Barcelona was Bouncing!

My trip to Barcelona this weekend was excellent and I have uploaded a few photos for you to see. Just look at how many people there are in the streets and squares ... even Catalunyan dancing going on!

As usual, I am using Windows/Microsoft and it has decided to rotate some of the photos ... random and as and when it wants.

DW

Microsoft Madness

I just wanted to search my system for a file and then open it in PowerPoint.

40 minutes ago I joked to myself that I should be ready for this to take an hour.

At the moment MS Office is "repairing" itself after failing to open a file, including having failed to open it in "safe" mode.

Should this process beggar up my system then tomorrow I will have a major job to do to explain to my clients that I cannot do what they are paying me to do.

Like many people, I am sick and tired of all of the time I waste while waiting for MS products to fail to do what they are supposed to do.

Rant over.

DW

Should I get in this lift?

What do you think?

DW

Hard Rock Cafe Barcelona

HRC Barcelona is next door but one to my hotel and since it is the restaurant of all restaurants that I visit wherever I can, I went there for dinner this evening.

Here are just four snaps ... for some reason they have flipped them here. I had previously unflipped them but Gates knows best!

DW

Moving Again!

Montserrat Caballe and Freddie Mercury waxed lyrical over my destination.

Forgive any bad spellings!

DW

Well, Well, Well!

I have reported at various times on the HP Tablet I bought a few years ago and how it was a disaster: five burned out motherboards in a year as well as three or four Bluetooth units having gone kaput ... they replaced it and I am still using that replacement.

The replacement HP is not that good in that I never feel confident enough to use the tablet features that I bought it for. Moreover, the fan whines and whines almost the whole time the computer is switched on. Well, that was until today.

This morning there was yet another power cut here: annoying and frustrating at the same time. Then I noticed after a while that as the HP was running on battery, I couldn't hear the fan whining and whirring away. Zounds! I have been party to all sorts of discussions with all sorts of people all over the web on how to stop the fan making such a racket. I don't think anyone has suggested unplugging the power cord to stop the whining before.

Once the power came back, I recharged the battery and then when the fan started whining again, I pulled out the power cord and, proof of concept, the fan stopped whining.

The thing now is to find out what it is about the power connection that makes the fan a bit shirty!

DW

Plug it in: another top tip!

Before you start ranting and raving at an external hard drive that neither appears in Windows Explorer nor allows you to browse any files in it, do make sure it's been plugged in!

DW

Positive Steps

As I was waiting in the chemist the other day I saw a leaflet entitled Positive Steps for you mental health. I took a copy of it and here are the pain points of their message ... worth working at:

1. be kind to yourself
2. prioritise
3. if possible, look on the bright side
4. maintain a healthy, balanced diet
5. enjoy some physical activity
6. learn a new skill or try a creative hobby
7. set realistic goals
8. try to see the funny side where possible
9. keep your mind busy
10. make a little time for yourself each day
11. learn to relax
12. take one day at a time
13. take time to reflect
14. keep in touch with friends and family
15. talk about things
16. don't be afraid to ask for help
17. remember you are not the only one

I thought that was a good list and worth applying and sticking to.

DW

Taxi Date and Time: top tip

My first top tip for a while.

When ordering a taxi by sms or email, don't forget to tell the taxi driver the date and time you'd like him to come and collect you.

DW

It Pays to Graduate

I will never agree with the British Government's decision to make tertiary education students pay for their degrees and diplomas but it is worth considering the chart in the Daily Chart series in the Economist that shows the effect of potential benefits of graduating at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education in various OECD countries.

Take a look here:

Many of the comments following the article are also worth a read.

DW

Microsoft Innovations Know no Bounds

You might have seen the new hotmail interface on the web, Outlook. It looks modern and like many innovations, it takes time to appreciate all of its improvements.

I wonder how shrewd this innovation will turn out to be, however? Using Outlook and an iPad, I clicked on New Message and entered a subject and my message. Then I clicked on To: to tell Outlook where I wanted my message to go. I clicked again. And again. In what must be some kind of revolutionary anti spamming invention, no messages can be sent because no address can be entered.

I thought I'd cracked the system by clicking Add CC and BCC ... WRONG! That didn't work either.

Gatesed again!

DW

The Thick of it ... Utter Tripe!

For the first time the other night, I watched an episode of The Thick of it! I had heard that it was brilliant and true to life ... I found it utter tripe.

Then I heard the author, Dr Ianucci (sp?), say on the radio that he believes the programme is very true to life. I don't think so.

Yes, there are smarmy politicians. Yes, there are smart Alek politicians and civil servants. Yes, yes, yes; but these people were beyond caricatures in my opinion.

Lots of F word swearing too: not unrealistic but not needed.

I will not be watching this tripe again.

DW

Last Night of the Proms

It's on now ... they just sang You'll Never Walk Alone and that was great!

Land of Hope and Glory

Rule Britannia

Jerusalem

Back to normal this year. I don't think anywhere else on earth does such a thing do they?

DW

Golden Hannah's Tribute

Here's the gold post box outside Halifax Town Hall in honour of Hannah Cockroft's gold medal at the Paralympics. Look at the arty composition too!!

DW

A DIFFERENT BlackBerry!

Here is my new blackberry time!

DW

Perfect Home Made Bread

By accident I found a bread making tip that made me happy.

Using the same recipe as before and the same ingredients, I added SLIGHTLY too much water to my last batch of bread. I then added a LITTLE bit if extra flour to take the stickiness away. I ended up with the most fantastic dough and the resulting loaf and buns were the best bread I have ever made.

Can I replicate that?

DW

Gibb Lane is TOUGH

As part of my keep fit for life campaign I walk up Gibb Lane for lung busting exercise and it's tough going.

Up until yesterday I used to zig zag my way up it but yesterday I wanted to go straight at it and did it.

I felt happy to have done it. When I finished my walk and hit back home though, my legs were a but jelly like!

Keeping fit is a full time job and although this is my fourth good outing in six days, we have to keep on top of our fitness as we get older.

Young people can slouch around and then go and do something ... not the more mature types!

Take a look at an Ordnance Survey map to see why I think Gibb Lane is so tough!

DW

Another Moon Cake

Here's moon cake two from Malaysia: green tea with kidney bean and green bean paste. It's really good.

DW

Moon Cakes

My good friend in Malaysia sent me two Moon Cakes and I have opened and started eating one of them. It is excellent. Truly excellent.

This is why moon cakes exist: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake

This is a Lotus Paste cake and this is what it looks like:

DW

Livestock ... Dead!

My hallways seems to be a passage way, or is it rite of passage, for certain livestock.

Flies and spiders are always with us and there are a few spiders in residence in my hall.

Two weeks ago I found a dead common black beetle followed a day later by a live one: I guessed they had had a fight as the dead one did seem to be a little bit injured. Little bit for me, massive for it!

Every now and again some worms appear ... and all they do there is die. There are two there at the moment ... see one of them below.

Most surprising of all, however, is the other creature that seems to have died, stuck half way up the wall. It appeared over night. I would have noticed it before. Take a look at it, below, too. Notice the things that are stuck to it! Has it choked to death on the feathers or something? I think, though, that the feathers are stuck to its rear end!

DW

Just Love Home Made Bread

These are BIG but they are fresh and smell delicious! Made by yours truly!

DW

Another Power Cut

Since the power cut on Thursday I received two text messages and a phone call from the power grid company. Reassurances ... we are very sorry ... don't hesitate to let us know if this happens again ...

About an hour after the phone call, on Saturday, we had another cut: 90 minutes this time. When it came back this time, it was on, off, on off on off, then on. It's as if they are trying to blow our fuses!

I wonder if these people would pay if they fried any of my things.

DW

Here Kitty, Kitty!

The big story in Essex yesterday was that there was a Lion roaming the streets. Police caution, animal experts involved ... all due precautions in place. Better to be safe than sorry.

This morning I saw the photo that was at the heart of the search and my only and immediate reaction was, here kitty, kitty! I don't have a link to the photo but if you see it you might be struck by the position and shape of the ears. Ears almost on the top of the head and very pointed.

I took a look at a wide range of photos of Lions: male, female and cubs; and not a pointy ear among them.

One if those interviewed over this story also said they heard a big roar ... more likely to be an ear wax problem, I think!

Meow!

DW

Third World Rides Again

Less than two weeks ago I reported that I had had a power cut. Since I haven't spent more than three weeks at any one time in this house before, it's revealing to see how inferior the services are in some parts of this country.

The power has gone again.

My broadband service is among the worst in the UK. I know that almost every time I return from a trip away there has been a power cut of some duration. Now I am getting to experience them.

The big problem with power cuts is that they just happen. When the power goes, who can predict what might be broken by any on/off surge?

I have recently installed an NAS server drive and of course, when the power goes, that and the router it is connected to goes.

This morning I was in the middle of a Mac Time Machine back up that has now been ruined and no doubt will have to be started again. That back up takes around 24 hours to complete.

Rubbish services.

DW

Death by Fat

I have been sceptical of Heston Blumenthal ever since I heard about his wacky snot porridge and things. Yes, he has won three Michelin stars but testicle pie does not do anything for me.

Then again, I have never seen him cooking before ... until today. I have to say I was right about him.

He was demonstrating roasting chicken and potatoes in the programme I watched. The admirable thing about him is that he is very methodical and at worst pseudo scientific. He tested six chickens to find the best. He tested five varieties to find the best. He cooked the potatoes in salted water and another lot in unsalted water ... we could see the results.

What marks this man out as very dangerous is that he uses and abuses a LOT of oil, butter and other fats. He uses alarming amounts of salt.

I should also say, I can cook a chicken that has the meat very moist and the skin brown and crispy and it doesn't take five hours to cook, or anything like it either.

He cooked carrots and broccoli in this programme: carrots fried in butter. Broccoli blanched for a minute and then cooked in butter.

He finishes the chicken off by injecting butter under the skin of his roasted chicken.

I don't rate this way of cooking and even though his Fat Duck restaurant loses money, he clearly makes a lot of money from his wacky image and pseudo scientific tomfoolery.

DW

Cultural Day

I came across a performance of The Gondoliers on the telly this afternoon and was able to watch the first act of that: very enjoyable too.

At the moment I am watching Dvorak's New World symphony being performed at the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall. Very nice to see and hear.

DW

It Arrived: my Excel Book

Here is the proof copy of my Excel book. 585 pages :)

I will post the link to the eshop within a couple of days.

Duncan Williamson

Welcome Back Bulghur Wheat

For some reason I have spent the last two or three years avoiding Bulghur wheat. No idea why but I have.

Anyway, I gave started buying and preparing it again and will just say how fantastic it is.

I am using basic and coarse types: both tasty and just as easy to prepare as each other.

Well done!

DW

SlugAlong

I put bread out in the garden for the birds. What I got was a few gastropods ... watch out for the pneumostome on two of the slugs ... their breathing holes.

So far I have seen no birds at the bread table!

DW

Very Third World

There I was, working away, listening to the radio and minding my own business and then ffffpp! Power cut off.

I went to my fuse box to see what had blown and found that nothing had blown.

This is a genuine Britain of the 1950s and 1960s power cut.

30 minutes and still off!

After two hours it came back on!


DW

Do you Need to Knead?

If you watch any cookery programmes in which they demonstrate the making of bread, the trend over the last few years has been to find more and more extreme ways of kneading to stretch the gluten in the flour. It's almost got to the stage of showing bakers stretching a kilogramme or more of dough so much that it covers an entire table or bench. You MUST do that to allow the gluten to stretch and to create the perfect crumb they say.

Normally, I comply with the above but yesterday I was in a bit of a hurry to make some bread buns so I put all of the ingredients in the bowl but simply mixed it, thoroughly I have to say, with a knife: slice and fold, slice and fold. It did NOT look like my normal silky smooth dough but I put cling film over the bowl and left it to prove. Then I knocked it down and shaped it into buns and left it to prove again.

Cut to the chase: I was delighted by the result: the buns look rustic AND the crumb is delightful. Really, it's more open and the buns are a little bit crumbly. I will try a loaf using this method next time and see how that copes.

DW

I wish I'd Taken this

I stumbled across this photo on Wikipedia this morning and wish I'd taken it.

It comes from this page.

DW

Today's Challenge

I made a big mistake last week and washed one set of my yellow towels with some blue towels.

I am very proud of my towels so I need to get the off yellow towels back to normal.

Can you see the difference, below?

DW

Fantastic Mo Farah

I just watched another fabulous race at the Olympics. Mo Farah won the 5,000 metres for Team GB in terrific style. Watch it if you can!

DW

Excel Book Submitted

I have finished my Excel book now and I have uploaded it to Kindle.

It is being reviewed now so I will have to wait to post full details here.

Within spitting distance of 600 pages.

DW

No Fans Nearby ... phew!

This photo speaks for itself :=)

DW

Excel Book: final hurdle

585 pages and 136,291 words as at bed time last night.

I should finish the Excel Book today. Then it's introductions, summaries, bits of formatting and it's done.

Ta daa!

DW

Ching and Ken Hom

I stumbled across a cookery programme last might: Ching He and Ken Hom, travelling across China in a culinary quest.

Yes, we have seen celeb chefs going abroad but this was exciting!

Both chefs are Chinese, both speak the language and both know how to cook: they have a fundamental understanding of their ingredients and techniques.

Ken Hom seems to be shy and modest. Ching seems to be more outgoing and more willing to use her language skills.

One of the highlights of the programme was when Ching went to a B&B outside Beijing and shared a kitchen with a fantastic 57 year old local woman. The brought out Ching's personality really well.

They also went to cookery classes: not the sickly, Oh! Wow! That's amazing of a Gary Rhodes either.

Can't wait for episode two!

DE

Is the Cloud a Good Idea?

The Internet cloud is a great idea isn't it?

Software online, storage online, technical staff online. Software updated without the need to know it or even do anything about it.

Shangri La solution isn't it!

Well, everything has an Achilles heel doesn't it? Yes, is the answer. In my case the Achilles heel is my BT broadband connection. It is very slow and it is unstable. I have been complaining and have met engineers, had long conversations on the phone ...

Last week, the latest engineer of engineers left me a brand new router/hub. This evening my connection dropped completely and the techie on the phone said it is probably because the hub is broken.

Smart solution to leave me with a broken hub.

Why mention this, though? My book is almost complete: 570 pages written and just the index to complete. Hear this: I decided to keep it in the cloud using Dropbox so that I could easily access it from anywhere ... crap idea!

Fortunately, I also save backups locally and have TWO up to date copies on my system.

I am not impressed.

DW

Words of the London Olympics

Words of the London Olympics

amazing
unbelievable
phenomenal
right now
marvellous, marvellous
hopefully
stand out
yes, no
a piece of running, a piece of history
big ask, tough ask
goosebumps
sideburns

Is ... ... ... ... the greatest British Olympian ever?

Pronunciation matters:

HeptAthlon has become HeptathLON
TriAthlon has become TriathLON

There's probably more that I should write, I'll add them later.

DW

Fantastic Chris Hoy

I've just watched Sir Chris Hoy winning another gold medal with a fantastic effort in the velodrome. Really fantastic.

DW

Champion Pasty

I was inspired to make a Cornish Pasty. I made rough puff pastry and realised, after about 45 years (quick, ef?!), that this is the pastry my mother used to make and that was so good. I used the lard that I had left over from last Xmas too.

Well, here are some photos! Instead of meat I used veggie sausage mix and that worked well.

Recommended: the one I ate, with mushy peas, was really good :)

DW

Team GB Footballers out!

Sorry to say but it was the penalties wot done it!

Again!!

South Korea have gone through to the semi finals and good luck to them now!

Having seen those two games at Old Trafford I know how much everyone enjoyed the Olympic football so it's a pity we won't be involved any more.

DW

Mo Farah did it too

Well done Mr Farah! He won gold with a fantastic performance: the first 10,000 metres Gold for team GB ever!

Brilliant night for team GB

Oh! Team GB drew 1:1 with S Korea ... Every silver lining has a cloud as they play extra time and maybe a penalty shoot out! Crikey!

DW

A Raft of Medals for the Rowers!

It's been a very good day at the Olympics today. Rowers won, Cyclists won, Jessica Ennis won, the Long Jumper won and Mo Farah is running as I type ... 3,000 metres to go.

Brendan Foster is commentating on Farah's 10,000 race and it's fair to say he's lost none of his talent. On a score of 1 to 10, Foster's talent has always been firmly lodged at 2.

Will report on Farah in a minute or two.


DW

BT Battle

I am in the middle of a battle with BT over my broadband. I have reported the sloth of my broadband several times over the last two years and each time I have either been fobbed off or told to call back later.

Well, since I am at home for a while I am chasing them now. They have gone through the, oh dear that's not good, sorry to hear that ... So I called back and they sent out an engineer: he told me that he could probably do nothing but after he'd gone I waited 24 hours and as nothing had happened I called again. They told me the engineer had changed some settings and I should wait up to a week. They promised to call me on Monday evening to check up: they did; but they asked me, is your broadband working? I answered, yes; and they said good and put the phone down. I was furious so I sent them another sms to tell them the following:

Over the weekend I downloaded the new iOS Mountain Lion ... but it took me 5 days to do it. Part of the reason for the problem with downloading was that my connection kept dropping ... another factor that's driving me on is that I am paying far too much to lose my connection and have a speed around one eighth of the national average broadband speed.

I have now been promised an engineer of engineers to come and sort me out! He's coming on 2nd August and I will report back.

DW

Radio Star ... Again!

There was a discussion on You and Yours on Radio 4 today and they asked what we thought of the Olympics so far. I can't believe how many people are being so negative: the cycle race is coming through my town and already they have put barriers up in front of my father's house and he'll be 100 years old in three weeks ...

Anyway, I am a great supporter of the London Olympics so I wrote up; and they read out most of what I said! This is what I said:

"Dear Sirs,

I have been a firm supporter of the London Olympics from day one and whilst the seat allocations are a bit of an annoyance, they are not a major distraction are they? The security guard problem was another blip that has hardly presaged the ruination of the Games has it?

On Sunday I went to Old Trafford to watch two Olympic football games and it was a magical experience. 66,212 people were there and the atmosphere was magnificent: everyone cheered everything. Yes, there were supporters of particular teams but everyone cheered every goal, all substitutes were given standing ovations as they left the pitch.

As we all left the ground, there were probably hundreds of policemen and security guards: they really weren't needed as nothing needed controlling!

People had come from all over the world to see their own team, the opposition teams, Old Trafford itself. The standard of football was pretty high too. And for an average of £20 a game I even got to see a Brazilian team whose players are the senior Brazilian players of the future: they were an inspiration too!

Just listen to the crowds at every event on the television too: so much energy and emotion.

£9 billion will prove to have been very well spent when all of this settles down."

DW

Olympic Football Summary

In response to an email from a friend today, I wrote the following and It seemed like a good summary of my trip to Old Trafford today.

I went to Old Trafford today to watch two Olympic football matches. 66,212 people were there. From many nations. The substitutes were clapped into the stadium. The teams were cheered onto the pitch. Whichever team scored, everyone applauded. Everyone was happy.

The Egyptians played New Zealand in game one: one all draw. Good game, great spirit. Many Egyptians there. Two rows down from me there was a posse of young Egyptians: faces painted with their flag, wearing their team shirt, banging a drum they'd brought with them, chanting and singing in Arabic. No one cared, everyone enjoyed it! Come half time, one of the cheer leaders had a bit of banter with some young children in the row in front of him ... perfect English.

The second game was Brazil v Belarus. Suddenly, half the stadium seemed to be Brazilians. Fantastic atmosphere. Superb skills from such young players. Time flew. Belarus scored, everyone cheered. Brazil equalised, everyone cheered but the Brazilians cheered louder still. Brazil won the match by three goals to one.

This is the Olympic spirit.

DW

I Arrived ... Old Trafford!

This is where I am now. Train on time. I spotted two likely lads and shared a taxi to the ground with them ... security was OK!

The ground seem smaller than it is on the telly!!!

Egypt v New Zealand first, in about an hour from now.

DW

<Whispers> the Old Trafford Journey Begins

For the first time ever I am on my way to Old Trafford, football ground. Never had the need to go there before and it's the Olympics that beckons!

Egypt v New Zealand at noon followed by Brazil v Belarus around 3 pm.

I hope the journey is without strife, collecting my ticket is straightforward and the games are exciting.

DW

Olympics Opening Ceremony

After three hours I'd say the Olympics Opening Ceremony has gone very well. Some interesting tableaux, music and dance. Interesting way if taking everyone through British history.

The athletes are all in the stadium now and the Arctic Monkeys are singing: not particularly my cup of tea I have to say.

We are promised more interesting spectacles to come.

One fabulous thing they've done us to build dot matrix lights in to the seats and that 's very effective.

DW

Am ... aaaaa ... zing!

I am watching BBC One TV in the build up to the Olympic Games opening ceremony. I am sitting here wondering how many times we'll hear the word amazing over the next 17 days.

I know, grumpy old chap!

The Red Arrows have just flown over the Olympic Stadium ... lovely sight, that. I remember driving around Oxfordshire a few years ago and I could see a chevron formation in the sky ahead of me. As I got nearer to the chevron I realised it was the Red Arrows, in perfect formation.

DW

Ding Dong the Olympic Gong!

I am looking forward to the Olympic Games now. Let's hope that nothing serious goes wrong and that the true spirit of the Olympic tradition shines through for everyone.

DW

Lawn Done: let's grow some rice!!

We've had three dry weather days and my back garden was dry enough for me to mow my lawn this afternoon and rain is forecast overnight. So, I mowed the lawn!

The part of the lawn that gets very little or no sun is still very wet. So wet that I'm thinking of growing rice there!!

I feel better now!

DW

Latest Peregrination of Mine!

I hope you enjoy this latest slideshow: all photos taken yesterday as the sun shone!

DW

Very Disappointing Find :(

When I left Georgia in 2001, my colleagues bought me a really nice ceramic keepsake: look at the photo below.

A few weeks ago I noticed that there was a chip out of the hat: I know that this wasn't here when I moved into this house two years ago. Yesterday I really was very disappointed to see that a large part of the left ear was missing too. Again I know that this is something new. I didn't do it!

Really disappointing :(

DW

My new book is available NOW!

I have published a new book: Business Cases for mSMEs.

So far it is available from the Kindle book store: just go to there to find it.

It costs just £5.99 and is available for instant download.

This book is for budding entrepreneurs looking for ideas, for teachers who teach entrepreneurship. There are cases on ecommerce, franchising and advertising as well as entrepreneurship.

The cases are short, easy to read and understand and every cases comes with questions to help you to review the case whether for the classroom or to help you with your own business ideas and business plans.

Available from the Kindle book store NOW!

DW

WebCam Day 1

I won't give you a running commentary on my WebCam as you can check it yourself but day one was slightly interesting.

It rained all morning so no birds. The afternoon was damp and grey: no birds.

Later in the afternoon a slug slithered into the frame, crawled up to the bird seed and tucked in before running off into the grass.

I ran the archive slide show and there it is, at break neck speed, rain evaporating and a slug running around!!

I hope to see birds in the morning!

DW

My WebCam Live ... try it!

Try this link to see my webcam ... untested as I upload this!

WebCam Live!

Since I am staying at home for a while, I am trying to turn my house into a home. One of the things I am doing is setting up two or three feeding stations for birds. Since the birds here seem to feed at around 5 - 6 am when I am usually in bed, I thought I'd set up a webcam so that I could see which birds are eating the food.

I wanted to be able to leave the camera on while I am away in another room, say; and watch it remotely. Just a bit of research showed me a variety of solutions and within a couple of minutes I had set up a webcam and was streaming it live around the world. At the time of writing it is 11:15 am and raining and there are no birds here.

What my current cam shows is the patio outside my office with a small pile of seeds in the centre of the image. I have asked the camera to take a photo every 20 minutes too so it will build up an archive of images to see what slithers in!

The solution I have chosen, My Webcam Broadcaster, is free and very simple to use and I am exploring a reasonably cheap, ie not free, solution that will give me enhanced features such as switching on only when there is some kind of activity.

Take a look here: http://www.eyespyfx.co.uk/livelist.php ... click on the letter D, then the number 2 or 3 and you will see my webcam with the name Duncan Mac Webcam ... click on it. If you are asked for a password, it's welcome.

Please take a look and you never know what you might see ... some birds, yes; but I have no idea which!

DW

Quagmire!

I took a look at my new raspberry tree this morning and as I walked across the lawn, all I could feel and here was QUAGMIRE. The soil around here is absolutely sodden. There will be no apples from my garden this year, there will be no cherries and there will be no blackberries this year.

There are a few well formed raspberries on my tree but whether they will ever get the chance to ripen we will have to wait and see: weather and birds are the enemies! Moreover, the dream of jars of my own raspberry jam have been postponed for a year!

DW

This is Lunch!

I need exercise and a healthy diet. The diet is fine but because of our rotten and do called summer weather, getting exercise is not so easy.

Here is my lunch, then: three fruit salad and home made banana tea bread.

Champion

DW

Alms Houses and People's Park in Halifax

I have got a plan for trips this summer, weather willing; and today was the first of them. This afternoon, in excellent weather, I went to the Alms Houses Margaret Street and then to People's Park just across the street from there.

I this the slideshow here is really good: thanks to the gardeners at the park as well as the architects, builders and sculptors who created and maintain the park. You might recognise the music: I think it's about the most appropriate music for something like this!

This is a large file so if you are using a slow connection, please be patient and wait for it to start ... it WILL start!

DW

How to cook rice!

Look what happens when you cook rice properly!

DW

19 Hours

I went to visit my old neighbour Malcolm yesterday and as I left home I noticed the I didn't have any mobile phone service. Poo!

NINETEEN HOURS later the service returned. It will be interesting to see how O2 manages that!

As I tried to find out what was going on I took a look at one or two news sites and after just a couple if hours of loss of service other affected O2 users were saying very aggressive things and threatening to leave them!!

I expect a rebate! Recently I changed gas and electricity supplier because my old supplier kept misbehaving. I have been with O2 for almost 12 years but poor service will not keep me. Their coverage away from home is poor and now this extended loss of service are bad indicators for me.

DW

What a Load of Bull!

On my walk yesterday, I was strolling down a track, in between two fields when I saw a bull ahead of me. Over a bank, so not that clear. I continued walking and then started to wonder, is that bull in the field or on the path? I slowed down, the bull didn't. I was fortunate that I stopped next to a gate going into one of the fields because I could now see that the bull was not in a field, it was free! Talk about Pamplona: I did NOT volunteer for this and turning on my heels to run away did not seem to me to be a sensible option!

I squeezed through the gate into the field ... muddy, Glastonbury muddy! I felt safe now so took lots of snaps as the bull came nearer and nearer. The grunting, laboured breathing as it ambled up the hill even made me feel nervous: is that heavy breathing because it is tough walking up hill when you're a bull? Or was it the heavy breathing of a bull that is getting ready to attack? How little I know!

The bull slowed to a stop, just beyond the gate, my gate! It turned left and came back down to the gate! It pushed its head through the gate. I really was nervous, it wanted to come into my field, my refuge! I pushed the gate as if I could outweigh half a tonne of beef with attitude!

It tried twice to get through the gate and then seemed to remember that all it had to do was to go upward a little bit further and walk over the barbed wire fence: it just walked back into the field. I was astounded: this animal was free to wander and free to come into my field. I squeezed back out through the gate and back onto the track. The bull carried on to join its friends and I breathed again!

Here is my photo evidence of the above!!

DW

I have never heard the heavy, laboured breathing of a bull at such close quarters before.

At this point, when the bull was breathing its heaviest, it stopped and turned round to face me, I was worried! I can't remember concentrating so hard on anything, ever!

Now it wanted to get through the gate: through the gate!

Gone! It looked back at me once but then sallied forth away from me!

I Went for a Walk Today

I think this slideshow is really beautiful: photos and music together that is!

DW

Don't Worry!

I was walking down my stairs this afternoon when suddenly my right slipper slipped. I slithered down a few steps then came to a skittering halt with a thud.

I felt my back being a bit jarred by the thunk as I landed and I am dreading it seizing up so I am moving and stretching a bit from time to time.

No need for flowers or anything! I will be fine!!

DW

Marmite, ma'am!

I consider myself lucky to have found this in the shop yesterday ...

DW

Willy's Wise Words ... the new blog

Everyone here is eagerly awaiting the launch of my new blog. After a bit of admin and so on I have created the blog.

New name: Willy's Wise Words
Address: http://wordwisewilly.wordpress.com/

I have created the blog and will start to populate it within the next day or so: it will not only be a book review blog as I have decided to widen its brief. This blog will consider reviews of all sorts of goods and services, including books, restaurants, hotels, airlines, shoes ... you name it and I will consider it for review.

DW

Welcome Home Flower

I got home from my latest trip this afternoon to be welcomed by my Geranium in bloom ... as you can see here:

DW

Additions to my collection of Kitchen Ceramics

Here they are!

DW

White Trousers ... so attractive!

I was drawn to a pair of white trousers recently so I bought them: totally tropical enhancement to my generally poor wardrobe.

The first time I wore them I went to dinner in an hotel and came away unscathed in spite of the soup bowl being a very poor fit for its saucer ... twice I almost had soup all down those trousers!

Last night I went to the MK Restaurant in the Bang Kapi Mall. I wore my clean and pressed white, tropical trousers. The MK food is dangerous for a potential slopper like me so I was extra careful. I WAS careful and came away unscathed by my own efforts.

Then I wasn't reckoning on the talents of the waitress! What follows is true!

I had carefully stacked and arranged all dishes and glasses and the waitress did her job well, transferring everything from table to trolley. Then she got to the little dish into which they pour their fantastic dipping sauce. She poured the remnants of the sauce into her slop bucket and as she then moved to put the dish onto the trolley, she knocked it and it slipped from her grasp. As the dish hit the tiled floor it smashed into several pieces. The pieces flew hither and yon. Yon being my left leg. The left leg of my previously pristine, tropical issue white trousers now sported a decent sized splodge of brown sauce.

I couldn't believe it! How the spirits could have engineered such a result is beyond me but happen it did!

With my own efforts and the help of the waitress I got most of the stain out but let's see what my washing machine can do for me!

This explains the title ... attractive trousers ... they WILL attract a mess!!

DW

Book Reviews ... new blog

Watch out for ... willy's words of wisdom. Coming soon.

DW

I Was 'ere ...

DW

Airport Lounge but Where did I put the Marmite?

I wrote this a while ago but it wasn't posted for some reason ...

I am at Manchester Airport but not flying Emirates or Business Class so I am happy to report that I am still able to rest in one of the lounges. My bank account comes with world wide access to airport lounges. Praise be!

Two weeks ago I bought two jars of Marmite: one for home and one for travelling. I have just realised that I don't remember seeing the travelling jar in the suitcase. So where is it? Somewhere idiotic no doubt. I'll find out when I get back home I suppose!

DW

Eyes and Birds

Not the best snaps ever but they're all mine!

I think birds are mother and child. Snake is unconnected to the birds and no birds were eaten in the taking of these photos!

DW