Category: General

The meedja is reporting tonight that it will cost the UK taxpayer an extra fifteen million pounds (on top of the the 600 million already committed!!) to convert the Olympic stadium into a football ground for Weeest Aaam Untied [sic], hardly the top flight of Premier League clubs, but of course they are in London, innit.  But so are Chelsea, Fulham, Arsenal, Saarfend and numerous others including Tottenham, etc.

By all accounts the Olympic velodrome is already up and running, as is the rowing venue, so what is it with kissball,, particularly in London.  !5 million could buy you a mediocre Ukranian/Columbian/Belgian midfielder if this year’s transfer window is anything to go by and 600 million could buy most of the foreigners (and Wayne) playing this season thirty miles east of my home town.

So is all this legacy just for West Ham and the East End, or does the rest of the country get a look in too, bearing in mind the rest of the country paid for it?

OZ

Well folks,  this competition seemed to draw a very quick response –  a total of five formed a queue to the back door of the theatre … making it to the auditions stage before Simon Cowell and the judging panel. If there was an X Factor factor then it was produced by the sound of the bagpipes,  courtesy of an out-of-tune bleat from Feeg. (Sorry Feeg, but I like a lone piper!)

Soutie was first to the stage reminding us of a challenge put to him by his girlfriend – that he sing ‘Unchained Melody’ in a karaoke club/pub. Supplementing his courage with  3 (or more) tequilas he won over the song AND the girl. Nice one Soutie – you score points for musicality and romance!

The curtains swished back and forth and then appeared Janus giving homage to Slacky Bottom to the Lonnie Donegan tune  ‘My Old Man’s  a Dustman.’ – a song I had sung as a teenager in a grimy church hall concert with three other pimply drainpipe trousered boys and  wearing my old dad’s overalls. Once again Janus caught the mood of the time and he included a nice reference in the song to his sister, who at the time was going out with an Elvis look-alike who’d “got more grease than a flock o’ geese.”  Nice one Janus.

Then came the unexpected reference  to the bagpipes – a verse penned by Feeg and addressed to Mr Mackie. I am convinced the syntax of the verse was an attempt by Feeg to replicate the sound of the bagpipes being played  upside down.

Indeed there was  a plaintive retort delivered by Mr Mackie from the wings of the stage – a stirring reference to the role of the piper in time of battle with appropriate video footage.

Last to the stage was the Royalist in fine cavalier garment and flashing belt and buckle. He chose a Billy Joel song “We didn’t start the blogging” – a kind of rap anthem to all respected bloggers  who ride the Chariot as well as a few on the Dark Side. Here was a brilliant portrayal of each one of us, either pin-pointing us on the global blogging map or highlighting our  particular hobbies or characteristics. His wit was as Zorro’s sword and such was the flourish of his delivery that he brought a  standing ovation from the packed theatre.

And so, in second place, Mr Mackie, for reminding us all what is good and true of Scotland, soldiers and lone bagpipe players, but completely and unashamedly swayed by the audience  reaction, the  winner is The Royalist for such sparkling entertainment. A truly great and triumphant “Musical Turn.”

NB All entries can (I think) be seen in the Competition tag somewhere on the top right of the screen.

 

Ross lake hydro power dam, this is where we get our power.

Continue reading “Some pics for J”

The flight to Lisbon left me somewhat irked. It seemed as if Luxembourg Airlines hosted a screaming baby convention that lasted from Luxembourg City to Lisbon punctuated only by the occasional fight between children. While a short flight by my standards, only about 3.5 hours, it felt nearly as long as a decent trans-Pacific journey. Other than that, there is little disparaging I can say about Portugal.

The Lisbon Metro Red Line starts at airport so travelling virtually anywhere in the city is simple. As a card with full-day validity costs €6.00 there are more expensive ways to travel. Compared to most other major world cities, it was almost a present. Simply to, say, travel into Tokyo from Narita Airport costs £20.00. Osaka is not much cheaper. Even Seoul, far more affordable than any major Japanese city, costs £5.00 for a one-way ticket. The limited impact was blunted even more by a good-natured backpacker who, heading out of Portugal, kindly gave me his pass. Continue reading “To the Edge of Europe”

We have a surfeit of vegetables which my off-spring won’t eat, so I have made this morning a soup to take into work – just tasted it and it is delicious, though I say so myself.

Beetroot and courgette soup

Three medium beetroot, boiled until cooked, the skins slipped off and the beet chopped up

One courgette not too large, sliced (mine are the yellow skinned variety)

One onion, peeled and sliced

one clove garlic, peeled and sliced

salt and pepper

a little lemon juice

Soften onions in oil over a gentle heat, add garlic and sliced courgette, and soften a little longer without colouring.
Add the beetroot, and stock to cover. Cook 5 mins.
Blend, season and sup.
Looks very pretty with a swirl of cream stirred in.

 

Does anyone else have an unusual mix of ingredients to make a summer soup?

 

Two weeks ago our dishwasher gave up the ghost.

As most of you know, I will be moving to Spain in two months, so I decided that it wasn’t worth buying another one here in Toulouse, just to have an extra large item to move.

Therefore we have spent the last couple of weeks washing up by hand.

We have found so many advantages of not using the dishwasher that we are now considering not having one in future.

These advantages are:-

1) Enjoying a chat about our day while washing up after the evening meal

2) Always have clean crockery and pans ready for the next meal. Previously we needed many more as some were ‘waiting’ in the dishwasher until it was full.

3) Never leaving the kitchen a mess after a meal as the pots needed to be cleaned straightaway.

4) Clearly the cost is lower when doing it by hand

5) We have found that it doesn’t really take so much longer to wash up than previously to load and unload the dishwasher.

It would be interesting to hear your views on this.

A few weeks ago I was invited to an event at Rousham, a rather wonderful privately owned garden which is open to the public, but not to children, from 10 am to dusk each day.
The event was a fund raiser for a group of cyclists (The Valley Girls) who are planning a cycling trip across India. The star attraction was advertised as being ‘Pippa Greenwood, giving a talk about growing vegetables’ – plus a chance to mingle and nibble with a glass of wine and wander the garden until dusk. For me the star attraction was the chance to see the wonderful garden.

The weather was not promising. There were several heavy downpours of rain in the few hours leading up to the start of the evening, and I debated going in wellies… however the clouds cleared and we had a lovely evening among the borders.

Continue reading “Rousham Vista”