Tag Archives: october

personal, ramblings

Unblogged October

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Thursday 1
Just how is it the beginning of October and we’re three quarters through the year? Another summer been and gone and no tan to show for it.

Friday 2
What a crazy day. Came the gardener. Went he for a medical appointment. He returned, what time we were away getting our Covid and Flu jabs. Just very odd all round.

Saturday 3
An awful day. Got up with a crashing headache, which was not really touched by paracetamol. Felt ropey; everything aching and not working. Spent the afternoon asleep, but didn’t feel very much better for it. I suspect the after-effects of yesterday’s flu jab. Hopefully will clear overnight tonight.

Sunday 4
Feeling a bit better although now the back is playing up – luckily an osteopath appointment tomorrow. Just cannot concentrate on anything, so nothing is getting done. And “her indoors” has reached three score years and fifteen.

Monday 5
Still feeling a bit meh and depressed; cannot concentrate on anything. Sitting outside the osteopath’s waiting to be picked up at dusk I was struck by several things: some pretty cirrus cloud, pink in the setting sun, which didn’t move at all; the number of aircraft going over, at one time I could see seven; and the number of squadrons of gulls and then crows heading off to roost.

Tuesday 6
Two more from yesterday. Why do things get earlier and earlier every year?
First, I spotted the first remembrance poppy (on a municipal sign). (Diamond Geezer spotted them too) It isn’t even Halloween yet and Remembrance Day (yeuch) is still over a month away. At least the BBC haven’t yet imposed poppies on presenters. I agree with Evelyn Waugh who described Remembrance Day as

… a disgusting idea of artificial nonsense and sentimentality. If people have lost sons and fathers, they should think of them whenever the grass is green or Shaftesbury Avenue brightly lighted, not for two minutes on the anniversary of a disgraceful day of national hysteria.

Second (and worse?) was the first fairy light twinkling Christmas tree. OK a slight excuse for this as it was outside a kindergarten. And a report that a local Sainsbury’s is already smothered in Christmas, even before Halloween!

Wednesday 7
We had rain. Proper rain. Steadily for most of the day. And now the rednecks think the hosepipe ban should be lifted. They really do not understand how short of water the country is. Gawdelpus!

Thursday 8
It’s definitely rather cooler today – but no more than average for October. In fact probably not even that low. I remember when I was a teenager by now we would have had several days of frost already this autumn. I wonder if we’ll get any frost this winter?

Saturday 10
Oh bugger! Overnight our silver birch tree has fallen into next door’s garden; and may have taken a limb of the oak tree with it. Tree surgeon supposedly coming early tomorrow to look and maybe do the removal job.
And at lunchtime a small grey/brown, sparrow-sized bird in the garden; looked like a warbler, but by the time I’d got binoculars it had gone. Definitely warbler; but no idea which.

Sunday 11
Cometh the tree surgeons; preceded by the gardener. Looked. Said a figure. And got on with the job. Boy did the three of them work hard. Tree, ivy and lots of rose down and stuffed through their industrial shredder – blimey it was noisy. And they were very diligent about clearing up after themselves. All done and dusted in time for late lunch. So they’re getting a follow-on job. Amongst the tree and ivy there was obviously a squirrel’s nest (but surprisingly no obvious birds nests), as they removed a huge amount of grey fur; it was interesting as it was almost like nylon, rather than soft and downy as I expected.

Monday 12
Awful day. Totally washed out and incapable, physically and mentally. N felt much the same. So we abandoned the plans for the day and just sat around doing nothing.

Tuesday 13
One feels a lot better for a good night’s sleep. That is until the osteopath tries bending your feet behind your ears and leaving the thighs stiff and aching.

Wednesday 14
This evening another excellent, very interesting, and well attended online talk for the literary society, which I host on Zoom.

Thursday 15
Interesting chat with the senior nurse at doctors for my annual diabetes check-up. All basically well controlled (except weight, of course). Blood tests look OK, but computer says I might have liver damage, so I have to talk to GP and have an ultra-sound test – this is new and the nurses don’t understand why it’s being imposed. No I won’t go on Ozempic; I hear of too many side effects, we don’t have enough long-term experience, and there’s rapid weight gain if you come off it. Moreover I won’t have the NHS bullying me. Interestingly the nurse admitted that NHS staff also get bullied from above, and keep having these new checks to do with no explanation.

Friday 16
Only the second time I’ve been into central London since Covid hit. So nice to go to a favourite pub, which is just as good as ever, and have lunch with a friend from US. But the traffic was awful; even worse than I remember it when I was doing the journey regularly 25 years ago; and this on a Friday when everyone works from home!

Saturday 17
Oh bugger! I was going to go to the literary society pub meet at lunchtime, but woke up with what felt like the start of one of my vestibular migraines. So I abandoned and stayed home, gently doing. Fortunately it didn’t develop and by evening I was a lot clearer. So annoying!

Sunday 18
Comes the gardener to finish clearing up all the rose etc. that was cut down last Sunday and left in next door’s garden because he ran out of light! He also cut back the front hedge on next door’s side, which we promised to do for them. Meanwhile yesterday I arranged the tree surgeons for mid-December to finish cutting down and cutting back the other, less urgent, bits that need doing.

Monday 19
It was one of those days when “they” kept rearranging the bread and butter under my feet. Literary society officers demanding (because they can’t think it through for themselves); doctors wanting to rearrange my recently cancelled appointment (and surprised I won’t do next week); vet agitating about Tilly’s samples (so they have to be dropped off); and a trip to the osteopath (who had screwed up his diary, so had to squeeze both of us into one appointment slot). Just what is wrong with the Universe today?

Tuesday 20
Rain! At long last we’ve had some proper rain. It was clearly wet overnight and rained on and off all day. If the forecast is correct this continues for most of the next week, which would be good (even if not enough).

Wednesday 21
Today’s cook-a-thon was “pies”. (1) Chicken, turkey and cauliflower with borlotti beans and mushroom sauce under mashed potato – enough for tonight and tomorrow. (2) Apple with tinned peaches & apricots, plus a couple of tots of peach schnapps, ½ teaspoon almond essence and a dusting of ground cinnamon under a crumble topping – some tonight and several days of breakfasts to come.

Saturday 24
Lunchtime. Around 10 green parakeets sitting in our trees. Plus a jay and two crows around. The crows were obviously upset about something as they arrived like a pair of jet fighters; possibly the parakeets or more likely the jay. Anyway, and I didn’t see this clearly, I think one of the crows got hold of a parakeet and physically removed it, although the parakeet appeared to escape.

Sunday 25
Oh bugger! For the first time in ages I have a filthy cold – which is obviously why I was feeling rubbish yesterday. And today has been pretty much a write off. N is a couple of days ahead of me, and has the bronchitic version. So this is going to scupper plans for the week. Not impressed; and no idea where it came from.

Saturday 31
Yes, I’ve been AWOL for the last week. The aforementioned filthy cold turns out to be Covid. Having avoided it until now, suddenly it appears out of nowhere. Apart from having lost most of my sense of smell and taste, it has really only been like flu. I’m recovering, slowly; my temperature has stayed normal for a couple of days and the cough is going; I’m left with a total lack of energy (physical and mental), little smell or taste, and a headache. I’m just hoping it doesn’t turn into Long Covid.

All round a pretty rubbish month.

history, links, science, sexuality, topographical

Monthly Links

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Our monthly selection of links to items you may have missed …

Science, Technology, Natural World

So what if this Universe was made in somebody else’s laboratory? [LONG READ]

Voyager 1 is way beyond and listening to the stars – but for how long? [LONG READ]

Juno is another space probe which is still working after many more years than expected surveying Jupiter. [LONG READ]

On the curious history of Dark Matter.

There’s a recent, and rather inexplicable, international agreement to abandon leap seconds and maybe sometime impose a leap hour. Two reports, the first from The Guardian, and the second from The Conversation.

Now we mention time, it is being suggested that animal life may be significantly older than we have hitherto thought.

The sexual behaviour of animals (including humans) changes with the advent of autumn.

We end this section with something completely different … surprising as it may seem, the humble sheet of A4 paper is one of humanity’s greatest achievements.

Health, Medicine

Flu has kicked off early this year, but how do the various suggested causes stand up to scrutiny?

Sexuality & Relationships

The Dutch, being progressives, have a new word for labia, but will it catch on?

The thoughts of one man on what he feels it’s like to have a foreskin.

So here’s an explainer – for the boys and anyone educating them – about wet dreams … because most of us were never told and had to work it out for ourselves.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

A look at how we talk about pregnancy.

Etymologist Susie Dent takes a look at collective nouns.

So you thought you new English grammar and punctuation? Well here are 19 strange punctuation marks you never imagined you’d need.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

It appears that the Neanderthals may have been a lot more violent than previously thought.

Archaeologists have found the world’s oldest known shipwreck off the cost of Turkey.

Meanwhile in Scotland archaeologists have uncovered a long suspected major early monastery. [££££]

Now we’re deep into medieval mysteries with the Green Children of Woolpit.

Until the Black Death changed everything, rabbits were a luxury for the wealthy.

Here are a few very odd mediaeval beasts you’ve probably never heard about.

It seems to have been medieval month, because there’s yet more with the discovery of a major leper hospital in Lincoln.

Scholars have recently suggested that their predecessors have been reading the mysterious Voynich Manuscript all wrong, because it has been wrongly bound.

A book of advice for the 14th-century young housewife.

There’s a huge amount of controversy over which is the oldest pub in England, so Dr James Wright has taken a long, detailed look.

We’re gradually coming up to date with some of the most astonishingly bad Puritan names.

So where, and when, was the first flight in England?

London

So now to London proper …

For anyone who is into maps, the Historic Towns Trust has detailed maps of Medieval and Tudor London.

The fields to the north of the City had lots of marks for archery practice; one survives. [££££]

General Roy’s Bollards [££££]

A look at the darker side of wartime Covent Garden.

Finally in this section, a look at a few of London’s secret wartime defences. [££££]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Now here’s an oddity: the legend of the Mongolian Death Worm.

And finally … why wants to be an ordnance expert? A behind the scenes look at the art of defusing a WW2 bomb and living to tell the tale! [LONG READ]

history

October Quiz Answers

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Here are the answers to this month’s six quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.

British History

  1. In which year did the Battle of the Boyne occur? 1690
  2. Who was the Prime Minister of Britain at the outset of World War I? Herbert Asquith
  3. When was Queen Victoria’s Coronation? 28 June 1838
  4. Who designed the steamship SS Great Britain? IK Brunel
  5. Who attempted to blow up Parliament of the United Kingdom during the Gunpowder Plot of 1605? Guy Fawkes
  6. How many people died in the Great Fire of London? 6

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2025.

history, memes

October Quiz Questions

Each month we’re posing six pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month.
As always, they’re designed to be tricky but not impossible, so it’s unlikely everyone will know all the answers – just have a bit of fun.

British History

  1. In which year did the Battle of the Boyne occur?
  2. Who was the Prime Minister of Britain at the outset of World War I?
  3. When was Queen Victoria’s Coronation?
  4. Who designed the steamship SS Great Britain?
  5. Who attempted to blow up Parliament of the United Kingdom during the Gunpowder Plot of 1605?
  6. How many people died in the Great Fire of London?

Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.

history

October 1926

Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.

2. Birth. Jan Morris, born James Morris, British travel writer (d.2020)

11. Birth. Thích Nhất Hạnh, Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk and peace activist (d.2022)

12. British miners agree to end their strike.

14. AA Milne’s children’s book Winnie-the-Pooh is published in London.

Pooh Sticks

18. Birth. Chuck Berry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d.2017)

31. Death. Harry Houdini, Hungarian-born American escapologist. Died of gangrene and peritonitis after his appendix ruptured. (b.1874)

memes, personal, ramblings

Unblogged October

The usual round-up of things which happened that I didn’t otherwise write about.

Wednesday 1
As usual the first of the month was busy with household etc. admin. It was made worse by two things. First it was one of those days when everything did its best to conspire against any and every activity. Secondly the gardener was here. Having him here is so disruptive, even when all he’s doing is beavering away in the garden. As N observed we never get anything done when he’s here; certainly it is difficult to concentrate on anything significant.

Thursday 2
Another day struggling against the depression, achieving little, and failing to get to the bottom of the pile of paperwork on my desk. Seldom has there been such a rubbish week. And next week isn’t looking too good either.

Friday 3
Got my new hearing aids today. 14:30 appointment; arrived at 14:00; seen at 14:10; out by 14:20 and home at 14:45. Now that’s what I call service! First impressions are that they are much clearer than the old ones – and more comfortable.

Saturday 4
Today is N’s birthday, but as she’ll be at the hospital for a large chunk of the day (and home late) the major celebration will be tomorrow – although presents this evening accompanied by pizza.

Sunday 5
N’s birthday, Part 2. A culinary day. First off we finished the Sweet & Spicy Apple Cheese – we’d cooked down the small or damaged apples from our crop on Friday, and now sieved and jammed it. (I should write it up!) Then I sieved out the proto-tomato soup, ready to be finished for lunch tomorrow. Dinner was duck and avocado salad, followed by peaches in alcohol with cream, washed down with a bottle of Champagne. Result!

Monday 6
What a curious and interesting day. It started just before 05:00 with a gorgeous full moon setting in the SW, at times draped in thin ethereal cloud; couldn’t photograph it because it was right above an annoying street light. Then off for Covid & flu jabs, and get a new passport photo. Home to find that author Jilly Cooper has died; she was a long time friend of Anthony Powell and a great supported of the Society; we last saw her at the anniversary lunch in June. Fell asleep for a good part of the afternoon. Finally this evening a good reading group call.

Wednesday 8
Two or three days ago the moon was rising in the early evening at about due East. This evening it is rising a good 45° to the north, ie. around NE. How has the orbit moved so far in only half a handful of days? Well, checking it out, it seems like it does! The direction of moonrise has moved 44° since last Saturday!

Thursday 9
Off to see the senior partner at my GPs this afternoon as he does minor surgery. As I suspected he decided to scalp my infected elbow. Apparently there’s no obvious underlying problem. Seen 15 minutes early, and all done, in and out, in 20 minutes. Job done. Result!

Friday 10
It is Saturday, isn’t it? Really depressed; feeling completely drained and unable.

Saturday 11
It doesn’t help that I’ve done something to my back. Not sure if it’s the old injury or a trapped nerve. Anyway I’ve managed to get an osteopath appointment for Monday afternoon. And this on top of still feeling really depressed and incapable.

Sunday 12
Keep your elbow dry in the shower they said. Hah! Some chance. Well at least we tried: taped a protective plastic film over the area, but of course it comes off as soon as you flex your elbow in the wet. But it did make me remove the dressing, which I’d been told to keep on for 2-3 days. The wound looks quite good, although oozing slightly (probably because it got wet). An hour later and it’s almost dried up, which is good. Just don’t lean on it!!!!

Monday 13
Comes the gardener. In tidying up the front garden he discovered a very well hidden wasps’ nest. Basically they’ve hollowed out one of the railway sleepers used as border edging; at least two large entrance holes, but the actual nest is well hidden as you cannot see it! Still quite a few wasps around the entrance. We will, of course, leave it alone.

Tuesday 14
Feel dreadful. Back not really any better. Trapped nerve pain in front of right thigh. Can’t get comfortable; didn’t sleep well. And no power in fingers/hands. This despite osteopath yesterday.

Wednesday 15
Also last Saturday I completed the latest board of Postcrossing postcards: numbers 401-450. The display (below) was taken down today to make way for the new set.cork board display of postcards

Friday 17
Still in trouble with back & right leg, so another trip to osteopath. Not sure how I managed the journey through the pain and panic attack – but I did.

Monday 20
Time for the Paraffinian’s Autumn campaign, although they never seem to make any advance. As is traditional, the campaign started this weekend with Diwali.

Wednesday 22
Quick medical update. Back is improving, but leg still painful: but all seems to improve with each visit to osteopath (which done again today). Elbow healing up well; scab beginning to peel off. Having lost a lot of power and dexterity in my right fingers, this evening I realised what may well have caused it: using a potato ricer to extract the juice from cooked apples for the apple cheese a couple of weeks ago – it was certainly hurting my hand at the time. New hearing aids working well, and more comfortable than the old ones.

Thursday 23
The house is littered with well-loved and beaten-up catnip mice, which wander the house courtesy of our 3 felines. Today I found a couple of new catnip mice and gave Tilly one. This was the result …

Saturday 25
N came in from dialysis about 19:15; when she got upstairs she was very shaky and uncommunicative. Wouldn’t/couldn’t tell me anything. So an ambulance was called. Impressive response time about 15 minutes. Well checked over by 3 paramedics and taken off to hospital. Probably an infection as high temperature. We’ll see. Now I can’t do anything.

Sunday 26
A day struggling not to be completely paralysed with stress, depression and panic. N still in hospital; may be out tomorrow if she continues to recover.

Monday 27
Last evening I caught a late BBC weather bulletin. The presenter is already wearing a Remembrance poppy. Come on guys, it’s still two weeks to Remembrance Sunday. Gah!
[As long-time readers will know, I majorly dislike Remembrance Day; I wrote about it 15 years ago!]

Wednesday 29
N finally home from hospital about 18:30. She’s glad to be home, although still a bit weary. She’s under instruction (from me) to get to bed early and rest – the question is, will she take any notice?

Friday 31
It’s been one of those months, and it ended with yet another such day. I still have a stack of stuff to do, which should have been done ages ago but I can’t get to – for lots of reasons – so I’m well behind. I shall be glad to see the back of October; I just hope November is better.

quotes

Monthly Quotes

And so, once again,we come to this month’s collection of recently encountereed quotes.

If you want to know who rules over you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.
[George Orwell]

Not everyone can stand the strain of gazing down too long into the personal crater, with its scene of Hieronymus Bosch activities taking place in the depths.
[Anthony Powell]

The rise of this blusterous man bewilders the educated among us, conjoins opposing politicians, agonizes our international allies, threatens minorities, spits on the disabled, and touches the hearts of those who just don’t know any better. Let’s stop propounding how mad this all is, and instead, do something.
[Liselotte Hübner, Germany, 1929]

Thou with strange adultery
Doest in each breast a brothel keep;
Awake, all men do lust for thee,
And some enjoy thee when they sleep.
[Abraham Cowley; The Innocent III]

Now all my days are trances
And all my nightly dreams
Are where thy grey eye glances,
And where thy footstep gleams –
In what ethereal dances
By what eternal streams.
[Edgar Allan Poe; To One in Paradise]

A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition.
[Rudyard Kipling]

Just two naked apes who have decided to keep each other company for the (geologically speaking) blink of an eye on a tiny spinning planet on the outer arm of a nondescript galaxy in a vast, and basically pointless, universe. Now that we’ve identified that, we may as well just enjoy ourselves.
[https://substack.com/home/post/p-175517959]

It’s better to look at someone you can’t sleep with, than to sleep with someone you can’t even look at.
[Chinese proverb]

No Buddhist, No Christian, No Hindu, No Muslim …
Deeply spiritual people have no religion.
They belong to no temple, mosque, or church.
Their only religion is the goodness of the heart.
[unknown]

An expert is a person who has found out by his own painful experience all the mistakes that one can make in a very narrow field.
[Niels Bohr, Physicist (1885-1962)]

My land is bare of chattering folk;
The clouds are low along the ridges,
and sweet’s the air with curly smoke
from all my burning bridges.
[Dorothy Parker]

A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotional1y.
[Eleanor Roosevelt]

Systems fail when people with ability don’t have authority and people with authority don’t have ability.
[Amit Kalantri]

history, memes

October Quiz Answers

Here are the answers to this month’s six quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.

Classical & Ancient World

  1. What is the name of the home of the Greek Gods? Olympus
  2. Which body of the water was called mare nostrum by the Romans? Mediterranean
  3. Ask and Embla are the Norse equivalent to the Christian what? Adam and Eve
  4. What was the name of the Egyptian God of the Sun? Ra
  5. In Roman mythology, who is the goddess of the sewers? Cloacina
  6. Which word derives from the Latin for “sand” and originally denoted part of a Roman amphitheatre that was covered with sand to soak up the blood from combat? Arena

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2024.

books, memes, quotes

This Month’s Poem

On The Ning Nang Nong
Spike Milligan

On the Ning Nang Nong
Where the cows go Bong!
and the monkeys all say BOO!
There’s a Nong Nang Ning
Where the trees go Ping!
And the tea pots jibber jabber joo.
On the Nong Ning Nang
All the mice go Clang
And you just can’t catch ’em when they do!
So its Ning Nang Nong
Cows go Bong!
Nong Nang Ning
Trees go ping
Nong Ning Nang
The mice go Clang
What a noisy place to belong
is the Ning Nang Ning Nang Nong!!

Find this poem online at All Poetry