Saturday 30 March 2013

Two part shopping trip, family history and Old Boney



30 March 2013

Today was a shopping day.  Originally the plan was to go to the store where our new sofa came from because Jan wanted to check our sofa with the one on display.  There isn't any sort of frame or support under the cushions.  Kile managed to lose a stylus down the edge of the cushion while he was playing on Jan's iPad and that was what caused her to look in the first place.  The result of our trip today is that G Plan the sofa makers are coming out to have a look at it.  Part I of the plan completed.

Part II was to go to a garden centre to get some more compost for the pots and planters we have out back.  We got the compost OK - and 12 more plants, 12 canes and a couple of packs of garden ties.  However, before the garden centre we went to Asda where we bought a new Sony compact camera and a couple of 4gig memory cards for Kile, a small leg of lamb for dinner tomorrow and a couple of £1 calculators so we both have a small and simple one to hand for our general use.  Finally we called into the Crows Nest for a pint and sumat ter eat ... very nice too ;-)))

Sometime ago I began trying to trace the Clark family tree and came to a crashing stop when it came to granddad Clark.  Being a Scot all his birth records are in Scotland, as I mentioned a couple of days ago.  Well, since I booked my week in Scotland I have found out that ancertry.com now allows access to all UK records and not just the England and Wales.  I'm hoping to be able to work it through on there now - but I will still go to Scotland for a few days ;-)))

According to today's Dorktown Telegraph, the British army and their allies marched into Paris on this day in 1841 after they had defeated old Boney.  I wonder if he ever thought that he might have done better and hadn't re-entered France and started the war all over again.

A pic for today then ... 

a couple of eider ducks at Slimbridge, part of the collection and not wild birds.

Funny time ...

Michel O’Leary ( Ryanair) walks into a bar in Dublin and orders a pint of Guinness , that will be €1 please Mr O’Leary says the barman . That’s cheap says O’Leary , yes sir , replies the barman , by the way sir , “would you be wanting a glass for the Guinness “        

Friday 29 March 2013

Kiles photos, The Hussy and mamby pamby judges!



29 March 2013

What can I say?  The old saying about pictures and come to mind.  Here's what I mean ... 






All of these photos were taken by Kile at the Stratford Butterfly House using  my Nikon Coolpix 5100.  He's never used a camera before so we are pretty pleased and impressed by what he has produced.  All I have done here is to crop and resize them.

The Hussy is on the front page of News again.  Noro virus has struck again and all visiting has been banned.  Like all hospitals now everyone entering is expected to use the alcohol hand gel and again as they leave.  That seems fine to me but I wonder if they thought it through properly?  What I mean is, we don't walk on our hands do we?  No, we walk on our feet; and what happens if at sometime during the day we have walked in some kind of muck and not noticed it at the time?  Anything still on our shoes will be walked into the hospital - and who knows what can be taken in that way!  

We've just seen a pair of siskin on our niger feeders.  That's a nice spot for us seeing as we can't remember when we last saw them.  Goldcreast and blackcap have also been good ticks for us this year too.  Mind you, we are well down on year list this year, mainly because have only had the one birding trip.  Hopefully we will a couple more in later in the year.

The Tribune, our local free paper has arrived and the front page story is about a sexual predator who has been sent down for just years.  There is a lot of anger over this seeing the man himself had been abusing boys and girls aged 6 to 16 over a 20 year period.  What is more upsetting is that he will likely only spend 9 months in jail!  Just what are these judges thinking of?  Why can't they show some back bone and deal with these perverts properly?  Just how long do we have to put up with such light sentences being handed down to these nasty, perverted men?

Straight to a funny seeing as I've posted Kile's shot today ... and it happens to be topical too ...

A man and his ever-nagging wife went on vacation to Jerusalem. While they were there, the wife passed away. The undertaker told the husband, "You can have her shipped home for $5,000, or you can bury her here, in the Holy Land, for $150." The man thought about it and told him he would just have her shipped home.
The undertaker asked, "Why would you spend $5,000 to ship your wife home,
when it would be wonderful to be buried here and you would spend only $150?"
The man replied, "Long ago a man died here, was buried here, and three days later he rose from the dead.
   I just can't take that chance."

Thursday 28 March 2013

I'm off traveling again, a dangerous road, and fish for dinner



28 March 2013 

Well, the deed is done And I have booked a five day break in Edinburgh while Jan is off to Spring Harvest.  Just think folks, all that malt whiskey to drink and only five days to try it all ;-)))

Actually, I'm hoping to get my granddads date of birth, that's why I'm going there.  By looking at Google Earth there seems to be a good deal of urban birding there too; and there is are the museums and art galleries too.  I shall have a full five days methinks.

I need to get into town today but I'm having to stay in because of some deliveries we are expecting.  Jan has taken Kile out for a few hours so he doesn't get too bored while he's here.  After all, he's 8 and we're not and we don't have a lot for him to do apart from DVDs and the Wii.  He loves coming and staying with us anyway.  Just like all grandparents, we spoil him rotten when he's with us.  He loves it.

Head line on today's News reads, "Safety Legacy Fore Sean."  Last September 20 year old Sean was struck by a car at the junction  of A44 and Sutherland Drive.  His family are of course very upset and grieving for him, but I'm wondering why he was at that junction in the first place.  The A444 is a dual carriageway and has no footpaths on either side.  It seems to me that it is a road that is just not safe enough for anyone to walk along.  I know that when I used to ride along there on my bike to and from work it was dangerous enough, let alone walking.  I hope Sean's family get their wish though and a that a footpath is created along that road.

Also in the News is a plan to bring more entertainment into the town centres of Dorktown and Bed'th in an attempt to liven the place up and make them more inviting.  OK, fine; but when will the entertainers be there?  If it is only on market days then I don't think it will be all that successful.  I can't people saying to each, "I'm off to Dorktown market today; they have really good entertainers on there.  I have a feeling that increasing the number of market traders and getting the closed shops being re-opened would work a lot more!

Along that line, I was thinking last night about the number of shops that have closed down over the years.  What started it was a fancy for some fresh fish for dinner tomorrow, but Dorktown doesn't have a fish monger now.  The only one we had was Coleman's in Stratford Street.  We can get fresh fish from Asda of course I suppose but that means going out of my way as my way home.  The other shop I started to think about was Reg Haddon's, a bookshop on the corner of Queens Road and Dougdale Street.  Reg was a bit of misery but he was willing order any book you wanted and get it delivered quite quickly.  We lost both shops, as well as the Castle and Red Lion pubs when a major redevelopment took place on Queens Road ... and that reminds that the old De Di Maccicos ice cream parlour closed about the same time.  Dorktown now has lots of new, bright clinically clean shops and in creating them the life and character out of the town has been sucked out!

OK, enough rambling on, time for a photo ... 

the market place clock tower.  There used to be a pub in the same building and had the imaginative name of - The Clock - wodarfunk it eh? 

Today's funny ...         
 
When Forest Gump died, he stood in front of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter said, "Welcome, Forest. We've heard a lot about you." He continued, "Unfortunately, it's getting pretty crowded up here and we find that we now have to give people an entrance examination before we let them in."
"Okay," said Forest. "I hope it's not too hard. I've already been through a test. My momma used to say, 'Life is like a final exam. It's hard.' "
"Yes, Forest, I know. But this test is only three questions. Here they are."
1) Which two days of the week begin with the letter 'T'?"
2) How many seconds are in a year?
3) What is God's first name?
"Well, sir," said Forest, "The first one is easy. Which two days of the week begin with the letter 'T'? Today and Tomorrow."
St. Peter looked surprised and said, "Well, that wasn't the answer I was looking for, but you have a point. I give you credit for that answer."
"The next question," said Forest, "How many seconds are in a year? Twelve."
"Twelve?" said St. Peter, surprised and confused.
"Yes, sir. January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd …"
St. Peter interrupted him. "I see what you mean. I'll have to give you credit for that one, too."
"And the last question," said Forest, "What is God's first name? It's Andy."
"Andy?" said St. Peter, in shock. "How did you come up with 'Andy'?"

"I learned it in church. We used to sing about it." Forest broke into song, "Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me, Andy tells me I am His own."
St. Peter opened the gate to heaven and said, "Run, Forest, Run!"

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Kile, Clark and a lost certificate



27 March 2013

About three years ago I began looking at my family history.  On the Clark side the story was that my granddad was from a family of lawyers in Glasgow; he had a big row with the family and moved down to South Wales to find work.  Opps - it was a big fat porky pie.  I managed to get a copy of his and grandma's wedding certificate which showed that my great granddad was a 'haulier', not a lawyer.  Anyway ...

I put the certificate in a plastic wallet thingy and then into a ring binder.  OK, fine.  We've been watching the new series of Heir Hunters on telly and its got my itch started again.  Now here's the problem ... when we decided we were going to move to this flat we had to get rid of a lot of stuff.  Some went to the tip, but a lot more went to charity shops.  Once we were here we started sorting out and even more went to a charity shop - including a lot of ring binders.  Oh dear ... now I can't find the one with that certificate in it.  There are still a couple of boxes that need to be unpacked so I'm hoping it might be in one of them along with all the notes I made - including the family tree I had made.  If not, I shall need to start all over again.

Kile has been behaving himself since last weekend so we're due to have him from today until Friday when he goes home for the Easter weekend.  Jan is calling in to spend a bit of time with mother before she goes to pick him up.  

As for mother, I went to see her yesterday and I was even more shocked than I had been a couple of weeks ago.  She's lost even more weight; her breathing is shallow and laboured; she looked grey tinged with yellow; she's sleeping most of time and the care home staff seem to think she may have had a stroke while she was in hospital that wasn't seen or noticed.  Overall she is not doing good at all.  It makes me wonder just how I should be feeling.  I love my mother but I hate the way she is right now.  There's part of me that wants her to pull through but there's another part that knows if she does she will be just an empty shell of the woman I've known for 65 years.  I'm hoping it will soon be all over, but then I feel guilty because of hoping for that  Then I don't knowing full well that no matter what I do or feel it's a case of damned if I do and damned if I don't.  In the past I've heard of and read about so many others who have been in this situation and have always been grateful I haven't had to face it.  Now I am facing it and it hurts.
So then, today's photo is of mother in better times ...


And today's funny ...

A burglar enters a home and is greeted by "Jesus is watching!"
He shines his flashlight around and finds no one.
He takes another step to hear "Jesus is watching you!"

This time he shines his light to discover a parrot.
He asks, "Was that you talking?"
The parrot answers "Yes."
The burglar asks, "What is your name?"
The parrot replies, "Clarence." The burglar asks, "What idiot named you Clarence?"  
The parrot replies, "The same idiot that named the Doberman Jesus."