......Not what I had hoped she would do, cause I wanted the one I showed you the other day, but I think she's done a great job. Okay she got a tad fed up, the second one she carved was the one on the left which should have had a full set of teeth, but still they are pretty impressive............
.........And so finally for today................

"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."
    Douglas Adams

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."
    Mark Twain

......and as you can see not a great deal has happened since I last captured images of it well over a year ago when it closed its doors to pupils for the last time. The only difference being that all the windows have been boarded up to prevent the youths breaking them with stones.........

........the word on the street at the time was that it was going to be converted into old peoples accommodation but now that might have been shelved in the light of the VAT fiasco........

......Shame really because Ramsey is in need of decent housing stock for the elderly and it does look a bit of an eyesore in the condition it is in and it will only get worse....Sign of the time I'm afraid......Anyway I then drove to hairpin to try and capture the fallen leaves in all their autumnal glory.......

......which I'm sorry to say failed mainly because the leaves have been soaked with the rain of the past few days and lost their vibrancy. Also there wasn't a rustle to be had just the odd splodge which isn't the same so I didn't stop there too long.............

..........And I was soon back home enduring the music blasting out of SD2's room at a rate that would shame that of a Jumbo jet on take off.....The only saving grace being that at least it was good music that she was listening to, Michael Jackson, as she and SD1 are off into Douglas later to see his latest offering on film, and not the normal dross that I've had to suffer all week. Okay my hearing is impaired but it makes it sound all the worse.......God....I'm so getting to sound like my Dad.........

.......It's not often that I have bad news on here 'cause I like to cheer people up but I heard some last night..........my youngest daughter Ellen found out yesterday that she is to be made redundant from her job as the nursery where she is deputy manager is closing next July.....It's not that she will have trouble finding another position 'cause she won't as she's brilliant at her job, it's the fact that she's never worked anywhere else. She even did her work experience there whilst still at school many moons ago so to start somewhere new will be a massive change.....Sorry I can't be there Pootle to give you a big cuddle to make things feel right......Love you xxxxxxx.........Dave, snow already !....How do you put up with it ?.........

...........And so finally for today.....

"There is no security on this earth, there is only opportunity."
    General Douglas MacArthur

28th ------ I've a bonus for you today.........photos........Nothing very unusual about that I hear you say 'cause don't I always post piccies. Well yes I do but today for a change I hadn't planned to because I had a lot of catching up to do on something which I've neglected for far too long.........my navigational course........Yes you'd forgotten all about it like me I suppose. Well I couldn't put it off any longer as I only have three months to complete it

..........and headed out to the calm of the town with the grey matter between my ears going around like concrete in one of those mixers. The thing is.... other things are going on in the space between my ears, or not so........I have gone deaf in my left ear.  Not completely, just that deafness that you get when you've been swimming and your ear fills up with water and everything is that much quieter but hazy. You know the feeling......Well it's been like this for about four days now but I made things a tad worse yesterday when in the shower I directed the water jet right into my ear to see it I could clear it out after which I poked around with a cotton bud, all to no avail. I know you shouldn't do those sort of things but it's driving me crazy. I wish I hadn't 'cause I think I've made things worse so if things aren't better tomorrow it's off to the doctors. At least I'm not in pain.........Anyway whilst out I took a number of photos......

.....Wow loads of posts yesterday....and I'm sorry I've ran out of time to answer them individually as I like....so......thank you all so much for participating....Just a point....Halloween here over the past few years has got very Americanised and has taken over from Guy Fawkes night as the thing to do. I've never seen so many pumpkins before but here on the island it is celebrated as Hop-Tuu-Naa and tradition has it that turnips and swedes ar cut into lanterns........
.......And so finally for today..........

"Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire."
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

27th ------ I can't even begin to describe to you the totally and utterly horrible feeling of disappointment that was coursing through my veins earlier this afternoon and all because for that vital second of conciseness when I was awakening from a perfect slumber I thought that it was Friday and that I'd got the whole day to do as I please........ Then the reality set in and it dawned on me (shouldn't that really be afternooned ?) it's only Tuesday and a black cloud hovered just for a few seconds over my head, before turning to grey and ever since then I've been trying to blow the greyness away and for the most part I've been successful.......... However there was one setback.........The minute I'd stepped into the shower, Mrs Mannanan, bless her cotton socks, who has been working like a trooper trying to get to the bottom of a washing pile of Mount Vesuvius dimensions, mainly I must add contributed by SD2, put another load in the washing machine and turned it on........This had the instant effect of altering  the pressure and glorious warm temperature of the water that was blasting down on me waking me from my dream like state and taking the greyness away, into a dribble of water who's temperature changed from hot to cold to warm to freezing to hot to boiling all within a matter of about thirty seconds. This had the effect of me looking like Richard Flatley in Lord of the Water or River Dance at a very bad matinee performance. Thankfully I never slipped and the shower soon returned to its normal behaviour and I was able to finish my ablutions at the more sedate pace I'm used to...........
.........There would seem to be however some good news which I'm a bit averse to mention just in case I'm tempting fate but it would seem that my hosts have finally got to the bottom of the SPAM problem..........Since I had a chat with them on Sunday afternoon and posted my umpteenth complaint not one piece of SPAM has entered the guestpage which is great.. I suppose now that I've mentioned it things will revert to the 100 plus a day I was getting but hey ho it needed to be said even though I seem to be repeating myself as I'm sure I've been at this stage before.....Still all we can do is wait and see.........
.......I just hope to God that there was no one watching me when I went to the recycling area today because they would have got totally the wrong opinion........None of the fifty or so bottles were mine and not all had contained wine 'cause at least two had been filled with olive oil.....Then there was the two tons of compressed aluminium cans that I deposited which I must add included coke and other variants of soft drink containers....In my defence these have been gathered over a period of a few days......errrrrrr of course I mean months and have been accumulating dust in the shed along with the mountain of paper and cardboard so I thought it was about time that I cleared the lot out and make a start at trying to make the shed a little more, oh how can I put this ?.....user friendly and more in line with health and safety regulations..........rather than the accident awaiting to happen version that we have at present..........So obviously to carry this little lot I needed car so off I went after filling up the boot and after I had done the deed parked up along the quay and went for a walk...........I tell you if you were looking at the Ramsey webcam at around three thirty this afternoon you would have been in for a treat 'cause there were this couple, probably in their late twenties standing outside The Traff shouting abuse at each other......... Okay it would have been better if you could hear it like I could but the visuals were well worth it.......How people can get in this state and show themselves up like this is beyond me.....Anyway I decided not to give them any photo space on these pages and concentrated on other aspects......

........And last but not least.....With it being Halloween this coming Saturday the shops are packed to the gunnel's with pumpkins ready for carving into scary lanterns, 'cause I'm not sure whether anybody eats them......Anyway if you want to carve something a tad different how about doing something like this...............

........Thanks to Judith for sending me this great idea but if you want something more traditional get yourself along to this site where there are lots of different patterns as well as instructions........
..............Tony, can't say that was the way I did it but if it worked for you, great. I had no problem really. Maths was one of my better subjects though in the end I didn't apply myself as I should and failed my exam. Still I suppose working for thirteen years in a bookmakers honed my skills somewhat....Thanks for your post, and that goes for all of you who bother to take the time to write something. As you know I really do appreciate them all. In fact the more the merrier so come on get posting...........
......And so finally for today.......

"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."
    John F. Kennedy

Teenagers !!!! Maybe they're not all the same !!!!!!

26th ------ No rambling on from me today 'cause it's straight in with the photos mainly because I was doing some experimenting with my camera settings last night in the garden. I know a stupid thing to be doing at this time of year  but at least it was dry................

....and because I had used the tripod the results weren't too bad at all. At least I've found out how to increase the time the aperture is open so a pretty useful exercise.........Also whilst the others were glued to the TV watching the X Factor (how sad is that especially when they all went crazy when the twins were voted through ) I had a go at altering an image on Photoshop and in particular trying to remove an object. The image I chose was the last one I posted on Saturday of a misty Mooragh park and the rugby pitch but now after a bit of manipulation I have removed the rugby posts  and cropped it right down..............................

.......I've tried this before without much success but I'm really pleased how this one has turned out. The secret is time and patience along with a steady hand.......Okay it wouldn't win a prize in a photo competition but at least I now know how to do it and so future efforts can only improve......Isn't it amazing the technology that we have these days though surprisingly they had similar amazing technology back in 1978 when Michael Jackson recorded Off The Wall........Remember on Saturday I mentioned that G and I had been listening to this album and we were both singing the wrong lyrics? Well I checked on the album itself for the correct words and in doing so of course glimpsed the back of the album which shows a picture of MJ in a pose holding what looks like, if I'm not mistaken a mobile phone......And all this back in '78. I knew the guy was a genius but....................
...................Amazing don't you think .........It's also amazing how funny even the most mundane things can turn out........I'd gone out in the car for a drive to firstly take some piccies and secondly to pick up a prescription from the chemist for SD2.........The taking of piccies didn't take up a great deal of time...............

..........mainly because of the weather so I packed away the camera and went to the chemists in Shoprite parking the car outside (well I would be stupid parking it inside now wouldn't I?)....Anyway I handed in the prescription and after fifteen minutes of waiting was called up only to be told that they hadn't got it...Bad news seeing as she needed it for her doctors appointment tomorrow but the woman said she would ring round the other chemists. This got a result with the one at the top of Parliament Street having the item so I said I'd go and pick it up from there.......Because G had told me earlier that parts of Parliament Street were in the process of being dug up by the water board I left the car and walked up which wasn't a problem as by this time the rain had stopped......Once in the chemist I was told that it would be a fifteen minute wait so I plonked my weary bones onto one of the available chairs and waited, and waited, and waited........Then a couple of ladies walked in. One must have been well into her eighties and the other I would have thought by the look of things, her daughter, probably a bit older than me......From what I could gather from the conversation, (now before you think me nosey I could hear everything they were saying because they were both talking at the top of their voices) the elderly lady wanted something to alleviate an itchy rash on her arm and was looking for calamine lotion, which they duly found but she then changed her mind because it was too runny and she wanted something less so, so she opted for a cream. Then she said to her daughter as she walked around looking at the shelves.....I want something now to put on my hands after I've washed them to stop them getting dry and rough....aghhhh there it is DUREX.......bless her, I think the old dear meant Atrixo but I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing and as luck would have it right at that moment I heard them calling SD2's name out so I got up and as I neared the counter I gave the assistant my name and address and who I was picking it up for to which she replied before she would hand it to me....Now what's you address please Mr SD2..........The comedy hasn't finished honest because I walked back home and was outside the house before I had realised that I had just walked past the car and had left it in the supermarket car park....Dooohhhhhhhhhh...........Maurice glad you liked the image of the bridge with the row of houses behind. Give my regards to Eileen..........
......And so finally for today....

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."
    George Bernard Shaw

25th ------ Oh My God........Please excuse me for being blasphemous, especially seeing as it is a Sunday, but where do the years disappear to. You see it is my eldests Birthday  today and he is thirty six. Happy Birthday Mark, hope you have a good one. The thing is it sounds so scary that he is that old, nearing forty, so what does that make me? Positively ancient in the scheme of things I would say........Another thing is, and I don't like to admit this, is that a lot of the past thirty six years have been erased from my memory or if they are there at all it takes nothing short of a sledgehammer to knock them into my thoughts. I sometimes worry (there I go again) about this inability to remember things especially peoples names and the like and thought maybe it was just me but it isn't if this article sent to me by Judith is anything to go by...............
........Well the neck's been oiled with lemon, the new slinky's have been fitted, the plugs have been plugged in, the volume has been turned up high on the amp, the distortion turned on and even though my fingers ached I got a reasonable "Smoke On The Water" out of my Strat..............................................

..........................Not all of the song I must add just the first few bars............ You know the intro bit that everyone knows that goes like deh,deh,dehhh,deh deh deh dehhhh, deh,deh, dehhh,deh dehhhhhhhh..............Things do get a bit monotonous, even G is humming it now and she dislikes this type of music, but I need to practice 'cause I want to be able to play the whole song within two months.......Also I'm working on how I can get the sound from my guitar onto my computer so I can post it on here so you can all suffer.............

...........Once I'd had enough of my fingers screaming to me to give it a rest I hung up my guitar, picked up my camera and went for a short walk to the shops............

................taking a very short detour to The Sulby river so that I could get some photographs........Because if I hadn't I'd have had none to post for today because even though I took my camera down to the boathouse earlier there wasn't a great deal to capture........................

....................In fact there wasn't particularly a great deal to photograph when I got to the edge of the river but I didn't want to disappoint so I clicked away. The light wasn't at its best so they haven't turned out that good. Still it gives a true reflection of what today has been like.....................

........Which is grey and overcast. A tad nondescript really but as I type everywhere has got that so much darker and the heavens have opened up and it is pouring down with rain.......Which is a shame really as we are all out tonight for a meal at one of the local Chinese restaurants to celebrate SD2's Birthday which she had last week, all alone by herself.........
Carol, hope you've managed to catch up......Phil, I'm surprised the government have got away with taking the 1 and 2 cents coins out of circulation. As you say instant profit...
........And so finally for today.........

"I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances."
    Martha Washington

24th ------ This could all turn out way off and I'd be called stupid, which wouldn't in all probability be wrong, but, and I've my fingers well and truly crossed here, it could turn out correct and I will look pretty clever...........The time is late Friday evening (23rd just gone ten) and I've been chilling out listening to music (more will follow I promise) and had a few beers, as one does on a Friday evening and on checking things out I spotted Tony's post regarding mental arithmetic and the problems we had to endure before calculators came on the scene.....To this I can truly sympathise 'cause when I was just starting work calculators hadn't even been invented so we had to know how to count, multiply and divide.....And so......and I promise you I've calculated this the old way without any help......I've had a go at Tony's problem and with my calculations.........The cost of thirteen sheep at £23-17-6 each would cost you.......£310-7-6.....Now I'm not sure if that is the correct answer but what I can say is that in getting there I had to jump start a lot of the grey cells.....
.......And the grey cells have been jumping quite a lot I can assure you........As I mentioned earlier I'd been chillin' out..... In fact both G and I had been chillin' out 'cause both SD 1& 2 had gone off to sample the delights of Ramsey on a grey Friday evening......Sooooooo I had  few beers....G had a couple of glasses of Bailey's on the rocks and we played some old classic albums by Michael Jackson....As I said just chillin'.....Thriller......awesome.... and Off The Wall.....awesome.....And I know I've covered this before ....but....and it's a big but...... I'm amazed at how different people can sing the same song.......and at the same time how funny we sound......And sooooooo....making myself and Mrs Mannanan look a tad silly I will give you the lyrics to Michael Jackson's classic "Don't Stop To You Get It On".....chorus part........ME......'Keep on 'till the boy's don't stop'.....Mrs Mannanan......and this is a right corker.......'Keep on to the post office'..........As I said classic seeing as the correct words are ......Keep on with the force don't stop........
........Anyway all that occurred late last night after I'd had a drink or two, can't you tell, but what is so amazing is that I got the mental arithmetic sum correct because I've done it all again this time converting the original amount into decimal, multiplying it out and then converting it back.......And I thought I was drinking Carlsberg and not Double Diamond.......
.......Finally got to see SD2 and she's looking really well and enjoying the whole Arsenal experience which is a relief 'cause I do worry about these things. Another good thing is that she is also enjoying the college side of things and doing really well in that as well so all in all things are looking good............So maybe I might just stop worrying so much....There is one thing though........Students, why do they bring home their dirty washing. I thought I'd woken up in a Chinese laundry (do they still have those or did they ever have them) this morning 'cause there was washing drying everywhere.....Still it's nice having her back and we're not the only ones.......Asked what she wanted for her dinner last night there was only one thing.....chips, cheese and gravy from The Trawlerman (the chippie where she worked) so that's what we had and when she got in there they asked her if she could work any days next week so they've booked her in....In fact they rang up earlier today to see if she could work this evening.........Must be nice to be in demand......
........And apart from SD2 the only other thing in demand today was a visit to the shops so G has taken both the girls shopping whilst I went for a walk along a very windy beach.....

.....Dave, glad you're still popping in and enjoying what's on offer. Yes have to agree with you about the UK being mean spirited......Tony, thanks for your post. That must have been very hard working as a clerk in the auction rooms, still I think I got your puzzle right. Glad you like the site and thanks for your kind words regarding my piccies........Judith, you know I never knew that's how Spam got its name. Much maligned now because of the rubbish on computers but I quite like a bit of Spam every now and then especially with chips.......I have mine straight out of the tin but G and SD2 like theirs fried and SD1 thinks the whole thing is disgusting......takes all sorts I suppose.......Great lyrics....as you said I'm sure we all do it....be nice to hear of others' mistakes.....I know I've got loads more.......
.........And so finally for today......

"One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation."
    Oscar Wilde

........This is what Laxey looked like just before seven thirty this morning. I'd travelled via this way from work because according to day shift guys coming in the mountain was pretty dire because of fog and torrential rain and I just couldn't be bothered with the hassle of it all........I did take a number of other piccies but because I hadn't got my tripod with me they have come out blurred so it's to the rubbish bin with those.........
........And that my dear readers is all I've got for you today image wise 'cause even though I ventured out once the rain had stopped I only managed one photograph and that was pretty awful really. Just to say that SD2, bless her cotton socks, arrived home safely and after doing some shopping in Douglas G dropped her off at school so she could go and have a chat to her old mates and teachers. The thing is I haven't seen her yet 'cause from school she then went off to the hairdressers for a trim..........Still when you're that age I don't suppose meeting a grumpy old man is top of her priorities......
.....And so finally for today............

"Dear Lord.. The gods have been good to me. For the first time in my life, everything is absolutely perfect just the way it is. So here's the deal: You freeze everything the way it is, and I won't ask for anything more. If that is OK, please give me absolutely no sign. OK, deal."
Homer J Simpson

22nd ------ Dire would be pretty apt I think. And awful would, I suppose fit the bill. I could even go as far as to say diabolical  and I wouldn’t be too far away from the truth either because, and I hate to have to say this, only there is no way that I can get out of having to admit it but my guitar playing yesterday was nothing short of disastrous. This really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me seeing as it must be well over twelve months since I gave any proper thought to either of the instruments but I would have hoped that the sound that I eventually got around to making on my first attempt would have been fairly recognisable as a tune instead of the cry of impending doom of a banshee.  I know that in some quarters the sounds that were reverberating around the hallowed halls of Mannanan’s Mansion’s could in fact be construed, in the very vaguest sense that is, as a tune, but I wasn’t attempting a Marilyn Manson number nor anything by Anthrax for that matter or any other group of that ilk for instance like Damien and the Demonic Death-eaters (I just made that one up, and those that follow) or how about LLucifer a Welsh Goth band or maybe even Suicidal Stella, an Emo outfit from some sink estate at the back of beyond who’s lead singer is a transsexual transvestite from Transylvania (it’ll never catch on) who took her / his name from a can of her / his favourite tipple, but a nice supposedly, harmonious   (it wasn’t when I played it)  little number by a gentle trio from the sixties with the nice sounding name of Peter, Paul and Mary, Leaving on a Jet Plane. You know I’m sure if the airport was any nearer many of the residents in close proximity to Mannanan’s Mansion’s would have wished they could have left the island on any type of plane, never mind a jet powered one just to get away............
.......You know I sometimes wonder why I bother because it all seems to, well for most of it anyway, end in abject failure but as I said it keeps me out of mischief and it does concentrate the mind slightly taking it off the perilous state of this glorious island. You haven't heard?....Well thanks to the UK government who have bankrupted themselves and who are now trying to grab back as much cash as they can from where they can we, we being the islanders have no health cover when we visit the UK 'cause the reciprocal health agreement has been scrapped. In addition a much bigger bomb shell landed this week when it was announced that the TAX and VAT agreement that we had has been altered which leaves the island down £100,000,000 per year.  Yes that's right one hundred million pounds a year which will have to be found some other way....All in all not very good reading........
.....But hey ho worse things happen at sea.  What, worst case scenario it's going to cost me an extra £100, £150 per week which we just don't have so I will have to think of ways to supplement my income....Rock guitarist perhaps ?....Sell up and move back to the UK ?........Worrying times ahead.......Anyway I had to do some shopping as we have friends around for dinner for the first time and they are vegetarians so I'm trying a whole new menu which seems simple enough. Just hope it's tasty enough. Anyway once I'd got all the provisions I headed off to the iron pier to see if there were any photo opportunities to be had....... Thankfully there were.....

.......Phil, it would seem that we have more than the Island in common because I worked for the UK's largest bookmakers, Labrokes for thirteen years. Yes decimalization caused some confusion especially as you say with the older generation....

........And so finally for today.....

"I'm living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart."
    e e cummings

21st ------ In retrospect, maybe I was a tad hard on my old school Maryvale yesterday when I was full of criticism because they did do a fairly decent job in certain areas, one of those teaching me the vagaries of the imperial system and all that it entailed............. Looking back now to 1971 it seems nigh on the verge of madness that we were so against the change to decimalization as at the time all seemed so much like hard work but we persevered and soon, thankfully came around to the decimal way of thinking, on most things anyway..........So just to give those of you who haven’t got a clue as to what I’m chuntering on about and to show you that I did learn something despite the aerial onslaught of blackboard rubbers, I think today I will give you a lesson in basic imperial mathematics circa 1970.........Let’s start off with the main worry which was of course our money system of the day £Sd or to put it in words.....£ = Pounds.....S = Shillings.....d = Pence or Pennies…Why D equalled pence I’ve got no idea ‘cause it would have been a lot easier being a P but hey ho it did. Think maybe that it had something to do with the THREE R’s mentioned yesterday, and that was the easy part. Okay still with me out there?...........Good..........Okay let’s start with the Penny which in itself was broken down into even smaller units of  a Halfpenny or Ha’penny as we used to call them, then further still with Farthings. Now these Farthings had disappeared from legal tender by the time I were a lad but I thought I’d put them in to add to the utter confusion…..Two Farthings = One Halfpenny. Two Halfpennies = One Penny. Twelve Pennies = One Shilling. Twenty Shillings = One Pound.......or Two Hundred and Forty Pennies...........Easy isn’t it? Things got a tad more complicated because we had other coins like a three penny bit which was pronounced Thruppney bit. Real old ones of these were silver but the ones I can recall were brass and had twelve edges..........Of course there were four of these to a Shilling..........However Two Thruppney bits equalled Sixpence or a Tanner..........Still with me class?.........Excellent...........therefore Two Tanners equalled One Shilling...........Oh I just thought I should really tell you at this point that a shilling also went by the name of a Bob........Oi......Carol.......Yes you Carol at the back of the class in Vancouver wake up and concentrate as I will be asking questions later........Okay where were we........Oh yes........Two Shillings or Two Bob was equal to a Florin and therefore there were Ten of these to a pound….It’s now that things start to get really complicated........’cause the next coin we had was a Half a Crown or Two and Six.......Yes that’s right Maurice well remembered that Half a Crown was Two Shillings and Six Pence and Eight of these were in One Pound  and then it goes without saying, but I will, that Two Half Crowns made up a Crown or Five Bob but again these like the farthing were no longer legal tender in the late 60’s and were only used for presentation purposes.........And then, and I’ll keep it as simple as I can.............Four Half Crowns equalled Ten Shillings or Ten Bob but there wasn’t a coin for this instead we had a Ten Bob Note.........And then of course we had the Pound Note and that was it along of course with a Fiver or Five Pound Note and a Tenner a Ten Pound Note. If I’m honest with you I can’t recall a twenty pound note back then but there may well have been but anyway there you have it. A very, very complicated system especially when adding up and working out how much change to give because first off you were working to the base of twelve then had to change quicker than Superman in a phone box to the base of twenty and then to ten........Then all of a sudden sanity reigned supreme in 1971 and things changed and we were working the decimal system with everything to the base of ten and though at first it was odd it did make a lot more sense. Also Pence became P’s instead of d’s which was a Godsend I suppose so things seemed better all round........... However saying that it meant instead of 240 d pennies to the pound we now had 100 p pennies and there was, not surprisingly, uproar in the shops because it seemed that everything all of a sudden went up in price which I think they did ‘cause now if the shopkeeper increased something by 1p he had in fact increased it by 2.4 d.......Oh yes I certainly learned some things at school along with manners and the ethic of hard work which seems to be lacking in a lot of the youth today. But anyway I have some homework for you all........From the age of twelve I worked......... I had a paper round in the mornings and evenings every day of the week (mornings only on a Sunday) and in addition to this, every half term holiday in October from ’68 to ‘71 I worked on a local farm picking potatoes. Now this was hard, back breaking work out in the middle of a muddy field mostly in pouring rain for eight hours a day and for this I earned the princely sum of twelve and six or in another way twelve shillings and sixpence.........And sooooooo what I want you to work out is what would that be in today’s money?.....Answers please to the normal place....Well I've just been on a site and the equivalent amount today using the retail price index would be £8.12 or just over £1 per hour.....Slave labour.............OMG….I’ve just re-read all that……I do tend to go on a bit don’t I?........The thing is I got a bit sidetracked and didn’t even get around to chatting about what I wanted to inb the first place which was the imperial measurement system which I still use at work but which will have to wait until another day.............Oh well keeps me out of mischief I suppose............
.........As does walking around the town but before I left the house earlier this afternoon I had to wrap up warm and gave my scarf it's first outing of the autumn. Though the sun was at times trying to break through there was a bitter wind so it came in real handy keeping the cold out and the warmth in........

..........I needed more wild bird seed so popped into the pet shop on Parliament Street before making my way to the courthouse and then down the narrow alley to the quay......

.....where the tide was right on high and the fishing boats were preparing to leave for a day of work. There seemed to be, even in the harbour quite a swell so rather then than me......

.....Apart from that, that's about it for today with things ticking along nicely. Roll on Friday when SD2 arrives home for a weeks holiday when the partying will start.....Well she was eighteen last Friday so she can take me and G out for a pint or two.....Gotta be done I say.........
........And so finally for today.....

"It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes."
    Douglas Adams

20th ------ Bean bags..........No I haven’t flipped my lid nor gone off my rocker as some might say, it’s just that with all this early school nostalgia on posts these past few days bean bags are one of the first things that came into my mind when I think of the school I attended............Oh yes, Maryvale RC, Infants and Junior school for delinquents.......Well delinquents wasn’t an official part of the school header but it could well have been if my memory serves me right.........Okay, well maybe I’m exaggerating slightly using the word delinquents, maybe tearaway's would be more apt for some of my peers in those days but anyway these multi coloured bean bags, (do they still have them at school ? ) were a staple of our PE equipment when I attended, along with small rubber rings which we threw to each other in the vain attempt of catching or at each other to maim and cause injury if you happened to be in the tearaway group, which I wasn’t I must add….. Yes our PE lessons were fraught with an element of risk and danger  and for the most part were a free for all unlike today’s regimented lessons. In fact looking back on my early years at school there didn’t seem to be any set structure. Okay it was quite a while ago that I attended infant school, what nearly half a century ago when I first started there and my memory might be playing the odd trick, but from what I can vaguely recall there didn’t seem to be much following of the national curriculum.......Yes we followed the Three R’s, and that in itself is quite wrong isn’t it?   supposedly standing for reading, writing and arithmetic, and this from those who are paid to teach, but as I said things seemed to lack structure and that was just the lessons. The teachers were another story........A right motley crew if truth be known who I’m convinced got their teaching qualification, that’s if they had any, from the teacher training arm of the Spanish Inquisition specialising in the torture of juveniles. This sorry little lot was lead from the front by a bully of a headmaster called Mr Hadlington who was a short, ginger haired, slightly balding man who seemed to be always shouting,  with a lot of his outpourings aimed at me for not eating up all of my school slops, err that should of course be dinner for which I was ordered to go and wait in the corridor by his room until he deemed fit to see me and think about all the poor starving children in Africa whom I was depriving food..........The thing was I wasn’t the only one, as normally by the time I arrived there would be others waiting in line worried sick at the threat of what was our fate. Most of the time it was nothing but on a couple of occasions I can remember having the cane and the funny thing is I can remember him saying that it was going to hurt him more than it was me.....For some reason I think he lied and him being a catholic as well……Of course being a catholic school we had to have the obligatory nun teaching us to keep us on the straight and narrow and we had a beauty called Sister Christopher who I’m sure if she hadn’t had the calling and become a nun would have had a brilliant, very successful career on the professional darts circuit if her throwing of the wooden blackboard rubber was anything to go by. She could hit an errant child on the head, who was sitting at the back of the classroom, from her desk at the front no problem at all and that was with her wimple covering her eyes......You know something? I’ve still got the lumps to prove it......Sounds dreadful doesn’t it?  But we did have some good teachers......Mrs Myers was a brilliant story teller who told us all about her first teaching job after leaving college which was an amazing adventure as the school where her first teaching assignments was in The Falkland Islands and then there was Mrs Mulgrew who’s youngest son Michael used to sit next to me in class and who we met up with whilst we had our summer holidays in Wales and between them they taught me how to pronounce that rather long Anglesey town name of......................hold on a minute whilst I take...............................a few big breaths first...........................pheewwwwwwwwwww...............okay here it is............. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch...........Oh yes those were the days.........
......And today was one of those days........mainly because I had to endure forty minutes of sitting looking at my reflection in the mirror, not a fun thing to do at the best of times I can tell you, as I was in desperate need of a hair cut.  Normally I try and go every six weeks but this time the gap has been extended to nearer nine, firstly because I ran out of time one week and then because of the stitches in my scalp, so today was the first available time I could go to get shorn. Hopefully with it now looking normal the guys at work will pick on someone else to persecute. I tell you us grown men are worse than children in the playground at times........Still it helps pass the boredom.........In addition to the dreaded haircut the weather has, as was forecast turned a tad wet and windy so I've stayed inside 'cause things are now a tad colder around the ear and neck area and learned a few more things regarding changing the way the lens focuses on my camera. I had touched on this subject a while back but with a lot of things that I do if I don't use the thing very often I tend to forget. Anyway today's three piccies all of the same subject, the rear garden of Mannanan's Mansions from the warmth of the dining room.................

....The first one above, a wide view concentrating on the whole of the garden itself with the crystal moon just a blur using the normal standard focus.......I then moved the position of the moon so I didn't get the window frame in and using spot focus...........

...........I concentrated more on the moon leaving the garden to blur in the background. And then for the last of today's piccies I zoomed in further on the crystals again using spot focus....

.........A great way to spend a wet afternoon in Ramsey I can tell you but I must put the camera down as I must pick up my guitar and strum a few chords before I start on tonight's dinner which is going to be local, thick sliced pork chops with a layer of apple sauce topped off with sliced cheddar cheese and grilled accompanied by roasters, and a selection of veg.....mmmmm........In the meantime I have a very warm welcome to make to a fellow RNLI crew member, John Seymour.....John is a crew member on the Swanage Lifeboat and like me he blogs about his experiences and you can read all about it here.......Welcome John and thanks for your post. I have bookmarked your page and placed it on permanent display in my Favourite Places Page and will pop in often to see how things are all the way down south.............
.....And so finally for today.........

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."
    Mark Twain

19th ------ It was one of those jump back into bed quick and cover yourself up days when I first looked out of the window this morning to see a grey damp morning with a little drizzle falling  but I ignored those thoughts and instead jumped in the shower and then dressed and went out and about to pastures afar........ Well Andreas to be more exact which isn't a million miles away but far enough to use a car and

only because it's been quite a while since I visited this little village........

........I parked my car down the lane at the side of Kirk Andreas church and walked along the narrow public footpath towards the churchyard and as I did I was greeted by a number of horses in the adjacent field. This grey especially being very nosey..........Once in the churchyard I just walked around clicking as I went and then from there around the other side of the churchyard where there is a fantastic avenue of trees...........

.......Couldn't stay out too long  as by this time the drizzle had decided to return so I returned to the car and had a leisurely drive back to Ramsey..........Where on getting back and apart from updating these pages I've just relaxed and had an idle sort of day.........Judith, glad you liked the robin photo and I look forward to your surprise visit one of these days.........Drinks all round at The Traff....I must say I miss squirrels as we don't have any on the island.....Maurice not a problem you using the photo as your wallpaper, glad I can be of some use...Thankfully by the time I was at school gas masks were long gone......Phil, I had an idea they were chestnuts of some sort....Mmmmmmm Malt loaf, my Nan used to make a lovely one on a regular basis used All Bran if I remember rightly.........Fantail......Oh yes the nit nurse....Not sure if they have them these days....Probably not 'cause it would be against the childrens human rights or something........
...And so finally for today..........

"In the early days, we just wore black onstage. Very bold, my dear. Then we introduced white, for variety, and it simply grew and grew."
Freddie Mercury

18th ------ To be honest with you I'm not entirely sure where yesterday, Saturday, went to in such a hurry. I can remember waking up and thinking, yes this is a glorious day and we've got so much to get through, which we did, but then it was gone and I hadn't even looked at my computer....The morning saw

Mrs Mannanan and myself walking up the town as we had a few things to purchase which included a concert ticket for G to go and see a group called Mabon at The Centenary Centre Peel on Thursday evening, hence the reason I can't go 'cause some of us have to work!......After that we went bird watching with a group from G's WI. The intent was to, if we were lucky, see some Hen Harriers which are quite a rare raptor in most parts of the UK except here on the island. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any though I did manage to get a shot of this Robin...................

........Despite this we still had a great time and at least we now know, thanks to the wildlife warden who took us to the hide, where we can go in the future to seek out these rare birds................ Situated at Close Sartfield......

.....just passed Sulby it is a haven for various wildlife including the brown hare, one of which we spotted basking in the sunshine but I was unable to get a clear shot of him or her.........

..........We did manage to spot some long tailed tits as well as the more common blue tit but the hen harriers stayed away thoughtwe did at one time think we had hit the jackpot only to be told that it was a common gull.....Oh well there will always be another time........Once home it was a quick shower and change before going around to S&K's for something to eat & drink......And then it was soon Sunday morning.................And I was up early for this mornings exercise out on the lifeboat........

....after which I made a quick visit up to the hospital to have the stitches removed which I had when I had the two things removed a week last Thursday. They weren't too worried about the lump removed from my scalp but the other from my shoulder has been sent away for tests, the results of which I will hear in another three weeks......Anyway once back from there I popped to the shops and on the way took this photo of fallen seeds.......which I think are some sort of chestnut though I could be mistaken................

.......Other stuff.........I've discovered thanks to the Photoshop Elements software that I am trying out that my PC is past it's sell by date and is in need of replacement......... Don't get me wrong it still works fine now that I had the MOT done on it the other week but it just hasn't got the RAM memory required to manipulate the photographs in Elements...............Soooooooo I've been looking and a couple have caught my eye............ but this will have to wait until I've saved my pennies as there are more important things that we need to get first. Not entirely sure what those things are but G has said she's got a long list of things..........You know I bet it includes shoes!!!!!!!......
....Phil, sounds like very happy days. Don't know what the problem was with Virol, (malt extract) 'cause I loved it and used to ask for more.......The Fuscia's are nice aren't they and the thing is they grow wild all over the island......
.........And so finally for today.........

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
George Eliot

16th ------ You know it never ceases to amaze me the differences between the English we speak in the British Isles and the English spoken by Americans. I only mention this because when I sat down for my dinner last night I was reminded of this vast difference and how odd things can, at times seem to be. You see for my dinner I enjoyed one of my favourites which I hadn’t had for a while......Brain's Faggots......a veritable delight of  minced pork mixed with herbs and spices, shaped into balls and cooked in a delicious gravy, which I ate along with mashed potato and mushy peas....mmmmmmm.....Now the other day I happened upon a site where an American chap was discussing the weird things around the world that people eat and was incredulous that some Brits like me ate faggots............Another word with totally different connotations is rubber. Now I use a rubber all the time to rub out mistakes made with a pencil but Americans use an eraser for this task ‘cause a rubber, as we know in America is the slang word for a condom.......The thing is, this could get someone like me into big trouble…As you know I work for an American company and fellow workers have already visited Cleveland so there is a very slim chance that one day in the future maybe I will be asked, (I really do hope so) to work over there for a short period of time on an exchange....If so, can you imagine what would happen in a scenario like this........I’ve just finished a hard, long shift at the factory (plant) and am making my way home to my apartment (we call them flats here and as for condominiums they are what we have on the dinner table or are they condiments)…anyway I walk along the pavement (sidewalk) into the local shop (store).........”Hi there Sir, how may I help you”........”Errr hello there.........I’m feeling a tad hungry and I quite fancied some faggots. You haven’t by any chance got any in stock have you?”……..”Pardon Sir, I think you’re in the wrong type of establishment we don’t have faggots here”.......”Oh okay I’ll think of something else to eat but  in the meantime have you any rubbers? You see I’ve got some home work to get through tonight and I don’t want to make any mistakes”………”Excuse me Sir but I will have to ask you to leave or I will be forced to dial 911 (999) for the police.”........”But I only wanted a rubber and a couple of faggots.........”Oh hi there is that the police”........Yes the difference in language could certainly get you arrested……But it doesn’t stop there does it........Oh no ‘cause there’s all the confusion between, chips, crisps and fries as well as the john, the bathroom and the loo.......Mmmmm that remark I made earlier that I wouldn’t mind spending some time in the States working.........I think I’ve just changed my mind.....Especially when you wake up or in my case are already wide awake, to mornings like this.......

.........Though I'm really pleased with the above  they are a tad dark  which just wouldn't do justice to the glorious sunshine that greeted me when I awoke from my slumbers earlier this afternoon......................Soooooooooo...........Yes you've guessed it I went quayside..........

........and experimented with numerous settings........You know I've had the big camera now just over a year and I still haven't used loads of the various buttons  so today was perfect with the brilliant sunshine to see what it could do. No make that to see what I could do by altering these settings and I'm really pleased with the results. Now all I need to do is try and master Elements..........That's easier said than done because...............Another thing has popped its head above the horizon.......My guitar........I'd been talking to this chap at work, N, and quite rightly he said what's the use of the guitars hanging on the wall when they were made to be played so he has kindly written out some tab (tablature) for me of a couple of easy songs as well as giving me some lemon oil. No I hadn't heard of it either but I'm to rub it on to the neck of my guitar to clean and enhance the wood on the fret-board, re-string it and get myself playing. He's a right task master I tell you  and has said that I've got to learn these tunes in a matter of weeks.....arrrghhhhhhhhh......I've got sooooooo much on just hope I can win the lottery tonight real big so I can give up work and retire to fit all the stuff in..........Or else have a re-vamp of my timetable.......Yep that looks an odds on certainty......................And so finally for today

"He was a dreamer, a thinker, a speculative philosopher... or, as his wife would have it, an idiot."
Douglas Adams

15th ------ I know some of you might find this incredible, after all I am a man who likes gadgets, but then again don’t all men, but I just don’t do mobile phones and in particular texting.   I can’t see what the attraction is in all the button pushes. It maybe that I have an aversion to the exercise, or more like that my fingers are too fat and I struggle with the small sized phones and buttons these days. But whatever it is I was very surprised last night when I discovered by complete accident that I could save myself time and effort if I used the draft app (application for those who don’t know) in my messages box file..........This discovery will make my life so much easier ‘cause each night when I get into work I text G to say that I’ve arrived, which normally takes me about three hours once I’ve managed to press the correct buttons in the right order, but now it can be sent in minutes if I just navigate to the drafts folder where I have now stored a template message and press send…….Can’t for the life of me understand why I thought mobiles were the devils invention ‘cause now with my new found skills I’m sure I could master a Blackberry or even an iPhone……Nahhhh….maybe not 'cause I'm sure I'd still find something that I was completely useless at.  Take for instance this past week I've been trying to master the art of Photoshop Elements 8. Remember I told you that I was having trouble trying to view the tutorials?....Well I've sussed all that out but am now having problems trying to follow the simple instructions and have failed to do anything constructive at every attempt I'm beginning to think that my learning gene has taken a walk off somewhere never to return. However I still have ten days of a free trial left to try and master the ins and outs of it all before I have to decide to buy it which I think I will, with the money I had for my Birthday, but it would be nice to be able to use some of the tools properly when I get it.......
............Decided to go a little further afield today with my camera in the hope that divine intervention would present itself with some great photo opportunities but even though I went to one of my favourite place, Lezayre Churchyard, there were no bolts of lightening........

............Okay there may have been the odd flicker of light here and there but overall there was nothing there that jumped right out at me shouting 'This is it'.........

............I was after that autumnal look again. Golden, fallen leaves in mounds with wisps of smoke or mist but that was nowhere to be seen.......There was the odd Fuschia bush still looking great in full bloom......

.............and that's about it so I left there a bit despondent and drove to The Garey where Jemima Puddleduck and all her friends were waiting for me. Well I'm not sure it was me in particular they were waiting for.......

....because I'm sure anyone with a crumb of food would have been made very welcome 'cause they came at me like bats out of hell when I pulled the car into the small passing place before the ford, but they soon waddled back when they saw all I had to offer was a camera and not a loaf of Ramsey bakery bread for their supper.............

..........Mark, I checked out Electric Dreams and managed about the first five minutes. Looks as if it's going to be compulsive viewing so I'll have to make the time to view it over the next few days. Hopefully I'll be able to manage it 'cause I'm sure it will bring back some great memories.........Judith, I bet you do. Pop over for a holiday and we'll meet up and I'll buy you a drink in the Traff...........Maurice, if you get chance to read this I hope all goes well with Eileen's operation. Give her our best wishes for a speedy recovery..........
.....Oh just one more thing before I head off to the kitchen.....You all know my aversion to things of the Christmas nature being in the shops as early as September well I thought this cartoon reproduced below was brilliant....

........And so finally for today.........

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
    Bill Watterson

14th ------ I’m sure all of you out there who read these pages wouldn’t be surprised in the least if I told you that during my travels through cyberspace I come upon a few blogs written by normal people like myself (some might find that debatable me being normal that is). Some of these are very good,  whilst some are bad  and others quite indifferent, but what was rather odd is that yesterday I came upon two that were carrying the same theme or MEME as it’s called in Blog land…..Why this surprised me I’m not really sure ‘cause I used to do something similar myself and know that there are quite a few other computer users who do the same. Maybe it was because they came straight after each other that I thought odd but hey ho these things happen, and as things happen they’ve given me something to chat about today….…. Anyway the theme they were both talking about reminded me about something that happened at work a while back when I had to attend a course given to us by one of the company directors. This guy, an American, was visiting the island for the first time and so didn’t know any one of us from Adam and so to break the ice came out with what I think is a great way to get to know people when in that sort of situation which is to ask us to tell him and everyone else in the room something about ourselves that no other person there would know. A secret if you like……As luck would have it I was one of the last to speak so didn’t have to go first and once it was my turn I came out with something quite boring like the fact that I was once given a detention at school for not handing in my homework. Can you believe that?  Well I didn’t want to tell them anything too exciting now did I? Not that anything really, really exciting, that others would find jaw droppingly amazing, has ever happened to me in my life up until now ‘cause it hasn’t unless of course the fact that Mrs Mannanan was, for a very short time I must add, engaged to be married to Air Marshall, Sir Ian Macfadyen who was at the time Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man and I must add, married at the time.............(I do not jest, honest).........Anyway the theme of these two blogs was on similar lines only they had to tell ten things about themselves that no one else knew and to be honest they were, thankfully pretty mild on both accounts telling readers things like their ring tones and who they first kissed etc and so I thought I’d  write about it today 'cause I suppose it's a long winded, no make that a very long winded way to say that I've got something that I want to get off my chest and so I thought I'd join in and confess something that only I know which has been bothering me for a while now and which I've just got to tell someone soooooooo.............I’ve started back doing something that I was addicted to but gave up many years ago............You see for the past week I’ve been having one a day whilst at work.............I had a feeling that once I'd started back on this thing that I'd soon be hooked again and I wasn't wrong....................Maybe I should have started back on the more weaker variety, the stuff with less caffeine in 'cause the coffee I've been drinking this past week has been pretty strong........Shame on you if you thought I'd gone back to smoking...........And now I've got that out in the open I feel a lot better and I suppose no doubt that you're all wanting to know about Mrs Mannanan and the ex

..........Getting to a point with the image alphabet topic where I'm struggling to come up with anything decent to post. I have one for aitch today but it's pretty poor so I think I'll give it a miss and wait until I get something a bit better instead of trying to rush things. As I said at the start posts on this subject could be few and far between............And talking of few and far between posts, my fellow Ramseyite, blogger and brilliant photographer Babooshka was back on her daily blog with a cracking post yesterday thanks to her partners, Gary awesome talent not only with the drawing pen but with words as well....Think this is a perfect case of when the pen is mightier than the sword.........And staying with Babooshka, thanks for your kind comments. The green bridge surprised me as well when Maurice mentioned that it was that colour years ago, I'd always thought it had been red, and tried hunting down an image on Google to no avail so I thought a bit of trickery was needed.......Re the photo comp................I hadn't attached an entry form, mainly because I didn't know how to 'cause it was on a .pdf file which I can't add to. However I did put all neccessary details on my email though I comitted a real crime by not entering my date of birth........... plus......... I hadn't sent them in at the correct resolution of 300 dpi as requested..........which I had a valid reason for but is a long story............ Thankfully all is now ammended.........Carol, what can I say......such high praise.....thank you.......it means a great deal to me that you enjoy coming on to my site and joining in. Cheers............Oh, found your sox by the way, do you want me to post them back?.........Talking of post.......Maurice....thank you soooooooo much for your parcel. Very kind of you indeed...............Judith, I hadn't seen any of the other programs you mentioned, maybe I should start using iPlayer a bit more but where will I find the time?.......Loon, aka Mark....thanks for the heads up on the program sounds right up my street but as I've just said to Judith, when will I get time to see it? I will try though.............
........And now something a little different.........If you get a spare ten minutes have a skeet at this.......I did and thought it was great........Me.......well it would have to be next to Mrs Mannanan in the bedroom of The Captains House, Stein   overlooking Loch Bay on the Isle of Skye.........Perfect.........
......And so finally for today......

...............Taken as I had just come off the mountain road, the hill, or should I say mountain to the left is I think South Barrule the tallest point in the South of the island.............Not content with just the sunset, this morning sunrise as I drove home was pretty good also and so I stopped off at the iron pier............

........Things were just about perfect with very little breeze and the sea was hardly moving at all......All in all a perfect start to any ones day though mine had just really ended and I was soon in bed fast asleep......I know some people think it odd that I enjoy working nights but if I worked days I would miss out on things like this and that would be such a shame....
............Things are going better than I had planned on the images alphabet and I am now up to the letter G without missing a day and this as you already know was one which I had a little concern over. I needn't have bothered 'cause in the end it was real easy.............

.........because one of the many micrometers I use at work makes a perfect G. In fact it's probably the best so far.....And so now I'm off out to hunt for an aitch....................
............No aitch as of yet but my trip out wasn't entirely in vain 'cause I got a few good piccies................

....................including some from a different perspective..............I've been down these harbour steps before at low tide but the last time a rather large ship was berthed alongside the harbour wall. This time I only had ducks and swans for company..................................

.........though there was another more immediate problem........I had hardly any power left in my camera battery so I had to be rather quick and conservative which is most unlike me when taking images. Don't think they've turned out too bad at all.....And on the subject of photographs........I heard back from one of the judges regarding my Ramsey In Bloom pictures............Apparently I had entered them all wrongly and hadn't followed the entry rules correctly. Thankfully they gave me another chance to submit them but I was limited to only three and given this stark choice I went with my original gut feelings and re-submitted these three.........One............Two.............Three.......Not to everyone's taste I know but I hope I've made the right decision and I get something out of it.......
.............Judith, yes it's very good news about SD2 and the article was one of the best I've read so far. Fingers crossed that she will succeed as they predict....Though saying that even if she doesn't she's got this far which is a lot further than most.....Looking forward very much to a week on Friday when she comes home for a holiday. No doubt within five minutes of her arriving home we will be at it like hammer and tongs but it will be nice 'cause I miss all that and life is that little bit duller without her bubbly self around the house..............
.....And so finally for today.............

"Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on."
Samuel Butler

.........It's not often that I get this side of the bridge whilst I'm walking so I thought I would go there for a change. If things stay the same weather-wise this week I might even go further afield.....Wow there's adventure for you....You know I can be a bit daring sometimes. Not often I know but if the mind takes me.......Anyway whilst I was out I spent quite a while looking for the next in the alphabet series, the letter F all to no avail so since coming back I've had a quick skeet through my October archives and found something that is passable. Only just I know but it will do for now unless I can find something within the next few hours in the kitchen 'cause that's where I'll be preparing dinner.......

.....You'd be right in thinking that it's odd 'cause I've cropped and rotated an image I took of the waves crashing down on the rocks at Port Jack a few weeks a go.......best I can do for the moment I'm afraid.......
.........Okay enough news about Ramsey what about further afield.......Well SD2 should hopefully be a tad happier today as she was told at the weekend that she could resume playing today after injuring her elbow. When I spoke to her on Saturday she was "Well up for it", as the younger generation say. Pity she's not for up-dating her site which she set up before she went away. Anyway when I was hunting the net for her site, I'd forgotten the exact address so had to Google it, I happened upon this article which I'd missed 'cause we were off island. Pretty good if you ask me........especially this next bit and I quote.........

....."The 17 year old, who is the Sure-sponsored Isle of Man Women’s Football Team goalkeeper, and until recently played for Sure Mobile Women’s League side Rushen United, is tipped for the top by football scouts who have watched her in action..

Made me feel right proud I can tell you..........Maurice pleased you like the new look.........Phil glad you liked the trip through Wales we certainly did and can't wait to go back.....Never heard about the orchard before nor for that matter nashi pears, hence the reason I've Googled it...I'm sure Maurice will be able to help as that was his old stomping ground........
...And so finally for today...............

"He attacked everything in life with a mix of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which."
    Douglas Adams

...........When I took it yesterday I thought it would be perfect but after cropping it hasn't turned out as I had hoped but at least you can see that it is a letter E....Well I can see it so I hope you can.......
.........Judith you are correct in thinking that there are two cameras. These have been in position for quite a while now and are used 24 hours a day for monitoring purposes. All I think they've done is linked into the one facing the bridge, to use as a webcam. Not sure how it's done but there are numerous ones around the town that I suppose they could have used for this purpose...............
.......And so finally for today (as you can see I'm reverting back to my old ending but it is one from the book on the subject of Old People................

"Old people don't need companionship. They need to be isolated and studied so it can be determined what nutrients they have might be extracted for our personal use."
Homer J Simpson

10th ------ There I was walking nonchalantly down the road towards Ramsey Methodist hall to meet up with Mrs Mannanan who was helping out with her WI's autumn fair, camera bag strapped to my shoulder as normal, when I spotted this lady walking in front of me. Nothing unusual in that except that I just new that she was going to stop me and ask me something. Isn't it funny that you know these things? Anyway stop me she did and enquired if I was Mr Mannanan. It turned out that this lady has been following my witterings on these pages for quite a while now even making a post and sending details of my site to her friends in Germany. Thank you JMW (hope I've got your initials right....OOPS....I hadn't  but I have now..............) it was nice meeting you and I'm glad you like my site.................
.......After meeting up with G I had a couple of things to buy in the local shops so I went via the the quay to get some images to show you the position of the webcam..................

....and it can be seen in the top left hand side of the above image......Also whilst I was out I was in search of more alphabet images this was because even though I do have a D for today's image I'm not entirely happy with it but it will have to suffice 'cause I drew a blank...................So here in all its glory is the letter D.........

......See I told you it wasn't very good didn't I. Well I don't suppose being photogenic was the main priority for the designers when they were asked to design a box to cover the gas installation and metres which is positioned outside the door where I enter my place of work. It looks even more odd when rotated so the D is in the correct orientation but I thought that that would just look too obscure so to see it as it should be just click the image above and all will be revealed as if by magic........I tell you something this little task is getting a lot more difficult as it goes along. I was only thinking about this when I was walking about in search of them and thought so far I've had some of the easier letters, harder ones are to come then it dawned on me, how on earth am I going to find something that looks anything like a G is beyond me but I will endeavour...........And just as I've typed that out, as if by some divine message from above, the answer has come to me........yes Mannanan is as they say in these parts cooking on gas.......Which reminds me I should be getting into the kitchen to start preparations for tonight's dinner..........Which is.....home made leek and potato soup for starters followed by salmon-en-croute served with various crispy leaves for the main, then a choice of Italian trifle made by J or apple and blackberry crumble and custard made by my own fair hands.......then.......a selection of cheeses with three from the Blaenavon Cheddar Company taking pride of place......
.........Yesterday I brought you a quote from the chapter Old Women today I bring you a quote from the chapter Old men starting off with this gem from the singer Celine Dion.......

"Old men.....have so much more to offer than young guy's. They've done all their running and sown all their wild oats."

.....A tad dark I know but that's what conditions are like here at around seven thirty on an early October morning. The sea as you can see was pretty animated as well, being whipped up by the ever increasing wind which has caused some problems island wide this morning the least being the considerable drop in temperature but I didn't stay around for too long 'cause I was cold and after all my bed was calling me.................
.........Anyway to add a little more colour and light I have for you the next alphabet image....Now you wouldn't think to get an image of something that resemble the letter C would be hard but it was and I was really struggling until I came to pick my keys up this morning at work and there staring me in the face, no beady eyes this time thank you very much, was the letter C .................

....Why I still carry it around on my keyring is beyond me because it's broke and no use nor ornament to man nor beast. What it is is a holder for one of those pound coin token type thingy things that you use in shopping trolley's. In fact I have a number of these which can be seen in the image the one with the VW camper van image being one of them which was a present off SD1..............
..........Judith........WOW.....how did that get there?....It must have sneaked in like a Ninja under the cover of darkness 'cause it certainly wasn't there the other day when I visited. About time too that the best place to live on the island is represented on a DOT web cam. It's just a pity that the angle is so severe and you can't see the swing bridge. Maybe this will alter later when I get a big pole or even a ladder and climb up and change it.......Still beggars can't be choosers can they?.....Oh My God.....how spooky is this...........I'd just written the above paragraph and uploaded it to make it live and went on my site just to make sure the link worked and the camera angle has been changed so to take in the bridge.....how cool is that............Do you think it will work the same if I wish for a million pounds to appear right next to me in a couple of minutes............................................No...afraid it didn't....dohhhhhhhhh.............
..........The next chapter in my book of gems goes by the title......Old Women..............

Old women ....will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, 'What are you thinking?' They don't care what you think.

........Okay I may have had to rotate the image of the front of the local accountant's office on the Bowring Road opposite Shoprite through ninety degrees but there is definitely a B shape there..........
.........Then it was on to more important things........I mentioned briefly the other day that the Volvo is making strange noises and hasn't got as much umphhhhh as it normally does or should have so it was off to the garage for a once over...........

.............and on leaving the car with the guys I walked back along the public footpath, which takes the course of the old railway that used to be here many moons ago, admiring the local flora and fauna especially the blackberries.......

.....I never realised before just how many there are here in this area and so tomorrow I'm going to do something I haven't done since I was a small boy and that is I'm going to go and pick some of this gorgeous fruit, after which I will make an apple and blackberry crumble for our visitors D&G and J&K who are coming around for dinner on Saturday.........

..............Sounds like a good plan to me.........Talking of which..........The plans I had made for today went straight out of the window when I happened upon this simple yet very addictive time waster........If that wasn't enough my eyes and ears were blasted into submission when watching the awesome talent of this guy.....Think I managed about ten, maybe twenty at a push.......How many can you get without looking at the answers ..........Phil thanks for your kind comments, glad you liked the fishing boats. Have to agree with you about how these look but there are quite a few that have seen better days and which I wouldn't want to take out on Mooragh lake never mind the Irish Sea and all it can conjure up........Fantail....Yes the panorama did your patio and garden flowers proud. Please that you enjoyed the cheese. We're lucky as we still have some left...........Ellen or should I call you by your other name......I don't know what you mean about you and your sister Flo knowing all about my wallet / bank moths....with you pair I never had enough money in the bank to keep moths alive never mind any for myself......You know I'm sure if I hunt long enough on Google I will find a site for financially deprived parents...............
.........I don't know, I steer clear of the sex subject on these pages for five years then thanks to my little book I cover it two days in succession..........This is what Jack Nicholson said at the start of the Viva Viagra chapter.....

"I only take Viagra when I'm with more than one woman."

7th ------ I know that some of you lovely readers out there find it hard to believe that I struggle some days to put all this rubbish together but I can assure you that I do. I just don’t throw it all together you know, though some days it might seem as if I do. No, a lot of thought and effort go into trying to make it all seem seamless and effortless and for the most I think I succeed though there are some who would disagree. The problem I find is hitting on a subject that can be amusing and serious at the same time and capture someone’s imagination and one which I can talk about with some sense of truth and knowledge….The weather is always a good topic but can get boring and I do enjoy talking about music as well as the naivety and idiosyncratic ways of the islanders which is always good if only for a slight laugh…. for instance you wouldn’t believe the furore that has been caused earlier this week, especially over the price of admission, when it was announced by Sure, the mobile phone company, that they are bringing over a full sized portable ice skating rink   which will be positioned on the Villa Marina gardens for use over the Christmas period. The cost that some are complaining about? Seven quid for an hour including hire of skates which is cracking value for money and I for one will be going along to get my bum bruised and soaking wet  ‘cause on skates I’m no Robin Cousins I can assure you....... but I digress.....There are however some subjects which I try and steer well clear of, you know, religion, sex, politics for all the obvious reasons and so last night during my break at work when I was nonchalantly surfing the world wide web I came upon a persons blog, it happened to be a woman’s, who’s main topic for the day I thought I could pinch for this page. The topic being The Ten White Lies You Use The Most…….But first I’ve just got to stop myself there for a while ‘cause I’ve got something that I’ve just got to tell you about today and it’s another of those subjects I try and steer away from........bodily functions......and in particular embarrassing itching….. …Now we’ve all at some time been a victim of this haven’t we?   Not so bad when in the company of family when we can quickly get rid of it but then with strangers around isn’t it amazing that the itch is suddenly ten times, or in some cases one hundred times worse and not only that but in a more inaccessible place. If truth be told I’ve been known, when the dreaded moment struck, and all gyrations into extremely painful positions have failed to do the job, to dodge into another room or even a convenient darkened doorway to get rid of the itch as privately and discretely as possible. Not so this new guy at work........ There we’ll be, deep in conversation about some work related issue or something just as riveting like the escalating cost of a dozen camels to the Bedouin tribesmen of the Sahara desert when all of a sudden his hands will be on the move to his nether regions faster than Usain Bolt was when he broke the 100meteres sprint world record the other week for a good old scratch. No surreptitious moves for this guy oh no he’s straight up front. It wouldn’t be so bad if he did it whilst his hands were in his pocket but they aren’t and are in full view for anyone to see and it’s not that he hides what he’s doing either. The way he goes at it, rooting here and there you’d think he’d got the entire collection of the crown jewels down his trousers along with his meat and two veg rather than just the odd itch. It is to say the least a tad embarrassing and I try not to engage him in conversation because of it........But enough of embarrassing  itches what about the topic, ten little white lies that I said I would return to.... ...Well I'll just  have to leave those for another day I'm afraid as I've gone on for far too long already without bringing you the real news of the day....sooooooooo.........
..............With time waiting for no man and age creeping up on me at an alarming rate I do wonder sometimes whether it's affecting my sanity somewhat and to decisions I make. It's not a sudden thing this 'cause looking back I'd say it's been going for some while and is very noticeable when I decide that I'm going to do something and set myself a target which is in all reallity never going to be met..... For instance ten or more years ago I set myself a target of being able to play Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven on my Strat within a year.....Failed miserably.... ....Five years down the line another promise this time on my acoustic guitar that I would be able to play The Animal's House of The Rising Sun within a year........Another failure.... ...Then there was the cycling promise. You remember when I said I wanted to get myself super fit and have a body like Stallone in his prime......and that I was going to cycle around the TT course?......Yes that has failed as well though I do have something that resembles a six pack....some might call it a crate   but hey ho.........Anyway my latest promise to myself from where I am sitting looks as if it could be joining the queue of failures but I will endeavour......You see the other day I came upon this site which gives you ideas as to how to jump start your photography. With Ramsey being as small as it is there aren't a grerat deal of photo opportunities that I haven't grabbed so I've decided to go along with item four on the aforementioned site which is to photograph the alphabet........if you read the article it will make sense honest.....So here is my first attempt....THE LETTER A........

....It is there honestly. You may have to look a tad hard but there is definitely the shape of an A. The thing is I wasn't just looking for A's 'cause I want this task to be as easy as possible so I was on the lookout for any letter and found a couple so a pretty good start........... Just wish that I had found something that closely resembled a B....................... Could be a while before I post my next one....DOHHHHHHHHHH...........

........Clear blue skies and sun but the temperatures have dropped considerably so much so that there was thick ice on my car windscreen this morning when I finished work..............

...............No ice of any sort that I could see around the harbour just a load of fishing boats and trawlers quayside preparing to exit on the afternoons high tide........

..........and of course the odd seagull looking out for any scraps that he or she could pick up......None from me today I'm afraid.........I might have given it some thought if he or she had posed........

........long enough to get a better close up but it was more intent on seeing what the swans, there were quite a few today in the harbour, at least a dozen, were doing so wouldn't stand still for any length of time..............

.......Paul, thanks for popping in and posting on your first visit. Glad you enjoyed your time here and thanks for your very kind comments though I'm not sure that you've got the right person when you say I don't do a great deal of work. You haven't by any chance got me mixed up with yourself... ....
........With the weather being so fine and me having a little time on my hands I popped into the town hall on my way back home and enquired if I could do something for the town of Ramsey to which they said fine, go ahead........So I rushed off home got into my scruffs picked up materials and tools and rushed back down to the harbour.......The result being this...

....I know, in my haste I have a little green paint on the white but I'll pop back tomorrow to put it right...........

.........Moving on in my little book of gems I now come upon one of those taboo subjects of mine....sex......In fact the title of the chapter is Sexy at Sixty and this is sure one gem.........

I know nothing about sex because I was always married.....Zsa Zsa Gabor

............parked the car, turned off the engine, got my camera out and started clicking. I had hoped that by this time the rain would have eased somewhat so I could get a clear view out through the windscreen but things weren't to be .....

........so I had to be rather quick, which isn't something I normally am at this time on a Tuesday morning having been awake for over twenty four hours, to try and miss the wipers and the rain spots.....I failed miserably but the end results aren't too bad at all..................And now I'm off out into the cold and wet on a mission......All will hopefully be revealed as soon as I return..............
.......I'm back. Now that didn't take too long did it.....Not surprising really as I never went that far just up to Poyll Dooey to see what was all the skeet.........I'd read Babooshka's post earlier today and wanted to see for myself the destruction caused by these diggers. Well if I'm honest with you I didn't see a great deal. What I did see was, and give them their due, a very tidy looking place which will soon be back to how it was before after the laying of a drainage system straight into the river, for the new estate which is being built further back from the river......

.....Not an ideal situation I know, the building on greenbelt land never is, but hopefully those involved went through all the right channels and if the end result looks as if there has been no changes to this great area then it can't have been too bad.................

.........And just to give you some idea of the conditions today I took the above image of the ford and the rain splattered puddles. Seems as this is what we've got to look forward to for the rest of the week...........
.......Been a while since I've had my ear to the ground and given you a track to listen out for but mark my words this utterly gorgeous song by Alison Krauss is heading for the top..........The funny thing is years ago if someone told me I'd be liking country and western music in a few years time and shouting it from the rooftops I would have thought they were raving.......... Odd how tastes change when one gets older...........................
.........Phil, hope you're getting used to your new PC and wide screen at that. Certainly puts my steam driven effort to shame but a new one for me is way far out on the horizon 'cause I think by the sound of things a new car might be the next money stealing priority..........Judith glad you found the distractions amusing. Sorry about the sick inducing roller coaster, but how clever...............

"My wife and I were very happy for twenty years. Then we met." Rodney Dangerfields view on Till Death Us Do Part and not mine I must add.......

5th ------ With the excitement of the weekend now only a memory I was feeling pretty lethargic when I first awoke but things perked up immediately when I remembered I'd got to go into work tonight so all isn't bad is it ........Sounds rather odd I know but the way I look at things is I have to go into work so why not make the most of it.......The thing is I did the same thing at the weekend regarding the shopping trip and as you see from this video things aren't that bad at all.........Yes, positive thought can work wonders.................As can the weather.............Since the morning storms of Saturday things have brightened up considerably and today has been mild and sunny........

.............and so I decided to go out and about and ended up on Queens promenade between the boathouse and the iron pier. As you can see the sea isn't as agitated as it was on Saturday...........

........Once back home I decided that it was about time I cleaned up my computers favourites and in doing so came upon a veritable gold mine of items to pass the time away.......  This game got the grey matter working...............This I thought was very clever..........This made me laugh.................This kept this idiot busy for at least ten seconds..................This made me duck...............This infuriated me but I quite liked the music...............This is hilarious even if it is in German................As is this one....................and all in all I got nothing done 'cause I spent most of my time laughing or playing games................ Isn't the internet a wonderful thing?

Youthful thinking by Bernard Bereson.........."I never felt that there was anything enviable in youth. I cannot recall that any of us, as youth's admired our condition to excess or had a desire to prolong it."

4th ------ I tell you something, life here on the island just gets better and better  Take this weekend for example..........Yesterday as you know I went shopping in Douglas with G and today things got better, if that was at all possible which it was 'cause after doing some splicing of ropes down the boathouse I've spent the best part of three hours catching up with all my ironing..............Now things can't get better than that can they.......
.......Of course they can't so I spent the rest of the afternoon tidying up this site and in particular the panorama page......I started doing this because of something Phil, you know him with the rather large computer screen....(only joking Phil in fact I'm very envious)....mentioned about how good they looked on a bigger screen so I had a skeet and spotted some broken links as well as missing links so I've done some work so if you get a few minutes pop over there to see some new stuff..................
.............So glad you all liked yesterday's crashing sea photos though I do have something to say to Loon aka my one and only son Mark.......You think the guys on the prom were stupid do you??????...Think me and your Mum would have something to say about that....For all those that wonder what I'm on about.....Many years ago when Loon was a teenager we lived in Dawlish, Devon and one evening when a rather viscous storm was raging me and his Mum went for a drive down to the prom to have a look at the waves breaking over the sea wall.

.....basically just taking photos of anything that took my fancy. The one above of the clock and plate on the kitchen wall.......with the next one below the best of a bad bunch when I ventured outside in the garden

.....in search of dramatic cloud formations only to find myself disappointed. So within a few minutes I was back inside clicking away this time the subject being the bronze hares G and the girls bought me for my birthday which I love to bits.......

....Well that's it for photos taken today. Not many I know but you can blame the ironing for that but I do have a few more though from my holidays which I think Fantail might like................................Here is one.....................

................taken using the macro setting on the large lens, which I'm pleased to say has turned out better than I had hoped........and here is the panorama I said I would create of the plant tubs on your patio.............
.........I've already mentioned a couple of Birthday presents so far today and now I'm about to mention another which will play a daily part on this site in future...........Our best friends J&P bought me a tub of Jelly Beans....mmmmmmm and a  great book called "Wrinklies' Wit & Wisdom" which is jam packed full of humorous quotes about getting on a bit and seeing as I'm more than getting on a bit I thought that instead of searching for quotes on the net as I do to finish off each day I'll go to this book instead starting off on the first quote in the first chapter and work my way through the book and so..............

Growing old is.........when 'getting lucky' means finding your car in the car park.........

.....and I wasn't to be disappointed either.......For a change we took the coastal road through Laxey and then just past Baldrine took the turning to Groudle Glen where the coast road comes out at Port Patrick, Onchan where Summerland used to be..................

.......From this vantage point on the cliff edge I had a great view down onto the promenade and I wasn't the only one 'cause as I made my way to the edge a chap with camera and large lens was coming towards me having vacated the place to be.......

........By this time the wind was blowing quite strongly and I was struggling to keep the camera under control and get some decent shots in so I got back in the car and drove down to the prom.......

...........where the problem suddenly changed from bracing myself against the wind to dodging the waves as they crashed against the sea wall....................

......Thankfully I managed this quite well and didn't get soaked once. I may have looked as if I was doing a very bad interpretation of a Michael Jackson dance but at least I stayed dry.......

......which is more than I can say for a number of people who were walking along the prom totally oblivious to and and one with the crashing waves. They looked soaking wet and miserable but the smiles on their faces said otherwise.......As they say nothing stranger than folk........Camera away it was then off to the shops where I spent the best part of two hours having the time of my life....Well that's what my smile was telling G, even when she took a very quick detour into a shoe shop.....Bless her cotton socks...........Judith, apology accepted......Tony, yes I bet that was some sight watching the demolition of the chimney's. Fred Dibnah....what a star................
.....And so finally for today...................

"One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation."
    Oscar Wilde

2nd ------ And so it came to pass that the Goddess Mannanan found herself feeling rather hungry after a week of toil in the wilderness called work, and so she turned to her hero, the God Mannanan and requested a favourite. Mannanan ever willing to please his Goddess set about this task and in no time at all the smell of a corned beef and tatty pie was wafting through the sacred halls of Mannanan's Mansions........Sounds good doesn't it? Rather mythological I would say but the thing is I can't keep it up any longer so I'll think I'll revert to the norm.........Yes as you've guessed I've been a tad busy in the kitchen. G fancied an old favourite so I obliged the thing is with SD2 no longer here and SD1 off in Birmingham to visit her Dad, and as it happens SD2 as well 'cause she's popping up on the train to see them all, the normal recipe I make would make too much so I cut down on everything except the pastry and with what was left over I've made some cheese straws.....They are to say the least moooorrrrishhhhhhhh.....mmmmmmmmmmm.........
........However before all that I went out and about and as I mentioned yesterday the weather did change and things were over cast and a tad damp with a slight drizzle falling.........

...........I had wanted to go further afield, somewhere like Andreas but because I hadn't been prepared and packed some sandwiches and because of the damp and dull conditions  I thought it wise to stay nearer home so I popped down the end of the prom...............

...............where not a great deal was happening so after a few minutes I was on my way again up onto the Bride Road and then onto the Andreas Road heading into Ramsey where I stopped off as I had a while ago spotted a number of things which I thought might make a good subject......

....I just love the old gate which has so much character. What did surprise me though was the Valarian which was still looking great..........Couldn't stay too long here as I was parked half on the pavement so I hurried up and then moved on to The Whitey......

....Where again I was all by myself to take a number of images before driving home to start work in the kitchen.......Tony, thank you for your very kind comments. Maybe when you come over in the spring we could partake in a pint or two at the Traff........Maurice, now that really surprises me that the swing bridge was green. I have never seen pictures of it that colour and have always presumed that it's been red.......Judith, how on earth could you forget about me and this site......shame on you........Only joking of course you are welcome any time.......Ginny, thanks for your first post and very kind comments. Do feel free to visit again, and thanks for all your help on the course......
.....And so finally for today.......

" I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."
Claude Monet

1st ------ I'm not entirely sure, nor happy for that matter, that Ditties is the correct word to use (I can't think of anything else so it's all I have) for these pages as that infers, well it does in my mind anyway, that I may in any minute burst into song. That I can assure you will not be happening. What will be happening however is more of what you're used to when visiting these pages so prepare yourself for me going off on any subject that takes my fancy and one has certainly taken that today............It is with no satisfaction at all that I can inform you that Shoprite, the local supermarket wins first prize for having............wait for it.........you know it pains me to write this word so early in proceedings but here goes............Shoprite already have their Christmas cards on display just as you walk into the shop. I noticed this last night when I popped in to buy a lottery ticket after I'd finished work......... For God's sake it was only September......Okay I know things have been a tad hard on business but this early??????...........Okay with my moaning out of the way I can get on to the more serious task of telling you how things should now be back to normal now that I'm back to working my normal night shift and to start things off....... I've been out for a walk around the town

....The sun was shining, the sky was blue and I managed to get out without a jacket which was nice. Can't see this being the case for much longer so better make the most of it. Anyway as normal I ended up quayside......

.......Then instead of taking my normal short cut back onto Parliament Street and home I carried onto the Bowring Road to  show you the latest addition to the structure of Ramsey.......A new wall built up to the wall of the bridge where there used to be a cycle shop when we first came to live here but now is part of Haldane Fishers builders yard.

.........Laura glad you liked the soldiers shot. It turned out exactly as I had hoped which is a good thing really as I waited a good ten or fifteen minutes just to get it. Well worth the wait in the end I think.......Phil, Fantail, Maurice, Dave and Carol thank you so much for taking the time to post, telling me your thoughts about the piccies I've chosen for the Ramsey In Bloom competition. It is very kind of you. It's funny how we all see different things and what appeals to one might not necessarily appeal to another but what I find really uncanny is that the ones I like the most were ones I was at first hesitant to enter but which Phil gave special mention to. My favourite of the three being the cow parsley with the swing bridge in the background.....Not sure as to when the judging takes place but rest assured as soon as I hear anything you will be the next to know.........
.....Another thing uncanny has occurred this week.....called Mothers Intuition.......the other night G just couldn't sleep and it wasn't down to my snoring either. She had this feeling that all wasn't well with SD2 so it was no surprise that yesterday morning she received a phone call from her saying that she was sitting in the A&E department of a local hospital waiting for an x-ray as they thought she may have fractured her elbow.......As things turned out she hadn't but isn't that spooky?.....The doctors diagnosed something called golfers elbow which I had never heard of before. Tennis yes, golfers no, but a quick search on good old Google has produced numerous sites, this being one of them, with more than enough information to keep me busy for a while.....A little set back no doubt but she will bounce back better than before and will in no time  be back on track and be running, jumping and diving all over the place. Things have gone really well in the month that she has been away and real progress has been made....Just watch this space........Oh and by the way I've added another day to the Two Lost Weeks page if you want to have a skeet.......
......And so finally for today.....

"You know, boys, a nuclear reactor is a lot like a woman. You just have to read the manual and press the right buttons."
Homer J Simpson