2013年01月の記事一覧 | Jeremy and Junko in Stratford - 楽天ブログ

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2013年01月の記事

全30件 (30件中 1-30件目)

1

Mango tub and trolley

Well, I got the old mango tub and trolley out yesterday and gave the car a bit of a clean. It was really muddy. But I don’t really know why I bothered because I went tasting today and when I came home I inspected the damage. The car was once more filthy. Not quite as dirty as it had been, but almost. Oh dear.We had 8mm rain overnight. 52mm for the month now. Today has been dry but very windy.It was a very grey and cloudy morning this morning but even so the streetlight outside the front window went out at 7:42. It was really noticeably lighter in the evening.I made this curry this evening. Potato and cauliflower. Very nice.Quiz 1205“If the ………… fits, wear it.”a) gloveb) sockc) shoed) shirtYesterday’s was a)

2013年01月30日

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Floods

Once more the river is in flood, this is the third time this year. We viewed the situation this morning on our walk and came to the conclusion that this flood, which has now gone down about a foot, isn’t quite as bad as the two previous ones. It is unusual to have had three floods by this time of the year, though.Today has once again been rather windy.Some years ago we lived in a country where it was difficult to get fresh milk. All milk was dried and tinned, and it was full milk, too. Very nice. We used to mix some up with water every day and put it in a jug in the fridge. The taste was very similar to ordinary bottled milk. But in England we were never able to buy this particular kind of dried milk, only the skimmed variety was available and it never tasted any good at all. So I was rather surprised to see the same brand of milk as we used to buy abroad on the supermarket shelf the other day, albeit not in the place you would expect it to be but in the section where specialist Polish foods are sold. It is very strange. I wonder if I should buy a tin, just for old times’ sake?We’ve had another couple of millimetres of rain over the past day or so, bringing the month’s total up to 44mm. If memory serves me right, this is about the average for January. Quiz 1204The word ‘salary’ comes from ……….a) the Latin word for salt. Salt was used to pay Roman soldiersb) the word ‘sale’. The more things you sell the higher your salaryc) the word ‘cellar’. This was another word for the underground room where the bank keeps its moneyd) the word ‘celery’ Pay day was Friday. Catholics don’t eat meat on a Friday and so used their cash to buy salad vegetables, including a lot of celery.Yesterday’s was d)

2013年01月30日

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Very windy

Yesterday was extremely windy. Today it’s much calmer, thank goodness. Wind can be exciting, but it gets on my nerves after a while. I enjoy it when I am down by the beach and watching a rough sea. Actually, it was very warm and refreshing on our morning walk – it blew away a few cobwebs, as they say.And continuing with the phone woes. I was promised a call from the manager of the particular section with which I am having problems. A call within forty eight hours (excluding weekends and bank holidays). Nothing. Of course. This is the second time a call such as this has failed to materialise. Not very impressive really, and damned annoying actually because I want to get the problem sorted out.I made a cauliflower and potato curry this evening. Very nice. But we ate it with rice, which wasn’t so good, it should have been eaten with something wet like some kind of dall.There is a tasting session on Thursday this week.I have now cricked my neck, so it’s a sore back and a stiff neck. Dear oh dear.The river is flooded again, but not too badly, yet. However, the floods were enough to put an end to our morning walk today. We got this far, but could get no further.Quiz 1203“Don’t count your chickens before they are ………….”a) cookedb) boughtc) soldd) hatchedYesterday’s was c)

2013年01月29日

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Nice day yesterday but rain overnight

Yesterday was a really nice day, quite warm and with a blue sky. It makes you think that spring is just around the corner. It’s not, of course, but it’s quite amazing how one’s mind set changes with the weather. Overnight we had a brief spell of very heavy rain which woke us up. Looking in the rain gauge this morning I see that a further 8mm has been deposited and so we are now up to 42mm for January. What with this rain and the melting snow it looks as though we could be in for another round of flooding. More heavy rain is forecast, too, which will serve to make matters worse.I didn’t see what time the streetlight went out this morning.On our walk yesterday we went to Waitrose, a large new supermarket. Walking back through the carpark I slipped on some black ice. I didn’t fall over but I twisted my back in the effort to keep my balance.Yesterday evening’s dinner was baked beans on toast. Great.We had a cup of tea with our friend Danielle the other day, she had got these French sweets from somewhere. Very nice.Quiz 1202In England we call it a ‘pavement’ but in the USA it’s a ……………..a) freewayb) highwayc) sidewalkd) boulevardYesterday’s was a)

2013年01月27日

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No snow

It was supposed to snow last night but it didn’t, thank goodness. It snowed a lot in the north of England and everything seems pretty chaotic up there. However, here in the Midlands we only had a bit of rain which cleared away most of the standing snow and washed the pavements clean, so that is good. This morning was quite clear and bright without being too cold.I went up the garden for the first time in days this morning and had a look in the rain gauge. From all that snow we had there is 16mm water in there, which brings the month’s total up to 34mm. I’m surprised there is so much but I know it’s right as I emptied the water out of the gauge before all the snow – it was frozen so I brought the gauge inside and defrosted it a bit then tipped the lump of ice out. The light went out at 7:36 this morning. Things are really looking up, mind you it was a fairly cloudless sky to that made things brighter than they have been of late.I hope this is the last snowy picture I post for a while. It’s such an attractive scene I could resist uploading it. I think I took this on our morning walk three or four days ago.Quiz 1201“Don’t put all your …… in one basket.”a) eggsb) shoppingc) applesd) washingYesterday’s

2013年01月26日

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Cold

There was an icy wind blowing today. It was really cold while we were out and about, but there was no snow, at least there hadn’t been any by the time I posted this at around seven thirty UK time. However more snow is forecast for this evening. And the last lot that we had hasn’t gone yet. The main roads are completely clear, and dry as well due to the wind, but the snow is still all over the fields and where it has been compacted on the pavements and footpaths it has melted and frozen again making certain areas around the town and lanes extremely hazardous. So if it snows on these we will have difficulty on our walk tomorrow morning.We were going to have a Japanese curry with pork in it for dinner this evening but Junko has changed her mind and we are now having fried vegetables and noodles.On the way back from tasting yesterday afternoon I took this photo of a tree. The light was fading at the time, which is why the background is somewhat blue, I think. Quiz 1200A fashionable small car in the ‘swinging sixties’ was the …………a) Rolls Royceb) Honda Civicc) Minid) Land RoverYesterday’s was d)

2013年01月26日

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Phone woes

Having spent hours on the phone some months ago I thought I had sorted out a problem that is afflicting my account with BT, the largest telephone line supplier in the UK. I got the bill yesterday and the problem is even worse. I changed the plan but instead of paying less for more calls, I am now paying more for fewer calls. I am not amused. I know that I am a customer and as such am not important at all, but I am getting really fed up with this. I shall have to lose my temper on the phone again in order to get the money back, if I can. It really is not fair enough. I am seriously thinking of cancelling the whole thing.I happened to notice that the streetlight outside the front window went out at 7:40 this morning. Junko and I went out for our normal walk yesterday morning, by the time we got home it was snowing quite heavily, more heavily than in this rather interesting photo. So, why is it interesting? Well, for a start, why is this post box green? All post boxes in England, except for the ones painted gold to celebrate the home town of an Olympic gold medallist, are red. I don’t know the answer to this. And secondly, the gatepost is an old wooden railway sleeper. The area where this post box is used to be railway sidings so there is no mystery in this, but it is interesting none the less.Quiz 1199Eye is to see as nose is to ………..a) feelb) hearc) tasted) smellYesterday’s was c)

2013年01月25日

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A bit more snow

We woke up this morning and it was snowing. Overnight and early morning we had about half an inch. It didn’t stick, though, and so was not a problem. I noticed the street light in front of our house went out at 7:42 this morning. The days are definitely getting longer, so this is a step in the right direction.I went tasting this afternoon. We are still trying out lots of different types of chicken. Better this than lots of Christmas puddings, though.Here is another example of the ‘greengrocer’s s’.Quiz 1198If something is “in the bag”, ……….a) it’s been stolenb) take it out quickly before it goes mouldyc) it has been completed satisfactorilyd) don’t let it outYesterday’s was d)

2013年01月23日

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My sister’s cat

My sister’s cat has not been well for some time. He hasn’t been eating or cleaning himself and has been back and forth to the vet on numerous occasions recently. But things have got a lot worse over the past week, apparently, and a few days ago my sister, with a very heavy heart, took him to the vet for the last time. It’s quite heartbreaking to lose a pet like this, as Junko and I know only two well – we were both quite inconsolable when we had to have our two cats puts down almost ten years ago now. I’m so sorry.There is still a lot of snow about, it is thawing a bit, but it’s not going that quickly. Of course tonight it will freeze again. Junko and I went for a walk down by the river this morning, it was slippery but we managed to make reasonable progress and neither of us fell over. Junko is better at moving along than I am, though. I have a horrible feeling that we are going to get some more snow overnight and into tomorrow.As you could see from yesterday’s photo, the canal is frozen. The river, however, isn’t frozen at all. The water in a canal doesn’t move, you see, so it freezes much more quickly.I went tasting today. The roads were clear all the way there, but there was plenty of snow up in the Cotswolds, they always have more there. Some nice views and some interesting food, although, typically, much of it was salad!Quiz 1197Which country has a nut named after it?a) Turkeyb) Australiac) Icelandd) Brazil

2013年01月23日

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Still snowy

We had an inch (two and a half centimetres) of snow overnight, which has made everything look very wintry again. The trees are covered and looking pretty, but the roads are clear. Not so the canal, it’s frozen over here.I haven’t taken the car out since the beginning of the snowy weather, which was on Thursday, but I have to take it out today as it has an appointment with the service station which does its annual government safety check. I am not looking forward to it.So in all we have had five inches of snow. I wonder how much that is in rain? Quiz 1196If you mix red and blue paint what colour do you get?a) purpleb) aquamarinec) greend) brownYesterday’s was b)

2013年01月21日

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More snow

It wasn’t that cold today, but it snowed a bit. However this snow didn’t settle and so it wasn’t a great problem. More is forecast for the next few days.I forgot to mention a further ingredient of yesterday’s curry – parsnip. What a feast that was.I made a New Year’s resolution, and you will pleased to know that as yet I have not broken it. We walked through the town this morning, in the snow. This was the scene as we passed over the canal bridge. Those are ducks sitting on the ice. Quiz 1195“A ………….. gathers no moss.”a) Buddy Hollyb) rolling stonec) beatled) butterscotch pancakeYesterday’s was b)

2013年01月20日

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No snow today but ……..

It didn’t snow any more today, but it was still a pretty snowy day. Cold. I had to post this photo of the snow in the evening.We had half a block of Japanese curry for lunch today. Junko added cauliflower, new potatoes, onions, and chick peas. Together with this we had a salad made with 100 grams of coriander leaves, 50 grams of rocket leaves, a packet of instant couscous, sweet pickled beetroot, four cream cracker biscuits broken into pieces, olive oil, balsamic vingegar and lemon juice. No salt. Very nice. That salad was very refreshing, even on a cold day.More snow is forecast for tomorrow. Oh no.Of course there was no bootsale today!Quiz 1194Which of these words means to speak unclearly?a) grumbleb) mumblec) crumbled) stumbleYeserday’s was b)

2013年01月19日

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Greengrocer’s S

We are not wonderful at using the letter S in this country. For some reason, as in yesterday’s photo, people are inclined to add an apostrophe when making words plural, banana’s instead of just plain bananas, for example. The reason it’s called the ‘Greengrocer’s S’ is because you often see it on market stalls. Tomatoe’s, apple’s etc.Well, the expected snow duly arrived. Snow is fine if you are rich and indoors with a roaring fire. If you are cold and have to go out in it then it’s all pretty horrible. Junko and I sat in our front room, next to the radiator for most of the day, watching what went on outside. It snowed hard all morning, and we had about 10cm. It’s a busy road outside our house and it was kept well clear. By two o’clock the snow had eased and the road was pretty normal. All the local schools were closed and many of the kids were walking past the house, there was quite a variety of hats, most seemed to be in the form of animals! Interesting. This was the scene mid morning.Quiz 1193“…….. doesn’t grow on trees.”a) grassb) moneyc) saltd) flourYesterday’s answer:soccer, horse racing, rugby, greyhound racing.

2013年01月18日

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The weather forecast

Up to 25cm snow is forecast for this evening and early tomorrow. Oh dear. How horrible. I was supposed to be taking mother to the hospital in Warwick for an outpatient visit but we have cancelled this, partly because of the expected weather chaos and partly because mother doesn’t really feel up to going. It’s foolhardy to take someone who is not at all fit and healthy on a half hour jaunt along chaotic roads and then once in the car park have to push her through six inches of slush to the outpatients’ section. Not my idea of a good idea anyway.The whole of this month's rainfall was frozen solid in the rain gauge. So I took it inside and defrosted it. It was like an iced lolly, but without the colouring!I enjoyed this sign. You wouldn’t normally expect these items to be sold together, would you? Note the "greengrocer's S" as well!We saw Sharon this morning, in the car, she was cold. We are all cold.I’ve been invited to tasting next week, but only on the days when I am busy, so I shall have to decline. That’s a pity.Quiz 1192The four most popular spectator sports in the UK are: horse racing, rugby, soccer and greyhound racing. Put them in order of the most popular to the fourth most popular.Yesterday’s was a)

2013年01月17日

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Cleaning

Junko cleaned the Judge* the other day. It looks beautiful now, almost as shiny and sparkling as when we first got it. Ah, the tasting. There was a time when we tasted a lot of Christmassy things. Now we are tasting a lot of chicken. All kinds, kebabs, roast, legs, wings, thighs, breasts, goujons, burgers, chicken tikka masala, the whole range. Some good, some not so good.It was cold today, the coldest day of the winter so far I think.This is the Welsh rarebit that Junko made with that cheese. Very tasty.*The Judge by the way is our kettle. It’s stainless and we use it on the hob.Quiz 1191If you come last in a competition you …………..a) get the wooden spoonb) are runner upc) receive a bronze medald) usually have to take a salary reductionYesterday’s was c)

2013年01月16日

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Another mistake

There has been a bunch of dried chillies hanging in the laundry area since the summer. We had home made spaghetti last night, with just garlic, cracked pepper, olives, olive oil and some of these chillies chopped up. Junko said that they were not hot at all and that was why she hadn’t used them since the summer. So, judging what she said to be true, I bit a large piece off one of them and chewed on it. Not hot?!!! Very far from it. I was pretty much gasping for a drink of water (not that water does any good at all) right from the instant the chilli touched my lips. Wow. Was it these ones that weren’t hot, or some others? Have they got hotter since they were dried? Whatever the case they are hot now! By the time we had the spaghetti though, my mouth had calmed down enough to enjoy it very much.Tasting tomorrow.Overnight we had more rain and snow, it was pretty horrible. This fall, combined with what we had during a miserable yesterday, has brought the monthly total up to 18mm. But we mustn’t grumble about the weather today, it was lovely and sunny. Cold, though.Quiz 1190“The early bird catches ………..”a) a coldb) the busc) the wormd) the early morning sunYesterday’s was c)

2013年01月15日

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Just a bit

The expected snow fell overnight. Not a lot, but enough to give the garden a different look.And still on the wintry theme, all the Christmas decorations have been taken down long ago and boxed up. But they are still at the foot of the ladder waiting to be taken up into the loft.Junko and I went out for lunch today, ‘as much as you can eat’ at one of the local restaurants. Very good, but I am not sure about this actually, in order to qualify in our household you are not allowed to have breakfast, which is a bit tough, and do I really want to gorge myself just once in a day? As it is very likely too, that dinner has to be foregone!The weather this evening was absolutely foul. Cold, windy and heavy precipitation of either horrible wet snow or rain. Very nasty.Quiz 1189What does BOGOF mean?a) go awayb) I’m not sure, but the last letter is the ‘F’ wordc) Buy One Get One Freed) see you laterYesterday’s was a)

2013年01月14日

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Afternoon tea

Junko and I had a good day today. First thing this morning we went to see my sister. That was very good. My sister has recently taken up watercolour painting and she has very quickly become extremely good at it. She doesn’t have much time at all to devote to this, just an hour or so a week, on a Saturday. She’s at work during the day, and in the evenings it’s dark so that is no good. And she has a house to run and a family to look after so it is a bit limiting. However she turns out some impressive work, and she works very quickly. She really is good.We came home and went shopping, then we walked just a bit up the road and stopped by a friend’s house for afternoon tea. Egg sandwiches, pate and smoked salmon, along with strawberry teacakes and four slices of pannetone. A very nice time was had by all, and we got home at a quarter to eight. Junko was thinking of making some Welsh rarebit with this cheese. Mmmmmm.Snow is forecast for tonight. How horrible can you get?Quiz 1188“There is more than one way …………….”a) to skin a catb) of getting to Londonc) through the mired) to dance the tangoYesterday’s was a)

2013年01月13日

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Where is the snow?

There was more rain overnight and early today. By lunchtime a further 2mm had been added to the month’s total, bringing it up to 9mm. It was supposed to snow today, but it didn’t. The weather has turned decidedly colder, though. I suppose we may get our promised snowfall tomorrow perhaps. I hope not.Actually, I didn’t feel all that well after my visit to the dentist yesterday. It took a long time for the anaesthetic to wear off, which was rather uncomfortable, and then I felt rather cold and sick. I’m better now, though.Stratford rowing club was out practising this morning and it was interesting watching them as we walked along the river. Here is one of the eights moving along in front of the church. No mist this morning.Quiz 1187“No pain no …….”a) gainb) rainc) pleasured) breakfastYesterday’s was c)

2013年01月12日

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Dentist

Remember I broke a tooth the other day? Well, I went to the dentist yesterday. He examined the tooth and said that it was just a filling that had broken off the side. That’s good. But as he had put it there just a year ago he said that it obviously needed to be keyed in better which would involve removing an old filling and doing the whole job properly. And this would take some time because I would need an injection. So I went back today. It’s all done now, hopefully satisfactorily. The side of my face is numb and I am hungry because I didn’t have any lunch and I can’t eat anything for a while, but I’m happy with this as it’s such a joy to be able to get to see a dentist without waiting weeks. For £48 I had this filling done and had a six month checkup as well. Not bad. If he had just patched it up it would have been only £17.50 but there was no guarantee it would last, so the right decision has been made and with not too much damage to the bank balance.We had 2mm rain overnight, bringing the January total up to 7mm. Everywhere is very muddy. Snow is forecast for tomorrow.It was misty on our walk this morning. This is how the river and the church looked.Quiz 1186Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Earth are all ………..a) rock groupsb) vegetablesc) planetsd) plays by ShakespeareYesterday’s was a)

2013年01月12日

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Spring cleaning

I know it’s not spring, but Junko has started to clean out the kitchen drawers. It’s quite interesting what you see in there. Junko has been swimming again. She is quite a little fish.We had a lot of chicken at the tasting recently. Jerk chicken, chicken tikka masalla, chicken soup, goujons and all sorts of other things. I don’t know, it’s either chicken or mince pies. But it’s all good fun.No rain today, but some is forecast for this evening, or perhaps it’s snow. Anyway the mild weather that we have had since the middle of December is set to end. According to some we are set to have a very cold snap. I hope not.A reminder of what guacamole looks like. Very yummy.Quiz 1185“………….. is more.”a) lessYesterday’s was b)

2013年01月11日

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Aha, the first rain of the year

Rain was forecast for early yesterday evening and it duly arrived. We had 5mm, our first of the year. I won’t say I hope it is the last, but I do hope that we don’t have TOO much. Today is a lovely bright and sunny day, but colder than the cloudy days we have had of late. We have had a month of really rather mild weather, I hope we don’t pay for it later on!It’s a tasting day today, my first since before Christmas. I do hope we don’t do any Christmas puddings, Christmas cake or mince pies!This tool is what you attach a socket to. I’ve had some sockets for a while, but never the bit they attach to. So now I’m OK.It’s been a while since Junko went swimming, but she was at the pool today and she hasn’t forgotten how to. That’s good.Quiz 1184“Out of ………….. out of mind.”a) luckb) sightc) the frying pand) controlYesterday’s was d)

2013年01月10日

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Still no rain

It still hasn’t rained this month. This must be a record for the past year I should think. However a small amount of rain is forecast for tomorrow. This winter has so far been very mild. We have had only a few days when it has been zero overnight and the daytime temperatures have been really quite warm, for winter that is. But this is to change within the next few days. It’s not going to get horribly cold, but, they say, we are going to have a number of consecutive nights with sub-zero temperatures. Oh dear. But then it is winter.Mother is thinking of getting a large flat screen TV, over her mantelpiece. Mounted on the wall. Somebody is coming to see about it today. I said that I didn’t think I was up to putting the wall brackets up for a large one. I also don’t want the responsibility and blame heaped on me should anything be wrong. It’s difficult to cope with operator errors.I’m thinking of making a cake stand from these two plates.I have managed to stop listening to ‘Free fallin’. That’s good. I wonder what will be next?I am seeing the dentist on Thursday morning. So far the broken tooth doesn’t hurt. If I had said that it hurt they would have given me an earlier appointment with a dentist other than my usual one, but as it isn’t an emergency (yet) I am quite happy to wait a day or two. Actually I have only recently changed to this dentist and I have to say that I am 110% satisfied. So much better than my last one.Quiz 1183“Absence makes the …………. grow fonder.”a) husbandb) wifec) childd) heartYesterday’s was c)

2013年01月08日

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Hummous and toast

So it was a normal breakfast this morning, a dollop of freshly made hummous and half a dozen cross cut sections of French loaf toasted in the toaster Junko brought back from Japan years ago. Well, normal until I found a huge lump of what felt like glass in my mouth. Of course the initial thought was that it has been in the chick peas when they were boiled up, but a quick glance at the offending foreign object it and then a further investigation around my teeth revealed that a huge lump had broken off one of my back teeth. Oh dear. You might expect to break a tooth on a steak or chewing toffee or something similar, but you can hardly get anything softer than hummous. Oh well, I shall have to make an appointment to see the dentist again.Chick peas are the main ingredient of hummous. Here is a bag of them.Apparently in this country we eat 451 million cans of baked beans a year. That’s quite a lot, no wonder we taste them at the tasting sessions. Well, I thought it was amazing until I did the maths. It actually means that we eat about eight cans per person per year, less than one a month. That’s probably about what I eat. By the way, baked beans are a wonderful food, especially on toast. I wonder if hummous is as good?I don’t think it has rained at all this month so far. That’s something else amazing!Around 1996 Stevie Nicks released a version of Tom Petty’s “Free fallin”. I can’t believe that it has taken sixteen years for me to hear it. One of my favourite songs and done by one of my favourite singers. Quite amazing. I listened to it six times in a row when I first heard it. This one is definitely going on my ‘stonks’ playlist.Quiz 1182A ‘thesaurus’ is …………a) something you clean the car withb) a large prehistoric animal like a big elephantc) a book full of synonyms and antonyms useful when doing a crosswordd) the little thing on the end of a shoe lace, made of plastic, which stops the lace from frayingYesterday’s was b)

2013年01月07日

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White chips

You may think that this story is going to be about a batch of uncooked chips bought from the fish and chip shop. It isn’t. Neither is it about a packet of crisps – called chips by folk from Aspi’s land. No. It’s a car wash story. Now, you may be aware that I am not that keen on cleaning the car. This dislike is partly caused by the waste of water that there used to be in an auto car wash, partly due to my various attempts at cleaning the car over the years resulting in several dislocated shoulders, partly due to the fact that I don’t like cars that much, and partly due to the fact that in order to clean our car I have to carry the water about a hundred metres. Consequently this weekly chore gets done about twice a year. In view of this, yesterday was a day to celebrate because our little motor got a surprise!!! Anyway, I was cleaning the car when I noticed a lot of small white chips, the white undercoat showing through the red topcoat, on the roof and bonnet. They weren’t there the last time I cleaned the car, I am sure. I was thinking about them when I suddenly remembered an incident that happened a month or so ago. I was driving along a country road at fifty miles an hour exactly when, suddenly, there were a large number of impacts on the car, like somebody had thrown a handful of gravel over it. But there was nothing about. Hail I thought, but no more came, no rain and the clouds weren’t that heavy. As I pondered more about it I came to the conclusion that it must have been shot-gun pellets. Somebody must have taken a pot shot at a pheasant or a pigeon and what hit my car were the spent pellets falling from the sky. I hit them at fifty miles an hour and have now got a load of chips on the car. Very odd.I show you this picture again, to illustrate the method used to take the water the hundred metres to the area where I can wash the car.I have just seen a couple of long tailed tits on the bird feeder. That’s nice.I haven’t heard from Andy for ages, I wonder if he has come back from his holiday yet? Quiz 1181‘Parkinson’s Law’ states that …………a) the more you eat the fatter you getb) work expands so as to fill the time available for its completionc) if something can go wrong with a project it willd) articles which are heavier than air will, when dropped, fall in a downwards directionYesterday’s was a)

2013年01月06日

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Mystery solved

This is the blackbird on the fatball feeder story. Now, the background is that some birds, tits and warblers mainly, can perch on these fatball feeders and eat. Other, generally larger, birds, sparrows, starlings, and blackbirds can’t do this, they eat from the ground. Since I put the fatball feeder up a short while ago, I noticed that a male blackbird, being hungry but unable to perch on the feeder, used to fly up to the feeder, take one peck which was all it could manage, try and knock a lump of food from the feeder and then drop to the ground and eat it. A couple of days ago I was very surprised to see a male blackbird, as in the photo posted yesterday, adopting the clever system of perching in the middle of the feeder and eating at his leisure. Blackbirds are very territorial and one would normally expect only one to be in the garden. I was watching the blackbird sitting in the feeder a short while ago, when suddenly another blackbird chased it away. So there are two! This second bird can’t feed by sitting in the feeder and proceeded to fly up to the food and knock the it out. Quite amazing. I am pretty sure that the bird who can’t feed by perching is the one that has our garden within its territory, and the clever bird is an interloper. I wonder if the resident one will ever learn this trick? Stephan came yesterday and fitted the radiator back on the wall in the bedroom I have been decorating. Thank you very much Stephan. It looks good.I bought some soya mince a while ago. It’s not bad.Quiz 1180“You are what you ………..”a) eatb) arec) weard) want to beYesterday’s was c)

2013年01月06日

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Office chair fiasco

Oh dear oh dear. Mother had an office chair, the kind of one which is a bit bigger than the basic one, with more padding and generally rather more comfortable, but without arms. This particular chair went up and down and back and forward OK, but it was a bit too heavy for her to move around. So she wanted a smaller one. I went up to Argos to get one yesterday, that was fine. Today I went over to mother’s to assemble it and take the other one away. That wasn’t fine. Having carried the thing quite a distance to her flat, I unpacked everything, spread it all out over the lounge floor, and went through the assembly check list. I just had a bad feeling while I was going through the various packets, there didn’t seem to be enough little bits. And I was right. There weren’t enough bolts to screw the seat on with. I was not amused. Neither was mother. Having just spread it all out over the floor I had to put it all back in the box, which wasn’t an easy task in itself, but more annoyingly I had to battle my way across town, find a parking space at the shopping centre, lug the darned thing back to the shop (at least it wasn’t raining like it had been when I collected it initially) and then try not to lose my temper with the assistant. After a few minutes of haggling I got a replacement and checked the contents: the bolts were all present and correct, and so was everything else. I went immediately back to mother’s and assembled it, in much better spirits than I had left. Actually the assembly went well, surprising how easy it is when you have all the parts! And I still have all my fingers, too. On trying the chair mother declared herself to be very pleased with it – mind you, I don’t know what would have happened it she had said that it wasn’t suitable! All that was left for me to do was to cart the old monster downstairs and put it in the back of the car for later disposal. All in all I was home four hours later.With all these holidays, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, plus the weekends, it’s extremely difficult to get your head around exactly which day it is. Even the rubbish, a bit part of life, is collected on a different day, adding to the confusion. It took me days to get it out of my head that last Wednesday wasn’t Monday.This is the blackbird feeding from the fatball feeder. Normally these birds can’t perch like this.Quiz 1179“If you can’t take the heat, get out of the …………”a) fireb) desertc) kitchend) sunYesterday’s was c)

2013年01月05日

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Nice hat, Sharon

I have sorted out the problem with mother’s tablets, and now have them in my pocket ready for delivery. Another crisis averted.The male blackbird who has our garden as part of his ‘territory’, has learned all about the bird feeder. A few days ago he just used to fly up to the ring where the seeds and fat are, peck once before he fell away and then gather up from the ground the bits he had knocked out of the fat balls. He’s a clever chap though. This morning I saw him perched right in the middle of the ring, a bit wobbly but well enough, eating at his leisure. I have never seen a blackbird exhibit this kind of behaviour before.So, here is the ring, he was perched in the middle. Clever boy.On my way up town this morning I met Sharon and a friend. Sharon looked very well, which was nice. She was on good form and sporting a splendid hat. We had a brief chat about Pashmina shawls and then all went on our way.Quiz 1178Where, according to Bob Dylan, is ‘the answer’?a) on Highway 61b) Mozambiquec) blowing in the windd) in a mobileYesterday’s was b)

2013年01月03日

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Amlodipine

Panic. Mother hasn’t got any amlodipine tablets. I didn’t know that she was taking them, neither did the pharmacist and her doctor doesn’t seem to have had any contact with the specialist who put her on these tablets. She has enough left in the old packet for three days, I think, so in the meantime I have to sort the situation out and get her a supply. It’s never ending.It didn’t rain today, and was very mild. Quite nice in fact, not sunny though.These days there are quite a number of birds visiting their feeders in the garden. Over the past few days I have seen a blackbird attacking the feeder, a robin hanging on, a black cap, some warblers that I don’t know what they are, a great tit and a blue tit. I enjoy standing and watching them. Some dunnocks, which can’t get onto the feeder, wait around underneath for bits to drop off. They are really sweet little birds.We have had a break in the tasting over the festive season, but I have just been invited for next week. I don’t think it’s anything Christmassy, I hope not anyway.I made this curry the other day. Nice, but I think I prefer the brown lentil one.Quiz 1177“You’ve made your bed, now ……….”a) you can have a good night’s restb) lie in itc) keep it neat and tidyd) please make mineYesterday’s was a)

2013年01月03日

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Sunny morning

Ah, that was really nice to see. When you open the curtains on a new year it’s really good to see a clear blue sky with the sun peeping out from behind next door’s tree. The new year has dawned clear and bright and let’s hope it stays that way. It could be our ‘Groundhog Day’.The sun was shining through the window into the newly decorated bedroom, with its curtains, and it looked very nice. That’s another positive thing.I’m looking forward to choosing a new carpet for this room.This is one of the beers I had to celebrate the New Year.Quiz 1176“A watched pot never ………”a) boilsb) burnsc) boils overd) cooksYesterday’s was c)

2013年01月01日

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