Holidays – week two

Week two started pretty much like the previous week so Saturday and Sunday were relatively quite days.

Monday and Tuesday John tackled the loft. It needed more insulation on the walls and ceiling so several polystyrene sheets were bought from Wicks (that was the order they messed up last week).

It was also a good time to go through all the stuff that had accumulated in the loft. There must have been more boxes than Pickford’s up there!!!!!!!!

Wednesday we had a day out in Weardale. We had a lovely car picnic lunch overlooking the hills near Stanhope. Then on the way home we stopped off at the Wessington pub for dinner.

Thursday we decided we’d try a new ice-cream parlour that had recently opened in Sea Road. The recent promotional flyer that had come through our door looked really enticing: a huge selection of food and ice-cream, good Wizzy access and a warm, friendly welcome - I think you can see where this is going…….

The thin tatty table menu didn’t live up to the ‘huge selection of food and ice-cream’; the no step at the entrance doesn’t count as ‘good Wizzy access’ when you have to encounter a slalom to get into the building and the ‘warm friendly welcome’ didn’t exist – we were the only customers, yet were completely ignored by the three members of staff. We walked out…..

Instead we went to ‘Subway’ for our lunch, where the staff couldn’t have more friendly and helpful. Given that Sea Road is now awash with eating establishments, I don’t think the parlour will be around for very long.

Friday we went to the Chinese again for lunch and as usual the service and food were superb.

Saturday we got Big Bertha down from the loft (she’s a huge carpet cleaner) and gave the carpets a good clean. The water that came out into the reservoir was filthy !!!!!!

We spent Sunday just chilling out and not doing a great deal – not a bad way to spend the holidays.

Marie

Holidays – week one

John’s on holiday from work for two weeks, and for once, it’s not been spent doing major DIY projects.

Saturday and Sunday were quiet days not doing very much.

Monday saw John trying to fix a persistence leak in the bathroom. So far, no water….

Tuesday I had an appointment to see the Hand (Wo)Man at the hospital. She has advised me to have surgery on my hand as it’ll only get worse. Full details will appear in the Joint Journal, when I eventually get round to typing it up…..

We then went to the Wessington Pub for lunch – two x three sausages, two fried eggs, chips and peas, followed by apple pie (no custard for me).

After that it was some retail therapy – five huge balls of wool, five pieces of fabric, two cardigans, one top, two irons and some headphones.

Wednesday we went to Alnwick to visit one of the biggest second-hand bookshops in the UK. John had been wanting to visit it for ages but we never had the time – until now. What a place it was !!!!

No sooner had John left me at ‘Cookery’ I had my eye on a 1954 four volume set on catering and a 1953 edition on ‘Good Housekeeping Complete Cookery’. John found a 1938 army manual on driving and maintaining motor vehicles – it smells like the inside of a classic car…..

After spending a fortune on those we then headed to the Metro Centre to do yet more retail therapy.

Thursday was meant to be a DIY day in the loft for John, however Wicks forgot to order his bits and pieces…. The Customer from Hell also made an appearance. Yet another problem with my prescription from Lloyds the chemist. Again full details will appear in the Joint Journal.

Friday was my birthday. The Birthday Bunny was extremely generous so I got loads of presents from him – mainly books and a two CD set of Showadywaddy, which I’m playing constantly (sorry John….).

I’m afraid there isn’t much left of my birthday cake.



Blowing my own trumpet time here as I made it – it’s yummy !!!!!

Saturday and today are more quite days.

So here’s to week two….

Marie

Keeping busy – part 1

As I’m stuck at home pretty much all of the time, stopping myself from being bored can be a little difficult. There are always things on the go.

Currently there’s:

• Two large cross stitch patterns of a tigers eye and a tiger cub
  
• A crochet blanket
• A knitted cable blanket
• Two needlepoint cushions
• Three small needlepoint scissors bags (which I picked up at the needlework class on our cruise)
• One shirt to finish off sewing, another one to to make
• Writing my second novel
• Several books to finish off reading
• Learning to play the piano and the clarinet

I’ve also been trying my hand at making bags and making models (photos of which will appear in ‘Keeping busy – part 2’).

This was my first attempt at bag making. It’s mainly scraps of material from John’s old work shirts.

I made this make-up bag from an old camisole top.

This one was my first attempt a making a patchwork bag. Again it’s made up of scraps of material. It has two flaps so you can wear it different ways.

After making three bags, and with help from my mam who’s very much into patchwork/quilting, I felt confident enough to make a proper one, using bought fabric.

It was a birthday present for Jenny (I hope she liked it !!!!!). Just for a bit of fun I quilted paw prints going up and down the bag and attached a keyring coin purse to one of the straps.

As I’ve got a huge box full of scrap bits of fabric it’s my plan to make as many bags as I can, just by using up the scraps. Thankfully a woman can never have too many bags…..

Marie

Medically speaking

Things have been very quiet in the BOGOF household – as usual – so I thought I’d briefly keep you up-to-date with all things medical (a full various of events will appear in the Joint Journal – when I eventually get them written up !!!!)

Not content with being on Kermit’s, the Man Himself and the Back Man’s consulting books, I’ve now on another two - with one more to be added later….

The first one is a pain consultant – other wise known as the Pain Man. My GP referred me to see him as my painkillers weren’t working and she’d ran out of idea’s as to what to give me. He upped the doze of one lot of the painkillers and changed the one’s I take on a night time. I go back to see him sometime in October.

The second consultant is a neurologist – other wise known as the Hand Man (even though she’s a woman. I named her that before I knew she was a female ….). Back in October I began experiencing problems with my left wrist. My GP thought it might be Carpal Tunnel Syndrome so referred me to see the Hand Man.

After performing various tests on my wrist she confirmed it was CTS. I was then sent for a further test to determine how bad it was. The test showed that I had ‘moderately severe’ CTS and the only cure is surgery.

I am now waiting on a mobile physiotherapist to come and fit me with a wrist splint to wear in bed, with an appointment to see a Hand Surgeon to be made once the splint is in place.

I finally got to see the Back Man, having waited a year to see him since my last appointment. When I saw the Pain Man he kindly explained what had happened to my back so I was pre-warned as to what the Back Man was going to tell me. He showed me my MRI scan and no wonder I am in so much pain - the vertebra had moved a huge distance away from my spine….

The only surgery that can be done is to have rods put in my spine and to try and fuse the vertebra together. However it’s a very risky operation (paralysis, loss of wee and poo functions, etc) so I’ve got to think about it and see him at the end of this month. The answer will still be the same as the one I gave him in June – no way !!!!

My ‘count to ten and smile’ attitude to life is getting harder to do. My GP isn’t sure if it’s the cocktail of 31 tablets I take each day that’s causing it or it’s everything just catching up with me. Counselling is out so I’ve got two months to see if things settle down, then I have to go on the happy pills…..

Marie

A chip off the old block

My good friend Janice comes over every week to see me. She broke her leg in January and is still in a bit of pain from it.

“I must nip to the loo”, she said.

As she was climbing the stairs I shouted up to her, “if you can’t manage, I’ll send Gordon up to you…”.

“Marie !!!!!!”, she shouted, “just wait until I tell my husband what you said”.

What I should have said was “if you need any help getting up or down the stairs, I’ll send the stairlift up to you”.

Good bye motherisms, hello marieisms….

Marie

PS more entries from the Joint Journal will be up soon. Watch this space for more details.

The end of an era

I’m afraid I won’t be publishing anymore of my mam’s motherisms on the blog from now on.

She has become a silver surfer and is now reading the blog….

At first she was a bit hesitant about using the internet, but using our spare dongle for a few months, she became so hooked on it, that she decided to get broadband installed.

The annoying thing is she’s got fast broadband speed than us !!!!!

Marie

Bootifull

On Saturday we had to go into the Metro Centre, primarily to visit Boots. John’s eye test was due and I need to speak to the manager about a complaint.

Normally every two years when John has his eyes tested, he has to have new glasses.

He has ‘seven to 10 day eyes’ so a fortnight, all inclusive, holiday to Spain is cheaper than his spectacles….

I nearly fell out of Wizzy when John came out of his examination to say his eyes were fine and no new glasses were required. Yippee !!!!

We then went to find a manager as I needed to become ‘the customer from Hell’.

Before we went on our cruise we bought, as always, their own brand factor 50 sunscreen. I have an allergy to the sun (by the wonderful name of Polymorphic Light Eruptions), plus I burn really easy, so need to have a high sun factor.

After washing our holiday clothes we found that the sunscreen had badly stained several garments – one of John’s shirt and six of mine.

I rang Boots Head Office and explained what had happened. No problem, said customer service, just go into any Boots store with the receipts for the garments and we’ll give you a refund.

“I don’t have the receipt for John’s shirt”, I explained, “as it’s a couple of years old, and I’m a dressmaker, so made all my shirts”.

“Oh”, she said, rather slowly, then several seconds later said, “they’ll sort something….”.

We spoke to a manager who too went ‘Oh’, when we explained about my shirts. She went off for a few minutes then came back to say she’d had a chat with the General Manager and they were prepared to offer me cash for the garments.

“So”, she said, “it’s bartering time. How much do you think it’ll cost to replace your garments”.

That really was a tough one because it’s not that simple to put a price on a handmade garment.

“I’ve been told I can go up £50. Will that do….”, she asked.

So before our next cruise I’ve got to go fabric hunting to make six shirts. It’s a hard life !!!!!!!

Marie

Rant

Some of you may know that cycling is a sport that is perceived to have a drugs problem. I choose my words carefully here, not because there is no drugs problem – there is a drugs problem – but because there is a perception problem. If you believe all you read, cycling is awash with illegal drug taking, but other sports are not. Anyone over the age of 50 will probably bring up the tale of Tommy Simpson, who asphyxiated on Mt Ventoux during the 1967 Tour de France. It turns out that the amphetamines he took were standard issue to United States Air Force pilots to keep them awake on long flights. It’s all a matter of perception.

The winner of last years Tour de France, Alberto Condador was banned recently for testing positive to a minute amount of clenbuterol, an anabolic steroid. That the amount was too small to have affected performance, and that he was tested on a rest day would add some credence to his assertion that it came from infected meat. This is possible, and has been documented in medical publications. I’m not making any comment on the rights and wrongs here. If the man used banned substances then he needs to be punished.

The Spanish authorities (who have a quite lax interpretation of drug offences) banned him for one year, then reduced the ban still further. At this point, WADA (the World Anti Drug Agency) who oversee drug policies and who maintain the list of banned substances and practices took exception and appealed against the decision. They were determined that Alberto would not get away with it.

Then, a few weeks ago, their stance softened, and they decided to wait until August to hold a hearing, thereby allowing Alberto to compete in this years Tour de France, which is held in July. Many other cyclists were either angry that they were going to have to compete against a cheat, or unhappy that the matter could not be decided quickly.

This week, WADA announced that maybe the rules regarding clenbuterol need revising because of the (rather remote) possibility of ingesting the substance from contaminated meat.

Of course this has nothing to do with the fact that currently there are five football players who have tested positive and are claiming the same defence.

As I said at the beginning it’s all a matter of perception.

Lounging Around

OK, by now you’ve probably guessed that we are home. The last day of the cruise was a bit odd. We got to Portofino and the ship anchored a mile or two off shore. As you can see, we had company.

We were going to get the tender ashore, but the sea had other ideas. It was a bit rough, in fact so rough that the ships crew were confined to the ship, in case it got worse and they couldn’t get back. In truth it was probably a bit to rough for Marie to get on and off the tender but I was going to give it a try. That is until we saw people coming back from the tender embarkation deck. Soaked to the skin. It was that bad.

So we stayed aboard and minded out own business. The ship left at about 7 pm and ran into a storm with winds of 45-50 mph. Quite an interesting day.

So we headed home the next morning. Now as has already been said, we had business class tickets, so at Rome airport we got to use the business lounge. Very nice. Comfortable seats, tea, coffee, wine and spirits plus snacks free of charge. But nothing compared to the business lounge at Heathrow Terminal Five. First of all it’s massive, and has every kind of seating arrangement, plus free wi-fi. Then there’s the food. You want a salad. No problem, or would you prefer pasta, or maybe soup and a roll, or breakfast cereal, or biscuits, or crisps. All there, and all free. Then there’s an entire wall laid out with bottles of wine, and fridges full of beer and soft drinks. Neither of us had ever seen anything like it.

But now we’re home. Our luggage made it without losing anything, three suitcases and a wheelchair on four flights, which is something of a miracle. That’s all for now, but there will be more to come, plus maybe a few more pictures.

Catching Up

We're in Livorno, and I'm sitting in the Panorama Lounge, up on deck eight. This is at the rear of the ship and has large windows giving views on three sides.



I won't burden you with the outside views as Livorno is an industrial port, with containers, ferries and ship repair facilities. It's not what you would call pretty, but it's the nearest port to Florence, Pisa and Tuscany in general. We're staying on board, because although Florence is a lovely city, it's also a two hour bus ride away.

But we're getting a little ahead of ourselves. We spent the first half of yesterday at sea, en route to Ajaccio, the principal city of Corsica. The morning was misty, so the Veranda view shows less than usual.



The mist cleared as we reached port, then caught up with us as we docked. We were between two enormous ferries, the one on the left, being in Corsica, had the only name possible.



The other, with a refreshing originality, was called the “Mega Express”.

This is the Captain, on the left, as we docked.



We found Ajaccio to be the usual tourist trap, with the usual gift shops (no, we didn't buy anything this time). It was also a bit scruffy, in that southern French way. I suppose you could call it local colour. Sometimes I'm glad we take these cruises for the experience and not the destinations. Still, tomorrow is Portofino which promises to be much better. Last night for example was about as good as it gets. We were in the restaurant and the sun was setting. There was a slight mist on the horizon, which gave the sky a sort of pinkish hue, which in turn made the sea a very very light blue with splashes of gold, punctuated by dolphins leaping out of the water right beside the windows.

As you might expect, the food has been as good as ever. We've dined on venison, wild boar and sea bass, but we gave the frogs legs and the eels a miss last night. For the rally adventurous (and rich) there is a premium dining experience which provides seven or eight courses, which a vintage wine matched to each. Yours for $200. The venison and wild board etc. is good enough for us.

So today we are in Livorno, and on getting up and looking out of the veranda we found a water tender alongside. Not sure if we are taking on fresh water, or unloading waste, or both. Just as long as they don't get the hoses mixed up ..
.

So So Busy

Sorry there was no blog yesterday, but there was just SO much to do. What with wandering round Palma, sitting out by the pool, and all that eating and drinking, the time just flew by.

We didn't arrive until 9 am so the veranda view was taken as we were still entering the port.



Today we are in Mahon, and sadly we're on the wrong side of the ship so the view isn't the best on the Island, but it's not so bad. It shows the old governors residence from the days when Mahon was British.



We spent the morning along the waterfront, looking at adverts in yacht dealer windows, for yachts from £80K to £3M. The we made our way into town for a little light shopping before returning to the ship for lunch. It's getting quite hot now. This afternoon it was 85 farenheit (which is about 28 or 29 celsius),



Tomorrow we're in Ajaccio, somewhere we've never been before. And finally, we've booked another cruise for next year. End of June from Barcelona to Venice, taking in Lipari and Dubrovnik on the way.

All At Sea

Today is a “day at sea” day. We left Cadiz at 11pm last night and we are due to arrive at Palma de Mallorca around 8 am tomorrow morning, We passed through the Straits of Gibraltar at 4:20 this morning so today's veranda view is somewhere south of Malaga.



It's a pleasant 20-22 degrees (70 Fahrenheit in old money) so most people are sitting by the pool at the moment. We're there at present, blogging and drinking Pimms.





The cruise is as good as it has ever been, and the staff just get better and better. On the first night when we arrived at the restaurant the Maitre 'D stepped out from behind his lectern, held out his hand and said “Hello Mr & Mrs Harper. Lovely to see you again”. It's been three years since our last cruise. What kind of memory do these people have. We've seventy two hours in and just about every member of staff is calling us by our names. That's service.

Really the only difficulty we're having to trying to decide which cruise to book for next year.

And finally, if you want to see where we've been …

Y Viva Espana

Today we are in Cadiz.

We're moored in a cruise and container terminal so today's veranda view isn't very inspiring, but the view from the stern is much better, showing the gold dome of the cathedral.





This morning we took a stroll round the town, which is mainly narrow streets, little more than alleyways, connecting small squares. Very nice to look at but hard to photograph as all you can see are walls.

Since you asked, last nights meal with the shore program manager was excellent. There was us, a dentist from Australia and his wife, and a dealer in commodities and his wife from Stow on the Wold. It must have been a good night because we spent three hours at the table and missed the show in the theatre.

It's a day at sea tomorrow so we'll need to get down to the pool deck early if we want a seat.

A tale of three airports

In which Marie and John leave home at an unearthly hour, experience the best and the worst of air travel and START THEIR HOLIDAY CRUISE.

We set off yesterday morning at 4:30 am (don't ask what time we got up) and headed for Newcastle airport. As this is the first time we have traveled with a wheelchair it was always going to be an interesting experience. The staff at Newcastle were very good. We were allowed to use the fast track security lane and the security staff were helpful. We were given assistance from the gate to the flight but sadly Whizzy, Marie's wheelchair had to go in the hold. This meant we were unable to make our own way through Heathrow. The flight was uneventful, except we shared it with one of the Milliband brothers. I can never remember which, but it was the uglier of the two.

Then we got to Heathrow. We were taken off the aeroplane on one of Heathrow's wheelchairs, and left. Now we had no more then ninety minutes to go from terminal five to terminal three to board a flight to Lisbon. We waited. And waited. Eventually I went to look for help and found a BA customer service desk. They were apologetic and promised help. It finally arrived and we were on out way to terminal three. This took more then half an hour. Worse was to come. The person assigned to escort us to the gate was late. Then he stood doing something with his computer while his colleague screamed at him that we were running out of time. Eventually I had to take the boarding passes from him head for security myself, pushing Marie and dragging the hand baggage. This got our man motivated and we reached the gate with less than ten minutes to spare.

Now we get to see the best of air travel. As part of the cruise deal we got business class seats. What an experience. Instead of three by three seats it was two by two, with lots of legroom. Then they brought round the drinks, and we got a glass of wine, in a real glass, made of actual glass. Lunch was amazing. Real china plates and a china teacup. Proper metal knives and forks, and excellent food too. Marie's coffee was a bit too strong for her (if you know Marie you will understand this) so they actually made her another, exactly the way she wanted.

And so we reached Lisbon. Here the assistance staff were very good (and spoke better English than the Heathrow staff). All three bags arrived which we regarded as something of a miracle, and we were reunited with Whizzy, Some minor damage but easily fixed.

The the holiday could begin. We are on the Silver Cloud, sister ship the the Silver Wind, venue for out 2006 holiday (See “Holiday Pictures” in the sidebar). This is the view from our veranda in Lisbon.



And this is our suite, looking in from the Veranda.



Today we are in Portimao in the Algarve. The Veranda view isn't exactly inspiring, but the view on the other side, overlooking the port and lots of timeshare villas is better.



Tomorrow we are in Cadiz but tonight we are dining with one of the officers. This came totally out of the blue as those in “normal” suites don't normally get this. And finally, I packed to pair of decent black shoes to wear with my dinner suit on formal nights, such as tonight. When we returned after our suite had been serviced, we found that my shoes had been taken away, polished within an inch of their life, and returned wrapped in tissue. Amazing.

Sew busy

So what’s been happening in the BOGOF household since we last blogged.

At the end of March, we, along with my mam, went away for a few days. We set off on the Thursday to our hotel in Hockley Heath.

Thanks to the glorious weather on the Friday, we had a change of plan. Instead of going to the NEC, we went to the Black Country Living Museum.

We’ve been there several times before but it was a first for my mam and a first for me in Wizzy. I’m pleased to report that their Wizzy faculties are really good.

On the Saturday we went to the Hobby Craft exhibition at the NEC. Other than possibly buying some fabric, I wasn’t expecting to purchase anything. However the lure of the sewing machine stands were too much, so after a couple of demonstrations, I bought myself a new overlocker and John very kindly bought me a computerised sewing machine.

Before we went into the craft exhibition, my mam wanted to buy a bottle of water, so whilst we were waiting for her, someone came over to say ‘hello’.



There was a memorabilia exhibition also taking place that day and several characters (Darth Vader, Spiderman, Storm Troupers etc) were wandering around the NEC saying hello to people.

My new sewing machine and overlocker really came in handy as my sewing for our cruise is well underway. So far I’ve altered nine summer tops, made four skirts, two shirts and one dress. Another dress is nearly finished and there’s still three more to make. With only four weeks to go before our cruise I’m hoping to have them made in time.

Marie

A stitch in time

My hands are going to be pretty busy for the next few weeks making clothes for our cruise – 10 weeks and counting !!!!!

I’ve got two formal and three cocktail dresses to make, along with three skirts and a couple of shirts.

I’ve also got to alter several of my sun tops. They need a bit more fabric adding to the sides as the style of them isn’t Wizzy friendly.

One your marks, get set, sew….

Marie

Pluming the depths

Yesterday morning, shortly after John had left for work, I went into the bathroom and noticed that the water in the loo was higher than it should normally be.

I gave the loo a long flush to see if that would clear what ever blockage there was. That only made the water level rise even more.

Taking the loo brush I gave the loo a couple of good pokes. The water instantly turned chocolate brown and bits of poo started to float to the surface. Yuck !!!!!!!!

I gave the loo another couple more pokes. More poo appeared. Double Yuck !!!!!!

I rang my mam to see if she knew how to unblock a loo. Her suggestion, other than what I had already done, was to try and get some wire to see if that would unblock it.

As wire was John’s department I said I’d have to phone him at work to see where it was kept.

“Until I can get the blockage clear, when you come through this morning you’re going to have to use a bucket when you need a wee”, I told her.
“I’m not using any bucket”, she exclaimed, “I’ll just use the loo as normal”.
“What!! Pee in that gunge”, I replied.
“Yes. What’s wrong with that”.
“Mam, you’re disgusting!!!!”, I said, shuddering at that the thought.

John was still on his way into work so I rang his office and left a message for him to give me a ring when he arrived.

He rang back about 10 minutes later.
“The wire’s in the shed”, he said, “but I don’t think that will work. Why don’t you try putting a freezer bag round the loo brush, as that will give it a good seal, then give it some really vigorous plunges”.
“How vigorous”, I asked.
“As hard as you can, and then some”.

For a person with a bad back and only one good leg, that wasn’t going to be easy….

Donning my rubber gloves again, and praying that they didn’t have any holes in it, I wrapped two freezer bags around the no longer white loo brush, then immersed my hand into the brown water and plunged, plunged, plunged.

Success !!!!!!

Alive and kicking

Just a quick blog to say we're still here....

Things have been very quiet in the BOGOF household so there hasn't been anything exciting to report.

Normal service will be back shortly - especially as we're getting close to our cruise !!!!!

Marie

Burns Night

An Englishman is being shown around a Scottish hospital. At the end of his visit, he is shown into a ward with a number of patients who show no obvious signs of injury. He goes to examine the first man he sees, and the man proclaims: "Fair fa' yer honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain e' the puddin' race! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, painch tripe or thairm: Weel are ye wordy o' a grace as lang's my arm." The Englishman, somewhat taken aback, goes to the next patient, and immediately the patient launches into: "Some hae meat, and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it, But we hae meat and we can eat, And sae the Lord be thankit." This continues with the next patient: "Wee sleekit cow'rin tim'rous beastie, O what a panic's in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty, Wi bickering brattle. I wad be laith to run and chase thee, Wi murdering prattle!" "Well," the Englishman mutters to his Scottish colleague, "I see you saved the psychiatric ward for the last." "Nay, nay," the Scottish doctor corrected him, "this is the Serious Burns unit."

Belated Happy New Year

So what’s been happening in the BOGOF household. Not a great deal I’m afraid.

We had a wonderful Christmas. Santa was extremely good to us so we got lots of lovely presents. As we had my Mam on Boxing day (she went to my sisters for Christmas day) we had to give her the full turkey and all the trimmings. My sister doesn’t ‘do’ a tradition festive lunch so it’s a hard life having to have two Christmas feeds in two days !!!

New Year was celebrated with some good friends who were able to make the journey ‘up north’ to Sunderland. The sticky sausages, cornbeef pie and New Years day chocolate (forget about the calories…) fondant went down really well.

Thanks to Jan, I bought myself a Kindle with some of my Christmas money. I’d been interested in the e-book readers for a while but hadn’t been able to have a good look at them. Jan had just bought herself a Kindle and had it with her so gave me a full guided tour of what it can do. 24 hours later I bought one…

I’ve managed to put my entire classic book collection on the Kindle (as they are out of copyright, most, if not all, of the books are free to download either from Amazon or other ebook sites). This is brilliant as I can now put the classic books in the loft, get three book shelves back, and fill with books that I don’t want to go on the Kindle. Marvellous !!!

Marie