A bit of a catch up

With the Wiz in Ethiopia, and the Munch working hard as an apprentice chef, I was home alone with Lilly the Collie for most of the weekend. Mrs BW made a brief appearance in between shifts at Hardwick Hall, and we shared a silent pint together at the Wye Bridge on Saturday evening. We took Lilly along who livened things up by barking at a group of lads at the next table. Luckily they thought it was funny or else I might have had to place Mrs BW in between them and me. For her own protection you understand.

I amused myself by wandering around town and taking in the sun and the festival crowds. It was certainly busy. And every available space seemed to be occupied by Morris Dancers. Of course Lilly barked at them and briefly thought about rounding them up, but they kept on waving their hankies in a mildly threatening way and she decided that they were not worth the bother.

On Friday evening I went to see Ed Reardon in a writers burden. Now I am a bit of an Ed Reardon fan. Its therapeutic to come across someone more miserable than ones self. But I was a bit sceptical about it transferring from the wireless to the stage. I need not have worried. It was excellent. And I laughed. Disappointing that the theatre was only half full, but I guess that Buxton just isn't ready for this kind of show, or that they have not managed to find radio 4, let alone radio 4 extra on their wireless dials. Which leads me onto another point. Which twelve year old decided to change the name of the best listening on radio from BBC Radio 7 to BBC radio 4 extra. Pointless. As pointless as the Post Office changing to Consignia or what ever it was several years ago. No doubt it cost a lot of money and involved many wine fuelled lunches with clever consultants. Will they be ditching BBC radio six music to BBC radio one and a bit?

Well that's it for now.

Irritating Habits

We all have little habits that others find irritating. Mine is to have the radio on in as many rooms as I can get away with so that I can listen to radio 4 as I move from room to room. Mrs BW likes to leave the Utility room door open so that we can all listen to the Washing Machine. The fledglings leave the lights on in their rooms. Our “foreen” year old daughter has the light on even on the sunniest of days and looks askance at you when you suggest gently that it is not necessary.

So I was somewhat shocked when, minding my own business in the kitchen, making a cup of tea, she began to lecture me about the environmental consequences of me overfilling the kettle. By the time she reached her peroration I was going to be responsible for the extinction of most of the species of land mammals and the imminent melting of the Greenland ice cap unless I mended my ways. I was given no time to respond, no chance to defend myself, for as soon as she had finished she was off, out to hang about with her mates.

I was chastened, I admit somewhat humbled. A part of me was a little disappointed at the severity of the attack. After all during their formative years I had unselfishly forsaken Radio 4 on long car journeys so that they could listen to their “Harry Potter” tapes. Not an insignificant sacrifice. I am convinced that on one long journey to the West Country, I was driven temporarily insane after listening to HP and the “Prisoners of Somewhere or other” for the third or fourth time. Much as I admire Stephen Fry I still shudder when I hear him utter the words “Harry Potter…..”

So chastened, humbled I slunk upstairs. I noticed that she had left her bedroom light on. So I went in to turn it off. While I was there I switched off her computer that had been left on standby, and noticing that her waste paper basket was full of cardboard emptied it and took it downstairs to put with all the other cardboard that we collect and at some appropriate point either I or Mrs BW will take to the local recycling centre along with all the plastic bottles and plastic cartons.

That done I cautiously and guiltily filled the kettle to have another cup of tea, the first one having gone cold and to finish reading the paper before I put that into the recycling bin. I am glad that they teach environmental issues at school. I bet that they don’t teach humility though.