I’m sitting here at the keyboard, forcing myself to start the blog so that I can have a good night’s sleep and be in with a chance of looking my best (at 70, nearer 71, with all those lines, who am I kidding!) at the great nephew’s wedding on Saturday. Fortunately, as we all know, it’s the bride who matters, so the pressure is off. And the outfit is sorted (mine as well as hers) – just have to remember to collect the aged Prada sandals from the ace shoe repair man in Lichfield.
How I love those Prada sandals! They cost three figures in a sale in a big London department store – I’ve forgotten which one, I’d just wandered in to put in some time before meeting a friend – at least a quarter of a century ago. That was serious money but they proved worth every penny (I was going to say cent but in the current circumstances, certainly not).
Bag only – the original. Remember the sandals are being tarted up for the big occasion.
That wee bag, shoes inside, went everywhere with me, tucked neatly in a corner of the luggage and whenever I wore them, wherever it was, whatever else I had on, I knew I was the business and could hold my head up high in any company. What more could you ask?
I’d probably write quicker – and more coherently – if I weren’t/wasn’t (who cares about grammar these days) trying to pay attention to a Zoom seminar (had to upgrade to business for a couple of hours; don’t worry, I’ve already cancelled my free trial) and Spurs away at Chelsea. There has been screeching and swearing and stomping about; I’d have had at least three red cards, if that were possible.
Am beginning to think that my friends who are indifferent to football have a point but my fellow football supporters are very entertaining. One of them, a Chelsea supporter, sent me this message before the latest match: “Give Chelsea a 3-goal start and I still fancy Spurs this week…”
Goodness knows why because Chelsea are miles ahead of us in the table and my reply was: “Don’t be daft, we’ll be lucky to keep 10 men on the pitch.” That’s a reference to a recent encounter, at our place, when we went down to nine men and Chelsea scored four goals.
These two teams really don’t like each other, it’s usually feisty and beyond and one Spurs fan predicted that only 19 of the 22 players would still be on the pitch at the end. Amazingly, there were still 22 left as we trudged off and Chelsea skipped – after TWELVE minutes of added time. It was 1-nil to them – both sides had a goal disallowed – but we were woeful, so disappointing.
We’re still in Europe, so Ange, our Australian manager, is still in a job but we’re edging towards the point where I seem to be the only person wanting him to stay for next season. Far too often our lot look as though they’ve never met, let alone played or trained together. My mate, whose optimism is at a low ebb, was vaguely heartened and wrote: “Chelsea at least look like someone has actually opened a defensive manual.”
“Think ours is in some ancient Aboriginal language understood only by a handful of elders.” A bit of a cheap crack perhaps but I think the elders would at least get their point across – providing the players are willing to listen and capable of taking things in. Footballers don’t need to be super smart but please, please, give them a footballing brain.
The badge with a nod to our Aussie manager. Stick with him please.
Once the footie started I was only keeping half an eye on Selena Soo’s ‘Rich Relationships’ book launch/seminar. I sign up to all sorts of things, goodness knows why really; it’s a bit late for self improvement or becoming a multi-millionaire and no one would ever think of me as an entrepreneur but you come across all sorts of interesting people and it can be inspirational: “I was a teacher, tired of being broke; faith over fear; breathe with your heart; be a rich giver.” And the title of one of the books really made me laugh. It’s also well worth reading apparently.
Great title. Just don’t buy it on Amazon. Please! We CAN make a difference.
There’s a lot of pleading – please, please, please – in this blog and I do need a bit of help from all those car buffs out there, please! My sturdy Ford Fiesta is starting to show signs of age, admittedly not helped by the recent brush with Mo’s rockery, so I’m looking for a replacement. I nearly crashed in to a bus because I was so busy eyeing up every car coming towards me and wondering if it would be the one…
Electric, hybrid, petrol? What’s for the best? Last week I was at a talk given by Mike Berners-Lee on the first day of Lichfield’s Literature Festival but he was so busy signing copies of his new book and answering more lofty questions that my choice of car fell by the roadside. Instead I emailed his company Small World Consulting Ltd and got a very detailed and helpful response from Jenny, who referred me to Mike’s book “How Bad Are Bananas” and quoted a lot of figures related to our carbon footprint, with advice on how best to reduce it.
Can we save the planet? Is it really worth washing out our yoghurt pots and the dog food cans…Will politicians ever tell the truth?
Walking is best, of course but not always possible if, for instance, you want to get from Lichfield to a wedding in Leamington Spa, a reception in Claverdon, a hotel in Warwick and a 70th birthday lunch in Wrexham…
There’s a wonderful weekend in store.
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