| Saturday, May 20th, 2006 |
| 11:38 pm |
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| 11:29 pm |
I'm Out!
Got home from hospital today. Very painful & bloody business & my nose feels like someone else's . Won't know if it has worked until the swelling goes down - at the moment I can't breathe through my nose at all. They were very good at the hospital though. |
| Thursday, May 18th, 2006 |
| 1:50 pm |
My nose
Nearly a year ago I had a set of tests for my heart & they found that my problems were all at night, when I stop breathing regularly. They diagnosed a deviated septum and want to operate on my nose. The operation is tomorrow afternoon, so your prayers are asked... |
| Monday, April 10th, 2006 |
| 1:17 pm |
Home again
Got back home again last night after our free holiday in France. It was a really wonderful place - like stepping back 400 years. All the houses in the village (which was in a steep - sided gorge) were made of stone & some had dates in the 1600's carved on the lintel. Despite its small size the village has a mayor and is run as a commune, holding some land & property in common. The church was tiny and 13th century. Very friendly people - noone spoke English so we had to struggle with our French. Interestingly, and sensibly, the power came from hydro - electric generators. We did a lot of walking during the week & the only one we wanted to do & couldn't was to climb the Puy Mary (the extinct volcano) because the road was closed through snow drifts. It was a long drive there & back & the first time we had used a sat - nav, which really proved its worth on the notorious Peripherique (which makes the North Circular look like a country lane!). Bought lots of cheese, which is now maturing nicely! The one sour note was when we got back - someone had demolished one bay of the wall at the front of the house - quite a mess.. |
| Wednesday, March 1st, 2006 |
| 2:38 pm |
ppppppppPancake Day
Pancake day yesterday! Liz made absolutely loads which we had with lemon juice and sugar. One of those meals where it is hard to get up from the table... I have just been asked to go to Nottingham for a meeting in a fortnight & my route passes conveniently near the Trip to Jerusalem (arguably the oldest pub & one of my favourites - real ales and pub games). For those who don't know it it is in a cave below Nottingham castle & has its own unique game involving a rope with a ring at the end and a horn on the wall. Well worth a visit http://www.triptojerusalem.com/ |
| Tuesday, January 31st, 2006 |
| 11:49 am |
Birthdays and operations
Yesterday poor Alfie had his operation (he was castrated)and today he is very swollen and sore. He keeps looking at us with those soulful eyes as if saying "how could you do this to me?". I feel very guilty.. Last night we spoke to Marnanel on the phone. My birthday is on 31st and his is on 30th. If I had spoken to him after midnight last night we could, for the first time, have spoken during BOTH of our birthdays! |
| Thursday, December 22nd, 2005 |
| 9:41 am |
Christmas
 As you can see, we now have Christmas tree lights & all is ready for the Big Day. The playpen round the tree is to stop Alfie the Dog from eating the presents (you can see him in the foreground trying to look appealing..) Last weekend we went to a civic carol service in Broadway Gardens (formerly known as Kennedy Gardens & before that, the Rose Gardens). It was bitterly cold & impossible to hold carol sheets & keep hands warm at the same time. Lucky we knew most of the words! The band looked frozen to their instruments. A Merry Christmas to you all! |
| Tuesday, December 20th, 2005 |
| 11:03 am |
One of those silly emails :-)
Japanese Banking Crisis Update: According to our inside contacts the Japanese banking crisis shows no signs of ameliorating. If anything, it's getting worse. Following last week's news that Origami Bank had folded, we are hearing that Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank plans to cut back some of its branches. Karaoke Bank is up for sale and is going for a song. Meanwhile, shares in Kamikaze Bank have nose-dived and 500 employees at Karate Bank got chopped. Analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank and some staff there fear they may get a raw deal. |
| Monday, December 5th, 2005 |
| 1:00 pm |
Christmas decorations
Like most people we use the same decorations every year, so at the weekend we climbed into the loft and brought out the boxes - no Christmas tree lights. After a thorough search - still no lights. So it was off to Tesco to get some more. The good news was that they all seem to be LEDs now, which must be cheaper to run, so we may be saving money in the long run. On Sunday we were in Durham and went to the Christmas market in a marquee on Palace Green. Lots of handicraft things. One strange thing was the number of Japanese stalls (mostly art & calligraphy, but also some amazingly delicate jewellery). The stallholders were all in Edwardian costume and the Japanese were in the costume of that period too. Apparently, they are from the Japanese college there. |
| Monday, November 21st, 2005 |
| 10:16 am |
Peter
My uncle Peter died on Thursday night. He was organising a dinner at his old school and when he didn't turn up they went round to his flat. When he didn't come to the door they flagged down a passing police car & the policeman broke down the door & found him sitting there dead. He was 79. Peter used to be keen on cricket & used to throw cricket balls to me when I was a child. As the death was sudden we can't organise a funeral until the coroner has agreed. So far my dad seems to be taking it fairly well. I was over there last night & he was trying to organise everything. Current Mood:  sad |
| Tuesday, November 15th, 2005 |
| 3:38 pm |
Alfie
This is Alfie. We started by calling him Fred or Alfred, but Alfie is easier to say & he responds to it better. Yesterday evening we enrolled in dog training classes at Stotfold village hall and he attends his first one next Monday. He seems to be the only mongrel amongst a lot of snooty pedigrees! Although he is quite a big dog (& will be a lot bigger) he still leaps onto your lap when you sit down, legs all over the place. He is fun to have around. |
| 3:34 pm |
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| 3:30 pm |
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| Monday, November 7th, 2005 |
| 9:23 am |
Alfred
We have a dog! His name is Alfred (or Fred for short) & he is 5 months old. We went to Wood Green Animal Shelter, which is a huge place but didn't see anything to suit us, & we were just leaving when I asked at the desk whether they had any puppies. They had just one & we loved him from the start. He is a Belgian Shepherd/Labrador cross. He is going to be a big dog, judging by the size of his feet. He is jet black with a white flash on his chest & walks like Bambi in the film - his legs seem to go in different directions all at once! We got him on Saturday so we have had 2 sleepless nights.I will take some pictures of him & post them here soon. Wood Green has a huge wind turbine which powers the whole place - ideal for catching the wind from the Fens. |
| Wednesday, October 26th, 2005 |
| 1:30 pm |
Baker Tony
Just saw this on the Guardian site. It sums up what I think about this scheming and dishonest government: Baker Tony's Pizza Baker Tony baked a pizza very round and thin He said he added olives but he never put them in The stuff that he had grated and sprinkled on to please was only yellow sawdust although he called it cheese The rich tomato topping was nothing more than dye so Baker Tony's pizza made all the children cry |
| Monday, October 24th, 2005 |
| 1:11 pm |
Dog Search
On Saturday we went to the Blue Cross animal sanctuary in Kimpton to try to find a new dog. They had a fine looking black labrador called Black Jack who seemed ok - actually he seemed a bit "thick" - but we took him for a walk & all seemed well. However, walking back we met a bull terrier coming the other way. Black Jack immediately dived at him & would have done him some real damage if I hadn't dragged him away. We went back again yesterday, walked him again & the same thing happened (this time with another labrador). Reluctantly, we asked them to take him back, so we are still dogless. We are looking for a dog with character, but they mustn't be vicious. |
| Thursday, October 20th, 2005 |
| 8:27 pm |
Jasper, R. I. P.
Our much-loved dog, Jasper died suddenly at 3 this afternoon. The vet said that he had had cancer. He was a wonderful friend to us all and had the ability to cheer anyone up. He loved everyone and in his whole life never growled or bit anyone. He was even able to smile when he was really pleased to see you. We will miss him more than we can say. |
| 12:42 pm |
What is truth?
Great fun was had on Monday when the ex - Transport Minister, Stephen Byers tried to explain why he had lied to a Commons committee about Railtrack. Apparently, he didn't lie, he was just "factually inaccurate" : "I want the House to know that I did not lie to the select committee, I did not deliberately mislead the select committee, but that due to an inadvertent error, I gave factually inaccurate evidence to the select committee,". - so that's all right then - we'll have to start calling him Pontius.. Current Mood:  angry |
| Thursday, October 13th, 2005 |
| 12:38 pm |
Rain
London is depressing at this time of year. It seems to be raining continually and it is dark and grey everywhere. On the bright side, though, most of the tourists have gone home and the tubes are not as busy as they were before the bombings, so seats are sometimes available, which is a treat. Anyone getting on with a rucksack still gets strange looks though.. |
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thuremund's journal
