New Blogger...

Mrs RC has now done her first tentative post.  Click on Metamorphosis over there on the right.

Go on!

Saturday - Valentines Day II

Saturday was a wonderfully Springlike day, with blue sky, puffy clouds and a nice bit of warmth in the sun.

After the morning dog walk, Mrs RC and I were off out for the day.  Not wanting to push our luck too much we had decided on a day out in Canterbury, a bit of shopping and a spot of lunch somewhere.

The shopping was fun, with a fair bit of browsing and a sensible level of spending on stuff that we didn't totally NEED but decided that we just wanted.  Except for the new set of guitar strings - they were TOTALLY needed!

Then it was time to eat, so I took us to a nice little pub that I had eaten at once before with some colleagues.  The building dates to around 1400, all oak beams, and not a right-angle in the place.  We ordered drinks and then grabbed a table, Mrs RC taking a seat that looked like a small throne.  The staff treated us like royalty, the drinks were good (the beer was excellent) and the choice of food surprisingly good for a pub.  We decided to go for things that we could share - a chinese duck platter, buffalo wings and onion rings.  It was wonderful.  We just sat there, eating, drinking and chatting.  Even the music was good - a real mix including Foo Fighters (unplugged album) and Lou Reed's Perfect Day, one of "our songs" for many years.

It was, indeed, a perfect day and we are already plotting another one...

Rolling into the weekend...

So, how was Valentine's Day for you?

 

Mine started with a ride to work in howling wind and pouring rain.  On arrival I found that I had not packed fresh trousers, so it was back out into the elements to buy some  :-(

 

Work "happened", I guess.

 

The journey home was better, less wind and no rain, just the spray from the road to get me nice and wet again.

 

For dinner, we had steak.  Mrs RC had bought me the biggest steak she could find, and it was wonderful, going down a treat with potatoes, mushrooms and my favourite ale.  The remainder of the evening was spent watching a rerun of Peggy Sue Got Married.  A great movie, IMO - one that we saw several times in the early days.  A nice bit of nostalgia and good to see that the movie was still good.

 

This morning we actually had some blue sky!

 

 

The clouds were leaving and the clear sky arriving.  The sunshine, actually feeling a little warm even early in the morning, made the ride to work a joy - at one point I actually felt pitty for the poor suckers in their cars, they don't know what they are missing.

 

Mrs RC and I are continuing Valentine's Day into Saturday, having a day out, maybe a meal - some nice time together to recharge after a taxing couple of weeks.  To coin a phrase "We're worth it!" [flicks hair].

 

So, have a great weekend, everyone!  More next week!  Oh, and if you make a comment, please say Hi to Mrs RC who has started reading the drivel that I write here.  She is even hinting that she might start a blog of her own (once she can find a name that does not pull up links to dodgey sites when typed into Google) so feel free to add a word or 2 of encouragement too.

Oh wow!

Look what Mrs RC got me.  The book that inspired my favourite Christmas movie, A Christmas Story.  How cool is that? 
Sorry the photo is sideways. Damn phone...

 

Hah, fixed it now (using a PC, not the phone...)

  

Hello, Buddies!

 

Despite the ongoing cold weather, including snow on Sunday, it looks as though Spring is actually on its way.  I hope it isn't long as our heating system has broken down - supposed to be fixed today, but who can tell?

 

I can't believe it is Wednesday already - the week is passing in a bit of a daze, as we totally burned our weekend moving Spot (my dad's dog) to his new home at my mum's.  Saturday saw me pretending to be Thor, using a huge hammer to bash stakes into the garden to fence off his area while Mrs RC set about fixing hand rails and wire mesh to the stakes.  It was hard work, but the result is really good, especially considering what a jungle my mum's garden is....

 

On Sunday we put in a flap so that Spot could go in and out.  He seemed to work it out when there were slices of chicken as a reward for going through, but seems to have been a bit dumb since then.  Maybe he is holding out for more chicken?

 

Not sure if I will have time for a post tomorrow, so I will wish you a great Valentine's Day for  tomorrow.

A bit of family history...

While clearing my dad's house, this appeared, hidden in a metal trunk.

 

 

The base has a musical chime (some sort of waltz) and the helmet contains a cigarette lighter.

 

It was the shield that interested me most.

 

A map of Germany showing the post World War 2 occupation zones, but also showing the 1939 border with Poland.  I have seen this sort of thing before, an obvious indication that for a time there was still hope that the old borders would be restored.

 

Then we found out the story behind it.

 

My dad bought it in Germany while doing his National Service in the mid 1950s.  He brought it back and gave it to his mum, who hid it fearing that her husband, (my grandad) would sell it for beer money.  Yes, sadly my grandad was the sort of guy who felt that beer was more important than anything else in life.  Hiding the ornament was also a big risk as, if my grandad found it he would probably have given her (yet another) thorough beating.  I never really liked that grandfather, even without knowing this sort of thing.  Guess I just got a feeling about him.

 

I found it strange that, many years after both of these grand parents died, the ornament was still being hidden.  Maybe it brought back too many memories of what home life had been like.

Weekend...

That was a weekend and a half - we are all exhausted, but my dad's house is pretty much clear.

 

We had decided to have a bonfire on Saturday evening and ordered some pizza for anyone who wanted to join us.  We had a fair gang of us in the end, which made for a nice break from everything.

 

We had a bit of trouble getting it going at first - even the paper refused to burn!  After about 15 minutes of this I went back home to look for some BBQ lighters.  Just after I got home I recieved a text from Mrs RC.  "I have got a couple of flames going."

 

As I turned the corner a minute later, I could see the glow of the fire and the tops of the flames above intervening hedges and fences.  By the time I was back in the garden we had 10-15 foot flames, fanned by a gusty wind.

 

This pic was taken once things had calmed down a bit...

 

 

Next morning, as I cleared the remains of the fire I found evidence of how hot it had been.

 

We have a lot of clay in our soil, and the clay under the fire had been fired into pottery!

 

That is probably the worst if things over with now, hopefully this week will be easier so we are rested for the funeral and wake.

 

Hope you had a great weekend - I will do my best to catch up with your news...