Ian Hargrave

And another. Ex open heart valve repair North Staffs October 2021. I learned I’m not superman.

Take care.

Once shared a table with the late Philip Madoc…the U boat captain and a Merthyr boy in that episode at a post performance meal in Stratford in which he acted. Now they’re all gone..bless them all for giving us such a lift in our lives.

A 16 year old wielding a chainsaw ? From where ?And using it,so it appears,to awesome,accurate effect. The destruction would  not have been heard or seen due its remoteness, Our young people .or some of them,are losing their way..

Making a statement of terrible consequence.Another fatal stabbing in the same news. Symptoms of a broken society.

And now it seems a 16 year old boy is charged with the offence of criminal damage.

At the end of August,my son who lives on Tyneside,took an identical photo of my grandson and his girlfriend in that exact spot while on a bike ride with them.He forward it to me.

 As soon as the report on the BBC News App came online,I forwarded it to him. Immediately he came back to me with an extremely distraught phone call. What an ugly world some of its inhabitants want to make of it .

As long as there are punters prepared to sit at his tables and pay his prices…..And be impressed…Then he’ll thrive..Yes they still exist, 

  Preparation & cooking of fresh sea fish is or should be straightforward but it is surprising that so often it goes wrong between pan and plate and becomes a dried out overcooked  tragedy. 
 
I went online after reading this blog to see if one of my favourite fish chefs is still in business as so often the catering trade  is beset by the collapse of star rated restaurants,especially in the present circumstances.It appears that Mitch Tonks is still in business at The Seahorse in Dartmouth,next door to his  chippie Rockfish .A long while since my late wife and I ate there and it is remembered by me as then was somewhere special. I hope it still remains thus. If anyone cares to give either eating place a try,perhaps they might post their impressions here. .?  

I think we must stop this now before the dialogue gets out of hand….which unfortunately it seems to be doing.For the record,I’m not being  “played”  by anyone and my “agenda” doesn’t exist. 

That’s sending me a very powerful message and I know there are many like me who deplore such political posturing..for that’s what it is.But don’t also forget that it was an utterance for the faithful who will applaud him for it sadly. Jenrick ,

remember ,has form.

Suffer the little children?……..

Funny you should mention it. I was thinking the same.Hope he’s ok. I believe he did have health problems a little while ago

Add me to that

TV on record later. Great music in a wonderful setting. Enjoy.

But now….whisper it soft…..here at Frost City Heights,the proper stuff is starting to fall to such an extent that it has actually managed to wet the paths and patios. But how much and for how long?

Fortunate man.Go forth and harvest the droplets.From where I sit,the sky broods but yet giveth not its elixir.

One of the advantages of living within sight of the National  Memorial Arboretum is the occasional Spitfire visit. Latest was the Jubilee Weekend when one flew low over my South Derbyshire field walk on its way to buzz it. I heard it before it appeared. Easily identified and unmistakable..that Merlin sound.  A couple of weeks later on our way to Edgbaston for that wonderful test match which had thrills sublime,my grandson noticed Fort Dunlop from our New Street bound 170,so I was able to tell him of the Spitfire connection……I was somewhat chuffed. It certainly added to the occasion……grandpa’s 16th birthday present to him.

Agree it’s entertaining and different from the usual    garbage that insults the intelligence.

  Is it primarily a Beeb production though ? I see in the credits much French and USA input. Also appears that much of it was filmed on location in South Africa..Whatever..doesn’t really matter does it. Far fetched but then so was Jules Verne . Good to enjoy watching a fine cast and great cinematography.

Just invested in a small but state of the art digital radio . Generally quality and variety of programming outshines most tv.  Though there have been the odd nuggets on the screen…..well maybe to suit me but then again maybe not everyone. We have to remember that the pandemic has ripped up schedules for new productions too. My vote however for both visual and aural production goes to Austrian TV for the annual New Year’s Day concert from Vienna which was enhanced this year by a from the sky drone tour of the country accompanied by ensemble music played  by members of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. There…that’s revealed my agenda..or part of it.

I spent the evening away from the hysteria. The absence of vehicle horns and fireworks told its own story. I have imposed on myself a 48 hour embargo on all forms of news media. Thank goodness that’s out of the way.

Kasparov?

Many thanks for reminding me of this programme which is a continuation of a previous series and a reminder of a Golden Wedding Anniversary celebration in Florence in 2015. All the best bits we visited are there...the view from Piazzale Michelangelo over the city,Bendor Grosvenor sitting under the arches of the Ponte Vecchio and the Uffizi Galleria itself where he had his epiphany of artistic revelation which houses many of this world’s greatest artistic treasures.That is to say if you can avoid oriental tourists hell bent on imaging the same on their mobiles. If you ain’t been to Florence do yourself s favour after,COVID-19...GO.

Same here. Why in a back garden ?

If this weather continues,that’ll be sufficient to deter them

Observations re: London make me smile.Apparently London during the Blitz made those who  lived there go slightly crazy and enact the similarly daft escapades that occurred on the M25. Crime levels were high and the Black Market thrived.

   
     As a nation it appears from our lofty,mainly senior heights,that this generation’s fiddling hysterically before doomsday....as scripted by Messrs,Vallance & Whitty this morning......in a last gigantic knees up before lockdown. 
But I have the uncomfortable knowledge that it’s “our” generation that parented/grandparented this lot and maybe gave them their values? 
 

I’ve just had a FaceTime call from my son who’s this morning returned to face his first group of students....all first years fresh to University in Newcastle....since March. He’s scared.

18 students in a hall seemingly well prepared by staff for the current situation. For now in chairs.One difficulty with that though.....he lectures practically in Performing Arts.

    Like walking on eggshells.

Arrogance.

Hell is truly other people.But when you watch tonight’s BBC News you begin to wonder about the mixed messages we’re getting.OK to show footage of people sunning themselves on Brighton and Bournemouth beaches “respectably” 2m apart but not ok in North Devon. Neither is ok.
 Such social gatherings appear to be “acceptable “....yet my son is forbidden to visit us and to stay the night in the home in which he was born and raised.

Someone needs a lesson in joined up thinking.Now who might that someone be ?