where does the time go.....

Happy Days

2012-01-24T21:54:00.001Z

Super duper day today despite miserable rainy weather. Cinema this afternoon to see 'The Artist', excellent film though it took a short while to get going but then got better and better.

After that picked up a good pair of walking shoes at a bargain price so must now take inspiration from Jo and fit more long walks into my days!

Then it was home to lasagne, recipe taken from Slimming World website.

Next was a bit of telly and now in bed with a bit more telly, my iPod and my Kindle. Will try to add sleep to my choices a bit later.

Lovely.

Success on a plate

2012-01-20T05:36:00.001Z

“Childhood is that wonderful time of life when all you need to do to lose weight is take a bath.” - Richard Zera

Well, yippee!! After a great day out (more to follow), it was time for the Wonderful Slimming World Thursday Group Get-together. And I'd achieved what I set out to do last week, a stone (14lbs) lost since the end of October, which is roughly 12 weeks. With Easter being about 12 weeks away, this has now inspired me to set another goal and aim to lose a similar amount by then, which will take me almost to my final goal.

Slow but sure, that's my weight-loss journey and I think that I don't want it any other way. My observations, for what they're worth, over the years have been that your body, for all manner of reasons, will lose body fat and weight at its own pace and it helps no end if you can accept smaller losses and not get too disappointed with any non-movement or small gains. Unless, of course, you've stuffed yourself with chocolate, cakes and biscuits all week. Then, frankly, you should know what to expect, be happy that you made that choice and carry on from there.

Of course, it's not always easy to remain upbeat, especially if the weight hasn't shifted much for 2 or 3 weeks but we have a fantastic group leader in Karen who's always there for advice and support in person at the group get-togethers or by phone/email.

Ok - lecture over - now on to other things - a summary of my week. On second thoughts, perhaps not - don't want you to nod off so a couple of odds and ends.

Having decided that my lack of exercise was not good for me in any way, shape or form and not wanting to use the wii with my husband as an audience, walking was my preferred choice so I gave myself a good talking to and said: 'Don't be stupid! of course you can fit it in. You can do what you like!' And it worked!

This week:

To Addlestone and back for my Sunday stint at Age UK

A super, familiar walk around Virginia Water Lake

A very-near-to-home discovery - Homewood Park

And yesterday was a short visit to Hampton Court, lunch in the Member's Room (deeelicious thanks to Jo:-)), followed by an hour and half around Bushy Park

Deer, deer

Diana Fountain

Lunch, by the way, was a couple of slices of quiche, Slimming World style!

Long time, no see

2012-01-18T21:07:00.000Z

Well...... It's been a while. 2010 and 2011 have passed with life's high highs and low lows and the usual mundane inbetweens. One grandboy's all grown up but a nice, shiny new one came along last August to fill the gap. Adorable - both of them.

I'm not doing too much anymore in the amateur dramatic world - just involved now with Woking Drama Association, mainly helping to organise and run the Woking Drama Festival every October. This feeds my interest in local drama without the danger of ending up with a full time job (unpaid!).

Apart from that I'm still reading a lot, paper books, audio and Kindle, listening to all kinds of music and radio on my ipod and wasting an awful lot of time on this laptop. Oh, and TV watching when there's anything worthwhile to watch.

Currently, a lot of my time and effort is going in to getting fit and losing weight so you'll be kept up-to-date with my progress (hopefully). But I'll try to keep it intereresting with, perhaps, some illustrated recipes and walks together with any other randon thoughts on the subject.

Tomorrow, a nice long walk is planned around Bushy Park and, if it should rain, Hampton Court Palace is just across the road so looking forward to a great day with lovely daughter, Jo :-)

Saturday PhotoHunt - Birds

2009-11-21T01:59:00.039Z

If you want to joint in the PhotoHunt, please go here.

I realised that if I had to choose, I would rather have birds that airplanes - Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974)

There aren't too many exotic birds aroung where we live, with the exception of the flocks of parakeets that have made the South of England their home; and they don't stay still long enough to get a decent photograph. Also, having a cat who prowls around the garden doesn't encourage many of the smaller birds to stay, although I do have a robin who frequently visits, especially if I'm digging.

So, here's my offering for this week's Hunt, from last year's holiday in the Gambia - the first a very friendly chap who used to wake us up by banging on the bathroom window in the morning and the other one of the many little birds scratching amoung the very colourful flowers and bushes in the gardens.

Red-billed Hornbill

Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu

Signs of the times

2009-11-17T10:43:00.001Z

It is a place that gives concrete jungles a bad name, an urban nightmare famed for its tram system and some of the ugliest architecture outside the old Soviet bloc - London Evening Standard (2007)

Yesterday we went to Croydon, which used to be a large town in Surrey but is now a 'major metropolitan centre' since it merged with Greater London in the '60s.

The last time we had any dealings with Croydon (apart from frequent visits to Ikea, which I'll come to later) was 40-odd years ago when we were returning from Southend on Sea on a very cold and sleety-rain-lashed Sunday night, in a small car, with a small baby in the back, who happened to be very hungry. This was in the days before motorways and big major roads and our route took us home via Croydon. (It was also in the days before computers were in common use, or sat nav, or route planners. All you had was a not-very-good map). This experience made us rather reluctant to view this town in anything other than a pessimistic light.

All was well until we neared Croydon; we followed road signs pointing to that place but then all signs stopped and we were hopelessly lost!! We circled Croydon several times, went along a one-way street the wrong way - followed by several other vehicles - got stopped by a policeman; which turned out to be a stroke of luck because he pointed us in the right direction, with our backs to Croydon and heading home where places were signposted and we rarely got lost.

Ikea, Croydon

Ever since we have avoided Croydon......... that is, apart from Ikea. But this Scandanavian paradise (or hell, depending on your point of view!) is on the ourskirts. Still a hellish journey BUT it's on major roads and very straightforward.

Anyway, as part of our family history research we had a need to visit the library in Croydon so bearing in mind our last journey in this region and the fact that we would have no idea where to park, we thought we'd take advantage of one of the advantages of getting old i.e. our cheap train travel. Getting to Croydon by train is a bit of a faff - drive to Guildford, train to Redhill, another to East Croydon - but at least you can relax and watch the countryside, read or chat and arrive at your destination in a relatively good mood.

Guildford Station

Except that Guildford station has lots of platforms but no obvious signs of which train arrives at which platform. They have very nice manned information booths but they are individually located on the platforms, only reached by loads of stairs or steep ramps. We managed to nab a passing official-looking bloke who confidently informed us that we needed Platform 8. Super. Off we went only to find that the trains using that particular platform were going the wrong way. Made our way to the information booth. The only one not manned. Getting grumpy now. Then we spotted another official-looking bloke on the other side of the track and following a conversation in extremely loud voices (because of the noise, you understand, and not 'cos we were grumpy), we made our way to Platform 3. You'll be pleased to know the rest of the journey was uneventful.

We arrived in Croydon. Apparently, Croydon still has an issue with signs - not necessarily road signs - they looked ok on their very busy and congested roads - but we wanted to find the library. I have to say that there were plenty of little blue signs on lamposts pointing to a large, ornate building which told us that that was the direction for Council Offices/Library, but after doing a circuit of this building, with its many doors, we found not one sign that said 'Library'. We found lots of locked, unnamed doors and the main entrance to the council offices (unmanned), but it was only after asking the third passer-by (the other two didn't speak English) that we were directed down the stairs, through some very modern, unsigned glass doors into the bowels of the building. Eureka..... home of the library, amongst other things.

I'm not going to bore you further. We did eventually find the required department, although it wasn't exactly straightforward and the lady we spoke to was extremely nice and helpful. Making our way home was easy; we knew where we going!

We have to go back, at some stage, because the records we want to see are original and very old and have to be pre-ordered, and I'm sure we'll find it a piece of cake. We're considering using one of these:

Which used to be like this:

But, I'm sorry, Croydon - you'll never be a place that I think of with fond memories

Family

2009-11-16T00:28:00.000Z

"Perhaps they are not stars in the sky, but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy." ~ Eskimo Legend

Shortly after my Mother-in-Law died, a few years ago, her grandson, my Pete, started to do some research into the Moore family history. M-in-L was actually David's (Pete's Dad) stepmother as his Mum (Ethel) was run over and killed by a police car during a black-out during the Second World War and buried in Surbiton Cemetery. Tom (David's Dad, Pete's Grandad) remarried after the war (to M-in-L) and they had a baby boy (Desmond) who, sadly, died at only a few months old. He was laid to rest in the same grave as Ethel.

We already knew all of this but had never visited the cemetery and after my brother-in-law (who still lived in he family home) died earlier this year Pete, together with his Lovely Young Wife, traced the site of the grave and found that it was just a bare patch of grass. Because money was very tight in those days the grave was never marked in any way.

The family home was put up for sale after B-in-L's death and some of the more worthwhile contents were sold on ebay, raising a couple of hundred pounds. Pete made the brilliant suggestion of putting the money towards a memorial stone and set about gaining permission from the rest of the family. He also took on ownership of the grave as, legally, it still belonged to his Grandad, even though he'd been dead for getting on for 40 years! All of this has taken a while but, finally, a couple of weeks ago we were informed that the stone was in place.

Today, it being a bright, sunny and uplifting day, David, Jo, Thomas and I went to visit those family members, so long gone. Although we'd been before, somehow, having a solid form of acknowledgement that it was a resting place made all the difference.

So, Ethel and Baby Desmond, most of us didn't meet you and David only had his Mum until he was nearly 3 and his baby half-brother for 3 short months, but you have been in our thoughts over the years and are certainly not forgotten.

Ethel, David and Johnnie (B-in-Law)

Surbiton Cemetery

Saturday Photo Hunt - music

2009-11-13T01:33:00.001Z

To join in Photo Hunt please go here.

I had a bit of a brain freeze with this one and this is the best I can up with:

These are the main sources of my music. My ipod is with me, usually, wherever I go and is indispensable for keeping me company when I'm walking, gardening, shopping, etc. and I'm on my own. I love music of all kinds and can't imagine my life without it.

A walk in the park

2009-11-11T09:41:00.000Z

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns George Eliot

Yesterday, still feeling vaguely unwell and grumpy from my bout of 'flu, I couldn't face another day of sitting about with no inclination to do anything except watch TV. I felt that if I didn't break the chain then this is how I would spend my days for the rest of my life. No thank you! So, at around 11.30, I forced myself off of the sofa and decided that, despite the weather which was cold, drizzly and dull, I would use the membership I took out a few months ago to visit Savill Garden, set in Windsor Great Park and beautiful to see any time of year. Added to that, there's a decent cafe attached so it seemed the sensible thing to do.

But first: what did I do with the ubiquitous piece of plastic that I needed to get me in the car park and garden? Wasn't in the obvious places (my purse or the little wallet where I keep all of the other 10,000 pieces of plastic that seem to be necessary to live our lives these days). So I looked in the less obvious places - in a file marked 'miscellaneous', in the heap of stuff on the desk, in drawers, everywhere. Well, obviously not everywhere because eventually I found it in a bag not used since about May which I though was empty. This whole episode had taken about 45 minutes but I persevered with my slowly diminishing resolution to get fresh air and, at last, set out in the direction of Virginia Water another great place for a walk on another day.

I drove about 100 yds then got caught up in roadworks. This wasn't doing my grumpy mood any good at all! But I managed to turn around and took the less pretty route (which was also twice as long).

Once the dog/toddler walkers in the Great Park were left behind I had the whole of the garden to myself; I saw 3 other people and they were all gardeners. How many flowers would I find still in bloom? - Loads. Had the dampness and drizzle spoiled the colours? - Definitely not. Would I be bored? - You kidding?
The delicious soup and crusty bread was a welcome finale to my visit and I headed home looking forward now to my evening out, planned some weeks ago, to see Chicago at our local theatre. Had to sort the damp hair out first, though ;o)

Well worth all of the effort and here are some pictures to prove it:

Murky start

But these cornus (Dogwood) soon cheered it up.

physalis (Chinese Lanterns)

and, finally, begonia

More pictures on the flickr link in the side panel

Makeover magic

2009-11-07T07:53:00.000Z

Cosmetics are a boon to every woman, but a girl's best friend is still a nearsighted man - Yoko Ono

After deciding yesterday that I really had to force myself back into the outside world, one look in the mirror confirmed that some sort of renovation must take place. That crumbling old ediface looking out at me really did need some sort of attention to make it suitable for public viewing. The skin was pale and wan, a sort of beigey colour, the eye sockets a sort of brown/purple bruised-looking shade, the lips shiny with vaseline. Yuck.

So, to work: fill the cracks with very expensive, magic cream which doesn't work, but I kid myself it does because I don't want to have wasted my money. Then on goes the stuff to give me-good looking skin, a sort of beigey colour. Check: yes, that looks ok. Eyes next - my favourite eye shadow, a sort of brown/purple bruised-looking shade. Check: yes, that looks ok. Better do the lips, a touch of shiny lipgloss will do. Check: yes, that looks ok. Overall double check: not bad for an old bird and I don't think anyone will ask me if I'd like them to call for an ambulance when they see me.

So, see, Mother Nature. You don't have to make people look so awful when they're poorly. After all, we both used the same colours!

When I'm Sixty-Four

2009-11-06T19:31:00.000Z

When I was young I was called a rugged individualist. When I was in my fifties I was considered eccentric. Here I am doing and saying the same things I did then and I'm labeled senile - George Burns

The charity I work for on Fridays (Help the Aged) has recently merged with another (Age Concern) and early next year will be rebranded as Age UK. Today I read through the notes sent to each shop manager and was interested to note that good old political correctness was at the heart of the information. When addressing anyone over the age of ?? (when is old? - 50? 60? 70?) the term 'aged' is a complete no-no as are: 'senior/senior citizen', 'pensioner', 'old person', 'wrinkly' and 'old git'. The team organising this marketing excersise polled a number of these, erm, whatever they're called who promptly told them that they didn't want to be categorised at all. So now, staff and volunteers working for Age UK have to use the term 'those of later life'. Sounds vaguely like a slimming club to me.

What a lot of nonsense! Why can't we call them 'people', which is what they are? I know 'cos I'm five of them. I'm a person, I'm old, I'm a pensioner, I'm wrinkly and, very often, I'm a git. But I'm still the basically the same as I've ever been. So treat me accordingly. So there.

PS: I knew I'd reached the age of no return when the lady in the Post Office said to me in a very patronising tone: And what can I do for you today, young lady? I'M OLD BUT NOT STUPID

PPS: Perhaps I'm not over the 'flu yet - I'm very grumpy anfd I can't find the words I want

Saturday Photo Hunt - Veterans/Military

2009-11-06T19:13:00.050Z

To participate in the Hunt, please go here.

In the United Kingdom Remembrance Sunday is the second Sunday of November, the one nearest to November 11th, which is the anniversary of the end of the hostilities of the First World War at 11am in 1918. The day is to remember all war dead and will be especially poignant here this year with 5 British soldiers being shot and killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday.

Some of the bloodiest fighting of World War One took place in the Flanders and Picardy regions of Belgium and Northern France. The poppy was the only thing which grew in the aftermath of the complete devastation. John McCrae, a doctor serving there with the Canadian Armed Forces, deeply inspired and moved by what he saw, wrote these verses:

In Flanders' Fields
John McCrae, 1915

In Flanders' fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders' fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high,
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders' Fields.

Since 1921 single poppies and wreaths have been made by disabled ex-servicemen for people to buy and therefore contribute to the Royal British Legion charity. The wreaths are laid on the memorials and two-minutes' silence is held at 11 a.m.

The photo above shows the poppy that I'm wearing this week, together with the Military Medal for 'Bravery in the Field' awarded to my Uncle Ben for rescuing his commanding officer, despite his own injuries.

Sincere apologies

2009-11-06T09:07:00.002Z

It has come to my notice that there are some grammatical errors scattered around my last few posts; some of the commas are in the wrong places!! I don't know how this could have happened but please blame whichever you like out of some (or all) of the following:

old age (most likely)
influences of flu
carelessness (unforgiveable)
not good at grammar in the first place (but I usually am!)
don't give a stuff

I'm making this apology because I know how upset some of you get about this sort of thing. Please stay my friends. I'll try very hard not to do it again. (sob, sob).

OK - grovelling over - have a good day.

Crash, bang, wallop - what a banger !!**!!

2009-11-06T00:06:00.001Z

Now, on the whole I'm pretty much a 'live and let live' kinda gal. Except where 'consideration for other people' interferes with my bonhomie and that's when my aptitude for moaning springs to the fore. So, I have no objection whatsoever to people standing out in the cold firing up their very expensive and very noisy fireworks (they seem to get louder every year), if that's what makes them happy but ........... WHY do they do it at 11pm when people are thinking about retiring for the night??? Eh?? Grrrrrrrr.....

Grandma v. t'internet

2009-11-05T17:35:00.000Z

Sorry about the language but this made me laugh because it's oh so true!! ;o)

Plasticine Pals

2009-11-05T11:23:00.000Z

Can't let this day go past without recognition of this historic event:

Happy 20th Birthday

Burn the guy (already burnt the bra!)

2009-11-05T10:24:00.000Z

Please to remember
The fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot
I see no reason
Why gunpowder season
Should ever be forgot

Guy Fawkes - now he and his friends had a plan. Thoroughly disillusioned with their current rulers, who weren't at all friendly towards Catholics, they planned to blow up parliament with gunpowder and start again; some people might think that this plan could work well with today's politicians. In those days, the reigning sovereign attended parliament so when this plot was foiled on November 5th 1603, bonfires were lit in towns and villages to celebrate the safety of the king and became a firm tradition.

The pictures above show how it used to work; kids would build a 'guy' out of old clothes, stuffing it with newspaper, straw or suchlike and usually stand in the street pleading for 'a penny for the guy'. The pennies collected were then used to buy fireworks, which were freely available in newsagents, general stores, etc. The big bonfires were built by the children, usually, on any convenient piece of waste ground. Smaller fires would be found in someone's back garden, if big enough, or, sometimes, even in the street. There was usually keen competition to see which gang could build the biggest fire and it was not unknown for the whole thing to be stolen on November 4th.

Of course, this was in the days before 'Health and Safety' and paranoia took over; these days fireworks are hard to get and expensive so the alternative is to attend organised events which are hard to get to and expensive. And when you get there, if you live in Ilfracombe in Devon, the bonfire will be on a giant TV screen.

And talking of pennies:

Britannia is to disappear from Britain's coinage. Used since the 17th century as a symbol of democracy and patriotism, it is to go and another piece of our history is swept aside.

And finally: apparently the Sweater Girl is coming back! Dig out all of those circular stitched bras from the back of the drawer, girls (or boys, if you're that way inclined). We're all going to be walking around with two dangerous missiles leading the way, sharp enough to stab a block of ice. As shoulder pads are also making a comeback, a very strange fashion picture is being conjured up by my brain ;o)

Thanks for the memories (if only I could remember them)

2009-11-04T17:00:00.007Z

Well..... some 20 months since my last post has flown past. Some 20 months of humdrum everyday living (with a few bright spots) so I won't be using too much space reporting on exotic holidays, how I won the lottery and that fantastic tete a tete I had with Johnny Depp/Gareth Malone!

I'm sure that many interesting things HAVE happened but lately my brain seems to work in a bit of a random fashion; sometimes it recalls things instantly and at others the memories come at unexpected times, usually days later. As a comfort I watch The Weakest Link, which makes me feel like a genius.

So....... I'm going to try to post on a regular, or probably semi-regular basis, and no doubt some of my adventures and misadventures will come to light.

One of the major changes to my life has been my retirement from The Ottershaw Players which has been of huge benefit to me. My interest in amateur drama will continue with my ongoing involvement with the Woking Drama Association, an organisation whose main function currently is to produce an annual drama festival lasting 2 weeks in October, although there are plans afoot to expand their commitment to local groups.

Today I've been:

Coughing
Taking pills
Drinking tea
Watching daytime TV
Reading the daily newspaper
Listening to A Simple Act of Violence by RJ Ellory
Feeding the cat (often)
Checking emails and Facebook (frequently)

Wow - didn't realise I'd been so busy. Will try to be more interesting next time.
Cooking dinner (but not for me)

Saturday Photo Hunt - Wooden

2008-02-23T07:46:00.005Z

To participate in the Hunt, please go here.

Looking through my albums for inspiration I find that I have a 'thing' for tree trunks:

Sheffield Park Gardens in Sussex

A very, very, very, very old olive tree in Madeira

Horse Chestnut at Stourhead

Trees in a park near Whistler, Vancouver, Canada

Grandson Thomas standing in a VERY tall tree trunk, near Whistler, Vancouver, Canada

Washday Blues

2008-02-20T13:53:00.007Z

Bleedin' Gums Murphy: The blues isn't about feeling better. It's about making other people feel WORSE, and making a few bucks while you're at it - The Simpsons (1989)

Recently I bought a new American washing machine, very similar to the one pictured above. I was very, very happy about it all because, ever since we stayed at our friends' place in Florida, I have lusted after one of these babies. (That last sentence will give you some indication as to how old I am because any woman who gets turned on by an electrical appliance has GOT to be getting on in years. Only old people and newlyweds think that a gift of something useful is OK!) Anyway, I was doubly excited because I'd also bought an excellent drier to go with it:Now, being American, these wonderful machines are LARGE and HEAVY. I ordered them online (saving about £100!) but that meant we had to get them in place and install them ourselves. Please note, that when I say 'we' in this case it means 'husband doing all the work while I hold things and give advice'. A couple of days later, after getting adaptors for hoses and pipes, altering plumbing, adjusting worktops and much grumpiness from husband and guilt from me, both monsters were in place (just), working beautifully and I am very, very happy.

At least I was until this morning when I thought I'd better complete the guarantee forms that come with my new toys, just in case they get sick and have to have very expensive doctors to fix them. I filled in my name, address and purchase details and then it said:

Model and Serial Number. Please APPLY the sticker from the back of this warranty booklet in the box below.

If you cannot find the barcode sticker, please enter your appliance model and serial number.

Of course, as is usual for me these days, there is no sticker on the back of the washing machine booklet. And guess where the Model and Serial Numbers are???? That's right, on the bottom right hand corner of the back of the machine. Which is standing like a monolith in the utility room with a dryer of equal proportions next to it, immovable and vast.

But it's the same with all cumbersome electrical goods, isn't it? You scrabble about on the floor setting up your computer, or printer, or TV, etc., etc., something goes wrong, you ring up 'technical support' and they say: 'What's the serial number?' And there you are scrabbling on the floor again to try to see this number printed ALWAYS in the tiniest font available and placed in the most inaccessible place that someone in the factory could think of.

Think I'll fill these forms in tomorrow.

I couldn't have done it without....................

2008-02-18T14:18:00.004Z

The above award has just been presented to me by the lovely pt - just in time for Mother's Day!

Thanks, Pete.
xxxxx

I'm passing it on to Chuckie ('cos he's cuddly, Scroblene ('cos we haven't talked for a long time) and Delmonti ('cos he's in hospital and it's for when he comes out).

Saturday Photo Hunt - Free

2008-02-17T11:30:00.004Z

To participate in the Hunt please go here.

OK - so it's way past Saturday. The 'free' link is a bit tenuous too. But following are a few pictures from the Ottershaw Players' very recent and ongoing production of Pleasure Island, during which we gave away FREE pirate hats!

This effort also shows the reason why my blogging has been non-existent recently. All of my waking hours have been spent selling tickets, making/organising costumes, organising fish & chips and stuff. But it was all worthwhile. This weekend's shows have been an outstanding success, considered by those who know to be 'one of the best' in the entertaining and very rude world of 'The Farrago', an annual event put on by the Players. Which just goes to show how filthy some of the people of Surrey are!

Two more shows next weekend then a bit of a rest until Lord Arthur Savile's Crime in the early summer.

If this has whetted your appetite, there are loads more photos on my Flickr link on the sidebar.

Enjoy! (I did):

(Does anyone recognise this chap??)

Also, although I've seen this show countless times over the past few weeks, it still makes me laugh out loud!!!!!

Laugh Out Loud 1 - Scatty Cats

2008-02-03T10:30:00.000Z

It's not often that I laugh out loud 'cos I'm a grumpy old cynic these days. I have a good sense of humour but contain my expressions of amusement to smiling, chuckling or laughing-out-loud-inwardly (so that nobody notices). Sometimes, however, I see or hear something which produces a sort-of involuntary Laugh Out Loud. So I've decided that, whenever this happens, I'm going to tell you about it.

N.B. WARNING: a) THIS WILL RELY ON MY OLD-AGE RELATED BAD MEMORY and b) SOME THINGS WILL BE VERY RUDE (SO IF YOU'RE OF A NERVOUS DISPOSITION BE VERY CAREFUL)

Today it's happened twice already (some sort of record?). First of all an item in the Sunday newspaper told us that the cargo of a ship floundering in the stormy seas 200 miles off the coast of Southern Ireland contained fruit bound for the warehouses of Del Monte, a large fruit and vegetable supplier here in the UK. As some of you may know, that lovely chap Pete was very recently 'let go' by this company who weren't particularly generous in their procedures in doing so! So when I read that their bananas were floating about in the Irish Sea it made me laugh out loud.

And then this, courtesey of Sarge Charlie containing some very funny images, some of which made me laugh out loud :

Saturday Photo Hunt - Narrow

2008-02-02T00:14:00.000Z

Just about Saturday here in the UK.

Luckily the roads shown here in Madeira aren't as narrow as they look. But look how narrow that column is that's supporting one of them!

Still in Madeira, this narrow-bodied lizard was caught sunning him/herself in one of Funchal's beautiful gardens.

And finally this narrowboat has stopped for a rest on the Basingstoke Canal near Brookwood in Surrey.

Join the Photo Hunt here.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

ABC Wednesday - B for Brookwood

2008-01-30T20:53:00.000Z

ABC Wednesday

Very late this one; very, very busy day.

I love cemeteries and the older the better. Not too many miles from where I live is Brookwood Cemetery and I wrote this about it for the Saturday Photo Hunt in Se ptember of last year:

This is a picture I took on a visit to Brookwood Cemetery last weekend. The cemetery was opened in Victorian times specifically for the purpose of burying London's dead, due to lack of space in the capital's graveyards. Trains ran from Waterloo Station directly into the cemetery and this length of railway track is taken from the original line. The cemetery is a wonderful, peaceful place with lots of grand examples of Victorian 'over-the-top' splendour. Now it is a multi-cultural burial site, serving many different religions and races. The American Military section was used for the final scene in the 1976 film The Omen. There is also a section which contains a monastery, home to the Saint Edward Brotherhood. This was established in 1982 to prepare and care for the church in which the sacred relics of Saint Edward the Martyr, King of England, are enshrined. A small community of monks hold daily services, joined on Sundays and weekdays by a number of Orthodox believers residing in the area.

And here are some pictures:

Sorry it's a bit of a cheat. Just didn't have time to be creative!!

Saturday Photo Hunt - Old Fashioned

2008-01-26T04:45:00.000Z

Go on -join in. Just click here.

My offering this week is, once more, taken from the photo archives of the O tter shaw Players:

Firstly we have scenes from Dickens' A Christmas Carol - fairly old-fashioned, I think.

Scrooge counting his money

Bob Cratchit

A young Ebenezer Scrooge and fiancee

Next we have some Sherlock Holmes shots; a little bit later (and in a lighter vein) but still 'old fashioned'.

Show night at the Ottershaw Empire

Watson & Holmes

Singalong!

Acrobatistes

Great fun for EVERYONE!

Happy Saturday Photo Hunt, everybody.

ABC Wednesday

2008-01-23T16:28:00.001Z

ABC Wednesday

Thanks to Siani I thought I'd give this a try so here goes.......

These lady archers are standing on the roof of a very impressive building in Tenerife.

This archer is not as glamorous but an angel in my eyes!

Plus..........

2008-01-22T12:38:00.000Z

And I'm making a long coat for Long Dong Goldstein & a cloak for Blind Phew!!!

PS Sorry about my last post's font. Tried to change it but it wouldn't work.

Here we go again......

2008-01-22T11:26:00.000Z

Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all. - Sam Ewig

No sooner have I caught up on things neglected for the past few months than along comes another show for the Ottershaw Players to perform and more costumes, ticket sales, etc., etc. are needed. This time it's Pleasure Island, based (loosely, very loosely!) on our Christmas production of Treasure Island so you'd think that the costuming would be a doddle, wouldn't you? Well, you'd be wrong. Pleasure Island is our (sometimes) annual Farrago, an adult show, very rude, very funny and great fun for cast, crew and audience alike. If I tell you that my jobs for today are altering a pair of black leather , laced up the sides trousers for a character called 'Black Puss' and putting a flap on the behind of a pair of long johns on which the treasure map will be pinned, this for a character called Billy Boner, then you'll get the picture. Nudge, nudge... wink, wink.

Well, must go. Need some strong coffee to get to grips with it all.

Saturday Photo Hunt - Important

2008-01-19T05:10:00.000Z

Haven't done this for ages so I'm very much out of practise but here goes:

These are pictures of a statue (known as the Copper Horse) of George the Third of Great Britain, dressed as a Roman Emperor) who was considered very important because he was a king. It was during his reign that the United States of America and the United Kingdom were formed and those two events were certainly important to all concerned. Unfortunately, he eventually went mad.

The statue stands on the summit of Snow Hill in Windsor Great Park at the end of the Long Walk, which leads down to Windsor Castle, home to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, a Very Important Person indeed.

Windsor Castle itself is a very important building because it's the largest, oldest inhabited castle in the world, dating back to the time of William the Conqueror in the 11th century. The picture here is not at all important because it was taken on a very cold and misty day and is absolute rubbish!

Happy Photo Hunting!

Service with a smile?.....You'll be lucky!!!!

2008-01-03T13:30:00.000Z

Why is it that people who work in 'service' industries (shop assistants, restaurant staff, helplines, etc.) find it so difficult to actually give a service? Or if they do fulfil their obligations, as described in their job description, they do so with such bad grace and, sometimes, downright rudeness. Examples follow:

On Christmas Eve I was shopping for a few last minute things in Tesco when I needed to be directed to wherever it was they kept the tomato juice. I'd looked in all the (to me) obvious places (mixers, fruit juices) but couldn't find it. Now, I know that I'm past my best and my brain isn't quite as sharp as it used to be and I knew that this elusive juice would be in a pretty obvious place (obvious, that is, to everyone except me) but I did expect a more 'helping old ladies across the road' attitude than the one I got, which was aggressive, rude and totally uncalled for. It's not as if it was halfway through the day and the store was extremely busy (this was approximately 5.30am and not all that many customers around) and I didn't interrupt this individual from building a festive pyramid of Christmas puddings in order to take me by the hand and lead me around the store. I just asked, very politely, 'Excuse me, please could you tell me where the tomato juice is?' His response was to roar 'WHAAAT??' whereupon I meekly repeated my request. With much eye rolling and waving of fingers he replied 'Over there' in a tone that indicated he was obviously dealing with a moron. Put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

During my enforced absence from blogging I had the misfortune to lose my internet connection . All of the hardware, etc seemed to be in good working order so I assumed that the problem was with my service provider, (oh no, not again) Tesco. Obviously Tesco have a central charm training school to which they send all of their employees regardless of their role in that great and glorious conglomerate. However, in this section of their world domination, they charge you 50p/minute for their employees to be rude and unhelpful. The very lovely Pete was my advisor and mentor for this unwanted, hugely inconvenient disruption to my life (bills to be paid, emails and blogs to read) and he had spent 30 minutes talking to them without a result so add to it the 20 minutes or so that it took me to work out that they didn't intend to be of any use and there's £25's worth of no help and frustration. Anyway, it got fixed in the end (thanks, Pete) but don't it make you mad.

Yesterday went out to lunch with Jo and Thomas. Ok, so it was a Harvester but it's only up the road and they have a 'help yourself' salad bar and Thomas likes it. All was reasonably OK (apart from the waitress dropping a knife on David's beer thereby depositing huge chunks of glass in it and then having to be asked to replace the drink) but then I thought I'd finish on a nice cup of coffee. Costa coffee was the brand advertised in the menu so I was envisaging a good rich, dark brown, aromatic drink. When it came the 'rich, dark brown' part wasn't obvious and a small doubt began to creep into my head. It was too hot to taste, right then, so I watched Thomas devour his double chocolate brownie sundae, relishing every morsel with him, whilst I waited for it to cool. When I eventually brought the cup to my lips the first thing that struck me was that it didn't actually smell of anything. So that was the 'aromatic' bit gone. Then I sipped it; I swear that if it was Costa coffee it was diluted with about 2 gallons of hot water! The manager happened to be passing so I explained my problem and he carried it off muttering something about it all coming out of the same pot but soon returned with a fresh cup. This, I'm sorry to say, looked very similar to the previous one and, on tasting, tasted exactly the same. We weren't charged but there was no apology just the the assumption that I was being unreasonable for not liking their undrinkable coffee.

So..... why can't these people be trained to say 'sorry' to the customer, even if they think they are right. It defuses any potential confrontation and costs nothing. More importantly, why can't companies INSIST that their employees are polite. Would make life so much more pleasant.

Phhhhew........................................

2007-12-28T17:05:00.000Z

Said I'd be back, so here I am.

The thing that first caused me to take this VERY extended break, Treasure Island, is now long over (please click on the link to see the results of all that sewing, etc!). Boy, was that hard work. Although I think that the Ottershaw Players can count the show as another success it was, unfortunately, not the happy, smooth-running type of production that we have become to know and love. However, we've had the post-production meeting, people have had their say and hopefully lessons have been learned so we can now look forward to the next offering, in February, which is our very rude and rumbustious adult 'Farrago' - Pleasure Island! Here's what the last one looked like.

This busyness took us up to 2nd December and straight into thinking about and preparing for CHRISTMAS. Turkey to order, presents to buy, house to clean and tidy (hadn't been done for about 2 months!!). In the middle of everything I lost my internet connection for a few weeks. I honestly didn't realise how much I relied upon my computer to pay bills, communicate with people, etc. Profuse thanks to the lovely Peter for fixing it for me; loads and loads of brickbats to Tesco for charging 50p per minute to be not at all helpful.

So that's it. Christmas has now come and gone, going to the Dogs tonight to celebrate my birthday, New Year going to be a fairly quiet celebration. Not going to make any resolutions as they're so easy to break; I'm just going to do my best to blog more frequently, continue my healthy eating regime, stay in regular touch with friends and try to be a better person all round.

Hope everyone is well. Have a very happy and prosperous New Year!

Belief

2007-11-19T08:10:00.000Z

We achieve everything by our efforts alone. Our fate is not decided by an almighty God. We decide our own fate by our actions. You have to gain mastery over yourself. It is not a matter of sitting back and accepting. ~ Aung San Suu Kyi

I've been trying to sum up my beliefs for ages and now I've found this quote that does it for me.

Quick pit stop

2007-11-01T08:44:00.000Z

Nothing fancy or clever (am I ever?) in this one. Just thank you to those who have commented on my last post for your kind words and encouragement.

Still run off my feet and with only 3 weeks to go until get-in the beginnings of panic are starting to set in. (And I'm away for a few days that last weekend!). Oh well, I expect it'll be alright on the night.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.....

2007-10-27T10:15:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post to thank my friends who posted comments to my last post (Saturday Photo Hunt - Practical) and apologise to anyone who may have been calling by occasionally to read my wise words of utter rubbish.

I am so busy now with costumes and other theatrical stuff that I have banned myself from posting to my blog, commenting (unless it's essential!), Facebook stuff and all of that other incredibly time-wasting stuff that I do. I don't have to ban myself from housework, etc. 'cos I just don't do it! But I must do some serious food shopping and laundry so that we can eat and my husband has clean underpants to wear. He says that he's already turned the current pair back-to-front and inside-out so please would I give him some clean ones!

There is now only 4 weeks to go until 'get-in' at the theatre and I still have loads to do. Half term is now finished and Thomas is back at school so I have to devote all of my time now to Treasure Island. - but I promise I will update everything eventually. (If you want me to, that is...).

Saturday Photo Hunt - Practical

2007-10-21T09:58:00.000+01:00

Join the Photo Hunt. Go here for details.

Be reflective...and stay away from the theatre as much as you can. Stay out of the theatrical world, out of its petty interests, its inbreeding tendencies, its stifling atmosphere, its corroding influence. Once become “theatricalized,” and you are lost, my friend; you are lost

- Minnie Maddern Fiske,as quoted in "Mrs Fiske: Her Views on Actors, Acting and the Problems of Production" by Alexander Woollcott (1917)

I would just like to mention Robert Houdin who in the eighteenth century invented the vanishing birdcage trick and the theatre matinee - may he rot and perish. Good afternoon - Orson Welles

I forgot to say in my previous post that the majority of my time, at present, is being taken up with costume sourcing and making for Treasure Island. The sewing machine is set up on my computer desk (I can click the mouse but not much else); materials, hats, shoes and various items from charity shops appear in every room in the house (nothing in the bathroom yet???); the spare room bed can't be seen, so let's hope no unexpected visitors arrive; and cottons, trimmings, etc are being trailed all over the carpet.

So........ here are a few pictures of the very practical art of dressmaking:

First you have to have a sewing machine..............

This is the bodice of a dress for Lady Trelawney.......

This is a tunic for Jim Hawkins..........

This is the bed in the spare bedroom...........

and this is the dining room table..................

More pictures as I progress

Reporting in......

2007-10-21T09:02:00.000+01:00

Lord Flasheart: Mind if I use your phone? If word gets out I'm missing, five hundred girls will kill themselves. And I wouldn't want them on my conscience, not when they ought to be on my FACE! Hello? Cancel the state funeral, tell the king to stop blubbing, Flash is not dead! I simply ran out of juice! And before five hundred girls all go 'oh, what's the point in living any more?' I'm talking about petrol! Woof! Send someone along to pick me up. General Melchett's driver will do, she hangs round with a big nob so she'll be used to a fellow like me. Woof! - Blackadder Goes Forth (1989)

Quick update - just so you know that I'm not dead, kidnapped or missing!

Drama has, at present, taken over my life. Not the serious sort where you've lost your job, crashed the car, mislaid the children, burnt the dinner, etc. But the 'fun' variety where you attend rehearsals to provide the tea and coffee (the 'luvvies' have now learnt to make it themselves, bless 'em!), travel miles and miles around the neighbourhood delivering flyers, putting up posters and begging the ubiquitous coffee shops to have a bundle of postcards displayed (I always feel obliged to buy a cup of coffee when doing the last item so I also spend a lot of time in the 'ladies' - where I also leave some postcards!), answering the phone to people who want to buy tickets, sending them their tickets and then answering the phone to them again so that they can swap their tickets in order to sit next to their friends. But mostly it is fun. And at the end of it (November 28th-1st December ('My God! That soon!!)) we'll have a cracking show. If you can, come and see it. I'll be really nice to you when you phone to book tickets and if you mention 'Blogger' you may get a discount.

I'll do another quick post later when I've moved the sewing machine from the computer desk. (Doing this on the laptop which is so full of Thomas's games, etc there's not much room left for my photos).

Ottershaw Players present:

Saturday Photo Hunt - Smelly

2007-10-13T10:49:00.000+01:00

To find out more about Photo Hunt go here

Quick (and late!) one this week - I'm very busy with all things dramatic.

These are a couple of lilies that were filling my garden with their glorious smells this summer. For me, lilies are the best smelly flowers ever; sensual, exotic, heady, aromatic, fragrant, sweet, evocative................... wonderful

Saturday Photo Hunt - Curvy

2007-10-05T07:05:00.000+01:00

For detail of the Saturday Photo Hunt click here

CURVY

I particularly love the curves of the roof on this Chinese pagoda at Wisley Gardens.

And here is Thomas shooting his recurve bow.

I've used this one before in another category but I make no apologies for using it again 'cos I like it!

The lovely, curvy orbs stand in front of the Millenium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place in Kent.

Poetry in Motion

2007-09-30T16:48:00.000+01:00

I can't pretend to be much of a judge of poetry. I'm an English teacher, not a homosexual - A Bit of Fry and Laurie

I can't say that poetry is my 'thing'. There may be one or two pieces that I like. But today I have read two poems, both of which have found their way into that part of my brain labelled 'Things to Keep Forever'.

The first one, which is untitled, was written by a young man named Johnnie, who died three years ago in a tragic accident, aged only 17. As a young child he was clearly very bright but struggled in school and was later to be diagnosed as dyspraxic. It was not until about a year after the death of his sister Anna, from cystic fibrosis (a condition also suffered by his other sister), that his talent for poetry was discovered. He was about 7 at the time and started to write poetry in his school books. The poem that made its mark on me is untitled and he wrote it when he was 11:

I have nevar seen a flower cry
Or see a wild thing give up but try and try again
until they have done what they set out to do.
Or seen an animal feel sorry for itself.
I have nevar seen a flower consider how un-fair life is.
I've nevar seen a animal look scared or daunted.
So prehaps man should try to bace part of his soul on a animal.
Prehaps, but he nevar will

(spellings and grammar original)

The book (published by Constable Robinson) is now available from bookshops or by post from Peta Nightingale, 32 Holly Grove, London SE15 5DF (£10, £3 postage - cheques payable to The Anna Trust). Proceeds go to research into cystic fibrosis.

The other is this:

Numbers

Mary Cornish

I like the generosity of numbers.
The way, for example,
they are willing to count
anything or anyone:
two pickles, one door to the room,
eight dancers dressed as swans.

I like the domesticity of addition--
add two cups of milk and stir--
the sense of plenty: six plums
on the ground, three more
falling from the tree.

And multiplication's school
of fish times fish,
whose silver bodies breed
beneath the shadow
of a boat.

Even subtraction is never loss,
just addition somewhere else:
five sparrows take away two,
the two in someone else's
garden now.

There's an amplitude to long division,
as it opens Chinese take-out
box by paper box,
inside every folded cookie
a new fortune.

And I never fail to be surprised
by the gift of an odd remainder,
footloose at the end:
forty-seven divided by eleven equals four,
with three remaining.

Three boys beyond their mothers' call,
two Italians off to the sea,
one sock that isn't anywhere you look.

For this and more fascinating stuff go and visit Andree here.

Sorry it's been so long..

2007-09-29T03:31:00.001+01:00

Well, hello there. It's been a little while I know since I bored you rigid with my thoughts, musings and general nonsense, but I've been busy, busy, busy. In the garden, doing theatrical stuff, and all the other mundane little chores that life throws at us.

So, what have I got to tell you? What wondrous things have I seen and done in the last 3 weeks?

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There's been two theatre trips, a touring production of Chicago (average) and Slava's Snowshow (wonderful). Jo has posted a short piece about the Snowshow which says it all!

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I've had my 44th wedding anniversary. We all went to a very nice Chinese restaurant but, just as the starters were being served, Thomas suddenly began to feel unwell and I volunteered to take him home, where he went straight to bed and completely zonked out without even getting undressed. I had a sandwich and watched the telly!

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I've joined Slimming World, but have yet to see a weight loss. I can't go for the next two weeks because I'm doing Front of House duties for the Woking Drama Festival but I'm hoping to stay on the straight and narrow nonetheless. Unlike Jo, I'm not going to start a special blog about it 'cos I'm not clever and witty like wot she is.

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I've worked really hard in the garden and I think I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, although there's still a lot to do. Every year I promise myself that I will wrap up warm and work at it all through the winter, but at the first hint of cold or damp I find that I'm making excuses and staying indoors. THIS YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT.

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Last weekend Jo, Thomas and I went for a circular walk along a short stretch of the Basingstoke Canal followed by a visit to Brookwood Cemetery (see Photo Hunt post). As the walk started and finished at a pub it was followed by a very nice and tasty lunch! I managed to get a few photos but I'd forgotten to charge my camera battery. hmmph!

This is one of the gravestones that caught my eye:

Did that mean his horse was buried with him? Were they both killed in the line of duty? The grave wasn't particularly large, so did they bury thee horse standing up? When I related all of this to my husband he gave me a withering look and informed me that the initials O.C. stood for Officer Commanding and Lumsden's Horse was the name of his regiment. Pretty stupid name for a regiment if you ask me.

There were loads more interesting things to see and read and, as we only covered a very small area, I can see that the next visit will have to be a day trip with a packed lunch and camera fully charged and ready.

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Right, what else? Oh yes, I've had some bits of colour put into my hair..... twice in the last couple of weeks. You see, I get very bored, very quickly, with my hair. I can't really change it by growing it as anything other than a short style looks awfully awful on me, so over the years I've messed about with the colour. About this time last year I was a brunette with lots of different reds going through it. But because my hair grows at a mile a minute the lighter coloured roots were showing through very quickly indeed. So, I decided that it would be interesting to see what my natural shade was after all these years and that turned out to be very much a whiter shade of pale. It's actually a very nice colour, but sometimes nice can be, well, boring. So, I had a few coppery bits put in. Nobody noticed. A bit too subtle. Another appointment was made and yesterday I went along for another makeover. "Let's be a bit bolder", I said, poring over the colour chart. "How about that lovely, plummy, mauvy colour with one or two of that coppery shade thrown in". All went well until the towel was removed from my head and John started on the styling. I had a dark purplish stripe on either side of my head, just above my ears. I could easily have played the part of Badger in Wind in the Willows. (Funnily enough the top was fine). I was swiftly moved back into the colouring area and my Badger stripes were banished!! I was in there all afternoon.

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Treasure Island is the Ottershaw Players next spectacular at the end of November. The posters and flyers have been delivered and are awaiting distribution, the box office is now open and the phone has started to ring, and I have got to seriously buckle down and think about what I'm doing for costumes. Lots of pirates and a couple of big frocks. And in the middle of it all Christmas will be lurking.

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Oh, and I've booked a weekend break in London, visiting the British Museum to see the Terracotta Army exhibition and the 02 (Dome) to spy on Tutankhamun.

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So. dear friends, if my blogging is a bit sporadic please forgive me. Even if I don't post for a while I do make sure I read all of your fantastic writings, just so I don't miss anything. And you know I'll always be back; you won't get rid of me that easily!!!!!!!

Saturday Photo Hunt - Original

2007-09-28T21:07:00.000+01:00

Photo Hunt

Oh dear, another late one. Sorrry!!

This is a picture I took on a visit to Brookwood Cemetery last weekend. The cemetery was opened in Victorian times specifically for the purpose of burying London's dead, due to lack of space in the capital's graveyards. Trains ran from Waterloo Station directly into the cemetery and this length of railway track is taken from the original line.

The cemetery is a wonderful, peaceful place with lots of grand examples of Victorian 'over-the-top' splendour. Now it is a multi-cultural burial site, serving many different religions and races. The American Military section was used for the final scene in the 1976 film The Omen. There is also a section which contains a monastery, home to the Saint Edward Brotherhood. This was established in 1982 to prepare and care for the church in which the sacred relics of Saint Edward the Martyr, King of England, are enshrined. A small community of monks hold daily services, joined on Sundays and weekdays by a number of Orthodox believers residing in the area.

A few more pictures for your enjoyment:

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Saturday Photo Hunt - Music

2007-09-09T09:10:00.000+01:00

Photo Hunt

Better late than never.............

For those people who have only recently started to visit, I should mention here that I belong to a local amateur dramatic group. Every year, usually in February or thereabouts, (with the exception of this year, for reasons beyond our control) a rather raucous, rowdy and rude show is produced for the people in the neighbourhood, who all obviously love it as all 4 nights are a sell-out. This makes us enough money to help finance our summer productions at a local theatre which are a bit harder to sell.

The format of the Farrago, for this is what it is called, is usually supper of fish and chips (a British delicacy) followed by a short play, written by a member of the group, with help from the cast as rehearsals unfold, illustrated with well-known songs which have had the words ever so slightly slightly altered. Double (and sometimes triple) entendres abound. Great fun to do.

The last one was based on the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and was called Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Crimson Cock. This may give you a clue as to the standard of the production.

Roberto - Pianist & Musical Director

Dr Watson & Cast Members

Sherlock & 'goings-on' backstage

Mrs Hudson belting it out

Sisters

Finale

And a good time was had by all!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

2007-09-04T01:08:00.000+01:00

As the gardener, by severe pruning, forces the sap of the tree into one or two vigorous limbs, so should you stop off your miscellaneous activity and concentrate your force on one or a few points - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I made a quick trip to Woking last week and thought that I'd take some pictures to show you. However, Woking is a pretty boring town, most of the old buildings demolished to make way for modern shopping malls, similar to those seen in their thousands all over the country. So for now I thought I'd show you these and try to find some other stuff when I have more time:

These sculptures represent The War of the Worlds, the novel by HG Wells which is set in local surroundings, Horsell Common being where the Martians landed. Interestingly, the story begins with the narrator visiting an observatory in Ottershaw, home to the Ottershaw Players!

Then we have this building, an office block which replaced the Regal (?) cinema. The name always strikes me as very glamorous and perhaps a bit out of place.

Finally, we have this structure, still being built, spanning the road by the railway station.

I think it's a solar panel device but I'm not sure. It is fairly attractive in its own way, all shiny and sparkly.

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Poor little wounded soldier. I did offer to give him a plaster or an eyepatch but he was not amused!

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I read recently that a restaurant has opened in Pisa, in the local high security jail, Fortezza Medicea.

Most of the staff are murderers and the head chef, 17 years into his sentence, said that when he entered the prison he couldn't cook but now he produces 5 course meals and "I get no complaints". It is very popular and people have to book well in advance to dine under the gaze of guards behind the 20m high walls with watchtowers, searchlights and security cameras. But they are serenaded by Bruno, a pianist doing life for murder.

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Another piece was the story about councillors in Atlanta who want to be the first major city to tackle 'offensive dressing' by banning low slung, oversize, underwear revealing trousers.

At a recent meeting the audience was divided between young and old in scenes described as 'nothing like it since rock and roll'. A 76 year old member of the audience volunteered to start a 'belt brigade' to patrol the streets looking for inappropriate trouser heights.

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Just to finish - some pictures from my garden this week:

A place to sit

Fairy corner

Papyrus in the pond

Parakeets

Heron looking for his lunch

Victor

A grand day out

2007-09-02T01:53:00.000+01:00

Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people from coughing - Sir Ralph Richardson

Some while ago Thomas expressed a wish to see Lord of the Rings, the musical. Nobody else really fancied it so the subject wasn't mentioned again. Then I read about Kids Week in the West End, a summer promotion aimed at making London Theatre more fun and accessible for families and offering free kids tickets. So I booked it and we went last Monday. (Mind you, it cost me £60 for my ticket)!

I'd like to say that we both thoroughly enjoyed it and I must say that as we took our seats I did think we were in for a treat. But, apart from the technical excellence of lighting, set, special effects and spectacle, it was disappointing. The clever, spectacular bits were far outweighed by the tedious, long and often very boring other bits. Running for over 3 hours it was far too long and by the end it was a relief to escape.

However, the day was an overall success as we arrived in London fairly early in the morning and headed for the South Bank area, the site of the 1951 Festival of Britain. Avoiding the queues for the Aquarium and the London Eye, we made our way past Jubilee Gardens towards the Royal Festival Hall, the only remaining building left from the 1951 festival. We made fairly slow progress as street theatre performers were out in strength and Thomas found himself assisting in an escapology act! We finally arrived outside the Festival Hall where Thomas amused himself (and got very wet!) interacting with the water sculptures.

By now a short break was called for so we had a browse through the books on a large stall being looked after by one of the biggest men I've ever seen. Then a quick appreciation of the Latin American music being performed outside the National Theatre before returning to the County Hall area, stopping only to observe the skateboarders in the specially constructed arena, also for the use of graffiti artists, under the Hayward Gallery.

A slow stroll back and then it was time to go for our tour on the Duck, an amphibious vehicle left over from WW2 and converted to carry passengers. Our very well-informed guide pointed out all sorts of lesser known buildings and sights around Westminster, Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace before we splashed down into the River Thames right next to the MI6 building, where James Bond made a spectacular entrance in a speedboat in The World is not Enough. A trip as far as the Houses of Parliament and back again, then a taxi to Covent Garden, pizza in Pizza Hut and off to see Lord of the Rings.

Later, when asked what the best part of the day was, Thomas chose the final treat. This was a trip back to Waterloo station in a bicycle rickshaw, great fun, twice as quick as a taxi and not a great deal more expensive.

Excellent day; shame about the show.

Saturday Photo Hunt - Dirty

2007-09-01T14:45:00.000+01:00

Photo Hunt

We recently had to clear our garden pond from weed and a giant water lily that had taken over. This is half of the plants, muck and detritus excavated:

This is George, who sits on the back doorstep smelling the flowers:

He doesn't eat much so is easy and cheap to keep, but he is a bit grubby!

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These are 'specially for Carver, as promised to her last week:

Hypericum calycinum, known in the UK as the Rose of Sharon. It is also called St John's Wort which is used as a homeopathic remedy for mild depression and problems with the circulatory system & nervous system.

The one on the left is a low growing, spreading shrub which does well in the sunny side of my garden, whilst the one on the right belongs to my neighbour but is climbing up a chain link fence, in the shade, so I luckily get the benefit of its lovely flowers.

Signs of the times

2007-08-31T06:26:00.000+01:00

Sign on bank: We can loan you enough money to get you completely out of debt

My friend, Paul, sent me these pictures. I thought they were very funny so decided to share them with you:

Apologies to all who came here and didn't find any pictures! If you REALLY want to see them you'll have to let me have your email address.

Saturday Photo Hunt - Happy

2007-08-24T16:32:00.000+01:00

Almost gave up on this one. Then I found this at a local shop, which made me happy. Because it will replace the one that was stolen from my front garden last year. They're called Darren, Dwayne and Derrick. And they will sit happily now in my back garden.

Well, it's one way to remember them

2007-08-23T13:08:00.001+01:00

... I went from adolescence to senility, trying to bypass maturity ... - Tom Lehrer

I love Tom Lehrer.

Thanks to meeyauw for leading me here. Enjoy............

Why there can never be true equality

2007-08-22T09:38:00.000+01:00

The main difference between men and women is that men are lunatics and women are idiots - Rebecca West

You can guess just how interesting my life is at the moment. Yesterday I did try to do something original from my own brain but it required me to scan an old photo, which came out about the size of a postage stamp, so I gave up. I'm posting quizzes, funny pictures sent to me by friends and now one of those numerous emails that people like to circulate. However, this one did strike a chord:

Men Are Just Happier People — what do you expect from such simple creatures?
Your last name stays put.
The garage is all yours.
Wedding plans take care of themselves.
Chocolate is just another snack.
You can never be pregnant.
You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park.
You can wear NO shirt to a water park.
Car mechanics tell you the truth.
The world is your urinal.
You never have to drive to another petrol station restroom because this one is just too icky.
You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
Same work, more pay.
Wrinkles add character.
A wedding dress is £5,000 but a formal suit rents for £100.
People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.
The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected.
New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
One mood all the time. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
You know stuff about tanks.
A five-day holiday requires only one suitcase.
You can open all your own jars
You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.
If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend. Your underwear is £4.95 for a three-pack.
Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.
You almost never have strap problems in public.
You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.
Everything on your face stays its original colour.
The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades!
You only have to shave your face and neck. You can play with toys all your life.
Your belly usually hides your big hips.
One wallet and one pair of shoes, one colour for all seasons.
You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.
You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife.
You have freedom of choice concerning growing a moustache. You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.
Equality? Never.

Shhhh********

2007-08-20T10:35:00.000+01:00

Now, I am not a history buff, but I tell you, I don't remember Louis XIV spending his days pulling hippie hair out of drains! - King of the Hill (1997)

My friend Judy sent me this the other day:

I think she saw it in Guildford. Thought people in Guildford were to posh for that sort of thing.

Icon see clearly now

2007-08-19T18:50:00.000+01:00

I think that's just another word for a washed-up has-been - Bob Dylan

You Are a Purple Crayon

Your world is colored in dreamy, divine, and classy colors.
You hold yourself to a sky high standard, and you are always graceful.
People envy, idolize, and copy you without realizing it. You are an icon for those who know you.
And while it is hard to be a perfectionist, rest assured it's paying off!

Your color wheel opposite is yellow. While yellow people may be wise, they lack the manners and class needed to impress you.

What Color Crayon Are You?

See........ I'm an icon................ chortle, chortle.......

Be afraid, be very afraid

2007-08-17T20:48:00.000+01:00

There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it -

Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism

You Are 44% Evil

You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side.
Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.

How Evil Are You?

Saturday Photo Hunt - Two - Aug 18

2007-08-17T19:32:00.000+01:00

Have had a really busy week so haven't put a great deal of thought into this effort. But anyway, here 'tis:

Two pictures of two little ducks; quack, quack; 2 x 2

Research: what you do instead of working

2007-08-15T15:29:00.000+01:00

In a prime-time address, President Bush said he backed limited federal funding for stem cell research. 'That's right', the President said, this is a quote, 'the research could help cure brain diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and whatever it is I have'. - Conan O'Brien, Talkshow Host

A team of researchers based at the Health and Safety Laboratory in Buxton, Derbyshire have spent a month and £12,000 of taxpayers money investigating The Role of Towels as a Control to Reduce Slip Potential in the hope that, at the end of their study, they could could reach a conclusion on the weighty matter of whether or not to use a towel to step onto after bathing. Unfortunately, the research was 'complicated' and they couldn't come up with any significant results.

Research that did come up with results was that done for child trust fund provider Family Investments. 530 women with young children were interviewed about their pregnancies and it was found that just 22 per cent of due dates had been accurate to within 2 days. A consultant commented, 'There are a huge number of births that are overdue.' I'm not sure what the point of this research was but it was stated that 'pinpointing an exact due date can relieve anxiety for families, wrongly predicted dates can cause difficulties in the planning, such as booking maternity and paternity leave.' It's amazing that no-one has yet claimed compensation for not being given a precise date! I didn't realise that this was a subject that needed research. I thought EVERYONE knew that babies arrived just when they wanted to and not according to plan!

Saturday Photo Hunt - Row - Aug 11

2007-08-10T12:00:00.000+01:00

This sculpture, Inner Compulsion by Peter Randall Page, are at the entrance to the Wellcome Trust Millennium Building, adjacent to Wakehurst Place, which aims to house seeds from 10% of the world's flora by 2009 in their seed bank.

These beautiful gardens and the house, at Ardingly in West Sussex, are owned by the National Trust and funded, administered and maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. I was last there in the spring and the magnolias were magnificent. Here are some more pictures for your edification:

Enjoy.

Kitchen Kapers

2007-08-09T00:45:00.000+01:00

Well in the words of Harry S. Truman, if it's too hot in the kitchen, stay away from the cook - All in the Family (1971)

I was having a bit of a clean up in the kitchen the other day (I do sometimes, y'know) and thought I'd give you a bit of a conducted tour:

These little cuties sit on the windowsill behind the sink (hence the water splashes). I got them a few years back on a long weekend visit to Swansea and they've kept their eyes on me ever since. I'm not sure if the cat is, in fact, a tiger going by his markings. But then all cats think they're tigers, don't they? They don't usually sit this closely together, just in case they fight.

This is my digital radio which I acquired a year or two ago. I went to Currys, much against my better judgement. And walked out in a huff as I knew I would. Went next door into Argos and discovered I could get exactly what I wanted using my Nectar points. Great result!

This little chick looks after my rings'n things.

A cookie jar which holds, not cookies, but milk bottle tops and cans for recycling.

Thing for putting washing up things in. Boring.

I burn candles with appropriate smells in this.

My carnivorous fly catcher, Felicity

Tea?

or coffee?

or even better???:

I'm finishing with this wonderful gadget. If my house was falling down and I could rescue only one thing from the kitchen it would be this.

Do you struggle with cling film? Does it cling to everything other than what you want it to cling to? Usually itself? Do you waste more than you use? Do you throw it across the room in anger and frustration? Then this is for you, a cling film dispenser. From the indispensable Lakeland.

Guilt!!

2007-08-08T20:55:00.000+01:00

What's with all these awards? They're always giving out awards. Best Fascist Dictator: Adolf Hitler - Annie Hall (1977)

I am very remiss - the lovely Welshcakes nominated me for this award over a week ago and I haven't thanked her publicly. Well, to make up for it - oh......my.........God.......... thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, Welshcakes, I'm welling up.

Not only do you receive this honour but you also have to make you own nominations, 5 in total, of those bloggers that you believe to write in an informal, chatty, friendly way. OK - here we go: Clare (lovely girl), MaryB (one of my first blogging friends), Jo (and not just 'cos she's my baby), Tuscan Tony (seems like a lovely chap and loves voluptuous women) and Scroblene (writes my kind of nonsense).

Congratulations all.

Good old days.....

2007-08-08T10:10:00.000+01:00

A friend just emailed me this. Seen it before but, just in case you haven't, wanted to share it:

DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN...?

It took five minutes for the TV to warm up?

Nearly everyone's Mum was at home when they got home from school?

Nobody owned a purebred dog?

When a shilling was a decent allowance?

You had to be home when the street lights came on?

Your Mum wore stockings that came in two pieces?

All your male teachers wore ties

Female teachers had their hair done every day and wore high heels?

You got your windscreen cleaned, oil checked, and petrol pumped, without asking, all for free, every time?

Cereals had free toys hidden inside the box?

It was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents?

Schools threatened to keep kids back a year if they failed. . .and they did?

When a Ford Capri was everyone's dream car?

No one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked?

Lying on your back in the grass with your friends and saying things like, "That cloud looks like a… “

Playing footy and cricket with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game?

Stuff from the shop came without safety caps and hermetic seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger?

When being sent to the headmaster's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited the student at home?

And with all our progress, don't you just wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savour the slower pace, and share it with the children of today?

Basically we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.

Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!
But we survived because their love was greater than the threat.

Remember Nancy Drew, Laurel and Hardy, The Famous Five, Secret Seven, Biggles, the Lone Ranger, Phantom, Roy and Dale and Trigger at the flicks.

As well as summers filled with bike rides, cricket games, Hula Hoops, monkey bars, cobbers, visits to the beach and "conversation“ lollies.

Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say,

"Yeah, I remember that"?

I am sharing this with you today because it ended with a double dare to pass it on.

To remember what a double dare is, read on.

And remember that the perfect age is somewhere between old enough to know better and too young to care.

How many of these do you remember?

Lolly cigarettes, pogo sticks, marbles,

Home milk delivery in glass bottles with aluminium tops (still get this)

Newsreels before the movie

Sandshoes/Desert wellies

Four digit Telephone numbers

45 RPM records

Hi-Fi s

Metal ice cubes trays with levers

Mimeograph paper

Spud guns

Ford Capris

Twin Tubs

Reel-To-Reel tape recorders

houses made of cards

Meccano Sets

Anglo/Bazooka Joe pink bubble gum

MoJos/black jacks/fruit salads

Two bob for a gallon of petrol

Do you remember a time when...

Decisions were made by "eeny-meeny-miney-mo"?

"Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest?

It wasn't odd to have two or three "Best Friends"?

The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was "boy or girl germs"?

Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a catapult?

There were no Saturday morning cartoons with 30-minute adverts for action figures?

Spinning around, getting dizzy, and falling down was cause for giggles?

The worst embarrassment was being caught playing doctors and nurses by your parents

Playing cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle?

Taking drugs meant the Polio shots at school

Water balloons were the ultimate weapon?

If you can remember most or all of these, then you have lived!!!!!!!

Pass this on to anyone who may need a break from their "grown-up" life ... I double-dare-ya!

What's in a Name

2007-08-05T06:45:00.000+01:00

Names are not always what they seem. The common Welsh name Bzjxxllwcp is pronounced 'Jackson'. - Mark Twain

Ah! replied my gentle fair,

Beloved, what are names but air?

Choose thou, whatever suits the line:

Call me Sappho, call me Chloris,

Call me Lalage, or Doris,

Only, only, call me thine.

I read some time ago that Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlotte Angel Vanessa Geldof hates her name; her Christian names because they are mostly ridiculous and her surname because of all the unwanted attention it brings.

This got me thinking about peoples names. Unusual names, stupid names (in my opinion), names you could well do without, interesting names. I think I'm going to start noting them down when I come across them. Then, when I'm bored with doing it or feel I've got enough, I'll publish the list.

Top of the list has got to be mine own. Now this is something that not too many people know because it has always been greeted with smirks, giggles or disbelief but, hey, we're not actually face to face, are we? The people who matter already know this. So here goes:

My maiden name was Bogie, common apparently in Scotland but not in England where I grew up. I did not have a carefree childhood, what with being fat and having a name that was an embarrassment. Still, in the end I got married and the name is now a distant (but never forgotten) memory.

For up-to-the-minute name silliness we have, of course, Peter Andre's and Jordan's baby daughter named Princess Tiaamii - Princess because she's their little princess (aaahhh) and Tiaamii being a combination of the parents' mothers' names (Thea and Amy). I tried this out to see what I would have called Jo using this method and came up with Dorvy or Vydot. For PT, using the grandfathers' names, we would have had Hertho or, maybe, Tombert, neither of which are very attractive. It's a good party game though.

Just four here to get me going:

Charleszetta Waddles (American nun & writer, b.1912)
Eudora Welty (American author, b.1909)
Bacchylides (Greek lyric poet (fl. 5th century) sounds a bit like a nasty disease
Kinky Friedman (American singer, writer & politician) - yes, he sounds like a politician!

'til thenext time

2007-08-05T01:40:00.000+01:00

No. We are not gonna postpone the rehearsal for some stupid cat - Meet the Parents (2000)

I was going to post about a couple of items I read in the paper todays....... but I need to refer to them and the cat's curled up and fast asleep on it. So I'll do it tomorrow.

Night, night.

Photohunt - Funky - Aug 4

2007-07-30T16:08:00.000+01:00

This was taken at a school production last year, a musical based on the movies. Thomas was the Father from Fiddler on the Roof. Now if that beard isn't funky, I don't know what is!

I like the 'finish' of this photo; a bit like an Old Master. Do you think that if I enlarged it and put it in a frame the National Portrait Gallery would hang it?

Jolly green giant

2007-07-29T12:31:00.000+01:00

Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. After that who cares?... He's a mile away and you've got his shoes - Billy Connolly

My friend Clare included a mention of these in a comment on a recent post of mine. Her very words were 'those clog things', but I knew exactly what she meant. She was suggesting that we bought some for my grandson to wear on the beach.

Well, Clare, that's exactly what Jo's done. Although Thomas vows he's never going to wear them! Not cool to wear the same sort of shoes that your Grandma wears.

These shown are mine. I bought them a couple of weeks ago at a local garden centre but, I have to say, they're not the 'must have', everybody's got them, 'Crocs'. They're a fake look-alike called 'Slogs', which I keep thinking of as 'Slugs'. They are extremely comfortable and I seem to wear them constantly. However, they're not flattering. I feel that if I got caught out in the floods I could float away on my shoes, with a couple of other people sharing.

Real ones are expensive. Mine weren't. But I only wish I'd bought some when we were in Florida last year 'cos there they were as cheap as chips!!

Prickly subject

2007-07-29T00:31:00.000+01:00

I would like a question answered today," said Tiffany. "Provided it's not the one about how you get baby hedgehogs," said the man. "No, "said Tiffany patiently. "It's about zoology." "Zoology eh? That's a big word, isn't it." "No, actually it isn't," said Tiffany. "Patronizing is a big word. Zoology is really quite short - Terry Pratchett

According to a news report German police were called to a house in Bremen on Monday evening to investigate strange noises. They were surprised to find that the offenders were two amorous hedgehogs.

"The pair were loudly engaged in ensuring the continuity of their species,"said a police spokesman. "All those spectators did not worry them in the least, indeed they even intensified their activities, so the officers turned off the lights."

Apparently hedgehog lovemaking is accompanied by loud snorting & puffing, usually from the female trying to make a headache look convincing.

Saturday Photo Hunt - Creative

2007-07-27T17:37:00.000+01:00

He created a feast for the birds

Shop 'til you drop

2007-07-26T14:53:00.000+01:00

George Costanza: She went shopping for some shoes for the wedding, and yada yada yada, I'll see her in six to eight months - Seinfeld (1990)

Today Thomas and I went to Staines to buy shoes for his holiday in Wales next week (although perhaps I should have set out to buy flippers!).

This what I came back with:

For me

For Thomas

For me

For Thomas

For me

For Thomas

For Thomas

For Thomas

Then.........

Shoes????

PS. Once upon a time, in Staines, there were more shoe shops per shopper than you could shake a stick at. Now there is one. Clarkes. Very expensive.

Blue Wednesday

2007-07-25T12:49:00.000+01:00

No. The blues are because you're getting fat and maybe it's been raining too long, you're just sad that's all - Holly Golightly, Breakfast at Tiffany's

I've got a touch of the blues this week. Nothing serious, like proper depression, but just this general feeling of lethargy and not wanting to do all the things I generally enjoy doing. Something triggered it on Monday evening and now I can't shake it off. A spot of sunshine would help!

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Anyway, no time for all of that rubbish - onwards and upwards!!!

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Start of the school holidays so I've got Thomas for company for the next few weeks. However, he's 11 now and has passed his cycling proficiency test, so is allowed some limited freedom to explore. Funnily enough, the grand-maternal instinct for letting him have his independence feels very different to what I remember the maternal instinct being and I watch him go off on his own with my heart in my mouth. I don't recall being that paranoid with my own two at that age. Scroblene mentions that listening to music that his daughter used to play is a bit emotive. I think there's a coupl'a years yet before Thomas is seriously into music and I don't think passing the Warhammer shop without stopping will bring a tear to my eye but I will miss his childhood.*************************************************************************************

The Moore family seem to have a bit of a jinx on them at the moment. Poor Jo has had nearly everything go wrong lately (and seems to affect our TV when she's sitting near it) and PT has been having problems with his car. And don't get me started on debit cards that don't work and call centres in India!! Moan, moan, moan, moan, moan............

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Now on to nicer things. Sorry for the whining.

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I acquired a new addition to my family the other day:

Zantedeschia (Calla Lily)

I was so pleased with this baby that I decided (like Madonna) to adopt a little black baby, returned to the nursery and came home with this beauty:

Zantedeschia 'Schwarzwalder'

Here's my crop of tomatoes:

Don't think I'm going to need Welshcakes' tomato crushing machine for these!

Another favourite is this:

Eucomis 'Octopus'

Garden recovery:

Up to here:

Still to do (some of it):

Pigeons' stomping ground:
[Was a nice display of busy lizzies!]

This is a bit of a latecomer; the others were out in May/June:

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I started this post 3 hours ago; Blogger is being exceptionally bloody minded today.

Update to Fashionista

2007-07-20T11:21:00.000+01:00

Forgot to say:

The meetings are held in a church hall and that evening there was a choir practice in the room next door. Whilst we were eating our fish and chips we were serenaded with Christmas Carols!

Today's Poem

2007-07-20T11:01:00.000+01:00

Hmm, something flooding or dinosaur taking piss - Shadow Warrior (1997)

Build one of these - you may need it!

P ersistent
I ncessant
S plashy
S tormy
I mpedes
N ot Wanted
G ordon (his fault now that Tony's gone)

D renching
O rrible
W et, wet, wet
N asty

Fashionista

2007-07-19T00:26:00.000+01:00

My philosophy, like colour television, is all there in black and white - Monty Python

Was going out on the town yesterday evening, the annual fish and chip supper with the Weybridge Fuchsia & Perlagonium Society (I live on the edge, I do).

I dressed in a very fetching black and white outfit and thought I looked rather becoming. My husband said I looked like a panda.
Boo hoo

Makeover

2007-07-15T02:27:00.000+01:00

Ah, I just thought it could use a makeover. Actually, it's an amazing likeness of, ah, moi. You wanna see? - Lilo & Stitch (2003)

I wanted to change the picture in my Profile to this but Blogger seems to like me as I am. Or perhaps that is Blogger in the new picture and he's a bit embarrassed.

I love Beryl Cook images.

Culture Vulture

2007-07-15T00:15:00.000+01:00

Today (oops, I see it's now yesterday!) I went, a bit reluctantly I must admit, to see the Byfleet Players production of Oh! What a Lovely War. Reluctantly because it's a play that I've never had any urge to see, their last production had pretty negative reports from people of my acquaintance who had seen it and I heard that there had been fairly major problems pulling together a cast and crew. However we at Ottershaw Players always get good support from other groups and so it is good to return the compliment.

On the whole it was a fairly competent amateur production which, in my opinion, would have been better suited to a smaller venue. I feel very strongly that if you are putting on a show in a 'proper' theatre and people who are not known to you, i.e. the general public, are coming to see it then you should make your best endeavour to make your show as professional as possible and I fear that what I saw and heard did not meet this requirement.

I liked having the characters dressed in their Pierrot costumes carrying out Front of House duties but unfortunately the attempted interaction between the audience and the MC fell rather flat.

With one or two notable exceptions the cast was adequate but some of the diction was poor and the end of lines was lost and, at times, I had a problem understanding what was being said. Helen Imison was outstanding, very talented with an excellent singing voice and dancing skills.
Tony Richardson and Nick Daborn I have seen often but in my opinion they both had a personal best with this play.

Everyone did really well with the musical numbers and the choreography was good.

The Pierrot costumes were very poor but the period dress for one or two scenes was excellent. Unfortunately it seems that Wilf Hashimi (the Director) had not taken to heart a comment made by the adjudicator of his festival play last October who pointed out that 'if male characters had to wear white tights please, fellas, don't wear boxer shorts underneath'. Although the Pierrots in this weren't wearing tights their trousers were clingy and transparent enough to make that rule a 'must'. Also, as this was supposed to have been 1914, I do think the couple of younger men should have been made to suffer for their art and had their hair cut.

The set was very simple and I liked it a lot - until after the interval when a door appeared at the back of stage right. This was used by just one character to make some of his entrances and exits and was totally pointless. It irritated me for the whole of the second half.

The lighting was OK but a bit erratic and could have been much better designed. There was one scene with a small group of soldiers supposedly in a trench on stage left interacting with the German troops who were not on stage but in the wings. This scene appeared not to have been lit at all, just a crescent moon projected at the back. Therefore we were looking at a dark stage. A bit of subtle lighting would have made all the difference.

The prompt was not prompt with her prompts and at times there were 'noises off' from the wings and backstage when there shouldn't have been.

There, I'm nit-picking now. And that's because the major problem was that the whole thing lacked pace. It didn't hold my attention and when that happens I spot all sorts of things that I think could have been done better. It should have moved me to tears but it didn't.

Having said all of that, it's introduced me to a play that I'd like to see again and will do so at the first opportunity.

In a puff of smoke

2007-07-14T23:08:00.000+01:00

Now, I wanna remind everyone of the House of Mouse rules-no smoking, no villainous schemes and no guests eating other guests. - House of Mouse (2001)

Do you think the new smoking ban applies to prisons? Will the prisoners all have to stand outside the front door with their 'snout'?

Buenas noches

2007-07-14T21:46:00.000+01:00

Just home after an evening out at a local Italian restaurant we've discovered recently. As we turned off of the main road near our house we were confronted with the most colourful rainbow I've seen in a long time, and a whole one at that. By the time we got home it had faded so no picture, I'm afraid.

However Here's one of the sunset over the rooftops opposite our house:

The forecast promises rain tomorrow; but you never know...........................

Warming goes global

2007-07-14T17:52:00.000+01:00

Yes, it keeps me up at night. That and the Loch Ness Monster, global warming, evolution, other fictional concepts. - House M.D. (2004)

I pinched this from here: Thanks Colin!

I've been tagged and I haven't even had an ASBO yet!

2007-07-12T23:04:00.001+01:00

Yeah, it does sound like I got me some bad habits. - Have Gun , Will Travel (1957)

That young whippersnapper Pete has tagged me. How could he? Especially as most of the people I could tag he's already hi-jacked.

So, I'll do the list. But I'm going to rely on you, dear Reader, (that's if I've got any readers), to consider yourselves tagged and continue the game.

Here goes:

Fact - I look and sound completely different to the person that I think I am. If I see/hear myself unexpectedly I'm always curious as to where that fat, old bag with the funny voice came from.
Habit - I'm afraid I'm very rude to people on the phone. Not everyone, you understand, just cold calling sales people (although they insist that they're not selling anything), people in call centres WHO DON'T LISTEN (possibly because English is their second language and they understand me as little as I understand them) and people of that ilk.
Fact - once, long ago, I missed the last bus after an evening out and had to walk several miles in the dark, on my own, tight skirt, stiletto heels (you get the picture?). I got home only to discover the house dark, silent and locked up tight. Good ol' Mum. I spent the remainder of the night in the back of the family car in the garage, which fortunately had not been locked.
Habit - to compensate for no.2, I'm unfailingly polite to the general public in that I hold doors for people, give way to others when driving, give people my unexpired parking ticket and say 'sorry' when anyone barges into me.
Fact - I once made a grand gesture by storming out of work in the middle of the day after a particularly trying morning. When I arrived next day, expecting apologies and a bit of sympathy, I found out that nobody had realised I'd gone.
Habit - every time Thomas goes out of the door to ride his bike I tell him to be careful. He's fed up with it but I'm not going to stop.
Fact - February 1958 and I was working in my first job as a telephonist at the Continental Telephone Exchange. One of the calls I connected, from Munich to London, just before the shift was coming to an end, was to report the tragic air crash in which 7 of the Manchester United football team were killed, probably making me one of the first people in the country to hear the news.
Habit - I tend to think of my offspring as if they were still children instead of the sensible, grown-up, mature adults that they are. I don't think they know this, though. Or do they???

Moving House

2007-07-12T13:29:00.001+01:00

Dont beg, it's undignified... Michael, parakeets dont mate with armadillos, thats the end of it! - Inside I'm Dancing (2004) (never heard of it but I like the quote!)

King Kong.. oops, sorry, M who lives opposite, has a large colony of parakeets living in a large willow tree right up against the new extension he's building. They've obviously sussed out that he's going to redevelop their home because they've been looking around the neighbourhood and have found just what they want at the end of my garden. They've spent the last few days looking it over, talking about it in very loud voices and now I think they've moved in. The cat obviously doesn't scare them (and I'm not surprised, seeing as they go round in gangs and I wouldn't care to make them cross) so they're busy moving their stuff from Willow Wonderland to Sycamore Shack.

I can see that peace and quiet on a sunny afternoon is now not an option.

Hello, I'm Chris and I'm a blogaholic

2007-07-11T14:03:00.000+01:00

71%

Mingle² - Online Dating

Sleepless in Surrey

2007-07-11T02:29:00.000+01:00

Shh! Don't wake him up. He's got insomnia, he's trying to sleep it off. - A Night at the Opera (1935)

I'm really going to need my siesta this afternoon 'cos it's almost 3am and here I am wide awake. The TV is quietly playing in the background, the wonderful Sunshine Boys which is nearing the end.

Whilst flicking through the channels trying to find something to make me sleepy (which, given the content of most of them, isn't usually difficult), it crossed my mind that, apart from the obvious reasons, it must be very inconvenient to be deaf if you are fan of BBC TV, as the only time you see someone 'signing' is in the early hours of the morning. Does that mean that deaf people have to stay up all night and can watch only crap programmes?

Pardon?

NEWSFLASH

2007-07-10T20:21:00.000+01:00

Kaa: Coils? Someone? Oh no, I was just curling up for my siesta - Jungle Book

Don't want anyone to miss it. Just in case you hadn't heard. Don't plan anything for the afternoon.

Tomorrow is National Siesta Day!!

And now........... the weather

2007-07-10T08:08:00.000+01:00

Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. - Mark Twain

I'm getting really bored with the weather now so I've decided that I shall ignore it - unless something really interesting happens in connection with it.

Like yesterday evening - David went off to play his weekly game of squash around about the time I was watering the pots. When he came back a couple of hours later (I was still watering the pots because it had rained and I had taken the opportunity to have a cup of tea and a read of the newspaper) he looked vaguely puzzled and asked if everything had been alright whilst he was gone. It was my turn to look puzzled and I wondered if I'd missed some excitement in the neighbourhood which had been important enough to report, perhaps a murder or three.

'No, no,' he said 'haven't you had any flooding?'
'Only when I disconnected the hose and it spurted out over my foot.' I replied.

Apparently, on his outward journey he had had to take major diversions because the roads, only about a mile away, were flooded and impassable and the rain and hailstones had made it almost impossible to drive. Obviously he couldn't miss his game of squash so the pioneer in him took over and he found his way through the storm but he expected to come home to mopping up operations and a distraught wife (not that I ever get distraught over things like that!)

That's it! No more weather talk....... perhaps.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of the reasons it takes me so long to post things to this blog is because it takes me forever to dredge up from my head words that I know very well.

It took me a good three minutes sitting here just staring into space before the word 'pioneer' popped into my brain.

How sad.

Stormy weather

2007-07-09T18:16:00.000+01:00

No, no. When a clumsy cloud from here meets a fluffy little cloud from there, he billows towards her. She scurries away and he scuds right up to her. She cries a little and there you have you showers. He comforts her. They spark. That's the lightning. They kiss. Thunder. - Top Hat (1935)

Have been in the garden today, carrying on with the restoration. It's beginning to feel a bit like The Lost Gardens of Heligan, that wonderful place in Cornwall which was hidden from the end of the 19th century until 1990. If ever you've got the opportunity to go, please don't miss it.

(pictures don't do it justice)

Anyway, I was eventually driven in by a storm which had been hanging around for a good part of the afternoon, unfortunately before I was able to take some pictures of what I'd bought this morning when I popped out for a bunch of bananas. So you'll just have to wait.

I've now got to water the pots (and next door's, 'cos they're on holiday). Seems a bit silly after all the rain we've had but once the sun comes out those plants turn into thirsty creatures.

Tomorrow I'm going to The RHS Gardens in Wisley with Pete's Lovely Young Wife (and my Lovely Young Daughter-in-Law) to see the new glasshouse. I actually saw it a couple of weeks ago on the day after the Queen officially opened it (I thought I'd let her have first go) but it's well worth another look and I think it will get better and better as time goes on.

Thomas is in his school production of The Sound of Music this week. Unfortunately the tickets are limited to two per family so Jo's going with the Lovely Young Daughter-in-Law. Perhaps he'll sing a selection of songs just for us when it's over. Or perhaps he won't.

And the winner is...

2007-07-08T09:52:00.000+01:00

It is an honor just to be nominated. Of course, winning adds in the joy of rubbing everybody's nose in it. - 101 Dalmations (1997)

Yesterday was a very enjoyable day. Alan Wakefield, President of Ottershaw Players, and I set off for Tonbridge in Kent to pick up this lovey award.

This is our nomination from the NODA rep. which won us the award

The award was for Artistic Presentation for last winter's production of The Wind in the Willows, which was a huge success in all respects. The only failure was a lack of decent photos so I can't show you the amazing set that Alan, Jim Gallimore, Peter Pratt, Dave Dunlop, Paul Bungard designed and built, together with some input from the Director, Matthew Horton.

Matthew was unable to attend the ceremony with Alan, due to a work committment (lunch at the House of Commons, I believe!), so I had the priviledge of going, in my role as costume provider/designer/maker.

It wasn't until the awards part of the afternoon wore on and all the boring cups and shields slowly disappeared from the stage that we realised that what was left was the rather gorgeous lady above and it was the major award of the day, given for the whole of the South East region and not just one of the 14 areas which make up that region. Blimey!!!!!!

Felt a bit like the Oscars but it was so unexpected that we could only drum up one member of the team (good 'ol Jim) to help celebrate in our 'Green Room' (aka The Castle).

So, thanks fellas. Not forgetting, of course, Toad,Mole, Badger and Ratty. Then, of course, there was Otter, Albert, Portly, Chief Weasel, Norman and all the other weasels, hedgehogs, squirrels, Motorists, Magistrate, Gaoler's Daughter, Washerwoman, Bargewoman, Gypsy, Train Driver. And yes.... they all needed costumes.

Great stuff. Coming soon:

Treasure Island, 28th November to 1st December 2007

Make a note in your diary.

Please, miss, it wasn't my fault

2007-07-06T13:26:00.000+01:00

Just want to say that, no matter how many times I check them out, my posts always seem to contain errors - spelling, grammar, just plain stupid - as soon as they're posted. But it's not my fault 'cos in my head they're all perfect.

Extra spaces, lines, etc. in the post are definitely not my fault. They're just Blogger going mental.

Round and round the garden

2007-07-06T12:26:00.000+01:00

The Blackbird: I love gardening. You know, they say that in the garden, it's the closest place to God, you know. And I wait for a nice warm day when I can go and pull a few things up, you know what I mean. - Creature Comforts 2003

Welcome to my garden. Please come in.....

Friends can use the back door

The cat will keep you company

Looking from the house

Look left

Look right

Take a break for a cup of tea

Let's hope it's this
and not
this

Thanks for visiting. Please come again.

Thank goodness I'm not a young, slim blonde

2007-07-06T11:52:00.000+01:00

And now, ladies and gentlemen, before I tell you any more, I'm going to show you the greatest thing your eyes have ever beheld. He was a king and a god in the world he knew, but now he comes to civilization merely a captive - a show to gratify your curiosity. Ladies and gentlemen, look at Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World. - King Kong (1933)

The chap who lives opposite our house, who I shall call 'M', is building an extension to his bungalow. Not just a little bit on the side (if you'll pardon the expression) but a major project going up into the roof, out at the side and out at the back. And it would appear that it is a single-handed project, almost. I do admire him and he works very, very hard but I now totally understand the feelings of people who book a holiday and are housed in a room overlooking a building site. One or two weeks are bad enough but we've had this view now for a year or thereabouts.

Anyway, what compelled me to put finger to keyboard?:

M has been tiling the roof for the past, oh I don't know, 12 weeks. This week he is working on the back and top. Every now and then something catches my eye, I glance out of the window and there is M standing on the apex of his roof, just like King Kong on the Empire State Building.

Now, I'm not saying that M looks like a gorilla but........................

Good Times

2007-07-05T20:02:00.000+01:00

The good times of today, are the sad thoughts of tomorrow - Bob Marley

I was sad today to hear of the death of 'Good Time' George Melly. This larger than life jazz singer, writer, critic, raconteur and surrealist finally gave in, aged 80, to the cancer and dementia that he had been living with for some time, although he was still touring and performing up until early June. He said that, as a surrealist, he quite enjoyed the dementia.

Go here to read a proper tribute, my writing skills aren't good enough. All I know is he was an important part of my young adulthood and was one of a small number to introduce me to blues and jazz. I shall be forever grateful.

Kitchen Talk

2007-07-05T10:51:00.000+01:00

Marry, sir, 'tis an ill cook that cannt lick his own fingers. Therefore he that cannot lick his fingers goes not with me. - William Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet

This

not

this

Please go to visit Welshcakes Limoncello and read all about her adventures with her new, lovely, red tomato squashing machine. In her reply to my comment about probably not being able to find such a wonderful appliance here in England, she recommended that I try Lakeland, a wonderful shop that started up years and years ago selling, as far as I can remember, just plastics (polythene bags, etc.). It was during the '60s/70s and freezing enormous quantities of meat and veg. was quite in vogue. From that inauspicious (but probably financially rewarding) start the company has grown and now has numerous shops all over the UK, as well as selling online and by mail order.

Well, would you believe it??!! Ten minutes after reading her suggestion what should drop through my letterbox but the latest edition of the Lakeland catalogue. Hoorah - a good excuse to forgo the hoovering and other such stimulating tasks and immerse myself in its pages. Welshcakes told me to.

Unfortunately no tomato squashing machine but all sorts of other goodies, mainly to do with barbecues and suchlike (in this weather????????), but a few other 'I want' items as well.

But if I bought all, or even some, of the 'I want' things I'd need another room to house them all in, not just a bigger kitchen. So are some of these things really necessary?:

Pizza Maker Oven - a free standing 15" Pizza maker

Pasta Maker Set - small and red and would go very well with the tomato squasher

Electric Ice Maker - makes ice cubes in just 90 minutes. So does my freezer

Cherry Super Stoner - good if you can afford to make your own jam with the price of cherries

Ice Cream Maker - I would like one of these but can foresee that I'd use it a couple of times and then it would be hanging around getting in the way

Smoothie Maker - these are great, but I've already got a blender attachment with my food mixer and I think they do the same thing? (I think Jo has got one of these so perhaps she can tell us)

So all of these (and there are others!) along with the breadmaker, the coffee pot, the kettle, the toaster and the microwave on your worktops leaves little room to work.

Other interesting little items in the catalogue were:

Easy Italian - cookbook that I'm going to buy

Plastic jug with a tube down the middle for ice cubes, so that melting ice doesn't dilute your Pimm's

Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup - From the foothills of the Blue Mountains in Australia come these special wild hibiscus, which have a remakable effect when mixed with champagne.

Bone Suckin Sauce - the name says it all

Ice Cream Cone Cake Tin

Flexible Ice Cube Trays - these are brilliant & I'm going to buy another one

Roast Pineapple & Lime Leaf Dessert Relish

Cobb Barbecue Cooking System - which can be used indoors and sound intriguing

Best 'til last: An electric fryer that cooke chip using just one tablespoon of oil. I'd give that houseroom but it costs £150 so I'll have to wait.

Rainy Days and Mondays

2007-07-02T19:13:00.000+01:00

I hate Mondays - Garfield

Thought I'd better do some washing this morning. Because of the weather I'd been putting it off for a while. The forecast was for light showers and there was a bit of a breeze so I thought I'd give it a go. Loaded the machine with grubby stuff, opened the drawer for the conditioner and thought 'I'll just give that a bit of a rinse'.

Now to get at this particular bit of the washing machine involves a bit of a palaver. I have to pull the dryer out and swivel the washing machine around while lifting the worktop up at the same time. And all in a space the size of a cupboard.

Can someone explain to me why things that constantly have water flowing through them, e.g. showers, lavatories, washing machines, etc., get so disgustingly dirty?? Not just a bit of scale, bits of fluff or even hair, but horrible black slimy stuff. Yuk.

So after fiddling about with toothbrush, cloth and soapy water, getting all the appliances back in their rightful places, etc., etc., I eventually was in a position to hang out my sparkling clean clothes............................ Then it rained.

Fashion victim? or Comfort dresser?

2007-07-01T09:11:00.000+01:00

There's never a new fashion but it's old - Chaucer

Smock tops are 'in' at the moment. I can remember when the only time a person would be seen dead in a garment of this sort would be when she was pregnant. Actually showing your 'bump' in revealing clothes was distinctly frowned upon.

Anyway, being a dedicated follower of fashion, I bought a couple the other week, thinking that they'd at least be nice and cool for the summer (I'd have done better buying a pair of wellies and a raincoat).

Then there was a revelation - an unexpected reflection in a window showing me wearing what looked like a small tent convinced me that they would be promoted to gardening clothes; non-restictive and comfortable, oh yes, and cool.

Small, round women shouldn't wear smocks unless they're pregnant.

Where's Noah when you need him?

2007-06-30T15:13:00.000+01:00

I am at two with nature - Woody Allen

After checking out the weather earlier and deciding that the garden was no place to be, I sort of stood for a while gazing out at the unremitting rain, thinking of nothing in particular. After some moments a tune, together with a few words, crept into my head: rain, rain, rain - rain, rain, rain - rain, rain, rain, r...ain (aren't lyrics uninspiring when just written down, like this?) Of course, it's the chorus to Didnt It Rain, popular in the far-off days of my childhood. Then came the problem - who recorded it? I convinced myself that it was The Deep River Boys but thought I'd better check it out, just in case. Appears I was wrong and it was the great Frankie L aine, who sadly died last February. Same era though.

(Incidentally, whilst checking out The Deep River Boys, I noticed a list of groups in the same genre one of which was called 'The Brown Dots'. Would that name be allowed today? Or even 'The Inkspots'?)

With nothing better to do I set myself to exercise my tired old brain by think of all songs about rain, without resorting to Google, unless desperate.

First up was this: - and yes I did Google for the picture

2. It Might As Well Rain Until September - Carole King
3. It's Raining in my Heart - Buddy Holly
4. Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head - ?Burt Bacharach
5. Rainy Days and Mondays - The Carpenters
6. Just Walking in the Rain - Johnnie Ray
7. Rainy Night in Georgia - Randy Crawford
8. I Can't Stand the Rain - Tina Turner
9. Come Rain or Come Shine - loads of people, including Billie Holiday, Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra
10. The Day That the Rains Came Down - Jane Morgan
11. It's Raining Men - Weather Girls
12. Listen to the Rhythm of the Falling Rain - ??
13. Somewhere Over the Rainbow - the little girl, aged 6, whose name I can't remember, who didn't win that talent show that was on the other day
14. September in the Rain - Frank Sinatra
15. Sing a Rainbow - ??
16. Raindrops on Roses - Julie Andrews
17. Here Comes the Rain Again - The Eurythmics
18. Purple Rain - Prince
19. Laughter in the Rain - Neil Sedaka
20. It Never Rains in Southern California - ??

Well that's it - bet there's loads more. Perhaps the brain is still working.

Check this out

2007-06-30T13:23:00.000+01:00

Got this from As a Dodo. It's a bit long but worth sticking with if only for the very end sentiment.

We've also got a BBC documentary about Cherie's life at Downing Street to look forward to. No doubt we'll find out how misunderstood she was and, at heart, she's a pretty straight sorta gal.

Ho hum.

It's HOW MUCH??????

2007-06-28T22:59:00.000+01:00

Money talks........... but all mine ever says is 'goodbye' - anon
Back to the vet's today. Results of blood tests. Final check-up. Nothing AT ALL wrong with cat. In fact in very good nick for his age. Thank you.

That'll be £210 pounds, please. Gulp.

Peep Bo

2007-06-25T15:29:00.000+01:00

I've come back out of hiding. The cat started to perk up about 5 minutes before we were due to leave for the appointment with the vet and by the time we got there he was ready, claws drawn.

She couldn't find much wrong with him except for a raised temperature and came to the conclusion that he was 'under the weather'. So he had an injection and we've got to go back tomorrow.

It's my turn now to cover my eyes and someone else can go and hide!

No title required

2007-06-25T10:55:00.000+01:00

When I came down to breakfast David said 'Haven't seen any sign of Mitch'.

Now this is very, very unusual because for a cat who likes to eat every hour, or so it seems, after a night without sustenance breakfast is the meal he can hardly wait for. When he hadn't appeared by 10.30 I went looking for him (in very heavy rain) and found him sitting under a tree at the bottom of the garden, appearing to not really be aware of his surroundings. I persuaded him to follow me back indoors where he wandered about a bit and then made for the sofa where he is now. It is very obvious to me that all is not well.

I've phoned the vet and have an appointment at 3.05 and I'm not looking forward to the outcome.

I haven't liked 2007 very much so far. I want to run way and hide ....again.

Ah, The Shed

2007-06-22T11:12:00.000+01:00

He looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food - Raymond Chandler

In her comment on my previous post, Jo pointed out the error of my ways in not including her visit yesterday and the inspection of the New Shed which, from this point forward, I will call 'Ottilie'. You see, where we once had fairies at the bottom of our garden, we now have Ottilie. She is an attractive shade of green and is very inconspicuous.

Ottilie was born out of the need for Ottershaw Players to find a new home for their costumes and I agreed to be the midwife and adoptive mother. Now all that is needed is to decant the stuff that has accumulated over more years than anyone cares to remember from Joan's loft to Ottilie's cosy interior.

Like this only green and bigger - --------------------------------------

A day in the life of................

2007-06-21T20:12:00.000+01:00

The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest - Thomas Moore (no, not my grandson aged 11 but the chap who lived from 1779-1852)

See, one of the reasons I'm not prolific with my blogging is that it isn't often I come across things to write about which will interest and amuse anyone who might want to read my offerings without being bored to death. So I've set myself a challenge to describe my day in an interesting and amusing manner and any of you that die............ well, it comes to us all eventually.

Didn't make it into the garden today because having discovered during my morning ablutions that we were down to the last roll of loo paper and then the cat had to make do with dried food (meoughw), thought I'd better charge up my ipod shuffle (imperative for me to listen to Barry Manilow whilst grocery shopping) and make my way to Woking, where I could buy some cheap t-shirts in Primark and then head on over to Morrisons, a supermarket that I want to try out as various people have told me that their prices are very reasonable.

Woking isn't a great metropolis. It isn't as good as Kingston or Guildford but much, much better than Chertsey and the other small, local towns. I managed to make my way through the bustling shoppers without getting my bum pinched like MaryB and, to my delight, discovered that a Farmer's Market was being held in the town square. Bought plants, a pie, a couple of goat's cheeses and would have bought a delicious looking strawberry tart if the guy serving could have found a gap in his phone conversation about going to the pub tonight to serve me.

Dived into New Look as they had 20% off of everything. I'm getting used to the strange looks I get from the 16-year-olds who work in there at this overweight old lady rummaging through the rails. Perhaps they think I'm shopping for my granddaughter.

I like to treat going to the check-out in Primark as a sort of game. The idea is to look at the price tickets on whatever you've bought and then try to guess how much you'll be charged (it's always less). For example, today I bought 2 t-shirts priced at £4 each, the girl scanned them and said '£5 please'. Happens nearly every time.

Uneventful (except stopping off to buy 8 Millies Cookies for later) return to the car park and then on to the supermarket where I did super-big shop for food, groceries and a few other essentials (and some non-essentials). Pleasantly surprised when the bill came to only (??) £160 as I truly was expecting much more. (I never, ever thought I'd find myself saying only £160 when shopping for food!)

A Few Random Thoughts on Supermarket Shopping - why do people have to stop at the end of aisles to check their shopping lists/talk to their friends, etc. so that there's no room to pass?
are they the same people who have to stand smack bang in the centre of the aisle, usually bending down, while they spend ages trying to decide which brand of baked beans or whatever they are going to buy?
in the car park do drivers think that they are still protected by their vehicle as they make their way to/from their cars on foot or do they have a death wish?
why do some people start to queue at the check-out before they've actually finished their shopping, leaving their trolley to save their place while they nip around for stuff they've forgotten?

Anyway, back home, fill up the fridge and the cupboards, feed the cat on stuff he actually likes (why don't they make mouse flavoured cat food?) and pick up Thomas from school. I'm reminded of something he said the other day: "Is the word for someone who doesn't believe in God an 'orthodontist'?"

Quick check of emails, note that I've got one 'comment' and a few requests for stuff that I've put on the Freecycle website and then a quick look at my favourite blogs. Liked a piece on Colin Campbell's blog about condoms fitted with vibrating rings being sold in India and the Indians getting shirty because they have been described as 'sex toys'. Colin reckons that soon they'll be fitted with 'romantic ring tones'! How about Everything's Coming up Roses?

Whilst loading the dishwasher I managed to spill some cooking oil on the floor without noticing and then stood in it. Luckily I managed not to break my neck and mopped it up. I must say that it left quite a shine on the laminate but remained quite slippery. I did toy with the idea of leaving it as it was and then luring David into doing a Torvill & Dean routine with Bolero being played on a vibrating condom but then thought better of it!!

That's about it really. Can't make dozing off in front of the telly sound very interesting or amusing and now my day is nearly over. So night, night everyone. Hope you're not too bored (or dead).

PS The cat's got his revenge - half a chewed fish and a mouse on the back doorstep

Almost everything in the garden's lovely

2007-06-20T18:31:00.000+01:00

When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant. ~Author Unknown

I believe I mentioned yesterday that my project this year is to DEFINITELY get my garden under control. When I left work, which was in 1999, I imagined that I would spend all my time in the garden. Then I discovered amdram and Ottershaw Players and, well, where does the time go? But I am determined. No more shilly shallying, every spare minute is being spent chopping, pruning, digging, weeding. Some of the results you can see above and some of what's left to do is below.

I've done about a quarter of it now (and they was the easier bits) so there's still a way to go. But armed with my ipod and a variety of audio books I must say I'm having a really good time.

Today my entertainment was Bill Bryson's Life & Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. Great storytelling and so evocative of how the world used to be and growing up in the fifties. Good stuff.

Tomorrow it's going to be Billy Connolly (OK, so it's not a book but it'll make me laugh) and Ned Sherrin's autobiography, which will also probably make me laugh.

Now to dig the dirt from under my nails, have a relaxing shower and then I'll just about be ready for a nice glass of Chianti.

Cheers!!

It's been a long, long time

2007-06-19T12:22:00.000+01:00

OK - so I haven't been around for a while - but I have been keeping an eye on you all.

Pete's wonderful production of Whose Life is it Anyway? kept me on my toes and I've made 'getting my garden back into shape' my project for this year. Then there's Jo's garden and Pete & Kath's new house and garden to think about, although I haven't given them as much time as I would have liked.

But mainly I've been a bit pre-occupied for the past few months. You know, you're jogging along nicely, living your life, having a laugh, having a moan, planning stuff. Then out of this everyday ordinariness something leaps out and kicks you in the teeth, or bites you in the bum, or makes you want to run away and hide which you don't do because that wouldn't help anybody, would it? Anyway, we had some news that knocked me for six so I haven't been able to do anything that requires too much concentration or thought. Things are looking brighter now and, hopefully, the problem will be cleared up before too much longer.

Today I've booked tickets to see Chicago and Slava's Snowshow in September. If you haven't seen the Snowshow I can thoroughly recommend it, although it's hard to describe. It's mainly clowns, lots of small pieces of paper and HUGE balloons!! and as for Chicago - well, who can resist all that jazz!!!!!

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

2007-01-28T18:57:00.000Z

First you forget names, then you forget faces. Next, you forget to pull your zipper up and finally you forget to pull it down - George Burns

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago (well, last August, actually), the lovely and talented Maryb told us all about this book. Obviously it was a 'must read' so I rushed out and bought it immediately. 'Rushed out' in this case is a bit strong; I ordered it online from Amazon. The book duly arrived, I unpacked it and put it on the top of my pile of books to read, intending to dip into it at the earliest opportunity. Over the course of the next few months it occurred to me every now and then that I couldn't recall seeing the book where I'd left it and I must make an extra effort to seek it out and read it, especially Mary's bit. Usually this thought came to me at 'inconvenient for searching' moments, e.g. whilst I was shopping in Sainsbury's, driving on the M25 and by the time I was in any position to do so I'd forgotten all about it.

A few days ago, confined to the house with the coughs and sneezes, my head cleared long enough to recall my mission to FIND THE BOOK. It wasn't where I'd put it, it wasn't on the bookshelves, it wasn't anywhere. I seriously began to think that I hadn't ordered it at all! Then...........this morning.................Eureka!!!!! It was lurking in the bag that I carry all of my Ottershaw Players' stuff around in and which has been in regular, constant use since October, if not before. Is there any hope left for me, d'you think?

What a great book and well worth the long wait. Congratulations on your story, Mary; so wonderfully evocative of childhood.

Now where did I put that damn book???????????

The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time. - Friedrich Nietzsche

****************************************************************

May I introduce you to Mitch:

"I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "where is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?"
Death thought about it.
"Cats," he said eventually. "Cats are nice." - Terry Pratchett (Sourcery).

The ice age cometh

2007-01-24T09:05:00.000Z

After a lazy 'getting up late' sort of start to the day, still trying to shake off this bloody awful cold (pass the AirBorne, MaryB), and thinking that the wet sounds of the cars taking the unlucky ones to work/school was caused by the usual rain, I actually exclaimed out loud when I pulled the curtains and saw the winterland in front of me. Even the building site which is the bungalow opposite us looked quite pretty with its covering of the white stuff.

Wish I'd got up earlier, though, 'cos it was thawing fast. I scrabbled about finding my camera, then finding new batteries. Why do they always run out when you want to do something spontaneous?

Anyway manged to get these and a couple more, which are on Flickr if you're interested.

It's now about 45 minutes since I took these and the garden is almost back to its usual weedy green.

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Was doing a bit of 'blurfing' last night to see what I could find and found Colin Campbell, well worth a regular read, I think. Colin led me on to find this: Beau Bo D’Or » Blog Archive » GoldenBalls for Golden Globes . Another great site for your 'not watching rubbish on the telly' time.

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Apparently an American company has come up with the idea of emails which self-destruct after being read once. It cannot be forwarded, copied or edited and the names of the sender and receiver vanish forever. You can join the cast of Mission Impossible for a mere £20 a year. I can see all sorts of shenanigans ahead.