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

Hi Polly, no it's not too late but I wouldn't recommend runner beans in a pot because they need about six foot canes,I would suggest dwarf green beans in at least 10 inch pots 1 per pot in the centre

I see. Well thank you for the advice, Rick.

Take care.

xx

Not making much progress in our garden, I'm afraid. Have planted two lots of potatoes, which are coming on well, and some raspberry canes, and was recently given a few tomato plants. A couple of last year's strawberry plants are fruiting again, but they're not likely to yield much. The rhubarb plant is very sick. However, we do have loads of sycamore saplings. And the BBC Grow Your Own Grub pack has finally arrived - thanks, Rikii.

Good to see you on RBQ, Polly - and even answering the questions. If you'd looked in the other day, you would doubtless have done even better, as someone - Madleontes, I think - set a quiz about the Camberwell pistol, i.e. Robert Browning.

As NCS pointed out, the customary format is to have four clues, where the four answers are connected in some way. We call that the theme, a clue to which is given in the preamble which precedes the four clues. Solving the preamble is worth two points, and one point may be given for the correct answer to each clue. Have you never listened to Round Britain Quiz? It must be one of the longest running series on R4.

Must get to bed. Luckily, Mrs Tickle isn't at work tomorrow, so I can have a bit of a lie-in. If the weather's any good, we're hoping to go to Lacock and maybe meet some friends of ours from Chippenham. I don't think we'll be going before midday, though.

Have a good day.

It turned out nice again today (Thursday). Had a very pleasant trip to Lacock - what a picturesque village it is, and what a pretty area. Met up with a couple of old friends at The Red Lion (well, at The George Inn to be precise, but that was closed) and then went for a good mooch.

Not sure I haven't asked before, Polly, but, as a devotee of music and poetry, perhaps you would know if anyone has ever set any of Rupert Brooke's poems to music. Seems to me that some of them would make excellent songs.

Happy Days.

Hello, W4aT. And all others here.

Thank you for the rules to RBQ. Yes I have listened to it on R4 but I must admit that I haven't taken any notice of the rules.

And as for Rupert Brooke's poems being set to music~~~well I have no idea. I dread the idea of R.B's poems being musicalized! Sacrilege! Just imagine Lloyd-Webber using them somewhere. Maybe he has though for all I know!

I've been in Winchester all day. I ambled beside the river for a while and sat there with my lunch. I thought we were going to have thunder as they sky became quite dark at about 3pm. But it all blew over and the sun came back out.

My garden is wilting! As I am now on a meter I am scared to water the plants. I save every drop I can from the washing up, the shower, the vegetable water... And even the glass of water that I take to bed (if I don't drink it). All this saving water drives me potty at times.

It seems cooler tonight compared to last night. It's our church picnic on Sunday and I think that the weather is set to be dry and hot. I'll be wearing my shorts just in case I am called upon for rounders!!

Hi everyone.

Good to see you back in action, Frank - I had noticed the deafening silence on the poetry threads.

I was surprised by your comments re RB, Polly. Surely a large and excellent part of our musical heritage consists of poems set to music at a later date: there certainly seem to be quite a few featured in The Birth of British Music. Much of RB's work is very lyrical and he himself referred to some of his pieces as Songs, didn't he? According to Leonard Cohen, Ezra Pound said "When poetry strays too far from music, it atrophies. When music strays too far from the dance it atrophies". I'm inclined to agree with that - and I often find myself singing "I Said I Splendidly Loved You".

Our garden is wilting, too, and I'm also reluctant to use too much water on account of it being metered. Really ought to get a water butt.

And so to bed.

Have a good weekend - hope the church picnic goes well, Polly.

Hello. What a glorious day it has been. I am so reluctant to come indoors now but my garden is almost in shadow. I walked along the coast for a few hours. I saw a young common tern and a few adult common terns. Also two adult Canada geese with their five darling youngsters. And a grey heron fishing.

W4aT, I guess we have to agree to disagree. On the whole I like poetry to be kept to just that. And I do not like modern 'musicals' at all. There is most certainly music in poetry but poetry itself is an art.

The heat has made me feel so weary although there was a constant breeze at the coast. Thankfully I have washed up the supper things already and washed today's clothes. So there are no chores to be done later tonight.

Are you back yet, Folly?

Water, water everywhere - and not a drop to drink!

Mrs Tickle woke me about 5 o'clock this morning to point out that the road outside our house had become a raging torrent. I took a look and sure enough there was a river running past. It's happened before, though, so I went back to sleep. It's only the houses at the bottom of the close that are in any danger of flooding, and probably not very much danger as the drains were cleared a couple of weeks ago. Last time it happened they were clogged with leaves and I spent a happy hour or two helping the neighbours try to unblock them.

On reflection, I should have got up, but I'd only been in bed a couple of hours. For one thing, I gather the neighbours spent some time trying to lift the drain covers to increase throughput. For another, and this has only just occurred to me, I could possibly have diverted some of the water onto our parched front garden and filled a few buckets and bins for the back.

It must have been quite an impressive blow, because the pavement just round the corner was lifted and a whole heap of gravel and muck was washed out from underneath it onto the road. It was like a beach out there when I took Mrs T to work at 7 o'clock. The men have been at work since then and cleared up a bit - just the mudflats left now. They say the water tanker will be here soon.

Had to take Grace II to grandma's for a shower before she went to school, as she couldn't possibly face the day without one. Luckily, she didn't have to be in before lunch - for her final AS level exam - but she wanted to go in reasonably early to do some last minute revision. And then she's got the rest of the week off - a good chance to work on her suntan, judging by the weather forecast.

I bet Folly's as sick as a parrot at missing out on all the fantastic weather we've been having - I expect it's been cold and wet in Spain. Looks like being another scorcher here, although there is a bit of a breeze, which is nice - even if it means there'll be another few hundred sycamore seeds on the garden.

Anyone know what's happened to Frank? He seems to have gone awol again.

Have a good day.

Hello!

I was hoping that we might have a storm with lots of rain but the dark clouds have produced nothing. It's a very 'close' evening and getting 'closer' whilst the baked potatoes are still baking in the oven! But there are strawberries and blueberries and cream for afterwards.

Frank, how are you? We are missing you. I bet you have been stretching out on the beach with lots of admiration from the ladies. And then home to an early night in bed.

I hope you have each had a lovely day.

Hi team,Frank seems to have gone underground again,I do hope it's only a short break Frank.
The weather here has be a bit mediocre today I went to B&Q and bought a couple of grow bags and chucked half a dozen tomato plants in 'em,I have place them in the new raised bed I made last week on top of a black sheet I put over the old lawn turf I dug out to make the bed,as this part of the garden was part shade the lawn did no good and all that seemed to thrive there was moss.

So I have utilised a space I was going to use next year.

I'm so glad you are back with us all again Polly and when you talk to MJ again send her all our love,nowadays with the closure(very sad) of the womens hour thread a lot of the old posters seem to have disappeared,has anyone heard from toots lately?

I got my new insoles from the orthapeadic this week then promptly bashed my head on the way out of my shed,guess they make me a bit taller(ouch!)I was also given a night splint I have tried sleeping in it and it is absolutely horrendous with sharp corners I'm frightened of chopping off one of misses cut outs limbs and I have been threatened with the spare bedroom

I trust you are all well,hurry back Folderol

Hello all! Or buenos tardes, mes amigos.

I actually came back on Sunday night from a v hot and sunny Spain, but I had a lot of church stuff and parish council stuff to catch up on and a couple of duties at the Stables concert place etc.

So, how are you all? I've glimpsed back over the stuff about butterflies and setting Mr Brooke to music - I know it may seem trite, but I thought Lloyd Weber did a good job with Cats and TSE - at least all my kids now know some of TSE poetry and my youngest even studied The Wasteland at school. So if putting poetry to music attracts a larger audience - well, it can't be bad. Mind you, we, as a family, also like John Hegley - partly because he's a Bedfordshire lad, but also he writes very funny short poems, a lot of which are about dogs or wearing glasses - it's just a thing with him. If you haven't tried him and you like modern comic stuff, do look him up.

We had a thoroughly lazy 'chilling out' week in Spain and now I'm planning to go again but just with my brother for some 'bonding' either early July or early Oct - without MOH - it's actually a ploy to show her that, if she retired, she too could go out of school hols when it's nice and quiet. I despair that she'll ever retire as she is as much in love with teaching as she was when she started - a true vocation for her.

And what about you lot? Much work on Rik? And how's the gardens and veg everyone? And I trust your bites are all healed up, Poll?

I'm still waiting to sort out the land for our allotment society - another meeting this saturday when hopefully it should be finalised. Then we have to arrange with our farmer friend to come and clear the grass off with his machinery and - hopefully, rotavate the lot for us - that would be a big help. Then in with maincrop spuds and any cash crop salads for the summer.

Meanwhile, I've got a bit of minibus driving and plenty of parish work to do and on Sunday its our church anniversary, which means some old friends come back to see us for the day - always nice to see those we haven't seen for a few years.

Good to be in touch again with you lot! Has our Hairy friend been behaving himself on the Limerick threads?

I'm sure it must be a joy for you, Folly, to get back to cooler climes and a spot of work. Can't imagine why you keep putting yourself through the torture of going to Spaain.

I've heard John Hegley a few times on R4 and found him very amusing. Have you seen him perform live, Folly?

I've had a very long day - nearly 16 hours - oiling the wheels of democracy, i.e. acting as a poll clerk. It was very quiet for much of the day and then got ridiculously busy for a few hours this evening. Not a happy medium in sight. All the special instructions regarding folding and unfolding ballot papers didn't help.

Have my quarterly council newsletter to deliver next - and the week after - so if anyone can arrange for the weather to be like it was today (sunny but not too hot) for the next fortnight, I'd be much obliged. A bit of rain at the weekend and/or overnight would be an added bonus.

Must get to bed: not only am I cream-crackered, but I have a bit of a headache, too - very rare for me.

Happy days.

Hi Tickle, nice to know that you've doen your democratic duty - I was told when I went to vote - at about 11.30 am - I was the first for an hour! But then our village only has 500 voters, so if only about 40% vote, that's 200, of whom about 100 or so would have been evening voters.
The clerks took inordinate pains to fold the slips precisely, so I delighted in folding them an extra fold when I posted them. I know this will annoy the tellers which I have - when I was a bank cashier in my youth- been many times, so I've done my demo duty too!

On to lighter things - Yes, we - our youngest and most academic daughter and MOH and I - saw him at a Bedford theatre. He was v amusing though we couldn't understand why the support act was a man on a didgeridoo, until we found that JH could play one too - and very good they were.
My son, Ben should have been there as he returned from his round world trip as an almost professional didgeridooist - well, at least it was a valuable gap year if was able to learn that as well as how to round up sheep on a motorbike - he was on the motor bike, not the sheep .

Here's a quick JH 'dog' poem (ignore copyright issues)
Miserable Malcombe (sic) from Morecambe had rottweilers but would not walk 'em.
They were stuck in all day but no muck would they lay
Because Malcombe had managed to cork 'em

Everyone else OK? Bit of rain today and more promised for weekend - yippee for the garden.

Good evening.

Another 'close' evening although it was very breezy at the coast this afternoon. I wonder if the rain will arrive tomorrow or Sunday? Sunday hopefully.

Folly, welcome home! The allotment thingy sounds very interesting. I would love one. I was actually 'given' one when I first moved here but it was in a shady spot against a tall hedge and it was very overgrown with brambles etc. I wasn't sure that I could cope with the getting-rid of the stuff (heavy work for little me) so I 'gave' it to a friend in church.I love allotments. I take photographs whenever I find one. They are so beautiful and interesting. I love the rickety sheds and greenhouses and the old apple trees. I have to walk through one when I am walking to Kingston Lacy, close to the Stour. It is a wonderful place.

Spots have gone ~~~only to be replaced by a few more. But they are mostly on my legs.

I rescued a lovely dragon-fly yesterday that had found it's way into a friend's conservatory.

I have got a family of nuthatches flying over the garden at times. They are so quick, and their call is very pretty.

Has anyone tried a 'white Zinfandel' wine? It is delicious.

I wish the baking potatoes in the oven would hurry up and bake. I'm starving. Maybe a cup of tea and an M&S Welsh cake whilst I am waiting.

Hi Team,Folder re- the job front I only had four days work last month and I have just received paymenttoday I have been to Slough and monday I am in Derby, I have four days booked in so far this month which can only get better,I have noticed toots back on the scene but still no Frank

Hi team,yet another lousy day here,I have been to work today I was up at 3-45am this morning as we had to be in Wallington(Surry)another 13hr day,I was a bit late arriving as the M40 was closed due to a tanker fire,I wonder how firemen tackle something like that

I do hope all of you are all well,still no sign of Frank?

Hello Rick.

You must be feeling very weary by now. I hope you are having a relaxing evening. My fybromyalgia has returned. I ache in most parts of my body. And the constant ache seems to sap me of all energy. I'm too tired to cook a proper meal tonight so I am having a pizza that I remembered was in the freezer (it's a nice one though!). I should have cooked at lunch time.

My 2 little birdy families are still feeding their young opposite my kitchen window (the great tit family and the blue tit family). And yesterday I had a hawfinch in my garden. I was so thrilled. I haven't seen one before.

It's a beautiful evening here after a cloudy day. I am hopefully butterfly hunting again on Saturday.

Take care.

xx

Hi Polly,lovely to hear from you,I am sorry you're feeling so wretched again,all the forecasters seem to agree that we are going to get a proper Summer this year and as we've got until the 21st of June before the official start who knows.

Dearest Polly and friends, I have often wondered what ails you but didn't like to ask. I am sorry to hear about the fibromyalgia, we know all about that in our house as my OH has had it for 9 years now with no sign of letting up. I don't know about you but it took a long time to be diagnosed. His own GP wasn't too helpful before or after diagnosis as he was of the belief that the illness didn't exist. In the end we went private and saw a very good doctor at the now defunct hospital in Midhurst.

For no apparent reason I have been in the doldrums for a little while now and haven't posted much anywhere. We are having a long weekend near Poole this weekend so hopefully the break will do me good; I have raided my local little library for some "cozy murder mystery" books; nothing too deep for me I'm afraid. Will also take my knitting as the grandaughter has put in a shipping order for clothes for her dolls - it is about all I'm capable of.

Although I consider that I have two wonderful Daughters-in-Law they are at the moment unofficial DiLs but last month son no.1 announced that they had got engaged and that they planned to marry next June. I'm looking forward to that and the diet has started in earnest for me, other mum and bride-to-be.

Love all the postings about the garden, it is spurring me on in my own little way.

Well I've done it again, rambled on too long. Still can't see where to get the smilies from - help.

Toots.x.

Hello dear Toots.
It's lovely to see you posting here.

Firstly, before I forget, try doing an ordinary smiley eg : and then ). Put those 2 doo-dahs together and the smiley should be a big smile! Sorry Toots, I'm hopeless at explaining! Anyway, once you 'preview' your message that you might post, you should see your smiley. Click on it and the smiley list should appear like magic! I'm sure there is an easier way but this is the way that I find them. Look, here is a smiley from me to you : . Now left - click on it. Ta-ra!

Don't be afraid to tell us about your doldrums, Toots, if it helps you. Most of us here have gone through, or are going through, tough times with jobs or illness or families etc. And we really are caring. Aren't we chaps?!
I have lost a lot of interest in the R4 MB recently. I have been visiting butterfly sites and bird sites instead.

I hope you have a happy weekend near Poole. Near Poole? Are you camping? Or hoteling? Do you know the area very well? May I suggest a trip to Wimborne. The Minster is lovely, and there is a great Model Town. Plus plenty of pretty places to eat, and a superb independant sandwich shop (The Quarterjack). Then get on the road that will take you to Cranborne for lunch or coffee at the delightful garden centre. Whatever you DO do, I pray it will be a relaxing time for you.

Yes, my fibromyalgia took a very long time to diagnose originally. It went away for a few years but now it is awful. I could hardly walk today! My GP was very lovely that I had in Dorset and so was the specialist that I eventually saw. But fibromyalgia is a difficult thing to recognize!

I'm about to tuck into a pasty! I haven't had one for years. Someone I was talking on the phone to last night was heating one and it made me want one too!! I bought myself lunch in Waitrose today because I knew I wouldn't feel like cooking a proper supper tonight. For £4.99 I had a huge lunch ~~ pieces of steak and mushroom in an onion gravy, lots of roasted root-vegetables, and potato wedges. Waitrose lunches are excellent value and always delicious.

Toots, I used to love knitting outfits for Action Man and Sindy. The Action Man had been my brother's before it became my daughter's! Although Polly the younger is now 35 I still have all those dinky knitted outfits! My favourite ones were the biker's jacket for Action Man and the fair-isle cardigan for Sindy.

Murder mystery books? I recently finished the 'Shardlake' series by C.J.Sansom. They were brilliant. Try them if you haven't already.

Ah, time for a glass of wine! I forgot I bought some today!

Love to you, Toots. And to the blokes here!

xx