Last night was a bit of a rush job at the last minute. Mandi arrived at my house just in time to have to turn straight round and go out again. Or at least we would have if I'd had the brains to dry my jeans earlier. We were due to go and see the legendary Neville Staple in a small club gig at The Maze, which is only walking distance from home.

And it gave the opportunity for a pit stop in Asda to use the toilet and check myself in the full length mirror...

It had to rate as one of the best gigs I'd been to for a long time. Two fantastic supports acts starting with Jimmy The Squirrel (highly recommended) and Indiana Fox. There wasn't the usual long wait between acts, but seeing as live music venues rolled over and accepted the smoking ban rather than fight/ignore it, there was sufficient time to nip outside and back without missing anything.

We pitched ourselves up ringside and before long you couldn't move. Apart from a couple of trips to the bar (where I was drinking Coke, followed by bottled water) we managed to keep pretty much where we started. By the end I was soaked in sweat and spilled drinks as a result of not stopping dancing the entire time Staple was on the stage.

On the way home we walked through the Forest Recreation Ground, and couldn't resist a go on the swings...

We don't stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing!

I read about that bag of Woolworths Pick and Mix that I was on about in yesterdays blog. The final total that it sold for was £14,500.

The money!

The sentimental value!

I'm not starting that again. I was struck by a thought though, who was stupid enough to pay such a large amount of money for what is essentially a bag of sweets? Take away the fact that misty eyed nostalgia means that we all now fondly miss Woolies, even though many of us didn't use it for years thus aiding its demise, and you are left with a paper bag full of sweets that cost you fourteen and a half grand. I'll bet the buyer doesn't share them out. I'd piss myself laughing if I find out one of their kids, not old enough to know better, toddled in and saw a bag of sweets and got stuck in. Because that sort of misfortune is hilarious when it isn't you that suffers.

Earlier today I read about an Ebay sale of what would appear to be the last bag of actual Woolworths Pick and Mix. At the time of posting it was up to about three hundred pounds.

Nuts!

When I first started talking to Mandi she gave me the nickname 'The Milk Tray Man', due to my wardrobe containing only black clothing. When she first stayed at my house I bought a box of said chocolates and hid them in the bed for her to find.

The Milk Tray box now contains the train tickets from my first visit to Doncaster when we first met, our Christmas cards to each other, a couple of small things in my Christmas stocking she made me, and the Christmas TV guide that we bought one lovely weekend at the beginning of December.

It also contains a Woolworths Pick and Mix bag, from the last ever shopping trip in the much missed store. 

The bag is an essential part of my box of loving memories that one day I'll bore my grandchildren with.

If it was full of sweets then it would be worth a few hundred quid.

But the sentimental value!

But the money!

But the sentimental value!

I showed Emily the article before I set the computer up for her, (she wanted to go on her Facebook profile to have a live chat with her half sister). I pointed out that my empty bag wasn't worth as much as the one being auctioned.

Then she said that we could buy sweets from anywhere to fill the bag, and nobody would know as the same sweets are on sale all over the place.

Devious!

But the sentimental value!

But the money!

The latest price bid at the time of writing..

Thirteen thousand pounds!

But the sentimental value!

But the money!

270 Degrees

That's how much an owl can turn its head by.

An owl has two slits for ears. One is higher than the other in order to use sound to locate its prey.

An owl has an extra eyelid that opens and closes sideways like a curtain. This extra eyelid is transparent so it can close its eyes and still see while swooping through foliage to catch a small animal, and at the same time protect their eyes from branches.

Today we went to Central Library in Nottingham to see a talk by the boss of Greenwood Owl Rescue. I learned something new.

Lets Make A Snowman!

We eventually left the house at about half past two after a lovely roast chicken lunch. We only got dressed about ten minutes before lunch, but that's Sunday. When we'd finally dressed, cleaned our teeth and had the obligatory post roast poop it was time to enjoy a rare bit of sunshine in the forest.

It was in the majestic beauty of our surroundings that we spotted some remaining snow. Ice would describe it better actually.

So we jabbed it with a stick to soften it before making a little snowman.

To give you some idea of size, here he is next to me. I'm the one at the back wearing Converse

This evening not only did I persuade Emily to tidy her room, but by some miracle she threw out almost a whole bin bag full of stuff, and created two carrier bags for a charity shop dumping. I don't know where she gets her hoarding tendencies from!

A Genius Loose In Nottingham

The BBC Nottingham website has a running webcam showing the Market Square, this webcam refreshes about every hour.

It stops refreshing at ten o'clock at night, and starts again at eight in the morning.

This system was fine, but I have a feeling an emergency meeting may have been called this morning.



I know it is a horrible word when used incorrectly, but creative vandalism like this is just genius. Did they plan this with intricate detail? Or was it a lucky fluke?