The Canary Dave

Greetings from deepest Northumberland... I used to work in Newcastle so fond memories..
Went to the Kielder dark sky observatory for a viewing at 11.00 last night... Booked months in advance... But no clear sky.. So talks and vids.. But we did handle meteorites and moon and Martian rock...

 

Afternoon y'all.

Got two things up and running - a neck of lamb with stock and veg in the slow cooker.

Smoked tuna for tacos, Sinaloa style, obviously, tomato, onion & chile base.

Wife has let me loose in the kitchen.

COYH

Have a good weekend all.

 

Morning all. A miserable damp, grey start and although the Météo suggest we might see a glimmer of sunshine this afternoon, there is no sign of it yet. A trip out to the post office to send some mail, then I will be firmly inside keeping warm. Due for my booster vaccination this week, so do not fancy catching a further cold having just managed to rid myself of the last one. Have a good day everyone.

 

Morning all. Cold with a north-easterly wind, but at least it is dry. There is an interesting story in the French news about three farmers who are growing cotton. It is used to make polo and tee shirts that are sold at premium prices, but the real gain is that the cotton is not travelling thousands of kilometres before turning up as garments, and can have a 100% French label on it. It looks like the risk they took in trying to grow it has paid off. Have a good day whatever you are doing.

 

That sounds interesting....

Yorkie is back after a great week in Northumberland... a spacious, wild and stunning county. I used to work in Newcastle and live North of Morpeth 30 odd years back and it remains very unspoilt....

 

Morning all. To say it feels cold outside is missing the point, as it is very cold with the temperature hovering around 0°C. Must make the annual trip to the town hall this afternoon to have the mayor sign the paper from DWP saying that he has seen me alive. Of course he will not be there, so I will leave it with the secretary who will get him to sign it when he next appears, and she will kindly pop it in the letter box for me. There has been some talk of cutting down the number of local town halls to save money, but they do serve a very useful purpose for many things. Have a good day and keep warm.

 

That takes me right back. Cotton growing was a sizeable industry in Central Queensland - probably still is actually - and I spent a fair bit of time one summer doing part time cotton chipping. Quite possibly the hardest work I've ever undertaken - 40C-45C heat, no shade, back-breaking work for two four hour shifts per day and not a great deal of money at the end of the day. Character building though...

 

Afternoon all. Late today due to no electricity. Made a cuppa, then off it went. A few attempts from it to come back on, then nothing for the rest of the morning. A couple of months ago we had a notified cut for most of the day so that they could work on the line to stabilise the supply. Whatever they did hasn't worked. 15 years ago power cuts were frequent, but seemed to be a thing of the past until recently. Very glad that we have the wood burner as it is only 2°C outside with showers. With that chucking out the heat don't think I will be going far. Have a good rest of the day.

 

Morning all. Very slightly warmer this morning, but the shorts and tee shirts will not be out again for a while I fear. Off to do the weekly shop today, except that we didn't go last week, so it is not weekly. Looking at the list that Mme is compiling it might take a while. At least wine stocks are good so I will not spend long in the cave. See if there are any outstanding bargains, but if not I will survive. Enjoy your day.

 

Morning all. Bright and sunny at the moment, but pretty cold outside. Off to town now to get our booster vaccinations. They have moved away from using the hospital now which makes life easier there, and are now using an old school just down the road. It has been reported that around half a million people have booked an appointment since the government stated you will not get into many events without your pass sanitaire. Carrot and stick approach seems to be working. Have a good day whatever you must do.

 

Morning from a snowy Yorkshire.... just a coating here really..... for mme winter is here so she is staying in bed...I am off out!

 

Greeting from the frozen north. After a whole day of howling gales, sleet, snow and freezing temperatures yesterday, the weather gods frowned even more on our little part of the world at 6:30 last night by causing a power black-out. And just before midnight, the gales blew our bedroom window open - the devil's own job for two of us to shut it again. No electricity, no central heating, no lights, no internet, no radio/TV - panic had set in until 15 minutes ago when normality returned.

My wife wasn't too impressed when my main worry was the possibility of missing tomorrow's match...

 

Morning y'all. Not English cold here, but there was condensation on my bedroom windows this morning, (sin chambiar,) so dropping temps at night in the semi-desert here.

Got up earlyish to catch the 2nd half or result of the game. A day ahead of myself.

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe to BBC Sport: "I thought it was a good performance, especially the start."

Hope they go down.

 

Morning all. Cold, verging on very cold, and the forecast for tomorrow suggests some snow showers. Very nice staff at the vaccination centre yesterday until one of them asked if I was pregnant or breast feeding. Judging by the twinkle in her eyes she asked that question of all her elderly male customers. Arm feels bruised, but I have been given a nice new pass sanitaire that says I have had 3/3 doses. Now to get the rattle out ready for the game. Have a good one.

 

Morning all. A bright sunny morning, but there was frost overnight. The possibility of snow showers has gone for the time being, so no scenes like the ones in Leicester yesterday. 13 départements mainly in the high regions are on orange warnings for snow, avalanches or flooding. When I head south towards the Med, my route crosses the Massive Central where there are snow poles along the sides of the road all year, to give you an indication of where the edge of the road is, and how deep the snow is. The autoroute can get closed over some of the high passes when it becomes very bad, but there are a small army of snow ploughs that appear and attempt to keep cars moving, although lorries get parked up. Have a good day whatever your weather.

 

Melting here today.... missed the game yesterday to a meeting with rels to exchange xmas presents at a showing of the new Ghostbusters in a pennine town.... snow and ice meant they couldnt make it.. .and i was tracking the game in the cinema on my phone.... good film though.

Off to Clitheroe tomorrow to try out electric bikes.. hopefully the snow will have melted by then....

I have never been to Clitheroe and all I know of it is a link with a childrens Radio show in the 50s .. The Clitheroe Kid. I must be careful not to mention it to anyone in Clitheroe tomorrow... I think they will have been told that about their town more than once....

 

I met Jimmy Clitheroe in about 1965 I think. My then wife danced in a show he headlined at a theatre in Bradford. I don't think many people south of Clitheroe would have heard of him ten years later, though he did have a show on national radio for a while I think.

 

Yes i def listened to the radio show as a kid.... I tihnk it might have been on asunday morning when all the men were at the pub, and i was left with the women whilst they cooked sunday lunch ay my grans

 

Morning all. Everywhere white with frost earlier, but it is starting to disappear, so must be warming up a bit. Knocking on the door as I was having some breakfast, and found my ninety + neighbour asking if I had electricity as she didn't. No problem here, so went across to her house to inspect the fuse box. Totally different to the one in here, with buttons rather than twisting disconnecteur. Pressed buttons a few times, still nothing. Of all the people in the village she is the most difficult to understand, with a heavy non-local accent. Fetched my French neighbour who can communicate better with her, and has a slightly different system to both of us. Seems you have to put your full force behind pushing in the buttons rather than just push it in until it clicks. Her supply is back on, and she can have her first coffee of the day. Enjoy your day whatever happens.

 

Managed a trip to Clitheroe..... satnav took us right in to the town centre... when the shop with the same post code was two miles out of town..... had a half hour trial bike run around Pendle... . and have now signed up for two electric bikes... 'feeling' 'fitter' already... mind you will be April till we get them due to the pandemic.....