AndyBlog

Your wish...is my command

If you fail to understand this posting, please look HERE.

Thank you.

A ladies' bag...

I decided to walk down to Huddersfield town today and visit the market, seeing as it was a sunny day, and I felt like stretching my legs.

The above is a good example of a phrase that could and should never be seen as true when coming from my lips. I actually drove into town to pay in a cheque that had lain around for over a week, and also to go to the Post Office for TL.

This afforded my the opportunity to pop in the open market which displays itself on a Monday. The pictue you see, is of the noble and worthy stall holder who chose to inform me that the bag I had selected was a ladies' bag, and to thus beg me to reconsider.

I did not relent, and you can see me wielding this wonderful carriance at every opportunity. I took this picture in open defiance of his wishes, and so therefore now own his very soul.

A brief car journey conveyed me up to the delightful rurality of Marsh. Marsh is a wonderful place, and one that I know well. I sense that I am about to know it a little better, as it turns out to be the location of Jones the Butcher. Yes, you heard me right, Jones the Butcher - just like the character in Dad's Army, the celebrated BBC comedy detailing the hilarious antics of Britain's Home Guard in WW2.

So, does he do sausages? Too right he does. Heck, yes. Quite the best sausages in the area, infact. He is very well known. His pies look interesting as well. I saw on offer a pork and stilton pie, as well as the more usual pork, apple and bacon family pie. I'm not quite sure how many families have to die to bring this delight to our tables, but I am quite sure it is entirely worth it.

I returned with Irish Sausage, Thin Pork and Thin Pork and Herb sausages. Reports will follow, but then you knew that.

Message ends.

Paint your wagon

They had a wagon painting contest in Germany, and I am rather impressed with the entrants. Here are a few of the finalists:

Differences in personality

I have long been of the opinion that different people are different with different people.

Recent events and experiences have backed up this theory to the hilt.

Have you ever been shocked, when going to a friend's house for the first time, to see how they treat other family members? I certainly have been.

When God shuts one door, He always closes another.

Ah, there's a man who's comfortable with a dog.

Nice hat work, too, thanks to Sophie. What you see there is a bloke who has just seen and been round a house that he truly has fallen in love with. Having done that, he has walked along the road a little and settled on his favourite buffet in the kitchen of I & R and begun to sip gently from a pleasant cup of cappuccino.

This is that man, after he has successfully grabbed a small dog and lulled it to sleep with stories about train engines, McDonalds' breakfasts and coastal ballyhoo - a man wearing a hat not his own. Sophie's hat.

See that house on the end?  Go on, enlarge the picture. Do this now.

Done it?  OK, now look at the house on the end...the one that looks a bit purple. See it there? That's the house that that happy man had just looked around.

Sure, it's a bit purple right now, but that can be remedied. It has so much to make it desirable. Big living room, nice dining room for me to make a shack in. A truly excellent kitchen, with good room to dine, as well as a beautiful cooker.

A garage so big that we can split it in two and still have room for a jacuzzi room and toilet as well as a car. Then a utility room for the washer...five bedrooms - two with lovely built-in units, and two bathrooms. Then a lovely little yard to the rear for barbecues.

It's all just too perfect.
This sea picture is an interesting one. We were sat here, in TL's faithful little Astra, deciding how high to bid against the other interested party for this lovely house. Having been outbid twice, quite unexpectedly, we decided to knock 'm dead and bid 3K over the asking price. It failed to work.

This other person really wanted the house, come what may. We decided to walk away. Except that emotionally I have not. I am gutted that the first house I felt I could truly commit to, is not going to be ours.

Even now, I find myself continually hoping that something will go wrong with the other purchase, and that this shining prize will be ours.

I feel dirty to have been involved in this bidding war, and regretful that my offer was not made a week earlier, when it would have been surely accepted.

Life is taking a few turns that I do not like one little bit. Griffin House simply is not selling. The buyers are pussy-footing around, and I fear they will ultimately pull out, for no good reason. Their communication has been very poor and even now I am not sure totally what is going on.

Of all the things I am so earnestly hoping and praying for right now, I just want something to take a turn for the better. Either Griffin House sells, or Liz gets a job, or we get a house to move to - something, anything. Preferably all of the above.

God, do you read my blog?

Delightfully Hampered!

The hamper. The wonderful hamper.

Thanks be to Jason and Antonia for this unstinting generosity in supplying us with the world's most amazing hamper ever. Sure, there a re bigger hampers out there, maybe even with nicer things in them - I'd rather not speculate - but this one is the most amazing because it is OUR HAMPER.

Sampling the delights of the hamper - supplied by the unerringly professional and constantly smashing Rebecca or Pride of Northumbria - is a project that will take months to complete. Well, in some cases. In the case of the chocolates, it's already all over. So, here we go with the results so far:

1: Hellish Relish

Wow!  This relish really is hellish - it's Hellish Relish. It sure is relish, but it is undoubtedly hellish. A piece of it, one atom thick, would blow most taste buds away. In light if this, my initial spoonful proved to be......unwise. To sum-up, Hellish Relish really is Hellish!

Verdict: Hellish!

2: Strawberry and Champagne Preserve

Wow! It's certainly packed full of strawberries, but the champagne is just detectable. I'm glad really, because too much alcohol taste can ruin things. Beer, for example.

We had some of this jam, with freshly baked scones and large amounts of Roddha's clotted cream and some fresh strawberries. It was OK. I'm lying, of course. It was amazing.

Verdict: Amazing.

3: Sticky Toffee Pudding

Not yet sampled - watch for part two of this tasting extravaganza.

4: Olive Oil with Blasamic Vinegar

Not yet sampled - watch for part two of this tasting extravaganza.

5: Beef Jerky

It's real beef jerky, made in Northumberland. I tried some beef jerky once in the USA and thought it was the toughest most horrible stuff I had ever eaten. This is a world away from that. I managed to eat a bit and quite liked it, much to my surprise. That said, I don't think I am in any danger of becoming addicted to it. I certainly would not describe it as shoe leather.

Verdict: Shoe leather.

6: Ross's Pickled Onions with Chillies

I've always loved pickled onions, right back from when my mother used to pickle her own. I remember all the spices laid out, and the gallons of vinegar, as well as all the jars washed till they were bright and squeaky and lined up ready. Pickles were highly regarded in our family.

This jar of loveliness brought back all the good memories, and a whole new dimension, via the chillies. Quite an experience.

Verdict: Quite an experience.

7: Orange Marmalade

Not yet sampled - watch for part two of this tasting extravaganza.

8: Raspberry Vodka

Not yet sampled - watch for part two of this tasting extravaganza.

9: Plum Chutney

A truly massive taste, but beautifully balanced. Fruity, but with a definite Zing!

Verdict: A definite Zing!

10: Chocolates

In the shape of a love heart, this hard truffles are reminiscent of a Cadbury's Whisper bar. Quite hard, and definitely dark chocolate. They're at room temperature, and yet still hard. I feel they would be more nice softerer, but you can't have everything.

Verdict: You can't have everything.

11: Goat's Cheese

Not yet sampled - watch for part two of this tasting extravaganza.

12: Lindisfarne Mead

Not yet sampled - watch for part two of this tasting extravaganza.

(I had some years ago, but prefer to taste again when we open it.)

13: Doddington Dairly Fudge

Not yet sampled - watch for part two of this tasting extravaganza.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

So, there you have it. Some amazing stuff in there - and still much to try. I will repost this entry when all the tastings are complete.

Massive massive thanks to Jason and Antonia for giving us this present. It's truly fantastic.

Johari Window

Have a look HERE and please add your insight to my Johari window.

HERE is some extra info about the Johari window, also HERE. Feel free to start your own by following the link to mine, and I will add to yours. Hopefully, we'll all learn something about ourselves.

Thanks to TL's C3 D2 for kicking it all off.

Cor!

Amazing, amazing, simply amazing!

Just click to see the movie. Thanks to Ian, Rebecca and Jason.

This just in...

From Riverside California

Ex-stripper Heather Veitch still goes to topless clubs - but she's not looking for work.

She's looking for converts. The Southern California woman is spreading her evangelical message among an unlikely flock: strippers and sex workers.

Vietch, a 31-year-old married mother of two, is a co-founder of her own ministry, J.C.'s Girls Girls Girls. Veitch even pays for lap dances, so she can talk to the strippers about God.

(There you go, R.)

Thumb-Extra (Pictures)

The getting-poorlier thumb.

It actually got much worse than this.

That little white bit covered almost all the red area in the finish.

The pressure was great and I suspected that it might burst.

Pain was reasonably impressive.

So, here was my final solution.

Takes guts to guillotine a thumb.

I raised the blade.

I brought the blade down.

...I raised the blade...

I had a little think.

Ultimately, blood, seepage and puss were inevitable.

You see my thumb pictured here, at TL's insistence, over a cup of salty water, into which I thrust it for some 5 minutes.

I used colloidal silver to protect it from infection after that.

This wonderful substance seems very effective in keeping out nasty things.

It seems to be healing now, thank goodness.

Here it is today - a little sore and with a flap of skin quite loose on the top.

The nice thing is that the pressure is gone.

Fingers crossed, all will now be well.

Thanks so much for reading this account of my poorly thumb. I hope that you are a better person for it, and have learned in some small measure a little about thumb problems and how to solve them.

Despite many insistencies from various sources, I never did take antibiotics or go to see a doctor. Maybe the body really does just sort itself out sometimes.