Summer Bedroom

I have now moved my sleeping arrangements from the house to 'The Tower' as I do most summers. It's a very friendly little building, with a large sliding glazed double door looking out over tranquil countryside.  

We built it in 2010, with most of the work being done by ourselves. I had a builder put up the original blockwork, then the rest was done by Lady M and myself; including all the exterior rendering and interior plastering. I've still not yet painted the interior.

I had never built a whole roof before. From visiting the sawmill to ordering the hand-made tiles, all was new to me. We needed ceiling timbers (see photo), and we needed the wood for the roof structure itself. Those ceiling timbers are all solid Oak (the main beam had to be lifted into place with a tractor), and the roof structure was Chestnut which we hauled up manually. All design work was done on the back of an envelope, and I only made one mistake which was soon rectified.

My proudest bit of the whole construction is that decorative bit at the top of the wall and the bottom of the roof. It is called a 'Genoise' here, and brings the roof out beyond the wall. Again I simply worked out how to do it by 'thinking' about it.

We have now run a temporary electrical wire into the tower to feed a bedside lamp, otherwise it is still without any mod-cons.

It is one of delights of the Summer, moving into the tower. It's what we built it for, and it serves its purpose beautifully. I lie in bed looking up at those Oak timbers and marvel at how I managed to do it all. 

The roof tiles are all hand-made 'peg tiles'; no nails, they simply rest on the laths.

Being in there at night doesn't make me sleep any better, and of course I don't have my internet radio to listen to (too far from the Router). But it's a lovely place to be, and we shall remain there until Kimbo and Susie come next month. They book it in advance!

'Consequences'

 

I've known the name Penelope Lively for many years, but her work has never come my way; nor have I sought it out.

Lady M had just finished one of her books and suggested that I might enjoy it; although she had her reservations.

It may sound old-fashioned, but I like a good story, with preference for a good chronological one with a beginning, middle, and end. All this came together in Ms Lively's novel 'Consequences'. 

It's a family saga that runs from the start of WW2 through to today (it was written in 2007). It is the story of a family that suffers highs and lows, with all that that entails, from mother to daughters to sons, and from house to house. I won't spoil the story, but a circle is joined.

Ms Lively writes beautifully in a clear and un-fussy prose that is deceptively simple. Her attention to detail never leaves us feeling uninformed. 

Lady M said it brought her to tears on occasions, and she worried that it may not be my bag, but I found the story fascinating, and an absolute pleasure to read.

For me, my main pleasure comes from reading beautifully written prose, and Ms Lively certain fills that criteria. I recommend.

The 'Silly Season' continues.

It's good to see that the incoming Labour Government are really getting down to brass tacks in their first few weeks in office. Plenty of new policies have been revealed in the recent 'King's Speech', amongst which was one very important one concerning our precious country's criminal classes.

The new Minister for 'Being Nice to Criminals', Ms Shabana Mahmood (above), has decided that, as Britain's prisons are somewhat over-crowded, rather than build new ones she will release lots of nasty criminals early from the old ones.

In fact 5,500 are to be released, including 1,700 who are serving sentences of more than 5 years. How she came across these figures is anyone's guess!

Ms Mahmood said "This could lead to an increase in crimes committed, which would come with a socio-economic cost".

Well, thanks for that Shabana, I'm sure that England feels so much safer now, knowing that you're in charge!

Heaven effing help us!!!!!!

 

STRICTLY

 

Strictly Come Dancing is a BBC 'reality TV show' that began back in 2004, with professional dancers being teamed with amateurs in a dancing knock-out competition. I believe that the format has been sold to several other countries, where I'm sure they enjoy it as much as they do in the UK.

I've watched the show on several occasions, and one of my favourite participants was the ex-politician Anne Widdecombe (above on floor). She did her best, poor gal, and was thrown about by her pro-partner, Anton du Beke, like a bag of potatoes. All who saw that episode will never forget it.

The programme has recently come under fire from some of the amateurs, claiming that they were bullied, or even assaulted by their pro's. The papers have been running stories for the past few weeks. I noticed recently that even the lovely Anne Widdecombe herself has now joined the controversy, and has told many of the amateurs (especially the celeb-amateurs) to stop all their 'whingeing and whining'.

The truth is this. The professional dancers, who are responsible for teaching their amateur partners a routine, do not wish to be seen as amateurish themselves, and therefore are quite strict in their training. I believe they have just one week to learn the routine. They want their partners to look good, otherwise their own reputations might suffer. This isn't an excuse to punch or kick, but their partners who are being very well paid, need to pay attention and perform as well as possible.

Life on the ballroom floor isn't like the Lower IVth form playground. There is no room for "Sir, Sir, that boy just pulled my hair", you have to pick yourself up, get back into position, and do your very best. That 90 second example of how well you have learned, is soon over. No time for moaning about how hard the training's been. When my Rugby coach got a tad 'physical' during training, I never went off the field blubbing and complaining; so nor should they!

I have no idea if the show will survive all the controversy, which seems to be growing by the minute, but I hope it does. It's simply a bit of Saturday night light entertainment, and, frankly, I don't think that anyone who watches it gives a hoot if some minor celeb has been shouted at. We're there only for that final 90 seconds of 'dancing'; not to listen to a bunch of Moaning Minnies.

Happy (are you serious?) Birthday Cro.

 

I'm 78 years old today, and I feel about 90. We had planned a visit to our only remaining good nearby restaurant tonight, but I don't have the heart for it. 

I shall prepare a simple Magret de Canard instead, with a few chips and some salad. I know it'll be lovely, and I'll save about 100 Euros. Now I really do know I'm getting old!

OUCH!

 

We all experience aches and pains at some time or other; some are almost inconsequential, whilst others can be all-invading and debilitating.

For some time I've been suffering from Sciatica, onset of hip osteoarthritis, and a dodgy right knee. All of which were not really life-changing.

However, just recently my right hip has really started 'playing-up', and is extremely painful. Walking short distances has become a nightmare, and going up and down stairs takes me for ever.

Not only is the pain itself very unpleasant, but I'm not someone who likes to sit down and do nothing. I like to be active all day long, and I have a lot to do.

I have now made an appointment to see my old doctor; it is for August 5th (England is not alone in long waiting times). I need some serious pain killers, I've tried Ibuprofen and Diclofenac but neither seem to do much good. I now have to wait two bloody weeks before I can be prescribed something stronger; if indeed he'll give me something stronger!

UK Riots, etc.

It's Summer's 'Silly Season', and that means hot nights and rioting. Goodness knows what started this one in Leeds, but it soon got out of hand, and the usual suspects quickly joined in with the smashing, burning, and probably looting that usually accompanies such events.

Below shows the newly elected 'Gaza Party' councillor Mothin Ali attempting to stop the riot, and pouring water on the burning cars.

Leeds is a city in Northern England's county of Yorkshire. It has a very concentrated ethnic minority population, and I can only imagine that there is some conflict between the Leeds Hamas supporters and the newly elected Labour government, who understandably are trying to remain impartial over Middle Eastern affairs (hence Mr Ali's recent election).

Rioting does no-one any good, and will often 'stereotype' the reputation of certain groups. The mess will need to be tidied, cars and busses replaced, and countless windows reglazed. Local 'rates' will probably need to rise to pay for it all.

I have just read that the Police were called out at 5 pm, then having seen the scale of the riots, didn't return until 1 am. They probably feared for their lives.

But not all is bad during this year's Silly Season. I see that the founding members of the 'Just Stop Oil' group have been given some quite hefty prison sentences. Their attempt to stop the flow of traffic on the M25 (London's ring-road) was serious enough for a judge to award 5 years for the group's woke founder and leader Roger Hallam, and 4 years each for his wokey acolytes. A tad harsh maybe.

However. Plenty of time for reflection.