7th June 2014 - Just a thought

Thought for the day: " I know the cake is a lie because it tells me there are 40 servings there when there is in fact 2"

Wigan Today - Blog maybe tomorrow ..
Cheers!

Place of the day

6th June 2014 - Ready for travels ... And Reflections

Thought for the day: "There's a band called 1023MB - they haven't had any gigs yet.."

Friday.Not sure where the days are going....  Have to load the Bothy and get ready to travel to Wigan for the Curious Pastimes LARP event there. Forecast not looking good. But then I can stay in the Bothy if required. Won't take the Volls wagen for this one - needs some more work on it and some padding for the guitars - will travel light - maybe one guitar and the autoharp..

Have to travel via Aberaeron for a meeting of the Allied Masonic Degrees - big ceremony, so got the book out learning  my stuff and trying to get the birthdays and blogs done at the same time ...
Enjoyed today's birthday card - sums up much of what I feel regarding my LARP ..

But the sun is trying to peep through the clouds and Delft is getting annoyed that she is not allowed out for a walk with the other dogs. She was found collapsed in her basket this morning and her lungs are full of water most days, but she has lasted almost a year after her first attacks and is in good fettle, though deaf and pretty well blind I think...

Susie managed to use her new toy yesterday and cleared the long grass in the plotment ..

 It is petrol driven and fairly noisy, but very effective. Five tools in one says the box.. It has the chain saw attachment which should be useful to remove a couple of branches that are overhanging the path... 

The ground is cleared and everything is growing....

On another note entirely, I saw the following anecdote from a friend called Bob Williams. Now this was the guy who claims to be the last "Broom Jumping" official in wales. I do not know what his claim to fame is really, but I have seen him at two weddings officiating, with his fancy clothing and his broom. He did the wedding for Ant & Jude in Llanthony....

But everybody has a story - and I rather liked this one from Bob...
Bob Williams...  an anecdote:
I attended a funeral today. After we left, the Boss told me that I had to mow the lawn. Of course because I am a man with a mind of my own I got the mower out.
It’s strange how your mind works. Obviously I was thinking about the funeral and as walking up and down with an electric mower does not take much mind power, my mind went back to another funeral about forty years ago.
My grandfather, my mother’s father arrived in Swansea in 1890 something from Mountain Ash, turning his back on coal and turning his hand to steel (now, how about that for a mixed metaphor?). He married. My mother being the youngest of his brood.

Two of his daughters never married and lived out their lives in the house in which they had been born. Auntie Mabel was the oldest of the siblings, and her next-but-one sister was the other spinster. Not a word we use now, but I think they were actually quite proud of it.
The younger aunt had been adorned with the name Lavinia Maud, Lewis being the surname. Her brother and sister’s children couldn’t get their tongues around that, so by the time I arrived, I am the youngest, she was Auntie Ena.
Now to the funeral story. When I was about 28, Mabel died. It being Wales, men-only funerals, the women boiled the ham and made the tea, and the fact that I was the only male relative in Swansea, it fell to me to organise things, be chief mourner and generally be the Man.
All went well, and after the funeral I found myself in the family house with Auntie Ena and at least half-a-dozen assorted female cousins from Mountain Ash who I had never seen before nor indeed have since.
At this point you need to picture the scene. I was sitting with a cup of tea in the “parlour” with Ena and the cousins. The event was as dry as a Salvation Army outing to the Sahara. Now please, I need to say that I am about to give you three names. You wouldn’t expect me to remember the real ones after 40 years, so I won’t insult your intelligence and ask you to believe I have got them right so I won’t make any up.
One of the cousins, a lady probably in her 70s, quite... um... large, was telling her story. Auntie Ena had been outstanding all day. She was a single lady, in her late 60s and we had just buried her lifelong companion. She had shed a tear of course, but had been very brave. The cousin started. “Well. First I was married to Tom. He was cremated in 1925. Then I got married to Dick. He was cremated in 1946. Then I was married to ‘Arry. And he was cremated in 1963”.
As she said this I took a mouthful of tea, and Ena said, “Isn’t it wonderful? I have been on my own all these years, and she’s got husbands to burn!”.
Splutter! Tea all over the wall. I had to re-paper the room.
The story is absolutely true. I remember it with much affection of a brave old lady. She ended her days with dementia in Cefn Coed. I don’t like to think of those days, I just try to remember her sense of humour.

And so I shall start the Bothy Loading ...
No Blog tomorrow - I shall be in Wigan - dodging the rainstorms....

But day 6 of the funny places...

5th June 2014 - No Boxes in the Black Pearl

Thought for the day: "How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?"

Day three of resting the back. Seems to be pretty well recovered which is good. Had a call last night from my farmer friend who loaned me his box trailer. The weather looks so foul for the weekend that he needed the trailer after all, to carry the extra stuff required for a wet weekend. Met Office are now beginning to agree that it could be quite wet - with a yellow warning for rain and storms..  About right for Wigan..

But that also gave me time to work again on version two of the Mythodea Black Pearl Song... THe Black Pearl is a large tavern where it is very noisy, and without any form of amplification on the site, it is a real strain upon the voice. Many are the bards who have lost their voices through the week - including me last year.  Though in my case I think it was actually singing that famous Viking Mead Song - "Doh a Mead... a Norscan Mead" across town with the Grand Expedition...

But as today is a day without boxes to load, it seemed an idea to work on the song. On this occasion, as it is a long song I decided to split it into sections and verses. The mix and edit is not as good as I would have wanted but it is fair enough for a studio version with an invisible German Oompah Band accompanying...

I can work with that ...  until I get to remember all the words and do an accoustic version on its own...

First potatoes form the plotment yesterday and they were very fresh and sweet... Susie reckons that we will not need to buy potatoes for the rest of the year..  Egg and chips for dinner it is then !!!

And a glass of 41. The latest batch seems to be getting to the end of its violent phase.. and beginning to settle down...  Good thing too. We were getting fairly close to the end of the cellar....

So... Day 5 of the Interesting  Shops and Signs....

4th June 2014 - Press, Parliament and Pretty funny Places...

Thought for the day: "Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine."

Day two of resting the old back and trying to do as little as possible. The back support seems to be working quite well and a good night's sleep has rested it as well.  Good excuse to laze around and do little !! Not that I necessarily need an excuse, but it salves the conscience a little.

Missed the Restaurant of the day yesterday so better put it in here to keep going..

But a morning of creating birthday cards for the next few weeks and trying to sort a little paperwork.

Eileen moves room at the nursing home today, from  22. A much larger room and more space for her to possibly get up and sit in her chair. May have to go and sort out the television later. We shall see.

But meanwhile the state opening of parliament seems to be the news of the day. As one friend commented,
"Nice to see the Queen there in her diamond encrusted hat tell us all about austerity before going home in her solid gold horse drawn carriage."  I never was much of a royal supporter. Good for tourism and lend a little to history, but not really a great supporter.

But then I may be turning into a Victor Meldrew, as there is little in the press that I find particularly interesting or worthwhile, and most is hyped up to the nines,  and then extended ad nauseum. The express today states that we will have the worst storms for 141 years over the weekend and all is doom and gloom. The Met Office does not seem to agree, but they publish anyway. Personally, I think that it may well be the worst storms as I will be up in Wigan with Curious Pastimes LARP. And it always rains at Wigan !!

Saw this and felt it sums up my views of the press - used to be just the gutter press, but now I am unconvinced by any of them... 

Oh well, better start thinking about doing something for the day...
Well - maybe just one last check on Facebook ..

Today's Restaurant and sign...

Like that one...

3rd June 2014 - Can you see what it is yet ???

Thought for the day:" I can handle pain until it hurts."

Well, version one of the new guitar transporter - in the sense that it is all put together and works. In terms of aesthetic beauty or workmanship - it will be admitted that it leaves a lot to be desired...  It is also quite heavy, and as a result I find myself sat in the chair with a back strap on  - hoping that I have not slipped a disk!!!

So lets go back to the basic requirement. While heading off to various events, I have more instruments than I can effectively carry but still want to have the opportunity of playing different things...  So, I need something that will allow me to carry numerous instruments safely, store them when not being played and perhaps keep some other items with me - cameras would be good ...

The solution?? Well golfers carry quite a bit of weight in a golf bag when they go around the golf course, and the ground is often uneven.. So ....

A Golf Caddie folds up quite small when not being used...   But could it carry a guitar???

In principle it could - but might need a bit of structure for that...

Bearing in mind that this is the prototype, there may be lighter materials that I could use... But for the moment 2 x 1 seems to be quite effective...

So the basics of the structure seem to work  there is room for the guitars..

And the Banjo ...

Now to consider the outside structure, which also will give it the strength and protect the instruments

Shelf on the top for drinks I think !!!

May not look pretty but has all the features I am requiring...

And the instruments are safely inside.. Though the top looks slightly out of kilter .. Oh Well!!

A door for the front I think...

And stage one completed...  Room for the Lyre in the door I think and the Autoharp down the side...
All requires padding and fitting with felt to protect the instruments and then sanding down and polishing and painting..  But I think the proof of concept works....

Works nicely on the wheels and moves around well.. Unfortunately it is quite heavy even without guitars in there - and that is why when lifting it up the stairs from the garden into the kitchen I must have twisted my back as carrying...

Which is also why I am sitting here at the computer rather than finishing the job...
Oh well - have been careful for a long time ..

Oh - and the name ? The Volls Wagen - Catchy I thought...

2nd June 2014 - Family Gatherings and Fermentation...

Thought for the day: "I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure."

Okay, it is an old one, but I thought that as one of the best it ought to be used sometime in the Blog...

Back home after a long trip up to Aylesbury and back yesterday. managed a few boxes int he morning and cleared the freezer - though the news this morning suggests that white goods have their own form of jealousy.. Their dishwasher appears to have given up the ghost - maybe in sympathy with the freezer that has been exiled out to the garage..

But it was a lovely day in the sun, with a great Sunday dinner with all the trimmings..

The kiddies managed their own table of course... 

 And a good time was had by all ..

But, back to normalcy for a few days. Need to think about starting my guitar carrying contraption.
Meanwhile, the house has a glorious smell of fermentation - the whiff of yeast permeating everything...  Lovely...

But in the spirit of the June theme - a restaurant!!

Enjoy...

1st June 2014 - Freezers, 'Thena, and Bread of Heaven...

Thought for the day : "Some people are like Slinkies ... not really good for anything, but you can't help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs."

Sunday, and a rescue trip to Aylesbury with a freezer in tow...  It had only been sitting in the store and Nancy's freezer decided to catch fire - how that happens I am not sure, but it made a right mess - but luckily was in  the garage rather than the kitchen.  So, being in possession of the Box trailer, it seemed like a good idea to take the trip up and back in the day.

Not a good day to stay over on the couch and floor, and it was another early trip for 'Thena who behaved herself admirably...

She seems to be learning that jumping is not allowed and travels in the car without a peep - fast asleep..

Among the assorted gathered clutter int he garage, I saw a log, which fits a description Susie has for a chopping log, for the chickens when they get to full age.   Seemed a fair trade.. Apparently, two nails in the log allow you to stretch the neck of the Chicken in order to apply a a blunt axe, to sever the neck quickly and painlessly with no mess..

It is another thing to go in the garden - but sounds useful..

 Meanwhile, 'Thena and Rusty and Delft enjoy the larger garden and playing with the ball - which sadly I forgot to pick up so will have to get a new one ...

 But a nice sunny day and good fun was had by all...

"I am not looking at the ball - honestly..."

And as a final point for the day - June will have an additional theme in the blog...  I saw some interesting Shop fronts and decided to record some of them for posterity...

Today's offering:

Cheers.....   Stairway to culinary heaven ??