In The Pink

For my darling girl Scarlett, born 11th November 2016.

English Folk Verse (c.1870) - The Fifth of November     Remember, remember!       The fifth of November,      The Gunpowder treason and plot;      I know of no reason      Why the Gunpowder treason      Should ever be forgot!  That's the only portion of this poem I have known up until now, however this year I came across the rest which I have to say I am not in complete agreeance with.      Guy Fawkes and his companions          Did the scheme contrive,      To blow the King and Parliament      All up alive.      Threescore barrels, laid below,      To prove old England's overthrow.      But, by God's providence, him they catch,      With a dark lantern, lighting a match!      A stick and a stake...

These ladies are my three Aunties and Paternal Grandmother; Nell (or Helen), Maureen, Alma and Beryl. Today was Aunty Alma's funeral and I am very sorry to say they are all now gone; but together again.

Tomorrow is St Georges Day in England however it is a date I have come to associate more with the Knights of The Order of the Garter, the oldest and most senior British Order of Chivalry, founded in 1348 by one of my historical heroes King Edward III.  The Sovereign and twenty-five knights make up The Order. It is an honour bestowed upon those who have: held public office, contributed in a particular way to national life or who have served the Sovereign personally. In centuries gone by the day was marked by a jousting tournament and great celebration. The patron saint of the Order is St George, and the spiritual home of the Order is St George's Chapel, Windsor.  Every knight of The Order displays a banner of his arms at St Georges Chapel, along with a helmet, crest, sword and stallplate. These items are taken down on the knights death. The insignia are returned to the Sovereign and the stallplates remain as a memorial. (The insignia have developed over the ...

Image Credit: The Wizards Wireless

I feel a little bad for posting so much bad news on my blog this week however three significant folk have passed, two of them today, and I want to remember them here. Mick Karn, Gerry Rafferty and Pete Postlethwaite. Image Credits: Listen JP,   181 FM, Shropshire Star

Pete Postlethwaite died yesterday of cancer aged 64. He was such an amazing actor who has touched us in so many wonderful roles over the years. When I heard the news I immediately thought of him as Obadiah Hakeswell in Shapre, a loathsome creature portrayed so very brilliantly, and then remembered him in one of my favourite of his films as Danny, the leader of the Grimley Colliery Band. He had a distinguished career in theatre prior to appearing on our screens in significant roles although I am sorry to say I never saw him perform on the stage. Here are some of his films from the past 25 years. 2010 - Solomon Kane, 2010 - Clash of the Titans, 2006 - Closing the Ring, 2006 - Aeon Flux, 2006 - The Omen, 2005 - Dark Water, 2005 - The Constant Gardener, 2001 - Triggermen, 2001 - The Shipping News, 1999 - When the Sky Falls, 1998 - Among Giants, 1997 - The Lost World: Jurassic Park, 1997 - The Serpent's Kiss, 1997 - Amistad, 1996 - Brassed Off, 1996 - Crimetime, 1996 - William Shakesp...

Image Credit: Bing

The Badger Trust has said it is “delighted" with a Court of Appeal ruling which reversed a judicial review supporting the Welsh Assembly Government's (WAG) controversial badger cull. The ruling announced today (Tuesday) effectively means that the cull, which had been suspended during the appeal process will now be halted. The three law lords: Lord Justice Pill, Lady Justice Smith and Lord Justice Stanley Burnton ruled that ministers had made an error in making an order for the whole of Wales, when they had only consulted on the basis of the Pembrokeshire Intensive Action Pilot Area. The Welsh ministers conceded the appeal by reference to this point and the court unanimously agreed that it rendered the Order unlawful. The law lords also ruled that April's ruling in favour of the Welsh Assembly by the High Court had made an error of law in holding that the words "substantially reduce" could be interpreted as any reduction in TB that was "more than merel...

I am enjoying a quiet few minutes before the weekend really kicks in as we have a lot planned for the next couple of days. We did have a lovely lie in this morning as for some reason, known only to Roxy, the dogs did not venture into our room until 7.45am! After that I have been doing some computing and have downloaded Google Chrome to try as a new browser. It claims to be quicker for blogging so I thought I would give it a go. It has also brought to the forefront of my plans some PC repairs as for a short while now I have been getting an error message on start up and have trouble with my windows install software. The same thing happened with the Google Chrome this morning and although I am using it, and liking it so far, I know it is not properly installed. So I have given the local PC shop a call and am going to take my PC in on Monday for a review and possible upgrade to Windows 7. It has been suggested that reinstalling Windows may solve my current issues however I thought I ...

This is the Bing picture of the day, they are stilt fishermen in Sri Lanka. Apparently it was 38 years ago today that Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka and became a republic. Happy Birthday Sri Lanka, you are the same age as me! My maternal Grandmother was from Sri Lanka which makes me part Sri Lankan too, something I have always been proud of.

It is my fellas birthday on Tuesday however as we have four days off for the Easter Bank Holiday I asked him if he wanted to start celebrating early and he chose today to be his 'un-official' birthday. We have therefore planned four days of birthday spoils including todays event of purchasing and digging in a pond! The weather has been kind and the rain kept at bay until the last half hour. As such we have a shiny new pond with plants in situ! We put a small pond in a couple of years back using a liner and our resident frogs moved straight in, the new one is bigger and we can't wait for them to venture over and take a dip. We currently have three frogs, that we know of, and one newt. When we put the first pond in they were in the water before we had finished tidying away so I don't expect it will take long. They may have to fight for space with the dogs though! Roxy is a water baby and I have no doubt will give it a go at some point.

For Mr Dancin's birthday last year I got him a tank driving experience. He was in the army as a young man and worked on tanks as a gun fitter. He did used to get to drive them but it was just to move them in and out of the hanger areas. Well he got the trip booked in and yesterday we went out in the mud and rain, as hoped for, and he got to drive a Chieftain Tank , the Abbot self propelled gun , an armoured personnel carrier and Quad Bikes. There was also excellent provision made for spectators and I got to have a ride on all of the same vehicles except the quad bikes. It was a wonderful day, my lasting memories of which will be Mr Dancin and everyone else around me grinning like idiots, and copious amounts of mud!

These are the Tulips I gave to my lovely Mum for Mothers Day, she took this photo of them, as I gave them to her a little early, to show them opening out. Happy Mothers Day Mum!

This is my truck...well I say my truck but I actually bought it for the pups, hence the name. I have always loved pick ups however would not have one without decent justification as they are gas guzzlers but when we got the pups I needed something safe for them to travel in as they come to work with me most days. I work out doors so they get to run around with me and then sleep in the truck which serves as a large mobile kennel. They love it and it is virtually impossible for me to get out of the house without them in the morning! Another reason for my choice in vehicle was sound proofing to protect my ears from the barking and associated distraction when other dogs or motorbikes go by, or when someone drives too close to us. One of the pups also gets very excited sometimes (anyone who knows Shepherds will understand!) and the sound can be deafening and again very distracting. It is not uncommon for me to be sat in the truck in stationary traffic with the entire vehicle rocking from si...

Today marked the last broadcast of Wake up to Wogan . I am currently listening again via the BBC Iplayer as I had to go to work this morning before the show finished. You can listen to the last seven days of shows via the BBC Radio 2 website . Click HERE to listen to todays final broadcast. I have been mentally writing a farewell letter to Terry for many weeks now. In the end many many people wrote in and reflected my thoughts and feelings. So I have decided to save my letter until his new weekly Sunday show starts on Valentines Day 2010 and instead of dwelling on how much I will miss him, put my effort into welcoming him back to the airwaves! My Sunday routine is about to change! In addition to listening to the last few shows you can sign Terry's online card HERE . If like me you feel the need to reach out to the TOGMeister why not leave him a message. In recent years in particular I have become used to this Terry's wonderfully familiar and comforting voice getting me thr...