Thursday June 19th 2025 "Heard about the Romans and their 'fridges'? Not so primitive after all, were they!!!!"

Crusty old "history buffs" - that's how my medium-to-hard-pressed wife Lois and I have sometimes been described. It's true but I make no apology for it! [Why not? - Ed]

crusty old 'history buffs': me and my medium-to-hard-pressed 

wife Lois, a recent picture

A lot of people round here seem to complain that the local East Hampshire print edition of Onion News has been increasingly dominated recently by the latest archaeological news - "Page One is just about thefts from the Dorm Study Area, and the rest is history", is the common cry - I expect you've heard this "claptrap" (!) yourself, if you've kept your ear to the ground in godforsaken places like Sandy Balls, and the like!

This story this morning, however, (see p.92) is quite sensational, isn't it! 

It's a pity, however, that the paper always seems to want to include a bit of "vox pop" to these stories in the form of "snap reactions" from local readers, which Lois and I think just tends to reinforce the popular idea that East Hampshire people are just a bunch of idiots. But let me know what you think - postcards only!

What a crazy county we live in !!!!!!

And it's a bit of a crazy day for Yours Truly today, and also for my wife Lois - known locally as "Mrs Yours Truly"(!). 

With temperatures hitting the low 80's Fahrenheit, we've our shorts in the wardrobe (not shown!) and are hunkering down inside, marvelling at that "Roman fridge" story, and revising our Latin, in preparation for our interview with the terrifying Joe, leader of the local U3A Old Codgers Intermediate Latin group, where we hope to chat about "that fridge" (!), tomorrow as a bit of an "ice-breaker" [no pun intended!!!] with Old Joe, whom we've never met.

The stakes are high, however, if we want to impress 'Old Joe' tomorrow, and be accepted into his precious little Intermediate Latin group. So this morning, in addition to the usual housework, hoovering and dusting and suchlike,  we also "dust off" Lois's copy of "Wheelock's Latin" [no pun intended!!!] and start looking hard at the grammar pages. What madness isn't it, at our age, both 79 and now finding ourselves like we're back at "school" facing an awkward encounter with some terrifying teacher !!!!  

And if this isn't enough, we also have to somehow find time to blow up our inflatable bed to try it out, later today if we're feeing tired, to make sure it doesn't instantly de-flate [no pun intended!] with the weight of a real human body on it - oh dear! [That's enough unintentional so-called puns! - Ed].

You see, our dear daughter Sarah is flying in from Perth, Australia, next month with husband Francis and their 11-year-old twins Lily and Jessica, to spend a couple of weeks with us.

So once again, it's "busy busy busy" !!!!

just another busy day for us, hoovering and dusting, not to mention "dusting off" (!)

Lois's copy of "Wheelock's Latin" to impress Old Joe at tomorrow's "interview"

What madness isn't it !!!!! Never let people convince you that retirees have an easy time of it, as is so often, and so erroneously said. That's just an old wives tale, or should I say it's a "young wives tale" !!!!!

Luckily for Lois and me, as long-time history buffs, however, there's some more historical 'fare' on the "telly" tonight for us, so that's a comfort !!!!

Yes, it's the much anticipated "Outrageous" series starting tonight on the Drama channel, all about the notorious upper class Mitford family, and its fractious brood of six feisty sisters, who back in the 1930's flirted with fascism, communism etc - you name the 'ism' they didn't flirt with!!! But, having said that, they mostly flirted with eligible young men, like Bryan, the Guinness heir, which was probably a lot more sensible than any of hose daft "-isms", and certainly more lucrative, to put it mildly !!!!

What madness wasn't it!!

In this scene, the eldest of the Mitford girls, Nancy, is on a park bench, complaining to a friend, that her would-be "squeeze", Hamish, the high-end Scottish aristocrat, hasn't proposed to her, as she had expected. And the friend asks her if she and Hamish have "done it yet". 

After discussion, the two rule out Hamish being gay, or "a fan of Oscar Wilde" as they put it. Finally, Nancy's friend diagnoses the so-called "English problem".

Poor Nancy!!!!

She doesn't seem to be enthusiastic about the idea, but later we see Nancy trying this theory out at the next Mitford family house party, when Hamish is one of the many high-end guests, after she finds the poor man has fallen asleep in one of the upstairs bedrooms. She gets into bed with him, and immediately "takes control", as recommended (!).

Oh, well it's nice to know that about those high-end get-togethers, and Lois and I, as historical buffs, will have to remember that, next time we're reading about those high society house parties back in the 1930's!

And it's also something to bear in mind the next time we're invited to one of these 'do's, to put it mildly! [What do you mean "the next time", Colin. And isn't it a bit late for that now, anyway!!!!!!! - Ed]

Will this do?

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz!!!!!!