h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Folderol,trust all's well with you and yours,still no Polly
as the old adage said"you dont realise what you've got till its gone"I hope our leader comes back soon as there is only so much playing a mouse can do without the cat.

Hi Rikki - hear hear I'm a bit worried about ourPoll. Not even a 'hello'!!

Meanwhile, hope you have a good weekend - weather shouldn't be too bad. Get some in!

Hi again Folderol,hope all's well with you and yours,I trust you have had a fruitful busy week.
Me? well I dug up a load of radishes out of one of my small raised beds,I had to compost them all as they had all gone a bit soft and most had suffered from slug damage.

Still my runner(french)beans are three quarters of the way up their eight foot canes and my broad beans are covered in black and white flowers and full of bees,that and the rest of my veg(small)patch is looking very healthy.

I also planted some perpetual spinach I even had some for Sunday dinner last week,I thought the taste a bit strong then the French do call Spinach the broom of the colon,anyways it is nice to see your growing number of postings on other threads,still take care and God knows where Polly has gone.

Rik - good to hear from you. Trust you will have a good weekend - but the best news is that Polly's back!

Look on 'Mornington Cres' - Standalone Limericks and you'll see she seems to have been v ill. I do hope she is now recovering and that her re-emergence into the outside - albeit, virtual - world is a sign that she'll be back with us all again and in fine fettle.

SO, POLLY!!! WELCOME BACK!!



Please get in touch if you can. If not, we - Rikki and I - send al our love and kisses and best wishes.

We've been so miz without you.

Oh my dear kind Folly and Rik. Hello to both of you. And thank you so much for all the sweet and kind things you have said about me in your messages to each other. I've missed you both lots and lots. You Folly, Rick, AND our Mathos. It seems absolutely ages since I was here. Oh you two adorable men! You have made me laugh with all your gardening tips and worries about slugs and the weather etc. You two are a perfect foil for each other!

I trust that your families are enjoying the summer~~and the garden produce that you seem to be so busy with.

I've been out-of-sorts one way or another....


I can't stay for very long tonight. But I want you both to know that I had not forgotten either of you. You are not just R4 pals! You are in my heart because I feel we have shared many ups and downs here. And there is nothing quite like the 'original' group. I certainly feel a sense of kinship and loyalty to my dear 'old' friends. We have grown close over the time we have known each other.

Thank you both for all the concern I have read of here.

A huge hug to each of you. No----LOTS of huge hugs to both of you! You are such darlings. And much love to you too. And oodles of fairy-kisses.

Your Polly

XXXXXXXXXXX

Hi Polly,we've all missed you

It's late - i've just said goodnight to some friends who came fr a bbq. Shutting down thepc I was so pleased to see your message Poll, we have all missed you so much. h2g2 and Mc are not the same without you.

We love you and hope you can stay now. We want you better and back with us.

Love and kisses to you form us all

Dearest kind Folly and Rick,

How are the two of you-healthwise? Rick, my poet-in-residence, how is the poorly tummy? Has it now been sorted out, or are you still suffering? You were having awful problems for so long. I pray that you are feeling much MUCH better. And how has work been recently? Any further trips to Bath? I expect that you are still working very hard. Do take it easy when you are able to.

Folly, have you taken any more services at church lately? I have spent my afternoon (after morning church) with church friends. It has been such a loving kind of day with folk whom I have grown close to. We all go to the same home-group which creates wonderful bonds. I couldn't get through life without my church friends. They are my second family.

I hope you have both had a happy Sunday. You both are very precious to me.


W4aT has told me that there are a few folk who might have left here for good. I trust that Stout Cortez isn't one of them. And I guess that neither of you came across dear Frank again? I hope that wherever he is he is well and happy.

'Night 'Night darling friends. Sweet dreams.

Polly


xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi Poll! Great to be in touch again and that you're back in the virtual world - although to me, you and Rikki and the others are far from virtual.

I was preaching at my home church yesterday and, as I often do, and as is quite OK in the Meth's, I ignored the lectionary (They didn't inspire me) and instead did a service on stewardship of God's creation and partic climate change. That meant that at times I got quite political, but then, so was JC ()

It went down well, especially when I told the whole congregation to get out of the church! Strange being in an empty church when you're supposed to be leading worship. But this was so they could find examples of creation in the church garden - luckily, George didn't manage to find a mouse or beetle! - which were then offered as part of our pledge to reduce our carbon footprint and increase our Christian footprint.

Anyway, this morning, I've just got in from driving the minibus and switched on the telly and caught most of a channel 5 prog about the best seaside places in Britain. And top? Numero uno?

LYMINGTON!!

They must have known you live there!

I don't know if I saw you on the film, unless you were that bird in a bikini dangling her legs over the harbour wall . Or maybe it was you leaning against the bar in the 'friendly high street pub'

Hope you are enjoying the (fairly) good weather lately. We're planning our hols at the moment. 2nd week of the scholl hols we're at Golden Cap camping with loads of our family, then we're off for two weeks walking in Austria, although we're beginnning to think that we'll just do one week in Austria and one in the Italian Lakes. As usual, we'll probably leave things very late.

Have a good week, Polly and we look forwrad to hearing from you again

Dearest Folly,

Thank you for your interesting and sweet message.

It is great in our little church too! It's my second home. And those who are in my home-group are my second family. I couldn't imagine life now without the lot of them! I do love them. And you! And our Rick.

Didn't you see me walking on the coastal path at Lymington~gazing at the clouds in the sky and the terns overhead?? I was wearing suitable coast-walking gear! And my golden hair would have been blowing in the strong winds we have had recently there! Lymington is indeed a gorgeous place. I love being there. I wish I could move there but it is very expensive. So I shall just have to spend a day or two each week there until.....! The pubs are very pretty(unlike here in the Forest). And one can get away from the crowds very easily. They tend to go no further than the quay. I usually take my lunch with me and sit somewhere near the bird sanctuary where, if it is a windy day, I can find a tranquil, sheltered spot.

I have spent most of today lying down! I was meant to do several things but I just had to keep falling asleep. But tonight I let myself in at church and got the toddler-group things ready for tomorrow. I am playing the piano at their service tomorrow.

I'm in Dorset at the weekend. Without looking I can't remember when you will be there. I shall wave in the direction of any campers just in case it is you and your family!

I like the 'Political'.Or was it 'Politic'? Anyway, it was rather clever of you.

I'm so glad that Frank IS still with us. Bless him-he seemed so 'down' last Christmas. Speaking of which~~the Christmas cards will soon appear in the shops! But first it is my birthday.


I watched some of the tennis this afternoon, although I yet have no idea who won in the Murray V Nedal match.

The Proms start very soon. Yippee!!! But I can't get my Freeview to work any more.

Have a happy day tomorrow~~and all of your family. Take care and God bless you.


Polly

's and xxxxx



And hugs and kisses to you, Rick, too. Is everything alright??

Polly
xxxxx

Thanks for the newsy message, Poll. It's so rare to hear someone admit that they feel hapy with a church around them - when I was working at the school, they did church visits for year 5 - 9-10 yo's - and in some classes as many as 90% had NEVER set foot in a church. They - or at least their parents really don't knwo what a wonderful place it can be.

Re Dorset, we're at Golden Cap at the end of July, but my two daughters are there this coming wekend as it's the Charmouth to Golden Cap and back run - can you imagine - those hills! They must be mad. They did it last year and West Dorset and Golden Cap mean so much to our family that they have vowed to keep doing it for ever!

Do take it easy Polly, it sounds as though you need regular rest - and there's no harm in that once one gets past 30!!!

I've replied to your stand alone lims as well so you might like to cast your eye over them.

I'm off to bed now - reading another Ken Follett - no relation but he really does right great stories.

Nighty nighty

Goodnight dear Folly. I think that I told you about my knowing Ken Follett, didn't I. I've never read his books though. Not my kind of reading! I'll tell you next time what I have been reading. You will surely love them!


Church is wonderful fun. We are so 'close' to one another. Last Sunday, I had dinner and tea with 3 church friends. It was a super day. We feel just like family(which is what we should feel if we go to a church).

Anyway, I shall let you get off to bed. I need some redbush before retiring.

Yes I did see the stand alone limerick! I love that thread.

Take care. Many warm wishes.....


Polly





xxx

Hi Folderol
Hey Polly,it's great that you are back with us all(HB)thank you for inquiring about my dodgey belly but it aint getting any better and I have all but given up with my doc as he is for want of a better word useless.
I as usual have been all over the place this week,Waltham Abbey,Peterborough,Bradford and Cannock today,next week a few days in Bath again.

Still apart from saying you have be a bit poorly we had all heard nowt,well I certainly hope that you are still able to get out and about with your dogs and get back into your long walks in the woods again,anyway take extra care and just seeing your little Pixie sign at the top of our pages again leaves me with a warm glowR.

My dear sweet Rick,

I have just replied to that thread you started~~about me and Pixie. THANK YOU so very very much for even thinking of doing such a very wonderful thing. I had such a big surprise when I saw it. I didn't know that anyone would particularly miss me. You have been so kind and faithful. I do love both you and Folly so much.


Rick, I am worried about your continuing ill-health. You must keep pressing the GP for some action. Something is obviously wrong. I think that I have already told you that it took absolutely ages before I was diagnosed with my diverticulitis. I was mis-diagnosed initially. I kept insisting that they were wrong~~and in the end they listened to me. I became so ill meanwhile and was rushed off to hospital. After many tests etc my illness was finally rightly diagnosed. Now I must go through tests again (starting on Monday) to see how unwell I am. (all to do with my heart etc this time)

Please forgive me for prying, but could it be a case of a nervous disorder? So many problems effect one's tummy. Or if you smoke it could be hurting a sensitive tummy. Have you seen a different GP for a second opinion? Please keep pestering them until you feel satisfied with their diagnosis. You are very precious to me~~and to Folly. And ofcourse to your own little family. We all want you feeling lots better. As you work so very hard it is important to sort out your health. I know you have tried! But you must keep on and on at your GP. You shouldn't be suffering. Have you thought about consulting an alternative source of experience? I can't think of the name of such a person, but in Lymington High Street there is a wonderful Chinese place where one just walks in for advice and help. PLEASE seek further help. Maybe it is just a nutritional thing. It could be that. But as I suffer from so much ill-health I know how it can 'drag' one down mentally as well as physically (or it does that to me anyway!).

Thank you again, dear Rick, for all your love and kindness. Do please have a relaxing evening. I expect though that there are vegetables to water etc! How is the garden-produce coming on? May Folly and I start putting in our orders yet??



Love from me.

xxx

Hear hear to what Polly said. Rik. We don't like it when one of 'our crowd' isn't on top form.

Actually, my son's partner - or fiancee actually but they've been engaged for about 7 years and there's no talk of a wedding yet but they're living together as husband and wife (although doesn't nearly everyone nowadays?)

Anyway, Jules is a nutritional therapist and a very good one. If you read the Daily Telegraph (spit, spit) they have a section on health each monday and she has a weekly column as their 'resident nutritionist. It can be seen on line, too.

Now I know it's sort of nepotism, but you might try reading her articles and thinking about what you eat. Her approach isn't whacky or way out. She has a degree from Westminster Uni and was student of the year, so she's no mug. She studies everything that each food source contains and compares it with any medication and can then come up with a revised diet to compliment the medication. She's done it for me with my over eating and married it against my prostate medication and I think its beginning to work. (Loads of oily fish is one of the things pm ,y new diet, which is great 'cos I love mackerel and salmon)

Do have a look. It won't cost anything unless you decide to have a private consultation. She's based down in Devon but travels all over and regularly gets referrals from GP's.

Good evening, dear Folly.


I'm a Telegraph reader but rarely get the Monday edition. But~~~coo!

I know we shouldn't be bossy to Rick. But tummy problems are no fun. I advise Rick to ask at his surgery about nutritional advice~~possibly from the nurse or Sister. It's worth a go at least. But meanwhile....

I know that you males don't like to make a fuss when it comes to GPs! But if ill-health kind of dominates one's daily life, then it is time to get things sorted (says she who should have sought medical help ages ago).

By the way, Folly--two of the books that I have just finished are:

'Marley and Me' by John Grogan

and

'Squirrel on my shoulder' by John Paling

Both books are so beautiful and poignant.

I have now got to finish C.J.Sansom's 'Dissolution', and the other 2 in the trilogy. I also have several Bernard Cornwell novels to get carried away with (have you read any of his? I love them). And Khaled Hosseini's 'A Thousand Splendid Suns ('The Kite Runner' was a great book). And Andrew Motion's autobiography 'In The Blood'.

Also sitting patiently in one of my book-cases is Claire Tomalin's 'Samuel Pepys', and Jeremy Paxman's 'The English', and Amanda Foreman's 'Georgiana...'(although I might have read that a few years ago). Also John Simpson's 'A Mad, mad world, my masters'. And Ian McIntyre's 'Joshua Reynolds'.
I am sure that there are other unread books too!!! I love books. I can't pass a bookshop without going inside. Since moving I have had to keep so many of my books in boxes. I have most of my father's books too (lots and lots of poetry books...).


Ah-time for some tea.

I'll try 'Marley and Me' and 'Squirrel on my shoulder' when I can.

The Kite Runner is not a http://good book, it is simply the best book I have http://ever read. Seriously. When I finished it I couldn't read anything for weeks as I knew it could never match up. Mrs F has read A Thousand Splendid Suns and I have it ready to take on holiday in a month's time. Mrs F has also read the Tomalin 'Pepys' and also has just finished her 'Hardy' so that's what I'll try on hols although I haven't been a big fan of biogs up till now, but she who must etc says Tomalin is special so I ought to give her a try.

I just hope all these books don't put my luggage overweight!

Re gp's I'm the opposite, preferring to check things out with the gp when it's nothing really. Must be becasue my mum was a neurotic hypochondriac - honestly - and ended up on 24! medications daily until she had some strokes, got Alzheimers and suddenly her problems virtually disappeared.

Folly,

I found it so harrowing and sad reading The Kite Runner. I can't bear cruelty.

Another one that your wife might enjoy is Sarah Burton's 'A Double Life'. It is 'a biography of Charles and Mary Lamb'. A really great read.




Rick~~~~~let us know if you have any books that are worth a go. A childhood favourite of mine was 'Christy's Old Organ' by Mrs Walton. I still read it from time to time. And I cry just as I did when I first read it.



Just in case we all go off to our nests very soon I want to wish you both sweet dreams, and a happy day tomorrow.

'Night 'Night my dear friends.

Polly

xxxx

Is that the Charles Lamb as in 'Tales from Shakespeare'? My dad was given an illustrated copy as a school prize in 1920 something and it was a favourite of mine when I was a lad. I think my brother may have kept it as I'm sure it was sculling around dad's attic when we were clearing out his house. (To tell you the truth, it's how I learnt about Shakespeare's stories - Tickle isn't the only cheat!)

We went to see the film of Kiterunner. It was good, especially the scenery, but overall not a patch on the book. That's often the way, isn't it? And sometimes the film can ruin your impression of the book as you've built up your own images.

One of my 'favouritest books ever' is Alice in Wonderland, and I never wanted to see any film of that as I have such a strong picture of every scene in my head. However, I did see the tv film by Jonathan Miller - back in the 60's I think - but luckily that was extremely true to my images so it didn't spoil it and I don't think my original images of it have been 'usurped'. So, how about that? My mind works in a similar way to Jonathan Miller! Wow!

Good evening Rick and Folly. s

Folly, yes you are quite correct about Charles Lamb. Here is the blurb on the back of the book------------->

**'Charles and Mary Lamb, brother and sister, lived at the heart of the Romantic movement and counted among their friends Wordsworth, Coleridge, Hazlitt and Mary Shelley. Charles was one of England's finest essayists and together with his sister Mary wrote 'TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE', which has never been out of print.

Yet tragedy haunted the pair--Mary killed their mother during an attack of madness and was regularly confined in asylums while Charles lost himself to alcohol. Together the Lambs lived an extraordinary and fascinating double life among London's gilded literary elite as well as in its darker corners, in cheap rented rooms and madhouses of the East End'.


**Sarah Burton-A Double Life

Another super book that Mrs. Folly would enjoy is 'A Circle of Sisters' by Judith Flanders. It is all about the intermingled lives of Alice Kipling, Georgiana Burne-Jones, Agnes Poynter and Louisa Baldwin.

I trust that you have both had a happy day. I have felt very unwell and still do. It's a bit scary. I just need to walk a little way and I am in pain all over my body plus totally out of breath. You might laugh at this but I have actually got a little bath bag plus a nightie etc in readiness should I suddenly need them. And I must top-up Pixie's food bowl (or rather a larger bowl). He eats only the Science Diet so no softy food is ever left out for him.




Polly

xx