Where does the time go? One of the reasons I haven't been blogging much is that I can't get photos from my camera into iPhoto for some reason. I will try again later. I was hoping to show you a shot of Marbury as we went there yesterday afternoon as the sun was shining and good weather for a walk and feed the ducks with our weeks supply of stale bread. Needless to say they woofed it down in about 10 seconds flat! Lots of ice on the mere floating in thin sheets like polythene.
Lots of boats on the lake from the sailing club. Enraged shouts of "Get back here!" and "Avast ye lubbers!" etc. It seemed a very stressful sport and not the calm and peaceful one I'd imagined.
Previously in the week it was the usual healthy walks to town and search for bargains. Found a nice old Gerard Hoffnung LP from 1956 in a charity shop yesterday which I've just put on Boot Sale Sounds. I think I may already have it but with a different sleeve design? Still for 75p I couldnt pass up such a bargain.
Not much else really to report. Hazel is pleased that Next has opened after a tantalising delay just outside town next to B & Q and Currys.
Archie is off for another ski lesson today- probably the last before his trip to Austria in February. His strumming is becomg more frantic and furious. He sounds like some demented spanish flamencoist sometimes. Is there such a word? I've just invented it. He's working on a sequel to his animation "Wheel" and doodling in between.
Post has been very thin on the ground but did get a packet of postcards from Boomergang who had re-printed an old Valentines card of mine from last year. I have set myself the task of re-cycling them all with help from others at Flickr. One such is above using an old chinese envelope and Hell stamp by unknown mail artist.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Runcorn Ski Centre
Another trip over to Runcorn this morning with Hazel, Archie and James for the 5th or maybe 6th ski lesson. They are both getting quite confident now and enjoying the ride to the top and the swift descent. We went off and left them to it and walked round the park ( part of the Mersey Forest ) that surrounds the ski centre on three sides. Lots of narrow gauge train tracks around the park which seem to go for miles with sidings and loop lines and must be fun for kids to ride on in the Spring and Summer. Sometimes you see the engine driver tinkering in the engine shed as we leave to go home. Perhaps someone should inform the authorities?
We also saw a heron on a small reedy pond but it flew away as we approached and I didn't get a photo. We got lost after about 30 minutes and so had to ask the way back. A helpful elderly couple out for a walk led us to where they thought the ski centre was asking others on the way if we were going in the right direction. One chap we asked sounded like he was Eastern European and reminded of the programme we saw the other day about the influx of foreign workers from Poland to Cheshire since the relaxation of the borders between European Union members. As many as 3,000 have migrated to Crewe of all places, where they work in factories making pizza and garlic bread!
Anyway, we got home for a late lunch and in the afternoon Hazel took the car back via Aldi for some groceries.
Last night we had a nice take-away curry and a family film on DVD. One from the library sale called "Second Hand Lions" with Michael Caine and Robert Duvall as two cantankerous Texan brothers who get lumbered with a nephew played by the boy who was in A.I. It was quite amusing and Caines texan drawl didn't sound too bad considering.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Trip to Chester
I went to Chester on the train yesterday for a change of scenery. I took my camera but neglected to take any photos , being too busy shopping for old postcards like the one you see here. The Oxfam shop had the best selection and i got just 5 for 20p each. Also found an old 1960's Ray Stevens album with a few novelty songs on the best being uploaded to Boot Sale Sounds.
A lot of the charity shops seem to have closed or moved which is a shame. I was tempted to go and listen to the Free Lunchtime Concert in the old victorian town hall but bought a chewy health bar for my lunch and walked round the covered market. Seems they have plans to re-furbish that whole area so hope they don't spoil it. Saw a few crocodiles of school children marching to the Roman walls and museum etc. with a cold kneed centurion leading them. "Sinister Dexter Sinister Dexter!"
Home in time for tea and toast. Archie ran in and ran out again, off to play with James at his Gran's until dinnertime.
Hazel has been sorting out her cupboard. She;s bought a strong metal box for all the important documents, wills,deeds,birth certificates etc. in case of a fire. She thinks of everything!
A lot of the charity shops seem to have closed or moved which is a shame. I was tempted to go and listen to the Free Lunchtime Concert in the old victorian town hall but bought a chewy health bar for my lunch and walked round the covered market. Seems they have plans to re-furbish that whole area so hope they don't spoil it. Saw a few crocodiles of school children marching to the Roman walls and museum etc. with a cold kneed centurion leading them. "Sinister Dexter Sinister Dexter!"
Home in time for tea and toast. Archie ran in and ran out again, off to play with James at his Gran's until dinnertime.
Hazel has been sorting out her cupboard. She;s bought a strong metal box for all the important documents, wills,deeds,birth certificates etc. in case of a fire. She thinks of everything!
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Ski Sunday
Archie went skiing again today with James and his Mum. He watched Ski Sunday on the telly later from Switzerland. He took a shine to the cross country event with rifles to shoot targets on the way! Boys eh?
Hazel went shopping. I stayed in to wash my hair and catch up with some recording. Later we all went for a windy walk round Shackerly Mere and fed the ducks, geese, swans and gulls our stale bread. Lots of people out walking with mad dogs and children in tow.
Popped round to hazel's Mom's to give them back the car for another week. Took photos of their finished jigsaw puzzle they were very proud of. Still using up film from Xmas. One of my presents was a photo album so determined to fill it this year and not take so many digital shots that just get erased after a while.
Hazel went shopping. I stayed in to wash my hair and catch up with some recording. Later we all went for a windy walk round Shackerly Mere and fed the ducks, geese, swans and gulls our stale bread. Lots of people out walking with mad dogs and children in tow.
Popped round to hazel's Mom's to give them back the car for another week. Took photos of their finished jigsaw puzzle they were very proud of. Still using up film from Xmas. One of my presents was a photo album so determined to fill it this year and not take so many digital shots that just get erased after a while.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Great Tit?
It looks like a crow of some sort to me but what do i know? A rare New Year's collage for Flickr. I must admit I have found it difficult to get back into making anything over the last couple of weeks- feeling rather guilty that I've been adding work from the archives to my various blogs and groups.
Hopefully this feeling will pass and i can get on with things. Hoping to combine my pleasant task of dubbing all our VHS tapes to DVD ( a Xmas present) and running upstairs to stick something to a collage in between programmes!
This week has mostly been taking up with piling up suitable tapes in order of interestingness and seeing if they will fit onto a 4 hour disc without too much quality loss. The difference between the 2 hour disc and the 4 hour is only slightly noticable and the old tapes are pretty jumpy anyway. Luckily the Joseph Cornell documentary from the 90's I watched yesterday hadn't deteriorated too much. His birds and targets boxes are a definate inspiration in this collage here. So wonderful to see again and I must mention the fabulous book of Cornell and Duchamp that Angelica sent from Texas which arrived three weeks late but great too!
Not to mention all the other things in the parcel that seems to have been stuck in New Jersey over Xmas for some reason.
Other highlights of the week have been the school ski meeting that i didnt go to. Hazel has ordered some more ski clobber for Archie's trip. I have a photo of the resort in front of me- it looks fantastic! The hotel is on the ski slope doorstep at Hochkar in the Austrian Alps. "25 kilometers of piste- 12 ski lifts( 4 chair) Extensive snow making- good progression- exhilarating runs- fabulous powder, moguls and spring crystals ( whatever they are?) hot lunch included". Sounds fab! Hazel and I are extremely jealous!
Went to town on ednesday to the library sale again hoping for reductions but still the same price. I found some cheap cranberry juice with white grape which is delicious. Had a slight kidney infection over New Years so trying to drink more healthy juice and water. It seems a lot better now I'm glad to say.
Its Friday the 13th! Oh horror! I shall stay in out of the biting wind and rain to copy more old tat to disc. Hvae about three dozen tapes of old Warner Brothers, Disney and Ub Iwerks etc. to get through!
Hopefully this feeling will pass and i can get on with things. Hoping to combine my pleasant task of dubbing all our VHS tapes to DVD ( a Xmas present) and running upstairs to stick something to a collage in between programmes!
This week has mostly been taking up with piling up suitable tapes in order of interestingness and seeing if they will fit onto a 4 hour disc without too much quality loss. The difference between the 2 hour disc and the 4 hour is only slightly noticable and the old tapes are pretty jumpy anyway. Luckily the Joseph Cornell documentary from the 90's I watched yesterday hadn't deteriorated too much. His birds and targets boxes are a definate inspiration in this collage here. So wonderful to see again and I must mention the fabulous book of Cornell and Duchamp that Angelica sent from Texas which arrived three weeks late but great too!
Not to mention all the other things in the parcel that seems to have been stuck in New Jersey over Xmas for some reason.
Other highlights of the week have been the school ski meeting that i didnt go to. Hazel has ordered some more ski clobber for Archie's trip. I have a photo of the resort in front of me- it looks fantastic! The hotel is on the ski slope doorstep at Hochkar in the Austrian Alps. "25 kilometers of piste- 12 ski lifts( 4 chair) Extensive snow making- good progression- exhilarating runs- fabulous powder, moguls and spring crystals ( whatever they are?) hot lunch included". Sounds fab! Hazel and I are extremely jealous!
Went to town on ednesday to the library sale again hoping for reductions but still the same price. I found some cheap cranberry juice with white grape which is delicious. Had a slight kidney infection over New Years so trying to drink more healthy juice and water. It seems a lot better now I'm glad to say.
Its Friday the 13th! Oh horror! I shall stay in out of the biting wind and rain to copy more old tat to disc. Hvae about three dozen tapes of old Warner Brothers, Disney and Ub Iwerks etc. to get through!
Monday, January 09, 2006
Book Sale at Library
The library sale is usually quite exciting with lots of cheap books, tapes and videos etc. but today they seemed to have found the dullest books imaginable! I didn't buy anything. Probably just as well as we haven't any shelf space. I did the usual tour of the charity shops but also failed to find a bargain. In the discount DVD and CD shop found "Ghost World" in a sale which Angelica had mentioned as being good. I waited in the baker's to be served but the shop girls were flirting with some labourers buying pies and seemed to take ages so I left in a huff. The old dragon was in the next baker's so I didn't venture in there. I ended up buying some white rolls and a small brown loaf from Iceland which I vowed never to go in again, but time is a great healer.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Skier Of The Day
Archie was awarded the coveted "Skier Of The Day" certificate at Runcorn today - the only one in his group to get one. This made up for not being allowed onto the big slope with his friend James who is more cheeky than Archie and just went up to the top without asking. Being polite and asking first is not always a good thing. Mind you, Archie seemed to settle into the lower slopes quite well and proved he could be quite slow and meticulous when it came to going round poles.
Spellchecker suggested I replace Runcorn with "reincarnate" which i thought quite amusing.
My feet were like blocks of ice watching them ski so I got back in the car to read the sunday papers.
On the way there we passed a group of cyclists going towards Chester and heard later of a terrible accident on a notorious stretch of road in Wales today on the TV where 4 cyclists were killed by a car, and wondered if it was the same group.
Archie went to James' house to play after skiing and I watched some FA Cup action on the telly. Sadly Northwich Vics. lost at Sunderland.
Watched again the programme I found of Tom Phillips talking about his work on an old C4 programme from the 80's.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Wonky wardrobe fun!
Not really. I had to make a hanging rail for Hazel's jackets etc. that she had scattered around the bedroom on picture rails and on chairs etc. We went to B&Q to get the expensive fixings and the expensive broom handle. A broom handle was £2.95 and a peice of dowel of the same length was £8.95 so we plumped for the broom handle. When it breaks from weight of garments I expect we shall wish we got the dowel but hopefully it won't.
Hazel was upset that NEXT hadn't yet opened - indeed the shopfitters were still painting and wiring the place up so doubt whether it will be open before the end of January.
Then went to Granma's to take down the decorations, this being 12th night and if you don't they all turn into pumpkins.
This took longer than we thought as the boxes that they put them all in were wedged in the wardrobe and the sliding door had come adrift and had to be manhandled back into it's grooves.
Then home to take down our decorations which was fun. Tree left an impressive wake of needles from the living room to the front door. Hazel hoovered them up and filled the Dyson several times. She bagged some up for the needle fairy and left them in the grate.
Hazel was upset that NEXT hadn't yet opened - indeed the shopfitters were still painting and wiring the place up so doubt whether it will be open before the end of January.
Then went to Granma's to take down the decorations, this being 12th night and if you don't they all turn into pumpkins.
This took longer than we thought as the boxes that they put them all in were wedged in the wardrobe and the sliding door had come adrift and had to be manhandled back into it's grooves.
Then home to take down our decorations which was fun. Tree left an impressive wake of needles from the living room to the front door. Hazel hoovered them up and filled the Dyson several times. She bagged some up for the needle fairy and left them in the grate.
Monday, January 02, 2006
New year's sort out.
A day of sorting out books and junk from a wardrobe that was choc-a-bloc with stuff. Hazel needs space for her clothes and forced to hand jackets on picture rails round the bedroom which isn't the best idea. We managed to be quite ruthless and put aside a pile of stuff for the charity shop. Whether they will want it or not is another matter!
Found a lot of old slushy cards I'd sent to Hazel on our Anniversery and valentines etc. One such is pictured here. More at Flickr stream.
Being a Bank Holiday it was very quiet and no post and no shops open as far as we knew. We stayed in to fill bags of old books, toys and junk all afternoon. Hazel has enough room now to hang her jackets up at least. All we need is a pole and fixings to hang them on.
We also found an old Escalado horse racing game which Archie was keen to play. We dusted it off and tried it out despite our dining room table being rather short. It really needs a long table and the canvas "track" is held in place with brackets that screw under the tables edge. A handle is turned at one end and the lead horses ( some with three legs and a jockey with no head!) race along to the finish line caused by the vibrations of the cogged wheels moving the canvas "track" . Small wooden buttons act as "jumps" and if the horse hits them they bounce the horse back a couple of inches and so one never quite knows which horse will win. Mostly they fall over and go along on their sides! I'm sure it was a terrific game for all the family at one time before Nintendos and Playstations. The novelty soon wore off for Archie despite going to make robots out of Lego to try on the track ( a dismal failure!).
Found a lot of old slushy cards I'd sent to Hazel on our Anniversery and valentines etc. One such is pictured here. More at Flickr stream.
Being a Bank Holiday it was very quiet and no post and no shops open as far as we knew. We stayed in to fill bags of old books, toys and junk all afternoon. Hazel has enough room now to hang her jackets up at least. All we need is a pole and fixings to hang them on.
We also found an old Escalado horse racing game which Archie was keen to play. We dusted it off and tried it out despite our dining room table being rather short. It really needs a long table and the canvas "track" is held in place with brackets that screw under the tables edge. A handle is turned at one end and the lead horses ( some with three legs and a jockey with no head!) race along to the finish line caused by the vibrations of the cogged wheels moving the canvas "track" . Small wooden buttons act as "jumps" and if the horse hits them they bounce the horse back a couple of inches and so one never quite knows which horse will win. Mostly they fall over and go along on their sides! I'm sure it was a terrific game for all the family at one time before Nintendos and Playstations. The novelty soon wore off for Archie despite going to make robots out of Lego to try on the track ( a dismal failure!).
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