The house needs repair, summer is ending, I am old and arthritic. Politics has degenerated to infantile levels, nuclear war is just around the corner and the planet is dying.
For some reason, as detailed yesterday, I am inexplicably happy.
There is quite clearly no reason to be happy, and I don’t consider it to be normal. I prefer gloom and think that a sensible man should expect nothing from life because that is what life is likely to give him.
Botham’s Whitby – an excellent pork pie
I could probably go to the doctor for pills – there must be something I can take to calm me down a bit – though they are likely, as so often, to find something else wrong with me. I wouldn’t mind if it was something interesting but at my age it’s usually something that involves taking your trousers down.
With an interesting disease I could have a whole new career ahead of me. If you can build a modern TV career on being from Essex what could you do if you had scrofula, also known as the King’s Evil or, less interestingly, cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis. That has good historical roots, gives a chance to talk about coins and I feel less guilty making jokes about it than I do about leprosy.
Julia – looking sophisticated in Bakewell
Leprosy used to be a good area for humour when I was younger, as Monty Python proves, but when you read up about it and the fact that more than 50 kids a day are diagnosed with Leprosy worldwide it doesn’t seem so funny.
When you think about it, I do have a lot to be happy about.
Maybe I should look on the bright side of life.
Tea, scones and sunshine. Bettys, Harlow Carr
I added the photos later, when WP was working properly – they are things which make me feel happy. And in case you were wondering, they are in no particular order.
Happy, happy, happy! Two cheerful posts in a row, Simon! I’d go and have a lie down if I were you.
Something needs to happen before I break my face smiling. I’m sure winter will calm me down.
Ugh! Yes. 🙁
🙂 It normally does.
😊
That’s a great picture of Julia. She looks quite chic.
Doesn’t she! Probably thinking of a nice slice of Bakewell Pudding, which always brings an enigmatic smile to peoples’ faces. (She’s sitting outside the Bakewell Pudding shop, by the way) 🙂
She certainly is. It’s very convenient having tables just outside the shop. 🙂
I know. 🙂 Unfortunately, the last time we were there ( four weeks ago) it bucketed down with rain and we couldn’t do our usual leisurely stroll through the town.
That is the unfortunate part about the beautiful green hilly country. Hope it is better next time.
I’m sure it will be 😊
Well, you must know that area well! I even had to look up Bakewell Pudding. It sounds pretty good, actually.
We take a week’s holiday in The Peak District every year; it’s a beautiful part of the country. The pudding is very good!
Isn’t life strange – we often have a week in Suffolk. 🙂
😀 Ships that pass in the night!
🙂
It’s less than an hour away from us, and the scene of the Julia/Macaroon incident, though it’s a few hours longer for Clare!
The scene of the Julia/Macaron incident?? How did you not title the post THAT?
https://quercuscommunity.com/2018/05/31/matlock-and-macaroons/
At the time “Matlock and Macaroons” was the best I could do. 🙂
Thank you for that. Still hilarious. I think that’s when our romance began.
😀
🙂
So, all it took was a mention of Monty Python and The Bright Side of Life and now I have that song stuck in my head until I finally, blissfully, fall asleep.
And my work is done… 🙂
Nice.
🙂
Good looking scone! I am sorry about your unsettling happiness. Have you thought about becoming prime minister?
IT would solve the happiness in the short term but the lavish pension and world tours for public speaking might be too much of a good thing after I retire.
I saw that Monty Python movie a long time ago. Somehow I can can see you singing that song. 🙂
It is a fine song. 🙂
Maybe happiness is the bravest response of all. A poke in the eyes of those who are trying to squish us.
I might have known that someone from the country that gave us Pollyanna would speak up in favour of cheerfulness. Bah, humbug!
This what happens when you live in a nice place like Maine – too much cheerfulness by half. 🙂
Well, each state has its own characteristic, and Maine is known for its taciturn Yankees, a term that has been mistakenly applied to states outside of New England. I suppose there is no help for it now. On the other hand, French Canadians also settled in great numbers in Maine, and we’re a much livelier bunch. So you’ve got Yin and Yang in Maine. And in our house, a mixed marriage. A Yankee and a Franco. Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, doesn’t it? 😉
I’ve just been looking at a map of the border (I thought I ought to at least find out where Toronto is as Number Two Son is there). Looks like Maine was really unlucky not to be in Canada. 🙂
You got that right!!!!
🙂
prescribe
Perhaps they could describe something to make you miserable
Yes, I was reading the Daily mail this afternoon and there is so much to be unhappy about – immigration, EU, tax authorities being unfair to pensioners, banks ripping us off and the need to eat vegetables to stay healthy…