# Bits, Bobs and General Witterings



## Dolly (Jul 6, 2020)

We are gradually coming out of Lockdown in my corner of the world. Yesterday we went bird watching for the first time in months and what a treat we had. The Red Kites were teaching their youngsters  to fly and at one point we had 4 pairs up. The sun was shining and their plumage glittered like gold. Today we went shopping and because it was another beautiful day, took the back road home. It's a very old road which meanders through oak woods, and dingles where the wild flowers bloom. At one point there is a pond either side of the road. As we got to it we saw a mother swan right in the middle for all the world like a school crossing warden, marshalling her seven signets from one pond to the other. They were still grey  in colour but quite large. Across the road they flip flapped with a waddle, one behind the other and in step, like a row of soldiers. It was a lovely sight.


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## Dolly (Jul 7, 2020)

Without wishing to put a pall on things. I must tell you about a lovely surprise I’ve just had. We used to adore Christmas, but following a bereavement, Christmas was just another date on the calendar. I know we both sound pathetic when I say that it has been 10yrs and we still just go through the motions. 
We love Scotland and manage to get up there twice a year with a holiday coach firm called Lochs and Glens. We haven’t been this year. The firm has its own hotels and they are gorgeous. My husband unbeknown to me, has booked Christmas with Lochs and Glens. A beautiful old Victorian hotel, much loved by Queen Victoria, on the shores of a beautiful Loch. I’m ever so excited! Here I am age 70 and feeling sick with excitement. What a Wally!


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## Ferocious (Jul 7, 2020)

Dolly the Wally?????? 
Never, never, never. 
If it were me going, I'd be looking forwards to the occasion too, enjoy your visit, Dolly.


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## Dolly (Jul 8, 2020)

Q: What is a man?
A: A man is someone who flushes the loo five minutes  after you have put bleach down


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## Dolly (Jul 9, 2020)

Last evening, we were tidying up the kitchen before going to bed and there was a heck of a noise outside. Snorting, snuffling, grunting. It sounded as if something had got caught  in one of the garden planters. So, we put on the outside lights, looked through the French doors and got a lovely surprise it was a family of hedgehogs. During the day we had filled the bird feeders and dropped a few dried mealworms on the brick paving. By gum those hedgehogs were enjoying them. Tonight, we are putting out mealworms and peanuts which, apparently, they also like.


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## hollydolly (Jul 9, 2020)

Yes we have a family of hedgehogs in our garden too, had them for years, but no way of knowing whether they're the same family or not, but we always put water and mealworms out for them during winter, and only water during summer, because they have to not become reliant on humans to feed them when they can dig for their own food in summertime, particularly after the rains


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## Dolly (Jul 9, 2020)

Thank you for the tips


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## Dolly (Jul 11, 2020)

All winter through, we make sure the bird feeding stations in the garden are kept topped up with seeds, nuts, fat balls, suet blocks and sunflower hearts and I make sure, in the most vile of weather, that there is always a source of unfrozen water. Not just for the birds, but for any wildlife passing through. How do the birds repay us in the summer…?  Pooping all over my washing on the line. That’s how


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## Dolly (Jul 12, 2020)

Oh Dear! Our county is in the top 10 UK counties with the lowest covid-19 cases. Or should I say, used to be. Leading this evening's early news was a big piece on our county where a fruit farm has registered 43 new cases and 200 are in lock down.  As far as I can make out, the confirmed cases are Romanians. I wish they hadn't been. 'Immigrants' get a bad enough press as it is.


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## Dolly (Jul 13, 2020)

In a way, it is a wake up call for us all. When the infection rate and deaths were rising alarmingly at the beginning of the outbreak, my husband and I were vigilant: Although the supermarkets sanitized the cart, we  did it again with our own stuff. When we had packed the shopping into the car, we sanitized the door handles and our hands. Before we put the groceries away we wiped every tin and packet with an antiseptic wipe. We obeyed all the rules and didn't go out unnecessarily. Just lately we have been a bit lax and sometimes forgetting to sanitize our hands so, maybe, this spike has come at an opportune moment.
Busy day ahead for me today. I knit all my husbands socks, aran sweaters, and woolly hats balaclavas  scarves and mittens for the mission to seafarers.  With the odds and ends left over, I knit woolly waistcoats for 'liberated' battery hens ( feel free to laugh, my Canadian relatives nearly burst with laughing about the vests and demand photos)  My wool stash is in the garage and quite honestly, in such a mess, I have no idea what's in there So this morning I am getting to grips with it.
By the way. I love this site. I have never before met such warm friendly people


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## Dolly (Jul 15, 2020)

My aches and pains usually have the good manners to take their turns on which bit hurts the most. The past week, all my ‘parts’ have hurt at the same time and it has really got me down. This afternoon I was feeling more human and we went for a short walk, keeping to the paths, through our favourite wood. It is beautiful any time of year. In the winter, the branches make the most dramatic shapes against the sky and it is easy, in the snow, to see animal and bird tracks. You can, if it is very snowy, catch sight of the deer who live deep in the wood as they come down lower for food. Spring sees a carpet of bluebells and primroses as far as the eye can see. And when we get out of the car, we see a ‘mist’ of green around the tree branches when they are waking up after the winter. In summer it is always cool and the birds you catch sight of, are too many to list. Deeper in the wood are the oak trees. Truly huge. Admiral Lord Nelson had some of them for his battleships. Autumn (Fall) are when the woods are breath taking. It’s as if the trees are making a last gasp, and dressing in their finery before going to sleep for the winter. The colours are just beautiful. Ranging from pale yellow to rich orange and fiery red. We both always feel better after a walk.


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## jerry old (Jul 15, 2020)

You certainly have a sense of place.
You know who you are and where your from
.
Over here were so transitory we are losing our sense of mooring.
Our nation seems adrift


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## Pinky (Jul 15, 2020)

Dolly said:


> My aches and pains usually have the good manners to take their turns on which bit hurts the most. The past week, all my ‘parts’ have hurt at the same time and it has really got me down. This afternoon I was feeling more human and we went for a short walk, keeping to the paths, through our favourite wood. It is beautiful any time of year. In the winter, the branches make the most dramatic shapes against the sky and it is easy, in the snow, to see animal and bird tracks. You can, if it is very snowy, catch sight of the deer who live deep in the wood as they come down lower for food. Spring sees a carpet of bluebells and primroses as far as the eye can see. And when we get out of the car, we see a ‘mist’ of green around the tree branches when they are waking up after the winter. In summer it is always cool and the birds you catch sight of, are too many to list. Deeper in the wood are the oak trees. Truly huge. Admiral Lord Nelson had some of them for his battleships. Autumn (Fall) are when the woods are breath taking. It’s as if the trees are making a last gasp, and dressing in their finery before going to sleep for the winter. The colours are just beautiful. Ranging from pale yellow to rich orange and fiery red. We both always feel better after a walk.


Your writing is so descriptive, and your photos are enchanting. What a lovely part of the world you live in.


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## Dolly (Jul 16, 2020)

Thanks Pinky. We have not been hit with  Covid as many cities but lockdown was particularly grim. We could go out for groceries, and 1 hour exercise a day and that was all. So our walks were a bit curtailed. It  brought home to me, how precious freedom is


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## hollydolly (Jul 16, 2020)

Dolly said:


> Oh Dear! Our county is in the top 10 UK counties with the lowest covid-19 cases. Or should I say, used to be. Leading this evening's early news was a big piece on our county where a fruit farm has registered 43 new cases and 200 are in lock down.  As far as I can make out, the confirmed cases are Romanians. I wish they hadn't been. 'Immigrants' get a bad enough press as it is.


..and sadly it's right on the Hereford and Welsh borders too ...200 in lockdown on a static home site.. 74 confirmed with Covid-19.. worse still even after the police locked down the site, 3 Romanians escaped,..2 have now been apprehended but one infected is still on the run


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## Dolly (Jul 20, 2020)

This is we two. On a loch last year. It was bitter cold, bitter. My husband was 71 and me 69


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## Dolly (Jul 20, 2020)

Oh I am a daft old fossil I forgot to put the photo on the above The osteopath can't see me until tomorrow morning. The pain relief my husband 
( an old sailor) swears by is large whiskies 
This is we two. On a loch last year. It was bitter cold, bitter. My husband was 71 and me 69.​


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## Pinky (Jul 20, 2020)

Dolly said:


> Oh I am a daft old fossil I forgot to put the photo on the above The osteopath can't see me until tomorrow morning. The pain relief my husband
> ( an old sailor) swears by is large whiskies
> This is we two. On a loch last year. It was bitter cold, bitter. My husband was 71 and me 69.


What a lovely couple  I love the colour co-ordination too!


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## RadishRose (Jul 20, 2020)

Dolly said:


> Oh I am a daft old fossil I forgot to put the photo on the above The osteopath can't see me until tomorrow morning. The pain relief my husband
> ( an old sailor) swears by is large whiskies
> This is we two. On a loch last year. It was bitter cold, bitter. My husband was 71 and me 69.


What a happy, loving couple you are!


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## Dolly (Jul 21, 2020)

We had planned a cruise for last March. The Covid-19 put paid to that, so we transferred our original booking to the same cruise next year. This evening we had an e mail telling us  the cruise company has gone bust. Mark is sorting things out tomorrow. We paid by debit card, so apparently we are insured. The holiday we are looking forward to is Christmas in Scotland and that is as safe as can be
Had my discs sorted out this morning by the osteopath. I have a narrowing of  the vertebrae and also some muscles on spasm. I haven't slept properly for 3 nights, so I'm hoping I will have a better night tonight. I have another apt. for Thursday


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## Dolly (Jul 23, 2020)

The back is much better and I'm sleeping like a log. Went to the osteopath today and he is please with me. It's so nice to be out of pain. We saw the oddest thing this morning. We were in the car coming down a slope to join the avenue which takes us onto the main road and a young buzzard shot across our windscreen going like the clappers and pursued by an irate looking crow. We stopped for a while and the crow returned with a 'how very dare he' look on her face and checked her fledglings which were on the grass in the shade of an ash tree. We reckon this young, and a bit thick, buzzard had a go at taking one and boy had he made a mistake


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## RadishRose (Jul 23, 2020)

Dolly said:


> The back is much better and I'm sleeping like a log. Went to the osteopath today and he is please with me. It's so nice to be out of pain. We saw the oddest thing this morning. We were in the car coming down a slope to join the avenue which takes us onto the main road and a young buzzard shot across our windscreen going like the clappers and pursued by an irate looking crow. We stopped for a while and the crow returned with a 'how very dare he' look on her face and checked her fledglings which were on the grass in the shade of an ash tree. We reckon this young, and a bit thick, buzzard had a go at taking one and boy had he made a mistake


Crows are so smart, too.


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## Gaer (Jul 23, 2020)

Dolly: I LOVE the way you guys talk!  You and Ferocious!  It's musical and magical!  "What a wally!"  What an expression!  
I'm so tickled because I found out just a year ago, I'm part WELCH!  I love being part Welsh!    Hi Cousin!


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## Dolly (Jul 27, 2020)

It is so nice to be almost pain free again. I had 2 discs out and one 'thinking about it' It was just tipping the sciatic nerve. I can sit now for longer periods and get a bit done in the kitchen. Tomorrow I have, which I think, is my last osteopathy session so its a case of being sensible for a few weeks. It is nearly the end of July, this time last year we had a heat wave. I'm looking out of the window as I'm doing this and the sky is as black as Egypt's night, the poplar trees  look as if they are doing the lambada they are bending all shapes in the gale.


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## Dolly (Jul 31, 2020)

Don't you just HATE it when you take the washing out of the machine and find out that a tissue has got in with the laundry


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## Dolly (Aug 4, 2020)

I’m still being pummeled pulled and stretched by the osteopath who is a miracle worker. Twice the first week, once the second and again this week and now its 10 days till the next one. I don’t have to rest so much, can go out for walks and just be sensible. I am feeling better than I have done for at least a year. I thought I was looking at hip replacements, but the problem was all in my back. Sitting isn’t uncomfortable any more and I can now do things without pain. Hope you and yours are all well


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## Dolly (Aug 6, 2020)

We took a picnic into the hills yesterday, to a red kite feeding station. Some years ago, the red kites nearly died out, and a program to save them was started. Today we have many, many red kites across the country. I have been to the feeding station often and am always awestruck. There are 2 pontoons on a lake. The meat is laid out on them and we wait. The hills today, were beautiful a lush green and with the pine trees surrounding the lake and the sun dancing on the water it was a lovely place to be. Suddenly the kites appeared. The sky was just a frantic whirling of  reds and beige colours as they swooped down wings back legs straight out and with unerring accuracy they got their prey and shot back up as quickly as they had arrived.

Then we went on a bit to a silver and lead mine. It’s been restored to how it originally was, and you can pan for gold and silver. I didn’t have a go yesterday because I must watch my back, and all I’ve ever got in the past is fool’s gold. You can buy bags of ‘gravel’ there for a couple of pounds and I always bring some back for children we know. They have better luck than me! We got home at 8pm, very tired but my back held up well. My husband is making me have a quiet day today, so I will get on with finishing the socks I am knitting and then I can get stuck into the super- chunky sweater I am making myself fir the winter


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## Dolly (Aug 10, 2020)

Fires, floods covid -19 pandemic, man made disaster in Beirut and a downed plane in appalling weather conditions. Mother Nature has certainly given us a kick in the proverbial hasn't she?


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## Dolly (Aug 11, 2020)

Driving past the railway station this morning, I had no idea we had so many police officers, patrol cars, dog handlers and helicopters in our city because you can never find a bobby when you need one. It has just come on the teatime news that our esteemed Prime Minister, Boris was visiting the city.


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## RadishRose (Aug 12, 2020)




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## Dolly (Aug 17, 2020)

We went for a drive through the Forest of Dean yesterday, a huge forest encompassing small towns and villages. I’m still a bit too tottery to get out of the car, but I could wind down the windows and smell the wild garlic. The forest dates back to the Mesolithic age, .you can still see monoliths they erected
It was very popular for hunting and Henry 8th visited regularly , it was one of his favourite places for  hunting

The many bears and wolves in the forest have long gone, but a few years back someone had a ‘brilliant’ idea: Let’s reintroduce  some wild boar (he was obviously a townie) because they have caused havoc. They come into the towns and villages and root up whole gardens, grass tennis courts, cricket pitches etc, at a rapid pace. They don’t stay deep in the forest anymore and who can blame them? A mature male boar isn’t far short of the size of a small Shetland pony. One charged us once and those tusks are awesome. A ranger shooed him off. To be fair the animal was only doing his duty. The female was out with her piglets which are adorable. Anyway, it is only August and the trees have started, not just changing, but some are shedding their leaves.


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## Dolly (Aug 18, 2020)

Love him or hate him, you can't get away from the fact  that he's entertaining


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## peramangkelder (Aug 18, 2020)

@Dolly you are a tonic and I thoroughly enjoyed reading your posts
You know my paternal grandmother used to use the word wittering and I have not heard it in many a long year
Your jokes are real beauts too....thank you they made my afternoon 
Oh and G'day from DownUnder in South Australia


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## Dolly (Aug 18, 2020)

peramangkelder said:


> @Dolly you are a tonic and I thoroughly enjoyed reading your posts
> You know my paternal grandmother used to use the word wittering and I have not heard it in many a long year
> Your jokes are real beauts too....thank you they made my afternoon
> Oh and G'day from DownUnder in South Australia


Oh boy. One of the major regrets in my life is that I didn't take the opportunity to emigrate to Oz in 1973 when I was offered the chance. It is a wonderful country, lovely people and beautiful and uncrowded places to visit. I expect though that, like here, it has changed since the 70's.


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## peramangkelder (Aug 18, 2020)

@Dolly I am sure you will enjoy this video as much as we do here...it is an advert on TV


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## RadishRose (Aug 18, 2020)

Dolly said:


> We went for a drive through the Forest of Dean yesterday, a huge forest encompassing small towns and villages. I’m still a bit too tottery to get out of the car, but I could wind down the windows and smell the wild garlic. The forest dates back to the Mesolithic age, .you can still see monoliths they erected
> It was very popular for hunting and Henry 8th visited regularly , it was one of his favourite places for  hunting
> 
> The many bears and wolves in the forest have long gone, but a few years back someone had a ‘brilliant’ idea: Let’s reintroduce  some wild boar (he was obviously a townie) because they have caused havoc. They come into the towns and villages and root up whole gardens, grass tennis courts, cricket pitches etc, at a rapid pace. They don’t stay deep in the forest anymore and who can blame them? A mature male boar isn’t far short of the size of a small Shetland pony. One charged us once and those tusks are awesome. A ranger shooed him off. To be fair the animal was only doing his duty. The female was out with her piglets which are adorable. Anyway, it is only August and the trees have started, not just changing, but some are shedding their leaves.


What an interesting place this is.

Do you think the boars will greatly increase?


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## Dolly (Aug 18, 2020)

peramangkelder said:


> @Dolly I am sure you will enjoy this video as much as we do here...it is an advert on TV


When I was a staff nurse, the Australian Rugby team were playing Wales at Cardiff where I was working and a few of the players visited the hospital. By gum they were a size close up. One of the little children said to a player, and he didn't come up to the man's knees: 'Hey Mister do yer war dance' and they did it for the kids. Put the wind up me it did.


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## Dolly (Aug 18, 2020)

RadishRose said:


> What an interesting place this is.
> 
> Do you think the boars will greatly increase?


They are indeed. I think there is another cull in the autumn. I like wild boar sausages


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## Dolly (Aug 21, 2020)

Mark has planted our violas. Such a brave little flower, keeps going right through the winter poking its head out of the snow to remind you the garden will wake up in the Spring. It's a good job he moved the planters under cover because that awful storm was giving us a hammering all night


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## Dolly (Aug 22, 2020)

Yesterday afternoon we went to a little town, in the county, called Leominster (pronounced Lemster) it has the most beautiful old black and white houses and shops  and narrow streets where the buildings lean in towards each other so that they almost touch. The town square has held a weekly market since the middle ages. (Only stopping during wars, foot and mouth and corona)

The Priory is beautiful. Founded in 1121, but there is evidence of a small Saxon church predating it on the same site

We Welsh, led by Owain Glendwr ransacked it in 1402. Later,  Henry 8th had a bash at it and pinched all the stonework from the cloisters. So it has seem some changes The original town ducking stool is kept in the priory, it was used to punish scolding and quarrelsome women with a quick dip in the nearest pond or river. I often find Mark standing in front of it with a wistful, faraway look on his face.

The town has expanded quite a bit, and the modern buildings are hideous, but the original town still has its old world charm.


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## hollydolly (Aug 22, 2020)

Leominster has been on my bucket list for ages to visit   just for the sheer photographic purpose if nothing else.. ..Lovely photos from you Dolly,.. have you looked at our photo thread on this forum ?


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## Dolly (Aug 22, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> Leominster has been on my bucket list for ages to visit   just for the sheer photographic purpose if nothing else.. ..Lovely photos from you Dolly,.. have you looked at our photo thread on this forum ?


No. I haven't Holly. Thanks for the info.


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## Dolly (Aug 28, 2020)

I've just finished this needlepoint, it's a Christmas present for an old friend.


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## Dolly (Sep 1, 2020)

It has just come on our TV news, a spaniel chased a seagull into the sea and they had to launch the lifeboat to rescue him… he was half a mile out


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## Dolly (Sep 2, 2020)

I'm Fine Thank You

There is nothing the matter with me

I'm as healthy as can be.

I have arthritis in both my knees

And when I talk, I talk with a wheeze,

My pulse is weak and my blood is thin,

But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in.

Arch supports I have for my feet,

Or I wouldn't be able to go on the street.

Sleep is denied me night after night,

But every morning I find I'm all right,

My memory is failing, my head's in a spin

But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in.



The moral is this - as my tale I unfold,

That for you and me who are growing old,

It's better to say, "I'm fine" with a grin,

Than to let folks know the shape we're in.



How do I know that my youth is all spent?

Well my 'get up and go' has got up and went.

But I don't really mind when I think with a grin,

Of all the grand places 'my get up' has been.



Old age is golden, I've heard it said,

But sometimes I wonder as I get into bed,

With my ears in the drawer, my teeth in the cup,

My eyes on the table until I wake up.

Ere sleep overtakes me, I think to myself

Is there anything else I could lay on the shelf?



When I was young, my slippers were red;

I could kick my heels right over my head.

When I got older, my slippers were blue;

But still I could dance the whole night through.

But now I am old, my slippers are black;

I walk to the store and puff my way back.



I get up each day and dust off my wits,

And pick up the paper and read the 'obits'.

If my name is still missing, I know I'm not dead -


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## Dolly (Sep 7, 2020)

'I wish I'd looked after me Teeth


Oh, I wish I'd looked after me teeth, 
And spotted the perils beneath,
All the toffees I chewed, 
And the sweet sticky food,
Oh, I wish I'd looked after me teeth.

I wish I'd been that much more willin' 
When I had more tooth there than fillin'
To pass up gobstoppers, 
From respect to me choppers
And to buy something else with me shillin'.

When I think of the lollies I licked, 
And the liquorice allsorts I picked,
Sherbet dabs, big and little, 
All that hard peanut brittle,
My conscience gets horribly pricked.

My Mother, she told me no end, 
"If you got a tooth, you got a friend"
I was young then, and careless, 
My toothbrush was hairless,
I never had much time to spend.

Oh I showed them the toothpaste all right, 
I flashed it about late at night,
But up-and-down brushin' 
And pokin' and fussin'
Didn't seem worth the time... I could bite!

If I'd known I was paving the way,
To cavities, caps and decay,
The murder of fiIlin's 
Injections and drillin's
I'd have thrown all me sherbet away.

So I lay in the old dentist's chair,
And I gaze up his nose in despair,
And his drill it do whine, 
In these molars of mine,
"Two amalgum," he'll say, "for in there."

How I laughed at my Mother's false teeth,
As they foamed in the waters beneath,
But now comes the reckonin' 
It's me they are beckonin'
Oh, I wish I'd looked after me teeth.
The end
Pam Ayres






​


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## Dolly (Sep 15, 2020)

I was wondering yesterday why I didn't shop now for the 2 of us, like I did when we were a family of 4. Back then I did a big shop once a fortnight, brought it home in the back of the car, unloaded it, put everything away and still had time to walk the dogs before lunch. These days we just get things we are short of when we are out and about. So today I did a big, big fortnights shop. Brought it home in the car, put it away and then sat in the chair absolutely shattered. My husband gave me a large (medicinal) gin and tonic and my goodness was it welcome


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## RadishRose (Sep 15, 2020)

Oh yes, lugging it all into the house from the car and putting it all away takes a lot out of me too. When did that start?


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## Dolly (Sep 16, 2020)

A picture's worth 1000 words. This is me this morning


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## Dolly (Sep 25, 2020)

I've been laid up with an awful heavy cold/flu for a little while but I'm back in action now


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## Dolly (Sep 26, 2020)

Strictly Come Dancing (your Dancing with the Stars) starts soon. We have watched it from the start and never missed one. We can't work up any enthusiasm this year. It will be very half hearted and lack lustre, no audience, and, as usual most of the 'celebs' we have never heard of. I think it would have been a good idea to rest it this year and come back with a new format next year. It has been looking tired for a few years


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## hollydolly (Sep 26, 2020)

Dolly said:


> Strictly Come Dancing (your Dancing with the Stars) starts soon. We have watched it from the start and never missed one. We can't work up any enthusiasm this year. It will be very half hearted and lack lustre, no audience, and, as usual most of the 'celebs' we have never heard of. I think it would have been a good idea to rest it this year and come back with a new format next year. It has been looking tired for a few years


I feel exactly the same, in fact for the first time ever I think I'll vote with my fingers and now wtach at all. I feel that the producers need to get an idea that they're losing viewing figures by using people like ''youtube stars??'' and passing them off as celebrities


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## Dolly (Sep 27, 2020)

There are many like us Holly. Friends, relatives all feel the same. The ones who watch it, aren't catered for so much. It seems targeted at a younger audience


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## Dolly (Oct 5, 2020)

Boris and his merry band of 'advisers' have made the rules of do and don'ts  in this recent covid spike, so convoluted and complicated, not even they understand them. Mark and I have made our own. We don't go out unnecessarily. Wear masks and gloves when in the supermarket. Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize and in between that wash, wash, wash our hands. Our Christmas away with Lochs and Glens coach holidays is cancelled. The cruise company has gone bust we had our money back than goodness and people here have started hoarding toilet paper


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## Dolly (Oct 5, 2020)

I've just read in the newspaper that the queen was so annoyed with Harry and his current wife whinging that they wanted a normal life, she was making arrangements to sent the pair to Africa. No wonder they legged it over the Atlantic


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## Dolly (Oct 6, 2020)

Mark and I resigned ourselves to no sport this summer. But the Tour de France was on and also the French Open Tennis A bit late but never mind. We  thoroughly enjoyed the bike race, and are now enjoying the tennis. I still can't hep wondering though, if it was a bit unwise, considering how much the virus has spiralled out of control, to let both go ahead.


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## Dolly (Oct 7, 2020)

Today has been one of those rare, balmy, autumn days. A soft blue sky with fluffy cotton wool clouds just slowly drifting by, in no hurry to get anywhere fast. We played hooky from housework and scraping the garage door ready for painting and snuck off to Mortimer Forest which is just on the Shropshire side of our county. It has been more or less closed with the virus but is slowly opening up again

The forest covers a thousand hectares and is a remnant of the old Saxon hunting forests It hasn’t always been peaceful and has remains of an ancient castle, belonging to the Marcher Lords, in the middle of it. As well as the castle which saw many battles, the Marcher Lords also had fortifications at nearby Wigmore and Ludlow. Although it was originally used for hunting boar, deer and wolves, the Forestry Commission planted a great many firs in the 1920’s but the oaks have been there for centuries and some of the deer are direct descendants of the original herd.



What always makes me say Wow! Is that, if you know where to look, you can find limestone and shale laid down by the sea 400 million years ago.



We took a picnic lunch and had a lovely walk and then lunch sitting on a bench overlooking a valley. On the way out of the forest we saw a family of deer. They were so well camouflaged by the trees and the sun dappling its way through the remaining leaves, we wouldn’t have seen them if one hadn’t twitched its ear. We were so close that we could have touched them. Thank goodness they weren’t rutting or they would have seen us off!



I had left a pork casserole in the slow cooker (on days like this my philosophy is ‘bung it all in, switch it on and forget about it till you come home’) so the house smelt gorgeous and we were starving after all that fresh air. Going to have an early night tonight


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## Pinky (Oct 7, 2020)

Dolly said:


> Today has been one of those rare, balmy, autumn days. A soft blue sky with fluffy cotton wool clouds just slowly drifting by, in no hurry to get anywhere fast. We played hooky from housework and scraping the garage door ready for painting and snuck off to Mortimer Forest which is just on the Shropshire side of our county. It has been more or less closed with the virus but is slowly opening up again
> 
> The forest covers a thousand hectares and is a remnant of the old Saxon hunting forests It hasn’t always been peaceful and has remains of an ancient castle, belonging to the Marcher Lords, in the middle of it. As well as the castle which saw many battles, the Marcher Lords also had fortifications at nearby Wigmore and Ludlow. Although it was originally used for hunting boar, deer and wolves, the Forestry Commission planted a great many firs in the 1920’s but the oaks have been there for centuries and some of the deer are direct descendants of the original herd.
> 
> ...



Sounds like an enchanting day in a very unique forest. You are fortunate to live where there is so much history.


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## RadishRose (Oct 7, 2020)

What a lovely day you shared with us. I enjoyed it all.


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## Aneeda72 (Oct 7, 2020)

Dolly said:


> In a way, it is a wake up call for us all. When the infection rate and deaths were rising alarmingly at the beginning of the outbreak, my husband and I were vigilant: Although the supermarkets sanitized the cart, we  did it again with our own stuff. When we had packed the shopping into the car, we sanitized the door handles and our hands. Before we put the groceries away we wiped every tin and packet with an antiseptic wipe. We obeyed all the rules and didn't go out unnecessarily. Just lately we have been a bit lax and sometimes forgetting to sanitize our hands so, maybe, this spike has come at an opportune moment.
> Busy day ahead for me today. I knit all my husbands socks, aran sweaters, and woolly hats balaclavas  scarves and mittens for the mission to seafarers.  With the odds and ends left over, I knit woolly waistcoats for 'liberated' battery hens ( feel free to laugh, my Canadian relatives nearly burst with laughing about the vests and demand photos)  My wool stash is in the garage and quite honestly, in such a mess, I have no idea what's in there So this morning I am getting to grips with it.
> By the way. I love this site. I have never before met such warm friendly people


 Be glad you are not here, in the USA.  Lots of virus, lots of stupid people, equals lots more virus.


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## Dolly (Oct 9, 2020)

Aneeda72 said:


> Be glad you are not here, in the USA.  Lots of virus, lots of stupid people, equals lots more virus.



We get all your news over here  Aneeda I really can't understand your President's actions . We have silly people too, and our country is moving towards another semi lockdown because of them. Let us hope that whatever actions are taken by countries around the world, we conquer this horrible virus by all working together


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## Aneeda72 (Oct 9, 2020)

Dolly said:


> We get all your news over here  Aneeda I really can't understand your President's actions . We have silly people too, and our country is moving towards another semi lockdown because of them. Let us hope that whatever actions are taken by countries around the world, we conquer this horrible virus by all working together


No one can understand his actions, but it has certainly been an interesting four years.


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## Dolly (Oct 12, 2020)

Well, even Boris has had to admit, no one can understand his new rules. The virus up North is spiralling out of control. This evening he has announced a 3 tier system. It is much easier to understand. We are in tier one, which is areas with the least infections. We can meet up to 6 people either in or out doors. Pubs and clubs to shut at 10pm which means all the drunks stagger out into the streets! Basically in our area we conform to social distancing as we have always done and generally be sensible.


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## Dolly (Oct 22, 2020)

Over here people are blaming the university students for the huge spike in corona-19 cases. I know a middle aged couple in our area which is in tier 3 i.e an area of low covid cases, who have just been with their 3 teenage children all the way to Cornwall, a journey of 4 hours to 'get some sea air' So, stupidity, selfishness and a crass lack of good judgement isn't confines to the students is it?


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## Dolly (Oct 26, 2020)

We always take an interest in your elections over here. This year though, we are gripped by the forthcoming one. That and covid-19 fills the news channels


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## Dolly (Nov 3, 2020)

No sun - no moon!
No morn - no noon -
No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member -
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! -
November!
Thomas Hood

​


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## Dolly (Nov 7, 2020)

Oh my! Waiting for the final tally in the America is waiting for a baby to be born!


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