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Life outside Ambridge
Life outside Ambridge
Life outside Ambridge
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Life in Ambridge
THIS POST IS CLOSED "longer off topic comments" - Episode 14 Life Outside Ambridge Have a seat and let's chat.
*** FROM PREVIOUS BLOG ***
ReplyDeleteMrsP Ambridge - July 9, 2020 at 10:10 PM
Thought of you MIRIAM when I heard that Wales would be opening its doors to neighbours.
I hope you have a wonderful day.
Lanjan - July 10, 2020 at 9:00 AM
Wasn't able to watch the cricket yesterday Archerphile .
It would seem that from England's point of view I didn't miss a lot.
I used to like Sky's commentators and still like some of them
Why they sacked Gower I will never know and I also enjoyed listening to Botham.
I still like Atherton -the best in my opinion- and Lloyd on Sky .
Don't like any of the women commentators.
On the radio I didn't like Blofeldt ( sp !) don't like Tufnell , not over struck on Agnew .
Haven't listened this year and wonder if Boycott has been sacked .
He was good so probably has been.
I did enjoy listening to him.
Alison Mitchell in my opinion is better than the women on television.which isn't saying much
Those who have played the Game at the highest level tend to know more about it.
I do not need somebody to tell me that what they need is a couple of quick wickets or to say how much they enjoyed the barbecue at X's house
Haven't seen BBC 2 yet so can't comment this year .
Sky's football coverage is far superior to that of the BBC or BT (IMO)
Lan Jan - I read an article written by Boycott in the Telegraph very recently, saying that he hadn’t been sacked by the BBC but HE decided it was time for a parting of the ways. He then went on to complain about his court case in France for abusing a woman (of which he was aquitted) and implied that others hadn’t forgotten or forgiven him.
DeleteMake of that what you will.
The commentating team on BBC2 for the past couple of nights has been mainly Michael Vaughan and Carlos Brathwaite with additional input from Tuffers, Sir Alastair Cook and Alison Mitchell. The whole programme introduced by the far too glamorous Isa Guha!
The coverage and graphics have been fine as far as we are concerned and it’s lovely to hear the famous old BBC Cricket theme at the beginning and end.
But as I said yesterday there have been some very poor umpiring decisions with all but one of the tv reviews overturning the Umpire!
It’s very strange hearing the piped-in ‘crowd’ noise which the players asked for...a sort of burble in the background.
Hopefully they should get a full days play today as it’s all blue skies and sun down here at the moment. Just wish we could go and watch, but as we don’t have Sky we are just happy to be able to watch on the Beeb!
*** THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS ***
ReplyDeleteSpicycushion - get dictating your list! Enjoy!
These are my favourite films. They are the ones I could take to a desert island and watch again and again. I had got six but decided to 'play the game' and not cheat and say what my reserves are because that is really choosing too many.
ReplyDeleteI don't go for 'arty' films, just light and usually funny. They all give me a lovely feeling , a sort of internal hug! Some have what I call 'bad language' and I don't go for gratuitous violence either but a couple of my choices have little of one or other.
Zulu -- I just love the glorious technicolor and the final 'salute' by the Zulus is fantastic.
Dirty Dancing - A special reason here. I was in my first term as form tutor in my first school. They were Year 9 (14-15 yrs) girls, the same as my daughter. One afternoon a group of the girls were talking as they packed up for the afternoon and one said to me "Have you seen Dirty Dancing Miss?' I said no I hadn't and the next day she bought in the VHS tape and said 'You've got to watch it Miss.' My daughter and I watched it twice over the weekend and countless number of times after. Extra special memories. " Nobody puts Baby in the corner!"
When we upgraded to a dvd player the first Christmas present youngest son got me were disks of these first two films! ❤
The Railway Children - Who doesn't catch their breath at Roberta's cry at the railway station? (No spoiler!)
Rat Race - One of the funniest films I have ever seen. There is one funnier but I choose this one because my eldest recommended it after watching it on a long haul flight to Indonesia, after the Boxing Day tsunami, to work with Oxfam.
Love Actually - Love Bill Nighy especially and love the mis-translations between English and Portuguese. But the final scene at the airport nearly always makes me cry as I hate Goodbyes and I have said so many at Heathrow over the past twenty years! But the best bits are the Hellos, so happy and sad tears together.
I just love it when my granddaughters excitedly yell "Nanny!" when they catch sight of me as I come out of Customs! Absolute music to my ears and heart.
I hope if any of you try these films you enjoy them as much as I do!
Have only seen Love Actually, Spicy, & thought it was good fun. One can hear Bill Nighy's voice in the actual title !
ReplyDeleteDon't know how I missed both The Railway Children or Zulu, both much acclaimed films.
Which was your absolute favourite ?
It's got to be Dirty Dancing. Partly because I was at the beginning of a new career and I was thrilled that these teenage girls had found something they enjoyed and wanted to share it with me, their teacher.
DeleteMainly of course because of the memories of watching it with my daughter many times until she emigrated. The memories are bitter sweet because I have only seen my daughter twice in 16 years and of course leading on from that I haven't seen my grandsons since 2003. I miss them all so very, very much.
With Zulu, again mixed feelings. It's the amazing landscapes that I really love and the sound of the Zulu warriors.
One line I love is one of Ivor Emmanuel's. When asked by another Private what he was thinking when listening to the 10,000 odd warriors chanting and singing, he replied "I don't think much of their bass section!" 😁🤣
Spicy.
ReplyDeleteAah Roberta at the Railway Station...who can forget that scene.
The only one I don't know is Rat Race, which I must try + find, and I am not a lover of Zulu.
Dirty Dancing and Love Actually, are for me also, films I can watch over + over again, as is Ghost (Patrick Swayze again..)
It is very very silly but has some terrific actors John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopie Goldberg, Seth Green to name just four. Loads more I can't remember at the moment.
DeleteWhat a great morning I have had. It was sunshine but breezy, until I crossed the border, for the first time in months, when it started raining! Luckily it blew over quickly.
ReplyDeleteI know I am biased, but the newest little one in my family, is totally gorgeous, smily, gurgly, giggly and a pure delight.
It was great seeing Sis + Hubbie, and my niece again.
The hardest part was, there were no hugs + cuddles, and also sitting "isolated".
I had to use the loo, but it was organised with military precision but worth it!
My niece has sent me a lovely photo, with bubba in the foreground and me sitting a short distant away.
One to treasure, even with my lockdown locks. I will print it off and frame, as a true memory of this time.
As we said today, (though 🤞🤞🤞) that this time next year, we will saying, remember a year ago, sitting socially distanced - Can you believe it!
DeleteHere’s hoping Miriam! So glad you had a lovely time. Tomorrow we are going to see close friends (nearby) but not seen for many months they have a very large garden so more than ok for distancing but as you have said already no hugging that will be hard and very out of character for us all. Just have to keep ourselves in check 😉
DeleteIt's hard. 😣
DeleteWhen we lived in the U.S.A we lived not far from the hotel where they filmed some of the Dirty Dancing scenes particularly the last one with Partick Swayze dancing with "Baby". Unfortunately we didn't see any of the filming but stayed there a couple of times.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of others thoughts, I feel the need to express some of mine.
ReplyDeleteI have just watched a video of Dame Vera Lynns funeral from today.
How lovely there was Union Jack, a military prescence in fuĺl dress uniforms, and the fly past, by a Hurricane + Spitfire.
It was what she deserved, in my true opinion.
Miriam, I thought of you this morning and am delighted you had a lovely albeit distanced get-together.
ReplyDeleteSpicycushion, I love Love Actually! I have seen Dirty Dancing but now I want to see it again! And I will try and see Zulu, The Rat Race and The Railway Children. I vaguely remember seeing a tv serial of The Railway Children.
The Railway Children, is what I call, a great Sunday afternoon watch. This is in Winter, when it is cold, dark, dank + the fire is lit - it is a real heart warming film.
DeleteI haven't read today's posts yet but I wanted to tell Carolyn,Spicycushion and any other pedants what I heard when watching the Test Match on TV.
ReplyDeleteMichael Holding was commentating with two England former players (notMichael Atherton or David Lloyd)
To save their blushes I will not mention them.
I will call them A and B
A said to MH something about "me and B"did something
B commented that it should be "B and I did....."
✔️so far
Then MH asked them why they always said "We were sat" or "I was sat " instead of using the word "sitting"
There. was a stunned silence.
It seems to me that in the West Indies, English Grammar is or was more important than it is in the UK
Similarly
I was talking to two young people recently both of whom had good honours degrees from an excellent University.
I was talking about my subject, maths ,and how we chanted our times tables so we could ,for example know ,immediately that 7X8=56
They were amazed and said they would have to work it out.
I was appalled .
(Didn't let on though)
Should I have been?
Interesting, Lanjan. Certainly, our generation, & the next one, learnt the times tables. Do they just use their phones these days for sums ?
DeleteI think you're probably right in saying that English grammar was more intensively taught, for longer, in the West Indies, than it was over here, but if A & B moved here then they 'were sat, like, with a load of English youths, innit, & like, they picked up the wotsit, yeah, vernacular, know what I mean ?'
Intersesting.
DeleteIn my TV guide (not the RT) there are always puzzles. One of which is a mathematical one on 3 levels. It is along the lines of:- this number, double it, then times by two, divide by five, times by two, and add 6 and multiply by 2!
There are 3 levels, easy, intermediate + tough, but I can do them all, without using a calculator. It was how I was taught maths + the times tables.
I might challenge my 9yr old grand niece with some of these.
DeleteSpicy.. first of all no food?
ReplyDeleteMy dad took me to see Zulu at the pictures. I found it quite scary.
The Railway Children..is that the one with Jenny Agutter? Where she waves her knickers in the air to stop the train.. (that,ll do it)
Dirty Dancing ..yes with lovely Patrick..
Haven't seen the others..not even Love Actually I find Bill Night rather weedy.
As I said before I'm not particularly worried over 'dining out' especially as I have been a long term vegetarian and when I started it was nearly always omelette! But here goes
DeleteStarter -Avocado just with a vinegar and oil dressing.
Main - Mushroom Goulash with green vegetables and rice.
Dessert - Stilton and crackers.
I'll have a little red wine and finish with coffee and a 'waffer thin mint'
However I'll probably not finish all of it!
Spicy - I have seen and love 2 of your films.
ReplyDeleteWho couldn’t love the Railway Children? I have seen it so many times and never tire of it. I just loved Bernard Cribbins as the Railway Station Master and of course “Daddy, my Daddy”
The second one is Zulu. Mr A and I watched it when it first came out as his great grandfather was actually in the British Army in SA during in the Zulu war and we wanted to learn all about it. I’m not sure how completely historically accurate it was but the cast was brilliant and it’s always been a favourite.
Archerphile - Tut tut I specifically didn't say what Bobbie's line was as some may have not seen the film 😆🤦♀️
DeleteThere is quite a story about Rorke's Drift and it may upset a few Welsh people. At the beginning of the film we are told there had been a battle (The Battle of Isandlwana) where several hundred British troops under the command of Lord Chelmsford (a supremely arrogant man apparently in real life) were slaughtered by Zulu warriors. It was thought that because the authorities were concerned about morale and public support for the Zulu Wars when a victory was gained at Rorke's Drift, it was somewhat over - egged to shift the spotlight from the defeat, which was due to absolute incompetence by Chelmsford.
However it cannot be denied that the Welsh Guards and the Commissionaires I think were very, very brave and deserved the most prestigious medal!
Wrong regiment. Not the Welsh Guards.
DeleteSpicycushion,
ReplyDeleteThe Jenny Agutter Railway Children was really lovely.
I know why you chose that.
I took my sons to the Cinema to see it and my younger son then aged about four stood up when Bobbie waved her red underskirt and shouted to her that there was a train coming.He is now a volunteer at a heritage Railway.
I thought Zulu was great too.
Haven't seen the other films.
What is special about Bill Nighy that I am missing?
It's his dry deadpan delivery! I didn't like him at first but then listened carefully to his scripts. I know he is always the same sort of character. He was very funny in one of the Auf Wiedersien Pet series especially when the gang got him smashed on the Peace Pipe being passed round the camp fire of the Native Americans he was trying to con.
DeleteThe version of the Railway Children you reference is superb. A more recent remake was bloody awful.
DeleteSpicy. Love dirty dancing even though I don’t have the hots for Patrick Swayze.
ReplyDeleteLove actually.....fab. Bill Nighy is funny. Love his mannerisms....they are the same in everything he does!!
Hate Zulu, mainly cos it’s Me PtbYs favourite film. Haven’t seen the other 2.
I’m a happy chappy today cos I’ve got a pedicure booked for the 23rd. Can’t wait. Find it impossible to put varnish on with just one eye, goes everywhere. Anyway with this lockdown happening I find it a bit difficult to bend over my expanding waistline!!!
Archerphile, you mention living not too far from The Rose. Bowl.
ReplyDeleteI have been there several times .
It is quite magnificent but I wondered if like me you preferred the old Southampton Ground?
It might be a nostalgia thing though because I much preferred Old Trafford as it was before our lovely pavilion was dwarfed by the large red structure to its right.
Archerphile Regarding the cricket. I am too grumpy at the moment to be anything else than cross at the presentation of the much vaunted cricket coverage on the BBC!
ReplyDeleteI don't have Sky either so the only time I have seen their coverage is at the cricket clubhouse over the past few years.
Geoff Boycott wasn't acquitted of the assault charge but found guilty. That's why he was refused a knighthood for so long. The magistrate awarded damages to his 'girlfriend' of just 1 Franc! Later she confessed to a friend that it was a put up job as she was cross he wouldn't marry her. She was also in desperate financial trouble . Apparently there was a doctor who said her injuries couldn't have been caused in the way she said but he was ignored or not called or something.
When I was about 21 my dream was to marry Geoff Boycott! (What an admission!) Now if I had actually known him that dream could very well have been shattered, but I don't so still have it 😊
PTBY I;m not particularly enamoured by Swayze it's the music I love. The music of my early teens to start with, then 'The Time of My Life 'with the lovely voice of Bill Medley (he of the Righteous Brothers) I am also very envious of the dancing as I cannot dance at all! No sense of rhythm. Had to give up Zumba exercise class when they introduced a salsa movement!!!!
Two apologies Spicy.
ReplyDelete1) for letting the cat out of the bag about the Railway Children 🤭
2) For getting it wrong about Boycott, of course I knew about the paltry damages and the girlfriends admission. In his Telegraph article he sounded really bitter that the incident is not forgotten and feels it has been held against him ever since.
Though he was a good cricketer (if often more concerned about his own scores than the rest of the team) I have never really taken to him as a person.
He came to the Mays Bounty ground at Basingstoke when Yorkshire was playing Hampshire one year. Of course we were in the crowd & our (then young) son was desperate to get an autograph on his cricket bat.
Boycott was very brusque and brushed our son off with a
‘don’t bother me’ remark even though he had been asked very politely. I went off this famous cricketer after that as most of the other players were happy to chat to the youngsters and sign programmes etc.
I saw Dirty Dancing years ago, and have seen The Railway Children more than once and like it very much. Haven't seen the others, and think I will try Love Actually next.
ReplyDeleteI think that was mean of Boycott to treat a child like that.
I have two positive stories about Geoffrey Boycott
ReplyDelete1) My sister and I had taken our children to Old Trafford to watch a Test Match in which Boycott and another very very popular cricketer (A ) were playing.
The latter was the one whose autograph the children wanted.
The day was ruined by rain and the crowd sat patiently until about 4pm when the day's play was called off.
We went to the car park along with a lot of other people to get autographs.
"A "told the waiting crowd that he had an hour's drive so wouldn't be signing autographs
G B said something like
"Right lads get in an orderly line and I will sign all your autographs.
2) GB was very seriously ill and I think there were doubts that he would recover.
Then we heard that he had improved and things looked brighter for him.
He didn't know me from Adam but I wrote to him and received a hand written letter from him ,thanking me which even explained the treatment he'd been having.
I have met his wife .
Very easy to get on with
Really liked her.
Very down to earth person.
Oh dear Archerphile. My two younger sons(about 12 and 15 at the time) met him at Canterbury where he was with Sky, who were televising the one day match.
ReplyDeleteJon came back and said that GB was such a nice man. There were about 8 or 9 children around him as he walked across the pitch to get to the commentary box and he was signing away and chatting. Youngest son, who is not such a keen cricket fan as Jon and myself, was very impressed with him, saying that he asked all the children a different question as he talked and signed all that he was asked. In contrast Ian Botham and Bob Willis walked together across the pitch and refused to sign anything. Like you it put me off those particular cricketers even though I had long known that despite being a brilliant and successful bowler, Bob Willis was a miserable old so-and-so!
I read the DT article too and agree he did sound aggrieved both with the delay in being acknowledged for his cricket achievements and for the BBC not renewing his contract. He is a funny old stick but agree with other biographers that he has mellowed in his old age and particularly since he married his first girlfriend and became a family with his daughter and her. Have you seen the video of Aggers winding up Boycs about his 100 hundreds? It's on You Tube. If you google 'Boycott wind up' you'll find it. It's very funny.
I have made 3 x 1lb jars of raspberry jam, 3 x 1lb strawberry jam so today I'm going to pick whatever red currants the wood pigeons have left me and make some red currant jelly. Then I'm going to have a go at pickling some eggs and some shallots.
That may be when the weather turns back into cooler and cloudy days. We are forecast some sunnier weather next week so I'll be outside tidying up the garden still.
In about a months time the multitude of blackberries that grow along the school fence at the bottom of my garden (and invade all the time) will be ready so that means blackberry jelly and open frozen ones for adding to stewed Bramley apples- the smell of Autumn, my favourite time of the year!
Please don't be misled that I am a busy, busy person on the go all the time though! Making 3 lb of jam took me all day! Every so often it's a case of sitting down and getting my breath back of sitting in my armchair and having a snooze! Besides which I have no other commitments except to put together an evening meal - Jon does all the rest or it just doesn't get done! 😁
Non cricket lovers can ignore this next one.
ReplyDeleteSome years ago Lancashire were playing Hampshire.
Younger son was about 5years old and was dashing round trying to get the autographs of his heroes when he fell over.
A Hampshire cricketer ran up, picked him up and said to him if you don't cry I will give you my autograph.
He didn't so he did!
His name was Peter Sainsbury and he said that he wished his children were at that age
to see him play when he was at his best ,some twenty years earlier.
It seems the way ‘famous’ people react to their fans can either raise them up or put you off them for life, however unfairly.
ReplyDeleteWe must have encountered Boycs on one of his ‘off’ days! On the other hand Shane Warne cane to our local club’s 100th Anniversary dinner (whilst he was with Hampshire) and couldn’t have been nicer or more approachable!
I have been growing gooseberries for 40 odd years and only ever used them to make jam (delicious, one of my favourites) and crumbles.
We have had such a glut of them, and raspberries, this year that my freezer is now chock - a - block with the fruits.
So last night I thought I’d do something I have never tried before and made gooseberry fool. Unfortunately I didn’t have any of the double cream that Mary Berry’s recipe required, so used custard instead. And artificial sweetener. Mr A liked it but I found it very tart and too full of seeds, so I think a few adjustments are necessary!
Gooseberry jelly - gets rid of the pesky seeds, no topping - & - tailing, you can add mint at the end...
DeleteElizabeth David has a recipe in Summer Cooking.
Lovely with lamb.
Oh Spicycushion ,please don't mention making jam with your lovely soft fruit.
ReplyDeleteSurely a lot of the goodness is lost when you boil the fruit?
Plus all that sugar.........!
Oh I how wish they would move Kent nearer to me I would be down to help you harvest your fruit like a shot.
We haven't as much as you but I have been able to pop out each morning to collect enough raspberries and redcurrants to add to my muesli each morning as well as having some for a desert in the evening.
Be happy to send you some of ours Lanjan but not sure they’d survive in the post!
DeleteArcherphile you are very kind but I think you are probably right.
ReplyDeletePeace, Perfect Peace.
ReplyDeletePhew.
My irritating + very vocal neighbours, finally moved out today.
I just hope the next incomers, aren't as bad 🤞
I have just had a panic! I can smell smoke, and thinking back to the fence fire, I have had a good look around. It's probably are barbie, firing up some-where.
Enjoy this wonderful afternoon sunshine, as I am doing in the back garden, bum on chair + book in hand, but no wine - well just yet.
PS I have seen that both Dirty Dancing + Love Actually, are on TV next week, if anyone is interested.
DeleteRecord though, so can whizz over any adverts, to keep the continuity.
Miriam - pleased to hear your irritating neighbours have moved out and I hope the new neighbours will be good ones.
DeleteGood news Miriam!
DeleteReally good news for you at last Miriam.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the immediate peace and hope that your knew lot are decent and quiet.
I'm currently having to listen to my loud voiced neighbour.
Her garden adjoins my house directly and she entertains her friends, conversationally, in her garden.
But at least it's nothing to what you have been subjected to.
Miriam 🥳 🤗 🥳 🤗 great news - at last a good week for you a family meet up and new (hopefully) decent neighbours 🤞🏼
ReplyDeleteIt has been great, and I now so feel more like myself.
DeleteWhat a strange thought to post, but I feel I am alive again!
I am hoping to arrange, a social distance meet-up, in a garden, with my eldest niece + the kids, in the next week or so. I haven't seen them since March, but this was a mutual decision. We felt it was best, to just stay safe and secure, and was the best way to go.
This meet up, will be far more difficult, due to her work and their home life, but the idea is there.
My only regret is:- I live alone, as you all know - is that I still can't have a hug, a cuddle, a kiss, with anyone. It is over 3 months now, since that last happened.
DeleteHow I miss this human contact.
Oh Well, I do give Pusscat a close cuddle, but not quite the same. 😸
DeleteMiriam we have all suffered and sacrificed during these last 4 months .the best we can do is to support each other and send our love and understanding especially to those who live alone or live far from their nearest and dearest.
DeleteOnce again I thank my lucky stars that we have this blog to get us through good times and not so good times.
I think we have all been through terrible situations and anxiety although im sure we haven't always revealed this on our blog. Having a diversion has been a salvation in a way. We have celebrated families reuniting and read with compassion others struggling with health problems to say nothing of enjoying everyone's tastes in music, films, books and recipes. How much we have learned from our bloggers. .it has been wonderful. .long may it continue. .only negative thing..can't stand cricket 😁😁
Well posted Autumnleaves.
DeleteI agree totally with your post. It is well thought out and so relevant
I also think, that many haven't revealed all, re thoughts + anxieties, in the past, dark months.
I have to disagree on one thought - I 💛 cricket, and can't wait to hear Ambridge playing again, and hearing how Tracy manages.
Wi
ReplyDeleteI have been having"technical difficulties & here in the Borders, so firstly can I apologise to The Cushion for not putting up a new trailer at the top of this blog like I have for everyone else! I will try again tomorrow - the thing is I am traveling with my little tablet and I'm so used to using the laptop or the PC. Added to that is the incredibly sloooooooow internet connection where I am staying....
ReplyDeleteAnyhoos, thank you Spicycushion! Only one of your movies I have seen is "Dirty Dancing" about 30 years ago. Hmmmm. I might be the wrong target audience to be honest with you! As with "Notting Hill", I feel as if I've seen "Love Actually" but only because it seems to never NOT be on TV or being mentioned by someone somewhere! I would be more than happy to help you finish up your choice of food....
Miriam, I'm really happy for you. It seems at the moment, at least, we are very slowly starting to do
the things that make us "feel alive", as you say. I fervently hope that we don't have to go backwards again soon. Only time will tell.
Autumnleaves - in total agreement with you! Many an hour has now been spent by me Googling films, books and music and places and foods that I either knew zilch or very little about. And it has been LITERALLY like having our own little support network spread out over the globe during these bizarre times. Hurrah for us!!
P.S. I don't mind one day cricket, or 20/20.
ReplyDeleteBut FIVE days???? Madness....
Some of my old friends on here might be interested to hear that Mr A actually rang Jackson Stopps, the Winchester Estate Agents, today - to make an appointment for them to come and value our cottage! They had sent a flyer offering this service but such things are usually thrown straight in the bin.
ReplyDeleteI asked why he had decided to arrange this appointment, His reply was along the lines of: Well, we are not getting any younger and we shan’t be able to live here for ever and the garden is getting more difficult to look after.......I thought we should just see what our options would be......
Hallelujah! The penny seems to have dropped at long last. I’m not holding high hopes for rapid progress but at least the possibility of downsizing to a more suitable location seems a bit nearer. 🙂
Wow that is amazing Archerfile. I remember how you were trying to persuade him some time back. I think perhaps the lockdown has given us all the time and peace to reflect more, and make decisions.
DeleteI too remember you saying how you really wanted to downsize AP, and everyone on here giving you handy hints on how to persuade/cajole Mr AP to see sense! I think a lot of people have had a lot of time recently to re-evaluate everything in their lives and work out what things are truly important to them and their families.
DeleteHappy house browsing!
Two nice things for you this week, Miriam: a family reunion AND removal of unpleasant neighbours! I am delighted for you!
ReplyDeleteAutumnleaves, you are absolutely right about this lovely blog we are so lucky to have! As Gary says, hurrah for us!!
As for cricket, I don't know the rules but love the setting. When I lived in Sussex, we would sometimes go to the cricket at Arundel which must be one of the most perfect settings ever.
Last night was quite special: we went OUT!! First time since lockdown! We went to a gourmet pizza restaurant with my son and family. The gourmet aspect was the high quality ingredients and the choice of three types of pizza dough: classic, multi-cereal or carbon. The carbon one was black! None of us chose it! Mine was delicious: no cheese, artichokes, pumpkin, tomato, aubergines. We ate outside in a beautiful, elegant, 19th century courtyard. Tables were separated by plants but an extra inexplicable decorative feature was most incongruously a black London taxi!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Hilary! (Isn't it bananas that you're getting congratulations on going out for a pizza!!? Strange times indeed) Those carbon bases are becoming quite popular - I don't see the need for them myself. But I must admit to loving a good "inexplicable decorative feature"!
DeleteOoo, carbon pizza bases!
ReplyDeleteWe were recently given some carbon cheese crackers from Lidl, along with some beetroot ones. They were quite tasty with Brie but did remind me a bit of dog biscuits!
Archerphile.....a step in the right direction regards the downsizing. I love looking on rightmove at houses. We are happy where we are but I would consider moving back into the town.....only 4 miles away.....with regards to getting older etc.
ReplyDeleteI am currently looking at houses in the Manchester area too as our son is going to be in the position to buy his first house soon. Keeps me amused for an hour or so at a time.
Fingers crossed Miriam that the new neighbours are nice. I’m sure they won’t be as bad as the others.
With respect to those of you who profess not to like cricket or at least to the longer version of the game.I would ask how many of you have actually been to five days of a Test Match or even been to four days of a County Match?
ReplyDeleteI can assure you that having been many times to both versions of the Game I have seen some very thrilling finishes.
Until you have been you can't really comment
Apologies to those of you who have been and still don't enjoy it.
Fair dues.
At least you went.
I was at Old Trafford on all five days of the 1995 Test Match when thousands of people queued for hours and still couldn't get into the Ground.
Friends from Gloucestershire set out from home at 2am to join the queue
Today the fifth day of the Test Match could go one of three ways.
How can that not be exciting?
I have had some of the happiest days of my life watching cricket not only in this Country but also in SouthAfrica and Australia.
I was at the famous "Botham " Leeds Test Match of 1981 at Leeds .
Why not give it a try?
Apart from anything else,were it not for cricket, I would never have met Mr LJ.
I rest my case!
Delighted to hear that Mr AP is considering moving.
ReplyDeleteI bet he will be the one who will be more keen to move now.
Let him think it is his idea.
Start getting rid of stuff you won't need in your new home.
Good Luck
I have friends in their 80s who are going to move in two years time when their garden will be getting too much for them .
My answer was either move now or get a gardener
Don't postpone your happiness
(That is what a Phil Atcher said)
Lovely news from Miriam and AP, and thank you Autumn leaves and Gary for your comments re recent weeks. It’s great to see a gentle spirit of hope in folks’ comments. I agree that having this blog has been important in ways we didn’t anticipate when Ruthy floated the lifeboat. Thanks again to her and hope she’s well out there.
ReplyDeleteSpicy, The Railway Children is definitely my favourite childhood film, seen in a draughty cinema on an old pier. I remember queuing in the wind beside the promenade railings. I was told it used to be a theatre and it was where Larry Grayson coined his phrase “ooh, shut that door”.
Thanks to Ruthy,
ReplyDeleteThanks to Gary,
& thanks to all of us! 😚
Bon courage.
Hear! Hear! parsley! Archerfile so glad Mr A is moving in the right direction. Friends in Surrey were left a bungalow from her parents in the heart of the village where they were on the outskirts in a 4 bedroom house with large garden. They had lived there for over 40 years and brought up a family. He resolutely refused to sell the house to live in the bungalow and they rented it out. It was the perfect place for them as they approached latter years. This went on for 10 years or so until he finally gave in. They used the sale money to make considerable improvements to the bungalow and are now very happy living there. So often it is the man who refuses to make the big change which is interesting. It must be down to male psychology or something!
ReplyDeleteWow Archerphile I could hardly believe my eyes when I read your post regarding Mr A beginning to consider a move (small steps maybe but from little acorns etc 🤗)
ReplyDeleteLocation will be key I guess considering your current one - countryside etc. Your neighbours will understandably be devastated if you decide to go ahead but you would keep in touch I’m sure.
Interesting times my maternal grandmother used to say “If something bad happens something good will come from it” Although sadly not for many in this current bad time, however in your case this (could) be about to come to fruition 🤔 🤞🏼
Like Hilary, I really like the setting of cricket, to me it's so quintessentially British.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kinds words to those who expressed them and those who thought them, knowing I'd "get over it".
Now, for downsizing. For the past 13 years my neighbours and I have lived in a small block of flats on the edge of a provincial town, 10 minutes' walk from the centre. There are 16 flats and only 6 owners/occupiers. Most are now in their 60s/70s/80s, a few have passed away. Some sold up to rent. Then again we don't live in the UK but in a small district called Alsace (Stork67 in Parsley's book) which often changed hands and when President Sarkozy visited in 2011 he thought he was in Germany!
Basia, lovely to hear from you (but you were quite right to say what you did),
Deleteand really interesting to learn about where you live. Great story about the former president!
Exactly, Basia! A cricket match is the essence of Britishness! 🇬🇧
DeleteBasia - 💐😀
DeleteBasia, I visited a family friend who lives in Alsace some years ago, I really enjoyed the gastronomy and wines of the area. An Alsace Gewürztraminer was the wine my father provided for my wedding, to my delight he rather over-catered so my “cellar” got a boost 🙂
ReplyDeleteMiriam - how lovely to read your post about how you feel today.
ReplyDeleteMake the most of that feeling and be ready to be a friend to your new neighbours, and I hope they will be friendly towards you.
AP- that is amazing news from you.
Jackson Stops, one of the old establishments in Property. Probably rang a bell in Mr AP brain. Hence the response.
( however, don't be fooled by ' old money' it was my daughters last company, the peak of her professional years, and yet again they sold out to the ' new boys'. But it was the last straw for her and so she finally retired. )
Nevertheless it's fantastic news for you.
As PtbY says, get exploring on Rightmove and enjoy the delights of finding a new home for you both that will suit you in as many ways as you can manage. Compromise will always be necessary.
I wish you much happiness in whatever choice you make.
Basia - good to see you posting again.
Autumn leaves - thank you for that thoughtful post last night........
Oh, and cricket is not for me either.
Basia I had no idea you lived ‘abroard’ in Alsace. I had always imagined you residing somewhere in the Home Counties! How could I not have picked up on clues from your posts? How lovely to live in such an area, I really envy you as I have long wanted us to up sticks and move to France to be near family. I somehow doubt that will happen now with our inevitable march towards Brexit.
ReplyDeleteAlso (thick as a short plank, me) I hadn’t realised you had stopped posting for a particular reason. I am so sorry that something must have upset you and sincerely hope it wasn’t anything I had inadvertently said.
But I’m very glad to see your name here again anyway and look forward to your always very apposite and entertaining comments.
Archerphile - So glad to hear that Mr A is thinking along the same lines as yourself now. Fingers crossed!
ReplyDeleteLanjan - Heartily endorse your comments about 5 day and Test matches. Personally I do not like 20/20. One day matches are exciting, although can be a bit formulaic so my son says, but I can't see it. 20/20 I call 'baseball with flat bat!' I like the craftsmanship of building an innings/ run chase, staying at the wicket at all costs etc. My first cricket related memory (which I can clearly picture in my mind) is sitting in the kitchen listening to the Home Service with Mum and Dad and the news announcer telling us that Jim Laker had taken 19 wickets (out of a maximum of 20 for non-cricket people) against the Australian team in the Old Trafford Test Match. I was 7 years old!
I would love to let you and anyone else have some soft fruit but honestly it's not wasted. We rarely have a pudding with our main meal, only perhaps on a cold day. I don't eat much in one go and usually first course fills me up. However I do bake cakes if expecting visitors or as a 'treat,' so my 5 jars of jam (gave one to youngest son yesterday when he visited) will last for months with Victoria Sponge, scones etc. I can also report, but not boasting honestly, that the raspberry jam tastes far better than any I have bought over the past few years, even the expensive ones! Mine has a very fruity flavour and a bit of 'sharpness' which allows the raspberry tatse to come through .
Gary - Many thanks for the trailer! Hope you had a lovely break and the dog(?) behaved itself.
I had a pizza at a restaurant at the entrance to Versailles Palace which was 'carbonised' which we sent back. I cannot imagine how a carbon based pizza would taste! 🤣
Katy has charcoal sourdough bread which is black and looks revolting. I did have a little taste though and it was quite nice, better than it looked! Basia, a few years ago, Mike & I went to Alsace on a coach trip. Loved the picturesque village buildings and marvelled at the vast vineyards. It was lovely that you could visit the cellars and taste the wine. We especially liked the Pinot Gris and being on a coach were able to bring back half a dozen bottles. You are so lucky to live in such a lovely area.
DeleteSpicycushion, I am dog/cat/house-sitting until Thursday! The dog has been good as gold, and they have even hired a dog walker so all I have to do is keep it company. Like Lady, it's a rescue dog from Romania and it is apparently really highly strung. So far she has just been behaving like a dog that's a tiny bit nervous of meeting new people! Long may it continue...
DeleteI am ensconced in a lovely old house on the banks of the river Tweed, sitting on a balcony looking up and down a forested valley eating asparagus and thinking about having a snoozette. Life is good.
Cricket - the essence of an English Summer! Village cricket is such a delight to be involved with whether as a player, umpire, scorer, grounds man, tea maker or just a supporter and audience member.
ReplyDeleteCounty and Test Cricket - like watching an animated game of chess - so much more enjoyable if you understand the laws and strategies. A game that can last 4/5 days just gets more and more exciting and I always feel cheated if it is wound up in less time.
We enthusiasts have such a short season to enjoy our particular sport; rain or poor light can end proceedings or stop them starting.
Whereas the wretched football season seems to go on forever (this year excepting of course) and gets so much press and TV coverage that I feel I cannot get away from
It!
Sport bores me rigid but we have to accept we are all different! I love art but it doesn’t turn everybody on!!😊
ReplyDeleteSport ?
DeleteRigid ?
Me too Ev !
Good to hear from you again Basia! couldn't find a stork emoji... 😉
ReplyDeleteSome lovely posts recently.
Boyfriend at music college introduced me to cricket in the 70's, we often went to the Oval & Lord's, waved at by Ian Botham.. wearing red bikini at the time, it was 1976...
not boyfriend...
DeleteThere is a strong cricket league here. The local team has several players of Asian extraction, cricket teas often consist of samosas & vats of biriani..
ReplyDeleteIan Botham wearing a red bikini? I thought cricketers always had to wear white. Well, you live and learn! I told you I didn't know the rules!
ReplyDelete😂🤣😂
DeleteI read it like that too...!
😂😂😂
DeleteFirstly, my apilogies, as I have not yet read, all the wonderful posts from today. I will catch up with these later.
ReplyDeleteA lovely day, with a great morning catch up with 3 neighbours, whilst working in the front garden.
Gossip was, the fire + explosion (which I never heard - hearing test soon?) and next door now empty. What I was told, is that 2 males have bought it, and the completion is tomorrow. I will tell more, at a later date. "Agatha Raisin" is on the case. 😂
What a lovely, sunny and peaceful, Sunday afternoon I have had.
In my back garden, reading a book...it was bliss.
Off to cook tea - a chicken + mushroom risotto - plus to open the white wine, chiiling in the fridge, at 6.00pm
I hadn't realised how low I have felt at times, until now. I am definitely back to my normal self!
DeleteLife is Great.
As GG has said...
ReplyDelete"Hurrah For Us".
We are sensible + survivors and long may it continue..
🤗🤗😍😍
We had two chaps next door to us in Ledbury and they were the best of neighbours. Hope you are as lucky, Miriam! Here on the island have a single lady each side and they are lovely. They even tolerate the dogs! Both are dog lovers so we are extremely fortunate.
DeleteParsley mentioned cricket in France and I know there are many clubs especially in the The Gers and around Pau and Oloron. Must be all the British Expats.
ReplyDeleteBut my eyes nearly popped out when Dubai son sent a video he took from his car last summer. On a piece of waste ground, roughly concreted over, awaiting development in the centre of the city, over he saw some local UAE residents playing cricket in the middle of the day. They had a child’s plastic wicket set up and were playing proper cricket. In full sunshine. The temperature gauge on his car dashboard read 44C!
Talk about mad dogs and Englishmen!
May I add another thought, whilst I am feeling normal again (but will it last 😁).
ReplyDeleteI just want to give a massive..
👏👏👏👏👏
to Gary G.
He has kept this post going, through the darkest of times, which I know, I have totally appreciated. He came up with such brilliant ideas - Desert Island Discs and the ongoing film choices.
It is so lovely hearing from "my virtual friends" - if I may call you that..🤗
We are not out of the woods yet - no vaccine until 2021, local lockdowns could happen at any time, but 🤞 this doesn't deter us.
That's all Folks...until tomorrow.
PS Wine is opened. 🥂
DeleteAnd here’s a toast to you Miriam, for keeping going through all your difficulties.
Delete🥂 🍾
Tchin tchin to all of us 🥂🥂
DeleteHappily ensconced in front of F1 highlights 😊😊
I second that Miriam 🍷🍷
DeleteMassive amounts of flying ants!! They are like a swarm 😲
ReplyDeleteHave had to close all
Deletethe windows - they are everywhere.
Cheers to everyone on this blog and - Gary, I love the sound of a snoozette!
ReplyDeleteI love a good snoozette of an afternoon AV!
DeleteYou are not alone..!
DeleteI’m with you both 😴 🤣
DeleteDecided to change my little photo to the botanical painting I did of a geranium last year. Unfortunately it hasn’t reproduced very well, photos on here always seem a bit blurred and you can’t change the size. But never mind, it’ll do until I find some thing better!
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely, AP!
DeleteHave you got Picassa (we have) or something similar installed to edit images?
I like it, AP, the bright colours, the precision with which you drew & painted the leaves.
DeleteIt's only blurred on my phone if I enlarge too much. At a certain point it stands out clearly, no blurring.
Lovely, Archerphile
DeleteArcherfile, lovely painting, the colours are so vibrant!
DeleteImpressive AP ⭐️ 👏🏻
DeleteI mentioned flying Ants last night. On my local news this morning, there was a residential area, not that far away, which was totally inundated, with kids screaming in gardens etc.
ReplyDeleteI believe it was called "Flying Ant Day" 2020!
Was anyone else, affected?
PS I have lots of paw prints on the inside of my lounge window, this morning. Pusscat, was obviously intrigued. 😹
DeleteWe've certainly got too many flies for comfort, but they haven't taken over yet ! An effect of lockdown + some very hot days, starting in the Spring ?
DeleteA short while ago, I received a message on my mobile from O2, saying my monthly payment has not been received, as my bank hadn't authorised it. Needless to say, I did not respond nor reply, in any way. I have been and checked my bank account, and the normal Direct Debit, went out on 3rd July.
ReplyDeleteWhat worries me is, who has accessed my details?
This ties in with the 4 phone calls, on land-line today, the usual re internet, landline, HMRC with refund ...
I will be monitoring all my bank accounts + credit card accounts, on a daily basis.
It is worrying...and I thought I have been so careful.
Nobody has accessed your details,Miriam.
ReplyDeleteSince a large number of people pay by DD to O2 they hope that you are one of those people and that you will respond.
That's a lovely painting, Archerphile!
ReplyDeleteI saw a nice thing on my way to my son's the other day. I pass several roundabouts and the largest has grass which I noticed was rather too high for good visibility . However, next day the grass had been mown and three large pale golden circular bales of hay were lying there.
A few kilometres north of here where the plain gives way to tiny humpy hills covered in vineyards one of the roundabouts has a few rows of vines!
My son's nursery school had a different project each year and one year it was to show the children how wine is made. The whole school was taken one morning to a local vinyard where the children " helped" to harvest the grapes, some of which were taken back to the school and a vat of fermenting grapes stood in the hall for weeks before eventually each child's family was given a bottle of the nursery school vintage red wine!
Now that’s what I call good education, can’t imagine it in England (mores the pity) although my daughters school had quite a lot of livestock including a flock of sheep, each year the surplus were offered “for field or freezer”
ReplyDeleteArcherphile: re masks and glasses (it was you who complained about glasses steaming up, wasn't it?) On BH yesterday morning Paddy O'Connell suggested that if you put the mask on first and the glasses on top, that won't happen.
ReplyDeleteFirst chiropractic appointment in 4 months this morning, and my pelvic girdle had to be re-aligned so feeling a bit creaky and washed out. Apparently people with asthma should not wear a mask, so I've been given a visor. I look like an apprentice welder!
My Internet Explorer browser has recently been updated to Microsoft Edge, and for the last 24 hours I've been told that this isn't my computer and locked out of this site. Then it occurred to me to go back to Explorer, and here we are, all functional again. My son is coming to stay in 2 weeks' time, so I'll get him to sort it out.
How lovely to be able to see your son again Sarnia. You must be so looking forward to it x
DeleteQuite a day Sarnia I used to have to have a lot of Osteopath treatment and boy some of that was a case of feeling worse before better so I know what you mean 🙃
DeleteAs for the computer debacle Apple are going to be bringing out IOS 14 a big update apparently front screen being changed etc 😱
Visit from your son to look forward to 😁 and his tech services as well - just the job.
He did his Monday Zoom for afternoon tea today, so I've also been conversing with three miserable chickens who don't approve of rain, and Mia the Maine Coon.
Delete😳 🙂 an interesting afternoon tea that’s for sure!
DeleteArcherphile, I think your geranium is very good indeed. The detail is spot on.
ReplyDeleteIf I were able to produce anything half as good I would be very proud.
As it is I've never had the courage to draw or paint anything.
Thanks everyone for your compliments. I have also done studies of a purple pansy (my favourite painting as it’s my favourite colour) and some sweet peas. Mr A very kindly had them framed for me and we have them in our hall. I want see if it’s possible to improve the photos (perhaps with Picassa) before putting them on here.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Sarnia, I heard that tip about avoiding steaming up on Broadcasting House too and will try it out. I have (at last) an appointment for a haircut in Friday. I can’t work out how the hairdresser is going to cut the hair behind my ears and at the side of my face with a mask on though!
The dogs went to the groomers today and here is the new, improved Buddy! Dudley looks like a different dog! It had become difficult to see his eyes. Katy has been home grooming them over lockdown but he wouldn’t let us near his face. Funnily enough he becomes a pussy cat at the groomers and they have done an excellent job of clearing the undergrowth! Gypsy went too but she had a panic attack but did ask to go out before the evacuation! We think that although she has enjoyed the grooming in the past that it may be becoming a bit of an ordeal for her and Katy will do her in between cuts
ReplyDeleteFurther to the flying ants, apparently they are consumed by seagulls but as they secret Formica acid, this has been making the seagulls drunk! Cheers!
That’s formic acid! Auto correct got it wrong again!
DeleteSecret Formic acid Ev ?
ReplyDeleteIs it a secret between us or do the seagulls know it too.
And does it mean they are flying into walls instead of glass doors ?
I just spotted the deliberate (!) mistake! Secrete! They are staggering around apparently!
ReplyDeleteAbout ants: we have quite a large paved patio/terrace on two levels immediately outside our garden door.
ReplyDeleteJust recently, dozens of little ant hills, about 2inches high, have appeared in the cracks between the paving stones. The ants have eaten away a lot of the grouting, and as you walk across, thousands upon thousand of ants appear and run over your feet! We reckon there must be a huge ant nest stretching about 12feet x 20 feet under the stones.
Mr A won’t jet me put ant powder down because it is near the pond and the powder is fatal to fish. So the only thing I can do is pour kettles of boiling water along the cracks ......it’s not working! Just brings up even more ants. Any foolproof method of getting rid of them, but not dangerous to goldfish, would be welcomed.
One day I expect the whole patio will collapse, undermined by ants! 🐜🐜🐜🐜
All the more reason to get your move in before that happens Archerphile (12:12pm.)
ReplyDeleteI've noticed ant activity in the one part of my garden that I've successfully restored.
ReplyDeleteI had a broken section of wall adjourning the next door garden. I dismantled it and excavated the bank and rebuilt with broken paving stones ensuring that a plastic barrier was tucked up behind the new section. My neighbour returned the plastic barrier under that section of fence and all of this was to prevent his weeds penetrating that part of the wall. ( he is not a gardener, just clears and covers, so no roots ever removed).
Now I see the telltale signs of ant activity within the return of the plastic barrier, so I will have to attack that area again to get rid of them.
Ev - do you remember all the Fir trees around the perimeter of your former workplace outside Helston ?
I noticed on my latest visit that in certain areas they are felling complete sections.
I imagine they are viewed as a landmark, so might well be replaced. I suppose the present trees are at the end of life.
Thought of telling you when I saw what was happening.
Of course you may not remember, I do know it was a lifetime ago !
Yes it was a long time ago. I did go back once and could have sworn the airfield was on the other side of the road then! Just shows how time dims things.
DeleteInteresting posts today.
ReplyDeleteMine is not to the standard of many others.
Just to say, the house sale, next door, has finally happened.
I still do not know who my new neighbours will be. There has only been a couple of short visits, as I have heard the burgular alarm go off then on.
At the moment, it is so peaceful.
I thought you said two chaps Miriam 🤔 or was that just hearsay - await with interest!
DeleteArcherphile, Salt for ants, I poured it on them once and it did nothing but now I looked it up and it says, salt dissolved in boiling water, you could try it on a small section, who knows.
ReplyDeleteOh Thanks Basia. I’ll certainly try that. My next door neighbour puts salt on the giant slugs that have also terrorised us recently, apparently it dissolves them (yuk).
ReplyDeleteSo who knows it could get rid of ants too. Good tip.
Interesting. I have no slugs nor snails this year. The snail colony did not survive the fence fire. Also I have no bedding plants etc, this year, so there is nothing to munch on.
DeleteHowever, the rose, which was so scorched and I cut it down, is now starting to flower. It has yellow/orange flowers, called I think, Oranges + Lemons.
Whatever, it is looking good. ⚘
Off to bed as I need 💤
ReplyDeleteI was in the supermarket at 8.00am this morning. It was brilliant, fully stocked + empty. I bought all on my list, so it was worth the early start.
I only ate breakfast, after returning home and putting all my purchases away, along with lots of hand cleansing!
I am well sorted for the next 7 days. I am definitely a control freak. 😂
No slugs or snails, Miriam? You poor thing - I have many more than I need, and I hate to appear greedy, so do have some of mine!
DeleteOr mine! Our slugs are those revolting huge yellow ones that invaded from the continent a couple of years back.
DeleteNot decent little innocent British ones you can control with a few slug pubs dotted around the garden.
GQT said garlic spray for slugs...
DeleteInteresting........you’d think continental slugs would like garlic! 😂
DeleteI swear by nematodes.
DeleteMust be vampire slugs😈😈
Delete😂
DeleteThank You All so much, for the offer of slugs + snails.
ReplyDeleteI am very flattered - but I sadly, have to decline your so very genorous thoughts.
😂😂🐌🐌
When I see a lonely snail on the pavement or in the road I put it on the grass.
ReplyDeleteIf wasps or flies stray in I catch them and throw them out, the same goes for the nice looking green worms inside broccoli, but I don't touch them. The only ones I eliminate are the mosquitoes.
There is one thing, I have not seen so far, and that is butterflies - but then my garden has very few flowers, to attract them.
ReplyDeleteWhat about others??
I had the lawns treated again, today, feed + weedkiller. It was my usual person, who I haven't seen since February (I have had different operators since then).
ReplyDeleteIt was like meeting a long lost friend, again. We had a great socially distanced chat.
Curiosity is Killing The Cat - not my pusscat, obviously- but who has bought next door.
I still have no idea!
I have lots of butterflies Miriam, but I do have a very large Buddleia and butterflies love their flowers. Also it might be better if you use weedkiller to use it in the evening so it has a chance to dry overnight before pollinators are around again the next day.
ReplyDeleteHope you get some lovely quiet new neighbours, and with any luck the previous couple will find themselves living next door to a really feisty heavyweight who won't stand for the kind of nonsense you had to put up with.
Always assuming Janice that Miriam's ex neighbours have stayed together and bought another property.
ReplyDeleteThey might have, sensibly, called it a day.
Miriam I do hope for you that your new neighbours are friendly and pleasant.
I'm noticing fewer butterflies this year, and I live in a national Butterfly hot spot.
But I did see one in Cornwall last week that I've never seen before, and I was able to look it up and identify it.
I was due to have a video consultation with a muscular skeletal physiotherapist today.
ReplyDeleteWhen it came about, my 'device' was too old to be compatible after all.
However it quickly and efficiently turned into a telephone consultation instead.
And she was brilliant !
I was clearly able to give her relevant and precise information on how my ankle is progressing, or rather degrading, since I last saw her colleague in March, the week before lockdown.
She is due to participate in a meeting tomorrow with other health professionals and told me that she would do her very best to make my further treatment a priority.
Hopefully the next stage will be a cortisone injection.
Surgery will be way off yet due to the backlog of far higher priorities than mine.
I am rather worried about my daughter. She has always been quite short sighted and has worn glasses since the age of 7
ReplyDelete4 or 5 years ago she had laser treatment which gave her perfect sight without glasses for the first time ever.
Just recently she noticed a serious deterioration in her left eye and got an eye test today, to be told that she has a cataract in that eye - she is only 48!
The optician said she will need the cataract removing in about a years time and will need a replacement lens which will improve her sight permanently - it’s exactly the op I am about to have myself.
Because she is so young (for cataracts) and still has years of work ahead of her she would be put to the top of the NHS waiting list, which is comforting, but I am shocked that this should happen and can’t help wondering if it might be due to the laser treatment of a few years ago.
Yes sorry Gary I posted on the wrong blog yesterday. I never tire of watching the fireflies but it is usually only for a short period.
ReplyDeleteOur new house is still not complete as they had to shut down during the lockdown. The latest date is September so I am hoping they are right. We have been in separate flats since last November so I am looking forward to living next door to the family again.
Oh my! Didn't realise the full extent that things had changed for you over there Gianna. But September isn't TOO far away in the great scheme of things. Fingers crossed everything is back on track & come then you will all be back together! (In my head you will all be sat round a massive table in a beautiful courtyard every night having feasts, looking like one of those Dolce and Gabbana adverts...)
DeleteWhen we go to the mill house we do sit outside for our
Deletemeals or sometimes we have a bonfire.
Archerphile, NHS Choices has a section on laser, and other corrective, eye surgery. Early onset cataracts are mentioned as a potential problem relating to one particular type of surgery.
ReplyDeleteThis is Gypsy after her haircut. She is slowing down but still enjoying life. We are not sure how much longer she has because she has Cushings disease which will gradually affect her organs. However, all we can do is to ensure she is happy!
ReplyDeleteDudley is fascinated by the baby pigs at Quarr. Katy did a video this morning of him running to find them. Dudley doesn’t usually do running! He just loves to watch them and the other day he got his head stuck in the pig wire! She had to take his collar off to get him out! Buddy will have a cursory look at them and then wants to get on with his walk!
ReplyDeleteSarnia - it doesn’t work!
ReplyDeleteI tried out the BH idea of putting on mask first, then spectacles to prevent them steaming up.
Have just spent an hour in Sainsburys so attired, and spent most of the time lifting specks up, pulling mask down, adjusting specks, taking specks off and squinting at labels, trying not to breath so as not to steam specks up, until I was so frustrated I gave up and came home.
Apart from which, even though going at 8.30am, there were very few choices of fruit & veg, (no cooking apples for last 3 weeks) lots of empty bins and spaces on shelves waiting to be filled.
Altogether a frustrating and unrewarding experience!
My problem with masks is that I have asthma and the suffocating feeling plus the heat sends me into a panic attack. It takes about half an hour to calm down and get my breathing back to normal.
DeleteThis morning was different, my husband has been buying disposable masks from our supermarket to send over to our girls abroad. They look like Bounce dryer sheets but they must be porous enough to let in oxygen. This morning I tried one and had no trouble at all.
I mentioned to my chiropractor that I was making a visor from a clear plastic document wallet with holes punched for the elastic. She told me that asthma sufferers should not wear a mask and gave me a visor instead. In fact, I now learn that in UK we are exempt from mask-wearing, but I've tried out the visor and it's certainly preferable to a face-covering, although I did feel very isolated behind it.
ReplyDeleteArcherphile how about taking a magnifying glass with you when you go to supermarkets.
ReplyDeleteRegarding asthma sufferers being exempt from wearing masks in shops and on public transport I am not wanting to be contentious but couldn't anyone not wanting to wear a mask say that for health reasons he or she mustn't wear one?
Who is going to check?
Anyone can pass the virus on and so If one should not wear a mask surely they should do as Sarnia is doing and wear a visor?
Dear LanJan, if you expect to find logic behind any of these pronouncements I fear you will be disappointed. I'm just exercising common sense, but it's tough on those who have none!
DeleteArcherphile - such surprising news about your daughter. It does make you wonder about laser treatment, but could be just a coincidence.
ReplyDeleteI was told I was young for cataracts at 63, and I was always the youngest, on op. days. It was put down to, being so shortsighted, since birth, but who knows..
PS Without my contacts, I could not even read the big 'A' at the top of the eye chart! This always gave way to laughter - in a good way.
DeleteI was 65yrs Miriam so like you a youngster 🤣
DeleteArcherphile a shock for your daughter and yourself but at least removing a cataract is a simple op with a permanent outcome had it been a hip or knee In one so young it would be followed by more ops over the years so that’s the good news 🤗 👏🏻
Laser treatment who knows it was some years ago so maybe not.
Lady R. I agree, as it is so quick + easy, only 15 mins or less. My 2nd one, only took 10 mins. Talk about a quick in + out, but so worth it.
DeleteWith the chat of peacocks on the other board, this reminds me of a "story". Big Sis was in the house, doing computer work, when a text came through from hubbie. It was along the lines of Help, I am trapped in the greenhouse. On going out, there was a peacock prancing around outside the greenhouse, tail up and strutting (it obviously fancied hubbie 😁). It was shooed away, and it was found that it had come from the posh B+B on the edge of their residential area. Luckily it stayed in the garden, and was returned home, soon after.
ReplyDeletePS The B+B got rid of the peacock soon after, as it intimitaded their guests..
DeleteThis B+B is 5☆ listed in a Grade 11 property. It is wonderful, and I have been to many a BBQ in the walled garden.
DeleteThey were right to re-home the peacock!!
One massive good thing re Lockdown, is that the community spirit in my cul-de-sac, is so much stronger + meaningful.
ReplyDeleteWe have all got to know each other, in a very much more positive way.
I am "in charge" of telling others, about the new owners of next door.
As yet, I know nothing.
All the others are, as curious, as I am.
DeleteIt will be jungle drums, when I know something..😀
Keep a lookout for the removal van when at least you will be able to see whether they’re classy or tatty you what emerges from it!😉😁
ReplyDeleteYou should be from!
ReplyDeleteAfter my shopping experience today I might just go back to home deliveries - at least until I’ve had my eyes done!
ReplyDeleteDon’t know about anyone else, but hearing today that we shall have to wear masks permanently until a vaccine is found, made me feel very depressed.
I’m going for my first haircut since before Christmas tomorrow, feeling a bit like a sheep just before shearing and I expect I shall look as odd as they do at first , with short hair again. I have been putting on weight during the lockdown, eating all the things I gave up to loose those 5 stones and I think my face has fattened up, so my old short layered cut is going to emphasise that. Might be just what I need to get back to the diet!
Archerphile having had our neighbours daughter shop for us for such a long time I have managed to be able to book click & collect from our nearby Waitrose. Tonight was my 3rd collection I go between 6 & 7 pm the last hour for pickup so quiet and no queuing involved to do this (not that queuing is an issue at that time anyway)
ReplyDeleteBeing only the two of us I am happy to do this for convenience and the good and efficient service.
Although a quick operation I still wear a mask and gloves. I was also able to pop into the Pharmacy nearby as well to pick up Mr R prescription. I agree that It is a heck of a situation we are in and would not like to wear a mask in the store for the length of time required to complete a big shop as I always “trolley”shop then it’s onto belt then into bags, into car into home and finally into cupboards fridge/ freezer 😴
I managed somehow to wear a mask and not steam up glasses tonight - the luck of the draw me thinks 😮
If you put micropore tape across the top of your mask and stick it to your skin it stops your glasses steaming up and keeps mask in place so you don’t fiddle about with it.
ReplyDeleteThe only downside is it hurts like hell to pull it off. Guess if you waited till you were home you could help it off with water or makeup remover.
It does work.
I went to the doctor’s this morning for a blood test. Wore a mask of course, had to use hand sanitiser before going in then wash hands in there. After the test was directed out of the back door. I only saw the person before and after me. All the chairs apart from a fixed bench, a garden type bench and an armchair had gone. The nurse had a disposable apron and mask etc. The receptionist had a mask and asked if I had any signs of a temperature etc. It was surreal!
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