Health update.

Hi all, Just a quick health update. A few months ago i went to the Drs because it was nearly impossible to walk more than a few yards, As i have COPD (breathing difficulties) i assumed it was the cause of the problem. Wrong, during my annual Diabetic check i mentioned it to the nurse who called in the Dr.After COPD and Diabetic checks he said my Heart rate was very irregular, so sent me for a heart x ray and Heart scan. Today i was called in to see the Specialist about the results. Not good i'm afraid, part of the Heart is all over the place (Arterial fibrilation) so next week i'm in for an Angiogram, not looking forward to that at all. Just to add insult to injury my Hips been playing up for over a year now but they can't operate because of my conditions, so mobility only gets worse and worse leading to more weight gain, where will it all end....................

Bristol & West Classic bike show.

 Above, This is about the annual Classic bike show, me and a couple of our CX members here.
Below, This is one of our members Honda CX500.
I'm afraid i seem to have lost the programme so cannot name all these bikes.
Do Click on any picture to enlarge it.

 This is just one of the four Autojumble halls here. Outside are another 3 rows of stalls.If you have a classic bike then this is the place for all sorts of parts.

 A really nice Ariel Arrow here.

 An old New Imperial.

 Below, An early Honda 400cc 4 cylinder in lovely condition.

 Below, A realy pristine Triumph engined bike with a Norton featherbed frame, hence "Triton".

 A beautiful 1960s style Triumph, with Scramble styling.

 This is an absolutely beautiful 1964 Honda 250, one of the first of the Japanese bike invasion.

 A nice Ducati.

 Below, The amazing 3 cylinder 1,000 cc Laverda Jota, made in the late 60s and early 70s. This bike was the fastest stock road going machine for several years, with speeds in access of 140 mph being reached.

 This one (below) is not a common special its Nor BSA, which is basically again a Norton featherbed frame, this time with a BSA engine.

All in all a good show, although the organisation of car parks was non existant, no disabled parking within 600 metres of the entrance was just not good enough, especially as we arrived 40 mins before opening time to avoid this    .IN FUTURE YEARS, DISABLED BE AWARE.

Joke of the day.
Paddy tells Mick that he's thinking of buying a dog, Mick asks "what sort yu gonna buy then"
Paddy says "A Labredor i tink". Mick says "be jezus, are ya mad?", have ya seen how many of thems owners gow blind"

Latest Bird blog

Hi all, Here are a few more pictures, most of them were taken with Sue's new Fuji Finepix HS10 Camera. Sue is still getting to grips with it, it is a Digital Camera but not an SLR, athough it has a remarkable 30X zoom and takes up to a 10.3 Megapixel picture.
We visit Badgers Holt on Dartmoor for a lot of these pictures.
Please click on any picture to enlarge it.
 

This is a very familar garden bird, the "Blue Tit"

 This little "Chaffinch" certainly has a mouthful.

 There are several members in the Tit family, one or two are quite difficult to tell apart. This one (i think) is a "Coal Tit"

 The biggest and one of the most attractive of our Tits, the "Great Tit"

 One more picture of a Cock "Chaffinch".

 Not quite so well known this is the "Nuthatch"

Yet one more "Chaffinch"

 This little Bird used to be very common 40 years ago in the Midlands but getting quite uncommon these days.
The "Dunnock"

 A real showy Cock "Chaffinch"

 This lovely little fella i think is "Marsh Tit"

One more "Coal Tit"

 A Pair of pretty "Greenfinches"

 This one has only recently started visiting this table, today bringing 3 more with it, the "Long Tailed Tit"

 A "Long Tailed Tit" with a "Chaffinch".

 An all in at the dinner table.

 This is the lovely "Greenfinch"

 This a hen "Chaffinch"

 These beautiful little Birds seem to be really on the increase recently the "Nuthatch"

 A "Greenfinch" posing with a mouthfull.

 Our favourite little garden Bird, the "Robin"

 A feeding "Chaffinch"

 One more fabulous "Robin".

Joke of the day.

TODAY IS THE OLDEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN, YET THE YOUNGEST YOU'LL EVER BE, SO ENJOY THIS DAY WHILE IT LASTS.

Observations on Growing Older ~
Your kids are becoming you...and you don't like them...but your grandchildren are perfect!
~Going out is good.. Coming home is better!
~When people say you look "Great"... They add "for your age!" ~When you needed the discount, you paid full price.  Now you get discounts on everything... Movies, hotels, flights, but you're too tired to use them.
~You forget names .... But it's OK because other people forgot they even knew you!!!
~The 5 pounds you wanted to lose is now 15 and you have a better chance of losing your keys than the 15 pounds.
~You realize you're never going to be really good at anything .... Especially golf.
 ~Your spouse is counting on you to remember things you don't remember.
~The things you used to care to do, you no longer care to do, but you really do care that you don't care to do them anymore. ~Your husband sleeps better on a lounge chair with the TV blaring than he does in bed. It's called his "pre-sleep". ~Remember when your mother said, "Wear clean underwear in case you GET in an accident"? Now you bring clean underwear in case you HAVE an accident!
 ~You used to say, "I hope my kids GET married... Now, "I hope they STAY married!"
~You miss the days when everything worked with just an "ON" and "OFF" switch..
~When GOOGLE, ipod, email, modem .... Were unheard of, and a mouse was something that made you climb on a table.
~You tend to use more 4 letter words .... "what?"..."when?"... ???~Now that you can afford expensive jewelry, it's not safe to wear it anywhere.
~Your husband has a night out with the guys, But he's home by 9:00 P.M. Next week it will be 8:30 P..M.
~You read 100 pages into a book before you realize you've read it.
~Notice everything they sell in stores is "sleeveless"?!!! ~What used to be freckles are now liver spots.
~Everybody whispers.
~Now that your husband has retired .... You'd give anything if he'd find a job!
~You have 3 sizes of clothes in your closet ... 2 of which you will never wear.
~~~~But old is good in some things: Old songs, Old movies, And best of all, OLD FRIENDS!!
Love you, "OLD FRIEND!"
Send this on to other "Old Friends!" and Let them laugh in AGREEMENT!!!
It's Not What You Gather, But What You Scatter That Tells What Kind Of Life You Have Lived

Not like me !!!!!!

Hi, This blog is going to be a Poem, not one of mine but one written over 60 years ago. As a teenager i was a keen birdwatcher and i'm afraid Egg collector. As soon as i was old enough i got a job (13 i think) as a Grocery delivery boy, working 5 evening after school 4.15 till 6.15, plus Saturday mornings. For this work i was paid the princely sum of 12/6d per week (equiv 65p).On getting my first weeks wage i went sraight into town and bought myself a bird book (15/-) , the first in a series of 3. When i got home home i opened it and this was on the very first page, i read it and reread it several times so i could remember most of it by heart, that was over 50 years ago and i still love it now.The author uses the name   "The Little Stint"

Its called  "The Flying Machine"

When Bleriot the channel flew
The people made a great to-do;
They came in thousands just to stare
At the great conqueror of the Air
Who crossed from France to England’s shore
A flight of twenty miles or more
“How great an aeroplane!” they said:
“And what a noise the engine made!”
“And how could Bleriot know that he
Would find his way across the sea,
Which none had ever flown before?
And so they wondered more and more,
Until at last their hats they raise
And cheer to their great hero’s praise.

Yet I, when called to make my flight,
Have slipped of in an Artic night
And lightly flown o’er land and sea,
The only engine carrying me
My heart, no bigger than a shilling,
Which for twelve thousand miles is willing.
Less than two ounces is my weight.
No petrol cans increase my freight;
No chart nor compass ‘neath my eyes
To mark the track through trackless skies
And still untiring to the verge
Of Australasian ocean’s surge
From North Siberia’s coast I fly,
Spanning the globe unerringly,
No cheering thousands when I land,
No startling posters in the Strand;
No wondering word, no praise is heard,
But then, I ONLY AM A BIRD

I do hope you enjoyed it too, by the way i havn't gone all soft or anything, to prove it 

Joke of the Day.

A solicitor parks his brand new Porsche in front of the office  to show it off to his colleagues. As he's getting out of the car, a truck comes speeding along too close to the kerb and takes off the door before zooming off.More than a little distraught, the solicitor grabs his mobile and calls the police.Five minutes later, the police arrive. Before the policeman has a chance  to ask any questions, the man starts screaming hysterically: 'My Porsche, my beautiful silver Porsche is ruined. No matter how long it's at the panel beaters, it'll simply never be the same again!'After the man finally finishes his  rant, the policeman shakes his head in disgust. 'I can't believe how materialistic you bloody solicitors are,' he says. 'You lot are so focused on your possessions that you don't notice anything else in your  life' 'How can you say such a thing at a time like this?' sobs the Porsche owner.The policeman replies: 'Didn't you realise that your arm was torn off when the truck hit you?' The solicitor looks down in horror. 'BLOODY HELL!' he  screams... 'Where's my Rolex????