Jasper the Spaniel makes a new friend.

Today was a busy day, but Jasper and I went a walk along the Longdendale Trail. Jasper met a new friend who was every bit as daft as Jasper. They ran around each other, up and down and all over for about an hour. Here is a photograph of Jasper's new friend. He is called Hector and he is an Italian Spinone.

Handsome bugger, isn't he. You can see why Jasper is so taken with him, same taste in mud packs, eh?

Here is a pretty picture of Jasper walking along the path. Notice the dappled sunlight. A truly gorgeous pastoral scene. Mind you, it's probably a good job that I didn't take a photograph a few moments later when Hector the Italian Spinone burst out of the undergrowth on the right and Jasper chased him into the mud filled culvert to the top right of the picture. Within 30 seconds of taking this picture the pair of them looked like mobile mud hounds.

The joys of walking in the countryside. A demain!

 

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Sailing down the ...... Canal

I went for a trip on a canal boat today, and enjoyed every minute of it. The boat is called "Community Spirit" and is owned by the East Manchester Community Boat Project". The Boat Project was founded in 1994 and provides days out on the canal network for groups from the Greater Manchester Area. They make no charge for these days out, though they are always grateful to receive donations. The canal boat “Community Spirit” can take up to ten passengers, as well as being equipped to take two wheelchair users. The boat is centrally heated and has a small galley and a toilet with baby changing facilities.

If you haven't worked it out, most of the above was blurb that the Boat Project put out. I ended up going because one of my voluntary jobs is as the Communications Officer for my District, and we are going to provide some financial support for the project. It is a lovely, modern boat, very comfortable and easy to move around in.

We went for a trip from Ashton under Lyne to Hyde. Travelling by road that journey would take about twenty minutes along some pretty cruddy urban roads. On the canal, the journey took an hour each way, and was through lush green countryside, quite the contrast.

It was great, and I enjoyed it enormously. They provided cups of tea and coffee. They even let me steer the boat for a little while, and that was truly scary as the boat is steered with a tiller. That means that in order to change direction you have to push the tiller in the direction opposite to what you expect. You also have to remember to then reverse the direction to straighten it up. Quite, quite counter intuitive, and very scarey when there are ten other people on the boat. So I gave the tiller back to one of the crew as soon as I could.

A superb day, all in all. The weather was nice, started grey and drizzled, but got better and better as the day went on. Nice.

I'll talk to you tomorrow.

 

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The Ragpicker Dreams

Day three of trying to stick to my new Year's Resolution of writing in the Blog every day. It's already getting harder. However, Danielle reminded me that you don't have to write a lot, so let us stick with it.

Today I started with an interesting piece of news, had my breakfast, went to the Dentist. Unfortunately, my dentist has gone on Maternity leave, so there was a locum standing in. At first I thought he might have been Polish, but when I considered his name a little later I decided he might be from Latvia or Lithuania, just because of the oddness of his name. (Only odd to me I must add). Never mind, he is certainly very capable of looking after me and my teeth for the next six months, though I think that I will wait to have any serious treatment till my own Dentist returns. Not that I don't trust the new bloke, but I prefer the dentist I know to the one I don't.

I've put a fresh quilt cover and sheets on the bed, re-potted a couple of plants that were beginning to gasp for water, and that's about it. Oh, of course Jasper and I had our constitutional walk, but nothing exceptional I'm afraid. I promised that I would try to write in the blog every day, I didn't promise that I would be interesting.

However, let's just go back to that interesting piece of news. I usually look at Amazon in the morning. I love reading books and the Kindle has opened up a new world of reading pleasure for me, so I check out the 99p book of the day each morning. Today, as usual, it didn't really interest me. But while I was on Amazon I saw that Mark Knopfler had released a new album in the last couple of days. I started listening to Mark Knopfler a number of years ago now. We had gone round to some friend's house for Dinner, We'll call them Anne and Dave, mainly because that is what their names were. (Unfortunately we have drifted out of touch.) During the course of the evening they put on some quiet background music and I found I was hooked by one track. I was already a devotee of Clannad by then and one of my all time favourite tracks is "Harry's Game" from the Television Series that I never watched. But the gentle lilting refrain of that song stays with me. The song I found I was listening to that night at Anne & Dave's was very similar. It was Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits. (Anne also played some Tracy Chapman that evening and I found I was hooked on her as well.)

The next day I went out to buy Brothers in Arms. It was back in the days when buying an Album meant buying a vinyl record. I have to admit that a lot of the songs on that album were not my cup of tea, but it was worth shelling out for the whole LP just to get the one track. Brothers in Arms is, and remains, at the very top of the pieces of music that I can listen to again, and again.

I think that Brothers in Arms was the last Album that Dire Straits put out, but I started at that point buying every Album that Mark Knopfler has published. Again, I don't always enjoy every song on each of his albums, but there is always something that holds my attention. There was Golden Heart and, especially, Sailing to Philadelphia both of which have places in my all time personal top 20 of songs that I love.

 

So I shall certainly be buying this new album, which is called "Privateering". It may not be for a week or two, and I just might leave it on my WishList for Christmas, but I will get it, and I will enjoy every minute I listen to it.

Faites des beaux reves!

 

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The Raggedy Man

Sundays are always a bit different, because going to Church takes up such a chunk of the day that other things move around to fit in. On top of that, I slept really well, not waking up till half past eight. So Jasper the Spaniel got his breakfast, but no walk. That's normal and he can survive that once a week. Church itself was good, and very enjoyable. I have been going to Church all my life and I enjoy the singing, the companionship, the fellowship, but I go to Church because I have that curious thing, faith. Anyway, now is not the time to talk about either my church, or my faith, for now. So you don't need to run away.

I'm a fan of Science Fiction, I have been reading it since I was about 12. Early on my favourite writer was Robert Heinlein, and I think that I have read all of his books. Don't want to talk about favoured writers or favourite stories today, though I will admit that these days I read more fantasy that sf. However, I thought I'd just ruminate for a paragraph about the return of the Doctor. It was hown on the BBC last night, but because we were out at Stuart & Anita's Wedding Reception last night, I had to record it on my Sky+ box. I must talk about Sky and Sky+ some other time.

I started watching the Doctor in the mid 1960's, when it began and the Doctor was played by William Hartnell. I think I have seen just about every episode over the years. There is something else I can talk about another time. However, I have to say that when Matt Smith was announced as the new Doctor, to replace David Tennant, I was disappointed, I just couldn't see him in the role, he just was not the Doctor. How wrong I was. I think he has been excellent, and I have been ever so impressed by the story lines under Stephen Moffatt. I think I am in love with Amy Pond, and I do not look forward to her leaving the show, but we all learn that all good things do, eventually, come to an end.

I won't critique last night's episode, "The Dalek Asylum", I can leave that to so many others. However, I was very impressed by the character of Oswin in the story. I thought, this girl is good, I wond who she is. At he end of the show I checked out the cast list, Oswin was played by Jenna Louise Coleman. Hang on, isn't she the new companion, who is destined to replace Amy Pond this series? So I looked her up on he ubiquitous net. She is!

I read the review on Huffington Post, both the .com and the .co.uk versions. Both feature excellent reviews by different people. If you want to know what the Huff thinks about he new series of Doctor Who, they both tell you very well. I just think that Doctor Who is in good hand and I rather think it will continue to thrive. I must say that i am happy to see that the new episode has raised more questions than answers.

Bring it on!

 

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Long time, No see.

I spend far too much time writing apologies on this blog, and it's all my fault. I seem to have this habit of getting stuck into the blog and writing something, religiously, every day, and then running out of puff and letting it slip for months. Okay, in his poem "A Psalm Of Life" that rather forgotten poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, uses the phrase, "let the dead past bury it's dead" and I think that is a good starting point. So a new start today, a new year's resolution, (yes, but it is the new year starting on September 1st), I intend to write something, however small, every day. Let's just see how long it lasts.

I was unimpressed by the following item on his morning's news. "The German manufacturer of the drug thalidomide that caused thousands of babies to suffer congenital birth defects has issued its first ever apology - 50 years after the drug was withdrawn. Gruenenthal Group's chief executive said the company was "very sorry"".

I get quite hot under the collar about apologising for things that happened a long time in the past. The Pope apologising for the actions of the Inquisition in the 16th century seems bizarre to me. We cannot apologise for the actions of our forbears several hundreds of years ago. We did not commit the attrocities involved. But somehow, leaving it 50 years to apologise for Thalidomide is perverse. They knew what they had done quite immediately, but they ignored it, presumably so that they could try to avoid responsibility.

No, I regret to say that I am far from impressed by the actions of Gruenenthal.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

No pictures for you today, just a bit of a grump. Pat, my wife, says I am already a grumpy old man, but sometimes it just gets on my sharp and pointy bits.

Danielle, our friend just outside Paris, has invited us to go over to France in June and we quickly decided that this was an excellent idea. I haven't told Jasper yet as it means that he is going to be going on holiday to his favourite kennels. Still, even if I tell him, he won't really understand, that's just me being silly and anthropomorphic.

So, dates fixed, let's book the transport. Now, we have been collecting AIRMILES for years with our Tesco Shopping. If you are not in the UK when you read this (ha, that'll be the day) then the words TESCO and Airmiles probably mean nothing. For every pound we spend on our weekly shopping at Tesco the Supermarket, we get two airmiles (or so). Save them up for long enough and it gets pretty good. For instance, this time last year we went for a holiday in Florence, Italy, for my 60th Birthday. Two flights from Manchester to Florence, Italy and four nights in a 4 star hotel cost us NOTHING because it was paid for by our Airmiles.

However, nobody lets you do anything for nothing so last year British Airways (who owned and ran Airmiles), merged with IBERIA who had their own, similar system. The new company which has some fancy name like the Universal People Carrying Giant Airline Company (I made that up actually) decided to change the name of the scheme from Airmiles to AVIOS (which I think is a bit like calling a Marathon Bar - SNICKERS (It sounds good but means absolutely snit!). They also changed the rules so that you can no longer get air travel for nothing. You now have to pay a fixed amount for the Airport Taxes etc. This meant that for the two of us to fly from Manchester to Paris was going to cost us about £110.00. Still not bad.

However ..... you can still use your AVIOS to purchase tickets on Eurostar, and there is no Airport Duty at Railway Stations. So I find that I can get two tickets from London St Pancras International Rail Terminal to Paris Gare du Nord International, FIRST CLASS, for absolutely ZIP!!!!!. Not a bean, not a penny or even a Greek Euro Centime. We travelled on Eurostar First Class once before and it was really, really good. BUT, AVIOS don't work on Sunday Evening, so I won't actually be able to book this until tomorrow.

However ...... you'll notice that the Eurostar Train leaves from St Pancras in London, and we live in Manchester. Well, that's OK, we will book tickets on the railway to go down to London to connect. You cannot use AVIOS to purchase rail tickets in the UK. The Train companies will not sell rail tickets for journeys more than 12 weeks in the future (and the end of June is about 16 weeks away. If I do buy rail tickets as soon as they go on sale, I will have to pay the full standard fare which means it will cost us more than £200.00 just to get down to London. However, it seems that if you buy rail tickets six weeks before you travel you can get them cheaper, because you are buying them in ADVANCE. Hang on, am I stupid or what. It is currently about 16 weeks until we travel, but it won't be booking in Advance until six weeks before we travel. O. M. G.

Then I tried to find out if I can use my AVIOS to fly from Manchester to London, and I can and I think that, in total, it will cost just £54.00 to buy two return air plane tickets from Manchester to London (that's the Airport Taxes again). Now how ridiculous is it to end up flying to London in order to catch a train to Paris? But at this moment, it does rather look as if that is what we may end up doing, though I might ask Patricia to have a conversation with her friend Bernice who is very good on buying railway tickets.

Why cannot life be simple?

Bore da!

I think that is Welsh for Good Day and since this is March 1st, St David's Day, it seems appropriate. I was really impressed with the Google Doodle for today, and it is nice to think that they can have a bit of fun too. Here it is.

I don't have a lot of time today as I am off for drinks at the Vicarage soon. Our new Vicar, James, wishes to meet with the members of the PCC. So we are going up to his house for a meeting. We were asked to prepare the answers to two questions, "What are the Mountaintops?" and "What are the Valleys?" which seem like quite reasonable questions, and I have pondered them. I'm not sure that my views on what is good and what is bad in our Parish will be shared by my colleagues, but I don't think that I was put on earth to be anyone's rubber stamp. By the way, yes, I do believe in a God who made me but I'm not too bothered if you don't agree with me. It is your life and we must all live our lives by our own beliefs.

Jasper the Spaniel went to have a hair cut this morning. I was quite intrigued the first time that I discovered that there is a "Spaniel Cut" known to all dog groomers. Splendid. So Jasper has come home with a little punk hairstyle and he look beautiful. But then he always looks beautiful, even when he is coated with a one inch thick layer of mud, which he often is.

It has been a gorgeous day. with a bright blue springtime sky and it has been warm. I sat in the Conservatory for a while this afternoon, with the window open for some fresh spring air. Patricia actually sat outside in the sunshine, reading her newspaper. It was really good. I remember the other year it was much later in March before it really became spring like, so I hope that this is a good sign and it is going to be a good year. I'll finish with this little picture. I got the big camera out today when I took Jasper for his walk, because I thought that there might have been something nice to photograph, but there was not. However, back at home, in the garden, I found this little beauty, and it seemed very appropriate, on St David's Day, to include a little picture that pretty much sums up today.

Da Spring is sprung!