Musings of an aging fan

On this day in 1941, my great-uncle Harry died.

Chief Engine Artificer Harry Hector Wood, British Empire Medal, was serving on the Repulse when she, along with the Prince of Wales and their accompanying destroyers, were sent to Singapore. Making a sortie in search of the Japanese invasion fleet, they were attacked by a heavy force of bombers, and both capital ships were sunk. My great-uncle would have been deep below decks, with little chance of escaping.

Although I never met him, I know people who did, including two of his daughters; and his litte sister went on to become my paternal grandmother. I feel a connection to him across the years and across the distance.

Rest well, Uncle Harry.

Today
I need to think of good things ...
We had lunch at The Salutation Inn yesterday
We are going inside Stonehenge next Monday
I have read interesting library books on PoW exchanges in WWII (largely arranged through Lisbon) and German / British double agents in WWII (largely making contact with Germany through Lisbon)
The March Ansible has arrived
This white Burgundy is still very pleasant, two days after opening

Sunday
Grandad (Colin Wells) with Ch Woodlark, c1959 - 60.


Saturday
Tolkien slept here: http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/letters/11824442.Follow_the_Tolkien_Trail_at_Mordiford_/
I have booked sleeper tickets south from Inverness. We are aiming to do the whole journey, Bristol - Skye - Harris - Inverness - Bristol surface by public transport (although there may be the odd taxi thrown in, and hire cars on the islands).

Friday
Yes, I know it's the Daily Fail (complete with inaccurate reporting), but there are lots of great photos here.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2960251/How-RAF-ready-face-Russians-Stunning-images-depths-Cold-War-surface-air-missiles-V-bombers-radar-stations-protecting-Britain.html

The phone rang yesterday evening, and when I picked it up, I found it was my grandmother! She was at home, having been released from hospital that afternoon. She was still coughing, but sounded very bright and cheerful.

It was really good to hear from her, and I am so pleased that she is home.

We had a good lunch with my parents and grandmother yesterday, at the Angel in Market Harborough. On the way back to the station, we had a look round both St Dionysius church and the museum; and went into two bookshops (where I bought a couple of paperback crime novels; their Tolkien hardbacks were reasonably interesting, but nothing we didn't already have).

Later that day, we went swimming. So far, I've been every Saturday and Sunday that we've been at home, and I've swum two more lengths each day. If I keep this up, I'll reach half a mile by next Sunday.

We watched Fred and Ginger in "Follow the Fleet" last night. Great fun, but (in places anyway) too sad and serious. The final song-and-dance routine to "Let's face the music and dance"* was incredibly beautiful (and with nice orchestration of the music, too).

The nuthatch came back this morning! It flitted between the fence and the larger sunflower seed feeder for a few minutes.

Speaking of birds, the ornithologists among you may wish to check out this item:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310028070380

Creatrix will be sidesperson at the family service this morning, this being the first Sunday of the month.

And that's all I can think of for now.

*Who else remembers Angela Rippon dancing to this on "Morecambe and Wise"?

ETA: A very happy Mothering Sunday to everyone! May the sun shine on your daffodils, and may your Simnel cake be tasty.

I am amused by the "Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs)" for "Tolkien's Legendarium" on Amazon.com.
http://www.amazon.com/Tolkiens-Legendarium-History-Middle-earth-Contributions/dp/0313305307/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204547822&sr=8-1

The latest posting from theotterteam is fun, too, although the second video is quite glitchy.

We also saw a bit of "Cat Ballou" yesterday afternoon. I'm jealous of Lee Marvin's sparkly waistcoat.

Last weekend, we went to my little cousin's wedding.

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Some mentions of my late grandfather and his dogs:

http://www.flatcoated-retriever-society.org/Articles/Article%20-%20My%20Cups%20Overfloweth.htm
http://www.ourdogs.co.uk/News/January2003/News100103/obituaries.htm
http://www.flatcoated-retriever-society.org/Society%20Matters/finance_committee2.htm