Archerphile - December 5, 2020 at 9:01 PM Lanjan - in answer to your question re Only Connect: Yes we love it and wouldn’t miss an edition. I get so chuffed if I work out an answer in the first two rounds; have difficulty being able to read all the clues on the wall, wish they would show it full on and larger; and love the missing vowels round, we are both shouting out the answers, often before the teams. It’s a great quiz and requires a high level of intelligence and an ability at lateral thinking. And I too would chose radio over television if one had to go. Perhaps it’s because of growing up in the 40’s and 50’s with the delights of Children’s Hour, Twenty Questions, Top of the Form and all the comedies - too numerous to mention. TV was a bit of a luxury, switched on for a particular programme and not available 24 hours a day. It often broke down broke and had to go away for repair. Radio was the constant companion and far more reliable, a background to our lives, and for me, it still is!
MrsP Ambridge - December 6, 2020 at 12:52 AM I do choose radio over television every day week and month of every year. No contest IMO. Thank you ARCHERPHILE for putting it so succinctly for those of us of the WIRELESS generation. Always a constant companion and background to our lives.
Hilary - December 6, 2020 at 7:10 AM Only Connect is my second favourite programme, after House of Games! I also like Have I Got News for you, QI, Mock The Week and I love The Graham Norton Show.
Archerphile - December 6, 2020 at 7:59 AM We used to enjoy HIGNFY but feel It has gone off recently. Paul Merton hardly contributes anything these days and some of the guests are less than funny. Even Ian Hislop whom I normally like is becoming more and more smug. Sometimes it is only a good host who lifts the programme out of the doldrums!
Archerphile - December 6, 2020 at 8:03 AM But our favourite panel game these days is WiLTY - with captains David Mitchell and Lee Mack. We are often reduced to uncontrollable laughter at some of the stories and antics - and they have good guests to join in too. Lee Mack is particularly funny and very quick to invent a wry comment or joke.
Tough one. I do love TV and probably watch far too much rubbish - but I don't mind! But I think I would choose radio if one had to go. So many memories from listening to it since I was a child.
Well, I wrote that the only ones I recognise are University Challenge which I used to watch when chaired by Jeremy Paxman and Have I Got News in Angus Deaton's days before his fall from grace (I had missed the 'g' in his name!)
Gary I think of my childhood too when I think of radio shows. Sunday lunch was Round the Horn and in the morning 3 Way Family Favourites with Cliff Michelmore and Judith Chalmers. Sam Costa during the week and Friday Night is Music Night listening with my dad drinking Bovril.
Autumnleaves you have covered most of my “lost” post so thank you 🤗 even to the point of your dad’s favourite “Friday night is music night” ! (The Billy Cotton Band Show with Alan Breeze and Kathie Kay - I can almost smell the Sunday roast cooking right now!)
I had a request played on 2way family favourites for my 21st birthday when my brother was in the Navy and his ship was in Hong Kong. He brought home a couple of months later a length of embroidered white silk for my birthday, which my tailor aunt made my wedding dress from three years later! Of course our favourite was the Navy Lark but l loved Round the Horne
Thanks for the memories Autumnleaves. It’s good to think of all those people eating their Sunday roasts accompanied by Kenneth Horne et al. Billy Cottons “Wakey wakey” followed it I think? Spicy my brother was in the navy too. He used to bring me back LPs from America before they were available over here. I was disappointed when he married and his little sister slipped in popularity, definitely fewer gifts came my way!
Yes Soz. I had a cigarette lighter from Malta, T shirt from HMS Sheffield (sadly lost in the Falklands) silk from Hong Kong, boomerang from Australia etc etc. One of my sisters, now age 60, still has a little teddy bear brought back from an overseas visit. It is so delicate but always accompanies her when she goes off marshalling during the motor racing season. A tradition worth keeping. She has brought me back a couple of beautiful hand-blown baubles for my tree from Malta where she marshalls a couple of times a year!
Proud to be Yorkshire, yesterday 7:31pm. I was interested by your comment about the men dressed as women on Strictly yesterday evening and wondered how you felt about the women dressed as men.
Autumnleaves 12.18 - Yes what memories you have invoked. Hancock's Half Hour too. I did really dislike Sing Something Simple though. It came on on Sunday evenings and I was thinking about Monday morning at school and the weekend was over.
Yes these memories invoke smells of food. I always think of coming home from primary school for lunch (we actually called it dinner), with Sam Costa on the radio and lentil soup on the table. With lots of bread for dunking.😋😋
Oh Anneveggie - Sing Something Simple!! The most depressing, dirge like programme on the radio! Both Mr A and I hated it. You realised you hadn’t finished your prep and had to get ready for school next day. My memory of Two Way Family Favourites on Sunday was that it was hosted by Jean Metcalf, who was, I think, married to Cliff Michelmore. That was followed by The Billy Cotton Band Show and then the Comedy which varied. I loved Educating Archie when I was little, then Meet the Huggets. Later these were replaced by The Navy Lark or a Kenneth Horn comedy. I switched off when Carousel came on, hosted by Peter Haig (father of excellent actor David Haig). It was all about films and I had no interest in them!
My earliest memories are not really the radio, except for Listening with Mother, and the Light programme, occasionally. Nor was it TV neither. Mum loved records, on an old record player in the late 50's, early 60's. This was opera, Gilbert + Sullivan, and classical music. The selection was very limited, as couldn't afford much! I know the highlights of Madame Butterfly so well, and as for Mantovani....
Miriam the must have in the 60s 70s was the stereogram. Carefully cleaned records placed on the turntable all played in stereo. Mantovani, Tommy Garrett and his 50 guitars, Ivor Novello and of course all the soundtracks from the latest musicals.
My brother used to hide his cigarettes underneath the turntable in our old family stereogram! It was a horrible brown thing that stereogram - like having a musical coffin in the living room.
My brother and I had a record player, a Dansett I think. You could load several records one on top of the other and It would drop them down one by one. I remember we had Frankie Laine singing “Rawhide” and several Elvis EP’s which had two tracks each side. I was a great Cliff fan but had limited means being still at school so had to save up for “Living Doll” and “Voice in the Wilderness”.
Remember when a “clump” would drop from time to time 🤣 I saw Cliff quite a few times at ABC cinema concerts but I loved The Shadows especially Hank🎸 still admire his guitar skills.
A great uncle of mine worked with Sir Cliff. He was a senior props man at Elstree film studios, so did a lot of work on the film Summer Holiday. He was the one who made the dams, in the Dambusters film...
Very nice indeed Hilary. As you may have gathered, I love the snow. Went for a bit of a hike today along the West Highland Way and could see all the mountains in the far distance covered in snow. It was a gloriously sunny, but cold day where we were. I am pleasantly exhausted...
Hilary, my most recent memory of 'A whiter shade of pale' is the time when a bride requested it to be played at her wedding during the signing of the register. I suggested that she had a look at the words and then come back to me. She changed her mind!
Anneveggie, you mentioned not liking a particular programme because it was on on a Sunday evening & you were already thinking about school the next morning - one of my friends describes that feeling as "having The Ronnies", named after The Two Ronnies which always signalled her (and ALL of my generation's) bedtime for years on a Sunday evening. We all still use it as shorthand for a vague feeling of trepidation, unease or knowing something good is about to come to an and!
Ha ha, I like that Gary, good one. Others mention of Mantovani brings back a bad memory. I jumped up on the chair and yelled "Mantovani" then slipped and fell into the fire. I put my arm out to save myself so ended up with my hand on the burning coals. Still remember the pain.
I know I talk too much (as you can tell by the length of my posts!) but it became a family joke. Sometime between the ages of 5 and 8 years old (it was the house we were living in that fixes the date) I was sitting in front of an open fire with my brother and my Nan. I was trying to tell Nan something but brother interrupted so I leaned forward, tipped over and put my hand on the hearth, near enough to the grate to burn it. But apparently I didn't stop talking! My Mum had several jobs at different times to make ends meet but nowadays I am aware that almost all of my childhood memories involve my grandmother. She was a constant presence in my childhood. That's what comes of living in the same village for generations I suppose. Not so common nowadays. My sadness is that my children hardly knew their grandparents. I do feel that they have missed something special.
Finally before I have my breakfast toast (Couldn't sleep and have been up for nearly three hours..)
Archerphile. I too hated 'Sing Something Simple' Can't think why? It was so depressing as you say. Maybe I thought I should be out and about having a fun time instead of hearing that 'dirge!' On the whole I had a pretty lonely childhood I suppose, living in the countryside and having little money to travel into 'town' where most school - friends lived. As I was the only girl of my year to pass the 11+ I drifted away from friends from Primary school. In fact I had to put up with some 'trouble' from a gang who waited for me after getting off the school bus and used to pinch my hat and tease me! I went to school 7 miles away, in Tun Wells and they went to one two miles away in Paddock Wood; exactly the opposite direction so they always were waiting for me. It only lasted a couple of weeks and my brother used to come into the village to meet me on his bike and give me a 'backie' ride past the troublemakers! Oh dear! Memories eh? Must cheer myself up. Consultant appointment this afternoon! Can't wait to hear his latest advice! 🤞
Spicy - it sounds as if you and I had very similar childhoods. We also lived in the country and I was virtually an only child, my adoptive parents existing son being 23 years older than me. No one to play with as I went to a school some distance away which was mainly boarding, though I went as a day girl. I spent hours reading, painting, making camps in the woods around the garden where I held tea parties for my dolls and teddies! It sounds lonely, but I didn’t know any different, I assumed this was how all children spent their time. I didn’t suffer any bullying on the way to and from school but was mercilessly ‘teased’, poked and called horrid names in school because if being very fat. That’s why I hated Sing Something Simple because it meant having to go and face that again next morning. In fact, looking back, I didn’t enjoy my very priviledged school at all until I was a 6th Former, when the teasing stopped and I was given responsibility as a Prefect.
Funnily enough, somebody posted one of those long school photos from 1953 on our school Facebook page yesterday, and there I am sitting cross-legged in the front row with long ringlets and a bow on top of my head. (Very unfashionable back then, insisted upon by my mother and another cause of ridicule and teasing!)
Can I ask something please about a different TV programme - Doctors? I know a couple of other people here watch it. When there is a scene shot in the waiting room/reception or staff room I am getting a lot of background noise of people talking. All murmuring so nothing is decipherable but really quite loud. Enough to interfere with the dialogue being spoken by the actors! It is VERY annoying. What I am wondering is - does anybody else hear these background people talking or is my TV picking up something else on the same wavelength (if you see what I mean?) Answers gratefully received! PS Consultant happy with blood tests and I am to stop the steroids completely and reduce over the next 3 months the number of Methotrexate tabs (currently 5 tabs all together once a week) till I get to balancing the tabs and the disease. Looks as if I might have to risk blisters coming back if I reduce too far, too quickly but on the whole all is well. Just a lot of patience required! So.......... I do hope if we manage a meet up somewhere, anywhere, next Summer I'll make it! 😁
Spicy. Wonderful news about your tabs, some stopping and some diminishing, which I so understand. To get down to just 5 methotrexate tabs a week, and now being put on a reducing regime, is a very positive result. Just do exactly as have been told, which I know you will. 2021 will be so different for you, with things well under control. As to Doctors, I watch it, but not live, only after recording it. I personally, have not noticed any background interference nor noise. In fact I find it the opposite, as being filmed socially recorded, it is often too quiet. It might be your TV signal. I am having problems with this, as the signal suddenly disappears, usually at a critical point in a programme. I have a booster on my digital ariel, plus one in the house, so think it is either the weather, or the transmitters.
Great news Spicycushion. I hope we do manage to meet up next year
I have never watched Doctors or any hospital related "soap " I know it must be me because so many of you watch "Midwives" and I tried to watch one but couldn't get into it. Some years ago I did watch a series about young people trying to get into medical school at Nottingham University and it was fascinating though. There was a young lass who was completely honest and said that Nottingham was only her second choice but the panel all took to her and she was offered a place and in fact did decide to go there.
What has made Call the Midwife so interesting, is not so much the medical side, but also the social history, what lives and works entailed, the housing problems, at that time. What always has been done so well, is showing, what a community is all about, and why.
Went into Wales for the first time for 2 months today, I went to a retail park and arrived soon after 9.00am. It was busy even then - with queus outside Primark, The Card Factory and a massive one, outside the M+S Food Hall, even at that early time. I wanted W H Smith - which was fine, and got all I wanted. I found shopping in a retail park again, great, but I was aware that many, seemed to have forgotten, what Social Distancing actually means. I was knocked and bumped, a few times, both inside + outside.. At least I have my 2021 diary.
The first thing to be put in:- Jan. 1st and The Ambridge Quiz at The Bull.
GG will have done well. No🤞 Just a Massive 👍and a big 🤗.
Spicy - great news from your doctor, keeping everything tightly crossed for you, Re Doctors - I do watch it live each day so I will specially listen out tomorrow to see if I get that chattering noise too, and report back. Have to say I have been very disappointed with it since it returned, and it’s nothing to do with Covid restrictions. Some of the stories have been very lame and some of the acting very poor. And there aren’t any characters I especially empathise with at the moment either. 😕
I have a new 1000 piece jigsaw sorted and now being done, bur very slowly. It is very tricky + difficult. (Castorland - After The Rain). My jigsaw board is so great, flat with a rim on all sides, with 4 other boards, to sort pieces onto. It all goes into a large portfolio style container, and stays intact. This came from Jigthings, but sadly, they have folded and are no longer in business.
Thanks for all good wishes from everyone. Call the Midwife is filmed in Chatham Dockyard where there are many old buildings for various workers still standing. I am very familiar with the Dockyard as we have many District Scout events, such as St George's Day parade and Award Presentations, as it falls in the Gillingham District of Scouting. Miriam - I do like the sound of your jigsaw board . I have a basic roll up one given to me by my aunt and uncle many years ago. At the moment I only do online jigsaws but hope to get back to wooden/cardboard ones now steroids are stopped and I can get eyes sorted. Archerphile - I agree with the 'lameness' of Doctors. After today's episode I thought 'That's half an hour of my life I won't get back!'
BTW I don't watch Call the Midwife. I really don't want to watch women giving birth every week screaming and shouting even though I love Jenny Agutter!
Neither do I, Spicy. In the 1950s my sisters and sils all went into production Big Time and I was designated 'maiden aunt' and from the age of 10 seemed to spend a disproportionate amount of my life child minding outside the local maternity home (which they called the 'matty') while the others went in to visit and lap up the horror stories. Curiously, although I didn't have my children until round about the age of thirty, having studied the process carefully and decided how I was going to deal with it my births were straightforward and fairly short. I therefore had no horror stories to add to the family lexicon and was viewed with great suspicion as having let the side down!
1. Yes Miriam fantastic social history 2. The sets and the district. So redolent of London in the forties and fifties 3 The community of the convent and its inhabitants. 4. Having been unable to give birth myself, I will never tire of being able to see that Joyful event.
Spiceycushion - there really is very little of the ' birthing' itself
I have always wanted to do ' North Kent ' and to come to the wonderful Dickens Day at Chatham, and I think I've said before that I was supposed to be born at Paddock Wood, but my mum didn't make it until her second birth, my sister.
So pleased to read your news Spiceycushion and I do hope it really does improve gradually and completely.
GARY. GILDAY All the very best tonight. However you do we are proud to have you represent us.
My new jigsaw board sounds very like Miriam's. My friend would have bought it online. The label is Portapuzzle with the logo of a red elephant 'Jumbo' Made in the Netherlands Seems very similar to Miriam's.
I alsohave a porta puzzle jigsaw board. This is a 1500 one, which is also great, and for a 1000 piece square puzzle. It is very good, but not as good as my normal one! My jigsaw boards are stored behind my settee, up against a wall.
I'm glad you said the portapuzzle board is good, as I have just ordered the 1000 piece board/case as a Christmas present for someone fairly new to jigsaws ( a handicapped relative hit by a lorry when he was six) as the last one he did of Neuschwanstein castle in snow was on the kitchen table for weeks and weeks before it was finally finished.
Archerphile,the lovely Robert Rinder was the one "Celebrity " I had heard of on House of Games this evening. I was rooting for him. If you watch the programme you will see why I wrote that. One woman who sounded like Natasha I didn't take to at all. Her name is Alex Jones "
It was fantastic MrsP! We were recording for about 3 hours, lots and lots of laughter - Kenton & Jolene stayed in character the entire time! It was so bizarre (and lovely) to hear them using my name. There was much good-natured back and forth with the other team and I can only say that I think that everyone did themselves proud!
LanJan - I certainly will catch up with the edition of H of G with Robert Rinder. He is a particular favourite of mine, especially after viewing his 2 programmes on the holocaust. I haven’t seen any of the early evening editions because they always clash with the News. The ones I did see and was not so keen on, were the Friday evening ones on BBC1, with the same contestants every week. The only one I knew was Jennifer Saunders and she won twice. The other guests didn’t seem very bright!
Forty years ago I was given last minute tickets to a Queen concert at Wembley, didn't know them well. All the same I quickly gathered three others and we drove there. Freddie Mercury sang Imagine...
I would have loved to have seen Queen when Freddie was still alive. Lucky you Basia! (I'm not a fan of John Lennon though - every time I hear "Imagine" I remember that at the time he recorded it he owned 2 apartments in The Dakota Building, one of which was used to store Yoko's fur coat collection in climate controlled rooms. "Imagine no possessions" indeed...
I'm pleased to hear the experience was so enjoyable Gary. Looking forward to hearing it. I'd also have loved to see Queen with Freddie. I still enjoy watching their performance at BandAid.
About a year ago I went with my family to see the Freddy Mercury film starring Rami Malek. All foreign films are dubbed into Italian but the songs were left in English. The words were put up on the screen and the whole audience sang along. It was great fun.
Spicy - reporting back on Doctors I watched today’s episode live and didn’t notice any background noise or chatting in the surgery scenes. However, I did have to keep increasing the volume to make out what some of the characters were saying. Not sure if that’s the TV or my ears though. I tend to find it difficult to make out what people are saying when the talk very fast, as do many of these days!
Thanks Archerphile. Funnily enough I didn't hear it today either! Perhaps it's the atmosphere or something? Yesterday we had thick, cold fog all day but todays is clear, sunny but still quite cold. I remember for several years I couldn't get Channel 4 on my small kitchen TV when it was raining! Now we have 4 large pylons with dishes on them at the top of Bluebell Hill, near Rochester there is no problem! I reckon it's one or both of the children 'wot dun it!' 😁
I first saw Queen as a support band for Mott the Hoople, and thought they were great. Bought tickets for the next time they came to Birmingham. By the time they played in Brum, Bohemian Rhapsody had been number 1 for a couple of weeks. Saw them again in 1976, at an open air concert on the day the drought broke! ☔ 🌧️💦 (though we had no brollies or wet weather gear!)
On that day we landed at Heathrow at 8.00am after three years in Australia. The Quantas pilot told us with great glee it was raining for the first time since May! As we got to the top of the steps (no covered walkways in those days) the smell of the fresh earth was almost overpowering!
In the late 70s any new upcoming group used to play gigs around the student unions. My boyfriend at the time was a student at Glasgow uni and a hard rock and punk fan. We used to go practically every weekend to see "new faces". The Pretenders, Eddie and the Hotrods, Blondie , and beleive it or not AC/D.C.. They are still popular with the youngsters today and they find it hard to beleive that a 60ish woman has even heard of them far less saw them in concert when they were starting out.
Great experiences Zoetrope. You never forget those early band concerts. I saw The Who in early days when they played Bournemouth. It was fantastic, so loud and exciting. Rod Stewart also was great in the '70s. Not forgetting the Beatles in '63 of course.
The only 'gig' or concert that I have ever attended was the free Hyde Park Stones. I picked up my baby, stepped over hundreds of feet and or bodies and took my baby way way away to protect her ears.
On the other hand was on hand with the ' other ' camera at endless Top of the Pops and clubs and photo shoots with many of the sixties groups. The one night that sticks in my memory was an American group doing Mr Tambourine Man ( no not Dylan ) in a basement club somewhere near the Royal Goegraphical Society.
I had forgotten the name of the group - The Byrds - and forgotten also much earlier in my teenage years hanging out over the piano as Dudley More ( Moor ) played at the Establishment. Those were the days when I still drank Gin.
That record of Mr Tambourine Man is one of my most favourite songs for two reasons. Firstly I adore Bob Dylan and all his works, and secondly that version by the Byrds was No 1 the week I left school in 1965!
Jigsaw update.... Why did I buy it, and why am I still doing it?. It is so difficult, but I am determined to finish it. I am at the stage, in that I have no idea what to do next. Do I finish off the bits I am really struggling with, or try and start another area, which look even worse!
Mr S was an avid Bob Dylan fan in the early years. Our daughter recently bought him a mug with a row of strange houses on it and the caption 'How many roads must a man walk down/ Before he'll admit he's lost.' Testament to his masterful leadership on weekend family route-matches! It was on display at his funeral.
Miriam, the one I was doing when in Cornwall and have now transferred to my puzzle board is also very very difficult. It is a bookcase with about sixteen sections and all the books have titles of actual books but with the titles changed slightly - Lady Chatterleys Mother - War and Grease. Dotted here and there are small animals and toys and various bits and pieces. I did do the outside first, and that in itself was a challenge, then I started on the sections, but I have had to dip in and out because of the colours which are often similar in some sections to those in other sections but with subtle differences in the hatching. It's the hardest I've ever done, but I am enjoying the challenge and do not have a care at how long it will take me to finish.
Dont worry Miriam, you’ll get through it with a bit of perseverance. Mrs P - your jigsaw sounds fascinating. There is a series of Ravensburger 1000 piece puzzles that sound like yours. Set in bookshops, kitchens, wherever, with shelves full of small objects. I did one with sewing and knitting equipment. Funnily enough Mr A wasn’t very interested in that one!
But I must admit, that for the first time ever, we have recently given up on a puzzle that we just couldn’t do! It’s the famous painting of the Tower of Babel, by Brueghel. Hundreds of little windows and tiny people in a very dark background and lots of dark scrubby grounds at the bottom. Impossipuzzle!
Yes Archerphile, it is one of the Ravensburger 1000 piece puzzles. I only buy in charity shops, and make an instant decision. See it, know instantly that I will find it interesting and buy it. You obviously do them together. I've never had that experience but I'm sure I would enjoy it. Something I've always yearned for. Sorry to hear that you had to give up on the Brueghel.
I don't do jigsaws but every year I buy a friend a 1000 piece one with a nice Christmassy scene. This year I decided to have a change and have bought a Ravensburg one called Myths and Legends. Hopefully it will prove difficult. It is as if there are bookshelves but the stories and legends are spilling out of them. It looks a nice picture.
Sounds lovely Janice! Let us know how it goes. I never buy puzzles new, from a shop. They all come via eBay or Charity shops and though I keep some of the very special ones, most go back to the charity shop when finished.
Back to pop stars. I went to see at different times to see the Everly Brothers (with Ralph Mc Tell who said he would sing a medley of his one hit The streets of London ,Marty Wilde, Joe Brown and Frankie Laine-remember him? He sang "I Believe " really well.
I remember going to see The Kinks at our local Mecca ballroom in my teens. They were on the stage and we were only a few metres away on the dance floor.
Was also dragged to see The Beach Boys at the Palace Theatre in Manchester by a flat mate when at university. She was a big fan, I wasn't.
When I was a teenager (early 60s) there used to be a travelling show every few months of current pop stars who appeared in the town for one night only. (It must have been an awful life for them!) I now confess I used to forge a dentist note to excuse me from school and walk down into town from school for a 10 am 'appointment' and be first in the queue at the box office to get a £1 front row seat! Let me think now who I saw live on stage: Dave Clark 5, The Sputniks (a year later, Heinz when he went solo)The Merseybeats, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Freddie and the Dreamers, Mannfred Mann, Dave Berry, John Leyton, Dusty Springfield, B Bumble and the Stingers, The Walker Brothers Oh so many! I got many, many autographs. I wish I had saved them all! One bittery cold night we were waiting outside the stage door and I tripped over in the dark and grazed my hand. I said to Paul Jones, of Mannfred Mann)"Be careful my hand's a bit bloody 'cos I fell over" and he immediately 'kissed it better!'
Jigsaw update. Housework is now on hold, as I need to finish it. Today has been better, as I picked up my prescription reading glasses this morning, after a small repair. My "off the rack" ones were sufficient, but I can certainly see the difference - 🤓 Jigsaw is so frustrating, and a challenge, but it wil be finished. I don't buy jigsaw puzzles from charity shops, as I don't know who has handled them before..I only buy new. OCD?
Spiceycushion- we have a link there. My husband was Mannfred Mann's photographer, also the Yardbirds and covered many other groups, however he became very friendly with Paul Jones, and we used to have dinner with him and his partner from time to time. A nice man.
Well I've seen the orthopaedic consultant this afternoon. I didn't need the boot ! Apparently it's only any good to have a boot for the three weeks following the trauma. I didn't have the X-ray until three weeks after the injury. The boot hasn't helped at all, in fact it has made the injury feel worse because it was putting strain on other muscles and ligaments leading to my toes.
It is what I thought and felt. Technically I have a sprain, but the ligament has broken off a tiny jutty out little piece of the lateral mallieosis (?sp). A little bit of bony structure. It will heal on its own, I have been doing the right thing by continuing walking on it, and he was impressed at how well I was managing. It was a very positive consultation and I feel restored by meeting him. He was also very engaging and humorous. We finished with a discussion about our throwaway society and how the NHS was the worst offender. The orthopaedic boot that I've had for one week only and didn't need in the first place, will be thrown away. He and I were both adamant that somewhere in the world, Africa perhaps, someone would be glad to have an almost new boot. But no, it has to go in the incinerator or perhaps landfill. Out of interest last week I looked up the retail price of this boot. It was in the region of £40- 70 ! I am outraged.
But I'm free ! I can drive, if I feel safe to do so, and I can return to Tai Chi, and of course continue walking. But I must be careful because once badly sprained it can easily happen again because the ligaments are now weakened. He also thought I should go ahead and have my steroid injection for the arthritis, so I shall call the department tomorrow to attempt to reinstate my appointment which was for the 16th.
The surgeon confirmed your intuitive feeling MrsP, we often (not always) know best and it's good to have the doctors on our side. Keep on walking and Lady must be pleased.
Excellent news Mrs P! Agree about NHS wasting money. Before my hip operation I was given a raised toilet seat, an adjustable height stool for the bathroom and a bedside commode, as there were steps between my bedroom and the bathroom. I never used any of these items, they were still in their original plastic packaging and boxes when I was recovered enough to return them to the hospital. They wouldn’t take any of them!! I tried giving them to the local Red Cross and several charity shops. Nobody would have them. In the end I had to advertise them in the local shop, for free, and they were gratefully collected by an elderly lady’s daughter.
I know how you feel AP. And this has been going on for decades. The NHS IS THE WONDERFUL ORGANISATION that the world knows about, but it is very very poor at saving costs, because of its very poor administration. When I left the ward after my broken finger surgery the nursing staff took me into a room and literally thrust a handful of plastic bags at me to wrap around my arm when I had a bath. I used ONE bag and dried it each day.
I heard on the news yesterday of a study which concluded that the weight of human made objects on the planet is now equal to the weight of biomass and on the way to surpass it. On average, for each person on the globe there is an amount of "stuff" produced each week which equals more than their bodyweight...
What about us, who re-cycle everything, and buy with that in mind. I have just put my general waste bin out for tomorrow. This is the 1st time for 4 weeks and there is very little in it.. PS I would love to know, how the average weight of a person has been determined. I am still only 8 + 1/2 stone.
I have finished my jigsaw. It is wonderful, now completed, but oh so difficult! Now to catch up with the ironing + house chores. Did I enjoy it - No to begin with, but now finished - Yes.
No Miriam, no offer nor any suggestion. No temperature taken either, simply a question asked by the clinic nurse if I had any Covid symptoms. The hospital entrance was well set out with yellow footprints to follow directions and distance as well as in one side of doors and out the other. I stood and waited for my lift driver to appear and watched. Half the people coming in were clearly not looking at the obvious directions and wandering in front of those that were. Not impressed !
The TG president, Sue, called round today. She had decided to refund all our yearly fee as it turned out we had no meetings in this financial year. It is so sad and I miss it a lot. We may never get back to normal as many members are getting older and may not have the confidence to attend any more. We were told to spend the money on something nice so am thinking of buying a daylight lamp from Ken Bromley art supplies so that I can carry on painting after dusk. For the artists among you I really recommend Ken Bromley which you can see online. They have such a wide range of art materials and at reasonable prices.
I had difficulty getting into our blogs this morning- the little wheel just kept spinning and spinning. Perhaps Chrome was having problems? Nothing much to report except been diagnosed with gastritis or possible gastric ulcer. In loads of pain in my stomach, just under the ribs , which goes right through to my back. So taking acid reducing capsules and only eating very little. Just what I needed for Christmas! 🥴
Oh no Archerphile this year is really giving it to us with both barrels. Sending every sympathy 💐 (Did you visit or speak over the phone with Dr re your diagnosis)
Much sympathy Archerfile. Pineapple juice is supposed to be good for inflammation of the stomach. I drank it watered down at one time when my stomach played up and it seemed to be soothing.
That’s strange Janice. I should have thought pineapple juice would have been acidy like orange I’d lemon juice. But I’ll give anything a try, thanks for the recommendation.
Gastritis is normally caused by the stomach acid, irritating the stomach lining. It is often caused by spicy foods, alcohol etc.,... not that Archerphile imbibes these. It is just too much acid being produced, for some reason.
The acid reducing tablets, work really well, and very often settle things down quickly, and can prevent, or even heal, an ulcer. The other important thing is to keep to a blander diet, for a short while until symptoms reduce.
Chin Up, Archerphile. Christmas can still happen and be enjoyed, with all the "trimmings". A Big 🤗
What I have found sad, over the last couple of days, and is a sign of the times, is that how desparate some are for monies. I had my hedges cut yesteday, by the family firm who usually do them. They did need doing, and a great job was done. It was the son on his own , and on asking, I learnt that his Dad is having a triple by-pass op. on Monday.. Also, my monthly window cleaner turned up today, earlier than expected, but again a good job was done. It is heartbreaking, as these people I know + trust, seem to be struggling..but I will not be taken for a ride, nor be considered a soft touch. Both these jobs needed doing, and I am pleased that they have been done.
I was glad to pay, for both jobs,as were so well done If it has helped, then so be it. I have however, made a note of the date. I will not be duped...as to the next due time!
Miriam with outside jobs the weather plays a big part and can play havoc with planned schedules and I wonder if your hedge trimmer’s son was trying to be ahead of time in order to isolate so be be able to see dad for Christmas post op. As they are regular tradesmen I’m sure they would be aware of how on the ball you are, as is very wise!
Archerfile 8:37: I'm not sure that drinking something as acidic as pineapple juice would be a good idea when you are on treatment to reduce the acidity in your stomach.
How sad, to hear the news about Dame Barbara Windsor. What I remember her most for, is in the film Carry On Camping, the scene when excercising, and her "top" flew off. Another "Great" is now no more. 😭😭
So many Greats have gone this year:- Dame Dianna Rigg Sir Sean Connery Nicholas Parsons Bobby Ball Jack Charlton Tim Brooke-Taylor Des O'Connor Frank Bough Peter Allis
....to name but a few. They all will be missed, in some way or another.
Thank you everyone for your good wishes. Miriam said I don’t eat spicy food or drink alcohol - but I always make curry on Monday nights, not hot spicy, more flavoursome spicy and it was on a Monday night in bed that the pain started! I’ve been taking the capsules for over a week, eating a much blander diet and absolutely no alcohol but still in a lot of pain, so if there is no improvement after the weekend I shall try to see my GP again.
Possible IBS ? I have bouts of it and it is painful. Maybe something you could ask your Dr about as he /she would have to would confirm as far as they can - should it be Buscopan tablets can be useful. Stress is a factor in tummy troubles and it’s certainly been and still is a year of that🤞🏼you will feel better soon.
Archerfile some others have pointed out quite rightly that pineapple juice is acidic, and it may well be that what you have is different from what I had. I was taking omeprazole for a while for acid reflux, and I put blocks of wood about 3 inches high under the legs at the head of the bed. Later I used pineapple juice ( bottled but freshly squeezed not from concentrate, and watered down) for the bromelain which helps calm down inflammation. I also took probiotics/prebiotic capsules and ate bioyoghurt just to make sure there were lots of good bacteria in my stomach. Doc sent me for a scan at one point which didn't find anything. He thought query ulcer or IBS. It was particularly annoying as it stopped me from going on holiday with my daughter, and it was a right nuisance. It did clear up eventually, and yours will too, but it can be reassuring to have a scan or similar. 🤗
Once again Lady R and Janice, thank you for your suggestions and input. Yes, I have suffered IBS too, for 40 years on and off, but the symptoms this time are quite different. And in a different area. I can usually control IBS by cutting all wheat, high fibre food (and sweeteners like sorbitol and maltitose) out of my diet. And I have occasionally taken Buscopan. Yes, it is Omeprazole I am taking and I had it years ago for the same reason as you Janice. I even underwent a gastroscopy investigation but nothing was found. But this time symptoms are quite different, totally in the stomach and not heartburn. It’s a bit like having a permanent ‘stitch’ in my side after running hard. I had to take co-codamol last night to get any sleep as I couldn’t lie comfortably. I am quite worried the pain might be pancreatitis rather than gastritis so will definitely ring my GP on Monday.
Any way, that’s more than enough about my intestines so I will not mention them again until I have something positive to report. (Though I must say how helpful it has been to speak about my discomfort and fears here with such good friends) Onwards and upwards to more cheerful subjects 🙂
I have found kefir drinks very helpful and try to have a small glass every day. I had radiotherapy on the pelvic area years ago so do have issues. Yes, wise to consult doctor again Archerfile. All the best!
I'm sorry but I cannot share all the eulogising over Barbara Windsor. I didn't like her much in the Carry On film; all very much acting the same in different films, but I did respect her acting in Eastenders, in the trailers and scenes I saw. A much more 'ordinary' human being, with a variety of emotions. Don't get me wrong I do think the Carry On films are funny and they were clever in their versions of history! However, I cannot forget the photograph of Windsor walking with the Kray brothers behind Violet Kray's hearse. Very little has been said on TV and radio of her attachment to the vicious East End gangs. Windsor said in an interview later that she based her portayal of Peggy Mitchell on Violet Kray. Her continued involvement with that monstous family, even after she was famous, really did her no favours. It is sad that she (but mostly her husband and friends) suffered so much over the past few years and I think it is marvellous that she, like Bob Monkhouse, Doddie Weir and many others, have used their limited time to promote awareness of their terrible diseases.
Oh good! Now I can admit too, that we found the coverage of Barbara Windsor’s death yesterday very overdone. And were especially exasperated that her death was the top item of news all day long. She was an actress. She appeared in plays, films and a TV Soap for many years. So have many others been. She was also connected with hardened criminals, as fact glossed over, as Spicy has said. Yes, she used her fame to promote awareness and fund raising for Alzheimer’s, a condition she was very unfortunate to have develop in her later years But so have many other well known people for that and other illnesses. I wonder how much coverage there will be when a really talented actress, like Judy Dench, passes on. Or, forgive me, The Queen? I certainly hope they get equal coverage with Miss Windsor. She may have been ‘the nation’s sweetheart’ but she certainly wasn’t ours.
Well I have to say that I was amazed when Barbara Windsor was made a Dame. However I don't think that anybody who is paid so highly for doing a job they enjoy should ever be honoured in that way. They can afford to become a "patron" of a Charity . It means that they open the odd fête or speak at the odd Dinner It is the volunteers who do the hard work . There are some who get honours who don't even choose to live in this Country I would reserve all honours for people who do a brave act or discover a cure for some disease. I hope the people who have developed the COVID Vacine get rewarded by being given the highest honours.
Ev, I so much agree with what you said. I can think of a couple of women in my family remembering their husbands as the best, when they were not so during their lifetime. Fair enough, they loved them all the same, best kept to themselves. I keep telling my sister that at my wake, if they want one, they should include my faults as well, but play the music I like even if they don't.
Oh no! Just read the news that Nick Hewer is giving up presenting Countdown, one of our very favourite never-miss daily programmes. He has been an excellent Chairman along with brilliant Susie Dent and Rachel Riley. Apparently he has decided at the age of 76 (same as Mr A) he wants to stop working and do more travelling whilst is is still able to. The selection of a new presenter could make or break the programme so I hope the producers choose wisely.
I heard this on the radio Archerphile during last week. Suggestions were invited mostly women at that point. The obvious ones probably too busy with other work, Sandy Togsvik (spelling) for one - I thought of her immediately now I’m trying to remember the other suggestions typical 🙄 Who would you and Mr A put forward? Plus other bloggers 🤔
More a question of who we wouldn’t want! Definitely NOT Gyles Brandreath. Or Dame Jenni Murray,bBradley Walsh, Richards Osman or Jimmy Carr. If it has to be a BAME woman to satisfy diversity demands I can only think of Samira Ahmed or Moira Stewart. Otherwise there are a couple of radio presenters with lovely voices - Susan Rea and Paddy O’Connell who could make a good job of it. David Mitchell and Rob Brydon would be excellent but probably too busy.
Oh I like Gyles B 🤣 he was one of the names I shouted at the radio along with Sadie T. Of course it could be your Alton friend Alan AP 😱 he does most things!
I have always found Gyles B quite creepy when he is a guest on Countdown. He always leans in so close to Susie, invading her space and giving answers before she can. He also claims to be best friends with so many famous people including the Duke of Edinburgh and drops names all the time. In one paper today he claimed to be a best friend of Barbara Windsor which I found unlikely. I won’t go on but I’m afraid I just don’t like the man! A bit like AT, very oily!
Umm not bad Ev! I don’t often see CD now but when visiting my lovely (Epsom) aunt over the years it was a staple and she was so on the ball into her 90th year and came up quickly with words often 7 letters whereas pleased with 4 🤣and ecstatic with a 5 🙃
Last night I decided -briefly- to see what I was missing by not watching"Strictly" I came to the conclusion that if they didn't have the dreadful presenters who have to give a long pause before giving a result -especially the one who squints behind her black fringe - and judges who are totally over the top and obnoxious and participants who prattle on and on about how wonderful their partners are it might not be too bad.
I used to enjoy the old BBC programme Come Dancing back in the day where every large town had a Dancing School and the competition was between these regional schools. Each town had a couple dancing Latin American, one dancing Waltz, Foxtrot etc possible called 'Ballroom' and the formation Dancing a bit like couples performing like the Tiller Girls (if you remember them?!) but all dressed identically and dancing various dances but moving around in patterns across the floor. I remember the commentator (usually Peter West I think) used to make a lot of which lady had made her own dress and how many sequins and yards of tulle had been used! I liked Strictly in the first season. Then, as usual, Bruce Forsyth spoiled it for me making the show all about him as he did with every show he took over, in my opinion. My Nan used to make us laugh by saying the ladies in the ballroom dresses which had twenty or thirty layers, and which ended up being as big as a crinoline dress, looked 'like feathery chicken bottoms!'
I remember a program a few years back when he went to live with an ordinary family and fitted in so well. I love his railway journeys and most of all admire him for getting out of politics as he didn’t fit in with the ethos of many. Politicians promise the earth but most are primarily concerned with feathering their own nest it seems to me.
Re Strictly (am still a fan); last nights show wasn’t entirely typical. As it was the semi-final, each contestant and their professional partner were invited to say something about each other. So of course there was a lot of congratulating each other going on. The judges usually all sit together in a row and are often more (helpfully) critical to guide the contestants in improving their performance. I did find Saturday night’s show very loud with the orchestra & studio guests overdoing the enthusiasm. I also find their oh-so-clever lighting techniques very distracting. But I think celebrating was because they have managed to produce a series despite the difficulties of lockdown, something most people thought they wouldn’t be able to do. The one thing I will agree with is the ridiculous long pause when announcing results - but this also happens on The Great British Bakeoff and many other programmes and is extremely annoying.
All about the drama and racking up the tension of course. It certainly appears to do that for the couples. I believe the presenters are told the result per couple via their ear piece and when to announce. Although Tess holds a card 🤔 so maybe just waiting for the NOW!
Stunning Archerphile ⭐️ Mr R is very impressed. In his day he did lots of bird photography and we have a framed shot of a robin on a log with some raised feathers on its back which in Camera Club competition he named “Ragged Robin” and received a 10!
Can't go wrong with a robin. I've got a tapestry of one that I did years ago. We also have one in our garden that keeps me company when I'm out there at this time of year.
I have just had my first Round Robin . It is from someone I have never met who decided to send me a Christmas card each year after his father to who'm we sent a card, died several years ago. I do not know any of the people mentioned and am not remotely interested that they managed two holidays this year. Why do people do it?
We've got someone who sends one every year regaling us with what they have done all year in minute detail. This year she started by saying " for a year in which nothing much seems to have happened I have plenty to say" then wrote 4 sides of A4 telling us all the things they didn't do.
I send one every year to folks I haven’t been in contact with or to those I have been to fill in the gaps! My rule though is just one side of A4 with a large font and a border! I like to get them but as you say CC 4 sides is too much. You must have dozed off by the end! I am always disappointed to get cards with no news at all, just the sender’s name.
While I was writing the above a pan containing cherry juice which I was reducing boiled dry and set off the alarm. Dudley was most upset, barked and then just looked sheepish. Yes folks, had forgotten about it! At least the cherries weren’t in there! It must be my age but there again have always lived on a different planet!
A tip for cleaning burnt pans, add baking powder or bicarbonate to water and simmer the result in the pan. It works wonders! Handy for the absent minded like me!🙃
I agree Ev ,6:50 pm that it is nice to get a bit of news . A few words suffice though. If one mentions holidays(probably not this year) it smacks of showing off. If one mentions grandchildren it smacks of bragging. Quite honestly most people don't care two hoots about whether your grandchild has got into Oxford or has been arrested for drug dealing. The latter would be more interesting but hardly likely to be mentioned. You might mention a new pet perhaps. Sorry I think if you want to tell somebody something you should sit down and write a personal letter and write about things that person will be interested in.
If the round robin takes up more than the inside LH side of the card it is too much!!
Whilst we’ve been on illness again lately...... my second lot of Botox has not worked and I’m now sporting a Christmas eye patch. No Christmas miracle for me.....ie 2 functioning eyes. Hohoho. 🥳🍸🍾
Mine probably would fit on LHS. This year am sending out about 50 cards though and if all handwritten I would be burning the midnight oil! I usually write in a short PS to personalise it.
So sorry to hear about your eye PtbY. It is possible to wear an eye patch and a face mask at the same time (and do they have to match?) Seriously though, it must be a blow to you to have this problem again and I do hope it won’t spoil Christmas for you.
Pretty difficult with the eye patch, mask and glasses! Do tend to pull mask down under my nose. Haven’t got matching patch and mask. May have to investigate that combo. Won’t spoil my Christmas. I’ve got a bottle of gin, Cointreau and Bacardi put aside ready. 🍸
I’m already practising the Christmas spirit locally with cafes. We are”eating out, get fat, to help out” Trying our best to visit a cafe once a day to keep them in business, no big chains just local businesses.
Lady R - no I didn’t speak to the Dr today. The problem seemed to have eased slightly but is grumbling again this evening. So I’m going to see what happens towards the end of the week before taking further action.
Ditto Ptby! Do you think it could “Lockdown” induced even though technically we are not currently - I know that I and others have had an assortment of physical reactions Need to be sure though! London tier 3 from Wednesday! Yet anyone can travel the country in a weeks time....
Archerfile, I love your robin! I hope your problem resolves itself but agree you may need to seek medical advice sooner rather than later. Let us know how you get on.
This morning there is a very long and very interesting Guardian article about TA which I found by googling the title: " A peculiarly English epic: the weird genius of The Archers.
Round Robins: We get one, just one, every year from our friends whose 50th Anniversary Party we attended last year. Some of you may remember my account of the event! It was a real one-off. Well, true to their nature, their round robin each year runs to 3-4 pages of very closely typed script. Each member of the family recounts their own year and the paterfamilias sums up. It really is the most boring essay with details from the running costs of their car, to which make of washing machine they chose to replace the old one! I simply sign our return card with best wishes, but they just don’t take the hint!
*** FROM PREVIOUS BLOG ***
ReplyDeleteArcherphile - December 5, 2020 at 9:01 PM
Lanjan - in answer to your question re Only Connect:
Yes we love it and wouldn’t miss an edition. I get so chuffed if I work out an answer in the first two rounds; have difficulty being able to read all the clues on the wall, wish they would show it full on and larger; and love the missing vowels round, we are both shouting out the answers, often before the teams. It’s a great quiz and requires a high level of intelligence and an ability at lateral thinking.
And I too would chose radio over television if one had to go. Perhaps it’s because of growing up in the 40’s and 50’s with the delights of Children’s Hour, Twenty Questions, Top of the Form and all the comedies - too numerous to mention.
TV was a bit of a luxury, switched on for a particular programme and not available 24 hours a day. It often broke down broke and had to go away for repair.
Radio was the constant companion and far more reliable, a background to our lives, and for me, it still is!
MrsP Ambridge - December 6, 2020 at 12:52 AM
I do choose radio over television every day week and month of every year.
No contest IMO.
Thank you ARCHERPHILE for putting it so succinctly for those of us of the WIRELESS generation.
Always a constant companion and background to our lives.
Hilary - December 6, 2020 at 7:10 AM
Only Connect is my second favourite programme, after House of Games! I also like Have I Got News for you, QI, Mock The Week and I love The Graham Norton Show.
Archerphile - December 6, 2020 at 7:59 AM
We used to enjoy HIGNFY but feel
It has gone off recently. Paul Merton hardly contributes anything these days and some of the guests are less than funny. Even Ian Hislop whom I normally like is becoming more and more smug. Sometimes it is only a good host who lifts the programme out of the doldrums!
Archerphile - December 6, 2020 at 8:03 AM
But our favourite panel game these days is WiLTY - with captains David Mitchell and Lee Mack. We are often reduced to uncontrollable laughter at some of the stories and antics - and they have good guests to join in too. Lee Mack is particularly funny and very quick to invent a wry comment or joke.
Tough one. I do love TV and probably watch far too much rubbish - but I don't mind! But I think I would choose radio if one had to go. So many memories from listening to it since I was a child.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWell, I wrote that the only ones I recognise are University Challenge which I used to watch when chaired by Jeremy Paxman and Have I Got News in Angus Deaton's days before his fall from grace (I had missed the 'g' in his name!)
Delete🤣😂🤣
DeleteThat made me chuckle. Thanks!! 🤣
DeleteDam and blast just written quite a long post and the error page came up and not printed 😡
ReplyDeleteBe back later!
Gary I think of my childhood too when I think of radio shows.
DeleteSunday lunch was Round the Horn and in the morning 3 Way Family Favourites with Cliff Michelmore and Judith Chalmers. Sam Costa during the week and Friday Night is Music Night listening with my dad drinking Bovril.
Such lovely memories Autumn.
DeleteAutumnleaves you have covered most of my “lost” post so thank you 🤗 even to the point of your dad’s favourite “Friday night is music night” !
Delete(The Billy Cotton Band Show with Alan Breeze and Kathie Kay - I can almost smell the Sunday roast cooking right now!)
Me too Lady R.
DeleteI had a request played on 2way family favourites for my 21st birthday when my brother was in the Navy and his ship was in Hong Kong. He brought home a couple of months later a length of embroidered white silk for my birthday, which my tailor aunt made my wedding dress from three years later! Of course our favourite was the Navy Lark but l loved Round the Horne
ReplyDeleteHow lovely Spicy 🤗
DeleteThanks for the memories Autumnleaves. It’s good to think of all those people eating their Sunday roasts accompanied by Kenneth Horne et al. Billy Cottons “Wakey wakey” followed it I think?
DeleteSpicy my brother was in the navy too. He used to bring me back LPs from America before they were available over here. I was disappointed when he married and his little sister slipped in popularity, definitely fewer gifts came my way!
Yes Soz. I had a cigarette lighter from Malta, T shirt from HMS Sheffield (sadly lost in the Falklands) silk from Hong Kong, boomerang from Australia etc etc. One of my sisters, now age 60, still has a little teddy bear brought back from an overseas visit. It is so delicate but always accompanies her when she goes off marshalling during the motor racing season.
DeleteA tradition worth keeping. She has brought me back a couple of beautiful hand-blown baubles for my tree from Malta where she marshalls a couple of times a year!
Proud to be Yorkshire, yesterday 7:31pm.
ReplyDeleteI was interested by your comment about the men dressed as women on Strictly yesterday evening and wondered how you felt about the women dressed as men.
Autumnleaves 12.18 - Yes what memories you have invoked. Hancock's Half Hour too. I did really dislike Sing Something Simple though. It came on on Sunday evenings and I was thinking about Monday morning at school and the weekend was over.
ReplyDeleteYes these memories invoke smells of food. I always think of coming home from primary school for lunch (we actually called it dinner), with Sam Costa on the radio and lentil soup on the table. With lots of bread for dunking.😋😋
DeleteHome made lentil soup I may add made with a ham bone.
DeleteOh Anneveggie - Sing Something Simple!! The most depressing, dirge like programme on the radio! Both Mr A and I hated it. You realised you hadn’t finished your prep and had to get ready for school next day.
DeleteMy memory of Two Way Family Favourites on Sunday was that it was hosted by Jean Metcalf, who was, I think, married to Cliff Michelmore.
That was followed by The Billy Cotton Band Show and then the Comedy which varied. I loved Educating Archie when I was little, then Meet the Huggets. Later these were replaced by The Navy Lark or a Kenneth Horn comedy.
I switched off when Carousel came on, hosted by Peter Haig (father of excellent actor David Haig). It was all about films and I had no interest in them!
My earliest memories are not really the radio, except for Listening with Mother, and the Light programme, occasionally.
ReplyDeleteNor was it TV neither.
Mum loved records, on an old record player in the late 50's, early 60's. This was opera, Gilbert + Sullivan, and classical music. The selection was very limited, as couldn't afford much! I know the highlights of Madame Butterfly so well, and as for Mantovani....
Third time lucky? Ooh Mantovani & his orchestra one of my mums favourites “Charmaine” always his intro.
DeleteAs we grew a little older I'm sure you were all like me under the bed covers with our transistor radios listening to radio Luxembourg.
ReplyDelete...and I thought I was unique!!😉
DeleteYep! Me too! I particularly remember A Whiter Shade of Pale!!
DeleteCount me in 🤗
DeleteRadio Caroline...
DeleteMe as welll
Delete“We are the Ovaltinies”
DeleteHappy girls and boys!
DeleteMiriam the must have in the 60s 70s was the stereogram. Carefully cleaned records placed on the turntable all played in stereo. Mantovani, Tommy Garrett and his 50 guitars, Ivor Novello and of course all the soundtracks from the latest musicals.
ReplyDeleteMy brother used to hide his cigarettes underneath the turntable in our old family stereogram! It was a horrible brown thing that stereogram - like having a musical coffin in the living room.
DeleteGary, your image has me chuckling! But have you done all your homework for tomorrow?! Good luck! Have fun!
DeleteThanks Hilary. Done all I'm going to do!
DeleteMy brother and I had a record player, a Dansett I think. You could load several records one on top of the other and It would drop them down one by one. I remember we had Frankie Laine singing “Rawhide” and several Elvis EP’s which had two tracks each side. I was a great Cliff fan but had limited means being still at school so had to save up for “Living Doll” and “Voice in the Wilderness”.
ReplyDeleteRemember when a “clump” would drop from time to time 🤣
DeleteI saw Cliff quite a few times at ABC cinema concerts but I loved The Shadows especially Hank🎸 still admire his guitar skills.
A great uncle of mine worked with Sir Cliff. He was a senior props man at Elstree film studios, so did a lot of work on the film Summer Holiday. He was the one who made the dams, in the Dambusters film...
DeleteWow!
DeleteWe had a very pretty snowfall the other day so I have updated my profile picture from autumn to winter.
ReplyDeleteVery nice indeed Hilary. As you may have gathered, I love the snow. Went for a bit of a hike today along the West Highland Way and could see all the mountains in the far distance covered in snow. It was a gloriously sunny, but cold day where we were. I am pleasantly exhausted...
DeleteHilary, my most recent memory of 'A whiter shade of pale' is the time when a bride requested it to be played at her wedding during the signing of the register. I suggested that she had a look at the words and then come back to me. She changed her mind!
ReplyDelete🤣🤣🤣
DeleteAnneveggie, you mentioned not liking a particular programme because it was on on a Sunday evening & you were already thinking about school the next morning - one of my friends describes that feeling as "having The Ronnies", named after The Two Ronnies which always signalled her (and ALL of my generation's) bedtime for years on a Sunday evening. We all still use it as shorthand for a vague feeling of trepidation, unease or knowing something good is about to come to an and!
ReplyDeleteHa ha, I like that Gary, good one.
ReplyDeleteOthers mention of Mantovani brings back a bad memory. I jumped up on the chair and yelled "Mantovani" then slipped and fell into the fire. I put my arm out to save myself so ended up with my hand on the burning coals. Still remember the pain.
Yikes Anneveggie I’m not surprised you still remember the pain how ghastly!
DeleteI know I talk too much (as you can tell by the length of my posts!) but it became a family joke. Sometime between the ages of 5 and 8 years old (it was the house we were living in that fixes the date) I was sitting in front of an open fire with my brother and my Nan. I was trying to tell Nan something but brother interrupted so I leaned forward, tipped over and put my hand on the hearth, near enough to the grate to burn it. But apparently I didn't stop talking!
DeleteMy Mum had several jobs at different times to make ends meet but nowadays I am aware that almost all of my childhood memories involve my grandmother. She was a constant presence in my childhood. That's what comes of living in the same village for generations I suppose. Not so common nowadays. My sadness is that my children hardly knew their grandparents. I do feel that they have missed something special.
Gary - Have a lovely, memorable for all the right reasons, today!
ReplyDeleteFinally before I have my breakfast toast (Couldn't sleep and have been up for nearly three hours..)
ReplyDeleteArcherphile. I too hated 'Sing Something Simple' Can't think why? It was so depressing as you say. Maybe I thought I should be out and about having a fun time instead of hearing that 'dirge!'
On the whole I had a pretty lonely childhood I suppose, living in the countryside and having little money to travel into 'town' where most school - friends lived.
As I was the only girl of my year to pass the 11+ I drifted away from friends from Primary school. In fact I had to put up with some 'trouble' from a gang who waited for me after getting off the school bus and used to pinch my hat and tease me! I went to school 7 miles away, in Tun Wells and they went to one two miles away in Paddock Wood; exactly the opposite direction so they always were waiting for me. It only lasted a couple of weeks and my brother used to come into the village to meet me on his bike and give me a 'backie' ride past the troublemakers!
Oh dear! Memories eh?
Must cheer myself up. Consultant appointment this afternoon! Can't wait to hear his latest advice! 🤞
Spicy - it sounds as if you and I had very similar childhoods. We also lived in the country and I was virtually an only child, my adoptive parents existing son being 23 years older than me. No one to play with as I went to a school some distance away which was mainly boarding, though I went as a day girl. I spent hours reading, painting, making camps in the woods around the garden where I held tea parties for my dolls and teddies! It sounds lonely, but I didn’t know any different, I assumed this was how all children spent their time.
DeleteI didn’t suffer any bullying on the way to and from school but was mercilessly ‘teased’, poked and called horrid names in school because if being very fat.
That’s why I hated Sing Something Simple because it meant having to go and face that again next morning.
In fact, looking back, I didn’t enjoy my very priviledged school at all until I was a 6th Former, when the teasing stopped and I was given responsibility as a Prefect.
Funnily enough, somebody posted one of those long school photos from 1953 on our school Facebook page yesterday, and there I am sitting cross-legged in the front row with long ringlets and a bow on top of my head. (Very unfashionable back then, insisted upon by my mother and another cause of ridicule and teasing!)
Two very soul bearing and interesting posts - thank you both 🙂
DeleteCan I ask something please about a different TV programme - Doctors? I know a couple of other people here watch it.
ReplyDeleteWhen there is a scene shot in the waiting room/reception or staff room I am getting a lot of background noise of people talking. All murmuring so nothing is decipherable but really quite loud. Enough to interfere with the dialogue being spoken by the actors! It is VERY annoying. What I am wondering is - does anybody else hear these background people talking or is my TV picking up something else on the same wavelength (if you see what I mean?) Answers gratefully received!
PS Consultant happy with blood tests and I am to stop the steroids completely and reduce over the next 3 months the number of Methotrexate tabs (currently 5 tabs all together once a week) till I get to balancing the tabs and the disease. Looks as if I might have to risk blisters coming back if I reduce too far, too quickly but on the whole all is well. Just a lot of patience required!
So.......... I do hope if we manage a meet up somewhere, anywhere, next Summer I'll make it! 😁
👏🏻 Spicy !
DeleteGood news Spicycushion and you're forward looking.
ReplyDeleteHope the others will provide TV feedback.
Spicy.
ReplyDeleteWonderful news about your tabs, some stopping and some diminishing, which I so understand.
To get down to just 5 methotrexate tabs a week, and now being put on a reducing regime, is a very positive result. Just do exactly as have been told, which I know you will.
2021 will be so different for you, with things well under control.
As to Doctors, I watch it, but not live, only after recording it.
I personally, have not noticed any background interference nor noise. In fact I find it the opposite, as being filmed socially recorded, it is often too quiet.
It might be your TV signal.
I am having problems with this, as the signal suddenly disappears, usually at a critical point in a programme. I have a booster on my digital ariel, plus one in the house, so think it is either the weather, or the transmitters.
Great news Spicycushion.
ReplyDeleteI hope we do manage to meet up next year
I have never watched Doctors or any hospital related "soap "
I know it must be me because so many of you watch "Midwives" and I tried to watch one but couldn't get into it.
Some years ago I did watch a series about young people trying to get into medical school at Nottingham University and it was fascinating though.
There was a young lass who was completely honest and said that Nottingham was only her second choice but the panel all took to her and she was offered a place and in fact did decide to go there.
What has made Call the Midwife so interesting, is not so much the medical side, but also the social history, what lives and works entailed, the housing problems, at that time.
DeleteWhat always has been done so well, is showing, what a community is all about, and why.
Went into Wales for the first time for 2 months today, I went to a retail park and arrived soon after 9.00am.
ReplyDeleteIt was busy even then - with queus outside Primark, The Card Factory and a massive one, outside the M+S Food Hall, even at that early time.
I wanted W H Smith - which was fine, and got all I wanted.
I found shopping in a retail park again, great, but I was aware that many, seemed to have forgotten, what Social Distancing actually means.
I was knocked and bumped, a few times, both inside + outside..
At least I have my 2021 diary.
The first thing to be put in:-
Jan. 1st and The Ambridge Quiz at The Bull.
GG will have done well.
No🤞 Just a Massive 👍and a
big 🤗.
Spicy - great news from your doctor, keeping everything tightly crossed for you,
ReplyDeleteRe Doctors - I do watch it live each day so I will specially listen out tomorrow to see if I get that chattering noise too, and report back.
Have to say I have been very disappointed with it since it returned, and it’s nothing to do with Covid restrictions. Some of the stories have been very lame and some of the acting very poor. And there aren’t any characters I especially empathise with at the moment either. 😕
I have a new 1000 piece jigsaw sorted and now being done, bur very slowly. It is very tricky + difficult. (Castorland - After The Rain).
ReplyDeleteMy jigsaw board is so great, flat with a rim on all sides, with 4 other boards, to sort pieces onto. It all goes into a large portfolio style container, and stays intact.
This came from Jigthings, but sadly, they have folded and are no longer in business.
Thanks for all good wishes from everyone.
ReplyDeleteCall the Midwife is filmed in Chatham Dockyard where there are many old buildings for various workers still standing. I am very familiar with the Dockyard as we have many District Scout events, such as St George's Day parade and Award Presentations, as it falls in the Gillingham District of Scouting.
Miriam - I do like the sound of your jigsaw board . I have a basic roll up one given to me by my aunt and uncle many years ago. At the moment I only do online jigsaws but hope to get back to wooden/cardboard ones now steroids are stopped and I can get eyes sorted.
Archerphile - I agree with the 'lameness' of Doctors. After today's episode I thought 'That's half an hour of my life I won't get back!'
BTW I don't watch Call the Midwife. I really don't want to watch women giving birth every week screaming and shouting even though I love Jenny Agutter!
Neither do I, Spicy. In the 1950s my sisters and sils all went into production Big Time and I was designated 'maiden aunt' and from the age of 10 seemed to spend a disproportionate amount of my life child minding outside the local maternity home (which they called the 'matty') while the others went in to visit and lap up the horror stories.
DeleteCuriously, although I didn't have my children until round about the age of thirty, having studied the process carefully and decided how I was going to deal with it my births were straightforward and fairly short. I therefore had no horror stories to add to the family lexicon and was viewed with great suspicion as having let the side down!
I love " midwives" !
ReplyDelete1. Yes Miriam fantastic social history
2. The sets and the district. So redolent of London in the forties and fifties
3 The community of the convent and its inhabitants.
4. Having been unable to give birth myself, I will never tire of being able to see that Joyful event.
Spiceycushion - there really is very little of the ' birthing' itself
I have always wanted to do ' North Kent ' and to come to the wonderful Dickens Day at Chatham, and I think I've said before that I was supposed to be born at Paddock Wood, but my mum didn't make it until her second birth, my sister.
So pleased to read your news Spiceycushion and I do hope it really does improve gradually and completely.
GARY. GILDAY
All the very best tonight.
However you do we are proud to have you represent us.
My new jigsaw board sounds very like Miriam's.
My friend would have bought it online.
The label is Portapuzzle with the logo of a red elephant 'Jumbo'
Made in the Netherlands
Seems very similar to Miriam's.
I alsohave a porta puzzle jigsaw board. This is a 1500 one, which is also great, and for a 1000 piece square puzzle. It is very good, but not as good as my normal one!
DeleteMy jigsaw boards are stored behind my settee, up against a wall.
I'm glad you said the portapuzzle board is good, as I have just ordered the 1000 piece board/case as a Christmas present for someone fairly new to jigsaws ( a handicapped relative hit by a lorry when he was six) as the last one he did of Neuschwanstein castle in snow was on the kitchen table for weeks and weeks before it was finally finished.
DeleteArcherphile,the lovely Robert Rinder was the one "Celebrity " I had heard of on House of Games this evening.
ReplyDeleteI was rooting for him.
If you watch the programme you will see why I wrote that.
One woman who sounded like Natasha I didn't take to at all.
Her name is Alex Jones
"
I loved it when Gethin Jones + Alex Jones, did the One Show together...two Welsh presenters on BBC1.
DeleteI thought Alex Jones was the nice young man who sang about the snowman.
ReplyDeleteOh now I think of it ,he is Aled
ReplyDeleteGary ?
ReplyDeleteIs it over - how did you do - can you tell us ....... anything ?
It was fantastic MrsP! We were recording for about 3 hours, lots and lots of laughter - Kenton & Jolene stayed in character the entire time! It was so bizarre (and lovely) to hear them using my name. There was much good-natured back and forth with the other team and I can only say that I think that everyone did themselves proud!
DeleteLanJan - I certainly will
ReplyDeletecatch up with the edition of H of G with Robert Rinder. He is a particular favourite of mine, especially after viewing his 2 programmes on the holocaust.
I haven’t seen any of the early evening editions because they always clash with the News. The ones I did see and was not so keen on, were the Friday evening ones on BBC1, with the same contestants every week. The only one I knew was Jennifer Saunders and she won twice. The other guests didn’t seem very bright!
I prefer the early evening HOG to the evening one. I am not quite sure why. I think it was because Richard Osman seemed less relaxed somehow.
DeleteWell done Gary, I suppose we'll have to wait until the new year, not long now.
ReplyDeleteForty years ago I was given last minute tickets to a Queen concert at Wembley, didn't know them well. All the same I quickly gathered three others and we drove there. Freddie Mercury sang Imagine...
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to have seen Queen when Freddie was still alive. Lucky you Basia! (I'm not a fan of John Lennon though - every time I hear "Imagine" I remember that at the time he recorded it he owned 2 apartments in The Dakota Building, one of which was used to store Yoko's fur coat collection in climate controlled rooms. "Imagine no possessions" indeed...
DeleteIndeed.... grrrr.
DeleteFreddie ❤️Cleethorpes Winter Gardens
I'm pleased to hear the experience was so enjoyable Gary. Looking forward to hearing it.
ReplyDeleteI'd also have loved to see Queen with Freddie. I still enjoy watching their performance at BandAid.
About a year ago I went with my family to see the Freddy Mercury film starring Rami Malek. All foreign films are dubbed into Italian but the songs were left in English. The words were put up on the screen and the whole audience sang along. It was great fun.
ReplyDeleteSpicy - reporting back on Doctors
ReplyDeleteI watched today’s episode live and didn’t notice any background noise or chatting in the surgery scenes. However, I did have to keep increasing the volume to make out what some of the characters were saying.
Not sure if that’s the TV or my ears though. I tend to find it difficult to make out what people are saying when the talk very fast, as do many of these days!
Thanks Archerphile. Funnily enough I didn't hear it today either! Perhaps it's the atmosphere or something? Yesterday we had thick, cold fog all day but todays is clear, sunny but still quite cold. I remember for several years I couldn't get Channel 4 on my small kitchen TV when it was raining! Now we have 4 large pylons with dishes on them at the top of Bluebell Hill, near Rochester there is no problem!
DeleteI reckon it's one or both of the children 'wot dun it!' 😁
I first saw Queen as a support band for Mott the Hoople, and thought they were great. Bought tickets for the next time they came to Birmingham. By the time they played in Brum, Bohemian Rhapsody had been number 1 for a couple of weeks. Saw them again in 1976, at an open air concert on the day the drought broke! ☔ 🌧️💦
ReplyDelete(though we had no brollies or wet weather gear!)
On that day we landed at Heathrow at 8.00am after three years in Australia. The Quantas pilot told us with great glee it was raining for the first time since May! As we got to the top of the steps (no covered walkways in those days) the smell of the fresh earth was almost overpowering!
DeleteIn the late 70s any new upcoming group used to play gigs around the student unions. My boyfriend at the time was a student at Glasgow uni and a hard rock and punk fan. We used to go practically every weekend to see "new faces". The Pretenders, Eddie and the Hotrods, Blondie , and beleive it or not AC/D.C..
ReplyDeleteThey are still popular with the youngsters today and they find it hard to beleive that a 60ish woman has even heard of them far less saw them in concert when they were starting out.
Great experiences Zoetrope. You never forget those early band concerts. I saw The Who in early days when they played Bournemouth. It was fantastic, so loud and exciting. Rod Stewart also was great in the '70s. Not forgetting the Beatles in '63 of course.
ReplyDeleteAll I can contribute is, which I am sure I have said before, seeing Supertramp playing Dreamer, at a Saturday Night "college bop"!
ReplyDeleteThe only 'gig' or concert that I have ever attended was the free Hyde Park Stones.
ReplyDeleteI picked up my baby, stepped over hundreds of feet and or bodies and took my baby way way away to protect her ears.
On the other hand was on hand with the ' other ' camera at endless Top of the Pops and clubs and photo shoots with many of the sixties groups.
The one night that sticks in my memory was an American group doing Mr Tambourine Man ( no not Dylan ) in a basement club somewhere near the Royal Goegraphical Society.
I had forgotten the name of the group - The Byrds - and forgotten also much earlier in my teenage years hanging out over the piano as Dudley More ( Moor ) played at the Establishment. Those were the days when I still drank Gin.
ReplyDeleteAah..! Pete n Dud... ❤️
DeleteThat record of Mr Tambourine Man is one of my most favourite songs for two reasons. Firstly I adore Bob Dylan and all his works, and secondly that version by the Byrds was No 1 the week I left school in 1965!
DeleteJigsaw update....
ReplyDeleteWhy did I buy it, and why am I still doing it?.
It is so difficult, but I am determined to finish it.
I am at the stage, in that I have no idea what to do next. Do I finish off the bits I am really struggling with, or try and start another area, which look even worse!
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteMr S was an avid Bob Dylan fan in the early years. Our daughter recently bought him a mug with a row of strange houses on it and the caption 'How many roads must a man walk down/ Before he'll admit he's lost.'
ReplyDeleteTestament to his masterful leadership on weekend family route-matches! It was on display at his funeral.
😂🤣🤣 so right I think! A man will drive around for ages trying to find somewhere himself when all you have to do is stop the car and ask a passerby.
DeleteMiriam, the one I was doing when in Cornwall and have now transferred to my puzzle board is also very very difficult.
ReplyDeleteIt is a bookcase with about sixteen sections and all the books have titles of actual books but with the titles changed slightly - Lady Chatterleys Mother - War and Grease.
Dotted here and there are small animals and toys and various bits and pieces.
I did do the outside first, and that in itself was a challenge, then I started on the sections, but I have had to dip in and out because of the colours which are often similar in some sections to those in other sections but with subtle differences in the hatching.
It's the hardest I've ever done, but I am enjoying the challenge and do not have a care at how long it will take me to finish.
Just enjoy it Miriam and start a new section.
Dont worry Miriam, you’ll get through it with a bit of perseverance.
ReplyDeleteMrs P - your jigsaw sounds fascinating. There is a series of Ravensburger 1000 piece puzzles that sound like yours. Set in bookshops, kitchens, wherever, with shelves full of small objects. I did one with sewing and knitting equipment. Funnily enough Mr A wasn’t very interested in that one!
But I must admit, that for the first time ever, we have recently given up on a puzzle that we just couldn’t do! It’s the famous painting of the Tower of Babel, by Brueghel. Hundreds of little windows and tiny people in a very dark background and lots of dark scrubby grounds at the bottom.
Impossipuzzle!
🤣🤣🤣 very good AP
DeleteYes Archerphile, it is one of the Ravensburger 1000 piece puzzles.
ReplyDeleteI only buy in charity shops, and make an instant decision. See it, know instantly that I will find it interesting and buy it.
You obviously do them together. I've never had that experience but I'm sure I would enjoy it. Something I've always yearned for.
Sorry to hear that you had to give up on the Brueghel.
I don't do jigsaws but every year I buy a friend a 1000 piece one with a nice Christmassy scene. This year I decided to have a change and have bought a Ravensburg one called Myths and Legends. Hopefully it will prove difficult. It is as if there are bookshelves but the stories and legends are spilling out of them. It looks a nice picture.
ReplyDeleteSounds lovely Janice! Let us know how it goes.
DeleteI never buy puzzles new, from a shop. They all come via eBay or Charity shops and though I keep some of the very special ones, most go back to the charity shop when finished.
Back to pop stars.
ReplyDeleteI went to see at different times to see the Everly Brothers (with Ralph Mc Tell who said he would sing a medley of his one hit The streets of London ,Marty Wilde, Joe Brown and Frankie Laine-remember him?
He sang "I Believe " really well.
I certainly do LJ! What a great selection of ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ you saw back in the day 🤗
DeleteI remember going to see The Kinks at our local Mecca ballroom in my teens. They were on the stage and we were only a few metres away on the dance floor.
ReplyDeleteWas also dragged to see The Beach Boys at the Palace Theatre in Manchester by a flat mate when at university. She was a big fan, I wasn't.
When I was a teenager (early 60s) there used to be a travelling show every few months of current pop stars who appeared in the town for one night only. (It must have been an awful life for them!)
ReplyDeleteI now confess I used to forge a dentist note to excuse me from school and walk down into town from school for a 10 am 'appointment' and be first in the queue at the box office to get a £1 front row seat!
Let me think now who I saw live on stage: Dave Clark 5, The Sputniks (a year later, Heinz when he went solo)The Merseybeats, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Freddie and the Dreamers, Mannfred Mann, Dave Berry, John Leyton, Dusty Springfield, B Bumble and the Stingers, The Walker Brothers Oh so many! I got many, many autographs. I wish I had saved them all!
One bittery cold night we were waiting outside the stage door and I tripped over in the dark and grazed my hand. I said to Paul Jones, of Mannfred Mann)"Be careful my hand's a bit bloody 'cos I fell over" and he immediately 'kissed it better!'
Ha, wouldn't happen now!
DeleteJigsaw update.
ReplyDeleteHousework is now on hold, as I need to finish it.
Today has been better, as I picked up my prescription reading glasses this morning, after a small repair. My "off the rack" ones were sufficient, but I can certainly see the difference - 🤓
Jigsaw is so frustrating, and a challenge, but it wil be finished.
I don't buy jigsaw puzzles from charity shops, as I don't know who has handled them before..I only buy new. OCD?
Spiceycushion- we have a link there.
ReplyDeleteMy husband was Mannfred Mann's photographer, also the Yardbirds and covered many other groups, however he became very friendly with Paul Jones, and we used to have dinner with him and his partner from time to time. A nice man.
Well I've seen the orthopaedic consultant this afternoon.
I didn't need the boot !
Apparently it's only any good to have a boot for the three weeks following the trauma.
I didn't have the X-ray until three weeks after the injury.
The boot hasn't helped at all, in fact it has made the injury feel worse because it was putting strain on other muscles and ligaments leading to my toes.
It is what I thought and felt.
Technically I have a sprain, but the ligament has broken off a tiny jutty out little piece of the lateral mallieosis (?sp). A little bit of bony structure.
It will heal on its own, I have been doing the right thing by continuing walking on it, and he was impressed at how well I was managing.
It was a very positive consultation and I feel restored by meeting him. He was also very engaging and humorous.
We finished with a discussion about our throwaway society and how the NHS was the worst offender.
The orthopaedic boot that I've had for one week only and didn't need in the first place, will be thrown away. He and I were both adamant that somewhere in the world, Africa perhaps, someone would be glad to have an almost new boot. But no, it has to go in the incinerator or perhaps landfill.
Out of interest last week I looked up the retail price of this boot. It was in the region of £40- 70 !
I am outraged.
But I'm free !
I can drive, if I feel safe to do so, and I can return to Tai Chi, and of course continue walking. But I must be careful because once badly sprained it can easily happen again because the ligaments are now weakened.
He also thought I should go ahead and have my steroid injection for the arthritis, so I shall call the department tomorrow to attempt to reinstate my appointment which was for the 16th.
For me, today has been a good day !
The surgeon confirmed your intuitive feeling MrsP, we often (not always) know best and it's good to have the doctors on our side. Keep on walking and Lady must be pleased.
DeleteExcellent news Mrs P!
DeleteAgree about NHS wasting money. Before my hip operation I was given a raised toilet seat, an adjustable height stool for the bathroom and a bedside commode, as there were steps between my bedroom and the bathroom.
I never used any of these items, they were still in their original plastic packaging and boxes when I was recovered enough to return them to the hospital. They wouldn’t take any of them!!
I tried giving them to the local Red Cross and several charity shops. Nobody would have them. In the end I had to advertise them in the local shop, for free, and they were gratefully collected by an elderly lady’s daughter.
I know how you feel AP. And this has been going on for decades.
DeleteThe NHS IS THE WONDERFUL ORGANISATION that the world knows about, but it is very very poor at saving costs, because of its very poor administration.
When I left the ward after my broken finger surgery the nursing staff took me into a room and literally thrust a handful of plastic bags at me to wrap around my arm when I had a bath. I used ONE bag and dried it each day.
I'm considering starting a campaign !
You’ll have my support Mrs P!
DeleteI heard on the news yesterday of a study which concluded that the weight of human made objects on the planet is now equal to the weight of biomass and on the way to surpass it. On average, for each person on the globe there is an amount of "stuff" produced each week which equals more than their bodyweight...
DeleteWhat about us, who re-cycle everything, and buy with that in mind. I have just put my general waste bin out for tomorrow. This is the 1st time for 4 weeks and there is very little in it..
DeletePS I would love to know, how the average weight of a person has been determined.
I am still only 8 + 1/2 stone.
Fantastic stuff MrsP.
DeleteThat's good news Mrs. P!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant Mrs. P.
ReplyDeleteI have finished my jigsaw.
ReplyDeleteIt is wonderful, now completed, but oh so difficult!
Now to catch up with the ironing + house chores.
Did I enjoy it - No to begin with, but now finished - Yes.
Mrs P. I have to ask.
ReplyDeleteAs an outpatient, in a hospital today, were you offered a Covid vaccine?
No Miriam, no offer nor any suggestion.
DeleteNo temperature taken either, simply a question asked by the clinic nurse if I had any Covid symptoms.
The hospital entrance was well set out with yellow footprints to follow directions and distance as well as in one side of doors and out the other.
I stood and waited for my lift driver to appear and watched.
Half the people coming in were clearly not looking at the obvious directions and wandering in front of those that were.
Not impressed !
Basia, that item was on our news today.
Well where is everyone?
ReplyDeleteRobert Rinder about to clean up on “House of games” this week? I do like him and the competition isn’t up to much for a man of his intelligence.
Been a really murky day here in Hampshire how about others?
When I logged nothing for the 10th came up 🤔 only after post published.
DeleteThe TG president, Sue, called round today. She had decided to refund all our yearly fee as it turned out we had no meetings in this financial year. It is so sad and I miss it a lot. We may never get back to normal as many members are getting older and may not have the confidence to attend any more. We were told to spend the money on something nice so am thinking of buying a daylight lamp from Ken Bromley art supplies so that I can carry on painting after dusk. For the artists among you I really recommend Ken Bromley which you can see online. They have such a wide range of art materials and at reasonable prices.
ReplyDeleteI had difficulty getting into our blogs this morning- the little wheel just kept spinning and spinning. Perhaps Chrome was having problems?
ReplyDeleteNothing much to report except been diagnosed with gastritis or possible gastric ulcer. In loads of pain in my stomach, just under the ribs , which goes right through to my back. So taking acid reducing capsules and only eating very little. Just what I needed for Christmas! 🥴
Oh no Archerphile this year is really giving it to us with both barrels. Sending every sympathy 💐
Delete(Did you visit or speak over the phone with Dr re your diagnosis)
Sorry to hear this, Archerfile. We eat and drink and take our innards for granted until they go wrong! Hope you are feeling a bit better by Christmas.
ReplyDeleteMuch sympathy Archerfile. Pineapple juice is supposed to be good for inflammation of the stomach. I drank it watered down at one time when my stomach played up and it seemed to be soothing.
ReplyDeleteThat’s strange Janice. I should have thought pineapple juice would have been acidy like orange I’d lemon juice. But I’ll give anything a try, thanks for the recommendation.
DeleteMilk is a more usual recommendation - alkali, I think.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry Archphile. Stomach pain is nasty and I hope you feel better very soon.
ReplyDeleteHope whatever you try helps Archerphile.
ReplyDeleteGood luck.
Gastritis is normally caused by the stomach acid, irritating the stomach lining.
ReplyDeleteIt is often caused by spicy foods, alcohol etc.,... not that Archerphile imbibes these.
It is just too much acid being produced, for some reason.
The acid reducing tablets, work really well, and very often settle things down quickly, and can prevent, or even heal, an ulcer.
The other important thing is to keep to a blander diet, for a short while until symptoms reduce.
Chin Up, Archerphile.
Christmas can still happen and be enjoyed, with all the "trimmings".
A Big 🤗
What I have found sad, over the last couple of days, and is a sign of the times, is that how desparate some are for monies.
ReplyDeleteI had my hedges cut yesteday, by the family firm who usually do them.
They did need doing, and a great job was done. It was the son on his own , and on asking, I learnt that his Dad is having a triple by-pass op. on Monday..
Also, my monthly window cleaner turned up today, earlier than expected, but again a good job was done.
It is heartbreaking, as these people I know + trust, seem to be struggling..but I will not be taken for a ride, nor be considered a soft touch.
Both these jobs needed doing, and I am pleased that they have been done.
I was glad to pay, for both jobs,as were so well done If it has helped, then so be it.
DeleteI have however, made a note of the date.
I will not be duped...as to the next due time!
Miriam with outside jobs the weather plays a big part and can play havoc with planned schedules and I wonder if your hedge trimmer’s son was trying to be ahead of time in order to isolate so be be able to see dad for Christmas post op. As they are regular tradesmen I’m sure they would be aware of how on the ball you are, as is very wise!
DeleteArcherfile 8:37:
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that drinking something as acidic as pineapple juice would be a good idea when you are on treatment to reduce the acidity in your stomach.
How sad, to hear the news about Dame Barbara Windsor.
ReplyDeleteWhat I remember her most for, is in the film Carry On Camping, the scene when excercising, and her "top" flew off.
Another "Great" is now no more. 😭😭
So many Greats have gone this year:-
ReplyDeleteDame Dianna Rigg
Sir Sean Connery
Nicholas Parsons
Bobby Ball
Jack Charlton
Tim Brooke-Taylor
Des O'Connor
Frank Bough
Peter Allis
....to name but a few.
They all will be missed, in some way or another.
They all entertained, in their own way for so many.
DeleteAlso Geoffrey Palmer.
DeleteHe was perfect as Lionel, in a "Time Goes By", which I watched tonight.
Yes indeed Miriam that’s quite a list of greats, I loved Geoffrey Palmer in any role especially “As time goes by” and “Butterflies” 🤗
DeleteThank you everyone for your good wishes.
ReplyDeleteMiriam said I don’t eat spicy food or drink alcohol - but I always make curry on Monday nights, not hot spicy, more flavoursome spicy and it was on a Monday night in bed that the pain started! I’ve been taking the capsules for over a week, eating a much blander diet and absolutely no alcohol but still in a lot of pain, so if there is no improvement after the weekend I shall try to see my GP again.
AP ❤
ReplyDeletePossible IBS ? I have bouts of it and it is painful. Maybe something you could ask your Dr about as he /she would have to would confirm as far as they can - should it be Buscopan tablets can be useful.
ReplyDeleteStress is a factor in tummy troubles and it’s certainly been and still is a year of that🤞🏼you will feel better soon.
Archerfile some others have pointed out quite rightly that pineapple juice is acidic, and it may well be that what you have is different from what I had. I was taking omeprazole for a while for acid reflux, and I put blocks of wood about 3 inches high under the legs at the head of the bed. Later I used pineapple juice ( bottled but freshly squeezed not from concentrate, and watered down) for the bromelain which helps calm down inflammation. I also took probiotics/prebiotic capsules and ate bioyoghurt just to make sure there were lots of good bacteria in my stomach. Doc sent me for a scan at one point which didn't find anything. He thought query ulcer or IBS. It was particularly annoying as it stopped me from going on holiday with my daughter, and it was a right nuisance. It did clear up eventually, and yours will too, but it can be reassuring to have a scan or similar. 🤗
ReplyDeleteRIP Dame Barbara Windsor. A lovely Cockney lady with a lot of personality.
ReplyDeleteOnce again Lady R and Janice, thank you for your suggestions and input.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have suffered IBS too, for 40 years on and off, but the symptoms this time are quite different. And in a different area. I can usually control IBS by cutting all wheat, high fibre food (and sweeteners like sorbitol and maltitose) out of my diet. And I have occasionally taken Buscopan.
Yes, it is Omeprazole I am taking and I had it years ago for the same reason as you Janice. I even underwent a gastroscopy investigation but nothing was found. But this time symptoms are quite different, totally in the stomach and not heartburn. It’s a bit like having a permanent ‘stitch’ in my side after running hard.
I had to take co-codamol last night to get any sleep as I couldn’t lie comfortably.
I am quite worried the pain might be pancreatitis rather than gastritis so will definitely ring my GP on Monday.
Any way, that’s more than enough about my intestines so I will not mention them again until I have something positive to report. (Though I must say how helpful it has been to speak about my discomfort and fears here with such good friends)
Onwards and upwards to more cheerful subjects 🙂
to
I have found kefir drinks very helpful and try to have a small glass every day. I had radiotherapy on the pelvic area years ago so do have issues. Yes, wise to consult doctor again Archerfile. All the best!
DeleteI'm sorry but I cannot share all the eulogising over Barbara Windsor.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like her much in the Carry On film; all very much acting the same in different films, but I did respect her acting in Eastenders, in the trailers and scenes I saw. A much more 'ordinary' human being, with a variety of emotions. Don't get me wrong I do think the Carry On films are funny and they were clever in their versions of history!
However, I cannot forget the photograph of Windsor walking with the Kray brothers behind Violet Kray's hearse. Very little has been said on TV and radio of her attachment to the vicious East End gangs. Windsor said in an interview later that she based her portayal of Peggy Mitchell on Violet Kray. Her continued involvement with that monstous family, even after she was famous, really did her no favours.
It is sad that she (but mostly her husband and friends) suffered so much over the past few years and I think it is marvellous that she, like Bob Monkhouse, Doddie Weir and many others, have used their limited time to promote awareness of their terrible diseases.
I agree, Spicycushion. It is funny how the bad things about people disappear when they die.
DeleteOh good! Now I can admit too, that we found the coverage of Barbara Windsor’s death yesterday very overdone. And were especially exasperated that her death was the top item of news all day long.
DeleteShe was an actress. She appeared in plays, films and a TV Soap for many years. So have many others been. She was also connected with hardened criminals, as fact glossed over, as Spicy has said.
Yes, she used her fame to promote awareness and fund raising for Alzheimer’s, a condition she was very unfortunate to have develop in her later years
But so have many other well known people for that and other illnesses.
I wonder how much coverage there will be when a really talented actress, like Judy Dench,
passes on. Or, forgive me, The Queen? I certainly hope they get equal coverage with Miss Windsor. She may have been ‘the nation’s sweetheart’ but she certainly wasn’t ours.
Oh thank goodness. I needed to get that off my chest but was afraid I would upset everyone.
DeleteWell I have to say that I was amazed when Barbara Windsor was made a Dame.
DeleteHowever I don't think that anybody who is paid so highly for doing a job they enjoy should ever be honoured in that way.
They can afford to become a "patron" of a Charity .
It means that they open the odd fête or speak at the odd Dinner
It is the volunteers who do the hard work .
There are some who get honours who don't even choose to live in this Country
I would reserve all honours for people who do a brave act or discover a cure for some disease.
I hope the people who have developed the COVID Vacine get rewarded by being given the highest honours.
Ev, I so much agree with what you said. I can think of a couple of women in my family remembering their husbands as the best, when they were not so during their lifetime. Fair enough, they loved them all the same, best kept to themselves. I keep telling my sister that at my wake, if they want one, they should include my faults as well, but play the music I like even if they don't.
ReplyDeleteRe Barbara Windsor - I disagree with you Spicycushion, Ev and Archerphile, but enough said and we are all entitled to our opinions.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you are still suffering AP.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get some answers soon.
A thought -gallstones?
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteA good guess Miriam. Very similar symptoms but I had a cholecystectomy back in 1992 so that’s another possibility I have to discount, I’m afraid.
DeleteOh no!
ReplyDeleteJust read the news that Nick Hewer is giving up presenting Countdown, one of our very favourite never-miss daily programmes. He has been an excellent Chairman along with brilliant Susie Dent and Rachel Riley.
Apparently he has decided at the age of 76 (same as Mr A) he wants to stop working and do more travelling whilst is is still able to.
The selection of a new presenter could make or break the programme so I hope the producers choose wisely.
I heard this on the radio Archerphile during last week. Suggestions were invited mostly women at that point. The obvious ones probably too busy with other work, Sandy Togsvik (spelling) for one - I thought of her immediately now I’m trying to remember the other suggestions typical 🙄
DeleteWho would you and Mr A put forward? Plus other bloggers 🤔
More a question of who we wouldn’t want!
DeleteDefinitely NOT Gyles Brandreath. Or Dame Jenni Murray,bBradley Walsh, Richards Osman or Jimmy Carr.
If it has to be a BAME woman to satisfy diversity demands I can only think of Samira Ahmed or Moira Stewart. Otherwise there are a couple of radio presenters with lovely voices - Susan Rea and Paddy O’Connell who could make a good job of it.
David Mitchell and Rob Brydon would be excellent but probably too busy.
Cory Caulfield and several others are leaving R4.
DeleteI shall miss these so familiar voices.
Oh I like Gyles B 🤣 he was one of the names I shouted at the radio along with Sadie T.
DeleteOf course it could be your Alton friend Alan AP 😱 he does most things!
I have always found Gyles B quite creepy when he is a guest on Countdown. He always leans in so close to Susie, invading her space and giving answers before she can. He also claims to be best friends with so many famous people including the Duke of Edinburgh and drops names all the time. In one paper today he claimed to be a best friend of Barbara Windsor which I found unlikely. I won’t go on but I’m afraid I just don’t like the man! A bit like AT, very oily!
DeleteI don’t watch Countdown.as not very good with anagrams but I think the host needs to have some refinement and nominate Michael Portillo!
ReplyDeleteUmm not bad Ev! I don’t often see CD now but when visiting my lovely (Epsom) aunt over the years it was a staple and she was so on the ball into her 90th year and came up quickly with words often 7 letters whereas pleased with 4 🤣and ecstatic with a 5 🙃
DeleteWhereas I was....
DeleteEv, I would nominate Michael Portillo for most things.
DeleteI am told by someone who has met him that he is extremely pleasant .
Last night I decided -briefly- to see what I was missing by not watching"Strictly"
ReplyDeleteI came to the conclusion that if they didn't have the dreadful presenters who have to give a long pause before giving a result -especially the one who squints behind her black fringe - and judges who are totally over the top and obnoxious and participants who prattle on and on about how wonderful their partners are it might not be too bad.
I used to enjoy the old BBC programme Come Dancing back in the day where every large town had a Dancing School and the competition was between these regional schools. Each town had a couple dancing Latin American, one dancing Waltz, Foxtrot etc possible called 'Ballroom' and the formation Dancing a bit like couples performing like the Tiller Girls (if you remember them?!) but all dressed identically and dancing various dances but moving around in patterns across the floor.
DeleteI remember the commentator (usually Peter West I think) used to make a lot of which lady had made her own dress and how many sequins and yards of tulle had been used!
I liked Strictly in the first season. Then, as usual, Bruce Forsyth spoiled it for me making the show all about him as he did with every show he took over, in my opinion.
My Nan used to make us laugh by saying the ladies in the ballroom dresses which had twenty or thirty layers, and which ended up being as big as a crinoline dress, looked 'like feathery chicken bottoms!'
I remember a program a few years back when he went to live with an ordinary family and fitted in so well. I love his railway journeys and most of all admire him for getting out of politics as he didn’t fit in with the ethos of many. Politicians promise the earth but most are primarily concerned with feathering their own nest it seems to me.
ReplyDeleteWhen I happened upon it by accident there was such a lot of screeching that I hastily moved on.
ReplyDeleteRe Strictly (am still a fan); last nights show wasn’t entirely typical. As it was the semi-final, each contestant and their professional partner were invited to say something about each other. So of course there was a lot of congratulating each other going on.
ReplyDeleteThe judges usually all sit together in a row and are often more (helpfully) critical to guide the contestants in improving their performance.
I did find Saturday night’s show very loud with the orchestra & studio guests overdoing the enthusiasm. I also find their oh-so-clever lighting techniques very distracting. But I think celebrating was because they have managed to produce a series despite the difficulties of lockdown, something most people thought they wouldn’t be able to do.
The one thing I will agree with is the ridiculous long pause when announcing results - but this also happens on The Great British Bakeoff and many other programmes and is extremely annoying.
All about the drama and racking up the tension of course. It certainly appears to do that for the couples. I believe the presenters are told the result per couple via their ear piece and when to announce. Although Tess holds a card 🤔 so maybe just waiting for the NOW!
DeleteFed up with Poinsettia - how about a robin for Christmas?
ReplyDeleteStunning Archerphile ⭐️ Mr R is very impressed. In his day he did lots of bird photography and we have a framed shot of a robin on a log with some raised feathers on its back which in Camera Club competition he named “Ragged Robin” and received a 10!
DeleteLovely robin Archerphile! I love those little birds. I have a embroidered picture of one which I did years ago and it comes out every winter.
DeleteCan't go wrong with a robin. I've got a tapestry of one that I did years ago. We also have one in our garden that keeps me company when I'm out there at this time of year.
DeleteMy absolute favourite birds!
DeleteI have just had my first Round Robin .
ReplyDeleteIt is from someone I have never met who decided to send me a Christmas card each year after his father to who'm we sent a card, died several years ago.
I do not know any of the people mentioned and am not remotely interested that they managed two holidays this year.
Why do people do it?
We've got someone who sends one every year regaling us with what they have done all year in minute detail. This year she started by saying " for a year in which nothing much seems to have happened I have plenty to say" then wrote 4 sides of A4 telling us all the things they didn't do.
Delete🤣🤣🤣 oh dear I guess laughing at them is best. In better times one would dine out on them!
DeleteI send one every year to folks I haven’t been in contact with or to those I have been to fill in the gaps! My rule though is just one side of A4 with a large font and a border! I like to get them but as you say CC 4 sides is too much. You must have dozed off by the end! I am always disappointed to get cards with no news at all, just the sender’s name.
DeleteWhile I was writing the above a pan containing cherry juice which I was reducing boiled dry and set off the alarm. Dudley was most upset, barked and then just looked sheepish. Yes folks, had forgotten about it! At least the cherries weren’t in there! It must be my age but there again have always lived on a different planet!
DeleteA tip for cleaning burnt pans, add baking powder or bicarbonate to water and simmer the result in the pan. It works wonders! Handy for the absent minded like me!🙃
DeleteSoap powder or a dishwasher tablet also have brilliant results!
DeleteArcherphile how are you did you contact your Dr today?
ReplyDeleteI agree Ev ,6:50 pm that it is nice to get a bit of news .
ReplyDeleteA few words suffice though.
If one mentions holidays(probably not this year) it smacks of showing off.
If one mentions grandchildren it smacks of bragging.
Quite honestly most people don't care two hoots about whether your grandchild has got into Oxford or has been arrested for drug dealing.
The latter would be more interesting but hardly likely to be mentioned.
You might mention a new pet perhaps.
Sorry I think if you want to tell somebody something you should sit down and write a personal letter and write about things that person will be interested in.
If the round robin takes up more than the inside LH side of the card it is too much!!
ReplyDeleteWhilst we’ve been on illness again lately...... my second lot of Botox has not worked and I’m now sporting a Christmas eye patch. No Christmas miracle for me.....ie 2 functioning eyes.
Hohoho. 🥳🍸🍾
Mine probably would fit on LHS. This year am sending out about 50 cards though and if all handwritten I would be burning the midnight oil! I usually write in a short PS to personalise it.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about your eye PtbY. It is possible to wear an eye patch and a face mask at the same time (and do they have to match?)
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, it must be a blow to you to have this problem again and I do hope it won’t spoil Christmas for you.
Pretty difficult with the eye patch, mask and glasses!
DeleteDo tend to pull mask down under my nose. Haven’t got matching patch and mask. May have to investigate that combo.
Won’t spoil my Christmas. I’ve got a bottle of gin, Cointreau and Bacardi put aside ready. 🍸
I’m already practising the Christmas spirit locally with cafes. We are”eating out, get fat, to help out”
Trying our best to visit a cafe once a day to keep them in business, no big chains just local businesses.
Lady R - no I didn’t speak to the Dr today. The problem seemed to have eased slightly but is grumbling again this evening. So I’m going to see what happens towards the end of the week before taking further action.
ReplyDeleteDon’t leave it too late with Christmas nearly upon us.
DeleteDitto Ptby! Do you think it could “Lockdown” induced even though technically we are not currently - I know that I and others have had an assortment of physical reactions Need to be sure though!
DeleteLondon tier 3 from Wednesday! Yet anyone can travel the country in a weeks time....
Oops we are tier 2 of course 🙃
DeleteNo Miriam or Mrs P today 🤔
Archerfile, I love your robin! I hope your problem resolves itself but agree you may need to seek medical advice sooner rather than later. Let us know how you get on.
ReplyDeleteThis morning there is a very long and very interesting Guardian article about TA which I found by googling the title: " A peculiarly English epic: the weird genius of The Archers.
ReplyDeleteMy very best wishes to all of you who are suffering with any sort of illness .
ReplyDeleteI hope that you all will improve very soon.
Round Robins:
ReplyDeleteWe get one, just one, every year from our friends whose 50th Anniversary Party we attended last year. Some of you may remember my account of the event! It was a real one-off.
Well, true to their nature, their round robin each year runs to 3-4 pages of very closely typed script. Each member of the family recounts their own year and the paterfamilias sums up.
It really is the most boring essay with details from the running costs of their car, to which make of washing machine they chose to replace the old one!
I simply sign our return card with best wishes, but they just don’t take the hint!