And here in rural, semi-leafy Liphook, Hampshire, today's Onion News story brings a wry grin to the faces of me and my light-to-moderate wife Lois this morning - because we've got a crack-of-dawn appointment at Petersfield Community Hospital x-ray department this very morning, so that Lois's intermittent back aches and pains can start to be fully investigated.
Fame at last.... because we can't help feeling we're probably going to be some of the last patients to visit the hospital's x-ray department, before those shiny new pills consign NHS x-ray photography to the scrap-heap of history, and not before time!
We wish !!!!
Because, yes, you've guessed it - that story in Onion News features in their popular "Leave Time For A Smile" column (see page 94), and is just one of the print edition's many iconic "spoof stories", would you believe!
So... back to reality !!!!
Well, in the absence of those pills, in the meantime, with the current "dinosaur" methods (!) that the NHS is still using, would you believe, we'll have to wait 10 days to get the results of Lois's x-ray, which is annoying, to put it mildly! Nevertheless we put a brave face on it, and after our hospital visit we celebrate with a coffee and a late breakfast at the nearby Costa's so that's all good!
(top left) flashback to yesterday, when we did a "dry run" to find the hospital and
work out the parking arrangements; (top right) us this morning waiting for Lois to be
called in for her x-ray; and (bottom) we celebrate with a late breakfast at the nearby Costa's
And today, the excitement just keeps on coming - and continues to come while we're in bed this afternoon for statutory "nap time"! That's because we get a message from our daughter Alison, who lives with husband Edward and their 3 teenage kids, just a few miles away from us, in Churt, just over the county line in Surrey.
in bed this afternoon for "statutory nap-time", Lois's Samsung
starts beeping under the bedclothes, with news from our daughter Alison
Alison and Edward are at the Petworth Festival today, over in Midhurst, Sussex, listening to a talk by TV personality and writer Gyles Brandreth, reading passages from his latest book, "Somewhere , A Boy and A Bear". The book, as I expect you can guess, is all about Winnie the Pooh author AA Milne, and about the books Milne wrote about Winnie and Winnie's adventures with Milne's own son, Christopher Robin.
Security is tight at the festival this afternoon, Alison says - and security men armed with batons are on hand, in case of trouble from local "heffalumps" or "woozles" (!).
(top) author Gyles Brandreth, seen here with Festival Director Kate Lavender, showcasing
with his new biography of Winnie the Pooh author AA Milne; (bottom left) the lecture
theatre at Midhurst Rother College, and (bottom right) two security men
hired to keep out any local "heffalumps" or "woozles" - what madness !!!!!
Awwww!!! How Lois and I wish we were there, although it's probably warmer here in bed!
Yes, Lois and I are both big "Winnie the Pooh" fans. You probably know the story of how the famous series of books came about.
In the 1920's, AA's wife, Daphne Milne bought a cute teddy bear for their little son, Christopher Robin, in London store Harrods' toy department. Later, the teddy bear was named "Winnie", after the family visited the London Zoo, where a large black Canadian bear had recently arrived. The zoo's bear was called "Winnipeg" - and this gave the AA Milne the idea to call his fictional bear "Winnie the Pooh" (1926), .....and the rest is history.
AA Milne with son Christopher Robin and his toy bear Winnie the Pooh
And Pooh's famous phrase to Piglet about a feared impending disaster remains the phrase that Lois and I always use ourselves whenever danger appears to threaten us.
"Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?" "Supposing it didn't", said Pooh. After careful thought, Piglet was comforted by this.
It's a good phrase for us all to remember, as we walk through this crazy world of ours, that's for sure!!!!!
Before you know it, Alison's messages set Lois and me off again, reminiscing about our own childhoods in the late 1940's and 1950's. [Not that again! - Ed]
flashback to 1947-48: (left) me on my mummy's lap on the beach at Bournemouth,
and (right) Lois on a bale of hay, deep in the Oxfordshire countryside
And in tonight's episode of "Gone Fishing", presenters Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer are also reminiscing about their past, because tonight they're fishing in South Wales, in the River Towy, Carmarthenshire, the county where Paul was born.
After their first unsuccessful attempt to catch some sea trout in the river, the boys end up in a local riverside pub, and Paul brings out some of his old childhood photos.
And it's the same in this old photo of mine from 1948, showing me and my little sister Kathy, sitting on a bench outside our house near Dover, Kent, with our old dad, Ken.
flashback to 1948: me and my little sister Kathy, in front of our house
just outside Dover, Kent - both of us wearing pairs of the
obligatory Clark's sandals, sitting with our old dad, Ken,
still in uniform after the end of World War II
And in tonight's programme, Paul's also got some photos of himself from a bit later on, as a young man.
What utter utter utter madness !!!!
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