Take a shop in Lostwithiel in Cornwall some days ago where we stopped on our way from Charlestown to Duloe. It wasn't a long journey and we couldn't go into out next accommodation until the afternoon.
So we stopped in Lostwithiel which at one time was the capital of Cornwall. It's a very historic place and an intriguing one and we probably didn't spend as much time there as we would have liked.
When it comes to coffee, we have two rules. 1/ always frequent independent and local coffee shops rather than chains and 2/ look for local coffee mornings.
Coffee mornings (which usually take place in churches) are a great way of enjoying good coffee, good cakes and, above all, meeting some of the local people. So when we saw a poster for the weekly coffee session at the Methodist Church we popped in.
A few minutes later we sat with about eight members of the church (sadly that's pretty much the majority of the congregation) and enjoyed a cup of instant coffee and biscuits. It was free but we made a donation to a local hospice.
Unfortunately Lostwithiel Methodist Church is struggling. It meets in a room rather than a church. But it was good to hear about the town, the church and to be told what a wonderful place it is to live.
As we talked with the church members and the Minister the Rev Paul Parker, we got a good handle on the excellent community spirit in Lostwithiel (it's pronounced how it is spelt but without sounding the first t as in losswithiel). As people joined us and the conversation changed to many different topics, I couldn't help feel that it would make a good play for my mate Tony Vale. At times it did feel like a scene from the Vicar of Dibley.
I haven't mentioned it but I didn't feel 100% for much of the holiday. I spent most of one day in The Scillies in bed with a fever and then my leg went red and became swollen. At first I thought I might have picked up COVID but a test proved negative. So in Lostwithiel I popped into the local pharmacy and spoke to the pharmacist who scared me a bit by saying it could be Sepsis or a blood clot but then tempered it by saying it probably wasn't. I did remember when walking in the Scillies being bitten and a horse fly bite was one of the possibilities. So I ended with some anti-hystimine tablets which seemed to do the trick after three or four days. Ironically tomorrow I have a scheduled jab which should protect me from Sepsis. Super happy though that this looks as if it's turned out to be a bite.
But back to silliness in Lostwithiel. We went into a craft shop and I just loved some coasters with children's book/television characters on them. So I bought one of Noddy, one of Postman Pat, one of Peter Rabbit and one of Fireman Sam. They now have pride of place on my lounge coffee table.
We got some Cornish Nasties (sorry pasties) and made a long walk to the local castle before eating them. Then it was a long walk back and a much needed cold drink at the community centre before a walk down to the train station and an historic bridge which crossed a river which was shallow enough for lots of children to paddle in.
Is there a word for an obsessive buyer of books from book sales? If there is, it fits me. Wherever I go I pop into charity shops etc and buy books (some of which I will probably never read). Often churches have book sales as well.
In Lostwithiel I bought a biography of Roald Dahl. In Plymouth I bought a biography of a Derbyshire pit village in the 20th century. Two massive tomes for a total outlay of £2. Just wish I had the time to read them. I'm also reading a murder mystery set on the Isle of Bryher on the Scillies - somewhere we didn't get to visit. It's by Kate Rhodes who apparently lives in Cambridge.
Todays photograph gallery includes photographs of Lostwithiel and those coasters.
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After making my annual call to Sky TV designed to cut the amount I am paying, I was sent a new router. I am always very loathe to replace something that was working fine (the old router) with something new (the new router). Something always goes wrong. This time it wasn't too bad apart from the fact that i can't get my wi-fi printer working at the moment.
My grump is a simple one. When they send you a new password why is it unintelligible and just a number of letters and numbers. The main problem I have is working out whether the 0 is a number or a letter. A one could easily be the letter i or l and there are plenty of other confusions as well. Sometime it takes quite a bit of working out to get the password accepted.
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And finally today back to a bit about the Beatles.
The Beatles seemed to hate the track "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" which was written by Paul McCartney and appears on the Abbey Road album. They shunned it. Three of them complained about the amount of time spent on recording it and they also rated it the worst song the band ever recorded which is pretty rich when you listen to Revolution Number 9 and some of the other dross on the White Album.
I have always liked the track, although the lyrics about a serial killer are a bit iffy. It's atypically jolly singalong song from McCartney and it is very catchy.
John Lennon said he hated it. Ringo Starr claimed it to be "the worst track we ever had to record" and George Harrison said it was "writing for 14 year olds" - not sure what's wrong with that though.
I still have a grudging like of the track and it certainly isn't the worst song they recorded (imho).