RANDOM JOTTINGS


A blog about music, sports, theatre and rants





Well I have had a spiffing day, a spiffing couple of days actually.  I am now double glazed within an inch of my life, I have beautiful new windows which have transformed my flat.  The old wooden windows were falling apart and no matter how many coats of paint and polyfilla I sloshed on them, I was aware I was fighting a losing battle.  Just how hopeless it had all been was amply illustrated by the fact that The Man who came to do the Windows, stuck a chisel in the large window in my bedroom Dg and with a quick flick of the wrist, whoosh, there it lay in all its rotting glory.  The frames were mush, no other word for it and not sure they would have lasted much longer.  I had not realised just how easily I could have been broken into, honestly a child with a screwdriver could have burgled me.

It is always lovely watching others work and I have to say The Man did a splendid job and tidied up beautifully after him, save for one thing which I soon discovered by the simple expedient of treading on it. Yes, a sliver of glass in the bathroom. I did not realise I had done it until I noticed that I was leaving a trail of blood behind me so stuck a plaster on it, washed the floor, and got a bit cross.  OK my fault I said for walking around in socked feet but if I get septicemia and my toes drop off then I will be in touch.

All well until this morning when it really started to hurt so stuck my foot in a bowl of warm water and tackled it with my eyebrow tweezers (yes I know…) and found a tiny bit of glass still firmly embedded. Gritted my teeth and hoiked it out, sloshed antiseptic on and all now seems to be ok.

In between these exciting adventures, I read the Thirty Nine Steps which I simply loved, a total ripping yarn and will post later and have just embarked on my second PG Wodehouse, having read my first last week, Big Money.  Not sure what I can say about these books as I am already finding it impossible to mentally plan out what I am going to post, save that they are just so funny, but I cannot put my finger on just why.  The two I have read so far are not Jeeves and Wooster, but other stand alone stories and they are simply, well, spiffing with a wit and style that seems totally effortless and has reduced me to smirks and giggles.  More anon.

And then I have rounded off the day by downloading some more music on my iPod now that I own one with more space and have been synching some lesser known works by the Strauss family, some of which is lovely stuff and nice to hear instead of Blue Danube and the usual (much though I love them), some great waltzes and marches and polkas and I had better make sure I sit still when listening to them on the commute tomorrow otherwise I shall be waltzing down the aisle.

OK, totally exhausted after watching somebody else work so am now going to watch the last two episodes of House, Series 2.  I have also just received today from Amazon, the Noel Coward collection on DVD and after lots of recommendations in the comments section of my post on House, have a copy of The Wire also on its way. Half price so a bargain and I have read all the reviews and it seems I have to give it three episodes before it really gets going, so glad I have been warned.

Right back tomorrow folks.

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9 responses to “Windows, Wodehouse and the Thirty Nine Steps”

  1. Rod Moulds Avatar

    If you watch The Wire, do bear in mind that it isn’t really any more representative of the whole of Baltimore than East Enders is of the whole of London. I hope you enjoy it, though. As for Wodehouse, my favorites are the Blandings books and the Psmith stories.

  2. Simon T Avatar

    I love love love PG Wodehouse, and have to ration him or else I’d read nothing else. I agree, difficult to know why the prose style is so funny – I think it’s all the exaggeration and understatement which combine in such an amusing way. Piccadilly Jim was the last one I read, and I loved it of course – I saw on Amazon that there is a film. Can’t imagine it will live up to the book, but might be entertaining?

  3. Elaine Simpson-Long Avatar

    Thankyou for the kind wishes re foot, well toe really. Still a bit sore but no signs of ghastly things happening and it turning purple and me having a fit and coming down wish some ghastly unknown fungus picked up from the tiles in my bathroom. Yes, you can see I have been watching too much House, next thing I shall be having an MRI and going beserk in there and have to be incubated….
    The Wodehouse I am reading at the moment is Piccadilly JIm and it is just so damn funny I am in a permanent state of grin hood. Lovely lovely stuff and I have quite a few of these to hand that a nice kind friend who is having a clear out gave me (are your ears burning Daphne??) and good to know they are awaiting me.
    Karen – I have the Jeeves and Wooster on DVD, not watched all of them yet and I am going to find it hard to watch Hugh L playing a silly idiot after watching him in House though there are times in that series when he pulls a real Jeeves face.
    The Wire has just arrived but it will be a few weeks before I watch it and report back.
    Maxine – well the train was a little crowded this morning so dancing down the aisle was difficult but half way I had plenty of room and my feet were certainly twitching!

  4. Susan D Avatar

    Your second Wodehouse? Astounding. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
    My personal favourite(well, there are many) is Leave it to Psmith.
    Hope the foot is better soon. At least it’s the kind of injury that aids in reading more, rather than hindering it.

  5. Nan Avatar

    I think Wodehouse is indescribable. His work is more wonderful than I am ever able to say.

  6. Darlene Avatar

    At some point, whenever I am at the book store, I find myself standing in front of those lovely novels by PG Wodehouse. I really want to read some Blandings but there is so much else at the moment. Glad to hear that your windows are in, now get out your diaphanous gown and throw them open!

  7. Maxine Avatar

    Hope your foot is better soon. But – waltzing down the aisle? You have an aisle? Luxury! On my commute they are choc-a-bloc with crushed people standing up. I never know whether to groan or cry when the guard makes one of his/her (many) enforced by H&S regs announcements “I shall be walking through the carriages…..” – oh? How?
    Seriously, though, my commute tomorrow will be enlivened by a mental image of you dancing down the aisles, perhaps if I close my eyes I can magic away all the sad standers, and imagine you in your ballgown instead!

  8. Karen/NYC Avatar

    What a delight to have so much Wodehouse left to read — I adore the Jeeves & Wooster books, but the Blandings Castle series has grown on me. As you like Hugh Laurie as Dr. House, I’m curious to know if you’ve ever seen him as Bertie Wooster in the 1990s TV adaptation of the Jeeves books. (Stephen Fry played Jeeves.)
    As for The Wire: I didn’t watch this program when it originally aired on HBO, but I got all five seasons in a box set for Christmas, and what a treat! I sit down with the intention of watching “just one episode,” and end up staggering to bed 6 hours later, having watched half a season!

  9. carole Avatar
    carole

    Glad you got all the glass out, horrid. Do let us know about The Wire. I am hovering.

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