Shorts.

I have to admit that I do love wearing shorts. However, with my pasty-looking over-wintered legs, I shall resist until I arrive in France this Summer. Then it'll be shorts-only for several months

When I return in September, I shall be wearing shorts until my kneecaps begin to turn blue.

A lot of men wear shorts all year round here in Brighton; it seems to be not only a fool-hardy fashion, but also a demonstration of bravery/virility. Kimbo only brings his out (above) when the temperature reaches 20 C (he had been playing tennis with his youngest).

I've been out in the car this morning (yesterday) and I was amazed by the number of people in shorts. I can assure you that I was in a tiny minority in my longs.

There is something very pleasant about wearing shorts; having one's legs open to the air is very invigorating. If I had nice bronzed legs I would be wearing mine now. As it is, I shall have to wait another month or so. Yes, I am self-conscious!

 

It all started with him!

One of the nearest gravestones to where we live, on the edge of the churchyard, is that of Sake Deen Mohammed.

If you have an Indian Restaurant near to where you live (and I'm sure you do), it is thanks to Sake Deen Mohammed; late of this parish.

Mohammed had a foot in several pies. He was a hotelier here in Brighton where he specialised in 'curative waters'. He developed the 'Vapour Bathhouse' (Sauna?), and offered his clients a 'Massage with Indian Oils'. All very exotic.

In 1810 Mohammed opened the UK's very first Indian Restaurant, called The Hindoostane Coffee House in London's Portman Square. 

Considerably later, in 1926, Veeraswamy's opened in Regent Street (where I have actually eaten), which is now England's oldest running Indian Restaurant.

Mohammed's gravestone is rather hidden behind a wall, so very few people actually see it. But frankly, even if they did, they wouldn't know much of his history.  Nothing is revealed on the stone's script.

This is the great man himself (below). Handsome devil, ain't he!

So, the next time you visit your local 'Indian' for a Vindaloo, some Papadums, and a pint of Lager, think of Mr Mohammed. I pass his grave twice a day!

Think yourself rich. Think yourself beautiful.

 

I have always thought that the reason why so many criminals look like criminals is because they 'think themselves' into being nasty-looking and thuggish so they can impress their friends. They like the idea of being seen as 'hard and evil'.

I have also often thought that girls who think themselves to be attractive, beautiful even, eventually grow-up to become so.

A person with a happy disposition will always look more attractive than someone who is permanently miserable. And it shows.

I think the same can be said about 'wealth'. An ambitious person who dresses, and thinks, like a successful person, will probably eventually become wealthier than his or her peers who think of themselves as stuck in poverty. 

The mind is a wonderful thing, and one's attitude towards how one sees oneself, can have a huge impact.

Perhaps it's all a question of 'confidence'. Belief in oneself is vital in life.

Green Leaves

What a beautiful day it is. 

It must be much like the below all over Europe. Temperatures are rising, leaves are sprouting, and it's beginning to feel like Summer.

I'm convinced that the colour GREEN is good for us! With lawns being cut for the first time this year, I know that the delicious 'green' aroma of freshly mown grass certainly is good for us.

Bees are now everywhere, Tulips are flowering, and fresh-air outdoor-campers are again to be found sleeping in the churchyard. Late April is the season of re-birth. Birds are nest building, Lambs are in the fields, and people (including me) are out freshening-up the paint on their front doors.

Men are wearing shorts again, women are wearing pretty Summer dresses, and people are smiling more than previously. There are very few downsides to life at the moment; other, maybe, than hay-fever for some, and some aphids appearing on our Rose bushes.

This week will see temperatures of around 20 C on most days. A little way off my favourite of 25 C; but not too far.

No, really; all this is true!

 

The Pope died (below)

Wealthy Tamara Ecclestone (daughter of Bernie) and her husband Jay Rutland went away on holiday on the understanding that their £75 Million Kensington mansion was well insured. Unfortunately, whilst they were away sunning themselves, some scallywags broke into their home and half-inched £25 Million quid's-worth of Gems, Watches, and Cash; in Britain's biggest ever domestic burglary. Of course they were very upset, but Tamara and Jay became philosophical about the whole affair knowing that their insurance company would reimburse them. 

Sadly when it came to the crunch, their insurance folk pointed to a tiny print 'exemption clause' that said Cash, Watches, and Jewelry, were NOT included. Oh dear. Moral: Always read the tiny print. Let that be a warning to you!

There has been confusion this year about the date of St George's Day (above). Most of us 'celebrate' it on the 23rd April each year, but this year The Church has decided that it should move to the 28th April. The reason being that no Saint's day is permitted during the week before, or the week after, Easter Day. I can confidently report that NO-ONE took any notice of The Church, and we all waved our little flags on the 23rd.

LOST & FOUND: Nothing surprises me about the things I find around Brighton. But an ERRANT KNIGHT? That's a first. He was sitting on a box that holds the salt for treating icy Winter roads. I wonder where the rest of the set is?

Here is Putin in church (below) at Easter. The patriarch of Moscow praised him for keeping Russia as 'a bastion of values'. I think that says a lot about the Russian church. Is wanton mass slaughter and destruction really a bastion of Russian values? I suppose we all have to agree that it is!

Back in 2014, the Tory/Lib Dem coalition government opened floodgates that they never could have imagined. They introduced a new law that said that the SHOPLIFTING of goods worth up to £200 wasn't really very naughty; and as a result the country's shoplifters went crazy, and they even came from abroad to take advantage. WHAT DID THEY IMAGINE WOULD HAPPEN?

She's known as a 'One Woman Crime Wave'; 44 year old Tanya Liddle (below) has been arrested 400 times, she has admitted to 350 crimes, and has had 180 convictions; all for shoplifting. Just over the recent Easter weekend alone she stole over £1,300 worth of 'everything imaginable'.

She's permanently in and out of prison for short terms, and her local stores in Northumbria dread her being released. No doubt she'll be back inside again very soon.

May I suggest that Starmer and Co change the silly £200 law, and make Shoplifting a SERIOUS CRIME again. Why make it easy for shoplifters?

I was just reading a paper by Prof Thomas Sowell about 'Slavery'. Sowell, who has spent a lifetime researching such things, tells us that the number of White People enslaved in N Africa by the Barbary Pirates, far exceeds the number of Black People enslaved in the USA. Make of that what you will. His point was that paying 'reparations' to families of victims could be tricky, if not impossible.

It's been a quiet week; it must have been the Easter effect.

Putting the World to Rights.

We used to have regular 6 am breakfasts together on Wednesdays, but we have now changed it to 7 am on Fridays.

Kimbo was always dashing off to catch his London train, so our breakfasts were a tad rushed. We eventually saw the folly in this, and we now meet on Fridays when he works from home, and we can be more relaxed, and discuss (and solve) all sorts of world affairs.

I like to think that I offer a 'Full English', but it's more of a 'Half-Full English these days. Kimbo has decided that he no longer likes Baked Beans on his toast, or under his fried Egg, so they have now been abandoned. 

Instead we have Bacon, Haggis, Knack's, fried Tomatoes or Mushrooms (or both), along with a fried Egg on Toast. Kimbo always arrives on the dot, and is in charge of the Coffee. Our timing runs like clockwork, and we sit down to eat at precisely 7.05 am.

We usually discuss all manner of important issues, but yesterday we became embroiled in old photos of our area here in Brighton. They were mostly taken around 1971, so not very old. Many of our nearby roads are now totally different; some have even disappeared. Our own bijou house was built in the 70's and the road doesn't appear at all on any old maps or photos.

One of the more surprising revelations was the amount of Pubs there used to be in the area (there still are). Almost every street corner had a Pub, and signs can still be seen of their previous existence. When discussing the matter we agreed that pre-TV, Pubs were far more important than they are now. And a pint of wallop probably only cost 2p, which helped. 

I really enjoy our weekly breakfasts together; long may they continue.

I should add that my own plate was considerably less charged than Kimbo's above; I'm on a pre-Summer diet.

 

Apples.

Here in Brighton we have two 'communal' Apple trees right outside our front door. Both are good Apples, but we are just about the only people who actually eat them!

The one above is supposed to be a Bramley, but it's unlike any Bramley I've known. Anyway it's a very good 'cooker' and is covered in flowers.

The one below has almost finished flowering, but you can probably just about see a bit of lingering blossom. It is a very good 'eater' and offers big red fruits. 

I have no idea why other residents don't pick them. They know when they are ready to eat, because we announce as much on the street's WhatsApp page; yet no-one comes to take any.

In France my next door neighbour had the most wonderful Cox's Orange Pippin tree, which produced huge amounts of wonderful fruit. They didn't pick the fruit so I used to go scrumping early in the mornings and bring a few home. HE THEN CUT THE TREE DOWN, and bought his Apples 'plastic wrapped' from a supermarket instead. 

All my life I've been lucky enough to have lived with orchards of Apples, Pears, and Plums, and to be deprived would be difficult. I planted a large orchard in France; much of which was, sadly, sold along with our huge converted barn; but luckily we still have plenty of fruit (below). 

When we return from France this coming September, the two trees above should be covered in Apples.

Our fingers are crossed.