Ian Robinson

You know some days things just seem to go right and other days the opposite. Well Monday was one of those good days. Ann went to the hospital for an endoscopy and as expecting an awful time; but it was not so bad and they found nothing amiss. We had our first viewing of the house and they liked it and made an offer, which we accepted. I bought a recovery hybrid wood/iron after pondering for 2 months, took it down the golf range and smacked every shot straight down the middle. ( I can’t help thinking that a lottery ticket would have been a better choice.)

So for the last few days we have been trying to find houses in Rhoose to view this weekend. After an initial choice, Dad P advised me not to down-size but to get the best I could afford. Good advice, but I don’t want to get another mortgage so I will be using most of our savings.

Tomorrow, our potential buyers are viewing again before returning to France, where they have a house to sell. So it could all colapse tomorrow. But that’s how it goes sometimes, all we can do is to clean the house and hope for the best. C’est la vie (that is your actual French).

I have not written up for a while. I have abandoned by article “Did Jesus of Nazareth suffer from Polar Disorder” on the grounds that if the Christian Right doesn’t get me, and the Pope Excommunicate me (not that he has actually Communicated me yet) then Karen probably would disown me. So I have resorted to less contraversial topics and will just tell anybody who is interested, that we have had a pretty good weekend.
It never ceases to amaze me what people keep. I am between the “throwaway generation” and the “Womble” generation. I think I am therefore fairly balanced in what I keep and what I chuck (although others may disagree). I call those that grew up during and after the war, the Womble generation; because times were so austere you just NEVER threw ANYTHING away. If you had no use for it you could either feed it to the chickens or turn it into part of a Spitfire. Failing that, you took all the parts off it because there was a g470U6 valve or a 2BA bolt which you couldn’t buy for love nor money. When my Mum and Dad moved to South Wales from Chipping Norton they put a load of old junk in the garage. It has not seen the light of day for four years until my sister, Gail hired the skip, which we filled on Saturday morning. That said, we no sooner put things into the skip than Dad took them out again, insisting that they “might come in useful”. Gail kept asking him when he was going for his paper, so that she could bury the things that she really wanted to chuck so he couldn’t find them. When he went, there was feverish activity turning over the top rubbish and hiding that stuff underneath. Havng said that, there were actually some very useful things in boxes which were buried underneath all the junk in the garage. As well as that, Dad now has some space to put his tools and nuts, screws washers and bolts. We also chucked away some disgusting carpet and underlay, about which I have no intension of elucidating.
On Saturday evening I tried making some mini pies using a gadget given me by Grandad P. It is a sort of sandwich maker, and you put pastry and a filling in this thing and then put it on the gas. Needless to say I made an absolutely disgusting smelly burnt mess and this Diablo gadget will go the way of all the other cooking gadgets (Oxfam shop). Incidently, the Daily Mail had an arcticle about the top ten useless gadgets which people use once and then take down the charity shop. Any guesses for no. 1? No prizes, it’s the Lean Mean Grilling Machine. Even hugely reduced it is a complete waste of money. Why didn’t I ever buy one then?
On Sunday morning I played golf at 10.00 am. I usually play at some unearthly hour but I was offered a later game and just made it back in time for Ann to get to her riding. The weather was really nice for a change and the company was spendid and my partner and I won a matchplay event; Excellent! Good conditions; good golf; good company. That is what it is all about. I got back in plenty of time for Ann to get to riding and she enjoyed her ride: her horse, Toby, was responsive and she came back happy and smiling. Horay.
I will finish now because it will be time for Jane Eyre. I like a romantic story with a happy ending.
Somebody is coming to see the house tomorrow so we have been busy between skips and golf and horseriding making the place spick and span. Watch this space.

I have been having a frustrating time trying to get some images into my weblog. Please get back to me and tell me what you see.

LIFEBOAT STATION, BEMBRIDGE, ISLE OF WIGHT

OK I think I have got it now. All I have to do is remember how I did it.

Well this is what I did. First of all I posted in the picture, but this was far too big (apparently it should be about 450 pix wide and whatever to keep the aspect ratio (I suppose). I went onto the Image Shack web page and copied the information for the thumbnail. I then posted it using the HTML code. Then I had both pictures so I right clicked the picture and deleted the biggun. I will just try the thumbnail next time but remember to load the whole link from Image shack. I like Image Shack.

So here we are, writing my first blog. After reading 8 pages of instructions and trying to log in (I have had to change my password three times already) and then being told I cannot change the look of the page as I have insufficient permission, whatever that means.

So with the forlorn hope that this message will actualy go somewhere, I am going to press the button.