lincslady

I am not a P and O cruiser - nor any other line at present! - but hope you don't mind me butting in to say what a great idea this thread was; I love popping in to see the very varied and excellent photos. It brightens up the day a bit, and heaven knows that is needed now.

Wide awake at 3, and a bit cheesed off about that - but, great news here, Terry is feeling good, and 'benign' is one of the best words in the world when you hear it after serious worrying. I have been through that myself, and even if what you have alters your life a bit, that seems fairly unimportant by comparison. Nice to have a bit of good news for once! Cheers, Bob and Terry - and that drink looks really enticing! Lola

England has a lot of faults and problems at present (hasn't everyone) but at least we generally do not have what sounds to me like freak weather. So sad also about the fires on the west coast. Silkismom, your freezer problems sound pretty awful; hope you can get them sorted soon. Terry - almost time for your 'procedure'; the best of luck and that it is fairly uneventful afterwards. Just had a couple of glasses of wine; not quite enough to ruin my spelling, but enough to make me bit more laid back. Lola

Hi Fletcher Haven't seen the programme yet - need to watch the recording - but I am beginning to feel a bit ashamed of being a member of the English race: how about the latest idiocy. Official announcement on Friday that from Monday no groups of more than 6 to congregate. Result - large groups of mainly young people making the most of their last weekend to go out and party and drink. Red rags and bulls comes to mind. One of them even said in an interview on Saturday the blindingly obvious fact that it should have been with immediate effect. Apologies for rant - feeling pretty annoyed. I think I need a bit of Jeff's jazz to calm me down. Lola P.S. I hope this does not count as political.

Hello Jeff First - how good to hear from you again. I have just had a short listen to the tapes - feet tapping and a silly grin on my face. The most cheering thing for me in recent months. Yes, that lady is a great musician. I don't know how anyone could not tap their feet listening to this. Thanks. In my teens my first boy friend introduced me to jazz - starting with Jelly Roll Morton! We went to a few concerts in Liverpool to see Mick Mulligan with George Melly, when he was young. And I did like the UK bands, Chris Barber, Humph et al. Second love is any good guitar playing, from John Williams who we once heard at the Sydney Opera House, and the likes of Clapton and Santana and especially Jeff Beck. I trust all is well with you, and you are still enjoying your lovely seaside view. Lola

That's fighting talk, TTS! I am a mere mongrel, albeit mostly from the UK - half Welsh, the rest mainly from northern England, spiced up a little by a French great-grandmother. My kids are a bit more mongrelly, having some Irish blood from their father. Their grandchildren are going to be even more diverse, as their son's American wife and mom-to-be has Irish, Spanish, Indian and eastern European blood from her four grandparents. I am delighted, so long as everyone inherits the best characteristics from their forebears. I do love hearing about US citizens ancestry; always very interesting as unlike some of us stodgy Brits they all at some time came from somewhere else.

Lots of luck, Terry - we will excuse you from posting for a day or two! Your trip looks very relaxing, jp; I am sure just what you both need after recent stress at work. Even just sitting in a peaceful country garden or in the great outdoors with no sounds at all is so soothing. Although the sound of running water makes it even better. Just looking at your pics has done me good. Lola

Same here,Terry. Hadn't realised that you posted every day, and you should not feel obliged to, but I enjoy your 'old' funnies, many of which I have not seen before. My own girlhood music choice actually was traditional jazz, so although I am pretty ancient it predates me by quite a lot! It was very popular in the UK in the mid fifties, and the then current pop was pretty dire - the likes of Mario Lanza singing Be My Love etc. It all improved with the start of rock and roll. But my favourite pop era has to be the Beach Boys time. Things in the UK not improving generally, with new conflicting advice re Covid, and problems even more than usual with the EU! Best not to watch the news or even read the papers. I am beginning to feel it is time to hibernate. Lola

Wow! Bless you, mysty. I think it must have been my father who talked about it; he was young in the 30's and a keen pianist and loved playing jazz and swing. That is terrific, Thanks Lola

Hi coolers - don't know if anyone is clever/crazy enough to know the answer to my silly question. I have had buzzing through my brain today a weird but funny phrase it has dredged up from many many years ago. Does anyone know the derivation of this - I did wonder if it was from a song of the 1920's or similar. 'It ain't no sin to take off your skin and dance around in your bones.' I don't know why I like it, but I do. Lola

Thanks - I think - for all the 'food porn'. Drooling at it all, the lovely picnic lunch, belly pork and so on, but especially at the gorgeous foie gras pic. I think my favourite was to have it with warm brioche and a sharp/sweet fruit compote. Just hoping those good times will come again. There seems to be a lot of unrest at present, here in England and it seems everywhere, and I am sure that most of it is down to the continued worries and deprivations with C****. Lola

Something which nowadays is unfashionable or politically incorrect, but which I (whisper) love, is the combination of sauteed foie gras and Sauternes. Yes, I think Monbazillac is from Bergerac , east of Bordeaux, and wines made with the viognier grape are essentially from Condrieu in the northern Rhone.

I am sure everyone has these strange coincidences now and again - I remembered the muscat wine we liked simply because of the correspondence here; had not thought of the name for many years. This morning son phoned to suggest some half bottles of it for his father's birthday next month, as DH nowadays is difficult to buy for. Son and I had not spoken of it for probably 25 years, since we all had a holiday in that region It felt a bit spooky, and was an inspired thought for his present, as he loves sweet puddings. I will try to let him have it all (or almost all) ; might just have a taste or two! Love the funnies - especially the whales (I am part Welsh). Lola

Stumbles - it is just an uncomplicated wine, from the muscat/moscatel grape, and not to be compared with the great Sauternes, etc. But that part of Provence, with Gigondas, Vacqueras, Rasteau etc. is a lovely area, and I hope you will be able to visit some time - maybe as things are not for quite a while. Somehow they are all just more enjoyable when you have visited the wineries and the charming people who run them.

We certainly loved Chateau Rieussec, but to perhaps lower the tone, does anyone else enjoy Muscat de Beaumes de Venise? Years ago holidaying in Provence, we visited Domaine de Durban, a lovely small property whose wines were at the time sold by Yapp Brothers. Maybe it is the recollection of the pleasant visits, but we always enjoyed this fairly inexpensive dessert wine - though not the cheaper ones from the same area. As we nowadays rarely have a pudding course, none has passed my lips for a few years. Lola