Filling the gap!

Coming soon
I shall be going on an "adventure" pretty soon, not certain how I put it on here yet, I'll give it some thought though and maybe do something of a daily diary, or save it for a one off.....we shall see.

In the meantime
Have a look at this, I'll not make specific comment,about any part in particular (wink wink) apart from saying, I did enjoy this interview, much the same as I did a similar one a bit earlier in the year from Peter Drennan .
Excellent stuff about the early match days and the Trent over time.


http://www.bobrobertsonline.co.uk/my-life-in-angling/

Our garden birds
Visited our resident great tits nestbox yesterday, there are now eight eggs and the male is feeding his missus on the nest. My only hope is that it warms up and brings enough insects out to feed the brood.
The blackbirds nest I reported containing one egg and 3 chicks is empty ! I don't think they could have fledged by now,so something has had them.
Our other nesters are dunnock, goldfinch and linnet, oh yes and the woodies.
An interesting recent development is the influ of tree sparrow, at times outnumbering the house sparrows on the feeders.


Book review

I forgot I did this, but it's in the current edition of Barbel Fisher

A Train to Catch By Jon Berry 
The invoice from Medlar Press is dated 27th September 2011, the book A Train to Catch, today the 6th January 2012 !
I requested of 'The Boss' that perhaps we had times in the day when
the distractions of Radio 4 Extra were given a rest, and to stop me having an excuse of not reading my books. An excuse that has festered, in my head only, for considerable time, when my reading has been reduced to holidays, and very early mornings when the Barbel Fisher was close to the point of going to the printer and I wondered if I had enough items to fill it, giving me sleepless nights.
So at around11am the digital radio on the TV was switched off, and I started on Jon Berry's book, bought solely on the basis that I enjoyed his previous books;
                                      A Can of Worms and Beneath the Black Water. 
The former becoming, in my view, the very best reference point for anything barbel. The latter for being one of the few books that I've read once, and then picked it up straight away and read again.
The book is primarily trying to retrace train journeys carried out in the late 1800's to the 1960's to fish away from city/industrial squalor to the countryside, the subtitle being,
                                      A return ticket to the golden age of fishing. 
Jon takes us, giving a little history on the way, to Derbyshire and the small trout streams, the mountains streams of Wales, the seaside towns of Looe, Southsea and Whitby, the Thames, the Hampshire Avon Royalty, the Norfolk Broads, Lake Windemere and the Scottish Highlands.
He fishes, he sometimes catches, but all in all he reminds us of what used to be before Doctor Beeching short-sightedly, in my view, shut railway lines and closed vast areas of the country from the pleasures of rail
journeys for our leisure in favour of the motor car.
So it was 4pm when I started this review, it follows intermittent breaks for me to prepare the vegetables, make the batter puddings, cook the rib of beef for Sunday lunch.
 Having finished the book I may well pick it up again, but I hear Jonny Walker with the Sounds of the 70's on in the background, so it probably won't be today.
So, a very good read of 187 pages and highly recommended.


Football
I don't follow football a great deal, although I have supported Fulham since I was old enough to make up my own mind.
I'm pleased to say though that it was good to see Wigan get relegated, because I'm not certain Fulham,based on their last few matches, would have survived.
Having said that, what a great win for Wigan at the weekend, they won't do that again, but who knows they may be back in the Premier league the following season, to give their fans the annual nail bite!
I have got special dispensation to watch Chelsea's first leg in the final tonight, so the London Pride is cooling nicely in the garage. Good luck "The Blues".

Thoughts in retirement
As I was lying in bed pondering the problems of the world, I rapidly
realised that I don't really give a rat's.
It's the tortoise life for me!

1.. If walking is good for your health, the postman would be immortal.
2.. A whale swims all day, only eats fish, drinks water, and is fat.
3.. A rabbit runs and hops and only lives 15 years.
4.. A tortoise doesn't run and does nothing, yet it lives for 450 years.
And you tell me to exercise??
I don't think so.
I'm retired. Go around me.
God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked, the good
fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.

Now that I'm older here's what I've discovered:

1. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.

2. My wild oats have turned into prunes and all-bran.

3. I finally got my head together, and now my body is falling apart.

4. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded.

5. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded.

6. If all is not lost, where is it?

7. It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser.

8. Some days, you're the dog; some days you're the hydrant.

9. I wish the buck stopped here; I sure could use a few.

10. Kids in the back seat cause accidents.

11. Accidents in the back seat cause kids.

12. It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere.

13. The only time the world beats a path to your door is when you're
in the bathroom.

14. If God wanted me to touch my toes, he'd have put them on my knees.

15. When I'm finally holding all the cards, why does everyone want to play chess?

16. It's not hard to meet expenses . . . they're everywhere.

17. The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

18. These days, I spend a lot of time thinking about the hereafter . . .
I go somewhere to get something, and then wonder what I'm hereafter.

19. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded.

20. DID I PUT THESE ON MY BLOG  BEFORE..........?????

I can't remember.

Gimmicks ?
I've signed myself up for Twitter and Skype, but not certain about either yet!

And finally from Germany

Look at this carefully...it is a brilliant example of British Humour!  The British government has scrapped the Harrier fleet and on their farewell formation fly past  over the Houses of Parliament they gave the government a message.  Lean back a bit from your monitor and squint. Seriously...push your chair back a couple of feet..  My hat is off  to the man that was leading this Squadron. Group Captain Adrian Small  DFC.DCM DSM.DAD.

Well, the idea is good !