Re nordmann.
Priscilla - me - thought nord was into a big business venture but probably got that wrong. Unless he is total capitalist by now and hard of heart enough to ignore this site for good - which defies belief - yes then Trike, I think we should be - and are - very concerned.

Yes he'd mentioned work for a Norwegian government agency, something to do with the EU, or some other important body, and was concerned with managing covid statistics (and so still likely to be ongoing work). On 18 August last year I sent him a short chatty message saying I hoped he was OK and that his absence was simply down to work or holidays, and though a day later the message moved from my 'outbox' to my 'sentbox' - thereby indicating that he, or at least someone, had opened it - I got no reply, not that I was particularly expecting one. Looking back he was still posting up until 24 May 2021, and then he did post (and halted the site for a bit out of respect) immediately following PaulR's death in July, so it's not as though he had abandoned the site, and he was then clearly still monitoring things being posted. Paul R, being typically frank and open as he was, had revealed his real name and where he lived in private messages to several of us, so it wasn't too hard for us to find out what had unfortunately happened. But we don't know Nordmann's full name, address, company name, nor other background details (at least I don't) so he's very difficult to trace. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Reading Meles' post, brought home the plight of the hospitality sector and highlighted just how little use some of us have made of it over the last 2 years. In an effort to try to start to make up for this, Mrs V and I went out at the weekend for a meal and a trip to the pictures. Nothing too fancy - just a pizza. Afterwards we went to the cinema to see Kenneth Branagh's Belfast (mentioned by Trike upthread). Mrs V adored it and I thought it was quite good too. I queried the scene, however, in which the 'working class' father took a trip to England for work by hopping on the airport bus. I'm pretty sure that in 1969 air travel was still prohibitively expensive for most people and that he more than likely would have taken the ferry and the train or else the ferry and the coach. That is unless anyone knows otherwise.

I'm trying a purchased cafe latte (sorry about abence of accent).  It's quite nice.

I can't find where I typed about the BBC adaptation of Mallory Towers before but here's a link to the trailer:-  

MM, sorry to read about your cats.  Maybe another cat will find you one of these days.

Meles meles wrote:

The surrounding mountains are all snow covered (above about 1000m altitude)

Which might be expected around this time of year. What puzzled me this morning, however, was the BBC saying that the Winter Olympics had been disrupted by ... snow.

I've read warnings nearly all winter that it would be cold "next week" and a number of "next week"s have rolled around without snow.  However I'm not going to get complacent just in case we do get some snow here.

I consulted YouTube today concerning how to assemble a shopping trolley I bought online.  Fortunately, with the help of a video I was able to sort it out.  In case anyone thinks that's not much to do with what we quaff I have my trusty cup of tea within reach...though I'm not sure how much shopping trolleys pertain to a history site.  There probably isn't enough to merit a thread on the history of the shopping trolley.

In French a shopping trolley is known as un chariot de course, which always sounds to me like it should be the sort of thing Ben Hur would use to pick up his groceries. Un chariot is also used for the metal shopping carts provided by the shops themselves and horse-drawn shopping trolleys would certainly make the TV show 'Supermarket Sweep' more interesting.  

Ah but do any of them swing low? Do they have explosive warheads?

I hope everyone is okay today. No snow here but Storm Eunice has made its presence known by lashing wind and rain. From what I've seen it's been troublesome in all parts of the country and there has been snow in Scotland.  Eunice seems to have affected Belgium, the Netherlands, northern France and Germany as well.  So I hope it hasn't affected anyone (apart from the nuisance factor).

Edit to say the weather forecast is saying there might be hill snow tomorrow.

Today is Twosday, 22.2.22 

Just thought I'd mention it

EDIT: Even more fun, it's a palindrome.

22022022

I think, although I am not completely sure, it is Priscilla's birthday on this, all-the-Twosday Tuesday. I don't think it is her twenty-second birthday, though. 

Happy Birthday, or Un-birthday,  to Priscilla, as the case may be!

Hard to be happy in these troubled times, but the finding of that lovely dinosaur/reptile fossil on Skye is happy news. Not for the Creationists, though. How do they explain it away?

I think a bottle of port should be opened at once, just in case I've got the date right...

Clever old you, Temps, yes 22.02.22 and born at 2pm as it happens. Port all round then - but for some strange reason all I have fancied today is Ginger Ale - not quaffed for a very long time; a much underrated addition to the world of taste and flavour, ginger. Or so I reckon as it comes in so many forms.
My fav card today was a pic of gabbage bin and the message that I was of an age when I probably go out less than my bin.... a truth.
I also got a big bunch of daffs from a neighbour who said she had picked them after seeing them flattened by the storm in in my own front garden. Mmmmmm. 
And now   scaffolders have just arrived - not for a summary execution but a bit of work on the house and a tesco delivery too now - all at the same time. My cup runneth over.

Happy Birthday, Temp:

Congratulations from me as well Priscilla, I have some good port that I've been aching to open, do you mind standing as excuse?

And thank you for sharing details from your calendar as well Temperance or SST as you were known when I first - virtually - met you.

Does port improve with age, Per? I don't but port might - on the other hand what are we all waiting for? Open it up. Sad ol' bar these days, isn't it?  It's all masks off - and drop dead next week around here - it's never ending party time with storm and floods and all very woke.... I bet St John had a revelation about it all - if not the Mail has one Daily.
Cheers - bigger glass for the next round if you will, Per.

I know I'm late joining in but I also hope Priscilla has enjoyed her birthday.

Trike wrote:

  Happy Birthday, Temp:

It wasn't my birthday, Trike: it was Priscilla's...
But it was indeed an Un-Birthday for me, so thank you for the greeting and moggy serenade!

I'm rather late to the party so I guess all I'll find is empties - and it is rather early here - but nevertheless, happy birthday for yesterday P. I laughed at your comment about my rat,

Priscilla (on Moggy thread) wrote:

Of course you could try playing a recorder - the rats may not follow your tunes but they might just pack up and leave.

I do actually have a recorder and if the dulcet tones of that don't suffice I've also still got my violin - neither of which I have played for many years so might well be highly effective in driving out the rodents. And the dog, who used to hate my singing, won't complain as he's now deaf. Thankfully though the rat problem seems to have sorted itself.

Temperance wrote:

Trike wrote:

  Happy Birthday, Temp:

It wasn't my birthday, Trike: it was Priscilla's...
But it was indeed an Un-Birthday for me, so thank you for the greeting and moggy serenade!

Idiot Dinosaur strikes again!!. Apologies Priscilla.

Exchange from earlier today:

Kay Burley: "Will any of the sanctions be against Tory donors?"

Liz Truss: " I don't rule out anything"

KB: "The Tory Party has received £2 in Russian linked cash since Boris Johnson took office. Should that be given back?"

LZ: "No"

Thank you all for the greetings - I also had a larger wodge of cards and many more calls and e-mails than usual. Perhaps I seem as if I am on the way out, or something.

I have 1820 French clock that came into the family via fleeing Russians circa 1920 when used in payment for care of a child whilst his titled parents found some sort of employ. And I am not giving back to Russia, either..... nor the French. either, come to that. But I would not turn down a stately room with impressive fireplace and mantle for it and its ornate side pieces - should you have one spare, that is.

Priscilla wrote:

I have 1820 French clock that came into the family via fleeing Russians circa 1920 when used in payment for care of a child whilst his titled parents found some sort of employ. And I am not giving back to Russia, either..... nor the French. either, come to that. But I would not turn down a stately room with impressive fireplace and mantle for it and its ornate side pieces - should you have one spare, that is.

Priscilla, you should write all these stories down. Maybe make a blog.

I appreciate the thought - and the belief. Having an unusual memory is a gift and also having a colourful life time of experience on which to draw males me more fortunate than most. This is  the place where I share most - telling others sometimes can evoke disbelief and perhaps a blog would do that. 

I have recently given several hours of recording to a local volunteer about a war time childhood in our small town - and in particular the details and exploits of some extraordinary people who all lived  within 100yds of my home. And all true tales - somehow along the way they each told me stuff that is incredibly interwoven about the entire WW2 scenario - active, passive, top secret and amazing stuff.
yes, I have had an incredible life - not only of my own unusual experience but more so the many really fascinating people among whom I  have lived...... even I am astounded by what I can drag from memory.    

When the recording of local material is up on the site I will send you a pm, Trike. otherwise it is being archived in the County records - and that just covers a few years of selected childhood memory.

Writing it is not so easy..........too much material, in truth. Writing of my first few days in the subcontinent took about 80 pages - but it is deeply engraved in my mind..... and such a feast of experience upon which to ponder again. Its on this computer somewhere.
We have even  owned cats that were extraordinary - one in particular had strangers at the gate wanting to see him after others others had met with and recountered his exploits. .... not the one who did vertical leaps at the sight of a mouse...... that one used to lie on the grass beneath nests in hope that a meal might fall out; delightful but a tad thick, that one.
This is turning into a boring blog. 
And I am keeping the clock......... but as you may have guessed there are further and richer tales of the circumstance by which I eventually came to own it

That would be good, Priscilla.

I wouldn't worry about having too much material, Per and I were talking about Jack Masters on another thread and his autobiography runs to three volumes.

M
The Monsters were encouraged by a new teacher - shall we call her "Miiss L?" to ask their grandparents about  wartime schooldays. Miss L. was not a little nonplussed by accounts of slates and slate pencils, and the zeppelin raid .... the Girl Siduri's father having been at school in WWI.

Further to holding back about writing one's memoirs one reason is because it also open windows into others' lives - or a personal observation and experience of them. That could cause hurt - and alienation at best. Whereas I have no reservations about revealing my own idiotic errors and experiences I am uncertain  about how to handle other people's  part in them - especially in our woke times of oversensitivity. I guess one can use evasive tactics but then truths get further distorted and honesty  - fragile at best but without which memoirs become an unworthy indulgence - is lost. 

... What a gruesome sentence structure - another reason that writing is never easy..... mmmm.

One should indeed be vary over the written language. I certainly should.
In the present situation I'm making an attempt at writing a sort of diary and copied from someone else that it was in the hope of a diary and not diarrhea of the vowels.

I'd better get me coat.

Priscilla wrote:

Further to holding back about writing one's memoirs one reason is because it also open windows into others' lives - or a personal observation and experience of them. That could cause hurt - and alienation at best. 

A fair point, Priscilla.

Such depressing news that makes one feel so useless and helpless - do lop sided sanctions work? And I imagine that kicking Russia out of the Eurovision Song Contest will have as much impact as chucking out  our Res Hist bar stock of virtual vodka.

Has anyone dared tell Putin about the Eurovision Song Contest decision yet? Are they drawing straws to decide who should be the unfortunate official who has to break the news to him? Is there no end to the vicious perfidy of the drug-befuddled, neo-Nazi West?

One of our neighbours here has a flag pole which - with its various flags (including a Merry Xmas one with Rudolph) -  has been a constant irritant to me over the years, although I fully accept his democratic right to hoist the Jolly Roger up there if he so wishes. However, this morning I note he has run up the Ukrainian flag and we are all very pleased in our little community here. I will no longer glare at his flag pole in future when I go past it. I am really glad it is there today - with that flag flying bravely in the stiff breeze.

I just wish we could do more than applaud a flag. As Priscilla says, one feels so helpless and useless.

Economic Sanctions  appear to be creating a new set of net curtains around the Russian people. The courage of many there to protest war is admirable in view of the ruling KGB mindset of swift and painful retribution. We can only hope that it will all have a swift end - but where is James Bond when you really need him, eh?

St David's Day today:

cael dydd Gwyl Dewi gwych!

With the price of petrol increasing:

It has been a relief - and pleasure - to see that himself has signed in a couple of times recently. At least that calms down a bit of the lost lambs crying in the wilderness stuff - or what ever. Well, not everyone, of course - but you get my drift.

Indeed. It was on Idus Martiae that he signed back in which is somewhat appropriate for our procurator supremus. 

Today is St Patrick's Day - and following on from Trike's post on St David's Day - it seems that someone was indeed meddling in the affairs of dragons. The Welsh rugby team were made to wear green socks this year (instead of their customary red ones) and duly experienced one of their worst Six Nations tournaments ever. Meanwhile the meddling design geniuses have also got England wearing blue socks instead of black ones. Oi meddlers! Leave them kits alone.

Green George wrote:

M
The Monsters were encouraged by a new teacher - shall we call her "Miiss L?" to ask their grandparents about  wartime schooldays. Miss L. was not a little nonplussed by accounts of slates and slate pencils, and the zeppelin raid .... the Girl Siduri's father having been at school in WWI.

We used chalk and slates when I was in 'reception' (in slang the 'baby class' at that school) circa 1954 though we went on to use exercise books in the higher 'infant' classes.

The things one learns on this site! Today  all that learned guff about early vegetation and assorted dinosaur dietary needs and now knob throwing in the biscuit thread..... I thought knob darts sounds a bit dangerous.

I drank a bottle of invisible ink and spent a whole day in A&E trying to get them to see me.

Energy Price Cap changes tomorrow, so it's advisable to take a photo of your meter readings today otherwise they'll rip you off.

This won't affect Meles, Nielsen or Dirk Marinus who live in sensible countries.

Thank you Trike, it's not often - rather rare actually - that I've read of this country being sensible, more often naïve...

Actually I had to do a quick google on what Energy Price Cap is, and I'm still far from certain that I understand this term - so don't test me.
At least I'm not used to a regulatory board - is that Govt run? deciding where prices are going.

The simplest explanation, Nielsen, is that people in the UK can expect a 54% increase in their energy bills from tomorrow.

Price Cap Increase

A lot of people are going to struggle with this.

That seems hard on the lowest income group.

The other day here some of the parties - a majority - in our Parliament decided that families with a joint taxable income below a certain figure shall receive a grant.
People must pay the prices now, but the parties have to follow the rules in order to create the necessary legislation, so money will not be doled out until - much - later.

This is from the Guardian, a couple of months ago. The French Government are are restricting EDF to a 4% increase. 

Most rich nation governments have already put in place financial support, including a €4.5bn subsidy by the Italian government to limit bill increases. Ministers in Paris said last week they will force EDF, the 80% state-owned energy giant, to take an €8.4bn (£7bn) financial hit to protect households in a move that will limit energy bill increases to 4% this year.


Meanwhile:


“BP’s shareholder payout commitments have been so large that they cover 98.3% of their pre-tax income and are 2.5 times larger than their tax payments for the same period,” the report said. “The findings may be combined with the insights on fossil-fuel subsidies offered by a recent Common Wealth report which identified an average of £12bn a year of taxpayer support for fossil fuels in the last five years,” 

One for Del-boy:

Priscilla wrote:

early vegetation and assorted dinosaur dietary needs

That makes me think of my niece compiling a doggy bowl of bones and assorted vegetables to give to her enormous (almost dinosaur-sized) Labrador following the splendid dinner Mrs V produced yesterday. One always forgets just how much roasting juices a shoulder of lamb can produce. Before the bones went to the dog, I drained the juices through a sieve and into a storage container and popped them into the fridge. As they cool and solidify, they have a marvellously obliging habit of then conveniently separating themselves into a layer of jelly and and layer of dripping to be later used as stock and frying oil respectively. Roast lamb - it really is the gift that keeps on giving.

Yes, Vizzer. Friday's jambalaya featured Monday's chicken, as stock, as the meat part (carcass pickings, oysters etc) and for frying.

Just so my thoughts are known.

Following on from the allegations against Angela Rayner, the new dress code for female MPs:

I've just been watching some of the 'highlights', if that's not an oxymoron, of yesterday's State Opening of Parliament. Amongst all the glitter, uniforms and ceremony, you'd have though that either the Earl Marshall, the Usher of the Black Rod, the Rouge Dragon Pursuivant, or the Clarenceux King of Arms, could have arranged for a car big enough to carry the gold maces without them having to stick out of the open windows:





It's a wonder they weren't stopped by the police for dangerous driving or for having an excessively wide load. I also wondered whether this was the Imperial State crown being discreetly smuggled into Parliament carried in a squaddie's knapsack because whatever was in there was evidently big, heavy and important given its military escort: