From just north of Cannock Chase so grew up with these delights. In the 80s I moved away to the soft south for uni and work and forgot about them until about 10 years ago when I was wandering around Tescos and re connected with this culinary wonder. Milton Keynes gives you everything!!!!! Cheese and bacon normally but occasionally honey or on adventurous days Bratwurst and curry sauce

Thanks people, you’ve raised some really interesting points. So a couple of responses that might clarify things.
Had some valuations done and daughter works for a national company that collates housing data so we know we’re in the right ballpark.
With regard to viewings I’ll stay there as I can work remotely and there are trusted/capable friends who are willing and able to step in if I can’t be there.
The village is lovely but (not on the sea or a tourist trap) it appears that its locals moving in from the surrounding the areas. It has the potential to be a retirement or first time buyer house in region of £280/£290k and similar houses have only been on for a week.
There are mixed messages for probate timescales at the moment (from a solicitor friend and others who have had to go through the process recently) with 4 months to 3 weeks quoted. As mum’s finances were simple and I’m the only beneficiary I’m hopeful.
I think we’ll give it a go and at the slightest sign of difficulty go down the traditional route.
What to do with the money is a huge question – coke and hookers obviously. We had considered renting it out/ABA etc as well but have come to the conclusion that we will probably get rental property near us just for convenience.

Can I negotiate? I got a parking clamp taken off for free once!

Yes I can sort all the viewings etc and marketing seems to be almost irrelevant as the bush telegraph seems to throw plenty of people expressing interest.

Was given a Corbusier lounger for my 50th. A repro and its brilliant. Everyone loves it and amazingly no matter how tall you are it works. Kids have taken their toll on the leather pad and I might get a new one but its a living piece, used and enjoyed. You do need a large space to enjoy the look or avoid the grandkids flailing limbs.
Have often thought about the Eames chair and won’t be afraid of a decent repro but would want to see it in the flesh before purchase. Same as Dyna-ti I almost made one at college but I was put off by the castings needed.

RIP Charlie. Mind you of all the Stones I’d have thought he would have lasted the longest.

The key to its real beauty was in the phrase – “For the owner to sail”

Not my normal viewing but I loved him in “Hear My Song”

WCA I know I have to face the brutal facts and give up the search for small funeral mounds but I am intrigued as to what will be hoovering up the remains. It really is a 2.5m cube of slate floor, 3 glass walls, 1 brick wall with no gaps (apart from the door into my study which is never left open) and the sky. I’ve never seen any large birds, rodents, cats or zombies in there. Miss Marple, Jonathan Creek?

So here is the update. During the morning the two fledglings moved about the courtyard. I avoided going and looking as I didn’t want to put the parents off feeding and I only saw them drop down into the space twice.
About lunchtime I saw that one of the chicks was definitely dead. Spreadeagled and still. The other was crouched in a corner but breathing.
No sign of the parents.
By 6.00pm the live one had disappeared but the still body was in the same place.

This morning there is no evidence of any life or bodies anywhere. No parents about the nest above either.
I think dehydration could be a factor in survival as it is sun trap with no cover and the floor is slate. Although its exposed, the chances of magpies or larger predators getting at the chicks is unlikely. The depth and smallness of the courtyard means in 15 years I’ve never seen anything bigger than a sparrow descend to the base. As its totally sealed no other vermin/cat etc can get in I’m surprised that all the bodies have vanished.

I’ll try and get a more accurate description of the parents to identify them properly.

Did anyone track one of these down?

I’ll drink to tonights episode. This was the first realistic bit in the sorry Alice saga. They couldn’t have kept it secret for so long

Aunt Polly…..

The ultimate robber dogs are Beagles. We had one when I was very young and tales of his consumption are legendary. He would empty dustbins or anything he could access and vomit up the contents at your feet with great pride.
Our current neighbours have had three! The are bonkers. Each one has resulted in a step up in security. Child locks on the kitchen units, then when they mastered getting on the work surfaces the wall cupboards had to be secured. Tins would be punctured, bags destroyed and consumed. The current dog isn’t left alone in the house! They are lovely dogs with a great temperament apart from FOOD!!!!

Loved everything he did. No exceptions.

We have spent £100s on this including all the saddles on mentioned above. We’ve done 3 bike fits including the bloke who used to sort out Sky and British Cycling. So here is the short version!
I set Mrs W up based on 40 years of cycling experience (high level road racing, touring MTB, track etc) Tried saddles recommended by others. Had problems with the “bits” so newer bike people said get bike fit. She did. Worse! They try to get a race fit because she is fit, flexible, young and on a good bike. Comfort and enjoying your ride didn’t compute. We ended going back to the position I started her with.
Lesson 1 – Use a bike fit or on-line position assessment as a guide not a religion.
Lesson 2 – What works on a 30 min ride doesn’t work after 30 miles so be prepared to make minor adjustments on the hoof. But make sure they are minor and give time to let things settle
Lesson 3 – Proper shorts with Chamois cream are essential. No other underwear. Fit is vastly different so be prepared to try loads. Not mens in the appropriate size!
Lesson 4 – Get a saddle fit. Padded saddles are rubbish. Shape is all. Mrs W ended up with a Specialised Mimic.
Lesson 5 – ride the largest volume tyres you can. When we fitted 32mm Conti 5000s it was a revelation in additional comfort over 28mm Gatorskins
Lesson 6 – use proper SPD type pedals so when the position is right she doesn’t slip out of it
Lesson 7 – It takes time. Mrs W is now giving me hell. She’s faster than me up hill, she complains that I didn’t force her to ride for the first 15 years of our marriage.

Private message us if you want to sort a chat Mrs W. The bit above is right. Feeling that you can talk to someone who understands is really helpful. Good look whatever you do.

That DS is verging on pron

Musician friend of mine who introduced me to him and others like Gordon Giltrap used to say “why play one note when you can play 20!”

Flaperon – she is 95! She moved to her current house/village with the idea that it was better than her previous place so that when she was going to give up driving it had easy access to all the facilities she would need. On that basis and that she is very realistic about everything, if she wants to give up driving proper cars before she has an accident then I’ll support her decision. Whilst she has been driving very safely lets quit while we’re ahead.

Thanks for the replies its really useful info. In terms of stability Mum is very small (5’ was an aspiration she never achieved) and lightweight so her mass isn’t going to be a big factor really. The way she currently sees it being used is to get somewhere (shops, other houses, places to walk) rather than an alternative to walking. If there was a cross country quad bike type arrangement we’d be hard pushed to stop her getting one in her current frame of mind. However we will try to keep her inner Ranaluph Fiennes in check and keep her to local roads. She’d be quite happy to get a second-hand Berlingo conversion for family and friends to help extend her horizons. I agree with the big wheel issue and will explore that kind of option. ajantom I may send you a message when we get closer to the time.

Given that for the last year I’ve done nothing I think by my standards its an alright start. On the 1st 1.5 hours path and track ride which reminded me how much skill I’ve lost. Then a real mud fest which generated as much effort in the cleaning of the bike afterwards followed by 5 mile walk in the afternoon with Mrs W. She’s on a bit of a mission as well so thats getting both of us in the groove hopefully. Yesterday another hours walk together. Today is going to be the challenge. I’m working from home and she’s in a school. I’m going out for a ride and looking for a yoga vid to do when she gets back. Will try one of the links posted earlier probably. Might even weigh myself.

Yeah me and my lardy spare tyres are in. Pootled on the bike for an hour this morning.

So sorry to hear this. This community is here for you.

I’ve had two Citroen C5 estates. Both one owner low miles (54k and 41k) on 57 plates. Both just under £2k. Big comfortable load carriers and with the 2lt engine unstressed cruising and 45mpg or more. People are scared of them because of the hydro suspension. Not cool but big big value. Take your time and buy on condition whatever you go for. Found both on Facebook rather than the normal suspects. Because the search can’t be narrowed easily people miss bargains. Good luck.

Been to Burgh Island for a special Wedding anniversary. The wife was going to divorce me when she found out how much it was costing. She was grumpy all the way there. Within two minutes of being there she feel in love with it. A very special place. If you can – do it!

I’ll have to learn how to get photos up as I’m doing the same here. However in general it does strike me that there isn’t enough stuff in those pictures. Where is the split box of screws the fridge of beer, the wheel with the puncture that needs sorting and the broken saucepan lid handle the wife has just plonked in front of you? Or are the workshops of Singletrack inhabited by psychoticly neat people?

Much debate about it being realistic on various forums. Why didn’t Chris call help earlier etc… In my view the shock factor means people don’t always do what somebody external sees as obvious. The only thing that didn’t ring true was Alice say that she was alcoholic. Its incredibly rare for someone to say that they are a gambler, alcoholic, addict at an early stage of being exposed. Great radio.

We had quite a discussion about this this morning. Unusually we ended up with us taking the opposite views to the ones expected.
Mrs W is black and a right on social worker. She accepted that he was an old duffer whose words reflected his age, places where he had worked and that it wasn’t being used in a negative manner. His immediate apology seemed sincere to her. She even used the phrase “PC gone mad”. It was what she would possibly expect from my 94 year old mother who is the least offensive person you could imagine and would be very upset if her choice of language caused any hurt.
I took the view that he is leading an organisation that includes representation of a large number of role models and has high public visibility. Therefore he has to work to and present the highest standards. He needed to be projecting the correct values rather than some well meaning intentions.
I do wonder if there were other pressures at play and this created an opportunity for change. Even if this wasn’t the case at least he recognised the issue, held up his hand and acted honourably. Oh that others would do the same!

Love a Gentleman’s yacht thread. Was he a “gentleman”? I’ve got a very Terry Thomas image of him. Great idea about a viking funeral. Someone on here will lend you a wetsuit if you don’t want to use the rubber dingy on the foredeck for the return from the last voyage of the Good Ship Joyce Julia Were they the GFs? Saves on many costs and creates a business opportunity if you open it up to others. Anyway £15k is very optimistic if you look at what has been sold recently or up for sale at the moment.

JVT – sounds like a Honda. More worryingly it sounds too cosy with BJ (- sounds like a prick) Agree about setting up Andy Burnham – sounds like a decent bloke to me.

Was just going to put up the Modern House. Most people in our road of ‘unique” houses who aren’t local and knew of them found them through The Modern House.

The reason I was considered an Iwatch was that she gets about a bit and would frequently be away/out of range from a plugged in device but will investigate.
Like the not for your benefit approach to having one. She has allowed me to have the ‘find your friends” app on her phone switched on in the past so this could be presented as an extension of that.
Spoke to her this morning and she is cannily telling the hospital how isolated she is to maximise the rehab and physio she can access.
We’re all set up with Power of attorney etc. She is well prepared for everything. An inspiration in attitude.
Thanks for the replies people.

I’d happily burn Mrs’s Wingnuts car Fooman but its an Audi TT but being a convertible the isn’t the natural ash filter provided by the roof that your suggestion demonstrates.
Not having much thatch on top I’ve always found patio heaters create a sunburn effect on my bonce.
Anyway I’ve picked up a freebee hotpoint off Gumtree and brought it home. Mrs W has been impressed by the pictures of romantic flames flickering and non doubt I’ll keep warm finding all the wood it’ll need to producing them.

So I have to dismantle the washing machine then.

Blankets, hot tottys was my go to solution but Mrs W doesn’t drink! I like the Japanese table idea.

More like two weeks in Holloway

Married to a black woman and this happened to her cousin’s son. Same age but not caught the people responsible.
Hard watch in our household. But it’s important to watch. We might not have achieved in life for a whole host of reasons. But we have life!
Jimmy McGovern is a god in my eyes. So much social commentary on difficult topics over the years.

Fiat Panda is worth considering. My Mum had small auto Peugeots for years and when her last one died we had a serious talk about whether she should carry on driving. (93 at the time) Anyway doc and optician said she was ok so we decided to buy secondhand on a limited budget – £2500 as it happened. That way she could still have choice about using the car or bus dependent on how she was feeling and not worry about having £ks just sitting on the drive rusting/depreciating. I tried several things, Hyundai, Ford, Yaris etc and was just passing a Fiat dealership so popped in and tried one. Liked it so started scouring Auto trader etc. Found a lovely one on Facebook. Mum loves it. She’s short and its the best visibility she has ever had in any car. . Basic but roomy and drives well for anything under 50 miles as it can be a bit rollerskatey. I’d get one for any of my kids and happily drive it myself .

Kryton – Perhaps I was lazy and tired in the way I expressed things this morning and I’m still knackered from clearing the garage so will probably do no better now. So here is a breakdown of the points me and the Mrs discussed.
Racism is never acceptable but we can’t rewrite history however much we would like to.
If we pull things down or obscure them it will distort learning for the future and antagonise those looking for a cause.
We need to encourage a sense of how far ideas have travelled and that they aren’t at the expense of any group.
By erecting new positive things we keep acknowledging change isn’t always damaging to pride and identity.
It’s always going to be easy to find an example that will play havoc with the principle but we need to find actions that generally don’t enflame but show recognition, reflection and a way forward that isn’t antagonistic.
I’m as white liberal middle class as you could imagine and come from a mesmerisingly stable family. Mrs W comes from a immigrant, fractured illiterate family and as driven herself to be a national recognised figure in her field as a social worker/educator. We both see everyday racism personally and institutionally,and with unintentional bias. What we don’t see is people trying to get beyond tokenism and offence. At a course some blue rinse, who no doubt trying her best asked Mrs W what she wanted to drink – “Black please” to be told “We don’t say that, its coffee or coffee with milk” Mrs W almost pissed herself and pointed out she didn’t ever associate herself with a hot beverage.
What we were trying to get to was yes it wasn’t ok but it was the past, here are positive examples we can use as a way to move forward.
Bet that’s no less confusing is it.

Just had a conversation with my Black British wife. Her conclusion is that changing and taking statues/plaques away just creates a focal point of deniers and protesters. There has to be a conversation to show how things have moved on. If things are left standing alone they will just remain symbols. We finally came to a point where all controversial statues ought to be twined to show a journey. Next to N—-r’s memorial have a similar one recognising the service of black/empire/foreign airmen. Perhaps next to a restored Colston put up the protestors statue with information outlining how unacceptable the way he amassed his fortune but that some of it was used positively to create the university next to the black protester’s one with some narrative to show that we shouldn’t be complacent. Next to Churchill acknowledge his war leadership but voting against the creation of the NHS and discrimination against India by balancing with Atlee or Gandi etc. Basically add positivity and reflection to the conversation rather than ignoring or division.

Excellent effort. Can they come and jizz, sorry jazz up my website?