Diana Was At Work,

when we had a guest, 

one of the foxes appeared for the first time in months, I should say I am only making one post today, and as soon as I post it I will be off to Gravesend to visit Duncan, back to Tuesday, 

he curled up in the middle of the lawn for a few ZZZZZ's, I had a the usual househusband day, watering the plants, hoovering etc. in the afternoon Diana arrived home, she is on early shift everyday this week,

in the evening poppadum's, 

followed by a onion bhaji, and a prawn jalfrezi with rice, 

eyes down and tuck in, after a BattleBots we watched the start of a series by Robson Green, 

photograph Channel 5, Into the Amazon with Robson Green, a trip I can only dream of making, one of the hotels in a jungle village he stayed in was the wrong side of £2,500 per night! but what a trip, we both thoroughly enjoyed his trek into the Amazon jungle and trip along the river, after which a couple from Life on Mars before we were off to bed.

After Diana Had Left For Work,

I had a quiet day, 

I was tempted to go out into the back garden, but every so often it clouded over, and in the afternoon the rain set in, when Diana arrived home from work as she was tired she popped into bed for a few ZZZZ's, meanwhile I watched a documentary, 

photograph jaimie gramston / Wildflame Productions, Mysteries Of The Pyramids with Dara Ó Briain, which I thoroughly enjoyed, after Diana was up and about we had our evening meal, as it was a bank holiday the television schedules had been changed, but we found a Tuna Wars was showing so we watched that, then continued watching the excellent series, Life on Mars until it was late, then as Diana has a week of early starts we were off to bed.

As Many Regular Readers Will Know,

I like watches,

so here are a few from Watches & Wonders Geneva 2024 at the show have a look here, I have selected a few to look at, 

image credit: Courtesy of the brand, this watch is known as Artya’s Purity – Stairway To Heaven it is a minimalist concept, and works exceptionally well in the 40mm white ceramic case shown here. There are blue, green and black versions, as well as a steel options, the Artya Purity Stairway to Heaven, yours for CHF29,900, at today’s rate, £25,651.36 or $28,128.49 artya.com

image credit: Courtesy of the brand, one factor that’s boosted independent watch brands is the availability of technologies and materials (such as Artya’s ceramic cases) that were once the preserve of more industrial-scale makers. Singer Reimagined using movements from Agenhor that rely on ‘printed’ silicon components that offer out-of-the-ordinary performance. This access allows designers such as Marco Borroccino, Singer Reimagined’s founder, the chance to literally reinvent the wheel or, in the case of the new Divetrack, the diving watch, the Singer Reimagined Divetrack, CHF85,000, at today’s rate £72,921.07 or $93,208.36 singerreimagined.com

 image credit: Courtesy of the brand, working together veteran watchmaker Vianney Halter and jewellery watch studio Beauregard for the new Ulysse, Alexandre Beauregard turned to Halter’s ‘Mystery’ movement to power the contra-rotating discs, each a tracery of gold filled with specially cut aquamarines, a collaboration that allowed Beauregard to offer a watch with a dimension of movement not otherwise possible, a limited series of 10 pieces will be produced, each at a retail price of CHF 110,000, at today's rate £94,368.45 or $ 94,368.45, excluding VAT Official launch at Watches & Wonders 2024, Beauregard x Vianney Halter Ulysse, beauregard.ch

image credit: Courtesy of the brand, during Watches and Wonders 2024, independent watchmaker Raúl Pagès was present at the AHCI (Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants) mini-show in downtown Geneva, fresh from winning the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize For Independent Creatives, Pagès is part of a collaboration with Phillips in association with Bacs & Russo and Massena LAB, and this watch was released on 24 April, the 1952 Observatory Dial Limited Edition, the Massena LAB was produced in a run of 99 in stainless steel and available through Phillips, CHF 8,800, at today’s rate £7,550.49 or $9,649.60. Email massenalab@phillips.com 

It Looks Like John Wick,

has a new job in Thailand!

photographs Tuktiklife/TikTok, a few days ago, a short video with the caption “John Wick stopped killing people and turned to selling coffee and grilled squid” went viral on Thai social media, the video looked uncannily like the action hero, 

apparently, the real-life John Wick is a German man currently visiting his wife’s home country and making waves with his uncanny resemblance to the iconic assassin, the woman, nicknamed Tuk, told Thai TV program ‘Ruang Lao Sao Arthit’ that she had noticed her husband’s resemblance to Kean Reeves while in Germany, so she suggested that he dye his blonde hair and beard black for an even greater effect. Her idea worked, and soon people were asking to take photos with him when they went out. So when they made the trip to Tuk’s family home in Pak Chong district, Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima province, they got similar reactions, “Thank you to the Thai people for welcoming me. Thai people are lovely, especially my wife,” the John Wick lookalike told Thai reporters, I wonder if we will bump into him later this year?

We Were Invited To Steve And Kai's,

for a Sunday bar - b - q

and as usual took way to many photographs, so I am only making one post today, Diana all set to go,

we soon arrived at Steve and Kai's, the table all set, 

Kai had already started on preparing the food,

Steve had assembled the barby, 

we made our way into the garden,

where this years crops were starting to grow, plenty of lettuce for the summer salads!

strawberry picking time,

there was a bumper crop this year,

the trick is, 

not to eat them as you are picking them!

one of the bee hives next to the strawberries,

time for bubbly!

any second now,

success!

glasses all round,

'Cheers!',

a quick look at some of the goodies, 

for when the barby is lit,

but first every week Steve inspects the hive as most bee-keepers do, so time to kit up,

and light the smoker, 

all set to go, 

top removed, 

to expose the first set of frames, 

Steve was looking for the Queen, it is de rigueur to keep the Queen in a small container if found whilst looking at all three levels of the frames,

each frame is carefully inspected, 

and then down to the second layer, 

this is the Queen excluder, it stop the Queen from leaving the nest but allows all of the other bees to pass, 

as well as looking for the Queen and inspecting the bees, 

Steve is also looking for Queen cells, where future Queens may be born,

the next set of frames down,

all looking good,

it seems impossible to spot just one bee, the Queen, 

but she is in there a tad larger than all of the other bees, 

with all of this actively, 

Diana had to have a closer look,

the honey comb nearly filled with eggs, 

and there she was, 

just there!

but before Steve could capture her she disappeared,

not to worry the thing is Steve knows she is where she should be,

there were so many bees in this level,

making baby bees and honey!

each frame covered in bees both sides of it,

Steve did find the start of a few Queen cells, 

which means the hive is getting too full and they may swam to find a bigger new site, 

all in all looking good,

then,

next level down,

by now the bees were starting to get agitated, 

so a touch of smoke to calm them down,

that's better, as all was well, 

time to reassemble the hive, 

all done, just the top to go, 

Ta-Dah!

out of interest I made a short video of Steve inspecting the bees,

meanwhile, 

the food was being prepared, 

also Jeab was here, 

and made a posy for the table,

'Cheers!',

the barby was going flat out, 

and a tad smoky too!

then it was Diana's turn for cooking,

and my turn to open a bottle,

any moment now, 

nearly, 

success, 

easy does it, 

we were joined by Phanee,

the feast began, 

so much to choose from,

and here they all are, 

we were then joined by Mathilda, 

Steve had bought a strange looking bottle of wine,

it looked normal from the front, 

as you would expect, 

but from the side it was thin! what a great idea, it contained the same as a normal bottle but think of the space saved in the refrigerator when you can stack them one on top of the other, 

the a bit of a disaster, whilst Diana was cooking some of the fat from the meat caught alight, 

soon remedied by Kai,

oh dear, 

but not to worry, 

the fire looked worse than it was,  

especially if you like your food well done! after our meal Diana had to leave for work for a few hours, when she finishes she will go straight home,

meanwhile Buddy called by, 

for a petting, 

before deciding it was crowded and walked off, after a couple of hours I said my goodbyes and made a move for home, many, many thanks to Steve and Kai for inviting us, what a wonderful day we all had, arriving home Diana was already there, so feet up for a couple of Columbo's before we were off to bed.