2010年09月の記事一覧 | Jeremy and Junko in Stratford - 楽天ブログ

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2010年09月の記事

全30件 (30件中 1-30件目)

1

Very odd

Why do men’s coats and shirts etc button up on a different side to women’s?Junko is very interested in the ingredients of food. At the moment she is trying to get to grips with ‘hydrogenated oil’ and ‘trans fats’. It’s all a bit tricky. What exactly is it that we are eating, and why won’t the manufacturers clearly indicate exactly what lies behind that wonderfully colourful packaging?Junko is on the phone at the moment, in the greenhouse.The mornings are getting rather damp and misty these days. When the sun shines early doors, we see lots of spider's webs like this, all over the garden. And the long strings going from branch to branch. Some go between the washing lines. You really have to wonder how these spiders manage to span such huge distances. How do they get horizonally from two things a metre apart and six feet off the ground? This is a nice web, which reminds me of the artists who stayed at our house and when their son, who was about five years old, asked his mother what a spider's web similar to this was, she destroyed it in front of his eyes. Extraordinary.We went over to my sister’s house this afternoon. My brother in law’s foot is still terrible, in fact it is much worse than it was, he can hardly walk. It’s a nerve problem, apparently.Quiz 286If somebody is a fruitcake they ……..a) work in a bakeryb) are a geniusc) don’t like cold weatherd) are madYesterday’s was c)

2010年09月30日

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Goodbye summer

Well it was another miserable day today, rather like yesterday, but without the drizzle. However it was quite warm, so we must be thankful for that. In the early part of the summer I repaired a garden chair with some wood that I got from the dump. This was it at the time.At the time I restored the chair I said that, as the bolts were new and easy to undo rather than being rusty and impossible to unscrew, I would take the chair to pieces and store it for the winter in the dry. So that is what I have done. I numbered each piece of wood, you will be pleased to know, so that I can get it back together again as I am sure not each piece is interchangeable. And I have put the bolts, with their nuts and washers, in a plastic bag. So here it is in pieces.I asked Junko why she always spoke to Seiko in the greenhouse, and she said that the reception on her cell phone was better there. What a rational explanation! I suppose the aluminium frame of the greenhouse acts as an aerial. Amazing.Aspi is well, apart from a bad knee.Quiz 284Complete the simile“As mad as a …….. “a) bananab) bear with a sore footc) hatterd) fruitcakeYesterday’s was c)

2010年09月29日

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An old fashioned day

Not so long ago we used to have cloudy miserable and damp days from time to time throughout the year. But recently these have been replaced by clear days followed by very rainy days, when the rain really buckets down. We still get the same amount of rain as we used to have, but it all comes at once. The other day we had a whole day when there was heavy dark cloud all around and a persistent light drizzle. It wasn’t very nice at all, but I’d settle for it if I could guarantee that we weren’t in the midst of a period of catastrophic global warming.When Seiko telephones Junko, which she does most days, Junko always talks to her in the greenhouse! I wonder why? Seiko is a rather volatile person and talking to her can be quite an experience, so perhaps the greenery and its negative ions have a calming influence on Junko.This is how the garden looks today. Still a bit of greenery about, isn’t there?Quiz 283If somebody has put a ‘spanner in the works’ ………a) they are an engineerb) they are not an engineerc) they have deliberately destroyed somethingd) they can’t find their electric screwdriverYesterday’s was c)

2010年09月28日

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Helmet

I was walking past the back gate of one of our neighbour’s houses. The gate was open. Wide open. I didn’t mean to look in, but I couldn’t really help it as I passed by. I was shocked and completely appalled to see, on the ground by the gate, a reproduction German stormtrooper’s helmet. That was bad enough, but painted on it very crudely, obviously hand done, were the words, “Born to kill”. Which century are we living in?We went over to Seiko’s today. I dropped Junko at Seiko’s house and then went down to the allotment to dig some potatoes. Goodness me that ground is hard! I dug about five plants in half an hour! Anyway, it’s done now, and I took them up to Seiko’s house where Seiko had eaten up pretty much all the food that Junko had made her. We had a nice cup to tea and then came home.Bill came yesterday, but I wasn’t home, which was lucky because I hadn’t shaved. I have decided to put the strawberry plants in the greenhouse for the winter. I am not sure if this is a good idea or not, but I think they will feel the cold a bit as they are in a trough rather than in the ground. We must remember to keep them watered, just a little. And this is what the plants looked like when we got them at the end of June. Quite a difference.Quiz 282If something is a ‘fly in the ointment’, it ……..a) is a free giftb) won’t hurt youc) is a nuisanced) is cheapYesterday’s was a)

2010年09月27日

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Cheapest is best

Really?Quiz 281‘hard cheese’ has a similar meaning to ……… a) tough cookieb) rock cakec) rancid butterd) stale breadYesterday’s was a)

2010年09月26日

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Lovely dinner

We had a very large plateful of avocado norimaki for dinner this evening. About fifty pieces. This would have cost us at least twenty five pounds if we had had it at the sushi bar in Birmingham, and it was assuredly superior quality.If you are having trouble with squirrels eating the nuts you put out for the wild birds then there is a simple solution. Before you fill the feeder, tip the nuts into a bowl along with a spoonful of chilli powder. Coat the nuts with the powder and then put them into the feeder. The squirrels will be attracted to the nuts as usual but as soon as they taste the first one they will beat a hasty retreat and, hopefully, not return. The birds, on the other hand, will not be affected by the taste of the chilli as, apparently, their taste buds are totally different and they can snack on chilli flavoured nuts to their hearts content. So there you are, you won’t have to fill your bird feeder quite so often!This is really nice tea.I got my diary entry days mixed up a few days ago, so the answers to one or two of the quizzes are wrong. These are the correct answers273 …………d)274 …………b)275 …………d)276 …………c)277 …………a)278 …………e)And here is today’sQuiz 280If somebody says they will ‘eat their hat’, ………….a) they are sure something will not happenb) they are hungryc) their hat is deliciousd) they are madYesterday’s was “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

2010年09月25日

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Garage

Well, it’s a long story, which still has some way to run. The body corporate for my garage has arranged for the door and surround of every garage to be painted. Fair enough. A start date was set and we were all asked to leave our garages open. Three days after we had opened the garages, we got another letter telling us not to bother and it was the next week. So I locked the garage and opened it the next week. The next week comes and nothing happens at all. After six days of inactivity I locked the door. Two days later I get a letter saying that they haven’t painted the door because it was locked! They just did the outside, not the edges. It’s exactly the same for everyone, the painters haven’t bothered to open the doors, they have just told the agents that they can’t open them. The managing agent hasn’t bothered to check what is going on either. I am very cross. Of course it all seems to be my fault, and that would be it because even though I own this garage I am at the bottom of the pile. Top is the manager, second is the contractor and third is the owner. Typical.Well, this is what we had for dinner this evening. Runner beans from the garden with potato croquets. The croquets had a little bit of tuna in them, as well as some parsley and shiso. A slightly odd mixture, but very nice none the less. It’s almost the end of the bean season, what a pity. The potatoes for the croquets came from Seiko’s allotment. Thank you Seiko.Quiz 279Rearrange these words to make a saying (you have seen it before, but I am not sure when!)“boy Jack no and play work makes a All dull”Yesterday’s was c)

2010年09月24日

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Unique?

Junko has found an interesting recycling method. You remember that roast gobo drink that she made yesterday? She has now taken the ‘tealeaves’ and mixed them with rice. For dinner. This is the first time that I have heard of using the same piece of food twice, though I do remember something similar with a fellow student on a teaching course I was part of. This young lady, who was South African, used to use her teabags once and then hang them up to dry to use the next day. Her justification was, though, that they were made from some wild flowers which grew on the veldt, and she had only got a few left!We went over to Seiko’s allotment the other day. Junko cut some grass and I dug up a few potato plants, which was really hard work as the ground is so hard and stony. Then we collected these bags of cow muck for Junko’s garden. After all that we went up to Seiko’s house and Junko gave her the various bits of Japanese food she had cooked for her, for which Seiko was very grateful. She is getting better, but still can’t move around much.And these are the bags of cow muck. Each one is quite heavy, heavy enough for me to manhandle out of the car and along the passageway anyway. The wire is going to go on top of our fence to stop a cat getting in and crapping everywhere, I bought it a few weeks ago for ￡2.Quiz 276As clean as ………….a) a whippetb) a peeled potatoc) a whiskerd) marmaladeYesterday’s was d)

2010年09月23日

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Eggs

I saw a lovely sight the other day by the river in Leamington: an elderly gentleman was fishing on the river bank, under a large umbrella, while his wife was sitting on a deckchair beside him, reading. In the foreground a father was with his son who was kicking through the fallen leaves searching for conkers. The world at peace.It will be time to take the runner bean tunnel down very soon. Presently, though, the plants are producing a crop, every day enough for the both of us, so that is nice. Of course, when picking them, we miss the odd one, and it gets too big and tough to eat. These ‘escapees’ we leave on the plant to mature and then save the seeds for next year. Here are some such saved seeds. Aren’t they lovely and shiny?We had a video call from Ricardo the other day. What a nice surprise that was, it was really nice to hear his voice and see his smiling face. We don’t have a webcam, I don’t like having my picture taken.Quiz 278Which is the odd word out?a) pairb) couplec) twinsd) duoe) trioYesterday’s was a)

2010年09月22日

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Cider

I know that cider is a non-alcoholic drink in Japan, but in England the alcohol content is quite high, four or five per cent. And it’s not a sweet drink either. And it’s a sort of yellow. You don’t usually get it in a can, either. So, it’s completely different really. Some cider is made from pears, but most is made from apples. Special cider apples, which are not at all sweet. Real cider is a lovely drink and I really enjoy it in the summer, not that I drink it more than once or twice. This bottle, which is more than half a litre (it’s a pint, in fact) is high quality stuff, and was ninety nine pence. A couple of these and you would be feeling a little happy.Junko has got a bad back to go with her bad tooth. Oh dear oh dear.Seiko is still in bed with her bad back, wearing her corset. How much longer she will stay there remains to be seen.The weather has once again turned warm, and we have had some lovely days recently. Next week is set to be colder, though. The leaves are beginning to turn and fall from the horse chestnut trees in Chestnut Walk near our house, and the conkers are starting to fall. Quiz 277“Many …………. make light work.”a) handsb) peoplec) spadesd) workersYesterday’s was c)

2010年09月21日

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Wellington boot panic

You may remember that a short while ago I bought a pair of green Wellington boots at the dump for £1. I had worn them a couple of times, particularly over at Seiko’s allotment at the end of last week. On that particular day it had been quite muddy and these boots were really caked with clay, so I left them in the boot of the car. This last Sunday, over at my sister’s house, I collected a large box of books which she had asked me to take to the same dump where I had bought the boots. I had to tidy up the boot a bit, so large was the box, to fit it in, and I remember taking the boots out and knocking the now dry clay off them. But that is the last I remember of them. Yesterday I took my sister’s books plus a lot of other rubbish to the dump, so much in fact that I had to flatten the back seats to get it all in. This morning we were planning to go to Seiko’s allotment to do something there. So, where are my boots? They weren’t in the car. Blast, I thought, I must have thrown them away with the rubbish, or maybe even put them in the box of books (it was a large box, but only half full as had it been full we couldn’t have carried it, so there was definitely a space for the boots). I was quite upset at the thought of having lost these boots, but partially consoled by the fact that they had only cost me a pound rather than the ten pounds that they would have been had they been new. Still, I would have to replace them with a new pair (I was very lucky to find such a nice pair for a pound initially) which would cost me. ‘One last look’, I thought as I walked down the passageway from the car to the house, perhaps I took them out of the car yesterday. Surely not, I knew I was going to use them today, so why bother? But much to my surprise, there they were in the greenhouse, quite unaware of the mental turmoil they had put me through. It’s quite amazing what we can forget. I have no recollection at all of taking them out of the car. On the whole my memory is good, but I know when it falters, it’s when I am distracted by something else. My train of thought is interrupted. Anyway, that’s the story and everything is fine now.One of our tomatoes.Quiz 275“Make ……… while the sun shines.”a) musicb) lovec) moneyd) hayYesterday’s was b)

2010年09月20日

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Scissors

Scissors are rather like computer memory, you can never have too many pairs. Well, of course, with computer memory, it’s ‘you can never have too much’.Avocados must be in season somewhere in the world because we bought half a dozen nice ones yesterday. No country of origin on them, though, the label must have been on the box which wasn’t on display.Junko has now roasted that gobo and is planning to make it into some kind of drink.I am still sneezing.We are going to Seiko’s allotment tomorrow. I thought we were going today, but the plan has changed. You know how it is.Quiz 274If you have just been on a ‘wild goose chase’, …………a) you must be very happyb) you have wasted your time searching fruitlessly for somethingc) cook the geese while they are still freshd) you have been helping in a conservation projectYesterday’s was d)

2010年09月19日

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Very strange

Junko has just asked me to change the toilet seat, because it keeps on hitting her on the head! Am I missing something here?Yesterday it was drying pumpkin seeds, today it’s drying shredded gobo. It’s all go, isn’t it? What is Junko going to do with this?I had a message from Aspi the other day, he’s well and enjoying the beach. It’s good to hear his voice again. I must keep in closer touch with him. Oh, you remember Aspi, perhaps you don’t, he lives in Queensland, Australia.I have been sneezing a lot over the last couple of days. Am I allergic to something, or have I got a cold? I feel fine, I just sneeze out of the blue.We are going to visit Seiko tomorrow.Quiz 273“A new ……… sweeps clean.”a) dusterb) brushc) courgetted) broomYesterday’s was c)

2010年09月18日

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Windscreen problems

Fortunately this didn’t happen to me, but to my sister. She was driving along the road by her house when suddenly the windscreen went ‘bang’. Oh dear, a stone had been kicked up by the car in front. What a trouble would now ensue. There was only one car on the road anywhere near her, so the stone must have come from that one. And…….. to make matters worse, it was her husband’s car!These are some of the seeds from one of Seiko’s pumpkins. If they all germinate she’ll have an unbelievable number of pumpkins next year. But, the pumpkin that these seeds came from might be a hybrid, which will mean that the fruit that comes next year will not be the same as the ones this year. Could be completely different, in colour, shape, size and flavour. Oh well, you take a chance.Quiz 272A ‘Johnny come lately’ is a person who ……….a) is a recent convert to Christianityb) is always latec) somebody who has just joined the company and if very full of themselvesd) usually has bacon and eggs for breakfastYesterday’s was b)

2010年09月17日

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Cold night

Come eight o’clock these days and it is it pretty well pitch black outside. Over the past few days we have had an airflow which is bringing colder air from the east and north. This has meant that the nights have been a little colder than we might expect at this time of the year. Almost all the windows in our house are double glazed, which means that we don’t suffer from condensation, but the window in our bedroom isn’t this type, and this morning there was really quite a build up of water on the inside. Ah well, it can’t be summer all the time!We have been instructed to save the pumpkin seeds out of Seiko’s pumpkins so she can sow them next year. All of them? There are hundreds! And at least ten pumpkins, too. Seiko wants to sow them next year. It looks as if there will be no room for anything else at all on her allotment if all of these do well!My brother in law has a very bad foot. He can hardly walk. It’s a terrible pity. I hope he manages to get something done about it soon.We made some tofu today, it wasn’t very good, I don’t know why.This is the pumpkin soup Junko made from a part of one of Seiko’s pumpkins. Excellent flavour, texture and colour. Note the shape of the spoon.Quiz 271“He who laughs last laughs ………….”a) a lotb) loudestc) aloned) until TuesdayYesterday’s was c)

2010年09月16日

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A miserable day

We decided to throw the sweetcorn away. What a waste, but it was, rather like that CD I got the other day, absolutely dreadful. What a pity.Junko has dug a big hole in the garden ………. and filled it with daikon and gobo. I wonder why?The wind is from the north east today, and is rather cold. Both Junko and I have got headaches and feel a bit under the weather, so perhaps that is why the wind feels so chilly. It’s the sort of day you’d like to spend an hour or two in a hot bath.In general not much has gone right today. Rather disappointing in fact.This is what the patio looked like a couple of days ago, still some colour and foliage there, so that’s not too bad. Problem is, it won’t look like this again until next May!Quiz 270If you are ‘in the soup’ ……….a) you have fallen into a cooking potb) it’s all right if it’s tomato, but not so good if it’s mushroomc) you are in a bad situationd) it’s foggy and you can’t find your way homeYesterday’s was c)

2010年09月15日

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Sweet corn disappointment

It’s the sweet corn season in England, not that it is really ever warm enough to get really nice corn, but farmers do grow it none the less. Junko bought us four cobs the other day and we had two as a snack yesterday evening. They looked nice and yellow, tender and juicy, but when we ate them we found that we were just eating crunchy yellow water. How disappointing was that!These are the pumpkins from Seiko’s allotment, hanging in our greenhouse. Junko is going to cook them up for Seiko a bit at a time.I bought a CD the other day, ‘Bete Noire’ by Bryan Ferry (1987)．Luckily it only cost me thirty pence. It’s dreadful.In England we are once again talking about a deposit scheme for glass and plastic bottles, as well as cans. This should prevent waste, but I don’t suppose it will ever get off the ground. We used to have bottles with deposits on them years ago, but as the country modernized we thought it was better to just throw them on the ground around us. Such is progress. All talk and no action.I took my mother to Warwick hospital today.Quiz 269“What goes around …………. around.”a) goesb) and c) comesd) doesYesterday’s was b)

2010年09月14日

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Shakespeare’s allotment

You have to laugh, don’t you? It’s the latest thing in the ‘Shakespeare industry’. Shakespeare’s birthplace, Shakespeare’s pen, Shakespeare’s trousers, The Shakespeare Express, Shakespeare bus trips, Shakespeare’s grave, the Shakespeare sausage, Shakespeare’s earwax, Shakespeare’s apostrophe, the Shakespeare Institute. The list is almost endless. What would the man himself have thought of it all?Junko took her cooking efforts over to Seiko this morning and was pleased that Seiko ate it all up, like she hadn’t eaten anything for a week! And then we harvested a few things from the allotment so that Junko can make some other things. Seiko is going to freeze the pumpkin soup and have it over the coming days.It is again windy, but rather nice. Quite warm, actually. But where is our Indian summer? I think I will have to cut the pumpkin which is in the cherry tree. The tree has moved in the wind and the pumpkin now looks rather precarious. I’d hate it to fall and smash on the path below. I need to get up the steps to get at it.Quiz 268If you have just had a ‘close shave’, you …………..a) are going out for the eveningb) nearly had an misfortunec) live next door to a barber shopd) will not have to shave tomorrowYesterday’s was a)

2010年09月13日

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Surprise pumpkin

It was a windy morning in our garden, and everywhere else I suppose. I went out to hang the washing on the line and to my utter surprise this rather larger (for us) pumpkin had appeared in the middle of the wisteria! I’ve known about the one in the cherry tree for some time, but I was totally unaware of this one. That’s good, isn’t it?You see, some things in life are better than they were, but, sadly, most aren’t, even if you look at it positively. Junko made some miso soup, with her own miso, for Seiko. She had got some carrots from Seiko’s allotment and she sliced one cut each slice into a different shape: sun, moon, stars, a shell, a polo mint shape and a horse’s head without the ears. Amazing.I took mother to the hospital in Stratford for a blood test this morning. I seem to have seen the insides of rather more hospitals than I would like recently. Sadly these hospital visits aren’t over yet either as I have to take mother to a different hospital on Thursday and then return the results of her tests the next day. Oh well.Nice weather at the moment. Warm and windy.Quiz 267Which is the odd word out?a) cabbageb) carrotc) parsnipd) turnipe) radishYesterday’s was c)

2010年09月12日

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Dry feet

We went to the car boot sale at Bidford at the end of last week. This sale is held every week until the end of September, in a field. We thought it would be wet the last time we went, so I wore my Wellington boots. I can’t say that they were all that comfortable, but they did keep my feet dry. Seiko is home now and we went to see her. We had collected a few vegetables and a couple of apples from her allotment and took those along with us. She is still in bed, with a kind of corset thing round her, pretty much unable to move. I thought she would be better than she is, but at least she is home. She can stand up and walk, but each day she spends in bed she gets that little bit weaker. Presently she can manage only a couple of minutes a day. But she is on the mend, that is the main thing. I have a feeling that she won’t be digging her allotment for quite some time, though.As Seiko can’t get up to cook, Junko has got some things for her and is going to cook her a few meals that she can freeze and her husband can heat them up for her. We should have taken our Wellington boots to the allotment as it was quite muddy there. We will know next time. I wasn’t expecting to have to do any digging, so I didn’t wear my old shoes or trousers. Oh well.Quiz 266If you give somebody a ring, you …….a) hit them with a stickb) would like to marry themc) call them on the phoned) can’t think of a better presentYesterday’s was c)

2010年09月11日

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More Beer

We had Spitfire beer with dinner yesterday. Not that we drink beer with dinner very often, or even drink beer without dinner very often either. Spitfire beer is a real ale, with a strong flavour and 5% alcohol content. Very nice. But of the four or five bottled real ales that I know, Hobgoblin beer is better than Spitfire beer, in my opinion. Hobgoblin has a kind of thicker taste. More body to it.I read this today: “The long term trend of food expenditure falling as aproportion of GDP reversed in the past two years, and we believe it is likely to continue to rise given the growing global demand for commodities.”In other words, our food has been costing us less each year for the past 50 years or so, but now we are starting to pay more because a) we are asking for better quality food, b) the grain harvest is very poor this year and c) there are ever more people in the world. Supply and demand.We are going to visit Seiko tomorrow, all being well.Quiz 265Complete the simile“As hard as ………….”a) oakb) mathsc) nailsd) anvilYesterday’s was b)

2010年09月10日

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Shepherds pie two

And this is the finished article. Junko mashed up some potatoes from Seiko’s allotment and put them on the top of half of that minced lamb. Before she put them on the lamb, she heated that up in the microwave. The potatoes were already hot and so she just put the whole lot under the grill to brown the top and crisp the potato up a bit. The result was an excellent feast which we ate with with genuine Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce and a bottle of Spitfire beer. And of course runner beans from the garden.There is talk that Seiko may be out of hospital soon, that’s good. I hope she doesn’t rush down to her allotment and start digging the potatoes up!It’s dark very early in the evenings these days. Winter is nearly upon us, I fear.Quiz 264At a filling station in the USA, you buy petrol or gas in units of …………a) pintsb) gallonsc) litresd) quartsYesterday’s was e)

2010年09月09日

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Shepherds pie

Junko bought some minced lamb this afternoon and has declared that she is going to make a shepherd’s pie. She’s just cooked this up with some onions, and next will put it in a smaller dish (because this is too much for us for one dinner) and then cover it with freshly mashed potatoes.The bank is still not in my good books, but I have at least finally managed to get them to explain to me what has happened which has produced my particular problem. It’s not the answer I wanted, but it is an explanation and those are few and far between when it comes to banks!!Junko’s ears are a bit better today, but my nose is still cold. Am I turning into a dog?Our runner beans are still providing us with a good quantity of beans. My sister’s, however, for some reason have stopped producing. Odd. I hope that we will have two or three weeks’ more of them, that would be nice.It has been very gloomy all day today.Quiz 263Which of the following does not describe someone as being ‘rather stupid’?a) he’s short of a shillingb) he’s off his trolleyc) he’s a good few sandwiches short of a picnicd) he’s a kangaroo short in the top paddocke) there’s no cash in his atticYesterday’s was c)

2010年09月08日

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Change in the weather

For the first time this year I have gone outside and seen my breath. It was at quarter to eight this morning, in the garden. It’s a sure sign that we are well into autumn and that the winter winds will soon be with us. How horrible.The man from the bank said he would phone me for sure before the end of the day. I said ‘I don’t believe you’. He replied ‘I assure you I will’. He didn’t. I wish I had had a bet on it!Still we had a nice dinner. Chana Aloo (potato and chickpea curry)We had 13mm rain a few days ago, in the evening. That’s quite a lot in about two hours.Seiko is still in hospital. Junko’s ears are still troubling her. My nose is rather cold, perhaps this is a sign that winter is on its way.Quiz 262The word ‘score’ has a number of different meanings. Which of the following meanings has nothing to do with the word ‘score’?a) twentyb) to count in a gamec) a kind of Welsh puddingd) to make a grooveYesterday’s was “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”

2010年09月07日

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A bad day

The day did not start off well. A pigeon pooed on me while I was closing the back gate.Oh my God, I am in dispute with the bank again. They have sent me a paying in book (after I made five requests for one) so that I can send my cheques by post easily. But they have printed the wrong address in the paying in book, so I have been sending the slips to the wrong place. Unbelievable. Of course they say it’s my fault, they always do. This saga has been going on for about three months now.Six million people in the UK did not pay enough tax last year. And it’s not just a few pounds that people owe, it’s thousands! It’s a tax office mistake and it really makes me cross. Apparently they are sending out 45,000 letters each day. It’s like the lottery in reverse!! For three months we have to dread that brown envelope dropping through the letter box. It’s really very bad. I hope I am not one of the unlucky ones. I think that if it were my mistake I could take it, but with it being some faceless government department up there in the ether, and one which always sets itself up as being perfect in every way, I am really not satisfied with it. Even if I don’t have to pay I’m still pretty disgusted. We are supposed to trust these people, and time and time again they prove that they are incompetent. (I am only telling you a small number of the stories which happen to me when it comes to dealing with banks, by the way)I had a letter a few weeks ago to ask me to leave my garage door unlocked yesterday so that it could be painted. I managed to remember that. I left it open on Sunday night. This morning I got a letter saying that they had given me the wrong date and that now could I leave it open on the same days next week, for ‘recordation work’. I’m fed up with this mistake, too. Of course the letter telling me not to open the door came two days after I had opened it. This is the picture which goes with the story I told you yesterday, about the dead terrapin. It’s a pretty grisly sight, isn’t it?Quiz 261Rearrange these words to make a saying (clue: it was on about 18th December 2009)“of grass the side is other the always fence on The greener”Yesterday’s was c)

2010年09月06日

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Shock

I was about to hang the washing up this morning, when I spotted something horrible in the vegetable garden. Oh my God, it’s a dead tortoise or terrapin that must have been brought into the garden by that blasted cat from two doors’ down. About four inches long and kind of a round oblong it was. Brownish in colour and with a sort of ridged shell. And the underside had been kind of hollowed out and devoured no doubt. All the legs and head had gone, and there was no tail either. Just a hollow shell, quite eaten away by maggots and worms I suspect, not to mention the cats and birds. But wait a minute, there are all stones and earth in the shell, it must have been there for quite some time. I’ll chuck it in the rubbish, I thought, but when I picked it up rather gingerly I realized that it was not a terrapin shell at all, rather a dried out skin from half an avocado which somehow must have been buried and then unearthed and been mummified. It really was quite crispy. It must have been one that we ate the inside out of for breakfast, as guacamole, last spring!I bought a CD box for my mother and the bootsale today, nothing much more, which is a pity. Fifty pence. We visited Seiko in hospital in Redditch yesterday. Junko took some riceballs with umeboshi inside and some pickles. Seiko ate them all while we were there, which I was rather surprised at. They were supposed to last a few days! She must have been very hungry. She is due to see a specialist next week and then they will assess things further.The new school year began today. It’s nice to hear the kids enjoying themselves in the playground just behind our house.Quiz 260A barrister is ……….a) a thing to keep crowds under control at a football matchb) the rail you hold when going upstairsc) somebody high up in the legal professiond) a small animal rather like a hamsterYesterday’s was b)

2010年09月05日

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Even worse

We went over to my sister’s house to pick some damsons and apples, and Harriet, my sister’s daughter, was there. Junko and I were talking about our IKEA experience to my sister as she too had just been to the very same store. Harriet said that if we hadn’t enjoyed IKEA, we would find the ‘Primart’ experience even worse. That’s worrying!Junko cooked the damsons up with some sugar in our large cast iron pot. These should last us as part of our yogurt lunch for quite some time. The apples are next to do. Damsons, by the way, are small purple plums.Junko is making a shepherd’s pie, with some lamb from the butcher and potatoes from Seiko’s allotment.And talking of Seiko, she has damaged her back quite badly. I don’t think she will be out of hospital for a week or so, if then.Junko has also got a bad back.Quiz 259William Shakespeare lived in Stratford in the early ………….. century.a) 16thb) 17thc) 18thd) 19thYesterday’s was d)

2010年09月04日

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Illnesses etc

Seiko has twisted her back badly. And it seems that there is a cracked vertebrae.Bill came this morning. He had a wet time mountaineering in Wales, but he enjoyed it. He has got a bad hand at the moment, sadly it’s the onset of arthritis by the look of it.My mother fell over today, in the middle of the road. Caused a bit of a drama, and I had to go and get her and bring her back to her place, and then collect the car. She has got a very large bruise on one of her legs, but it seems that there is no more damage than that. That’s lucky.I shouldn’t really mention my knee, but it is fine at the moment.Junko has got a bad ear, to go with her itchy elbow.This was the garden I described yesterday. Cluttered, isn’t it?Today was a kind of gloomy day, and it was almost dark by half past seven. Where has the summer gone?Quiz 258Complete the simile.“As flat as a ………… “a) hatb) frying panc) sheet of newspaperd) pancakeYesterday’s was c)

2010年09月03日

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Garden clutter

What with sprouts, courgettes, netting, washing and several plastic dustbins, there is hardly room to swing a cat in our garden this morning!Seiko is in hospital. We are not sure why, something happened to her when she fell over.Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in the UK, accounting for 60% of sales, followed by wine at 17%. For four of the last five years, alcohol consumption per person has declined, which is good news, and the UK is now below the European Union’s average level. Mind you, alcohol consumption has risen dramatically for the previous sixty years, so that rather puts a small fall into context. The average price of a pint of bitter is £2.58, with lager costing £2.95 for the same amount. It’s rather odd that beer should be cheaper than lager, as it’s not as nice, usually the nicer things are more expensive!There are, on average, around fourteen thousand earthquakes in New Zealand each year.There was a rainbow right over the back of the garden earlier this evening. That was nice.It’s been dry for the past few days, but one day last week we had 35mm of rain. And here it is in the rain gauge.Quiz 257“Let sleeping ………….. lie”a) volcanoesb) ducksc) dogsd) snailsYesterday’s was d)

2010年09月02日

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The famous Yokohama mosquito

It’s as big as a sparrow, so they say. And in one bite drains almost a pint of blood from its unsuspecting victim. Amazing. Thankfully there are no mozzies in Stratford.When I went to get the milk out of the fridge for our coffee this morning, there, sitting on the top shelf, very proud and very alone, was the remote control for our TV digibox. I wonder how that got there? It must have spent a very uncomfortable night, rather like being on the north face of the Eiger, I should think. There was a family of long tailed tits in the holly tree next door this evening. All of them preening themselves in the evening sun. Very nice to see them. There were seven or eight quietly chirping birds, I should think. Tiny little things. The evenings are drawing in now, and it’s quite gloomy by eight o’clock in the evening, even on a sunny day like today. However, the courgette plant is still producing nicely. We picked these courgettes yesterday. One is too big, it has escaped what with all the recent rain.Quiz 256Which is the odd word out?a) capb) beretc) bowlerd) brollyYesterday’s was d)

2010年09月01日

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