Rock'n roll

Last night we went to a "Roy Orbison & friends" show at The Alex, in Birmingham.
It was really very good, especially " The Big O", not spoiled by the sizable number of men in the audience (including my neighbour) needing to leave, mid-number.
Prostrate problems in the over 50s!
Is there anyone who knows me who would expect me to be able to direct them to The Alex & tell them where to park?
I did know that it was at the back of new St Station, visible from The Queensway, which was a start, but not good enough - so much for a date with G!

Health is improving, forced into action to collect J & Th from school on Friday & sermon to prepare for today.
I had a new hairstyle yesterday - short, layered & blown forward, even before I waited for G on Coleshill High St!
I'm pleased with it, but the acid test will be tomorrow, when I shampoo out all of the shape & am left with short hair.
I've lost another couple of pounds so hope that the loss of appetite can last for a few months, until I'm a size 4, the size of an average Vietnamese woman!
Only ten sizes to go!

Just checking my sermon - St John the Baptist - importance of his finger, as highlighted by Martin Luther in 1532 sermon. (He used it to point to JC)
I just googled "Relics of J the B", since there were no more comments on my blog, & by shear coincidence, The Church Times front page is an article acknowledging the authenticity of relics of J the B found under the floor in a church in Sveti Ivan (honestly - means St John), off the coast near Istanbul.
You couldn't make it up!
Have a fun day....

Thank God it's raining.

This may be rather selfish, but we have worked so hard in the garden, putting it straight after the disastrous mowing & the month of neglect, that my hands are weak from weeding the yard & I'm exhausted from weeding the borders.
The mower refused to start, but G has all of the lawns in shape, having borrowed a mower from John Andrews & spent well over a day mowing, raking & mowing again.
Still a couple of days work to do, when it dries up.

I played tennis in the sunshine yesterday then did my stint in the garden before preparing dinner - the Wheelers joined us, having spent the last month in Australia, visiting their son.
Good to catch up.
Today I am seriously flagging, my entire body has been taken over by an alien being, making it feel sick & lethargic, incapable of doing anything constructive.
I made a small decision to have a cup of ovaltine, but the alien dislikes ovaltine, so I ditched it & settled for tea.
I hope that this is short lived as I have lots to do.
No photos yet, but about 3000 in the wings, waiting....

Home again

Back from a month in Viet Nam, as the natives call it - all words are short, so those with more than five letters become two words, or so it seems.
After a month I only know four words:
Thit bo  - beef
Thit jo   - dog
Gamon  - thank you
Ke         - frog

These I learnt from menus.
Restaurants that sell thit jo do not sell thit bo, or any other meat, so no problem there.
See a picture of a golden Labrador over the door & avoid.
I make this sound as though we made such decisions, but in fact we had a car with air-con, a driver, Phum & a guide, Chung, then Hai from day three onwards, so were well looked after.
We lunched with them every day & often dined with them & friends - twelve was the largest party!

Vietnam is 1500 miles long with the South china Sea to the East & shaped like a skinny, writhing fish.
Hanoi is the Northern capital & Ho Chi Minh city/Saigon the Southern capital, with a very thin central region - my description, entirely, if you hadn't guessed.
We started in Hanoi, travelled North as far as the Chinese border, then South as far as possible,to the Mekong Delta, returning to HCM city, to fly home.

A fascinating country, my main impressions are:
* Green & luscious, with crops growing everywhere - on steep slopes, up mountains, under pylons....
* very small people, especially the elderly; some of the younger people are our size with some        plumpies amongst the better off, who eat more Western food.
*Very healthy food, bales of green stuff, almost anything green seems to be eaten.
  This ties in with protein consumption - any life form is a source of protein.
  I declined anything with more than four legs!
  No sweets, chocolates, biscuits, etc, only masses of fantastic fruit, hence a 7lb weight loss.
*Motorcycles by the million, everywhere, weaving in & out, but few accidents due to the low speed 
  of all traffic. They often carry 3/4 people or a pig or a dozen ducks, the equivalent load of a small 
  van.
  On day 1, three men carried a large chest freezer out of our hotel, balanced it across the back of a 
  m/c, no ties, which then drove off home.
*Appalling roads, apart from the new highways - worse than the worst country lane here.
  In the North we averaged less than 20 mph.
*The dexterity of the masseurs!

We are just getting over the time difference (6 hours) & the 16 hour journey home.
The weather & J A's lawn mower have played havoc with the garden, the installation of an alarm system & the necessity to use the front door as the back door is not yet replaced, have created a mess indoors.
Nevertheless, I have done all of the washing & ironing - everything we took as damp/hot climates & foreign laundries leave a strange smell - cases are all away & the garden is having priority whilst the sun shines.

Photos to follow - just a few.