I Had A Quiet Morning

but in the afternoon I was to meet Diana,

on the bus from her work, so out and into the park, where a tree was being felled, 

it was all go, 

looking back as the tree was cut down and branches shredded, 

off of the bus in Bromley, Diana went shopping for some work clothes, for myself up the alleyway, 

that leads to Sainsbury's and Timson, I had my two watches to drop off to have their straps replaced and battery's changed, inside I meet Ryan, who explained he had a couple of other jobs to complete before mine, which was not a problem as I had some shopping to do,

so past The Partridge,

and into the bank, for some good 'ole cash, 

back out and past Primark, 

and the balloon seller,

I mentioned in a previous post most of the tiles on the outside of the Churchill Theatre had at some time fallen off and been screwed individually back in place, well now there is a better remedy, take them all off and do not put them back!

next into Robert Dyas, we had something to pick up there and of course made sure it was in stock, some items are internet only, but we looked at stock in the Bromley store, yes in stock, so I walked in, and yes you guessed it, none in stock! and retailers wonder why customers increasingly use the Internet and do not go to the bother of using retailers, when they are lied to regarding items in stock, so when we return home the Internet it will be,

over the road to Marks & Spencer for a couple of evening meals for myself for when Diana is working a late shift, 

next stop LIDL, for a box of wine and some food things, we then went to The Greyhound for our lunch/evening meal,

whilst there I popped out back to Timson, to pick up my watches, £49.90 for both of them with a guarantee that the next time a battery fails it will be replaced free of charge, after our meal on to the bus and home, 

walking into the park the wisteria on Foxgrove Lodge putting on a late show,

back home the bits & pieces that Robert Dyas lied about and did not have in stock, we ordered from a proper Internet company, delivered free of charge, I must remember to stop supporting retailers as they show no regard for me when having made sure goods are in stock at the Bromley branch they are not, on a happier note Ryan made a great job of the watches, 

I just wish I knew how to get the day/month/date and moon phase, 

to be correct! in the evening there was not a Midsomer Murder showing, but we did watch a double helping of, 

Deadly 60, the two episode showcasing Chile and Argentina, followed by A Touch of Frost, after which Diana was off to bed, well she did have a 04.00AM start this morning and of course work again tomorrow, for myself a Bangers & Cash before I too was off to bed.

Diana Was At Work,

I had a quiet day, 

playing with a couple of photographs, from one of the churches, 

we went to on our last cruise in July, for some reason it took me an age to get them to the point where I was happy with them, but there it is, in the afternoon I picked Diana up from Kai's before the girl's trip Diana had forgotten her work shoes there, arriving home after our evening meal there was not much on the television until a Midsomer Murder, alas we had watched it before quite recently, so a double helping of A Touch of Frost it was, after which Diana was off to bed, a 05.00AM start for her tomorrow, for myself a Bangers & Cash, where they had one of my old time favorite cars up for sale, 

no not the Citroen lt15, 

but a Fiat Topolino, the same colour as this one as it happens, it went for £5,200 a little under the reserve, after which I was off to bed.

The Girls Last Day,

in Belgium, 

where they found a restaurant where you could cook your own waffles, here is Wilma with hers,

after cooking add cream,

and decorate with hundreds and thousands, 

and here is a video of them making the waffles, 

then to the main square, where they tried the local Belgium dark beer, 

bearing in mind none of the girls really drink alcohol, look at all of the tequilas on the table!

'Cheers!',

then time for their last evenings meal,

al fresco, Kai and Wilma,

they decided on a Thai meal,

from left to right Kai, Wilma and Diana, back in the UK it was time for my lunch time,

read and sherry, 

followed by smoked salmon,

for my meal a gammon ham I cooked yesterday, I was thinking of doing some potatoes but after the last kitchen 'unpleasantness' I decided against taxing my lack of cooking skills, 'Cheers!', in the afternoon a couple from Columbo, after a snack in the evening a film, 

Mysterious Island, although it appeared in the guide as Jules Verne: Mysterious Island, it was a television production, in 2 parts, I watched the first, but decided against part 2, instead I continued to watch the excellent series,

 The Dinosaurs, absolutely amazing CGI the detail in the creatures skin just has to be seen to be believed, during episode three Diana returned home, so feet up for a coffee and a chat as Diana told me all about the holiday, after which she was off to bed, a 04.00AM start for her tomorrow! for myself a Midsomer Murder before I too was off to bed.

Lets Start With The Girls Again,

first thing,

breakfast, 

the one I really like, a bubbly one!

then into the coach, 

the girls were going here, Dinant, Belgium, amongst other things famous for the musician and inventor Adolphe Sax (1814-1894) who was born here, the towers on the photograph above suffering from the telephones wide angle lens leaning inwards,

so I corrected it, 

the girls walked around the town,

taking the pose, every now and then,

Diana's new favorite flower, the dahlia, 

looking across the town, 

and another pose of course, 

Diana and Wilma,

Wilma again,

 frequently mistaken for a cathedral due to its grand Gothic size and striking architecture, this is the Collegiate Church of Our Lady of Dinant, (Collégiale Notre-Dame de Dinant),

again I corrected the inward leaning of the pillars of the photograph,

another pose, 

and one of the church, 

Diana made a short video, and here it is above, back to good 'ole Blighty, I had a quiet day, not really doing very much at all just watching odd bits & pieces on YouTube, in the evening,

 time for my read and sherry, I did not pour the wine, as tonight for a change I was having a white, so I kept it in the refrigerator, 

smoked salmon from the huge pack I bought on my last visit to LIDL,

I followed that with liver & bacon, 'Cheers!', time for a film for the evening, and a real treat it was, 

The War Lord, a knight in the service of a duke goes to a coastal village where an earlier attempt to build a defensive castle has failed, then he falls for a local girl, then the trouble begins, the story revolves around the ancient rite of jus primae noctis or in French, Droit du seigneur. In The Curiosities of Literature (1823) by the British writer Isaac D'Israeli it was claimed the practice had been widespread across Europe, for another anecdotal record, in 1924 an elderly respondent retold a claim that even at the time of his grandparents' youth, in the early 1800s, the rule of first night had still been in widespread use in western Estonia; whether it had been a legal right he did not elaborate. Back to the film, I think much underrated, I really enjoyed watching again with its haunting background melody as it happens The Shadows thought the same and made the instrumental a hit, to round my evening off, 

Jojo Rabbit, funny, terrifying, slapstick, sinister all in one film! we really both enjoyed the film when we first watched it, a young lad in Germany wants to join the Hitler youth movement, and has as his imaginary friend, Adolf himself, fiercely patriotic, it is a disturbing realisation when he finds his mother is hiding the girl in the wall, a Jewess, so funny, so tragic, a really great and unexpected joy of a film, from the blurb:

"Hitler Youth cadet Jojo Betzler firmly believes in the ideals of Nazism manifested by his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler. However, his foundations are shaken when he finds a Jewish girl in his house."

and the soundtrack was just so good, The Beatles and David Bowie genuinely performed their respective songs in German for the Jojo Rabbit (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). The opening scene features The Beatles singing "Komm, gib mir deine Hand" (the German-language recording of "I Want to Hold Your Hand"), which they recorded in Paris in 1964 to break into the German market. Similarly, the film closes with David Bowie singing "Helden," his own German-language translation of his 1977 masterpiece "Heroes", and I have to admit I really enjoyed watching the film again, 2 great films in one evening and with that I was off to bed.