Exploring Mdina
I stayed in Mdina, which is a medieval walled town in the middle of the island.
I took these pictures as I walked around the town over the three days I was there.
Details Of My Bathroom
I’ve now got some of the bathroom as want it.
Note.
1. The hooks and the towel ring are stuck on with a special epoxy. The tiles are so hard to drill one hole costs at least a tenner in drill bits and the good temper of the driller. So far the glue is performing, as I hope it will.
2. The grab rail is positioned in line with the right side of the bath, so that it steadies me, as I get in and out.
3. I probably need a shorter grab rail on the other side of the bath low down for my left hand, as I sit and stand up.
4. My bathroom is off the front hall, so it doubles as a wet clothing and umbrella room.
5. The stool is one of Suffolk Six and one was in our last bathroom in Suffolk. I’d sit on it, whilst talking to C, as she luxuriated in the bath.
6. The towel ring stuck by the side of the bath is big enough to hold a towel, that a lady with long hair might use after washing it. To get the towel size right, I asked an assistant in John Lewis for her opinion. She tested the size, whilst serving me at the till.
7. I use a ceramic tray for my soap and shampoo, as until I find the right one, I’m not going to drill the tiles and so avoid Jerry’s problem.
7. I never use a mirror in the bathroom and forget to put one in. My stupid builder didn’t spot the omission either! So now I’m looking for a compatible stick-on mirror, so that the tiles don’t have to be drilled.
The fittings are the Bond range from Miller of Sweden. They look good and are very easy to put up straight. They supplied the special epoxy.
This bathroom has been a long time coming, as work started in Oct 2012 and I even had my first bath in the new bath in December 2012.
BT Sport Channel Numbers On A Steam Broadband Box
Despite almost being in the centre of London and only about a hundred metres from the exchange, I can’t get fibre optic here. I think, it’s because unlike everybody else in the road, I have a direct line to the exchange, so that unless they dig up the road to the exchange, I can wait for ever for fibre optic broadband. I might just as well be on St. Kilda as far as BT are concerned.
So I have to watch football, as I am now, through my steam broadband connection. To be fair the picture is generally acceptable.
But the problem is that I can never find the channels, as BT’s security system gives them obscure numbers, so that their steam broadband system doesn’t get overloaded.
The channel numbers are as follows.
507 – BT Sport 1,
508 -BT Sport 2.
509 – ESPN
How logical is that?
Simon Fanshawe Questions Our Attitude To the Death Of King Abdulla
Simon Fanshawe is a respected commentator and today, he reviewed the papers on BBC Breakfast. He picked up this article in the Daily Mail entitled Flags at half mast and fawning praise for a King ‘loved by his people’ sparks furious backlash over rule which saw ‘death by stoning’ for adultery and regular beheadings.
It is not often I agree with the Daily Mail, but I agree with the areticle’s tone and would go further. David Cameron and Prince Charles should not be going to Saudi Arabia. How about sending two of Princess Anne/Prince Andrew and Nick Clegg/Theresa May?
I have never been to Saudi Arabia and never will until they bring their justice into the civilised world and treat women, homosexuals and other religions with respect. The same principle applies to other countries like the United States, Israel, Zimbabwe, North Korea and quite a few other countries. There are just so many interesting places with better systems, that I’m not cutting off my nose to spite my face.
Brighton Police And White Helmets
After my visit to Brighton, where at the football, I saw a few police in their traditional custodian helmets, I remembered that in the 1960s I’d seen images of policemen in the town in white helmets.
Then this article on the BBC web site entitled Just how practical is a traditional Bobby’s helmet?
The article says this about Brighton’s white helmets.
From the 1930s to the 1960s, police in Brighton and Hove wore white helmets in the summer, as they kept the head cooler. This discontinued when they became part of Sussex Police.
Perhaps it is an idea that may come back in another form.
As an aside, a friend in the sixties was a Metropolitan policeman, who served for a time in Anguilla in 1969.
Because of the heat instead of their standard police shirts, the police who went to the island, were issued with special Van Heusen tropical shirts in an appropriate colour.
When he returned to normal duties in London, he once told me, that the shirts were invaluable on hot days.
The Only Decent Picture I Took Between Ashford And Lewes
My trip along the coast was not noted for warm, sunny weather.
This is the only decent picture I took as the train trundled from Ashford to Lewes.
The Only Decent Picture I Took Between Ashford And Lewes
The others tended to be of sodden fields in the drab cold weather. The Scots and especially Carol Kirkwood, would have called it dreek.
Rubens Has Arrived At The Royal Academy
As it was Friends Preview Day, I went to see the new Rubens exhibition at the Royal Academy.
Rubens Has Arrived At The Royal Academy
I was a bit underwhelmed and as The Times gave it only two stars out of five, I don’t think my views are out of line.
I much preferred the Allen Jones exhibition, which ends in a few days.
It Must Be Warm, As I’ve Put My Electric Blanket Away
I’ve taken my electric blanket off the bed, as I have found I’ve not used it for some months.
The bed ceretainly feels more comfortable and the only new problem I’ve got is that I can’t fold it up to put it away.
London’s New Bridge
It’s not often that London gets a new bridge. But the swing bridge over Deptford Creek opened today.
They even closed it so, that I could walk over the creek.
Walking Through My Maternal Grandparents’ Lives
My maternal grandmother, Harriet Martha Upcott, was born opposite Dalston Junction station in Dalston Lane in May 1871. In September 1894, she married my grandfather, Henry Millbank, who had been born in Clerkenwell in 1870. Census and other records show that in 1894 they lived at 29 Dalston Lane and then by 1901 they had moved to 90, Princess May Road in Stoke Newington. As Princess May Road is perhaps a kilometre from where I live now, I walked round all these places this morning.
In some ways, one thing that struck me as I walked in a semi-circle to St. Mark at the back of the famous Ridley Road Market was how intact the late Victorian terraces were. But why was 90, Princess May Road missing. Was it just development or did the Luftwaffe have a hand? I shall go to the Hackney Records Office opposite where my grandmother was born in the week.
It was a family joke between my parents, that my grandmother was born in the Balls Pond Road, when it was posh the first time around. The Balls Pond Road is the continuation of Dalston Lane towards Islington.
I can’t salso ever remember talk of Dalston, despite my mother having worked at Reeves. Stoke Newington and Islington were mentioned.
The Anonymous Widower 