The Grey Room |
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Jim Garten
Special Collaborator Retired Admin & Razor Guru Joined: February 02 2004 Location: South England Status: Offline Points: 14693 |
Posted: July 29 2008 at 03:30 | |
Many thanks all for the warm welcome back
Indeed, we had an absolutely fab time - Pete, Kathy & the kids were a blast from start to finish, the cottage we stayed in was superb (such a change to have a firm base this year as opposed to flitting around all the time), with a back deck overlooking the sea - Late afternoons & evenings were spent kicking back with a few beers, watching whales cruise past & bald eagles (no, not a tribute band...) circling over distant cliffs... all in average 25/27 degree heat (in northern Newfoundland ). Late evenings were spent usually outside, listening to music with a few beers & trying to convince Peter that prog-metal is not in fact the first sign of the impending apocalypse . Daytimes were spent exploring the area open mouthed with awe at the beauty of the place in our rented Dodge Caliber (sic), creeping up on puffins, avoiding moose on the roads & re-stocking the beer supplies, which kept mysteriously evaporating overnight, resulting in our returning 15 dozen empty bottles after 6 days... Sorry - I've made the above sound a bit too perfect & idyllic - it was! Yes Rachel - photos will follow, but due to over-running engineering works in our bathroom (supposed to be finished before we returned), the PC is currently inaccessible, so will be a little while... |
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012 |
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mystic fred
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 13 2006 Location: Londinium Status: Offline Points: 4252 |
Posted: July 29 2008 at 05:10 | |
welcome back, Jim n' Vicky - things have been quiet here in the GR
looking forward to the photos!
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Prog Archives Tour Van
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Jim Garten
Special Collaborator Retired Admin & Razor Guru Joined: February 02 2004 Location: South England Status: Offline Points: 14693 |
Posted: July 29 2008 at 07:39 | |
Cheers Steve - I only took about 350 photos this year, so as soon as I'm ready to upload them all...
Oh, and incidentally:
I forgot to mention the other element of most late afternoons & evenings... mosquitoes! Hundreds of the bloody things, taking vast quantities of English blood until eventually persuaded to leave Vicky and I alone with liberal amounts of the local repellant, aptly named "Off" (which is very similar to what we said every time we were bitten) |
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012 |
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Neil
Forum Senior Member Joined: October 04 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1497 |
Posted: July 29 2008 at 08:43 | |
Glad to see you back and suitably refreshed Mr and Mrs G. I on the other hand am hiding from the sunlight at present after having apparently discovered Heracleum Mantegazzianum in the neighbour's hedge. Arse and indeed bugger.
Edited by Heavyfreight - July 29 2008 at 09:04 |
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When people get lost in thought it's often because it's unfamiliar territory.
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Man Erg
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: August 26 2004 Location: Isle of Lucy Status: Offline Points: 7456 |
Posted: July 29 2008 at 09:17 | |
Those Victorian explorers.They really didn't know what they were unleashing into the British countryside.There is another more insidiuous genus called Phyllisius Collinsii.Apparently,you can only get rid of it by using text and/or fax. |
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Do 'The Stanley' otherwise I'll thrash you with some rhubarb. |
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Jared
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 06 2005 Location: Hereford, UK Status: Offline Points: 19214 |
Posted: July 29 2008 at 09:46 | |
verily, Brother James, 'tis the very music of the devil....
(go on...tell us what you played him....)
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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Jared
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 06 2005 Location: Hereford, UK Status: Offline Points: 19214 |
Posted: July 29 2008 at 09:49 | |
persackly...anyone fancy a Crocosmia Lucifer tuba...or 20??
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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Neil
Forum Senior Member Joined: October 04 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1497 |
Posted: July 29 2008 at 11:14 | |
Well I don't know that much about it but apparently some fashionable country gentlemen had some cultivated wild gardens in which they innocently planted the giant hogweed throughout the land... or something.
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When people get lost in thought it's often because it's unfamiliar territory.
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Jared
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 06 2005 Location: Hereford, UK Status: Offline Points: 19214 |
Posted: July 29 2008 at 11:36 | |
^^I was wondering who'd be the first to make that reference...
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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Jim Garten
Special Collaborator Retired Admin & Razor Guru Joined: February 02 2004 Location: South England Status: Offline Points: 14693 |
Posted: July 29 2008 at 12:30 | |
Maybe not technically prog metal, but we did play him System Of A Down's 'Toxicity'... well, when I say we played it to him, I mean he got about 3 minutes into the first song before he went all ; bless 'im |
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012 |
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Jim Garten
Special Collaborator Retired Admin & Razor Guru Joined: February 02 2004 Location: South England Status: Offline Points: 14693 |
Posted: July 29 2008 at 12:32 | |
Ow! - that cannot be comfortable! You have our sympathies
Or, given your condition, probably not |
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012 |
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Man Erg
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: August 26 2004 Location: Isle of Lucy Status: Offline Points: 7456 |
Posted: July 29 2008 at 13:06 | |
Not for me thanks Jared. I'm going to have to divide mine and plant them somewhere else in the Spring.They've grown like topsy this year. |
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Do 'The Stanley' otherwise I'll thrash you with some rhubarb. |
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Jared
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 06 2005 Location: Hereford, UK Status: Offline Points: 19214 |
Posted: July 29 2008 at 17:10 | |
I did that last year...as well as just digging some of them up, but they've spread like Japanese Knotweed..... I'm sure they're a member of the triffid family....
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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Wilcey
Forum Senior Member VIP Member Joined: August 11 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 2696 |
Posted: July 29 2008 at 18:04 | |
Just typed out a witty and entertaining post............. only to get the "service unavailable" announcement, bit like the test card, just as annoying, but no silly music!
Anyway, I will give you the shortened version.......... I have NO CLUE what you're all talking about, I went wiki and came up with this... Giant Hogweed is a phototoxic plant. Its sap can cause phytophotodermatitis (severe skin inflammations) when the skin is exposed to sunlight or to UV-rays. Initially the skin colours red and starts itching. Then blisters form as in burns within 48 hours. They form black or purplish scars, which can last several years. Hospitalisation may become necessary.[1] Presence of minute amounts of sap in the eyes, can lead to temporary or even permanent blindness. These reactions are caused by the presence of linear derivatives of furocoumarin in its leaves, roots, stems, flowers, and seeds. These chemicals can get into the nucleus of the epithelial cells, forming a bond with the DNA, causing the cells to die. The brown colour is caused by the production of melanin by furocoumarins. In Germany, where this plant has become a real nuisance, there were about 16,000 victims in 2003. I always suspected gardening was dangerous!As for Fanny's plants......... "Tubby the devil worshipping tuba" well, wiki held no clue, indeed google only directed me to the GR ! So I will decline your generous offer, besides, I don't have room amongst my prize winning thistles and teazels.......... (yes- our stripey lawned neighbours HATE us!)
(I'm copying and pasting now, this is my FOURTH attempt to post!)
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Jim Garten
Special Collaborator Retired Admin & Razor Guru Joined: February 02 2004 Location: South England Status: Offline Points: 14693 |
Posted: July 30 2008 at 03:32 | |
With the Hogweed there's the additional problem that a young plant bears a strong resemblance to Cow Parsley - this completely harmless plant also has a hollow rigid stem which (according to the BBC programme 'Country File' a while back) kids used to use as a kind of organic ad-hoc pea-shooter ( - I suspect this was back in the days of Enid Blyton, Jubblies and rickets)... problem being, if they tried to do the same with Hogweed, they'd invariably get the sap on their lips/in their mouths...
...with less than hilarious results |
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012 |
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Jim Garten
Special Collaborator Retired Admin & Razor Guru Joined: February 02 2004 Location: South England Status: Offline Points: 14693 |
Posted: July 30 2008 at 03:42 | |
Sounds like you have a similar array of prize winning 'wild flowers' as Vicky and I, Rachel - mayhap we should hold a Grey Room fete, in which you could display your thistles & teazels whilst we could show our beautiful nettles, dandelions, a section of our immaculately moss choked lawn & a beautiful green lace curtain (which used to be a very nice hosta until the slugs got peckish ). A Grey Room fete*, eh... there's a thought *And the first person to use the old "fete worse than death" gets a garden hoe right up their potting shed |
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012 |
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Neil
Forum Senior Member Joined: October 04 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1497 |
Posted: July 30 2008 at 06:27 | |
Not too bad actually, although really annoying going around looking like you have bubonic plague or have had a fight with the chip pan. Biggest problem is that I have some bad burns across the top of my right ankle so cannot currently wear anything but flip flops, which rather precludes any type of railway work. Having to stay out of the sun just as summer seems to have arrived is also a mild embuggerance.
Must get over to St Evenage or you vice versa in the next few weeks. May try to get to Cropredy for the Friday walk if I can. Let me know what time you'll be leaving and we can meet on the ledge (bridge).
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When people get lost in thought it's often because it's unfamiliar territory.
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Jim Garten
Special Collaborator Retired Admin & Razor Guru Joined: February 02 2004 Location: South England Status: Offline Points: 14693 |
Posted: July 30 2008 at 07:22 | |
"What time you'll be leaving"??? You're joking Neil - don't forget, we are dealing with the usual crowd (currently standing around 20 people) - trying to nail them down to who's going is bad enough, but a time? As I gather you're not going to the festival itself, it may be best to meet at the Hare & Hounds itself... +++ Speaking of Cropredy - Dean: you decided if you're going yet? |
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012 |
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Wilcey
Forum Senior Member VIP Member Joined: August 11 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 2696 |
Posted: July 30 2008 at 16:28 | |
Sounds blinkin awful Neil, have a big huggly from me.........................(it's not...........er.......... catching is it? )
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Jared
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 06 2005 Location: Hereford, UK Status: Offline Points: 19214 |
Posted: July 30 2008 at 17:38 | |
indeed.... hugglys are most contagious.....
(at least they were back in 1973, when I last had one...)
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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