Royal Wedding

What a wonderfully symbolic event that became. Initially it began as most formal occasions do, with lines of mutton dressed as lamb trying to get the cameras to notice them and their £5000 outfits from some posh designer shops in Knightsbridge.

However, it became apparent as the two Princes (William and Harry) walked up the aisle of Westminster Abbey, that those hundreds of also-rans had seats without a view of the ceremony, because there was a screen and the choir stalls in the way, plus the distance from their seats to the altar steps was well over 50 yards as a minimum.

But the real contrast came as the bride walked up the aisle with her father, followed by four bridesmaids and two page boys. Whereas the average age of the congregation at the sides was around 55 or even more, the average age of those in the actual ceremony was about 18, as two of the bridesmaids were only 3. The whole ambience of the occasion changed, as the fuddy-duddies in their "look at me" clothes were all for nought as the kids took centre stage, and it was great - because while children can be told how to behave in a proper manner, they dont have any qualms about showing their true characters, something which pompous adults strive so hard to hide.

It was marvellous, and full of interesting body language. Had I been William turning to see Kate Middleton in that dress and veil standing beside me in the church, I would have just cried because she was so beautiful. Harry seemed to realise that his elder brother had really pulled a cracker, and probably decided his non-existant chance was finally over but the bride had a pretty fit sister. Say no more.

The page boys looked smart, but had that mischievous air which only page boys can have, and the two little 3 year old bridesmaids just stole their own show.

Sadly, the balcony kiss photos seem to include one bridesmaid looking decidedly annoyed with all the noise and commotion - and in later years that photo will probably haunt her as "did I really look like that at a Royal wedding?".  Never mind, I hope she was rewarded with lots of jelly, ice cream and cake.

Hot

Its hot outside today, and a bit too hot for sweatshirts, but t-shirts just do not look right on an upright whale. There is not much that I can do in the garden as everything is just starting to grow and can fend for itself at this time of year. I had lost the smalls in a drunken haze two afternoons ago, and try as I might I had not been able to find them until this morning.

I had not thought to look in the cool box, but there they were and once found I had vague recollections of putting them there. So they went in the sunshine on the kitchen worktop and I was lazing around outside when I heard a key in the door - oops Friday, and Rob is going to play golf. They were spirited away tactfully while he was looking at post.

Have slow cooked a pheasant for the risotto, but had no cider (surprise) so added a chopped apple to the stock to be boiled. Lets hope it turns out ok. Saw more orange tips and my first holly blue today. The great tits seem to be taking an interest in the area around the shed, maybe they are eyeing up a nest site. The wren seems to have given up on the hole in the tree stump.

Tired again....

So watched India v Pakistan in the WC semi final. No egotistic southern hemisphere bullshit commentators for once. I presume that now there are none of their teams left in the tournament there is no point in them bothering with it.

At least Michael Atherton seems to be still there.

It rained again this morning, but brightened up this afternoon and I discovered the drawback of buying a tub of Pringles yesterday, I had finished it by lunchtime. Flowers on the plum tree are doing well, there must be around 30-40 and I hope a few set. Nothing on the apples or the pear so far, but I'm not surprised given what the badgers have done to them over the winter. I am just glad they are surviving.

I discovered that not only had I not opened the current edition of Backtrack, I had not opened the previous month either. That is an illustration of how boring this time of year is until temperatures warm up. I can see the advantage of spending the winter months in Naples or somewhere similar.

But, fate will not allow me to win money on the lottery because I would just drink myself to death, so that winter option is not going to happen. Oh well, it is liver and bacon for tea - but rather salty as I added a bit too much gravy browning - so lets live it up fatso style, eh?

Cricket commentators....

How much longer do we have to endure the whining comments of Nasser Hussain? I have learned to cope with the self obsessed positive spin which spouts from the mouths of the Australian and New Zealand commentators - their teams never play a bad shot, they just didnt quite get to the pitch of the ball; they never collapse, they just fall a few runs short of their target. But that is just egotistical macho ignorance.

With Nasser Hussain it is just whine whine whine - and it is highly annoying, just like his playing style.

Just leave me with Ian Botham, Robin Jackman, Nick Knight and Pommie Mbangwa and I will be happy.

Oh and maybe wheel in Richie Benaud as a summariser and portrayer of dry wit.

shopping....

I dont like the atmosphere in Iceland, it is very bright and chavvy. There seems to be nothing to tempt me to take my time and just drift around the shop. Everyone seems to just go in, get exactly what they want and bugger off again.

Two late-teenage girls decided not to come to my checkoout, preferring to go to the next one which they obviously thought would be quicker than waiting for a fatso to shuffle away with bags of lard. But they made a big misjudgement, as I know what I am doing and speed through the checkouts - following years of experience and also by having my own shopping bags that can be stuffed with kilos of shopping.

So, they were still waiting as I left the shop. Ya boo sucks to you - clever clogs. Hope your thongs rise up and give you pain.

From Iceland to Waitrose, and the ambience goes from the ridiculous to the sublime. I love Waitrose. I can relax in there and just mooch around the place admiring the 47 different flavoured pestos, but rarely buying any. The aisles are much taller and lighting is dimmer, giving the whole store an air of personal privacy as I browse the shelves.

Didnt buy much though, because I tend not to eat a lot these days. Managed not to buy any alcohol either which is an achievement to be celebrated, but not by drink.

It has rained at last....

We have had 5mm of rain this morning which may not sound a lot, but it seems to have perked up the garden. Watched the New Zealand innings in their WC semi against Sri Lanka, but am beginning to think that Enlgand's performance was not quite so bad as NZ score at a slower rate than England did.

Have had a boost to my WW efforts on Travian uk5 because a player near me is going on his hollibobs and after many weeks of silence sent me a message to say he had set me as sitter, and now I can send as many resources to the WW village as possible.

The dreaded knock on the door just before 1 p.m., but not the fish man as I had thought, but a chap from the water board saying he had marked my stopcock for replacement by a water meter. I can expect to have one installed within 60 days! Remarkable speed these people work at ;)