southern42

<<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.

"EM vs P4 vs S4" When I am running coal powered, smoke and steam producing vehicles of the appropriate size which run on parallel bits of metal, I might think about it - but not on here in case the Great Awl is roaming about.

' afternoon all from red dragon land. Sun made every effort to come alive this morning but...er...failed. Pity because it is only 6.3C out there and dark in and out. Not had a flute-ont'-floor session this morning, or yesterday - Mr Suvvern has been busy assembling a new cupboard leaving not much space on the floor - meaning: I am not having to keep to the rhythm of the beatbox. So had a pleasant morning's toot playing some new exercises instead. In case you ask, the first set of 8 from a book of 108 exercises. Then finished off with a relaxed going over of the song. In both cases, working to improve sound quality. Huffing and puffing down to a minimum! ✔️👍 3 o'clockses already. Better put kettle on. Take care. Be good. Mind where you go. Polly

(My emphasis.) There are a few here if you are desperate! https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&sca_esv=01fd5b34e9d467a5&rls=en&q=round+tuit&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiL85e1tOeEAxUKTEEAHXT_DbwQ0pQJegQICRAB&biw=1113&bih=712

I'll just put kettle on.... Tea Lady

' morning all from red dragon land. Sunneeeeee. Blue sky. Chilly wind when I went out to the bins with the recycling. 5.6C. I forgot to submit yesterday's post and all because I could not remember what I had logged on to say - the cookies monster popping up across the screen wiping out all memory of it - only to find the message I did write, commenting on my lack of memory, did not reappear in the Editor this morning! HOWEVER....I did remember this morning on seeing the sun 🌞 streaming directly into my eyes, again, when popping the kettle on before breakfast. How? Well, I did the same thing as yesterday morning... I dug out the sunglasses! 😎 Yep! For real! The kitchen sink faces south east, getting sun up quite late compared with people lower down the hill. At the moment, it appears at breakfast time. Give it a month or two and it will be quite high in the sky at that time and not be staring me out. ION Yesterday's turn of playing Flute-ont'-floor-in-front-oft'-fire, the time I use the beatbox, went surprisingly well. Two positives: not getting puffed out as much and starting to keep to the beat better. Yesterday's target was to join the end of one line to the beginning of the next. Not so easy when twiddly bits, with hardly time for a quick puff of breath, come just before the first beat of the next line* and my tendency being to panic and mess up/miss out the notes altogether/give up before then, and thus, miss the first beat. I did manage it in the end and I hope it will all come together, today. *Six lines (of which four are repeated) before I get a long note at the end with room to take a decent breath between the lines of the second half of the song. So, breathing technique is all part of the learning process. Whoever said that playing the flute was easier than the piano because you only play tunes on it, needs to try it! The bamboo flute is the hardest of the few flutes I have played, but there are a lot of wind instruments out there which are far more difficult to play. Time to get a shift on, Henry is about to get into action. Take care. Be good. Be prepared. 🕶️ Polly

I don't need telling. I'm Uxbridge: it suits me down to the (under)ground and so many memories of Mum being there when I arrived/departed/we had lunch in the cafe/caught the bus outside in the bus station.

Er...hum...I managed to (accidentally) flip the badge over before it had properly dried...and had to pull it off the paper it landed face down on. <<oops!>> No damage I could see but, as a precaution, I gave it another coat of glossy varnish, then another one when I got up this morning...If I had had my wits about me at the start, I could have touched up the ground-down black lines but I guess it does show its battered history. No wonder he's giving me that look! 😥 Now drying, it lies in wait for its fate.... To keep it flat during varnishing and drying, I just happened to have a suitable bit of packaging, into which I stuck the pin, in my small kitchen worktop box of bitsnpieces. Taking a closer look at it this morning to see if it was just a bit of polystyrene, I saw it was a bit more than that; it is split into three crafted cushioning layers. You live and learn! Mr Pinbadge Orangutan's Big Bro: https://www.betwsrailwaystation.co.uk/dr-sen-orangutan-sculpture/ The palm oil free Coffee Shop from where he came: https://www.betwsrailwaystation.co.uk @polybear and friends: https://www.betwsrailwaystation.co.uk/the-lost-bear/ Link to the 2 minute film at bottom of the page (but, maybe, not for the feint hearted). Off for a toot now and some social company this afternoon. Take care. Be good. Keep your eyes open... Polly

' afternoon all from red dragon land. Sunny again. <<Wowww!>> Double figures, too, @10.0C. Do I detect a tad of warming? It did not feel like it in the porch. Toot on the flute. Beat box set at same tempo. Still puffing and panting along line2 but I did manage to play it, in the end, with its repeat. Continuing on from line1 failed miserably, today, so that will be my job to get right, tomorrow. When the varnish dried on Mr Pinbadge Orangutan last night, the middle still looked a bit scuffed up, so I gave it another coat of varnish (total of 4 coats) before going to bed. It was still not quite right, this morning, so I gave it another two coats before going off for my toot on the flute. Came back and gave it just one more coat echoing my flute playing strategy of 4-2-1. Though maybe I could do with learning a different one: Another mugadecaf time. Take care. Be good. Don't rush it! Polly

' night all and nos da. 🥱

I even had a taster this afternoon. I found a pin badge clasp on the floor of the car as I got in it after lunch. Go back a couple of weeks and I had walked into the kitchen with something on the bottom of my shoe - the pin of a badge stuck in the rubber sole. Lucky I was not walking barefoot, I thought. I am now guessing, by the lacklustre of the badge, that it must have fallen onto the car floor as well and got walked upon down the long gravel path into the house. So, one badge smartened up again. No, sorry, this is not a bear but an orangutan, issued by one of the cafes outside Betws-y-coed station - a Mother's Day present from one of the tribe during lunch there. Three coats of the glossy stuff has brought it back to life.