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Indeed! I reckon if I can get it all done "in a one-er" then I will have guilt-free stitching time. (yes, yes, I'm going back to work right now!)

@Carole, it's a jolly big book!!

I had this delivered today.
I have never seen such old stamps being actually used, the Churchill Centenary and the Prize - winning Fire Engines are from 1974, that's 46 years old! The Welsh Springer Spaniel is from 1979, the Lord Mayor's show is from 1989, the two Milenium stamps are from 2000 and the 4p is still in use today to make up to a figure.

I assume there were some puzzled faces at the various stages the parcel must have gone through on it's way to me.

I intend to keep hold of it in case there are any young people who are interested in stamps who would like it, I don't think there are any valuable ones, just interesting ones. DS is posting a message about it on Facebook (I'm not on FB) to see if anyone wants it.

Aren't they wonderful! I even remember some of them.

What a lovely decorative collection!

Right, so lockdown in England is set to end on 2nd December. Our ferry ticket to the Netherlands is for the 3rd.....

Cripes! Fingers crossed for you. Would lockdown necessarily stop you from traveling? I hope not. Lots probably also depends on what’s happening in the Netherlands. This is when travel insurance comes in handy...

One part of lockdown, as I understand it, is no unnecessary travel and no staying overnight in any place other than your own home, so yes, it would scupper it if they extend it. But it also depends on whether at that time Holland still imposes quarantine on travellers from the UK, which would equally scupper it. Trying to stay optimistic and positive...

richardandtracy wrote: Fri Oct 16, 2020 10:41 am Yes & no respectively Mabel.
Everyone in our household is fully aware of the relative positions of cats & humans in the pecking order. Humans are not the dominant species in the view of any of us.

Debby, Albert was, erm, unusual. OK, he was a one-off. It's not every cat that launches unprovoked attacks Doberman's and Alsatians (German Shepherd Dogs) for the simple pleasure of it, as he did. Or is terrified by a small frog. I have never come across another cat like him, or even remotely like him. The only fictional equivalent I have come across is 'Greebo' in Terry Pratchett's Disc World series.

Regards,

Richard.

Hahaha! Sorry for my late response, but being a TP fan I can imagine exactly what you mean. ‘To Nanny Ogg he was merely a larger version of the little fluffy kitten he had once been. To everyone else he was a scarred ball of inventive malignancy.’ Just reminds me of my cat Lisa visiting the doctor...

Terry Pratchett was an inspired writer, and his young adult books were as inventive as his mainstream titles. A sharp observer of humans and other creatures (DEATH is a magnificent character). I wish it might have been possible to give my 14-yr-old self Wintersmith... but the Nac Mac Feegles still leave me helpless with laughter. Pratchett caught the "Weegie" (Glaswegian) patois to a tee.

At some point we will have to go back to France to finish emptying the house and finalise the sale. That should have been this month but has been postponed until December. There aren't any direct flights available and driving down not possible at the moment.
The plan was to put the remaining contents into a friend's barn to be collected either by a removal company or by us driving down again with a smaller van in the new year. The legal signing has to be done though.
I guess we will find a solution.

So many things are delayed or alternatives found because of the pandemic. I'm sure it will work out. The buyers of your house are probably as eager as you are to have everything finalized. that it gets done without too much confusion.

Carole

Wish me luck I've just signed up for the Centre of Excellence Cross Stitch course!

Enjoy! I've heard of them but don't know much about them - they offer quite a wide range of courses I believe?

Oh yes they have loads of courses! Been thinking about doing it for months and have finally taken the plunge! I'm sure I'll learn lots and you get a certificate at the end with your name on

I have to confess I find it difficult to take an organisation seriously that offers a diploma in 'Extreme Couponing'.

That subject is just... totally the opposite of serious. My eyes did boggle a bit at that diploma, I can tell you.

I do hope the course is enjoyable. Would love to know what you think of it and whether the level of teaching stretches you to new achievements.

Regards,

Richard.

There was snow on Ben Arthur (aka the Cobbler) and Ben Lomond yesterday, as well as on some of the other Trossach hills. Gone today, but lovely in the sunshine while it lasted.

We are probably going to find ourselves unable to cross council lines from a higher tier to a lower one (or vice versa) pretty soon. Luckily where I live is a very large area, includes a city (small, but perfectly formed), probably the most famous loch in Scotland, several small mountains and lots of room to roam, so not being able to move out of a tier 3 area is no hardship. Am I being a NIMBY if I hope it keeps the Pesky Weegies away? (Probably; I might even be sorry to have had such a thought.)

I was wondering how you were getting along.
We are in level 2 and also have to keep to our region. We are advised strongly not to cross the border into England which is only 4 miles away.
We have wonderful ever changing views in 2 directions and local shops so it's not all bad.

First day of second lockdown in England.

The effect: No change.
Rush-hour just as bad, everyone going to work, parents taking kids to school. School kids going in to school in huge groups with zero thought to their own safety on the roads (as usual), fighting, screaming & shrieking at each other from a range of 1-2 inches, as usual.
Amount of 'Working from home if possible': Zero.

Everyone showing the general self preservation sense of a Lemming.

Regards,

Richard.
Disgusted of N. Kent.

Oh dear. Son dropped something off last night and said pretty much all the businesses he deals with (he is in trailers) have said they wouldn't close. They used the loophole of "if we do we can't work from home so we have to open." I know DH and I are in a very privileged position, as we are a mail order business and therefore allowed (even ecouraged, during first lockdown) to stay open, and it must be very very challenging for business that honestly can't work from home, but you wonder how effective these four weeks are going to be.

DH grumbles about being in Tier 3 (and a thoughtful look at our council on a map helps to tell why: the southern areas are indeed "Glasgow-centric" , but the north is geographically in the Highlands -- my village is on the line!) Our numbers aren't too bad, especially by English standards, but the Scottish govt has tried to be very careful -- we opened up late and have locked down earlier this time. By and large, folk here are following the rules, but it's easy for us. We're a small place, lots of space and everyone knows if someone hasn't been doing the right thing (village life, eh?). Elder Son is in the belly of the beast in Glasgow, and he says people are a little more cavalier there, but still follow some semblance of the rules. Our local (large) high school is in the next village, and they are all let loose at the same time for lunch and trail down to the co-op, the coffee shop and the bakery for their lunches rather than eating in. School kids are going to act recklessly because they understand perfectly well they are immortal.