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I Believe In You - Kylie Minogue

I Want To Break Free - Queen

Afternoon All All posts read and rated - again! Can't stand Venison - was served it once as a staff meal at a restaurant when I worked there as a waiter - we weren't told what it was. It was on the menu, but didn't sell too well - so on occasion it was palmed off on the staff - it didn't taste gamey - just off (which it probably was) - after once, I always asked and if it was venison, I didn't bother with a meal - just waited til my shift was over (usually after midnight) and had whatever I could scrape together from the fridge when I got home. 30747's teddy arrived by Hermes from the USA this afternoon - it was ordered on 30th December, so that is quite amazing service from the seller, and also the carriers. How come the roll of bubble wrap that I ordered at the same time, and coming from London has yet to arrive? As usual, generic greetings, and sympathetic vibes to Bear, it is no fun hitting one's head on anything. Not a lot to report - had to go into town, then pick up 30747 from work - she's back now after the break, so is having to take a daily up the snozz, or down the throat LFT - but her workplace has not yet had their new supply - surprise (not). Luckily we were picking them up when we were able to, and have a few packs in reserve of both types. Fodder run tomorrow - whoopidoo. Regards to All Stewart

Afternoon All First off amazing news - ALL posts read and many rated - and as usual, greetings are offered to all ailing and celebrating - and welcome back to Dutch Master after a long absence. Interesting to see the reactions to my posting the videos of Emily Linge - and some have been doing some googling as well. I was not aware of her age, I just saw her as an amazing musician with an excellent voice but doing what my fellow ERs did I am amazed by her talent and potential when she is a little older. Now then (sorry - rant mode on) Went down to Lidl for 09.40 and was among the first into the store - found the microwaves, there were three on the shelf, and they were marked on the shelf edge as being microwave and grill price £69.99 - got one into my trolley, and as I was picking up the other shopping I was reading the description on the box - no mention of the grill function, so I got my brochure out and compared the model no there with the model no on the box - totally different - I rang 30747 to tell her, and another woman who was also buying must have overheard me. She sought out the assistant manager, and had him open the box to check the user guide - which he did, and concurred that there was no grill function on this model - I put mine back on the shelf, as did the assistant manager, with the open boxed item - and the third had already left the shop. Where this went wrong is that the assistant manager just put them back, did not remove the shelf edge, and also, and more importantly, did not remove the offending items from the shelf pending sorting this out with Head Office. A fairly strongly worded email has gone to Lidl. (rant mode off). Regards to All Stewart

There Is A Mountain - Donovan

Glass Onion - a late offering from the Liverpool lot

I was hoping to post that one, Ian, but my internet went down so something a bit kitsch The Lonely Bull - Herb Albert

I think that the musicianship on the former is very good, but it is, as ever a very personal thing - each to his own. Emily Linge is a very good pianist and vocalist, who can strip a song to its bare bones, and make it her own, whilst still retaining the character of the original - not an easy thing to do, and she really deserves a bit more fame than she's got - but that it true of a lot of the YouTube musicians, and sometimes they lurk there for years, until their offerings get offered by chance by the YouTube algorithm. This was the song that came up when I was listening to another Beatles offering by the Mona Lisa Twins and which added ANOTHER subscription to the scores of them that I already have. Afternoon All Well not a lot to report today - but generic greetings - I have read all posts since yesterday, and rated quite a few. Tigerburnie - just remember that we are here, and though it is a cyber friendship, it is very real, and as I can testify from my minor (in comparisn to yours) moans, how the reactions of "friendly/supportive" actually do mean something to me. Not feeling great this afternoon - was awake at 05.20 this morning, having gone to bed at about 9.30 feeling rough, and having a Q-like sleep - couple of hours, wake up, go to loo, lie awake, doze - all to 30747's dislike. Decided to do a Covid test at 05.30, just to be sure, but the up the snozz q-tip did not reveal anything nasty. Unlike 30747's niece whose husband "opted" not to have his booster, then caught it, and passed it on to niece, who only had her booster last week, so is not up to full strength immunity - and he works in peoples' houses assembling IKEA and other flat packs for those who can't or won't - I'd have thought that he would have been at the front of the queue, both to protect himself and his clients. Decided not to go into town, so the car keys will be done on Monday - have to go out tomorrow, as Lidl have some very well priced microwave grills coming in, and our just over a year old microwave only (no grill) is already going rusty, despite being wiped out every time it's used - things just aren't made well or to last nowadays - although the old maxim of buy cheap, buy twice comes to mind. Regards to All Stewart

Forever In Electric Dreams - Phil Oakey

Afternoon All FIrst off, not all posts read or rated - sorry, but 30747 wanted to "do the bookwork" - a weekly task which was last "done" before Christmas, so it took a while - she then wanted to "revise" all the figures for the move (they came out the same, surprise as nothing's changed), then to try to "estimate" how the final bill might look for the gas and leccy - that last was a nightmare, as the calculations of the gas are a bit tortuous, and are not on the "bill" that we get monthly, which is a joke - I eventually found the calculations of a PDF about four bills ago. Then went to watch the recording of "The Apprentice" - Chrisf how right you are - I'd have fired the lot of them, and left BBC1 with some space for some decent television (is there such a thing?). I need to go into Lancaster tomorrow morning, as the car decided to show a "fit new batteries to your key" message, so I used 30747's key which has not been used for anything other than opening the door since we got the car, and it gave the same message - I hope that Timpson do a BOGOF. Generic greetings are, as ever on offer from this quarter, and Regards to All Stewart Fans of Jazz might like this fusion of classical (Beethoven's Rondo in G Major, op129) and gypsy jazz - I think it is stunningly clever. Tomorrow, I may share a wonderful rendition of a Beatles song - ah hang it, I'll share it tonight

And so is mine tnis morning - thanks

Afternoon All Is anybody else on BT Mail having problems with slow loading of emails? I've had the "loading" message many times over the last two days, and cannot get through to the "Technical(ish) helpdesk. Generic greetings, as ever. FInally got an update on the house move, and "may" be on target for the end of Jaunuary - subject to the last searches and the mortgage offer. Can do nothing about the former, but have chased that latter again, and our advisor has said it's all on target. Regards to All Stewart

(Somewhere) Over The Rainbow - Judy Garland

Afternoon All Here is my latest acquisition - a rather nice hand made tenor Ukelele (my dog has fleas - guitarists and uke players will understand) by Barry Vernon - the same maker as one of my dreadnaught guitars. I fell in love with it yesterday, and managed to contact the seller, and to negotiate a discount, so went up to the antique centre where I picked it up this morning. All posts have been read since yesterday, and as usual, the warmest of greetings are on offer to the ailing and the celebrating. Regards to All Stewart

The Boys Are Back In Town - Thin Lizzie

Afternoon/Evening All Mucho late today, and not all posts read or rated - however, it is my second visit - I got as far as reading about the breakfast pizza - responded, and was then "asked" if we could visit GB Antiques where 30747 didn't buy anything, but I found a few railway books that I didn't have, including a pristine copy of Donald Binns' "Little North Western" which is fairly short, but then so was the line relative to those nearby like the Midland main, and the WCML. I think that a fiver was a pretty good price, as I only ever saw one copy in the past, and that was tatty and eight quid. Anyway, should get a visit in tomorrow after I've been to the parcel shop as I had an item closed on Ebay yesterday - it had been rolling over so much that it went relist on Christmas Day, and then was finally bought on Friday, and closed on New Year's Day. Generic greetings Regards to All Stewart

Owned by my friends, Matt Jackson and Phil Simpson, who have very high standards of food, drink, and general decor and cleanliness as well as brewing some of the best beers this side of the Pennines - they could not get beers to a consistently high standards from their suppliers, so they started to make their own. Lancaster brewery is now very successful.

Morning All (just). And a very HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my fellow Ers, and that's all for today - I may just have a "small" glass of Talisker with my dinner - we have dinner at Lunch time. Regards to All Stewart

I used to think that I was "good" with electrics - I managed to rewire the lighting circuits in our first bought house, and while I was switching on at the consumer unit, 30747 was stood out in the garden, with her hands over her ears awaiting the bang - which never came - though only half the upstairs lights came on when the switches were operated - another quick trip into the loft found one screw in a joint box which was not tight, and all was well. THEN came Part P of the building regs, whereby all wiring had to be tested by a qualified electrician, and also a new edition (12th I think) of the electrical wiring regs and I gave up, it was getting too complex. Nowadays, I just believe that the best advice is to leave everything electrical to a qualified person who is up to speed, and also has the knowledge and equipment to check everything out safely.

Afternoon All Not all posts read, as 30747 is getting sick of the boxes (as am I) so we went out with Lily for a couple of hours, and as a result, some skipping has had to take place. However, as usual greetings are offered generically, and most sincerely. Nice to see Natalie back, and bearing news of Kelly - and Chrisf, I do like the new avatar. I wish I hadn't renewed the subscription on Ebay for a certain maker's teddy bears, as one came up today for the first time ever - at an extremely reasonable price according to 30747 who is a bit of an authority on collectable teddies - but it is in the USA, and once the import duty and shipping are factored in, it gets a bit expensive - I believe it came to around $250, but after checking the price of a similar teddy in one of her old Witney Bears catalogues, I reluctantly ordered it, the UK price at retail about 6 years ago was £325, so I guess it was a bargain really - now how many locos will that equate to, I'd think maybe a nice Hornby "City of Salford" - a loco I only saw once, and then didn't know that it was an Ivatt loco (well I was only eight at the time and my dad's cousin, Alec McNair who was a real authority on all things Caledonian and LMS wasn't there to clue me up, as he did all the time until he died) - it was just another Duchess to me at that time - pah, what I'd give now to see just "another Duchess". Back tomorrow - probably. Certainly will pop in on Saturday to wish the new year greetings) Regards to All Stewart

Have You Heard? - Moody Blues (waited a while to get a Moodies song in)

You and me both, Bob, you and me both - the tablet which I have been prescribed (and which is so contra indicated with alcohol) is just about unavailable in the format which the Dr prescribed, which is 50mg capsules. I was prescribed 56 well before Christmas, and they only had 44 - made up of three different brands - and the usual "owing" note for the other 12. Rant begins I went into the pharmacy three times just before the festive season, and each time was told "still not available" - then over Christmas, I got a text which was dated 22nd - but as I have been watching my texts, I know it didn't arrive then - saying the balance of my prescription was in - so I collected it today at the first opportunity, and the packaging was actually dated 21st December - so WHY THE H&LL did they keep telling me it was still unavailable on 22nd, 23rd, and Christmas Eve - and this lot is tablets, not capsules, but is the same drug and the same strength. I must admit that I didn't moan a lot, but since the pharmacy was taken over by B**ts, we have had about eight managers, and God knows how many pharmacists - the last permanent one left (she was very good as well as very easy on the eye) to go and join our GP practice as a pharmacist practitioner but it's the only one close to the GP surgery, and the only one in town, I do know from speaking to the staff who used to work there when it was independent, that B**ts only use ONE supplier - Alliance, which (surprise) is owned by B**ts, so if your item is out of stock with Alliance, you're stuffed. The independent pharmacist had accounts with ALL the major suppliers, so was not caught out that often. Rant over. Afternoon All Well MORE sales yesterday - Boots, Marks and Spencer, and Accessorise to name but three - some taking back, and some more buying - and then today was the day of reckoning, as we had to check the credit card account - OUCH. Fodder run completed, yesterday morning, and a serves six two bird roast with all sorts of stuffing in it was bought from the "last knockings" freezer in Lidl. Down from £9.99 to £3.99, and it fed two, plus the dog, plus a little over for cold - and it was utterly delicious. Oddly, as Lidl actually show ther sources and suppliers for most fish and meat, we found that the address of the supplier was Ketteringham Hall in Norfolk - we lived in the gatehouse to Ketteringham Hall, for just under a year - strange little coincidence - I know the item was not actually produced there, it's just their HO, but strange nonetheless. Due to sales, and also being back to work days for the people working on our house move, I have not managed to keep up, and quite a few pages have been skipped. However, I hope all are still well, and as usual proffer the obligatory generic greetings. Regards to All Stewart

Afternoon All - after clearing the editor again!!?? Well, I was a true ER this morning, both because I decided to have an early night after "Death in Paradise", and was asleep before the ten o'clock news. 30747 came up and muttered something to which I must have responded "yes" without knowing to what I was agreeing, which at 5am turned out to be "time to get up for the Next sale". So we were in the car for six, and parked in the unlocked car park underneath the precinct. I was about to put in the requisite fee, when I thought "why is the car park unlocked - it is normally not open until 7.30?" - checking the sign, I found that it is free on Bank Holidays. We were in Next by 6.15, and I had decided by 6.16 that the sale was actually carp. It took 30747 a bit longer. So we headed for home, picked up some milk and rolls, and I was about to get the laptop out when 30747 announced that the sale at Next in Kendal might be better, and also Fat Face were going to be open - so we were in Kendal by 09.05!, and then visited all the sales that she wanted to visit in Kendal and Kirkby Lonsdale by noon, and I had a hour or so of eyelid inspection, but it now frees up two days that were also going to be used for visiting the sales. So perhaps a fodder run to Aldi tomorrow - and my reward might be a bottle of their rather nice ruby port, which is a lot better that its £6.50 a bottle price tag would suggest. It will wait until the pills are finished. So with such a tiring morning, I have been unable to visit RMWeb until now, and all posts since I last visited have been read, and some rated. To the ER who was querying Jonathan Creek or Death in Paradise, both are available on the two channels respective players - DIP on the BBC i Player, and Jonny Creek on the UKTV player - what I did was to record J Creek from Drama, to play back this afternoon - that way I can fast forward through the adverts, which you can't do on the UKTV player, and they can be a bit of a pain. Back tomorrow (who knows, but I'm doing quite well at present). Regards to All Stewart

Still one of my favourite Islay malts - so much less phenol and peary fire, and a lot more subtlety - though I am slowly going onto the uppeated one - Bunnahabhain