Hot but not dry "Down Under"

I have just seen the pom's New Years Eve blog photo's,looks a bit warmer than here,I noticed that Sam thePom has started boozing and smoking before washing the paint off his hand,white emulsion I think.
I have an appointment to look at a sign job on monday but don't think I shall enjoy the same working weather as Toowoomba, its a cold frosty morning at O centigrade here,introducing thoughts of Florida into my noggin.
A small glass of whisky is probably the only New Year Celebration I shall indulge in,with maybe a glass of wine to precede it,speaking of wine I dont think the $5 bargain purchased by Mary Sue in Kansas will be top notch,though I would willingly share it with her if the occasion arose,just to pass judgement of course, Montana has been cycling and complains about strong headwinds , down here on the prairie they bring you to a halt even in easy pedalling gear.
The Le Blades are still not 100% after picking up the "Sheffield Virus"during their visits to Bramall Lane and Meadowhall, it seems the whole of Sheffield are suffering some kind of bronchial infection,and" Ozzie Geoff" the vicar sounded croakie on the phone when I spoke to him at the Chapel on Norfolk Street,and his dear wife is" suffering" in Darwin at the moment,he says the Ozzies only ring us up to torment us about the weather.
Sheila has gone out to the shops in Mablethorpe,though I think it is just a "stir crazy" outing rather than major shopping trip,as we have been a bit lonely after Gina left, and we don't see many people here other than vehicles passing on the road 40 yards away,and Paddy the tramp on his daily walkabout ,he now has a shopping trolley of the type old ladies take on the bus,so he is motorised at last,though still laden down on one arm with carrier bags .

"Mickie"

Mickey finn was a Chicago Irish bar owner who fixed drinks to knock out his customers and rob them,so it came into general use as a very strong drink,though i believe the original "mickies" were laced with drugs.
It seems Sonia has an allergy to shopping,bad news for Meadowhall but good news for Michael.
I have "found" the "lost" keys so the Christmas festivities were an astounding success,and all is well here on the prairie.

Mickey Finned

Yesterday was spent eating boozing and watching tv,Sheila mickey finned me and Gina with very large campari aperitivo's,and then we went on to Champagne,not the cheap imitation but real champagne.
Today Gina and me were thinking of going for a boxing day swim,but settled for a walk on the sea front,and then visited one of our neighbours and chatted for a while,then I caught the second half of the Stoke Man U game,the weather has been sunny but cold,which is forecast for Saturday as well,tonight will be soaps after dinner,and more champagne(cheap stuff this time) not visited Le Blades as they are all poorly with colds.
Spoke to Liam yesterday at Sonia's,on todays photo he looks like Bluto with the beard and "slight" stature.

Not Redington Beach

Monday was a lovely day ,unbroken sunshine and 56 fahrenheit, alas today its cloudy though still warm at 52f,I was envying the Poms their weather,and remembering me and Gina's traditional Christmas day swim in the gulf of Mexico,when we used to have our Christmases there,the water was around 65 f,and air temperature around 75 f. I am homesick.
The Montanas are off to Nebraska where no winter swimming will be possible, though no doubt it will be sunny and cold,with snow,we are having christmas here on the prairie,with Gina,not quite the same as redington beach on the pinellas coast,and we will not be swimming on Christmas day in the 40f. North Sea.
Sheila is stocking up enough grub to feed an army though no doubt she will deny this,and today she is threatening to make a game pie of gargantuan proportions! though much healthier than the Brazilian pie that Mike Montana unwisely purchased.
Mole traps have so far been ineffective,and Bob the goose has bought a couple to set ,though as yet no success there either.
Le blade was at Bramall Lane for the game on saturday,which we saw on sky tv the blades gave away a goal in the 5 minutes of extra time which for reasons known only to himself,the ref added on,The Millers won away at Accrington Stanley,which is the team covered by Gina's radio station,as Blackburn demanded thousands of pounds to allow them to cover their games.

Haybaling in Winter

Wednesday I had an early morning call from Bob the Goose at the goose farm,it seems he had purchased two large round bales of hay,and needed help to convert them to small bales,to sell on to local horsey types(,having sold all the produce of his own hayfield) this entailed loosening the big bales and feeding them into a machine to create small square bales,easy if the machine functions ok,this of course was not the case,and we spent two hours trying to unblock the thing hitting it with iron bars and poking out blocked up hay.
So once we were up and running it took 3 hours of pitchforking to complete the job,speaking to Le Blade on the phone later I offered to give him my voluntary job at Bob's but he declined to accept it,and gleefully informed me he had been for a stroll on the beach during my bout of hard labour,and probably was imbibing a little cider which is his favourite drink,madame Le Blade was recovering from her Rotterdam visit by undergoing coaching on her new laptop,by her daughter,which she confidently predicted she would have forgotten 5 minutes after her daughter left.
Le Grande Edward has loaned me a mole trap as the little bugger is creating hills at a rate of knots(notice the maritime reference a legacy of the north sea crossing), I had set it before my hard labour at Bob's,but Edward decided to visit just in case,and so Sheila enjoyed a chat with him and his dear wife,who doubles as president of the W I.
Poor Montana Mike is not fully recovered from his unwise purchase of a pasty in Brazil,and his blog is once again a tirade against the political establishment in America,and not helped much by having to remove snow from his drive and back porch,a job I carried out for him last february in a quarter of the time he has taken,and I also snowballed his two dogs at the same time.

Pride of Rotterdam

A life on the ocean wave is a bracing way to live,inside the ship it is nice and warm,and there is a gentle rocking motion to calm the nerves of the elderly,the "Pride of Rotterdam" is a nice enough ship,and during the crossing,cabaret and all you care to eat buffet is a way of passing the evening,Le Blade was obsessed by the young lady singer,while I watched football on television,the ladies played bingo,and we all had a few drinks.
Rotterdam is a lovely city,though the fresh north sea breeze can be a trial to the not so hardy visitor,I would recommend it to all the people who have done me a bad turn,with barely a second thought.
Doughnuts are a speciality of the street vendors,and fortunately they are much more sanitised than the Brazilian street vendors,and no one suffered upsets of the stomach.
Those looking for a change of scenery on a limited budget would be well advised not to visit the town as it is a little pricey,the journey from the ferry to the city is interesting,there are numerous oil storage tanks giving of the enervating smell of diesel and petrol,and various other noxious smells which it is not possible to place.
All in all it does require the visitor to have a good sense of humour,and travel with companions of a similar ilk,and treat it all as an adventure,do not be fooled by the similar spelling of Rotterdam and my home town Rotherham,the latter is a positive garden of eden if the two are compared.
P& O ferries have managed to hire a female announcer who would have made a good nazi prison camp guard,and I am sure she woke us with the words"outer shittu" and Le Blade agrees that these were her words.
We went bowling this afternoon and Le Blade released lots of methane gas very quietly,a result I think of his gorging at the buffet last night, I can only hope the other bowlers thought it was the farmers muckspreading outside,we lauded our trip to the skies and could not speak highly enough of holland,which on reflection is a bit naughty of us.

Pigs and Carols en Le Marsh

Last night I carried the collection tub at the village carol singing,no I did not sing,before Mike Montana asks,it was cold and showers of rain,but me and Le Blade had been told there was mulled wine at the end of it,turned out to be coffee and mince pies,you can't trust anybody these days.
We discussed pig farming with Farmer Ben who had been roped in on the promise that he could wear his new overalls,which were initially bought for Christmas ,he did well at the show of pigs in Skegness walking away with three prizes,at one stage of our perambulations he walked away saying we would get him into trouble,but came back to the fold when we assured him this would not happen.
I think a fair amount was raised for the lifeboat,which relies entirely on voluntary contributions,and recieves no funding at all from the government.
There seems to be a problem with the Poms blog,it is not allowing us to view,hope this is not delberate.

Missed opportunity

The trip to lincoln turned out to be a missed opportunity,we missed most of the stalls,as they were in the castle,and we were busy in a couple of pubs so next year we shall know where to look,and it could save us a few bob on booze.
Sheila will probably give a more detailed account,and so I will leave it at that.
Mike montana seems to have enjoyed his Brazil trip,though he does seem to have gone soft,and can't take the roughing it any more.
Lovely day today,cloudless skies and up to 7 c. I wired up some outside lights in yhe front garden,and raked up the fallen leaves,then watched football on tv.

I'm goin down to Lincoln Town...

Painted some posters for a London customer this morning, and despatched them this afternoon,now waiting for the trip to Lincoln City on the number 10 pensioners special friday morning,this could be hilarious as a number of us are going en bloc,and I have visions of false teeth,walking sticks and zimmer frames all sliding about on the upper deck,if our previous trip is anything to go on.
Cockney Lily is hoping to get the front seat butI think she may be club tripped ,it could be just like a bunch of schoolkids running riot,I shall give a full report of events on our return.

Sheffield weekend

Today is cheap labour day on behalf of the WI,I have done some small signs and along with Le Blade will be roped in to put out chairs at the village hall this afternoon,along with other menial tasks no doubt.
The weekend was a mixed event,starting with deliveries and calling in at meadowhall shopping centre,a penance at any time and more so as it was packed out with shoppers,so much for credit crunch talk.
Saturday was spent listening to the panto girls chattering,and my Rotherham informant told me that Sam thePom is still up to his old tricks bending the rules of golf,no doubt he will deny this but it was a very reliable source.
It is amazing how soon you get used to uncrowded living,the mall seemed like something going on in bedlam,and the traffic seemed horrendous,but was no doubt just the everyday normality,and I have no desire to return to the big city at all.
The skies are crowded with various avian types here on the prairie,yesterday I spotted a heron on its way to farmer joe's pond for its supper of fresh golden carp,and the kestrel is out and about looking for its prey,4 ducks are swimming around at Farmer joe's ,and thrushes,blackbirds ,sparrows,robins and wrens are sharing the hens food when they turn their backs.
I thought of my old pal Brian Thornton when I was up in Sheffield and sadly I can no longer call for a chat ,I always think of him when I am doing posters and remember the little private jokes we had,it would have been nice to call at his workshop for a game of darts.
Update PM,due to my painting the poster and putting it on my blog,there may be those who think I have got religion,I am a died in the wool Atheist and do not welcome e mails of ANY religious bent,and particularly those which exhort me to forward them to a number of others,they will not be forwarded so there is no point in sending them to my e mail address,as I would not wish others to feel they are duty bound to foist them on people.
This also goes for any type of e mail whatever the content which asks me to forward them to a specified number of people,I will forward humerous e mails to people who are selected by me .