So we know April 23^rd is St. Georges day – the patron saint of England (and Portugal, Germany, Aragon, Genoa and Venice), famed for slaying a dragon (yep, a believable story that one) and was killed for refusing to fight against the invading Christians during the Holy war and consequently was made a saint.

Work that one out: He was Turkish (yep George was not his given name), he had never stepped foot on our great land we call Brittan, was killing dragons but not fellow Christians and was canonised by the pope, head of a religion that was not recognised by Henry VIII when he wanted to move along the conveyor belt of wives and yet George remained!

So England has St. George, Scotland St. Andrew (the golfer), Wales St David (the original herbalist) and Ireland has St. Guinness or was it Patrick the snake charmer (another believable story)?

Maybe we should look for a new Patron saint, St. Michael perhaps? I do like his underwear range, or just make it St. George Cadbury – Imagine hundreds of women marching through your local high street with their flags in one hand and bar of dairy milk in the other.

The 23^rd is also William Shakespeare’s birthday or Billy Waggledagger to the locals. He would have been 445, which would have put him in the Guinness book of records were he still alive……….

I’ve never found his work very easy to get along with, yes, he was a talented man, but so was Vincent Van Gogh and……..hold on…..I see a connection: “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears“. Where was I? Oh yes, – talented -but does that mean you have to like it?

I remember many a boring lesson in school discussing meaning, hidden meaning and the literal flow of Mr S’s work:

Teacher: “The love of Desdemona for Othello appears at first such a violation of all probabilities that her father at once imputes it to magic, what impact does this have on the relationship between the three………You boy?”

Me boy: “(mmmm Alison’s hair is so shiny today, I wonder if she’s up for a snog behind the bike sheds?) me sir?….Errr, does he hire those three witches that caused Macbeth to talk to skulls to turn Othello in to a kids game sir?

Teacher: “GET OUT!”

And I never did get that snog!

If you have not read parts 1 & 2 – scroll and do it, it will help…..

Finally, I say with great relief, that I have finished decorating the bedroom! Well, I say finish there is always something you notice should have been done, thinking like that after all the wallpaper had been stripped off got me to this stage now, which is and extra £150 out of pocket and 3 weekends with out fresh air, but in this summer who cares? Read the rest of this entry »

Previously on D.I.Y. part 1 …..No!, that’s just on TV…go back and read part 1, it will help.

Now, don’t misunderstand please, I am pretty capable when it come to D.I.Y but being accident prone makes it challenging to say the least, be thankful I’m not a surgeon – oops there goes his spleen – but on the bright side being an ambulance driver would be handy I guess, knock ‘em down then pick ‘em up. I feel that needed to be pointed out before we continued…… Read the rest of this entry »

It was a typical British bank holiday for me, the sun was shining and I’m indoors doing D.I.Y. (it should be D.I.M. Don’t Involve Me!). But like an idiot, a relatively poorly funded idiot whose family thinks he is very good at all the jobs requiring a modicum of common sense to do, I succumbed to the notion that decorating a bedroom is not that complicated, besides, I have done this many times before, admittedly on a smaller scale. Read the rest of this entry »

……there was the concert, Pop, Rock or Jean-Michel Jarre (what ever your persuasion). Now with the wonders of modern technology we have the live concert in a cinema – yes that’s right a cinema. Read the rest of this entry »

Well of course I did not have it, I had a virus, and a bloody rough one (if they are sorted in to roughness – bloody comes just above ‘Good God is he still breathing?). But it’s not sympathy will I look for from you dear reader, just an understanding that being the head of the family you are not expected to be ill, but when you are sympathy is the last thing you will get from your family. Read the rest of this entry »