December the 22nd
and madmary sends these: "One is of the Christmas Decorations at my office before they were put on the tree, and the other is taken in a local wood (in Birmingham!)."
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I'm afraid your Eddie...
Ho Ho Ho
Yay! :) You've made my Christmas Mr Mair! Thank you so much!
Now, I have to hang my head in shame as they aren't all that great are they?
But - if you look closely enough you should see me reflected in the baubles.
Mary
While y'all are sitting around doing nothin', the snapalendar needs an update,
I'm amazed that bit of holly ain't been nicked by now. Nice spot, Mary.
xx
ed
Beautiful!
You must have a very tastefully decorated office and as for the wood !
Beautiful
The wood is a local conservation spot known as Moseley Bog. I'd get lynched by the dog walkers if I was spotted nicking the holly!
It's where Tolkein used to play as a lad and parts of it feature in Lord of the Rings, including the nearby Sarehole Mill.
I often go for a walk there in the mornings if the weather permits and I get up early enough.
It's a lovely oasis in the heart of a very industrial city.
Mary
Nice to see the Health and Safety Executive's advice followed in your local wood as they go for the safety version of Ilex.
If you remove the berries do they sing with higher voices?
merrymary - at last!
Now all the good Sir Eddie need do is say ho, ho, ho to Aperitif and it will be a Merry Christmas for all froggers (oops, I typed groggers first time round - too much of the festive spirit left in me from yet another working Christmas Lunch yesterday..)
Lovely strapline Frances O.
On a serious note ( I know I usually do facetious more often than not) I was taken aback and concerned to hear Jenni Murray's announcement at the end of Woman's Hour yesterday. I wish her all the best and send the inspiration of my dear Mum who suffered from breast cancer in the 1960's, and lived to tell the tale until 2002 - another wonderful woman.
From the hilarious USA:
Don't like my driving?
Call 1-800-NO GIFTS
-Bumper sticker
Santa's sleigh
Peace on Earth to men of good will.
All others, Stand By
-(Announcement on the
USS Harry S. Truman, Dec 2002)
Oh hear! hear! Frances O - I echo your excellent strapline. A very merry Christmas to Eddie and all the PM team esp. Lissa with an a, and a very very mair-y Christmas to all you lovely froggers who I've neglected so much lately. So sorry. I do hope to be able to get away from the relis over Christmas to frolic with you all on the beach. If some of the pressies I can see under my tree are in fact what they look like, I should be able to bring plenty of liquid refreshment for us all to enjoy.
MMary - you write Birmingham is a "very industrial city". That's true, but surely you don't mean it as an indictment? I absolutely adore B'ham which has so much going for it, esp. the fact that it actually has a campus university and the most brilliant concert hall, but most of all the people are so nice around here. Since we came to the W Midlands from S Bucks - a very posh bit of the posh SE - I've never been so happy. I guess it's not perfect - a bit far from the sea, and B'ham itself could do with a few more theatres which I miss after London, but I didn't want B'ham to be mentioned without my adding my twopennyworth of praise!
Val P, (and Jenni Murray)
My mum also survived breast cancer from the early fifties until '97, and she smoked almost to the end as well, with two or three measures of bourbon whiskey every sundown, and sometimes earlier in later life....Good luck and God(s) Bless to all who are tested.
Hugs
ed
Oh no! Sara, I love Birmingham. I have always loved it since we moved here when I was nine, and that was a very very long time ago.
It has more canals than Venice and I think more trees than most cities, it has these days a thriving night life, and great shopping.
And some marvelous little secrets (like my wood). I only meant to say that most people do say horrible things about Birmingham not knowing it properly and maybe only seeing it from a train at the rather horrible New Street Station.
Mary
Your two photos put me in mind of that old Christmas carol... Deck your balls with sprigs of Holly.... (I leave it to you to finsh the next line)
A very Merry Christmas by the way... oh and a caption for you... 'PM.. when Today goes to bed'
No extra charge!
Re (1) Penrose
Excellent !
I am most excited to see mary's pictures appear so close to Christmas day, as well as her reflection!
My mum has also survived breast cancer, which she had when she was 35 & without wanting to slander the hospital, it was fairly dire! She is now 61, I can't say she is a wonderful woman, she might be too some, but to me she is difficult. I would vote for difficult & nice people surviving breast cancer though & treatment is so much more advanced today. It was kind of Jenny to share with us directly & I wish her well.
I love Birmingham too; all its liveliness brings me back to life, having moved to Leicestershire from London, but if you think you need more theatres, try Leicester! I got to Northampton, Nottingham, Warwick Arts Centre, oh & Birmingham to get my cultural fix. I am not sure what the Haymarket in Leicester is up to at the moment, with its programme, but I have particularly enjoyed the last 2 productions I saw at Birmingham Rep.
I also really love space in cities, London is actually really green, & I was lucky enough to go to a university next to one of those lovely garden squares behind Tottenham Court Road. It is wrong really that you have to have a key to enter, but I didn’t complain when I was at the summer party!
Well, my thoughts and best wishes are also with Jenni Murray. My sister was diagosed with breat cancer a little under five years ago. She's now back to her usual annoying self...
I like the pictures, mm!
Ah well, I'm making the most of my last day here on the blog 'til next wednesday evening. I'l be around here, on the beach, and on other threads 'til about 9am tomorrow. Anyone up for a campfire and a singsong on the beach later?
And Carolyn
She wasn't there before was she ?
Ff,
Always ready for a campfire and other folk singing. I might have a yarn or two to spin, if properly encouraged...
xx
ed
FFred (15) : You know me, always up for a campfire and a singsong! In fact, I may have the perfect song, penned a couple of Christmases ago after my harmonica-playing pal Pip was complaining he couldn't get away with playing 'Summertime' at this time of year.
He can now!
Christmas time, and the crackers are cheesy
My Dad’s a dumpling, and my Granny is high
My Aunt’s a bitch, and when Mommy’s not looking
I’ll sneak me another home-made mince pie.
On Christmas mornin’, we’ll wake up eating and singing
Turkey wings, and the sausages fried.
Why do we do it? All that Christmas stuffing
It can’t be too good for our insides.
Now I'm diving back into the gathering murk to see if I can find my SO something other than a 1/2 bottle of Glenmorangie to open on Monday morning!
See you on the beach later...
Fifi xx
PS My SO's computer is fixed, hurrah!
I will be up for a sing-song later. I'm off out in a moment for a drinks do, so I might be singing a bit off key! Dig me in the ribs if that happens!
Thanks for the nice comments about my pictures. I'm still walking on clouds about them, or is that fog? Oh well.
Mary
just lit a fire out in the mist in front of the house. sitting by it with the laptop, listening 'live' to radio4 and catching up with the schadenfreude of other folks' travel chaos. Awaiting twenty-something daughter's arrival by shared ride. bestest and cheapest and laziestest for me, as she's getting dropped off. Tom wanted to know if there's hitchhiking websites. Never occurred to me, but I'm sure there are....
fire blazing brightly burning fresh split dry ash - smokeless.
Help yourselves to a pint of the Black Liffey.
xx
ed
lovely pics Mary, especially the baubles - give yourself a gold star.
A
Changing light on Leisure Rangemaster.
If it's the light in the hood - you have to remove the whole of the black grill (as for changing the filter). Undo the two winged nuts to get in and Bob's your dad's brother.
Thank you Liz.
Is that the 4x4 or the supercharged V8?
jonnie [16]
And I couldn't leave out.....
Penrose
a thousand apologies, I've been thinking it was jonnie with the twinkling P*otos*op
Greta stuff, I've never seen Nigel before....
more more....
Aunt Dahlia [25]
What do you mean 'twinkling P*otos*op,' these are real....!
Lovely pics Mary!
Thanks Aperitif!
Mary
On last night's programme at last a proper discussion about the supposed escape from the country by a man possibly wearing a veil. I totally agree it would be really unlikely. It is also very likely that if the man left the country disguised as ... himself. It's not unheard of.
I find this obsession with the veil quite chilling.
Mary