Purley Oaks

Am sure that Paul Allen put a lot of money into cancer research and treatments, just a shame that he's died so relatively young, a bit like Steve Jobs. Paul Allen spent a lot of money on a Jimi Hendrix museum in Seattle; only mention that because a couple of 'new' Jimi Hendrix singles are being released for Record Store Day on US Black Friday, one is a track with Jayne Mansfield recorded before he became well known, the others are 3 mono tracks from Electric Ladyland. Annoying because they keep releasing stuff piecemeal to get the most $$. The Mansfield track is an alternate take to the original one, which is very hard to find, so why not issue both? Just a curio, really, and not very good tbh. Just a pet peeve of mine. Have tickets to see newish folk duo The Marriage in early November here in town. Johnny Marr in Glasgow a week later. Cannae wait, as they say. Mal

Good morning all Getting the garden ready for the house sale yesterday, Gabe managed to slice the top off one of her fingers - just a small slice, but still nasty - this is even more important because she is a deep tissue massage therapist so will lose work for two weeks. Doc says to cover it for 5 days and that new skin should have grown over in 10. On the plus side, it means she's here to deal with stuff, which is great. Now I have a load of work to do, better get on! Hope your day goes well Mal

This is what you need Ivan (Horsetan) for! Sounds great, Brian, hope you have a smashing reunion party. Saw First Man on Friday - it's a thoughtful film, not one where you leave the cinema feeling good about everything. Edited to add: anyone watch Autumnwatch from New England yesterday? Chris and Michaela have a great rapport on screen. Miss Martin double-barrel - he'd've been in the water on the lake searching out stuff on the bottom. Chrisf wrote: Then came the announcement from Kensington Palace. This may be seen as treason but I for one do not give a donald duck that the Duchess of Sussex is with child and until long after the sprog is born we will not hear the last of it. And when they did the morning's papers on R4's Today they spent a load of it dealing with Australian newspapers (huh?) and their coverage of the royal visit there. Is the BBC really so obsequious and unchallenging? Mal

Thanks for the beautiful pics. The Tiree Ultramarathon is a run round the whole island - just 35 miles.

Good morning all Nice to hear from Polly; a pal of mine inspects Scottish region lineside for possible tree falls and has them chopped - an arboreal specialist, I think - no he doesn't take everything down as some Network rail pics showed last year. House on market tmrw; weekend was spent getting the place tidied up and painting our basement walls Magnolia (what else?). Dulux emulsion is very good, excellent coverage (no connection apart from using the stuff). Basement sounds very grand, but we're on the side of Arthur's Seat so the front is higher than the back, which leads onto the back yard. Hope that makes sense. So quite stressed but handling it. Chris, you'll just have to see Grace Petrie again and take along the cds to be signed properly. It's nice when an artists takes the time to do this. Were staggered last year when Lisa Stansfield signed her new cd for us after her Edinburgh show. A really sweet lass, very chatty. Glad Dom's fine after the car hit the tram. Think we have a weather front directly overhead with a line of cloud stretching north to south - so cloudy in the west, sunny to the east of the cloud. Cutting the lawn today for the last cut of the year - we hope. Have a good day Mal

Chris You can easily sort out something for yourself in Prague for a lot less than £2,095 - and much less than £1,660. Depends on your tour riders, of course! Mal

Busy morning with the photographer, surveyor and floor-planner all here at the same time. House has never looked better, almost wonder why we're moving! Just off to get my mum's shopping. Weather here still warmish with damp air. Thoughts to those who've suffered under the horrendous Hurricane Michael, that's something else. Hope your afternoons go well Mal

Evening all Very warm here today, too, walked to Sainsbury's at 7.30 this evening in shirt sleeves, almost like southern Spain. This morning we saw our first skein of geese flying in from the north-east to over-winter here - wonder if they were almost tempted to return north again by the heat? Roofer finished, scaffolding down, things looking better with the world. Hope your evenings are going well Mal

I think the Xmas fare-hike starts around a fortnight before the day itself, so imagine that leaving a little before would pay off.

I just love the Rickenbacker. Have borrowed a small practice amp for the moment; luckily it has an overdrive switch which really cranks up the jangle factor, didn't realise it could sound so good - almost but not quite hitting feedback. But you're right, a compressor would be even better. Looking for a Vox AC30 as you suggested. The Rick's a wonderful instrument. Mal

You're just being factual; it is unfair imo that some pensions are frozen and others are not and you're quite right to get what you can whilst you're here. Some mild excitement in Morrison's this morning as the leader of the Scottish Tories, a very pregnant Ruth Davidson was spotted shopping. She looked pretty rough, about to pop, no make-up. Was persuaded not to hassle her about Westminster handling of B****t in case she started giving birth in the fresh meat aisle (sorry). Hope the birth goes well for her in all seriousness. Hope your afternoons are going well Very warm here now, still very windy and a bit damp. Mal

Possibly a hat with swinging corks? Or is that taking stereotyping too far? Morning all Very windy here, hope our recently reglazed window stays so. Great to hear from Pete and his pizza, and hope that things go well, John. Hope everyone's day goes well, come to that Mal

Understand the problem all too well. Using Jet2 for a week's break in Tenerife this time last year, we had to take their travel insurance policy which didn't cover existing conditions - not that we expected anything to blow-up - and it was around £20 a head. I have had bowel cancer, and any mention of that on your online form seems to send the computer into spasm regurgitating massive premiums. Course, travelling to Europe we have the EHIC card at the moment. Luckily the Canaries are part of Europe, even though off the coast of NW Africa. Mal

Course you could always put your clock forwards an hour when we put ours back in a couple of weeks or so - that way you'd be two hours ahead (like being in Greece) and never late for anything...

Don't you mean the clocks going back, Mick?

Great news, Chris! Be interesting to see what you make of Aussie beer. Sounds a fabulous trip. Had a weird weekend; since the op I have less intestine and was warned about eating TOO MANY VEGETABLES; well I guess I ate TOO MANY VEGETABLES on Saturday. Huge tummy ache then some returned. Sections of intestine were scarred a little by the op, so are not as flexible as they used to be and are unable to gently squeeze the masticated food through as before leading to blockages. Mmm nice! Bit of a problem for a vegetarian! Not to worry, back to normal today. Have a good day with loads of veg Mal

Had my first pub beer at 15 with schoolpals. "How old are you?" barkeep asked us all. "Eighteen," we replied. How easy it all was then - today you need a card to prove you're over 25. Didn't like beer then but found a taste for cider. By 19 I had found a taste for Guinness and cider (poor man's black velvet), then grew to like beer. Only really drink more than a couple when I'm watching the Six Nations with pals. Last night's viewing did not include either r*ilw*y progs; after C4 news wanted stuff to make us laugh so went for Have I Got News For You, Mrs Brown's Boys (yes, really!), Mock the Week and Graham Norton. Should have gone to bed after MTW. Today roofer roofed but needs more stuff and will finish Monday; weather sunny intervals, rain expected tmrw. Roof should now be secure - will see. Have a good night Mal

One of Willam Hague's pals is he? Mal

And a Happy Birthday from me, too!

Morning all and Michael (Oz) When a moving sidewalk was installed at, I think, Bank station in London in the late 1960s, it was called a Travel-ator. As Edinburgh airport has expanded from a nice little aerodrome to a crowded hulk we have moving sidewalks even here to get us to the gates at the opposite end from the security control area. Where once we had 9 gates and a pleasant stroll, now it's over 20 and everywhere seems to be packed with people because the bulk of the place is still just made for passengers from 9 gates because the whole building isn't wide enough. Hope that makes sense to someone. It's tricky with funerals but great that you're visiting your parents, Michael. The only time I ever wear a tie now is for funerals, chucked a load out a year or so ago. I guess they developed from scarves which are a good way to keep your neck warm in cold weather. Then some bright spark thought we needed to wear them for 'business'. So thanks Georgians, Victorians and Edwardians, and thanks modern-day employers for finally deciding ties are not necessary - unless you're a male working in a bank, where they are necessary for some reason. We have some scaffolding up in front of our house today; storm Ali - a couple of weeks ago - started a leak from our roof, so getting that fixed. The catflap window that blew out in the same storm has been replaced with the double-glazed unit we kept for the purpose. Just a day's work apparently. Meantime, Gabe is recovering from a cold; doc's have advised flu-jags in two weeks. Usually the jags keep colds at bay and colds are not so early in the season. Have a good day Mal

Morning all Chris, so sorry to read your news yesterday; I know we all have to go sometime, it's just more of a shock when it's out of the blue like that. Robert, hope your drama concludes with all's well that ends well. Lurker - makes you wonder what the pupil's home life is like; it is nasty when it infects a whole new class. As you say, clearly needs help. Onto more mundane matters - I don't have a kilt, but do have a pair of Royal Stewart tartan trews (that's the bright red one) which I wear to Murrayfield when we're playing um, er, Engerland, and occasionally win And here's something to cheer you all up - some pics from the Guardian of Tashkent's tube system https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2018/aug/24/uzbekistan-secret-underground-tashkent-metro-in-pictures Never knew Uzbekistan had one, now I do. Have a good day Mal

Am very tempted to open the Bunnahabhain and raise a toast

Just back from Morrison's. On offer at our store are bottles of Bunnahabhain 12y/o (46.3%) for £20 stock clearance. Probably not the thing for you, Mick. Hope your ear infection clears up pronto, they can be nasty things. Mal

Morning all A but grey here and overcast. Thanks for the video of Penmaenmawr, Polly. Interesting stuff but where on earth did Pathé get their commentators from? Sounds almost upper class than RP. David(BR60103), I'm surprised the insurance company waived the $300 excess - being a long-standing claim-free insurance customer in the UK counts for zilch, certainly when it comes to renewal. Old Austins; my fil bought a brand new Austin Maxi in the early '70s and had it shipped to Singapore where he was working. The main crankshaft snapped not long after and Austin refused any fault, insisting that he pay in full for a new one. He didn't buy Austin after that. Perhaps that's another thing that was wrong with the industry then, lack of customer care? Now look what I've started - please accept my apologies, Phil, it was meant as light-hearted banter. Have a good day Mal

Phil Are you setting up an online shop? You've got more grey towels than you know what to do with, a stackload of sandwich boxes without lids, and now tables and chairs. What would Tesco do without you? Mal