The Secret Life Of The Collagist

The virus or whatever it is still refuses to relinquish it's grasp of my being. Man Flu permeates my vitals. Sneezoids, choughing , snuffling are the order of the day - not to mention the fneedling.
Appetite isn't affected though thankfully so was able to make a dirty great binful of broccoli bake on Monday and a trough of Macaroni Cheese on Tuesday. I cant remember much about Wednesdays meals but Thursday I made a nut roast with fresh chestnuts that Hazel's Mom and Sister gave us. Jolly nice it was too.
Broke the key on Hazel's workshop so Northwich Glass came round to fix it. The guarentee had run out but they didn't charge as we are such good customers. That's what we thought anyway. Only took a few ticks of wonky clock.
Archie has taken it over just lately - making stuff for his art A level - tin things, influenced by Andy Hazell. They look pretty good too for a beginner. he even has the sticky plastered fingers to prove it!

Hazel came down with the same virus and had to have two days off college on Thurs and Friday.
My flu or cold or whatever it is hasnt gone away. Just when you think has it pops up again as bad as before. First thing in the morning is worst.
Went to the college to talk to Archie's teachers. He seems to be doing OK although the art tutor has no idea how hard Archie works at home. He's rather baffled by the control panels I think.
More prostate checks at docs which wasn't much fun. Blood test OK so he put me on some tablets but they make me feel dizzy so stopped taking them after one day. I have decided not to drink tea anymore after 7 o'clock at night and stick to cocoa or a milky drink of some kind. This seems to help quite alot and I only woke up once last night so was able to get some kip for a change.

And now a poem -

What is that smells like glue?
Is it the macaroni cheese or you?
I cant seem to stick to the things I do
So going back to the old UHU.

The collages here are quite old I made for Hazel's birthday and our anniversary.

One Hour Photo

Archie has made a remake of One Hour Photo that originally starred Robin Williams for a college project.

Another Weakly Snet

Did I mention it was our 27th Bear Feeding anniversary? No flies with rucksacks but some chocs and the usual enigmatic cards. I gave Hazel a Blurb book of collages which seemed like a good idea to try. I somehow managed to duplicate tow of the pages- whether through miopia or dyslexia or just excitement I don't know!

Sneezing and sniggling all day long. Sniffing too. A nasty cold which lasted for days - still have it in fact as I write this. Archie has it too and had a day off college.
managed to drag ourselves out to celebrate anyway - a nice meal at the Crafts Centre posh restuarant. Looked round the antiques afterwards. Hazel bought some postcards.
Up all night with coughing and calls of nature. Not sure if its the cold or the prostate. I was due another check up anyway so went to the docs the next day and he sent me to the Infirmary for the usual blood test etc.
Not heard anything yet.
Archie went to London on a college trip. Had to get up and the crack of dawn with Hazel and get a train to Stockport and another to Crewe to join party. Hazel had to drive to Crewe later to fetch him. Luckily she had no college the next day so was able to get some sleep.

Not sure why these photos of Southend's old bandstand are here. I could not find anything else.
Missed the annual charity market due to feeling awful and full of cold. It could even me Man flu - never quite sure of the difference.
Catching up with DVD's Ive bought recently as felt too lethargic to do anything else. Watched a good Orson Welles film "The Stranger" which I'd not seen before - a film noirish thriller about a nazi hunter played by Edward G. Robinson. Also an amusing animation called "Planet 51" and another "Rain With A Chance Of Meatballs".

Burning Car

Quite exciting here this morning as we drove up to the car park in town just behind marks and Sparks - a big plume of black smoke was rising up. A 3 wheeled Reliant had just burst into flames! We watched as the tyres exploded and the whole thing was soon engulfed - in the distance the sound of sirens. By the time the firemen got to the car park the car was a fire ball and then a steam cloud as they trained their hoses onto it from all angles . Hazel took a very bad photo with her crappy phone. I will try and upload it later to my Flickr account. When we returned to the car park after some shopping the car, or the mangle charred remains were being winched up a ramp onto a breakdown truck. What a mess. This is two days after our local dentist round the corner blew up - a faulty gas boiler!

The local paper will have a field day with this - they only have dog poop to write headlines about usually!

Do It Yourself Cartoon Kit - Bob Godfrey 1959

Sandstone Trail

Nice walk along the Sandstone Trail from Delamere to a small farmyard cafe over towards Willington? Will and Adela showed us where it was and led the way. We definately needed our walking boots as the ground was very tricky with roots of gnarled trees and boulders strewn along the way - not to mention the muddy puddles. Passed the riding course and stables up some steep hills and down again into a bit called the Urchins Kitchen which was an gulley carved out during the ice age with big impressive rocks either side. You can see it in this short film. The film is longer but Flickr doesn't allow any films longer than 90 seconds for some reason.
Will led us a merry dance through the undergrowth and brambles until we came out almost where we started! Thankfully a rest and a nice lunch at the cafe which was packed with ramblers and cyclists with Lycra shorts on - what a din. We wore our Halloween masks that W &A brought along for a photo opportunity . Delicious cheese and tuna toasties and we shared a slab of cake. The pressed apple juice was nice too.
Will and Adela showed us the various edible and non-edible fungi en route which they cleverly spotted in the undergrowth. The Stinkhorn and the Fly Alegaric? Followed by very mad bouncy dogs.

Our local dentist blew up yesterday apparently - a gas explosion! Luckily it happened after the clocks were put back an hour at 7:30am- an hour later and the dentist would be full of teeth!
I have an appointment for next week so expect it will be postponed now. Not sure how badly damaged the inside was.

Went for a walk to town and back this morning before the rain. Quite mild still for November. Got a few bits from Quality Save including some balsamic vinegar to make some more onion pickle - the last lot is almost gone. Also some cheap films from the Age Concern shop - Spiders and some old Mighty Mouse cartoons.