It's an honour to be able to share some of the aspects of my life with others through the medium of social Media.
I know from talking to people that their interests are wide and varied and some like me writing about one thing and others like me writing about another. I know some like my writing about music and others don't. Some like my writing about sport and others don't. So I do try to mix things up a bit but ultimately I am defined by my interests.
The other day on the Wherry Albion, I heard two men discussing fishing and the fact that one has just used float fishing for the past 20 years. They could have been speaking a foreign language. I had no idea what they were talking about.
Then the boat skipper kept talking about jibbing and quanting and again I hadn't a Scooby Doo. Neither has my spell checker because it doesn't recognise the word quanting.
It's horses for courses of course. But I loved my bloggette who said they liked my pick n mix blogs. These are the ones where I ramble on about lots of different subjects. It means that there is always something of interest. So today I'm showing my ignorance of anything nautical or anything to do with fishing and then moving on.
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Had lunch with a good friend on Friday at Hethersett Queen's Head. We used to lunch every week but over COVID the lunches obviously stopped and haven't really gathered pace much since lockdown was eased. But now we are hoping to re-convene.
He told me a lovely story of his young grandchildren coming to Norfolk and taking part in the Dinosaur and Mammoths hunt in Norwich - a journey of wonder for youngsters and a sense of "can we stop now please - we've seen 20" for older people whose enthusiasm wains rather as time and energy loss takes place.
Said grandchildren have been to London. When asked what his favourite thing was, little lad aged five said the big square with all the water. Ah ha I thought Trafalgar Square. He particularly liked "the big man on top of the big thing." That of course was a reference to Nelson and granddad was quick to point out just where Nelson came from.
Trafalgar Square was always my favourite place in London. In those days it was feeding the pigeons who would sit on your arms and head as you fed them special food which was sold in the square. Of course today there are no pigeons and that's probably a good thing for the environment. Not sure how they got rid of them and how they stopped them from returning but I'm sure the answer to that is on the internet.
I was once sitting on the wall of the central fountain when I lost my balance and fell in and got a good old soaking. I had to sit in wet clothes all the way back to Tunbridge Wells on the train for that was where we were staying with my Uncle Tom and Aunt Gladys (who actually weren't my aunt and uncle but Gladys was the daughter of my grandmothers brother which I believe made us cousins of some ilk).
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If you subscribe to Facebook you will have seen these interesting posts about "how many of the following world sites have you visited" or "how many of the following have you done." There's usually a list of things from the obvious like "been to Tower Bridge" and the obscure like "driven a motorcycle in North Korea."
I always like the things you have done ones. One of the subjects is "been on television". It's one I can say a definite yes to, but what actually constitutes having been on television? Me and the other threequarters were technically on television on Friday night. We didn't have a starring role but there we were sitting on the front row at Carrow Road for the football match between Norwich and Millwall. As the players warmed up before the match there was a clear shot of us with grandson Elliot.
But I have been on television properly on numerous occasions when I was working for Norfolk Constabulary and fronting Media conferences and interviews. I was also on the quiz show The Weakest Link a number of years ago.
But back to the football. It was a proper performance from Norwich this time around with a 2-0 win against good opposition. On Tuesday we struggled to beat a shambolic Huddersfield side. Millwall were much better but we won 2-0. I have always been a believer in letting players play in their favoured positions. Take Josh Sergeant. The American was played last season on the wing. He's a wholehearted player but things didn't really come off for him.
Now he's being played as an out and out striker, moving through the middle of the pitch. It's his favourite position and the result is he's scored three goals in the last two matches and was responsible for a Huddersfield player being sent off when he was pulled back when clean through on goal. Against Millwall he was unlucky not to get a hat-trick when he was fouled right on the edge of the penalty area. Playing in his favoured position, he looks a different player.
I wish I could say the same thing about the Millwall supporters. There were a few problems caused by them on Friday but nothing like in the past when the word animals was probably not strong enough to describe them. I remember them marauding through Norwich causing damage in their wake. I also remember back in the 1970s going to watch Norwich at the Old Den and feeling very vulnerable as numerous fights broke out and the public address man was almost in tears as he called for calm.
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I have always had a kind of bucket list of things I wanted to do. I have never written this down. It's more of a mental thing.
One of these was to appear on stage and I did this in the play Lord Arthur Savile's Crime at Sheringham Little Theatre back in the mists of time (that phrase again).
Another was to write and have a book published and hopefully that will come to fruition in 2023. If and when the book on the Le Paradis Massacre is published and appears in local book shops, I will just stand around staring at my name on the jacket. I'm so star struck that I will probably go in especially to do this - just being so proud to have something I've written on display.
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On Friday we had a visit from Harry and Fiona Barker. Harry is often referred to as our third son. For a number of years we hosted young Academy players from Norwich City. One of those was Harry.
Over the years we had numerous youngsters staying with us from Hungarian and American goalkeepers to defenders and strikers, some of whom are still in the professional game. Let's just say some of them weren't all that sociable and some were quite rude.
Harry was different. He was a member of the Norwich Youth team that won the national cup. A local boy, he loved living with us and we loved having him and he became part of the family. We also became firm friends with his mum and dad and still see them regularly.
Harry and Fiona got married a few years ago and are expecting their first baby on December 18th. First babies are notoriously slow in coming and so my parting comment to them was "Enjoy Christmas Day in the delivery room of the hospital."
Harry didn't make it as a professional footballer for a number of reasons but plays local football at a high level. He's also a decent cricketer as well.
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We drove into the city early on Friday evening and went to the Grosvenor Fish Bar before going to football. It's a strange kind of place. Often voted on Tripadvisor as the number one place to eat in Norwich and the number one takeaway. The food is very good and they do all kinds of things from fish to sausages, mussels to squid.
Most people get their food and eat it outside but there is a kind of undercroft where we go. This has seating and looks like a wartime shelter which I'm sure it is.
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I am currently reading three books at the same time. That should read concurrently as even I cannot read three books at the same time! One is a murder mystery set in the Scilly Isles, one is a novel based on the life of Robert Kett and the third is The People's History of the BBC which is 100 years old this year.
One of the founders and its first Director General was Lord Reith. I haven't got far with the book but was interested that it mentioned that he struggled with his education at a public school in Norfolk. I have found out that this was Gresham's School at Holt in North Norfolk.
I'm looking forward to reading more (once I've found out who killed two youngsters on the Scilly Isle of Bryher).
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Yesterday we popped into Wymondham on the bus and had coffee at the Courtyard Cafe and then wandered along to the magnificent Wymondham Abbey to see whether it was open. Of course it was I hear you cry. Not necessarily. The Abbey has been through a rather torrid time with a spat involving the vicar, local volunteers etc that brought the Bishop of Norwich into the fray. It was an unsavoury thing and hugely disappointing to myself who believes that the mark of being a Christian is not to get involved in arguments or disagreements with others without a really good reason.
Anyway the vicar has now gone and things have calmed down a bit. But here's the rub. The Abbey is still only open to the public for six hours a week. That's six hours out of 168. It is open for a few more hours for private prayer but just six hours for visitors. To me this really isn't good enough for such an historic building.
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One successful cricket game and one not. Couldn't settle down in front of the tele box to watch England play South Africa because England got hammered in well under three days (and half of one of those was washed out).
But it was all more successful for my club Hethersett and Tas Valley who hammered Acle to make sure of promotion to the Premier Division of the Norfolk Alliance. Next Saturday they finish their season with a home game against Bradenham, hoping to get enough points to also finish champions.
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The eyes have it. I suffer from a condition known as Blepharitis. This is the caking of eyelids and can make your eyes sore. A few years ago I was told by the optician to bathe my eyes regularly with Johnson's Baby Shampoo. On my last visit I was told not to do this as the shampoo contains chemicals that can do more harm than good. So I gave up for a while and used a solution they recommended.
But I have found that the old Johnson's thing certainly helped and so I've decided to go back with it.
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And so ends Sunday's pick n mix. Hope you've enjoyed it. Oh by the way a Quant is a large pole. It is used to move boats such as the Wherry we were on. Some brute of a man pushes it into the water to send the craft in the desired direction. So there you have it.