Sorry for the lack of blogs but things have been pretty quiet in the BOGOF household.
As the title of the blog suggests, we’ve donned our work clothes and got out the paint brushes again. Will all the painting we keep doing you’d think it was one of our hobbies. I can assure you it isn’t ! ! !
This weekend it’s the turn of the bathroom. I want to completely revamp it (new suite, tiles etc) but we don’t have the time to do this year - I want a new kitchen more... So it’s having to make do with a lick of paint, new carpet, wall unit etc, until next year.
Back to the painting before my brush hardens…
Marie
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
The hot chocolate diet
Like most people we put on a pound (or kilogram so I don’t offend the EU….) or two during Christmas and now need to remove them and a few more of their friends.
I decided that we’d start our diet officially on 26th January giving us time to finish off all the Christmas yummys. Unofficially we started it on 5th January to give ourselves a couple of weeks before the official weigh in date so there wouldn’t be any nasty ‘how much’ when we stepped on the scales.
That was the idea anyway. However curiosity got the better of me just after the 5th and I weighed myself. I nearly burst into tears ! ! !
I got on the scales this morning and to my sheer delight found that I’d lost half a stone.
Regular readers will know that the BOGOF household is fond of wine. However it is not the dieters friend so a glass or two a night does over time amount to a lot of calories.
The thought of complete prohibition is a definite no-no so I cut the number of my wine nights down to three a week and have a hot steaming mug of Options hot chocolate on the other four nights.
Ok, a mug of hot chocolate isn’t the same as a glass of wine but it is something to look forward to on the evenings when I can’t have any alcohol.
So here’s to the loss of another half a stone with the help of hot chocolate.
Marie
I decided that we’d start our diet officially on 26th January giving us time to finish off all the Christmas yummys. Unofficially we started it on 5th January to give ourselves a couple of weeks before the official weigh in date so there wouldn’t be any nasty ‘how much’ when we stepped on the scales.
That was the idea anyway. However curiosity got the better of me just after the 5th and I weighed myself. I nearly burst into tears ! ! !
I got on the scales this morning and to my sheer delight found that I’d lost half a stone.
Regular readers will know that the BOGOF household is fond of wine. However it is not the dieters friend so a glass or two a night does over time amount to a lot of calories.
The thought of complete prohibition is a definite no-no so I cut the number of my wine nights down to three a week and have a hot steaming mug of Options hot chocolate on the other four nights.
Ok, a mug of hot chocolate isn’t the same as a glass of wine but it is something to look forward to on the evenings when I can’t have any alcohol.
So here’s to the loss of another half a stone with the help of hot chocolate.
Marie
Sunday, January 13, 2008
The case of the missing spaghetti
Early last October Mrs Hudson, Sherlock Harpers landlady, was busy in her kitchen making several Christmas cakes for Sherlock Harper, his friends and family. Dr Watson wasn’t keen on fruitcake so she made him a chocolate log instead.
“Oh dear”, cried Mrs Hudson.
“Whatever is the matter”, asked Sherlock Harper having dashed into the kitchen to see what was the cause of her anguish.
“I plunged a stick of spaghetti in the fruitcake to test if it’s cooked”, she said, “If it comes out clean it’s done”.
“So why the distress”, replied Sherlock Harper.
“Because it’s snapped inside the cake”, she said.
Sherlock Harper removed a stick of spaghetti from the packet Mrs Hudson had just bought from Morrison’s and measured it against the pieces she alleged snapped.
“My dear Mrs Hudson”, he said, “You are indeed correct. Without accurately measuring it I would guess it’s shorter by one inch”.
Mrs Hudson tried as best she could to locate the missing piece of spaghetti from the cake but could not find it.
“There seems to be only two options available”, said Sherlock Harper, “Cut the cake in half and retrieve it now or wait until Christmas”.
Although the thought of eating a fruitcake in October delighted her, Mrs Hudson decided to wait until Christmas.
“I think it would be safer to keep this cake away from all the rest – and label it as ours”, said Sherlock Harper, “We don’t want it to be given to someone by mistake”.
Mrs Hudson and Sherlock Harper had just finished eating the very last two slices of Christmas cake when Mrs Hudson gasped in horror, “Neither of us found the spaghetti”.
“A piece of spaghetti can’t just go missing from inside a cake”, replied Sherlock Harper, “It must have been the work of Professor Moriarty”.
Sherlock Harper got to his feet, “He must have sneaked in and switched the cakes when we were out”.
Mrs Hudson cupped her cheeks with her hands in terror, “That means either Jan or Dennis, our ex neighbour, must have had it”.
Sherlock Harper rubbed his chin. He was in deep thinking mode.
“Mrs Hudson”, he asked, “Was the kitchen foil on our cake damaged when you came to marzipan it”.
“No”, she replied.
Sherlock Harper rubbed his chin again.
“Do you think he switched labels”, suggested Mrs Hudson.
“Not without removing particles of kitchen foil in the process which you would have noticed immediately”.
Sherlock Harper rubbed his chin even harder.
“Mrs Hudson”, he asked, “When you came to marzipan the cake, were there any signs of damage to the cake”.
“Yes”, she replied.
Sherlock Harper shouted with joy.
“Mr Harper”, she said, “Whatever is the matter with you”.
“My arch enemy Professor Moriarty is innocent”, he replied, “Well on this occasion anyway. You said the cake was damaged but Jan and Dennis’s weren’t. If you remember the damage was the result of you trying to locate the missing piece of spaghetti.”
A mightily relieved Mrs Hudson said “Then I haven’t caused the death, by choking on a piece of spaghetti, of either Jan or Dennis”.
Late that evening Sherlock Harper, Dr Watson and Mrs Hudson were having a large glass of wine and a piece of Dr Watson’s chocolate log.
“So what do you think happened to the piece of spaghetti”, asked Mrs Hudson.
Sherlock Harper put down his glass, took a large bite of chocolate log, clutched at his throat and cried, “Urrrrrrgh”.
“Oh dear”, cried Mrs Hudson.
“Whatever is the matter”, asked Sherlock Harper having dashed into the kitchen to see what was the cause of her anguish.
“I plunged a stick of spaghetti in the fruitcake to test if it’s cooked”, she said, “If it comes out clean it’s done”.
“So why the distress”, replied Sherlock Harper.
“Because it’s snapped inside the cake”, she said.
Sherlock Harper removed a stick of spaghetti from the packet Mrs Hudson had just bought from Morrison’s and measured it against the pieces she alleged snapped.
“My dear Mrs Hudson”, he said, “You are indeed correct. Without accurately measuring it I would guess it’s shorter by one inch”.
Mrs Hudson tried as best she could to locate the missing piece of spaghetti from the cake but could not find it.
“There seems to be only two options available”, said Sherlock Harper, “Cut the cake in half and retrieve it now or wait until Christmas”.
Although the thought of eating a fruitcake in October delighted her, Mrs Hudson decided to wait until Christmas.
“I think it would be safer to keep this cake away from all the rest – and label it as ours”, said Sherlock Harper, “We don’t want it to be given to someone by mistake”.
Mrs Hudson and Sherlock Harper had just finished eating the very last two slices of Christmas cake when Mrs Hudson gasped in horror, “Neither of us found the spaghetti”.
“A piece of spaghetti can’t just go missing from inside a cake”, replied Sherlock Harper, “It must have been the work of Professor Moriarty”.
Sherlock Harper got to his feet, “He must have sneaked in and switched the cakes when we were out”.
Mrs Hudson cupped her cheeks with her hands in terror, “That means either Jan or Dennis, our ex neighbour, must have had it”.
Sherlock Harper rubbed his chin. He was in deep thinking mode.
“Mrs Hudson”, he asked, “Was the kitchen foil on our cake damaged when you came to marzipan it”.
“No”, she replied.
Sherlock Harper rubbed his chin again.
“Do you think he switched labels”, suggested Mrs Hudson.
“Not without removing particles of kitchen foil in the process which you would have noticed immediately”.
Sherlock Harper rubbed his chin even harder.
“Mrs Hudson”, he asked, “When you came to marzipan the cake, were there any signs of damage to the cake”.
“Yes”, she replied.
Sherlock Harper shouted with joy.
“Mr Harper”, she said, “Whatever is the matter with you”.
“My arch enemy Professor Moriarty is innocent”, he replied, “Well on this occasion anyway. You said the cake was damaged but Jan and Dennis’s weren’t. If you remember the damage was the result of you trying to locate the missing piece of spaghetti.”
A mightily relieved Mrs Hudson said “Then I haven’t caused the death, by choking on a piece of spaghetti, of either Jan or Dennis”.
Late that evening Sherlock Harper, Dr Watson and Mrs Hudson were having a large glass of wine and a piece of Dr Watson’s chocolate log.
“So what do you think happened to the piece of spaghetti”, asked Mrs Hudson.
Sherlock Harper put down his glass, took a large bite of chocolate log, clutched at his throat and cried, “Urrrrrrgh”.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Family tree update
Other than my leg still giving me a bit grief, there’s nothing else in the bogof household to report so I thought I’d fill you in how I’m progressing with my family tree.
I’ve made contact with a couple of people via the Ancestry website who are part of the Thompson clang (my grandmother Dinah’s side) so have been passing and receiving information from them.
I’ve also made contact with Terry who lives in Marbella, Spain. He’s researching a family tree for a friend and part of that tree contains Arthur Notley who was Dinah’s step father.
Terry is a retired teacher who’s two hobbies are golf and genealogy so spent all of last Wednesday researching my tree for me. He’s uncovered that Arthur and Elizabeth (Dinah’s mother) had seven children together but only four survived past childhood.
Elizabeth then died in 1919 and Arthur married for a fourth time to an Isabella Seymour. Terry or myself haven’t been able as yet to find out if Arthur and Isabella had any children together but as Terry put it in an email ‘the old man is at it again’. Terry has also suggested I obtain the death certificates to his three previous wives just to see how they died ! ! !
If that wasn’t enough Terry then started on tracing a bit more on the Thompson side and found my great, great, great, great grandparents going back to 1745.
I’ve also found out (all by myself…) that there’s a possibility that my great, great grandfather, along with his younger brother and sister, spent some of their childhood in Cockermouth Union Workhouse, which I think is rather sad.
Marie
I’ve made contact with a couple of people via the Ancestry website who are part of the Thompson clang (my grandmother Dinah’s side) so have been passing and receiving information from them.
I’ve also made contact with Terry who lives in Marbella, Spain. He’s researching a family tree for a friend and part of that tree contains Arthur Notley who was Dinah’s step father.
Terry is a retired teacher who’s two hobbies are golf and genealogy so spent all of last Wednesday researching my tree for me. He’s uncovered that Arthur and Elizabeth (Dinah’s mother) had seven children together but only four survived past childhood.
Elizabeth then died in 1919 and Arthur married for a fourth time to an Isabella Seymour. Terry or myself haven’t been able as yet to find out if Arthur and Isabella had any children together but as Terry put it in an email ‘the old man is at it again’. Terry has also suggested I obtain the death certificates to his three previous wives just to see how they died ! ! !
If that wasn’t enough Terry then started on tracing a bit more on the Thompson side and found my great, great, great, great grandparents going back to 1745.
I’ve also found out (all by myself…) that there’s a possibility that my great, great grandfather, along with his younger brother and sister, spent some of their childhood in Cockermouth Union Workhouse, which I think is rather sad.
Marie
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Happy New Year
Happy New Year to one and all.
I was going to do a round up of various things yesterday but sadly got waylaid by a rather painful leg. Don’t know what I’ve done with it but it’s extremely oww, oww, oww whenever I walk or make even the slightest bit of movement. Consequently I haven’t had much sleep these past couple of nights. The house and me stink of deep heat ! ! !
Anyway here is the ‘old’ news. The little men from the insurance company fitted my new garage door. Had a letter from the police to say that they are still pursuing their line of enquiries and will contact me next month with an update.
Basil hasn’t been seen again. The rat catcher from the council came out and had a good look at my mam’s and other neighbouring gardens but found no trace of Basil or his friends. He did put some poison under the rabbit hut where my mam and Gloria her neighbour think Basil may be living.
John caught the cold bug the week before Christmas so wasn’t feeling at his best. Being the lovely husband that he is shared it with me so I had that and two coldsores on Christmas day….
Santa was really good to both of us this year. One of my presents was an internet radio. Who would have thought that the Vatican City would have it’s own radio station ! ! ! I can recommend Riviera Radio in Monaco…
We had my mam for Christmas day and she thoroughly enjoyed being waited on hand and foot. We even introduced her to the sin of alcohol…
Our new, new neighbours moved in shortly before Christmas and they are really nice. Deb, Mark and their two children Chloe and Sean. I heard Chloe and Sean dashing downstairs just after six on Christmas morning which brought back so many memories of me and my sister doing exactly the same thing.
Sunday we were at my mams for lunch. My sister and her family were also there. Had to leave early as my leg was killing me.
Sadly we weren’t able to get down to Chris and Jenny’s New Years Eve party yesterday. To be honest given how my leg is I doubt whether I would have made it anyway so it must be bad for me to say that…
So there you have it, a round up of the recent happenings in the bogof household.
Hope you have the rest of a good New Years Day.
Marie
I was going to do a round up of various things yesterday but sadly got waylaid by a rather painful leg. Don’t know what I’ve done with it but it’s extremely oww, oww, oww whenever I walk or make even the slightest bit of movement. Consequently I haven’t had much sleep these past couple of nights. The house and me stink of deep heat ! ! !
Anyway here is the ‘old’ news. The little men from the insurance company fitted my new garage door. Had a letter from the police to say that they are still pursuing their line of enquiries and will contact me next month with an update.
Basil hasn’t been seen again. The rat catcher from the council came out and had a good look at my mam’s and other neighbouring gardens but found no trace of Basil or his friends. He did put some poison under the rabbit hut where my mam and Gloria her neighbour think Basil may be living.
John caught the cold bug the week before Christmas so wasn’t feeling at his best. Being the lovely husband that he is shared it with me so I had that and two coldsores on Christmas day….
Santa was really good to both of us this year. One of my presents was an internet radio. Who would have thought that the Vatican City would have it’s own radio station ! ! ! I can recommend Riviera Radio in Monaco…
We had my mam for Christmas day and she thoroughly enjoyed being waited on hand and foot. We even introduced her to the sin of alcohol…
Our new, new neighbours moved in shortly before Christmas and they are really nice. Deb, Mark and their two children Chloe and Sean. I heard Chloe and Sean dashing downstairs just after six on Christmas morning which brought back so many memories of me and my sister doing exactly the same thing.
Sunday we were at my mams for lunch. My sister and her family were also there. Had to leave early as my leg was killing me.
Sadly we weren’t able to get down to Chris and Jenny’s New Years Eve party yesterday. To be honest given how my leg is I doubt whether I would have made it anyway so it must be bad for me to say that…
So there you have it, a round up of the recent happenings in the bogof household.
Hope you have the rest of a good New Years Day.
Marie
Monday, December 24, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Basil
“What’s that”, screeched my mam as we were sitting at the kitchen table having a cup of coffee yesterday morning.
“What’s what”, I replied.
“That there”.
“Where”.
“By the bush”.
“Which bush” – there’s about two dozen in the garden.
“By the ??? (some Latin name)”.
“In English please”.
“See where blackbird is. Behind him”.
“Oh you mean a rat”.
Mam then freaks out ! ! !
When she eventually calmed down (not a good time for her to be giving up smoking…), she phoned the pest control at the local council. They are sending someone out on Monday to deal with Basil – that’s what I’ve called it after ‘Basil the Siberian hamster’ in Fawlty Towers.
She rings Gloria, her next door neighbour, to tell them about Basil as it kept running into one of their bushes. Between them they decide Basil belongs to the neighbour two doors away as they keep rabbits.
Gloria then rings mam back to say she’s phoned the council and they too are coming out on Monday. They then set up a campaign to tell everyone in the street about Basil and for them to each ring the council.
Basil – your days are numbered ! ! !
Marie
“What’s what”, I replied.
“That there”.
“Where”.
“By the bush”.
“Which bush” – there’s about two dozen in the garden.
“By the ??? (some Latin name)”.
“In English please”.
“See where blackbird is. Behind him”.
“Oh you mean a rat”.
Mam then freaks out ! ! !
When she eventually calmed down (not a good time for her to be giving up smoking…), she phoned the pest control at the local council. They are sending someone out on Monday to deal with Basil – that’s what I’ve called it after ‘Basil the Siberian hamster’ in Fawlty Towers.
She rings Gloria, her next door neighbour, to tell them about Basil as it kept running into one of their bushes. Between them they decide Basil belongs to the neighbour two doors away as they keep rabbits.
Gloria then rings mam back to say she’s phoned the council and they too are coming out on Monday. They then set up a campaign to tell everyone in the street about Basil and for them to each ring the council.
Basil – your days are numbered ! ! !
Marie
Saturday, December 08, 2007
I’ve been tagged
Jenny tagged me.
Rules: Link to the tagger and post these rules on your blog. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
1: I have a phobia of thunder and lighting and loud noises.
2: I celebrated my 21st birthday in four different countries – Austria, Italy, Germany and the UK, and no I didn’t just fly over them.
3: I used to have a crush on the Manchester United and England footballer Bryan Robson (yes I know I was sad ! ! !).
4: I’ve been sworn at in every major language.
5: I used to work at the government office that lost all the child benefit data….
If you read this and haven’t yet been tagged, then consider yourself tagged ! ! !
Marie
Rules: Link to the tagger and post these rules on your blog. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
1: I have a phobia of thunder and lighting and loud noises.
2: I celebrated my 21st birthday in four different countries – Austria, Italy, Germany and the UK, and no I didn’t just fly over them.
3: I used to have a crush on the Manchester United and England footballer Bryan Robson (yes I know I was sad ! ! !).
4: I’ve been sworn at in every major language.
5: I used to work at the government office that lost all the child benefit data….
If you read this and haven’t yet been tagged, then consider yourself tagged ! ! !
Marie
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Strewth
That’s what the man at the newsagents said when we handed him our lottery ticket and he scanned it. He hasn’t had the shop very long, and it was probably the biggest payout he’s made. Actually he didn’t because he had to take us across the shop to the Post Office where we filled out a claim form and were given a cheque. Then it was off to the Bank, £2641 richer.
In case you’re wondering, we’re spending it on a new kitchen.
On the domestic front we removed the damaged garage door and extricated Marie’s car, then we fastened the door back in so the garage is secure. They’re coming on Monday 17th to fit the new door. Allegedly.
Other than that, the main distraction at the Bogof household has been preparations for Christmas which continue apace. Is it me, or are people putting their decorations up earlier this year. We counted 61 on the way to and from the supermarket tonight.
Only two more working weeks to Christmas !!!!
John
In case you’re wondering, we’re spending it on a new kitchen.
On the domestic front we removed the damaged garage door and extricated Marie’s car, then we fastened the door back in so the garage is secure. They’re coming on Monday 17th to fit the new door. Allegedly.
Other than that, the main distraction at the Bogof household has been preparations for Christmas which continue apace. Is it me, or are people putting their decorations up earlier this year. We counted 61 on the way to and from the supermarket tonight.
Only two more working weeks to Christmas !!!!
John
Monday, November 26, 2007
Garage door
As promised more news on the garage. The scientific aids came and had a good luck but sadly couldn’t get any decent finger prints. They’re still hoping to pin the garage on the two they arrested yesterday though.
Rang the insurance company and everything is fine with our claim. Because I can’t get my car out of the garage they have put the repair down as a priority.
We were told that should it be found out that the two people were responsible, then the insurance company will reclaim all costs incurred from them and we’ll most likely get our excess back.
The little assessment man from the repair company came this afternoon – he was supposed to come on Wednesday morning… He knew nothing about the Wednesday appointment, all he was told was to get there as soon as possible.
As expected the garage door is beyond repair so a new one will have to be fitted and that wouldn’t take place for at least two weeks. Not best pleased but there’s nothing we can do about it.
Unfortunately I can’t be car-less for that length of time so John is going to take the door off to let me get my car out and I’ll have to leave it at the front until it’s fixed.
Because of our lottery win, John now has to buy his work colleagues some doughnuts…
Marie
Rang the insurance company and everything is fine with our claim. Because I can’t get my car out of the garage they have put the repair down as a priority.
We were told that should it be found out that the two people were responsible, then the insurance company will reclaim all costs incurred from them and we’ll most likely get our excess back.
The little assessment man from the repair company came this afternoon – he was supposed to come on Wednesday morning… He knew nothing about the Wednesday appointment, all he was told was to get there as soon as possible.
As expected the garage door is beyond repair so a new one will have to be fitted and that wouldn’t take place for at least two weeks. Not best pleased but there’s nothing we can do about it.
Unfortunately I can’t be car-less for that length of time so John is going to take the door off to let me get my car out and I’ll have to leave it at the front until it’s fixed.
Because of our lottery win, John now has to buy his work colleagues some doughnuts…
Marie
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Attempted break in at a lottery winners home
This morning we were woken up by Alan, our neighbour upwards, to say that someone had tried to break into my garage during the night.
As you can see they did a good job of bending the garage door. Thankfully no damage was done to either of the cars or anything stolen.
I rang the police straight away and as no damage was done or anything taken it would only be classed as willful damage. They would send someone out at 2.30pm this afternoon.
I also rang our insurance company to see if emergency repairs could be carried out to either secure the door or have the hole boarded up until a replacement door could be installed. Apparently garage doors come under building contents and as the buildings claim line isn’t open on Sunday’s I’d have to call back in the morning. Not best pleased ...
John managed to put a large piece of wood between the gaping hole and my car and also put up a large sheet of plastic over garage opening to try and cover it a little.
While we were waiting for the police to come I decided to have a bit play on my computer. Having checked my various emails, I checked our lottery tickets and found that we had five numbers on last nights lottery. So we’ve won £2641.
I know you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth but I think we’re more gutted in only being one number short of winning a share of £8m than the damage to the garage door…
Anyway 2.30pm, 2.45pm, 3pm came and went and still no sign of the police. At 3.15pm I got a phone call from PC Hall apologising for not coming out as they had been called to an incident. She took a couple of details then said they had arrested two people in the area last night for car crimes and were wondering if the two were related.
She called back about half an hour later to say that the scientific aids would like to have a look at the garage door today so would we mind not touching it or securing it until they had been. They were also now classing it not as willful damage but as an attempted break in so there will be no problem in getting our insurance company to pay up.
I’ll give you an update tomorrow.
Marie
Monday, November 19, 2007
All the fours
It’s been a quite week so as there isn’t anything exciting to report I thought I’d pinch Paul and Jenny’s ‘four things’ blog.
Four jobs I’ve done
Clerk typist
Civil servant (child benefit)
Civil servant (compensation recovery unit)
Writer…
Four films I’ve watched more than once
White Christmas
Singin’ in the rain
High society
The sound of music
Four places I’ve lived
New Herrington
Houghton-le-Spring
Sunderland (twice)
Four DVD’s I watch
M*A*S*H
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (yes I’m still sad….)
Angel
Quantum Leap
Four places I’ve travelled to
Austria
America (East and West coast)
Canada
Monaco
Four of my favourite foods
Chocolate
Chips
Crisps
Cheese, especially Wenslydale and Cheshire
Four places I’d rather be right now
On a Silversea cruise
On a Silversea cruise
On a….
You get the picture ! ! !
Four things I’m looking forward to
Christmas
Our cruise in May
A brand new kitchen next summer
Winning the lottery….
Four books I’m reading at the moment
The diary of a provincial lady by E. F. Delafield
Life below stairs in the twentieth century by Pamela Horn
How We Lived Then: A History of Everyday Life During the Second World War by Norman Longmate
Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
Four Shakespeare plays that I’ve seen at the theatre
Richard II
Richard III
Coriolanus
A midsummer night’s dream
Four occupations I wanted to be or wish I could have been
Needlework teacher
Fashion/knitwear designer
Prosecuting lawyer (my motto – they’re guilty until proven innocent….)
Journalist
Marie
Four jobs I’ve done
Clerk typist
Civil servant (child benefit)
Civil servant (compensation recovery unit)
Writer…
Four films I’ve watched more than once
White Christmas
Singin’ in the rain
High society
The sound of music
Four places I’ve lived
New Herrington
Houghton-le-Spring
Sunderland (twice)
Four DVD’s I watch
M*A*S*H
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (yes I’m still sad….)
Angel
Quantum Leap
Four places I’ve travelled to
Austria
America (East and West coast)
Canada
Monaco
Four of my favourite foods
Chocolate
Chips
Crisps
Cheese, especially Wenslydale and Cheshire
Four places I’d rather be right now
On a Silversea cruise
On a Silversea cruise
On a….
You get the picture ! ! !
Four things I’m looking forward to
Christmas
Our cruise in May
A brand new kitchen next summer
Winning the lottery….
Four books I’m reading at the moment
The diary of a provincial lady by E. F. Delafield
Life below stairs in the twentieth century by Pamela Horn
How We Lived Then: A History of Everyday Life During the Second World War by Norman Longmate
Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
Four Shakespeare plays that I’ve seen at the theatre
Richard II
Richard III
Coriolanus
A midsummer night’s dream
Four occupations I wanted to be or wish I could have been
Needlework teacher
Fashion/knitwear designer
Prosecuting lawyer (my motto – they’re guilty until proven innocent….)
Journalist
Marie
Monday, November 12, 2007
They don’t make things like they used to
When we got engaged my godfather, who was clearing out his mam’s house as she had just died, asked if I would like her old ironing board.
It was a little rusty and rather heavy to lift but other than needing a new cover it would do fine until I got round to getting a replacement.
Nearly 11 years later and I finally bought a new one.
This morning the ironing board collapsed whilst I was ironing. One second it’s up and the next the board, the t-shirt I was busy ironing and the iron are flat on the floor. Thankfully I managed to pick up the iron before it did any damage to the carpet.
It would seem that two welds on one set of legs had come away.
Having a pile of ironing still to do and no board I improvised – the piano stool and a dining room chair ! ! !
Marie
It was a little rusty and rather heavy to lift but other than needing a new cover it would do fine until I got round to getting a replacement.
Nearly 11 years later and I finally bought a new one.
This morning the ironing board collapsed whilst I was ironing. One second it’s up and the next the board, the t-shirt I was busy ironing and the iron are flat on the floor. Thankfully I managed to pick up the iron before it did any damage to the carpet.
It would seem that two welds on one set of legs had come away.
Having a pile of ironing still to do and no board I improvised – the piano stool and a dining room chair ! ! !
Marie
Saturday, November 10, 2007
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month
Benouville Cemetery, NormandyWhy do you still march old man, With medals on your chest ?
Why do you still grieve old man, For those friends you laid to rest ?
Why do your eyes gleam old man, When you hear the bugles blow ?
Tell me why you cry old man, About those days so long ago ?
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Wine follow up
Following last Wednesday’s wine disaster I’m pleased to report that the carpet is no worse for wear having had a bottle of white wine spilled on it.
‘Sophie’ from Laithwaites rang on Monday to see if we needed the carpet cleaning and was most relived when I said it was fine.
She said she’d arrange for a bottle of wine to be sent to us as an apology for any inconvenience caused.
This morning we took delivery of not one, but four bottles of wine.
Now that’s what I call an apology….
Marie
‘Sophie’ from Laithwaites rang on Monday to see if we needed the carpet cleaning and was most relived when I said it was fine.
She said she’d arrange for a bottle of wine to be sent to us as an apology for any inconvenience caused.
This morning we took delivery of not one, but four bottles of wine.
Now that’s what I call an apology….
Marie
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
We've got piles ...
… of soggy kitchen towel following tonight’s wine disaster. We took delivery of two cases of wine today (stocking up for Christmas and all that) and unknown to us both cases has suffered damage in transit.
As I carried one to the cellar or “cupboard under the stairs” as we call it, the bottom fell out and one bottle shattered. All over the new hall carpet. Thankfully it was a bottle of WHITE wine.
As you can see, Marie set to work with kitchen towel and two rolls later the stain has just about gone.
I called Laithwaites, the wine merchant and they were most apologetic. We got a credit for the broken bottle and they have offered to pay for any cleaning that may be necessary.
So much for a certain blogger who says nothing exciting ever happens in the North.
As I carried one to the cellar or “cupboard under the stairs” as we call it, the bottom fell out and one bottle shattered. All over the new hall carpet. Thankfully it was a bottle of WHITE wine.
As you can see, Marie set to work with kitchen towel and two rolls later the stain has just about gone.
I called Laithwaites, the wine merchant and they were most apologetic. We got a credit for the broken bottle and they have offered to pay for any cleaning that may be necessary.
So much for a certain blogger who says nothing exciting ever happens in the North.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Having A Smurfing Time
We had some problems at work today with a file server product called Pathworks.
Anyone who knows VMS will tell you that when you get a problem with Pathworks it can be a swine to fix. But not of you know Father Abraham – he of The Smurfs fame.
HP (formally Compaq formally Digital) have their Pathworks support in Holland and my contact there, Hans Hosang sounds exactly like Father Abraham. He even has the speech mannerisms. Thankfully he didn’t sing any Smurf songs. He fixed my problem though.
On a slightly geeky note, here’s a little something for those of you who want to test their mechanical aptitude. I scored 86.
http://www.forddoctorsdts.com/quizzes/MechanicalAptitude.php
John
Anyone who knows VMS will tell you that when you get a problem with Pathworks it can be a swine to fix. But not of you know Father Abraham – he of The Smurfs fame.
HP (formally Compaq formally Digital) have their Pathworks support in Holland and my contact there, Hans Hosang sounds exactly like Father Abraham. He even has the speech mannerisms. Thankfully he didn’t sing any Smurf songs. He fixed my problem though.
On a slightly geeky note, here’s a little something for those of you who want to test their mechanical aptitude. I scored 86.
http://www.forddoctorsdts.com/quizzes/MechanicalAptitude.php
John
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Frustrating
When we arrived back from Newport conference I found an envelope waiting for me from the General Records Office. It was a copy of my Nana Dinah’s birth certificate.
She was born on 8th May 1899 and her mothers name was Elizabeth Thompson. Her fathers details were left blank. Which means she was probably illegitimate.
I tried tracing her on the 1901 census but couldn’t find her so did a trace on her mother. It turns out that who ever had transcribed the details of the census had made a typological error and had them both down as the surname of Robson. The Robson comes from a William Robson who was a border in the household.
So this now leads me down a different route, as I had originally thought that one of the two Dinah Thompson’s I found who were both born in 1899 and living in Northumberland or Yorkshire, was my grandmother.
I’ve traced the Thompson family back to the 1861 census but that’s as far I’ve got.
I don’t have a problem with Dinah being illegitimate but I am frustrated that I have now lost one branch of the family tree as I will never know who her father was.
What’s more, at aged 28, my great grandmother should have known better ! ! ! ! !
Marie
She was born on 8th May 1899 and her mothers name was Elizabeth Thompson. Her fathers details were left blank. Which means she was probably illegitimate.
I tried tracing her on the 1901 census but couldn’t find her so did a trace on her mother. It turns out that who ever had transcribed the details of the census had made a typological error and had them both down as the surname of Robson. The Robson comes from a William Robson who was a border in the household.
So this now leads me down a different route, as I had originally thought that one of the two Dinah Thompson’s I found who were both born in 1899 and living in Northumberland or Yorkshire, was my grandmother.
I’ve traced the Thompson family back to the 1861 census but that’s as far I’ve got.
I don’t have a problem with Dinah being illegitimate but I am frustrated that I have now lost one branch of the family tree as I will never know who her father was.
What’s more, at aged 28, my great grandmother should have known better ! ! ! ! !
Marie
Monday, October 15, 2007
Alive and kicking
We’re both still here only we are, and have been, pretty busy what with one thing and another – manly to do with conference…
I’m pleased to report that John has managed to fix my computer so it’s even better than it was before.
Regarding the Thistle hotel booking business. One week on and no payment has come out of my account so fingers crossed everything is fine.
I’m pleased to report that there hasn’t been another time of the month hormone episode. The chocolate and wine must have done the trick.
I’m still on the ‘totm’ (mine of late have been lasting over two weeks. They are hopefully about to change thanks to a trip to the family planning last Tuesday – that in itself is a blog but I think that might be ‘too much information’…), so lets hope I don’t need lots of chocolate and wine this weekend at Newport ! ! !
Finally received my Nana Dinah’s death certificate. She died at home on 14th July 1941 from ‘auricular fibrillation’ (in other words a heart attack) brought on by ‘mitral stemosis’. I did a bit of research on the internet and it seems that it’s a heart disease and the primary cause of it is rheumatic fever in childhood.
Must dash as I’ve still got a bit of printing to do for the conference packs…
Marie
I’m pleased to report that John has managed to fix my computer so it’s even better than it was before.
Regarding the Thistle hotel booking business. One week on and no payment has come out of my account so fingers crossed everything is fine.
I’m pleased to report that there hasn’t been another time of the month hormone episode. The chocolate and wine must have done the trick.
I’m still on the ‘totm’ (mine of late have been lasting over two weeks. They are hopefully about to change thanks to a trip to the family planning last Tuesday – that in itself is a blog but I think that might be ‘too much information’…), so lets hope I don’t need lots of chocolate and wine this weekend at Newport ! ! !
Finally received my Nana Dinah’s death certificate. She died at home on 14th July 1941 from ‘auricular fibrillation’ (in other words a heart attack) brought on by ‘mitral stemosis’. I did a bit of research on the internet and it seems that it’s a heart disease and the primary cause of it is rheumatic fever in childhood.
Must dash as I’ve still got a bit of printing to do for the conference packs…
Marie
Monday, October 08, 2007
A s***ty day
Apologies for the lack of blogs over the past week or so. There hasn’t been much to tell really.
Still waiting on the death certificate for my Nana Dinah (sorry for being a bit morbid but I need it to confirm her date of birth. Once I have that I can then obtain her full birth certificate …). Also no word from Beamish about the Pit Cottages as the curator is currently on holiday.
Without any actuate information I’ve only been able to do a rough trace of my family tree. If everything is correct then my ancestors on the Thompson side originated from Northumberland and from Yorkshire on the Archer side. I’ve yet to tackle things on my mam’s side.
Anyway about my s***ty day. Newport conference is coming up shortly so things are getting a little busy in the BOGOF household. Last night while the printer was busy churning away, I decided to look on the internet for some hotels in Heathrow as we have to have an overnight halt there when we go on our cruise next year.
I found the hotel we used the last time ‘The Thistle’ but following reviews from previous guests they only gave it 6/10. I did searches on other hotels near the airport but the other hotels were either too far out of Heathrow or were ridiculously expensive.
This morning while I was doing more printing I decided to have another look at the reviews of the Thistle. It turned out that the guests either loved the hotel or really slated it for piffling little things – the hotel didn’t provide toothbrushes or the hospitality tray in the room didn’t have their favourite kind of coffee, etc. So I decided to book it via one of the discount hotel websites.
By then the printer decided it needed a new toner cartridge so I move it forward a couple of inches to open the front and take out the old one. For no apparent reason my computer shut down, then rebooted saying their was an error with the computer. I tried switching it off but nothing happened. I eventually pulled the plug out and restarted it again. Yep, the error message came on again.
Now bearing in mind Newport conference is less than 10 days away having a dead computer isn’t really something I wanted…. Thankfully we have more than one computer in the BOGOF household so I fired up John’s computer to send him a mail asking for help or suggestions on how to bring back to life my computer.
Only one problem, I didn’t know his work email address as he’s only down in my address book as ‘John (work). B**** ! ! !
I know. I’ll fire up my laptop, connect it to the network and send him a mail from that. The network wouldn’t connect….. Double B**** ! ! !
All wasn’t lost as I now had John’s work email address on my laptop so could sent him a mail via his computer using my Yahoo email address.
I finished my email and started typing in ‘John’ in the sender box when it asked me if I wanted to send it to John at work… Triple B**** ! ! !
John came back to say sorry but he couldn’t help at the moment but would have a look at it tonight.
Back to the Thistle booking and I realised that I hadn’t been given a reference number or received an email confirmation to my Yahoo email address. Still on John’s computer I found the website again and rang the number on their website. It was a different discount hotel company…. Quadruple B**** ! ! !
I rechecked the website again and it still only had one number so I rang it again. They still had not record of my booking and suggested I contacted my bank to see if payment had been taken out of my account – I used my switch card as I refused to pay the 2.5% surcharge for using credit cards.
I rang the bank but they said it could take a couple of days for any payment to go through and there was no way it could be stopped. Quintuple B**** ! ! !
The website did have an email address so I sent them a mail asking if they would ring me. As yet no reply or phone call. Sextuple B**** ! ! !
As far as I know the booking could have been made and everything is hunky dory, however I simply don’t know. I’ll wait and see if payment has been taken then ring the hotel to see if we appear on their system. If it was a fraudulent company at least we haven’t lost that much money. Septuple B**** ! ! !
When John arrived home he was greeted with a hormonal woman (time of the month imminent) so ended up with a rather damp shoulder.
So what of my computer. John’s managed to get it up and running in safe mode to enable him to back up all my documents. He’ll then start rebuilding my machine.
After the day I’ve had alcohol and chocolate is a big must ! ! ! ! ! !
Marie
ps As I tried to log in to blogger, the laptop crashed ... Arrrgh
Still waiting on the death certificate for my Nana Dinah (sorry for being a bit morbid but I need it to confirm her date of birth. Once I have that I can then obtain her full birth certificate …). Also no word from Beamish about the Pit Cottages as the curator is currently on holiday.
Without any actuate information I’ve only been able to do a rough trace of my family tree. If everything is correct then my ancestors on the Thompson side originated from Northumberland and from Yorkshire on the Archer side. I’ve yet to tackle things on my mam’s side.
Anyway about my s***ty day. Newport conference is coming up shortly so things are getting a little busy in the BOGOF household. Last night while the printer was busy churning away, I decided to look on the internet for some hotels in Heathrow as we have to have an overnight halt there when we go on our cruise next year.
I found the hotel we used the last time ‘The Thistle’ but following reviews from previous guests they only gave it 6/10. I did searches on other hotels near the airport but the other hotels were either too far out of Heathrow or were ridiculously expensive.
This morning while I was doing more printing I decided to have another look at the reviews of the Thistle. It turned out that the guests either loved the hotel or really slated it for piffling little things – the hotel didn’t provide toothbrushes or the hospitality tray in the room didn’t have their favourite kind of coffee, etc. So I decided to book it via one of the discount hotel websites.
By then the printer decided it needed a new toner cartridge so I move it forward a couple of inches to open the front and take out the old one. For no apparent reason my computer shut down, then rebooted saying their was an error with the computer. I tried switching it off but nothing happened. I eventually pulled the plug out and restarted it again. Yep, the error message came on again.
Now bearing in mind Newport conference is less than 10 days away having a dead computer isn’t really something I wanted…. Thankfully we have more than one computer in the BOGOF household so I fired up John’s computer to send him a mail asking for help or suggestions on how to bring back to life my computer.
Only one problem, I didn’t know his work email address as he’s only down in my address book as ‘John (work). B**** ! ! !
I know. I’ll fire up my laptop, connect it to the network and send him a mail from that. The network wouldn’t connect….. Double B**** ! ! !
All wasn’t lost as I now had John’s work email address on my laptop so could sent him a mail via his computer using my Yahoo email address.
I finished my email and started typing in ‘John’ in the sender box when it asked me if I wanted to send it to John at work… Triple B**** ! ! !
John came back to say sorry but he couldn’t help at the moment but would have a look at it tonight.
Back to the Thistle booking and I realised that I hadn’t been given a reference number or received an email confirmation to my Yahoo email address. Still on John’s computer I found the website again and rang the number on their website. It was a different discount hotel company…. Quadruple B**** ! ! !
I rechecked the website again and it still only had one number so I rang it again. They still had not record of my booking and suggested I contacted my bank to see if payment had been taken out of my account – I used my switch card as I refused to pay the 2.5% surcharge for using credit cards.
I rang the bank but they said it could take a couple of days for any payment to go through and there was no way it could be stopped. Quintuple B**** ! ! !
The website did have an email address so I sent them a mail asking if they would ring me. As yet no reply or phone call. Sextuple B**** ! ! !
As far as I know the booking could have been made and everything is hunky dory, however I simply don’t know. I’ll wait and see if payment has been taken then ring the hotel to see if we appear on their system. If it was a fraudulent company at least we haven’t lost that much money. Septuple B**** ! ! !
When John arrived home he was greeted with a hormonal woman (time of the month imminent) so ended up with a rather damp shoulder.
So what of my computer. John’s managed to get it up and running in safe mode to enable him to back up all my documents. He’ll then start rebuilding my machine.
After the day I’ve had alcohol and chocolate is a big must ! ! ! ! ! !
Marie
ps As I tried to log in to blogger, the laptop crashed ... Arrrgh
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