Fiddle-de-dee...

Off to the supermarkets this morning, to be confused yet again at how they try and cheat their customers...

I need to buy some spuds, as at this time of year, we have Jersey Royals, Cornish Smalls, Mallorcan News etc., plus a load of bakers, 'essentials', ordinary whites, reds etc.,, and they'll all be priced in different ways!

Some of the big ones will be priced as 'each', with no weight shown, some will be priced in ready-packaged bags by the kg, while other similar spuds will be charged in lbs. I even shot myself in the foot the other day, as I saw some Cornish News in a bag, but they weren't priced at all, so I 'zapped' the bag with the little gun, and got a label printed. Then I thought that the deal was OK, so got another bag, and did the same! I didn't see that the packaging was so similar, but I'd bought different bags, and after I got home realised that I could have got exactly what I wanted cheaper had I bought a loose lot...

I know all the habits of market trading back in the old days still control the 'ethics'* of supermarkets, i.e. sell as much as you can fiddle, and I even tried to take a hand-held Ipaq PC with me some years ago, so I could pop in the numbers, and calculate the price differentials, but it took ages, and I still thought I was being ripped off!

We're watching 'Open all hours' at the moment, and Arkwright is in full swing, so that's why I'm going to tremble when that little tin falls off the top of the crashing till, or rather more when the lovely Julia comes across to help me check out on the self-service till...

* There are no ethics in supermarket trading - Ed

Cinema show...

 

I've had several copies of this fabulous song for well over forty years, and it's still as fresh and vibrant as it must have been when it was played in Paris in 1976!

I've always admired Bill Bruford as one of the greatest drummers ever, but he and Phil Collins just bring the house down with this version, and the keyboard work by Tony Banks is mesmerising, especially when you think that this was all 'live'!

Apparently, when the song was first thought of, Mike Rutherford a started a small, simple riff, Peter Gabriel changed the characters to 'Romeo and Juliet' and the end piece was just built on a few phrases, but what a performance!

(The graphics are just hilarious as well...)!

Aunt Doris and the Jennings story...

 

When Scrobs was quite young, around six or seven, he used to know several ladies in the village, who were kindly, generous, good friends on his Mum and Dad - and Sister, and he often popped round after church on a Sunday, because there were always some sixpences in a jar on the mantelpiece for an ice-cream at the local shop for us both...

One day, I was chatting with Aunt Doris - she wasn't really an aunt, but a lovely lady who ran a small guest house, and seemed to have lots of elderly visitors staying all the time, although we never saw them. One day, my dear Sister and I had secured the funds for the ice-cream, and wandered though to the main parlour, which was empty except for a huge ticking grandfather clock!

On a side table was a book, 'Jennings follows a clue', which had been casually left out for me to notice, and Aunt Doris airily said that it was meant as a gift for a 'nephew of hers', but I could read it if I wanted to borrow it and take good care of it!

And so I did...

It was probably the first real full-length story I'd ever read, apart from Rupert Bear annuals, and a few other books which my sister owned and treasured. This Jennings book shaped my whole life for ages, as I was indeed carted off to prep school a few years later, and the tones of these magical stories were ringing in my ears for several months - years even!

Our good friend AK Haart has a comment on here by DAD, and of course, AKH responds as he always does! I eventually bought, or was given, most of the Jennings stories, and handed them on to some other young lads a few years ago, when they needed a bit of advice!

Aunt Doris was the J.K.Rowling lady for me, although she never actually wrote the stories, she just 'got me reading', which was never going to be a bad thing, and a few posts back I mention all the Nevil Shute stories, which are a joy to visit these days!

Thank you Aunt Doris - you watched a young Scrobs learn to understand a real story!

Nine trays in an hour...

At this time of year, there is always a frantic panic about planting flowers and other plants out, and this year's been no exception! 

I always get far too many bedding plants, and grew about 130 tomato plants as well, mainly for chums, but it's been a nightmare this month trying to reorganise everything for getting the garden straight! The weather has been firmly against us.

Having walked the dog after lunch, and rested the inside of the eyelids, it occurred to me around 5.00pm, that I should really get my arse in gear and actually do something! The sun was shining, the weather was kind, and a revitalised Scrobs bounced outside to the green house, and potted on nine long planters in ONE HOUR! This is a record, and is now recorded for posterity!

So the colourful displays are ready for their resting places, and I've used up all the compost, so will have to revisit our lovely garden centre yet again for refills, and a chat with the owners, who are all firm friends!

I really do think I've started the season at long last...

Reflection...

 

It was a touching moment, and by some sort of coincidence, I was playing my favourite track from Peter Gabriel's album, 'Ovo', yesterday, and something really did click!

The concrete and the train...

Somewhat sombrely, a sad and solemn Scrobs watched A.K.Haart's intentionally depressing post about HS2...

I actually like this piece of music for several reasons, but some depictions such as this one really do bring home the disastrous efect that these railways will have on our British countryside!

The shadowy and soulless appearance of a sour grey world, with sorrowful significance and a specific lack of semblence for sunniness, reminds me that I have to queue up at our bloody chemist for three-quarters of an hour again, as I forgot to buy the bloody cough mixture...

 

Outrage...

As Scrobs is always ahead of the news, the bit in one of the rags which tells everyone that Tottenham Hotspur fans have watched their team allow five goals go to Newcastle within ten or so minutes of the match starting has really made this train hit the buffers! Some 'fans' have now decided to go back home immediately after all that expensive travelling, so the cost of living (lockdown) crisis apparently doesn't apply to football... 

I mean, is their football train 'special' still parked at platform 3? Is there enough Stella on board? What about the ham rolls!

Surely we need to get an all-party parliamentary committee to investigate this outrage, after all, there maybe some vulnerable persons arriving at Winchelsea in an inflatable boat, and they might need that train!

Hopefully, there will be a Civil Service enquiry and all will be revealed in due course, probably 2026...