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Greetings from me too!

I wish!!

You just reminded me... Won a Tenner on the Thunderball.. :)

The long promised warm weather is taking its time arriving here. They said the wind would ease. It's got stronger. They said it would be really warm. It isn't. They said the cloud would thin. It didn't. I demand a refund!!

Ohh right.. Only very slightly then.... The so-called Top Valley, is on the corner of what was one of Jarve Goddard's fields, belonging to Southglade Farm. Also, the closest road to it, even after Gala Way was built, is Southglade Rd. Top Valley, or Topvalley Farm was further North and East. So it would have been more accurate to call it Gala Southglade.

Would that be Gala Top Valley? (Which is misnamed, because it's not in Top Valley) Anyway.. good luck to her..

Haven't been for a walk for a couple of months. Really not like me, but what with all the stuff going on with the 'itch', redecorating and so on... not to mention a sore knee.. Anyway, Sunday afternoon I finally decided to get off my butt and do a short walk. Up out of the estate, along a farm track, out onto the fields, down between the crops to the little bridge over the brook, back along the brook and out onto the road through the houses and back home. Probably less than a mile, but a start. It was overcast, but warm. The views out across the fields, even without going far up '

I like to think that I'm pretty good at Letter Writing. I can make my case.. tell a story.. sympathise, converse with a friend..lover..or whatever. Trouble is.. very few people can read my writing. It's always been terrible. It's why the evil Mr Deakin forced me to practice writing in his study at primary school... because he knew I was a genius.. but people wouldn't know if I couldn't write legibly. I would dearly like to write letters in elegant script, and post them on pale blue paper.. But word processed and printed on off white or very pale blue paper is as clo

Indeed. And how that speaker is supposed to be heard from there..... Where's the other one?

It seems to me that it is Fearnley-Whittingstall who has changed the subject. He's gone from a full on carnivore, to some sort of healthy eating environmentalist tree hugger. Whether he's had a genuine 'Damascene' conversion, or just has an eye to his ratings.. is another matter.. Cynical?.. Moi?... Anyway, I'm not having breakfast.. it's too late. May have a bacon butty for lunch though.. :)

His Dad was an Engineer on the site at the bottom of Southglade Rd when they were tunnelling through the hill to make a drain across to the Leen via Boowul Common. I had a couple of chats with him. I have Alvin's last album.. which I think is called 'Further On Down the Road'.. Must dig it out. So much music.. so little time...

Does anyone else grow Hibiscus? Mrs Col bought a little Hibiscus years ago. I planted it in a border and it took around ten-fifteen years to become a large and wide shrub... about 6 feet plus high and wide. It was only after last year's very hot summer.., that it finally flowered. All very nice but IMHO hardly worth the space and effort it takes up. The main problem is that it constantly 'falls over'. Every branch droops and wants to be on the ground. I've been online and it seems this is a feature of these things. Given the choice I'd just do away with it.. but if anyone has

I've been steadily potting on my Echinacea and Aquilegia seedlings I've left them inside the cold frame, but with the lid up. Just for tidiness really. The other night when out with my torch on 'slug patrol', I caught a little slug.. maybe 1" long, on one of the Echinacea. Next morning, I realised that it had taken the growing tips out of several seedlings. It won't be doing that any more.. We'll see in time if it has done irreparable damage. I planted three new Delphiniums a few weeks ago. One has grown on unhindered and is in full flower. The second had a flower spike neatl

P.S. Earlier on Tuesday... I saw one of the Airbus A300 'Beluga' transports overhead. Not unusual to see one of these. Quick look on Flightradar showed it was Hamburg to Chester. Oddly though.. only about an hour later, another one appeaed.. also Hamburg to Chester. Never seen two in a row before..

You're right overall PP.. but we do have a way to go.. I rode everywhere on my bike as a kid and am not against cyclists 'per se'.. but.. It seems to me we now have three main types of cyclist in the UK. 1. The traditional cycist. May ride a 'racer', or a 'tourer', but has done so all his/her life. Fully capable of cycling safely on roads.. dismounts on pavements and in shopping centres/pedestrianised areas. Shows respect to all other road users. 2. The 'new wave' of 'sports' cyclists. 'All the gear and no idea'. Tend to ride aggressively, ...are on

On a brighter note.. I've just returned from seeing Graham Nash in concert at the Southport Theatre. He sang songs written by himself, and by Steven Stills etc., including some he recorded with Crosby Stills and Nash, some with the Hollies and some from his solo albums. His keyboard player was from Lubbock Texas, the birthplace of Buddy Holly.. which they marked by doing an almost a capella version of Buddy's 'Everyday' as part of their encore. The music wasn't all gentle and peaceable.. but the sentiments were. Excellent concert. As for funerals.. I don't care mu

Nahh. I know the results and didn't have the nail biting stress before finding out...

Today I learned that 3' x 2' flags weigh about twice as much as they did 23 years ago. So do bags of cement, gravel and sand. I finished the repair to my drive about 7:00 pm, though still a bit of work to do tidying up. I am, as they say, 'Cream Crackered', and will probably be unable to move tomorrow.

Yesterday, I jet washed Mrs Col's car, which was..as they say in these parts 'Ayvin' up'. There was moss growing around the number plates. She has never taken it to a car wash. I cleaned it inside last week and outside yesterday. She knows where the car wash is, and she knows where the vacuum cleaner is..... so she knows who will be sorting it next.. I also jet washed the drive and decided to finally tackle the problem with it... I laid it.. 56 3x2 concrete flags, the year after my MI. Took my time and it was fine until water started coming up from a retaining wall which k

Indeed. I'm rather ambivalent to it . It seems that there is now nowhere safe from cyclists. Canal towpaths, pubic footpaths, woods, parks, pavements, pedestrianised shopping areas... Some even ride their bicycles on the roads..

I went to the very top of the Anglican Cathedral a couple of years back. It is very high and quite a scary climb up the inside of the tower. If you've not been back since the 1960s I think you'd be amazed at the changes. The Albert Dock complex for a start. Museum of Liverpool Life, the new Central Library, newly polished up Pier Head area, Mathew Street bouncing 24/7, Baltic Triangle, Liverpool One.. etc.,etc. A weekend won't do it. I'd go for a week avoiding the weekend. Last time I was in the 'Phil' was last year about this time. They now have a sign up apologising for the sl

When it was built, the Council claimed it was to allow access for people from Bestwood Estate to work on the industrial estate. Never heard such a load of cobblers in my life. It would have been just as easy to put in access from 'The Ridgeway'. As it happens, the house directly in front of you as you emerge from Forum Rd, is where I was raised from about 1951 until I left home. My Mum was still there until about 2008/9 and traffic inceased massively on Southglade when Forum Rd was built. Whoever has that house now seems to be letting the garden grow.. Also, Forum Road slopes d

You would be very welcome Mick. I'll see if I can get in touch with them and ask how best to go about it.

For years I've been thinking I'd like to visit Henry Whipple again. It's 60 years this year since I left. Thing is you can't really just walk into a school these days, so I think I'd need to write and ask for an opportunity to have a look around. Good to see that the school is re-building its reputation. That said, I have no idea what sort of 'rep' it had when I was there. I too had my 'run ins' with Mr Deakin.. though to be fair he did put me forward for High Pavement, along with more than a few other lads from Bestwood Est. It seems to me that the time Bestwood and many simila

Ohh I dunno? I find it varies from a gutteral and aggressive 'spit fest', to an almost lyrical lilt.. with a touch of comedy thrown in. I don't think I'd characterise any accent as 'disgusting'. but I will admit that my least favourite one is broad Brummie. I just find that some people seem to revel in making their accent extreme, some people clearly like to send themselves up a bit and some people are seemingly totally lacking in self awareness or the ability to modify their speech when needed. Some locals around here, especially 'SentElliners' can sound