Stanley's Books

 I opened a box that was delivered yesterday from the auction house.  The hammer man describes the lot in a few sentences but you never really know what you are going to get from an auction until you have looked inside. There was the usual old albums but also two books. One of them an ancient looking catalog from 1954. Now this has happened previously as well, as I was sent another edition from 1984. So with the catalog I bought in 2019, I have an historic record to compare stamp valuations over time.  There is a theory that stamps only ever go up in value and I can prove it. Let's take the first ever stamp, which I can see was worth £3 in 1954. In 1984 for it has gone up to £125 and in 2019 it was valued at £375. So maybe it is around £400 by now.  Who said diamonds never lose their value. In my lifetime that stamp has increased in value by 13,200 %

1954

1984

The Taxman

 I have been retired for 11 years but never seem to be free of the taxman. For various strategic reasons we have just put in two years of returns one after the other. There is an amount we owe the Guvna, followed by an amount the Guvna owes us and throw in some Pay as you Goes that I got foisted with and a long standing payment plan then what we are hoping is that it will all balance out in the washup and one day pigs will fly with butterfly wings.  While I was in the Guvna's website I found the health card section which said the claim had been processed and there was an outcome except I couldn't find what the outcome was.

and we live at the beach as well

Clean Out

 It can't be called a Spring clean, maybe an almost Spring clean but a lot of paper has just gone into the bins. Last week two bins were needed for paper and a lot of it was shredded which can block up the bin quicker. There were files there going back 20 yar. I read somewhere that shredded paper was good for landfill as it promoted bugs. This week is no different two more bins filled with paper, mostly magazines and old stamp albums. I also notice the pesky possums are back now that the tree has lemons again. Why would the gnawing of lemon rind leave red marks? Unless there is some bleeding going on. I need to get a few off for the sidewalk market.

lemon chews still on the tree

Source Cachat

The Tour de France had the individual time trial yesterday and I am remembering the time we did our own three day ride around Lake Geneva. It was 14 yar ago and the first of our Swiss lake circumnavigations, the second one being Lake Constance.  They showed the drinking fountain and the Evian source yesterday.  We rode into Evian Les Bains a bit late but spent some time in the morning looking around before riding out.  The cachat gate was closed but at least I saw inside via yesterdays drone this time.  

Castle de Chillon

smoke on the water

a fork in the lake

source cachat

Curlewis Ride

 These mouth and tongue stitches have been a pain and the dentist hoped they would stay in place for at least three days.  On the fourth day two of them pulled out rather suddenly. This was becuase they kept getting caught in her teeth and this has loosened them out. However the whole area is much more relaxed now to the point where we tried a ride in the cold.  Curlewis has a north facing balcony cafe, so we made that the target for an out and back ride, probably no more than six kms.  I don't like the magpies there as they are persistent and since I got swooped the other day I am on the lookout. 

a big plus for tea in a teapot

Low Tide

 I went across with the shot and saw that a gang of interlopers, who were just out for a stroll, had sat themselves down on my cleared sand patch.  I busied myself at this end by filling in some more of the dugout which I can only do a bit at a time with my improvised spade. I thought the group may have moved on by then but I cleared it so well.  This turned out better for me as I tried the otherside of the groyne. Hard packed low tide sand makes such a difference. With this better surface I am sure I got it further out there. So this will be the new approach if I can put in my order in for a calm, sunny period, coinciding with low tide at around 10:00am every morning. Thank you and no squishy jelly fish in the way either. Landing a shot on a dead jelly would not be good. The hazards of beach shotting.

the landing zone all consistent on hard pack

The Pirate Returns

 Went across to see what's up. I started filling in a huge hole that was dug a few days ago and just left there for someone to fall into. I am using a drift board as a shovel so it is a slow job.  I was destracted by tyre marks where some rev heads had driven down to do wheelies in the sand but I needed the rest.  All the while this was happening, the pirate had pulled up, dropped anchor and got the dinghy and the dogs overboard for a quick ride into shore. I have observed and featured him a number of times on this blog. When he pulled up I said "you don't usually come in Winter."  I can tell you he leads a hermit style life but aboard a boat that is mostly moored across the bay and has done so for the last 15 yar.  He got up saw the day was a beauty and headed over to this side.  He is also an ex navy man who was interested in my observations of the navy comings and goings at the long pier. I think two dogs on a boat, especially greyhounds, would need a lot of trips to shore.

wheelie big twacks