Yes, Friends, don't be scared of gorillas, despite their somewhat daunting public image!!!
Underneath that hairy exterior, they're just like you and me, as today's press headlines attest, "beyond reasonable doubt" (!). Take this morning's Onion News, if you don't believe me!!!!
And the latest gorilla stories certainly bring a slightly lop-sided smile to the faces of me and my wife Lois this morning, here in semi-pleasant Liphook, Hampshire, no doubt about that!!!
my wife Lois and me - a recent picture
"happening" pop band The Arctic Monkeys
But it's too late for that now, as the pop outfit's multiple "tribute bands" are already jumping on the "monkey bandwagon" - as we learned today from two of our grandchildren, Rosalind (18) and Isaac (16) who are currently staying with Lois and me, on and off, while builders finish off an 18-month renovation project on the family's crumbling Victorian project. The kids' parents and elder sibling Josie (20) are meanwhile sleeping in a cramped shepherd's hut in the mansion's extensive 7.5 acre grounds, would you believe!
Confused? You will be !! Lois and I certainly are, to put it mildly!!!!!
the two young teenage scamps currently engaged in a friendly on-off
'invasion' of our house: (left) me with grandson Isaac (16)
and (right) Rosalind seen here recently celebrating her recent 18th birthday
However, today, our 2 teenage house-guests will be leaving us temporarily to drive with their family to Oxford to see a leading Arctic Monkeys' tribute band "Antarctic Monkey" concert at the O2 Academy on Oxford's Cowley Road tonight, and we won't see the two "scamps" again till Sunday tea-time, which will give Lois and me a chance for a little "us time" for 36 hours, although we'll miss their cheery chat - the young rascals !!!!!
(left) our 2 young grandkids Isaac (16) and Rosalind (18) having breakfast
with Lois and me this morning, after spending their first night with us,
and (right) the two rascals being collected by their mum, our daughter Alison,
for a family outing to Oxford to see a concert by tribute band Antarctic Monkeys
(left) Oxford's iconic O2 Academy, where Rosalind and Isaac will be going off
today to see (right) a concert by tribute band Antarctic Monkeys - it's "monkey madness" !!!
And for Lois and me, finding ourselves temporarily alone in our tiny house in Liphook, there's no let up in the craziness, that's for sure. Just 10 minutes after waving a tearful goodbye to Rosalind and Isaac, we have to "whisk off" for Lois's hair appointment with her stylist Anna, at Liphook's iconic "Haircraft Salon", which is mad! No wonder neighbours have dubbed us "possibly Liphook's busiest-looking retired couple", and we're earning that title in spades today, let me tell YOU haha!!!
(left) Lois at Liphook's leading "Haircraft Salon", having her hair cut and styled
by the Salon's owner and chief stylist, Anna, and (right) relaxing briefly
at home, our house suddenly strangely quiet after our 2 grandkids' departure!
[Is that really all you two 'noggins' have done today, Colin? - Ed]
Well, absolutely not, seeing as how you're obviously interested!!! With our afternoon in bed for "statutory nap-time" cut to a paltry two hours today after our local Royal Mail postman hammers on our door with a parcel, we gradually "come to", by browsing, over a cup of Earl Grey and a pecan and maple syrup 'crunchie', Lois's copy of "The Week" magazine, which the postman also brings, and which, as always, gives us a digest of the past week's news from home and abroad, which is nice!
[That's enough 'whiches' ! - Ed]
And would you believe, this week's magazine is just jam-packed with good news this week, which makes a change! We also learn a new phrase, "cozzie livs" (= cost of living crisis), an expression which neither of us has ever heard before, even though it was apparently "word of the year" for 2023. What madness, isn't it!!!!
However, the good news today, as I can (almost exclusively) reveal (!), is that there's currently no such thing as 'cozzie livs', i.e. there's currently no cost of living crisis, which brings a contented smile to our faces, to put it mildly! Yes, apparently, according to Emma Duncan of 'The Times' newspaper, as quoted in The Week magazine, prices are rising at only 2.9%, a year, whereas wages have been rising by 4.4%, and state pensions have been rising by 4.8%.
Happy days!!!!!
So maybe Lois and I will, after all, be able to afford that £10 bottle of wine we've been keeping an eye on, on the Ocado Online Supermarket web page! However, it's also galling to find out, also from the magazine, that that bottle really only costs £1.93 when you disregard the £4.77 tax, the approx. £1.30 packaging and freight charges, and the retailer's £2 profit margin, which is mad!!!!
some snippets from Lois's copy of The Week magazine, which gives
a digest of the week's news from home and abroad
And it all just goes to show just what a crazy world we live in !!!!!
In a further boost to our 'morale', we late finally find, under the sofa, something belonging to our other daughter Sarah, who lives in Perth, Australia with husband Francis and their 13-year-old twins Lily and Jessica, which is a surprise!
During the family's recent visit here, in July, Sarah's iconic "Perth Down Under" baseball hat mysteriously went missing, and she had to fly home to Australia without it, which was heart-rending.
flashback to July: Sarah with Lois and me, as we drink our complimentary
glasses of champagne on the top floor of Western Europe's tallest building,
the 1000ft high Shard in London, and admire the view spread out before us
Today, however, we discover the missing hat under our sofa, and texted Sarah with the good news, and fortunately she says I can keep it, which will be save me forking out for a new one - happy days (again!).
me showcasing our daughter Sarah's iconic "Perth Down Under" baseball hat,
which mysteriously went missing during her family's visit to the UK in July
- miraculously found today under our sofa , which is a nice surprise!
More money saved haha!
[You tight-fisted so-and-so, Colin! Why don't you open your wallet for once, and let all those poor moths regain their freedom! - Ed]
Will this do?
[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzz!!!!!!
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