Hawaii...

I've never been a fan of punk musuc, but I've only just heard a short piece about John Lydon's sad tribute to his wife, Norah, who is gradually falling into dementia's arms. This piece is incredibly haunting, poignant and emotive, and I find it so sad and even difficult to listen to without tearing up.

My dear mum ended her life after three years of Alzheimers, and we watched her losing her mind so gradually, it was almost imperceptible at times. She didn't even know that my dad had died a year earlier, so neither of them knew the other one had gone!

Shameslessly borrowed from Concrete Sea...

A friend of mine sent me a link to a BBC weather report:-

Why have there been no named winter storms this year?

By February, the UK would normally have had around three storms given names by the Met Office – just like Arwen, Barra and Callum. But so far this autumn and winter, there hasn’t been a single one.

I’m sure we shouldn’t worry, but to help them out I’ve thought of a few:-

Storm Boris. A lot of bluster and blowing with a considerable amount of hot air.
Storm Nicola. A nasty vicious little storm generally prevalent in the North and independent of all other UK storms. People are apt to take little notice of it, but can cause widespread damage in Scotland, apart from to the trans community.
Storm Liz. Blew away before it even started (thankfully).
Storm Kier. Another storm people take little notice of. Often present but generally ineffective and lacking in power.
Storm Rishi. A small storm, but can be persistent and slightly annoying.
Storm Nadhim. Originates from Iraq, but deceptive and often seen offshore, eventually blown away by storm Rishi.

(H/T Concrete Sea - BBBC).

Old address books...

By this PC, and safely tucked away in a drawer, lies our collection of address books, which go back to around 1984. I'm not even sure where the previous ones are, maybe archived in the Scrobsfile in the attic...

I could show you a photo of them, but somehow the software seems to dislike the image, so please, just imagine what three, gnarled, grubby books full of crossings-out looks like, and you'll get the idea!

Sadly, we decided to go through them the other lunchtime, aided and abetted by a glass of red, and the diagonal lines across several names seem to be multiplying as we speak!

Mind you, there were loads of laughs, lots of 'remember her/hims', a few tears, a lot of joy, seeing the names and knowing they're still around, but at our time of life, these dear old books take on a life of their own, and deserve a peek now and then - for old times sake...

The ring - a short saga...

Just the other day, Scrobs was lighting the fire downstairs, as it had been bitterly cold during the night, and the house needed a kick-start!

Senora O'Blene arrived downstairs soon afterwards, demanding tea and more heat, and also carrying a small bag of old hankies, which she always burns to get rid of...

Scrobs was dealing with the ashes after all this, and noticed a small circle in the grate - it was the Senora's eternity ring, which she's had for - er - eternity! The next question was, "Have you got your wedding ring on, Dearest", and the answer was nervously negative, so it seemed that the hanky bag had also contained her wedding band!

I spent an hour putting the fire out, and then started raking through all the wet ashes with a tooth comb! No luck, right up to the very last attempt to see if it was there and hadn't melted or something, and, bugger me pink, suddenly, there it was, all burny and dull from the hot coal, but unscratched!

The next twenty minutes with the Duraglit got the little chapess back to normal, so we were at least still married...

All I could say was - "PHEW"!

Jeff Beck - R.I.P...

 What a sad loss - he was a guitar legend!

https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/1720158/Johnny-Depp-Jeff-Beck-dead-death-Hi-Ho-Silver-Lining-meningitis-tributes

I don't think there was anyone like him for getting so much out of his guitar, his style was just unique!

He was Patron of the Folly Animal Rescue Trust in Tunbridge Wells, not far from here and even kept his own aviary to care for injured birds until they could return to the wild. He lived in Wadhurst, but was never a man to require 'sleb' status - he was above all that!

Really will miss him!

Folding pictures of The Duke of Wellington...

 

When Scrobs started work in August 1965, as a tea-boy, dyeline printer and general squit, the salary was £4.00 per week, so the above note was never going to be in the first wage packet! Later on, the next job paid £4/10s and was paid by cheque, and the first rise was for 15/- per week!

All this training while 'on the job' wasn't that easy as a dire corespondence course loomed every evening, and stopped most shenanigans, so the spare dosh went on weekends mostly!

So I just cannot remember when I first held a fiver in my hand! This was a magic note back then, and for a short while in the seventies, I was being paid weekly for a short term contract, so the wage packet contained several of these beauties, which paid for four new tyres on the Mini...

One of my uncles once showed me one of the very old white fivers, but I never had one of those...

And now, these polymer notes stay folded up in the wallet and never used, as any payment's just a 'click', which to some degree, is a bit of a shame...

'Bye 2022, s'been nice knowing ya...

 

We'll be tucked up nice and warm by 11.00pm, and hopefully won't be woken up by the fireworks...Happy New Year One and All!

h/t Tomo on BBBC...