Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos)

A decent film, not at all girly as we half suspected it would be, probably as it was told in the European mode and not one that came out of the Hollywood sausage factory. Might prove worth while to follow Penelope Cruz's career.
7.2/10

The Lord Nelson, Brightwell Baldwin, Oxfordshire

The Lord Nelson, Brightwell Baldwin, Oxfordshire
Saturday lunchtime drive with the hood down, Found in Sawday's Pubs & Inns guide which is very consistent and so it proved to be. Decent food, decent garden and an interior I think we will be back for when the colder weather draws in.
This series will start here so no looking back...if I can help it.
However that makes it 3 gastro pubs all within a radius of one mile in different villages...how can they get the custom to keep going?

Colours of Autumn

Colours of Autumn from our garden. The Acer always 'goes' early as does the small Gunnera, which sucks up water at a great rate.

NP. The Test Match, Harmison has taken two on the trot leaving one to go. Does not get the hatrick and it sounds like mayhem from the Oval.
IT IS NOW!!!

Seasons

An Australian scientist says the continent needs five or six seasons to suit its climate.
Could also apply here, Winter does not start to after Christmas when we are already past the winter equinox (dec 21st) and ends mid March. Spring does not end till the end of june, again after the summer soltice, and summer goes through to include September these days with autumn kicking off in October. Leaves are still on the trees in December in Southern England.
So how many new ones? 2 making 6 in total all lasting two months.
Full article.

BBC: The Crown Jewels

Sunday evening
Jam and Jerusalem followed by Rivers

Government, break it up at your peril!

MX5

Our second car is a MX5, bought second hand a couple of years ago for £8000 with only 13,000 miles on the clock. Its a MK2.1 so not the original and certainly not the new Mk3 but a damn fine car and it brings a smile to my face evrytime I drive. It now has 34,000 on the clock but it is faultless.

Jeremy Clarkson in the Sunday Times reviewed the new one today, the DNA is still there, and this is his concluding paragraphs

I said recently that the BMW Z4 is the best of the open sports cars, but after a couple of days with the Mazda I realise I was talking nonsense. The BMW is excellent but the MX-5 demonstrates that its extra speed, extra grip and extra size is all a bit wasteful. In the little Japanese car you get exactly what you need, and exactly the space you need, and nothing more.

I realise that the hairy-chested among you will be scoffing and tutting and heading straight for this column on the internet so you can speak your mind. You will say “girl’s car” and “gay” and all sorts of other things.

Well, that’s fine. You waste your money on a Mustang or a Ferrari. The fact is that if you want a sports car, the MX-5 is perfect. Nothing on the road will give you better value. Nothing will give you so much fun. The only reason I’m giving it five stars is because I can’t give it 14

NP 'Slowness' by Calexico from Carried to Dust

and 'Uncertain Smile' by The The from Soul Mining

Disposable Barbecues

What do you do with them when you have finshed with them and you are outside in the 'wild' so to speak?
Well I walked back to where the car was parked carrying the thing with the aluminuim tray back in the cardboard underbox in the mistaken belief that it would protect my hands from the warm charcoal embers.
Not a bit, the embers started to glow again mainly from the action of the wind and the card underbox began to smolder too. Smolder then flames! Rubbed them out on the grass downland and carried on walking.
Only to repeat the action another hundred metres further on, and then again another hundred or so metres further on.
This with dry downland hillside all around us and the farmers bringing in the hay. Managed to get to the base of the hill, but the cardboard now had half gone....burnt away.
So there was only one thing for it, we pissed on it. It was so hot that all the piss evaporated and I could safely put it in the boot of the car.
Bit silly afterwards because we drove to Dorchester Abbey for a mug of tea and a cake from the good womenfolk of the town(?) and parked up for a good forty minutes...the car could have gone up in flames!

NP 'Recent Walpurgis' by Procul Harum from Secrets of the Hive.
and 'Glass' by Bats for Lashes from Two Suns