Moving House!

From the 9 to the 27 April we were in bonny Scotland, putting 2400 miles on the mileometer. We reached as far at the Outer Hebrides after spending a week in Glenelg, whose only claim to fame is that it is a palindrome. No. 2 son rented a house that would sleep 14 and invited his extended family to spend ma week with him, so we drove to the Lake District and spent a night in Grasmere before going on to Inverness, visiting Roy Boulton, with whom I went to school, picking up Leon's mother-in-law and son before going on to Glenelg, which is just opposite the south end of the Isle of Skye. There is minimal mobile phone coverage there - you have to stand on the bathroom window sill or go to the bottom of the garden to get pone bar of a signal, and that has a tendency to vanish as you make your connection. There was also no broadband and no land line for a dial-up, so the aforesaid son, being 16, although he said he enjoyed being with the rest of the family, vowed never again to go to such a place again. His father, who had taken the large family dog, seemed to go out on long walks, and only later did we deduce that he had gone to the pub, where there was wifi....

After Glenelg, we drove on up to Ullapool, caught the ferry to Lewis and then drove south through the islands of Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, and Barra, crossing either by causeway or by ferry. We were on Lewis on a Sunday. In Lewis the Sabbath is strictly observed. It was like being in Beckenham in the mid-1950s. Nothing was open at all. But we stayed at a brilliant bijou hotel. 4 bedrooms run by second-lifers who were serious foodies.

The South of Lewis is Harris, where they make the tweed, and not much else.

Then to North Uist, which consists of 28,000 acres, all of which are owned by the 6th Earl of Granville. He runs a fish smoke-house, and his younger brother runs another splendid hotel, so that was all right. 

Benbecula used to have a population of 4,500, 3000 of which were British armed forces running the airfield and various other bits of kit. But they pulled out overnight and without warning, so now there are very few people there, and getting fewer by the day.

Finally to Barra, very small, not many people, but great for watching birds - the feathered variety. 2 days there were enough, and then by ferry to Oban, on to Melrose to visit the in laws, and then to Jesmond to a very splendid hotel before driving to Derby to se No. 1 son and then to Tunbridge Wells.

While we were in Glenelg our solicitor exchanged contracts for the sale of 3 Bidborough Court, and the purchase of 49 Framley Road, Tonbridge. So we have been touching the ground in spots ever since getting home. Much of the furniture that we bought for Bidborough Court is too massive for a 1968 house, so has gone to auction, and we are using orange boxes until the 16 May when we are due to move in. Watch this space!

Not being in e-mail contact for much of the month, I do not have as much as I would have liked to offer, but the following has arrived from some very good friends, to whom I am indebted.

See if you can figure out what these seven words all have in common!

1. Banana
2. Dresser
3. Grammar
4. Potato
5. Revive
6. Uneven
7. Assess

Are you peeking or have you already given up?

Give it another try....

Look at each word carefully.

You'll kick yourself when you discover the answer .....

No, it is not that they all have at least 2 double letters. 

The correct answer is In all of the words listed, if you take the first letter, place it at the end of the word, and then spell the word backwards, it will be the same word.

 

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HOW MANY YEARS DO YOU HAVE LEFT?

This is really fascinating!

Watch your age in the upper right corner!

It's fun to watch your age go up and down as you

answer the questions.

This is a calculator that estimates your life expectancy.
It was developed by Northwestern Mutual Life.

It's interesting that there are only 13 questions.
Yet, they can predict how long you're likely to live.

http://media.nmfn.com/tnetwork/lifespan

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FATHER OF THE YEAR

A man boarded a plane with six kids.

After they got settled in their seats a woman sitting across the aisle from him

leaned over to him and asked, "Are all of those kids yours ? "

He replied,  " No Ma'am,  I work for a condom company.

These are customer complaints. "

DAMN, I WISH I COULD THINK THAT FAST

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This says it all!

Pythagoras' Theorem: ............................................24 words.

Lord's prayer:....................................................... 66 words.

Archimedes' Principle: ...........................................67 words.

Ten Commandments: ..........................................179 words.

Gettysburg address: ............................................286 words.

US Declaration of Independence: .................... 1,300 words.

US Constitution with all 27 Amendments: .........7,818 words.

EU regulations on the sale of CABBAGES:.....26,911 words 

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That's all, folks!

Clive