🦞 Locked down no longer but still firm friends 🦞

Grammaretto - so I'm obviously not alone in needing to record the details when I take a photo in a gallery
🤣

The reason I needed my printer NotSpag was to print my ticket for the gallery which I'd bought electronically. If you do that, it can be stamped and used anytime for a year.
Others were much craftier and chose the option to collect their tickets at the door. 🤣

There's nothing much wrong with my printer actually, more the printer user. 😪

I have been told there's a place on the laptop where you can cancel the documents waiting in a queue but I have yet to find it.

I don't remember the ?razor ad., Kaimoana, but certainly the Top of the Form series. I could even hum the theme tune for you🤦‍♀️. It always seemed to be won by Lord Mayor Treloar's College (sic). Does anyone remember 'Ask the Family' with Robert Robinson, on the box?
Has Gubbins encountered her balloons yet?

Congratulations on securing a pair of decent roofers, Grammaretto. You seem pleased with them, half the battle. I hope they don't let you down after so much disappointment along the line.

I have been wasting time browsing the Lobstar Diaries since their inception, always aware that this was a well-established network before I pitched up. Goodness, what a tight (sometimes🍷🍸😉) supportive little group you have always been.❤️
Did you realise that the Gang has contributed some 13,500 posts through Lockdown and beyond?
Magnificent🥳.

Good evening 🙂

The Top of the Form conversation brings so many memories. I was the bossy know it all fifth form team captain when my school took part in 1971. It was neck and neck with a local boys' school down to the wire. The tie breaker was about sport of which I know nothing but according me Roger Bannister won Wimbledon 🙄 My parents were in the audience and till the end of their days they both said '....and what was that the year that Roger Bannister won Wimbledon?' whenever they wanted to cut me down to size.

Did your roofers use a drone to show you where your roofing problem is Grammaretto? Our last roofer did and it was very reassuring to be able to see the problem for ourselves. We had a leak and couldn't find it so it really helped them to explain the problem. Mr M was so impressed he got one....and then another....he is licensed and it's his best toy!

We are still tidying up after the decorator. Sadly she didn't have a clue about managing dust sheets and we are painstakingly removing thousands of tiny dots of paint from our mahogany thresholds and all our furniture. We can't wait for the carpet to be laid next week and then we're off on holiday to recover.

Thinking of you Doodle - and the rest of the gang!

Success. I found a YouTube video that explained how to change the cartridge and I’ve done it. Very pleased with myself. 😏
Kaimoana I like the sound of the bay of rainbows. I’ll wait till you tell me where it is. Hope you have a good time with the Elders.
Why have I got a vision in my mind of an exceedingly thin young man of above average height standing in your bedroom helping you find your clothes 😊
Cherry, it sounds as thought your tablet needs a plumber 👩‍🔧
I can’t type on my phone either. Keys are too small for my eyesight
Grammaretto I do hope this roofer really sorts out your problem. It’s been going on for too long. You need a beekeeper as well. The bees could at least have provided you with some honey for the trouble.
Wish I could help with the printing problems but I hopeless with anything like that
Notspaghetti our printer was bought for printing photos too. DH used to print out a lot at one time.
ixion yes I remember ask the family.
Over 13,000 posts. Really! Wow that’s amazing. I was pleased when we got to 100. 😊.
Mamissimo that’s an interesting story what a shame you lost out. Oh yes I’d forgotten Mr M had a drone. You can take wonderful photos with them. Does he use it much?
I hate those paint spots. You need to get them off quickly. Our balcony railings got splattered when the balcony above was painted. Never could get all of them off.
I’m having cold feet about my art class. I’ve had the printout of what we’ll be doing. I’m still going but have no idea how I’ll manage.

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Absolutely throwing it down here and windy. It's this sort of weather which makes me glad Grammaretto is geting her roof fixed before winter rolls round again. What a relief.

I have two lovely things to share with you al.

Trevor is being reprinted.
They sold the whole first print run and there is still enough demand to do it all again. My magic duck is still flying high.

The next bit of astonishing news is that yesterday, to my utter amazement, I was presented with a Rakau Korero, a tokotoko.
A carved walking stick.

"Rakau Korero is regarded as a staff of office, often used by tribal elders to confer authority, status and to punctuate speech. The carvings represent ancestral figures and are there to protect and guide the speaker and add authority to (his) speech".

It produced a very rare phenomenon – I was lost for words!

How fabulous to be given a Rakau Korero Kaimoana2. It does looks lovely but the meaning and symbolism of it is more significant and important! You are obviously well loved and respected.

I love that you can use it for "punctuation"

Grammaretto - I wasn't implying anything re printers except that some HP printers are better than others for ink. Mine isn't as great as the earlier model but, despite the name, is not colour accurate. This really annoys me as you can't check colour reproduction in a shop (and certainly not online!).

I'm so pleased that you may have a roof fix sorted - I hope they are quick.
I read yesterday that we are in for 50 days of rain - and thought of you, but thankfully the Met Office has said today that it is not true - that we just don't know yet. 🤞

What thrilling news Kaimoana!
I'm so happy and proud for/of you 💓 😄
Trevor has become a classic.
That walking stick is beautiful and such a well deserved honour.

Ixion how amazing to find so many posts from Lobstars. I would never have guessed though i suppose it shows we have now been friends for a long time.

Some no longer write though we all think of them, their trials and delights. And happily people join in so we aren't talking to ourselves.

Yesterday was a whole year since DMiL died and DBiL posted a photo of her with DH when he was a boy.
I am becoming much more aware of the passing of time.

I remember top of the form TOTF
Mamissimo and Ask the Family.
To think you were on it!

The nearest I got was to be in the studio audience to see Crackerjack and Sooty. I went for my school class treat!

Well done Doodle getting your printer sorted. It's so satisfying when you can do things by yourself.
Although there are still containers I can never open and tools I can't assemble.

It's very wet outside but I must venture forth. I bought some summer sandals yesterday in a mad moment of defiance.
🤣😂

Well I must be mad too as I've spent several days on and off looking at sandals- my favourite comfortable sandals are on their last legs!

Wow, Kaimoana, you are indeed doubly blessed. What an honour to be gifted such a significant walking stick. And, good for Trevor, undoubtedly spreading his wings. Does that mean that he could be marketed further afield? (=us?). That'd be great.

Er, how many dry days in a row do you need for your roofers to do their repairs, Grammaretto? I wish you well. Keep wearing those sandals as a good omen.

I have been following, with great interest, the unfolding exploits of my cousin's young junior doctor daughter who has joined an international medical charity up the Amazon, working out of a itinerant medical boat, calling at otherwise hard-to-reach native communities. H. says it is doing her good to think on her feet, without the backup panoply of first world resources. Apparently, she is seeing a lot of skin and parasitic infections 😳, not sure whether this will be transferrable knowledge on her return.

Physio, following scan results, has been challenging to put it mildly. I regaled the lovely Grace Kelly with a list of day to day tasks I was finding increasingly difficult and painful. Washing, dressing, lifting a kettle, life's humdrum little chores. And, not being able to turn or sit myself up easily, I added, I'm hopeless in bed.

That stopped her in her tracks.

Ixion that sounds awful finding so many daily necessary tasks difficult if not impossible. I hope the Aussie Grace can help.
I expect you don't much care just now if you are good in bed 🤣😂
Your cousin's intrepid work up the Amazon must be fascinating terrifying

No let up in the rain here. I wonder if the plasterers could take down the ceiling anyway before the roof is repaired.

I was at my escape pain class. We oldies listen to healthy eating advice and try not to giggle when the delightful young physio tells us to drink large amounts of water.
We then do circuits to sixties pop music which of course reminds me of when I was a teenager.

How is Doodle today? I hope that you are still getting plenty of good support and enough food and sleep.

I'll try to remember to wear the new sandals but it seems a shame to get them wet.

Wow Kaimoana what wonderful pieces of news. Congratulations on a re run of Trevor and what an honour to have your carved walking stick. What a lovely surprise.
Notspaghetti not sure if you’ll need sandals or galoshes 🤣.
What weather we’re having.
Grammaretto is it really a year since your DMiL died? It doesn’t seem that long. Ooh I’m so jealous you got to see Sooty. I always liked Sooty and Sweep.
ixion what an amazing experience for your cousins daughter. She is brave to do that in the Amazon.
So sorry you’re having such problems. Is the physio any help at all?

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Ha ha Doodle here's the exceedingly thin young man doing a great job in my bedroom.

Isn't YouTube great for learning things?

The answer to Rainbows and Nectar was The Moon. There are hundreds of features and I am guessing the US named them. The Sea of Hatred is odd.

I think you too would benefit from a stylus - they are cheap, just like a pen with a soft end and you use that instead of a finger on your keyboard.

ixion
I'm told Amazon UK is now selling Trevor - friend in Sri Lanka apparently ordered copies for her London-based family.

Your peripatetic doctor rellie sounds incredibly brave. A future book would be worth thinking about if she keeps a detailed diary.

To be truthful, I'm seriously wondering whether to show Gubbins the black & gold baloons. They unsettle me - no idea why- they looked good in the sunshine but are rather intimidating now.
The pink ones, from the Sallies Mothers Day service, are much nicer.
How much extra those photos tell about me! The little red stool I renovated and decorated; the vintage linen and jewellry box DS son made at school (note to burglars: don't bother, you wouldn't even get the price of a cup of coffee for the lot)

And the pink balloons in the only part of my garage yet to be sorted out.
Lazybones

Is it really a whole year Grammaretto? Unbelievable

Yes NotS the tokotoko is often brought down hard to make a point (punctuation), or waved to include everyone, or even held horizontally if the speaker need an emotional pause. It can talk as elequently as the speaker in expert hands.
not mine

I have found that young physios and indeed almost anyone under 40 who tries to ‘improve’ elders, has little idea of our limitations, emotionally and physically.
Just as I can’t think like today’s 20 year olds – their world is not mine, for which I am deeply grateful

I was given impossible physiotherapy goals at once, which made things much worse but I soon learned to ease myself in rather than just give up as many elders do.
That worked perfectly, it just took a while longer.

I didn’t ask for physio for my leg this time, still very painful after a month. It’s the most lovely blue-purple – wish I could get wool that colour, it would make lovely slippers.

Wot ho Everyone

I have internet! A bit slow, but internet! Thank you so much Cherry for passing on my message to Doodle and explaining. We've just come over on the ferry to Arran. And the weather is decidedly changeable. So I'm sitting outside in sandals, long shorts (if you know what I mean), and a vest, long sleeved tee shirts and a fleece!

I hope, Doodle, that you have the same fortune as me in having good friends (apart from us of course) who can envelope you and support you the way this bunch have. I'm sure you do as you're a lovely person. I'm not, I just act as if I am! There are four of us in our four camperbubbles and it's been lovely so far. Lots of activity, even more chat and a little bit of booze.

I've not kept up completely with the "What's and Wherefore's but will read back now I can. I only can send the biggest of virtual hugs and hope is as well as it can be in what is a very surreal situation which feels impossible to come to terms with. Take care of yourself Doodles. Cherish yourself. XX

The Canadian Helpers who were such a help to me are now in Arran Nfk.!
I think they are working for the Summer at a holiday camp. Maybe it's the same one. 😉
I like coincidences.

I'm so glad you are having such a lovely time.

I am sure this rain can't keep going for ever.
There was a gap in the rain today so I went to my favourite garden centre where there is a miniature railway. I bought a couple of healthy looking plants for my big planter plastic bin by my front steps. I hope the deer and slugs leave them alone.

I also did a house viewing. It was charming but a bit too small. Food for thought.

Kaimoana why don’t you give Gubbins the gold and pink ones and pop the black ones if you don’t like them. My DIl has a great fear of ballon’s so we don’t often have them.
Your young man in the bedroom looks very smart. A good purchase I think
im sorry your leg is still causing you pain. They do say when the full colour comes out that it’s on the mend, doesn’t stop it hurting though.
Nfk thank you for your lovely message and your big hug. I could do with that.
I’m sure you are a good friend to many and are a nice person. I’m glad you are enjoying life in the camperbubble. Sounds like an enjoyable way to spend time and relax.
Grammaretto have you made up your mind to move or are you still thinking about architects ideas? All the problems with your roof must make you more inclined to move but it’s a big decision.
I went to art class today and enjoyed it but was absolutely hopeless. I could see others struggling to say something complimentary about my end product, 🤣. Still I spent 3 hours not thinking about other things so overall I think I might keep going.

The good thing about art, Doodle, is that it absorbs you completely and gives your mind a rest. Your muse will come and take you over, give it time. I console myself with what they said about Lowry and Turner and that chap who painted in dots whose name escapes me just now (I'll remember when I wake at two).

What's that story Grammaretto about the old lady who was advised to take in a hen, then a dog, then a cow, etc because her house was too small? I feel like her when I get home from a break in the Camperbubble. Suddenly, my house is enormous! Have you thought of moving into a caravan for the summer? Those places you've viewed will be a lot bigger then!! I hope the weather stays dry long enough for your roofers to get the job done. It's supposed to hold off here for the next two days. That'll be three in a row.

Congratulations, Kaimoana on Trevor's success. Will he have another story? I too love the walking stick. A real honour. And your cousin's daughter (is that cousin once removed?) having such an adventure up the Amazon. It sounds wonderful and very rewarding.

I'm on a camp site where all the lights are out and everything is quiet by 10.30. It is unnervingly quiet! I'm hoping to see the Milky Way if the clouds stay away. I will listen out for Canadian accents, you never know!

Just pressed post, when I remembered it isn't three dry days in a row. It rained last night!

^The good thing about art, Doodle, is that it absorbs you completely and gives your mind a rest.^

My thoughts exactly

Nfk yes I found the art totally absorbing. The results do not show the level of concentration involved 🤣
i hope there are others around after lights out to keep you company. I take it Keira is with you?
Notspaghetti I’m not sure others are so relaxed after they’ve viewed my artistic achievements 🤣
*Grammaretto I’m hoping you’re not still needing your buckets to catch the drips. Have you done any more of your lovely walks recently?

Doodle, I couldn't agree more with Nfk and NotSpaghetti and from what you say yourself the class did do that. It doesn't matter if you think you're not very good, art is subjective anyway 😁. I hope you do keep attending.

I can't help it but I've got the song 'Clever Trevor' 🎵 going round in my head Kaimoana 😁. It's great news that he's sold out and they're going to need another print run. Well done 😊. What a lovely honour to be presented with the tokotoko. It comes as no surprise to me what a wonderful demonstration of just how much you're respected and how well thought of are.
The names given to features on the moon are fascinating aren't they, eg. the Sea of Cleverness amongst other, the Sea of Crisis - what's all that about 😬.
Black balloons would unsettle me too, I'd be popping those and giving the other ones to Gubbins, I'm sure she'll like the gold shiny ones 😊.

Gosh Grammaretto, your roof issues are really complex typical init. I hope all that rain has eased and the first part of the job can start soon.
I hope your Alpine helper arriving in a couple of days time is a good worker 🤞😁.

Wow, bravo to your cousin's daughter ixion. What a wonderful and scary thing to do.
Sorry to hear how much you're struggling to do so many everyday tasks because of your shoulder, I know what that's like. It will get easier 💐

That camp site does sound a bit 😬 Nfk but I hope you're still having a lovely time. Did you manage to see the Milky Way, 🤞 you did.

Things are pretty quiet in Cherry Cove atm., just carrying on with everyday stuff. I do have a long list of moans - a strange chugging noise coming from our central heating timer 🤨, leaky tablet, specs still not right nor are my partial dentures, a twisted ankle and numb foot caused by a seizure and the horrible hand wash courtesy of my WP we've got but I won't bore you with it oops, sorry 😉🤣. On the plus side the weather's been lovely today and we've got some dreamy cream cakes in the fridge for tomorrow to enjoy with a pot of tea, 🤞 sitting in the sun in the garden 😁.

Sounds as if you’re prepared for all weathers Nfk - glad you’re back with us.
I just had to look up ‘Wot ho!’ remembering Jeeves and ‘a garden is a lovesome thing God wot’. It means to know (God knows, or I know) Fancy that
Someone mentioned Jennings & Darbishire earlier. Years ago, I wrote to Anthony Buckeridge telling him how I’d loved his wonderful characters. I received a sweet letter back. His books are still in print.
I don’t plan further adventures for Trevor but having just finished a draft for a Grebe.. (only 3,000 pairs left in Australasia) who wanted a dancing partner, I read yesterday someone has pipped me to the post.

That’s a good idea Doodle I share MrD’s nervousness about balloons and could never blow one up (except with a bit of gelignite perhaps )
Glad you went to art class and enjoyed it. Few artists, even the Old Masters (and Mistresses ) were completely happy with their work. Other people’s opinions are just that – opinions. The truth is actually in your pleasure at creating and being in good company.

Many of the new-builds here Grammaretto have been criticised as ‘rabbit hutches’: tiny rooms and no gardens – but they will suit some people. My family have worked out what they will need as a minimum and are looking at nothing less.
One day you will probably walk into a place and think “This is it!”. My mother, an elderly lady on her own bought a huge, old Kauri villa, much bigger than she needed because of just that feeling But was blissfully happy there.

Cherry I think I may write a short story, ‘Dreamy Cream Cakes in Cherry Cove’ . I’m sorry to hear a cluster of bothersome things are crowding in - the last thing you need. Sending warm, squishy hugs dear friend.

A surprise visit from my eldest grand-daughter this week was accompanied by a hail storm so fierce that an hour later, the drifts were still piled up in the doorway.
I gave her the vintage linens I’d collected for her; she was thrilled.

I plan a quiet weekend but it may not turn out that way!


The Orion Nebula

I’ve had a dreamy cream tea today too Cherry and very nice it was too. Didn’t have any dinner as I ate two lovely big scones with lots of jam and cream 😋
Sorry about your foot and ankle. Hope you can get around ok
Been sorting photos for the funeral and trying to deal with the mountain of paperwork.
I have a feeling my new reading glasses may be ready for me to collect tomorrow so I’ll try and pick them up while I am in town.
Kaimoana shame about your grebe story. It was a good idea
your DGD must have lovelier gift. Nice to have a visit.
I love nebula pictures you can get lost just staring at them.

Your dreamy cream tea sounds just the ticket Doodle.

Someone told me about an orient express "experience " in Leith. She took her DGS and friends on for his 21st birthday. A bit cheaper than the real thing. 🤣😂

A hot day here relatively and I shall be picnicking on the wet shores of the firth of forth