General Chat

Good news, Tec is back in is local hospital in a single room with at tv and sea view. he hopes to get the wifi sorted out tomorrow

I have a children's book on the origins of some of the Nursery Rhymes and like you say Linda it is interesting.

I remember a chap coming into the bookshop and was wanting pictures and dialogue about Early Civilisation and I sold him a children's book on the subject. I said to him they often have more info without too much depth and such good pictures.

We have a little Ladybird book with all the different types of bridges in it.

Glad that Tec is sounding much chirpier, he will soon be able to twitter and tweet on here. :-S

I have exchanged a few texts with Tec tonight, he seems quite chirpy. He hope s to be signed off tomorrow so he can move.

I asked him about the Duchess, she is still in hospital with a chest infection. Tec hasnt been able to see her of course, but his daughter visits regularly

Each term at Eve,s school they gave a different theme which they build the work around. This term it is fairy tales which suits Eve down to gage ground as we play for hours acting out the tales with the teddies. She had lots of nursery rhyme books as well. It is sad that some parents don't bother with them.,

I like to look up the origins which are often political in nature

The Music Man has the song "76 Trombones" and "Marian the Librarian"

and the one I liked was "ya got trouble." which was done so well in the stage show.

My daughter needed help with Mary had a little lamb. August was asking her about it and she said Nana will know it better than I do. I would win prizes at parties, when we used to pass a stick around and when the music stopped you had to say a Nursery Rhyme and it had to be a new one and none were to be repeated, until I was the last one. I still have my very old thick book of Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes.

When you say the Music Man, all that comes to mind is that childrens song, Esmes play lady is always singing it to her, I cant think it is the same thing, I hope not anyway.

The sun is shining here which is most odd as it is Bank Holiday Monday (a public holiday), so it should be raining

The rain knocks you sideways in Wellington on a windy day.

My mother took me to all the musicals (movies) and all the stage shows done on ice plus a few ballet productions. Saw My Fair Lady twice on stage, but the one I liked was "The Music Man'".. have never seen the movie of that one.

Goodnight Linda <3

Hello Persie :-) my favourite musicals are The King and I and Oklahoma.

I don't mind rain but it has been the wettest Autumn in many years. The back yard is soggy. I have to wear my wellies just to hang the washing out :-0

No sunshine here either. When we left Wellington we had had a few very nice sunny days.

I think I would give Sweeney Todd a go, because it is so different. I liked West Side Story but probably would not go and see it again. South Pacific is being revived yet again.. plus Singing in the Rain. Now that I would go and see as have not seen it done on stage but himself is not into musicals as such but he did go to the stage show of Fiddler on the Roof many moons ago.
Only problem with Singing in the Rain is every time I hear it I think of the movie "Clockwork Orange."

Send Tec my love Linda and am looking forward to his return.

Hard to type with my fingers crossed. Diane is packing up in the hope that she will like this bungalow she is going to look at. She says she will post pics on FB.

Persie who has been watching the new Google Doodle.

I am off to bed, I know Sue will already be out in the garden in her bikini :-D

Hello Sue, good job you don't live here, sunshine is a rarity

Hello - hope everyone is well :-D

Sounds like a good night at the opera, Sylvia. It is rather a gruesome story but the singing would be great.

Sunshine here although not forecast to stay. I'm really getting down in the dumps with no sunshine :-(

The opera sounded very good Sylvia, it is always good to see something live

It's a lovely sunny, warm day here

ah yes, Sweeney Todd


Linda .............. we had turkey sausages for dinner :-)


All the named singers were very good, but the 2 main ones were excellent. Two quite well-known American opera singers played Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett, bass-baritone Greer Grimsley and his wife mezzo-soprano Luretta Bybee. They may not be as well-known in Europe.

He has a quite fantastic, lovely voice.

We enjoyed it ........ but it was pretty bloody (in the literal sense)!!

The setting was on 3 levels, which is a bit hard to understand in the abstract. But the orchestra was in the centre of the stage. Above them was another stage on a long narrow scaffolding that could be moved around in a circle on some sort of under-stage rollers. Sweeney Todd's Barber Shop was up there. Then the floor had been put over the orchestra pit and 2 or 3 rows of seats removed to form the "basement" of the cook shop.

Todd's special chair and drop zone was at one end of the top level which was turned to face the audience, character in chair, throat slit, blood flowed down towel over chest, trap door opened, and body slid down a chute to a hospital-type trolley strategically placed. All in full view

There was much laughter when that happened the first time

It was a typical Stephen Sondheim musical, with some discordant music, but also some lovely songs.


It's quite interesting to watch a musical put on by an Opera Company ............ I think they often do a better job!

This company did West Side Story 2 seasons ago, and that was also a fantastic show.

Linda .....


thank you for the update on Tec. I do hope he gets signed off soon, while that bed is still available.



Persie .............. my grandson would sleep for very short periods, and then want feeding. Daughter had a pretty stressful time with him until he was about 6 months old. They tried putting him in the car seat in the car and driving around .......... son-i-l would come back exhausted from all the crying!

Luckily, he started sleeping soundly at night when he was about 1, so at least they could get some long sleeps

I think we should introduce Stellan to Esme, she won't sleep during the day either and only sleeps at night if she had her anaesthetic

Tec says that there is still a bed free for him in the local hospital, but he hadn't been signed off by the Shewsbury doctors yet. He sends his love to everyone.

Hi am back from Wellington.. we had to look after the class budgie one weekend and it was behaving really well for me and then decided to fly around the living room and sit up high on this wall ledge.. very careful manoeuvring on my part with a stick... It sat on it and I got it back into the cage that way.

Our units are mostly two bedrooms, one has a double bed and the other twin beds.. though we did have luxury when we stayed at Ohakune. The family had one end of the place with a double room bathroom with bath and shower (where mostly they just have a shower and it shares space with the laundry), and a bunk room with 3 sets of bunks so August could have a merry old time.. and we were off the lounge at the other end with a double and our own ensuite. This place also had separate laundry, with dryer and a drying room with a separate fan heater.. really lovely place which will be well used during the skiing season. It is the only one I have been in that also has a dishwasher.. though I think Wellington City Apartments have them.

Stellan is all smiles and rolls over and loves to be pass the parcel but when it comes to going to sleep his naps are very short lived. My daughter has even had a sleep specialist come in and advise and he has this seashore waves music playing in his room which are supposed to be sleep inducing. Take him for walks in the pram and he stays awake the whole time. We went to plunked with him and we went to a mother's group in the park for morning tea. OH was in his element with all the young mums.

I hope you had meat pies for dinner Sylvia :-D

It is Sunday morning and a holiday week end so naturally the rain is pouring down.
All is well here, the bacon sarnie was good and I am settled in reading the Sunday Times

We will find somewhere to have Sunday lunch on the way to Leeds where we are going to take some things to my niece. She has a one year old who has been sick all week, so even more germs to be exposed to. On the way back, we are collecting the slide for Eve, I hope we can get it in the car.

When Eve came home on Friday, she brought the class teddy bear with her, I think it's name is Montgomery, or something like that. The children have to do fun and exciting things with it, take photos and write about it in the book which comes with it. My daughter was hoping for a lazy weekend but now they have to do interesting things.

Eve goes to ballet on Saturday mornings, so they dressed it up in ballet tights and a tutu from one of her own bears and photographed it at the class. One of the girls had a birthday party yesterday afternoon, so Montgomery was photographed on the soft play there, so not a bad start to his weekend.

I suspect the book will be full of parents trying to outdo each other :-D

sorry Sue

I posted and ran ............. we're going to the opera tonight to see Sweeney Todd, and I needed to get my shower etc, as we have to leave earlier than usual and thus have dinner early. There are events on at the 2 stadiums (stadia???) downtown, which compete for the same parking as the theatre!

We usually try to park under the Main Library which is close by, and ourtunately there is a nice coffee bar on the main level which is open until about 7 pm ........ plenty of time for us to sit there and get to the theatre


I'll tell you about Sweeney Todd tomorrow. It's the Stephen Sondheim musical ........... and we are just hoping that the guy playing Todd has a voice. He had to have someone else singing for him at 2 performances last weekend, and we haven't heard anything since.