expected them to.
Totally understandable, Esscee ! Round here mostly, people are pleasant around town, but there's been a higher level of acknowledgment & friendly exchange since lockdown - everyone is a bit nervous when shopping ! Thus, if one meets with the kind of rudeness & impatience you did, it's very shocking.
Gary....loved the Victoria wood brief encounter sketch. Mince pie in the eye 🤣
I was at the check out in Lidl yesterday and the woman following me came right up behind me to put her shopping on the belt. Gave her a look and moved pointedly away but she didn’t give a damn. No mask or gloves on. First time this has happened in all the time of lockdown.
We were in a yellow warning area for storms here last night, so put our tubs of geraniums in the greenhouse so they wouldn’t get battered by the promised heavy rain and hailstones.
Dark clouds but - No storm. No heavy rain. No hailstones. Not even a splash! Still like a desert hereabouts!
I use mainly my local health food shop which at first I visited only twice a week. I know the local shopkeepers, none has been ill nor my neighbours. I did find it scary in March/April when I ran through deserted streets in the afternoon but I'm calmer now.
We had about 3 days/nights of torrential rain a few days ago, so maybe it is working it's way up from the south west. Everything is smelling wonderfully fresh, and hopefully the lawn will turn green again.
We have a pick your own strawberry farm a few miles away with a farm shop. It is very well organised with the few people who are there having to each keep to their individual row and not step across the rows. The strawberries seem to taste particularly sweet this year, maybe because of the really hot weather we had. We have been relatively unscathed here, but are bracing ourselves for when people are allowed to come on holiday again. In fact some who have second homes have been creeping down already. We had a bit of controversy here when someone found a Mercedes parked in his field near a local beach. He was spreading slurry in the field and deliberately plastered the Mercedes as well; and in the local Spar the girls have been refusing to serve anyone without a Cornish accent if they can't prove they live here. I am not at all sure about this. On the one hand it is understandable, people are afraid of an influx of people from cities bringing down more of the virus, but on the other hand a lot of people in Cornwall rely on holidaymakers for their living, and rudeness and unfriendliness are just going to put people off wanting to come here.
I lived in Cornwall for 12 years and could never understand the almost contempt for “grockles” when tourism was a main source of income. Although I am on an island now I find people here far less parochial.
Apparently at our local shops (may well be everywhere) a couple is not able to shop together . Sounds a good move to me. It will not affect us much because we always split our shopping list and went round the Supermarket separately and met up at the till later . Now, presumably when we go shopping we will meet up at the car.. Suits me. I will be putting "bananas " on Mr LJs list. I take too long to buy them.
I've just spent a good hour or so watering all my pots & baskets - we have had ridiculously good weather for ages. It's only rained at night on a couple of occasions in what seems like months. The garden is looking lush!
I haven't bothered with pots, hanging baskets etc this year. It is very sad, but I could not go and get what I would have wanted, and when I wanted. A neighbour commented on how they loved seeing my garden, but I have made my decision.
The storm I experienced last night, was amazing - thunder + lightning, being both simultaneous + continuous. It only lasted an hour, thankfully. I woke up (5.30am!) to see mist/fog/low cloud, not sure which, and not able to see across the road.
I had a wasted trip today. I decided I needed to visit a W H Smith, for purchases I now need, but not urgent. No way was I going into town, so off I went to the one, which is much easier to get to, along with a mask + hand sanitiser. It was closed. It is in a small retail area, only 5.5 miles away - but in N.Wales! I forgot this, where things are not the same, so shops are not open, except for essential one's. What a plonker I was..😣
Transhumance : link to short article & pics in today's Charente Libre re our small but vital contribution! Takes place in the NE of the dépt., known as Charente Limousine. https://www.charentelibre.fr/2020/06/17/150-brebis-prennent-leur-quartier-d-ete-en-charente-limousine-diaporama,3611506.php
We had torrential rain during the night .it gave a good soaking to our vegetable garden which saved mr🍁🍁 several trips to the village fountain. We don't have running water in the field so every time he has to water he has to fill up big water containers from the fountain. It's hard work but the results are worth it and he enjoys it.
Absolutely right Miriam . I know you know Italy very well so when I say on the border with the Val di Non maybe you'll know where I am. I'm in the Val di Brenta 1000 metres altitude but only 30 minutes from Trento.
If you look at my profile photo ( thanks to Archerfiles instructions) ,this is the view from our "orto...vegetable garden down to the village. You can just make out the church which of course is at the centre of the village. But apart from that there are a couple of bars, pizzarias, and of course the co-op with inflated prices and rubber carrots. Apart from that nothing..except mountains ...and mountains and even more spectacular mountains.
It is an area I don't know, but it sounds so idyllic, and one I need to visit, but when? I missed how to look at profile pics - but I have a good imagination.... Good Luck with your produce.
Archerphile - I do hope you got the 'storm' as well today. This morning I was in the garden from about 11 am for an hour and half. I transplanted pea seedlings which unfortunately I left out on the patio table last night so they got a bit nibbled. All will survive I think though. I also picked a one litre ice cream container full of strawberries with a few raspberries so night we'll have fresh fruit and ice cream for pud! Yesterday we did have potato salad with home grown spring onions. The rest will stay in fridge for a day or so until I have enough for jam. All the time I was in the garden it was thundering above us and as I finished and tidied up (about 12.45) it started spattering. Got inside just as it tipped down. Sadly only about 15 mins but every little helps I suppose.
How sad that the planned meet up, couldn't happen, for very obvious reasons.
Just think of the tales you can all share, when you all manage to get together again. Let's hope it will not be "the same time, next year" but it might well be.
Back tomorrow. Tea cooking - homemade beef/onion/herb meatballs, in a red wine sauce, with garlic, onions, peppers, mushrooms and basil. It is being served with a potato concoction - layered pots with chopped leeks, cooked in milk + stock. I am sure it has a fancy name, but is just a simple dish.
I am loving cooking more properly again. This is because, I know I can keep my store cupboatrds stocked again. This did not happen for weeks. I even managed to buy wholewheat pasta this week, only fusilli. I prefer penne, but very happy. Meal did take quite a few hours, but well worth it, and there wiil be portions going into the freezer.
....plus I also managed to buy soft brown sugar...the first time since Lockdown. Bananna Loaf to be baked tomorrow, and then buying larger size jeans!!
At the moment it’s hard to imagine feeling comfortable on public transport but hopefully it will happen...
LanJan, our supermarket made that one person rule. Mr S went this morning and he did see one or two people shopping together so perhaps they’ve relaxed it now. I do a small shop on foot on another day, with a rucksack. My car battery is in the shed at the moment.
Chilli con carne tonight. Don’t tell Susan and Neil or they’ll get the wrong idea and you know how Susan likes to talk...just realised I haven’t listened all week and haven’t looked at the on topic blog - no spoilers over here I hope.
Re public transport. A neighbour whose wife is not at all well, sadly ,went on a bus yesterday to get her prescription. He said that there should have been only 10 people on each deck but there were far more than that. He had a word with the driver who said he hadn't counted the passengers. When he got home he tried to make a complaint but couldn't get through.
I respect the one person rule + why. There are exceptions though, due to age or a disability. It helps all though, to keep the flow in shops going smoothly. It is harsh for some though.
Hooray! For this relief, many thanks! Yes Lady R and Spicy , we had rain at around 5pm is afternoon. Lots of thunder followed by about 20 minutes of heavy rain which has filled the water butts nicely. All gone again now but at least I didn’t have to water the runner beans tonight. And like you Spicy, I had our first picking of early raspberries today - delicious with home kade yogurt! 😋
Oh how I long to pick some fruit. Am thinking about going to a pick your own, but doubt if they would allow the dog to accompany me. I shall have to wait for blackberries which if the abundance of flowering shrubs and the like can be attributed to the very wet spring, I expect to be in tremendous supply. I noticed today that they are budding up already.
Yes we had an amazing storm yesterday which I have discovered flooded Nailsworth while I was talking to a friend who lives there. But she is high up beyond the town and the flooding was at the bottom in the centre. Yes Zoetrope it's about three miles away, and it is where Sarnia has relatives. But again I believe they are above where the flooded area was. Gloucestershire is very poor at keeping roads and gutters cleaned out. There is a cattle grid a couple of hundred yards above me and is usually full to the brim with rubbish and silt. Last year it was cleaned out, but the drain immediately beside it was left full of debris. So when rain falls, and it doesn't have to be very heavy, the cattle grid overflows as the water bounces off the chalk faced hill, then it pours down the road in a torrent and swirls around in a fast running stream past my cottage. Cars at speed round the corner ( 20mph zone ! ) throw the water against my windows.
;Up early today as I am going to try a Waitrose shop. The first hour of opening (7.30 am - 8.30am) is dedicated to elderly shoppers. It means driving into and through Basingstoke, which I am a bit nervous about, but they stock various things I cannot get at Sainsbury’s. I usually shop there about once every couple of months to stock up on those things - couldn’t afford to go every week! The other reason I use Waitrose is that they have scan and pack facilities, like Sainsburys, which means packing your bags as you go round and not heaving everything out & repacking at the checkout. So much easier and quicker.
Can’t wait to get some proper Loch Fyne kippers again! 😋
I’m singing in the rain Just singing in the ☔️ rain Come on with the rain I’m happy again. O frabjous day, Callooh, callay. I’m chortling 🤭 with joy. What a glorious stat to a rainy day. Have been watering with cans for the last nearly three months. It has rained on everyone else but we remained in a dry bubble. Potatoes will now be able to get bigger.
Well, Waitrose was dead easy . No queue, only about 5 or 6 other customers. Easy to get round aisles, no one way system needed. Scan & packed worked like a dream. Only person in lift going up to car park on top of store. One small problem; it was raining so got quite wet filling car, but jolly grateful for the rain.
One big problem; Mr A unpacked shopping and exclaimed at the price of the pork joint I’d bought for Sunday. I had misread the price, thinking it was £8.50. It was actually £18.50!! Doh! What a fool. Didn’t have right glasses on! Can’t take it back so we are going to cut the joint in half, freeze one bit for future use
Glad to hear the Waitrose shop was a success, AP. The generous sized pork joint may be a blessing in disguise ! In a few weeks time, when you've forgotten about it, you'll open the freezer - & there it is - just when you feel like roast pork....
Personally, I salivated when you wrote about Loch Fyne kippers 😋
Us too Carolyn. Waitrose is the only place for miles around where we can get proper kippers. Everywhere else just has manky little boil-in-the bag kipper fillets which are an insult to kipper aficionados! When I got there today, they had Caistor Kippers instead of Loch Fyne but I’m sure they’ll be just as good.
I never did like her voice much but recognise that she did so much to boost morale in those dark times. She also continued to do a lot for service charities. Bless her heart!
I'm with Ev, never did much like the voice, but on the other hand could hear EVERY WORD. But do recognise an icon of WW11 who did the very best for the moral of the country. And to be topping the 'pop' charts at her age, magnificent !
I watched the end of the VE day concert, in the court of Buckingham Palace. The thing that I remember so clearly, was a "portrayal" of Dame Vera, along with Kathryn Jenkins - both singing We'll Meet Again. So much meaning, both then and now. She did well - 103yrs.
I do the same as Archerphile, with large joints, and the pork sounds delicious. I buy a large beef joint normally top rump,(when on offer) and divide into smaller portions, and freeze. I always know I can rustle up a R.Beef dinner. I solve the yourkshire pudding for one problem, by buying a well known brand of ready to bake yorkshire batters. These make a good substitute, and again always in the freezer.
We *always* have a roast on Sundays with all the trimmings - long ground in tradition in our family, even though there are only 2 of us these days. But we alternate, chicken one week, red meat the next. And I try to vary the red meat roast between beef, pork and lamb (our favourite, but expensive) The pork week is usually the cheap week as I can get a good shoulder or leg joint for around £5 - £8 which is why I was so horrified by the price of the Waitrose one. I should add that I aim to get at least 3 or even 4 meals from one joint and have a huge range if recipes for using up the different meats so it doesn’t get boring.
Monday nights are always curry and our favourite way of using up roast chicken is to make chicken gougère which is a delicious treat.
Just a small one, with 2 drawers + 2 cabinets, which is in the cupboard under the staircase, so I have to move the vacuum out, whenever I want to open it. 😂
It is very well stocked + organised...even down to a list, of exactly what is in it. It is like the shops, one thing in, one thing out. It works for me, a "control freak"!
I am lucky as my Sainsbury's, although, not that big, has been doing self-scan + pack, since before Lockdown. I use it all the time, pick up my scanner outside, which has been cleaned. It also has not been doing click + collect, nor is one which packs the on-line orders. This means, there is always so much more produce available, and I have noticed the dates on products, are now much longer. I can buy all that I need now, as so many extra things (I have missed) are now easily available. I am staying with what I know best, and so write my shopping list, as to my route around the store, which I now know so well! I still only go once a week. Silly, Sad, Sensible - no idea.
Not at all silly Miriam, it’s exactly what I do, or did, before lockdown, and am doing again now. I will only shop at Sains or Waitrose because they are the only scan and pack supermarkets in our area.
I always do a list according to store lay out or dept if a friend Is ordering for me online. For the 1st time ever I saw a slot on Waitrose today but as I have an order coming tomorrow via friend and the slot is /was for Monday - too soon but I will certainly keep a closer eye now. Mr R goddaughter goes to M&S for us when needed and I purchase an online Food Volunteer voucher that gets sent directly to her but been unable to use my 20% discount re food purchases 😪 since lockdown (online is fine) but store shopping has to be in person. Disappointing but bigger concerns still abound.
Don't do 'scan and pack' as I find it too impersonal. If I didn't chat to the very friendly check-out staff the friend who takes me would be the only person I see each week. The back gardens of these 1920s houses have high hedges and fences, and there's usually nobody about in the front.
I expect I might be the same in your circumstances Sarnia. I blessed scan & pack when I had to start walking with first one stick, then two. Trying to unload and repack the trolley at the checkout became very difficult so the quick checkout with scan and pack made life much easier. And we have a super Scotsman on duty at our S&P checkout area who always chats and helps if you get stuck......and he gave me loads of contraband footballers cards for my grandchildren when they were collecting them!
Stasia (9.17am),. I felt your joy at the rain ! Ref. the other blog : the Lord answered your prayers ( I so like to be annoying..) Looks like we're getting another heatwave next week down here.
Carolyn. A miracle happened, the heavens opened and down it came. Maybe the white hairy bearded man sitting on his cloud waved a manic wand to help my little potatoes.
IF anyone is interested, there is a tribute to Dame Vera. BBC 1 tonight at 7.30pm.
PS I have just re-watched the We'll Meet Again medlay, at the end of the 75th VE day concert. It is worth watching, as it includes so very many key workers, who have worked and are still doing so, during this strange time we all are now living in. It is very moving, and so relevant to our lives now, as it was in WWII.
Dont want to be disrespectful, or upset any Vera Lynn fans here but - If I hear one more rendition of ‘We’ll Meet Again’ on Radio or TV I think I’ll screem!
Glad to say I missed all that, only catching the longish 1pm news item. I admire her, that stalwart, wholesome character, but with others who don't care much for her music - not the sort of songs I'd seek out ! However, very effective & stirring at the time.
*** FROM PREVIOUS BLOG ***
ReplyDeleteProud to be Yorkshire - June 15, 2020 at 9:31 AM
Gary....JRT....Jack Russel terrier.
I can’t see the point of going to the shops if you can’t try anything on. I mean after all these weeks you’d have to buy 2 of everything in different sizes....just in case.
Now this is not political....but these demonstrations are driving me mad. We’ve social distanced for all this time and then these daft sods are coming together in huge crowds. No doubt cramming into public transport to get to wherever. I’m interested to see what the COVID figures will be in 3-4 weeks.
GaryGilday - June 15, 2020 at 9:55 AM
JRT - D'oh!
And I agree with you PtbY - it's not political for us to to be worried about people spreading infection. I don't have the answers to how people can vent their frustrations and make a stand for whatever valid/invalid issues they rightly or wrongly feel incredibly angry about. But my gut instinct tells me it's very foolish to gather in huge crowds & go about on public transport. (Well, my gut instinct & my common sense to be perfectly honest with you!)
But I have a feeling that if there IS a big spike in a few weeks time, then ALL the blame will be put upon protesters rather than what the government has (or HASN'T) been doing for the past 4 months...
*** THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS ***
ReplyDeleteAnneveggie! Come on down!!! Enjoy...
I just love Jack Russells
ReplyDeleteOn the other point of shopping and crowds, I agree with what's been said already 100%.
Ditto second sentence.
DeleteNot so sure about the first though. We once lived next door to a Jack Russell, called Jack!, and we more or less gave up using the garden because it barked continuously if we went out there. It bounced up and down like a little Jack in the box barking all the time and never seemed to run out of energy or go hoarse. It had two nice middle aged owners who spoiled it rotten but I suspect it didn't get enough exercise.
Mistral's does look sweet. I suppose not all of them bark constantly.
I think that 2 metres is a lot (if it were one then I'd know how to keep people at a kick out length) BUT people usually drive slightly above the speed limit, so if it's officially 2, then they'll keep to 1.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone says, you won't get it from me if I come too close, the answer is, how do you know I don't have it?!
The most frightening thing I think is that so many positive covid test results are in people with absolutely no symptoms.
DeleteNow my unrelated dilemma is where to tell you about "mondine" : Outside or In Ambridge? It is agricultural but I suppose definitely not IN Ambridge!
ReplyDeleteSo, on a non coronavirus note, here goes!
The rice fields are now acquiring a pale green tinge as the rice starts to grow and until the 1950s in the fields one would have seen dozens of "mondine" (women rice weeders). They would have been working in a long line, knee deep in water, bent double, pulling up weeds.
They wore wide-brimmed hats and had a cotton handkerchief over their faces to protect them from the .mosquitoes.
They worked from dawn till dusk, their songs mingling with the buzzing of the insects and the croaking of the frogs.
These women came from all over the north-east of Italy and stayed for about six weeks, sleeping in large communal rooms in the farmhouse or barns, locked in at night.
Moderns pesticides mean that mondine are a thing of the past but two films were made about them. One in 1949 called "Riso Amaro" (Bitter Rice), The other was made in 1956 and is called "La Risaia" which means The Ricefield but its English title is in fact " Rice Girl".
.
Keep em coming Hilary.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying your Bon mots of agricultural history.
Thank you.
That is fascinating Hilary.
ReplyDeleteOh, good! I thought some might find it interesting!
ReplyDeleteJanice, Flump can be barky, but it's good for me because I usually don't hear people at the door, (always composting....)
ReplyDeleteHer worst performances are kept for the postman, whom she hates. In fact, anyone wearing red will set her off. She sits in the front bedroom window and keeps a look-out for him, and races downstairs to snatch the post as it is pushed through the letterbox.
I had another dog who never stopped though, it did get wearing at times.
Dudley’s favourite game is demolishing cardboard boxes which have to be freshly delivered! He loses interest after a while but it does entertain him and stops him barking every time a car goes past! The recyclers must think we have rats in the house as the boxes are in tatters.
DeleteHilary.
ReplyDeleteI've found the later film on line and will watch it in bits.
Can't understand the language but get the drift, which is enough.
Loved the singing in the opening with the girls arriving on the carts.
Archerphile- orchids....... Mr A would love a walk across Rodborough Common.
ReplyDeleteThe pyramid orchids are going over now, but are still there in abundance.
I found some yellow ones on another common I visited with Lady last week.
I must look them up.
Lovely, Hilary--thank you!
ReplyDeleteOrchids : we have several in the garden, lots of lizard orchids, also pyramid & common, all well going over now.
Mrs P, both films appear to be available on youtube. I am delighted you are curious. I must confess I don't at all remember the story of either film.
ReplyDeleteRiso Amaro is the most famous and highly acclaimed of the two films. The actress Silvana Mangano is considered one of Italy's best actresses.
DeleteOh come on now Hilary.
ReplyDeleteBack in the sixties ALL those Italian actresses were to die for.
Whether you were male or female.
My mother in law was obsessed with ?????
The little clown girl in ????
And as far as she was concerned I was the image of her.
Of course I've forgotten now, but the names will come to me in due course and I will post again when they do.
Was it Giulietta Masina in La Strada Mrs P? It also starred Anthony Quinn.
DeleteGiulietta Masina was the wife of Federico Fellini. I remember her in "Juliet of the Spirits".
DeleteGelsemina in La Strada
ReplyDeleteMust watch it again
From the rice paddies we're back to films. I looked up Silvana Mangano who like Sophia Loren was raised in poverty and they both became stars; their husbands collaborated in the film industry.
ReplyDeleteA Few of My Favourite Things (films in no particular order):-
ReplyDelete1. Brief Encounter 1945
I have loved this from the first time I saw it. The story takes place in such a different time from now. Celia Johnson's narration adds so much, as does the beautiful Rachmaninov music. I know it word to word and it never disappoints.
2. Far From the Madding Crowd 1967 version with the gorgeous Alan Bates and Terence Stamp. Beautiful countryside and score too.
3. American Beauty 1999 Once again the narration adds so much plus a haunting Thomas Newman score. Memorable.
4. The Graduate 1967 Unforgettable and brilliant.
5. Whistle Down the Wind 1961 When I saw this as a child I wanted to be Hayley Mills. Loved it so much. Again featuring lovely Alan Bates before he became famous. The theme is haunting too.
A pot of Earl Grey with a toasted teacake or alternatively a traditional Ploughman's Lunch with a strong ginger beer.
Thank you Gary for picking me out of the hat and I hope some of you will also enjoy my choices.
Thank you Anneveggie - you've already got me playing Simon & Garfunkel!
DeleteDo you know, I've never seen Brief Encounter. Scandalous isn't it? Love me a bit of Terence Stamp (who doesn't?), and Whistle down the Wind scared me as a child for some reason.
A good Ploughman's is hard to beat - I hate it when places get it all horribly wrong & add weird things that don't belong on the plate...
Give BE a watch and I'd love to hear your opinion Gary.
DeleteAgree about the Ploughman's.
I have been meaning to watch it for decades!
DeleteAnneveggie -
ReplyDeleteThe only one of your films that I don't know is American Beauty, Madding and Graduate both on my longer list.
Never really sure about Whistle but was well into adulthood when I saw it, so watched it from a different perspective to yours.
I've been moved in different ways throughout my life in the times when I've watched Brief Encounter.
I am expecting LanJan to have Far from the Madding Croud on her list too, if she chooses films.
So many things I should be doing..... instead I've been watching La Strada.
Must save the rest for later and GET ON WITH MY DAY.
I blame Hilary !
But what if your day is SUPPOSED to be spent watching La Strada MrsP? Fate is a strange mistress...
DeleteAnneveggie, the only one I've seen is The Graduate. I've heard so much about Brief Encounter that I don't think I want to see it. Tea and toast is always welcome.
ReplyDeleteI love Earl Grey Tea and toasted teacakes. This is so tasty, but has to have blackcurrant jam on it.
DeleteNo other jam will do.
The other thing I love, is toasted raisin bread (with the same jam).
But then there are crumpets, with butter + golden syrup or honey....
Me too Miriam - I'm fine with just butter on my teacakes but blackcurrant jam would be great too.
DeleteRemember all the films from Anneveggie with her lovely choice.
ReplyDeleteRemember "the girl with a curl, in the middle of her forhead".
I have far more curls than that, so I will be doing a Tony, ie the scissors will be coming out very soon.
Thanks Anneveggie, very much admire some of your choices though missed both American Beauty & the earlier one, Whistle - maybe I should rectify.
ReplyDeleteFar from the Madding - superb, AND the best version, surely - a book adaptation that does justice to the novel, imo.
So impressed by The Graduate, witty, sharp, painful, moving, joyful. What a film ! Brief Encounter ? So well done, very watchable, but I fear I'd view it nowadays in order to giggle, as it's so dated & the 'ECCENTS' hilarious. Also, angst ridden though they are, the two main characters are, in essence, no more interesting than the so characterised 'boring' husband at home ( again, just 'imo' !)
Thanks carolyn. Yes BE is so dated but that's part of its charm for me. Accents too. I find all the characters interesting including husband at home who is so devoted and the ladies in the station tea room.
DeleteI love the older films.
DeleteIt is the accents, the social standings, the fashions etc. These are so different and I actually like it.
Blythe Spirit, is another film I enjoy, for similar reasonings...
Dressing for Dinner, pre-dinner drinks, etc..
How times have changed.
I do realise that these films only represented a certain type of living.
This is why I am loving the series "A House through Time" which shows how other lives were.
I was brought up in a 2up 2 down house, late 50's, but there was an inside toilet. The only heating, was the coal fire in the front room, where we bathed in a large tin bath!
DeleteFun ...not really.
Watched Blythe Spirit a while back Miriam and totally loved it.
DeleteAs I have said before, and say again, I am amazed how many films I have watched and recall.
ReplyDeleteThis is thanks to you all.
PS Ev, on the closed page mentioned Sabrina. I so preferred the original Audrey Hepburn version. It is dated and in b/w. Sometimes different more modern versions don't work as well.
The Money Pit vs Mr Blanding Builds his Dream Home, is another example.
I hope I have got the titles right, as posting without checking 😣😶
Love Brief Encounter. Also love the Harrison Ford version of Sabrina.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think I’ve ever seen the Graduate. Must sort that out.
A toasted tea cake with proper butter and a mug of strong tea.....best things ever after a dog walk.
Tonight’s viewing for us is James Bond, Quantum of Solice from the other night.
ReplyDeleteHave seen it before but can’t remember what it's about.
It's good. Enjoy.
DeleteI remember watching it a few years ago but even at gunpoint I wouldn't be able to tell you what it was about! I prefer the Roger Moore Bond films....
DeleteSean Connery...
DeleteControversial choice GG.. 😉
DeleteI know!
DeleteThe Graduate..so clever, love it. Can't watch BE now without Victoria Wood & Celia Imrie.. 🤣
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen Whistle down the wind for ages, remember finding it disturbing, Far from the Madding crowd is wonderful, perfect cast.. TS, AB, mmmm 😍
How interesting parsley that you found Whistle disturbing and Gary said it scared him. Just shows how different we all are.
DeleteCarolyn -
ReplyDeleteYour description of your feelings about Brief Encounter has made me realise why I find myself unsure about it. You describe it perfectly.
Thank you for your insight.
I've received my National Gardens Scheme email today and there are several gardens open nearby within decent driving distance, but due to Covid must be prebooked.
I've managed to check that dogs on leads are allowed in a garden in Tewksbury so am going to book my slot there. Still to find info on dogs in others.
Visiting a large and beautiful garden will be such a treat after three months of lockdown.
When it is my turn I am going to choose books but Mrs P is quite right, if I had chosen films "Far from the Madding Crowd " would have been on my list.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the Terence Stamp,Julie Christie,Alan Bates version.
What a beauty Julie Christie was.
Loved Brief Encounter too even though she made the wrong decision.
That music..........
Whistle down the Wind with that lovely little boy spotting who he thought was "Gentle Jesus"
Haven't seen the other two films but I bet they are good.
You can keep your EarlGrey tea though Anneveggie though I do like a nice toasted tea cake.
Gary ,do try to watch "Brief Encounter"
Yes it is dated but it still moves me to tears.
Filmed at Carnforth Station , so when you next come to London by train you will pass through it .
When Mr LJ and I were married I was asked to bring a CD to play whilst people were sitting waiting.
I took a tape with lots of lovely film music on but all I heard was the Rachmaninov .
The Registrar was asked by her assistant why she kept playing that as she thought it wasn't appropriate in the circumstances.
Her reply was that she liked it and she thought everyone else would too.
Well I did!
Thanks Anneveggie
You're very welcome Lanjan. I do, however, have to disagree about her choice. I think it was the right choice for her and she could not have lived with herself if she'd broken up her own marriage plus her beau's one. Each to their own of course.
DeleteI don’t think she made the wrong decision as she would have been eaten up with guilt given her character and the norms of the time. She also had her children to think about as well as her dull but steadfast husband. The dilemma was meeting her soulmate too late and that’s the tragedy of it.
ReplyDeleteYou are right of course Ev but I did still want her to go off to Africa with the doctor even though I didn't really like Trevor Howard -she did though.
ReplyDeleteKnow what you mean, Lanjan! I think because they were two quite ordinary people the fact they were caught up in this whirlwind was even more extraordinary. Yes, the romantic in me wanted them to be together!
ReplyDeleteOh dear, sorry Gary, I've just realized that this conversation is a spoiler for you having never seen BE.
DeleteNo worries AV - I think it's pretty common knowledge that they don't run off together! And as Lanjan says below, the title IS a pretty big clue...😄
DeleteSilly me!
DeleteTo be fair.
ReplyDeleteIt is all in the title of the film.
Anneveggie
ReplyDeleteThe Graduate, one of the few films I actually watched way back when.
And I fell in love with Dustin Hoffman and came out of the Granada Cinema in Slough in tears because he was unattainable! He had a really electric effect on me and I have loved him from afar ever since! 😍
BE.. Watched it again recently & have to report that Mr P was in floods of tears at the end.
ReplyDeleteAs you all know The Graduate was on my longer list but won out to Midnight Cowboy.
ReplyDeleteDustin Hoffman, a very small man with a huge personality and talent, can still attract me, as PtbY described Alan Rickman.
It takes all types.
But in Midnight Cowboy D H was phenomenal. As was Jon Voight. And together they created a loving relationship, whereas in The G although a wonderful performance from Hoffman, Anne B (?) was superior in her performance and the relationship was one of superior experience over naivety rather than collaboration.
Of course as soon as I've pressed publish her name will come to me.
Bancroft
ReplyDeleteFar from the Madding Crowd was definitely on my list if I did films first. Loved it, and very much identified with the scene where poor Alan Bates' sheep were driven over the cliff. We never had as big a catastrophe as that but occasionally an out of control holidaymakers dog would chase a sheep over the hedge of the cliff fields where there was a public footpath and over the edge. After my father's time my brother stopped using those fields for sheep.
ReplyDeleteI heard Dustin Hoffman say once that Anne Bancroft was his guide in the film as well as introducing him to acting.
ReplyDeleteParsley - I have put the Victoria Wood parody of Brief Encounter at the top for everyone to enjoy! Like you, it's the first thing I think of when someone mentions the film. I very much doubt I would be able to watch the real version without laughing!
ReplyDelete😂
DeleteTigger in the undergrowth.......be afraid.......be very afraid........
ReplyDeleteenlarge for full effect.....
Must admit, after seeing Brief Encounter (on TV) as a teenager, it was Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto that turned me on to classical music and for that, I shall be eternally grateful.
ReplyDeleteThere's always something for everyone.
DeleteIt was lovely yesterday lunchtime to be in my armchair in the sitting room with the window open, and at last listening (and seeing) the children eating lunch and playing on the playing field at the back of my house. Not happened since last summer as they don't use the field in the Winter/Spring.
ReplyDeleteWe had wondered why there had been four large boxes painted on the field over the weekend a They are being used for social distancing as the children sat on the lines in a square about 2 metres apart. Each class seems to be about 15 children in total. Anyway they were all happy and I assume the parents were all happy for them to be back in school.
Also yesterday I got a text from my hairdresser to say she was taking bookings from July 4th onward. I usually go to her house. She tells me she will be masked and has converted a room to be her salon. As she used to work in a proper salon for three days a week for over twenty years I was astounded when she said she had lost her job. Now I am in a dilemma as I had decided that I may go grey and not spend about £ 10 a week average, colouring and highlighting my hair. Now I feel guilty about halving what I pay her every six weeks. Oh decisions, decisions!
Of the films chosen by anneveggie I have only seen BE and Whistle. But I can't remember much about the latter. I remember I saw it at the cinema so must have gone with a boyfriend and sat in the back row (if you get my drift! 😁)
Youngest son and fiance 'visited' yesterday to collect a garden swing seat I bought Spring 2019 but have never unpacked. I have an old one which is a bit rusty but will do me now. I also asked him if he could keep a lookout for jars of white pasta sauce as they are not available for at least the last three weeks. Anyway they bought some in Maidstone and then added pasta, eggs, SR flour and two bunches of small tulips. All these deposited on the doorstep while we chatted. As rain was due they didn't stop but will return on Thursday for a cup of tea and cake in the garden.
Oh well off into the garden for an hour or so!
Spicy. So glad you are sounding a bit more upbeat and enjoying watching the children play. Having your hair done might be a real boost, even if it is a cut and blow dry.
DeleteLife sounds distinctly brighter, Spicy! Glad to hear it.
DeleteAs long as it's not like the follow up to the video above!
DeleteSpicy, some bright colours off set the grey really well, besides, you're taking enough chemicals into your system, still, your decision entirely.
DeletePerfect, Gary 😂🤣🤣 Almost as funny as the original....
ReplyDeleteRemember seeing this whenever it came out - every part, the script, End the EC-cents - great send up.
Thanks, I've seen BE now, just as I imagined, both equally hilarious!
ReplyDeleteI loved the Victoria Wood sketch Gary.
ReplyDeleteVictoria Wood-what talent.
DeleteLoved the "het"
So did I! Hadn't seen it before. Thanks Gary!
DeleteI remember it Gary - such talent and Victoria is still sorely missed!
DeleteLoved the film itself still tears me apart when I see it and the music makes it even more emotive 😪
I've just spent a delightful half hour to the sound of the pouring rain which I smelt before I heard it, the background sound rather than Rachmaninov - I watched 07 Still Life on Youtube, adapted from Noel Coward's Still Life 1936 on which Brief encounter is based.
ReplyDeleteIt starred three couples, Jane Asher as one with the grit in the eye plus the doctor, a waitress and platform boy very keen on each other and Joan Collins, the café manageress who is paired off with the station master. He happened to be my former neighbour, now sadly gone; once we got talking about JC for some reason and he said that there was a season of plays with her and I realised I'd seen them on TV, so there, thank you for bringing back memories, no need for the real thing really.
Anneveggie. For me it has to be ‘Far From The Madding Crowd’. Definitely the 1967 version with Julie Christie, in a lot of beautiful pastoral scenes.
ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting how these old films (BE) remain popular despite no colour, some ham acting and awful accents. Victoria Wood spotted something to satirise.
I certainly would not have married the Graduate knowing he’d slept with my mother. An Oedipus complex by association. Loved the S&G music.
WDTW. I felt sorry for the vagrant man.
I have never seen American Beauty. Must look it up.
No Earl Grey tea. Love 💓 a ploughmans with lots of red wine.
Thank you.
I agree with you about FFTMC stasia. I saw the 'new' version and it was not a patch on the Julie Christie one.
DeleteI also felt sorry for the man hiding in the barn in WDTW.
Anneveggie, I love your film choices and have seen all of them several times. Several also on my film long list, and 1 and 5 would probably have been in the top 5.
ReplyDeleteEarl grey is my favourite black tea and toasted tea cake, for me was best made by toasting at my Gran’s open fire on a fearsome toasting fork. They would fall into the fire if you weren’t careful, and getting them toasted, not burned, was quite an art, but I have not tasted better. They were always served with just butter, but I do like them with cinnamon as well.
Forgot to say I absolutely loved seeing the Victoria Wood sketch again and still laughed until I cried. It’s so sad that we lost her.
DeleteCrumpets toasted over an open fire can't be beaten! We used to toast them with a toasting fork at my Nan's too. Luckily she lived next door in a row of Council houses so I watched many of the old films with her while Mum and Dad were at work. Loved the slightly smokey taste to the crumpets too and they retained the squashy middle much better than being cooked in a toaster!
DeleteMy favourite tea actually was Broken Orange Pekoe when I was first married back in the 70s. Then we went to Australia and when we came back it seemed to have disappeared from the supermarket shelves. I know it can be bought from specialist tea traders but is very pricey!
Next favourite is Darjeeling 'the champagne of teas!'
But for every day I drink Yorkshire Tea. Introduced to that by my cricket club when they nominated me as a 'special tea lady.' I received a lovely gift hamper from Yorkshire Tea of tea bags, apron, oven gloves, tea towel etc. Love the taste.
I spoke to hairdresser this morning and tentatively booke 20th July. Told her about going natural and she suggested trying a lighter shade first otherwise I'm going to have really, really short hair! I have about an inch of grey roots at the moment!
Youngest son sends me a joke every day via fb messenger.
Today's offering;
"I just sold my Homing Pigeon on ebay - for the 22nd time!" Boom boom!
When we lived in Cornwall a pigeon staggered into our kitchen and I made the mistake of feeding it! It was a homing pigeon gone off course and through the ring we found the owner who didn’t want to know as it seemed to have bonded itself to us. Katy and I took it over to Plymouth and released it on the Hoe hoping it would reorientate to original owner. We went back home to Torpoint by bus and ferry only to find it on the roof of our shed! Sadly she subsequently died but we did get quite fond of her! Sometimes we took her down to the pub and released her to give her a flight!
DeleteSeasider - I'm glad you liked my choices and I do agree about Victoria Wood. She was such a talent and gone far too soon.
DeleteBy the way, happy non-meet up day. It was to be today, wasn’t it? We’ll meet again....🤗🌈🌞🌻
ReplyDelete👍💗💐
DeleteOh Golly, so it was.
ReplyDeleteSpiceycushion, your conundrum.
You could with her advice do less to your hair regularly and allow the grey to ' grow in'
and at the same time continue to support your hairdresser by paying her what you usually paid her for, say, the next three months as a contribution to keep her going.
Just a suggestion, but I would agree with Basia, enough chemical already !
When I was going grey, I became a model at Henna Hair.
They had decided to address the understanding that henna could not be used on grey hair and were experimenting with how to use henna in that situation.
Three different model types, one full blown grey, one pepper and salt, and one just starting to go grey. I was in the third cohort.
It worked brilliantly for me. I was stopped once in the beauty department in Selfridges by a woman asking where I had my fantastic highlights done.
I did happily go completely grey in due course and with fine straight hair and a very good cut, my hair was a lovely silver grey.
I do miss having hair, however ballsey I may be about it.
Like others have said Spicy, its good to hear you feeling a little better.
Good luck whatever you choose to do.
I feel rather as if I have just stepped, blinking, out of a cinema back into reality. I have just watched Far From The Madding Crowd non-stop from start to finish!! The last time I saw it was in the cinema in 1967!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have seen the rest of La Strada now, Mrs P!
I took the ✂️✂️ to my "fringe"today. I only cut a bit, about an inch off, and it looks a bit amateurish, but is so much better. It will grow again before getting to a hairdresser. I have heard nothing from mine. I am going "au naturel" (due to cost) and it looks OK, as I still have a natural blondish hue, mixed in.
ReplyDeleteI loved Victoria Wood. I still have on my HDD, the series of programmes made, after her sad demise. I will look back, to see if the BE sketch is there (I do remember it). I hope so.
It was a good parody, Victoria Wood style.
I have been going "au naturel" for 2 years now, and I haven't regretted it, as it is going slowly. I do, though, use a thick, luxurious purple shampoo ( which I buy from the salon - but cheaper than highlights etc). This is gorgeous, and accentuates the silver, plus my still normal colour, and is cost-effective. A litre bottle lasted 2 years - and though costly - it is far cheaper than colour treatments, done 5/6 times a year!
DeleteAnother storm is now brewing - there was a massive one last night, and so dark, I had to put lights on at 8.00pm.
I did my normal weekly shop today. No problems, everyone was being so sensible and it was almost, fully stocked. I know Monday night is the big delivery, so at 8.30am when I go, I can get all I want + need - even wholewheat pasta! There was also a shelf, full of hand gel, but I have plenty. I took a mask with me, but at no time did I feel I needed it, even when picking up my eye drops, from the Pharmacy.
ReplyDeleteI felt calm + safe.
I am very relieved and thankful to have had a letter from Boots Opticians today, inviting me to make an appointment for an eye test - something I have needed since last October.
ReplyDeleteThey apologised for the long delay due, to COVID19 of course, but are now ready to see overdue clients again, strictly by timed appointment only.
So I made one straight away for June 29th, have to go on my own, taking own face mask and pen(!).
My eyesight has deteriorated a lot this year - Mr A says it’s too much iPad screen-time, he might be right! I can no longer read subtitles on TV or tell if it’s a rabbit, hare or bird in the field opposite and have taken to wearing a pair of specs from 10 years ago which seem to be better than my last prescription.
So big expenditure coming up but at least I should be able to focus again, hopefully. 🤓
Such a wise decision. Eyesight is so important. It was an optician who picked up my high eye pressures, and I am so thankful, as they are now so well under control. You know my cataract story, and even now, I still cannot believe the difference (even 9 months later, on waking up seeing so clearly, without glasses/contacts).
DeleteForget the cost - it is so important.
What a storm is now overhead!
ReplyDeleteTorrential rain (drains in road are not coping) along with constant lightning + thunder.
Freaky.
I wish we had it up here Miriam. I love, love, love thunder storms.
DeletePusscat is also freaked out, and is now sitting very close by. 😸 She is getting the comfort she needs.
DeleteGG This was, and now still is, a bad one. It seems to have returned again!
DeleteHere I go again! 😀🌨🌩⚡
Off to get meal, in case electric goes off.
DeleteWe have been promised storms and heavy rain for the last few days.
ReplyDeleteWhere is it?
We have had very little rain for weeks and the garden is parched.
I’d swop your storms for our hot sun for a few days Miriam!
Storms seem to be a daily event at the moment. Tonights was really bad + it frightened me. It has gone now - thank goodness. I have hot, humid weather in the day, but with cloud, and then the storms start in the late afternoon.
DeleteThere is a weather warning, for the same tomorrow.
All I want is to try + mow the lawns, but they are still so soggy.
At least my plants, scorched by the fence fire, are now sprouting again due to the rain. I am glad I trusted my instinct, and didn't dig them up. A lovely purple heuchara, is sprouting so many new leaves + flower buds. 😀
On Saturday a lovely young RAC man put a new battery in our car which has not been driven since 23rd March,
ReplyDeleteYesterday we ventured out for a short local drive only stopping to post some letters and swapping drivers.
I really do admire all of you who have been shopping.
I asked my personal medical advisor from almost 5000 Miles away what sort of gloves I should get .
He told me that.he recommends cotton ones which can then be washed and apparently he has ordered some for us from Amazon.
I have made us both a face mask .
I would have thought they would have been mandatory since the main reason for anyone wearing one is to stop that person from contaminating someone else rather than being shielded from the virus.
It is scary LJ but I have got used to it all.
DeleteI keep a close eye on those shopping near me, and if necessary avoid those who I think, are not abiding by the rules. These are few + far between though. I always have hand gel with me, plus a mask, but I haven't felt the need to wear a mask, just yet. This might change.
This is the new normal, which I am adapting to, whilst still being cautious. Others are doing the same.
PS I have had lovely chats with people, whilst queing to go into a couple of local shops, whilst still keeping social distancing. It is possible, to keep safe, but it does depend on each individual.
DeleteWe took the dogs to Quarr this afternoon and passed a an on his own sitting on a seat. Had a chat with him while Gypsy made her slow painstaking amble past him but not closely of course! It was nice to speak to him and he might live alone. Also today Trev delivered our latest food order from the wholesaler. Trev used to work for DPD so I know him from way back. We tut tutted about the folly of the queues at shops. I think people thought they would get some bargains but suspect not! So it was nice to see and speak to Trev. Angela the cleaner came today too so I was able to do some painting, a portrait of Audrey Hepburn as simple portraiture is part of my watercolour course. Doesn’t look a lot like her but not bad and taught me some new techniques. Katy went back to work but was only gone for two hours. The boys went out with their dog walker this morning having not seen her since before lockdown and they were overjoyed to see her again! On return were so excited they did two circuits round the table I was sitting at breaking the record for speed. Two happy boys, and a fun packed day for all! Am a happy bunny!😁🐇
ReplyDelete,
Ever since you mentioned Quarr a while back I've had a hankering to visit that whole area Ev.
DeleteIs the watercolour course a new endeavour or one you have been doing for a while?
It’s an online course with London Art College and there is a folder to work through with seven assignments you have to send to your tutor. Sadly have only done two with a year over since I started. You can complete in a year but can go on to two and apparently can buy extra time on top of that. Have decided I have to get down to it! At the end you get a diploma but am doing it just for the experience. You would enjoy the island, Gary and maybe you could fly from Glasgow to Southampton to cut down travel time or meander down by car. Katy went on a dig in the Orkneys several years ago and went by car having tow stopovers on the way. We have a lovely country to explore!
DeleteTwo stopovers!
DeleteEv, chance would be a fine thing!!!!
DeleteYes, certainly not on the cards at the moment!
DeleteWe have been shopping throughout lockdown, and I did feel nervous at first. Most people around here have been very careful though. We have learned when are the quiet times at the supermarket so we don’t have to queue. Mr S does the main shop in the car and I walk around another day to pick up a few extras, or we go to a little greengrocers in the village up the road. Several of the shops up there sell things at the door rather than letting you inside.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t felt the need for gloves but I wear a bandana around my neck which I could use as a face covering, but again, I haven’t yet. I don’t touch anything I am not going to buy.
I have cut my fringe a couple of times but I do that anyway between cuts. I don’t dye my hair and the bandanas can double up as a headband if needed.
There’s always one, Esscee. If you do pick up these ignorant ones inevitably you get rudeness in return. Even if this man is COVID free he could get it by standing close to others but that’s his problem! You were unfortunate to encounter him.
ReplyDeleteA nasty incident, Esscee; it's tense enough in a supermarket, keeping distance, following the arrows without added aggro !
ReplyDeleteIt could be he is stressed by his work in the NHS, so on a short fuse. On the other hand, maybe aggression is habitual with this man.
I have not been doing my own shopping, but relying on others who have offered, but those offers have become few and far between in the last two weeks. As a result I have been thinking a great deal about just biting the bullet and going myself. But I've come to the conclusion that I am scared of doing so. This is an emotion I rarely feel and don't quite know how to approach it.
ReplyDeleteThe above, and in response to the posts immediately above, my lady who is in hospital, daughter arrived from Germany this evening and most of her phone call was taken up with how different it all is here. She needed to describe her journey from Frankfurt through to Belgium and the warnings about compliance to expect, ( eight people in the carriage through G and three on the Eurostar) repercussions if requirements not observed only to discover at Paddington dozens of uniformed personnel standing around with few travellers to observe, plus her usual disapproval of anything we do here in the U.K.
And then there were the people in London to complain of, not social distancing, nobody masked etc etc. As far as she is concerned we can do nothing right here.
We too had a massive storm at the same time as Miriam's in Cheshire.
I sat at my bedroom window watching it sweep down the valley opposite, with the water flowing down the road from up the hill behind me. It continued with rumbling thunder for over an hour.
Took Lady for a walk immediately it had cleared up and watched the drifts of mist over the valley below slowly dispersing. The cows didn't look as bedraggled as I expected them to.
Totally understandable, Esscee !
ReplyDeleteRound here mostly, people are pleasant around town, but there's been a higher level of acknowledgment & friendly exchange since lockdown - everyone is a bit nervous when shopping ! Thus, if one meets with the kind of rudeness & impatience you did, it's very shocking.
Gary....loved the Victoria wood brief encounter sketch. Mince pie in the eye 🤣
ReplyDeleteI was at the check out in Lidl yesterday and the woman following me came right up behind me to put her shopping on the belt. Gave her a look and moved pointedly away but she didn’t give a damn. No mask or gloves on. First time this has happened in all the time of lockdown.
We were in a yellow warning area for storms here last night, so put our tubs of geraniums in the greenhouse so they wouldn’t get battered by the promised heavy rain and hailstones.
ReplyDeleteDark clouds but - No storm. No heavy rain. No hailstones. Not even a splash!
Still like a desert hereabouts!
I use mainly my local health food shop which at first I visited only twice a week. I know the local shopkeepers, none has been ill nor my neighbours. I did find it scary in March/April when I ran through deserted streets in the afternoon but I'm calmer now.
ReplyDeleteWe had about 3 days/nights of torrential rain a few days ago, so maybe it is working it's way up from the south west. Everything is smelling wonderfully fresh, and hopefully the lawn will turn green again.
ReplyDeleteWe have a pick your own strawberry farm a few miles away with a farm shop. It is very well organised with the few people who are there having to each keep to their individual row and not step across the rows. The strawberries seem to taste particularly sweet this year, maybe because of the really hot weather we had.
ReplyDeleteWe have been relatively unscathed here, but are bracing ourselves for when people are allowed to come on holiday again. In fact some who have second homes have been creeping down already. We had a bit of controversy here when someone found a Mercedes parked in his field near a local beach. He was spreading slurry in the field and deliberately plastered the Mercedes as well; and in the local Spar the girls have been refusing to serve anyone without a Cornish accent if they can't prove they live here. I am not at all sure about this. On the one hand it is understandable, people are afraid of an influx of people from cities bringing down more of the virus, but on the other hand a lot of people in Cornwall rely on holidaymakers for their living, and rudeness and unfriendliness are just going to put people off wanting to come here.
I lived in Cornwall for 12 years and could never understand the almost contempt for “grockles” when tourism was a main source of income. Although I am on an island now I find people here far less parochial.
ReplyDeleteApparently at our local shops (may well be everywhere) a couple is not able to shop together .
ReplyDeleteSounds a good move to me.
It will not affect us much because we always split our shopping list and went round the Supermarket separately and met up at the till later .
Now, presumably when we go shopping we will meet up at the car..
Suits me.
I will be putting "bananas " on Mr LJs list.
I take too long to buy them.
At last Archerphile ⚡️(well thunder anyway) 💦💦 how about you? Glad I moved our handful of pots out of harms way a little earlier.
ReplyDeleteI've just spent a good hour or so watering all my pots & baskets - we have had ridiculously good weather for ages. It's only rained at night on a couple of occasions in what seems like months. The garden is looking lush!
DeleteI haven't bothered with pots, hanging baskets etc this year. It is very sad, but I could not go and get what I would have wanted, and when I wanted.
DeleteA neighbour commented on how they loved seeing my garden, but I have made my decision.
The storm I experienced last night, was amazing - thunder + lightning, being both simultaneous + continuous. It only lasted an hour, thankfully. I woke up (5.30am!) to see mist/fog/low cloud, not sure which, and not able to see across the road.
ReplyDeleteI had a wasted trip today. I decided I needed to visit a W H Smith, for purchases I now need, but not urgent. No way was I going into town, so off I went to the one, which is much easier to get to, along with a mask + hand sanitiser.
It was closed.
It is in a small retail area, only 5.5 miles away - but in N.Wales!
I forgot this, where things are not the same, so shops are not open, except for essential one's. What a plonker I was..😣
That made me literally laugh out loud Miriam!
DeleteTranshumance : link to short article & pics in today's Charente Libre re our small but vital contribution! Takes place in the NE of the dépt., known as Charente Limousine.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.charentelibre.fr/2020/06/17/150-brebis-prennent-leur-quartier-d-ete-en-charente-limousine-diaporama,3611506.php
I forgot to say, my window box still has some old compost in it. Puss Cat has decided that it is a lovely place to have a "wee"! 😹
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful our pets are.
PS I think my neighbours are packing up, ready to move. I am not sure but 🤞
We had torrential rain during the night .it gave a good soaking to our vegetable garden which saved mr🍁🍁 several trips to the village fountain. We don't have running water in the field so every time he has to water he has to fill up big water containers from the fountain. It's hard work but the results are worth it and he enjoys it.
ReplyDeleteRemind me - which region do you live in?
DeleteI have forgotten, but think Trentino.
Absolutely right Miriam . I know you know Italy very well so when I say on the border with the Val di Non maybe you'll know where I am. I'm in the Val di Brenta 1000 metres altitude but only 30 minutes from Trento.
DeleteIf you look at my profile photo ( thanks to Archerfiles instructions) ,this is the view from our "orto...vegetable garden down to the village. You can just make out the church which of course is at the centre of the village. But apart from that there are a couple of bars, pizzarias, and of course the co-op with inflated prices and rubber carrots. Apart from that nothing..except mountains ...and mountains and even more spectacular mountains.
DeleteIt is an area I don't know, but it sounds so idyllic, and one I need to visit, but when?
DeleteI missed how to look at profile pics - but I have a good imagination....
Good Luck with your produce.
Archerphile - I do hope you got the 'storm' as well today. This morning I was in the garden from about 11 am for an hour and half. I transplanted pea seedlings which unfortunately I left out on the patio table last night so they got a bit nibbled. All will survive I think though.
ReplyDeleteI also picked a one litre ice cream container full of strawberries with a few raspberries so night we'll have fresh fruit and ice cream for pud! Yesterday we did have potato salad with home grown spring onions. The rest will stay in fridge for a day or so until I have enough for jam.
All the time I was in the garden it was thundering above us and as I finished and tidied up (about 12.45) it started spattering. Got inside just as it tipped down. Sadly only about 15 mins but every little helps I suppose.
Spicy - you seem so much better and it is lovely to hear you, out + about again.
DeleteMrs P, have the flash floods been anywhere near you?
ReplyDeleteI hope you're having a better week.
How sad that the planned meet up, couldn't happen, for very obvious reasons.
ReplyDeleteJust think of the tales you can all share, when you all manage to get together again.
Let's hope it will not be "the same time, next year" but it might well be.
Back tomorrow. Tea cooking - homemade beef/onion/herb meatballs, in a red wine sauce, with garlic, onions, peppers, mushrooms and basil. It is being served with a potato concoction - layered pots with chopped leeks, cooked in milk + stock. I am sure it has a fancy name, but is just a simple dish.
DeleteForgot - sauce has a tin of chopped toms in it, as well.
DeleteMy goodness Miriam you must spend half the day preparing these delicious meals.
DeleteYou could put Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver to shame.
Meeting : I'm hoping it will be later this year, when we might feel more comfortable about travelling on public transport.
DeleteI am loving cooking more properly again. This is because, I know I can keep my store cupboatrds stocked again. This did not happen for weeks. I even managed to buy wholewheat pasta this week, only fusilli. I prefer penne, but very happy. Meal did take quite a few hours, but well worth it, and there wiil be portions going into the freezer.
Delete....plus I also managed to buy soft brown sugar...the first time since Lockdown. Bananna Loaf to be baked tomorrow, and then buying larger size jeans!!
DeleteAt the moment it’s hard to imagine feeling comfortable on public transport but hopefully it will happen...
ReplyDeleteLanJan, our supermarket made that one person rule. Mr S went this morning and he did see one or two people shopping together so perhaps they’ve relaxed it now. I do a small shop on foot on another day, with a rucksack. My car battery is in the shed at the moment.
Chilli con carne tonight. Don’t tell Susan and Neil or they’ll get the wrong idea and you know how Susan likes to talk...just realised I haven’t listened all week and haven’t looked at the on topic blog - no spoilers over here I hope.
Re public transport.
ReplyDeleteA neighbour whose wife is not at all well, sadly ,went on a bus yesterday to get her prescription.
He said that there should have been only 10 people on each deck but there were far more than that.
He had a word with the driver who said he hadn't counted the passengers.
When he got home he tried to make a complaint but couldn't get through.
To be honest, Seasider I can understand the one person rule.
ReplyDeleteIn that case everyone should be two metres apart.
I agree. No need to go in together. If we walk to the smaller shops one of us waits outside even if it’s empty.
DeleteI respect the one person rule + why. There are exceptions though, due to age or a disability.
DeleteIt helps all though, to keep the flow in shops going smoothly. It is harsh for some though.
Hooray!
ReplyDeleteFor this relief, many thanks!
Yes Lady R and Spicy , we had rain at around 5pm is afternoon.
Lots of thunder followed by about 20 minutes of heavy rain which has filled the water butts nicely.
All gone again now but at least I didn’t have to water the runner beans tonight.
And like you Spicy, I had our first picking of early raspberries today - delicious with home kade yogurt! 😋
Oh how I long to pick some fruit.
ReplyDeleteAm thinking about going to a pick your own, but doubt if they would allow the dog to accompany me.
I shall have to wait for blackberries which if the abundance of flowering shrubs and the like can be attributed to the very wet spring, I expect to be in tremendous supply. I noticed today that they are budding up already.
Yes we had an amazing storm yesterday which I have discovered flooded Nailsworth while I was talking to a friend who lives there. But she is high up beyond the town and the flooding was at the bottom in the centre.
Yes Zoetrope it's about three miles away, and it is where Sarnia has relatives. But again I believe they are above where the flooded area was.
Gloucestershire is very poor at keeping roads and gutters cleaned out.
There is a cattle grid a couple of hundred yards above me and is usually full to the brim with rubbish and silt. Last year it was cleaned out, but the drain immediately beside it was left full of debris. So when rain falls, and it doesn't have to be very heavy, the cattle grid overflows as the water bounces off the chalk faced hill, then it pours down the road in a torrent and swirls around in a fast running stream past my cottage. Cars at speed round the corner ( 20mph zone ! ) throw the water against my windows.
;Up early today as I am going to try a Waitrose shop. The first hour of opening (7.30 am - 8.30am) is dedicated to elderly shoppers.
ReplyDeleteIt means driving into and through Basingstoke, which I am a bit nervous about, but they stock various things I cannot get at Sainsbury’s. I usually shop there about once every couple of months to stock up on those things - couldn’t afford to go every week!
The other reason I use Waitrose is that they have scan and pack facilities, like Sainsburys, which means packing your bags as you go round and not heaving everything out & repacking at the checkout. So much easier and quicker.
Can’t wait to get some proper Loch Fyne kippers again! 😋
I’m singing in the rain
ReplyDeleteJust singing in the ☔️ rain
Come on with the rain
I’m happy again.
O frabjous day,
Callooh, callay.
I’m chortling 🤭 with joy.
What a glorious stat to a rainy day.
Have been watering with cans for the last nearly three months. It has rained on everyone else but we remained in a dry bubble. Potatoes will now be able to get bigger.
I have just seen that Dame Vera Lynn, has sadly passed away.
ReplyDeleteThank you Gary for a topical update.
ReplyDeleteWell, Waitrose was dead easy . No queue, only about 5 or 6 other customers. Easy to get round aisles, no one way system needed. Scan & packed worked like a dream. Only person in lift going up to car park on top of store. One small problem; it was raining so got quite wet filling car, but jolly grateful for the rain.
ReplyDeleteOne big problem; Mr A unpacked shopping and exclaimed at the price of the pork joint I’d bought for Sunday.
I had misread the price, thinking it was £8.50.
It was actually £18.50!!
Doh! What a fool. Didn’t have right glasses on!
Can’t take it back so we are going to cut the joint in half, freeze one bit for future use
Archerphile, you wanted it, whatever the cost, hope it lives up to its price.
DeleteGlad to hear the Waitrose shop was a success, AP.
DeleteThe generous sized pork joint may be a blessing in disguise ! In a few weeks time, when you've forgotten about it, you'll open the freezer - & there it is - just when you feel like roast pork....
Personally, I salivated when you wrote about Loch Fyne kippers 😋
Us too Carolyn. Waitrose is the only place for miles around where we can get proper kippers. Everywhere else just has manky little boil-in-the bag kipper fillets which are an insult to kipper aficionados!
DeleteWhen I got there today, they had Caistor Kippers instead of Loch Fyne but I’m sure they’ll be just as good.
I never did like her voice much but recognise that she did so much to boost morale in those dark times. She also continued to do a lot for service charities. Bless her heart!
ReplyDeleteHonorary Burma Star.
ReplyDeleteMany heartfelt tributes to Vera Lynn on Radio 4's 1pm news. What a life.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heading, Gary. As ever, you capture the moment !
RIP dear Dame Vera Lynn.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Ev, never did much like the voice, but on the other hand could hear EVERY WORD.
ReplyDeleteBut do recognise an icon of WW11 who did the very best for the moral of the country.
And to be topping the 'pop' charts at her age, magnificent !
I watched the end of the VE day concert, in the court of Buckingham Palace. The thing that I remember so clearly, was a "portrayal" of Dame Vera, along with Kathryn Jenkins - both singing We'll Meet Again.
ReplyDeleteSo much meaning, both then and now.
She did well - 103yrs.
...and made the 75th Anniversary, even if the grand celebrations planned, did not happen.
DeleteI do the same as Archerphile, with large joints, and the pork sounds delicious. I buy a large beef joint normally top rump,(when on offer) and divide into smaller portions, and freeze. I always know I can rustle up a R.Beef dinner. I solve the yourkshire pudding for one problem, by buying a well known brand of ready to bake yorkshire batters. These make a good substitute, and again always in the freezer.
ReplyDeleteMiriam. How many 🥶 freezers do you own?
DeleteWe *always* have a roast on Sundays with all the trimmings - long ground in tradition in our family, even though there are only 2 of us these days.
DeleteBut we alternate, chicken one week, red meat the next. And I try to vary the red meat roast between beef, pork and lamb (our favourite, but expensive)
The pork week is usually the cheap week as I can get a good shoulder or leg joint for around £5 - £8 which is why I was so horrified by the price of the Waitrose one.
I should add that I aim to get at least 3 or even 4 meals from one joint and have a huge range if recipes for using up the different meats so it doesn’t get boring.
Monday nights are always curry and our favourite way of using up roast chicken is to make chicken gougère which is a delicious treat.
Just a small one, with 2 drawers + 2 cabinets, which is in the cupboard under the staircase, so I have to move the vacuum out, whenever I want to open it. 😂
DeleteIt is very well stocked + organised...even down to a list, of exactly what is in it. It is like the shops, one thing in, one thing out.
It works for me, a "control freak"!
I am lucky as my Sainsbury's, although, not that big, has been doing self-scan + pack, since before Lockdown. I use it all the time, pick up my scanner outside, which has been cleaned. It also has not been doing click + collect, nor is one which packs the on-line orders. This means, there is always so much more produce available, and I have noticed the dates on products, are now much longer.
ReplyDeleteI can buy all that I need now, as so many extra things (I have missed) are now easily available.
I am staying with what I know best, and so write my shopping list, as to my route around the store, which I now know so well! I still only go once a week.
Silly, Sad, Sensible - no idea.
Sounds very efficient to me.
DeleteNot at all silly Miriam, it’s exactly what I do, or did, before lockdown, and am doing again now. I will only shop at Sains or Waitrose because they are the only scan and pack supermarkets in our area.
DeleteI always do a list according to store lay out or dept if a friend Is ordering for me online. For the 1st time ever I saw a slot on Waitrose today but as I have an order coming tomorrow via friend and the slot is /was for Monday - too soon but I will certainly keep a closer eye now. Mr R goddaughter goes to M&S for us when needed and I purchase an online Food Volunteer voucher that gets sent directly to her but been unable to use my 20% discount re food purchases 😪 since lockdown (online is fine) but store shopping has to be in person. Disappointing but bigger concerns still abound.
DeleteDon't do 'scan and pack' as I find it too impersonal. If I didn't chat to the very friendly check-out staff the friend who takes me would be the only person I see each week. The back gardens of these 1920s houses have high hedges and fences, and there's usually nobody about in the front.
ReplyDeleteI can still chat to staff, whilst doing a self-scan checkout, esp.as I know them well now, after 3 months of doing the same..
DeleteI expect I might be the same in your circumstances Sarnia. I blessed scan & pack when I had to start walking with first one stick, then two. Trying to unload and repack the trolley at the checkout became very difficult so the quick checkout with scan and pack made life much easier.
DeleteAnd we have a super Scotsman on duty at our S&P checkout area who always chats and helps if you get stuck......and he gave me loads of contraband footballers cards for my grandchildren when they were collecting them!
Stasia (9.17am),. I felt your joy at the rain ! Ref. the other blog : the Lord answered your prayers ( I so like to be annoying..)
ReplyDeleteLooks like we're getting another heatwave next week down here.
Carolyn. A miracle happened, the heavens opened and down it came. Maybe the white hairy bearded man sitting on his cloud waved a manic wand to help my little potatoes.
DeleteI like the sound of a "manic wand" stasia!
DeleteGary. Indeed, sounds better than magic. I have met suck hairy deluded creatures in a past life. I’m reincarnated here on this blog.
DeleteA post I made earlier, has not posted (if it appears, then apologies for a duplication). I think I posted:-
ReplyDeleteGG. Again you are so "Spot On" with the heading. 👏👏 and if I may, a big 🤗 to you.
IF anyone is interested, there is a tribute to Dame Vera. BBC 1 tonight at 7.30pm.
ReplyDeletePS I have just re-watched the We'll Meet Again medlay, at the end of the 75th VE day concert. It is worth watching, as it includes so very many key workers, who have worked and are still doing so, during this strange time we all are now living in. It is very moving, and so relevant to our lives now, as it was in WWII.
Dont want to be disrespectful, or upset any Vera Lynn fans here but -
ReplyDeleteIf I hear one more rendition of ‘We’ll Meet Again’ on Radio or TV I think I’ll screem!
With you there. She made a good career out of 2 songs.
DeleteYes, I got a bit sick of it yesterday when it was played at every hourly news bulletin!
DeleteGlad to say I missed all that, only catching the longish 1pm news item. I admire her, that stalwart, wholesome character, but with others who don't care much for her music - not the sort of songs I'd seek out ! However, very effective & stirring at the time.
DeleteIt is all jingoistic rubbish.
Delete