Tread carefully...

As some of Scrobs' readers know, we live next to the village church, and little/big dog chooses to walk around the boneyard on some occasions! I still like the walks, and always marvel at the intricate stonework of the delightful building!

My construction roots have often enquired into the way some construction was carried out, what materials were used etc., and that curiosity often manifests itself on wondering how such large stones could have been quarried, brought to the site from miles away, prepared, and most of all, lifted to the top of the tower, which is around sixty feet high!

Of course, the larger pieces of stone are at the bottom, and smaller pieces higher up, but a builder's electric lift wasn't actually invented all those years ago, and scaffolding would have been pretty rudimentary, but what sort of crane system was used to lift these heavy items?

The answer was easy to find...

What an absolute treasure to uncover after all this time!

It makes perfect sense to see how the work was carried out, albeit incredibly dangerous for the poor bloke under a ton of sandstone, swaying in the wind...

I've now got to work out where they placed the machine, and will look for a few dents in the ground from when the rope broke occasionally...

Here we go round the morosity...

Scrobs had a message from Amazon Prime the other day, with an offer of a free film, for some reason!

Now that always needs a little thought, as there's one film I'd like to see again, after all these years, so I popped in a search to see if it was there...

Now, I always liked Oliver Reed, possibly because back then, he was the sort of swash-buckling hell-raiser, with a penchant for pretty women that young chaps in their late teens sometimes enjoyed emulating, (not), but the films he appeared in, like 'The Jokers' etc, just seemed to be the sort of flick my chums and I went to see! So when my lovely chum Ro told me one morning at the office, that she'd been to see this film with her boyfriend, it was going to be the next one to see after several pints at the rugby club!

But...

It's nowhere to be seen on the Prime list! Baaaah!

So of course, while the search box is still open, one wonders what else might be around, and sure enough, another favourite...

...from the same era appeared, and it was actually free! So I started it off on the Electronic Filofax, (iPad), and away we went, with Barry Evans, and lots of lovely girls on recall from all those years ago, and also quite a lot of misty recollection!

It was certainly a film from an era which is now long gone, but great fun, and worth seeing again, if only to see the gorgeous Judy Geeson in a superb part - well, showing several parts actually,  but of course, that's not what I mean, (lying sod, Scrobs - Ed), it was just that those days were very well depicted, and I remember them reasonably well, as of course, we'd be watching the film after several tinctures...

So the film ended, and I mused as to what happened to all those beautiful girls who filled the cast with all sorts of emotions, and a foray into the archives seemed the right thing to do!

Wrong call...

Angela Scoular

Sheila White

Vanessa Howard

...all popped off this mortal paradise...

Barry Evans also left us some time ago, and we still use the term, 'You're so wearing Waring', from 'The Doctor' series!

But much better news from two of the others: -

Adrienne Posta is still here with us thank goodness, but I haven't seen her anywhere in the press of late! (Oh, Jamie)...

And luckily, I found that Judy Geeson is here too, but living in the US - more's the pity, as a quick 192 might have been on the cards! She was just fabulous in that part; we all loved her to bits!

So, all in all, it was a 'great' evening, and maybe a final Calvados might have started the recall-fest, but there again, who would really want to forget those times, and the lovely ladies us chaps could only dream of!

Blood-loss times...

I'm sure that Scrobleners have all been faced with this quandary, but has anyone NOT had an issue with using these, or any other makers' products, it being almost impossible to take from the packet, undo the welded stainless-steel packaging, strip the battle-ship-grade adhesive protective molybdenum sheet away from the plaster using an acetylene torch, several wrenches, and a car-jack, when all this time, the blood is flowing freely, mainly towards the drain in the sink, or down one's trousers, and in danger of staining the kitchen floor beyond redemption?

No?

Well I salute you and offer you my house, all its contents and a tincture or three chucked in for good measure!

Over the last few months, Scrobs' condition demands a certain amount of care regarding bleeding, as doctors advise one not to attract issues where a cut, or a graze may become infected, and we don't want that do we!

But can anyone advise me how to locate these items and apply them safely, as there has been quite a lot of haemoglobin flying around as of yesterday, when yet another lump was excised from this slender but manly frame...

Apart from that - all is just fabulous!

 

Fight the blight...

These are destined for the freezer, and will take up at least two drawers if my calculations are correct...

They're a type known as 'Shirley', and we've grown them every year as a staple tomato, with huge flavour, and great possibilities in cooking, freezing, sauces etc! We used to do everything with these beauties, and this year, they've just boomed - possibly because of the muck I've spread around them every few days, and the fabulous summer weather, but nevertheless, I feel rather proud of them at this stage!

They're just turning as we speak, and, with several others growing in the greenhouse behind, and more in trays in the front, I hope to have the best year ever - as long as the dreaded 'Late Blight' doesn't strike, as it has on many occasions!

I also learned something only yesterday, in that reducing the fruit to freeze them with less water, takes away many of the water-soluble nutrients that toms produce. I never knew that, so perhaps freezing them whole, after blanching, has to be an option, in which case, I hope Currys have a freezer sale on pretty soon...

 

Drone on...

Some years ago, I knew a chap who had a business which was unique, a far as I could see!

He had a special Land Rover, which was fitted out with an extending pole, on top of which a camera was attached for taking high-level photographs of buildings etc! He controlled the images from a small 'studio' in the back of the vehicle! I always thought this was an imaginative addition to sale or rental particulars, especially where industrial buildings were being advertised, as I'd see a lot of these items!

Nowadays, it seems that any house on the market has the drone treatment, if the overall view is acceptable, the gardens look good etc! The larger estates come to life with these high-level views, and can clearly influence a prospective buyer!

When my neighbours bought their house, they had an extensive survey carried out, and that included sending a drone up to the roof to check on the structure, and a great job it did too! In the 'old days' we'd have had to get a ladder and scrabble around up there for ages to make the report!

Back in the days when I'd avidly read 'The Eagle', these machines were the essence of fantasy - rather like one semi/serious comic strip in a similar publication for boys, where a sort of alien but 'British' lad directed a robot from some sort of metal switchboard attached to his arm - presumably a forerunner of the modern Apple Watch...