Whatever Happened To .....

Better start praying then ;)

How many hale Mary's?

The likely Lads? hahahahahahahahaha i know, i know that was pathetic.

ten and a glory be no, actually you'd better do the whole rosary (all the mysteries now) but only if you've let scarey black shadows into the world which are now breaking down the barriers between the various realities otherwise give yourself a pat on the back for being such a clever chap

????? ................OK i will..........*pat, pat.*

*Caps himself on the back* Hay Waite a minute! Hoed you know about the tares in black matter? Shit! Secret services at front door! *Hides under rug and prepares to blame Vicky..

I always get blamed

*Decides to blame flash instead*

I still do this Karl. Not during the week, as like most people i have to many things to be done during the week. But most weekends I drive out to the country with a picnic and park up some ware nice that takes my mined of work. 'Weather depending'.

I think that's brilliant, John.

Its funny. I probably have met more friendly people whilst walking through fields than at work or any ware els. I think the open are and green fields bring out the best in people. Ho! and it doesn't cost any Money.

I'll tell you where we meet the friendliest people, and that's on the canals. The Grand Union and a number of it's tributaries are only a walk from our house, and at Batchworth Lock there's a little beer tent type area; well, it's under canvas. You can order a beer, a bottle of wine, a ploughman's, a plate of spag bol or pancakes with liquor, and just sit by the river and watch the narrow boats go through the lock. Our little boy always helps them open & shut the gates, and he's always greeted with a friendly smile. The river people just seem so friendly. And not only that, in the summer they have a two piece jazz band playing in the background as well. I can happily waste away a few Sunday afternoons a year at Batchworth Lock.

Me and the kids spend many an hour out in the countryside, esp. in the summer holidays. As John says it costs nothing but the price of a picnic, and when you've got three boys like me this is a major issue. Living on the edge of the Peak District is a gift. Now my youngest is old enough to manage a decent walk and a few rocks to climb and streams to traverse it's getting more and more fun. The hardest thing is finding new spots that are quiet, and fending off the wasps and flies. Also last year we arrived at our favourite spot lateish into the season, to find it ruined by litter and just a little way off the track was a festering dead sheep the smell of which I just could not believe. These are the perils of a rural saunter. However, the merits far outweigh them. The boys really get into that imaginitive mode we all bemoan the loss of, spending hours paddling and floating sticks down-stream or strutting about atop a large rock declaring their regal status to the world. You do have to carry a fair bit with you for three lads though, in terms of changes of clothes and towels etc, but a rucksack each suffices. Still, it can feel like planning the invasion of France sometimes when it would be nice just to up and go. I suppose a couple of years down the line and we'll be able to be a bit more spontaneous about it. There's so much to learn out in the countryside too, if you take your pocket wild-flower and pocket bird books (more for the rucksacks). A lot of that stuff they'll never learn under the national curriculum. By the way, we got the french beans and courgettes in this week-end... will report on progress in July.

Do you grow peas too Emma? I love fresh peas in a pod

Yes, the peas are going in next, when I've cleared the ground. I chopped down an old bush and stripped the branches of their leaves to make the supports for the peas - I'm feeling so self-sufficient!. My middle son loves them raw, and the oldest like them cooked, I like both. Then we're going to put in some spinach and a couple of currant bushes and a rasperry cane. God it's a real slog though, I ache after such an active week-end. We haven't been in this house long and I was trying to sort out the compost heap yesterday which is just a rambling heap taking up too much space, I must have seen over a hundred worms...

I grew up right on top of Cannock Chase, and we used to pick blackberries (or was it blackcurrants?), cut the crusts off a few slices of bread, wrap them around a bowl, bung in the berries or currants or whatever they were, lay a slice of bread on top and chuck 'em in the oven. A delicious summer pudding that tasted all the better for having picked the ingredients yourself. I went back to that house a year or two ago, knocked on the door and told the man that answered that I used to live there 30 years back. He even invited me inside (must be my disarming smile) and showed me around. I was amazed! The garden had 25-foot trees in it that hadn't been there 30 years before. I walked up the lane with my family and showed my wife the tree I climbed as a little kid. For seven years that was my "camp". I've even got a picture of my little boy and myself beside that very tree. I'm wandering now, so please excuse me, but last year I went back to my grandma and grandad's cottage in Christchurch where we used to holiday every summer. Again I knocked on the door, although the people didn't invite me in (who can blame them?), but just one look inside brought all those memories flooding back. In 30 years they still haven't modernised the stairs. It was fantastic.

I just asked my three kids if they enjoy our little walks in to the country side. My 20 year old Son Say's that hiss fondest memory's are in those walks and he tells hiss friends of the funny things that happened. My 15 year old boy, can't get hiss head of girls long enough to think about the question, (he is very hyperactive, like his dad), but Say's when he is older, he will take his kids on country walks to. My Little girl, 'Well she is 11', Say's. 'Dad! The thing is, my legs aren't as long as you're legs, so I have to walk 2 times as far as you do and thats not fare.. God! When did she become so opinionated?

Probably around the time she started to talk.... she sounds pretty bright John

Very Bright! Her writing is extraordinary for her age, reading, grammar and spelling almost to a flaw. She has almost finished a lovely short story that I hope to put up for her, 'When I can log in???' Hint Hint! She struggles with math, as most normal humans do. But her overall thinking and debating ability's are ahead of her years. This results in many problems with Teachers who like children to be seen but not heard. Oh! Her name's Pippa, After Pip In Great Expectations..

She sounds like a joy and and a handful John You're a lucky man

An absolute joy and a very big handful Vic. I see a future of teenage boys and hormonal tantrums ahead of me. *Sinks in to depression*

Oh thats easy... threaten the boys with castration if they don't behave and laugh at the tantrums Worked for my dad, three daughters, two sons and no pregnancies ;)

Hay! I need you're dads advices. Dose he know anything about dads being mums?

If you're suggesting he's some sort of cross dresser...... No, only kidding i know what you mean. Not while we were growing up, my mum was around then, but since she died he's having to handle a lot of stuff that she would normally handle... especially for me since I seem to have regressed back into a teenager

No! Not a cross dresser! You don't think I am a Cross...? No, of course not! It must have been very hard for him Vic. For you to, So its OK to regress, I do that as often as possible.

Actually, when reading my mums journal after she died I seem to remember a certain entry involving a silk nighty.... still, probably best not to think about that too much Incidentally, my dad had met, fallen in love with, divorced and remarried another woman by the time my mum got sick so it's not your typical grieving widower scenario.... still it was probably harder for him that way, I mean you'd feel funny crying for your exwife wouldn't you? Never thought of that... maybe I should cut him some slack

Any way Vic. Whats all the ruckus over on the Gospel threads. Has ABC been converted? Is the apocalypse immanent? Should I get down on knees and pray forgiveness?

What terrible sins have you committed lately that you need to be forgiven for?

Iam a Scientist! Go figure?

Ahh have you been performing dodgy experiments on aborted foetuses then? Or something equally controversial?

No! Just plain old Physics, That all!

You're probably safe then.... though if you're a fan of Phillip Pullman..... best not to try to split the atom down any further

Hay! The Classics? Sorry, Its to late for me Vic; I've gone Quantum.