homepage
  roll on christmas  
click here to find out more about ship of fools click here to sign up for the ship of fools newsletter click here to support ship of fools
community the mystery worshipper gadgets for god caption competition foolishness features ship stuff
discussion boards live chat cafe avatars frequently-asked questions the ten commandments gallery private boards register for the boards
 
Ship of Fools
Thread closed  Thread closed


Post new thread  
Thread closed  Thread closed
My profile login | | Directory | Search | FAQs | Board home
   - Printer-friendly view Next oldest thread   Next newest thread
» Ship of Fools   » Community discussion   » All Saints   » Roses, foxgloves, snowdrops, blue forget-me-nots (Page 18)

 - Email this page to a friend or enemy.  
Pages in this thread: 1  2  3  ...  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  ...  44  45  46 
 
Source: (consider it) Thread: Roses, foxgloves, snowdrops, blue forget-me-nots
Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430

 - Posted      Profile for Bishops Finger   Email Bishops Finger   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
I recall watching three separate thunderstorms playing together around the Thames estuary one summer night.

Looking northwards, Storm A on the left (west) exhibited forked lightning, Storm B in the middle was using flash lightning, and Storm C on the right (east) was (rather unimaginatively, I thought) also employing forked lightning.

On reflection, would these have indeed been three storms, or just the one, having Lots Of Fun?

Bloody noisy night, anyhow.

And wet.

But worth staying up for!

IJ

--------------------
Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)

Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004  |  IP: Logged
Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768

 - Posted      Profile for Penny S     Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
I recall one stupendous one over Greenhithe, when the rain was sluicing off the roof and over the edge of the gutter, so that each flash froze the drops for a moment like a curtain of jewels.
I have been hoping for something similar since so I can employ a camera!

[ 13. May 2017, 14:04: Message edited by: Penny S ]

Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009  |  IP: Logged
Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

 - Posted      Profile for Welease Woderwick   Email Welease Woderwick   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Not a flicker of lightning nor a drop of rain all day!

Bloody typical!!

[Mad]

--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005  |  IP: Logged
Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768

 - Posted      Profile for Penny S     Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Have you come across this site?
Lightning map
At its widest extent, it covers the world, with a bit of scrolling, and you can focus in on your area. If you do get to large scale locally, the rings around the strikes map the the thunder front, and you can predict when you will hear it arrive. I have been astonished at how far it travels, and also puzzled as to why the strikes seem to pass either side of where I live. Not that I want to be hit, but I would like to get a decent picture.

Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009  |  IP: Logged
ArachnidinElmet
Shipmate
# 17346

 - Posted      Profile for ArachnidinElmet   Email ArachnidinElmet   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
My grandma didn't - she used to hide under the stairs!

My Gran had to play cards during thunderstorms. Something to do with occupying both brain and hands, otherwise each clap of thunder made her clutch her armrests.

It's probably my dodgy memory, but I feel like we had storms all the time when I was young; I can't remember the last time we had one.

Posts: 1887 | From: the rhubarb triangle | Registered: Sep 2012  |  IP: Logged
Wesley J

Silly Shipmate
# 6075

 - Posted      Profile for Wesley J   Email Wesley J   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
That lightning map site is way cool, thanks muchly, Penny S! [Cool]

--------------------
Be it as it may: Wesley J will stay. --- Euthanasia, that sounds good. An alpine neutral neighbourhood. Then back to Britain, all dressed in wood. Things were gonna get worse. (John Cooper Clarke)

Posts: 7354 | From: The Isles of Silly | Registered: May 2004  |  IP: Logged
St. Gwladys
Shipmate
# 14504

 - Posted      Profile for St. Gwladys   Email St. Gwladys   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
There was an amazing storm going on when I was sitting my second year Biochem. exams many years ago. (I failed, but nothing to do with the storm). My college had a brand new, state of the art (for 35 years ago) computer, in a spanking new building. Shame they forgot to put a lightening conductor on the building, and shame the building took a strike...
On the other hand, the best storm I've watched was near Liverot in France, about 20 years ago. We were staying with friends at their farmhouse. The storm got trapped in their valley, and seemed to be going round and round, trying to get out. I've never seen blue lightening before.

--------------------
"I say - are you a matelot?"
"Careful what you say sir, we're on board ship here"
From "New York Girls", Steeleye Span, Commoners Crown (Voiced by Peter Sellers)

Posts: 3333 | From: Rhymney Valley, South Wales | Registered: Jan 2009  |  IP: Logged
Polly Plummer
Shipmate
# 13354

 - Posted      Profile for Polly Plummer   Email Polly Plummer   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
There was a terrific thunderstorm when we were on holiday in the French Alps many years ago. We and the kids sat on the balcony and watched it - as good as a film show!
Posts: 577 | Registered: Jan 2008  |  IP: Logged
Piglet
Islander
# 11803

 - Posted      Profile for Piglet   Email Piglet   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
When I was in Italy on a school trip in 1978, we had glorious weather until a couple of days before the end, which coincided with the sudden death of Pope John Paul I. As if the Almighty himself was in mourning, the weather broke, and we had torrential rain, thunder and lightning, although I apparently slept through the best of it.

None of that sort of thing here today; Spring has definitely sprung, and it's 19° and sunny.

[Smile]

--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music

Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006  |  IP: Logged
St Everild
Shipmate
# 3626

 - Posted      Profile for St Everild   Email St Everild   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
quote:
Originally posted by shamwari:
Downsized my car today. Am now the proud owner of a Skoda Citigo.

I've had a VW Up! (same car, different label) for two years and am happy with it. Unfortunately the Skoda didn't have exactly the spec. combinations I wanted.
I'm on my second Up...St Everild, VW/Skoda driver since 1990.
Posts: 1782 | From: Bethnei | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged
Curiosity killed ...

Ship's Mug
# 11770

 - Posted      Profile for Curiosity killed ...   Email Curiosity killed ...   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Having failed to get to more than I've seen recently* I have just seen two shows in two days. Carousel on Friday night starring Katherine Jenkins as Julie Jordan and Alfie Boe as Billy Bigelow had some amazing choreography and dancing, but I came away both unconvinced by a story that has the hero die part way through and return for the finale and the style of singing: to my ears it all had a very metallic edge, particularly in the first half. I did however enjoy Nicholas Lyndhurst as the star keeper and Gavin Stokes as Enoch Snow.

Last night I saw The Wipers Times which I loved. A poignant story using much material found in the real Wipers Times and Best Times, on in the Arts Theatre, which is just off Charing Cross Road, small† stage, great staging for the story - and they even managed to include some song and dance numbers.

* I buy (cheap) tickets in the hope that I'll get a work life balance, then fail to get there because:
  • I am under pressure to get something completed (Monday's reason for not seeing Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman),
  • have to set up for exams the next day (Tuesday's reason for not getting to something),
  • get a work meeting double booked on something I'm already doing (next Thursday), or
  • am too damn tired to go out - that was why I didn't get to The Mayerling last Friday - I think some of this is tail end of shingles.
† all things are relative - small stage compared to that at the Coliseum not far away, but a decent size compared to the Kings Head, Islington, for example.

--------------------
Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat

Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006  |  IP: Logged
Boogie

Boogie on down!
# 13538

 - Posted      Profile for Boogie     Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
I'm so lazy about culture, I've only been to one show this year!

We have a huge Skoda Superb estate. I would much prefer an Up or a CityGo but Mr Boogs insists he needs a big car for buying his wood. It's a good car but I hate parking it - so much so that I don't go to the bank as I find it so hard to parallel park. So Mr Boogs has that job.

--------------------
Garden. Room. Walk

Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008  |  IP: Logged
Piglet
Islander
# 11803

 - Posted      Profile for Piglet   Email Piglet   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
I learned to drive in a Volvo estate, and although it was so ancient it didn't even have power steering, it wasn't as hard to park as it looked; the long lines of the back windows were useful for lining up with edges of pavements and suchlike.

I feel guilty about not taking as much advantage of the culture available to me too, Boogie; we're unlikely to go to a concert unless one or both of us is in it. [Hot and Hormonal]

Mind you, I'm going to get a culture overdose at the St. Magnus Festival when I go to Orkney - concerts on three consecutive nights, plus entertainment at the Festival Club. That should keep me going for quite a while ... [Big Grin]

--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music

Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006  |  IP: Logged
Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686

 - Posted      Profile for Pangolin Guerre   Email Pangolin Guerre   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Spending time in SA years ago, in its far east, near Nelspruit. A lovely, clear afternoon. Then, a storm was rolling in from Mozambique. It was like watching an advancing curtain. I had never experienced a driving rain of such duration. Actually, I think, not since.
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016  |  IP: Logged
Wet Kipper
Circus Runaway
# 1654

 - Posted      Profile for Wet Kipper   Email Wet Kipper   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Boogie - next time get Mr Boogie to buy one with "park Assist" and it will do the parking itself, more or less (i think you still control the speed)

--------------------
- insert randomly chosen, potentially Deep and Meaningful™ song lyrics here -

Posts: 9841 | From: further up the Hill | Registered: Nov 2001  |  IP: Logged
St. Gwladys
Shipmate
# 14504

 - Posted      Profile for St. Gwladys   Email St. Gwladys   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
We're doing well on the concerts front this year. We saw Coope, Boyes and Simpson last week, we're going to see Calan this Friday, The Spooky Men's Chorale in July, Steeleye Span in November, and The Carnival Band (IN OUR CHURCH HALL - YAY!) in December.

--------------------
"I say - are you a matelot?"
"Careful what you say sir, we're on board ship here"
From "New York Girls", Steeleye Span, Commoners Crown (Voiced by Peter Sellers)

Posts: 3333 | From: Rhymney Valley, South Wales | Registered: Jan 2009  |  IP: Logged
Boogie

Boogie on down!
# 13538

 - Posted      Profile for Boogie     Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
quote:
Originally posted by Wet Kipper:
Boogie - next time get Mr Boogie to buy one with "park Assist" and it will do the parking itself, more or less (i think you still control the speed)

Yes - excellent idea! Never mind the heated seats [Roll Eyes] - give me park assist!

--------------------
Garden. Room. Walk

Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008  |  IP: Logged
daisydaisy
Shipmate
# 12167

 - Posted      Profile for daisydaisy   Email daisydaisy   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
I've discovered a great way to get to see shows, concerts, comedy, plays etc etc - I am a volunteer usher at the local uni theatre and at an arts centre. So I get to one or the other roughly 3 times a fortnight. I'm also tempted by another arts centre because they have National Theatre Live.
Posts: 3184 | From: southern uk | Registered: Dec 2006  |  IP: Logged
Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128

 - Posted      Profile for Baptist Trainfan   Email Baptist Trainfan   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Yes, that's really good. My wife used to be an usher at a dance theatre in Ipswich and loved it. Now we're in Wales she's thought of becoming an usher at the Cardiff Millennium Centre, but it's a bit too far to get to.
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009  |  IP: Logged
Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128

 - Posted      Profile for Baptist Trainfan   Email Baptist Trainfan   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
Yes - excellent idea! Never mind the heated seats [Roll Eyes] - give me park assist!

My Up! has heated seats - my wife loves them. I didn't specify Park Assist though, it's an easy wee think to park.

My mother had one of these Saabs back in the 70s. It drove like a tank, but the driver's seat (only!) was heated.

Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009  |  IP: Logged
Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430

 - Posted      Profile for Bishops Finger   Email Bishops Finger   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Heated seats!! and Park assist !!

Whit wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beasties ye all are!

IJ

--------------------
Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)

Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004  |  IP: Logged
moonlitdoor
Shipmate
# 11707

 - Posted      Profile for moonlitdoor   Email moonlitdoor   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
quote:

posted by piglet

I learned to drive in a Volvo estate, and although it was so ancient it didn't even have power steering, it wasn't as hard to park as it looked

The car I drive now doesn't have power steering, though it's only small. I'm not sure that I would trust a car to park itself.

--------------------
We've evolved to being strange monkeys, but in the next life he'll help us be something more worthwhile - Gwai

Posts: 2210 | From: london | Registered: Aug 2006  |  IP: Logged
Boogie

Boogie on down!
# 13538

 - Posted      Profile for Boogie     Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
The Best Thing in the Whole Wide World (car wise) is adaptive cruise control - the car drives itself, I love it!

💕💕💕

--------------------
Garden. Room. Walk

Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008  |  IP: Logged
Piglet
Islander
# 11803

 - Posted      Profile for Piglet   Email Piglet   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
The Pigletmobile has cruise control, which D. loves - and he reckons it probably makes it drive a little bit more efficiently too.

As for heated seats - NO NO NO!!! I was given a lift in a car which I didn't know had heated seats, and I thought something horrendously embarrassing might have happened. [Eek!]

I'm just back from a spot of Retail Therapy, which included a pair of shoes to replace a pair that's pretty well falling to bits. The old ones will be thrown out, so my aggregate shoe count won't actually go up - aren't I a good piglet?

Piglet - who'd rival Imelda Marcos if she could afford it

--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music

Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006  |  IP: Logged
Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128

 - Posted      Profile for Baptist Trainfan   Email Baptist Trainfan   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
quote:
Originally posted by Bishops Finger:
Heated seats!! and Park assist !!

Whit wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beasties ye all are!

IJ

And said wife comes from - ahem! - north of the Border.
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009  |  IP: Logged
Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430

 - Posted      Profile for Bishops Finger   Email Bishops Finger   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Oh well, that explains it, then!

[Razz]

I'll get me coat....

IJ

--------------------
Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)

Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004  |  IP: Logged
Piglet
Islander
# 11803

 - Posted      Profile for Piglet   Email Piglet   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Not at all - we're far too hardy to need heated seats. I suspect that from my perspective Mrs. BT is probably a soft Southerner. [Big Grin]

Mind you, I'm going to have to get my heatproofing sorted - it's currently 22° and forecast to be 28° on Thursday. [Eek!]

--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music

Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006  |  IP: Logged
Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

 - Posted      Profile for Welease Woderwick   Email Welease Woderwick   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
No heated seats here either.

[Big Grin]

[ 17. May 2017, 06:56: Message edited by: Welease Woderwick ]

--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005  |  IP: Logged
moonlitdoor
Shipmate
# 11707

 - Posted      Profile for moonlitdoor   Email moonlitdoor   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Certainly there are, they are the ones on the side of the bus which is currently facing the sun.

--------------------
We've evolved to being strange monkeys, but in the next life he'll help us be something more worthwhile - Gwai

Posts: 2210 | From: london | Registered: Aug 2006  |  IP: Logged
Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

 - Posted      Profile for Welease Woderwick   Email Welease Woderwick   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
True, O King!

I stand corrected.

--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005  |  IP: Logged
Og, King of Bashan

Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562

 - Posted      Profile for Og, King of Bashan     Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
I thought this might be the place to ask.

A friend just published her second book, this one on self-awareness. She is getting ready for the London portion of her book promotional tour, where she will do at least one TV appearance. She asked today:

quote:
Doing a talk in London next week. Who is the most narcissistic (recent) British reality TV star with really good name recognition (ideally, this is someone whose photo I can post and make everyone groan).
Any thoughts?

--------------------
"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy

Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged
Jack the Lass

Ship's airhead
# 3415

 - Posted      Profile for Jack the Lass   Author's homepage   Email Jack the Lass   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
I'd say Katie Hopkins, although her reality TV days were 10 years ago. But groans are guaranteed.

I've no idea about recent reality TV, never watch it.

--------------------
"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog

Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002  |  IP: Logged
Piglet
Islander
# 11803

 - Posted      Profile for Piglet   Email Piglet   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
I can't really be of help either, Og - we left the UK 14 years ago, just about the time "reality" TV was becoming A Thing™, and the only bit of it I ever watched was the last episode of a series of Big Brother in which the winning contestant came from Orkney.

We took a lovely wee jaunt yesterday down to St. Andrews (on the southeast coast of New Brunswick), and rounded it off with excellent supper in a restaurant in Saint John.

I'm a very frustrated piglet: we spent this afternoon chasing round supermarkets and butchers' shops looking for lamb-shanks, but without success. [Waterworks] We're having a couple of friends round tomorrow evening (OK, I probably should have started looking a bit sooner, but it didn't occur to me that nobody would have them), so it'll have to be roast lamb with gratin Dauphinoise.

The bloke at the butchers' department in one of the supermarkets actually said they get one lamb shank every two weeks, so maybe I ought to start stock-piling them ...

What's the point of having a slow-cooker if you can't get lamb shanks? [Confused]

The mercury hit 33°C today, which in technical terms is bloody hot. [Eek!]

--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music

Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006  |  IP: Logged
Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870

 - Posted      Profile for Sipech   Author's homepage     Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
My move is now well under way. I took the keys to the new place yesterday and did 4 trips (2 on the bus and 2 friends with cars), depositing boxes and suitcases full of books and clothes. [Big Grin]

The removal van comes for the furniture tomorrow morning. [Help]

My back is currently a bit sore. [Waterworks]

--------------------
I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile

Posts: 3791 | From: On the corporate ladder | Registered: Jan 2012  |  IP: Logged
Boogie

Boogie on down!
# 13538

 - Posted      Profile for Boogie     Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Exciting times Sipech!

My son has just moved in to his new house in Bristol, they were in a teeny tiny flat prior to this move. We are off to visit them next weekend - of course, Mr Boogs has been asked to pack his tool box [Smile]

--------------------
Garden. Room. Walk

Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008  |  IP: Logged
Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

 - Posted      Profile for Welease Woderwick   Email Welease Woderwick   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
My sitting here, catching up on the Ship, has just been most pleasantly interrupted by the need to play pe-bo with two little kids in their parents' arms. Lots of screaming with laughter from both the twins and their mum & dad - but not from me, of course.

--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005  |  IP: Logged
Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430

 - Posted      Profile for Bishops Finger   Email Bishops Finger   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Felt a bit Out Of Sorts this morning, as per Mr. Kipling's 'Cameelious Hump':

http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poems_hump.htm

Went over to Our Place, mowed the grass at the east end (carefully avoiding the bluebells, and other wild flowers - there's a sort of wild-plant-reserve strip round the edges), despite a sudden torrential downpour (thank you for well-leafed trees, O Lord).

Feel much better now!

IJ

--------------------
Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)

Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004  |  IP: Logged
The Intrepid Mrs S
Shipmate
# 17002

 - Posted      Profile for The Intrepid Mrs S   Email The Intrepid Mrs S   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
IJ, I rushed over to our place with a small hand fork to dig some weeds out of the join between the church building and the tarmac. There were two weddings this afternoon, and I suddenly thought how awful it would be for the photos to show weeds just by the south door where the bride enters! (I know, I know, first world problems...)

I pulled out a whole bucketful of weeds, and also let the best man/ushers into the church to set out the orders of service - taking great care not to get too close to their beautiful white brocade waistcoats with my muddy waxed jacket and rubber gloves [Killing me]

Mrs. S, who has always plenty of scope for weeding!

--------------------
Don't get your knickers in a twist over your advancing age. It achieves nothing and makes you walk funny.
Prayer should be our first recourse, not our last resort
'Lord, please give us patience. NOW!'

Posts: 1464 | From: Neither here nor there | Registered: Mar 2012  |  IP: Logged
Piglet
Islander
# 11803

 - Posted      Profile for Piglet   Email Piglet   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Talking of gardening-related First World Problems, we had the ultimate manifestation of Sod's Law the other day: a bloke from the estate office who was passing by as D. was putting something in the car asked if we were interested in getting someone to cut the grass ...

... the day after we'd spent $400 on a lawnmower. [brick wall]

We had a v. nice evening with our friends last night, and the food all came together very well. I made chicken liver pâté and breadsticks for starters and roast lamb, gratin Dauphionoise, carrots in orange and aniseed and stir-fried fiddleheads (which I'd never tried cooking before), and it all went down a treat.

--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music

Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006  |  IP: Logged
Curiosity killed ...

Ship's Mug
# 11770

 - Posted      Profile for Curiosity killed ...   Email Curiosity killed ...   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Yesterday's entertainment was seeing David Tennant in Don Juan in Soho - based on a Molière play. Very clever, stylised and reliant on David Tennant's charm to sell the character. In the original Molière play Dom Juan's atheism is the premise for his fate, in this version it was his lack of care for others and pure self-interest, with huge laughs for the topical comments, and the mike descending from the ceiling for a song from Don Juan and his sidekick.

(The theatre is selling standing tickets the week before at £10 a ticket plus booking fees, which is how I meant to go, but I met someone next to the theatre earlier in the week and had some theatre gift vouchers I hadn't used, so only paid the extra £17. I'm really not spending that much on tickets.)

This week I've also seen Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia starring Damian Lewis and Sophie Okonedo, with a work colleague who is friends with Archie Madekwe's mother and wanted to see him on stage. She really didn't enjoy the pushing of taboos. (OK, so this one I spent real money on tickets, because I was with someone who probably wouldn't have liked my usual put up with an odd seat to see something.)

Also a couple of folk acts - Jon Boden at Cecil Sharp House on Thursday and Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman at the Albany in Deptford on Friday night, which was why I was on the Lewisham section of the DLR. Kathryn Roberts used to sing with Kate Rusby, who is part of the line up for Greenbelt this year (and Folk by the Oak). The venue was lovely, tiny, set out like a pub with a bar at the back upstairs. It was my second attempt to see Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman as I had had tickets to see them at Green Note, but was informed I had to get something finished at work, and take protected time, like that ever works, and ended up working to 8:30pm.

One of my favourite intros from Jon Boden described one of his songs (from Songs from the Floodplain) as being set in the stables for the retired horses of the Apocalypse. That whole album is a series of songs set in a post-oil world. It was a mix from his albums, including the one he is writing now, and some shanties he sang as part of Bellowhead.

--------------------
Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat

Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006  |  IP: Logged
Piglet
Islander
# 11803

 - Posted      Profile for Piglet   Email Piglet   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
CK, when do you have time to work? [Big Grin]

It's an absolutely glorious day here today: 16° and sunny - just my sort of weather. As one of the other choir members said, we even seemed to sing better because it's such a nice day. [Smile]

We discovered yet another nice eatery yesterday - Picaroons Roundhouse, which is part of a brewery. I had what they called a "ploughman's platter", and although it wasn't really what I'd call a Ploughman's, it was very good - cheese, local salami, pickled beetroot and a pickled egg and very nice local bread; D. had steak and ale pie (which was really more like a pastie) and a bowl of soup, and we both had light beer. With the bill coming to about $40 (about £23), it was definitely somewhere we'll be going again.

--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music

Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006  |  IP: Logged
Curiosity killed ...

Ship's Mug
# 11770

 - Posted      Profile for Curiosity killed ...   Email Curiosity killed ...   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
It's sleeping I don't do, or cleaning.

--------------------
Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat

Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006  |  IP: Logged
Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870

 - Posted      Profile for Sipech   Author's homepage     Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Think we must be on a job share, CK. I've just fine about 6 hours of cleaning in my old flat. Reckon it's up to the standard of viewings, but still more work to do to get the full deposit back.

Meanwhile, I now have hot water in my new place! [Yipee]

So I can start on the laundry, have a hot bath and maybe an early night. What a rock n' roll lifestyle I lead.

--------------------
I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile

Posts: 3791 | From: On the corporate ladder | Registered: Jan 2012  |  IP: Logged
Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

 - Posted      Profile for Welease Woderwick   Email Welease Woderwick   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
We've just had an hour's heavy rain - it is nowhere near enough but it does give hope after a long dry spell.

The downside we had 4 under 10s visiting - aren't they noisy? Roll on a week on Thursday when the new school year starts!

[ 22. May 2017, 08:09: Message edited by: Welease Woderwick ]

--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005  |  IP: Logged
Piglet
Islander
# 11803

 - Posted      Profile for Piglet   Email Piglet   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
It was a holiday here today (Victoria Day, bless her), and D. decided he really ought to exercise this new lawn-mower. Having forgotten to get any of the eco-bags the hardware shops here sell for putting your grass-cuttings into, he thought maybe the shop might be open, so off he went.

He found that the garden centre bit of the Home Depot (our equivalent of B&Q) was open, but because of some byzantine Canadian by-law the main shop* wasn't.

We'll be really cross if it rains tomorrow ...

[brick wall]

* where the eco-bags are sold, obviously. Why on earth would you sell bags for grass-cuttings in a garden centre? [Mad]

--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music

Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006  |  IP: Logged
The Intrepid Mrs S
Shipmate
# 17002

 - Posted      Profile for The Intrepid Mrs S   Email The Intrepid Mrs S   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
A dear friend of ours is doing a lot of work in the churchyard, and left me a note to say he'd be clearing moss off the roof of the 'lynch gate' [Killing me]

I am half appalled to relate how many people all we supposed Christians could think up, who should be forming an orderly queue...

Mrs. S, churchwarden of this parish, snickering [Snigger]

--------------------
Don't get your knickers in a twist over your advancing age. It achieves nothing and makes you walk funny.
Prayer should be our first recourse, not our last resort
'Lord, please give us patience. NOW!'

Posts: 1464 | From: Neither here nor there | Registered: Mar 2012  |  IP: Logged
Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430

 - Posted      Profile for Bishops Finger   Email Bishops Finger   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Please, Mrs. S., could you send your dear friend over to Our Place? We have a buddleia growing out of the gutter of our Lady Chapel, and, despite many reminders, our churchwardens have done nothing about it. I'd get the bl**dy thing out myself, but I'm not strong enough at the moment to go lugging ladders around (or climbing them, for that matter).

IJ

--------------------
Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)

Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004  |  IP: Logged
Piglet
Islander
# 11803

 - Posted      Profile for Piglet   Email Piglet   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Haven't you got a verger or a sexton whose job such operations would be?

Eco-bags have been purchased, and most of the grass chez Piglet has been cut; unfortunately the re-chargeable battery didn't last quite long enough. D. says it should be all right next time as the grass won't be so long, and there shouldn't be so many dandelions.

It was a bit disappointing though - it's not as if we've got that much grass.

--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music

Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006  |  IP: Logged
The Intrepid Mrs S
Shipmate
# 17002

 - Posted      Profile for The Intrepid Mrs S   Email The Intrepid Mrs S   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
Sorry, BF - we're not sharing! And Piglet, all such operations appear to be the responsibility of the churchwarden, or any dear friend she can persuade to go up a ladder she's certainly not safe on [Killing me]

That reminds me - I must ask the former churchwarden what, if anything, has been tried to cure a fluorescent tube at the back of church which never seems to light up. In practice, this means that half our 'verse of the year' is in perpetual darkness - there may be a metaphor there but I haven't worked it out yet [Confused]

Mrs. S - a churchwarden's work is never done

--------------------
Don't get your knickers in a twist over your advancing age. It achieves nothing and makes you walk funny.
Prayer should be our first recourse, not our last resort
'Lord, please give us patience. NOW!'

Posts: 1464 | From: Neither here nor there | Registered: Mar 2012  |  IP: Logged
Piglet
Islander
# 11803

 - Posted      Profile for Piglet   Email Piglet   Send new private message       Edit/delete post 
D. tells the story of a (now sadly deceased) member of the choir at St. Magnus Cathedral, who also happened to work for the Orkney Islands Council (who look after the fabric of the building), crawling along beams about 6" wide and probably about 30' up to replace some light-bulbs.

The bulbs had been installed in the 1920s, and this was the 1970s, but still long before the days of Elfin Safety, so no harnesses or anything like that.

[Eek!]

[ 24. May 2017, 23:40: Message edited by: Piglet ]

--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music

Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006  |  IP: Logged



Pages in this thread: 1  2  3  ...  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  ...  44  45  46 
 
Post new thread  
Thread closed  Thread closed
Open thread   Feature thread   Move thread   Delete thread Next oldest thread   Next newest thread
 - Printer-friendly view
Go to:

Contact us | Ship of Fools | Privacy statement

© Ship of Fools 2016

Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM 6.5.0

 
follow ship of fools on twitter
buy your ship of fools postcards
sip of fools mugs from your favourite nautical website
 
 
  ship of fools