southern42

"At some point," I will be collecting some see-better-glasses from the optician's. My estimate is also between 2 and 3 Deltics depending if I go for a second pair for reading...erm...muddling, or not - second lens half price and my own supplied frames: just got to decide which one, if at all! At that price, it makes me wonder if I should wear glasses 24/7 to get best financial benefit! <<OooooH! I saw my dream much clearer last night....>> Or, maybe, I should have gone for the very best quality lenses. I was informed that the varifocal lenses they provide were better than from the chain opticians I had previously frequented but came in three standards. I went for the middle option thinking I might want a second pair and, with the price difference, I could get quite a few of those new little Great Wooden Runabout boxes that run on parallel bits of metal! Guess what I will might be ordering later.....

' night all and nos da.

' morning all from red dragon land. 🕶️ Sunglasses at the kitchen sink, again, this morning, sun brighter than ever through the window. Garden temp. 10.3C and the sun, now higher in the sky, is shining into the garden.😎 Short diversion this morning to the toplink (top of page where it says, "Click here";). Delighted to see most of the unmentionable stuff I voted for has done really well especially my two favourite buys of the year. I also found the results, RMwebbers views and comments enlightening in several ways. Work to up the tempo on the flute song is finally getting somewhere. Yesterday, after another tough session, I managed to play the first two lines with their repeats all in one go. Now, I need to work on it until I can just toss it off without thinking and the only way I will be able to do that is by being confident enough to be completely relaxed while playing at the prescribed speed and dead** on the beat...er...not so easy! <<Shake head!>> Mugadecaf and some Jobbies* to do first. Take care. Be good. Persevere. Polly *Capital letter was accidental but, conveniently, having a Capital letter has stopped the text gremlin from reverting it to an unmentionable word beginning with "H". Something to remember! **I might be d**d on the beat if I am not careful with the words I use!

Mr Suvvern is on his way home - the sheepies came back for a second helping of lunch while my back was turned, leaving more announcements round the back, and had to be directed off the Not Farm, again. I think Mr S is not going to be too pleased. The place is a mess! I have never seen it anywhere near this bad. That was more than a rant. Sorry....

' morning all from red dragon land. Overcast but dry and double figures again. 11.3C. Caught a glimpse of two sheepies in the garden. Went out the front door and down the side of the house where was a trail of sheepies's announcements along the path and then all over the lawn. I manage to persuade them their time was up and they sped back from whence they came. Mr Suvvern will not be too pleased when he comes home this evening... ION. I had an email at 9.30 yesterday evening from the Reykjavik Grapevine announcing the latest volcanic eruption. Capturing the start Live Must get on. Take care. Be good. Keep watch. And just as I was thinking about checking the path passing our next-door neighbour to make sure it is safe for her, I see it is now raining.....<<arrrrgghhh>> Guess I had better get suitably attired! Edit: Checked. All clear, at least on the side of the (shared) drive she uses.

Father Brown - repeat of earlier series. Not seen the "new" series so no spoilers, please! 😜

You mean the S word? 😩

We watched Father Brown and a couple of utoob videos via the TV from recent Things that run on parallel bits of metal Shows (Preston and Liverpool - which we consider "our locals" and have both exhibited at and visited in the past). Nuts. Love 'em. Big thing in my early years - a handful of Brazils, walnuts, almonds and hazel nuts at the bottom of the annual festive stocking. Not all nuts by any means, my main ones being walnut halves and flaked almonds scattered on <<the squeamish may like to look away, now>> marmite on toast and eaten as a sarnie. I'll do oven roast chestnuts in December - also nice chopped up in bubble n squeak. I also get palm oil free crunchy peanut butter which I spread on toast and eat as a sarnie. Done that, too! Just watch yer fingers don't get trapped down between the walls and the boat! Not much room... Fantastic trip, mind, especially with a fabulous scone based afternoon tea onboard thrown in. <<Words carefully chosen!>>

' morning all from red dragon land. Dry. 9.0C. <<Let's leave it at that!>> C&C groceries this afternoon and jobs to do in the meantime. Peas. Love garden peas fresh or frozen. Grew up on peas fresh from the garden in the summer, tinned garden peas at other times. I was not one for tinned processed peas. In later years, when mushy peas became the norm at the chippy they were instantly banned by my taste buds. Onward with the jobbies. Take care. Be good. Stay on top of it. Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Dry for a couple of hours then more of the wet stuff. The odd glimpse of the yellow ball out there. Temp. in double figures 10.3C but breezy out so I doubt it will feel it. Psyching myself up for a toot on the flute - in other words, it is time to let Henry loose and do a few hobbies jobbies before I start. Take care. Be good. You can do it. Polly

<<Quote>> Only a small fraction of about 150 species of molluscs in the UK pose problems* for gardeners, with the majority contributing positively to the ecosystem, the trust said. <<End Quote>> Yeah! They gobble up my plants!

Funnily enough/coincidentally, my plan for today was already pie for din dins tonight - in the form of pastie* for him, "plant based"** sosij rolls* for me. *Out of the freezer! **They have proved better tasting than some "real" sosij rolls I have tasted down the years and suit me for convenience once a week/fortnight/month/longer (it varies). So, a Happy Pi Day to you, then.🥧

Alison Gross - Steeleye Span

' night all and nos da.

When I was 16, a cousin took me round Rugby school during the summer holidays as in we were the only ones there (he worked there). I never felt so glad I had been to the schools that I had, by then, attended. I hope it has improved since then! Also, about that time, I spent a week at a boarding school with the youth club on our "summer holiday" down on the south coast. The school was fine. The dorms were fine but the mattresses - talk about comfy NOT. Filled with horse hair worn down to lumps and bumps by various sized kids body shapes. Again, glad I went to school from home everyday. Posh, me ain't and glad ovit but I don't begrudge the "better off" - it seems they have a lot to put up with as well.

I Dont Want To Talk About It - Rod Stewart

' morning all from red dragon land. Wet - and going to be all day it seems. I even had to put the light on in the kitchen this morning. No sunglasses needed. Happy Birthday, Neil. Have a good un. Mugadecaf in mind before I make up mind what to do next. Take care. Be good. Keep dry. Polly

Totally agree as I hate pink! Never did pink (by choice, anyway), much preferred red and yellow, blue and yellow, and green and orange. Strangely, back in the 90s when I did an art and design course, one of the general studies topics was a hypothetical discussion on a world where everything was yellow. It was shortly after this that the world, for real, became pink - for women, anyway - although pink windsurfing sails were already the thing around here. It was not long before I saw a family sitting in front of me on the bus into town. Baby was in pink, the baby's buggy was in pink, the new mum was in pink and the new mum's mum was in pink. Had it been in London, they would probably have been on a bus that was pink. Our course discussion never went anywhere near that depth of thinking so although we had discussed the topic I was totally unprepared for such saturation of colour, and I still hate pink. 🎀 😁 Green: guess what colour my new outfit is in...(not been able to find much in that for years, now everybody is wearing it...fashion mongers, that's what it is!) but it does make a change from pink!

Love the turntable.

Maybe we should care: "heinous crime of being pretty dodgy at Photoshop" Not sure if this is a sympathetic, fun, or serious response but this sort of remark about editing (pro or otherwise) could have consequences. It seems that editing a photo has not just gone from an acceptable process but has been termed not merely a "crime" but a "heinous crime." So, will we now see the end of edited glamour faces on the front page of the colour mags and see the faces as they really are (topic has been out there for years), or more seriously, in our case, will we see the end of edited-in scenery, smoke and steam instead of the original surroundings of things that run on parallel bits of metal in our full colour muddling mags, calendars, and posters, etc? <<I hope not.>> Or is it only ok done by the publication's pro? Just a thought.

' morning all from red dragon land. Pine cone pundits were placing bets on an all-day wet-day. It seems they will lose their dosh since the cloud is clearing from the SW with lots of blue sky around and the sun is trying its hardest to poke its nose out through the kitchen window - sunglasses 🕶️ at the ready... Warmer at 9.3C. More advanced thinking on the tackling of toot on the flute exercises has been going on in my head. I will see how that transpires later. I think the back of an envelope may come in handy to sort it out ! A few hobbies😩 hobbies😩 jobbies to do. Take care. Be good. Don't believe everything you read! Polly

' night all and nos da.

' afternoon all from red dragon land. Sun out occasionally but not at present. Sunglasses were needed at the kitchen sink all of 1 minute. 😂 In other words, by the time I got them on, the sun disappeared again. Toot on flute a bit shorter, today, but a bit better. At least, I finished better than I started! Intermittently playing without the beatbox seems to help taking away some of the tension buildup. Some jobbies to do now - after my mugadecaf which is cooling down a bit. Take care. Be good. Catch it while you can. Polly

' morning all from red dragon land. Happy Mothering Sunday. <<Where's the sun? Who's got it this time?>> Keeping out the sheep (aka buttercup fertiliser) would help! I do love the buttercup when it is in flower but it does produce a large expanding dense mat of leaves. Had a quick toot on the flute, tackling one of the more advanced exercises, an ascending and descending 4-note sequence over 12 notes (octave and a half) to extend my range to the last but one high note. In the process, I drew up three versions of it to include: the top 8 notes; a longer first and/or last note; a change of rhythm; and a different beat (two with 4 beats, one with 3 beats). Thus I keep up my interest and curtail the frustration while I struggle* on to get to the top. *Other more positive words available but I will stick with this one! I don't want to give the wrong impression! Next is sprucing up the place in case I get a surprise visitor - it needs doing anyway, so no worries! But first a mugadecaf. Take care. Be good. Enjoy your day, especially the mums in our midst. Polly

F one hi-lites, so I guess it won't be long before eyes of Mr S. will be closed for a bit. I feel in the toot-ont'-flute mood but I always finish by 9pm so I do not upset the neighbours if the sound leaks out. It is quite high pitched and can be quite penetrating, the bamboo flute more so than my wooden and plastic ones. In desperation, on the other hand, I will do what I call 'soft blow' (a flute whisper!) which produces the pitch but not the volume of sound. Good for going over tricky bits but not as satisfying when playing a whole piece. I have received one greetings card to open tomorrow and wonder if there will be any surprise visits. There was a visitor last year - it was kept quiet and I ended up sprucing up the place when she arrived. Tomorrow, I shall finish today's sprucing up after breakfast just in case! Speaking of which, I have a couple of little jobbies to sort out before bed, as well. Just to say I fell in love with this scene when I first saw it in its initial days on the exhibition circuit. Most inspirational and I still find it exciting. I just wish our 'lawn' was as immaculate and not overgrown with daisies, dandelions, buttercups and clover, just to name a few.