The Cottage: IPB Portal

Happy Beltane everyone. May your crops be bountiful and you livestock fertile.

http://www.telegraph...wassailing.html

A Pagan practice restored in Somerset, wassailing in the new crop

http://www.bbc.co.uk...europe-12126670

It seems that Romania finally recognises witchcraft does work and is taxing its Witches

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11652512

Interesting to note this was the Beeb

http://www.dailymail...oD-reveals.html

Well, I bought Gadget tickets to see Kiss live back in March, and last night was the night! Me, I wasn't much of a fan, thought they were ok, but nothing special.

Then the night happened, and off to the LG Arena in Birmingham UK we went, to be completely and utterly BLOWN AWAY! Seriously, if you like rock/heavy metal then if you only ever see one band live in your life, make it KISS! The sheer spectacle of it was breathtaking, often literally as the booms from the pyro blasted the breath from my very lungs leaving me gasping! If you have a weak heart, or light sensitive epilepsy, don't. lol

I came away from the experience a confirmed, dyed in the wool, Kiss fan! Bands come and go, KISS though rock on!

They started proceeding with Modern Day Delilah of the 2009 Sonic Boom album, then for the rest of the night was a booming mix of old and new (or old testament rock and new testament rock as they would have it. lol), including along the way classics like Crazy Crazy Nights which even a new KISS fan like me knew the lyrics too.

The crowd was wild, KISS were wilder!

Rock on.

Ade

Who were the most users ever online who were 59 on Aug 14 2009. I mean, exactly what was the happening which sudddenly pulled them all in? This has always puzzled me.

If you get an email claiming to be from ang-sites.co.uk Support please completely ignore it, it is a fake.  Body:-

Dear use of the ang-sites.co.uk mailing service!

We are informing you that because of the security upgrade of the mailing service your mailbox @ang-sites.co.uk settings were changed. In order to apply the new set of settings open attached file.

Best regards, ang-sites.co.uk Technical Support.



Ignore it, it is NOT from me!  This email is actually from:-

Return-path: <tiddlywinksrr@reawire.com>

It's unlikely any of you will receive this, but if you get something similar just bin it.

Ade

The night before last I was on my way to the kitchen and found that there was water on the floor. I made a search for the source and tracked it down to the utility room. In this place where I don't usualy venture I discovered that the washing machine had stopped its cycle, yet for some unknown reason was still trying to fill itself up with water. It was running merrily out and splashing onto the utility room floor. From the utility room it was making its way into the kitchen.
I rushed back to the bedroon with this item of news and informed the domestic authority. After the usual incredulous gasps of suprise and my usual confusion about what course of action to take, we made our way back towards the kitchen. It was in the lounge that I noticed my feet were squelching in the thick carpet. The water had penetrated under the wall and was spreading in the lounge too.
Rushing into the study I found the same thing had happened there as well.
The domestic authority by this time, far more practical than I, had turned off the water, opened the outside door to the utility room and was sweeping out water.
After laying down all of our large white bath towels along the walls and wringing them out a few times we retired to bed again.
In the morning a little man came from the insurance company to take a look. He went away again and another little man came with a stick with a prong on the end. This must have been the dowser as when the prongs on his stick came in touch with water it beeped. He prodded around and hummed and hawed and explored the extent of the water damage.
By this time another little man arrived to look under the house. This one wasn't as clever as the dowser as when underneath the house he noticed a huge bulge in the vapour barrier (like a plastic sheet protection). Sliding underneath it apparently and wanting to find out what it was he made a slit along it with a stanley knife. He was deluged with about forty gallons of water he said afterwards and little man number one, the dowser had to pull him out from under there. The cats incidentaly were sitting around out there like sphynxes watching the spectacle.
After a a phone call the insurance man came back and there was some kind of conference between the three of them. Soon afterwards the soaking wet man number two and the insurance man left and a third little man arrived on the scene.
This one obviously meant business and he tore off the skirting boards of the afflicted wall areas, ripped up the floor covering in the kitchen and utility room and tore up the carpets too.
The two of them then dragged in industrial heaters etc, wired them up and turned them on and departed saying another work crew would come in the morning.
I waited fearfuly for the inevitable explosion which would erupt from the domestic authorty when she returned home from work and saw the mess. She too it all in her stride, however, and all is well. The insurance company offered a hotel while they put things right, but we want to be here to keep an eye on things, choose the new decor and carpets etc.
It is now twenty past seven in the morning here and the second work crew are due around nine.....I'll let you know what happens.

The last two nights for the first time in quite a while I had a good night's sleep. For about a week or so before this I had a disturbed sleep pattern and only slept for two hours at a time and stayed awake for hours between. This made me lethargic during the daytime and also bad tempered.
My doc back in Sweden told me that the average person needs about five hours of unbroken, yes this is the important bit, unbroken sleep every night. If the person's unbroken sleep quota is not met it cannot be cured just by sleeping well the next night as the effect is accumulative.
Not sleeping properly I tried staying awake for a whole twenty four hours and then waiting for bedtime to come along afterwards I snuggled down expecting a full night's sleep. Upon awakening in darkness I consulted my mobile phone as it glows in the dark. As usual only two hours had elapsed and I was wide awake again.
Finding this solution to my problem unsatisfactory I tried a nice hot and relaxing bath with a few herbs in it. It worked. For two hours!
After several days and nights of insomnia I finaly succumbed to nature and collapsed into sleep at last at the right time. I slept so soundly I was even immune to the domestic authority repeatedly requesting that I let the cat in to stop its yowlings. I even snored most smugly and loudly according to the irritated reports I recieved the next morning. The nocturnal din arising from the multitudes of frogs outside went blissfuly unheard and I awoke in good humour again.
I do hope my nightly sleeping patterns will not be disturbed in the future......

The full moon this month otherwise known as the Wolf Moon is at perigree. As the moon's orbit around the earth is slightly eliptical and not circular, the moon will be 31 000 miles closer to the earth. According to NASA this will make it seem to the naked eye to be 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than the other moons this year.
As we all know the full moon is never 100 percent full as the mechanics of the light refraction with the positions of the sun, moon and earth in a straight line would result in a total lunar eclipse instead (work that one out).

We went to see the new Sherlock Holmes film here today and I would reccomend it as it was packed with action from beginning to end.
OK, the storyline was a bit far fetched, but it was very witty and the sets were very true to life of Victorian London, The final fight on top of the then unfinished Tower Bridge was especially good and somebody did their homework as the set matches the picture of the time.
Watson plays a much more active roll than in Conan Doyle's stories instead of being the admiring and passive partner and it was more of a partnership between the good doctor and Holmes this time and full of wit. If you get a little free time go and see it.
The drawback to the film though was its length. I get an aching bum if I sit I a cinema seat for a long time and towards the end of the film I was fidgeting and trying to restore my posterior circulation. Good stuff though....

Just a Common Soldier

He was getting old and paunchy

And his hair was falling fast.

And he sat around the Legion

Telling stories of the past,

Of a war that he had fought in

And the deeds that he had done,

In his exploits with his buddies

They were heroes, every one.

Tho’ sometimes to his neighbours,

His tales became a joke,

All his Legion cuddies listened,

For they knew whereof he spoke,

But we’ll hear his tales no longer,

For old Bill has passed away,

And the world’s a little poorer -

For a soldier died today.

He’ll not be mourned by many,

Just his children and his wife.

For he lived an ordinary.

Quiet and uneventful life,

Held a job and raised a family.

Quietly going his own way;

And the world won’t note his passing —

Though a soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,

Their bodies lie in state.

While thousands note their passing

And proclaim that they wore great

Papers tell their life stories from

The time that they were young,

But the passing of a soldier

Goes unnoticed and unsung

Is the greatest contribution

To the welfare of our land,

A guy who breaks his promises

And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow who,

In times of war and strife

Goes off to serve his country

And offers up his life?

A politician’s stipend and the

Style in which he lives

Are sometimes disproportionate

To the service (hat h® gives,

While the ordinary soldier

Who offers up his all

Is paid off with a medal,

And perhaps a pension, small.

It’s so easy to forget them

For it was so long ago

That the “Old Bills*’ of our country

Went to battle, but we know

It was not the politicians^

With their compromise and ploys,

Who won for us the freedom

That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger

With your enemies at hand,

Would you want a politician

With his ever-shifting stand?

Or would you prefer a soldier

Who has sworn to defend

His home, his kin and country

And would fight until the end?

He was Just a common soldier

And his ranks are growing thin.

But his presence should remind us

We may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict

Then we find the soldiers’ part

Is to clean up all the troubles

That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honour

While he’s here to hear the praise,

Then at least let’s give him homage

At the ending of his days,

Perhaps just a simple headline

In a paper that would say

“Our Country Is In Mourning -

For a Soldier Died today.

ANON

We're moving house next week, to a 3 bedroomed semi in Stafford. Pics are in a special album in the gallery.

To give you an idea of sizes:-

Lounge 14 square meters, 441.96cm x 296.24cm with a nice bay window.
Master bedroom 491cm x 396.24 cm double fitted wardrobe with 2 large cupboards above this
Bedroom 2 365.76cmx271.27cm single fitted wardrobe
Bedroom 3 274.32cm x243.84cm single fitted wardrobe
Dining Room (we're going to use as a bedroom) 286.51cmx259.08cm

The kitchen is nice and big, with 3 separate work areas and nice new looking cupboard doors.

Lovely big front garden (with a fence, not open plan) and a really big back garden, with a handy brick shed/coal house.


Much bigger than our tiny flat, really looking forward to moving in either Tuesday or Wednesday, picking the keys up Monday morning but Gadget wants to get in and decorate and lay flooring on Monday and Tuesday. I was rushing a bit, trying to push for Tuesday for financial reasons, but it just doesn't look doable if we don't want to live with bare floorboards.

Ade

another site unearthed over the summer in connection with Stonehenge

http://www.dailymail...tle-sister.html