The Last CW Winner of 2011.

Firstly can I say that I hope you have all had a very merry Xmas and are now preparing for a very happy New Year.

Secondly I must thank OZ, Jay Dubya, Bearsy, Boadicea, El Dubya and Nym for a very difficult job as da judge. I was a shade disappointed to see no entry from Minty MBE but Xmas can be a very busy time after all. Continue reading “The Last CW Winner of 2011.”

Halfway between Christmas and New Year

Half between Christmas and New Year and more than half the contents of the fridge are used up, with some waiting to be used as leftovers. It is a bit of a juggling act, balancing the nutritional needs of the family and occasional special dietary requirements, against other commitments and time factors dictated by ‘use by’ dates!
Today I checked all the dates, and promptly made trifle to use up the special custard I had bought for the purpose. We haven’t yet needed the gammon (but it will be used on Friday).

I haven’t been food shopping for a week, unless you count the dash for milk yesterday. My current guest left this morning and new ones arrive tomorrow. Today I have a long list of things to do. Bed linen changeover will be tight. A new menu plan needs to be devised and shopped for.

Why am I blogging?

Until yesterday we hadn’t seen sunshine for days: then about 3pm a slant of sunshine slipped in, to light up my front door – via a reflection in my neighbour’s window. How strange. The sun goes down behind the house and the front door only usually sees the sun early in the morning. I was lucky to see it. I just popped out to collect something from the car.

We can’t escape history

I’ve heard the words so often oop narth: “Will yer ha’ a dram?” And these days over here I hear it again as New Year approaches: “Vil du ha’ en dram?”

And after 40-odd years, I now know that one of the first local phrases I heard in Lancashire was as Nordic as they come. I was visiting a factory and was told the boss was out on the shop-floor, somewhere. So I asked a chap where I could find him. “He’s fast in th’hoist!” came the reply. Do I need to translate?

Of course we are unfortunate that many of our inherited expressions never reached the ears of William Shakespeare – he was born south of the southern boundary of Viking influence – and so were not fossilised in his plays, encapsulated in his marvellous  lines. Even Hamlet, did you ask? I’m afraid so.

 

Then die, Facebook!

Today is a red letter day for me in that I have finally managed to have my Facebook account deleted. Rather foolishly I signed up for it a couple of years ago as a result of pressure from family and friends. I seldom used it, but realised that others did and it was sometimes the only way to contact people. Then in April this year, my internet connection went down and I was forced to use an internet cafe. Continue reading “Then die, Facebook!”

Wavy Davy is doing his best to lose his new found popularity.

David Cameron’s standing in the eyes of the British electorate has gone up steeply recently, mainly due to his definitive NON und NEIN to the Merkozy plan to tax the City of London out of existence.

No sooner has this happened, than he immediately starts adopting the pink Wavy Davy image again. This time, he is proposing that there should be a “minimum price” on alcohol, either by having a minimum price per unit or a certain tax per unit, a typical socialist response to the acknowledged alcohol problem in the UK. Instead of punishing those who abuse the stuff, he intends to punish those who do not abuse it, in case they might. Those who do abuse it will just give up something else instead, or start mugging to pay the extra.

At least it will drum up extra business for the Eurotunnel and cross channel ferries as booze cruising starts in earnest again!

Has Erasmus been bribed?

It was bad enough when he gave Hussey out yesterday with absolutely no evidence, and disappointing when Ian Gould repeated the error with Ed Cowan, but his refusal today to agree to a perfect lbw that should have seen Ashwin walking back to the pavilion was breathtaking in its audacity.

Erasmus has been got at.

By the way, what’s happened in SA?   How come Sri Lanka are ahead? 😕

Festive Reconnaisance

Reading over the festive horror stories of Xmas Sales riots, stabbings and festive murders etc etc.

I note that there isn’t a white Anglo Saxon amongst them if the pictures and copy are to be believed.

I gather it is rumoured that the indigenous population or what is left of them in the UK are parked on the M25 for 30 miles!

I particularly like the festive stabbing in a Dallas suburb for obvious reasons.

The older I get the more convinced I am of ‘God’ being white, Anglo Saxon and Protestant  and coming from the Chilterns.

You really would think the rest of them could leave it off for a few days wouldn’t you?  They get what they deserve, tat from Next or a shiv through the heart!  Not quite sure that one wouldn’t prefer the latter.

 

House guest

It’s strange isn’t it, how an additional person in the home can change the whole dynamic of the household? And in this household we have two additional personalities at the moment…. Pippi Long Stocking (the kitten’s screen name) and Milly (Mother-in-Law’s pseudonym)

Pippi is climbing curtains/ investigating everything/ catching mouse wires / being totally endearing and Milly is being Milly, advising, in her own specific way on how we should be dealing with these and various other issues /helping to decide on the viewing schedules and various other aspects of household management. And like any good daughter-in-law/ wife / mother/ etc I’m doing my best to keep the balance in the household by accommodating what I can and only standing up to what I feel it is necessary to stand up to.

So it is, we have had to have Eastenders on for the last few nights.

Eastenders, for the uninitiated, is a soap opera of the lowest order. And as Milly is a woman of the highest order, I simply can not understand how she could be so addicted to this violent program where no one is nice to anyone else, everyone has a foul, loud mouth and the relationships are fickle and adulterous. I can’t bear it.

Last night was OK. I found things to do in the kitchen. Any minute now I may have to find more things to do in the kitchen… having missed it on TV she’s watching it on her laptop!!!

I have, however found a good treatment for the curtain climbing cat. I have filled a hand held sprayer with water. Scout has been very anxious to use it, but Pippi avoided the curtains until just now, and just now he’s gone up to his room, so when Pippi climbed the curtains – it was up to me….. and let me tell you, the water spray had just the right effect.
Very satisfying.

I have decided on tomorrow’s evening meal (gingered beef) and I plan to put it in the new slow cooker in the morning. But perhaps I can save morning time by a little judicious preparation now? At least until Eastenders is over?

Christmas Day – the aftermath

How sad to see this article in today’s DT, barely two minutes after Christmas Day has ended.

How-to-dispose-of-your-unwanted-Christmas-gifts.

Do people really need to be told how to get rid of items they don’t want?   It seems so coldhearted.  I have also seen adverts in the local papers offering Unwanted Wedding Gifts for sale, and hoped that the donors didn’t read that paper and recognise the description and telephone number.  If I did, I would be very tempted to go round and reclaim my gift.