We Will Not Be Posting,

 until we return, the cost of the Internet on board is over £400! So we will post when we return, we will be sailing and stopping off at Spain, Portugal, Italy and Morocco, so hopefully lots of photographs when we return, onboard now and steaming out of Southampton, please call back at the beginning of July if you have time, all the best from Diana and Stan.

It Looks Like We Will Not Be Posting Before We Go,

 We have just received a message from BT repairs will take until 12th. June 

A Bit Of Bad News,

 our Internet is down, so I can not  make a post this morning, I am doing this on my telephone, but it is too difficult for me to put photographs on it. I have contacted BT a bot welcomed me and after some time sent me a message, "the problem is outside your house and will be rectified within 48 hours" by then we will be sailing the Bay of Biscay! If it comes back before we go I will make a post, but if not please call back when we return in July, best regards Stan and Diana.

Another Short Post Today,

I spent all day the same as yesterday,

copying CDs to my computer and telephone, normally Diana does not have to work on a Sunday, but today she had to go in, arriving home Diana started packing for our up coming trip, after which it was feet before our evening meal, first a read and a sherry,

whilst Diana was preparing a superb steak evening meal,

'Cheers!',

we followed that with a cherry sponge and custard, after which we settled down to a couple of Midsomer Murders, these new for us from season 24, after which as Diana had a early start today she was off to bed, for Myself a Bangers & Cash before I too was off to bed.

It Will Only Be short Post Today,

as I spent all of it copying to my computer and telephone more of my CDs,

 

I had all of these to go through and many more!

right up to my evening read and sherry,

for tonight a huge ham salad that Diana had left for me, 'Cheers!', after which I had a evening of Midsomer Murder as episodes were playing back to back, when Diana arrived home it was feet up and a coffee for Diana, a spiced rum for myself, as we settled back to watch another couple of episodes of that excellent series,

Canal Boat Diaries, image BBC after which as Diana has a 05.00AM start tomorrow she was off to bed, for myself a Bangers & Cash before I too was off to bed.

It Was Time For The Monthly Fire Alarm Test,

which did not go well,

a couple of warning lights came on about 4 or 5 months ago on the main panel, the managing agent Prime Property Management, who liaise between us and the fire alarm company, have been advised of this the first month this happened and every month since then, but no action, then with the completion of todays tests it was found that 2 circuits are not working, that is anyone in the front 4 flats can not press the fire alarm button to warn other residents of a fire, again the now much more serious fault was reported, and meet with the reply, "I am out of the office now, I will reply when I return", well that was Friday midday, nothing so far so I guess there will be a reply on Monday, not a comforting thought that essential maintenance takes so long, during the rest of the afternoon I continued adding CDs to my computer and telephone, in the evening,

time for my read and sherry, after which it got decidedly cold, 

so the waistcoat it was, for tonight a shepherds pie, 'Cheers!', after a Outback Opal Hunters, as it happens today they were hunting rubies, I decided to watch a film I had not seen in years,

Treasure of the Sierra Madre, from the blurb:

'Fred C. Dobbs and Bob Curtin, both down on their luck in Tampico, Mexico in 1925, meet up with a grizzled prospector named Howard and decide to join with him in search of gold in the wilds of central Mexico. Through enormous difficulties, they eventually succeed in finding gold, but bandits, the elements, and most especially greed threaten to turn their success into disaster'

a enjoyable look at the power of greed and compassion, if you have not yet seen the movie and you like black & white movies give this one a try, Humphrey Bogart gives a stella performance as he spirals into madness, after which a Have I Got A Bit More News For You, followed by a Mrs. Brown's Boys before Diana returned home, then a coffee and feet up for a Lewis before we were both off to bed.

During The Day,

whilst Diana was at work, 

I continued adding CDs to my telephone and computer, next you may remember some time ago, one of the roses on one of our ceiling lights was slipping down, well today is the day, 

Paul is calling round to refix it, so a move of all of the dinning chairs, which really cluttered up the room,

in no time all was well, after he left I carried on copying the CDs, I did have all of these on my old telephone, but I just could not work out how to copy them from one to the other, also this time I took the precaution of copying them to the computer, so in a few years if I buy a new telephone all I have to do is transfer them from the computer and not use the CDs again, after my evening meal, I settled down to a couple of films, firstly,

M*A*S*H amazingly I actually watched this film in the cinema when it was first released, and this DVD had not been under the surgeons knife, to get it shown in the US "PG" version, I followed that with,

Venom, basically a alien takes over a humans body, great special effects and Tom Hardy really gives the film his all, towards the end of which I popped out to pick Diana up from work, on the way home 2 stops, Diana had a couple of parcels to pick up from those parcel stops that are popping up at many stations and stores, retuning home, a coffee, a chat and feet up for a Lewis which had just started, after which we were off to bed.

I Decided To Play With A Couple Of Photographs,

I took when we were in Paris, 

when we went their with Steve and Kai in June 2022, above is one of the huge scaffolds that were erected under the Eiffel Tower at the time of our visit, looking at it, how on earth would you start to build it?

and one of the bridges across the River Siene, I made both of these black & white, as I was doing this I was also copying CDs to my telephone and computer, before moving on to the evening a little update about the crows that attacked me, they also attacked one of the other flat owners here, and our immediate next door neighbor, plus a couple of other people that live nearby, apparently it happened a few years ago when the crows were protecting their nest or fledglings, back to Wednesday, 

in the evening a read and a sherry, 

for tonight bangers & new potatoes with broccoli, Diana had made it for me so I just heated it up, after which a film I was sure I had watched before, but such a long time ago, 

The Way to the Stars, AKA Johnny in the Clouds, from the blurb:

'Life on a British bomber base, and the surrounding towns, from the opening days of the Battle of Britain, to the arrival of the Americans, who join in the bomber offensive. This movie centers around Pilot Officer Peter Penrose (Sir John Mills), fresh out of a training unit, who joins the squadron and experiences life during wartime'. I followed that with,

A Night to Remember, (1958), again from the blurb:

'A successful attempt at an even-handed portrayal of the White Star Line's (later part of Cunard) luxury liner R.M.S. Titanic's sinking from the standpoint of Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller, himself the most senior of the ill-fated ship's Deck Officers to survive the disaster (Lightoller later went on to distinguish himself as a line British Naval Officer during the First World War and served as a Senior Naval Staff Officer on convoys during World War II'. 

the part of Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller being played by Kenneth More, who starred in so many movies of this time, towards the end of the film I reflected on the fact that as we are going on a cruise next week, it was maybe not the best choice of film to watch! after which Diana arrived home, so we started to watch a Lewis that had just started, after which we were both off to bed.

It Was Diana's Day Off,

there were a few things that we needed for our upcoming holiday, 

so on to a 354 bus it was and off to Bromley, we walked past The Partridge, 

and Primark, 

no stalls in the precinct today, 

our first port of call, a few necessities and then we went our separate ways, Diana to a few shops for clothes, for work and our holiday, for myself, 

liquid refreshment, The Greyhound beckoned!

when Diana arrived it was time for a late meal, chicken strips for Diana, 

scampi and chips for myself, a J2O for Diana a bottle of red for myself,  'Cheers!', the bill came to £29.16,

back onto a number 354 bus and we were soon in the park walking home, in the evening we decided on 2 films, firstly,

Blazing Saddles, more fun to watch if you are with a lot of friends, but it still brought a smile or two watching it again, it seems strange to think that when I first watched it in a cinema I was 25 or so years old, crikey 51 years ago! and there are still so many moments in the film for myself, leaving the camp fire meal alone, which speaks for itself to one side, that made me chuckle, such as when towards the end of the film Hedley Lamaar opens a bathroom door, and looks around at total chaos, and then mouths the silent words, "What the *%$^!", priceless, we followed that with,

 The Madness of King George, (actually King George III), a great costume drama of the true madness of King George III, it is now thought that he had porphyria, which can be acquired or inherited, porphyria is a disorder of the blood where by porphyrins (and their precursors) accumulate to toxic levels in the body leading to various disorders, but back to the film, it is the story of King George III of England's slide into insanity, and the political and royal back stabbing which results from his incapacitation and to the inevitable question as to who is making decisions and ruling the country, a enjoyable if some what sad in places great movie, by the end of the film it was late, then for us we were off to bed.

Whilst Diana Was At Work,

she had a early morning shift,

as I woke up I walked into the corner of the bed, I can only describe the feeling as the same as if I had walked into a towbar hitch at the rear of a car, I hit it with so much force I made a deep gouge in my leg, which bled profusely, and of course I could not find the sticking plasters, so a sellotaped bit of tissue it was, next I tried to close the shops bank account, so much easier said than done, because it was a business account, I had to go to a site on the Internet, and there was the problem, I did not have a Internet account, so I tried to set one up, with zero success, one of the things I had to download some app that would copy my signature, which I failed miserably to understand, then luckily at the very bottom of the 12 pages of forms there it was: "If you are unable to complete the above, print out the form, sign it and post it to...." which I did, arriving back from the snail mail box, I decided to wash the car, so I picked up the hose, (it is easier to pick it up than wheel it), and then it happened, half way across the car park I was attacked by one, then two of the crows! I say attacked, they hit the back of my head with such force after several times I was bleeding, I have no idea why, but later reading about such attacks it would appear a nest must be in be area and they perceived me as a threat, eventually they stopped, so I washed the car as I had done many times before, as I nearly finished Patrick arrived at the flats, he was shocked at the amount of blood he could see on the back of my head, so it looked like my Monday morning got off to a terrible start, my still bleeding leg, not being easy to close the bank account and being mugged by 2 crows, I hope that was my three bad things for the day over with! meanwhile Diana had meet up with Kai, 

who drove them both to the grave of Steve, 

where Kai laid some flowers, 

since the last visit Steve's name had been added to the family plot, 

they then called in to visit Mike and Porn,

and have a chat in the garden,

Kai enjoying a tea, 

Mike and Porn had laid on a few snacks, Kai called into our home when she dropped off Diana, everyone was excited, Kai and Wilma were off to Morocco next week, Kai wanted to visit with us, but the single fare for a cabin was within a whisker the same price as the double fare for us, and Wilma could not take 17 days off, so the girls are going by air for a short holiday to Morocco, whilst Diana and myself will be cruising to Morocco, all starting next week, lots of packing to do! after Kai left and our evening meal it was time for a Midsomer Murder, luckily they are showing ones that have not been shown for many years, so still a treat to watch again, as the program finished Diana was off to bed, for myself a Lewis before I too was off to bed.

Sunday Has Raced Around Again,

where does the time go?

the day started with a read and a sherry, 

for our starter, huge king prawns in a garlic sauce, 

and a hot roll, 

then out with the bubbly, 

it was so hot a cool drink with lunch would be nice, also Diana could add some bubbly to her fruit juice, 

success!

easy does it!

'Cheers!',

for our main course, pork with lashings of gravy for Diana, sans gravy for myself, 

and what better for dessert? a Magnum ice cream, we spent the afternoon with Columbo, after a snack in the evening a film, 

Bedazzled, Elliot Richardson, suicidal techno geek, is given seven wishes to turn his life around when he meets up with a very seductive Satan, the catch, the price is his soul, but in every wish there is a twist, the make up department must have worked over time to make Brendan Fraser look so much different in each wish but still look the same, it so happened that there was a full evening of Midsomer Murders playing, so we watched those until 10.00 when Diana was then off to bed, she has a 05.00AM start tomorrow, for myself a Have I Got More News For You after which I too was off to bed.