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.

Friday, August 22, 2008

LYNMOUTH RAFT RACE.

A few weeks ago we went with friends for a ride ending in Lynemouth, North Devon. Unbeknown to us it was the day of their Raft Race. We wondered when arriving around 5 pm why it was so busy we soon found out. The only real shame was we were in the Queue for some food when all the Rafts paraded by on the road, hence no photo's.
Below the start of the race with around 12 Rafts taking part.
Below, the harbour wall that holds a hundred or so people. Most of these are armed with flour bombs and a few water bombs too, all patiently waiting for the rafts to come into range.
Below, the first Rafts come within range of the far harbour wall. At this point maybe I should mention that all the Rafts are fully "Armed" with plastic water capsules and a few with heavy duty water guns + some odd flour bombs. As you can imagine they are fully capable of giving as good as they get.
Now nearly all are within range of both walls and the foot path bridge. You can see a fair few flour bombs flying around.
Below,as you can see a crowd of several hundred attended and most enjoyed it thoroughly although there are always a few who don't so try to spoil others enjoyment.
Below, Nearing the end now and flour and water litter the air, its almost impossible to come through completely unscathed.
So providing you are not in your best suit and don't mind a little flour and water, then mark this as a date for next years calendar. It is a really fun evening followed by live open air music, and a good Bar-b- Q.
JOKE OF THE DAY.

A farmer stopped by the local garage to have his truck fixed. They couldn't do it while he waited, so he said he didn't live far and would just walk home
On the way home he stopped at the hardware store and bought a bucket and a gallon of paint. He then stopped by the cattle Market and picked up a couple of chickens and a goose.
However, struggling along outside the Market he now had a problem - how to carry his entire purchases home.While he was scratching his head he was approached by a little old lady who told him she was lost and could he tell her how to get to Barton Place, The farmer said "as a matter of fact, my farm is only a little further down the road i would show you but i just can't carry this lot".The old lady said "Why don't you put the tin of paint in the bucket then carry that in one hand and put a chicken under each arm and carry the Goose with your free hand". "Why thank you" the farmer said and off they walked together. A little further on the Farmer said "lets take a short cut up the alley and across the field, it will save time".The little old lady stares at him for a while then says "I am a lonely widow with no one to defend me , how do i know when we go up that way you won't pin me against the wall lift my skirt and have your wicked way with me". The farmer immediately said "how the hell could i do that with my arms full of this stuff" The old lady comes straight back with "put the Goose down cover it with the bucket, trap it with the paint on top and give me the Chickens to hold".




A SUNSET QUICKIE.

Todays blog is mostly about pictures of Sunsets that we have taken in the last couple of weeks.The one below is not really a sunset but a picture Sue took from the road, it was just as the rain clouds started rolling in, so half is in sunshine the other half in shade, I think it gives a nice effect.
The shot below was taken overlooking Ilfracombe just as the dark rain clouds thicken and night begins.
The picture below i like because of all the different colours in the sky as night falls.
The picture below is my favourite and is earmarked for a future screensaver.
The next two shots caused me a bit of a quandry as to which ones to use, so here are both. They are very similar but my favourite one is the second, so comments please which one do you prefer?, this one?.
Or maybe this one?.
Please comment.
JOKE OF THE DAY.

Two elderly ladies had been friends for many decades. Over the years they had shared all kinds of activities and adventures. Lately, their activities had been limited to meeting a few times a week to play cards.

One day they were playing cards when one looked at the other and said, 'Now don't get mad at me....I know we've been friends for a long time.....but I just can't think of your name! I've thought and thought, but I can't remember it. Please tell me what your name is.' Her friend glared at her. For at least three minutes she just stared and glared at her. Finally she said, 'How soon do you need to know?'


ROSE & CROWN BIKE MEET, CREDITON.

A couple of week ends ago Sue and I decided to ride our bikes the 40 miles or so to the annual bike meet in Crediton.This event has been staged by the owner of the "Rose & Crown"and the local MCC clubs every year for the past few years, it is all done for the charity the Air ambulance.The event itself takes place in a large field adjoining the pub, this year there were 3 large tents which housed the two live groups, a Bar-b-Q tent, and one with seating for spectators.Bike riders can enter their machines in different groups for prizes ie best pre 1960, best Trike etc.All riders are charged £2 entry on the gate for their bikes, spectators £1.It was very well organised and the weather was kind.The bike turnout topped 200 and included British BSA's, Matchless'es, Norton's, Triumph's etc, also Japanese bikes of all ages including Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki plus a sprinkling of Ducati's, Jawa's, Laverda's and a fair few American Harleys too.All in all a good day and one for the calendar next year.
We had arranged to meet a couple of members of our own Honda CX-GL MCC while we where there, it was nice to see them again.
Below the pub "The Rose & Crown".
Click on any picture to enlarge it.

Below, this view shows the good show of bikes and crowds.
This is a shot of our club members Myself,Pete, Dave and ( new member)Ian.
Below, Dave's nice 1980s Turbo charged V twin, this was one of the pioneers of bike turbo's back then.
A very tidy "Matchless" twin and a "Norton" in behind.
Below this home made trike was massive and well built, but only had two seats. I'm not sure what the engine in it was though.
Below, Drool, Drool, this is (and always was) my dream, a Honda six cylinder 1,000 cc CBX,this one is in really fine condition,oh if only I could win the lottery!!!.
Below, The Classic Triumph 750 triple (3 cylinders) in mint condition too.
Below, another of my Favourites the Suzuki 750 three cylinder.
A fine conditioned BSA of probably the 50s vintage.
So next year we hope you will all turn up to swell the coffers of this worthy charity.
Joke of the day.

The Facecloth
This has to be read, laughed at and passed on. There is not a woman alive today who won't crack up over this!
I was due for a smear with the doctor later in the week. Early one morning, I received a call from the doctor's office to tell me that I had been rescheduled for that morning at 9:30 am. I had only just packed everyone off to work and school, and it was already around 8:45 am. The trip to his office took about 35 minutes, so I didn't have any time to spare.
As most women do, I like to take a little extra effort over hygiene when making such visits, but this time I wasn't going to be able to make the
full effort. So, I rushed upstairs, threw off my pyjamas, wet the facecloth that was sitting next to the sink, and gave myself a quick wash
in that area to make sure I was at least presentable. I threw the
facecloth in the clothes basket, donned some clothes, hopped in the car and raced to my appointment.
I was in the waiting room for only a few minutes when I was called in.Knowing the procedure, as I'm sure you do, I hopped up on the table, looked
over at the other side of the room and pretended that I was in Paris or some other place a million miles away. I was a little surprised when the doctor said, 'My, we have made an extra effort this morning, haven't we?' I didn't respond.
After the appointment, I heaved a sigh of relief and went home. The rest of the day was normal - some shopping, cleaning, & cooking.
After school when my 7 year old daughter was playing, she called out from the bathroom, 'Mummy, where's my facecloth?'I told her to get another one from the cupboard.
She replied, 'No, I need the one that was here by the sink, it had all my glitter saved inside it.'
NEVER am i going back to that doctor ever!!









Tuesday, August 12, 2008

ONE OF DEVON'S LITTLE SECRETS.

Just a short distance from the main A39 road in deepest Devon lies the lovely little village of "Bucks Mill", Turn off the A39 (Atlantic Highway) at Bucks Cross post Office/ shop and you are there.This picturesque little village is as yet quite unspoilt and is ideal for families with children of walking age and Adults alike.The typical narrow Devon road that leads down to the village is for the most part through a lovely wooded valley.The small village itself has no car park, so parking is available almost opposite the local church 500 yards above the village centre. Cream Tea's, ice Cream etc is served adjacent to the church in the village hall during the summer months.After reaching the small village square it is a short sharp walk down to the pebbly beach.
Please Click on the this picture (and others) to enlarge it.
Here we are just below the small village square starting the descent to the beach.This cottage (on the right) is for sale !!!.
Below, this view looks back up the hill at the same cottage.
This is the short sharp hill mentioned previously, below.
At the bottom almost on the beach now, below. Local fishermen keep small boats and nets here.
Below this view up to the village also shows the beach and a peep of the waterfall.
More of the stone Fishermens Quay, in the distance the very famous Clovelly, around a 2.5 mile beach walk away.
Below the very impressive lime Kiln. Here in those days most of the raw materials were landed in the rocky bay by boat. A very elaborate horse drawn pulley system also pulled up the finished items to the top.
Here we see the waterfall, and too the right a tiny little two roomed cottage that earned the knickname of the "Cabin", this was at different times the home of two Ladies, they were friends who were both very accomplished artists.
This Area is very popular with families, with hundreds of rock pools, small area's of sand, deep gullies and loads of good fishing spots.( lots of locals turn up at low water to net good bags of Prawns and shrimps).
This last picture of the beach shows the distant village of Clovelly, the tide at this time was probably around half way in.
Firstly, Apologies for the length of this blog, we took over 30 pictures while we were here so I had an awful job trying to thin them down to just these.
Note. I have just added a video to my previous post of the Valley of Rocks.
Joke of the day.

Tired of constantly being broke, & stuck in an unhappy marriage, a young husband decided to solve both problems by taking out a large insurance policy on his wife with himself as the beneficiary, and then arranging to have her killed.
A 'friend of a friend' put him in touch with a nefarious, dark-side, underworld figure who went by the name of 'Artie.'

Artie then explained to the husband that the going rate for snuffing out a spouse was £5,000.
The husband said he was willing to pay that amount, but that he wouldn't have any cash on hand until he could collect his wife's insurance money.
Artie insisted on being paid at least something up front, so the man opened his wallet, displaying the single pound coin that rested inside..

Artie sighed, rolled his eyes, & reluctantly agreed to accept the pound as down payment for the dirty deed.
A few days later, Artie followed the man's wife to the local Tesco store.

There, he surprised her in the produce department and proceeded to strangle her with his gloved hands.
As the poor unsuspecting woman drew her last breath and slumped to the floor, the manager of the produce department stumbled unexpectedly onto the murder scene.
Unwilling to leave any living witnesses behind, Artie had no choice but to strangle the produce manager as well.
However, unknown to Artie, the entire proceedings were captured by the hidden security cameras and observed by the store's security guard, who immediately called the police.
Artie was caught and arrested before he could even leave the store.

Under intense questioning at the police station, Artie revealed the whole sordid plan, including his unusual financial arrangements with the hapless husband, who was also quickly arrested.
The next day in the newspaper, the headline declared...........

(You're going to love me for this




'ARTIE CHOKES TWO FOR A POUND AT TESCO'S.