11:00 Brrrr!! It's bitterly cold outside today but Lois and I go for a walk anyway, around the new-build housing estate that we moved to on October 31st last year.
plan of the 300-house new-build estate where Lois and I moved last October
- the square-shaped area (centre left) is going to be a mini-park
and playground, with trees and seating etc - nice!
Persimmon, the builders, have planned some sort of focal point in the middle of this half-finished 300-house estate: a bit of greenery, grassy areas, with a playground and benches planned. Of course it's naturally a lower priority with them than are the houses, because "sold houses = money", or "quids in", whereas "grassy areas = expense", in other words "quids out". It's all madness, but you can sort of understand it !!!!
For three months, there seemed to be no progress with constructing this focal-point area of greenery, but all that changed in the last week or two. A couple of areas of turf have appeared, which is refreshing. This bitterly cold morning Lois and I wrap ourselves up nice'n'warm, and take a walk around, in order to check on progress.
We look round the "green area" planned for the middle of the estate.
Another couple are doing the same thing (see left)
For completeness' sake we also check on the top-secret hush-hush Government defence and security contractor, Qinetiq. Although it's a Saturday, there are still a number of cars in the car-park, we notice, so some people are obviously working weekends.
the premises of Qinetiq, the hush-hush Government defence contractor
It's weird for me to see this Qinetiq site, where radar was developed during World War II, because it's so reminiscent of the workplace where I toiled until my retirement in 2006. Wow, look at its impressive-looking 10 ft high (?) barbed wire security fence!
My boss in the early 1980's used to come here on business trips, when, pre-privatisation, it was still part of the Ministry of Defence, but I never asked him what he talked about here, something I regret now. It's too late now, I'm no longer "cleared", plus I don't "need to know" haha!
The land that our new house and all the other new-build houses stand on was land originally in use by Qinetiq, but a couple of years ago, Qinetiq sold it to Persimmon, the builders, presumably to fund some of their projects.
Fascinating!
12:00 We come home and warm up with a coffee and a Rich Tea biscuit. I look at my smartphone, and I see that our daughter Alison who lives in Headley, Hampshire with husband Ed and their 3 teenage children, has put a charming picture of Ed on social media somewhere with an impressive view of the Gherkin, a building of offices, restaurants and bars, which has become such a feature of the London skyline.
Apparently Ali and Ed were in London last night to celebrate the completion of some deal that Ed, a lawyer acting for various train companies, has been working on for the last year or two. Congratulations Ed - you certainly deserve your celebration - my goodness !!!!
flashback to Christmas 2022: Ed, Ali and the family
with Lois and me at the local parish church
December 25th 2022: all together for Christmas dinner
Our other daughter, Sarah, has for the past 7 years been living in Perth, Australia, with husband Francis and their 9-year-old. We usually speak to them on zoom on Saturday mornings, but this morning Lois was suffering from a headache, we think probably because of a longer-than-usual drive that she did yesterday, from Bishops Cleeve home to Malvern having offered to give me a break from driving, which was a kind offer. And the headache fortunately soon disappeared in the course of this morning, which was a relief.
flashback to January: speaking on zoom to Sarah, Francis,
and the twins - Lily and Jessica - in Perth, Australia
Sarah and family are planning to move back to the UK in the next couple of months. When I cancel the zoom this morning, and fix it for same time tomorrow (Sunday) Sarah says that she'll use the time to do more packing of stuff for shipment back to the UK. The plan is to ship their belongings back to the UK and then go off touring areas of Australia that they haven't managed to see, which seems a great idea to us.
A week or two ago they finally sold their 20ft boat, which finally convinced Lois and me that they are REALLY coming home.
flashback to October 2021: the twins showcasing the family's boat, the Rioja,
down by the Swan River, at Perth, Western Australia
Rod Stewart with some of his ex-wives in Hyde Park, London, 7 years ago
16:00 Lois and I relax on the sofa with the puzzles from next week's Radio Times. We do quite well on Popmaster and we achieve a record 9 out of 10 on Eggheads, which is totally unprecedented we think! Wow!
Pity we dropped one point just at the finishing-line, for the question about Lousiana music. We said "blue grass", because that's the only one of the three choices that we'd heard of before. And who's ever heard of "zydeco"? [I expect a lot of people have! - Ed]. And who would have guessed that it originates from the French for "the beans" - les haricots.
What a crazy world we live in !!!!!
And who knew dictionary-buff Susie Dent's "word of the week" -
matutolypea?
Lois and I have never come across this word, but we're going to try and remember it. Although we know a few people who are like this in the mornings, I don't think either of us are in danger of being called matutolypeae - if that's the correct plural form. Perhaps we should be told? But not today, tomorrow at the earliest - let us have today haha!
Another good word of Susie's, although I suspect that it's too late now to use it - is the Anglo-Saxon word "uhtcearu", pronounced "oot-key-are-oo", which refers to "the period before sunrise, when fears loom unmanageably large". I think Lois and I can both relate to that one, particularly for the period covering our last tumultuous 6 months - my goodness !!!!
"Utcearu" in spades - yikes !!!!!
Finally we polish off Only Connect.
21:00 We wind down with a documentary about Welsh music on BBC4.
It's a two-parter, and we thought we'd just watch programme 1 tonight. However, unfortunately, I make a mistake, because I select programme 2 by mistake and we don't realise my mistake till the end. I don't think that that matters too much, because the programme jumps around all over the place chronologically anyway - it's all a bit mad!
Lois and I both feel a bit disappointed by the end of the programme, however - we'd like to have heard a bit more of the actual music, but it's the usual thing: you hear a few bars and then somebody starts talking over the music giving their views and theories etc.
It's interesting, however, to hear Stewart Roberts, the Treorchy Male Voice Choir leader's views on why the extraordinary phenomenon of the Welsh Male Voice Choir developed. Stewart says that the coming of large-scale mining and heavy industry to the previously peaceful and idyllic Welsh valleys in the 19th century was so traumatic, especially for people like the miners, that they needed an escape: they found solace in singing, he explains, and miners used to sing even at the coal face apparently.
And this motivation was combined with the influence of the chapels, which encouraged singing in 4-part harmony every Sunday, to produce together the wonderful sound of the choirs, many of which are still very much flourishing today, even though most of the mines themselves are closed.
The theory sounds good, but Lois and I wonder if the reasons are more generalised than that. Could it be that the Welsh, who were always conscious of their vulnerable situation as neighbours of the much more numerous English, took particularly to poetry and song, as a vehicle for resistance? Well, maybe, but who knows? Answers on a postcard please! (Closing date tomorrow - don't forget!)
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzz!!!!!
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