Monthly Archives: October 2013

Batteries

I ‘ve just spent £22.75 on batteries and a roll of film. That’s the equivalent of six pints of decent beer.
I’ve had to have a sit down to get over it. Erdinger is easing my pain.

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Mr Smith’s beautiful product

I’m now in my local. My second in command isn’t too impressed with the time taken to consume four pints of Mr Smith’s stout (three of which were the chocolate variety),
I’m with Double Maxim right now. There are signs that I may be forgiven.
Anyway, a lingering memory of beauty.

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Mr Smith’s house

This evening, my second in command …

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… decided that we should visit Mr Smith’s house in Durham.

Always an excellent host, Mr Smith served us his delicious Extra stout.

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And, of course, his most delicious Organic Chocolate Stout.

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And some strawberry beer.

Autumn jobs

It’s that time of year when jobs have to be done before the weather changes. A few weeks ago, I’d noticed that the paint on the shed window frame was peeling; well, it’s been around seven years since it was last painted. So I made some time to repaint it today; the door too. The old red paint had looked great at the time, but it was looking pretty dated. I read a while back on the Internet that the houses in our street would’ve had cream painted window frames and doors, so I thought I’d test that on the shed. Works pretty well too.

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The Queens Head

There are several pubs in our street, four within a couple of minutes walk. The most horrible in appearance, while not necessarily the worst pub, is The Queens Head. It’s had something of a facelift at some point (I’d guess around the 1970s or 80s) and this probably destroyed any original character. This picture’s from 2010, a random picture from the internet, but it still looks just as bad now.

Queens Head, 2010

I think it’s such a shame that pubs are having a hard time nowadays and that money hasn’t been spent on restoration. I say restoration, rather than further improvement, because this was clearly once a most beautiful pub. As can be seen here, in this picture from 1904.

Queens Head, 1904

Sadly, it seems that the upper part of the building had been completely rebuilt some time before its more recent facelift. I’d have loved to see inside the original.

 

Robinson Crusoe on Mars

As a kid of around twelve years old, I watched (and loved) a film called Robinson Crusoe on Mars. I’m sure it must’ve been shown on TV numerous times since, but I’ve never come across it again. Until now, that is. After only 40 years, I’ve found it on Netflix.

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