"The time has come" the Walrus said, "to talk of many things..." Showing 501-550 of 1,194

[Laurel]

Yeah, if I haven't broken at least 2 of mine by the end of New Years Day's there's something seriously wrong with me!

[[deleted user]]

Hope no one's suffering too much due to the horrible weather we're having in the uk at the moment. A good weekend for reading I think!

[Ellie]

@Lee - are you at any risk of flooding, Lee? I'm just outside a risk area, but luckily have the canal between me and it, so I'm not at any risk; had the Severn burst its banks near Arlingham, my office could've been cut off, but luckily (?) nothing untoward happened. The river was about 6 inches below the flood defence wall bordering my cycle route to work, though!

[[deleted user]]

No we seem to be ok I'm glad to say - being flooded must be awful.

[Tracey]

I can't imagine what it must be like to experience a flood. My heart really goes out to people who experience so much damage to their homes and I've no idea how people are coping when they have no insurance cover.

[[deleted user]]

Did you hear about the poor woman and her dog Elvis who were rescued today after being cut off by floods since before Christmas?

[Hilary]

Poor soul! I hadn't heard that. I'm not at risk of any flooding but snow always brings the risk of being cut off. Having looked at the weather in the US I think its time I was arranging the non-perishable food hoard I create each winter, just in case!

[[deleted user]]

Just what my hubby was saying this morning.

[Hilary]

Just taken delivery of my new Kindle Paperwhite which I decided to give myself for Christmas! It's a lot smaller and a lot clearer than my old one. Now I just have to figure out how to transfer my Kindle books on to it.

[Laurel]

Brilliant - hope you enjoy playing with your new kindle Hilary! And that it's a nice simple process to download all your old books onto it ;)

[[deleted user]]

Hopefully they'll magically materialise from the cloud by themselves :0)

[[deleted user]]

Another bargain for your kindle .
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Farthing-Smal...

I haven't read this but it sounds very intriguing - it's an alternate history thriller.

[Hilary]

I just don't dare Lee. I've already bought 10 different Kindle books this week to add to the huge number of books both on the Kindle and on my bookshelves that are waiting to be read. Because I am spending time reading the group reads but still buying books that I think I will find interesting myself, the TBR pile is getting bigger and bigger!

[[deleted user]]

Mine too!

[Laurel]

I started to look but caught myself and closed the page down - am trying to get through some of the mountain first. Although I did buy Obabakoak and Dusty Answer earlier because I couldn't find them in the library catalogue...but it doesn't count if they are for a group read does it?

[[deleted user]]

Definitely not :0)

[Tracey]

Hi. Hilary. Hoping your kindle transfer is straightforward. I found it fairly simple to get my books downloaded onto my ipad and iPhone too and they talk to one another so you can pick up any page you left off who her gadget you use. Really helpful when I'm travelling a lot.

[Ellie]

Hi all, having a bit of a broadband nightmare at the moment, so my Internet access is intermittent at best. Hope to be rejoining you all fully soon

[Hilary]

I've successfully worked out how to use the cloud/device option and have downloaded the books I haven't yet read (cringe!) on to Kindle 2. I'm quite proud of myself. Tracey, I also find the syncing with the iPad is really useful and I set that up on my old kindle.

I was disappointed to find that the new Paperwhite hasn't come with an integral WiFi connection so that you can access the store wherever you are. I used that quite a lot but I'm not sure if it simply isn't an option with the Paperwhite or I'm bought the wrong version.

[Angela]

Hi all. I just wanted to share my happy news: I got into the Grad Dip of Arts in Writing through Open Uni. Woo!!! Hope you are all having a fab day :)

[Hilary]

Well done you!

[Angela]

Thanks Hilary :)

[Tracey]

Very well done Angela. Congratulations.

[[deleted user]]

That's great news Angela - hearty congratulations !

[Joy]

Congratulations Angela.

[Angela]

Thank you all

[Angela]

:):):)

[Laurel]

Congratulations Angela!

[[deleted user]]

@ Ellie - I know you won't see this until your broadband is fixed - but I hope it's fixed soon :0)

[Ellie]

@Lee, thanks, engineer came today, he replaced the old modem with a combined modem/router, so I am not only back online (hurrah!), but don't now have to replace the tired old router that I was planning to replace this weekend :)

@Angela, congratulations, what great news for you.

[[deleted user]]

Yay!

[Angela]

Thanks everyone. And that's awesome for you Ellie :)

[Hilary]

You just don't realise how much you use the internet until you lose it. I'm offline most of every weekend at my sons and I hate it!

[[deleted user]]

Just came across this lovely 16th century carol to bid goodbye to Christmas for another year

Now have good day, now have good day!
I am Christmas, and now I go my way.

Here have I dwelt with more and less [i.e. everyone]
From Hallowtide till Candlemas,
And now must I from you hence pass;
Now have good day!

I take my leave of king and knight,
And earl, baron, and lady bright;
To wilderness I must me dight; [I must prepare myself to go into the wilderness]
Now have good day!

And of the good lord of this hall
I take my leave, and of guests all;
Methink I hear Lent doth call;
Now have good day!

And from every worthy officer,
Marshall, panetere and butler,
I take my leave as for this year;
Now have good day!

Another year I trust I shall
Make merry in this hall,
If rest and peace in England may fall;
Now have good day!

But oftentimes I have heard say
That he is loath to part away
Who often biddeth 'Have good day!'
Now have good day!

Now fare ye well, all in fere; [together]
Now fare ye well for all this year;
Yet for my sake make ye good cheer;
Now have good day!

This Carol "imagines a Christmas in an aristocratic hall, with the lord and his guests and servants. The fourth verse takes particular notice of these 'officers', who had doubtless been working especially hard over the Christmas season: a marshall is the person in charge of seating guests in the hall, etc.; a panetere is the one in charge of the pantry; and the butler the one in charge of the drink!"

Here's a link to the site that I found it on
http://aclerkofoxford.blogspot.co.uk/

[Hilary]

That's charming.

[[deleted user]]

Anyone got anything planned for the weekend - we might pop out on the tandem as it's supposed to be dry for once.

Just came across this article about the "reality checkpoint" in Cambridge.
http://thedabbler.co.uk/2014/01/reali...

[Laurel]

That's quite cool Lee - love a bit of enigmatic graffiti! I'd love to visit Cambridge sometime, it looks lovely.

[Hilary]

I'm giving lunch to a friend who has just finished her final chemotherapy treatment and has the will to eat again. I'm so looking forward to seeing her returning slowly to her normal self........and seeing my grandchildren as usual.

[Tracey]

Thats a nice thing to look forward to Hilary.

I've just got back from a rally nice day in town, just wandering the shops, bought myself a new top for work and on the way home stopped off at a bar in M&S for a small glass of pink fizz. Just set me up nice for the evening where I'm up for making some fajitas tonight!

[[deleted user]]

That's great news about your friend, Hilary :0)
@ Tracey - what a pleasant way to spend the day - your mention of pink fizz has reminded me about the bottle of cava my boss bought me for Christmas - I'd better go and open it before it goes off.

[Jenny]

Cheers! :) Currently reading A History of Reading while holding on to a pot of mulled wine, a Christmas left-over.

[Laurel]

@Hilary - that's great news about your friend, I hope she is feeling a lot better soon and back to her normal self asap!
@ Tracey, Lee and Jenny - enjoy your boozing girls, sounds like everyone is having a nice Saturday! We found a box of Kronenburg 1664 beer in the shed leftover off Christmas - had forgotten all about it - sacrilege! So I'm going to have some of that tonight I think :)

[Tracey]

We all sound a very boozy lot don't we. Hope you're all feeling reasonable tomorrow morning. As my dad used to say 'happy nights can make sad mornings'.

[[deleted user]]

No headache this morning :0)

[Angela]

Rehydrate to dominate! :-)

[Jenny]

No headache either, but the rare event of a winterly sit in the sun on my balcony with a cup of steaming hot tea. :)

[[deleted user]]

Lovely - I'm on the sofa in front of the fire - hubby's in the kitchen making a fry up.

[Ellie]

Ooh, nice, Lee! Throw in a couple of extra bacon rashers for me!

[[deleted user]]

Will do - but we've only got veggie bacon I'm afraid :0)

[Ellie]

No worries - eggs and hash browns?