A laugh a minute in Il Forno's

An Englishman, a Frenchman, and a Russian went up in a hot air balloon.  The Russian took a pear, the Frenchman an apple, and the Englishman a bomb.  The Russian dropped the pear over Russia, and a little girl cried when a pear landed on her head.  The Frenchman dropped the apple over France, and a little boy cried when an apple fell on his head.  The Englishmen dropped the bomb over England.  When the balloon landed in England, they found a little boy laughing.  "Why are you laughing?" they asked the boy.  "Because", he replied, "my Dad farted and our house blew up!"

This schoolboy humour was brought to you by Matthew Duff.  And if you thought that was funny, then ask Matthew to tell you the story about the zwei peanuts valking down ze strasse.

Dinner in Il Forno's with James, Phoebe, Katie, and Matthew

Fame At Last

"I recognise you - are you a singer?" .  This was the question that greeted YC when he visited the doctors for a routine check-up this morning.  For a moment YC wondered if his dashing good looks and designer clothes had caused the nurse to mistake him for a popular musician of the day.  Needless to say, the reality was more prosaic.  The nurse had been at the folkworks end of term ceilidh last night, and seen YC singing in the Advanced Vocal Skills' rendition of "Blood and Gold" and "Sea Coal".  She had been suitably impressed by the songs.  YC relayed the compliments to his fellow singer Eric Johansen who commented that "it's always good to hear the views of our fans (either of them)."

YC is still off running with a sore calf muscle.  But the good news is that it's much improved.  As a result he can still:

1 Sail on the Norfolk Broads (despite the Arctic weather)

2 Drink beer

Both will be put into practise next week, possibly with the odd melody on the penny whistle to keep YC's fellow sailors entertained - for which they will be, no doubt, deeply grateful.

Ave Asterix

Who is this dressed up, ready to prevent the Roman invaders conquering the last part of Surrey at the school book day?

Is it Rev T, sallying forth with Obelix for his morning dip in the English Channel?

Is it YC, keen to consult with Getafix on whether Deuchars is the secret ingredient in the magic potion that gives the Gauls their strength?

Or is it Matthew the Gaul, complete with sword, shield and natty moustache, and Dogmatix at his side.  Could be!

T T T at the rugby again

with James & Caroline in The Half Way House

at the ground with Jacky

Leigh Halfpenny penalty - we saw lots of these

Wales win a lineout

Timothy's Tynemouth Tours were back at Murrayfield yesterday.  Signed up for the tour were Mrs Rev T, Jacky Boyd, and YC.  Guest appearances in The Half Way House were made by James & Caroline Wilson and Sian & Chris.  The beer in the HWH (Bit of Bully at 3.5% ABV) was vg, and a bus to the ground eased the way for YC on his crutches.  Sadly Rev T couldn't control the game (despite taking his boots "just in case"), which was dominated by penalties, and won by Wales 28-18.   This was a tad disappointing for Scottish supporters, but of course delighted the Welsh contingent (see photo top left).

As thoughts turn to England's trip to Cardiff in pursuit of the grand slam, Welsh supporters will be hoping that their team can go one better than Italy.  They might care to practise their singing skills with the phonetic words for the Welsh national anthem by singing along to this.

hobbling along

A fellrace at Glaisdale last Sunday didn't exactly go to plan.  YC ran a mile up the road, 400 yards across a moor (pictured left), then promptly put his foot into a rut, twisted awkwardly, and pulled his calf.  Steph & Will (NFR stalwarts) both stopped to check he was OK - thanks.  But YC personfully managed to hobble back to the road, then hitched a lift to the finish.  

After a visit to the physio, YC is not yet "up and running", but the calf is appreciably better.  A pair of NHS crutches (loaned by another runner) make life a lot easier.

Susan Miller spotted several home remedies recently in South Africa (see photo left).  YC has not resorted to the urine of a hare yet (though you never know).  But there is another secret remedy which acts as a panacea to cure all life's ills.  It comes from a hand-pump and is available in all good public houses.  Can any astute reader guess what it might be?

T T T at Murrayfield

Timothy's Tynemouth Tours  (TTT) led a very successful trip to Murrayfield today.  YC, Emma and Chris Smith were very happy to be escorted to an exciting game of rugby.  Scotland's form has not been the best of late.  But with a recent victory over Italy, and Ireland's loss to England, hopes were high for Scotland to notch a second win in the Six Nations.  This looked unlikely in the first half.  Ireland dominated possession, with inside centre Luke Marshall making several impressive breaks.  Scotland also had a man sin binned.   Ireland were leading 3-0 at halftime, and scored a try through Craig Gilroy at the start of the second half to make it 8-0. 

At this point Scotland's chances looked poor.  Rev T was even lacing up his boots in anticipation of a call-up to the Scottish bench.  In the end his services were not required and Scotland managed to get themselves back into the game.  Greg Laidlaw kicked 4 unanswered penalties, while Ireland missed kicks at goal and generally fluffed their lines.  There was a nail-biting last 5 minutes while Ireland were encamped on the Scottish line.  But Scotland hung on to notch up a 12-8 victory.

Over a de-briefing pint of Bellhaven IPA in The White Hart (Grassmarket), Rev T rapidly entered eulogise mode, declaring that "it had been a great day", "he could die a happy man", and generally leaning on unsuspecting members of the public to join TTT. 

TTT next venture north in 2 weeks time to see Scotland take on Wales.  Don't all rush at once.

Burns Birdwatching

On a breezy Sunday when all the snow had finally cleared, YC headed up the coast to check out the local birdlife.  At Cresswell Pond (the view from the hide is shown on the left), a long tailed duck, snipe, and several red breasted mergansers were on view.  Further north at Druridge Pools, there were wigeon, teal, and a splendid male pintail duck (click here for RSPB picture).

It was still on the nippy side, but at least all the fresh air helped to blow away the cobwebs from a Burns Supper courtesy of Mr & Mrs Rev T.  The haggis was accompanied with a Strathisla malt (a Christmas present from James), and very fine it was too.