April showers-free

So almost everything in our lives has been simplified these last few years. And I think that is no more clear than in my dress sense. I simply wear black these days – black t-shirts and cover tops, black leggings, socks, pants, shoe, coat and scarf. Everything else in my life has been shed – suits, shirts, jeans, ties and definitely anything colourful. My wardrobe is so easy and slim to manage now. The only time I change from this format is when I change from wearing leggings to shorts (black or v dark grey) in the summer with short socks and my only concession to colour, my Converse trainers. Boring eh. The reason I’m telling you this is that I made the change to shorts a few days ago. And of course the weather has turned overcast and wet since then so you can blame me for the inclement conditions. Ha! (btw leggings are back on today, hopefully temporarily).

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Names to amuse

Long term readers will know I have a penchant for unusual names of all sorts. I love the quirkiness of oddball celebrity names for their kids which I wrote about ages ago in baby names. Things have continued bonkers-wise with Sam Worthingon’s kid Rocket Zot and Uma Thurman’s hardly under-christened daughter Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence. A very early posting covered off some unlikely car naming policy on behalf of the big car companies which continues to this day with the Renault Kadjar and the Skoda Karoq. Krikey! Later I enjoyed recalling some of the more amusing drag names  spotted in a publicity sign for a Brighton bar and I then revelled in some names from recent series of Ru Paul’s Drag Race with such classics as Baga Chipz and Bimini Bon Boulash. Now that’s magic. 

Football belongs to me

So the fiasco of that European Super league is over, for now. It was a hideous concept dreamt up by the billionaire owners of a dozen or so of the top teams in Europe or those faced with the biggest debts. Let’s face it these guys, be they Middle Eastern potentates, Asian oligarchs or American tycoons, made an investment in football – the world’s greatest sport – not because they had a love for the game but because at some point they wanted to make a serious return. And the American bunch convinced their counterparts to adopt the franchise example of American football; a closed group of teams protected from the threat of automatic relegation and promotion, able to soak their fans and maximise/share the incredible broadcast revenues whilst imposing a salary cap on the talent. Let’s face it, if you could afford to be in the club it must have looked liked a recipe for unbridled success with the share prices soaring  along with the profits. 5 years of this model and the debts would be paid off and the asset put up for sale to the next batch of uber-entrepreneurs for huge profits. Bastards.

Home phone

I’ve been doing some catch up reading with Bill Bryson’s works. I do admire his writing style and content. And I found out an interesting answer to a question that has bugged me for years. I wouldn’t call it the most profound question of all time but when you’re in the supermarket and looking at that huge shelving system full of a range of exotic condiments, have you never wondered just what exactly is the difference between a herb and a spice? I imagined it was that herbs were grown locally (hence herbaceous borders?) and spices came from distant places like the East Indies and the Caribbean islands.  But Bill explained that it isn’t necessarily geographical (although I suspect that in 90% of cases it is). The answer is far more locally-based; herbs exclusively come from the leaves of plants whilst spices are taken from the woodier parts or the seeds or fruits. So there you go. Did you know that?

Ranking

So regular readers will know we have 3 lovely talented daughters and we are as proud as can be of them; not just about what they have achieved in life but also because of who they are – their funny, lovely natures. Now as you may know our eldest daughter Rebecca has Down’s syndrome. She is bright and engaging and lives independently with 3 friends, like herself, in London. She’s in her mid 40’s now but she continues to amaze, delight and frustrate us (and I dare say those supporting her!) as much as she’s always done.

Retail change

Well the weather’s really perked up and the cafes are buzzing with tables all over the pavements – it looks quite continental here in SuA.  Carol’s just finishing off her last day’s work this week then he plan is to pop down to a riverside pub and have a glass or two of something cool and refreshing for the first time in almost a year – assuming of course we can get onto the licensed patio space without having to sign my soul away to Matt Hancock. It’s great to see our towns opening up and coming to life again eh!

Springtime

Let’s face it the last week or so has been really chilly and overcast with a bit of snow thrown in for good measure. It’s bloody mid-April for goodness sake. Popped out to get my paper at 6.30am and it was cold again (boo) but lovely and bright (hurrah). Carol was due to head off at 10am to Finmere to see her beautician and I needed to deliver a parcel to the Post Office and get some plant gifts from M&S before C left. It was only a few hours later but I couldn’t believe the change in the temperature. I’d only gone 50 yds and had to take off my top and walk around in just a T-shirt. It was so warm. OMG I thought, spring had sprung at last.

Return to normal…maybe

So today was the beginning of the end of lockdown eh. The start of the route-path back to normality with non-essential shops opening and bars and hospitality venues opening up for outside trade. I popped out around lunchtime to do a bit of shopping and to see if I could drop off a load of CDs and DVDs liberated from the renovation of our daughter R’s apartment. The bags of them have been hanging around our place and given that there’s at least 100 items we really want to offload them to some charity shop.