poppy

standing on end and instantaneously going grey, 'I wasn't agreeing to anything for your father!' 'Sorry, Johnny, ...fttzz ...skpppt ... you're breaking ....jtwak ...up again. I'll ring Daddy and ... ybbber ...him.' 'Nooooooo!!' I shouted, but too late. She'd hung up. There was only one thing to do ...

Very nice banjo playing!

From Here You Can Almost See the Sea ~ David Gray

Tin Man ~ America

away in his offshore bank accounts? Not to mention the pile of readies he keeps under his mattress, he can bloody well afford to finance his own trips!' 'Johnny! Please don't use profanities. After all Daddy's done for us! And how do you know about his money under the mattress??' Because, dear reader, I'd had a good fossick around the old fossils premises on several occasions and helped myself to the odd tenner or three, but I certainly wasn't going to tell Rosie about that! 'Just a wild stab in the dark, precious, it's the kind of thing dear Daddy would do. I'm really hurt that you'd rather have Daddy or Fiona as your travel companion, than me.' 'Well, Johnny, I've just been feeling lately that ...

Fanfare For the Common Man ~ Emerson, Lake and Palmer

my little attempt at jocoseness. 'I don't think she mentioned sushi at all,' Rosie sounded perplexed. 'No, it was a play on words, dear, a kind of ... oh never mind. So what are you thinking of doing now?' I asked, hoping she'd say she was coming home. 'We're all missing you terribly.' 'I'm missing you too, Johnny. And all the moggies. And of course Daddy. I thought I'd...

Mr Lonely ~ Bobby Vinton

her to do things ... unmentionable things. Do you think the white slavers have got her? I wish you'd come with me instead, this never would have happened, ' she sobbed. I entirely agreed, but now wasn't the time to tut tut and say 'I told you so' and 'now let this be a lesson for you!' 'I'm sure nothing like that has happened, darling. She's always struck me as flighty and unreliable. Are you sure she hasn't just gone off with the Americans? Have you checked her room?' 'I hadn't thought of that! I'll go now. Just hang on a minute.' About five minutes later, ' Guess what?? ...

Fifth Avenue ~ Shirley Temple

managed to contact her. She looked like the wiggly lines on an old out of focus TV set but I could hear most of what she was saying. 'Fiona has disappeared,' she wailed, 'and I don't know what to do!' Personally I would have been relieved to get rid of the annoying little blister, and got on with my life, but Rosie obviously thought otherwise. 'Calm down, darling and tell me when you saw her last.' 'Well we went ...

Are Friends Electric ~ Gary Numan

finished our tea and it was swiftly back to work for me. I still suffered from panic attacks when recalling my traumatic experiences with Pythagoas and the ex-Missus. I wasn't going to risk a repeat from 'Little Miss Mischievous Fiery Dark Eyes' no matter how cute. I was hard at it in the office, catching up on the latest news in The Sun, when the phone rang. 'Darling, is that you? I have a problem ...

Friends and Lovers ~ Bread (songs can suddenly transport you back years. I've been listening to a nostalgia paylist I've made on Spotify today 🙂 )

Peaceful Easy Feeling ~ Eagles

her custard creams. She managed to extricate her hand holding at least half a dozen. I couldn't help admiring her talent but I was concerned there wouldn't be any left for me! 'Hoy! You better not have eaten them all!' But it was too late, she'd crammed every last one into her mouth and all that was left were a few boring, rather soggy, water crackers. I sighed and put the kettle on, it didn't look like Dolly had any intention of ...

Deacon Blues ~ Steely Dan

a very wet and bedraggled looking feather duster in one hand and a plunger in the other. 'Yes, I'm sure a few custard creams are the order of the day. I've been hard at it, so put the kettle on sweetie and make us both a nice cup of tea. Strong, hot and sweet for me. And then you can tell me all about what you've been doing.' I was actually a bit worried about what she'd been doing, given the equipment she was carrying. 'I'm sorry Mr Revolting, but ...

You're not supposed to, but some people do. I've never had one myself.

did some unmentionable things to Mrs Bindweed's bed of prize petunias. Keiff said the only solution was to surround the 'peripheral extremities' with cat proof fencing. When I asked how much that would set us back, he said he knew a bloke who'd do it on the cheap as long as I didn't ask too many questions. Unlike my nosy neighbour, I was far too busy with my extremely heavy workload since Rosie had deserted me and gone gallivanting off, to go poking my nose into other people's business. 'Well, give us a quote and I'll ...

You're Gonna Look Good In Blues ~ Tony Joe White

Yes, rabbits had already created problems for farmers by the 1870's. There were so many in some parts of the South Island ( we're such an imaginative lot with our place names 🙄) that there was no food left for sheep. Unfortunately ferrets and stoats are devastating on birdlife. Possums here are different from American ones. Ours look like this ... And this is the noise they make. Right outside (an open) bedroom window in the middle of the night gives you something of a start 😁 I had one once that was scratching on a bedroom window. I couldn't see anything so opened up the window only to discover it was clinging to the window frame and swinging backwards and forwards as I opened and closed it! The have very sharp claws, you don't want them running up your leg, as I did once with a pet one 😅

in your washing, dearie. Any mending needing doing or buttons sewing on, I'll be happy to oblige.' That solved one problem. Now there was just the cooking, cleaning, dishes and someone to make my bed. Perhaps I could ask Dolly, a sweet girl who came in voluntarily to help with the cats? 'Well, Mr Revolting,' she said shyly, 'I COULD try, but I haven't really done those things very much. I'm responsible at home for car maintenance... oil changes, new fan belts, checking points and plugs, overhauling the motor, those kinds of things.' 'Well, we don't have a car, so give it your best shot.' And I left her to it. I had a pressing appointment with ...

Most were brought here by early settlers from Gt Britain, in a lot of cases as food sources, I imagine. The possums were introduced from Australia. They're protected there, I understand, but thrive in our climate and decimate our native forests. They can also carry TB that can infect cows. They are quite cute though, but make a fearful screeching and hissing noise. They climb onto our veranda roof at night and clamber around, making those noises. Causes quite a start and since I keep the bedroom windows open (it's summer), I'm always half expecting them to come clambering in! The rabbits and deer don't really cause us problems so we enjoy seeing them 😊

Previous page, happens when you click on a notification and reply to it rather than check the page number 😉 A Good Year For the Roses ~ Elvis Costello