🤣🤣🤣 good tongue in cheek remark Gary! We will be sitting alongside you and getting a sore bottom no doubt. How did your latest trip go? ( Were you away agin this last week?)
Lady R, I had a fantastic few days thanks. Lots of cycling in perfect cycling weather! The performance of "The Merry Wives of Windsor" at Abbotsford House was absolutely brilliant - the first time I have ever "got" Shakespeare, if you know what I mean? There were only 5 actors but they switched roles very slickly and in a way that wasn't confusing. Loved it.
Ev, growing up our house was split into 2 camps when it came to bread - a pan loaf was for sandwiches and a plain loaf was for toast! At least, that's what some of us thought. I still remember the fights over the "outsiders"...
Oh, AP, I was all set for a jolly evening of Pooh sticks when I remembered that my dinky little 2' section of chuckling stream between the two tiny waterfalls has no bridge. Pooh sticks in the rain is one thing; in the rain without a bridge is a step too far! Never mind, there's always yesterday's crossword.
Well here we are, 'scotché' in front of the telly... Head still fizzing from a day's intense concentration in the recording studio 🤪 sorry for Berrettini 😔 never taken to Djokovic. Another glass of rouge required. 🍷🍷
Wimbledon vs Wembley. This so 0-1, on comparing the commentaries. No waffle nor silly comments, at Wembley, as just pure, short, precise and interesting.
I don't think penalty shootouts are a good way of ending a match. It isn't a test of the skill of the whole team, and puts too much pressure on the goalkeeper.
Mr R thought so too but had very much hoped to be wrong! I’m not a regular football follower but I feel they are a good young team with a gentleman for a manager and future potential! Would it have been better to bring the subs on at the beginning of extra time not only to warm up more but being fresh legs maybe they could have set up another goal - but what do I know I bow to the likes of yourself Lanjan 😇
The pace of life is going to change for us over the next few weeks, my daughter and family are due to arrive from Singapore at lunch time today. They wil be staying with us until they find somewhere to live and we will be in charge of a 7yr old and a 2yr old while they are house hunting. We haven't seen them since January 2020 so it's going to be quite a reunion.
Probably not going to get much time to listen to The Archers or write posts on here for a while.
How wonderful for you CC! To see your daughter and her family again after so long. Will they have to isolate in a hotel or can they come straight to you? I'm sure we'll all be agog to hear how you are all getting on and will forgive you for ignoring TA for a while ~ you will have much more important things to do.
I have just accessed this blog on our Windows PC and had no problems at all logging in and leaving a post, unlike yesterday when I tried innumerable times on the iPad. This is is so frustrating because I don't want to have to wait my turn to use the computer and sit up in the office. And apart from that Mr A might see what I'm doing! But at least it works.
I've just spoken with my musculoskeletal therapist and she has agreed to refer me for surgical consultation for my ankle. I anticipate a very long wait before I get to the front of the queue.
- at least you are in the system, which is at least, a start. As you say, how long will this take. I have read that, referrals are now taking almost a year, but it does depend on the area lived in..
Cheshire Cheese. How exciting for you all. Where are they planning to buy, and will this be near to you, so you can see the grandkids growing up. They change so quickly. Enjoy your, long awaited hugs, cuddles etc...
Archerphile. When are you off to France, for your long awaited meet up with your family? This now seems so very possible.
I will continue wearing a mask in shops, hairdressers etc. This just seems so normal now. What will others do?
Lady R,I really don't know anything about the finer points of football. It doesn't stop me from pretending that I do though. I agree with you about the substitution and I can't understand why he asked the two youngsters to take penalties when there were older more experienced players who were better suited in my opinion to take them but then it is easy for me to talk .
Good luck with your Consultation Mrs P Lovely to have your family back from Singapore ,Cheshire Cheese. We are having Singaporean weather this afternoon. The heavens have just opened. It is sheeting down here. .
To reply to questions. Family from Singapore don't need to isolate, just do day 2 PCR tests.
They will be moving to the London area. They already have a house in Harrow but their tenants have a contract for several more months. They want to move further out of London so will rent until they can sell their house. They've only been here half a day and I'm exhausted. 2yr old is a handful and I've already had to move a load of stuff that I never had to with the others! We are enjoying the hugs and cuddles though.
A niece moved from Woodford, just as Covid appeared, to a small village in Essex. This has worked out, with a far better quality of life, yet her journey into London for work is just the same with a quick train journey, with just a short tube one.
You mentioned Harrow,Cheshire Cheese. As a child I spent my holidays in the unlikely holiday resorts of Wolverhampton and Harrow on the Hill- to relations.We never went to hotels or even Boarding Houses. We continued visiting my lovely cousin in H on the H when my boys were little and they loved it there so much so that when my younger son worked in London he chose to live on the Hill .
I remember Harrow being on the same tube line as Northwood. I was posted to Northwood early in my career in the Wardroom. I thought it would be all senior, old fogies there but in the event it wasn’t like that and I met Mike! The rest is history! It is a lovely part of the country and so easy to get into London. I hope your family find a house quickly, CC for their sake as well as yours. Much as you must love the children it isn’t easy to cope as you get older! Enjoy them though!
My G daughter is there in H on the H / Northwood at the Department of Fashion, London University, the old Harrow School of Art. And I've been to that Northwood too Ev. My sister married an American service man and when he brought her home from Texas he disappeared, twice ! At some point in her journey of that marriage I took her to see his former CO who was very understanding and compassionate and helped us try to find him.
At some point in my teenage years I first smoked pot in the famous school, but what I remember is all the oak panelling with graffiti carved in it.
Sorry to report my much-loved little Micra failed it’s MOT yesterday. 😢 But it only needs a couple of minor things doing and should be back on the road tomorrow. The mechanic said it’s a really good little car for its age and I should get a couple more years out of it before it would need major work or scrapping. So I expect that’s when I’ll give up driving, or at least having my own car.
On a completely different topic: I have just heard the long statement put out yesterday by Marcus Rashford, brilliantly written and apologising for his failure in taking that penalty goal but refusing to apologise for who he is or where he comes from. He is a remarkable young man, intelligent, caring, thoughtful, and an inspiration to other youngsters. The racial abuse that he and the other two players have suffered since the game is appalling and I really hope the culprits are traced and dealt with.
Don't be afraid to just play around. I had my first smartie, about 4 years ago, and hadn't a clue. I worked it out though. I am upgrading it soon, but just a very simple upgrade. I still do not know how to do a profile picture..
I shall continue resisting....... for ever I hope.
Archerphile
So hope your repairs to your M L Micra help you continue loving it for at least the next two years. As you know I loved mine too but said goodbye. Wish I hadn't though !
I like that my e-mails appear on my 'phone. Many I can easily just delete, but when an important one comes in, this is when I use my PC in my office/study- basically the compact box room!! I never do anything important, on my smartie.
Another snippet of news, then I’ll shut up for the rest of the day! I just had a phone call from the hospital with the result of the CT Scan on my throat. Apparently I still have an abscess in my throat which is causing problems with swallowing and ear pain. The solution? A prescription for 4 week’s worth of antibiotics, then they’ll re-assess. I told them 1 week on Claithromycin hadn’t cleared the infection and asked for a second week’s worth, but they insisted it wasn’t necessary. Sometimes, just sometimes, the patient is right!
Mistral. I might be wrong, but when on this site, click on your name "unknown". If this happens, this blog site profile wil appear. I always have to enlarge this, but it is easily done. Put two fingers in the centre of the screen and swipe open. This should give a clearer display. IF you get this far, then go down and you will see a box labelled as - display name. Type in Mistral, then either publish or save, whatever is prompted 🤞🤞 Good Luck..😄
You don't need teenagers to help ,Mistral. I was given a book called IPhone for Seniors Excellent. What are you going to resist !Mrs P? I hope it isn't getting a smart 'phone. They are brilliant. Now that I have given up driving I can use it to find out how long it will be before the next bus is due, order an Uber taxi, etc etc. I wouldn't be without it.
AP I am a bit confused.. Does this mean, that you now have a 4 week antibiotic course, but with a different one? I am just curious to know what this is.
I am on a 3 month course of a low dose antibiotic, to help sort a simple eye problem only.
What a relief, that the scans just showed, an easily resolved problem.
You will get to go on that booked cruise, in September.
Until the script arrives in the post tomorrow I’m not sure exactly what it will be. I suspect Clarithromycin as they know I’m allergic to penicillin, but possible a lower dose than before. I’ll let you know Miriam
Lan Jan .... resisting ? Yes resisting anything other than a very basic mobile. I don't wish to know when the next bus is coming. I don't buy anything on line so don't have anything other than the postman delivering anything. I don't need taxis, I have legs. I've lived almost eighty years without such ' ease ' in life and I don't wish to change that now. I don't like 'easy' In my opinion we are put on this earth to struggle and learn. Not to have it easy.
Hmmm. That sounds like you are being a bit tough on yourself. I think life can be hard and a struggle at times but I don't think it should be like that. With advances in science etc I look forward to a utopian world, maybe not in my lifetime but sometime in the future for my descendants to enjoy. Anyway, I really wanted to say that my cousin Sue who stayed recently has just become the happy owner of a Romanian street dog like you did. He has come from a charity called, I think, Many Tears, and has been in this country for 2 months. She has sent pictures of him, and he is a dear little brown and white dog with a nice face. He hasn't been used to being on a lead , and to begin with he was hiding under her bed, and under bushes in the garden, but is beginning to gain confidence now. She woke up a couple of nights ago to find he had emerged from under the bed and was curled up on the bed licking her hand.She has had rescue greyhounds in the past, and her last 2 old ones died 6 months apart during the lockdown times leaving her very lonely. She was finding them too heavy to lift when they were ill , so decided to have a smaller dog this time. I told her about you and Lady.
Many tears is a charity here in Stroud I believe Janice, so I might well have seen pictures of your cousins new dog, as I now belong to a number of online 'dog' groups. Lady still licks me as often as she possibly can and we have a good five minutes of her licking my hands before I say ' sleepy time now ' and we both settle down. My father always maintained that dogs licked hoomans to get the salt. Dog psychology now tells us it is about connection. Take your pick ! Janice, may I suggest that your cousin Sue joins at the very least ' Meesh Masters ' but also ' P2R ' paws2rescue adoption group, not to adopt again but to be part of the adoption of Rumanian dogs community. Rumanian dogs are different and present with a number of difficulties generally. I have found so much help, mostly by simply reading other posts and the many solutions found in that community. As a community we share our problems and help others in overcoming theirs. I seem to remember that Ev got at least one of her dogs from many tears. And I wish Sue many happy years with her dog.
As for a utopian world. I hope for the end of the human race. I do believe in a higher authority and also believe that that authority has given us enough rope to hang our selves with. Which we have done, by bringing the precious planet that we have been given to live upon, to its death throes. However I also believe in Gaia and my hope and belief is that when we have departed this planet will survive and renew without us.
No, we got two of our dogs, Gypsy and Buddy, from Friends of the Animals and Dudley was from Shih Tzu rescue. I can’t recall whether any of our friends here had a Rumanian rescue dog. A very dark view of humankind, Mrs P but agree we have messed up the planet. I hope new awareness will make way for at least a partial recovery.
Thank you Mrs P I will pass on the info re. Meesh Masters etc. I think for the first month her dog was with Many Tears in Wales and then with a foster home in Maidenhead for the second. They apparently name them alphabetically and had reached the letter S when he joined them so was called Solomon, Sol for short. I expect she will find a Romanian dog different from the retired greyhounds. The main problem there was training them not to chase small furry creatures!! Many years ago she had a beautiful huge but gentle German Shepherd and he would let my daughter, as a very little child, ride on him, and he was very protective of her. Re. our planet and the mess we have been making of it, I think that one day we will (have to) colonise other places in space and hopefully, just hopefully, we will have learnt enough lessons here not to mess up our future homes.
I looked up Many Tears myself last night. I was wrong, it's not local to me but is in S Wales. I think my confusion was due to several local people here being fosterers for MT and they advertise dogs locally, leading me to think that MT was local.
Colonisation of other planets seems to be the preferred solution Janice, and even the thought that we should do so appalls me.
Other planets near enough to accommodate us could not do so as they don’t provide the right conditions for survival. That’s why the future of our own planet is so vital. I have always thought it isn’t just our generation which is responsible although our excessive use of means of transport is new. There must also be the muck that was expelled though during the industrial revolution and what followed. My first inkling of care was in the late 50’s when smokeless fuel came in. Every house around us relied on coal to heat the house and smoke poured forth from every chimney.Since then there has been growing concern about fossil fuels. Even electricity is generated largely from coal so I can’t see that electric cars are the answer. Generation from wind farms and solar panels cannot be enough for our modern lives. Nuclear energy is clear but the problem there is getting rid of waste. Whichever way you look there is no easy answer.
Horse and cart, how I loved them and it provides manure! Ah, but as for the light switch, much easier and safer than candles, though not as atmospheric!
Nuclear fusion as opposed to nuclear fission is the way to go. Europe's Tokamak reactor ITER (in which Britain collaborates) is on it's way to start up, and I believe Britain's own Tokamak was started up last year. It will take 8 years to reach the temperature of the sun, but after that will be producing a huge amount of energy. The by-products of helium and tritium are much less harmful than nuclear fission waste. Tritium is radioactive but is produced and consumed in small amounts and degrades much quicker. Hydrogen and lithium which are needed for the process are abundant and only small amounts of lithium are needed. ( I have bought some shares in the new Cornish Lithium company!) So I think there is hope, at least all the time lithium doesn't run out.
Each to his or her own,Mrs P. I use my legs daily to tend to the garden . I also use them to visit the local park ,walk to the bus stop to go to the shops when I feel like visiting smaller ones or to the post office when I want to post a parcel. I prefer to buy most groceries online . I will use the money I save by not having to tax the car ,pay Insurance, car park fees ,AA ,MOT, annual car service and petrol to travel in a taxi when I feel like doing so. I am not just thinking of myself entirely. If I want to use my money to help someone else I can do so.
There is no right or wrong. I have reached the age when I have decided that if I want something and can afford it I will have it. As they say "We can't take it with us" My two sons have told me that is what I should do and I agree with them.
Well I was doing exactly that yesterday. My daughter in law wanted to get some plants for the garden, so I took her to a nice nursery (the kind that sells purely plants, and where the gardeners know exactly what they are talking about), and ended up buying things for my own garden. Three Astilbes (two white, one pale pink, to light up a shady place), a redcurrant bush (daughter helpfully cutting the undergrowth in the orchard massacred my only other one 😣), a whitecurrant bush ( supposed to be sweeter than black or red currants), an evening primrose ( to attract the moths), and a Rosemary so that I will now have one each side of the steps up to the orchard bit. Today I am going to plant them all ( I guess that, Mrs P, is the struggle bit 😉).
Janice, I adore white currents, a very individual flavour and sweeter than the red and black variety. Whenever I went missing as a child in summer, my Mum knew she would find me sitting under the white currant bush stuffing myself.
And I had a lovely surprise yesterday - I was picking away down in the raspberry patch, and had I got as far as the fence at the very back. I suddenly realised there was a lovely crop of ripening Loganberries and Tayberries ( bought from Scotland Gary!) waiting to be picked. We had planted these along the fence about 10 years ago and never had a single berry from either of them. We had forgotten they were even there! But this year there are beautiful, very long berries, very dark in colour just waiting to be gathered. Long, long wait, but hopefully worth it.
Mrs P, I have always resisted new 'stuff', but increasingly find that I am excluded from / cannot access things which interest me. My old phone wasn't reliable, messages not being sent etc, that I decided to splurge, helped by a recent tax rebate.... Already I am free of the laptop which confines me to the kitchen, only place I can gat the internet, and I am now sitting outside with dog and coffee, leading the life..... I really do hate to see people glued to their phones though, I won't be walking into any lamp posts because I can't look anywhere else!
Archerphile, we used to have a local 'pick your own' fruit farm, always chose loganberries, delicious and I never see them in the shops
MrsP, the end has already started and so far it's been one step ahead. We were on the way to overcome world hunger by 2030 but have been impeded. In Asia and Africa the farmers couldn't transport their produce to towns, so food prices rose. "We" gained weight in lockdown while "they" starved. They have more children who face hunger while ours face obesity and diabetes. Bill G advocates GMO. There's a threesome race into space in search of more space! My neigbour and wife is proud of no internet/mobile. They recently replaced their car and have two TV sets. I have neither, live and let live! PS My iphone is not very smart (no internet), but I like that it can help me write in French. We the oldies upcycle them when the boys upgrade theirs.
The beginning of the end was indeed STEAM which powered the industrial revolution. Back in the sixties we had Rachel Carson and others alerting us. Plus my dad ! I have always recycled and composted and have been as low as possible as a consumer ( don't be concerned, I am not perfect in any way, just doing what I feel I can do ) But since the seventies we have lost the plot. Politicians took their eye off the ball and public consumerism increased expedentially. Plus the general public ridiculed those who cared and tried to bring their cause to the forefront of debate. One reason I acquired many craft skills was to be ready if I survived a nuclear attack, since those who would survive would have to rebuild.
At the beginning of the pandemic I felt it might be possible for us to turn our society around, but I despair now, as all we hear is how the travel industry is on its knees and everybody wants to get back to holidays abroad or a cruise, as a reward after having had such a hard time. A hard time ? Wait till the proverbial really hits the fan. We are an island with many rivers. Rivers have flood plains. And we build houses on them. We will pay dearly for our stupidity.
I like your reason for acquiring craft skills and feel the same way about growing herbs and learning their medicinal uses; and I share your disappointment that consumerism seems to be rebounding after the pandemic. I had hoped there might be change.
Thank you for bringing Tokamak to our attention Janice. I am keeping an eye on all the new scientific initiatives emanating from Cornwall. Please give me a link to the lithium. I am v interested. Cornwall was important globally in minerals for centuries and might do it again.
The Cornish Lithium company has been privately funded, and so far I don't think it has been floated on the public stock market, although it may be in the next year or two. Originally in about 2016 Cornish people were offered shares via crowdfunding through Crowdcube, and I bought some - not a lot as it was a highly speculative start up venture but I wanted to support a Cornish initiative and was interested in the things for which lithium could be used. Since then there have been occasional funding drives when more money has been needed to develop the exploration further, recently the needed amount was realised 15 minutes after the emails were sent out, and I missed that as I only check emails once a day. Their main exploration has been down in deep geothermal waters in the Redruth area. Cornish Metals are doing exploration drilling as they believe by using modern methods they can find enough copper and tin to make mining worth while again ( I think copper is needed for electric cars and 5G etc) and they have come to an agreement with Cornish Lithium that the latter can search for lithium on all the land to which Cornish Metals has the rights.
Cornish Metals shares can be found on the AIM (Alternative Investment Market) section of the London stock market. BUT both Cornish Metals and Cornish Lithium could easily crash SO THEY ARE NOT SAFE INVESTMENTS. I am betting on C.L. finding a rich source of lithium but it is a gamble and I know that quite clearly.
MrsP, we heard recently of raw waste being poured into the rivers over the years. The water company can afford the fines. They should be made to clean up but is it reversible? Also, Mary Portas has a sound idea of reviving the high street by making it community oriented. Who can afford a low salary with the retail and property prices going up. The whole system needs an overhaul but we carry on as normal. I am a part of it like everybody else.
Love all the comments today, but my comments are very short, or then perhaps not.
I am glad Mistral is once again, rather than Unknown.
LJ + Ev. So agree, that there are no pockets in shrouds. Now where do I start spending 😂🤣😂
Electric cars. They might be better for the enviroment, (little Sis charges hers up, with power from the roof solar panels) but I have one simple thought about these. This is about the lack of noise. My next door but one neighbour, has one but it goes past without knowing it's there. This has already caused problems for children playing in the cul-de-sac, and the cats!
In the supermarket carpark yesterday, I was walking with my trolley back to my car, to find a car behind me. It was an electric one and as it was so quiet, I wasn't aware it was there.
Feeling a bit disappointed this evening. I’d booked to go on a hot air balloon flight ( my Xmas present from Mr Nuts back in 2019) but there is too much wind, anything over 7 mph and they cancel, so I have had to re-schedule, still it is ideal weather for drying the laundry 😏
A few years ago Katy won a ballon flight in a raffle! Not wanting to venture herself she gave it to me! I felt really brave until along with others I found myself lying down in a basket prior to inflation. I changed my mind but it was too late! Once airborne I loved it, the views, the quiet apart from the flames taking us upward. We landed on a golf course and had to find what tee we were on to be picked up! Mike and I went up in a balloon over the Serengeti a few years later and landed in the bush to a table in the open laden with breakfast accompanied by champagne. A buffalo came a bit too close but the boys headed him off. Both flights were wonderful experiences! KP, hope conditions settle down for you and enjoy. Looking forward to hearing all about it!
I gave myself the birthday present of a balloon flight from Bath on my 50th. I asked three different friends to come with me, my treat, not one wanted to do so. I enjoyed it very much. All strangers on the flight but good companions in the same boat.
I wasn't at all happy, with the blokes who last cut my hedges. I saw a van nearby, a few days ago doing work nearby. I took note of the name, and after research, I found the email address. I am arrageing a visit, for a quote. All I need is a massive chop back etc. and a lot of general maintenace. So far, so good as seem friendly. This came about, as I saw a van parked, when work was being done nearby. I wrote the name down...so it is wait + see.
We have recorded and now watching “Tales of the Unexpected”. Tonight’s starred John Mills. Many famous faces like Joan Collins. We are enjoying them as I remember looking forward to them years ago. It makes you wonder why that quality of program no longer exists! Or so it seems!
Janice, a couple of weeks ago I asked you for more suggestions re my name, and Cornish connections. I suspect you didn't read it. Are you able to look back ?
Mrs P "the shining light" or in Welsh "the young deer". Yes there are several Elaines featuring in the Arthurian legends, right from Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 12th century, French romances of the 13th, Malory of the 15th, and later on Tennyson. The various authors sometimes overlap the characters a bit. I have been trying to track through the Welsh Triads and 6th century poems of Aneurin where the real tribal warlord Arthur was mentioned, but haven't so far had any success finding the name Elaine there. I do wonder if Elaine is a name that became popular in early medieval times. I will post this bit in case Gary changes the blog as we are up to 182, and I lost a long post once before because I was writing as it changed. Will continue in a new post then won't lose all of it!
There were a number of Elaines: Elaine the Peerless, Elaine the mother of Lancelot , the Elaine who was Arthur Pendragon's niece, and I think an Elaine was one of his half sisters also, and then the two who most figured in the legends ; Elaine of Astolat and Elaine the Grail bearer.
You will I expect know as much as I do about them. Elaine, daughter of the lord of Ascolat/Astolat fell hopelessly in love with Launcelot who agreed to wear her colours at a tournament her father gave ( that was leading her on I reckon! And she should have been warned by the fact he disguised himself so Guinevere (he was the knight appointed as the Queen's champion and protector and he of course had fallen desperately in love with her) would not know he was wearing another woman's colours). Launcelot was wounded in the tournament and Elaine nursed him back to health, but her love was unrequited and he returned to the court of Arthur.
Instead of thinking "there are plenty more knights around the round table" she promptly pined away and died of a broken heart, leaving instructions she was to be placed in a boat in her best clothes and clutching a lily and a last letter to Launcelot and floated down the river to the King's court. Many maidens fell for Launcelot, too good looking and charming for his own good. Waterhouse's oil painting The Lady of Shallottt sums it up nicely, ;and also the lesser known The Lily Maid of Astolat by Sophie Anderson.
Then there is Elaine the Grail bearer, daughter of King Pelles the Fisher king. She was one of only two women who could match Guinevere for beauty , and her father had foreseen she would have a child by Launcelot, Galahad best of all knights who would realise the Grail and heal the kingdom. She fell in love with Launcelot same as all the rest, but she was a strong character and knew of his obsession with the queen, so she used magic ( helped by a bit of wine magic methinks) to assume the likeness of Guinevere and seduce him. He was somewhat peeved to find out he had been tricked, but some time later, after Elaine had given Guinevere a right ticking off for driving Launcelot to despair/madness and she, being the Grail maiden, had healed Launcelot they apparently married and lived happily for a number of years, until his old love for the Queen surfaced again. But Elaine had fulfilled the prophecy and produced Galahad, and no doubt being best of all knights he would have been good and looked after his mum. Rosetti did a nice painting of The Grail Maiden.
I say this is for a strange reason. This is Wally the Walrus, now in the Isles of Scilly (which I have been following) and why he has travelled so far from his original home. These might not be connected in the slightest way.
There are certainly some freaky weather conditions not least the extreme heatwave in Canada and USA and these awful floods. We were warned some time ago that these things would happen but like the pandemic I suppose it seemed unreal. There has to be a link with carbon emissions and so on but we also have to keep in mind natural cycles of weather. However, the best we can do is to try to cut down on what we pour into the atmosphere. Not easy given the nonchalant attitudes of some countries and individuals.
All the adults in my family (well in the UK), have now double jabs. Perhaps we can now start to think about, and plan, the very delayed Family Christmas. Sadly, family in OZ are still waiting patiently, for their 1st. Niece was booked in for hers, but this has been cancelled, due to the lack of supply of vaccines, where she lives.
Has anyone else listened to 'Open Country' this afternoon, with Helen Mark. It was about the Durham coastline and how it has been cleaned up, after all the waste dumping from the coal industry. A delight to listen to. I love this programme. One of my favourites. It takes turns on the Thursday slot with walking with Clare Balding, another favourite.
Been out of touch all day due to a power cut that started at 9am and has only just finished at 5pm. A whole day with no wi-fi, TV, hot drinks or ability to cook or open fridge or freezer ….. it just makes you realise how much you rely on electricity for everything.
Will catch up on all your posts later but just wanted to leave a message for MIRIAM I got my prescription from the hospital today and it’s for Doxycycline 100mg per day for 4 weeks. Not very happy because I have had Tetracyclines before and they gave me awful stomach upsets and dia….oea (that thing I can’t spell) And I can’t drink any alcohol for 4 weeks ( not a terrible hardship really) and have to coverup well if I go out in the sun, even on a cloudy day, because of skin rashes and blistering, which also happened before. But if they get rid of this blessed throat ulcer it will be worth it .
Archerphile, thanks for that info. I don't envy you at all, esp. with the no milk and dairy products and so on, for about 2 hours before + after taking med. This is going to be quite difficult. What I used to suggest was, eat the breakfast cereal + yoghurt first thing in the morning, and then time med. for mid-morning (eg 10 or 11 am), to get the timings right. I am not sure if this is on any help, as you might have been told differently, and I am now retired so things, can quickly change. Good Luck. Just think positive, that the abcess will soon be on it's way out. 🤗
Bit confused Miriam because I had no instructions about milk/dairy for 2 hrs either side of taking capsule. In fact it says if they cause stomach irritation, to take with milk or food. But it did say not to have anything with zinc, iron or indigestion tablets for 2 hrs either side. Perhaps things have changed?
As said - times change. Just do as to the info. given to you... I have obviously been retired, too long (6years) and so guidelines change. Just ignore my comment.
A power cut. How would I manage as I am now totally electric, except for the fire. At this time of year, it would be much easier, as there is always lettuce, beetroot, toms, celery, cold meats etc. to make a salad, along with the light nights. But in winter - I would be warm in my lounge, due to the fire, but food would be cold soups, baked beans, straight from the tins, along with either peanut butter or bovril + tomato sandwiches...lit by candles + a torch. I would survive... Also there should be enough hot water in the cylinder, to wash with...then a 13.5tog duvet + pusscat, to stay warm overnight.
Just heard that my 14 yr old grandson has been sent home from school to self-isolate for 10 days *again*. In the last 4 weeks he has only been able to attend school for 1 whole day and 2 half- days before being sent home because somebody in his year-bubble has been in contact with Covid. This is ridiculous. He hates being stuck at home on his own, the school have been unable to keep providing online lessons, just repeats of work already done and his education is going to pot. I am *cross*. 😡
My G children are in the same position Archerphile. G son home for most of this term and G daughter had to do her A level mocks on line from home. This generation are truly suffering.
I had to give up on Doxycycline, Erythromycin (I think it was) - the whole lot, years ago because of the thing you can't spell, the red, swollen face, rash on arms and legs, digestive upsets and other annoyances too numerous to mention. The only safe thing left for me now is Cefalexin.
Just back from The Anvil in Basingstoke, went to see Adam Kay, This is going to hurt. He was reading chapters from his book interspersed with songs, great fun, compensation for yesterday’s missed balloon flight.
Very interesting to hear The Anvil is open again. Mr A phoned them yesterday morning to get a brochure for the 21/22 Classical Concert programme as he always like to book well in advance. They said nothing had been decided or arranged for the concert season yet and they didn’t even know if there will be one this year!
She was actually taken from cuttings in my parents garden 45 years ago and has travelled with us to every house since then. A very prolific but extremely thorny lady!
Dorothy Perkins. Another shop now gone. I used to buy packets of 5 individual stockings, from them. The idea was, that if you laddered one, there was always a spare. The shop I missed most when they disappeared, was C+A. I have one of their jumpers, which I still wear, to this day. It is a much loved one and still fits. It is crew neck, white with simple embroidery on the top, and is perfect over a blouse or a polo-neck top, with jeans.
Does any-one else have something, that they still love + wear, from decades ago?
I still have a shift dress from 1964/1965. My mother brought it back from the city where she had been having a break and visiting her family, and I had done the cooking and kept house for my father and brother while she was away. It was unusual in its colouring with several colours merging into each other. Loved it.
Miriam, the dress I wore at Wimbledon this year was one I bought in South Africa when on honeymoon in 2001 . It is still commented on. It was a bargain even then . However the oldest item I still wear in the winter is a cardigan/ coat in chunky pure Wendy wool in a lovely shade of heather/pale maroon. I knitted a jumper in the wool almost 40 years ago and liked the colour so much I bought more to make a tank top. Twenty years later I undid both to make the cardigan/coat.
I have had so many e-mails today, from very different sources. The content of which, from all, has referred to Monday + masks. All have been so similar in content - although this will be a personal choice it is preferred that masks will still be worn, to protect staff + other customers. I so agree. After all 50,000 new cases in one day, should not be ignored.
Archerphile my grandmother had a Dorothy Perkins rose over an arch. It was lovely. Most of my roses are past their best - they have been prolific this year but have had to withstand so much rain some have ‘balled’ but Ispahan, an old rose, is still covered in flowers. She only flowers once but it is a very long “once”- well worth growing.
I visited friends near Oxford today and bought them a rose bush as a present for their new garden when they move, hopefully soon. They are in a long chain. It was a David Austin with a nautical name which escapes me now. They seemed very pleased with it. I left Lady for about two and a half hours with my friends partner and she was as good as gold. Stayed in the garden with company, and didn't make too much fuss of me on my return. She is gaining so much confidence. So much that since we arrived home less than an hour ago she has jumped the wall once and had a standoff with the cat who is running about the place with something half dead between his jaws. While Lady pursued him up, then down stairs, he ran under a chair and was growling at her. I am exhausted.
Was the rose “The Ancient Mariner”? It’s the only one I can think of with nautical connections. The David Austin rose I would like is “The Fighting Temeraire” for the colour and wild habit but as I have about 18 roses in my garden already plus 2 I haven’t planted yet, it will have to wait!
Very excited! Just watched my family’s flight take off from Dubai on their way home after 3 years! They should be back in Toulouse late afternoon after a transfer flight from Paris. They cannot go straight to their house as they will have to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days before being allowed out to mix with the French public! Then they’ll have to stay in a gîte for a couple of weeks until the shipping container with all their furniture and worldly goods arrives from Dubai. They are hoping there won’t be another blockage in the Suez Canal to hold things up. Meanwhile they’ll be going to the house to clean it, do any repairs etc ready to move back in.
We hoped we should be able to visit fairly soon but now the UK is putting France back on the red list due to a big increase in the beta (South African) varient there, which obviously we don’t want being imported to the UK. So our reunion, since Christmas 2019, is, very frustratingly, still on hold.
Wow, that's great Archerphile, but so close and yet held back. I've only heard of delta here but some areas are re-introducing masks outdoors. I still put mine on when leaving the house and take it off on return. Many people wear them in the street (still obligatory in shops), especially on market day. Looking forward to omega...
You are right Sarnia. I just read that the UK has the highest number of Covid infections (% of population) in the world behind Brazil and Indonesia. What does that say about our policies of dealing with the virus. And now there is a big outbreak of Norovirus too, unusually early in the year. Just what we all need!
I just heard that people arriving from the UK will need a negative test of less than 3 days (previously, on top of vaccination?). These rules are in a state of flux with delta being the major strain last week-end. One of the boys is to start a new job in London next year, so I'll wait and see until then.
Lanjan - I thought of you this morning while listening to the Kitchen Cabinet. There was salmon marinated/rubbed with G&T which partially cooks it. You may not like salmon and think it's a perfect waste of a good drink. The recipe is about twenty minutes into the programme, if you/anyone is at all interested.
Thanks Basia, I love Salmon(especially smoked) and love gin but agree with you that it is a waste of a perfectly good drink so would not make the dish. On the other hand I wouldn't mind trying it. Wetherspoon's do a wonderful Eggs Royale -like Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon instead of ham.
Archerphile, so near and yet so far. I thought about you this morning on hearing the news, about visits to France. Your family will not be back in their true residence, for a while yet so it seems. Hopefully by that time, things will be better as to travel 🤞🤞
The new gardener I was expecting this afternoon, to quote me for the work I need doing, rang to say he couldn't come. He was feeling very poorly, and was awaiting a covid test and result. I will wait - as he is local (5 mins walk away but not sure where) and I would prefer to use a local, independant person.
My favourite is:- scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. ...and yes, a side serving of Heinz tomato sauce!
Archerphile, after listening and reading the BBC website I now understand while France has been singled out as amber+. This is due to the beta variant in its overseas territories which spreads more quickly but in the metropolitan area delta is predominant. So far it's still easier to travel from the UK to France but they may adopt the same measures in response.
I am so wrong and I admit this. I am finding it so difficult, to follow + more importantly interpret, the ever changing guide-lines.
It's bad and difficult enough, with my family in Wales, due to the differing rules, let alone else-where.
Big Sis lives in Wales, but her postcode and the county as to her address, is english relating to the nearest Shropshire border town, which is closer than a Welsh one.
So we go by the english rules, rightly or wrongly...
Miriam - I am late to this so apologise. I used to love Wallis shops but only to try on in those days as I couldn't afford their prices - this was in the sixties. I shopped Chelsea Girl all the time as I could pay their low prices. What fun it used to be to spend Saturdays going round the shops to find the perfect outfit to go out in that night. Carefree days.
I so remember that, trying to find a new outfit to wear to the disco, on a Saturday night... As a Saturday Girl in a well known store, I got my pay as I went on my lunch-break, then spent it in the local boutique within an hour, to have my outfit for the Saturday Disco Night out!. This was early 70's for me. It's no wonder, my parents despaired of me...
I went to discos in mid 70s, from twenty onwards but always in jeans because that's what the boys and girls in our group wore, even though we went to some posh places. My Saturday job well before was at Evans Outsize Shop in Oxford St, I did look a bit odd there.
Basia, back in the 70’s, Evans Outsizes was where nearly all my clothes came from. Being outsize it was really the only place that catered for me. I loved C& A but their large sized clothes were very limited. I so remember all the revolting e brown and claret coloured crimpeline dresses designed for 50+ year olds and the baggy trousers! The funny thing is that when I got to my 50s all the clothes were much too young and short for me - you just can’t win! Now of course they have gone totally online since the collapse of Philip Green’s empire.
I too loved the styles in DP, C&A etc, but in those days 'average' size was a 14. As a size 16 weighing 9st 7lbs everything was too small so I made my own clothes, pattern size 15 1/2.
Basia I forgot to answer your request about Germany. My son lives in Hatterheim am Maine which was unaffected by floods although they have quite some rain there for the past few weeks. Anyway I rang him last night and he said that as he doesn't have TV or newspaper he didn't know about them! He has caught up with them on reading the Guardian! He has a friend at work who has a flat in Genoa so family is driving down Sunday , absolutely due south from Frankfurt. I tell them to let me know when they get there! Unfortunately they have to go through Switzerland then Italy. My grandchildren have always lived in landlocked countries so they love the sea! When they visit in Winter we have to wrap up warm and visit the seaside! Hope Genoa has some beaches! Because I am tall I used to get my jeans from Millets because they had extra longs ones. Back in the sixties ordinary ladies shops had one size fits all!
Thanks Spicy, I'm glad they've been unaffected and also that there are still people disconnected from the social media. My sister is in Nice where the young ones use the TV to play games and there's no radio! so they feel cut off from the world. We've had a lot of rain too, but I much prefer it to the heat. I'm also far away from the sea and long to see it one day.
Out to work in the city at 15, Etam and Dorothy Perkins were my preferred choice. Could only wear separates due to sizing, i was smaller than an 8, and C&A children's dept for coats was the only choice. So dresses were made for myself. Until Twiggy came along, then we had smaller sizing. So by my twenties it was Biba and Mary Quant, and Bus Stop was my favourite. When I was pregnant I had two pinafore dresses from Laura Ashley which could see me through any season with tee shirt or jumper underneath.
Gary, what’s all this about Glasgow doubling up as New York in the new Indiana Jones movie! Since when did they have sandstone tenements in NY!? It’s in the BBCNews app. Incredible!
You ladies were very lucky. I did have one dress (from C & A ) but most of my clothes were hand made by me. Coming from a cotton town I was able to buy end of roll off cuts of material (2/11 a yard )and make gathered skirts . A black cardigan worn back to front and very wide black plastic belt finished off my outfit . Incidentally my beautiful wedding dress -first wedding! -came from C & A . It cost £14 Had to save up for it of course.
Yesterday I was a bit worried about Buddy as the night before he hadn’t done a wee at bedtime and also didn’t in the morning. He seemed a bit listless and not himself. I tried to ring Katy to talk it over but as luck would have it she was incredibly busy yesterday at work. Finally I phoned the vet and made an appointment for the afternoon. I took him down there, about a 10 minute walk and he did three or four little ones on the way! Typical! The vet examined him on the pavement, checked his innards and of course couldn’t find anything wrong! Just said to keep an eye on him over the weekend! Of course he is now fine and bouncing around! This short consultation cost me £40! At least it put my mind at rest but of course Katy thinks it hilarious!! It was just like the old days of the telly repair man who walked in just as the set was working perfectly! I just thought no wees might be dangerous and was asking myself whether boy dogs have a prostate! Stupid old woman!😉🤭🐾🐾🐾🐶
Oh Ev, not stupid at all. Dogs can make us look daft though. In January, my poor dog, now 12, with chronic health problems, was very sick, didn't eat or drink for days, I took her to the vet, who she loathes, met outside in the car park. She refused to go in, slipped out of her very snug harness, twice, got onto the busy road, but I caught her in a sort of rugby tackle and shoved her in the car. The vet gave me loads of tablets, which was odd as she couldn't eat, I drove home, and she is now hungry and happy again, we do a lot of snoozing together. That trip was meant to be her last, I had been taking her to be euthanased....
Can I just pop in here to say to Mrs P I am replying to yours of the 15th, And Gary please if you are thinking of switching the blog over could you wait a few minutes for me to finish the post as it is quite long, and I don't want it to vanish. Many thanks.
Mrs P I have tried to answer your question, but my knowledge is limited. Next time I chat to my friend in Wales I will ask her what she knows of the Welsh Triads.
Thanks Janice - I will try to research from names you have mentioned. Each of the three above echoed in my head but too flimsy to recall anything of import.
My school friend and I used to hitch to Southampton back in the day. We went there because they had a C & A which had great prices. How utterly daft were we to trust people to stop and take us onward safely but it worked out for us then.
MrsP, I know, I started listening and switched off.
Anneveggie - I'd like to believe that 99.9% of us can be trusted, otherwise life would be impossible. Now, men say they I'd like to offer a lift but don't dare. There's this talk about the streets being safe for women and they are, but it only takes one predator. I say don't be frightened but stay alert.
The department store I missed most, when it closed in 2005, was an Allders store, on a retail park not far away. They had wonderful, genuine quality goods by well known manufacturers at very reasonable prices. I bought the wonderful set of S/S saucepans, casseroles, etc all for half price. My bed, which I still sleep in, made by a well-known and respected manufacturer, was 2/3rd off the normal price! Does any-one else recall this firm??
A follow on from a post from yesterday. The gardener I was expecting yesterday for a quote, who contacted me, to postpone, hopefully to come today, hasn't been in contact. I rather feel, after the chat yesterday, his covid test showed +ve. This sounds so very selfish, but at least it was the day before he was due to come, and not the day after. I would hate to have to self isolate now.
Yes Miriam, we had an Allders in Basingstoke, it took over from Owen Owen when that closed. I loved both stores. When Allders closed I got some wonderful bargains, but I’d much rather still have the store there. Debenhams opened in the new Festival Place part of town, to much acclaim and excitement - now that has gone too. I really miss having a department store in town
Quick extra. I have just finished a good book, namely Still Life by Val McDermid. Why I am mentioning this is? It was written in 2020 and the timescale was January to March of that year. It ended with the 1st Lockdown, due to start in a few hours time. The final sentence was:- "Right now, what mattered was survival"
You’d all have had a good laugh if you could have seen me last night. I was desperate to pick the gooseberries and remaining raspberries but am not supposed to expose any skin to sunlight for the next 4 weeks. So I waited until early evening (when it was still very warm) dressed up In a long sleeved cardigan, Mr A’s Panama hat, wellie boots and wound a scarf round my neck to go down and pick! I must have looked like a bag-lady and I don’t know what the neighbours thought! But the job got (half ) done and the freezer is full of fruit (take note LanJan) and today I made around 20 lbs of jam with the rest.
I can imagine it. 😂😂 Why not use a factor 50 sun-block and a sun hat instead. It is far more flattering, than the Worzel Gummidge look😉 Well done on 201b of jam, and that you had all the sugar, jars, tops + labels, to do so. It sounds delicious.
Hello Janice, I did see a post this morning and replied.
Now that you have asked ....again ( sorry ) I've looked back to the 15 th and seen your several posts. I will read later this evening, as I'm trying to repot my houseplants at the moment. Thank you so much. E. MrsP
Ta ever so, Gary - couldn't have put it better myself!
ReplyDeleteI'll be glued to it all the day long Sarnia!
Delete🤣🤣🤣 good tongue in cheek remark Gary! We will be sitting alongside you and getting a sore bottom no doubt. How did your latest trip go? ( Were you away agin this last week?)
DeleteCheers Gary!
DeleteAnd the original 'Italian Job' too in the afternoon!
DeleteLady R, I had a fantastic few days thanks. Lots of cycling in perfect cycling weather! The performance of "The Merry Wives of Windsor" at Abbotsford House was absolutely brilliant - the first time I have ever "got" Shakespeare, if you know what I mean? There were only 5 actors but they switched roles very slickly and in a way that wasn't confusing. Loved it.
ReplyDeleteEv, growing up our house was split into 2 camps when it came to bread - a pan loaf was for sandwiches and a plain loaf was for toast! At least, that's what some of us thought. I still remember the fights over the "outsiders"...
I have decided to support the Italian this afternoon and the English this evening.
ReplyDeleteThat seems fair to me.
Right with you Lanjan! Do the 🐈⬛🐈⬛ agree with you 🤗
DeleteThat's "ditto" from me also. 👍
DeleteLove the heading Gary!
ReplyDeleteTwo words:- Just Brillant..
DeleteThat's very clever Gary.
DeleteOur STAR ....... our star with the numb bum.
Ooh Mrs P 🤣🤣🤣
DeleteHave been unable to post all day so this is a test - and a thankyou to Gary for Piglet’s wise words!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant brilliant match at Wimbledon.
ReplyDeleteMy only comment about Wimbledon, is a very simple one.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely to see ladies, wearing such gorgeous and elegant summer dresses.
Now to find mine!!
PS If they now fit 😂
DeleteOh, AP, I was all set for a jolly evening of Pooh sticks when I remembered that my dinky little 2' section of chuckling stream between the two tiny waterfalls has no bridge. Pooh sticks in the rain is one thing; in the rain without a bridge is a step too far!
ReplyDeleteNever mind, there's always yesterday's crossword.
Well here we are, 'scotché' in front of the telly...
ReplyDeleteHead still fizzing from a day's intense concentration in the recording studio 🤪
sorry for Berrettini 😔
never taken to Djokovic.
Another glass of rouge required. 🍷🍷
Wimbledon vs Wembley. This so 0-1, on comparing the commentaries.
ReplyDeleteNo waffle nor silly comments, at Wembley, as just pure, short, precise and interesting.
Wimbledon commentary, depends on the team. Give me Mac over Becker any time.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Castle can stay at home.
Sam Smith 👍
Oh dear.
ReplyDeleteWell, bonne nuit tout le monde.
xx
There’s the World Cup next year!!!
DeleteI don't think penalty shootouts are a good way of ending a match. It isn't a test of the skill of the whole team, and puts too much pressure on the goalkeeper.
ReplyDeleteDo I take it that Djokovic won the rugby?
ReplyDeleteNo, it was the Italian!😊
ReplyDeleteDisappointing ,but there can only be one winner and to be honest Italy were the better team for most of the Game.
ReplyDeleteMr R thought so too but had very much hoped to be wrong! I’m not a regular football follower but I feel they are a good young team with a gentleman for a manager and future potential!
DeleteWould it have been better to bring the subs on at the beginning of extra time not only to warm up more but being fresh legs maybe they could have set up another goal - but what do I know I bow to the likes of yourself Lanjan 😇
I picked my first blackberries of the year yesterday! No gooseberries in Italy for some reason, or rhubarb.
ReplyDeleteYour blackberries are much earlier than ours Hilary. Ours are still only little green clusters.
DeleteOur local blackberries are still flowers.
DeleteShame that England didn't quite manage it.
ReplyDeleteThe pace of life is going to change for us over the next few weeks, my daughter and family are due to arrive from Singapore at lunch time today. They wil be staying with us until they find somewhere to live and we will be in charge of a 7yr old and a 2yr old while they are house hunting. We haven't seen them since January 2020 so it's going to be quite a reunion.
Probably not going to get much time to listen to The Archers or write posts on here for a while.
How wonderful for you CC! To see your daughter and her family again after so long. Will they have to isolate in a hotel or can they come straight to you?
DeleteI'm sure we'll all be agog to hear how you are all getting on and will forgive you for ignoring TA for a while ~ you will have much more important things to do.
CC 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
DeleteThat is lovely for you. I know how happy I felt when my son and daughter in law finally got back here from the Philippines.
DeleteI have just accessed this blog on our Windows PC and had no problems at all logging in and leaving a post, unlike yesterday when I tried innumerable times on the iPad.
ReplyDeleteThis is is so frustrating because I don't want to have to wait my turn to use the computer and sit up in the office. And apart from that Mr A might see what I'm doing!
But at least it works.
I've just spoken with my musculoskeletal therapist and she has agreed to refer me for surgical consultation for my ankle.
ReplyDeleteI anticipate a very long wait before I get to the front of the queue.
- at least you are in the system, which is at least, a start. As you say, how long will this take.
DeleteI have read that, referrals are now taking almost a year, but it does depend on the area lived in..
I hope that the wait won't be too long Mrs P.
DeleteI slept late this morning!
ReplyDeleteMy pusscat had the right idea. She went off to bed at the normal time.
Ah that’s the joy of retirement Miriam 🤗
DeleteCheshire Cheese.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting for you all.
Where are they planning to buy, and will this be near to you, so you can see the grandkids growing up. They change so quickly.
Enjoy your, long awaited hugs, cuddles etc...
Archerphile. When are you off to France, for your long awaited meet up with your family? This now seems so very possible.
I will continue wearing a mask in shops, hairdressers etc. This just seems so normal now.
What will others do?
Similar Miriam 👍🏻
DeleteLady R,I really don't know anything about the finer points of football.
DeleteIt doesn't stop me from pretending that I do though.
I agree with you about the substitution and I can't understand why he asked the two youngsters to take penalties when there were older more experienced players who were better suited in my opinion to take them but then it is easy for me to talk .
Good luck with your Consultation Mrs P
Lovely to have your family back from Singapore ,Cheshire Cheese.
We are having Singaporean weather this afternoon.
The heavens have just opened.
It is sheeting down here.
.
To reply to questions. Family from Singapore don't need to isolate, just do day 2 PCR tests.
ReplyDeleteThey will be moving to the London area. They already have a house in Harrow but their tenants have a contract for several more months. They want to move further out of London so will rent until they can sell their house.
They've only been here half a day and I'm exhausted. 2yr old is a handful and I've already had to move a load of stuff that I never had to with the others! We are enjoying the hugs and cuddles though.
How lovely for you CC to have your family cuddlable again!
DeleteCC Lovely...
DeleteA niece moved from Woodford, just as Covid appeared, to a small village in Essex. This has worked out, with a far better quality of life, yet her journey into London for work is just the same with a quick train journey, with just a short tube one.
DeleteYou mentioned Harrow,Cheshire Cheese.
ReplyDeleteAs a child I spent my holidays in the unlikely holiday resorts of Wolverhampton and Harrow on the Hill- to relations.We never went to hotels or even Boarding Houses.
We continued visiting my lovely cousin in H on the H when my boys were little and they loved it there so much so that when my younger son worked in London he chose to live on the Hill .
I remember Harrow being on the same tube line as Northwood. I was posted to Northwood early in my career in the Wardroom. I thought it would be all senior, old fogies there but in the event it wasn’t like that and I met Mike! The rest is history! It is a lovely part of the country and so easy to get into London. I hope your family find a house quickly, CC for their sake as well as yours. Much as you must love the children it isn’t easy to cope as you get older! Enjoy them though!
DeleteMy G daughter is there in H on the H / Northwood at the Department of Fashion, London University, the old Harrow School of Art.
DeleteAnd I've been to that Northwood too Ev.
My sister married an American service man and when he brought her home from Texas he disappeared, twice !
At some point in her journey of that marriage I took her to see his former CO who was very understanding and compassionate and helped us try to find him.
At some point in my teenage years I first smoked pot in the famous school, but what I remember is all the oak panelling with graffiti carved in it.
Enjoy those grandchildren while you have them CC
Ooo Mrs P! I am shocked!
DeleteAP, I'm not shocked in the slightest!
DeleteSorry to report my much-loved little Micra failed it’s MOT yesterday. 😢
ReplyDeleteBut it only needs a couple of minor things doing and should be back on the road tomorrow.
The mechanic said it’s a really good little car for its age and I should get a couple more years out of it before it would need major work or scrapping. So I expect that’s when I’ll give up driving, or at least having my own car.
On a completely different topic:
I have just heard the long statement put out yesterday by Marcus Rashford, brilliantly written and apologising for his failure in taking that penalty goal but refusing to apologise for who he is or where he comes from.
He is a remarkable young man, intelligent, caring, thoughtful, and an inspiration to other youngsters. The racial abuse that he and the other two players have suffered since the game is appalling and I really hope the culprits are traced and dealt with.
YEs, Archerphile, I completely agree. He is remarkable.
DeleteThis is really Mistral, just got my first smartphone, testing. This will revolutionise my life, and I have resisted it for do long.....
DeleteAnd it worked!!
ReplyDeleteNot sure how to message as Mistral though.
You need a teenager, to help 😂
DeleteDon't be afraid to just play around.
I had my first smartie, about 4 years ago, and hadn't a clue. I worked it out though.
I am upgrading it soon, but just a very simple upgrade.
I still do not know how to do a profile picture..
Perhaps GG can help
DeleteGood luck Mistral.
ReplyDeleteI shall continue resisting....... for ever I hope.
Archerphile
So hope your repairs to your M L Micra help you continue loving it for at least the next two years.
As you know I loved mine too but said goodbye.
Wish I hadn't though !
I like that my e-mails appear on my 'phone. Many I can easily just delete, but when an important one comes in, this is when I use my PC in my office/study- basically the compact box room!!
DeleteI never do anything important, on my smartie.
Another snippet of news, then I’ll shut up for the rest of the day!
ReplyDeleteI just had a phone call from the hospital with the result of the CT Scan on my throat.
Apparently I still have an abscess in my throat which is causing problems with swallowing and ear pain.
The solution? A prescription for 4 week’s worth of antibiotics, then they’ll re-assess.
I told them 1 week on Claithromycin hadn’t cleared the infection and asked for a second week’s worth, but they insisted it wasn’t necessary.
Sometimes, just sometimes, the patient is right!
Mistral.
ReplyDeleteI might be wrong, but when on this site, click on your name "unknown".
If this happens, this blog site profile wil appear. I always have to enlarge this, but it is easily done. Put two fingers in the centre of the screen and swipe open. This should give a clearer display.
IF you get this far, then go down and you will see a box labelled as - display name.
Type in Mistral, then either publish or save, whatever is prompted 🤞🤞
Good Luck..😄
Thank you Miriam, I'll give it a go tomorrow :)
DeleteYou don't need teenagers to help ,Mistral.
ReplyDeleteI was given a book called IPhone for Seniors
Excellent.
What are you going to resist !Mrs P?
I hope it isn't getting a smart 'phone.
They are brilliant.
Now that I have given up driving I can use it to find out how long it will be before the next bus is due, order an Uber taxi, etc etc.
I wouldn't be without it.
My "teenager" comment, was just tongue-in-cheek. My 10yr old grand-niece, helps both me + her gran (big sis) out..😂
DeleteI wonder what Mistral has - iphone or android?
DeleteThese aren't always the same...
AP
ReplyDeleteI am a bit confused..
Does this mean, that you now have a 4 week antibiotic course, but with a different one?
I am just curious to know what this is.
I am on a 3 month course of a low dose antibiotic, to help sort a simple eye problem only.
What a relief, that the scans just showed, an easily resolved problem.
You will get to go on that booked cruise, in September.
Until the script arrives in the post tomorrow I’m not sure exactly what it will be. I suspect Clarithromycin as they know I’m allergic to penicillin, but possible a lower dose than before. I’ll let you know Miriam
ReplyDeleteI might now be 6yrs retired, but meds. still interest me ..
DeleteSilly, I know 🤣👩🌾
No, not silly at all, perfectly legitimate to retain an interest in your past profession.
DeleteLan Jan .... resisting ?
ReplyDeleteYes resisting anything other than a very basic mobile.
I don't wish to know when the next bus is coming.
I don't buy anything on line so don't have anything other than the postman delivering anything. I don't need taxis, I have legs.
I've lived almost eighty years without such ' ease ' in life and I don't wish to change that now.
I don't like 'easy'
In my opinion we are put on this earth to struggle and learn. Not to have it easy.
Hmmm. That sounds like you are being a bit tough on yourself. I think life can be hard and a struggle at times but I don't think it should be like that. With advances in science etc I look forward to a utopian world, maybe not in my lifetime but sometime in the future for my descendants to enjoy.
DeleteAnyway, I really wanted to say that my cousin Sue who stayed recently has just become the happy owner of a Romanian street dog like you did. He has come from a charity called, I think, Many Tears, and has been in this country for 2 months. She has sent pictures of him, and he is a dear little brown and white dog with a nice face. He hasn't been used to being on a lead , and to begin with he was hiding under her bed, and under bushes in the garden, but is beginning to gain confidence now. She woke up a couple of nights ago to find he had emerged from under the bed and was curled up on the bed licking her hand.She has had rescue greyhounds in the past, and her last 2 old ones died 6 months apart during the lockdown times leaving her very lonely. She was finding them too heavy to lift when they were ill , so decided to have a smaller dog this time.
I told her about you and Lady.
Many tears is a charity here in Stroud I believe Janice, so I might well have seen pictures of your cousins new dog, as I now belong to a number of online 'dog' groups.
DeleteLady still licks me as often as she possibly can and we have a good five minutes of her licking my hands before I say ' sleepy time now ' and we both settle down.
My father always maintained that dogs licked hoomans to get the salt.
Dog psychology now tells us it is about connection.
Take your pick !
Janice, may I suggest that your cousin Sue joins at the very least ' Meesh Masters ' but also ' P2R ' paws2rescue adoption group, not to adopt again but to be part of the adoption of Rumanian dogs community.
Rumanian dogs are different and present with a number of difficulties generally.
I have found so much help, mostly by simply reading other posts and the many solutions found in that community. As a community we share our problems and help others in overcoming theirs.
I seem to remember that Ev got at least one of her dogs from many tears.
And I wish Sue many happy years with her dog.
As for a utopian world.
I hope for the end of the human race.
I do believe in a higher authority and also believe that that authority has given us enough rope to hang our selves with.
Which we have done, by bringing the precious planet that we have been given to live upon, to its death throes.
However I also believe in Gaia and my hope and belief is that when we have departed this planet will survive and renew without us.
No, we got two of our dogs, Gypsy and Buddy, from Friends of the Animals and Dudley was from Shih Tzu rescue. I can’t recall whether any of our friends here had a Rumanian rescue dog. A very dark view of humankind, Mrs P but agree we have messed up the planet. I hope new awareness will make way for at least a partial recovery.
DeleteYes a dark view Ev.
DeleteI do have hope for a recovery but am not very optimistic.
Sorry to have mixed up the rescues.
Thank you Mrs P I will pass on the info re. Meesh Masters etc. I think for the first month her dog was with Many Tears in Wales and then with a foster home in Maidenhead for the second. They apparently name them alphabetically and had reached the letter S when he joined them so was called Solomon, Sol for short. I expect she will find a Romanian dog different from the retired greyhounds. The main problem there was training them not to chase small furry creatures!!
DeleteMany years ago she had a beautiful huge but gentle German Shepherd and he would let my daughter, as a very little child, ride on him, and he was very protective of her.
Re. our planet and the mess we have been making of it, I think that one day we will (have to) colonise other places in space and hopefully, just hopefully, we will have learnt enough lessons here not to mess up our future homes.
I looked up Many Tears myself last night.
DeleteI was wrong, it's not local to me but is in S Wales.
I think my confusion was due to several local people here being fosterers for MT and they advertise dogs locally, leading me to think that MT was local.
Colonisation of other planets seems to be the preferred solution Janice, and even the thought that we should do so appalls me.
Other planets near enough to accommodate us could not do so as they don’t provide the right conditions for survival. That’s why the future of our own planet is so vital. I have always thought it isn’t just our generation which is responsible although our excessive use of means of transport is new. There must also be the muck that was expelled though during the industrial revolution and what followed. My first inkling of care was in the late 50’s when smokeless fuel came in. Every house around us relied on coal to heat the house and smoke poured forth from every chimney.Since then there has been growing concern about fossil fuels. Even electricity is generated largely from coal so I can’t see that electric cars are the answer. Generation from wind farms and solar panels cannot be enough for our modern lives. Nuclear energy is clear but the problem there is getting rid of waste. Whichever way you look there is no easy answer.
DeleteHorse and cart, how I loved them and it provides manure!
DeleteAh, but as for the light switch, much easier and safer than candles, though not as atmospheric!
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteNuclear fusion as opposed to nuclear fission is the way to go. Europe's Tokamak reactor ITER (in which Britain collaborates) is on it's way to start up, and I believe Britain's own Tokamak was started up last year. It will take 8 years to reach the temperature of the sun, but after that will be producing a huge amount of energy.
DeleteThe by-products of helium and tritium are much less harmful than nuclear fission waste. Tritium is radioactive but is produced and consumed in small amounts and degrades much quicker. Hydrogen and lithium which are needed for the process are abundant and only small amounts of lithium are needed. ( I have bought some shares in the new Cornish Lithium company!)
So I think there is hope, at least all the time lithium doesn't run out.
I was trying to say Ev that nuclear fusion produces much much less waste.
DeleteRe closeness of suitable planets : Einstein, Alcubierre, and now Erik Lentz. Warp drive is on it's way 😊
DeleteEach to his or her own,Mrs P.
ReplyDeleteI use my legs daily to tend to the garden .
I also use them to visit the local park ,walk to the bus stop to go to the shops when I feel like visiting smaller ones or to the post office when I want to post a parcel.
I prefer to buy most groceries online .
I will use the money I save by not having to tax the car ,pay Insurance, car park fees ,AA ,MOT, annual car service and petrol to travel in a taxi when I feel like doing so.
I am not just thinking of myself entirely.
If I want to use my money to help someone else I can do so.
There is no right or wrong.
I have reached the age when I have decided that if I want something and can afford it I will have it.
As they say
"We can't take it with us"
My two sons have told me that is what I should do and I agree with them.
B.... y right LJ.
DeleteMy mum used to say that there are no pockets in shrouds!
DeleteMy son and daughter have told me the same thing. Use the money to create a life you can enjoy.
ReplyDeleteWell I was doing exactly that yesterday. My daughter in law wanted to get some plants for the garden, so I took her to a nice nursery (the kind that sells purely plants, and where the gardeners know exactly what they are talking about), and ended up buying things for my own garden. Three Astilbes (two white, one pale pink, to light up a shady place), a redcurrant bush (daughter helpfully cutting the undergrowth in the orchard massacred my only other one 😣), a whitecurrant bush ( supposed to be sweeter than black or red currants), an evening primrose ( to attract the moths), and a Rosemary so that I will now have one each side of the steps up to the orchard bit. Today I am going to plant them all ( I guess that, Mrs P, is the struggle bit 😉).
DeleteJanice, I adore white currents, a very individual flavour and sweeter than the red and black variety. Whenever I went missing as a child in summer, my Mum knew she would find me sitting under the white currant bush stuffing myself.
DeleteAnd I had a lovely surprise yesterday - I was picking away down in the raspberry patch, and had I got as far as the fence at the very back. I suddenly realised there was a lovely crop of ripening Loganberries and Tayberries ( bought from Scotland Gary!) waiting to be picked.
We had planted these along the fence about 10 years ago and never had a single berry from either of them. We had forgotten they were even there! But this year there are beautiful, very long berries, very dark in colour just waiting to be gathered.
Long, long wait, but hopefully worth it.
Miriam, thank you, your advice worked :)
ReplyDeleteMrs P, I have always resisted new 'stuff', but increasingly find that I am excluded from / cannot access things which interest me. My old phone wasn't reliable, messages not being sent etc, that I decided to splurge, helped by a recent tax rebate....
ReplyDeleteAlready I am free of the laptop which confines me to the kitchen, only place I can gat the internet, and I am now sitting outside with dog and coffee, leading the life.....
I really do hate to see people glued to their phones though, I won't be walking into any lamp posts because I can't look anywhere else!
Archerphile, we used to have a local 'pick your own' fruit farm, always chose loganberries, delicious and I never see them in the shops
MrsP, the end has already started and so far it's been one step ahead. We were on the way to overcome world hunger by 2030 but have been impeded. In Asia and Africa the farmers couldn't transport their produce to towns, so food prices rose. "We" gained weight in lockdown while "they" starved. They have more children who face hunger while ours face obesity and diabetes. Bill G advocates GMO. There's a threesome race into space in search of more space!
ReplyDeleteMy neigbour and wife is proud of no internet/mobile. They recently replaced their car and have two TV sets. I have neither, live and let live!
PS My iphone is not very smart (no internet), but I like that it can help me write in French. We the oldies upcycle them when the boys upgrade theirs.
Tokamak could alter things. See my comment after Ev's of 10.42 today.
ReplyDeleteThat is so interesting, Janice! Thank you. I am out of date. This could be the answer as in the modern age we need so much electricity!
DeleteThe beginning of the end was indeed STEAM which powered the industrial revolution.
ReplyDeleteBack in the sixties we had Rachel Carson and others alerting us. Plus my dad !
I have always recycled and composted and have been as low as possible as a consumer ( don't be concerned, I am not perfect in any way, just doing what I feel I can do )
But since the seventies we have lost the plot.
Politicians took their eye off the ball and public consumerism increased expedentially.
Plus the general public ridiculed those who cared and tried to bring their cause to the forefront of debate.
One reason I acquired many craft skills was to be ready if I survived a nuclear attack, since those who would survive would have to rebuild.
At the beginning of the pandemic I felt it might be possible for us to turn our society around, but I despair now, as all we hear is how the travel industry is on its knees and everybody wants to get back to holidays abroad or a cruise, as a reward after having had such a hard time.
A hard time ?
Wait till the proverbial really hits the fan.
We are an island with many rivers. Rivers have flood plains. And we build houses on them. We will pay dearly for our stupidity.
It's happening already !
✔️✔️✔️
DeleteI like your reason for acquiring craft skills and feel the same way about growing herbs and learning their medicinal uses; and I share your disappointment that consumerism seems to be rebounding after the pandemic. I had hoped there might be change.
DeleteThank you for bringing Tokamak to our attention Janice.
ReplyDeleteI am keeping an eye on all the new scientific initiatives emanating from Cornwall.
Please give me a link to the lithium. I am v interested.
Cornwall was important globally in minerals for centuries and might do it again.
I have heard of lithium in Cornwall but hope it'll not be used up to make batteries for the devices that we so badly need!
DeleteThe Cornish Lithium company has been privately funded, and so far I don't think it has been floated on the public stock market, although it may be in the next year or two. Originally in about 2016 Cornish people were offered shares via crowdfunding through Crowdcube, and I bought some - not a lot as it was a highly speculative start up venture but I wanted to support a Cornish initiative and was interested in the things for which lithium could be used. Since then there have been occasional funding drives when more money has been needed to develop the exploration further, recently the needed amount was realised 15 minutes after the emails were sent out, and I missed that as I only check emails once a day. Their main exploration has been down in deep geothermal waters in the Redruth area.
DeleteCornish Metals are doing exploration drilling as they believe by using modern methods they can find enough copper and tin to make mining worth while again ( I think copper is needed for electric cars and 5G etc) and they have come to an agreement with Cornish Lithium that the latter can search for lithium on all the land to which Cornish Metals has the rights.
Cornish Metals shares can be found on the AIM (Alternative Investment Market) section of the London stock market. BUT both Cornish Metals and Cornish Lithium could easily crash SO THEY ARE NOT SAFE INVESTMENTS. I am betting on C.L. finding a rich source of lithium but it is a gamble and I know that quite clearly.
DeleteMrsP, we heard recently of raw waste being poured into the rivers over the years. The water company can afford the fines. They should be made to clean up but is it reversible?
ReplyDeleteAlso, Mary Portas has a sound idea of reviving the high street by making it community oriented. Who can afford a low salary with the retail and property prices going up. The whole system needs an overhaul but we carry on as normal. I am a part of it like everybody else.
Love all the comments today, but my comments are very short, or then perhaps not.
ReplyDeleteI am glad Mistral is once again, rather than Unknown.
LJ + Ev. So agree, that there are no pockets in shrouds. Now where do I start spending 😂🤣😂
Electric cars. They might be better for the enviroment, (little Sis charges hers up, with power from the roof solar panels) but I have one simple thought about these.
This is about the lack of noise.
My next door but one neighbour, has one but it goes past without knowing it's there.
This has already caused problems for children playing in the cul-de-sac, and the cats!
In the supermarket carpark yesterday, I was walking with my trolley back to my car, to find a car behind me. It was an electric one and as it was so quiet, I wasn't aware it was there.
I seem to remember that natural gas didn’t have a smell so they put one in it to alert us if a gas leak. Maybe they can put sound into electric cars!
DeleteRivercide with George Monbiot and Charlotte Church at 7pm.
ReplyDeleteFeeling a bit disappointed this evening. I’d booked to go on a hot air balloon flight ( my Xmas present from Mr Nuts back in 2019) but there is too much wind, anything over 7 mph and they cancel, so I have had to re-schedule, still it is ideal weather for drying the laundry 😏
ReplyDeleteMy bedding dried beautifully, outside today.
DeleteNow to iron it. 😣
What an exciting present. I'd be terrified though.
DeleteA few years ago Katy won a ballon flight in a raffle! Not wanting to venture herself she gave it to me! I felt really brave until along with others I found myself lying down in a basket prior to inflation. I changed my mind but it was too late! Once airborne I loved it, the views, the quiet apart from the flames taking us upward. We landed on a golf course and had to find what tee we were on to be picked up! Mike and I went up in a balloon over the Serengeti a few years later and landed in the bush to a table in the open laden with breakfast accompanied by champagne. A buffalo came a bit too close but the boys headed him off. Both flights were wonderful experiences! KP, hope conditions settle down for you and enjoy. Looking forward to hearing all about it!
DeleteI gave myself the birthday present of a balloon flight from Bath on my 50th.
DeleteI asked three different friends to come with me, my treat, not one wanted to do so.
I enjoyed it very much.
All strangers on the flight but good companions in the same boat.
I wasn't at all happy, with the blokes who last cut my hedges.
ReplyDeleteI saw a van nearby, a few days ago doing work nearby.
I took note of the name, and after research, I found the email address.
I am arrageing a visit, for a quote. All I need is a massive chop back etc. and a lot of general maintenace.
So far, so good as seem friendly.
This came about, as I saw a van parked, when work was being done nearby. I wrote the name down...so it is wait + see.
...repetative I know. I didn't read back, before posting.
DeleteSorry 😥
We have recorded and now watching “Tales of the Unexpected”. Tonight’s starred John Mills. Many famous faces like Joan Collins. We are enjoying them as I remember looking forward to them years ago. It makes you wonder why that quality of program no longer exists! Or so it seems!
ReplyDeleteThey were wonderful weren't they Ev.
DeleteSaturday evenings round the 'telly '
Think it's decades rather than years tho'
Yes, last night’s was made in the 80’s but I think it was before that too. Lovely waiting for the twist at the end and trying to guess it in advance!
DeleteMrs P just a short comment after yours 2.47 yesterday.
ReplyDeleteJanice, a couple of weeks ago I asked you for more suggestions re my name, and Cornish connections.
DeleteI suspect you didn't read it.
Are you able to look back ?
Will have a look back at 😊
DeleteMrs P "the shining light" or in Welsh "the young deer". Yes there are several Elaines featuring in the Arthurian legends, right from Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 12th century, French romances of the 13th, Malory of the 15th, and later on Tennyson. The various authors sometimes overlap the characters a bit. I have been trying to track through the Welsh Triads and 6th century poems of Aneurin where the real tribal warlord Arthur was mentioned, but haven't so far had any success finding the name Elaine there. I do wonder if Elaine is a name that became popular in early medieval times.
DeleteI will post this bit in case Gary changes the blog as we are up to 182, and I lost a long post once before because I was writing as it changed. Will continue in a new post then won't lose all of it!
There were a number of Elaines:
DeleteElaine the Peerless, Elaine the mother of Lancelot , the Elaine who was Arthur Pendragon's niece, and I think an Elaine was one of his half sisters also, and then the two who most figured in the legends ; Elaine of Astolat and Elaine the Grail bearer.
You will I expect know as much as I do about them.
DeleteElaine, daughter of the lord of Ascolat/Astolat fell hopelessly in love with Launcelot who agreed to wear her colours at a tournament her father gave ( that was leading her on I reckon! And she should have been warned by the fact he disguised himself so Guinevere (he was the knight appointed as the Queen's champion and protector and he of course had fallen desperately in love with her) would not know he was wearing another woman's colours). Launcelot was wounded in the tournament and Elaine nursed him back to health, but her love was unrequited and he returned to the court of Arthur.
Instead of thinking "there are plenty more knights around the round table" she promptly pined away and died of a broken heart, leaving instructions she was to be placed in a boat in her best clothes and clutching a lily and a last letter to Launcelot and floated down the river to the King's court. Many maidens fell for Launcelot, too good looking and charming for his own good.
DeleteWaterhouse's oil painting The Lady of Shallottt sums it up nicely, ;and also the lesser known The Lily Maid of Astolat by Sophie Anderson.
Then there is Elaine the Grail bearer, daughter of King Pelles the Fisher king.
DeleteShe was one of only two women who could match Guinevere for beauty , and her father had foreseen she would have a child by Launcelot, Galahad best of all knights who would realise the Grail and heal the kingdom.
She fell in love with Launcelot same as all the rest, but she was a strong character and knew of his obsession with the queen, so she used magic ( helped by a bit of wine magic methinks) to assume the likeness of Guinevere and seduce him.
He was somewhat peeved to find out he had been tricked, but some time later, after Elaine had given Guinevere a right ticking off for driving Launcelot to despair/madness and she, being the Grail maiden, had healed Launcelot they apparently married and lived happily for a number of years, until his old love for the Queen surfaced again. But Elaine had fulfilled the prophecy and produced Galahad, and no doubt being best of all knights he would have been good and looked after his mum.
Rosetti did a nice painting of The Grail Maiden.
After seeing the devastating photos from.Germany, I hope any family or friends in that region, are safe + well.
ReplyDeleteIs this global warming starting to speed up or something else??
I say this is for a strange reason. This is Wally the Walrus, now in the Isles of Scilly (which I have been following) and why he has travelled so far from his original home.
DeleteThese might not be connected in the slightest way.
There are certainly some freaky weather conditions not least the extreme heatwave in Canada and USA and these awful floods. We were warned some time ago that these things would happen but like the pandemic I suppose it seemed unreal. There has to be a link with carbon emissions and so on but we also have to keep in mind natural cycles of weather. However, the best we can do is to try to cut down on what we pour into the atmosphere. Not easy given the nonchalant attitudes of some countries and individuals.
DeleteI'm pretty sure they are connected Miriam.
DeleteAll the adults in my family (well in the UK), have now double jabs. Perhaps we can now start to think about, and plan, the very delayed Family Christmas.
ReplyDeleteSadly, family in OZ are still waiting patiently, for their 1st.
Niece was booked in for hers, but this has been cancelled, due to the lack of supply of vaccines, where she lives.
Has anyone else listened to 'Open Country' this afternoon, with Helen Mark.
ReplyDeleteIt was about the Durham coastline and how it has been cleaned up, after all the waste dumping from the coal industry.
A delight to listen to. I love this programme. One of my favourites. It takes turns on the Thursday slot with walking with Clare Balding, another favourite.
Been out of touch all day due to a power cut that started at 9am and has only just finished at 5pm. A whole day with no wi-fi, TV, hot drinks or ability to cook or open fridge or freezer ….. it just makes you realise how much you rely on electricity for everything.
ReplyDeleteWill catch up on all your posts later but just wanted to leave a message for MIRIAM
I got my prescription from the hospital today and it’s for Doxycycline 100mg per day for 4 weeks.
Not very happy because I have had Tetracyclines before and they gave me awful stomach upsets and dia….oea (that thing I can’t spell)
And I can’t drink any alcohol for 4 weeks ( not a terrible hardship really) and have to coverup well if I go out in the sun, even on a cloudy day, because of skin rashes and blistering, which also happened before.
But if they get rid of this blessed throat ulcer it will be worth it .
At least you didn't need the heating on Archerphile.
DeleteI hope this treatment works for you and won't be too hard to bear.
Archerphile, thanks for that info. I don't envy you at all, esp. with the no milk and dairy products and so on, for about 2 hours before + after taking med. This is going to be quite difficult.
DeleteWhat I used to suggest was, eat the breakfast cereal + yoghurt first thing in the morning, and then time med. for mid-morning (eg 10 or 11 am), to get the timings right.
I am not sure if this is on any help, as you might have been told differently, and I am now retired so things, can quickly change.
Good Luck. Just think positive, that the abcess will soon be on it's way out. 🤗
Bit confused Miriam because I had no instructions about milk/dairy for 2 hrs either side of taking capsule. In fact it says if they cause stomach irritation, to take with milk or food. But it did say not to have anything with zinc, iron or indigestion tablets for 2 hrs either side. Perhaps things have changed?
DeleteAs said - times change. Just do as to the info. given to you...
DeleteI have obviously been retired, too long (6years) and so guidelines change.
Just ignore my comment.
A power cut.
ReplyDeleteHow would I manage as I am now totally electric, except for the fire.
At this time of year, it would be much easier, as there is always lettuce, beetroot, toms, celery, cold meats etc. to make a salad, along with the light nights.
But in winter - I would be warm in my lounge, due to the fire, but food would be cold soups, baked beans, straight from the tins, along with either peanut butter or bovril + tomato sandwiches...lit by candles + a torch. I would survive...
Also there should be enough hot water in the cylinder, to wash with...then a 13.5tog duvet + pusscat, to stay warm overnight.
Just heard that my 14 yr old grandson has been sent home from school to self-isolate for 10 days *again*.
ReplyDeleteIn the last 4 weeks he has only been able to attend school for 1 whole day and 2 half- days before being sent home because somebody in his year-bubble has been in contact with Covid.
This is ridiculous. He hates being stuck at home on his own, the school have been unable to keep providing online lessons, just repeats of work already done and his education is going to pot.
I am *cross*. 😡
It's just ridiculous.
DeleteMy G children are in the same position Archerphile.
DeleteG son home for most of this term and G daughter had to do her A level mocks on line from home.
This generation are truly suffering.
I bought a new book today (1000 page paperback) - Trouble Blood by Robert Galbraith. I have just learnt, that this is JK Rowling in disguise.
ReplyDeleteShe was unmasked straight away, that's a lot of pages to get through.
DeleteI had to give up on Doxycycline, Erythromycin (I think it was) - the whole lot, years ago because of the thing you can't spell, the red, swollen face, rash on arms and legs, digestive upsets and other annoyances too numerous to mention. The only safe thing left for me now is Cefalexin.
ReplyDeleteJust back from The Anvil in Basingstoke, went to see Adam Kay, This is going to hurt. He was reading chapters from his book interspersed with songs, great fun, compensation for yesterday’s missed balloon flight.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting to hear The Anvil is open again. Mr A phoned them yesterday morning to get a brochure for the 21/22 Classical Concert programme as he always like to book well in advance. They said nothing had been decided or arranged for the concert season yet and they didn’t even know if there will be one this year!
DeleteDorothy Perkins is very happy on the pergola!
ReplyDeleteShe was actually taken from cuttings in my parents garden 45 years ago and has travelled with us to every house since then. A very prolific but extremely thorny lady!
DeleteWhat a colourful journey she's had.
DeleteJust 'saw you' on the other side, so assume all's well apart from the keyboard.
ReplyDeleteDorothy Perkins.
ReplyDeleteAnother shop now gone. I used to buy packets of 5 individual stockings, from them. The idea was, that if you laddered one, there was always a spare.
The shop I missed most when they disappeared, was C+A.
I have one of their jumpers, which I still wear, to this day. It is a much loved one and still fits. It is crew neck, white with simple embroidery on the top, and is perfect over a blouse or a polo-neck top, with jeans.
Does any-one else have something, that they still love + wear, from decades ago?
Alas, no, Miriam, none of it would fit!
DeleteI still have a shift dress from 1964/1965. My mother brought it back from the city where she had been having a break and visiting her family, and I had done the cooking and kept house for my father and brother while she was away. It was unusual in its colouring with several colours merging into each other. Loved it.
DeleteMiriam, the dress I wore at Wimbledon this year was one I bought in South Africa when on honeymoon in 2001 .
ReplyDeleteIt is still commented on.
It was a bargain even then .
However the oldest item I still wear in the winter is a cardigan/ coat in chunky pure Wendy wool in a lovely shade of heather/pale maroon.
I knitted a jumper in the wool almost 40 years ago and liked the colour so much I bought more to make a tank top.
Twenty years later I undid both to make the cardigan/coat.
I have had so many e-mails today, from very different sources.
ReplyDeleteThe content of which, from all, has referred to Monday + masks.
All have been so similar in content - although this will be a personal choice it is preferred that masks will still be worn, to protect staff + other customers.
I so agree.
After all 50,000 new cases in one day, should not be ignored.
✔️✔️✔️
DeleteHow I miss the high street shops of Wallis.
ReplyDeleteStill Phase 8, is still around - another favourite of mine.
I stil have a Dollyrocker dress from the early 70’s. Unfortunately I can no longer get into it! 🤭
ReplyDeleteArcherphile my grandmother had a Dorothy Perkins rose over an arch. It was lovely. Most of my roses are past their best - they have been prolific this year but have had to withstand so much rain some have ‘balled’ but Ispahan, an old rose, is still covered in flowers. She only flowers once but it is a very long “once”- well worth growing.
ReplyDeleteI visited friends near Oxford today and bought them a rose bush as a present for their new garden when they move, hopefully soon. They are in a long chain.
ReplyDeleteIt was a David Austin with a nautical name which escapes me now. They seemed very pleased with it.
I left Lady for about two and a half hours with my friends partner and she was as good as gold. Stayed in the garden with company, and didn't make too much fuss of me on my return.
She is gaining so much confidence. So much that since we arrived home less than an hour ago she has jumped the wall once and had a standoff with the cat who is running about the place with something half dead between his jaws.
While Lady pursued him up, then down stairs, he ran under a chair and was growling at her.
I am exhausted.
Was the rose “The Ancient Mariner”? It’s the only one I can think of with nautical connections. The David Austin rose I would like is “The Fighting Temeraire” for the colour and wild habit but as I have about 18 roses in my garden already plus 2 I haven’t planted yet, it will have to wait!
DeleteYes, thank you Soz, it was The Ancient Mariner.
DeleteVery excited!
ReplyDeleteJust watched my family’s flight take off from Dubai on their way home after 3 years!
They should be back in Toulouse late
afternoon after a transfer flight from Paris.
They cannot go straight to their house as they will have to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days before being allowed out to mix with the French public! Then they’ll have to stay in a gîte for a couple of weeks until the shipping container with all their furniture and worldly goods arrives from Dubai. They are hoping there won’t be another blockage in the Suez Canal to hold things up. Meanwhile they’ll be going to the house to clean it, do any repairs etc ready to move back in.
We hoped we should be able to visit fairly soon but now the UK is putting France back on the red list due to a big increase in the beta (South African) varient there, which obviously we don’t want being imported to the UK. So our reunion, since Christmas 2019, is, very frustratingly, still on hold.
Wow, that's great Archerphile, but so close and yet held back.
DeleteI've only heard of delta here but some areas are re-introducing masks outdoors.
I still put mine on when leaving the house and take it off on return. Many people wear them in the street (still obligatory in shops), especially on market day.
Looking forward to omega...
I should have thought we'd be on everyone else's red list by now!
ReplyDeleteYou are right Sarnia.
DeleteI just read that the UK has the highest number of Covid infections (% of population) in the world behind Brazil and Indonesia.
What does that say about our policies of dealing with the virus.
And now there is a big outbreak of Norovirus too, unusually early in the year.
Just what we all need!
I just heard that people arriving from the UK will need a negative test of less than 3 days (previously, on top of vaccination?). These rules are in a state of flux with delta being the major strain last week-end. One of the boys is to start a new job in London next year, so I'll wait and see until then.
DeleteLanjan - I thought of you this morning while listening to the Kitchen Cabinet. There was salmon marinated/rubbed with G&T which partially cooks it. You may not like salmon and think it's a perfect waste of a good drink. The recipe is about twenty minutes into the programme, if you/anyone is at all interested.
ReplyDeleteThanks Basia,
ReplyDeleteI love Salmon(especially smoked) and love gin but agree with you that it is a waste of a perfectly good drink so would not make the dish.
On the other hand I wouldn't mind trying it.
Wetherspoon's do a wonderful Eggs Royale -like Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon instead of ham.
MrsP - I read about the Listening Project tomorrow (not my usual) where the talk is about Stroud having been voted the best place to live in Britain.
ReplyDeleteThanks Basia, I will be sure to listen.
DeleteI've been in Bath today.
Finally my new IPad has been ordered. None in stock currently.
This is my combined Christmas present from my daughters.
Archerphile, so near and yet so far. I thought about you this morning on hearing the news, about visits to France.
ReplyDeleteYour family will not be back in their true residence, for a while yet so it seems. Hopefully by that time, things will be better as to travel 🤞🤞
The new gardener I was expecting this afternoon, to quote me for the work I need doing, rang to say he couldn't come. He was feeling very poorly, and was awaiting a covid test and result. I will wait - as he is local (5 mins walk away but not sure where) and I would prefer to use a local, independant person.
My favourite is:- scrambled eggs with smoked salmon.
...and yes, a side serving of Heinz tomato sauce!
Archerphile, after listening and reading the BBC website I now understand while France has been singled out as amber+. This is due to the beta variant in its overseas territories which spreads more quickly but in the metropolitan area delta is predominant. So far it's still easier to travel from the UK to France but they may adopt the same measures in response.
ReplyDelete...isn't it the quarantine regs. on returning to the UK from France, even if double- jabbed, as from Monday, which is the problem?
DeleteBut then, I might be so wrong, yet again.... 😣
I am so wrong and I admit this.
DeleteI am finding it so difficult, to follow + more importantly interpret, the ever changing guide-lines.
It's bad and difficult enough, with my family in Wales, due to the differing rules, let alone else-where.
Big Sis lives in Wales, but her postcode and the county as to her address, is english relating to the nearest Shropshire border town, which is closer than a Welsh one.
So we go by the english rules, rightly or wrongly...
Yes Miriam, you're right about the quarantine from France back to the UK, but the other way round a negative test is required.
DeleteMiriam - I am late to this so apologise. I used to love Wallis shops but only to try on in those days as I couldn't afford their prices - this was in the sixties. I shopped Chelsea Girl all the time as I could pay their low prices. What fun it used to be to spend Saturdays going round the shops to find the perfect outfit to go out in that night. Carefree days.
ReplyDeleteI so remember that, trying to find a new outfit to wear to the disco, on a Saturday night... As a Saturday Girl in a well known store, I got my pay as I went on my lunch-break, then spent it in the local boutique within an hour, to have my outfit for the Saturday Disco Night out!.
DeleteThis was early 70's for me.
It's no wonder, my parents despaired of me...
I went to discos in mid 70s, from twenty onwards but always in jeans because that's what the boys and girls in our group wore, even though we went to some posh places.
DeleteMy Saturday job well before was at Evans Outsize Shop in Oxford St, I did look a bit odd there.
Basia, back in the 70’s, Evans Outsizes was where nearly all my clothes came from. Being outsize it was really the only place that catered for me. I loved C& A but their large sized clothes were very limited.
DeleteI so remember all the revolting e brown and claret coloured crimpeline dresses designed for 50+ year olds and the baggy trousers! The funny thing is that when I got to my 50s all the clothes were much too young and short for me - you just can’t win! Now of course they have gone totally online since the collapse of Philip Green’s empire.
I too loved the styles in DP, C&A etc, but in those days 'average' size was a 14. As a size 16 weighing 9st 7lbs everything was too small so I made my own clothes, pattern size 15 1/2.
ReplyDeleteBasia I forgot to answer your request about Germany. My son lives in Hatterheim am Maine which was unaffected by floods although they have quite some rain there for the past few weeks. Anyway I rang him last night and he said that as he doesn't have TV or newspaper he didn't know about them! He has caught up with them on reading the Guardian!
ReplyDeleteHe has a friend at work who has a flat in Genoa so family is driving down Sunday , absolutely due south from Frankfurt. I tell them to let me know when they get there! Unfortunately they have to go through Switzerland then Italy. My grandchildren have always lived in landlocked countries so they love the sea! When they visit in Winter we have to wrap up warm and visit the seaside! Hope Genoa has some beaches!
Because I am tall I used to get my jeans from Millets because they had extra longs ones. Back in the sixties ordinary ladies shops had one size fits all!
Thanks Spicy, I'm glad they've been unaffected and also that there are still people disconnected from the social media. My sister is in Nice where the young ones use the TV to play games and there's no radio! so they feel cut off from the world. We've had a lot of rain too, but I much prefer it to the heat. I'm also far away from the sea and long to see it one day.
ReplyDeleteOut to work in the city at 15, Etam and Dorothy Perkins were my preferred choice. Could only wear separates due to sizing, i was smaller than an 8, and C&A children's dept for coats was the only choice.
ReplyDeleteSo dresses were made for myself.
Until Twiggy came along, then we had smaller sizing.
So by my twenties it was Biba and Mary Quant, and Bus Stop was my favourite.
When I was pregnant I had two pinafore dresses from Laura Ashley which could see me through any season with tee shirt or jumper underneath.
Gary, what’s all this about Glasgow doubling up as New York in the new Indiana Jones movie! Since when did they have sandstone tenements in NY!? It’s in the BBCNews app. Incredible!
ReplyDeleteYou ladies were very lucky.
ReplyDeleteI did have one dress (from C & A ) but most of my clothes were hand made by me.
Coming from a cotton town I was able to buy end of roll off cuts of material (2/11 a yard )and make gathered skirts .
A black cardigan worn back to front and very wide black plastic belt finished off my outfit .
Incidentally my beautiful wedding dress -first wedding! -came from C & A .
It cost £14
Had to save up for it of course.
Yesterday I was a bit worried about Buddy as the night before he hadn’t done a wee at bedtime and also didn’t in the morning. He seemed a bit listless and not himself. I tried to ring Katy to talk it over but as luck would have it she was incredibly busy yesterday at work. Finally I phoned the vet and made an appointment for the afternoon. I took him down there, about a 10 minute walk and he did three or four little ones on the way! Typical! The vet examined him on the pavement, checked his innards and of course couldn’t find anything wrong! Just said to keep an eye on him over the weekend! Of course he is now fine and bouncing around! This short consultation cost me £40! At least it put my mind at rest but of course Katy thinks it hilarious!! It was just like the old days of the telly repair man who walked in just as the set was working perfectly! I just thought no wees might be dangerous and was asking myself whether boy dogs have a prostate! Stupid old woman!😉🤭🐾🐾🐾🐶
ReplyDeleteOh Ev, not stupid at all. Dogs can make us look daft though. In January, my poor dog, now 12, with chronic health problems, was very sick, didn't eat or drink for days, I took her to the vet, who she loathes, met outside in the car park. She refused to go in, slipped out of her very snug harness, twice, got onto the busy road, but I caught her in a sort of rugby tackle and shoved her in the car. The vet gave me loads of tablets, which was odd as she couldn't eat, I drove home, and she is now hungry and happy again, we do a lot of snoozing together. That trip was meant to be her last, I had been taking her to be euthanased....
ReplyDeleteCan I just pop in here to say to Mrs P I am replying to yours of the 15th,
ReplyDeleteAnd Gary please if you are thinking of switching the blog over could you wait a few minutes for me to finish the post as it is quite long, and I don't want it to vanish. Many thanks.
Mrs P I have tried to answer your question, but my knowledge is limited. Next time I chat to my friend in Wales I will ask her what she knows of the Welsh Triads.
DeleteP.s. Where are the Fisher king, the Grail Maiden, and Galahad to heal the kingdom today?!
DeleteThanks Janice - I will try to research from names you have mentioned.
DeleteEach of the three above echoed in my head but too flimsy to recall anything of import.
My school friend and I used to hitch to Southampton back in the day. We went there because they had a C & A which had great prices. How utterly daft were we to trust people to stop and take us onward safely but it worked out for us then.
ReplyDeleteDon't think you were daft Anneveggie, it was a different society and far less risk averse than now.
DeleteBasia....... thanks, I listened. Not very interesting though.
MrsP, I know, I started listening and switched off.
DeleteAnneveggie - I'd like to believe that 99.9% of us can be trusted, otherwise life would be impossible. Now, men say they I'd like to offer a lift but don't dare. There's this talk about the streets being safe for women and they are, but it only takes one predator. I say don't be frightened but stay alert.
The department store I missed most, when it closed in 2005, was an Allders store, on a retail park not far away. They had wonderful, genuine quality goods by well known manufacturers at very reasonable prices.
ReplyDeleteI bought the wonderful set of S/S saucepans, casseroles, etc all for half price. My bed, which I still sleep in, made by a well-known and respected manufacturer, was 2/3rd off the normal price!
Does any-one else recall this firm??
A follow on from a post from yesterday. The gardener I was expecting yesterday for a quote, who contacted me, to postpone, hopefully to come today, hasn't been in contact. I rather feel, after the chat yesterday, his covid test showed +ve.
This sounds so very selfish, but at least it was the day before he was due to come, and not the day after.
I would hate to have to self isolate now.
Yes Miriam, we had an Allders in Basingstoke, it took over from Owen Owen when that closed. I loved both stores. When Allders closed I got some wonderful bargains, but I’d much rather still have the store there.
DeleteDebenhams opened in the new Festival Place part of town, to much acclaim and excitement - now that has gone too. I really miss having a department store in town
Quick extra.
ReplyDeleteI have just finished a good book, namely Still Life by Val McDermid.
Why I am mentioning this is? It was written in 2020 and the timescale was January to March of that year.
It ended with the 1st Lockdown, due to start in a few hours time.
The final sentence was:-
"Right now, what mattered was survival"
You’d all have had a good laugh if you could have seen me last night.
ReplyDeleteI was desperate to pick the gooseberries and remaining raspberries but am not supposed to expose any skin to sunlight for the next 4 weeks.
So I waited until early evening (when it was still very warm) dressed up
In a long sleeved cardigan, Mr A’s Panama hat, wellie boots and wound a scarf round my neck to go down and pick!
I must have looked like a bag-lady and I don’t know what the neighbours thought!
But the job got (half ) done and the freezer is full of fruit (take note LanJan) and today I made around 20 lbs of jam with the rest.
I can imagine it. 😂😂
DeleteWhy not use a factor 50 sun-block and a sun hat instead. It is far more flattering, than the Worzel Gummidge look😉
Well done on 201b of jam, and that you had all the sugar, jars, tops + labels, to do so.
It sounds delicious.
(Pps Mrs P did you like the paintings of the Elaines I mentioned back after your comment of July 15th 4.35pm?)
ReplyDeleteHello Janice,
DeleteI did see a post this morning and replied.
Now that you have asked ....again ( sorry ) I've looked back to the 15 th and seen your several posts.
I will read later this evening, as I'm trying to repot my houseplants at the moment.
Thank you so much.
E.
MrsP