Mickey fez's most commented articles

Spell checkers don't recognise the word blog. Although it is an abbreviation of the word Weblog it is in the O.E.D so why is it not in the American dictionary that spellcheck uses? A little tale of Zazzles. Yesterday Ellen heard his distinct let me in call but couldn't find him.We don't let the cats use the front door because the road is a few feet way but that's where he was sitting on the doorstep. She let him in and he walked right passed us and out through the back window. The crafty litt…

I have 5 buds very close together on Margaret's rose too close to all get space to open,now do I lop the 3 smaller ones off to leave room for the bigger ones. Does anybody out there know anything about roses me being a veggie grower all my life know nothing,I water it when it's dry and that's the sum total of my knowledge The search for a news scoop needn’t be confined to those who are still living - during the 1987 election the Sun newspaper asked ‘medium and psychic investigator Nella Jones…

After yesterday's exertions I had decided today would be a rest day,no walks,no gardening just relaxing and thinking up a recipe for making a one dish wonder for dinner which I find very relaxing as I do with all cooking. Well all this is going to happen if I like it or nor. I awoke to wet streets and equally wet cats,they had obviously enjoyed a romp in the rain although it had stopped when I came down at 6:45. Fed and watered the cats shot off again and I fed the birds and had breakfast wat…

When I was growing up our diet hardly resembled the modern one. We would have potatoes roasted in beef dripping,chips fried in lard and also eggs,bacon etc shallow fried in the same stuff. Rice was something for making creamed puddings.We hadn't heard of curries,pasta or spaghetti.Pizzas were a long way in the future. There were no such things as low fat foods the fat content would give modern nutritionists nightmares. We had never heard of vegetarians or allergies to nuts or to anything el…

After a lovely afternooon yesterday turned nasty I went out late afternoon to soak up some more rays,as I sat with my crossword book a flyin ant landed on the page. I have lived here too many years not to know it would not been alone. I looked around and the sky was full of the little buggers. They were pouring out of a nest in the garden wall and some were coming over on the breeze from next door I sprang up and noticed another nest emptying on the path and one on the wall of the house. I c…

Jenny has been sedated,she has kidney stones and a blockage,she is awaiting an op more news later

Since I decided to break free on Saturday I have been walking everyday. The weather has ben iffy with rain on and off but no wind thankfully. Now on day 5 of my "Rear off the chair and into the air" campaign I had occasion to visit the Co-op for a few bits. We had a heavy sea mist when I awoke but that soon cleared so I set off. I took a roundabout route and managed to put 2.1 miles,not much I know but I will put more miles on as the weather improves. I know the old bones wont let me do the…

The water company has been wanting a lot of rain with the lakes being so low ,well today the got a good deposit. I managed to get to town and back dry if only just. Since then we had had bouts of very heavy rain driven in on 30-40 mph winds and we are promised more and heavier rain and even stronger winds tomorrow. Looks like I'm cabined up for now.

I have a few tomatoes from my friend and neighbour John. Despite the most horrendous summer I can remember and helping him to pick the pieces up when his little greenhouse was blown apart by an earlier storm this year he has managed to get a few plants to fruit. This is late in the year for tomatoes and there is a big variety in size from jaffa down to gobstopper but they are very welcome. Work has started on clearing the old shop to make a site for the new Tesco Express. These a…

Another senior moment. Today I fancied fish fingers for lunch and had a couple of nice soft baps just right for the job. I went to the chest freezer and removed one or two items until I found the fingers. Then I put everything back in but couldn't find the fish fingers.Yep I had packed then neatly away in the freezer again. We have a Tesco Express store opened on the island today,the opening hours will be 6 am until 11 pm 7 days a week. they have stuck leaflets into every house on the isla…

If you read my earlier blog you will have noticed my intention to go on a morning stroll which I did. With the temps already rising I set of at 9 for a stroll along the prom as far as the bridge. Here I crossed the road to the park and the wooded area beyond. There are some lovely yellow roses just inside one of the park entrances just the sight to bring a cheer to anybody's heart. I walked alongside the park,down the road and into the little wild part,much more my cup of tea than manicured…

It is 12months today since I washed up on these shores looking for a new home. Dear Aus greeted me on that very first day. A sweet lady who visited me daily from Multiply to here but alas she has now left the scene have many others from my 360 and multiply past. The next day I posted my first photo and a short blog and two new people arrived who were to become dear friends. Max and Summer gave me a warm welcome followed later by many more, some have also exited stage left some like the above an…

The scrap man came by today so I was able to get rid of all the metal from in and around the shed,a small step in the clearing up but a step forward all the same.Tomorrow is rubbish day so I will cram another bag of wood into the wheelie bin. The sawing up of wood is on hold at the moment of course with the state of my back. It is a lot better today but I am taking no risks I know from bitter experience to take things very steadily for few more days. So as I am not standing around cooking tod…

As you may have read I started on the big garden clear up on Wednesday. This photo shows what it was like along the back wall with brambles growing amongst the Gooseberry bushes and dead grass tangled in them.I got as far as pruning the goosebery and blackcurrant bushed plus removing the brambles right along the back and up the side to the house.The grass is still there. The rain that came yesterday lasted until this morning.The sun has appeared now but it will be a day or so before the min…

I took a stroll through a little wooded area about 150yards away.It was good to feel grass under my feet again. There are nesting boxes dotted through here helpig the wildlife. From there I crossed a large common heading tiwards the beach.The Irish sea didn't look inviting today and with a stiff northwesterly blowing in in was none to warm either. I headed about a mile down to the golf course before it was back on hard surfaces and a warmwer stroll home away from the beach. A nice warm…

A gorgeous day here on the wild north west coast of England. We have had wall to wall sunshine with temps in my little suntrap of a garden reaching 78f. This coupled with a very high humidity made for a close sticky sort of day. I cut the grass this morning before it got really warm. I found a carpet of tiny purple flowers on the part that was the wildflower bed,I am leaving it fallow this year just letting the vegetation grow. Anything that looks promising I cleared an area for and threw a few…

I finally remembered to ask my neighbour John about the plant with little flowers I culled last week,they are Fumaria Officinalis,there are 50 known varieties of which Officinalis is a common one.John rattled off the name straight away but then he does spend a lot of his time talking in Latin giving slide shows etc.He tells me he sometimes forgets the common name of flowers but never the Latin,it comes with the job I suppose him being a professional gardener all his working life.So that's anothe…

After yesterday's rain which hammered us from late morning until bedtime today dawned sunny and bright.With little to do on the work front and showers forecast for later I decided on a morning stroll.With Thorny likely to be flooded the lanes wre out again and needing to visit the shop anyway I decided on the beach from the Roundhouse to the golf course and then up to the shops. I met a few casuals on the way and then Margaret's sister Anne. She was out walking here little mongrel dog and the…

A turn in the weather here,a cold north easterly wind is blowing through, temps have dropped and there is rain falling. It's an indoor day for me and the cats agree.After a little foray earlier they both guzzled some food and went back to bed,Sooty is beside me on his cushion,where Zazzles is I have no idea but he's upstairs somewhere. There is nowhere I need to be today so staying put is OK although I was hoping to get the grass trimmed. My plan is to give the laptop a run out and do the…

At 2.50 today we had a power cut just as I was about to start dinner.That plan was shelved and I decided to break the laptop out and have a toodle.I discovered the battery was run down.No big deal the Electricity board would be here at the sub power station in a few minutes anyway and I could start the dinner. That turned out to be wishful thinking it was 4.15 before somebody finally turned up and we were back in action within 10 minutes,first job a cup of coffee.By now all thoughts of dinner h…