Back to the real world - via cheap plates

Had to come back to the real world today. Went via the IKEA store, who were having a celebration which involved selling things for 10 pence. Including plates, clocks, dishes and some things that we can't presently identify. But for less than the price of a mars bar, who cares. So we got two.

Spent the least amount we ever have, and brought back the most.

Bronte Country with Added Words

Today we trundled off to take a look at "Bronte Country"(tm). This is the birthplace of the great literature produced by the sisters Anne, Emma and Charlotte. I've not read much of it myself; apparently there are no car chases, alien abductions or plots involving Westminster Cathedral.

However, the trip itself was very enjoyable, unlike the lot of the Brontes themselves. Their lives were actually pretty tragic, and horribly short. A little while after they had all succumbed to various illnesses a government man was despatched to take a look at the state of the village. He reported that an open sewer running down the main street of the village, surrounded by rotting rubbish, was probably not condusive to healthy living and a long life. The upshot was proper drainage and a decent water supply, but it came too late for the writing sisters who professed such a strong love for the neighbourhood that probably killed them.

Haworth is a great place to visit. The little village main street is full of interesting shops and the vicarage where the Brontes lived was very well preserved and has a great atmosphere. I've put some pictures on Flickr if you are really interested..

Then back to the hotel for the night. In an attempt to prove my literary qualities I took on number one wife at Scrabble. And lost.

In Hot Water

Went up town today. In a record shop which cannot be named (but the girl who it is named after can't get out that much) they have a huge window full of Playstation Portable boxes in a rather attractive arrangement. "That would make a nice picture for both my blog readers" thinks I. So out comes the little camera and I dash off a couple of pictures. Then a man comes up to me and asks if I have permission to take pictures. Of course I haven't, but I say I have anyway, since number one son told me to do it. "Is it written permission?" comes the response. Well, number one son hasn't written anything down, and so probably not. "I only wanted the picture for my blog" I said piteously. Do you know, the fellow didn't know what a blog was. Young people today.

I wonder if I dare go back into that shop ever again?


(and I've just discovered that the Blogger spell checker doesn't know the word "blog". Now that is scary.)

Jack Attack

previously on 24......

CTU Expendable : "Jack, are you sure that this clock is right?"

[BANG...BANG...WHOOOSH...BANG]

CTU Expendable : "uuuuuurghhhh"

Jack : "If only I'd got here sooner..."

Scary Post

Today we were all scared of the postman. He came up the path, pushed a bunch of fat envelopes through the letterbox and then strolled next door. We just sat cowering in the living room. For today was results day. The day that number one daughter finds out if the last two years of solid effort have been in vain, and where she is spending the next three years of her life.

Finally we dared open up some of the envelopes to discover that all is well. Good grades all round and a chance to spend three years in York as the prize. In a few months number one wife and I will be a childless couple. Of course the places that the kids (as I still dare to call them occasionally) have gone to have around the shortest teaching periods ever which means that they will be back in a startling short time. But it will still be a bit strange to have the TV stay on the same channel for more than 20 seconds at a time, and to find that the biscuit barrel still has some chocolate digestives left in it.....