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RichardB posted an update 1 year, 5 months ago
Christmas spirit was alive and well at our ‘local’ this morning when we turned up for a drink on the house ‘as a thank you to our regulars.’ The landlord (yes, really: it’s a free house) was wearing a teeshirt saying ‘You scumbag’ and the landlady one saying ‘You maggot.’ Pity I didn’t catch them side by side…
Merry Christmas, all, what’s left of it.
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Athelstone started the topic One Christmas in the forum Coffee Shop 1 year, 5 months ago
Back on the WordCloud I started a group called Advent for Christmas-related posts. It was slightly popular, but back then we had an active wall and plenty of other groups, so it never flew especially high.
I posted a short children’s story. It needs a good edit that I might give it one day, but i think it’s quite fun, so if you’re in need of some…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Happy Christmas in the forum Coffee Shop 1 year, 5 months ago
And many thanks to you, Libby, and to the other happy few who make this place worth keeping. A very happy Christmas to us all.
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RichardB replied to the topic Monthly Competition – December 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 5 months ago
I salute you, Ath. The last time we had a kitchen makeover we had it done professionally, though to be fair to myself that was an intregal part of the deal. To show my respect I am actually responding to your prompt, for a change.
Modelling Therapy
I’ve always been a sucker for a nice model. In my youth I used to build plastic kits (Airfix and…[Read more]
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Aha! Yes, having it done professionally was always part of my view of things as well. Then we both agreed to spend more than we probably should on the various bits and pieces. The chap in the shop said, in confidence, our fitting is expensive and you might want to get your own fitter. He hit some keys and offered us in excess of £4.5k for…[Read more]
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My God, i salute you again. Fitting tiny bits together that are already the right size, as in my entry piece, is one thing, but I’ve never had the skill to do DIY to such fine tolerances. Now I’m old and can usually find the money to pay for work to be done professionally I try to avoid DIY altogether, though I did manage the other day to mend a…[Read more]
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I think it was the number of surprises that wore me down. We looked at finished units in a showroom and it never occurred to me that the various pieces wouldn’t be supplied ready to fit. So when the parts arrived it was a shock to see several 4 metre lengths of aluminium lying amongst them, together with endless bags of anonymous and unexplained…[Read more]
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You are right Ath, paying for installation is rather expensive so I’ve opted for Christmas at daughters and have been gutting the kitchen myself. Also sourced some of the new items myself, although, like you, have gone for integral fridge and dishwasher.
So far I’ve emptied the cupboards and removed all the upper ones the extractor fan…[Read more]
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RichardB posted an update 1 year, 5 months ago
Just had two days without power, courtesy of Storm Darragh. By yesterday afternoon the house was so cold we were wearing our outdoor coats indoors. The mobile network went down too, so what with the landline going digital we were completely isolated. The power finally came back on just before midnight, and the house is still warming up. The mobile…[Read more]
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Afterthought: when ‘they’ were planning the change to digital landlines did they consider the possible consequences of running the system via broadband routers, dependant on the national grid, or did they simply not care? If I’d had a heart attack or something during those two days I would have died. We had no way of calling an ambulance.
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I hope things are back to normal now, Richard. The lack of means of communication is frightening.
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Yes thanks, we are okay now, though the boiler had to work non-stop for 48 hours to get the house back to normal temperature.
Our ‘local’ pub (about four miles away) were in the same fix. They had hundreds of people booked for Saturday night dinner and Sunday lunch, and the guvnor had to drive five miles to a supermarket car park to get a signal…[Read more]
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Athelstone started the topic Monthly Competition – December 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 5 months ago
I did the first one of the year. Here’s the last. I’ve been fitting a kitchen. Plumbing, carpentry, stuff to a standard I’ve never managed before. Came close to giving up once or twice.
Up to 500 words on doing something really difficult.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition- November 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 5 months ago
Thanks Seagreen. Glad you laughed. Well, Terrie, there’s a coincidence. I’ve barely been able to write for the last month having been fitting our new kitchen. Completely new from top to bottom including having to rebuild joists under the floor and fit a kitchen to an accuracy of 1mm per metre. As I’ve never done anything to that accuracy except by…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic The latest in vanity publishing in the forum Marketplace 1 year, 5 months ago
I’m not surprised by this. For some time there have been AI editing features available with Prowritingaid, Grammarly and so on. I have the former, and although I seldom use the AI features, some of which are behind an additional paywall, I have given them a spin in the past. What you get from one of the reports does appear to be a reasonably…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition- November 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 5 months ago
Argus 26 November 2024
Brighton man grows hair for five years for special reason.
I remember the blonde hair on the windowsill. My hair’s brown, so it must have come from Taz. Her hair is, or was, I should say, long, and rich, and blonde. Curious, I ran my fingers through my hair a few times and then examined what had come loose. Not a lot,…[Read more]
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RichardB replied to the topic The latest in vanity publishing in the forum Marketplace 1 year, 5 months ago
Yes, it’s rather chilling, isn’t it?
One doesn’t tend to think of Roald Dahl as a sci-fi writer, but he foresaw something like this. Over seventy years ago one of his early adult short stories, The Great Automatic Grammartizator, told the tale of a nerd who invents a machine that generates stories at such a prodigious rate that he takes over the…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic New BBC Radio 4 book programme in the forum Blogs 1 year, 6 months ago
Looks very promising. I shall be donning the headphones when I set about cooking dinner.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Is a social media Christmas appeal worthwhile? in the forum Blogs 1 year, 6 months ago
If it has any impact at all on the publishing world, I would be pleased. I can see that it is galling when an author with a genuine passion for writing, say for a young audience, hones their craft and achieves moderate success, and then watches a celeb waltz in like an unoriginal bargain-basement Roald Dahl, have a small fortune spent on…[Read more]
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I wholly agree, though in a fit of madness, I thought that an increased gathering of writers might at least get our voices heard, if not have any bearing on sales. It would be a start if some regulation was brought in regards being able to blatantly claim someone else’s work is your own – but too many influential people are on the opposing side to…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Comp – October 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 6 months ago
Darn it! Missed it! A fab selection though.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 7 months agoPlease don’t feel you have to emphasise the differentness. It was a throw-away comment about making me happy. The following remark that making me happy is not a condition of entry to the challenge was intended to say that. What should probably have put is that emphasis on difference will be great, but not emphasising it will also be…[Read more]
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Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 7 months agoRe absence of choices and surprises. I’m not sure really. Sometimes they’ve helped me push myself to do something dramatically different, or have at least significantly shaped what I’ve written. Other times they just made slight complications to writing the story I would have written anyway. Generally it’s the overall theme I have the biggest…[Read more]
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Gosh, I had to read that last sentence twice! I’m astounded that only one of your excellent challenge stories has been accepted. Really sorry to hear that.
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Thanks Thea. In part I’m sure it’s my own fault for not being persistent enough. That said, I can’t help worrying that there’s something indefinably dated or just offputting in my writing. I should add that since I wrote the above, another story based on one of the Den challenge pieces was accepted for an anthology, but for various reasons that…[Read more]
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Congratulations on having another story accepted. You say the anthology might be “up in the air”, so I really hope it all goes through alright.
I honestly don’t think there’s anything “dated” or “off-putting” in your stories. I’ve read several in the challenges over the years and they have all been excellent. I’m sure that if you look back at the…[Read more]
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RichardB posted an update 1 year, 7 months ago
Back in 1966, while Ralph (Streets of London) McTell was earning his living busking on the streets of Paris, he met a Norwegian girl called Nanna Stein, and wrote a song for her, simply called Nanna’s Song, which is the most moving evocation I know of the joy of young love. By the end of that year they were married. They stayed together through…[Read more]
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Sad to hear. 58 years is a long time, and in the world of arts and entertainment must be close to a miracle. I’ve always liked Ralph McTell, although Streets of London isn’t my favourite of his songs. I have a taste for some of the more “hippy folksy” stuff like Nettle Wine.
Oddly enough, when your post appeared, I was reading about the…[Read more]-
Ah yes. From memory:
Fetching water from the brook
Wondering who it was who took
The stones from the mountain to build this cottage here
Two up and two down
Miles from the nearest town
I don’t know who he was though the reason why is clear.
McTell once said that the reason why there aren’t many love songs in his canon was that ‘I got all that…[Read more]-
They’re very different, but it reminds me of some of the old Incredible String Band stuff
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Ath, listening to this, I was reminded of the songs of Andy Comley who comes from Southampton way and wondered whether you knew of him?
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When you said the name it rang a bell, but after looking at his web site and listening to some songs, I don’t think I did know of him. Might have heard his name from my brother who is more seriously into folk music than me.
Edit: although listening to a couple more songs, he’s not actually that folksy, is he? -
Sandra Davies
11:09 (0 minutes ago)
to DenMy younger son lived in Southampton for a bit; one of his housemates took him along to gigs and I benefitted from 3 CDs, much played in the days I was working in my studio, liking the lyrics.
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I liked Southampton. I lived there from Autumn 1977 to Summer 1985 and always felt at home in the town. Only left because of work.
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Not in Southampton, but I’m lucky to have lived in the New Forest all my life, find it very inspirational.
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RichardB replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 7 months agoThat’s two steps out of character for me. First, I enter the monthly competition for the first time in God knows how long. Now, having a history of inspiration for the annual challenge not descending until the last minute, i’ve had an idea already. Whether I’ll succeed in making a story out of it, we’ll have to wait and see, but the germ is…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 7 months agoHow many words would it be? That said, it isn’t against the rules, and this is a challenge to produce a short story in any way you see fit as long as it fits with the theme.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 7 months agoI’m interested in how people feel about the different approach this year, i.e. the absence of choices and surprises. It was something suggested to me by a group member and I thought I’d give it a go.
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I have always loved the choices and surprises – they’ve taken me out of my comfort zone and challenged me in ways I didn’t expect. It was always fun in the run up to the reveal and, ultimately, to see who made what of the same (or similar) choices. Last year, however, I didn’t enter the comp because one of the elements completely threw me (can’t…[Read more]
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And to you. We’ve just waived 14 guests away after hosting a Boxing Day buffet. I enjoyed it, mainly, but glad it’s done.