24.11.2011

Quiz Night

24.11.2011

“Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not.”

C.S. Lewis

I’ve had a crap day. Felt rotten but had quite a few things to do. I had an invite from one of my college colleagues to attend a quiz night at the Salt and Light cafe which was being run by his church this evening. I hemmed and hawed about whether to go. I so glad I did.

I stopped going to church a few years ago and allowed my faith to hide it’s light under the proverbial bushel.

There are people who come into our lives for a reason and I believe Paul is one of those people for me. His faith shines out and I remember how that used to feel. I believe I’m being encouraged back into the flock, well actually more like being dragged kicking and screaming – ever the Drama Princeling!

The quiz was really hard but we ended on a high note with some big scoring rounds and managed to come in a creditable third out of 10.

23.11.2011

23.11.2011

“Look in a mirror and one thing’s sure; what we see is not who we are.”

Richard Bach

I met the Fag Father for a drink when he finished work. We decided that we’d try the new Wetherspoon’s pub, The Layton Rakes, which opened yesterday. What I like about ‘Spoons is they don’t play music which means that conversations are easy to have, unlike in many bars and pubs where one has to shout to be heard. The decor was cool, with many Blackpool related items. I couldn’t resist my selfie today being with this ‘fun house’ mirror.

22.11.2011

22.11.2011

“He who allows his day to pass by without practicing generosity and enjoying life’s pleasures is like a blacksmith’s bellows: he breathes but does not live.”

unattributed proverb

So, Tuesdays (and Thursdays) are Pulmonary Rehab clinic for the next six weeks.

I’m the youngest and the fittest of the group, which I give thanks for each time I attend. I’m so glad I have 50% lung function. The guy I went round the circuit with today was carrying an oxygen tank. I gave thanks that I managed to give up smoking before the oxygen thang happened to me. We have an hour of ‘interesting stuff’ about our lungs and their condition and we have an hour or stretching and exercise. I’m amazed at how little the folks in my group know about their condition and how little they exercise. The circuit we do is hard work and it makes me breathless, but that’s what it’s meant to do.

21.11.2011

21.11.2011

“We learned a lot and lost a lot of sleep.”

Mabel Smith

College day. I really did not want to get out of my pit this morning but the thought of our jolly outing to Lytham Hall motivated me to get myself up and out the door.

The Hall was an amazing Georgian edifice at the front but some parts of it were far older. In need of extensive renovation and restoration the Hall is a Grade 1 listed building and just waiting for the go ahead for a 3yr programme of restoration which should start in March next year.

We learned about some of the structural aspects of the Hall, it’s decor and most interestingly for me about Harry Clifton. Harry had been a bit of a rake and gambled away much of the family money in the first part of the 20th Century.

I hope to spend some time volunteering at the Hall for my work placement this year. I’d like to get involved with tour guiding and working with kids groups.

This picture is Scooby in the Scooby room – so called because of the Jacobean wooden panelling that makes you want to press each panel to see if there’s a secret compartment behind.

20.11.2011

Visiting

20.11.2011

“We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.”

Goethe

I’ve been such a couch potato this weekend but been kept entertained for a goodly portion of it by a motley band of internet chatters.

Anyhoo, Sunday is usually a Tinkerbell day and today was no exception. So after changing out of my pyjamas, off I set into dark and cold to go visit the fairy.

19.11.2011

Scroats

19.11.2011

“Life isn’t all beer and skittles, but beer and skittles, or something better of the same sort, must form a good part of every Englishman’s education.”

Thomas J. Watson, Sr.

So I poked my nose out of the door for the first time today to go get supplies. A pyjama day is no good without beer. The local supermarket (Lidl) used to have at least a hundred hand baskets. Recently some of the local scroats stole them all. That’s right, all of them! The shop says that they will not be replaced so those of us who shop on a smaller scale have to carry our items.