Blog Posted,

then first thing I was on my way out,

to visit Duncan at the nursing home where he stays, he was in fine sprits, I mentioned that on Sunday we are having Sunday lunch at the Bromley Court Hotel, he remembered when we went there a few times on a Friday night way back in the early 1980's! I also showed him a photograph I had found of Mick and myself from one of our fishing trips at Littlehampton back in the 1970s,

 as his lunch arrived we said our goodbyes, as it happens the reason I had the photograph was that I was going to pop in and visit Mick, I had found out that last week he had a bit of a tumble, but is now out of hospital, so I called in on the way back home,

and this is the photograph, left to right, starting with the handsome chap kneeling down with the catch of the day, a huge ling, yes that is me with hair! next Mick who I was visiting today, next to him a chap whose name I have forgotten, with glasses Andy Walker, skipper of the boat behind us the Patricia 'B' that we hired every month or so, next to him Dave Wilson a teacher friend of mine who later moved to Devon with his wife, and lastly Tom, we had a mixed catch that day of ling and cod, 

and here is Mick, one of the apple trees had a bumper crop this year, he kindly gave us a bag full, in his fall he sustained a cut to his head and arm, but all is well now, after saying goodbye I made a move for home, and my evening meal, I watched the usual outback Opal Hunters, but as a Midsomer Murder was not showing I decided to watch,

 The Pillars of the Earth, which was a TV mini series, great storyline, scenes and acting with a pretty impressive cast I might hasten to add, during episode 3 Diana arrived home so feet up for a coffee and a chat as we watched one from Kenny Everett Video Cassette, which we followed with a Have I Got A Bit More News For You, before we were off to bed.

Up Early,

and first thing the blog posted, 

then out into a overcast day,

for a walk into town, past the green,

and what was the last bank in Beckenham, now being refurbished as I do not know what, flats I guess, 

past what was once the police station, now a restaurant, 

a few more restaurants and I was there, the doctors surgery for a 08.30 appointment to give a blood and urine sample for my yearly check up, all done and then a bus to Elmers End,

I called into Screwfix,

to pick up a tin of glue, I have a few jobs to do around the flat,

next a number 54 bus back home,

into the park where Diana had returned from work, so we had a quite afternoon,

in the evening I was out again,

and taking a train to Victoria, not this one, it did not stop!

after Victoria a tube to Green Park, it looked cool but it was a hot sticky evening, 

near the tube station the fountain looks so nice, 

onto Piccadilly, looking back the Ritz having a major refit, 

we have not been on one, but a great way to see London I guess, 

turning off of Piccadilly a short walk up this unassuming street,

which opened up into a square, 

where there were numerous restaurants, 

and pubs, and lots of traffic, 

and this is what I was looking for, 54 The Gallery in Shepherd Market, Fred Barrington, a member of the photographic club I belong to, is taking part in a joint exhibition of photography with James Kirkland, their images will be on display from 28th July until 3rd August at the gallery,

and here they are James on the left, Fred on the right, I was a tad early, but the good news was that I had the exhibition to myself to look closely at both photographers prints, 

Paul, also a club member arrived and had a chat with Fred, 

as it was empty I took a few photographs of the ones on display, 

so many to look at, 

and there was another room,

where Fred and Paul were chatting, I also had a word with Fred who as usual was totally unselfish with his advice, I learnt a lot about 'metallic' papers used to print prints on, 

next a move for home, leaving the gallery I retraced my steps home,

arriving in Beckenham a walk past Foxgrove Lodge and into the park and home, where it was time for our evening meal, then feet up for a Midsomer Murder, one we had not watched for some time, it was now late, so just one from the It Ain't Half Hot Mum box before we were off to bed.

A Little Bit Of Sad News,

I have just read that Tom Lehrer has died,

 Photograph: Paul Sakuma/AP for anyone not familiar with him he was a satirist, with a strange or I should say slightly different sense of humor and wit, I first encountered one of his works when at collage, the name of it escapes me but it was in The Cut, in Southwark south London, for my sins and others in the class the periodic table was compulsory learning and it was there that I first heard Tom Lehrer sing The Elements, and here it is below, 

all of the elements known at the time, he wrote/performed it, and all named in just 1 minute and 32 seconds!, he was also a social commentator on subjects as diverse as nuclear war and drug taking, the latter in the Old Dope Peddler below,

at the time I searched and bought 2 of his LP's with 30 or 35 of his most enjoyable songs, my favorite? a tale of a young couple in the spring, desperately in love spending a day in the park, it is below,

for more about him have a look here, he was 97 when he died, I am now playing a melody of his songs as I write this, such wit and talent, as for a few words to remember him by I can think of no better one than this comment he made about his songs, 

"If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while" ®

Tom Lehrer 1928 - 2025 R.I.P.

moving on I had a day playing with a few photographs, these were all taken one evening in Crystal Place Park in December 2022, 

which brought me to my evening meal after which Diana arrived home so a Outback Opal Hunters followed by a Deadliest Catch, tonight there was not a Midsomer Murder showing but a new one for us called,

 Grace was being aired, as it happens it was quite enjoyable, with just as many twist and turns as Midsomer Murder, after which a Have I Got News For You, before we were off to bed.

Sunday Is Here Again,

so time for a read and a sherry before lunch, 

after which our starters, 

huge New Zealand green mussels, 

cooked in chopped garlic, 

for our main course a roast chicken, with gravy for Diana sans gravy for myself, 

'Cheers!',

we rounded off our meal with a strawberry trifle, 

diet starts tomorrow! after our meal we watched one form Columbo, then as the next one we had watched recently it was time for a Bond, 

 The Man With The Golden Gun, here is what I wrote about the film the last time we watched it: "Scaramanga is a hit-man who charges a million dollars per job, He becomes linked to the death of a scientist working on a powerful solar cell, and James Bond is called in to investigate, as he tracks down Scaramanga, he realises that he is highly respected by the killer, as an aside I did many years ago know a diver in Cebu that had a third nipple as Scaramanga did, if you are reading this Oscar Hi from us", we had put a alarm on our telephone to remind us of when Midsomer Murder was showing so after watching that our film for the evening was,

 Atlas, if you have heard of a one man army, this is the female equivalent of it, without Atlas Shepard the human race would cease to exist, panned by the critics but like by the public it is a all action robot inspired sci-fi fest, we both thoroughly enjoyed it, after which it was a Bangers & Cash before we were both off to bed.

Diana Had Already Left For Work,

so for myself time to play,

these are photographs that I took travelling around Chonburi in Thailand, 

these have all been played with, using a couple of photograph applications, 

in our home we have a long wall in the living room, 

my plan is that every few months I will change the photographs in them, and these will go towards the next change when I will have all Thai temples on the wall, all of this took me rather nicely to my evening meal,

but first a read and a sherry, 

for tonight a smoked trout salad that Diana had left for me, 

'Cheers!', then time for a couple of films, firstly,

Planet of the Apes, the 2001 version, I had watched it before many years ago and was good to watch again, I followed that with, 

Wild Bill, which was a fictitious look at the life and time of Wild Bill, great cast, storyline, scenes and acting by all, which I thoroughly enjoyed, just after it finished Diana arrived home, so time for a coffee and a chat as we watched a It Ain't Half Hot Mum before we were off to bed.