'Borrowed' socks.

I think I've posted this photo before, but not in relation to today's subject.

When I left school I remember packing away all my stuff. I had managed to acquire all sorts of things that made study-life reasonably pleasant; a comfortable wing-back chair, a toaster that actually worked, a set of Sherry glasses, etc; none of which I either wished to keep, or could possibly have transported to my home.

Only my clothes and some sporting kit went back with me, but in amongst all the other rubbish, I later discovered that I'd inadvertently added a pair of socks that weren't mine. They belonged to the small boy in the top row on the far left of the photo.

His name was B (Brian) C Ockelford, and his name tapes had been carefully sown into each of the two grey woolen socks.

They must have been very good quality socks as they lasted for many years.... not that I wore grey woolen socks that often. I'm not totally sure, but I think I eventually put them away somewhere, and may still have them.

Looking at the photo again made me smile, as it did every time I wore his socks with his name sown into them; which I'd deliberately left in situ.  

I recently read somewhere that he'd died, and I felt strangely guilty.

Volkswagen Sausages.

Did you know that Volkswagen made sausages? No, nor did I.

And yes, I do occasionally eat such sausages with Choucroute, but I never buy them with 'Originalteil' written on the casings; which I believe could translate as 'Original Spare Parts'. Whatever next!

Casualty.

I really hate it when birds fly into our windows. I heard a thump yesterday, then found this little guy on the ground looking dazed.

I picked him up, looked him over, then after chatting with him for a while I put him in the Greengage tree.

He stayed there for a while in the sunshine, looking around, then after about 15 minutes he flew off; probably with a headache.

I'm not sure what variety he is; a Serin maybe. Fare ye well little guy.

The human cost of 'food fads'.

The picture above may represent many people's idea of healthy foods, but although each element is healthy in itself; overall it seems to be causing problems.

It is now claimed that ONE IN FIVE people in the UK are suffering from gut problems; all due to their 'healthy' diets. Why, I wonder, was I not surprised by this?

Overzealous healthy eating has caused a massive emergence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). It's mostly younger people who follow online, unqualified, 'food gurus', and their recommended trendy eating diets of 'clean ingredients', who are falling victims to this sudden outburst.

Nut milks, too many Avocados, and exotic grains beans and nuts, are all accounting for this epidemic of gut problems. 

Time now to abandon such trends, and return to the wisdom of our elders and eat a little of everything (The Great Gran Diet). Variety is the answer.

Drinking a pint of liquified Broccoli and Turmeric for breakfast every day may sound like a good idea, especially if accompanied by photos of radiant, slim, and beautiful, bikini-clad-young-women, but don't be surprised if you spend the rest of the day either in the loo, or at the doctor's. 

Beans on toast, bacon and eggs, or kedgeree once in a while, is now recommended.

THAT Chair.

It was a lovely day on Saturday, so I decided to tackle that old chair I found. I'd previously thought it was made from Oak, but now I think it's Chestnut.

I stripped off all the old seating (and burnt it), glued a couple of bits that needed gluing, then found this number.

173324 is stamped onto the back.... any ideas?

Lady M said it must have been made in a factory, but I'm certain it's an amateur job. I do know that prisoners made chairs up until quite recently, so I'm wondering if that could be the answer.

I would liked to have imagined it was made on the 17th of March 1924.... but the 33 (and not 03) rules that out.

Learning to use machinery.

The photo above shows the workshop at the Art College where I did my one year 'Foundation Course', before going on to my degree course elsewhere.

I attended four different Art Colleges in all, but the one above was probably where I learned the most; and most of that was learnt in this workshop.

It was where we learned how to use dangerous heavy machinery; the sort where one wrong move, and you could lose a hand.

There were all sorts of saws, drills, welding kits (both gas and electric), sanding machines, metal benders, plastic vacuum formers; you name it, it was there. It was noisy and dirty, and even turning some of the machines on was quite intimidating to some of the more 'delicate' students.

The workshop was where we learned about 'possibilities'; how one could transform one object into another. We also learned how to do so with the least amount of danger.

Looking at the picture reminds me of one particular event. My good friend Tony needed to weld something on his motorbike. He brought the bike into the workshop, laid it down on the ground, and started to weld as petrol dripped from the tank just a foot or so away. As you might imagine there was a huge rush for the exit as we all awaited the inevitable huge explosion. 

Somehow he got away with it.

Wood.

We've recently had our final delivery of the Winter; I reckon we've now got enough Oak (above) for about 3 years. 

And enough Chestnut (above) for about 2 years. There's more to the left; that's about two thirds of it.

I'm so lucky that my two pukka farming neighbours cut wood annually. I buy the Oak from one and the Chestnut from the other; always really dry wood that comes in one metre lengths.

It's a great feeling, having a stock of wood for years ahead, as well as a chainsaw that works well. With two wood-burning devices in the house; we need it!