The Life and Times of this Old Git

Name:
Location: Teignmouth, Devon, United Kingdom

I'm married with two grown up children and four grandchildren, My wife of 47 years is Sue and we are the same age. My two children are Pamela (blogging occasionly under Pam-bigbustybikerbaby.blogspot.com and Roy,who was recently Paralysed from the waist down due to an Absys on his Spine. My 4 grandchildren are (oldest first) Gavin, Hayley, Thomas,and Zoe. Sue and I are both retired and we're disabled too, her with a badly Arthritic back and spine, me with lung (COPD) and Heart problems.I have always loved Fishing (all sorts) Sue started fishing with me about 8 years ago, now she really enjoys it too. We both love m'cycles and m'cycling, Sue owns and rides her own bike which is a Custom 1981 250 Honda.I own a 1979 Honda CX500. We are both members of this motorcycle club ( view or join our club on http://www.cx-gl.org.uk/) or see my blog post Dec 2007 blog "Getting old, never", of course we're badly resticted now due to our illness, only riding in really good weather.Just over three years ago we lost our best friend and Baby Mojo the border Collie, Gone but never forgotten. Please feel free to use any of our photo's but do let me know you have used them, thank you.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

A BLOG A DAY.

I do a blog almost every day,
Not even a penny does it pay,
For the love of it, or so it seems,
Make some money, yea in your dreams.

I do the round of others blog,
Llama's, chickens and Martins dog,
There's rubber ducks and Taxi's too,
At times its like a public zoo.

Occasionally I'll leave a comment there,
For all to see and all to share,
I leave one as anonymous at times,
And fool the others with my rhymes.

They're not sure who the hell left those,
They should know better heaven knows,
Tonight again I will go see what I can find,
And if its you I could even be kind.

Joke of the day.
A man from across the sea phoned the travel agent and said "How long is the flight to Spain", the agent says" just a minute"...."Thanks a lot" says the man and hangs up.

ALL AT SEA.

On wednesday Sue and I walked along Teignmouth sea front, It was a changeable cool day with a slight easterly breeze.We thought we would try to do a video for you, so turn up the volume and see (Sea !!) what you think.Its new for us too, so, please please comment.

Joke of the day.
A restaurant waiter brings the customer his steak with his thumb in it."Do you expect me to eat that" the customer yells," you've had your hands all over it" "what" the waiter says, "you want it to fall on the floor again".

Thursday, November 22, 2007

FANCY A HOLIDAY ?.

Do click on any image to enlarge it.

This is the first of several blogs I will be doing on my home town of Teignmouth, S Devon. Do you fancy a holiday here, if so you could certainly do a lot worse than here in this beachside holiday cottage.Sue and I took a slow stroll around the town then the river beach and sea front.I obviously had to make a couple of breather stops but got there in the end (which pleased me lots).On our way we noticed a few nice holiday lets and several nice cottages and flats to buy too, so we will start with this one right on the back river beach, If you can read the first picture it says it sleeps 6-8 people, is fully equipped and is open all year.( Before I go futher I must add I dont know who owns this).As far as the location is concerned it would be very difficult to beat, right on the back beach. This would be ideal for the kids (gently sloping beach) also boating and fishing. The town centre is 500 yards away and the sea front itself is only 250 yds away.

Below is the property offered for hire as in the advert, the one with the balcony, as described its right on the beach. (Tel 01626-776712).
This is the view from the front door, looking right toward the docks and Shaldon bridge.(below)
Looking back from along the beach, the landing platform I'm leaning on, was the Shaldon to Teignmouth passenger ferry ramp (60 years old and is still a stand by) Above.
Above, the whole beach area.
Looking from the front door across to the lovely village of shaldon, the bridge is in the far distance. On big spring tides the water comes to within a foot or two of the steps.
The whole back river beach taken from the "Ship Inn" public house, the house is in the right hand corner, (with the balcony).
This lovely little lane leads through to the beach where this cottage is situated.Turn left at the end for the town 400 yds, and two pubs 120 and 250 yds.
Joke of the day.
A man walks up to the ticket desk in the airport , the girl asks "can I help you", "yes I want a return ticket please" he says, "where to"asks the agent, Why straight back here of course.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

A LITTLE MORE OF WEST SOMERSET RAILWAY.

When I was young I used to travel regularly on trains like these. At least once a week I used to travel either to Leamington spa or Hatton, sometimes Birmingham (Moore st which is now gone).These forays were usually trainspotting or for the natural history museum in B'ham, this was brilliant and I and a friend or two would spend hours there.Below a photo of a Pullman Restaurant carriage, these were way beyond my means in those days. On these trips all around, we would go to Stratford upon Avon station, buy a platform ticket (1d in those days) then jump on any local train all over the place,this was fine as long as you did not try to exit any of the stations you arrived at (no guards).
This car (above) is the station restaurant at Minehead.This was the first time I had been into one when we recently dropped in for a cuppa.
As you can see the carriages have been restored to a high level.
Naughty boy but i remember as a teenager trying to do some "courting" in between stations (unsuccessfully).
When traveling in these you looked out for an empty carriage but nine times out of ten, at the very next station someone else would come in.
Do you remember when carriages looked like this, with side walk ways and individual compartments connected by a moving tunnel (reminded me of a cakewalk) that used to terrify me.
Joke of the day.
Patient, Doctor, Doctor I cant stop singing the green green grass of home. The Doctor says "that sounds like Tom Jones syndrome to me",
Patient, "Is that common",
Doctor, "Its not unusual".

Monday, November 19, 2007

THROUGH THE YEARS Part 7

Below, Roy at about 10 months old in his pram. Above at three playing in the garden.
Below, Roy in his gown on his Christening day. A you can see he really enjoyed it.
Below, Pam playing on the front lawn aged about 6.
Below, Pam ( 4 ) playing with water in a tin bath in the garden, at Shottery Stratford.
Below, Me and Sue holding, left Pam, right Roy at Roys Christening.( please note Sue's dark hair).
Below Pam at her christening.
Below the family (at our wedding) from left to right, Jim Emms (sue's dad), Joan Emms (sue's mum) Sue, rear Paticia (my auntie) Me, my Uncle Gerald, Eileen (My mum) James brown (stepfather), Alfred Palmer (my Grandad), Anne Lamb (Sue's Auntie), Sue's Gran, Colin Lamb (Sue's uncle).

In past through the years I had reached part six which finished around the date of my marriage to Susan Emms. At this time we lived in a brand new house in Shottery, Stratford upon Avon. Really I ought to also mention that my mum (Eileen) remarried when I was about 9 or 10 years old to James C Brown who was quite a bit younger than her.He was a well educated Doctors son who practised in Stratford, James served in the forces in the Malaya campaign. He was also a very accomplished athelete running mostly sprints with the Coventry Godiva Harriers and represented Warwickshire on a number of occasions, later he was forced through illness, to give up serious competitive events due to ill health with lung problems, but when he left the forces, he joined what was then BOAC airlines as a senior air steward,travelling all over the world.Their marriage did'nt last many years I'm not exactly sure how long, probably 4 to 6 years then they separated although they were never actually divorced as mum was killed a few years later. Soon James moved away to the Daventry area where he met a lovely lady (Jean) with whom he's stayed ever since. We will now get to the births and early years of my two children Pamela born 1965 and Roy born 1966. Pam was a brilliant baby she slept through the night almost as soon as we brought her home from the Maternity unit. Roy on the other hand was always completely different, he woke every 4-5 hours up until he was about 14-15 months old. As they grew up they were very close and we were very lucky in that we had a live in baby sitter in my Grandfather. More of this in part 8.

Joke of the day.
A young female staff nurse was showing some newly trained nurses the mens wings of the hospital,"the final ward will be the most hazardus for you" she said to them, One of the trainies asked "why is that"Well" says the staff nurse "these men in here are nearly better".

Saturday, November 17, 2007

You must look at these.

You really must look at this, you have to see it to believe it. it certainly looked real enough to fool the crowd, but was it real?, you decide !!!.
http://www.metacafe.com/w/27783

Now this one makes you really think, How some people cope with all their adversities.
http://www.metacafe.com/w/779704

Fancy a toyota?.
http://www.ffk-wilkinson.com/


I know somebody will say why on earth didn't you put this in a different way, well I might have done but my minds just gone computer blank.

Joke of the day.
A young man went for a job interview. He had filled out all the relevent paperwork and sat anxiously waiting for the outcome. After reviewing all the paperwork the personel officer called him through to his office and said "We definately have an opening for you","thats fantastic "said the man"whatever is it" the personel man replied "its called a door".

The Magic Of Sunsets.

These two pictures above and below were both taken here in Teignmouth looking up toward Newton Abbot.
The next three pictures down were taken in Somerset.


Here we have a quick blog on the beauty of some sunsets, we cant help ourselves but to take this type of photo. These are usually taken on the return journey of one of our forays to Somerset. All are taken (as are 99% of our pictures ) by Sue on her Fuji Finepix A700 digital camera.
Joke of the day.
A man calls the Doctor, he is frantic. He says "my wife is very pregnant and her contractions are down to under two minutes" he shouts. "Is this her First child"asks the doctor." No you fool -this is her Husband".

Friday, November 16, 2007

AUTUMN ON DARTMOOR.

This morning Sue had a doctors appointment about her skin condition and also a blood test which she really hates.I'm afraid the doc has sent her to a specialist (skin), he's not happy about the way she is (not the dreaded big C he promises). So to cheer her up on such a lovely day I thought we would go for a ride and lunch on Dartmoor.Well, as you can see the Autumn colours are stunning, only problem is choosing which of 44 photo's to put in. I think I'm going to have to make it into two blogs, so one will follow later on. We decided to lunch in the famous Warren Inn, Where in the winter of 63 they were completely cut off (except by a visit of the Air/Sea rescue helicopter) for about 30 days, with 15 feet drifts of snow.This pub has a large wood fire which reputedly hasn't gone out in 20-25 years.We ate home made Steak and ale pies with accompaniments and was well served, piping hot and delicious, we would recomend it highly.
SORRY about this blogger doesn't usually want to let you put one picture in, now its put two.






Wednesday, November 14, 2007

THE FISHERWOMAN.

About 20 months ago when I was first diagnosed with my medical conditions, Sue didn't like the idea of me going fishing alone any more, so she decided to accompany me on my trips. After a few trips she decided she would like to seriously try coarse fishing, she had done a little bit before but never as seriously as sea fishing during which she won competions, medals, certificates etc. So it began, and ended with well over £500 spent on her tackle, and her now as keen as me. Below a fine conditioned Common Carp of nearly 7 lbs, that she caught at mill pk in July on floatfished bread.
Below a beautiful Golden Tench of 2 lbs 12ozs taken this month from West pitt fishery float fishing luncheon meat.

A nice 26 lb bag of bream from Slade, taken legering sweetcorn/pellet during late August.
Below, A bream of 4 lbs -2 ozs caught legering pellet in Slade reservoir.
Below a fine near 4 lb Tench, caught in Slade ( Ilfracombe) reservoir legering sweetcorn back in september this year.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

A FISHING HOLIDAY.

Click on any picture to enlarge it. Above part of the brochure advertising these lodges, you can also see a report by going to Clovelly Lakeside Lodges and then the link for westward Ho Ho ho. Below the much loved bathroom with its shower/ bath/Jacuzzi/sauna/ Radio/coloured lights. For anyone who thinks this holiday is only about fishing, you would be seriously wrong its got loads of walks and the birdwatching is fantastic,
This picture below of our bedroom has a window that overlooks the lake.
Below taken from just inside the door by the TV, our pine covered fully equiped kitchen.
Before I go any further I must apologise for the length of this blog but I just didn't know which photo's to leave out. Below a picture of the next lake down and its 4 brand new lodges, these are not on the brochure picture yet.

Below, across the lake to one of the original lodges, these sleep 4-6 and have open plan layouts with a traditional upstairs.
Our lodge taken from next doors Bar-B-Q area, you can see how close you are to the lakes.For any fishermen reading this, it fishes quite well and is kept private for lodge guests only.
Below by the main patio door showing the large veranda and all the fishing gear.
This view is taken from the rear of the lodge, right by one of the fishing spots.Notice that the next lodge is a full 130mtrs away.
Below the lodge taken fom the garden and Bar-B- Q area, with Me, Sue David and Mojo.

Back in September Sue, me David, Peter and Karen Chadwick all went on holiday to Clovelly in N Devon for a week to some luxury pine lodges, the lodge we had slept 6 with two bedrooms and a sofa bed. The site contains 15 pine built, luxury lodges built around 3 lakes, there are actually 6 lakes available to fish but the others are 250 yds (240 mtrs)away. These lodges are the ultimate in comfort combined with durability for fishermens use. They vary in size sleeping between 2 and 10 people. They contain full size cooker, full size fridge and separate freezer + a microwave and dishwasher, central heating and lastly but certainly not least is the bathroom, this contains a huge double bath with jacuzzi features, plus a sauna, it has the ability to spray water from up to 16 jets from all directions it incorporates 5 different coloured light settings these along with a stereo radio with 14 channels make it like a film set (my grandson was in there 35 mins) the lodges are all double glazed.On the outside is a large fully enclosed porch (to keep in the dogs or kids) with fully lit decking area and a lovely big sliding patio door. Outside on the grass is your own Barbeque, also on site is a fully equipped laundry room with washers and driers (all free). Inside all is clean tidy and very functional and comes with all cleaning materials, washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets, toilet rolls, full bedding, hand and bath towels in fact every thing you could possibly need. The owner Peter and his staff could not be more friendly and nothing is too much trouble, we all rated it 5 out of 5, to see this is true, try reading the comments books left in every cabin, our book contained entries from 5 different families who had been back four times and loads had been back two and three times, (it was our second visit). We couldn't believe the prices either they are very very reasonable, especially out of the main holiday season.

Friday, November 09, 2007

HOORAY HOORAY ITS MY BIRTHDAY.

HOORAY HOORAY ITS MY BIRTHDAY,
YESTERDAY YESTERDAY SO LETS ALL PLAY,
I
THINK I'M GONNA INVITE EVERYBODY,
YOU, HIM, PETER PAN AND EVEN NODDY.

ONE TODAY, I AM EVER SO LUCKY.

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, Bread and butter in the gutter, happy birthday to me.
I'm gonna have a party, lots of nice things like birthday cake and pressies and jellies and pop and ooh wont it be nice i'm really excited I just can't wait. It isn't very often you have a birthday you know, yes I suppose you do know really, only once a year so there.My friend says I have been lots of trouble and sleepless nights and pulling out of hair, plus loads and loads of bad language and causing a lot of temper tantrums when I havn't done things I'm supposed to have done.He said I have caused lots of friction in the family, nearly caused divorce, mind you I think he exaggerates a teensy weensy little bit. Then he says what about, the amount I've cost, people having to come and help me get better when I'm not very well. Lots of little things to help me get around to places but dont believe all he tells you, he doesn't mind expanding on tiny tiny things that all young things have,I mean we're all trouble when we're young and teething after all I'm only one year old aren't I. Never mind at least he's gonna come organise my party and he even offered to eat my birthday cake for me aagh wasn't that a nice thing for him to do. Anyway I'm off to get into the party mood yippee yes yes lovely lovely what a lucky thing I am dont you agree?. PS i'm all dressed up and clean and tidy now, so I musn't play up tonight and promise to be good till later, no breaking down in front of people.
Here is my first ever blog a year ago(its taken a few days to finish this)So HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG. "The life and times of this old git" alias bigbikerbob.

MY GOOD WEATHER FRIEND.


This is a picture of my good weather friend (Not quite as old as me). But like me only goes out in good weather. This is not a picture of mine but one similar.I love my old Honda CX 500 and although I bought this one earlier this year,I previously owned two more(many years ago) one S/H and one new.I still Have a lot of work to do to get mine up to this standard.
IF CLASSIC BIKES ARE YOUR THING THEN GO TO http://www.cx-gl.org.uk/ and join our Honda V twin classic bike (CX-GL) club its virtually worldwide.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

TRAINS ON THE WEST SOMERSET RAILWAY.

Above the lovely little tank engine 1450 (no not Thomas).

As promised (yawn yawn say most) indulge me please I'm 3/4 of the way through life and this brings back so many memories of good times. Also as promised no technical talk during these blogs. On a recent visit to Minehead and the West Somerset Railway we had especially picked out a w/end, when their were special guest trains and special events. This was wonderful as there were enough different trains to keep me happy. Above the less said the better but Sue insisted I put on this picture, mind its a nice looking big heavy engine, number 42968.
Above the footplate of 88 a really lovely looking engine in a beautiful blue livery.(train below)

Above engine 5553 ran trains while also hosting training sesions for those wishing to learn to be a fully skilled train driver,believe it or not, it does take quite a lot of skill to drive one. So come on if dad or grandad (or Mum) has ever had a hankering to drive a train then here's the place to learn.
Above 44422 this is the engine that pulled the carriages we travelled on.
Above it rained later on in the day so some photo's were not so good (should have took them in the morning). Below a shot of the lovely little tank engine 662 taken in the sunshine of morning.