Ok Ross, Over to you.

Well the garage is now cleared of everything that we do not want. The Landrover has been checked over and is ready for the journey home. I will spend tomorrow packing up and putting the house in order for the period until someone else turns up here. Which I think will be James and friends on Monday.

I will review the checklist and leave a copy out for him. If the weather next week is like today he will have a nice few days.

The news is full of our allowance grabbing parliamentarians. They have reduced me to speechlessness. I cannot comprehend how they think that what they have been doing is acceptable. It has been a revelation. Clearly one has to have any vestige of integrity and honour removed before you take the oath of allegiance and are allowed in. However, it seems to me that if Ross Brawn can take a Formula 1 team from non-existence to producing a one-two finish in their first Grand Prix, perhaps we should install him as a benevolent dictator for a period of 4 years to manage our nation. During this period the politicians will be made to take a work break where they apply for a job and work for the same salary as others in the job. While doing so they are barred from making any public utterances, but their husbands are permitted to watch adult movies if they so wish! Those who can't make it in the real world are then barred from holding public office ever again. The only condition is that anyone from North of the Border is not allowed a job in the Financial Services Industry, as they clearly don't understand the concept of risk.

Let it be.

I have arrived in Cornwall to sort out the garage of what was my mother's house, and I now realise is mine. I have moved one half of the rubbish to the tip, and the other half is already in the trailer ready to go tomorrow.

The sun is shining and it has been a lovely day. It is now a lovely evening, it is so nice now that the clocks have gone forward. It is forecast to be cloudy tomorrow, but never mind.

We have had a nice e-mail from Chris and he continues to enjoy himself in Laos and gets back to Thailand soon.

Thomas may even have cleared up the hall at home by now....

An interesting few days

I have been a poor blogger recently. For this I apologise. Over the next few days, my usual routine will be set aside for other things. Today I am off to London to learn about a new system the Methodist Church have introduced for those churches about to embark on a property development scheme. My somewhat jaundiced view is that the Methodist authorities don't make life for their churches very easy and it will be interesting to see if this new scheme simplifies things. My visit to our capital means I have the pleasure of staying with Rob and Sue for the night and I shall make my way home tomorrow.

Tomorrow is also the day when Thomas is due to arrive home (with my car) following his involvement in the St Aidan's College Open days being held for the benefit of potential undergraduates who will be freshers in October. Having got himself elected as College President ("All Hail To The Chief" will be ringing out here at home....) he has to say wise words to these young people. I am inordinately proud of his achievement in being elected, although I had absolutely nothing to do with it.

James's girlfriend, Charlotte also arrives tomorrow - I always wonder what my sons have said in order to prepare their girlfriends for a visit to our home.

On Friday I shall visit the Outdoors Exhibition at the NEC. As a Over 60, I get a concessionary entrance. I am looking forward to going. It will be nice to see all the new activities that are being developed for our enjoyment.

Ah well, must go, I've a train to catch.

News from afar.

The hoo-haa of Chris's bedroom has died down. Another week has gone by. It ended with my beloved and me taking a train to London to watch Thomas cox his eight in the Head of the River Race. Once again we were blessed with a lovely day. We started watching at Putney Bridge and during the course of the race walked from Putney Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge. It was a great day out.

Today has been Mother's Day and even Chris phoned from Laos. He has earned a million goodie points by remembering. He tells me that he is currently using up his stock of Immodium capsules, so I guess some food has caught up with him.

James has arrived home. It is nice to have someone else to share the chores with.

He will HATE this....

My previous post was an attempt to portray the mess left by No. 3 son.

In a move that surpasses anything I could have dreamed up, his mother and sister have "Tidied" his room. Picture below shows the new facility.





Tidy Desk












Tidy Bookcase



















Tidy floor











This herculean effort by our beloved ladies has revealed another mug, 6 more empty beer bottles and a container of what was once cream cheese. 3 complete series of The West Wing DVDs were found. It has also revealed that Chris is a serial "borrower" of other peoples' clothes. There were my shirts, socks and underpants, there were his brothers' shirts, there was even one of his mother's nighties!?

The total and unsurpassed beauty of this development is that Chris will HATE it. However, something had to be done, and something has indeed been done.

There remains the issue of prevention following the cure. This will be the topic of a long conversation (or perhaps a very short one) when he returns.

Death is too good for this Boy.

Well, Dear Readers, today's post is longer than usual and illustrated by more photographs than usual. As I posted a few days ago, Chris has left for Thailand and Cambodia, and is scheduled to be away for 4 weeks and a few days. The bad news is that we have taken the opportunity to venture in to the usually prohibited area and....
so we would like to put before the court of public opinion (which Harriett Harmen referred to recently) the evidence we discovered.

The following photos illustrate the depths to which teenagers will sink....

I give you the offender's desk, M'Lud.....

















How do you study in this mess?















The Bookcase...




please note the broken bowl (of which more later)
























the state of the desk and the floor...


































Then to finish a couple of views of the total collection of crockery, glasses and cutlery that have been squirrelled away in his room.....































We now know where 13 mugs, 3 beakers, 4 glasses, 5 bowls, 6 spoons, 1 knife and one plastic container(!) had vanished to. One of the bowls has been broken and all the bowls seem to be supporting primitive forms of life.

The only thing that may save him from a fate so terrible, that I hardly dare to think about it, is that we had a message from him this morning to say that he was well and enjoying himself hugely.

We now come to the subject of a suitable sanction. I shall need to ponder this for some time, in order to think up something suitably Machiavellian. In the meantime, I would welcome any suggestions in the form of comments to this post.

Thank you, in anticipation.

He's gone

Chris, that is. To Cambodia and Thailand. It is just about far enough. He promised he would tidy up before he went. He didn't. There are 22 items of crockery (bowls, plates, mugs etc.) in his bedroom and numerous items of cutlery. The chances are that I shall have calmed down by the time he returns (but I make no such promise on behalf of his mother!) If he were here now, he would surely die. Despite that, I hope he has a wonderful time.

Our other sons continue to ignore my emails, so I am hopeful that some academic work is getting done. I think they are coming home over Easter, but there seems no certainty of this. Frankly, I've given up trying to sort this out.

Otherwise, life is very good.

My New Toy.....

......is a Land Rover Defender 90 200 Tdi. It used to belong to my cousin. He is getting a much newer one and wondered if I would like his old one? I would.
If I'm honest, I wasn't going to have a defender just yet, but opportunities like this have to be taken when they arise. It is in immaculate condition for its age and mileage with only a couple of jobs needed. The radio did not work and neither did the work light that illuminates the area behind the rear door.

Both of these have now been fixed. Halfords had a good deal on a radio and the internet is awash with people and companies selling parts for old Land Rovers, one of which had a good deal on working lights. It would benefit from a replacement side step, and my beloved wife is, I think, going to struggle a tad when getting in. There are a number on eBay, so I'm hopeful that one can be acquired.

Hey ho, now for a summer of tinkering around and having days out in muddy fields.

Families

Oh dear, my beloved has discovered how to add comments to my blog posts. You will see her comment on my last post is that I have not yet replaced a floor tile that was damaged in the Great Loo Debacle. This is scheduled to be replaced on Saturday, but I may not do the job then, just to annoy her. Any judgment on the value of her comments, I shall leave to you, dear reader.

Our twins are 21 and having a whale of a time at University. I think that with exams coming up next term, some work might even be being done. However, trying to get them to tell me when they will be coming home is a nightmare. There are so many dependencies. Open days, Student Union Officer training, Regattas, singing gigs, etc., etc., etc. I think one will have to go and get his brother. In fact that seems to solve all the problems. Let them sort themselves out.

Chris's (no. 3 son) departure for Thailand and Cambodia draws ever closer. Once he has gone, we will be a real derby and Joan for about 5 days!