Exercising Your Abbs?

Is it me, or is everyone else speaking in abbreviations these days?

I can cope with the ones on knitting patterns - although I remember one Christmas when Mum dropped hers on the fire and burned the corner. Dad and my Uncle tried to recreate the missing part – but got unstuck with “dec 1 st” which they translated as ‘December First’ ! [good list here]

 

I know that for years those in the Antipodes have been fond of reducing their language to the bare minimum. Check here for examples such as arvo, barbie and sanger. I have twelve cousins in Perth – is that '’a doz cuz in Oz’ do you think?

 

Then the advent of mobile phones meant we got text-speak  [list here] which started about twenty years ago.Well, IMHO, text messages should be spelled and punctuated correctly. But I’m middle-aged and fussy!

 

But the one that is annoying me most of late is this reduction of people’s names. Your name is important- and I really find myself irritated by references to Lindsay Lohan as LinLo [better than LiLo I suppose – which reminds me of Lilo Lil in the old TV series ‘Bread’!]

Jennifer Lopez is reduced to J-Lo, and Susan Boyle is SuBo

And the wife of our prime minister is frequently called SamCam

…and that makes me think of the “JamCam” that they refer to on the BBC when they are giving travel news.

Perhaps I am just getting too picky because my name does not lend itself to this treatment. I should hate anyone to think I was AnAl!!

Aah! Bisto!

Just before we left KM for our holiday here at Cornerstones, I put a few bits of food into a bag. Mostly leftovers to use up – but also a few things I thought I might need over the weekend – although I had ordered a Sainsbury's Delivery to arrive at Cornerstones on the Saturday afternoon.

The van duly arrived - “Where am I?” asked the driver – having come all the way from Kings Lynn, and clearly feeling she was definitely past “the back of beyond” and into “the middle of nowhere”. I unpacked the stuff, and realised I’d both ordered some gravy granules and brought a new tub with me [as I couldn’t remember putting them on my internet shopping list!] but when I came to put them away in the cupboard I found one tub half used, and two spares.

So we have finished the opened tub, put one new one in the cupboard, and I am taking three back to KM with me.

Bob is concerned about this strange new hoarding habit. I notice these four tubs are all different! Our family is fond of quoting the Tony Hancock line

“I thought my Mother was a bad cook, but at least her gravy MOVED!”

[btw – very very busy weekend coming up – down to London to stay with Liz, and meet up with Steph, to attend my niece’s wedding – don’t be surprised by uncharacteristic lack of posts]

We Baptists Do Like The Water!!

"Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

The rest of the family are on holiday this week as well, so we had a fabulous day together on Tuesday. Between us, Marion and I assembled a picnic, then we got to their house by 8.30am and set off for Wroxham. It was rather drizzly when we got there but our spirits were undaunted. The man at the boatyard said last week he was fully booked by 10am every day – this morning, there was just one other name besides ours on the board! We spent five hours, going up to Ranworth Broad where we moored and had lunch, then pootled back to the boatyard…

Nelson and Hardy up front

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three crazy ladies aft!

We saw lots of other interesting craft

an amphibious vehicle

a Mississippi Steamboat

and the Lady Marion [SIL liked that one]

Lucy did a lot of the driving. The Safety Boat  came out. I am sure those two statements are not connected!

and we moored by an Ice Cream Boat [lovely cornets they were too!]

We stopped at Ranworth for lunch

 

Bob took his New Knife to slice my fruit cake

and we were mobbed by greedy swans [also by wasps!]

We passed some lovely properties en route

with great gardens and fanciful topiary

Lucy was quite tired after her hard work at the wheel –and Adrian enjoyed watching the world go by whilst Bob drove the boat

Then the Pastor had a rest too

And all too soon we were back at Wroxham Broad again

By this time, the sun was out – and almost all the boats at the yard had been hired for the afternoon. Boatyard Man much more cheerful!!

We drove to Potter Heigham and stopped to see the Albion – the last of the Norfolk Wherries still in working order. [Read all about her here] That was really fascinating stuff [and it was free entry!]

And then home to Cornerstones for tea.

Finally Finished!!

February 2009 – sorting scraps from the Great Stash, having got the original idea from my dear friend Lesley [see here and here] At this point, Cornerstones wasn’t quite ours – but I had already set my heart on a place with twin beds in the second bedroom!

February 2010 – everything had been brought over to Norfolk in April 2009 [including ‘spare’ sewing machine] and I had been piecing together the squares whenever I could. Then I added batting and backing and binding.

August 2010 – finally on holiday this week, I’ve completed the two quilts for the back bedroom - finishing the hand-stitching, and embroidering my name and the date on the corner of each one.

And with the few scraps left over, I have even pieced together a bag for the Scrabble tiles!

It has been a lovely project to work on when we have come over to Cornerstones, and I am thrilled with the finished results. It is all thrifted fabric, full of memories and I shall treasure these quilts.

The fabrics include – the dress I made when I got engaged, shirts from Bob, Dad and my FIL, a dress from my MIL, tablecloths and sheets of my Mum’s, school dresses and party dresses belonging to Liz and Steph, cotton trousers [mine and my SIL’s] curtains from our first home, bedlinen from the early years of marriage, duvet covers from the girls’ teenage years, a couple of my old blouses…and lots more pieces besides.

Slice of Life

My good friend Hannah has emailed me details of a farmer in Surrey who has devised a more efficient scarecrow, using Lady Gaga as his model.

Nigel Britten grows wheat for Hovis, and was concerned about the way the pigeons ate his crops. His fiancée suggested the idea! The name ‘Hovis’ comes from ‘hominis vis’ meaning ‘strength of man’

 

 

Here is my strong man, with the lovely loaf of brown bread he made last night!

The bread has a honey glazed crust, and good texture and flavour.

[His Lady Gaga is the other side of the camera!!]

Saturday With Stephanie

We got up early [ish!] and went off to Cromer, where it was carnival week. We visited the Carnival Field and looked round the Boot Fair and Craft Stalls

The Boot Fair was…like any other really – didn’t find any bargains.

Then we walked down towards the Pier and meandered round the town. It was drizzling a bit

Some hardy souls were trying to picnic on the beach, in the wind – others were in the sea in wetsuits with body-boards.

We were not tempted to do any of those things, and we wanted lunch!

In a side street opposite the Parish Church we found “The Aristocrats” – a quiet little restaurant [we were the only ones in there] where we all enjoyed salads for lunch.The Proprietor was at pains to explain it was almost all local produce. Bob’s Cromer crab was splendid. The intermittent rain continued. We did see the motorbikes in the Carnival Parade

[Not that many though – bit disappointing really]

Then we went off to Felbrigg Hall, a nearby National Trust property. Bob had the camera and took loads of pictures…

A fabulous doorway led on to many beautiful rooms. The last owner was unmarried and his brother died in WW2, so he decided to bequeath the property to the NT. From 1949 till his death twenty years later, he worked with the Trust to organise this. His bequest was conditional on “nothing being removed, and nothing being brought in” and they have done that.

 

 

Wallpaper in the Chinese bedroom

 

 

 

 

A lovely stained glass window

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hens in the walled garden

 

 

 

 

 

Onions anyone? [yes, that is Steph and me on the other side!]

 

 

 

 

 

Such a brilliant design – you can move the bench round the garden into the sun!

 

 

 

Then we drove home via the supermarket and picked up a few bits. Bob and Steph prepared the evening meal

Oops! wrong picture, that is the Felbrigg Dining Hall. We had risotto and salad. It was excellent.

All in all another lovely day.

Trade Descriptions Act!

The garden here is completely enclosed. The wall at the side is over 5 feet high. So we told our friends that it was dog-proof. However I have just received an email from Elizabeth [now back in India, ready for a new term’s teaching at school] She said we might like to see what Kandy did when they were on holiday here a fortnight ago!

Looks like we will have to revise our comments!

Toy Story 3 – And Other Films

It is fun to catch up with films when we are on holiday. We brought two with us on DVD which we watched earlier this week

State of Play with Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren and others was an average journalist-with-a-good-story thriller. It ‘did what it said on the tin’ – kept you entertained for a couple of hours.

No great movie – but OK for an evening’s viewing. Fairly predictable, and some competent people in the cast. I’d score it 7/10

Next we watched 2012

Bob had been really keen to see it when it first came out, but we were just to busy then, so we got it cheap in Tescos and settled down to watch it the other night.

Well I am glad I had some knitting with me to keep myself occupied! It was utterly ‘pants’ – to quote Bob.

All sorts of things made this film dire!

1. The science – please leave your brain at the door
2. The geography – likewise
3. The plot – it didn’t so much thicken as separate out like rancid milk.

The makers didn’t seem to have decided if this was an action thriller or a comedy or some sort of political statement. So there were horrifying bits where thousands of people were hurtling to their doom interspersed with vaguely amusing sections slapstick and farce. Every film cliché you can think of was in there somewhere.

And then there was the bit with HM the Queen. Now I admit I am pro Her Maj, but this bit annoyed me. You have all the world leaders being taken onto ‘Arks’ so they will escape the coming peril – and along comes a lady in a purple coat and big hat with two corgis trotting beside her. Quite clearly meant to be Elizabeth II. I just point out the following …

• in 2012 our Queen will be 88- she is the sort of generous woman who would give her ticket to someone younger
• she wouldn’t desert her people. After all, during the Blitz, when they asked her mother to leave London she replied “I will not leave without the King, and the King will never leave”
• and finally, if they did persuade her to go, she is the sort of sensible woman who would not wear a purple coat and hat – she would wear a Barbour and wellies, gloves and a headscarf!

Score 2/10

Then finally today, when the rains were coming down really heavily, we took Steph and our niece Lucy into Norwich to see Toy Story 3

That was fantastic [on the advice of friends, we did not bother with the 3d version]

It was funny, clever, touching, full of detail

And a real tear-jerker in places. 10/10. Worth waiting for!