"Playing Safe"

Kipper is taking no chances......

 

"If I were a Blackbird"

                               "I knows where there's a Blackbird nest,
                                                 I know where she be:

      She be in yon Wurzel bush

         And I be after she."

   

With my camera of course.

A Blackbird has built a nest right alongside my bay-window, in a climbing rose. I thought if I could secretly get my camera up to the glass without being seen, I could get a close-up of the young.

So I drew the curtains and left a small gap for the camera lens. I put a safety-pin above and below to keep the curtains together. The camera was on a tripod so all I had to do was wait.

I had several goes but the following was the best of the bunch. I didn't use flash in case I scared her off, so I'm afraid it is a bit dim, but it was taken through double-glazing after all.

The male Blackbird was in the meantime round the back by the conservatory.

Now, Wesley is a great believer in eating 'alfresco', so I put his plate out on the patio.

Well, as he always likes to 'leave a bit for manners', this is a nice picking for a hungry father Blackbird. 

He would sit on the shed roof waiting for Wesley to finish and wander off.

Then when Wes had made himself 'comfy', only about four feet away, he would hop down and help himself.

I tried on several occasions to get a picture of them both together without disturbing either!!

This is not marvellous but it was the best I could get.  Wesley, by the way, is now thirteen and is more interested in food on a plate than having to chase it!!  

"April Shower"

I don't belieeeeeeve it.......

And he actually looks as if he is enjoying it !

Oh yes, the music...this one dates from 1928. Around that time there seemed to have been quite a run on these rather 'silly' songs;  the words are sometimes quite ridiculous but a lot of them had catchy tunes which can be easily arranged to 20 or 26 note scale. 

“A Bit of Stick” from ASDA

I noticed last week that Asda is to start marketing towards Britain's ageing population by selling walking sticks (and other mobility aids).

Spokesman Dermot McLaughlin said: “It is about time the things that make life easier are easier to buy." 

The very products that are created to make life easier for people have been cursed by a strange irony - they are unnecessarily difficult to access. 

"They should be easily available to customers, but the existing government system can be slow and restrictive." 

The range will initially be sold in 75 Asda stores after Easter, before being rolled out nationwide if it proves popular.

A bit difficult to find ‘mobility aid’ music.....but how about this?

Published in 1931 to promote "The National League of Hikers" and organised by the Daily Herald.

Do you remember the Herald? ......I used to deliver it as a paper-boy, 55 years ago!

"Seventeen Today"

I must have been seventeen in 1959, still at Kings Norton Grammar school.
Somewhere I have one of those long, long photos of the whole school...far too large to frame and hang on the wall. The story goes that if you were on one end and after the camera had moved past...you could run round the back to the other end and appear twice on the same photo. (in the days before all this 'cut & paste')

However the reason for this theme,  is that my old faithful Hazel is seventeen today.

I know the exact day, because I had her as a kitten from a family friend.

She was one of four, her mother being a 'British Cream' and her father a wandering 'Tom'.

Well, I asked her to pose for a Birthday photo....but just as I took it, she decided to find out what the camera smelt like!

"Everything stops for Tea"

All tea comes from the dried leaves of Camellia sinensis, the tea plant that was first cultivated in China and later found growing in India. 

Tea is the second most popular beverage in the world, with water being the first. 

Several factors affect the flavour characteristics of tea: where the tea is grown, the climate, soil conditions, and how the tea is processed. 

Tea is harvested after each "flush" - the sprouting of the top two leaves and bud. The top two leaves and bud are hand-plucked and then processed into one of the four main types of tea - Black, Oolong, Green, and White. 

Black Tea is withered, fully oxidized and dried. Black tea yields a hearty, amber-coloured brew. 

Oolong Tea is generally referred to as "semi-fermented" or partially oxidized tea. It principally comes from China and Taiwan (often called Formosa, its former Dutch name). Oolong tea falls between black and green tea in taste. 

Green Tea skips the oxidizing step. It is simply withered and then dried. 

White Tea is the least processed. It is not oxidized or rolled but simply withered and dried by steaming.

The first samples of tea reached England between 1652 and 1654. Tea quickly proved popular enough to replace ale as the national drink of England. 

Prior to the introduction of tea into Britain, the English had two main meals-breakfast and dinner. Breakfast was ale, bread and beef. 

Dinner was a long, massive meal at the end of the day.

 The Duchess of Bedford (1788-1861) was one of the first to adopt the European tea service format. She invited friends to join her for an additional afternoon meal at five o'clock in her rooms at Belvoir Castle. The menu centred around small cakes, bread and butter sandwiches, assorted sweets, and, of course, tea. 

This summer practice proved so popular, the Duchess continued it when she returned to London, sending cards to her friends asking them to join her for "tea and a walking the fields." (London at that time still contained large open meadows within the city.)

 The practice of inviting friends to come for tea in the afternoon was quickly picked up by other social hostesses.

A common pattern of service soon merged. The first pot of tea was made in the kitchen and carried to the lady of the house who waited with her invited guests, surrounded by fine porcelain from China.

 The first pot was warmed by the hostess from a second pot (usually silver) that was kept heated over a small flame. Food and tea was then passed among the guests, the main purpose of the visiting being conversation. 

I have to admit I am not a great tea drinker, but if I am going to have a cuppa, I do prefer it strong.

My sister-in-law however, is completely the opposite. So I will finish with a little ode...

                 I think that I shall never see,

            A drink as weak as poor Jane's tea:

            For when it pours out from the pot,

                   I can't tell if it's tea or not !

               The water's there for all to see,

              But only God could find the tea.

Wellington March

I thought it would be nice to hear a little 20 note music tonight, to inspire Roseanne to start arranging for her new organ.
This organ is being played at the Broadway Market in Buffalo, New York . The organ was made by Carl Hofbauer in 1986. It is a 20 note kit organ playing paper rolls and the music is the Wellington March,

"To Kiss or not to Kiss ?"

                            I ventured out with a boy last night,

                              Who I thought that I could trust

                     But as we walked home, he said with a groan,

                                 I must kiss your lips or bust!

                              I couldn’t think what to say or do

                              To preserve my maidenly vows -

                        So I said “Let’s make it the lips tonight

                       ‘Cos I’m wearing a high-necked blouse!”

The picture is from my collection of Victorian sheet music.

The 'music covers' a hundred years ago were very well presented.

The Victorians always seemed to do everything so well, unlike today where everything is governed by economics.

They were, however, not cheap to buy....most are marked up at 2/-  or even 2/6d....not a small amount for a Victorian household.

This one however comes from my 'Blue book'.

                Every time Lady Lowbodice swoons,

                  Her boobies pop out like balloons;

                        But her butler stands by

                         With hauteur in his eye

            And lifts them back in with warm spoons !

"Cranes think they're Planes"

Whooping cranes have been all but wiped out in North America through hunting and disease, but now conservationists have tried to boost numbers with a hand rearing programme at a refuge in Wisconsin. 

But having been born in captivity the birds don't understand how to migrate south to escape the harsh winter weather. 

Ever since they were hatched, they've been tricked into believing this featherless microlight is the parent they should follow by playing recordings of simulated crane calls.

When the aircraft takes off the flock follow in a replica of what nature had intended. 

Over a period of three months the birds trail behind the microlight for a distance of more than 1,250 miles from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin to the Chassahowitzka National  Wildlife Refuge on the west coast of Florida.

So, my question is "Wouldn't it have been easier to fly out the eggs to Florida and hatch them out there ?

Strike up the Band

I managed to find a much better picture of Derek's organ with it's five bandsmen.

As this is in Australia, I afraid I havn't seen the band in motion, but is very similar to the YouTube clip I posted on Saurday 21 Feb. 09.

Details from Derek:-

"I first saw this organ in a video that my friend in Newzealand sent to me in 2001/2 and it inspired me to make the "bandsmen" for my 26/7er I guessed the musicians would be about 18" to 24" hight but mine could only be 6" high so I had a bit of scaling down to do, the biggest problem was to make the eyes blink but managed that with a puff of air to a mechanism in the head, I have the same muso's ie,bass player, violin player, bandmaster,trumpet player and bass drummer,and they all play along with the music as in the full size one."

Another Completed Organ

I just wanted to congratulate Roseanne, the author of 'Street-Organ' blogspot, for completion of her organ in four months.

She built the smaller John Smith 20 note, smaller yes but still a huge amount of work.

To me this is amazing as I have been working on mine on and off over a four year period.

However, this is not a record I'm afraid, as the Amateur Organ Builders Group built an organ at the Great Dorset Steam Fair during the time the show was on. (four days?....perhaps someone may know the exact time that was taken to build it?)

  

"Bits and Bobs"

At the Orwell prize presentations, the blog prize went to the Nightjack blog. He's a real life police detective and writes an excellent blog about police matters, although he often strays wider than that. 

Nightjack is easily the best blog I read when it comes to knowledge of subject matter, lack of ego and really interesting posts. A worthy winner.

Because he writes anonymously, he couldn't be there to receive his award but congratulations anyway.

On a light-hearted police theme……

            The local P.C. from Asuncion,

       Attempted to swallow his truncheon;

        When they asked, “Are you mad?”

             He said, “No, but I’ve had

      Far too much beer with my luncheon !”

    An old Bobby from near Clapham Junction,

     Whose organ had long ceased to function,

                  Deceived his good wife

                  For the rest of her life

    With the aid of his Constable’s truncheon !

Gosh......I hope this doesn't get me on the DNA database !

"Wake Up England"

There is a marked rise in the number people who, without a second thought, would once have called themselves British, but now refer to themselves as English.

It could be because of the resentment at the aggressiveness of Scottish nationalism, or perhaps because of the various encroachments of the EU and indeed the cult of globalisation. 

Over the last ten years or so, amongst commentators, academics and the media, deconstructing 'Englishness' became the order of the day, in a way which would not be tolerated by the Scots, say, or the Welsh, who have instead been encouraged at every turn to re-affirm their sense of identity. 

This negative onslaught is the background to the new-found celebration of England.

The new celebration of England and Englishness will be more visible from now on  simply because, in the minds of millions, it needs to be.

It is, they've concluded, the only way of being heard. 

"Wake up England"

A Reason for a Holiday ?

                    No one calls it racist,

          When the daffodil's worn in Wales:

            Or is offended by their dragon

            With its forked tail and scales.

        When St Patrick’s day comes round

          And the shamrock's being worn,

             The Irish are not treated

             With insult or with scorn.

          If a Scotsman on St Andrew’s day

                  Hoists his flag aloft,

           He’s not proclaimed a fascist

              Or ridiculed or scoffed.

         So when St George's Day arrives

             We English men won't hide,

        For Elizabeth, England & St George

          We’ll wear our Rose with pride.

Thanks to 'Susan' on Facebook.

A reason for a National Holiday ?

In the thirteenth century a certain gentleman called Jacques de Voragine wrote a story called Legenda Aurea, which translates to “Golden Legend”.

De Voragine tells of the city of Silene in Libya which was menaced by a dragon in a nearby lake with breath so foul that it poisoned the countryside.

To keep the monster at bay it had been necessary to provide a daily sacrifice of two sheep. But eventually, when the supply of sheep ran out, human substitutes had to be offered. Eventually, they got down to sacrificing the children and one day it was the turn of the king’s own daughter.

At this moment St. George, in the role of a knight errant, makes a timely appearance.

He asks the princess what is happening …..she tells him…..and beseeches him to save himself by fleeing.

Naturally, St. George stands his ground and, when the dragon emerges from the lake, smites it with his spear, “..and hurt him sore..”.

The dragon is so seriously wounded  (and possibly so astonished)  that it is led meekly back into the city by the princess.

St. George makes a brief oration, baptizes the entire population (those few who had not been put on the dragon’s menu ) and then, with a striking want of Christian forgiveness….lops off the dragons head !

So in 1349 King Edward III made St. George the patron saint of England ;  a curious choice, given the English love of all animals (other than foxes and game birds ).

A strange tale and a strange reason for a National Holiday, don't you think ?

"What's this 'ere Then"

Two elderly women are having morning coffee in their local cake shop when one of them notices something funny about her friends ear.

“Mavis, do you know you’ve got a suppository in your left ear ?”

“Do I really ?”

“A suppository ?”

Mavis pulls it out and stares at it.

“Daisy, I’m so glad you saw this…..now I know where my hearing aid is”

"No Chocolate Bars Here"

"I used to eat a lot of Tracker bars at one time. Is that the origin of the name of the blog?"

No, I'm sorry .....this blog was not named after a bar of chocolate !

I have to admit that I have not tried.... or even seen a 'Tracker' bar. Well perhaps I have seen one but not noticed it.

This blog takes it's name from the tracker-bar in the organ. 

The Tracker-bar is equivalent  to the playback head on a cassette player, but instead of the magnetic signals the organ gets its pneumatic signals (puffs of air) from the holes in the paper roll as it passes over.

In some organs the air that goes down the hole in the tracker-bar actually blows the corresponding pipe but in this case it is necessary to cut slots in the card/paper rather than a row of holes. The problem with this system is that the pipes, being of different sizes, require different amounts of air. If all the slots were the same width, the bass pipes would not get sufficient air, whilst the top pipes may ‘over-blow‘. The holes in the tracker-bar for the bass pipes are therefore made larger. (4mm)

 

In organs where the paper rolls have lines of separate holes representing the note duration, the air through the tracker-bar operates valves which in turn allow air to the pipes.

This has the advantage that all the holes can be the same size and instead of requiring slots, a row of closely spaced holes is enough to keep the valve open.

The Tracker-bar holes on my organ are only 2.8mm diameter but this is enough to inflate the “puff” to operate the larger valve.

I don't expect many to count the holes on the bar, but on this 26note organ there are actually 27 holes. The 110mm wide paper is wide enough to punch an extra hole. The music still has 26 notes and the extra hole can be used to operate a conductor, a bell ringer or drum.

There is another 27 hole organ over in Australia....I'll have to request a larger print from Derek so that you can see the excellent five carved Bandsmen.

"Touch the Harp Gently"

        Just touch the Harp gently, my pretty Louise,

                And sing me the songs that I love;

They’ll recall the bright days when we play’d in the wood,

              And watch’d  the birds flitting above.

       There was one that you sang, my pretty Louise,

             The words, I remember them well,

       I lov’d it, and when you had finished each verse,

               I kiss’d you and said: ‘Never tell’;

        Just touch the Harp gently, my pretty Louise,

             Just touch the Harp gently, Louise.

Earlier on the blog I wrote a bit about how I had made small Musical Boxes for my great nephews/nieces. These ended up as small Barrel Organs, but the original plan was to make them in the shape of a harp. Thirty odd years ago I had built a folk-harp and the small ones were exact scale models of their larger 'sister'. In the above picture you can see the full-size harp in the background. 

Each model took about four weeks to make, so making eight would have taken eight months !

I made two, and called it a day.  They are made in mahogany with spruce on the front.

The strings were made of nylon 'fishing-line' and the little tuning pegs were tapered 'clock pins'.

Each plays a different tune and are started by the small lever on the side.

They are about 7" tall as you can see shown against a £2 coin.

                 "Just touch the Harp gently, Louise."

Written by Charles Blamphin (1830-1895) a well-known English harpist

who also composed ballads.

"Sunny Side Up"

                    Keep your sunny side up, up!

                     Hide the side that gets blue.

                   If you have nine sons in a row, 

              Baseball teams make money, you know!

                    Keep your funny side up, up!

                 Let your laughter come thru, do!

          Stand upon your legs, be like two fried eggs,

                      Keep your sunny side up!

Scientists have discovered that eggs produce proteins that mimic the action of blood pressure-lowering drugs. 

And fried eggs are especially beneficial 

Researchers, from the University of Alberta in Canada, showed that when eggs come in contact with stomach enzymes they produce a protein that acts in the same way as prescription only Ace inhibitors.

It comes just days after nutritionists concluded that the type of cholesterol found in eggs has minimal effect on raising heart disease risks. 

Until just a few years ago the British Heart Foundation advised people to eat no more than three eggs a week.

But the British Nutrition Foundation concluded that it is healthy to go to work on an egg.

Serinette - Organette

This Is very unusual and I admit, not to everyone's liking, but I thought it may interest Derek in his quest for 'birdsong' on a pinned barrel.

"Bang goes Sunday Lunch"

Deb posted recently on Turkeys in peoples gardens. Now I thought what a good source of 'local meat'.

I, however, only get pheasants in my garden but during hard times should make a good meal.

If I could only train the cats to catch them for me. 

Not try to bring them through the flap though !

"Fetch" I said to Wesley but he obviously had other things on his mind.

 He actually prefers chasing grey squirrels. My plan was not going to work especially as Hazel had her eye on a more tastey morsel....and more her size !

Caught in the Act

                              A young Trapeze artist named Bract,

                                      Is faced with a very sad fact.

                                            Imagine his pain

                                        When again and again,

                                    He catches his wife in the act  !

A Tortoise Stove

A post not in any way connected with music.

A certain blogger, who went away for Easter, popped into a church for a look around.

There in a corner was a 'Tortoise' stove. This brought to mind a poem by John Betjeman called Christmas.  The first verse being:-

          The bells of waiting Advent ring,

           The Tortoise stove is lit again

        And lamp-oil light across the night

      Has caught the streaks of winter rain

     In many a stained-glass window sheen

      From Crimson Lake to Hooker's Green. 

So, how did a stove get a name like that. I had heard of 'Pot-bellied' stoves named after their shape.....but a tortoise ? No surely not.

Well, after a bit of digging up came the history:-

" In the Church can also be seen a excellent example of a Portway Patent Tortoise Slow Combustion Stove Size 2.   Charles Portway designed and hand built his first Tortoise stove in 1830 in Halstead Essex. He started a foundry which by 1900 had produced over 100,000 stoves. The success of a solid fuel stove was judged by its slowness to burn one filling, thus extracting the maximum amount of heat from the fuel. The Portbury stoves burnt so slowly they were named 'Tortoise' stoves. Each stove was produced with the motto "slow but sure combustion" displayed on the top or front."

The Trade Mark shows the 'Slow But Sure' tortoise.

Now having a similar stove in my conservatory, I had to go and investigate its manufacturer.

No....it wasn't a tortoise.....it was a 'Deville' and its 'eyes' on the front glow red from the fire. 

"To Wind Down on Friday Night"

This is a "Ideal Sublime Harmonie Piccolo" box with huge 18" Cylinders. Made approx. 1890.

The solid mahogany case features fine bas relief carving on the front, with a panelled lid opening upward to reveal the mechanical music box.  In a fitted drawer below are stored three extra cylinders, each playing about 5 tunes. This box plays 'songs of the south', including "Dixie" and Stephen Foster's "There's No Place Like Home". 

“From Music to Y fronts”

I read that Marks & Spencer are setting up an exhibition in Manchester to celebrate their 125th anniversary. They are putting on display many items that they have sold in their shops over that period…..except there was no mention of sheet-music. 

I wonder if they had any I thought?

Now Marks started the whole thing off in 1884 on a stall in an open market in Leeds, Yorkshire. Then known as Marks’ Penny Bazaar, it was the household goods, haberdashery, toy, and sheet-music business of Michael Marks, a Jewish refugee from Poland. 

His sign read “Don’t ask the price—it’s a penny.” 

Now in my music collection I have quite a few copies of M&S sheet music…I bought them as part of a large bundle of music at a car-boot sale.

This music in this photo mentions the Penny Bazaar and from the M&S website I have managed to find a picture of one.

There are no dates on this music but it is around a hundred years old and just think it originally cost One Penny. 

In 1894 Marks  took on Thomas Spencer as a business partner. In 1907 Marks died and his son, Simon transformed the business from the small number of outdoor stalls in various markets in northern England to a larger number of indoor shops, and he launched the company’s St. Michael brand name ….a popular label for decades. 

"The Green Green Grass of Home"

I have looked everywhere for the sheet music to the above song.

I know I have the music...it must be included in an album. Ah well, that's life.

After mentioning lawn-mowers that wouldn't start, I thought mine might be the first to play up.

I always find it is best to threaten them..."Now look here if you don't start this year, it's up the tip for you....I shall replace you with a new one !"

Started first time.

It was a bit heavy going mind you but it looks as if I managed to get straight lines.

It always takes longer at this time of the year because you have to mow round clumps of daffodils and I hate cutting the heads of the primroses.  

Managed to miss these....it has been a good year for primrose. I have hundreds all over the lawn...they seed themselves every year. I used to dig them carefully out of the grass and replant them somewhere else but with hundereds to do it would  take too much time.

Oh well,  first cut of the season done.....time for a bottle of   "Old Tom".

 

"The Rolling Cones"

The scene was set for trouble this Easter, when a van marked Mr Softy pulled up right alongside a rival Rolling Cones van, blocking customers from getting to its serving window.

Inevitably, an argument broke out - with the Mr Softy driver claiming the Rolling Cones van was parked on his patch by the seaside in Whitstable, Kent.

However the Rolling Cones driver was able to produce a contract from the council to prove he was there legitimately.

The Whitstable Harbour Board has given one ice cream trader a pitch at the harbour, for which he pays a fee.

When the traders lost their ‘cool’ the Police were called in, at which point the Mr Softy driver moved around the corner. However, officers found he was not licensed to operate there either and he left.

This unusual song was published in 1927, hence the not very good condition of the sheet music.

It was played by Allan Selby and his Frascatians.

Ah…. Kippers.

           Rowena took up boxing, but
        Her fists were more like flippers.
        She met a man from Billingsgate,
           So now she’s boxing kippers.

Ah…. Kippers. I like mine in a sandwich, dry bread and spread with Tartare sauce.

It is claimed that the first kippers were prepared in Northumberland early in the 19th century. The story goes that John Woodger, a fish curer from that area, began to experiment in 1843 with a new way of smoking herrings. He knew that salmon had been ’kippered’ as long ago as the 14th century, and he wanted to try the same method with herrings. So he split the fish down the backbone, gutted them and soaked them in brine.
Then he hung them up over oak fires to smoke for about 12 hours.
He had invented kippers, and they quickly replaced the much more salty and dry red herring that had been the staple diet for hundreds of years.

The Ash Grove

And now for something completely different ...as the say.
A beautiful bell carilion clock.
What else can I say ?

"Jolly Boating Weather"

I read today that affluent Americans are beginning to relinquish anything that costs something to maintain and that it is liable to be abandoned where it stands. 

Yacht owners around the country are ditching their boats in huge numbers. Officials say people simply cannot afford – or be bothered – to pay high maintenance prices, mooring fees or even the cost of disposing of them. The market has collapsed and so boats are abandoned, leaking toxins and providing navigational hazards. In South Carolina alone, 150 abandoned vessels have been found since January, when the state introduced a law to make it an offence to abandon a boat on a public waterway

My brother, Adrian, however has decided to 'buck the trend', and has snapped up a bargain in mid Wales. I think he may need a bit more water though !

His wife, Jan, meanwhile had her eyes on another bargain.....still a shortage of water ..... and also it seems to need a cabin !

Only joking Ade, .....Enjoy.

"Happy Easteregg"

And may I wish all Friends, Followers and Readers (?), a very Happy Easter break.

And just to put a smile on your face....

                                 She’s good on the Piano and,

                                 She’s fine on the Harmonium,

                                 She’s excellent on everything,

                                 But best on the linoleum !

"Give us our Daily Bread"

Did you know, that as a nation we consume in the order of 11 billion sandwiches a year (that’s 200 each). But popularity is no guarantee of quality. Glance at most bread wrappers and you’ll find a gruesome list of emulsifiers, preservatives, sweeteners and fats. These ingredients make for depressing spongy loaves with long shelf lives, even if they’ve got fancy French or Italian labels. 

I have rediscovered ‘real’ bread again after picking up a bread-maker for only £5 from Cancer Research. One of the greatest pleasures now, is to bake breads with nothing more mysterious than good flour, water and yeast

And of course the bread-maker makes a lovely warm place for a kip!. 

"One Man went to Mow"

A wet Easter again, just as I was going to do a spot of gardening.

Mind you, it is nice and quiet around here at the moment. Usually at this time of the year motor-mowers are being 'whipped' into life after being stood in the shed for six months.

Why is it they are a real 'cow' to start in the spring?...It's as if they resent being put to work and hate being brought out of hibernation!

A gardening Limerick to cheer us up.

          A gardening Vicar of Bray,

         Let his roses fall into decay;

             His wife....more alert,

          Bought a fungicide 'squirt'

   And said to her spouse..."Let us spray".

"A Thousand times NO"

John Redwood, on his blog said he was being asked “….if we should join the Euro to have stability and more financial discipline! Have people learnt nothing? The Irish experience shows why the answer is No, a thousand times No”.

A song immediately sprung to mind.

The last thing we want to do is tie ourselves to the euro.

We want more distance from euro Regulation not more.

Never mind the euro. the real debate should be whether we stay in this corrupt, meddling, cash sucking Soviet style republic. Sadly that’s a debate no party will have the honesty and courage to let us have.

Lets face it, not only will the euro be forced upon us, but we could have full integration into the eu.

The intention is that we will all be ‘levelled‘, unfortunately that means Britain will be brought down to the level of the lowest common denominator, you can see this happening now.

Their are too many politicians that stand to benefit from it, whether it screws the population or not.

Calm down, Kipper!

Now, where was I ?

Oh yes...... this song was sung by Elsie Carlisle and dates from 1934.

"April Showers"

Rain is rolling across the South just in time for the Easter break

The Met Office says the home Bank Holiday forecast is fairly mixed, especially today and tomorrow, but should pick up towards the end of the weekend. 

Showers will hit central England today - while parts of East Anglia and Kent enjoy bright sunshine and dry weather.

Oh well ….No Mouse-ing today

"Carousel of Time"

This is a Victorian hand-turned ride for children and is now owned by Flyte Entertainments based just 'up the road' from me.

It was originally built by Halstead's of Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire in 1898.

The ride is traditionally decorated using gold leaf and cut-glass mirrors are arranged around the centre.

If you remember watching "Challenge Anneka" with Anneka Rice. you may have seen this carousel on one of her programmes.

Talking of Fairgrounds reminds me of a poem by Pam Ayres which I always found amusing. I will give you the first verse.

 "Madbrains Watkins was his name,

He was a proper cave.

He had a little travelling’ fair,

And the roundabout he drove.

He had to wind the handle,

Which he did at such a pace,

That dobs of oil shot off the chain,

And stuck upon your face!"

I am sure the little Victorian Carousel causes no such offense.