March 25, 2005
HERE AGAIN! TODAY IS BLOGGING DAY!
A road sign seen in Brighton when I was last over there:
HEAVY PLANT CROSSING I thought this was very funny!
Gas (petrol) was then selling at 79 p a litre! That is about $2 a litre!!!
Roundabouts are a way of life if you are driving in England and driving is not recommended for the faint-of-heart! The traffic is on the other side and all the car controls are to the opposite side.
Anyway, to survive roundabouts, watch signs--if you're going ahead, get in the right lane. Traffic to your right has the right of way, so zoom across once the way is clear! The roundabouts tend to slow down the traffic and helps it flow smoothly through a multi junction arterial road.
In the supermarkets in England there is much more choice available. Produce is ready prepared, chopped for stews or curries. Yogurts--a good wide choice especially Greek, and a real variety in flavours. Indian food is now more popular than Chinese for take-aways.
Fish and chips, once a really cheap meal, are now a luxury! 1 piece of haddock(medium size) was 2 pounds and 50 p. about $6.50. and an order of chips cost 99p--about $2.50 when I was there.
Still, everyone makes more money and there is an air of prosperity about that didn't exist in the 50's.
Some Gawain snippets!
i stayed with him and Becky while I was there and met their two children, Callum and Natasha--beautiful kids! They live in Dorset, in Southwest England, lots of rolling hills and near the ocean. Gawain trained at Poole for his underwater stuff among othe places. He told me while I was there that one of his friends, Phillip, was part of a 4 man crew and they hoped to cross the Atlantic in a rowboat. I don't know if they did accomplish this.
He also dives with pure oxygen--very toxic--a 6m.. depth limit or nasty results!Thery swim at 4 to 5m
NO BUBBLES show with the oxygen as they are rebreathing their own air. but the air gets very hot.
This is used to do undercover work.
He was going to Norway and has also been to Brunei, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Key West, Belize and Iraq when the war was on.
He is working on his home doing renovations and is building a guest cabin in his yard!
I will try and find the photo of him in the jungle.
Gawain was married before to his first wife Violet.and they had two boys--Dwain (19) and David (18) those ages were when I was there. Dwain had applied for the Marines in the Spring, so I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him following in his Dad's footsteps!
Dominic married a woman called Jude and they had 2 boys, Lynley and Theo. I saw them very briefly while on my last evening there.
I met up with Moya and we had a meal out. At that time Lara was 15 and has her tongue pierced and a diamond tooth! She was in hairdressing school. Zoe was 12 when I last saw her and seemed to be her usual harum scarum self with the deep voice!
Moya hasn't kept in touch since Sallie died and I feel sad that she hasn't written--oh well, maybe one day.
I have to stop for a supper break! Hope you enjoyed my blog today!! Please comment--thanks!
love Mom xoxoxo
Posted by Cas at 4:11 PM | Comments (3)
February 21, 2005
THIS IS ONE SUCKER OF A BANANA PILE!!
Well. for all you banana lovers--this one takes the cake!
It was built as a sculpture in Trafalgar Square in London, England and created quite a sensation!
I have just finished reading the "Eats,Shoots and Leaves" book I was telling you about. Here are some other emoticons mentioned in the book--just for the fun of it!
smiley :-)
sad :-(
winking ;-)
:-r sticking its tongue out
mixed up :-/
dunce! <:-)
pouting! :-[
surprise! :-O
I'll bet you could all invent some of your own and share them with us all!
I have to go to Winnipeg on Mar.2nd for a check up and I managed to do something to brighten up my life! I bought a ticket to Miss Saigon!! :) :) It runs for 2 weeks. I have seen it 1 1/2 times before! You may ask about the half a time seeing a show as well as the whole time! I saw it once, in its entirety in London and another time when I went over to England with my 2 friends, my brother John had bought us tickets. The show was progressing nicely when all of a sudden the lights went on and they asked us to evacuate the theatre!! What!! Apparently, we found out later that the IRA had phoned in a bomb threat and the police had cordoned off the whole block. As we were in the fairly cheap seats, it took us ages to go down about 8 flights of stairs and out. We all decided not to risk going back inside as I am sure it would take longer than 20 mins. to check the theatre for bombs!!
Today is another quite cold day. Oh, well, February weather! Guin got home safely last night and was quite tired after the trip.
Time for a short break--tired eyeballs!
CU L8er!
Carol :)
Posted by Cas at 2:44 PM | Comments (3)
February 16, 2005
PARROTS IN DRYDEN?!
Aren't these birds just beautiful! We've had so many birds just lately that we should buy shares in a bird seed company! they sure love the black sunflower seeds!
Another very cold day, wind chills of 28 below. But still not as bad as January!
We watched another episode of "Lost" tonight and tomorrow night "Survivor" is on again. It was good last year, so I hope they continue with their watchable episodes.
OK--question for my audience! What are your favourite TV shows--in the winter! If I were to ask what the summer favourite ones were I would get Windsurfing from Woody and Guin and probably Steph and margot too.!! Come on==participate!!
Has anyone else watched "Shaun of the Dead' yet? It was so funny!
Guin is off to Winnipeg with her synchro team this weekend for competitions and Allen is going up too and will fly to Toronto to scope out some probable places to stay and also check out space at his parents house for temporary accomodation.
We had a wonderful Valentine supper on Monday.Guin and I had prime rib at the Lodge. Roy had Chicken Kiev and Allen had pork medallions. I had cappuccino ice cream for dessert--sinful!!
Time for a break!
Posted by Cas at 8:52 PM | Comments (5)
February 11, 2005
LOTS OF SNOW THIS WINTER!
Just a glimpse of our snow piles, one day Shelby, Allen, Guin and Alf were all shovelling their little hearts out! Guin said she felt like jumping into the pile below the deck!
Well, we watched "The Grudge" last night and although it was scary, it wasn't the scariest movie I've seen. I still think "Alien" is one ot the top ones and also "The Serpent and the Rainbow". Has anyone else seen "The Grudge" yet and what is your opinion on the movie? Watching movies is very subjective and you bring your own fears and expectations to the viewing experience. Sometimes, too, there is a lot of media hype and people get brainwashed and say they were scared just to be with the "In Crowd".
Do you agree?
We had the most delicious mac and cheese that Allen made last night and we have enough leftovers for supper.--yum!
Shelby's check up went well. She doesn't have to go back until April. Right now, all she had to pur on the wound is bactogras ointment for 10 days and then vitamin E cream and a waterproof band-aid. She is just so happy about the results!
It's a bit warmer today, only around 2 above--yeah!
Well, time for a supper break! will talk later or type in a puzzle!
Posted by Cas at 4:56 PM
February 7, 2005
Symphony Tonight
brief break--Alan just popped in for a visit.
It;s cold out today again, wind chill of 31 below.
Tonight is the Thunder Bay Symphony concert, so we are looking forward to it! It's just wonderful having the new auditorium for stuff like this.
Shelby left for her check up in Winnipeg yesterday, her friend Christine went with her for a change.they were looking forward to doing a bit of shopping after the check up!
I have to break for lunch and will type in a new Logic puzzle after xoxox
Posted by Cas at 11:29 AM
November 12, 2004
The Greatest Canadian!
Has anyone been watching the series the Greatest Canadian? The final list has been narrowed down to 10 people and the website for voting in case you are interested is cbc.ca/greatest or the phone number is 1-866-303-VOTE
My final 3 have to include Frederick Banting, Tommy Douglas and Lester B. Pearson and I think I will choose Banting because his discovery of insulin has affected so many people all over the world. I don't think any sports personalities should be on the list, especially Don Cherry! Who on earth nominated him! Sports lovers will doubtlessly choose Gretsky and Trudeau will be on some lists. Well, I must now vote, so pause here!......................
Posted by Cas at 11:51 AM
November 8, 2004
Fruit flies!
Just heard on C.B.C. radio coming home from Tai Chi, that the scientists have succeeded in cloning fruit flies! They cloned about 200 so far, but they are not too healthy. They are going to research the reason for this. The eggs of the fruit flies are larger than mammalian eggs! e.g. women's--hard to believe!
Howard Keele died yesterday--he was a well known singer and Hollywood star and made many musicals too.
Tomorrow Brad, Josh and Steph are coming for supper! Allen is making dessert and I will make Lasagna, etc.
Have a good evening!
Posted by Cas at 8:44 PM | Comments (3)
October 18, 2004
Meet my new friend!
This axolotl is a salamander that mates and grows without shedding its gills! Guin said it looks like something Jim Henson would have created! I think it looks very friendly!
Here is another common mix-up in grammar! It's and its--try and remember, if you can say "it is" you can use it's, otherwise it is the other its e.g. the dog wagged its tail!
Here is another word for the junior bloggers to find out the meaning of! "entourage".
Today is still pretty cool! A Partridge flew into the downstairs window and ended up with a broken neck, so it became Alfred and Garra's supper--Alan said he didn't feel like taking all the feathers off!
Posted by Cas at 5:56 PM | Comments (1)
September 30, 2004
September 30 already--oh no!
Today is getting distictly cooler with a possibility of the white stuff--the F word--e.g.flurries--don't even say it out loud! Yesterday was just gorgeous, real Indian summer weather.
Alan had to go and bring my golf cart home today to be stored in the garage for winter--boo hoo!
Shelby and I went shopping today as she had various bills to pay and groceries to get,so she treated me for lunch at Tim Horton's--nice treat! They had a new special--very nice Chicken and roast red pepper sandwich.
Guin is a real help getting the wrinkles ironed out of my blog! I just lost yesterday's tech. stuff because I had taken too long to type it! I still have to learn about the photos etc.
Tonight "Survivor" is on so we will all be glued around the TV!
There was a very good Mystery on CBC the other night--2 parts, called "Prime Suspect". It was a BBC
production and they are usually very good quality.
Last night Roy and I went to see the concert "Don Herron and Friends" in the High School auditorium.
This will be the last concert in the High School as the new auditorium is just about finished.
It will have theatre type seating so everyone will have a good view of the stage, it will just be wonderful!
The concert itself was OK but not really special. Don Herron plays the role of Charlie Farqueson, a funny character. The mike was a problem as some of the words were not clear. There was also a woman playing bells, rather boring, a dancer not bad--she did flamenco, jazz and tap. Another woman played a fiddle and a guy played a guitar. There was a good singer--voice like Nat King Cole, who got my vote. All the performers were over 50 and belong to a special performing union or something.
I will post my Logic puzzle tomorrow!
Have a good day!
Posted by Cas at 4:34 PM | Comments (2)
September 28, 2004
My first post!
Hi everyone! I am entering the brave new world of the Blogs!
Today was a fantastic Indian summer day, so I phoned up my 82 yr. old friend Midge and we had a last golf game for this year-boo hoo! I am forever grateful I could get in any games this year because of my stupid ankles and hernia--soldier on!
Today is my dear grandson David's birthday, so Happy, Happy and yesterday was Sally's so a belated Happy! We all miss you!
Yesterday I made an old English traditional sandwich, a "Chip Butty"! This is two pieces of bread and in the middle you put lots of home made french fries, mmm! It's more common in the North of England than the South.
Just finished watching the "Father of the Pride"--what a funny show! I love the characters!
Reading today? I'm in the middle of the Peter Robinson series of murder mysteries. Started off in my teens with Agatha Christie, of course, and have read widely in other kinds of books--e.g. science fiction, travel, novels, serious non-fiction, best sellers, cereal boxes. etc.! I remember being very frustrated at not being able to read cereal boxes when I was 3yrs. old and also some early school readers which I'd go out and buy with my spending money!
Historic memories--what are yours? Of course, 9/11 is now part of our psyches and I have various other historical ones--the assassination of JFK and Martin Luther King. The end of WW11, the Blitz, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I am giving my age away! I am proud of my age! I am now 69yrs. young!
Do you know any neologisms? You can usually find them in the press.
When I get a bit more organized I will post some pictures and try to do stuff like Alan does!
Posted by Cas at 7:53 PM | Comments (9)
September 27, 2004
Hello!
This is a test entry on the blog I set up for my mom! I love you mom!
Posted by Cas at 9:51 PM | Comments (2)