videos

Further to my last note here, I have going begging VHS tapes of:
Evelyn Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy (C4 dramatisation);
all episodes of Mapp & Lucia (Geraldine McEwen, Prunella Scales & Nigel Hawthorne);
Big Wednesday (surfing film) - these are all commercial tapes - not home recorded. Plus some home made recordings - Alan Bennett's Westminster Abbey trilogy, Page and Plant in concert, etc. All free to a good home.

On a different note I mowed the grass today - 30th October - and I reckon there might still be another cut before the grass stops growing. I blame Dubya, and air travel!

I know I promised but...

In go the footings

Life on a building site

I promise to try and not get boring about this but will include these photographs as the garage breathes its last.

Going...

...going...

...gone

Finally...

the garage is being demolished to make way for a super duper barn and outhouses. Can't quite believe it but it is actually happening.

Watch it come down

Visit from Denmark

What fun we had getting toys down from the loft and generally turning the house into something resembling a child friendly environment. Hope to have pictures of tigers and leopards that we saw at Thrigby very soon.

Invasion of the Vikings

This is Sam and Alex with Rebecca who took a real shine to Alex

Rara avis

We went to Brighton for the weekend for James' birthday. On Saturday afternoon we took the dog for a walk along the banks of the River Adur from Shoreham north towards Steyning. The river near Shoreham is very tidal, and it was high tide at the time. In the shallow water at the water's edge we saw an Egret fishing. I've seen one before on the Broads, but couldn't positively confirm - too far away - but this one was about thirty feet away and as clear as day. It only took off when Logan the dog decided to have a closer look. Of course, I didn't have a camera with me!

~Our most recent outing. Segur le chateau, named one of France's most beautiful villages! We had lunch here, by the river Auvezere (no this side) on monday on our way back from hedge hunting near Tulle. Lots of old buildings and medieval towers, and the food wasn't bad either. 

Lilian Davey 1 January 1899 to 15 October 2005

I guess that I have been very lucky in having a grandparent for so long. My Nana died early Saturday morning at the age of 106 years and nearly 10 months. She died in her sleep peacefully after saying she didn't feel well but still well enough to have a glass of sherry on Friday evening. I will miss the fact that she was still here in the world even though I didn't see her that often. She was the last remaining link from the 19th century. Her life was not easy. An intelligent woman who lived in poverty for most of her life but always prided herself on caring for her eight children. Nana also managed to have a lot of fun and still had her eye on the men right up to the last. I'm glad she didn't suffer in the end - she didn't deserve to. It's the end of an era for us as a family. That's all I want to say now.

We have the Technology

For a limited period only . . . . .

We are currently transferring all our ancient but irreplaceable TV programs from video cassette to DVD (the wiring is a nightmare, but we seem to have mastered the process). So far I've done Fiona Shaw reading (performing) The Wasteland from about ten years ago, Alan Bennett's three parter on Westminster Abbey (also about 1995), and Pevsner's Norfolk with Dan Cruikshank.

Next will be various Music stuff - some Unpluggeds (inc. Neil Young), a few concerts, some docs and interviews.

If any blog member would like something transferred from their own videocassettes to DVD, or DVD copies of our treasured stuff (or the original VCRs of the progs which we'll be chucking out once we're finished with them) email me. Of course, we will be doing nothing which infringes copyright, in case anyone outside the blog is earwigging.

The projected timescale is all our vids and films done by Christmas - when we hope to get rid of all the wires (and all the old cassettes).

Anyone for butternut?  

Not the prettiest vegetable but delicious roasted and basted with butter  

All is safely gathered in

I'm not sure why we need 30 butternut squashes and 20 odd (very odd) turks' turban squashes. We've had about 10 days of perfect weather and although there are signs of autumn - the mists and mellow fruitfulness etc. - I'm still in shorts and Tshirt mode. I also made a start, demolishing the floor of the big barn - but more about this on the 'Barn Again, Caught in a Cliché' blog.

http://127.0.0.1:2174/=roystonandmichelleknipe.blogspot.com

A small step for John, an even smaller step for the blog

Just to see if I can do it, here's a photo of Lugg's launch back on the 12th of September. Fingers crossed . . .

Summer is over, bugrit!

I say this because, at lunchtime today, I saw a big flock of Lapwings (Peewits, Green Plovers) in a freshly ploughed and harrowed field just by the Themelthorpe turning off the Reepham/Bawdeswell road. There were a couple of Snipe with them (possibly more) and a couple of dozen Starlings. In total there were about fifty or sixty Lapwings, which is more than I've seen together at this time of year round here. A pleasing recovery in numbers. Couldn't take a photo as they flew off when I stopped to get the camera out. But I'll show you a picture in my big new birthday bird book if you like!