Just A Reminder

Hello Folks, shortly will be putting some new material on this blog, but dont forget my other two blogs if you havent already read them, in particular, my latest little story about my childhood, called Two little men in a Flying Saucer

Pams People

Well on monday went to see Pams People, a small group of people who have got together to entertain others.

It was in a large community centre hall but sadly there were only a few people there as an audience, in fact I think there was not many more than the number of performers, despite this the how cold the room was there was a great atmosphere & it really was a good performance with a mixture of songs from the musicals, sketches & carols.

The group seemed to enjoy themselves almost as much as the audience, my friend Jackie was there & it was lovely to hear her as others sing solos rather than with the choir I am used to hearing them in.

One of the group a young lady has the most beautiful smile when she sings as well as a beautiful singing voice, I mentioned, this to Jackie & low & behold the lady came over, her speaking voice matche the rest of her, but why had she appearred, well at long last my chance had come, she offerred me a stocking, but then explained that she wanted me to drap it over the shoulder of the man next to me when the cue came.

Well faced with this responsibility, at long last someone had realised my potential, not sure really as what, maybe props, I watched whilst still trying to follow the wonderful comedy sketch, at long last it seemed to be the right moment, but the gentleman noticed & was not very happy until I explained it was part of the show, finally the point was reached & we all enjoyed the conclusion of the piece & the stocking was returned to its owner, much to the gentlemans relief.

I wanted to take a photo to put on the blog but sadly the group do not feel ready for this quite yet, what a lovely afternoons entertainment, I could almost become a groupie

Happy christmas everyone

An Update on My Thoughts on SagaZone

I am writing this blog to balance things from my first one about manners and attitudes on this site, possibly I was being unfair to people, although I was only going off my own experiences at the time and it was a new site, arranged differently, with a mixture of reasons for people to join.

Unfortunately since joining, the site has had problems regarding access and all sorts of things have been added and taken away, and by the look of it, some of the people who used to use the site, whether this is a good thing or a bad thing we have yet to see.

I have to start on a positive note and say I have met some really lovely people whilst on this site, who've been patient, guided me through the strange layout of the site, supported me in my initial contacts, both in relation to my blogs, but also when I have gone into the various chat rooms and forums, trying to find my way round, as well as integrate in the SagaZone community.

One of my most interesting and enjoyable finds was the Owl's, I don't know how to describe this group, apart from saying what a bunch of kind friendly supportive yet wacky set of people, (wacky may be the wrong word), if any of the owls read this please give me your own suggestions so long as their not rude.

The only difficulty with the Owls, is that they only come out late at night, when most people have gone to bed, to make it worse they actually live in a large tree which appears to be quite cold and draughty at the moment, so how they maintain their humour I'm not really sure of, but they have welcomed me as a mere fledgling, my dilemma, is that keeping them company is quite addictive, despite the fact that often they carry on until early in the morning.

I feel I have to mention certain people who belong to the Owls, first of all Sue who first introduced me to this group, Brenny, who has supported and advised me as well as Clabby who has quietly been there for me, should I mention people such as Dan, ICE or TBL, well now I've done that, gosh I nearly forgot Tipples or should I say Tips who has advised me on all manner of things (ironing was the most useful).

Moving onto my blog and others, because people have been kind enough to read my blog and pass comment, it seemed only fair to go and have a look at theirs, well that was the best thing I could have done, from the unpredictable of HoneyCook and her various adventures, to WilfulWoodpecker and Mallu and their fascinating stories, to the newly found blog of Janet Humphreys, which is so very touching, it is unfair not to mention all the blogs I have read and their authors, but it would take forever to list them all and why they have been so enjoyable.

So how to sum up where we've reached now, well are some lovely kind considerate people on this site, who will go out of their way to help and support others, with a sense of humour, despite some of the difficulties they experience themselves in their day to day life, but very sadly I have personally come across a small number of people who seem to have very strange, not very nice agendas, and in fact can be quite rude, but even worse as I have flitted about the site, and read some of the statements people have made about each other, I feel there are people on the site who use it as a weapon to attack others who do not agree with their thoughts and opinions, my hope is that there are enough of us nice people out there to balance out them others.

Well now it's time to shut up, I hope you enjoyed the read, comments both positive and negative are welcome.

For any of my new found friends that read this, thank you for your support over the last couple of months.

Happy Christmas to you all

Confirmed the Concert

Hello, sorry been quiet recently, it seems to of got very busy, last week went to see Affetside Choir & Bessess o the Barn band, doing a christmas carol event locally, I really enjoyed it.

Sadly never found a holiday abroad & wasent willing to pay the price over here for nothing, so just using leave to waste the time away.

Last saterday was invited to a friends home for a party, well you know I am very wary of these things so, was happy that this time there were going to be nice people there that I knew so should not be such a problem.

Well had been told to get there 7pm so arrived 7.30 to be met by hostess in dressing gown & nobody else there, well it seems I got the timing wrong but a least got a comfortable seat. Others that I knew arrived & then was introduced to some really nice people, then it happened man arrived with Kareoki , but luckily had problems setting up.

Eventually he set it up only for me to realise I was in line with loudspeakers, no problem but cannot hear well when it is quiet, so now had to lipread conversations, not sure I always said yes to the right things or vica versa

Well after the last party thought here we go again, but no, people could actually sing in tune & it was music I could relate to, amongst the people there were some a little bit diverish but generally very enjoyable, then she came & sang, sadly I did not know her name but boy did she have a voice, having said that I mentioned this to the hostess only to be picked up, oops was her voice not as good, sadly no.

But then a real suprise amongst the guests was a young lady actress who is going for an interview for American Idol, interestingly she cannot sing but is a good actress, they want people who cannot sing to promote the programme, but to act over the top.

I discussed this with her, her view is any chance of a break will do because she has been training as an actress for 8 years, well best of luck.

Later a pleasant young woman came in on crutches & we were introduced, but I did not quite catch what had happened, but I thought I nodded my head at the right times, later we ended up sitting together & started talking, guess what, how to obtain a Blue Badge & benefits due to disability, I have a feeling I am a little rusty on chat up lines, having said that I did in the course of conversation explain that I was not looking for new relationships at present(door firmly closed)

Having said that we then chatted about all sorts including spiritualism which I am unsure about, but it kept the conversation going & the time flew, suddenly I realised it was way past my bedtime in fact 2am, what a nice night it had been, so I said goodnight to the young lady after giving her the contact details for claiming benefits & my work number if she wanted help.

It seems from talking to the hostess I was not supposed to of done this she was trying to do some matchmaking, well never mind it really was a lovely night & I was stone cold sober from start to finish.

I must of done something right I have been invited to the next party in february

Update on the concert & dating sites & other stuff

Well while in the mood I just thought I would give a quick update on the concert, which is that a date has now been confirmed apart from when I contacted the venue to tell them today, they were to busy to put it as confirmed in the book, so will try again tomorrow

I thought I had my lineup all sorted out, but sadly Pams People cannot appear they have other commitments, but instaed Affetside Choir are possibly willing to perform again with a different selection of music, plus we may be able to ask some other local talent to join in.

Jean the beatiful singer from last year is offerring to perform again, so we must be doing something right. Plus at the moment we have a talented young man willing to play the piano for us, his mother is willing to supply a group of young dancers, including some really young ones to give us the aah factor. Plus I have asked one of our volunteers if he will do a couple of sketches to cover up any of my mistakes during the performance & the lovely Jackie has offerred to compere again.

Now all I have to do is get some photos & info on the acts, get someone to sort out the design of the posters, find people to distribute information & posters to the public, find prizes for the tombola & someone to run it in time for early early March, plus late on Brian the elusive one on my photos wants me to find a school choir as well.

Well you can see I have to much time on my hands & a brilliant social life so I thought it was time to venture out & try to make social contact as described in my previous blog. Well I had been a member of Friendsreunited for some years as some of you will know, which had helped me to track down a range of long lost friends, so why not have a look at their companion site to chat, well sadly not quite what I wanted.

In conversation with someone at work they said, why not try their dating site you can just meet up & chat or make friends, so off I went, this is not good for my back, but I will try anything once, Joined up Had a look & there seemed some pleasant people going from their profiles & photos, although others had said be wary people can tell lies (surely not on the internet) plus people appearred to have looked at my profile. so jump straight in thought I & guess what , I got stuck on a page saying they wanted MONEY before I could access anything, well I thought about it & decided being tight & looking for a holiday(more of this in my next blog or maybe later in this one) decided not to bother.

Well yesterday I got a message to say someone was trying to contact me, well being the sad person I am curiosity got the better of me so I decided to contact them, with bated breath I clicked on the link to BE TOLD I NEEDED TO PAY MONEY FIRST, well what should one do.

I felt if someone after reading my profile was that desperate, then I should at least read their message, although friends keeep telling me how I dont look my age, maybe that actually means I am older than I look, must check this out.

Finally curiosity got the better of me so I paid the money & clicked on the link, the message was quite brief & sadly the lady although maybe a very nice person from her profile did not seem to have anything in common with me, plus she lives a considerable distance away from me, so right or wrong I have not yet contacted her but thinking of crititism I have made I now think that I should aknowledge her at least for making the effort.

Whilst browsing through the other members interestingly I came across someone I know & again am not sure whether I should say hello(but would it embarrass her) I suppose she could of contacted me if she wanted.

Well last but no means least I noticed a pleasant looking person so looked at her profile, which if correct meant she was not looking for someone like me but for reasons I am not sure of I e mailed just to say what a lovely person she seemed, what a nice suprise she e mailed back just to thank me, but my feeling is thats the end of that conversation, so lets see what happens on my next visit, I will try to remember to keep you posted

These brilliant photos I came across from a new aquaintance the other day & she was willing for me to put them on, I hope you enjoy them as much as me

My Adventures On Sagazone

Well Readers, I have been spreading my wings & exploring the delights of the web site for us over 50s, I quickly signed up & started to explore.



Quite soon after joining after reading a couple of the posts I decided maybe I should change my photo from Merlin to one of me when I was a little(well a lot younger), well a couple of people contacted me, including a lady, well thought I surely this is a good sign & promptly replied to her, well as usual nothing goes as we want, I am still waiting for a response from her.



Well I have explored different parts of the site now, had a look at the forums, where actually people seem to chat, some seem quite friendly, but I do have to say there are also sadly some people on there as on all sites who are not so pleasant in fact they seem bent on being unpleasant, to each other.



But now the good news, there are some really really nice people on the site & I have to name a few of them in the hope that those of you who I may of tempted to join will go & have a look at their profiles & then blogs, so here goes

Daisiepo Rose58 Honeycook V Goty Funkyfarmer Wilfulwoodpecker



I have just realised I need to say their blogs are an interesting mixture & well worth a visit.



The site does not have the facility yet if ever to upload photos to the blog or create interesting templates, but you can find some wide ranging subjects quite easily as well as follow others involvement in forums you have joined, but also announce your latest blog.

PS just to say this is another photo from my collegue at work



Well thats all for now folks will keep you updated on my adventures in Sagaland

The Next Concert

Sorry about the delay in posting but life has been busy but not particularily interesting recently, but all this will now change

We are starting to plan the next concert for early next year, with a new cast of performers, including Pams People(that is Pams,) Whitefield Operatic society, performing some of their work from musicals, a talented young pianist, a dance troupe, sketches from one of our members & any other people we can rope in.

All we have to do now is to agree on a suitable date, possibly late February early March, we have provisional booking, I have just remembered, we also have our own sound person hopefully and yet again I will most probably have the most important role that of opener of the curtains

The nice photos of the woods are ones taken by a collegue that I noticed as a background on her computer.

I am still seeing my physio & she is still telling me that my back is one of the tightest she has ever seen, I am still trying to to make light of it, but the pain is not abating yet,(you should see the exercises she has me doing, could put them on UTube if i knew how) so is now suggesting I be referred to a consultant by my GP, I feel we have been here before, lets see how quick this happens this time round.

I forgot to say have heard from Zorro who has totally confused me by going to Spain instead of South America, you would of thought he would of known the differance by now, so I feel this could be fate because I am debating whether to go over to Spain for a week before xmas, so am now looking for a flight & accomodation in the next week or two if possible

Our Day in The Country, Viewing Viaducts

Well readers this story goes back some weeks ago, possibly even months ago, when my friend Geoff suggested that it may help him, if we went on a trip to take a photograph or photographs of a couple viaducts of outstanding beauty.

Of course I agreed this was acknowledgement of my photographic skills, as well as a nice ride in the country, I had initially suggested that he take my camera to save me the trip, but he felt I would do more justice to the subject, how could I refuse.

Time passed and we never seem to quite get round to it, so in the end we agreed on a specific date, because another friend of mine was feeling down I asked if it was possible for her to come along for the trip, which he was agreeable to.

On the day he was ready, flasks, biscuits, all sorts of walking gear, two walking sticks and there was still room for me and him, I explained I only had my normal walking shoes but he felt this was not a problem, so of to Anne’s we went, she was as sensibly dressed as me, in that she had high-heeled shoes which she felt would help with her walking, but otherwise was dressed for the day.

Although Geoff told me where we were going, I had never actually pinned him down to the location of these two viaducts, so after a while, I started to wonder just how far we were travelling, it was about two hours before we finally reached our first destination, New Biggin, he then told us that we now had a long walk, mainly over flat ground, but to reassure us he provided us both with a walking stick, being fair to him, he provided us with a warm drink of coffee and a biscuit.

We seemed to walk and walk and walk, apart from three walkers, the only other things we met were a group of sheep, who initially ignored us, but then on closer inspection decided to run off into the distance never to be seen again.

Along the way, Geoff pointed out the drovers Bridge and the path up the hill that they used to use, which now I would imagine people would go up on quad bikes, finally in the distance we saw it, Smardale viaduct, I have to admit it was very impressive from a distance, which prompted me to take a couple of photographs, but putting myself at great risk of falling down the hill, the things we do for others.

Well now we were well on our way, and found extra strength for the last lap, as we approached Geoff explained about how the trains used to go along the path we were walking, across the viaduct, but I cannot remember where the train went after that, we crossed the viaduct and I took a series of other photos, to show the magnificence of the viaduct.

When we checked the time, Geoff announced that we needed to make progress if we were to look at the other viaduct, now at this point I should have realised if it took two hours to get to this viaduct plus the walk maybe it was going to take some time to get to the other one, plus we now had to walk back to the car, which when we were going didn't seem too bad but now, we realised how far we had walked, but never mind hey every day is a new adventure.

Off we set in the car, after another drink coffee, now it gets really complicated, because I was exhausted, and quickly fell asleep, so I am not really sure where we went or how far we travelled before we reached our next destination, I do remember waking up and seeing miles and miles and miles of narrow country lanes, also that the Sun was dipping which may create problems, when I tried to take photos.

Finally we reached our destination, sort of, as far as I can make out we were at Lambley, wherever that is and that we were heading for the Duke of Carlisle's viaduct at New Biggin, Geoff it said that it was not a long walk so we should be okay, well I have to be honest, it wasn't a long walk compared to the other, but it was up and down, over slippy leaves damp soil, plus the light was fast deteriorating.

I have just realised I had not mentioned Anne so far, she seemed to cope remarkably well up to now, but on this path I did get quite concerned, because she had one or two falls, she explained that she was okay going downhill, because high heels helped to balance her out, but the problem was going uphill and that was when she was falling. Despite this she still wanted to continue on the adventure.

Well it got darker & slippier until finally there we were there on top of the viaduct, now you would think this was a good thing, no you cant take a good photo from on top because you cant see the sides very well. I looked over the top to see a bdide in the distance, so said how do we get there so I could get that brilliant photo I was looking for.

Geoff took us off on another trip through the woods, slipping & sliding until we finally got back down to the ground, all the time Geoff was explaining more of the background to the railway line & the viaduct, until we finally reached the bridge, by the way I forgot to say I had taken my digital & SLR cameras to get the best photos, but the SLR had decided to play up, so these are from the digital.

Well now it was getting quite dark, but I tried my best, this is the product of my hard work, it was decided that we needed to come back in the summer on a proper trip, & to explore better places to get a view of the bridge, so finally we slipped & slid back to the proper path & the main road.

It suddenly occurred to me that apart from 2 cups of coffee & 2 chocolate biscuits I had not eaten all day, so we set off on the path home, Geoff said it wasent far to the motorway & then back home for a meal. I thought this was a positive thing until I saw the sign for Hexham, which I know is in Northumbria.

I then asked Geoff where we had been, he explained we had been to Cumbria as well as Northumbria, no wonder I had fallen asleep on the drive, the short trip to the motorway was over the tops & far away, but yes we did eventually reach the motorway & began the long trek home, never was I so pleased as when we finally got to our turnoff.

When I spoke to Anne later in the week she was happy about the day out & felt quite refreshed, in fact she did not have any bruising from the falls, I spoke to Geoff & he also siad he did not understand why I was so tired, having said that he admitted we had done 3oo miles that day, but was looking forward to the next trip in the new year.

Well I am glad they are happy I am still recovering, but pleased with the digital photos & hope the film ones turn out as well.

Whats the lesson I have learnt, next time ask the location & distance we are travelling & make sure I am fed properly on the way.

Life has become a Little to Quiet

Welcome back, sorry but life has been busy, but not the sort of things that are worth recording for you to read since Italy.

Apart from the fact I was asked to open a a local version of "Kiss Me Kate" the musical, that is they wanted me to come on stage to sweep it whilst singing "the opening song " well I explained I am well qualified to sweep the stage i have swept stages in all sorts of interesting places like, Sharston Secondary School, The Broadway night club in Manchester, various bingo clubs in Birmingham, so if anything I am over qualified for the job, but so far have resisted the temptation of singing or acting on stage, for the benefit of the audience.

Sorry I tell a lie, when doing stage work in Birmingham many years ago, I was involved in a production of a play called "Our Town" in which the stage is set & cleared with the curtains open as part of the show, I had to carry step ladders & chairs on & off, the stage, I feel under the circumstances, walking on "live" was really stressful, but I made no mistakes in my role, or at least none that were commented on.

Unfortunately, singing or dancing I do not do, operating sound & lighting equipment I have done, including the old sound desk from Strawberry Studios (used for Jonathan King's session singers such as 10cc)back in my youth, with the likes of the Drifters, Stan Kentons Band, Gene Pitney, The Coasters (sorry all you young readers it was in the 70s after all)

It has always fascinated me that give people a microphone & they have to either sing , often out of tune or say "testing 1, 2, 3" neither of which did I ever do.

In the same way that if they walk past a drum kit they have a need to hit it usually quite hard causing chaos for the poor drummer on their return.

Well I kindly saved the local population, by my act of kindness, hopefully the show was a success.

This week, I went for a hearing test as us Toggs do, only to be told that my hearing was no worse than 2 years ago, so in discussion with the technician, we eventually agreed that local background noise was increasing, as was my tinnitus.

Balanced against that someone at work actually was suprised to find I was age 60, not sure if they thought I was older or younger, so accepted the statement in the hope it was the latter.

I have been reading that Melanies, blog about her trip to America, part 3, dont they make you jealous, going off on these adventures, meeting all these interesting people & places, having said that please have a read of her blog, it gives a very different insite into the people she has met as well as the places she has been.

If you are reading this & want to help my blog become more interesting I am quite willing to travel & describe in facinating detail where I have been & who I have met along the way.

A trip to Italy by a Togg

Well at long last my last holiday this year to a place with such a strange name Malcesine (pronounced malchesney I am told) which is on the banks of Lake Garda in Italy, with the mountains behind & the lake in front.

It is a pretty little town, but sadly full of tourists like me, with little cafes & shops & a local ferry to other picturesque towns also on the lake.

The accomodation was good(if you are interested go to Tripadvisor for my comments in the next few days) with a terrace overlooking the lake views & beautiful views of the mountains at the rear.

One of the places to go to had to be Venice & the decision was go for a tour because it was so complex to use public transport for the trip.

Going for the afternoon trip seemed a good idea because it would mean a later rise & hopefully within a short time most of the tourists would of departed, plus there would be the opportunity to take photos of Venice by night.

On the day the trip was quite boring, mostly by motoway, although it was interesting to see their fast food at the service area. But when the coach finally arrived it was a trip across the bay to the main landing stage by ferry, then off to look at the sights.

First to St Marks Square making sure not to sit down, eat or drink, remembering how much it would cost, took a few photos & could not believe how many people there were there, then off to the Doges Palace for the next few hours to look round.

Sadly could not take photos of beautiful rooms & paintings inside but was facinating to see, also there were plenty of seats to rest which were definatly needed with all the stairs & corridors, the ticket enabled vists to other museums, but already was flagging after the first, so decided to have a wander round.

Walked to Rialto bridge through the streets packed with both locals & tourists, there seemed much more posh shops than on previous trip there some years ago. On the way took more photos of the streets & canals, then back to the landing stage on oner of the local water buses.

Met up with the rest of the coach party then off for a meal which was quite pleasant, then a short time to take a few night time photos, sadly no sunsets, that had happened whilst in the restaurant, then back to the coach & off to the resort, finally arrived back at 1am in the morning.

The following morning went down for breakfast then back to bed for the rest of the day totally exausted so much for thinking I was this new fit healthy person.

Also went on a trip to Riva on another day it was a nice little town & very picturesque but it seemed to be undecided in relation to the weather.

The other big trip was by local transport to Verona, unfortunatly the bus was full so I stood for over half the trip before finally getting a seat.

On arrival it was another busy resort (see other blog re fast food), went to see amphitheatre but because there was concert on that night there was a huge stage & modern seating covering the old stone steps.

What a climb to the top of the steps & what a long way down, it must hold an awful lot of people when its full, plus what a depessing place the area down below was.

Next a trip round the local gardens whilst listening to a couple of musicians playing, it was very relaxing, before going off to see the famous balcony where Juliet was supposed to of been, a little difficult because she never existed, it was nice that so many people were romatic enough to make the trip & to pose with the statue of Juliet, not sure what had happened to Romeo.

Then off to the castle but ran out of time so did not have time to explore inside, then back to the bus, luckily got seat on trip back but slept most of the way.

At the hotel met a lovely couple he had been in the police force & was facinating to listen to about the past when he worked in Manchester & his wife had gone to school just down the road from me, I hope one day he puts this to paper recording this information that soon will be lost.

There were good days and bad in relation to the weather on the last day it was again overcast, I had thought of going up in the cable car, but again it was overcast so only went to the base station which was in a beautiful setting, would i go back again not sure was a little bit to busy for me.

Latest Trip To Ireland

Yet again sorry about the delay to all you readers, but I seem to of started with my Man Flu again which has slowed me down.

Having said that here goes with the trip to Ireland for Grand daughters birthday, first suprise was that she was there at the airport to great me, it must be the new improved communication with her through BEBO, having said that I still have not figured all of it out & struggle to understand the text speak they use.

The other bit I find about e mail with youngsters is that they can speak at incredible speed & have views on everything until I get an e mail then its "how are you grand dad" "what you doing cheerio" but my daughter in law informs me that the problem is that they are sending 100s of e mails daily so do not have time for long messages.

Well back to the plot, I was informed that they had planned to take me to see Shrek 3, sadly I had to inform them I had presumed they would of already seen it so had gone already, I was good enough not to tell them anything of the story.

We spent a lot of time chatting & I explained to my grand daughters that I would like to help with their school trips, to improve their chances of seeing more of the world, the older one told me that possibly she will have a chance to see Zambia this year through the school, so this will improve her chances to go for this once in a lifetime experiance.

On the sunday we went out for a family meal & sitting down together was an enjoyable experiance, at the end of the meal great pleasure was enjoyed by all of us when we spent time making funny faces with the bits left on the plate as you can see from the photo.

So it was an enjoyable trip for me & a happy time for the family

Sad Death Of Dave

For a change I felt it was right to tell you about the sad death of my friend Dave last week, he had health problems from when I first knew him but he never gave up.

He was my inspiration in consumer issues over the years & I admired the time he spent quietly helping other people & the problems in their lives.

As his walking abiliy decreased, he found it harder to get out, until I realised that he could use my electric scooter, which gave him a new lease of life until finally his body started to give up.

Sadly it was a slow deterioration, but I admired, the way in which he continued to fight in his own way, still considering others needs, whilst in hospital.

Unfortunatly, he died in hospital which he had always feared, but I have to admire the way Anne visited daily & the hours she spent during that time seeing to his needs, as well as the care & compassion that she showed him right up until his life ended

Dave you will be sadly missed

Scooter Event Heaton Park 2007

19 August 2007

Well we had planned the scooter event for some months we had a venue, we had the riders, and we felt that we would make some money as well's publicise our organisation.

I had acquired my own scooter back, charged the battery and was ready for the day, unfortunately on the day it had already started raining as I set out, when I arrived at the Park, the other participants were already there, apart from the two who sadly could not make it on the day, despite this we set off with waterproof capes on along the course.

The course that we took was over areas that I had not previously seen in the park, as usual Brian was there to supervise, provide food and drink, and to chat to in the course of the adventure, as well as to take interesting photos of the event and the surrounding countryside.

At times the weather seemed to improve slightly, and the rain stopped, but then would swiftly continue again, despite that we all seem to be in quite a positive mood as we continued our journey round the park.

Although I was sat down for the duration of the course my legs still ached as did my bottom, so for the next few days yet again I was totally exhausted and even worse I had no sponsors so had raised no money, but least had taken some photos and supported the rest of the participants, my feeling after the event is that we should return yet again next year hopefully with more people in better weather.

Sadly Daves' Deterioration

28 August 2007

Sadly over the last few months, my friend Dave's health has deteriorated, and I have seen a bright intelligent man get worse and worse, that much so, but now just lies in bed unable to speak, eat, or drink and my feeling is that soon he will no longer be with us.

I have to say, but I found it very difficult, to cope with this change, in particular I felt hopeless, because there was nothing I could do to help him along this path, at the same time I have seen my friend Anne spend eight hours a day with him, reassuring him, as well as comforting him, through this period, as he has got worse.

Unfortunately, in the not too distant future, we will be sorting out his affairs, as well as those of his friend, who also died recently, which is a reminder to me that I need to do some forward planning to avoid the same problems if anything happens to me.

Trip To Isle of Man

29 July 2007

Well hello again readers, sorry about the delay, but here we go, the trip to the Isle of Man bye Jeff and Geoff.

We had been planning this trip for some time, on the day it was a bright sunny day, the trip up to Heysham was no problem and it was interesting to watch the way HGV trailers were loaded on the ship by little portable tractors, also how many vehicles were actually loaded onto the ship.

On the trip over we were both tired so we spent most of it fast asleep in the lounge, not realising how much we would need that rest over the next few days, eventually we arrived at Douglas and drove over to see Rod and Lyn at their home, from where they took us to view the place we were going to stay for the next few days.

They then took us for a meal out, on the way back to our accommodation, Geoff explained that many years ago, he had wanted to put a property in the area and believe it or not it was the site that the property we stayed in was on, very strange.The house was very pleasant with everything we needed, including separate bathrooms for each of us.

The following morning we returned to Newby to have a look at the task, which originally was to remove the asbestos soffits, and replace with UPVC, Rod explained that there was woodworm in some of the timbers and also the felt needed replacing as well as the lats, we now realised that the task was going to be much bigger than we first thought, it was a beautiful morning, so undeterred we sorted out what we needed from the builders merchants and set off.

I was already thinking what a lovely place the area was, and that this would be a nice easy pleasant task as we drove for materials, at the builders yard, it started to go wrong, because most of the materials were not in stock and now it was agreed we would re roof the whole of the garage, which is obviously going to take a lot longer.

Having looked at how much I have already written I have decided to cut short on a lot of the detail about what followed, I have to say that the meals that Lynn provided were great, despite her health problems, the setting we were in was beautiful the company was good, other than that though, it was a downhill path all the way.

Nobody told me, about the rain, nor about the wind, both of which we have problems with for the duration of the task, and how much it would affect our ability to carry out the task, nor did they tell me about the attitude of the local builders merchants, who were into mañana every time we went to them, nor did anybody tell me about Rod's need to keep tidying up all the time, in particular just after I had left stuff that we needed out for the next part of the task.

Sadly we never got to see the island nor go for a boat trip, nor did we manage to have any relaxing time apart from at mealtimes, although we have been promised this for the next trip.

The one thing that did happen in the course of the exercise, was that my arms ached, my legs ached, and had bruises in places I do not wish to repeat the whereabouts of.

Generally we achieved the task, with minor cosmetic stuff to be done by Rod after we had left, having said that on the Monday we worked until 4 p.m. then drove down to Douglas, again slept on the boat to arrive totally exhausted home at 1:30 a.m. the following morning, it took me nearly 2 weeks to recover from this, which is interesting because normally my ME would have kicked in and that would have been me for a month or two.

Well Geoff and I hope that some time we will get back there and truly see this beautiful island at our leisure, maybe next year.

Sorry About The Delay

28 August 2007

Well hello readers, sorry about the delay in putting the next post on, but a series of things have delayed this, so thanks very much for your patience and interest.

These have included a trip to the Isle of Man, details of which to follow, another bout of Man Flu, a deterioration in the health of my friend Dave, an accidental overdose of medication, Gay Pride in Manchester and a poorly computer.

Steam Trains & The Isle of Man

What does the title mean you think, well the obvious, last week it was time for another expedition, unfortunatly Andy the third musketeer could not come out to play, so it was down to Brian & I to go out & find these exciting photos of steam trains.

So off to the station we went prepared for all these opportunities to use our cameras, but there they were, the anoraks & geeks they had got there first, I felt quite intimidated with my small compact camera, when they had sophisticated SLR ones, which they were using.

The next shock was no steam engine, just some old diesel to pull the train, but undeterred we boarded the train, reminicing about previous adventures we had had in the past when on train journeys.

We talked about the carriages, the different types we had sat in in our youth, the windows with their leather straps, which sadly ours did not have, then off we set to our destination.

Some 30 minutes later we finally reached the end of the line & off we went to seek out more adventures, in the village of Rawtenstall, we had a full hour to explore before we had to reurn for the train back.

Guess what the place had closed up, nowhere was open apart from the local Tesco & Asda, I dont know where the people came from to keep them in business, we walked up the main street, then back down, that was it apart from the ducks on the river.

Back to the staion to find we had just missed the train so, in to Tesco for supplies & a drink, before returning to the station & guess what, our train had a steam engine, so into photo mode we went, at last we had rejoined the anoraks & geeks.

Onto the train still no straps on the windows, but Brian happily explained how much he used to enjoy smell of the smoke, I felt it was a little smelly & dirty. We noticed that all the staff had brew cans which took me back to the 1960s, we discussed whether these were new reproductions or old ones unearthed from the past, I went on to say I could not understand why they bothered when there were thermos flasks & mircowave cookers, but if it made them happy so what.

We travelled back to Bury then took more photos in case the others did not work, then spotted a fdriend of ours who was a volunteer, we asked him about the leather straps only to be told that they had no stock with them, also that these had never been in the north of England. Quickly we as old Toggs informed him that he was qite wrong that we as youngsters vividly remembered these on the carriages from our youth in the late 50s & 60s so there, so much for technical knowledge.

That sadly was the end of the trip, I will report back on any other adventures as and when they occur, have you noticed that familiar stalker on my photos again, where does he come from.

Just to say after this weekend that I will be in the Isle of Man for a week with my DIY friend visting other, they will be doing tasks on the house there whilst I will take on role of foreman for the week, plus I have been promised that they will show me the sights which I have been waiting to see since my brief trip of 2 hours back in th 1980s, so will tell you of these adventures on my return

Divorce Absolute

Good evening readers, today I recieved the decree absolute, thats the end of my marriage, stating the obvious I am now divorced.




Friends had said I would have all sorts of different emotions but I felt nothing, not sure what that says about me or the marriage, or maybe its yet to hit me.


In the same post this morning I got another letter from the solicitor about the former home, sadly it looks like it is going to run & run, so I am going to have to stay in my flat for the forseeable future,







The short term good news is that the school holidays started today so there will be peace and quiet for the next six weeks, sorry for those that dont know I live opposite a local primary school, and between all the MPVs & 4 wheel drives it gets hectic & noisy outside from 7.30am to 6.30pm monday to friday, thank goodness for weekends, sorry then the pub lot park outside.



Anyway less of this moaning, I am now getting daily e mail from my Grand children courtesy of Bebo, also I have aquired new friends from that site and am learning rapidly about using the chat facility with Skype & Yahoo, the biggest problem is all this typing.

I am not using my brilliant new voice recognition because at present I am still full of my throat infection & am worried in case it thinks my present voice is the norm.

Sadly this week I went to a funeral there were only 2 of us there, what a sad time it was, having said that the undertaker said it was better than the ones where there are stand up fights between warring factions of families.

My friend is still very ill in hospital and we are unsure about what is going to happen to him, we were saying today about how people percieve others & would people think how kind he is & how many people he has helped over the years.

If all goes well Brian Andy & I are going taking photos at the local steam staions of the locomotives, if we get any good ones I will post a few on the blog.

Soon it will be time for the scooter event, lets hope the weather improves, also I seem to now be aquiring acts for the concert, the lovely AMO is going to sing for us and if her voice is as nice as her personality we have a winner, plus she has given me a contact for some dancers, who hopefully will work for free. Another kind person has sort of offerred to do a piano recital for the event & will see if he can find some more acts, so now all I need to do is set the date, which I will hopefully sort out soon


This Photo is of one of the beautiful churches now been demolished for a new super shopping complex, what a shame






Well going back to try some more chat on the net now, please keep reading

What Do they Mean Man Flu

14 July 2007

You may be wondering what on earth I mean by the title, well its like this, I came down with a terrible virus, which gave me a truly terrible chesty cough, then my throat started off & it was painful to speak, so rang GP to be told by practice nurse waste of time seeing GP take lots of water & painkillers & eventually it would abate. She did not know I already drink lots of water then spend a fair bit of the day getting rid of it at the toilet.

Spoke to kind caring people about my illness including work, even they sympathised then I got this comment well its only "Man Flu" do these women not realise us men are delicate creatures who struggle to cope with illness because normally we just plod on & put up with what life throws us.

Well on a more serious note my friend Dave has been poorly now for some time & was readmitted to hospital very ill, strangly enough his friend who he looks after was in same hospital, well Dave could not answer questions which posed a problem when his fried suddenly died, we found the friends will, but there were strange complications because Dave was the executer of the will, but eventually we sorted eveything out for the funeral, sadly we felt it best not to tell Dave any of this, even if he could understand.

We tried to find the code for his safe & the keys, its suprising what we did find but still no keys so next week will get locksmith to open safe, see whats inside, hope its worth the bother.

Due to sorting all this stuff out just when I wanted to print out letters my printer went silly, despite all efforts it seems to of had it so today went & bought new photo printer, it is very clever, one day will understand what all the bits do.

Sadly because been ill no chance to obtain MP3 player so will be another new toy next week, I forgot to say my DVD recorder started playing up the other day as well so that has gone to hospital for repair, already missing it & freeview, plus video has problem but supplier has no replacements to offer me at present, it appears nobody is buying videos any more, so I have to hang on until they get more stock in.

I dont know what has happened but someone from Sweden has been looking at my blog, sadly they have not posted a comment on it, also since the party more of you appear to be having a look at it, thank you it encourages me to continue, was going to put new post re Black Puddings but photos not good so will have to go back & get some more, if you readers would supply more it would make my task easier & better for others to look at.

If there are any ME people out there or clever people, please tell me why I keep misspelling words when I know how to, have been trying to use voice recognition which was better than my spelling but at present is to painful due to throat infection.

Life Now I Am 60

Well folks slowly I am coming to terms with my new status, last week went to get my bus pass, sadly even got that wrong, remembered everything but proof of where I live, so another trip this week.

Tried to help friend out with shifting furniture, was okay till back set off, was fit for nothing for 2 days, so had to abandon all activity.

On the positive side, have been invited out twice this week, went to see Kath & Harry who I have known for for ever the other day, when we caught up with the last 40 years in an afternoon.

On sunday going to see Pauline & Billy for dinner, to show photos & have a chat about the party, Michelle who I have not seen for over 20 years will also be there, not sure if I will recognise her, again a sign of getting old.

Went for a meal out with Zorro today, tried to remember musical based on Shanglia took nearly 2 hours to remember it was Lost Horizon, neither of us could remember the hit song from Chorus Line that wasent "what I did for love" still cannot now, could go & look at LP( thats a big round vinyl thing for you young ones) but will get distracted & start other tasks.

Finally I have gone mad & ordered a brand new MP3 player so will see what exciting things I can do with it, when it arrives, so long as I do not loose it, or mislay it.

My computer will soon be upgraded with more memory so will then work quicker, shame the same does not work for me.

By the way all you readers what has happenned to the photos for my fast food blog, it seems to of gone very quiet.

Regarding the ME group, slowly getting to know the people there, have found some really nice people on the message board, the thing I have been most impressed at is how some people find the strenth to put up with the all that life seems to keep throwing at them, whilst still supporting others.

My loyalalties are being split at present my grand daughter signed me up to BEBO & the family keep sending me e mail which is lovely but for the fact often it is in text speak that I do not understand, also it means I have to go into this daily to read & reply, plus what an alien world they all live in, another sign of old age I suppose

What Happens Next

Hello readers, I am really pleased that some more people have finally had a look at my blog & I hope that they will continue coming back, so will have to work hard to keep this up.

Please provide suggestions that will encourage this to happen, if you have not seen the photos of the party please go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreyb3/

Well on another site somebody said well what will he be doing for his 61st, well the answer is long before that the next event is a sponsored scooter event in August, followed by another concert to raise money for Shopmobility some time later in the year or early next year.

Before that I am off to look at the Isle of Man at long last for a weeks holiday, I am hoping the weather is going to be good & that I will get some good photos to show you all.

As far as I can make out we managed to raise £320 to help pay for education of children in Zambia, thanks to you all.

Apart from the big event, work did a special suprise event for me first thing Monday morning, then we went out for a meal out last night.

The Partys Over

At long last the secrets out I came as Merlin from the musical Camelot, who also featured in Shrek 2 & 3, I have to say nobody guessed it, you can now see whether the costume really was worth the effort, I think it shows me in another light.

Good morning all you readers, my 60th party finally took place last night, most of the friends I was expecting came, but sadly there were a number of people who could not come.

These included Laura who was so excited that she started with contractions, and was told to rest, Kath and Harry where health was a problem, as it was for Andy and Sue, you were all sadly missed.

It was great to see all the people that came, some I have known for over 40 years whereas others I have only known for a few short months, I feel that most of the people enjoyed the event, and it was great to see how much effort some had gone to in regard to their costume, although after all I had said I was disappointed that Tony did not come as the policeman from Allo Allo.

I have to say a special thank you to my son and his family, Brian and Tony, the staff at Smithills, and Wally, Amo and Tanya for providing the music and encouraging the entertainment of those that were brave enough to go on the dancefloor.

When I originally thought of this party I decided I was only going to invite nice people who are special to me, from the way the party went and the kindness of all the people I feel I achieved the objective, so thank you all again.

For those who read this but do not know, I had asked that people donate money to provide education for children in Zambia rather than give me presents, I do not know the final total, but with the cheques I have at present, it should pay for education of three children for at least a year.

I will try to give you all an update on how the money is spent when I am informed as well as how much was actually raised.

I have already transferred the video to my DVD recorder so if anybody wants a copy I will happily send one, I am trying to sort out the photographs and any of you who've taken photos at the event who are happy to send me theirs, I will happily put a selection on Flickr for the rest to see.

I am absolutely shattered but my son and family, will be arriving shortly so I will now sign off.

Sixty at Last

Hello everybody

Well I have finally got to 60, it doesent seem to of made any difference yet, in fact on the day I only recieved one card in the post, but got a text from my son & grand daughters who will soon arrive for the party.
Later went to shopmobility & was presented with a cake & cards, so felt a little better. When I got home there were birthday wishes from some of my new friends from the message board.

As an anti climax I spent the afternoon at the hospital trying to sort out progress re his discharge.

This morning no cards before I left, but good friend rang about other matters, I thought eventually he would say why he had not been in touch, he did he had been walking in Derbyshire, I felt the need to ask him if he knew what day it was yesterday, Tuesday he said, my birthday said I, he was mortified.

Well went to work & entered our office I had decide that there would be a suprise party at lunch time for me because after all I was 60, I entered our office to the sound of party poppers & "happy birthday" my collegues had come through, the office had been decorated with balloons etc & I was presented with a posh new watch.

Sadly later I was then presented with a huge chocolate fudge cake, how did they know I cant resist this, we took some photos & I e mailed them but they have got lost so will have to post them later.

Came home, another card but where are the rest, hopefully they are going to arrive at my birthday party, if not I have judged the number of my friends very poorly & will not have another party for at least another 10 years when I have got my act together.

Having said that I going out next week for a joint celebration of my birthday & a friends pregnancy, just hope she does not get to excited & have the baby there, I wonder if I could insist that baby be in fancy dress.

Only 5 More Days To Go

Hi Everybody

Well only the music to sort out now, for the event, plus the the boredom when everyone finally sees the costume, there was me thinking it was a famous musical & when I checked it wasent even in the top 100.

I have just discovered Flickr so when its all over I will upload some of the photos so you can see whether it was all worth while.

As you will all be aware today was fathers day, sadly through circumstance apart from a conversation over the net I was unable to spend the day with any family, maybe next year it will get better, having said that there are other friends who have much greater problems than I

Nearly time for My 60th

Well everybody, I am nearly ready for my birthday, most people have now confirmed whether they are coming, sadly some will be unable to attend, so we will have to make some other arrangements.

My costume is sorted out & I have been cleverer than I thought & found it is quite topical at present.

Not satisfied with one party I am now exploring one at work for all those that can not go to the main event.

Besides this last week I was the official photographer for the local carnival, we had the famous Fred Flintstone & his beautiful wife Wilma as special guests , the only problem was his car being so old it stopped working quite quickly and needed people power to keep it going.

I have just arranged a trip to the Isle of Man with a friend in July, last time I was there it took 8 hours each way and we had 2 hours to see all the sights, so this time it will be for a week and hopefully I will see all the beautiful scenary.

When all this is over I then have to sort out a scooter rally & the next concert fund raisers, just reading through all this I am now feeling quite exausted.

June is busting out all over

6 June 2007

Good evening all you readers, sorry I have been quiet again but it seems to have been very busy in life at the moment.

At present the local Metro is not working very far & there is a link bus service in operation, to do 10 miles it took nearly two hours this morning.

I have just started to use speech recognition at work, hopefully soon I will be dictating at some great rate rather than making my hands worse than they are.

Well we are now very close to my birthday, but unforunatly some have still not replied so we will wait & see who turns up & how they will be dressed.

The forum I have joined in relation to my ME is proving to be very interesting & helpful, it has helped inspire me in relation to costumes for the party, for myself & others, but also has given me a greater insight into how difficult it is for others with ME just to get through the day.

Sadly yet again despite all my promises I have become hooked by Big Brother, the worst bit is to find out the twins are social work students, I just hope eventually they practice some of their training on the other housemates.

Some More New Adventures Of A Happy Togg

19 May 2007

Well hello all you readers, sorry I have not been in touch for a while but I have been really busy with other things.

Firstly it is now a month to my birthday, but a few extra to my party, so I have sent off most of the invitations & Zorro has already confirmed he had recieved his. I am quite sorry that Hamster cannot make it but after all it is a long way for him to come for one night.

It took me ages to sort out the invitations & I am very grateful to AMO for all her hard work

on the cards. I am sure you are all in agreement about this, thanks again AMO, you will go to the party.

The other thing that I have done is to join in with the local ME group forum, sorry I most probably have not told those of you that do not know that, I have had this condition for at least 15 years.

It has been an interesting experiance, both happy & sad, some people are coping in a very positive way as far as i can see, but sadly & maybe with some good reason others are very angry about the condition & their life since ME.

Tomorrow I am going to see a couple of choirs with Brian, so hopefully will report back to you all.

Back Safe & Sound from Scarborough

8 May 2007

Hello again readers, as you may remember the plan was to trip off to Scarborough this bank holiday.well Brian & I got there saterday morning, despite weather reports the weather was mild & even better no rain, but on the front it was quite windy.

The accomodation was pleasant & there was even a teddy to stop us feeling lonely in the bedroom & the landlady was very pleasant & welcoming so after unpacking we went to the Spa & looked in on a piano accordian competition which was taking place with free admission, so in we went, immediately Brian found £15 which because there were young children there we worried that it could of been one of them that had lost it.

It was agreed that I would take it to the judges to hold in case the owner turned up so, I explained this to them & that we were not trying to bribe them. We then sat & egerly waited for the event that took nearly half an hour. Finally the young children came on, played a tune quite well then left. Because it was nice & warm we decided to wait another half hour & finally another group of children arrived played the same piece then left, we decided this was the time to go.

We then wandered round the town taking photos then went to my favourite chippy for Brian to try their fish & chips & for me to try the sticky toffee pudding with custard, which as usual was really enjoyable.

My back started to ache so off to the digs I went for a lie down whilst Brian continued to to explore, & we met later early evening to take photos of the beautiful sunset, the only problem was it was nearly an hour before we finally got the photos, what do you think of my effort. Sadly as on my last holiday I had started with blisters on my feet which I feel I will suffer from for the next few weeks.

The following day we went off to Cayton Bay which I had memories of from over 20 years ago, suprise suprise it was still as quiet & beautiful as I remembered. It is strange how we travel abroad when there are lovely beaches over here deserted. For a change we spent a fair bit of time taking photos then exploring the rock pools for sea life.

Eventualy as usual I became tired so we made our way back to Scarborough & back to the digs for me to have a lie down for a few hours. In the evening we went up to the castle for some more interesting sunsets which I hope you will agree were worth the effort.

On our last day we went to Peasholme Park looking for dragons, spending a really pleasant few hours there, as did many other people. I was pleasantly suprised at how many young families were content just to feed the squirrels & go on the pedalos as a family with no blasting out of loud music or drunken yobs, ( I realise I am really becoming a Grumpy old Tog) but it wa a beautifully laid out park with interesting little suprises round corners, well done Scarborough. By the way if you are very quiet & look closely you will see one of the heroes of this post above & if you are very quiet yo will see the shy dragons gathering together

Finally it was time to go back so before we left I went to buy some of my favourite cakes ( Little Jacks) Brian said they are just flat scones, but finally off we set, I fell asleep but when I woke up Brian was kind enough to say he had seen a whole new side to me, I did not talk in my sleep so it is possible for me not to speak for an hour.

When we got back the Mero service was suspended so it was nearly another hour, then when we got to the bus station guess what the bus had just gone, so I decided blow the expense so I finally got home at nine thirty at night.