First of all, many thanks to Kerry for telling me how to get this Recipe section up and running!
I love my grub, and it was irking me that, apart from blogging about food now and then,
I couldn’t just put my favourites into their own file. So cheers Kerry!
This first one is to recognise the fact that it’s International Year of the Potato, a celebration close to my own heart. *wink*
It’s hearty and filling, and great for kids, too, as well as adults.
And at the end of the day, who can resist potatoes?!
Ingredients:
800 g (1 3/4 lb) potatoes
100 g (4 oz) rindless streaky bacon
225 g (8 oz) onions
1 tablespoon paprika salt
generous pinch of cayenne
300 ml (1 3/4 pint) meat stock
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
150 ml (1/4 pint) pint soured cream
Directions:
1. Peel, wash and cube the potatoes. Finely chop the bacon and fry it in a large frying pan until crisp. Chop the onions and fry them in the bacon fat until golden. Add the potato, season with paprika, salt and cayenne and fry for a few minutes, stirring continuously.
2. Heat the stock and add it to the potatoes with the caraway seeds. Cook over a low heat for 20-25 minutes. Stir in the soured cream and season liberally to taste. New potatoes can be substituted for the old ones in this recipe. Select small, even-sized potatoes and scrub or scrape them before cooking whole, as above.
True Reports from British life! BRITISH NEWSPAPERS
Commenting on a complaint from a Mr. Arthur Purdey about a large gas bill, a spokesman for North West Gas said, ‘We agree it was rather high for the time of year. It’s possible Mr. Purdey has been charged for the gas used up during the explosion that destroyed his house.’ (The Daily Telegraph)
Police reveal that a woman arrested for shoplifting had a whole salami in her underwear. When asked why, she said it was because she was missing her Italian boyfriend. (The Manchester Evening News)
Irish police are being handicapped in a search for a stolen van, because they cannot issue a description. It’s a Special Branch vehicle and they don’t want the public to know what it looks like. (The Guardian)
A young girl who was blown out to sea on a set of inflatable teeth was rescued by a man on an inflatable lobster. A coast guard spokesman commented, ‘This sort of thing is all too common’. (The Times)
At the height of the gale, the harbourmaster radioed a coast guard and asked him to estimate the wind speed. He replied he was sorry, but he didn’t have a gauge. However, if it was any help, the wind had just blown his Land Rover off the cliff.. (Aberdeen Evening Express)
Mrs. Irene Graham of Thorpe Avenue , Boscombe, delighted the audience with her reminiscence of the German prisoner of war who was sent each week to do her garden… He was repatriated at the end of 1945, she recalled, ’He’d always seemed a nice friendly chap, but when the crocuses came up in the middle of our lawn in February 1946, they spelt out ‘Heil Hitler.” (Bournemouth Evening Echo)
~*~*~
HEARD ON THE LONDON UNDERGOUND TUBE RAIL A list of actual announcements that London Tube train drivers have made to their passengers.
1: ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, I do apologize for the delay to your service. I know you’re all dying to get home, unless, of course, you happen to be married to my ex-wife, in which case you’ll want to cross over to the Westbound and go in the opposite direction.’
2: ‘Your delay this evening is caused by the line controller suffering from E & B syndrome: not knowing his elbow from his backside. I’ll let you know any further information as soon as I’m given any.’
3: ‘Do you want the good news first or the bad news? The good news is that last Friday was my birthday and I hit the town and had a great time. The bad news is that there is a points failure somewhere between Stratford and East Ham, which means we probably won’t reach our destination.’
4: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the delay, but there is a security alert at Victoria station and we are therefore stuck here for the foreseeable future, so let’s take our minds off it and pass some time together. All together now…. ‘Ten green bottles, hanging on a wall…..’.’
5: ‘We are now travelling through Baker Street … As you can see, Baker Street is closed. It would have been nice if they had actually told me, so I could tell you earlier, but no, they don’t think about things like that’.
6: ‘Beggars are operating on this train… Please do NOT encourage these professional beggars. If you have any spare change, please give it to a registered charity. Failing that, give it to me.’
7: During an extremely hot rush hour on the Central Line, the driver announced in a West Indian drawl: ‘Step right this way for the sauna, ladies and gentleman… unfortunately, towels are not provided.’
8: ‘Let the passengers off the train FIRST!’ (Pause ) ‘Oh go on then, stuff yourselves in like sardines, see if I care – I’m going home….’
9: ‘Please allow the doors to close. Try not to confuse this with ’Please hold the doors open.’ The two are distinct and separate instructions.’
10: ‘Please note that the beeping noise coming from the doors means that the doors are about to close. It does not mean throw yourself or your bags into the doors.’
11: ‘We can’t move off because some idiot has their hand stuck in the door.’
12: ‘To the gentleman wearing the long grey coat trying to get on the second carriage — what part of ‘stand clear of the doors’ don’t you understand?’
13: ‘Please move all baggage away from the doors.’ (Pause..) ‘Please move ALL belongings away from the doors.’ (Pause…) ‘This is a personal message to the man in the brown suit wearing glasses at the rear of the train: Put the pie down, Four-eyes, and move your bloody golf clubs away from the door before I come down there and shove them up your arse sideways!’
14: ‘May I remind all passengers that there is strictly no smoking allowed on any part of the Underground. However, if you are smoking a joint, it’s only fair that you pass it round the rest of the carriage.’
Many thanks to the lovely Pearl, who cracks me up on a daily basis with the goodies she sends to my email inbox!
These are GENUINE answers given by contestants on various quiz shows on radio and television in the UK. After my stint on “The Weakest Link”, where I got to the final and answered “what boy’s name, beginning with ‘L’, comes before ‘Corporal’ to give a rank in the British Army?” with “George?”, I shouldn’t really laugh… but I just can’t help myself!
Thanks for the email Andy… this is one of the funniest ones I’ve read forEVAR!
UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (BBC2)
Jeremy Paxman:
What is another name for ‘cherrypickers’ and ‘cheesemongers’?
Contestant:
Homosexuals.
Jeremy Paxman:
No. They’re regiments in the British Army who will be very upset with you
BEG, BORROW OR STEAL (BBC2)
Jamie Theakston:
Where do you think Cambridge Universityis?
Contestant:
Geography isn’t my strong point.
Jamie Theakston:
There’s a clue in the title.
Contestant:
Leicester
BBC NORFOLK
Stewart White:
Who had a worldwide hit with What A Wonderful World?
Contestant:
I don’t know.
Stewart White:
I’ll give you some clues: what do you call the part between your hand and your elbow?
Contestant:
Arm
Stewart White:
Correct And if you’re not weak, you’re…?
Contestant:
Strong.
Stewart White:
Correct – and what was Lord Mountbatten’s first name?
Contestant:
Louis
Stewart White:
Well, there we are then. So who had a worldwide hit with the song What A Wonderful World?
Contestant:
Frank Sinatra?
LATE SHOW (BBC MIDLANDS )
Alex Trelinski:
What is the capital of Italy ?
Contestant:
France.
Trelinski:
France is another country Try again.
Contestant:
Oh, um, Benidorm.
Trelinski:
Wrong, sorry, let’s try another question. In which country is the Parthenon?
Contestant:
Sorry, I don’t know.
Trelinski:
Just guess a country then
Contestant:
Paris.
THE WEAKEST LINK (BBC2)
Anne Robinson:
Oscar Wilde, Adolf Hitler and Jeffrey Archer have all written books about their experiences in what: – Prison, or the Conservative Party?
Contestant:
The Conservative Party.
BEACON RADIO ( WOLVERHAMPTON )
DJ Mark:
For 10, what is the nationality of the Pope?
Ruth from Rowley Regis:
I think I know that one. Is it Jewish?
UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE
Bamber Gascoyne:
What was Gandhi’s first name?
Contestant:
Goosey?
GWR FM ( Bristol )
Presenter:
What happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963 ?
Contestant:
I don’t know, I wasn’t watching it then.
PHIL WOOD SHOW (BBC RADIO� MANCHESTER )
Phil:
What’s 11 squared?
Contestant:
I don’t know.
Phil:
I’ll give you a clue. It’s two ones with a two in the middle.
Contestant:
Is it five?
RICHARD AND JUDY
Richard:
Which American actor is married to Nicole Kidman?
Contestant:
Forrest Gump.
RICHARD AND JUDY
Richard:
On which street did Sherlock Holmes live?
Contestant:
Er. .. ..
Richard:
He makes bread . . .
Contestant:
Er . ….
Richard:
He makes cakes . . .
Contestant:
Kipling Street?
LINCS FM PHONE-IN
Presenter:
Which is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world?
Contestant:
Barcelona.
Presenter:
I was really after the name of a country.
Contestant:
I’m sorry, I don’t know the names of any countries in Spain .
NATIONAL LOTTERY (BBC1)
Question:
What is the world’s largest continent?
Contestant:
The Pacific.
ROCK FM ( PRESTON )
Presenter:
Name a film starring Bob Hoskins that is also the name of a famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci.
Contestant:
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
THE BIGGEST GAME IN TOWN (ITV)
Steve Le Fevre:
What was signed, to bring World War I to an end in 1918?
Contestant:
Magna Carta?
JAMES O’BRIEN SHOW (LBC)
James O’Brien:
How many kings of England have been called Henry?
Contestant:
Er, well, I know there was a Henry the Eighth … ER. ER … Three?
CHRIS SEARLE SHOW (BBC RADIO BRISTOL )
Chris Searle:
In which European country isMount Etna?
Caller:
Japan.
Chris Searle:
I did say which European country, so in case you didn’t hear that, I can let you try again.
Caller:
Er ….. Mexico ?
PAUL WAPPAT (BBC RADIO NEWCASTLE )
Paul Wappat:
How long did the Six-Day War between Egypt and Israellast?
Contestant (long pause):
Fourteen days.
DARYL DENHAM’S DRIVETIME (VIRGIN RADIO)
Daryl Denham:
In which country would you spend shekels?
Contestant:
Holland?
Daryl Denham:
Try the next letter of the alphabet.
Contestant:
Iceland? Ireland ?
Daryl Denham: (helpfully)
It’s a bad line. Did you say Israel ?
Contestant:
No.
PHIL WOOD SHOW (BBC GMR)
Phil Wood:
What ‘K’ could be described as the Islamic Bible?
Contestant:
Er. … ..
Phil Wood:
It’s got two syllables . . Kor . .
Contestant:
Blimey?
Phil Wood:
Ha ha ha ha, no. The past participle of run . . ..
Contestant:
(Silence)
Phil Wood:
OK, try it another way. Today I run, yesterday I . . .
Contestant:
Walked?
THE VAULT
Melanie Sykes:
What is the name given to the condition where the sufferer can fall asleep at any time?
“I kept a safe distance” … both prudent and understandable … as well as somewhat pathetic.
When faced with the decision to throw highly flamable materials into a bon-fire, there are two (and only TWO) kiinds of people:
1. Those whom watch from a safe distance
2. Those whom throw shovels-full into the flames
Similarly, some folks watch others ride the roller-coaster … trust me. It’s more fun to ride than watch. I would love to see a PIC of you tossing a shovel full in … tell that man of yours to get off his ass and snap that PIC !
- stillnocouch
Well, my good friend StillNoCouch’s reply to my last blog got me thinking of old times, and exactly why I’m “somewhat pathetic” when it comes to hot burning stuff, and fast scary stuff. Funnily enough, they both began while going out with the same lad, when I was about 16 or 17. Andy was his name. This was while I was living “oop North” in Bolton, Lancashire. I think the fire incident came first, so I’ll start with that.
For some time, Andy lived in a caravan belonging to a local farmer, Greg. Greg very thoughtfully kitted it out with a little Calor gas cooker for us ~ great! *Does the Thank You Greg Happy Dance!* So, one afternoon Andy shouts me from the field to put the kettle on for a cuppa. First time the cooker is going to be used! Yayyy! All excited (it doesn’t take much), I filled the kettle, put it on the stove, turned on the gas, lit a match, and….
KABOOM!!!!!
The next thing I know I’m engulfed in flame. To this day I don’t quite know what happened, or how. The flame disappeared as quickly as it arrived ~ a matter of a second or two ~ and I was left with no actual burns, but… my eyelashes were slightly shorter than they’d been originally, and I was pulling lumps of hair off my head like black cotton candy. Handfuls of the stuff. I was not a pretty sight, and my parents weren’t too pleased about it either! They never did like Andy… maybe I should have listened to them for once. (He was a bit of a ‘bad lad’, to put it genteely.) I was never too sure about Greg’s prowess with hooking up gas appliances after that either.
So November 5th and Bonfire Night rolled around, and me and Andy headed off for the yearly ‘Bommy Night’ funfair ~ my first! *Does the Yay It’s Bommy Fair Happy Dance!* Now in Bolton they have a tradition of serving Black Peas in Vinegar at such events, plastic cups of yummy hot goodness to stave off the cold of the November weather. And they were delicious too! I googled it just before starting this to see if the tradition still holds, and by gum, it does! Click here. After eating our fill, we decided on the Teacups as our first ride of the night. A carousel~type ride, with teacups around the edge which seated about four people. We ended up sharing a cup with two other people who we’d never met before. The carousel started spinning, slowly at first which was fine ~ I was fair enjoying myself! But with Teacups, every now and again one of the fairground crew will come along to your particular cup and give it a vicious extra swing round, usually in the opposite direction to which the carousel is turning. The first time he did this to us, I felt a lurch in my stomach ~ uh oh. I suddenly wasn’t enjoying myself quite so much. You know what’s coming, right? Yes, you’re right…
I figured I’d be fine as long as the fairground guy left our cup alone, but of course, Sod’s Law being Sod’s Law and all that, he was back a few minutes later and WHOOOOSSSHHHH….. around we went, against the grain, at what felt like the speed of light. I can still remember the delicate arc my peas and vinegar formed as they parted company with first my stomach then my mouth and span around in a half circle ~ missing me, but completely splattering both Andy, and the poor buggers who’d ended up sharing our teacup.
Andy never took me to the fair again.
The Second Fairground Incident.
Fast forward a few years and I’m now married to my first husband, Colin. I was in my early 20s and admit that in those days we and our friends did have a dabble with those ‘funny cigarettes’ on occasion. One day me, Colin and a couple of friends decided to spend a day at Alton Towers, one of the most well known theme parks in the UK. To get from the car park to the rides you have to take the Monorail, a lovely journey through the extensive grounds of the park. The four of us were enjoying a shared smoke as we trundled along in our carriage, and when we got out we were followed by a large plume of (to us) sweetly or (to the uninitiated) weird smelling smoke.
We made our way to the famous Corkscrew ride. I was very sensible and took my glasses off, shoving them into my handbag ~ I had visions of them leaving my face behind during one or other of the 360 degree twists that are the main feature of the Corkscrew. I figured my eyes would be closed throughout the ride anyway so it didn’t matter that I was temporarily blind. Good thinking Susan!
The ride itself went without incident. (I’d foregone the Little Chef breakfast that the others enjoyed on the way there ~ memories of Bommy Night and all that). The twists and turns were actually really neat! As the ride slowed to a stop, I heard someone shouting forcefully “Everybody off, Police!”. OMG. They must have followed the smoke plume from the Monorail straight to us! I didn’t stop to think. Still without my glasses and everything a huge blur, I just RAN. I could hear Joy asking what the hell was wrong with me? I shouted back over my shoulder “POLICE!! RUN!!” I didn’t know I could move so fast, and I don’t think I have since. Colin caught me up after a minute or two, shaking with laughter. “Sue… please. Everybody off, P…L…E…A…S…E…“
Ah. Okay. My first experience of waccy baccy paranoia. Oops.
The Third Fairground Incident.
I once visited my (AWOL git of a) brother down south for a couple of weeks, staying with him and his then girlfriend. The army arranged a day out for their soldiers’ wives and girlfriends, and I was allowed to traipse along. The day consisted of tickets to Thorpe Park, another well known theme park in Surrey, which was very ‘water ride’ oriented at the time. The biggest ride was the “Tidal Wave” and me and Nat decided to head for that first, thus giving us plenty of time to dry off for the rest of the day. Plus, water rides are safe and easy, right? Here’s a video clip I found on YouTube of the end of the ride…
Well it was one hairy, hairy experience. That wall of water was so BIG and DENSE I thought I was going to drown, literally. God knows how much water I swallowed. All I knew at the time was that I couldn’t breathe! And I can’t swim! I thought I was going to get thrown out of the boat with the force of it. Luckily I survived. But again, just like after the Corkscrew, I was blind. Eh? After the Corkscrew incident I’d decided not to ever remove my glasses on a ride ever again. But they were definitely not on my face anymore. Oh, great! “Nat, I’ve lost my glasses! Do you see them anywhere?!” No, she didn’t. But then a woman in the seat in front of us turned round as she stood to get out of the boat and asked me “are these yours, love?” My specs had been whacked off by the force of the water and landed in her lap! Talk about relief! I’d envisioned spending the rest of the day sitting in the coach until the day was over and we could head home for my spare pair. I was just glad she hadn’t sat on them!
The next ride on our list was one of those ‘indoor’ rollercoasters, a ‘black hole’ type thing which is endured in pitch blackness. I was absolutely fine heading to the queue, looking forward to it! But… as well as the funny cigarettes, I’d once dropped a tab of LSD a few years earlier during my time with Colin ~ once and once only! I went through a bloody awful bad ‘trip’, the details of which I won’t go into as it still freaks me out a bit even now if I think about it. Suffice to say I was never so stupid again, ever. I suffered a huge panic attack at the time and thought I was losing my mind, and was left for many years afterwards with a tendency to suffer mild attacks whenever I was in a situation where I felt out of control. Wouldn’t you know it….
We entered the blackness of the building, which was lit only by strobe type flashing fluorescent lights in pink and yellow, and started along the walkway to the coaster. The floor moved! From side to side, sort of backwards and forwards too ~ thoroughly stomach churning and disorienting. Out of nowhere, I could feel that familiar lightheadedness, tightening of my throat and quickening of my breathing which signalled the start of a panic attack. Oh just great, that’s all I need right now! I literally couldn’t go a step further… I had to turn tail and leave, pushing past everyone walking towards the ride until I was back in daylight and fresh air. I had to sit and wait for twenty minutes until Nat and the rest of the girls finished in there (I was so jealous, I could hear the screams and laughter from my seat on a nearby fence and cursed ever having thinking that experimenting with drugs was a ‘fun idea’). The other girls didn’t have a clue what was wrong with me. We’d all agreed at the start of the day that anyone who chickened out of a ride would have to do a forfeit of some horribly embarrassing sort. Nat, bless her, told them I had a ‘medical problem’ that I’d ‘forgotten about’ until it hit me, so getting me out of the forfeit. Good old Nat!
A couple of days later there was a report on the news that Thorpe Park had had a fire, and the whole thing had to be evacuated. I’m glad I wasn’t there on that day.
The Final Fairground Incident.
I used to hang around with a couple of gay guys, Gary and Neil, and we took a trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach to ride on the famous “Pepsi Max Big One”, which at the time was the tallest, fastest coaster in Europe. Here’s a clip of some crazy person in the front seat, capturing the ride. (How I admire that guy! )
As me, Gary and Neil walked along the beach towards the Big One, I was slightly nervous to say the least ~ memories of my little freak at Thorpe Park in my head. That’s the problem with panic attacks ~ you can think yourself into one if you’re not careful. But I was determined to go through with it. I just made Neil, a big strapping lad, sit in my car with me and let Gary go alone, and also made him promise to give me an uppercut to the jaw and knock me out if I started to get at all ‘silly’ and try to climb out of the car once the ride started. Honestly, I was that bad! The climb up that first hill was the longest minute of my life. And then….
ZOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!! Down the drop!!!
My eyes were shut tight, my head clamped down to my chest, and my knuckles clenched around the bar (which was wobbly as hell, that didn’t help!). That drop (about 85mph!) was over in a couple of seconds, but the whole ride took a couple of minutes. I spent that time staring at the floor ~ no way I could lift my head! ~ watching the oranges I’d bought earlier jiggling their way out of the bag and rolling around at my feet. I could also see my camera performing a similar manouevre out of my handbag but that was tough ~ if it wanted to go flying out of the car, then it could! No way was I letting go of that bar to try and stop it! After that initial drop the rest of it wasn’t all that bad, it just threw your head around a lot and I ended up with the Mother of headaches for the rest of the day. But I did it.
A couple of days later there was a news report about how a car had gotten stuck at the top of that hill for half an hour, passengers stranded until it was got going again. I’m really glad I wasn’t there then… that punch to the jaw would have been an absolute necessity.
~*~*~*~*~
So there you go. Yes, I am ‘somewhat pathetic’ with fires and funfairs, and I know much of that has been because of self~induced idiocy. I’m pleased to say that the panic attack tendency has subsided almost to the point of non~existence… I think the last time was flying over here to visit Shane for the first time in August ’07, once the doors to the plane were shut, the engine revving up and me knowing I was beyond the point of no return for that flight ~ whatever happened was out of my hands. But it wasn’t much. I just had to concentrate very hard on the adverts in the in~flight magazine until we were airborne and then I was fine. And the flight over last year, when I was leaving behind everything I’d known for my entire life in the UK and starting this big adventure in Ohio with Shane ~ no problem at all.
As for fires and explosions, I’m getting better with those too. I could tell you the one about a long length of plastic pipe, a big fire and an empty can of expanding foam… but Shane doesn’t want you guys to be worrying about me… hehehe.
*It’s time for me to try and get in touch with my bro again, I suppose! This was the last I heard from him, back in July, on Facebook…
Hey Susie Wong!!!!!!! I`m so so sorry Sue but since i got back i`ve had trouble with my phone and internet, which isn`t surprising considering i was away for 2 and a half months in the end!! First, i`m really pleased for you and i`m just glad that you`re happy!! Things seem like there going well for you hey!!
Well where do i start?!! I`ll try and keep this short!! Went to Thailand beginning of April to do some work on a property and also take a break ish. Was supposed to be there for 4 weeks then come back to do work here. My friend has a brand new 3 bedroomed house with swimming pool in a place called Chumphon which is way down south and stunning. Also it was all free for me so i wasn`t complaining!!
Anyway, about 3 days before i was due to fly back i had the accident. Was on my motorbike riding back from the beach when a pack of stray dogs came out of nowhere. I swerved to get out of their way but clipped a foot peg on a high curb. That flung me over the handlebars and i took the full impact at 30mph with the centre of my face on the sharp corner of a concrete pillar. I was unconcious for over 4 hours until some guy found me and took me to a hospital. Woke up just as they were sticking needles in my wounds to numb it all for stitching, pure 100% agony!!!
Basically i`d spilt my forehead, broke my nose in 2 places, from my nose to top lip was spliced in two, slit my throat, dislocated my left shoulder, sprained my right wrist, and had multiple bumps, bruises and cuts everywhere!! Apart from that i was fine!!! Haha!! The bike was ok though!!! Couldn`t fly back until 21st June in the end. Oman Air were fantastic and never charged me anything to change flights, etc, which helped ease the pain!
Hospital fees, etc cost me over 7500 but to be honest i`m very very lucky to be alive or have permanent damage. I`ve had to go to hospital here in UK for scans, etc. I have post trauma concussion which gives me blinding headaches and numbness in the back of my head, this could go on for up to 2 years apparently. And the Thai doctor sewed my lip together wrong so i have quite bad nerve damage which is such a fucking pain. Again, if they don`t operate then it could go on for 6 months or more and i have to take these anti-depressants which act as nerve blockers.
All in all, i count myself lucky, although i feel a bit of a dick sometimes cos i occassionally dribble now when i drink and eat which is highly embarrassing, especially when i`m trying to chat up a bird!!!! Hahaha!!! I`ll write you a proper email soon to let you know what`s going on in my life and my plans for the future, which have all changed again!!! But dont worry, i`m fine and alive!!!! Love me xxx
*Shakes head in despair and laughs out loud* THAT’S Geoff, all over!
First of all, please forgive me for not being in contact for a while!! I came to Thailand in April and been stuck here for quite a while! Done a lot of crazy things, went to the Red Shirts Camp etc, amazing experience! Supposed to be a holiday but turned into more. Had a bad motorcycle accident in which my face took the full force, at 30mph, thus being stuck here!! They won’t sign me out of the country or let me fly till I’m recovered. Will email all details very soon. Only just talking again.
It’s no big secret that I’ve been missing my brother Geoff like mad since I moved to the States, especially since he disappeared off the face of the earth a few months back, AWOL git!
Well thanks to that wonderful service Skype, I’ve just spent a brilliant 30 minutes talking with him and catching up with everything that’s been going on since we were last in touch. WOOHOOOOOO!!!
As some of you know, he finished his career in the Army in April this year, and that was about the last time I heard from him, he just dropped off. I emailed, IM’d, prodded him with sticks here on Multiply… heaven knows why I didn’t just phone him, hahahaha!
But armed with $10 of Skype credit, I called his mobile (cell) this morning when I got up and we’ve had the BEST chat-like-crazy call!
He’s doing really, really well. He got a very good payoff from the Army on leaving after 25 years, and is getting a decent pension too. He and his friend Kev, who joined the Army at the same time and has been a close friend ever since, decided some time back to go into the housing renovation business together when they left, and that’s just what they’re doing. They’ve clubbed together some of their payoff and bought a flat (apartment) in May, and that’s why Geoff’s not been around since! The flat is a total renovation project, and they’ve been busy working on it since then ~ I could hear Kev in the background with an electric saw or drill or something, busy at it while we were talking. As Geoff put it, they’re “living in shit” right now! Hahaha! (but after serving in Kosovo, Iraq etc that’s nothing they can’t cope with All his stuff is still packed up and they haven’t got internet connection there yet as it’s such a mess, hence the lack of contact ~ even his address book is stashed away so he couldn’t write a snail mail. They’re literally living ad hoc, surrounded by dust and plaster etc. As well as working on their own place, they’ve been working working at the same time, doing jobs on other homes as part of their business, which is why their own place is still ongoing ~ Geoff says it would have been done in a month if they’d been able to go at it solidly, but obviously they want to get established as a business too… fair enough eh?!
So I can let him off for not being around… at least I know he’s alive, hahaha!
And the best news he told me ~ after ten years of no contact with his daughter, he recently found her!! Via Facebook, of all things!! And despite the best efforts of his ex-wife to cause otherwise, they’re getting on GREAT. Within half an hour of the Facebook contact they were talking on the phone, they’ve met in person, he’s had her stay for a weekend, and there are plans for a week’s visit before long. I am SO over the MOON for them both!!!! The last time we saw her she was almost 4 years old, and now she’s nearly 14… wow. Such a lot of time together missed out on, and such a lot of “getting to know you” still to come… Geoff says she’s a “proper little lady”. He’s chuffed to bits!
He and Kev are off to Crete for a week’s (well-deserved) holiday from Tuesday. In the meantime I’ll be snail-mailing (now I actually have his new address! Hahahaha! ) with MY address (he had no pen and no wet plaster when I called, hehehe), and we’re going to start keeping in touch more regularly ourselves, too.
Here’s a MonoMonday I’ve just sort of ‘thrown together’. All done in Picnik… sharpened (roflmao! It was a BAD photo! ), contrast upped, a “posterize” effect added, then ‘Before & After’ and “postage stamp’ frames. I took it to quickthumbnail.com to increase the size by 50% (thanks to Keir for the link to that site, it’s brill!), and voila…
“Me and My Bruvver. ”
(I’ll pop back with the link to our Hostess With the Mostest, Luxy’s, site shortly.
Hi Guys! Well, Geoff’s back on the train heading home to Dorset, and I’m tidying up after the whirlwind and looking forward to when he visits again next month.
We had our day out in town yesterday ~ pretty sedate compared to our usual standards! Maybe we’re both getting a bit older and more sensible. (Or maybe not. Hehehehe.) We called down to the Albert Docks… not a very good idea as there was the mother of all winds blowing, and it had taken Geoff longer than me to get his hair sorted out before we left the flat! We took a peek in the Tate Art Gallery, and I was chuffed to bits to see Rodin’s “The Kiss” on display in the main foyer…
We did mean to actually go and have a proper look around the Gallery ~ there’s an exhibition of Gustav Klimt’s work on right now, who I love, but at £8 per ticket and considering that none of his major works are being displayed, we decided to leave it. I might call down myself sometime ~ it’s on ’til August 31st.
After getting a bit of colour in our cheeks and coming away from the Docks looking like we’d been dragged through a hedge backwards, we went for a mooch around the city center and had a couple of drinks in Wetherspoons. I found several more of my beloved Lambananas along the way ~ yayyyy!!
Geoff didn’t share my enthusiasm… hehehe…He thinks I’ve got a screw loose. But I think the same of him, so that’s okay.
(For the full set of Lambananas I’ve discovered so far, click here.)
We spent the evening chilling out with a couple of beers and watching Liverpool FC playing a friendly against Luzerne in Switzerland. Liverpool won 2~1, the only saving grace in an hour and a half of telly that basically robbed us of an hour and a half of our lives… ZZzzzzzz….
But! We did manage to catch Shane on Skype for a couple of hours too. I’m so pleased that my man and my bro have been able to get to know each other a bit during this visit ~ I think it’s set Geoff’s mind at rest a bit about the entire move to America, and that Shane isn’t a mad axe murderer, but a decent guy! Brothers can be so protective. But I’m not complaining.
We figured we’d best get a couple of photographs of the two of us together ~ we won’t get much chance again for a while. We decided the blow~up sofa would be a great idea…. but he couldn’t quite get the hang of it….
Then he tried to look all nonchalant, like he’d got it right the first time. Hehehe.
Until I gave in and rescued him with a bit of balast on the other side.(The camera was very misbehaved. I took a couple of photos of the floor before I managed to get it balanced on the sofa right. But I won’t bore you with those. Even I have my limits…!)
And that’s about that! He caught the train home at 10.30am, and I went shopping for a new suitcase ~ a nice, big, bright pink one to match my nice, big, bright pink chair, which yes! I’ve decided to keep! How could I not?!
It’s been a great few days, and he’s enjoyed it too, especially having a trawl around Multiply and popping round to say hi to some of you. He says he will set up his own page once he’s home, too. God help us all…. hehehe…
Time for a quick coffee and a catch up with you guys, then I’ll be trying on my new wellies which I also bought today, in preparation for a visit to meet Eccentricmare on Monday. WooHooo!!
“I kept a safe distance” … both prudent and understandable … as well as somewhat pathetic.
*Does the Thank You Greg Happy Dance!* So, one afternoon Andy shouts me from the field to put the kettle on for a cuppa. First time the cooker is going to be used! Yayyy! All excited (it doesn’t take much), I filled the kettle, put it on the stove, turned on the gas, lit a match, and….
on Skype for a couple of hours too. I’m so pleased that my man and my bro have been able to get to know each other a bit during this visit ~ I think it’s set Geoff’s mind at rest a bit about the entire move to America, and that Shane 
