Friday ramblings...

Here we are again, another batch of Friday Ramblings!

Let me see...

Oh yes, some of you may remember me moaning about my dad claiming that he never goes out and is afraid to leave the house. On Monday he was out walking his dog (the one we walk because he can't do it) and bumped into my daughter. That evening I was late going to walk his dog (I have a late lecture on Mondays) and he must have thought that I wasn't going to walk the dog any more. He fell over himself to explain why he was out with the dog and there has not been any more talk of him becoming a hermit.

Coppicing - although a coppice is a small woodland, Coppicing is more than that. It is a method of managing woodland that involves cutting trees to ground level, causing multiple, thinner trunks to sprout. This thinner wood can then be used for burning, charcoal, fencing, etc. Done right it is totally sustainable and produces a very distinctive woodland.

Number One Son did a sort course in podcasting this week. The final part was doing their own podcast on any subject with voting for the best. He won. His podcast was amazingly cheesy, but good fun.

The newspaper story gets better and better. Seems that one person who was named and quoted in the article did not realise that she was being interviewed for a story! Could get messy now!

Saturday is Halloween! We are going to be having a bit of a party, food, drink, decorations, maybe a bit of dressing up, who knows? Should be fun, though. I promise no sacrifices...




Been a long time since I heard that song - I used to like it!!!!!

Local News Papers

My local news paper has reached a new low in my opinion ratings.

It has never been that high, to be honest.

At lunchtime I had a phone call from Mrs RC. She had just got a copy of the paper and was so astonished at the front page story that she just had to tell me about it. After our conversation I went and bought a copy so that I could read it while at lunch.

The story?

A person from the next street to us was complaining that she is being victimized by the neighbours. She has had her windows smashed, her children threatened, her garden firebombed.

Bad, huh?

Well it would be, except that the windows were actually smashed by her own son. Far from being threatened, her son is always at the centre of any local trouble, being one of a gang that attacked my eldest son a few years ago. The firebomb in the garden? That would be the time that they had a bonfire and someone threw an aerosol can on it. The story somehow managed to miss the fact that this house is the centre for almost all local crime and drug dealing, and is the hang out for the local thugs. The rest of us are worried about our own kids because of the people in this house!

Mrs RC is wanting to do something to set the record straight - just needs to work out the best way of doing it. Right now we are just amazed that such a badly researched story could be published like this.

Humpday!

Today really feels like Humpday!

Monday and Tuesday were insanely busy.

Last night Custard, my dog, had a "bad stomach" and kept me up most of the night - cleaning up his accident on the kitchen floor and taking him out to see if he wanted to do any more. A dog walk at 3am certainly wakes you up, that is for sure! I can't do sleep deprivation -thank God my baby days are over!

This morning we had our walk in the countryside with the new students. Nice warm weather, dry underfoot, it was great!

We found these guys who were coppicing the woods, using a couple of these stocky and powerful Ardennes Ponies to pull away the wood. So much better than a tractor!

Now I am passing the afternoon with a group of GIS students, just being here to make sure that they are OK. And they are very OK so I can write this before I finish sorting the photos from this morning.

Have a great Humpday!

"Growing up"

Heard an interesting thing today.

I was told that we stop "growing up" at the age of 25. We don't get any more sensible after this age.

So if you are over 25 and wish you were a bit more mature? Forget it! This is it, pal, make the most of it!

The Shopping Experience...

Today I visited a store called Aldi - "Spend a little, live a lot!" is the strap line. They are cheap-ish, everything is still in its boxes and it all seems to come from east European countries that no one has ever heard of.

Anyway, I was passing, needed something to nibble on so I went in.

It is a fairly big shop - half a dozen aisles and 5 checkouts.

There were about 3 customers and one worker in sight. The worker, a blond haired, blue eyed Nazi of a woman, was arranging some stuff in a basket near the middle of the shop.

I grabbed a couple of items and then headed towards the checkouts.

"CHECKOUT 5 PLEASE!"

The words came like bullets.

I dived behind the nearest box of beans and weeners. Poking my head over the top, I could see that she was still fussing with the basket of something or other.

On my belly I crawled to checkout 5, breathing easier when I reached the trench between it and checkout 4.

Eventually Eva (the name I decided to give to the woman) finished rustling the contents of the basket and strode slowly, menacingly, over to the checkout.

She seated herself.

Adjusted the seat.

Typed in her ID code.

Shrugged her shoulders.

Then, BAM, BAM, she scanned my items with lightning speed and precision.

"TWO POUNDS EIGHT PENCE PLEASE!"

I dived into the bottom of the trench, covering my head with my hands, waiting for the dust and rubble to settle.

I gingerly raised my hand over the top of the parapet, depositing the cash and grasping my rations.

I made a break for the door.

"THANK YOU!"

The last aimed just above my head, making me duck but not slowing my rush to escape.

"Live a lot", eh? Can't accuse them of false advertising, I guess!

Friday ramblings...

Another week over!

Another busy one too! All sorts of stuff going on!

Number One Son had some issues with a gang at school, but Mrs RC stirred things up and the ringleaders have now been thrown out of the school.

Number One Son has just found that he will have to move on to another school or college next year as the current school will not let him study science the way he wants to. He wants to do the 3 sciences as seperate A Levels, but the school has decided to only do a single combined science A Level. The hunt is now on to find the best place to do this and how to get in!

Mrs RC has been a bit ill the last few days. with a nasty chesty-throaty thing going on. Hopefully a weekend of rest and pampering will set her on the road to recovery.

My first assignment is almost finished. It is around 90% written, then I can polish it a bit ready for submission. It isn't due in for another month, but I want to move on to the next assignment - can't do 2 at once (my poor old brain can't take the strain) so it is all about time management for me!

I have now moved on to painting my next set of toy soldiers - American Civil War! I have had these soldiers for pushing 20 years, so it is time I finished them off. They are quite small (10mm tall, less than half an inch) so I am going to make each regiment into a small scene around 3 inches square with lines of troops, bodies, wounded heading for the rear, bits of fence and broken cart wheels, etc. Should look great.

Christmas is approaching fast! Think this will be a fairly restrained one present-wise. To be honest, no one seems to be able to think of anything that they really want and we don't want to spend silly amounts of cash on stuff just for the sake of it.

But Halloween is even closer. Looks like we will be having a bit of a party. The kids want to dress up so we are going to do some food and get in a few silly horror movies. Should be a blast.

Have a great weekend! Back with more RC garbage next week!


PS Just bumped into a guy who is looking for someone to play bass in a punk band. Showed him where the music department is, but gave him my number just in case he can't find a younger one. Might be a fun way to get back into the band thing! We will see!

We need to go shopping... (BAD TASTE WARNING)

We have reached that time when we need to do a serious food shop.

For the last few days it has been a case of making meals out of whatever is at hand.

Last night I ended up with Lentil and Lamb Curry.

It was utterly delicious!

This morning I feel cleansed, purified.

Who needs colonic irrigation?